THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



33 



however, gold mining was not the devel- 

 oped industry it is to-day. It is no longer 

 necessary to go "round the Horn" to reach 

 a New P^ldorado. Nor is it necessary to 

 go thousands of miles to an inhospitable 

 region where the frozen dirt must be mined 

 and held for the midsummer heat before 

 washing out the golden grains. Each suc- 

 ceeding month adds to the value of the 

 output of the mines in our own country 

 and nearly every week brings news oi' new 

 discoveries. Why, almost within sight of 

 Denver are some lacer mines awaiting 

 development and in the midst of civiliza- 

 tion. When men realize some of these 

 truths they will turn their attention to the 

 gold fields at home, 



Railroading The Klondike gold excitement 

 Alaska causing thousands of people to 



rush to the new "diggins" necessitates bet- 

 ter means of transportation than by walk- 

 ing or "packing" across the vast stretches 

 of uninhabited country which must be 

 traversed. The four thousand mile voyage 

 by steamer across the Pacific Ocean and 

 then up the Yukon river is not only tedious 

 and perilsome but is confined to a very 

 brief season of about three months. The 

 beginning of winter in September closes 

 the river to traffic and the ice does not 

 disappear until the following June. Two 

 projects are announced for giving railway 

 facilities to Alaska and both by American 

 syndicates. A Seattle corporation is re- 

 ported to have subscribed capital for a line 

 through White Pass from Skaguay to Lake 

 Bennett. Another report says that the 

 surveys are being made for a narrow gauge 

 line through Chilkoot Pass. Building 

 mountain railroads is a costly enterprise as 

 has been very clearly demonstrated by the 

 lines running through the Rocky Mount- 

 ains. And the enterprise is far from being 

 a profitable one even when the railroad 

 runs into and through rich gold fields. 

 With the exception of the gold mines situ- 

 ated within a comparatively limited area 

 surrounding Dawson City we know little 

 or nothing about the resources of this re- 

 gion. Other sources of wealth must be 



discovered, so that a permanent population 

 will be established before extensive rail- 

 road construction will be seriously con- 

 templated. 



Increased While the world has been 



Gold 



Output standing breathless, awaiting 



the slightest whisper from the Klondike it 

 has overlooked and neglected the astound- 

 ing increase in gold production that has 

 been going on in our very midst in our own 

 state of Colorado. 



The figures follow: 

 Total receipt of gold at the 



Denver branch mint for 



the firi.t nine months of 



1897 $8,388,088.56- 



Same period in 1896. . ...... 3,128,436.16 



Gain $5,259,652.40 



Receipts for September, 1897. $1,149, 365. 59 

 Receipts for September, 1896. 443,356. 74 



Gain $ 706,008 85. 



This does not represent the lotal gold 

 output of the state but merely that portion 

 of it received at the Denver mint. Com- 

 ment is almost as unnecessary as is a trip 

 to the Klondike when we have mines fully 

 as rich as any to be found on Alaska right 

 at home. 



Dried The drying of vegetables in a 



Vegetables, manner similar to the way 

 fruit is dried is a new and peculiar indus- 

 try recently developed in Santa Clara 

 County, California. Potatoes, carrots and 

 onions seem to form the staple product. 

 The vegetables are sliced, then slightly 

 treated with sulphur fumes, as an anti- 

 septic and to retain their fresh color and 

 then dried in evaporators. Tt requires 

 six or seven pounds of fresh potatoes,- nine 

 of carrots and twenty of onions to make 

 one pound of the dried product. There is' 

 a good demand for the dried vegetables, 

 especially in the mining regions where 

 fresh vegetable cannot be obained and 

 they seem to be preferred to the canned 

 product. The experiment so far has 

 proven successful. 



