86 



THE JRRIGATIOX AGE. 



Cattle sold for higher prices, horses were 

 in greater demand and of more value, and 

 sheep-raising was also more extensive. 



Owing to the yellow fever the Southern 

 trade was interfered with quite a greta 

 deal, tut to the western farmer the past 

 year has been a god-send and he is paying 

 off mortgages rapidly. 



When the farmer has a prosperous year 

 the entire nation is correspondingly pros 

 perous; and this year was no exception to 

 the rule. Wholesale dealers in almost 

 every line report an increase in trade 

 amounting in some branches to 50 per cent. 

 Mining has received a new impetus, as has 

 also building and manufacturing. 



In fact old 1897 is a self-made man, 

 who, born in poverty, has successfully 

 raised himself to affluence, and young 1898, 

 like many another son, steps into ''dad's 

 shoes". He has begun "where the old 

 man left off," and inherits the results of 

 his father's struggles. He casts aside the 

 patched garments of his sire, and arrays 

 himself as befits one who reigns in an era 

 of prosperity. But the youth will have 

 work on his hands, and it will require a 

 strong nerve and cool head to carry him 

 through the vexations of his career. There 

 will be no presidential election with its 

 attendant noise and conflict, Greater New 

 York is now a settled fact and is therefore 

 off his mind, but the Hawaiian problem 

 still confronts him. the Cuban question is 

 yet unsettled, the "currency plan" is not 

 fully matured, and young 1898 will learn 

 during the coming year the truth of the 

 old adage "Uneasy lies the head that wears 

 a crown." But we will not discourage the 

 youth with gloomy prophesies, but will in- 

 stead bid him a hearty welcome. 



Distress 

 in 



Alaska. 



The history of any great gold 

 discovery is always accompa- 

 nied by an account of the privation and 

 suffering endured by those who went in 

 search of the precious metal. It is aston- 

 ing to think how men will voluntarily face 

 dangers of all kinds for the mere hope 

 not certainty of finding gold. The "gold 



fever" has caused the death of thousands: 

 they have starved in the desert, been 

 killed by the savages, perished for want of 

 water, died from heat, and now in the 

 Alaskan gold fields, freeze or starve to 

 death, and all for gold. Reports from 

 Alaska are alarming. Recently, it is said, 

 10.000 men left Dawson city for the coast, 

 and at least three-fourths of this number 

 will die of cold or hunger before they can 

 reach the coast Realizing this great suf- 

 fering, a conference committee of congress 

 has agreed upon a measure to appropriate 

 $200,000 for the relief of the destitute 

 miners. The government will purchase 

 the supplies and the great drawback is how 

 to get these supplies into the interior of 

 Alaska, where the need of them is the 

 greatest. Our government is ever ready 

 to respond to the cries of the distressed 

 and apropos of this is the following editor- 

 ial from the Mosca (Colo.) Herald, which 

 we think is so full of truth and so worthy 

 of endorsement, that we quote it verbatim: 

 Whatever charge may be made against 

 the United States for not protecting the 

 lives and property of its citizens in foreign 

 lands, it cannot be denied that there is no- 

 nation in the world so ready to respond ta 

 the appeals of destitution and distress as 

 the American. She may ignore the ap- 

 peals of the oppressed but when they cry 

 for bread the response is prompt and lib- 

 eral. This is very different from the 

 course of John Bull who is ever on the 

 alert to protect the lives and property, es- 

 pecially the property, of his loyal subjects 

 so long as it may be accomplished by mili- 

 tary pomp and parade but hesitates long 

 or remains indifferent when his pocket- 

 book is threatened. As a case in point it 

 may be noted, that it is doubtful if the 

 Canadian government will rescind the 

 duties on the supplies to be sent to the 

 miners of the Yukon." 



A case was recently decided 

 by the Supreme Court of Idaho 

 as to the ownership of a ditch. The ditch 

 was constructed originally for mining pur- 



The 



Point 



Decided. 



