By W. M. Sheffield.
For less than three years streams of humanity have been pouring into the interior of Alaska. The soil of that country, with that of the adjacent northern portions of British Columbia and the Northwest Territory, is now considered as among the most precious of the earth, and its sections are in eager demand on the exchanges of New York, London and Paris, bought and sold with greater facility than has ever been the case with the mines of South Africa and Australia. Up to the time that gold was discovered in the now famous Klondike valley, little was known of Alaska, even by the government authorities at Washington. Official information was obtained through the revenue cutter service, and with inadequate means at its disposal, its reports were known to be inaccurate, and the government maps to show an incorrect coast-line.