NO INSPECTION FOR
SMALL STEAMERS
The steamship inspectors office at
Juneau has sent out the following cir
cular this week, apprising the owners
of steamers, under 65 feet in length,
that the inspection of their hulls is
no longer required:
This office advises you that the Act
of Congress approved June 9th, 1910,
placed all steam propelled passenger
carrying vessels of less than 65 feet
(over all measurements), in the motor
boat class. Following is a copy of our
instructions, covering such vessels; and
which were formerly inspected and cer
tified as “Passenger Steamers.” ,
“Several Supervising Inspectors hav
ing requested rulings as to the latest
position of the Department in regard
to. the inspection of motor boats, the
following information is given you at
this time in order that there may be
uniformity in respect to this matter
throughout the service..
“A passenger steamer 60 feet long
18 gross tons, is not subject to inspec
tion. 1
“When the boilers, etc., are examin
ed for approval, pressure should not
be applied, nor should the letter to the
master or owner of the vessel limit the
steam pressure. The certificate of ap
proval should not be issued every year,
but should only be issued once, that is,
when approving the design of the boil
er and machinery.
“It is not necessary to make any re
turn to the customs officers of the let
ter of approval.
‘ ‘ Tug boats and tow boats driven by
steam under 65 feet in length must be
inspected.
‘4 The only reports that should be
made of examinations of approval are
report on card and in weekly report,
but the reports should not be made in
the annual or quarterly statement, as
of vessels inspected.
‘' There should, however, be submit
ted at the end of the annual report a
statement showing such vessels, the de
sign of whose boiler and machinery
have been approved by you.
“The hull inspector should not ac
company the boiler inspector when
visiting vessels with a view of approv
ing the boiler and machinery, etc., nor
to witness pressure applied.
“Passenger vessels operating under
letter of approval of machinery are
not required to render monthly reports
of the number of passengers carried,
on Form 941.
“It will be necessary for such boil
ers to be built in accordance with the
requirements of Rules I and II, of the
Rules and Regulations also sections
4429 and 4430, R. S. U. S.
“You have no authority to inspect,
examine, or approve motor vessels
driven by steam under 40 feet in
length.
“This Service is not concerned with
how the letter of approval is carried,
whether under glass or not, but it is
required that it be in the possession
of the persons responsible for the nav
igation of such vessels.
“Local Inspectors may furnish a
letter giving the approval of the de
sign of the boiler or other operating
machinery, derived from information
obtained in previous inspections of
such vessels.
“We infer that it requires a written
request (in letter form) for approval
of the above described vessels, and you
will please govern yourself according
ly in regard to your motor boat.”
MILLION FEET OF LUMBER
Contrary to the rumor which has
been in circulation this week, the
work at the James saw mill will con
tinue indefinitely.
Five large rafts of logs have been
cut, and are in the camps waiting to
be brought in. The logs will run about
a million feet. All of these will be
worked up before the season closes,
and the mill shuts down for the wint
er.
George Simpson returned Monday
from Point Barry, and other outlying
camps, where logs have been cut for
the mill, and are awaiting towage here.
The $2 bargain rate, for a year’s
Sourdough, is subject to change with
out notice.
WALL STREET AND ALASKA
Saturday Evening Post]
/ Great coal deposits lie twenty-five
miles from Controller bay. Whoever
controls transportation to tidewater
will control the coal. The territory
about the bay was made a National
forest reserve by President Roosevelt
in 1909. In October last President Taft
withdrew from the reserve some twelve
thousand acres along the northwest
shore of the bay, primarily in order
that a railroad might secure right-of
way from tidewater to the coal fields.
He was given personal assurance that
this railroad was quite independent
of the Morgan-Guggenheim syndicate.
Aside from that, he has several rea
sons for thinking the water front of
Controller bay cannot be monopolized.
Title to the withdrawn land can be se
cured only by soldier’s scrip, and not
more than a hundred and sixty acres
can be located in a single body by such
scrip. Moreover no location by scrip
can be made along navigable water
within a distance of eighty rods of any
other location. A stretch of tidal-mud
flats some two miles wide intervenes
between deep water and any land that
can be entered by scrip, and nobody
can construct a railroad across these
flats except by special license from the
War Department. How then, the Pres
ident asks, can there be a monopoly!
Nevertheless, the Morgan-Guggen
heim syndicate will probably monopo
lize transportation by rail in Alaska,
which is tantamount to monopoliza
tion of the coal. Access to shore lines
and mud flats has little to do with that
question. Access to capital is what will
settle it. That any competitor can get
a right-of-way across reserved eighty
rod tracts of public land and certain
mud flats in Alaska is of no importance
—unless he can get a right-of-way
across Wall Street. We fancy the time
will come when no competitor can dis
cover any eighty-rod breaches in the
Morgan-Guggenheim position at the
clearing house. That is where the ques
tion of rail monopoly in Alaska will
be fought and settled.
THUMB PRINTS FOR SIGNATURE
For the native who cannot write em
ployed on government roads or other
wise in the public service, the govern
ment has adopted the imprint of his
thumb as a signature. Every man who
cashes a government check for an In
dian must comply with the order. The
following is an extract from it:
‘ ‘ Hereafter every Indian wdio cannot
white his name, will be required to
sign all checks, receipts or other rolls,
and all official papers, and to endorse,
warrants covering Indian money by
making an imprint of the ball of his
right thumb ( or left in case of dis
ability). This imprint must be clear
and distinct, showing the central whorl
and striations and such thumb mark
signature must be witnessed by an em
ployee of the office, or by one of the
leading men of the tribe who can write.
If an Indian is not living with his
tribe, his thumb mark signature must
be witnessed by the postmaster of the
place where he resides.
“These thumb marks are to be used
as evidence in cases where question
arise as to genuineness of signatures,
and this requirement is to be strictly
enforced. Anyone who cashes an In
dian ’s check or warrant, or a super
intendent who accepts a receipt of any
kind, signed by mark without such im
print does so as his own risk.”
KNEW RUSSIAN GOVERNOR
The vacation which Rev. Warmenen
and Mrs. Warmenen spent at Sitka
this summer was rendered more inter
esting on account of the fact that Mrs.
Warmenen knew Gov. Etolin, who rul
ed Alaska in 1845. To them the ruins
of the old Lutheran church there were
filled with interest. Gov. Etolin was
a Lutheran and a Finn, and when he
came to Sitka, he brought with him
Uno Cygnous, who was the first pastor
of the church which Elin founded.
Cygneus went back to Finland
through the United States, and took
careful note of the public school sys
tem there, as he did also in England.
Afterwards he founded the public
schools of Finland.
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use:
Arch Brand
—-—.... ■ |
TOOTH POWDER
The powder which whitens the teeth.
; Contains no pumice, grit, or anything
injurious to the teeth.
DO you need a system tonic?
ALTI-TONE
System Tonic and Blood Purifier. Sold
only hy
ALASKA DRUG COMPANY
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DOUGLAS
ISLAND
MEAT
MARKET
, MEATS OF ALL KINDS.
FISH AND GAME IN SEASON.
E. M. Peters
PLUMBING
STEAM FITTING, SHEET
METAL AND MACHINE
WOBK. JOBBING AND
ALL BUNDS OF REPAIR
ING DONE ON PHONO
GRAPHS, GAS ENGINES,
& SEWING MACHINES.
FRONT STREET
Near Baseball Park
DOUGLAS CITY
-It
PJ1VS
Douglas
Commercial
Club