QUARRELS HURT
'> SOUTHWESTERN
BICKERINGS OVER RESOURCES
ANI) TRADE JEALOUSIES
RETARD PROGRESS.
CO-OPERATION IS ESSENTIAL.
Anchorage, Seward, Valdez and Cor
dova Are Urged to Forget Their
Rivalries and to Work Together
for Common Good.
Under the title “Love Your Neigh
bor,” the Valdez Miner comments on
the lack of co-operation among the
residents of the different communi
ties in southwestern Alaska and urges
them to forget their petty jealousies
ANTON JOHANSEN
Seldovia, Kachemak Bay.
GENERAL MERCHANDISE.
Everything for the Settler,
Fisherman, Prospector, Hunter
and Trapper.
RIGHT PRICES.
:B. C. NICHOLS!
>J EWELER
♦
t Watch
♦ pairing
^ specialty.
4 Optical de-l
+ partment
♦ under spe
^ cial man
♦ agement.
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Alaska Pool
Room
CIGARS, TOBACCO AND
SOFT DRINKS.
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U. S. RESTAURANT
4th Ave. Bet. C and D.
Chop Suey and Noodles
Inlet Soda Company
W. A. TAYLOR, Proprietor
Manufacturers of all Kinds of Mineral
Waters: Soda, Cider, Syrups.
Agents for Grape Juice and
Hemrick’s Staff Products
Anchorage Alaska
PROFESSIONAL CARDS
DR. A. W. LUEDERS
DISEASES OF
Men and Women.
626 4th Ave.
Anchorage
I
C. H. SUNDMACHER
LAWYER
Notary Public.
Bolte Bldg. - Anchorage, Alaska
(
L. V. RAY
LAWYERS
Lathrop Bldg., Anchorage, Ala,
LEOPOLD DAVID
ATTORNEY-AT-LAW
NOTARY PUBLIC
Office, corner 5th and E
Anchorage - Alaska
Northern Transfer Co.
C. P. PEDERSEN, Mgr.
1th and D. St. Phone 47-Y
GENERAL TRANSFERRING
and to work together for the common
good.
“In a report of the Alaska Road
commission,” recalls the Miner, “Ma
jor General Wilds P. Richardson, its
president, said in part:
“ ‘The population consisted chiefly
of mining and other industrial (most
ly fishing) towns and camps along
the shores of southeastern Alaska and
scattered through the interior, separ
ated in most cases by great distances
with but little of mutual interest, each
with a jealous eye upon the others
and with a firm intent to have its full
share of any favor to be bestowed.’
Same Condition Today.
“This was true,” continues the
Miner, “in 1905 and the same condi
tion exists today, if anything aggra
vated by an increased population, each
town trying to get something away
from the other town, and all bucking
each other in an indiscriminate man
ner, without system or reason.
“Anchorage is jealous of Seward
and Cordova and Valdez; Seward is
jealous of the other three, Cordova
twists the knife after the incision,;
and, we regret to say, Valdez would j
gladly see any of the others fall, if |
by so doing she would gain a tempo-1
rary benefit. ,
“And yet this is no way to build up |
a country. If ever there was a time j
when co-ordinated effort was needed
in the affairs of the territory that
time is now. A combination of inter
ests in the four towns in the third j
division would give it the balance of j
power in the territory, and the laurel j
wreath of victory would replace the j
ashes of failure on the part of any of !
the towns to acquire a lasting ad- j
vantage.
Each Wants Something.
“Each town wants the court house; j
each town wants soldiers stationed
within its confines; each town wants
a railway.
“Valdez has the court house and a j
military post, while the other three j
towns have the railway. Each of the ;
towns is pulling against the other, j
and none is accomplishing any good |
for itself. It seems to be the desire \
of all to get something the other
town has got instead of exploiting the
natural resources each possesses.
“Cordova and Valdez have the fish
and mines; Seward and Anchorage
have the coal and the railway. Each
town has its loyal body of citizens
who swear by it and cheerfully lie
themselves black in the face when
talking to a ‘stranger.’ Each town
could do three times the business it
does if it attended to the business at
its doors.
Federation of Business.
The commercial bodies of the four
towns should federate into one or
ganization to work for the third di
vsion. The merchants should organ
ize and exchange ideas and credit rat
ings to prevent the peripatetic dead
beats from working one town to a
standstill and then moving to another.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars are
undoubtedly lost in this way. The
papers should organize on the same
basis and to promote a better feeling
among their neighbors, a standard
price for work should be charged, and
a standard rate for advertising and
subscriptions.
“The pastors of the four cities
should form an organization looking
to betterment of the social life of
their congregations.
“The schools could have their year
ly chautauquas, the teachers meeting
and exchanging ideas. The city coun
cils could undoubtedly benefit by an
exchanging of civic views with neigh
boring councils
All Jfcmorts I'all riat.
“But so far every effort to co-oper
ate has fallen flat. The agitator is
among us, and his clarion voice
drowns our common sense. We covet
our neighbor’s ox and maid servant
and wait apathetically for something
to turn up instead of going after it
and getting it.
“Whatever helps one town in the
Third division is bound to help the
other. To attempt to draw enter
prises belonging to one city to another
is bound to promote ill-feeling and
dissension. The third division would
be better off without a court house or
a railroad, provided its citizens could
I harmonize over its resources, than
under the present plan of attempting
to hog everything in sight.
“If some means could be devised
whereby committees from each town
could meet in a common cause and
bind themselves to keep their hands
off the other fellow’s property we
might look for anything from the
millenium to a real estate boom, but:
“So long as we keep our hammers
industriously working and keep our
tongues wagging we are harming our
selves as much as we harm the other
fellow and are missing the advan
tages of co-operation and co-ordina
tion.
“General Richardson’s estimation
of our greatest failing is a true one
and we should benefit by having the
mirror held up to our eyes.’’
CHIKIKOFF HOLDS NO LURE FOR
PROSPECTOR, FOX FARMER
OR AGRICULTURIST.
Place Was Used in Early Days for
Russian Offenders and Harrowing
Tales Are Told of Cruelties That
Were Inflicted on Them.
There is one place in Alaska that
holds no lure for the prospector, the
fox farmer or the agriculturist. It is
Chirikoff Island, about eighty miles
southwest of Kodiak, declares mail
advices from Kodiak.
Lonely in its solitude, stern and for
bidding, wrapped in eternal mists,
frowning and sullen Chirikoff is the
island of ghosts. Surrounded by dan
gerous reefs and stormy seas, it is at
best an uninviting place and is seldom
visited unless stress of storm make a
landing there imperative.
Nature has made the place repul
sive and legend has added to its ter
rors. Natives passing give the place
a wide berth, and nothing short of
dire extremety would cause them to
land there. They prefer to take the
most desperate chances with storm
and sea rather than set foot on its in
hospitable shores, for, legand has peo
pled the island with ghosts, whose
wailings and meanings and the clank-,
ing of whose chains strike terror to
the stoutest heart.
Those whom necessity have com
pelled to stop there tell harrowing
tales of the unseen inhabitants of
that desolate place, of the moans and
cries which filled the air during the
hours of darkness, and drove them at
the first opportunity to seek other
shelter. For Chirikoff, according to
the legends of the natives, was the
prison of the early Russian inhabi
tants of Kodiak. To this bleak and
desolate island were banished the of
fenders against the Russian law or
the edicts of the officials in command
of the Russian settlement.
Tales of horrible cruelties visited
upon these unfortunates are handed]
down in the native legends; how the
offenders, loaded with chains, were
landed at Chirikoff and left to their
own resources.
There was no escape and the unfor
tunates, prey to horrible sufferings,
from hunger and exposure eked out an
existence until death relieved them of
their sufferings.
Many years have passed since the
last of these unfortunates died, but
their restless spirits still roam, ac
cording to the tales of the natives, this
bleak and desolate island, filling the
air with their lamentations and the
clanking of their chains.
So vivid are these stories that even
the white men shudder as they pass
the unhallowed spot, and, like the na
tives, they pass it by without landing.
No lure of possible mineral wealth
induces the prospector to visit this
awesome place, it is shunned by all,
and so dark and sullen it lies untenat
ed except by the wild fowl and its
ghostly inhabitants.
MERGER MADE OF
FISHERY COMPANIES
SAN FRANCISCO, Cal., March 5.—
The Alaska Salmon company has been
merged into the Northern Fisheries
company. The new corporation will
catch and market cod and salmon
IS QUIET ill
SOME LITTLE ACTIVITY IS NOT
ED IN MINING INDUSTRY
DURING WINTER.
MAKING READY FOR SPRING.
George Morrison, Owner of Fox
Ranch, Will Son Put on Exhibition
and Offer for Sale About Fifty
Black and Silver Pelts.
Conditions in the Hot Springs dis
trict near Fairbanks are reviewed in
a report submitted by J. L. Anders,1
United States deputy marshal there,1
to L. T. Erwin, the United States
marshal at Fairbanks. Particular!
references are made to the mining
and fur industries.
‘•The mining industry is—and has
been since last fall—practically at a
tandstill, there being little doing in
this section,” says Deputy Marshal !
Anders, in his report, as printed in
the Fairbanks News-Miner.
“In the Eureka district, Gill & Co.,
on Jordan bar, have out about 5,000
wheelbarrows and Stone & Erickson
on Thanksgiving e eek; Oleson & Ev
enson on Omega creek, and Nichols
and Strickland, who are working a
■ay on Frank & Graham’s ground on j
j'iric creek, all report that they are
in iair pay.
“Frank & Graham have completed
their bunk house and mess house and
are engaged in distributing pipe for
the new line to the Glen-Eureka bench
where they expect to hydraulic this
next summer.
“In the Sullivan creek district the
work going on is mostly woodcutting
and prospecting in preparation for
next summer’s work, although Snyder
& Lindberg are hoisting pay on 1-a
on Sullivan.
“Leber & File, on Miller, have fair
pay and Anderson & Fancher, on
Cache creek are taking out a small
dump just below Dick Richards’ old
workings.
Confident of Rich Pay.
“At Woodchopper, Fred Jorgensen
is down one hundred and forty feet
with the working shaft he is sinking
on the Loraine claim and expects to 1
reach bedrock with the next thaw.'
Mr. Jorgensen is very confident that
he will uncover some very rich pay, as
the drilling done on this ground is said
to have shown good results as did
the preliminary drilling on the ground
immediately above it, where Howell
& Cleveland took out so much money
two years ago.
“Very little fur is being brought in ,
and trappers who have been in town
the past month agree that the fur
catch this year will be very light.
“George Morrison’s fox ranch will
have on exhibition at the Northern
Commercial company’s store in Fair
banks about fifty black and silver fox
skins which were raised on his ranch
in Hot Springs. This is about the first;
exhibition—in any quantity—of strict
ly ranch-bred fox pelts in interior
Alaska, and as the ranch-bred fur is
said to be of a superior quality to
wild fur it should be of interest to
those interested in furs.
“R. W. Colderhead, of Huddleston &
Co., lessees of the ranch on which
are located the Hot Springs from
which the town takes its name, has re
turned from an extended stay in Fair
banks and will assist his partners in
the finishing of the new natatorium
and hothouses which are being put up
on the ranch.
AVIATION CORPS IN
NEED OF MACHINISTS
UNITED STATES WAR DEPART
MENT ISSUED CALL FOR
10,000 SKILLED LABORERS.
WASHINGTON, D. C., March 5.—
Ten thousand machinists, mechanics,
chauffeurs and other skilled workmen
are needed for the aviation section of
the signal corps, according to a call
issued today by the United States war
department.
ALASKANS ARE ALLOWED UN
TIL APRIL 1 TO REPORT TO
REVENUE COLLECTOR.
DELAY DUE TO LACK OF BLANKS
Single Persons Whose Receipts in
Money During 1917 Reached $1,000
and Married Men Who Earned $2,
000 Must Comply With Law.
A blanket extension has been grant
ed of one month for filing income tax
returns from Alaska. This order was
due to the non-arrival of the neces
sary blanks in time for Alaskans to
make returns in the period specified
by law. The returns must now be
in by April 1 instead of by March 1.
The order was issued by Collector
of Internal Revenue Williams of Ta
coma, in response to many inquiries
from Alaska.
Ever since the receipt in Anchorage
of the first blanks for making the re
turns there has been a shortage, as
the first lot was soon exhausted. This
has caused many to delay making
their returns in the time specified.
Other blanks are on the way here,
and upon their arrival they may be
obtained from United States Commis
sioner Leopold David
Many persons are not yet clear on
the income tax problem
A single man or woman who during
1917 received from one or more1
sources wages or other income total
ing $1,000 or more must make a re- !
port to the collector of internal reve
nue at Tacoma, even if he or she does
not have to pay any tax on it because
of exemptions
If a man is married and the total
income of himself and family (except
children over 18) was $2,000 or more
during 1917, he must make a return,
even though he can claim exemption
from the tax.
PLENTY OF EXCUSES.
SAN FRANCISCO, Cal., March 5.—!
Women show greater originality than;
men in the matter of framing excuses j
to avoid doing jury duty according to ;
Jury Commissioner Thomas S. Mulvey 1
who has been listening to thousands of
reasons offered by men and women!
why they should be excused.
A number of women have done what i
mere man, who perhaps has had more i
experience with courts, has not dared
to do. They have sought to avoid jury
duty by the simple process of ignoring
the summons. Included among these
are a number of women who are ofii- :
cials of various federation and civ;c I
organizations. These will get a second
summons and if they fail to respond,
their names will be put in a jury box 1
and they will be subject to call for i
service.
One woman wrote to Mulvey that!
she thought she ought to be execused
as her “sixteenth child is ill and the
eighteenth is less than six months
old.” Another said she would “just
love to serve” but her husband
“wouldn’t ever consent.”
Another fair voter summoned re
plied on perfumed stationery, through
her secretary, that she couldn’t possi
bly spare the time. Commissioner Mul
vey says she was one of the club wom
en who wrote him several weeks ago
demanding that 50 per cent of the
1918 jury panel be composed of
women.
Pleas of nervousness, illness or the
care of children are among the more
frequent excuses.
VILLA FORCES NUMBER 300.
EL PASO, Texas, March 2.—Fran
cisco Villa’s forces have been reduced
by malaria and other causes, in the
course of operations on the isthmus of
Tehauntepec, fi’om 2,500 men to 500
men, according to letters received here
from General Fortunate Maycotte who
at one time operated against Villa in
the states of Durango and Chihuahua.
At present the 500 survivors are said
to be stationed at Puerto, Mexico.
SEIZE CHUR
MAXIMILISTS’ THREAT TO TAKE
ALL RELIGIOUS PROPERTY
CANNOT AFFECT ALASKA.
STATEMENT OF JUNEAU PRIEST
Ecclesiastical Holdings in This Terri
tory Are Under Patents That Have
Been Issued by United States Gov
ernment.
The status of the Russian church in
Alaska, according to Father A. P.
Kashevaroff, of Juneau, is firm, so
far as its property rights are con
cerned, reports the Juneau Dispatch.
The threat of the Russian Maximilist
government to seize all church prop
erty cannot affect Alaskan churches,
says Father Kashevaroff, for the rea
son that the United States has issued
patents to such property, and it is en
tirely outside the jurisdiction of Rus
sian authority.
As to further support from Russia
of the churches in Alaska, that is a
matter not yet clear. Father Kashe
varoff regards the Maximilists as law
less elements and believes that even
tually the more intelligent class will
prevail.
The Most Reverend Dr. Tikhon, pa
triarch of all Russia, has issued an
anathema against the Maximilists,
but they do not regard it with con
cern.
DESPITE
TENTATIVE PEACE
AGREEMENT TEUTONS’ OC
CUPY NARVA.
CONTINUE ADVANCE ON CAPITA
Members of Rritish, French and Ital
ian Embassies Have Reached Hel
singfors and Are Trying to Get to
Narva on Swedish Frontier.
PETROGRAD, March 5.—Despite
the announcemnt yesterday that a
tentative peace pact between Russia
and Germany would halt the advance
of German troops into Russia, Teuton
soldiers today occupied Narva, an im
portant seaport on the Gulf of Fin
land, about 100 miles southwest of
Petrograd. German forces are con
tinuing their advance on Petrograd.
Word was received in Petrograd to
day to the effect that members of the
British, French and Italian embassies,
who fed from Petrograd last week,
had reached Helsingfors, Finland.
They are trying to go to Tornea, on
the Finnish-Swedish frontier.
GOVERNMENT WILL
TAKE OVER DOCKS
HAMBURG-AMERICAN SHIPPING
FACILITIES AT HOBOKEN
N. J., WILL BE SEIZED.
WASHINGTON, D. C., March 5.—
President Wilson intends to comman
deer the Hamburg-American Steam
ship company’s wharves and docks at
Hoboken, N. J. Senator Thomas S.
Martin, of Virginia, democratic senate
leader, will draft an amendment to the
urgent deficiency bill authorizing the
president to take over the Hamburg
American’s facilities.
WAR TRADE IN SWEDEN.
STOCKHOLM, Sweden, March 5.—
The Swedish State bank reflects the
wartime prosperity of Swedish trade.
Net profits for the year are £2,600,
000, against £1,600,000 a year ago.
The expansion of Swedish trade is
shown by the fact that during 1017
over 1,200 new stock companies were
formed with an aggregate capital of
£115,000,000.