1902.] on Gold Mining in Klondike. 79 



mainly carried on in the winter, and the sluicing in the summer, and 

 enormous winter dumps were accumulated for summer work. This 

 last year the greater part of both has been carried on simultaneously 

 during the summer, and it seems likely that the winter work will 

 become less usual, and may even be abandoned altogether. 



The mining upon the hill-side claims bears no resemblance in 

 appearance to ordinary placer mining. Horizontal tunnels are driven 

 into the White Channel from the face of the hill, and shafts are sunk 

 into it from the surface in a manner that more nearly resembles the 

 working in ordinary metalliferous lodes. In one such mine which I 

 visited, a horizontal tunnel 700 feet in length had been driven into 

 the gravel, and at right angles to this, and at intervals of about 60 

 feet, lateral tunnels were being driven to a distance of 70 feet on 

 either side ; and there were 200 feet of pay gravel above the tunnel ; 

 the men were working with pick and shovel at the end of the long 

 tunnels, and cars of rock were being wheeled along a tramway to 

 the head of the long wooden shoot which carried the gravel down to 

 the creek. 



In these high-bench claims, as they are called, two great diffi- 

 culties are encountered : (1) the difficulty of disposing of the tailings, 

 which cannot be allowed to slide down upon the creek claims but 

 must be artificially banked up ; and (2) the difficulty of obtaining 

 water at this height. Both have co-operated to prevent hydraulicking, 

 which would otherwise be the obvious way of working gravels situated 

 upon a steep hill-side. 



On Hunker Creek, however, Mr. Johanson, who owns both creek 

 and hill-side claims, has, with much enterprise and at very great ex- 

 pense, introduced hydraulicking upon a considerable scale. The 

 water was here derived from a reservoir in the creek, and was raised • 

 by a 140 horse-power engine to a height of 260 feet, the level of the 

 hill-side workings, and then to an additional height of 40 feet to an 

 elevated tank, which gives a total fall of about 60 feet available for 

 hydraulicking. The water was conducted through a 10-inch pipe 

 and 6-inch hose terminating in a 2J-inch nozzle. About 1200 

 Canadian gallons a minute could be delivered. This enabled one 

 man to wash out no less than 8 cubic yards per hour, and the gravel 

 was washed straight into the sluice-boxes without the necessity for 

 intermediate labour. 



If ever water becomes more abundant and accessible in the dis- 

 trict, there can be no doubt that hydraulicking will be largely em- 

 ployed. 



On Bonanza Creek I witnessed another novelty in the first opera- 

 tions of a new dredging plant which had just been introduced, having 

 been formerly employed on an auriferous sand bar upon the Lewes 

 River. It is very possible that dredging will prove to be an efficient 

 and economical way of working over some of the old claims in the 

 creeks which have only been treated by the cruder methods of the 

 earlier minors. 



