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DELEGATE CHARLES A. SULZEl
INTRODUCES BILL EXTEND
ING LAW TO ALASKA.
> -
OTHER IMPORTANT MEASURES
Proposed Legislation Would Provid
for Homesteads of 160 Acres o
Less and Would Abolish Reserve*
Shore Spaces.
Three bills of interest to resident
of this part of Alaska, particularly t
those engaged in the agricultural in
dusty, have been introduced in th
house of representatives by Delegate
in Congress Charles A. Sulzer.
The measures extend the provision
and benefits of the fedral farm loai
act to the territory of Alaska; pro
vide for homestead entries of 10<
acres or less in Alaska, and authorize
the abolition of the eightyrod reserve*
shore space between claims on shon
waters in Alaska.
The bill in regard to the federa
farm loan act reads as follows:
"Be it enacted by the senate an*
house of represntatives of the Unite*
States of America in congress assem
bled, That the provisions of the fed
oral farm-loan act, an act of congres:
approved July IT, It) 16, be, and herebj
are, extended to include the Territory
of Alaska, and the federal farm loai
board is hereby authorized to formu
late plans for carrying the provision:
of this act into effect.’*
*>
r
\
Size of Homesteads.
The text of the bill relative to th<
size of homestead^is as follows:
"Be it enacted by the senate an<
house of representatives of the Unite<
States of America in congress assem
bled, That the act of congress entitle!
‘.An act to amend the United State:
homestead law in its application t<
Alaska, and for other purposes,’ ap
proved July S, 1916, is hereby amend
ed to read as follows:
“Section 1. That every person win
is qualified under existing laws t<
make homestead entry of the publii
lands of the United States who ha:
settled upon or who shall hereafte:
settle upon any of the public lands o
the United States situated in the dis
trict of Alaska, whether surveyed o:
unsurveyed, with the intention o
claiming the same under the home
stead laws, shall, subject to the pro
visions ami limitations of the act a})
proved March 3, 1903, chapter 1,003
United States statutes at large, pag<
1,02S be entitled to enter 160 acres o
a less quantity of aunappropriate<
public land in said District of Alaska
and no more, and a former homestea<
entry in any other state or territory
shall not be a bar to a homestea<
entry in Alaska: Provided, That noth
ing herein contained shall be con
strued to limit or curtail the area o
any homestead claim heretofore law
fully initiated.
Method of Procedure.
“Section 2. That if the system o:
public surveys has not been extendec
over the land included in a home
stead entry, the entryman may, aftei
due compliance with the terms of tin
homestead law in the matter of resi
dence, cultivation, and improvement
submit to the register and receiver •<
showing as to such compliance, dub
corroborated by two witnesses, and i
such evidence satisfactorily show!
that the homesteader is in a positioi
to submit aceptable final proof th<
surveyor general of the territory wil
be so advised and will, not later thai
the next succeeding surveying season
issue proper instructions for the sur
vev of the land so entered, without ex
pense to the entryman, who ma;
thereafter submit final proof as ii
similar entries of surveyed lands. S<
far as practicable, such survey shai
follow the general system of public
land surveys, and the entryman shal
conform his boundaries thereto: Fro
vided, That nothing herein shall pre
vent the homesteader from securing
earlier action on his entry by a specia
I survey at his own expense, if he sr
elects,
j
' j “Section 3. That there shall be ex
I cepted from homestead settlement an<
^ entry under this act the lands in An
nette and Pribilof islands, the islands
! leased or occupied for the propagation
! of foxes, and sue bother lands as havt
• been, or may be, reserved or with
drawn from settlment or entry.”
Abolition of Shore Spaces.
I The bill for the abolition of the
eighty-rod reserved shore spaces is a.
follows:
i ‘‘Be it enacted by the senate am
house of representatives of the Unite<
5 States of America in congress assem
■ bled, That the provisions of the act oJ
' May 14, 18DS, (Thirtieth statutes at
i large, page 40!)), extending the home
stead laws to Alaska, and the act oi
. March 3, 11)03, (thirty-second statute."
( at large, page 1,028), amendatorx
thereof, creating eighty-road reservec
j spaces between entries and claims
5 along the shores of navigable or othei
I water in the Territory of Alaska, art
hereby repealed, and the shore spaces
created by said acts are hereby restor
^ ed to the public domain, but nothing
herein shall prevent the president
from withdrawing such shore lands a."
' may be deemed necessary or advisable
' in the public interest.”
A BA1) LOT.
Senator Weeks, apropos of the Lux
burg, Bernstorff, Von Igel and othei
1 German exposures, said in Washing
ton a short time ago:
5 “Germany seems to approve the un
exampled wickedness of her sons. She
, reminds me of the old man at the club
» “An old man sat reading a newspa
per in a club while a group of young
I fellows talked excitedly about the
[ marvelus power for lying possessed
. by a certain Jack Courtenay. When
! their talk ceased the old man cleared
; his throat and said:
) “ ‘Gentlemen, 1 have just heard you
. decide that Jack Courtenay is the big
. gest liar in the United States. 1 am
his father.’
( “A young man, very red in the face
( started to apologize, but the old bo\
said:
“ ‘Xo. no; don’t apologize. It isn’t
. necessary. I merely wanted to say
• gentlemen, that if you consider m\
son Jack the biggest liar in the Uniter
. States, it’s vei y evident that you have
. never met my other son, Jim.”
JUST AS EASY.
Two commercial travelers, while or
’ a train on the Oregon Electric railway
got into an argument over the actior
of the automatic brake.
* “It’s the inflation of the tube thal
’ stops the train,” declared the first
^ traveler.
“Wrong, wrong!” shouted the sec
* ond. “It’s the output of the exhaus
' tion.”
So they wrangled for an hour. Then
when the train arrived at the statior
they agreed to submit the matter foi
settlement to the motorman. Thai
gentlemen, leaning condescending]?,
from the door of his car, listened with
' an attentive frown to the two travel
ers’ statement of their argument.
Then he smiled, shook his head, and
said:
“Well, gents, ye’re both wrong
’ about the working of the vacuum
L brake. Yet it’s very simple and eas>
to understand. When we want to stop
the train we just turn this ’ere tap:
’ and then we fill the pipe with
vacuum.
t
OH JOY!
, “Hell must be a terrible place,” sard
• the New Arrival, as he glanced around
■ Hades in a fearsome way.
“Oh, it isn’t so bad,” said the Old
1 Timer. “Down here a ball game is nev
) er called off on account of rain or wet
! | grounds.”
SOLDIERS OUGHT
TO BE OFFERED
I PRESIDENT OF UNIVERSITY OF
ILLINOIS SAYS GOVERNMENT
SHOULD GIVE AID.
I
—
$100,000,000 FOR IRRIGATION.
Returned Troops Should Be Given
Chanee to Get Productive Farms
and Should Be Financed Until on
Paying Basis.
IDAHO FALLS, IDAHO, Feb. 9.—
The returning American soldier who
finds his former occupation gone
should be given a part of the public
domain properly cleared or otherwise
outfitted for immediate use at the gov
ernment’s expense, said F. H. Newell,
head of the University of Illinois in an
address here today before the joint
conference of agricultural, livestock,
engineering and irrigation societies of
Mr. Newell urged the immediate
appropriation of $100,000,000 or more
by the government to put through ir
rigation and reclamation schemes and
otherwise place the remaining public
lands in such shape that the returned
fighting man may go on them with
hope of securing a living return at
once. Mr. Newell said in part:
“In older days it was recognized
as a matter of course that the con
querors should take from the van
quished suitable fertile soil by which
the former soldiers might be enriched.
With us this is not possible. We can
not or would not claim additional
lands; we must meet the great prob
lem of homes and of employment in
some way. How shall we do it? How
shall we not only increase the food
producing area now but be prepared
to continue its increase at an acceler
ated rate in the near future?
Millions of Acres.
' “The United States still owns mil
lions of acres and at first glance it
appears as though these might serve
as in the past. The more we study
these, however, the more we become
impressed with the fact that although
the extent is vast the proportion is
small which can be put to immed
iate use. The lands have been picked
over and over again, and the choice
spots selected, especially those which
control the necessary water supply. It
would be cruel to induce any man
without ample funds and without ex
perience to try to make a living on
most of these lands or to settle upon
them trusting to his own sertngth and
ingenuity as was done by the pioneer
of a former generation. And yet as
we see the west, there are unlimited
possibilities in these lands. Thousands
of prosperous homes can be made and
food produced for millions of people;
but to do this theie must be provided
i adequate means for overcoming the
lack of moisture and for getting the
| fields into cultivatable form.
“We have only begun on the great
work of reclamation . We have gone
into it with energy. Large invest
ments have been made under enthus
iastic promotion. Ten years ago every
thing pointed to a rapidly expanding
development but to the surprise of all
this promise of continuing growth and
activity has not been fulfilled. The
i swelling buds of reclamation have
been nipped by early frost and instead :
of more reservoirs, more canals, and
vastly expanding areas of irrigated
! land, we now see far fewer enterprises,
under way than were being vigorous
ly pushed a few years ago. While
the food producing area is extending
and under the stress of 1917 was
greatly increased, yet the rate of de
velopment is less than is necessary to
supply our needs and far below that
which we have reason to anticipate.
Two Great Questions.
“We have two great questions or
really two branches of one problem,
namely, how to get money or credit!
first for building the reclamation
works great or small and second for
providing the settlers under these
with adequate capital. The engineer
ing questions we may well ignore for j
the present as these have been prac-1
ticaiiy solved but the hnancial mat
ters are those which are open for de
bate. There is in one sense plenty oi
money to be had, but it can be obtain
ed only by assurance of the ultimate
return of the principal and interest.
“There is no probability, however
that funds can be had from any source
—public or private—without the adop
tion of a plan which secures the ulti
mate return of the original expendi
tures by the owners of the lands or by
the community benefitted, nor is there
any reason why this return should no1
be made. These lands are greatly in
creased in value by reclamation; this
practical unearned increment shoulc
in all fairness go in part toward re
funding the original cost of the works
which have produced the added value
“Will the governments—national
state or municipal—plunged into deb!
by the great war, be able to obtair
money for reclamation purposes'!
They most assuredly should, because
such expenditures are vital to return
ing prosperity. Whatever other ex
penditures may be cut off there should
be no diminution but rather an in
crease of the outlay for projects which
obtain food.
. Can Afford to Borrow.
“Even impoverished as they may be
they can always obtain money for this
purpose and if reasonable assurances
are given of the safe investment of
money, it can be had at a low rate ol
interest—one sufficiently moderate te
enable it to be absorbed in the cost oi
the works or even carried by the pub
lic bodies concerned. In other words
as a result of the experience of the
past, the government can well afford
to borrow money directly or indirect
ly to aid in the increase of homes and
to the productive farms which may be
available for the soldiers.
“The United States has already in
vested over $100,000,000 in reservoirs
and canals of known value and pro
ductive capacity. Using these as a
basis of credit, an equivalent amount
could be borrowed at a low rate of in
terest and utilized in building other
works, which if economically con
structed, would serve in turn as an as
surance by which still larger funds
could be had. In the meantime the
cost of the works already built is be
ing returned to the government and
can be used over again. Under wise
and conservative financial manage
ment it is possible to continue along
these lines to an ever widening extent.
“But how about financing the set
tlers? Here we have had less exper
ience but are rapidly obtaining it.
Many well thoughtout plans have been
considered and may be presented.
They are all well based, however, upon
confidence in the ultimate ability and
intent of settlers to make good to re
pay the loan. Enough has been dem
onstrated to show that if we follow
the rules laid down by business men
if we carefully select the settlers and
their families who are to go upon the
reclaimed land and use ordinary pre
cautions, we can safely guarantee the
return of the money. In other words,
the community organization respon
sible for each and every debt can see
to it that he members do their part.
The co-operation thus made necessary
is one of the greatest factors of suc
cess in all other lines.”
HOMAGE PAID JOAN OF ARC.
Old and new were reunited when
Orleans and New Orleans met in the
fifteenth century hotel de ville of the
city on the Loire at the heart of
France recently, says a Paris corres
pondent. The bicentenary of the new
world city was the occasion of the
United States delegates' visit. Hom
age was paid to Joan of Arc, the
champion of the medieval struggle for
freedom. She was the subject of
French and American speeches, and
flowers and a bronze pa!m leaf were
laid at the foot of her statue. A pil
grimage, too, was made to the fort of
Tourelles, so famous in the defense of
the city by the maid. The events of
those far-gone centuries served as a
distant romantic background to the
present struggle, in which the most
recent figures to appear on a crowded
canvas are those of the United States
soldiers on the Flanders front. Side
by side with the mention of medieval
names and events were heard, in the
old hall <*f Orleans, those of President
Wilson and the battle of the Marne.
NEW YORK'S GIDDY WAY FLASH
ES ITS ELECTRIC SIGNS
ONLY ONCE WEEKLY.
—
FEATURE FILMS CHARGE $1.
_
Mrs. Koch, Who Formerly Resided
Here, Is Employed as Linguist in j
One of Governmental Departments j
at Washington City.
i
By L. F. SHAW.
(Former Editor of the Times.)
NEW YORK, Jan. 13.—(Special |
Correspondence)—Old Broadway is a
gloomy-looking street these days !
Saturday night is the only night in '
the week when the electric signs are !
displayed in all their glory. On the |
remaining nights, Broadway is as ill- :
lighted as the other streets of the i
metropolis, and that means scarcely
any light at all. The shortage of coal
necessitates the curtailment of lights. |
They are seriously talking now of
closing the theatres, saloons and
churches in an effort to save coal.
Most of the public schools are closed
now. The weather conditions are er-1
ratic and unreliable. One day it will i
be a degree or two below zero, the
next it will be snowing or raining.
And all the time, the wind blows.
Motion Pictures High.
When Captain Laihrop opened hi.- j
motion picture house in Anchorage!
and displaced one of the big feature
films, he charged $1 admission. There
was some murmuring over this admis
sion price, as being too high. But 1
notice it costs a dollar to see one of
the big feature films in this city. 1
paid a dollar to see Theda Bara in
“Cleopatra,” and William Farnum in
“Les Miserables.” Indeed, in the best
motion picture houses in this city, if
you wish a decent seat, you pay GO
cents admission. There are ten cent
shows here, but they are no good, pre
senting only the cheaper class of,
films.
S. W. Eccles, former president of
the Alaska Steamship company, who
died December 30, at a resort in Flor
ida, left an estate valued at $500,000.
The widow gets most of the estate,
but an adopted daughter is provided
for in a substantial way.
Mrs. Koch, who was active in the
Woman’s club in Anchorage, and who
formerly owned the Riverside hotel
there, is employed in one of the de
partments at Washington. Mrs. Koch
is a linguist and is employed where
this accomplishment may be used to
advantage. Her elder son, A. S. Koch,
former secretary of the Anchorage
Chamber of Commerce, is in the Unit
ed States aviation service. The young
er son, who used to be employed in the
Anchorage post office, is attending a 1
naval academy.
Lectures un AiasKa.
Dr. McBride, pastor of the Presby
terian church in Anchorage, is deliv
ering a series of lectures in the east.
Alaska is his subject. Mrs. McBride
is staying with relatives in West
Virginia.
One cannot pack up and go any time j
and any place they wish these busy
days. Mrs. Shaw and myself decided
that we would leave here about Feb-,
ruary 5, and go west via New Or
leans and Los Angeles, remaining a
few days in each of these places, and
a longer period in San Francisco. I
dropped into a Southern Pacific Rail
way company office to make inquiries.
I found that it was impossible to get
either a drawing room or a compart
ment on a train between here and New
Orleans within the next two months.
After the agent made some inquiries
by wire, he was able to reserve us a
section on a train that leaves here
February 6. He said we were mighty
lucky to get that these days, when
there is so much travel.
LIKE BEST REMEDIES.
“Do you guarantee your remedy to
relieve people of anything?” asked
the Druggist.
“Yes,” replied the honest patent
i medicine salesman. “We guarantee it
to relieve them of their coin.”
E. SCHULER, OF ANCHOR POINT,
TAKES BLACK AND SILVER
HIDES BACK EAST.
SHIPPED LAST DECEMBER.
Mason B. Leming, Special Agent of
Federal Land Office, Arrives Here*
on Official Business from Juneau
and Seldovia.
Twenty-five thousand dollars is the
price asked by E. Schuler, of Anchor
Point, on the east coast of Cook Inlet
near Seldovia, for twenty-four black
and silver fox furs, which were taken
in December by him from his fox
farm at Anchor Point to eastern far
markets, according to Mason B. Lem
ing, special agent for the United
States land office with headquarters
in Juneau, who arrived here yesterday
from Seldovia.
Mr. Schuler left Seldovia, continued
Mr. Leming during the Christmas
holidays with the furs intending to
visit the eastern fur markets and dis
pose of the furs to individual fur buy
ers. The fox farm at Anchor Point
is the only successful fox farm ever
visited by Mr. Leming, and represents
one of the valuable resources of the
Seldovia country. There are twenty
five foxes on the farm at the present
time.
Mr. Leming is in Anchorage on of
ficial business connected with the land
department and will spend several
months investigating agricultural con
ditions in the Matanuska valley with
the end in view of determining the
advisability of obtaining more liberal
requirements from the general land
office relative to a reduction of the
number of acres required to be under
cultivation before patent can i>suc:.
Mr. Leming will make a personal
visit with the bona fide ranchers
throughout the valley and will take
up with them the question of acreage
requirements. Mr. Leming first visit
ed Anchorage a year and a half ago
and since that time has been at hi*
headquarters at Juneau and at Sel
dovia. A part of his duties in An
chorage will be the awarding of tim
ber contracts to individuals and firms
contemplating the purchase of timber
from the government. Mr. Leming is
registered at the Hotel Anchorage.
“PILL BOX” DEFENSE.
The “pill box” defense appeared in
the German lines some time this year,
says the Scientific American. The
“pill box” is the British, soldiers nair.r
for a small, round, concrete block
house which contains German machine
gunners.* The “pill box” appears to
be the smallest of German concrete
defenses, some of which are nothing
short of fortresses in every sense of
the word.
The “pill box” strategy, which has
been offset by heavier allied gunfire,
comprises the use of shell holes, trees,
rocks and every other available shel
ter for machine guns, instead of the
old style rows of trenches. In other
words, there is a “zone of defense.”
The organization of this zoie of de
fense is such that the aeifial observ
ers of the allies cannot detect the in
dividual machine gun posts; hence di
rect hits by artilery become almost
impossible except by mere chance.
NEW MEXICO LAND
OPENED TO ENTRY
FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND
ACRES WILL BE SUBJECT TO
LOCATION MARCH 11.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 7. — More
than 500,000 acres of land in the west
ern part of Chaves county, New Mex
ico, including a part of the Roswell
district, has been designated as open
to entry March 11 under the stock
raising homestead act.
The announcement was made today
by Secretary of the Interior Franklin
K. Lane.