A MINING ENGINEER'S WARNINGS AND SUGGESTIONS.

The New York Herald is authority for the statement that few persons in the mining world are more intimately acquainted with all its features than Mr. William Van Stooten, mining engineer and metallurgist. Besides being President of the South American Developing Company, which works the gold mines of Ecuador, he has relations with all the great gold mines of the world. To Mr. Van Stooten it appears that the gold discoveries in the Klondyke regions are the most important that have ever been made.

"Of course," he says, "there is a tendency to exaggeration in these matters which must always be discounted. It is well to bear in mind that the author of Munchausen was what was known in his day as a mining adventurer. Herr Rapp was a German who went over to England to develop the copper mines there. The nature of his business may have stimulated his imagination to the marvellous flights of that bit of fiction. But after making all possible allowances for exaggeration there is an obvious residuum of truth in the reports that come from the Yukon basin. And that residuum indicates something more extraordinary than anything recalled by a backward glance at the facts of 'forty-nine.'

"No such specifically large amounts of gold were taken out by individuals during any similar period of California gold hunting. Two months of work in the water has realized more than any six months heretofore known in the history of gold mining. We know that Ladue, the Alaska trader, has actually taken in fabulous wealth in the natural course of his business.

"We had long been aware that there was gold in the Yukon basin, but the total output for the last ten years before the Klondyke developments amounted to not more than a million dollars' worth at the utmost. Now, within two months, five millions have been taken out of the Klondyke regions. It took the first eight months of work in California to pan out that amount under infinitely more favorable conditions of climate and weather. That is a straw worth noting.

"There are just two ways at present, each of which has its advantages and its disadvantages. You may go by way of the Pacific Ocean and the Yukon River. From Seattle to St. Michael's takes two weeks. In the right season it takes two weeks more to sail up the Yukon from St. Michael's to Circle City. As the waters along the way are very shallow only flat-bottom side-wheelers can accomplish the voyage. Above Circle City the waters become too shallow even for this sort of craft. It is three hundred miles from Circle City to the scene of the latest discoveries. These hundred miles can only be covered by walking. Dog sleds draw all the necessary munitions. Reindeer, as well as dogs, have been tried successfully, and probably the deer will eventually supersede the canines.

"The other route, by way of Juneau, involves a tramp of seven hundred miles to the Klondyke. But in the warm season it is possible to traverse a large part of the distance in canoes through the congeries of lakes, all connected by more or less navigable streams."

"When would you advise prospective gold diggers to start by either St. Michael's or Juneau?"

"Under all circumstances they should wait until the approach of next spring. It is too late in the season to think of going now. It is true that the distance from Juneau to the Klondyke can be made in sleds and snowshoes. But if the voyagers arrive on the spot after the middle of September they will find it entirely impossible to do any prospecting. The creeks are frozen and covered with snow. No clew to the presence of gold can be found. Now, even if the diggers arrive in June it may take them weeks or months to locate a desirable claim. But, once located, they can continue their work even in the depth of winter. Great fires are built around the claim, which are kept continually burning. Thus the ground is thawed out for digging during the winter months and is made ready for the reappearance of the sun and the inflowing of the waters. Then the dirt can be treated in pans or long toms. Owing to these peculiar difficulties it is likely that the place will continue one for poor man's mining and will be not be monopolized by capital."

"You advise people to wait until Spring. But don't you think the cream of the claims will be skimmed next year?"

"Not at all. One hundred thousand people might disperse themselves in the Yukon gold-bearing grounds and hardly know of the presence of neighbors. There may be other diggings over this vast area quite as good as the Klondyke diggings. As in all the gold mining regions, diggings everywhere vary considerably in value. It is not improbable even that the late comers will take up the abandoned washings of the earlier men and do well with them. This frequently happened in California. As settlements grow up and the facilities for comfortable living and effective work increase, it is possible that gold may be found in places where it was never dreamed of. There is no doubt that eventually a number of valuable ledges will be found, but the bulk of the gold will come from placers. This is nature's process for concentrating gold from the quartz ledges. You know, however, what is the natural course of development in newly discovered gold fields?"

"Well, here it is. First come the men with pans to gather in the riches that lie on the surface. It is possible for an active man to wash out a cubic yard, or 100 pounds of pay dirt in a day.

"Next follow associations of miners using 'Long Toms' and cradles.

"The third stage takes the form of hydraulic mining, by means of water brought from long distances.

"Fourth, and last, comes quartz mining under ground.

"This is the sequence that has always occurred. But it may take years before the final stage is reached in the Yukon, owing to the difficulties already pointed out."