n RiNGTON.] INTRODUCTION. 15 
camps, shows that the mine operators take an interest in contributing 
;o the preparation of the work in hand. 
At the operations visited by myself or b} r Mr. Paige more detailed 
nformation was collected regarding costs, the handling of water, the 
jetting up of the plant, and the mechanical appliances. Forms 1, 2, 
5, 4, or 5 (pp. 17-25) were used, according to the character of the 
)perations. Photographs were taken of all the operations visited. 
Dver 400 excellent photographs have been obtained by Mr. Paige, 
some of which are reproduced in this report. 
In each district a study has been made of the water resources, the 
nost important factor in placer and hydraulic mining, and of the cost 
)f building and maintaining ditches, flumes, and storage reservoirs for 
lie purpose of using water under pressure. The important devel- 
>pment of ditch building in Seward Peninsula has been especially 
considered. 
The quantity and quality of timber in the mining districts has been 
considered with reference to its use for fuel, for building flumes and 
sluice boxes, and for timbering drift mines. It is an unwelcome fact 
ihat the important placer districts of the Northwest do not contain a 
rreat amount of timber, and the mining communities of the interior 
nust use with discretion the scant supply of native timber at their 
command. 
The questions of wages and cost of living have been considered from 
lie standpoint of both the laborer and his employer. Temporary con- 
litions govern wages in Alaska to a notable degree, and the table of 
vages applying in 1904 must be understood to have only present value. 
W T hile the rate of pay for miners appears attractively high, the cost of 
iving and of transportation to and from the country must be consid- 
ered, as well as the shortness of the active season and the low rate of 
winter wages. Alaska presents a small field for those whose aim is 
imited to the earning of a day wage. On the other hand, men who 
ire willing to work for w r ages during the summer, and actively and 
ntelligently prospect during the winter with the money so earned, 
lave always the chance of finding and locating a pay streak for them- 
elves. 
The main object has been the determination of the cost and most 
xpeditious means of getting out the auriferous material — gravel, 
and, or bed rock; of the cost of obtaining its valuable contents; of 
he best methods of h} 7 draulic mining; of the cost of removing over- 
urden under each set of conditions, and of handling the tailings; of 
he capacity and cost of installing mechanical methods; of the cost, 
apacity, and adaptability of the methods employed to thaw frozen 
ravel; and of the most feasible method of mining in little-developed 
istricts. 
