1 BRIEF NEWS OF THE NORTHLAND.
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Henry Brie, of Douglas, Alaska
has leased the comer opposite the
Frye hotel on Yesler Way in Seattk
and will move his drug store fron
Douglas to. Seattle at once.
Residents of Prince Rupert, B. C.
are reported to have taken a grea
fancy to porpoise meat since a con
tractor of that city introduced it. Th<
meat is dark and odorless, with a bee
flavor, and no suggestion of a fish}
taste. It is said to be tender and jui
cy and much better than whale meat
Porpoises abound in Stevens passage
and in, fact everywhere in the water;
of southwestern Alaska. Meat mar
kets have not yet started selling th<
new variety of ocean food, but nu
merous private porpoise-hunting ex
peditions have been planned by par
ties in Juneau as soon as the weathe
warms up a little. Off Spuhn islanc
near Juneau, is a favorite resort fo
a large family of these hissing, jump
ing “torpedoes”—which they resem
ble in shape when seen through th
water.
At a meeting of the stockholder
of the First Bank of Cordova it wa
decided to double its capital stock
increasing it from $25,000 to $50,00t
This action was taken owing to th
growing business of the institutio
and the additional capital was inline
diately subscribed and paid. The Firs
Bank of Cordova was established i
1909.
Dv. Esther Lovejoy, a woman phy
sician, who practiced medicine in sev
eral Alaska camps, is now in th
French war zone and has written ;
letter to her sister, Mrs. \Y. C. Blan
chard, chairman of the Skagway Rei
Cross chapter. “Life is short and s<
full of real trouble over here,” write
Dr. Lovejoy, “that it seems unworth;
for people to take theii' little person
al affairs seriously. This is the tinn
to forget oneself, and make bandage;
or do something worth while. Tin
war isn’t over yet. Boys of eighteei
are fighting here, and some of OUF
BOYS may be in it before the finish
Every man and woman in Americj
should do his and her utmost at this
time, for the harder we strike as j
nation the smaller the sacrifice wil
be in the finish.”
In the district court room at Fair
banks recently Judge C. F. Bunnel
handed down a decision in the case o
Bell vs. Casacden, giving the decisioi
to Bell and holding that $4,000 i:
still due him from Caseaden. The lit
igation involved the sale of mining
property in the Tolovana district.
The Roene corner, in Douglas, 01
which the old postoffice building o
Sans Souci apartments stood, an<
which was ruined by fire a fev
months ago, has been purchased b;
August Olson. Mr. Olson has no
stated what he will do with the ruine<
structure, but it is most likely that hi
will clear away the debris and erec
a good substantial building on thi
corner, which is one of the best loca
tions in Douglas.
The Metlakatla Commercial com
pany, which operated a general stori
all last season at Metlakatla, ha:
just declared a dividend of 20 per cen
on all stock. There are about 10:
stockholders in the company, all In
dians, and the company has nov
purchased a new sawmill plant, 7;
horsepower, and also taken over fron
the council the old Duncan sawmil
plant, which had been purchased b\
the town. I he council was givei
shares of stock for the plant, in liei
of cash, so as to retain the property
for the town. The Reverend Edwan
Marsden, native ordained minister
and recently elected secretary-treas
urer of the Metlakatla town council
is quoted by the Ketchikan Miner as
saying that the dividends pai(
amounted to 50 cents on the dollar.
William Duncan, an old-time em
ploye of the Treadwell company, die*
of injuries received at the 700 mil
near Juneau. While working wit!
the dismantling crew, Duncan fel
a distance of about 12 feet, striking
his head on some timbers. Little i:
known of his private affairs. He wa:
a Scotchman, unmarried, and about 4C
years of age. He had been with the
Treadwell company eleven years.
Henry A. Slater, the dean of res
taurateurs at Cordova, has leased his
place of business to M. E. Holben, o1
the Alaskan Grill, after having con
I ducted it continuously and success
| fully ever since Cordova was placet
| on the map as the terminal of th<
Copper River & Northwestern rail
I way. Mr. Slater will remain in Cor
dova. He has announced his candi
dacy on the republican ticket foi
member of the Alaskan legislatun
i for the third division.
A1 Wissell, a former resident oi
Fairbanks, has enlisted in the Unit
ed States army, and expects to b<
; sent to France in a short time. Wis
* | sell is now in the Thirtieth infantry
> and is stationed at Camp Green
' : North Carolina.
—
i I William Rugg, draftsman in the of
' lice of the surveyor-general at Juneau
died recently of paralysis. Mr. Rug*
was a member of the Pioneers o
Alaska and was about 67 years o
! age. Besides being an expert drafts
^ i man, Mr. Rugg had the reputation o
being an excellent penman.
When the steamship Evans at
t
J tempted to land at the dock at La
j touche recently, the captain of tin
j steamship Northwestern, which wa;
. already tied up there, refused to al
low the Evans to dock alongside thi
* Northwestern, and held the Evan
t out in the stream until the Northwest
ern was ready to depart. The Evan
I boat the Northwestern into Valde:
, and when she attempted to tie along
. side the Evans threw the Northwest
. ern’s lines off, and for a time an acri
monious discussion ensued. Thi
? Northwestern was iinally compellei
. i to tie up at the citv dock, and threat
’I A
, 1 ened to stay there and keep Mie Ev
, ar.s from landing alongside with ma
' ehinery. The affair, which was set
tied without bloodshed, afforded mud
( 1 amusement for the spectators oi
. shore.
i
I Mrs. Robert Coughlin has receivet
a telegram from the postmaster gen
jeral’s department notifying her o
. the acceptance of her application foi
I | the position of postmistress at Tread
> well. Mrs. Coughlin’s husband orig
( inally applied for the Treadwell offici
: after Mrs. Carroll, the outgoing post
. mistress, had decided to resign, bu
r on his determination to enter the mil
itary service, Mrs. Coughlin state(
that she could also do her bit for Un
, cle Sam, so the application was trans
- ferred to her name.
i -
7 j “Aw, have a heart,” and “Pou;
r that stuff onto clean snow” were criei
y I that came from dry throats in the vi
1 cinity of the customs office at Skag
; way the other day when F. J. Van
- dewall and G. G. Miller were seei
, back of the government building
. pouring out about three gallons o
liquor which they had seized since th<
first of the year. It was an unpleas
■ ant sight for the thirsty, and up-stair:
1 office windows presented a row o
; heads and faces on which there wen
: looks of despair. The liquor was sai(
! to be of fine brand, too, for it wa:
• composed of Rye, Scotch whiskey, Gin
’ Cocktails and Brandy. This is thi
> first liquor to be seized in Skagwaj
i since the Alaska dry law went int<
effect.
1
i | Valdez recently experienced one 01
i I the heaviest snows since that thriv
ing town came on the map.
| -
The Wrangell hotel, owned by Johr
, G. Grant and the leading hostelry o1
; that section, recently caught tire anc
l was badly damaged before the blaze
could be extinguished. A heavy gale
at the time rendered the fire fighting
very difficult.
I ' _
I Henry Walker, who was arrestee
i at Tanana last summer on the charge
l of failing to register and was releasee
; after proving that he had registeree
; at Valley, Washington but had los1
i his card, was again arrested at Cir
cle. After the authorities were in
formed of the case he wa* released
After all his trouble over register ini
he was not called in the draft.
A young Russian of Juneau name
Arkoft' recntly reported to the polic
that someone had burglarized his cat
in at the foot of seventh street, steal
ing only a pair of rubbers. A ne>
, suit of clothes and a small sum o
money were undisturbed. ArkolT say
that he has been robbed three time
i since he has been in Alaska and ever
time only a pair of rubbers hav
been taken and from now on he wi
wear moccasins.
With the mercury fluctuating b<
tween 50 and 74 degrees below zeri
for the whole month of December, a
Fort Yukon, the residents of th£
section “enjoyed” the coldest Deceit
ber known to the oldest oldtimer. Th
average temperature for the mont
was 59.24 degrees below zero.
Prospecting on Alder creek in th
Fairbanks creek, has been starte
again by Louis Olson and Jack Hut
j bard, who have been mining an
i prospecting on Ester and adjacer
r creeks since the Fairbanks camp wa
.! struck. They stfll have faith in A
. j der as is shown by the fact that the
have started to sink another ho:
P there, and hope to land on the pa?
| streak which was never uncovere
by the extensive prospecting that hi
been done there already.
; Colonel E. M. Savilie, formerly con
; mantling officer at Fort Seward, no
. head of the military police at Cam
, Lewis recently wrote a scathing le
5 ter to a Tacoma mother whose daugl
. ter is afflicted with “soldierphobia
; She has been driven away from tl
, camp twice and Col. Savilie found
. necessary to write a very blunt lettt
. to the mother. The girl once ran awa
. to the camp in the family car.
j United States Attorney Roth, <
. Fairbanks recently received woi
. from tiie war department stating th:
. Finnan Delaney, the Fairbanks bo
. who has been missing for some tim
, and was thought to have gone oi
, over the trail to enlist, had not gor
into any branch either in the army c
navy. As the boy was never reports
I from any of the roadhouses along th
trail, all hope of finding him is gone.
The district attorney’s office has r<
. ceived word from the attorney ger
. eral that the appointment of E. Coh
, Hill, assistant district attorney i
. Ruby, had been extended on the fin
; of July. Mr. Hill was appointed a;
sistant district attorney last summit
[ when the court went down river, M
Hill’s home being at Ruby, and h
. helped in conducting cases for th
government there. Since that tim
he has been at Ruby, not coming t
Fairbanks with the remainder of th
court officials. The appointment c
Mr. Hill was originally made to las
until the last of January, but on re<
: ommendation of District Attorne
, Roth, of Fairbanks, it has been e>
. tended until July.
, A cod fishing station has been oper
. ed at Kodiak by the Northern Fishei
. ies company. The W. J. Erskine con
• pany is also interested in the entei
, prise, as their boats form a part c
I the equipment of the new company
. There is no longer any need for th
natives around Kodiak to be withoi
. food, as they can fish for cod an
. make good money.
The Hobson creek dredge at Nom
which was recently sold to Dr. Kil
tleson, was dismantled and will b
taken up Basket creek.
“Cap” Williams arrived at Ruby rt
cently from Unalakeet (the Yukon
, bringing with him 600 head of reir
■ deer which he is now herding a mil
[ below the Ruby bluff. A. L. Kells, o
, Long, is due this month in Ruby wit
, another 600 head of reindeer, whic
• lie purchased in the Kuskokwim.
Dave Ray, a young man of 21
l well known in the White river sectio
1 and interior Alaska, was killed a
McGrath some time ago. His deat
was accidental, caused by a fall whe
constructing a wireless. He was ad
justing a guiding band on the top
- mast fifty-three feet from the ground,
. when a splice pulled out, slackening
r, the line. The topmast toppled over
and the unfortunate Ray, flung over a
log, was picked up unconscious, his
1 chest broken in.
e - *
“Old Man” Jones on 6-a Diamond
" creek, in the Iditarod region, took out
v $600 from an open cut last fall.
f
The largest casting ever made on
s Gastineau channel was made the oth
^ | cr night at the Enterprise Foundry at
e ! Juneau, when a base for one of the
II1
| gyratory crushers at Thane, weigh
I ing 7,200 pounds was cast. The big
casting was made without any diffi
>,
t
,t
J
e
h
e j
d
d I
culty, the old cupalo being used. This
is considered to be the largest casting
ever made on the channel. Some have
been made at Treadwell weighing 6,
000 pounds, but it is believed that
none has ever reached the size of the
big one just made by the Enterprise.
Patterns are in the shop for two
crusher roll centers for the Alaska
Gastineau company which will weigh
four tons each and these big castings
will be poured within the next few
days.
11
s Mushers going through Ruby from
I' Iditarod claim that the Goodnews bay
y stampede is a genuine one, specifying
e as a particular instance that in six
r- teen days six men sluiced $13,600 in
^ gold from ground running in depth
■s from six inches to four feet. The
largest part of the claims is held by
squaw-men who are just taking out
!- enough for a grubstake and are ask
.v ing $100,000 per claim. The great
p drawback in this section is the fact
that the nearest obtainable timber is
i- twelve miles out.
e Steven Ragen, of Haines, lawyer
it and resident of that place for the
r past six years, has been appointed
y assistant district attorney for Ketchi
kan by District Attorney J. A. Smiser
and took the oath of office. Mr. Ra
if gan is well known in southeastern
d Alaska. He was born in Illinois and
t was admitted to the bar in Arkansas,
y He came to Alaska six years ago and
e has been a resident of Haines since
it that time. He is an ardent democrat,
e is married and has a family.
i
r j rr
d Harold G. Blankman of Dawson has
e been appointed interim receiver and
manager of the Canadian Klondike
Mining company and the Canadian
!- Klondike Power company. He is to
i- 1 continue in that capacity until the
e I trial of the big action in which the
t Granville Mining company is the
it plaintiff and the other two companies
are the defendants. No definite infor
r mation is obtainable now as to the
\ possible time of the trial, but it is
e expected to be heard within the next
e few months. The application for a
e receiver for the two companies was
o made by the Granville Mining com
e pany some time ago, the plaintiffs
f alleging thart the defendants failed to
t issue bonds for a loan of $1,350,000
and to pay interest and other matters,
y The plaintiff company comprises
- Chester A. Beatty, well known min
ing expert of New York, H. H. Hoov
er, the United States food controller,
i- and others prominent in the mining
- world, among them prominent mem
- bers of the South African Goldfield
- | company.
\ Julio Avrica, charged with having
e ' robbed a native of money last win
11 ter, and who was tried in the coui't
d at Juneau recently, was found guilty.
Scotty McPhely was recently
e brought to Fairbanks from Brooks by
- the deputy marshal to serve out a sen
* tence for having committed assault
and battery.
Jack Eilbeck, formerly of Dawson,
) died recently at Tulsa, Oklahoma, af
- ter a short spell of pneumonia. Eil
e beck was famous in former years as
f a deputy sheriff of the Yukon terri
a tory. He was one of the foremost
a ; supporters of all sports in Dawson,
I and was known for his activities in
| this line throughout the north. He
', j was the manager of the Dawson
a j baseball team which he took to Fair
11 banks several years ago for a big se
a j uies. He was well known by many
a J residents of Fairbanks. After leav
- ing Dawson, Eilbeck went to Oklaho
- ma, where he won renown as a reli
able oil expert. He became prosper
ous in his new location and at the
time of his death was drawing a sal
ary of $10,000 a year from one of the
largest oil corporations in the states.
Miss Adriano Lutro, weil known
former Dawson girl, was married at
Ruby, Alaska, recently. The lucky
man is Dennis Coyle, one of the most
successful mining men of the Ruby
district. Miss Lutro spent most of
her younger years in Dawson, and
practically grew to womanhood and
received her education there. Her
father was one of the most success
ful old-time Bonanza creek claim
owners and operators, and the family
lived on Bonanza and in Dawson for
years. Of late years they have been
living in Mount Vernon, Washington.
, Last year Miss Lutro passed through
Dawson, en route to Ruby to join her
brother, Arthur, also a Dawson prod
uct. At that time she met many old
time acquaintances in Dawson, and all
were especially struck with her
charming type of beauty and gracious
; personality.
.
! Juneau recently held a wedding
shortly after midnight on Christmas
morning when Mrs. Albee Copeland
became the bride of A. J. Stevens.
The reason for the ceremony taking
place at such an odd hour was that
the bride was to arrive on the boat
from Seattle at any early hour in the
afternoon and all preparations had
been made for the ceremony and as
usual the boat did not get in until
midnight. As everything was ready
the ceremony was held at once. Mrs.
Stevens was well known in Juneau
and Douglas having spent the past
year there.
The Pedersen company of Skagway,
lias 3000 negatives of Alaska and
many of the pictures could never be
duplicated.
A Fairbanks dentist named It. It.
Meyers has been appointed as a mem
ber of the medical advisory board of
the territory of Alaska. The appoint
ment came from Governor Strong.
Mike Teard, an Austrian employ
ed at the Pereseverance Mine was re
cently arrested and bound over for a
hearing on the charge of having said
that he did not care for the United
States and would give his life, soul
and body for Austria.
The Miles-go-devil gas machine in
tended for over-snow travel is un
dergoing a process of reconstruction
by mechanics, its former trial having
proved unsatisfactory, at Nome.
Caro and McCloskey recently pur
chased the Alaskan hotel at Juneau
which they bought at a creditor’s sale
for $2,500.
Rt. Rev. Bishop Crimont recently
completed his visit to the interior and
reported that work was progressing
very satisfactorily, especially in Holy
Cross. Eskimos’ white men and In
dians gave the bishop a hearty recep
tion. Bishop Crimont stated that an
unusual number of people had depart
' ed from Nome this year because of the
high cost of living and the price of
fuel.
Secretary of the Interior Franklin
K. Lane in his annual report to con
gress covered many phases of Alaska,
l He brought considerbale stress to bear
upon the situation in Juneau in regard
to the lack of government buildings.
There is really no place there, the gov
ernor’s office being located in an in
ferior building once used as a native
mission school. This contains many
valuable books, archives, etc., and the
Alaska Historical and Museum
Library. The town has a sufficiently
large population and tax list to afford
better quarters than these, and safer
ones, and Secretary Lane has taken
the matter up in congress.
The attention of the residents of
Juneau recently was called to the fact
that two families there were badly in
want and would have no Christmas. A
collection was at once taken up and
the pressing needs of the family al
leviated. In one family the father is
bedridden with tuberculosis and un
able to support his two children and
wife. He was a baker but became too
ill to work some time ago. The other
family consisted of a woman and two
children who had recently arrived
from Anchorage. The father of this
family had slipped out of the county
on another boat.
The natives of Angoon have elect
ed their own officers and will prac
tice the methods of the white men.
They have agreed to eschew all witch
ery and have paid all their taxes,
(which is not all the white men’s me
I thod.)
Two men have been reported miss
ing at Ketchikan by the deputy mar
shal. They are John Dolan, watch
man at Roe point cannery who left
Ketchikan about Christmas and has
| never shown up and a native of Penn
coh island. He left Ketchikan about a
j month ago for his home and has not
j been seen since.
| R. Capers, attorney for the Copper
River & Northwestern railway at Cor
dova, will leave for Oregon March 1
to practice his profession. Mr. Cap
ers has been a resident of Alaska for 0
some years and has a large number of
friends in the northland.
Michael Eddy, an old time miner
j.and prospector, who recently returned -«*
to Juneau from a prospecting trip to
. Chichagof?, spent some of the golden
I hours making an inlaid picture frame
1 13 by 34 inches, of native woods, and
I
i surrounded on the outside by differ
j ent colored quartz from the Chicha
gof? mine. The frame contains a beau
tifully colored view of the Chichagof?
workings and the word “Chichagof* ’
is on the upper and lower panels of
the frame spelled in beautiful white
quartz.
Howard Barnes, of Brooks, was re
cently seriously injured when a stick
of wood which he was cutting flew up
and hit him in the eye, piercing the
eyeball. A fund was immediately
raised to help him go outside to a spe
cialist, as the doctor there could do
nothing for him. Andy Soderland
also sustained a severe injury when
he fell and broke his leg.
George W. Wagner, of 1424 Nine
teenth St., Bakersfield, Cal., is seek
ing for information in regard to the
whereabouts of his son, Claud M.
Wagner, who is described as being six
feet tall, weighs about 170 pounds, is
dark, and has a scar just under the
edge of his hair; about thirty-one
years of age.
While the Admiral Evans was in
Kodiak on a recent trip, several cases
of intoxication were observed and as
that place should be absolutely dry#,
i the marshal had no difficulty in dis-»
covering an oasis on the Evans the
barber being in charge of the bever
age that cheers. He was tried and
found guilty and sentenced to a fine
of $100.
Cordova has a small notice running
in the newspaper there stating that
the number of dogs has inci’eased un
til they are a serious nuisance and all
caught loose on the streets will be
killed.
Isador Fox left Lanes Landing,
! about 100 miles north of Nome, in the
| Kougarok, with a horse and sled and
I six dogs. Encountering a severe
! storm he cut loose five of the dogs, but
they failed to follow him; he fears
they are now lost or have been caught
in some of the many traps in that re
gion. [
Richard Ketzler, a miner of the
Totatinika district, recently under
went an operation for a gunshot
wound in the hand. While hunting he
slipped and fell, discharging the gun. i
The shot went through the fleshy part
of his thumb and he was forced to
mush thirty miles for medical aid.
The supreme court of the state of
Washington today affirmed the decis
ion of Judge Mackintosh of Seattle,
holding that Robert Spencer McMil
lan, an Alaskan miner .must pay Olivia
Larson, with whom he lived as her
husband, $20,000 for damaging her re- ^
putation as the result of his relations
with her, McMillan having a wife al
ready in the .states. The case has been
most bitterly fought on both sides.
¥