Lv. Seattle S. B
A lamo.la
Northwestern
Alameda
Northwestern
Dec. 1V?
Oee. 26
Jan. 10
Jan. 16
Dec. 8
Dec. 15
Dec. 29
Jan. 5
S. S. Aleutian sails from Seattle
for Honolulu Jan 15th—30-day trip
Fare $275 to $485. Apply here for
rcn n ations.
C. A. WEST, Agent
hone 15 Petersburg, Alaska
DRS. STANDARD & STANDARD
PHYSICIAN And SURGEONS
Residence and Office Over Wheeler Drug Store
Dan E. Standard, M.D. Susie V. Standard, M.D.
G neral Practice Specialist: Fye, Ear, Nose & Throat
Eyes Tested and Glasses Fitter*
GO TO
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FRYE-BRUHN CO.
. FOR CHOICE MEAT
“Delicious” Hams and Bacon
Anti WILD ROSE LARD
Petersburg, - - Alaska
I FRYER MACHINE WORKS
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Petersburg, Alaska
Dealers In
WILLIAMS
HEATING
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Get your Drugs, Medical Supplies and Sundries at
People’s Drug Co.
DAHL and SKEI, Owners
Prescriptions filled by Graduate Pharmacist
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I Alaskan Glacier Sea Food Co,!
v
|: “BIGGEST PACKERS OF SHRIMP MEAT IN THE WORLD1
i Petersburg, Alaska
| Packers of Shrimp Meat and Crab Meat
Buyers of
| Halibut, Salmon, and Trout
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Petersburg Cabinet Works
H. F. ERWIN, Proprietor
We are prepared to furnish all kinds of Boat Lumber on orders
Large or Small. Doors, Windows, Trim and Inside finish and
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I
Our money back Guarantee if our work is not up to standard.^
I “The House That Quality Built”
ca, the far West, or some other dis
tant country doesn’t offer far great
er trapping opportunities than are
to be found in home territory.
' Why,” they argue, “any one
knows that Alaska, is a real fur
country, a trappers’ paradise. If I
were only there I’d be a real trap
per,” But would they? Let’s see
There is an old saying that fig
ures don’t lie; so let us get down
to figures aud find out something
about the relative values of some
i f the fur countries. It won’t do
any of us any harm, and it might
cause some of us to think twice be
fore leaving the home trapping
grounds for some distant country
that we know little or nothing'
about..
Alaska boasts an area approxi
mately one-sixth that, of the United
States. And what is the cash value
of her annual fur yield? It is $1,
455,650, which is only five per cent
of the annual fur yield of the United
States. This means that the United
States is procuring twice the fur to
the square mile that Alaska is pro
ducing. Now let us get down to
smaller areas for comparison. Kan
sas, for instances, which all will
have to admit is rather a poor fur
state. The area of Kansas is less
than one-seventh that of Alaska; yet
Kansas produces an annual fur
yield the value of which is about
one third that of the annual fur
yield of Alaska. In other words
Kansas produces twice as much fur
(cash value) a square mile as 'does
Alaska. Pennsylvania with an area
of 45,126 square mile produces a raw
fur catch of $2, 750,000 for the sea
son of 1924-25 against Alaska’s
$1, 455, 650, which represents our
northern possession’s average yearly
catch of fur during the period from
1921 to 1924, inclusive. And Louisi
ana, with an area of only 48,000
sjuare miles, a state approximately
cne-twelfth the size of Alaska, pro
duced during the trapping season
cl 1924-25 raw furs to the value of
$6,330,000.
Where are the good fur countries?
‘‘Yes, but take a census of the
trappers in these various countries,”
the young trappers demand. ‘‘Alaska
has the fur—she hasn’t the trappers
tc catch it, that’s all.”
We wonder if these young trappers
! have forgotten that Alaska had a
wonderful gold rush back a number
cl years ago. At that time there was
a great influx of people into that
country—miners, hunters, trappers,
adventurers; in fact, men from every
station in life and from every j
quarter of the globe, all fired with
the one idea of getting rich in quick
order. Alaska became a gold country,
the future of which depended upon
the possibility of new strikes being
made by gold prospectors. The
country was prospected in every nooK j
and corner in the year that followed
the big gold rush. Hundreds of
prospectors trapped in the winter in
order to be able to get a grubstake
on which to prospect for gold the
following summer. Alaska quickly
became well known, her mountains,
nor barrens, her muskegs, and her
1Ice fields and snowy wastes. When
j the gold fields were worked out a
number of the gold-seekers left the
country, but not at all. Those who
loved the trap line remained, leav
ing the country well supplied with
professional trappers; for Alaska
was then a good fur country. And
as a result, Alaska today has very
little unoccupied trapping territory.
While she has perhaps fewer trap
pers to the hundred square miles
than any territory of equal area in
the United States, she has also less
raw fur value to the hundred square
miles, even with her advantage in
producing the dine northern furs
that command highest prices in the
raw fur markets.
Let us see how Alaska compares
with some of our states in the pro
duction of pelts from the stand
point of numbers. During the trap
ping season of 1924-25 the raw fur
catch in Alaska was 396,369 pelts.
During this same period the trap
pers in the state of New York made
a catch of 344, 283 skins. In Penn
sylvania the catch was 1, 616,000
pelts; while in Louisiana the catch
totaled 7,000,000 skins. In fairness
it might be stated that these num
bers offer but poor comuarison as
far as value is concerned, inasmuch j
as Alaska furs are of so much great
er value per skin, but a glance at
value comparison a few paragraphs
back will quickly remove any doubts
as to the relative value of the vari
ous catches.
I have used Alaska in these illus
trations merely because figures for
comparison are at hand and because
there are so many dissatisfied young
trappers who, believe Alaska a coun
try overflowing with fur-bearing ani
mals, are asking about the trapping
opportunities to be found in that
country, with the view of going
there to trap, any outlying wilder
ness sections will show but little
better comparison. Of course there
are “fur pockets” in Alaska where
t'-appers are making big catches; but
these are very scattering, and usualp
most difficult to reach. And it is
much the same in other outlying
wilderness sections. Owing to the
uncertainty of the food supply and
to its unequal distribution, fur game
in the wilderness sections is usually
not so uniformly scattered over a re"
gion or locality as it is in the more
settled districts, thereby increasing
he uncertainty of trapping and add
ng to the difficulties of the work.
And there is a feature of wilder
ness trapping in the distant fur
countries that I have not yet men
tioned: that of out fitting. A trap
per in the States can outfit at a frac
tion of the cost of outfitting for a
winter trapping in the northern
wilderness. Often an, outlay of $100
to $200 is all that is necessary to
enable a States trapper to reach
good trapping grounds pretty well
rived for the winter. And if he is
trapping on home grounds his out
lay will often be only a few dollars.
But if he answers the call of the
distant trails and decides to try his
luck in the northern wilderness, his
expenses will mount astonishingly.
Outfitting expense will often run up
unto the hundreds of dollars, besides
transportation charges, which will be
no little item where the trapper lives
in the east or in the south. Of course
after the first year expenses would
be considerably less, but, in many
instances, there would likely be no
second year, as dissatisfaction
would likely send a thoroughly dis
heartened and disgusted trapper
back to the States before the open
ing of the next trapping season. It
is true, one now and then sticks, but
v here one succeeds a score or more
fail. Northern trapping is work, and
no mistake—a real man’s, job.
Then there are the dangers of the
northern wilderness trails, the cold,
the snow, the isolation. Furs are
often taken under the most unfavor
able conditions, with exposure and
extreme hardships the daily com
panions of the trapper. Sickness is
tragedy in such countries, not infre
quently ending in the final tragedy.
Such are the offerings of the far
countries that lie beyond the blue
haze of our horizon; such are the
dangers and hardships to be encoun
: tcred in the lands of our dreams
| So, taken all in all, the States
trapper who lays out a trap line in
the settled districts, where there are
forces, minks, racoons, lopossums,
skunks, and muskrats in fair num
bers, often will find when he gets to
figuring trapping on a basis of pro
fit that he is a greater trapper than
he had ever suposed himself to be.
True, the value of his catch looks
small when compared with the $900
and $1500 catches of Abe Stout
and Bert Jenkins, who went into the
northern wilderness; but when he
subtracts from the value of his
catch his total expenses for the win
ter compares his clear profit with
the clear profit of these trappers
'here is a broad smile of satisfaction
on his face—a smile that won’t come
off.
Where are the good fur countries
Not always in the far away places.
Some of them are at our very door
steps One of them may be mine.
Let us awake to the opportunities of
our own countries and forget as far
as possible the lure of the distant
trails.—Hunter-Trader Trapper
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I ALASKA CAFE ]
Sam Nakamota, Proprietor
Best Meals Served at all times.
Service: 6 a. m. to 12 p. m.
a 9i^^oxBsososososososasoso3oaaaoso^
Admiral Rogers
Queen
Queen
Admiral Rogers
Lv Seattle
Dec.
Dec.
Jan
Jan.
Nb Petersburg
12 Dec. 15
19 Dec. 22
2 Jan. 5
9 Jan. 12
Round+rip fare to Seattle is now $ t> i'. 5 0
Sb Petersburg
Dec. 3 I
Dec. 28
Jan 11
Jan. 28
Regular ports of call for Evans and Watson include: Ketchikan
Petersburg, Juneau, Cordova, Valdez, Latouche, Seward, Seldovia
and Kodiak Island ports.
EDWARD LOCKEN—Agent Petersburg, Alaska
PACIFIC COASTWISE SERVICE
The ADMIRAL LINE
H. F. ALEXANDER, President
o^luiic^sj.eamsHip«
Subscribe for THE ALASKAN
Pool and Billiard Tables
I At
! BRENNAN’S
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| Cigars and Tobaccos of all kinds
New York Restaurant
OPENS 6:30 a. m. to 12 p. m.
Serves OQly ttje J3est iQ tt)e
Lunch Counter and Private Booths for Ladies
Special Rates for Parties
liitirinHiuniiitUHiiimiimmtiniiiiiiHimmiimiiiiiinii
i
Every Month
in the Year!
1929 Sales Oates
January 23.
February 20
March 20
April 24
September 21
October HO
November 27
December 18
June 20
July 24
August 28
Advances if ill be made as usual when requested
—Transferred by Telegraph if desired.
11* **
Seattee Fur Exchange
©65 MARION STREET VIADUCT A
SEATTLE, U.S.A. •