Image provided by: Yamhill County Historical Society; McMinnville, OR
About The Yamhill County reporter. (McMinnville, Or.) 1886-1904 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 31, 1897)
A YUKON OUTFIT should be fully equipeped to subsist inside this, or use blankets, as he may itself for a year. Otherwise it can not prefer, though there is more warmth carry on its work under the conditions to the same weight in the sleeping bag. As for clothing, the essentials are WHAT THE GOLD HUNTER necessary for success. This is made clear when one understands the method mackinaw suits, heavy woolen under SHOULD TAKE. ' of mining and the difficulties of travel wear and overskirts, heavy woolen ' in the winter season, in a mountainous socks, woolen mitts and fleece lined region without trails, the ground cov leather mitts, heavy leather boots, gum 8oond A<lvic* for Th««. Who Contern- ered with snow and the thermometer boots, overalls, woolen cap, soft felt plat* Necking Their Fortuno« In the ; hat and a waterproof clothing sack. To almost continuously below zero. New Gold Field« of Alaska and the The ground is frozen from surface to this equipment one may add whatever North weet Territory. bedrock, a distance varying in mining he may think desirable, but these at claims from 20 to 40 feet. Even in ' least are necessary. The question of Special Correspondence.) summer it thaws out less than a foot footwear is an important one. Gum The moot practical anil vital question from the surface. The best pay dirt or boots are worn only while at work in to be decided by the man who intend« gravel is just above the bed rock, and the water, either in a claim or along to go to the Yukon next, year is the to sink a shaft down to this requires a the trail Leather boots crack and are composition and quantity of his outfit. great deal of fuel, and it takes many | easily ruined in the snow and cold What should he take and how much of weeks of hard work in the open season [ The Indians make a moccasin boot, ! to gather fuel enough to last through ! called “muckluck,” which is the usual it. This is far more important a ques tiio winter for healing and working footwear along the Yukon, but it will tion than that of the route he shall se purposes. Water for washing out the | of course be impossible for them to sup- lect, since by any regular route he dirt and extracting the gold can be had i ply the demand for them next year. would probably reach his destination, only in the summer and early fall. In I This renders it advisable for the gold- some districts waler flows only a few I seeker to take at least one extra pair of while should lie not have a proper out weeks each year. All the dirt taken i boots with him. The most desirable is fit, he would be likely to find his labor out of the shaft is pi led up near it till the «tyle of boot worn by lumbermen. to have been all in vain, with failure the fidlowing summer, and until then There are numerous little things that and possible starvation staring him in the miner can not tell what will be the are a necessary part of an equipment. the face. i result of his year’s labor. Every man should have a email kit of Whatever a man would require to This is the ordinary programme of shoemaker’s tools and supplies, also a eat, to wear or to work with he should the Yukon miner, lie reaches the gold complete mending outfit lor clothing, take with him. To go into that coun fields in June or July. Ho spends the toilet articles, etc., all in a case with try depending upon being able to pur | next few weeks in prospecting and pockets, one that can be rolled up and chase any of the necessaries of life or finally locates a claim. There is then tied. A few yards of mosquito netting successful work is to rnn the risk of but a short time left in which to gather are necessary,for mosquitoes are a pest. utter failure and calamity. Again and fire wood and prepare for work. Dur Goggles to protect the eyes from snow again was this asserted by experienced ing the winter he sinks his shaft and blindness aie necessary. Pens, ink, Yukoners when the excitement broke piles up the dirt to be run through pencils, paper and government stamped out in July. Publicly through the sluice boxes the next summer. When envelopes, both Canadian and United press and privately on all occasions lie can get water he begins washing, States, should be taken. A few books they advised gold seekers to take with and by the time he has completed it are worth their weight. Fishing them a complete equipment for 18 more than a year has passed from the tackle and shot guns are likely to months, certainly not less than a year, time he first arrived in the gold fields, prove of service, as the streams teem and to place no dependence whatever and it may then be too late for him to with fish and water-l’owl are extremely upon being able to purchase what they get out ot the country that season. If abundant in summer. Traps are use might need from trading jmsts. This lie went in supplied for 18 months and less, as all taking of animals for their advice was bussed upon the well-known has kept his supplies he is all right. If fur is done by Indians. A compass is conditions of work an<l transportation not, he may be in the position of those desirable, also snow calks for the feet. in that region. The miner might be Klondike miners this winter, who have For travel on the snow a Yukon sled is located several hundred miles by a trail not «uppliee to carry them through till needed. No matter by what route one impaHsable in winter from the nearest spring and can not buy them at any travels or how he expects to transport trading post, while the post itself, even price. his outfit, there will be times either on if accessible, might fall to secure a So much for the necessity of an the journey in or later when he will stock of goods. ample equipment. Now a few words I have to pack kupplies on his own back, The soundness of this advice has about the nature of it. Some things I and he should be equipped for it. The been amply demonstrated the present are absolute nocessitites, and one of i ordinary packing straps cut and gall tiie season. Hundreds who did not give it these is quicksilver for saving the gold. shoulders and let the load lie like a sufficient weight, have rushed into I Take five pounds. To be without it dead weight on the small of the back Dawson City with not enough food to would be like a soldier without ammu and the kinder.*. There are various hist them through the winter, only to nition. It should Ire in a metal flask devices for overcoming these troubles. find that not a pound of food is to be of some kind, something that will not The best of them are the Merriam purchased there, and that they are but break, and care should be taken not to pack, by which the weight is thrown adding to the distress of those already spill it. A pick and long-handled upon the hips, and the Yukon packing threatened with starvation. They shovel are necessary tools, also a gold frame, which places the weight on the have not done this in ignorance, but in pan. You will want a kit of tools for shoulders. Either is worth far more defiance of the advice of men of experi making a boat, as well as for building than it costs to the man who has to ence. The golden mirage of their im a cabin, flumes, etc. It should consist pack his outfit. In packing it is a aginations has blinded them to the of whipsaw, handsnw, jack plane, great mistake to overdo oneself or to practical, ami they have rushed head draw-knife, axe, claw hatchet, ham carry a load too far. The best plan is long to needless hardships, if not de mer, square, chisel, files, whetstone, to move the entire outfit along bv short struction. Yet the majority of them chalk line and wire and galvanized stages, and then to stop work before took this advice seriously at first, and nails, also oakum, pitch, oars, row completely exhausted. One should be equipped themselves well for the jour locks, calking iron, boat cotton, twine, especially careful not to sit around ney. Very few, indeed, of those who sail needles, wooden block and manila without a coat when heated or to wear have reached Dawson with almost noth cotton rope. wet clothing when not al work. The necessary camping outfit con ing for their support this winter, land Every man going to Alaska should ed nt Dyea or Skagway with less than sists of a tent, a Yukon stove, a nest of take a small supply of medicines a thousand pounds of supplies each. three camp kettles, fry pan, bake pan, and surgical necessaries. These out The secret of their present shortness is water bucket, plates, cup and saucer, fits, both regular and homeopathic, may the difficulties of the trail and their in coffee pot, knives, forks, spoons, two be procured in specially prepared cases, tense eagerness to reach tlmir destina large spoons and a butcher knife. The and cost about $10. He should also tion They have disposed of or abac- , best materials for utensils are alumi understand the use of the remedies and doned the bulk of their outfits, trusting ' num, graniteware and steel in the or appliances. to luck, or the deity supposed to have ' der named. No tin, china or glass is Finally, the best advice of all is to fools in his special charge, to get desirable. There is no economy in not take only the best quality of every through the winter somehow. They 1 g'tting the best and a full equipment. thing, whether clothing, proivsions or would have done better to have camped Food must be good and properly cooked utensils, and to procure them from ex at the lakes till spring, than to have if one would retain health and be in perienced outfitters, who know just Insufficient or what is wanted and how to pack it. It gone on to Dawson short of supplies. condition to work. They would have donostill better,when poorly cooked fool, with little variety, is poor economy to save a cent or two a they fotlud they could not get through is the chief cause of scurvy. Too much pound on provisions and theii pay a this fall in good shape, to have returned care cannot be exercised in this par dollar a pound to get this cheap food to to the coast and waited until spring for . ticular. its destination. As for food, an adequate supply for another attempt fully equipped. Those I These things can all be bought cheap who followed this couisc are infinetly 18 months weighs about a ton. The er and to better advantage at the outfit better oft than those who sacrificed chief items are 000 pounds of flour, 300 ting points from which the steamers everything to their insane eagerness to pounds of bacon, 150 pounds each of sail than at any other place. it is both gel through, and are now at Dawson beans and sugar, 75 pound« each of economy and widsom to wait until the with nothing todoaiid thieatcned with rolled oats or other mush material and final starting point is reached before lining overwhelmed by a calamity of corn meal, 50 pounds of rice, six dozen outfitting, as a perfect equipment, se cans of condensed milk, 35 pounds of lected under the advice of reliable out their own cieation. The valued the advice given to those butter in sealed cans, 150 pounds of fitters and properly packed, is half the who started last full has been demon eva|sirated vegetables, 100 pounds of battle for success. strated by their experiences. The same evaporated fruit, 50 pound« of prunes Girl I'lthern in n Church. advice is as valuable to those who will and raisins, 30 pounds of dried fish, 40 Because the members of his church go in the spring. Take everything IHiunds of coffee, with baking powder, were negligent in attending Sunday with you that you anticipate to need soda, salt, pepper, ginger, mustard, services and still more so in contribut for a year for any pnrpone, and do not yeast cakes, tea, soap, matches, lime ing to the support of himself and the depend upon being able to buy anything juice (very important), dried beef, ex church, Rev. Maurice Penfield Fikes, whatever. It is folly to take for grant tract of beef, soups in tins, sausage, to pastor of tho First Baptist church at ed that there will I m mi many new bacco, etc., as desired, bearing in mind Trenton, N. J., decided to try an inno steamers on the river next year that the always that variety of food promote« vation to attract people to hear him country will be amply supplied with health. There has more or lees been preaoh and their nickles and dimes food and other necessaries. Assuming said in the papers alsiut various con from their unwilling pockets, lie in that transportation facilities will be in centrated foods, but with the exception ' troduced pretty girls ns ushers, and is creased ten times, this will be offset of evaporated vegetables and fruit, more than pleased with the results of by the undoubted fact that more than condensed preserves, condensed milk the first experiment. Mr. Fikes had ten times as many persons will go in as and beef extract there is nothing yet the sagacity to make announcement are there now, and that the added trans been brought forward which lias been of tho fact that the young women portation facilities will boused to carry proved desirable. One can not afford would show folks to their seats and them ami their outfits. To the thou to experiment with his stomach in take up the collection. He was care sands who are already there and must Alaska. ful, too, to pick out six of the prettiest depend entirely upon supplies brought All supplies should lie carefully girls in his flock, so the church had in for sale, must he added the other packed in canvas sacks of a total weight thousands who will not heed the voice of 50 pounds each as nearly as possible. more young men in its pews than had of prudence and will rush in lightly Canvas of superior quality should be ever before been seen there. Every equipped, depending upon purchasing used, the object being to preserve the seat in the church was filled long be what they nets! for the winter. It is food from loss by dampness as well as fore services were begun, and it was extremely doubtful whether enough by breaking or tearing of the packages. necessary to get chairs in the aisles. goods for sale can be taken in next Fifty pound packages are the most con As ushers the girls were a grand suc cess, but their best services were given summer to supply this demand. In venient for handling, and this is often deed, in view of the experiences of this as great a weight aa one man can carry. when the time came to take up the col year, it is almost certain that they can It is better to have these canvas sacks lection. The innovation doesn't meet with the approval of the other preach not paraffined, to resist dampness. Do not ers, who say that when people are Even if it were not for this uncer- I use oiled canvas, as the extreme cold drawn to a church simply for the privi tninty, the conditions of successful work ness causes it to crack, with consequent lege of looking upon a bevy of pretty there require that the minor take in a loss of the contents of the sack. This girls there is no lasting goo.I to be ex full equipment and have it with him is true also of oiled clothing, sleeping pected from it. But Mr. Fikes says wherever he goes. The Yukon gold bags, etc. Plain canvas is hotter than that he believes in getting people into fields cover a great area of country, oiled, and paraffined better than plain. his church anil he doesn’t care how ho while the trailing posts are few and at A canvas tarpaulin is necessary as an does it so long as the means are legiti present only along the Yukon river. outfit cover, and this may also be fitted mate and honest. It took a long time Other posts will doubtless lie estab- up and used for a sail. The canvas to take up the collection, but when it Iislied next year, near such now dis sack« should be numbered and a list of was over and the money counted there tricts as may liecome populous, yet even the contents of e-ich kept. The owner’s was nearly $300 to add to the treasury these will im only al puinla aeccsaibie uatue should be plainly marked on of the church. to steamers. Those going to the gold each. Such necessaries as matches, Miss Maud Purks of Lock Raven, fields must not expect to tind claims ' candles, etc,, should be distributed neat the present centers of jiopulation. ’ throughout the sacks, so that a loss of Baltimore county, Md..was sitting near They will be compelled to prospect dis- ‘ a portion of the outfit will not deprive a stove when a celluloid comb in her Put hair caught fire. Somebody present tant streams and gulches, and if suc the owner of these things. The camjier got a bucket ot water and emptied it cessful, they may locate several hun matches in tin boxes. dred mile« from the nearest storei To will require a tent, 8x10 or 10x13 over her. he compelled to make a journey after living the usual sim - s taken. Each California claims the largest boy in supplies might canes the loss of the en man should have a oauvas sleeping bag, the world of hie age. His name is tire season's prospecting, even assuming preferably paraffined, with a hood to John Bardin. He is IS years old, six that the things needed could lie pur draw over hi« head. He can have an feet five inches tall, and weighs 320 chased at all. Every prospect ingj>arty I other heavy woolen «leeping bag to go pound«. DUTY OF THE DOCTOR QUESTION AS TO WHAT OWLS TO THE PUBLIC. often originate nt 2 o’clock In the morn ing. Very often when a doctor Is thus called upon at night to render immedi ate aid with no fee in sight when he asks for the history of the case lie learns the child hits been ill for two or three days, but "It did not look serious and we didn't think we would need a doctor until to-night.” Then at un early hour in the morning, after hav ing had a few days in which to seek tiie free aid that is at their dlsqiosal, they call upon a professional man to leave Ills bed, with no prospect of re muneration, and attend the ease of the child. A favorite trick of panic-stricken families in an emergency, the doctors say. is to call up half a dozen doctors at once in order to be sure ami have enough of them on hand. If a mem ber of the family awakes the house hold witii agonizing groans and a bad case of cholera morbus everyone de cides he is going to die in half an hour, and someone rushes to tile nearest tele phone and calls up all the doctors in a radius of a mile. Neither knows the others have been called, but, anxious to save a life and with the appeal of the frenzied one still ringing in his ears, hastens to dress. Then he goes to a dark and cheerless barn and hitches a tired horse by the light of a lantern, and with the sleep still in his eyes Is soon speeding toward the house. From other directions half a dozen other physicians are coming, but they are met at the door by a member of the household, who is "So sorry, but we couldn't wait, and Dr. Brown gave an injection of morphine and he’s all right now.” A Juncture where the physician feels decidedly chary of giving his services is in a case where a doctor has been in attendance on a patient for days and has prescribed a certain course of treatment by the family. But in the night the patient appears to become worse, his breathing becomes light or his pulse rapid and in alarm some member of the family rushes for the nearest doctor. He is told breathless ly at the door that a man is dying in tiie next block and unless he hurries a lite will have slipped away. In nine cases out of ten the doctor will hastily dress, anil without asking any more questions take liis medicine ease and start for the house. There he finds a table covered with bottles and pills and powders left by the other phy sician. and is told that they would have sent for the other doctor only he lives so far away. Of course that sort of HE No Doubt that Physicians Are Greatly I in posed Upon by Unscrupulons Peo ple- Say from 25 to 60 Per Cent, of Their Work in Donated. Night Calls Often Needless. A question of considerable interest to the medical profession Is coming up In the large cities as to the rules that should govern miscellaneous night calls. Some physicians, while not up holding a doctor in heartlessly weigh ing his fee in the balance with a hu man life, declare that doctors are Im posed upon so often day and night by those able to pay for Ills services, but failing to do so, that he Is justified in 11UKBDC8 OUT IN THE STORM. consulting his personal desires anil comfort before answering a call. So much of a physician’s work Is prac tically charity, they say, that lie is at liberty to use the same prudence about undertaking the work offered him by strangers that any other professional man is. Other physicians assert vehemently that every reputable doc tor will answer any call, that it Is part of Ills religion to be ever ready to suc cor the afflicted owing to the peculiar nature of his profession, and that it Is not comparable to the stand that might be taken for a fee by an attorney or a man in any other business whose ser vices might be sought by a stranger. Tney say that the emergency which usually exists when a doctor is called in tiie night should be sufficient incen tive to him to respond to the call and take bls chance of being paid later; that a ease of life and death cann >t wait until the morrow, as a lawsuit or any other business might. Physicians of years of experience in general practice in Chicago make the startling statement that from 23 to 60 per cent, of a doctor's work is donated. Some physicians say about one-third of their time and experience goes for nothing, others place It at a quarter, and two declare that fully 60 per cent, was never paid for. Some of this work, of course, they know will not be paid for. that done at hospitals and for people who frankly confess tlielr in ability to meet the bill. But it is the other part that rubs. It Is the bills of people who can anil will not pay Hint make doctors shy about going out on night calls and increasing the annual percentage of cnarlty work. It is well known that doctors donate n far great er pet eentage of tlielr work than other profcssii mil men do. The medical elint itlei of a great city like Chicago, says the Chronicle, are enormous In the aggregrate. The time that is do nated by hundreds of doctors to bos- pi tala and dispensaries Is worth many thousands of dollars, and by many in the profession the claim is made that the doctors are far too liberal In this regard since the free dispensaries and hospitals are taken advantage of by people well able to pay for medical at tendance. and thus the profession is cheated out of thousands of dollars ev ery year. In very many of the cases where doc tors are called upon at night and urged to hasten to the bedside of a dying child such action would not be neces- sary had the parents of the child taken precaution to visit a dispensary the day before and secure what was nee- essary for the suffering little one. Complaints of a »erious nature do not thing does not tend to make a phy sician fall in love with night messages. He finds a case almost at his door which was passed over his head to a doctor in another part of town when the patient became ill, but when a crisis arises the family rushes to the nearest doctor, and in nine cases out of ten he is not paid for the call. After a few dozen of these experiences he is a little shy about chasing out into the night on a hurry call. The majority of doctors, however, go on the principle that a physician's time Is not Ills own. that lie is enlisted In the cause of suffering humanity and should lie ready at all times to render aid to the needy. These doctors for the most part are the younger generation who have not had so many hard a humanitarian point of view more than a utilitarian, and openly say that the medical profession owes It to the public to be every ready to respond to a call. That there is a great deal of Injustice on the part of the public cannot !•« doubted, and it is also true that if the public would consider a physician not as a bounden servant, but as a profes sional man full ot duties, and never Infringe on his night leisure except In eases of real urgency, the man of med icine would always meet patients half way. It is an error to suppose that a doctor is compelled to considerali calls. There Is no law strictly covering the case, while many eminent physician» declare It to be a part of their religion to regard calls, whether they bring fees or not, as part of a bounden duty, they as well point to the fact that a failure to solve the problem of Just when a physician should be required tu give his time at unreasonable hour» for nothing, bar. driven many person» out ot the profession. NEW BABY INCUBATOR. Very Efficient Contrivance to Fan tbk Feeble Spark« of Lite. This illustration shows one of the latest baby incubators, with nurse in attendance. These Incubators are used as a means of saving the lives of prema turely ls>rn or very weakly Infants. Tho Incubator is composed of a metal frame mounted on a metal stand. The BABY INCUBATOR AND NURSE. child rests on a wire hammock sus pended from the four corners, and in front are two swinging glass doors made to dose tightly, while at one side is a glass window through which the child nitty be seen. This box is heated by air which is made moist anil agree able by being passed through a small sheet of absorbent antiseptic wool sus pended in medicated water. liicn Long anil His Physicians. There used to be related a curious an ecdote of obi Kien Long, emperor of China, lie was inquiring of Sir George Staunton tiie manner in which physi cians were paid in England. When, after some difficulty, his majesty was made to comprehend the system, he ex claimed; "Is any man well In England Unix can afford to be ill? Now I will Inform you.” said lie, "how I manage my phy sicians. I have four, to whom the ear* of my health Is committed. A eertnta weekly salary is allowed them, but th* moment I am ill the salary stops till I am well again. 1 need not Inform you that my illnesses are usually short”_ Harper’s Round Table. Spitzbergen Hotel The hotel recently erected in Spit» bergen is thus described; Built In Nor wegian style. It has a large hall, and a quantity of smaller rooms, with thirty beds. It is also provided with a book for visitors' names, among which mqy now be seen those of Sverdrup, Fulda, Prince Holienlohe-Sehillingsfuerst, F- Vely. and others. The climate of Spitsbergen is said to have the most favorable Influence on person« suffer ing from chest diseases. ! ; j Keal Menn. “ DR. SMtTH OOT HERE FIRST.” kmx-ks as their gray-bearded brethren | and who are striving to build up a practice In the fierce competition which obtains In large cities. They insist ! tnat whoever calls on a doctor at any hour for aid should be answered at once. They look at the question from Miss Olds—Have you seen my new photographs? I have just bad a dozen taken, and am very much pleased with tlietn. Miss Smartlelgh—Ah, you wore a thick veil, I suppose. What has become of the old-fashion ed man who banked up hi« hous* every fall? A «lek man never gets sympathy as long aa hi» appetite 1» good