122 ALASKAN MINERAL RESOURCES IN 1905. 
adhesive material in which they may be embedded than by the use of points. Pulsometers 
are generally suspended in a sump at the bottom of the shaft and the hot water is supplied 
by siphon from the boiler. Surplus water is generally removed by centrifugal pumps. It 
seems probable that hot-water hydraulicking will meet with an increasing use. 
After thawing, the gravel is removed with pick and shovel and carried by wheelbarrows to 
the shaft, whence it is hoisted to the surface by buckets attached generally to an automatic 
trolley. In summer it is conveyed directly to the sluice boxes, or, when water for sluicing 
is available for only part of the shift . to a hopper connected with the set of boxes. In winter 
t lie gravel is com eyed to a dump under which sets of boxes have been arranged and Later, in 
the spring, it is passed through the sluices I PI. XIII). Ground which stands well without 
timbering is worked both winter and summer, out summer work is cheaper. Ground having 
;i tendency to cave is often left !'<>r winter exploitation, as it is found that the expense of 
rehandling in the spring is more than counterbalanced by the greater facility with which the 
gravel can be extracted. 
The ordinary sluice boxes with pole riffles are universally employed, usually 12 by 14 
inches in cross section. An average sized dump box or rock box is 20 to 22 \'wt in length 
and 36 to 10 inches or more in w idth. This catches from 60 to '.'0 per cent of all the gold 
saved and most of the remainder is caught in the next three boxes. 
Ordinarily two clean-ups a week are made. The concent rates are dried in mining pans on 
stoves or blacksmith's forges and cleaned in most cases by dry panning and blowing. Every 
Saturday the treasure pack t rains carry the week's production to town, where much of it is 
converted into bricks \\ by 10! by 21 inches, containing 1,000 ounces, which are packed in 
boxes for shipment. 
COSTS. 
The cos! of mining under present conditions is such that ground worked must with few 
exceptions carry in the pay streak values of at least 2 cents to the pan, or approximately 
$2.75 to the cubic yard. Most of the claims are L,500feet in length, measured parallel with 
the courses ol the creeks, and there are generally two or three outfits working on a single 
claim. In many case- the ground is worked by laymen, who give over from a third to a, 
half of the output to the owners. 
The prevailing wage for miners is $5 and hoard, hut in some cases it reaches $6 and board 
per day. The duty per man per day of ten hours is from 75 to 100 wheelbarrows of dirt, 
broken down with the pick, shoveled into a wheelbarrow or cars, and delivered to the shaft 
bucket ; the average is probably about 9 cubic yards per day, but under very favorable con- 
ditions for short periods of time this quantity may be nearly doubled. The conditions 
under which work in the drifts is carried on vary with the character and form of the deposit . 
Where the pay streak is thin the drifts arc made as low as possible, to avoid removing more 
waste than is absolutely necessary, from which it is seen that the most favorable conditions 
occur when the pay streak is of such a thickness, <> feet or more, that on its removal there is 
space for perfect freedom of movement and efficient ventilation. 
SUMMARY. 
While up to the present time the producing creeks are few and comparatively short and 
the deposits in most case-, so deep and SO consolidated by ice that machinery and much time 
arc required for their development, the returns have been found for the most pari satisfac- 
tory. The introduction of much machinery and an abundant rainfall have met with a quick 
response in a greatly increased production. 
A most important question, and one most difficult to answer, is that of the capacity of the 
district for sustained production. It would seem that even the large output of last season, 
due largely to the unusual quantity of water available, could, with a continuance of similar 
conditions for a year or two at least . be maintained from the developed areas alone. There 
remains much undeveloped ground in the valleys which have furnished most of the gold, 
equal in amount, probably, to that which is being exploited. With thelowercost of mining 
