in the right, the other party would
be ordered off the premises; if it seemed to be an honest contention,
and there was merit on both sides, the disputed ground would be tied up,
a dead-line drawn, and soldiers camped there to see that neither party
mined the contested territory. Either party, if dissatisfied, might
appeal to the federal court then established at Nome. But we were
hearing strange tales about that court. There was a persistent rumor
that it was only the instrument of a great scheme to confiscate the rich
mines. There was said to be a large corporation organized in the East,
with influential political backing, whose guiding genius, on the
flimsiest of pretexts, in violation of all the rules of legal procedure,
and virtually under no bonds, was being repeatedly appointed by this
court receiver of these mines.

Through a tip from a client for whom we had done some legal and
surveying work, my brother and I secured a fraction of mining ground on
Melsing Creek, which was staked, surveyed, and recorded as the "Eli
Fraction." We four staked out also an association claim of eighty acres
on a bench of Ophir Creek, which claim is called the "Rajah," and we
secured other interests farther up on Ophir Creek. As a favor to
friends, we would be willing to sell out our mining interests for a
million dollars cash!

In placer-mining the "pay dirt" (usually found near bed-rock) is
shoveled into long, narrow boxes called "sluices," varying in length, at
the bottom of which are small cross-pieces of wood ("riffles"), or
copper plates, or mercury, devised to catch the gold. The creek is
diverted so as to send a stream of water into the "head" of the
sluice-boxes, and the gold, by virtue of its greater specific gravity,
is caught by one or several of the contrivances--the stones, gravel, and
dirt being carried by the current out of the boxes, and constituting the
"tailings." After a certain number of hours' "run," the water is
temporarily diverted, and the "clean-up" takes place; that is, the
sluice-boxes are cleaned out, and the gold separated from the black sand
and iron substances which usually remain with it. Water, therefore, is
absolutely essential. In 1900, at first, the general complaint was "no
water," although later, when the heavy rains came, it was "too much
water." Placer-mining is a delicate and uncertain business, and is very
hard work. Gold is not "picked up" anywhere, and mother earth yields her
treasure ve