BRIEF ITEMS FROM ALL
PARTS OF THE TERRITORY
EVENTS IN THE NORTH AS PORTRAYED IN THE
PRESS OF ALASKA
Seattle sportsmen recently do
nated four tons of hay for the
relief of the wild deer which
have been starving to death
by hundreds in Southeastern
Alaska owing to the unusually
heavy snowfall this winter.
Richard Sundquist, young
Candle Creek mining man,
won a seat in the Alaska Legis
lature by just two votes over
Charles F. Wright, his closest
opponent, according to the re
sults announced by the Terri
torial canvassing board.
A report from Petersburg
states that town is under four
feet of snow, and that a gale
of large proportions, the first
of such size that ever visited
the city, did considerable dam
age to property recently.
That the quartz found in the
Hot Springs mountains, in the
Tofty district, warrants pros
pecting, is the declaration of
C. P. Snyder, an old-time oper
ator of that section who re
cently visited Fairbanks. The
ore carries gold, silver, lead,
galena and cobalt and some
assays show values of $40 per
ton in gold and silver. One as
say of lead ran 73 per cent.
Passengers arriving at Sew
ard on the S. S. Admiral Wat
son on January 23, report that
a 5-masted schooner, carrying
the herring pack from salteries
at Kodiak and Red Fox Bay,
was wrecked off Cape Flat
tery in the recent gale which
swept the coast.
Joseph McCoy, who was
known in every mining camp
in the North and had resided
in Alaska and the Yukon for
more than thirty years, re
cently succumbed to tubercu
losis in a Seattle sanatarium.
Information from a reliable
source received in Anchorage
recently indicates that the Can
adian Pacific Steamship line is
Generalities Versus Facts
HE chief difficulty confronting those who nro attempting to offer constructive
#11 suggestion or legislation touching the salmon packing industry of Alaska is the
impossibility of standardisation owing to widely different local conditions along the
thousands of miles of coast and waterway where canneries are located. What is
feasible at one point may be impractical or quite impossible at another.
The same difficulty presents itself in discussing any given phase of the industry. As a
consequence statements are often made which may be true of a given locality while in
nowise applicable to the industry as a whole which are none the less accepted by the
public as applying generally.
The statement that the packers bring outside labor info the. territory for the season and
pay them at outside points at the conclusion of the season is a common one. When found
to be truo investigation will prove it to be so only in cases where the canneries are located
at isolated points, where no local labor is to be had, and where there are often no mer
chandising institutions except cannery commissaries in which the men may spend their
money. On the other hand in Southeastern Alaska where the country is more thickly
settled by far the greater percentage of employee^ are residents of Alaska.
Again the statement is often made that cannery crews are largely made up of Orientals.
An examination of The U. S. Bureau of Fisheries report for 1922 shows that of the 21,974
employees,'12,429 were white, 4,192 were natives of Alaska and 5,383 were Orientals,
Mexicans and Negroes, most of whom were employed at labor unattractive to white men.
to “ccur*u,y «**ve at figures on the proportion of cannery wages paid to
Alaskans in Alaska. We would say that a reasonable estimate was 35% or approximately
33,500,000.00 annually.
There is no locality in Alaska where merchandising institutions are within the radius of
fishing operations where those institutions do not profit materially through the industry.
J ? j I “ , consideration of the subject will convince anyone that the benefits
derived by Alaskans and Alaskan communities from the canning industry are in direct
ratio to the capacity for serving the industry in the different localities.
Herbert Hoover once said, “Scientific discussion, pious statements or political oratory will
salmon.” Neither will loose discussion, Unfounded derogatory statements or
political chicanery bring about conditions conducive to getting the best from the fisheries
industry for Alaska or the packers.
On the contrary an understanding of the mutual problems confronting those engaged in
the industry and the citisens of Alaska and a sane consideration of those problems in a
spirit of sincerity will aid materially in their solution.
Alaska’s chief industry is worthy of honest, unprejudiced consideration
at the bands of every Alaskan.
3!
*‘i
The Canning Industry of Alaska
r
considering extending its run
to Seward during the coming
summer, with the intention of
carrying tourists for the
“Golden Belt Tour.”
The establishment of a U. S.
Customs station at Kodiak has
been recommended to the
treasury department by Col
lector of Customs J. C. Mc
Bride, to assist commerce and
particularly to facilitate the
packing industry in that sect
ion whch has grown to large
proportions.
According to recent reports a
new coal mine will soon enter
the Alaska field. William Me
Donough, a well known old
timer, contemplates opening
up his property, which lies on
the Healy River. Mr. McDon
ough has applied for a lease
and pending its arrival, is busi
ly engaged in the initial prep
arations for beginning actual
coal mining.
According to residents of
Moose Creek, on the Alaska
Railroad, the heaviest winds in
the memory of the oldest inhab
itant prevailed there recently,
bringing considerable damage
to a number of farmers. Roofs
of a number of outhouses were
blown off and hay stacks were
scattered to the four winds.
Johnny Hudson, a young lad
of Ketchikan, who was report
ed missing for several days,
and three companions, were
found recently by Chief of
Police Noah Howell in an im
provised “camp” in a store
room of the Ketchikan Mer
cantile Co. The lads had hid
den themselves away on top of
a carload of matches and had
subsisted off various kinds of
nrovender pilfered from the
.tore.
j The Agricultural Experiment
'd Nation at Matanuska recent
1 f'ived three reindeer, two
al and a male, with
which experiments will be
made to determine whether or
md they will live on other feed
| than white moss. So far they
have refused to eat vegetables
and have turned down all
rr; - \ few sacks of moss
brought along as an
emergency ration to keep them
’com starving to death in the
•v nit they reject other food.
he largest and most
hipments of blue fox
r *o be sent out of the
n district, was recent
consigned to Lam
famous London fur
- : pelts were valued at
>'d from the Alas
-ms, Inc., at High
: I .iwerson Islands in Clai>
' ait. In addition to the1
i ' out, ten pairs of
xes were shipped to
f ■ ezt.
It is reported that Joseph
M -rris, Spokane mining en
gmeer. who is holding copper
claims on Iron. Creek, in the
Talkeetna district, will move
an outfit in to his property
j early in March. The property
jis located about 50 miles from
‘ the railroad and is considered
a wonderful looking property.
Charles Berggren, a resident
of Fairbanks who, was accused
last spring of setting fire to the
cabin of a neighbor, thereby
causing the death of the own
er, who perished in the flames,
was recently turned loose by
jthe federal authorities owing
Jto their inability to secure
sufficient evidence to sustain
| the charge of murder under
: whch he was bound over to
jthe grand jury.
From Seattle comes the an
! nouncement that A. O. Sahl
linger proposes to operate two
fast hydro-aeroplanes between
Wrangell' and the new placer
strike in the Dease Lake coun
try during the coming open
season. He plans to use fwo one
on planes with a capacity of
' passengers each.
The army engineers have al
loted the sum of $40,000 from
existing funds for the further
improvement of the harbor at
me, the work to be done un
der the supervision ox c,oi.
G. Steese, head of the U. S.
district engineering forces :n
Alaska.
The case of the United States
versus Romeo Hoyt, accused
of robbing the Fairbanks post
office, was recently before the
district court in the interior
metropolis and Judge Clegg
granted a change of venue on
motion of the prosecution. The
case has been set for trial at
Juneau.
Due, it is said, to the fact that
there has been practically no
shooting of game within the
Mt. McKinley Park during the
past year and a half, the wild
life there is becoming very
tame. For the first time in
years large bands of sheep are
starting to come down from
the high ranges. Caribou are
numerous and moose and griz
zly bear are occasionally seen
in the central and western
sections.
A museum costing: in the
neighborhood of $25,000 may
;soon be erected in the McKin
; ley National Park, according
i to Superintendent H. P. Har
dens, who has prepared the
plans and specifications for
the structure., If the plans are
satisfactory funds will be pro
vided for construction by the
American Museum Associat
ions, he says.
An Independence Ellis ball
Chili mill will be installed by
Brassel and Thorpe on their
promising quartz property on
Grubstake Gulch in the Willow,
i Creek district. The mill has j
ben purchased and will be in- 1
stalled as soon as possible.
- !
The steamship Yukon recent- j
ly struck her port side against j
the rocky bluffs of .Cape Res-!
i
urrection while coming out of
Resurrection Bay in a heavy
snow squall. The vessel put
back to Seward with her en
gine room tanks leaking, but
it was found later that her
pumps could easily take care
of the leakage and the big
liner proceed on her return
voyage to Seattle.
The New England Fish Comp
any will commence the con
struction of a big cold storage
plant at Kodiak on June 1, ac
cording to information reach
ing Anchorage.
The trial of J. L. White, who
was charged with the mur
der of Robert Morris at Olnes
last summer, resulted in a ver
dict of manslaughter in the
district court at Fairbanks a
few days ago.
The Department of Commerce
has rescinded its recently in
augurated herring regulations
with respect to Southeastern
Alaska, where the restrictions
imposed threatened serioues
damage to the industry., and
has issued new orders confin
ing the closed season to a 60
day period commencing March
1st., instead of the later period
against which strenuous ob
jection was made.
Noel W. Smith, the new gen
eral manager of the Alaska
government railroad, has an
nounced that • he expects to
spend $1,000,000 on new
bridges between Seward and
Fairbanks. The road will also
be supplied with new equip
ment in the shape of a new
locomotive and a gasoline car.
The Independent Steamship
line, operating the motorship
Oregon, which has visited this
port several times during the
past year, is planning to place
another boat on the Southeast
ern Alaska run before the com
mencement of the heavy traf
fic north this spring, acco- ding
to a recent announcement by
Capt. J. B. Edwards, master of
the Oregon.
The makings of a real stam
pede will be heading for the
Cassiar district, via the Stikine
River at the opening of navi
gation on the stream in a few
weeks, according to C. W.
Cheatham, Assistant District
Engineer of the Bureau of Pub
lic Roads, who returned to
Juneau recently after a
month’s visit to the States. He
was surprised at the extent of
the interest shown in the re
ported strike made there last
fall. It is estimated, Mr. Cheat
ham said, that about 1500 peo
ple would leave Vancouver
alone for the Cassiar. . Others
are preparing to leave from
Portland and Seattle, and the
region will be filled with old
and new prospectors in the
early spring.
ENORMOUS DEMAND
FOR ALASKA FURS
We’re paying big price* for Alaska fur*—demand strong.
We are the largest buyers of Alaska furs in this big
central market and we must have all kinds for quick sale.
Money sent same day shipment comes in—cash, draft or
money order, whichever you want. ACT NOW—if you
have one skin or a hundred. Ship to us at once.
ouke Rir Co.
ST. LOUIS, MO.
Fouke Grading ALWAYS Makes Your Fur Chocks Bigger