Lincoln High School - Lincolnian Yearbook (Tacoma, WA)

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-Time THE LINCOLNIAN P08027 thaw. out we'd be in a position to do something, said MacFarlane, with a sigh of relief. We'll prepare the sledges and gather up every available dog in Dawson, and we'll get the machinery in if we have to take it in piece by piece, said Peterson. Both Peterson and MacFarlane were staying in Dawson now, and ready with a crew to transport the new equipment to the claim. When the Yukon opened up with a roar and a rush of water, MacFarlane, who had been watching for signs of the break, hunted out .Peterson and ex- claimed, She's opening! She's open- ing! Now for the trail. Three weeks later, MacFarlane and Peterson, with twelve men, twelve sledges and seventy-three dogs, left Dawson on their journey down the river to meet the ship. ln eight weeks the men were busy building new sluice-boxes, installing crushers and washers and other machinery. Word reached them that the steam- er with the cargo of machinery for the Amalgamated outfit had run aground near the mouth of the Yu- kon, and that some had been lost overboard when it had been shifted to barges. There had been a little trouble with the -crew on the MacFarlane and Pe- terson claim, for some of the officials of the Amalgamated had enticed a few of the laborers away with prom- ises of higher wages. Peterson, MacFarlane said one evening, we have to do something to stop the men from going over to the Amalgamated. Suppose we split a part of the profits among them? If the men think the claim is part theirs, they will stick with us and work harder. 1 Good idea, Mac, Peterson agreed. Maxwell was of the same opinion. The plan worked fine, and the help worked with increased vigor, and vowed they d stick with MacFarlane thru thick and thin. With the continued success of Mac- Farlane and Peterson, the men added dignity to their enterprise by incor- porating under the name of the Daw- son Mining ACompany. They were rivals worthy of the Amalgamated outht now, and the latter company recognized the power of the new com- pany by repeated offers to buy. But MacFarlane and his two partners re- fused. l guess we'll hold onto the works for a while, Mac told the Amalga- mated officials. Everything's work- ing out nicely, and our men are sat- isfied with the deal we're givin' 'em. SO the mining went on with cease- less rumbling, and the swish of the slag and water rushing over the sluice-boards and the gurgle of the water thru the screens went on night and day, never stopping a shift ex-T cept for the holidays. The three part- ners each supervised a shift, and for additional safety against treachery on the part of the Amalgamated Fishing 6: Mining Company, watchmen were kept guarding the works, while the men toiled ceaselessly on for the yellow metal which had become their god. Winter came, and with it the in- tense cold which froze the water in the sluice-troughs and prevented the screening and washing of the slag, but still the men worked on, piling up the slag in a high pile surrounded by a fence of barbed wire. The Amal- gamated Fishing 6: Mining Company had not yet received their machinery, and there was no their claim. To all appearances, the Amalgamated outfit existed. But in the middle of the winter, development on might have not

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153923 THE LINCOLNIAN -Tun' scarce. Peterson knew quite a lit- tle about the world outside of Alaska, and he feared that the Amalgamated interests would swallow up their own claim. He was none too sure of Mr. Maxwell. We'll hope for the best, Mark: but we can't do a thing until the winter's over. He pointed to the snow-covered windows. We might go to Dawson and get a crew hireri to help us up the Yukon. l hope Maxwell gets into Bering sea before the break comes. l'd feel a little better, wouldn't you, Mark? l told him to start as early as he could possibly could from Seattle, and he said he'd look to a good start and keep a lookout for other machinery -coming that way also, said Peter- son. lf we get the works before they do, MacFarlane said, we'll be in a position to hire labor, and as Nthere's bound to be a shortage of hands, the Amalgamated outfit will be left in the lurch. But they've got more money than we have, and they might be able to pay better wages than we will, and we might lose all our men. We have to start early and get a bunch we can rely on. We might send Maxwell word to bring a bunch from the States when he comes up in the spring, Peterson suggested. That wouldn't do, MacFarlane returned. They would all be green: they might cut their contracts and go over to the Amalgamated. Green men are worse than a short crew. The two men fell silent for some time, each thinking. MacFarlane gazed into the fire: his pipe went out un- noticed. Finally he said, more to himself than to his partner: l don't like this fighting with the Amalga- mated outfit. lt would be better to sell out if we can get a fair price. l'd like to go back to the States: even now, at the first touch of win- ter, l've got shudders running down my back. l've got a hunch that if l stay up here much longer I'll lose all l've got. Peterson did not share this feeling. l'll be switched, Mac, he said. lf l hadn't known you so long, l'd say you was a quitter, but 1 know you ain't. lt's the pan and cradle that's got you. lt's too hard on a man. l'd quit Alaska myself if l had to go thru what we have in the past summer again. But you'd better stick till we see the thing thru. MacFarlane did not answer, but kept on staring into the fire. What do you think, Mac? Pe- terson asked. Hadn't you better stick awhile? Yes, l'll stick-stick until we bring the Amalgamated outfit to the paystreak--l'm off for the States. can terms. But as soon as we hit Wouldn't mind seeing Minnesota myself, Peterson reflected. But we'll Fight if we have to, won't we, Mac? There was the ring of grim determination in his voice. MacFarlane relighted, and they both finished their pipes in silence: then rolled in their blankets for the night. WINTER .was drawing to a close when Peterson received a letter from Maxwell saying that he was in 'the straits waiting for the Yukon to start moving, as he worded it. Looks like he was with us strong, remarked MacFarlane. i He says, Peterson said, referring to the letter. that the Amalgamated Fishing 6: Mining Company's ship- ment of machinery was delayed thru the inability of the company to hll it, and that shipment will be retarded from twenty to thirty days. Well, we at least have beat them to the Yukon, and if she'd hurry and

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P12228 THE LINCOLNIAN -Tulle when all the crew except Maxwell and two of the men had gone to Dawson, Mr. Wingarten, head of the Amalgamated Company, came with four other officials to the claim. Max- well calculated that there would be action. Then the two, Maxwell and Wingarten, had a conference. Win- garten appeared two days later in Dawson and looked up MacFarlane and Peterson. A week later, the Dawson Nug- get reported that the Dawson Min- ing Company had sold their interests to the Amalgamated Fishing 6: Mining Company of Alaska, and that in the following spring the two claims would be run together. lmmediately after the sale, Mac- Farlane and Peterson left by dog- sledge for Southern 'Alaska, on their way to the States. Maxwell re- mained as manager for the Amalga- mated interests. Funny, said Peterson, after they had taken the boat from Juneau, how we were so suspicions of that Max- well fellow. Maxwell can stay in Alaska if he wants to, MacFarlane replied. As for me, l'm going to settle down when l get back in the States. l've seen the last of Alaska. Me too, Peterson replied. l'm going to take life easy in my old age. The two stood by the rail, taking a last look at the shores of Alaska, slowly fading in the distance. Mac- Farlane was sobered at the sightg a tear glistened in his eye, and he felt a lump rise in his- throat. He felt as though he were leaving his home. Every one had treated him squarely. He recalled all the years he had spent there: the years of unsuccessful prospecting: the find: the paystreak it developed into: the success over the Amalgamated interests. Alaska had been good to him. She had given him wealth, and now he was going back to the States to spend it. He dreaded going, now, while a day before he had been eager to get back to the States. Peterson stopped in Minnesota. which had formerly been his home. but MacFarlane, having no home but the land of the North, went to New York. l-le had planned a quiet life, but the old spirit of chance, the gambling with fate, was still in his blood. l-le experimented in the stock market. At first there was pleasure in the game. A loss there meant nothing to him, but his gains were not infrequent. A streak of ill-luck struck him, and he suffered loss after loss. Then he decided to play the market to win. FIVE years passed, and MacFar- lane's hair was streaked with white. Five years in New York had left a larger mark on his face than ten years in Alaska had. He knew of the change also, and he felt im- measurably older. He longed for the open trail. Traveling did not help much, but only impressed upon him his longing for the North. He tired of gambling with stocks. For him there was only one game, and that the life of a prospector in the wilds of Alaska. There was but one thing that he desired to do, and that was to go back to Alaska and hit the trail for the open places. That was his home, and he felt it deeply. Money is a small factor in a man's life, MacFarlane told himself lt cannot bring him those things for which he is longing. l must go back. So MacFarlane decided to return, not to prospect for gold, but to find happiness: to find that which is the greatest factor in life. He had all the money he wanted, and