* DAILY EDITION
Cook Iknlet Pioneer
VOL. 1
Anchorage, Alaska, Thursday, November It, 1915
NO. 17
FRANCE TO PLACE
ABERDEEN, Nov. 11—The
big lumber mills in the Gray’s
harbor district are figuring on
an order from the French gov
ernment for three hundred
million feet of lumber, to be
delivered in France as soon as
possible. The lumber, it i?
stated, is for use in housing-in
the trenches in the war zone,
to make them more habitable
during the winter months. It
will require a thousand vessels
to convey the lumber to a
French port.
Should the order be landed,
and there is every reason to
believe that it will be given,
things will boom in this sec
ton. All the mills will stai t up
and operate day and night,
giving employment to hun
dreds of men.
GALVESTON, Nov. 11.—,
Italian ship, believed to be the!
{^evietta, is on tire off the Gulf
of Mexico, and was abandoned
by the crew of twenty-six
I members. The fire broke out
sixtv-tivo lmTos off Saline bar
and raged with such fury that
the crew took to life b >ats. A
wireless call sent out bv the
vessel received a response, and
a steamer is now speeding to
tin* scene. The Levietta was]
laden with eighty-one tliou-j
sand cases of oil and forty
thousand cases of gasoline. It
was enroute to Buenos Ayres.
South America.
BALVIISTUX. Nov. 11.— i
'Die Levietta is burniug fierce
ly and will prove a total loss,
according to the latest reports
received here.
JAP EWIPEROR’S
> CORONATION GIFT
KIOTO. Nov. 11.—As ;t cor
onati'Oii gift, in lionov of the
momentous cvey( in his career,
the emperor of . apan today
announced, by royal ukase,
that all death sentences had
been commuted to life impris
onment, all life sentences had
been reduced to twenty-five
years, and all other sentences
iiad been reduced one-half.
The emperor also gave a half
million dollars to be devoted
to charity.
. /HUES MUST IN
PARIS, Nov. 11.— In an in
terview today Premier Briand
g* said: “Peace talk is misplaced
* at this time. Until the allies
gg win the war will continue.”
Having received special mould
ings. lumber furniture, fixtures,
fancy veneer, etc., I am now in a
position to do anything in the furni
ture line.
WILKES, Shop 4th and H.
A
Wanted—Boarders and roomers.
Good, warm rooms. Good family
board. Fourth ave. and B at. E.
Window Shades, all sizes. Eck
mann's Furniture Store.
WAXTF.1).
To buy or lease part of residential
lot, near town. Must be reasjnab1''.
Apply The Model Cigar Store.
IXL Chicken Tamales at the Mer
chants Cafa.
A good place to «at. Merchants
Cate
LONDON, Nov. 11. — The
admiralty tins morning an
nounced that a British arm
ored cruiser had sunk two Gor
man submarines off Gibraltar
yesterday. m
"'LONDON, Nov. U. — The
British torpedo boat Louis
stranded on the beach in the
Mediterranean sea. The crew
was saved.
LONDON, Nov. 11.—Four
British steamers have been
sunk in the Mediterranean sea
by German submarines, ac
cording to the official report of
the admiralty.
FRENCH RE TAKE
VEEES, IN SERBIA
ATHENS, Nov. 11. —The
French forces, after a desper
ate fight, have re taken Veles
from the Bulgarians. The
Bulgars captured this town
from the Sorbs.
Board and looms at the Merchants
Cafe.
For Sale—Cheap, corner lot,
cleared, and cabin partly finished, at
Third avenue and Fast B. Inquire
on premises.
The high Scores of bowling at the
Itobarts Billiard and Bowling Par
lors for this week are as follows:
Wm. Yateman, 19S: Jimmie Cort,
190; George Parks, 188.
Vnderwear, boys’ and girls’ vests
and drawers, 75c. Hosiery, ladles’
and children’* suits. Francisco Mer*
rautile, Fourth sad K St.
DELEGATE IS HI
flon. .lames Wiekersham, |
delegate to congress from
Alaska, reached here on the S.;
S. Admiral Kvans tins morn
ing. .Members of the Chamber!
of Commerce reception . *>m
mittee, in the government
launch Matanuska, met him at
tlie steamer and escorted him
ashore. Landing at lie* gov
ernment dock, the Commission
team drove him across the
creek, up the II street grade,
and along Fourth avenue to
the Crescent Hotel, v'erej
headquarters had been pro
vided.
This afternoon, escorted by,
Commissioner Mears, Super m-!
tendent of Construction
O’Reilly, Towniste Managcrj
Moore and other nr^u'-ers of
the reception committee, the!
delegate was shown about the|
town and the railway works, j
He also delivered a talk before
the Anchorage Woman’s Club
at the soda! hall, old town.
Tomorrow forenoon the j
delegate, accompanied by
Commissioner Mears, Superin
tendent O’Reilly and members i
of the reception committee,
will go out on the railway line
as far as the completed portion
of the track.
Tomorrow evening at 8
o’clock, at Roberts’ hall, the
delegate will deliver a speech
to the people of Anchorage.
All are welcome and are urged
to attend. Following the
si leech, the reception commit
tee will banquet the delegate
at the ’Frisco Cafe.
COL SLED. IN LESLIE'S WEEKLY,
Col. Slelcher, editor of Leslie's
Weekly, who made a visit to Au
chorage, remaining during the brief
stay of the steamer on which he
was traveling, and hence, in his own
opinion, learning more about Alaska
than those who have lived here tiie
greater part of their lives, contrib
utes an article to his publication,
under the amusing caption. ‘The
Truth About Alaska." The Pioneer
cannot agree with Sleicher in some
of his observations and conclusions,
but that, part of his story dealing
particularly with Anchorage is re
produced herewith.
It should be clearly understood
that Sleicher, in irs comment on
local conditions, v;:s referring i ;
the tent town on the north side of
Ship creek, not the present townstte
now established, which boasts the
prettiest site, in all Alaska.
“The newest town in the I'nitrd
States in its last territorial posses
sion” is what Purser Carl Strout, of
the Watson, calls Anchorage, the
spot on Cook’s inlet over 250 miles
northward irom Seward, which has
been selected as the construction
terminal of the government’s new
railroad up to the Matanuska coal
fields and thence on some 400 miles
to Fairbanks. Lieut. Mears. of the
C. S. Army Engineering Corps, is
in charge of the formidable work. No
one will ever accuse him of loouac
itv. but he commands the confidence
of his associates and of the shipping
and business interests that deal with
tliIs section of ‘fUaska. Anchorage
Mad 2.500 to 3,000 inhabitants on
July 25th, when I was landed from
a motor boat at high tide on its
steep mud hanks and walked
through dust a foot deep to the offi
cial headquarters. Last April,
when the first steamer of the year,
the Admiral Evans, came in. there
was nothing of Anchorage hut a
waste of poorlv t’mbered land on a
small rise of ground, with no deen
water harbor and no chance that it
ever could he made such, hecausp it
is ice-locked for five months of the
venr. On July lOtli ihe Cnited
States government had an auction
sate of lot' in Anchorage, and 655
lo*- 'n\-1 to foot in dimension were
sold, at the rate of a lot in one and
a half minutes, for $1 48,980. some
bringing $1,100 niece, but the aver
age price was *225.
The sale continued at intervals
during a week, and was conducted
bv Andrew Christiansen. superin
tendent sales, chief of the field divi
sion of the general land office for
Alaska. General Agent Watson, of
the Admiral Line, who witnessed
the auction, said that the crowd of
men in sweaters and overalls didn’t
loob aa if it had 50 cents, hut the
bidders put up $50,000 cash before
♦ he sale was over. The town eltf
Includes liberal reservations for
public building* and * cemetery. The
latter already has two interments.
1 asked the reticent Lieutenant
Moars xvliat he thought of the gov
ernment's going into the real estate
business in this way and he replied, ■
substantially, that a crowd came on
its own impulse and squatted all
about the plots reserved for the gov
ernment's construction work. What
else could the governmeent do but
sell building sites upon which the
people could settle down and live?
This i- not unreasonable, but :f An
chorage fails to realize tile expecta
tions of til., lot buyers they will not
forgive nor forget tin government.
This is human nature. Some shrewd
business, men have faith in Anchor
age. among them IT. T.,Fowh-r.prcs
ident of the Pacific Grocery Com
pany of Everett, who lias opened the’
first wholesale Wore in the new
town. A spring of good water helps
to supply Anchorage, hut it has no
drainage system and is a city of
shacks and tents, such as you see
only on the frontier, and Alaska is
our last remaining frontier. It is-,
noteworthy that Ancnorage labor
commands ipli a day, which is mod
erate when the cost of living is con
sidered. I heard that, it had hun
dreds of idle men. Prohibition pre
vails, though water is sold by the
pail, and there had been only one
arrest during the past six weeks.
A fine exhibition of Uncle Sam's in
difference to Alaska's r.eeds is found
at the Anchorage postoffice. The
crowd stand in a line, and somp wait
all day to get their mall, but no
extra clerks are provided to meet
the emergency.
The government is building a rail
road from Anchorage to Fairbanks
primarily to open tile rich interven
ing country, not principally to reach
the Matanuska coal fields. Tnis ai
least is the statement of those con
nected with the work, though the
general impression of t lie country is
to the contrary. If the government
has decided to embark in the busi
ness of opening up remote sections
everywhere, it will have its hands
full and the pork barrel will tind
new excuse for its increasing size at
every session of congress. It "as
announced that the government had
taken over the Alaska Northern
railroad, extending from Seward <Z
miles toward the Matanuska coal
fields, and proposed to extend the
line to these fields and up to Fair
banks. Little is being done to ex
tend tlie existing line towards Sew
ard, but a new railway from An
chorage O.'i miles northward to the
coal fields is being pushed ahead in
the hope of finishing it before the
close of liilfi and thus opening the
Matanuska coal fields to use. From i
Girdwood, the present northern ter-'
minus of the Alaska Northern, the j
cost of construetion will be very
heavy, aud it was deemed more ex- i
(Continued on Page 3.)
liOME, Xov. 11.—The great-j
est sea tragedy of tile war oc
curred yesterday, when an j
Austrian subninriine attacked
and sunk the big Italian liner j
Ancona iu the Mediterranean
sea. Four hundred and twenty
souis* aside from the crew,1
were on board the steamer at
the time. When the big vessel
began to sink, soon after the
attack, lifeboats were launch
ed and tiiere was a wild scram
ble to get into them. In the
meantime, the submarine kept
up a continuous lire on the
mass of humanity seeking to
escape a watery grave. Many
were killed and wounded by
the shots.
Some two hundred of the
eight hundred people aboard,!
including the crew, got away
in the small boats and headed
for Byzerta, a French naval
station, which they eventually
reached in safety. The re
mainder were either killed by
Austrians or were drowned.
The Ancona carried a cargo
of eight thousand tons, con
sisting of supplies, and valued
at over one million dollars.
LONDON, Nov. 11—Lloyd’s
report of tin* sinking of the
Italian steamshlip Ancona
says that over three hundred
persons, mostly women and
ehildren. were lost, ’file snb
niarine tired over one hundred
shells, continuing the fusilade
after the vessel was sinking.
It is said that some Ameriican
citizens went down with the
ship. Tt is Lloyd’s belief that,
the submarine was a Herman
flying the Austrian flag.
WASHINGTON. Nov. 11.—
The sinking of the Italian
steamship Ancona is causing
intense anxiotv to officials of
the administrator!. If it
should occur that Americans
lost their lives in the terrible
sea tragedy and that the big
vessel was fired on without
warning, then serious compli
cations rnav ensue. All reports
reaching Washington art to
the effect that the Anconft was
shelled only after it made an
effort to escape. If this be
true, no redress will be asked
tv the American government,
which demands only that ves
sels he given warning.
SI 1A X< J11A I. China, .Nov.
! 1. While enronte to attend
the coronation of the Japanese
emperor, to which lie had been
invited, the governor of
Shanghai was assassinated
mid hi' MTivlary seriously
"••omided at the hands c.f a
party nl' revolutionists armed
with ant miatie yams.
IKE REPORTED
ATHENS, Nov. 11.—It is
ported here* today that Greece
and Bulgaria had reached an
agreement whereby Greece
will keep out of the war.
EVERYWHERE A
SEAY REPULSE
BERLIN, Nov. 11- “Every
where the Russians are re
pulsed,” says an official report
issued by the government to
day.
$11 for $10 at Merchants Cafe.
Robarts’ billiard tables and bowl
ing alleys are all new and latest im
proved. Cues straight, tables fast.
All kinds of heating stoves, large
and small, at absolute cost, at the
Ciocker Mat trees Co., near corner of
Fourth and H street.
Johnston's Ferry, The Brighton,
at your service from tills side to
and from the boats. Office, next
door to Admiral line. Franklin
Johnston, Manager.
rKKIN, Xov. 11.—Follow
iii”- tin* official announcement
of tin* vote on the proposition,
China will resume a monareh
ial form of government, agree
able to the wishes of the peo
ple as expressed by the ballot.
The change will not take place
until a year lias elapsed.
PA.KIX, Xov. 11. —“The
Formans were repulsed ill the
(iivinehy woods district, fol
lowing severe infantry light
ing.” says a French official re
port today.
Holiday orders are coming in fast,
and I now have a shop full, com
pleted. to select from. Better drop
in and set. some nifty designs. Did
you see those Baby Toboggans?
WILKES, Shop 4th and H.
Wanted—Lunch waiter or wait
res* at the Merchants Cafe.