Tlie Corning Fuel.
lVtrnlcuin Tlit* Fuel Of Tlie Future - A
JLig'iiite Is Not Coal - Wood Is
Becoming Scarce.
Ail industry that will give the mineral
portion of Alaska’s produc s a hard run
will be opened up this summer. It is in
the nature of petroleum or mineral oil*
From Dawson to the mouth of the river
oil stains 'an be noticed in a great num
ber of places, and from Rampart to near
ly one hundred miles below Xanana is a
field where the seepage is particularly
profuse.
There is no doubt that within a few
years oil will be the principal fuel used
on the river; in fact a number of the up
per river fleet have been equipped with
oil-burning furnaces the past winter.
The wood along the Yukon easy of ac
cess has all been cut out and it is now
necessary to haul the greater portion of
the wood consumed each year from great
distances to the river bank.
The coal so far discovered near enough
to the Yukon to be available for fuel is
practically worthless, not being a true
coal at all, but a species of a very poor
grade of bgnite. Therefore, the only
available fuel is petroleum. which is in
greater abundance than either wood or
coal and vastly less expensive.
Prospectors from the Porcupine coun
try report that in places the moss is so
thoroughly impregnated with asphaltum
as to have become a sort of peat, which
burns very readily and with an intense
heat.
Wherever asphalt is found there can
also b_* found petroleum. The prospect
ors have heretofore given their whole
and entire time to placers, overlooking
the sources of wealth that whll make
tills country a permanent field of indus
try.
With petroleum wells and quartz mines
til? country will become more stable and
it will not be so largely a speculative
qiu Jdou as to the future as it is at pres
ent.
No country, or section of country, that
depends wholly upon the results of placer
operations can be assured of permanent
prosperity; but with opening up the
steady and inexhaustable sources of
wealth as above stated, all speculation
will cease; permanent prosperity will be
assured.
GREAT TRIP OVER THE ICE.
The Dawson Daily News, under
I .
the above caption, contains the fol
lowing:
i
“A trip of 800 miles down the
Yukon and return has just been
completed by B. ,S. Downing, the
intrepid mail contractor of the Daw
son-Tana na route. The trip is ex
traordinary, even in this country of
long winter journeys by ice. It is
800 miles one way to the Tanana,
buthe incleased bis mileage by
coniine back eight v miles in one re
lay and then retracing bis steps on
the journey \ roper t< the Tanana.'’
The fact cf this matter is that
Downing ntvtr v. as wit lin 150
miles of Tanana. He came as far
as Ft. Hamlin and for some reason
1
known only to himself returned
post haste for up river.
This would cut off yio miles
° !
from his account to the gullible re
porter of the News and, instead oi
being anything extraordinary, is
o - o ^
quite a commonplace trip, which
has been made bv a number of
Ramparters this winter and last.
Mail Carriers Oldfield and Cur
rier have each over 4000 miles of,
travelling to their credit so far this |
winter and we have not heard eith
er of these gentlemen boast ol their
“intrepidity” or the necessity of:
going into hysterics over it.
Letters received iu Rampart last :
m iil state that Capt. A1 Mayo has
purchased a home in Oakland, Cal.
“L. P. Dugg” says he is going
to Tanana just as soon as the sup
ply of ice he laid in for his summer
cool drinks is exhausted.
A Fine Line Of LADIES’:
Boots,
Rubbers,
Silk Waists,
Sliirt Waists
a n d
U nderwea r.
A FEW PRICES:
Koval Baking Powder,5 «;.«"•
Mocha and Java CoS'fee:
Roasted, and in the bean, $0.50$
Best Oolong Tea:
Felt Shoes:
SIQ PAID forallLOCA'
$19. GOLD $19.