TWO NATIVES AT COUNCIL CAP
TURE WHITE MAN WHO
THREATENS THEM.
DISARM HIM WITHOUT TROUBLE
Captors Carry Their Prisoner Bodily
Into Court of United States Com
missioner and Turn Him to Tender
Mercies of Judge.
Recent arrivals from Council in
Nome, says the Nome Nugget, bring
an amusing story of a bold, bad, gun
man who came to grief through the
wiles of two Eskimos who not only
captured him, gun and all, but also
packed him boldly to the bastile and
left him in durance vile.
The gun man in question was one
Vincent Sayre, a well known charac
ter of Council, who suddenly conceiv
ed the notion that the two Eskimos
were following him about. His sus
picions were groundless.
Determined to end forever the sup
posed Sherlocking propensities of the
natives, Sayre hied him to his cabin,
secured a huge cannon and started to
round up the Eskimos.
Gun M as Not Loaded.
The gun was not loaded but Sayre
presumably thought that an empty
gun was sufficient to bluff an Eskimo
> with, and failed to charge his weap
on.
Hie natives were located in a carp
enter shop on the main thoroughfare
of the town but would not respond to
the Sayre invitation to disclose them
selves.
The gun weilder brandished his
weapon and uttered words of righte
ous wrath but the enemy would not
surrender to his war whoop.
Decided to Dig Out Enemy.
Imbued with the go-get-’em spirit,
Sayre then decided to enter the
shop and dig the enemy out. He got
as far as the door, all right, but there
lie met sudden and unexpected dis
comfiture, for the aborigines were in
ambush beyond the lintel and grabbed
the belligerent Sayre before he was
aware of what was going on. The na
tives then proceeded to pack him bod
ily over to Commissioner Flannigan’s
court and turned him over to the ten
der mercies of the judge, with the
sage remark, "Him white man, him
heap dam fool. Eskimo fixum.”
DAYS OF 1898 CAUSED
BOTH JOY AND GRIEF
(Continued from page 7)
the sophisticated miner. For this
mason more than any other the aver
age Alaskan hates San Francisco to
day.
Dead and Buried.
Seattle was dead and buried when
the great stampede broke out. At first
her merchants adopted San Francis
co’s tricks and attempted to work off
old goods on the outfitters, but the
more sensible of her merchants real
izing that the mining industry might
be permanent, and desiring to corner
the trade for the Tuget sound city,
laid in a stock of good goods and
sold them at a fair profit, laying the
foundation for a trade which has
made Seattle what she is today, and
holding the Alaska trade against all
comers. Tacoma and Portland being
out of the direct line of travel, sold
at regular prices and made no effort
to secure portions of the Alaska
trade until later.
With but few exceptions the first
comers to Alaska were loaded up with
a lot of “junk” but were not to blame.
Professed to Know.
Merchants who sold them the goods
invariably stated that they had been
to Alaska and knew conditions, and
generally unloaded whatever they
pleased on the inexperienced cheecha
co. The poor fellows generally arriv
ed loaded down with experiments in
the dressing and cooking line. Every
kind of patent stove imaginable was
made for the Alaska trade. Every con
ceivable kind of dog harness was
brought up to the country, together
with an assorted variety of canines,
many of which were illy suited to
stand either the trail or the climate.
Newfoundlands, bird dogs, stag
houndss, wolf hounds, daschunds, sky
terriers, poodles and even Mexican
hairless dogs formed an indiscrimin
ate mass of snarling and yelping ter
ror for the weary mushers who de
sired to sleep, and dog lights were as
common as Turks in Constantinople.
Gold pans, rockers, sleds, snowshoes, j
portable sawmills, folding boats which
would not float and stoves which
would not cook were in the litter of
! goods unloaded on the beach and haul
j ed up above high tide by the eager j
i argonauts. Every man was a Jason
willing to venture through Scylla and
Charybdis to win a fortune. Gam
: biers, tin horns and prostitutes
swarmed like Harpies, eager to sink
their talons in their victims. Every ;
conceivable plan was devised to sep
arate the unwary from their roll.
While a large number of the arrivals
were fine, upstanding men of proven
morals and integrity, their advice to
newcomers was discarded and many a
victim was stripped of his roll by
methods which would not bear inves
tigation. The victims generally gave
up without a protest, thereby adding
to the difficulties of the law-abiding.
Thieves and cache-robbers were not
tolerated when discovered, and were
forced to mush to other camps.
Patent Food Stuffs.
The patent food stud's invented for
the occasion by men who had never
set a Alaska, were another drawback
to the stampeder. Every conceivable
way of preparing vegetables, eggs
and meat was tried upon the new
comer. They were all experimental
products and many of them were
tbout as nutritious ami palatable as
sawdust. Many an iron clad stomach
hoisted the white flag of surrender
or gave up in despair when confronted
with some of the experimental foods
put up by firms in the coast cities for
the stampeder. Dried fruits, sterilized
products, dessicated foods and adul
terated and unpalatable foods were
sold under high-sounding names. Mat
ches were brought in every conceiv
able manner and were sold at 25
cents for a five-gallon tin, so plenti
ful were they. Candles were another
staple that became a drug on the mar
ket. “Official Guides for the Pros
pector and Miner” told the voyager
what to buy and he bought it. They
varied as much in their advice as did
im; iiatiuiiaiiuea.
Then Packed and Shipped It.
When the would-be seeker after
gold had bought and sized up his
plunder, not one pound of which the
old-timer of today would consider es
sential, the next thing was to pack
and ship it. One man who bought a
fancy brand of bacon when he un
packed his meat in Alaska found he
had a choice lot of unborn pigs, split
from head to tail, with the feet and
head still intact. Another man bought
a dozen pair of heavy blankets and
on unpacking them found his total
stock less in weight than one pair of
the original purchase. Others found
their stocks adulterated until practic
ally useless. One man brought in
live gallons of “alcohol” to be used in
assay work. It froze up solid at a
i temperature of 10 degrees above zero
and was found to be. three-quarters |
San Francisco water. Others were '
way short of their inventory and put!
the blame on the steamship compa- 1
r.ies until the fact was borne in upon
them that they had been victimized
by the storekeepers.
Stock of Ingersoll Watches.
One man who brought in a stock of
Ingersoll watches to trade to the Cop- j
per river Indians found only the tin
cases when he unpacked. The knav
ery perpetrated upon the stampeders
is unbelievable today, but as we have
before stated the people were mad to
get to Alaska and were careless in
! seeing their outfits were packed right
1 when paid for.
A great number of those coming to
the territory were desert rats from
Arizona and experienced miners from
other states and these formed a bal
S ance of safety for the numerous indi
viduals who were ignorant of the
proper methods of preparing camp
and taking trail. These men in mark
ed contrast to the cheechaco, brought
only what was needed and no more.
Every article was properly packed
and was of the best to be obtained.
Enough guns and ammunition were
brought into Alaska to whip the Ger
mans. Rifles, shotguns, revolvers,
pistols and even dirks and slingshots
were to be found in profusion. One
vessel came armed with a rapid-fire
gun to be used against the Indians.
Imagine the surprise of these voya
gers to find the Indians more peace
able and less bother than the average
city cop. It was an amusing sight to
(he sourdoughs to see the newcomer 1
land with revolvers and belts of am- j
munition strapped to them with bowie
knives, machetes, camp axes and oth
er weapons tied on their packs.
Mules, dogs, horses, burros, goats,
mustangs, ponies, buggy horses and
cattle of all breeds and kinds were
landed on the beach in indiscriminate
confusion.
Many Horses l erisned.
A large number of the horses per
ished on the trail, and the burros and
other quadrupeds were sold and re
sold until the died of old age. Fancy
prices were paid for dogs and pack
horses, but little use was found for
the other beasts of burden. One of
the queerest modes of packing intro
duced into the country and one which
caused no little comment along old
timers of that period, was adopted by
a huge Swede who loaded his better
half with a couple of hundred pounds
of camp impedimenta and started in
over the glacier. The woman trudged
uncomplainingly along behind her lord
and master, who mushed along light,
unheeding the jibes flung at him by
the less fortunate mushers who were
forced to shoulder their own burdens.
Never Reached Interior.
Many of these people never at
tempted to reach the interior, selling
their outfits and taking the boat for
the states with no thought but to get
back to the comforts of home and civ
ilization. Others dared the dangers
and privations of a trip, returning to
the coast later disheartened and ill; or
else turned in and packed for new
comers at so much per pound, earning
good wages at the business. Others
iiked the country so well that they
settled here and made their homes,
and raised a happy family of Alas
kans.
Alaska took a heavy toll of the
ninety-eighters, but it was due to
their inexperience and the dishonesty
of the merchants in the states. Hun
dreds lost their lives in crevasses, in
the morasses of the interior, or were
swept away by some swift stream.
Very Few Profited.
Very few profited either physically
or financially from their search after
the glittering treasure. Those who
did generally spent the money outfit
ting for a further search, hoping to
strike the big thing and retire rich.
TRYING TO DO THEIR BIT.
While nearly every woman is try- !
in^ to do her bit in some way, there
are at least a hundred thousand oth
er fair ones who believe they can
serve their country by breaking into
the movies, notes a New Y'ork critic.
That is why every motion picture of
fice is crowded with applicants and
why motion-picture managers are
busy men these days of frantic film
dom. It requires much patience,
nerve and sometimes a set of burg
lar’s tools to enable a would-be act
ress to reach a manager, however,
but an overdressed woman of rather j
ripe years gushed her way past the j
array of office boys and clerks into
the sanctum of the man who hires and
fires. *T wish to become a movie ac- |
tress,” she announced. “I feel that I j
have within me the makings of a !
great impersonator of the silent dra- j
ma.” Have you ever had any experi- j
enee, madam?” asked the manager.!
“Miss, if you please,” simpered the
applicant. “No, I haven’t any experi
ence. My face is my fortune.” “Well
you need not worry about the income
tax, if that’s the case,” grunted the
manager. “Don’t slam the door.”
QUAKE IN SWATOW,
CHINA KILLS 200
SHANGHAI, China, Feb. 21.—An j
earthquake, Wednesday of last week,
killed 200 residents of Swatow, China,
are destroyed fifty buildings.
Great damage was done at Chong
chow.
S EXPLAINED
Br LEGISLAI
n
0. P. GAUSTAD, OF FAIRBANKS,
REVIEWS HISTORY OF NOTED
ENACTMENT.
DRAWN BY UNION LABOR MEN.
Courts Must Determine Validity of
Act, and Decision Should be Obtain
ed in Time for Action, if Necessary,
by Next Legislature.
Explanation of the enactment by
the last territorial legislature of the
eight-hour law is made by O. P. Gau
stad, of Fairbanks, who was a mem
ber of the last legislative body, in a
communication to the Fairbanks Cit
izen. Mr. Gaustad reviews the his
tory of the law and refers briefly to
the question involving its constitu
tionality. His communication fol
lows:
“At the last general election in the
territory of Alaska an opportunity
was given the electors to signify their
choice of hours of daily employment,
with the result that 10,416 voted for
“a general eight-hour day” and 1,782
voted against the proposition.
“The members of the last legisla
ture, deeming this a decisive indica
tion of the desires of their constitu
ents, accordingly passed an act for
‘an eight-hour day for all wage-earn
ers in Alaska.’ This bill was intro
duced simultaneously in the house and
senate, in the former by Representa
tive Corrigon, of Nome, formerly sec
retary of the Nome Local of the West
ern Federation of Miners, and in the
latter of Senator Sundback, also of
Nome.
Drafted by Union Men.
“The members of the legislature
were informed by these gentlemen
that the bill as introduced had been
furnished them by the labor organiza
tion above referred to with the assur
ance that it had been carefully pre
pared by the attorney for the West
ern Federation of Miners of Colorado,
with which the Nome local is affiliat
ed. Most of the legislators consider
ed this a very desirable source for
such legislation, and did not feel qual
ified to alter it in any way.
“Attorney General Grigsby was
asked by the senate for an opinion of
the constitutionality of the act, but
so much time was consumed in prep
aration of this opinion that the act
was passed in its original form by
that body, the members fearing that
further delay might jeopardize the en
actment of the law.
Section Authorizing Suspension.
“It was finally passed by both
houses with the addition of the sec
tion authorizing the governor to sus
pend the same when found to inter
fere with the production of food prod
ucts, etc., at the request of the sec
retary of the interior or the board
of national defense. The only other
amendment was the changing of the
words ‘labor or services’ to ‘wage
earners oi’ salary earners.’ This was
done to conform to the wording of the
original act authorizing the referen
dum. The penalty was changed to
conform to that in the eight-hour law
covering underground mining (which
had been previously passed), as it
would hardly do to have different pen
alties in two laws which might be
construed to cover the same offenses.
The act passed in this form with only
one dissenting vote, this being cast in
the house.
To Correct Misconceptions.
“Such is a brief history of the gen
eral eight-hour law as it now stands
upon our statute books and the man
ner of its passage. I give the same
for the purpose of correcting the mis
conception and misconstruction the
many critics of the act and the legis
lature seem to have engendered in the
minds of the general public.
“The above will prove as utterly
untrue the statement that the act
was passed in its present form with
the purpose of rendering it unconsti
tutional and invalid. Nor is it true
that any joker was smuggled into it
by enemies of the law. Any person :
with ordinary intelligence can read
the act and construe its meaning.
“It is true, however, that many of
the members of the legislature, the
writer included, after investigation,
had grave doubts as to the rights of
any legislative body, be it territorial,
state or national, to pass an act so
wide in its scope as the one under dis
cussion, but it must be remembered
that the mandate of the people at the i
polls was for a ‘general eight-hour j
Could Not Exclude Any.
“IIow could the legislature consit
ently exclude any particular occupa
tion from its operations.
“Mr. Critic, had you been a member
of the legislature, what particular oc
cupation or industry would you have
excluded from the provisions of a
‘general eight-hour law?’ And had
such practice been commenced, where j
would it have ended ? Employers and
employes would have appeared before
the session constantly applying for
exclusion or inclusion, one claiming
injurious, the other beneficial, results
from such legislation.
“Most of the articles which have
apeared in the papers have been in
complete and misleading, tending
rather to confuse than enlighten their
readers. One fact which seems to
have been generally lost sight of is
that underground mining and several
allied unhealthful occupations are
covered by Chapter 4, Session laws of
Alaska, 1917, which is a re-enactment
of the former eight-hour law which
was declared invalid by Judge C. E.
Bunnell of Fairbanks, in the case
against Howell & Cleveland. The ir
regularity upon which the said deci
; sion was based was remedied and
there is no doubt of the validity of
1 the law as it now stands.
Another Erroneous Impression.
1 “Another erroneous impression
j which seems to have been conveyed
is that partners cannot work for the
partnership more than eight hours
per day. By reading the law it will
be seen that it includes only ‘wage
learners and salary earners,' so unless
a partner draws down a salary out of
! the business he does not come under
the law. The provisions including
partnerships was undoubtedly incor
porated in the act to prevent the
‘phony’ partnerships to escape the
penalty of the law.
“Now, a word about the enforce
ment of the law.
“It is conceded that there are a
’ number of employers in Fairbanks
who flagrantly ignore the law, prom
inent among whom are the Alaskan
Engineering commission, city of Fair
banks and Northern Commercial com
“It is conceded that the question of
constitutionality will be carried to the
! court of last resort.
“The validity of the act is attacked
upon the ground that it conflicts'with
! the Fourteenth amendment to the
constitution of the United States, sec
tion one of which reads:
j “ * * No state shall make or
j enforce any law which shall abridge
the privileges or immunities of citi
I zens of the United States. * * *’
j “Numerous supreme court deci
' sions, some of them fairly recent, hav
| ing already been rendered, there is
no reason why a decision of the case
in point can not be had in time for
| the next legislature to remedy any
defect which may be found to exist j
in the present law.
“There is no question about the
sincere desire of the legislators to
give the people the kind of eight-hour
law they want, but it must be remem
bered that there is no precedent to
go by in the enactment of general
eight-hour legislation, and until there
has been adjudication of the question
by the courts, we can not be sure of ;
the validity of the act passed.”
HOMES FOE AMERICANS.
LIVERPOOL, Feb. 21.—The Liver- j
pool Rotary club has started a scheme
for the opening up of British homes I
to American soldiers fighting in
France, when they get a brief respite
from the trenches. Several homes
have already announced their willing
ness to accept one or two men and it
is proposed to send particulars of the 1
scheme to all British and Irish clubs,
inviting their co-operation. 1
Anchorage Daily Times, “The
Newspaper of Alaska.”
DANILO VUCETICH AND RAY C.
LARSON ARE AT HEAD OF
COMPETITIVE TEAMS.
ENCH CONFIDENT OF VICTORY.
Contest Will Continue Until March 12
and Losing Side Will Have to En
tertain Business Men at Theatre
Party and Luncheon.
The drive of the Anchorage Cham
ber of Commerce for membership is
meeting with exceptional success.
Captain Danilo Vucetich and Captain
Ray C. Larson are each confident that
his own particular side will be the
winner of the prize to be paid for by
the losing team.
The drive started February 20 and
<ivill end Tuesday March 12. At every
luncheon of the Chamber, held during
the period of the contest, each side will
announce the new members it has
obtained.
An invitation to a motion picture
show and a luncheon for all the mem
bers of the chamber, including the new
members, constitute the prize for
which each side is working. The los
ing team will have to pay the bills.
Following is the complete list of
two teams:
Captain Vucetich’s team: Lieuten
ants Sidney Anderson, Frank Red
wood, F. B. Wood, A. A. Shonbeck and
A. Chimento; members, Oscar Ander
son, Anchorage Drug compnay, Bank
of Alaska, H. Baxter, F. W. Barr, Dr.
J. B. Beeson, Felix Brown, Brown &
Hawkins, Carrol & Co., A. Christen
sen, L. David, Eli DeHon, Dohrmann
Herning & Co., Walter DeLong, Evans
& Frantzen, Frisco Cafe, F. I. Reed,
Dr. W. A. Rystrom, Barney Simon, A.
G. Thompson, J. G. Watts and J. C.
Dougherty.
Captain Larson’s team: Lieutenants
Al. Shyman, Z. J. Lousac, Ed. T. Mc
Nally, J. L. Waller and Dr. F. ML
Boyle, members, H. L. Gentseh, J. J.
Hales, J. R. Harmon, Bert Hughes,
Jaffe & Bayles, O. A. Kenyon, E. E.
Kurtz, A. E. Lathrop, W. E. I.oge
mann, J. J. Myers, J. C. Murphy, Mur
ry & Blanton, C. W. Mossman, T. R.
McAnaly, C. F. Peterson, Policy Bros.,
Price & Bennett, W. H. Rager, J. E.
Roborts, Joseph Schmidtbauer, P. O.
Sundberg, J. H. Toman and A. J.
Wendler.
ANOTHER “NO MAN’S LAND.’’
EUREKA, Cal., Feb. 21.—Not alone
the fighting front of Europe presents
to the world a “No-Man’s Land.”
There is one in Mattole township,
somewhere between Point Gorda and
Blocksburg in Humbolt county. It is
unsurveyed land, belongs to no man,
has no title or fee simple, cannot be
located upon by any person and legal
ly does not exist.
Many years ago surveyors were
hired at Eureka to survey the land in
which this mysterious parcel was a
part and they grew disgusted and
tired of the job, left the most of it in
completed and and one of the results,
according to local tradition, was “No
Man’s Land” near the rought coast at
Point Gorda. The land is not occu
pied or used.
CENTER OF FASHION.
Paris, the center of the world’s
fashions, has no fewer than GO,000 wo
men dressmakers, not counting de
signers and fitters, which would bring
the number up close to 100,000. The
designers, who sketch out their ideas
in pen and ink or with water-colors
and often originate the fashions that
prevail throughout the world, earn
easily over four figures a year, ob
serves a correspondent.
Good mannequins are the most dif
ficult to obtain. Some of the largest
Parisian houses employ twenty or
bhirty, whose whole time is passed
;n trying on dresses before the eyes
)f fashionable French women. Nat
arally the numbers are fewer nowa
iays, and many of the most famous
nannequins of Paris are now nursing
n the hospitals or employed in the
French munition works.