The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • Page 159

K-2 The Orlando Sentinel, Sunday, April 5, 1998 SE2 Creative HwiyiNaihvd Express Local family has gold fever in roots but alas, no gold Floral, Framing More! A World of Creativity, A century ago, newspapers across the country reported the frozen deaths of 60 or more gold- Seminole's past rush miners caught in a snow slide on a steep pass to the riches of the Klondike River. JIM ROBISON stIrewiM The name of one of the dead to the first 100 customers on Saturday, April 11th 3 Inch Potted Spring Bush Spool O'Ribbon 'Brass Candle Holder Votive Candle 'Stickers Die Cuts caused a nightmare chill among the residents of Sanford. Buried under tons of ice and hase necessary. See a sales associate for details. Limit one gift per adult, per family.

snow along the Chilkoot Trail on the opposite side of North America in the permanently frozen region of Canada's Yukon Territory was Sanford's Charles Hampton Beck. Beck is buried among the graves of the others killed on the mountain pass April 3, 1898. The graves are Dyea, Alaska, where the 33-mile Chilkoot Trail begins. ALL FLORAL ARRANGEMENTS Born in Ocala, Beck had moved to Sanford a few years before he married a widow, Nancy Woodruff. Assorted styles, values 29.99-249.99.

Excludes custom orders. 23 off regular price.Valid through 41298. ALL FLORAL STEMS Orlando's largest selection! Current trends and styles. 33 oft regular price. Valid through 41298.

ALL FLORAL BUSHES He was a cattle rancher, woodruff hired him to work in her orange groves. They married two years later. ERING GARLANDS WVWJ flow Choose roses, pansy's, Geraniums, bouganvillas, When their oldest son was 17, Camillas, roses, azaleas, Beck promised another Sanford wisterias, and lilacs. Reg. 7.99 IT regular price.Valid through 41298.

man to become his partner and set off to find Klondike gold. (The Beck family knows the partner hydrangeas. 33 off regular price. Valid through ALL WICKER Includes baskets, was a Sanford postmaster who ALL DRIED FLORAL A fantastic assortment. 25 off regular price.Valid through 41298.

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had persuaded Beck to join his adventure to the Northwest, but they have not been able to con firm his name.) "They went together. They Valid through 41298. were very adventurous," said San ford Minnie Beck Kratzert of her grandfather and his partner. The partners joined thousands 4 ft of fortune seekers from across the continent lured to the gold-rich Yukon. Family legend holds that Beck 1896 found gold in the Klondike.

"It was nearly a year, however, before the outside world knew about the find," according to the guide. At the peak of the depression, a steamship arrived in July 1897 in Seattle with a small group of miners from a small tributary of the Yukon River and more than two tons of solid gold. Newspapers of the yellow journalism era spread gold hysteria. The railroads made it practical for massive numbers of people to abandon families for the Northwest. The ports of Seattle and San Francisco competed to outfit and transport men heading to the Klondike.

"Outfitted by charlatans who had never been in such conditions, guided by maps created by imagination, they headed for trails that often didn't exist!" according to the tour guide. "With gold in their eyes they rushed north to creeks that had already been completely staked out!" Before the great rush, most of the people making the climb on the Chilkoot Trail were experienced miners and prospectors. "By the fall of 1897 the first neophyte stampeders" arrived, forming what one historian called "an endless line" of gold-crazy men ascending the Chilkoot. "The rush reached its peak in the spring of 1898," according to the tour guide. "The Chilkoot tramway was dropping freight on the summit at the rate of nine tons an hour.

More than 30,000 people poured over the passes." On the morning of the avalanche, an Alaskan guide warned, "The mountains will move today." The warning was recorded by a young prospector named Henry Elton Tuck in his diary. "Few of the frenzied gold seekers were listening," Tuck wrote. A sudden slide thundered down the mountainside, burying 60 or more people who had been struggling toward the summit. Hundreds of others were injured. we passed over the snow slide under which no one knows how many poor fellows are still buried and won't know until the snow melts," Tuck wrote.

An unbroken line of stampeders continued the climb. "I just halted and gazed for it surely is the sight of a lifetime, and the first thing that came to mind as a comparison was an ant hill on a died on his return trek. His partner returned to Florida safely. The friend told Beck's widow that her husband died when he backtracked to retrieve his partner's COURTESY OF SANFORD MUSEUM Got the fever. Charles Beck never returned from the Yukon.

stupendous scale." Of the survivors, some lost arms and legs to frostbite. Nearly all of them lived for months on beans and sourdough bread, or less. Gamblers, showgirls and shrewd merchants took the prospectors' gold. Historians say these were the ones who found the real Klondike mother lode. The Chilkoot Trail was the only practical route into the interior of the Yukon.

At least 100,000 men journeyed into this frozen land they didn't even know existed only months before, boarding steamers in Seattle or San Francisco as newspapers filled their pages with accounts of the riches to be had. Canadian Mounties required each man to carry one year's provisions. That required many trips back and forth. Much was left behind. As quickly as it started, the Gold Rush faded.

Charles Hampton Beck never made it back to Florida. Survivors shipped home his belongings. There was no gold. "He never hit it rich," Kratzert said. Her grandmother, Nancy Woodruff Beck, never wanted her husband to leave and tried to talk him out of going.

"Grandpa Beck thought of backing out, but he had given his word, and he was a man of his word," Kratzert said. The Beck family of Sanford and Osteen remained in the -cattle and citrus businesses. In 1988, Volusia County and the St. Johns River Water Management District bought the Osteen Ranch from Kratzert. Recently Volusia County opened horse trails on a more than 200 acres of uplands from Lemon Bluff to just south of Reed Ellis Road and named it the Minnie Beck Kratzert Park.

Jim Robison is co-author with Mark Andrews of Flashbacks: The Story of Central Florida's Past -f if 3' POTTED PLANTS First quality, 3' reg. 29.99. reg. 39.99, SALE 29.97. Valid through 41298.

GIANT SPIDER PLANTS Super value, luggage. Others had cautioned him not to return through the dangerous pass. reg. 29.99. "The gold rush of 1898 was the KaValid through 41298.

9JaVaW rsW defining event of a generation," according to the Klondike Gold Rush a 1998 tour guide marking the 100th Kratzert said her grandfather was captivated by the adventure and romance of gold fever. "It was a terrible time, and a lot of men thought they were going to 7' POTTED FICUS TREE Natural trunk 3, wicker basket. Compare at 69.99. Valid through 41298. GREENERY PLANTS Includes philodendron, hosta, caladium and variegated ivy, reg.

9.99. Valid through 41298. strike it rich," Kratzert said. During the winter of 1894-95 bitter back-to-back hard freezes killed just about every Central Florida orange tree. At the time, the nation was suffering under the weight of its worst depression to date.

The sliding national economy, caused by unsound bank debt and speculation that resulted in a stock market crash, came at a time of overdevelopment and land UNFINISHED PLASTER Choose busts, pedestals, ani speculation in Florida. Those were dark days for those who had invested in Florida agriculture and mals, vases more real estate. 25 off regular price. Valid through 4I29F Then, three miners in August Ja SPECIAL FINISHED PLASTER Mohogany, sandstone, stain, flex Simple steps lead the way to success wash finishes, over 300 styles. 25 off regular price.Valid through 41298.

FRAMED MIRRORS "jjaf-V (i 'a "Mica. J(f IJfcssJ 9 Whether you are growing spider plants on the screened porch, a potted palm on the patio or an nuals in your entryway, knowing some basics is es 16" 20" and larger, regular or beveled, elegant stained or i crackle finish. off regular price.Valid through 41 298. FRAMED ART Ready to go! Over 1,000 sential for successful container gardening. Choosing a container.

All containers must have (J MS 5r bottom holes for drainage. The choice of concrete, wood, clay or plastic pots is largely a personal pieces to choose from, off regular price. Valid through 41 298 Plastic, concrete and wood pots are best for plants that need a moist soil. Unglazed clay pots quickly dry out the soil around the roots and should be used for plants that need sou that dries quickly. Plastic pots are good for fern, spathiphyllum, syn- off everdayf JJ everday! 1 gonium, philodendron, spider plants, dracaena and Christmas cactus.

Ivy, succulents, aspidistra and die- FOAM CORE 1 FINE ART BRUSHES PAINTS fenbachia grow better in un-i i i White, 32" acid free. I Choose Grumbacher, Winsor Newton, Royal, -p. gicueu iiay puis. 1 ufflt Removing a plant from 1r its pot. Even plants that Hie thrive in root-bound condi Bob Ross, Liquitex, Rowney, Talons and more, 25 off regular price.

97 3 HANK tions eventually need to be taken from their pots to be root-pruned or moved to a larger container. Grasp the pot with one hand and put your other hand everday! VELDMAN 1 CERAMCOAT ACRYLIC PAINT From Delta, 2 reg. 1.29. Valid through 41298. ARTIST'S STRETCHED CANVAS 18" 4.97, everyday low price! 16" 3.97, everyday low price! over the soil line with the stem between your fingers.

Turn the pot upside down and knock the rim against the edge of the counter. It usually takes two people to remove trees or shrubs from pots. With a long knife, loosen the root ball along the r- -i Complete Custom inside edge of the container and lay it on its side. Turn a water hose on high and push the end of the hose up against one of the bottom drainage holes. The force of the water will ease the plant out.

Frame Order Ready Made Frames HANK VELDMAN Perfect on the patio. A yucca grown in a container is a nice addition to many areas of a home. ond number, 55, indicates a high concentration of phosphoric acid, which helps in flower formation. A dormant plant should not be fertilized and should be watered sparingly. Dormancy occurs when a plant is not sending out new leaves.

Avoiding pesticides.Instead of buying a a gallon of water add two tablespoons each of vegetable cooking oil and liquid dish soap. Shake the mixture gently and pour into a plastic squirt a higher concentration for outdoor plants. Mixing your own soil. Potted plants like a crumbly, well drained and water-retaining mixture. Plants are tolerant and there is no magic formula.

This is one basic mix: one part potting soil, one part peat moss and one part perlite, with a handful of bagged cow manure and bone meal. It can be varied. LOi Li- 0 Ready in 10 days or less, guaranteed! Complete custom frame order Includes frame, glass, mat, and Your Choice, Ready to Go! Choose from North American, Gemline, lntercraft More. Regular price merchandise only, not valid with any Dividing a plant. Once a plant has been taken from its pot, you can repot it into a container two or more inches wider, trim the root ball by two inches and return it to the same container, or divide the plant.

To divide, slice the root ball in half with a long, sharp knife. Repot the two halves in containers the same size as the original pot. Only plants with multiple stems such as ferns, syngonium, spathiphyllum and philodendron can be divided. Fertilizing. I use two fertilizers fish emulsion for all container plants and the chemical fertilizer 12-55-6 when a plant comes into bud.

For plants coming into bud such as dracaena, Christmas cactus or spathiphyllum, add a small dose of 12-55-6 until the flowers are fully formed. The sec- mounting. Regular price merchandise only, not valid with any other sale or offer. Valid through 41298. other sale or offer.

Valid through 41298. On custom framing, bring in an estimate and competitor's ad we University Park Plaza 427 S. Semoran, Winter Park 407-673-8566 Hank Veidman is a graduate of the University of Florida master gardening program. Send questions to Plant Life, S. U.S.

Highway 17-92, Casselberry 32707. Include a phone number: Store Hours: Mon-Sat 9am-9pm Sun 12 noon-6pm 1 will beat the price by 10 on like materials. 1 5.