The BC Adventure 27

Vesuvius

c/o Cecil and Joan Springford

June 15^th, 1922
 

Dear Mummy and Daddy,

Mark has gone to the Cariboo taking Eric with him, and I don't know when I will see him again. I do so want to join him there but he says he has to make sure it is appropriate and good enough for me. But I do hope to be with him in a month or so. In the meantime, I am boarding with Joey and Cecil. They are missing having Eric around too. With all our pets we have quite a menagerie, and I have adopted one of their kittens and called it Blackie, or more affectionately, Blackiwigs, to keep me warm at night.

We read in the Vancouver newspapers more about the Cariboo gold rush. I will just put in a few of the main stories.

Optimistic reports of the Cedar Creek district have been brought to District. It says they expect five thousand people in camp by July 1.

In the Cariboo Mudslide ten miles from the city, Mr. R. I. Fethersonhaugh, the placer engineer, has spent some time on the discovery claims, on which options have recently been taken by
Vancouver men. Mr. Fetherstonhaugh describes the Cedar Creek ground he examined as the best prospect he has even seen. Owing to the depth of the snow, it was difficult for him to go all over the claims, but he opened the old workings and tested the values, which turned out as good, if not better, than expected.

In the opinion of Mr. A. B. Buckworth, general manager of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway, who bases his belief on reports from assays, success is greater than at first reported at Cedar Creek,
Cariboo mining division. According to Mr. McLeod, reports sent out from Cedar Creek on gold discoveries there have been more than justified. He has brought back to Vancouver nuggets obtained by him while examining the property. “It is no trouble to pan out from $100 or more in one day, single handed, on the discovery claims,” he declared, and added that “bedrock seems to be from only one foot in some places to 10 and 15 feet at the deepest. A couple of days after my arrival, men working on the lease directly above the discovery, struck bedrock at the depth of eleven feet," said Mr. McLeod. "There were six feet of good pay dirt, and one hour's work with the rockers gave $25 in gold. This simply goes to show the opportunity of the gold area. The gold is heavy and in my opinion was never brought there by any stream, as the ground is so even there would not be slope enough to allow even a large stream of water to move this gold at all, even were it flowing over the property at the present time. was coarse and of glacial origin, and nuggets were frequently found. Panning tests were from $20 to $300 per square yard.”

There are 160 acres in the claim. and Mr. Fetherstonhaugh declared that a strip 150 feet wide goes through the various parts of the Cariboo and also upon personal knowledge of the districts mentioned. As far back as last fall, Mr. Buckworth drew the attention of financial interests in New York and other large American as well as Canadian cities, to the mineral producing possibilities of the Cariboo, through the medium of advertisements inserted in the leading newspapers of those centers, emphasizing in particular the gold resources of the country. In those advertisements he drew special attention to the district around Cedar Creek - two leases, according to his tests, would return from $2,500,000 to $4,000,000.

At present the gold promises continuity. He will go north again in two weeks' time with a gang of men and actual development work will be started on the prospect proper, a district that Mr.
Fetherstonhaugh first came had produced within a radius of about 30 miles no less than $65,000,000 in gold brought to Vancouver in 1890.

Guess what? Una is expecting again. I have known for some months but she wanted to keep it a secret until she was sure all was well. The baby is due in October, I think.

I must close now and write a note so Mark has some mail when he arrives there. I must tell him about my new kitten to take his place, and also about Una and Dick's news. I want to bring the dog and kitten up with me when I go, but I wonder how we will manage on the train for fares for them.

I have enclosed a snap of him.

I have been pestered by Rev. Godfrey Wilson (Mark calls him the Padre, and he is Beryl's grandfather) for news from Mark, which I hope we shall have soon.

Love

Gwenllian