Fairbanks Daily News-Miner from Fairbanks, Alaska • Page 159

E-24-Daily Fairbanks, Alaska 21 ttAnnual Progress Edition, 1971 Yukon tourist rush starting DAWSON CITY, v. gold rush town will never be the same as when it was the magnet for the greatest gold rush stampede in history, but the 600 or more residents are doing their utmost to make it seem like it. Almost every town in the Yukon Territory or around the old gold fields of Alaska have their taverns or saloons with names reminiscent of the gold rush days. Fairbanks has the Malcmute Saloon at nearby Ester; Juneau the Red Dog; Nome the Arctic Club and Norih Star, and Nenana it's Moocher's Bar. No town, however, comes quite as close to reliving the old days as does Oawson City from June through August.

The Canadian government has helped by declaring the whole area a Historical Complex and assisting in the restoration of many old buildings. An estimated 40,000 wild-eyed, gold-seeking fanatics swarmed into the town on the Yukon River in 1896 and in a comparatively short time took out more than $100 million in gold. Dredges and other more modern mining methods took out even more for a total of about $300 million. Dawson City is 334 miles from Whitehorse or miles from Tetlin Junction on the Alaska Highway over scenic highways known as the Klondike Loop. It is only 121 miles farther than by the more direct Alaska Highway if you're heading on north or south.

From mid-June to the end of August, Dawson reverts back tothedaysofthe '90s and early 1900's. Six nights a week a professional troupe presents the "Gaslight Follies" in the restored Palace Grand Theater. Approximately $375,000 was spent in renewing the 71-year-old building down to its horseshoe of balcony boxes, elegan wallpaper and lighting fextures. Also restored was the riverboal Keno, which plied the waters years ago; the Bonanza Hotel, the old postoffice, and the cabin of Robert Service where he wrote of Sam McGee and Dan McGrew. Dawson City is attracting increasing numbers of tourists who fly by Great A i a or drive from Whitehorse or Alaska.

And once there the visitors can talk with one who was there in the early days. Mike Winage, or Black Mike to his friends, is the prospector as the visitor visualizes one. White-bearded and with a face seamed by time and outdoor labors, he was 101 in March, but still gets around town. The discovery which led to the gold rush occurred 75 years ago on Bonanza Creek, 11 miles from town. There is a bronze marker there now and tourists try their hand at panning for gold in the clear stream.

Winage reached Dawson in 1900, bringing sled dogs and horses for the Northwest Mounted Police, a trip from i i a took six months. Completing his mission, he went prospecting on Dominion Creek, another tributary of the Klondike River. He doesn't say how much he took out, but recalls going to the outside for the first lime in 1911 and spending $87,000. "Dawson was a good town then," said Winage. "A lot of lies hive been told in the books about the gold rush.

It wasn't a wicked place like they say. Those who came here were real good people, real he-men from just about every country in the world. They were like brothers." Dawsonites believe there are millions who still want to see the scene of the biggest, most romantic gold rush in history. That is what they are planning on, working toward, in the belief that all the gold isn't necessarily found in the ground. Fly around world in five minutes By NORM A SPRING Shades of Jules Veme! Around the world in 80 seconds! In fact, around the world twice in one 15-day tour! And a polar route that flies smack-dab over the North Pole! It may sound like fiction, but it is more news than science fiction as Alaska Airlines opens up Russia by the back door for the second season in a row.

This year it will fly a new route between Leningrad and Anchorage, Alaska. The two cities are at opposite ends of the world. Anchorage sits on the 150th Meridian; Leningrad straddles the 30th meridian. The shortest route between passes within yards of that candy-striped pole. At this intangible point, Alaska Airlines pilots are committed to' making a mini-mini world tour, a quick dash around the pole crossing all 24 time zones.

To be perfectly honest, they'll allow a little longer than 80 seconds, which would be a pretty tight, stomach- churning turn. For comfort, and for the benefit of SWEETHEART PAPER PRODUCTS snap-shooters, the skipper will stretch it to four or five minutes. An added treat this summer will be two days at Sochi on the Black'Sea, "Riveria of the czars" now the playground of all Russinas. The pleasant beaches and temperate salt water will tempt many. Tea tasting at a nearby mountain tea plantation, a hydrofoil cruise on the Black Sea, and a tour into an alpine beauty spot, Lake Ritsa, in the Caucasus Mountains are on the busy schedule.

This season's tours allow for three full days in Leningrad, one of the world's most beautiful cities. The whole time could be spent delightfully on a shaded bench by the Neva River, just traffic and people-watching. You'll see an endless array: bicycles, autos, baby buggies and horse carriages on the cobbled streets; tugboats, barges, private boats, cruise boats and hydrofoils on the busy Neva. But save that for a free evening, one of those "white nights." It hardly gets dark all summer that far north. There is much else to see in Peter the Great's charming city he called St.

Petersburg, his "window on the West." Built in the 18th century on 100 islands connected by over 600 bridges, its canals are reminiscent of Amsterdam. Us public squares will remind you of Rome; its parks and flowers, Paris; and its castles, Vienna. The czars borrowed architects and artists from cultural centers of world. Outstanding is the Hermitage, filled with art treasures, one of the world's greatest museums. Out of Leningrad, reached by hydrofoil cruise is Peter's Summer Palace, Petrodvorets, noted for its park-like grounds, fountains, and statues.

Last summer, Alaska Airlines inaugurated all-inclusive tours of Russia and Siberia, based on round trips to Khabarovsk in south Siberia. This year, tourists who start in Siberia will leave the Soviet Union from Leningrad saving one whole travel day for sightseeing. Half of the 12 tours reverse the exact itinerary. They will enter at Leningrad and exit at Khabarovsk, 15 days later. In between, tour guests will see the highlights of this little-known, fascinating nation.

The rest of the comprehensive tour package follows last year's itinerary, but with refinements. There will be four gala dinners plus one super-gala luncheon at Lake Baikal. Two evening performances are included; others are optional. Approaching via Siberia, the gateway city is bustling Khabarovsk, on the Amur River, followed by historic Irkutsk on the Angara River, with a side trip to amazing Lake Baikal, deepest in the world. The middle-Asian portion includes today's Uzbekistan capital Tashkent, and ancient Samarkand, capital under Tamerlane, intrepid conqueror during the 14th century.

After the Black Sea resort area, the tour spends three days in Moscow, capital of Russia, and heart of the Soviet Union, followed by three days of sightseeing in Leningrad. And for a grand finale, the flight over and encircling the North Pole on the return to Anchorage. A total of twelve 15-day tours arc offered this summer. The first will leave June 12; the last on September 4. Cost of the all-inclusive, first class tour is $1398.00.

Seeks equipment US. Sen. Ted Stevens is trying to locate equipment thit can be used to build an airstrip it St. George in the Pribilof Islands. The senator his written the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Bureau of Indian Affairs in his search for the construction gear.

The senator is swking use of a bulldozer, roller, grader and dump truck for the job The proposed airstrip would be constructed to Federal Aviation Administration regulations, Stevens said..