1 BRIEF NEWS OF THE NORTHLAND. I
Ji
Charles Walker, of Ketchikan, has
on display in a building opposite the
bank a small devil fish, 18 inches
long, with 8 feelers protruding from
the head, some of them being covered
with warts like teeth and a tail shap
ed like a propeller.
Constables B. Gurr and L. A. Yinall
of the Northwest Mounted Police re
cently arrived at Whitehorse and were
mustered in for service over the seas.
Nearly all of that famous law-enforc
ing body has been taken to France.
Alaska Labor Union No. 5 at the
city of Ketchikan bought $300 worth
of Liberty bonds recently and also
held a large dance from which they
realized a neat sum. As one of the
members stated, they wished to prove
that they were not all anarchists.
Skagway had a small blaze in the
Vienna bakery recently, and the fire
men had a line of hose laid in less
than five mintes, suppressing the
blaze in short order. The chemical was
not sufficient to extinguish the fire
which promised to be a big one at first.
Pete Gomez was fined $300 and
costs before the commissioner’s court
at Ketchikan recently for selling
booze without license. The next case
to come before the court was that of
Harry Kichoon, charged with the
murder of native woman at Saskan
last year.
The accident to the steamship Ad
miral Farragut was a godsend to the
longshoremen of Juneau who received
about $1400 for unloading the vessel
after her collision with a floating log
in Wrangell narows. The wages paid
foi reloading the cargo on the Admi
ral Wainwright amounted to about
S2000 more.
The Alaska School bulletin has is
sued a call for every child in the ter
ritory to do his oi' her share in rais
ing food products to help relieve the
shortage in the United States. The
bulletin states that it realizes that
there is of course small opportunity
to develop the ground in some sec
tions but believes that much can be
done in other ways to make up the
deficiency.
Lasting for the better part of two
days, the trial of D. L. Squiers, who
was changed with making seditious
utterances at Fairbanks, came to a
close when the jury brought in a ver
dict of guilty in less than ten minutes
deliberation. Fairbanks has had a
large number of cases of sedition and
in every instance the defendants have
been found guilty.
A well known traveling man who
makes the territory often and stops
at roadhouses on his trips to the in
terior says that he meets with many
persons whose table manners are less
elegant than those of a lmg and that
he often longs for a crust of bread
and a quiet spot under some tree
when he makes his rounds. He says
he is trying to get Luther Burbank
to perfect a strain of squareheads and
garden peas which can work better
together. Most of the men now use
their knives to eat soup with and
make a bowling alley of the table
and a toboggan slide of their neigh
bors’ clothing.
Seward Kunz, of Juneau, is appeal
ing to all natives to leave their dogs
at home this year when they go fish
ing, thus saving many hundreds of
deer which at the present time are too
weak from their recent severe winter
to get away from them. It is a fact
that native dogs kill hundreds of fine
deer each year, many times the half
wild canines being seen in herds of
40 or 50 after some unfortunate ani
mal.
Frank Pratt, an old-time resident
of Candle and Nome, is summering in
the states.
Porter J. Coston, at one time an
old-timer of Alaska, is deputy asses
sor at Seattle.
Joe Sheldon, former cashier of the
Alaska Banking and Safe Deposit
Co., at Nome, wintered in California.
George Carlson, son of Capt. 0. W.
Carlson, of Nome, is first sergeant
of a machine gun company at Camp
Lewis.
■4
Tim Clowes, of Nome, was rejected
by Uncle Sam on account of defective
eyesight, and has taken a position in
the Seattle shipyards.
Mountain goats, which thrive on
the rugged islands of Sitka harbor
and on the mountains near the city,
are being domesticated and commer
cialized.
That the raising of goats can be
; made profitable in Interior Alaska is
claimed by the Fairbanks Citizen. We
believe Alaska has enough goats in
digenous to the country without im
| porting any more.
Eskimos are contributing liberally
| to the war fund. One village which
has been saving up for the purchase
of a much-needed sawmill contributed
the total fund, and then procured fur
ther contributions of $08. They get
the money by selling furs, cutting
ivory and longshoring for the various
' ships which visit their isolated dis
tricts. It will take them years to
make the money back for their saw
mill.
| _
Archdeacon Hudson Stuck, the well
| known writer and traveler of the
| Episcopal church, has arrived at Fort
Yukon, after a winter journey of six
i months, during which time he passed
entirely around the arctic coast from
| Point Barrow to Herschel island. The
! Archdeacon, who acts as a missionary
| to Alaska, visited all the many posts
! established in that region by his or
i ganization.
The A. B. Carpenter, a cannery
tender owned by the Northwestern
Fisheries, arrived at Anchorage re
cently and will be used by the com
pany in their pack at Kenai.
Thos. Riggs, the new governor of
Alaska, is a New Yorker by birth,
and his father ran the bank in 1867
at Washinton, D. C., where the pur
chase money to buy the territory
from Russia was deposited. He is the
seventh governor of the territory and
has a charming wife and two chil
dren.
Captain John A. O’Brien, promi
nent skipper of Alaskan waters, is
serving the government on a ship at
an Atlantic port; Capt. Fred War
ner, master of the Alaska, is now
master of the big 8,800-ton steamship
West Point. C. B. McMullen, a well
known navigator of the north, is also
serving the colors.
The prisoners at Juneau recently
started to make a garden around the
jail at that place and are about two
months ahead of any other town in
the Territory.
The weather can be depended upon
to prevent ennui. One day it will
snow, the next day rain and the sun
shines the third day. Most of us live
soley for the third day.
Alaska reindeer which have hith
erto roamed only in the tundra coun
try of the Seward peninsula will be
transferred to the Copper River valley
and may wander over as far as the
flats of Valdez. The task of attend
ing to the transplanting of these ani
mals has been undertaken by the na
tives, who will drive them from Nome
to the Copper river valley, a distance
cf nearly 900 miles.
If the two warring factions of the
Juneau city council could only reach
an agreement Juneau could have nine
dollar coal, but a war is on and the
city fathers find so much enjoyment
in bickering that they have little time
to attend to their duties. “Who is to
be the coal man,” is the bone of con
tention and the casus belli which pre
| vent the dove of peace from roosting
in the city hall. All parties are in ac
cord in seeing the price of coal go
down but neither will allow the man
, of the opposing faction to be named
; as coal dealer. The labor unions in
| the Gastineau channel city have warn
| ed the council men to ceaseybickering
and lower the price of coal.
The Alaska Road commission will
start a force of men to work on the
government trail about June 1.
Fire recently destroyed a small cab
in on' the point below the Standard
Oil company dock at Ketchikan and
later spread to the adjoining woods,
threateneing the docks. The cabin and
furniture were entirely destroyed.
Earl Orr of Fairbanks was recently
convicted of securig money under
false pretenses, and was sentenced to
the federal jail for a term of eight
months. Orr pleaded guilty to the
charge and received a light sentence.
F. M. Cockerill and a crew of men
are at work on the Minor property
recently bonded at Port Wells.
Wm. Bunting, a former resident of
Anchorage, together with his brother
is developing a silver-lead lode in the
Portland canal section in southeast
ern Alaska. Bunting pased most of
the winter at Casper, Wyoming.
George Hermann, one of the former
owners of the Hermann-Eaton prop
erty, at Port Wells, is spending the
summer in Seattle and appears to be
enjoying life immensely, judging by
photographs recently received by his
brother at this place.
Indications are that the concentrat
ing plant to be built at the Midas will
be erected this summer or late this
fall. The company has one of the most
promising properties in the north anil
under expert management it is ship
ping a large quantity of ore each
month.
Coloi’s can be panned at almost any
point along the Lowe river district,
but the gold is so fine it does not pay
to work it. Some day a process will
be discovered which .will save flour
gold and Lowe river will have a num
ber of dredges at work on its bars.
Conditions are nearly the same here
as in Califonira where dredges are
worked at a proflt.
Messrs. Herrington, Gorman, Lan
non, Queeny, and McGlenehy left for
the Porcupine recently, from Haines,
where they have acquired a lay on
the Alaska Corporations holdings.
They will work as many men as the
property and conditions will warrant
and expect to take out a good clean
up. The property is said to be very
| rich and as all the men are practical
miners they will make a good thing
this year.
_
The bill passed by congress abolish
ing assessment work hit the miners
pretty hard in this district, as it elim
inated a great many days work in the
district which provided funds for an
! other season’s propecting trip.
Ole Berg, of Strelna, has developed
over a million dollars worth of gold
ore in his mine at that place, accord
ing to Messrs. Barrett and Dwyer,
agents for the Copper River & North
western.
The first coal shipments from the
Nenana field reached Nenana early in
February. This came from Lignite
creek and more is to be hauled to the
present end of the rails. The more
accessible portion of the field has been
i divided into leasing blocks, not to ex
| ceed 1250 acres to the block. There are
! at least 12 coal beds of workable
| thickness, six being over 20 feet. The
coal is a fair grade lignite and will
I serve the needs of the interior very
| nicely.
J. C. Van Orsdel, the well known
operator, writes from the Kantishna
district that he is well pleased with
the outlook for the summer and that
his company expects to do a great deal
of work this summer. He says it is
impossible to work the ground suc
cessfully until provisions and supplies
can be freighted in at a cheaper rate.
The cost of bringing in supplies by
the river is prohibitive and the only
I salvation for the country is to get a
wagon road from the railroad, a dis
tance of 60 miles. A wagon road from
Lignite could be built successfully and
at a reasonable cost and the miners of
the district are working on the prop
osition.
That the small streams and lakes
near Anch.orage afford ample oppor
tunity for the followers of Isaac Wal
ton to show their prowess and gratify
their piscatorial desires is the firm
conviction of Jack Peterson of the
mechanical force of the Daily Times,
who with Mrs. Peterson and Mr. and
Mrs. R. Fuiver returned yesterday
evening from Otter lake with sixty
two Rainbow trout measuring from
six to twelve inches in length.
Owing to the high stage of the
| waters in the lake the sharp witted
trout refused point blank to even
nible, let alone bite and be caught, but
in the outlet from the lake, a narrow
stream, it was with no difficulty that
the fishermen yesterday managed
their big catch. The fish absolutely
ignored the fly method of tempting
them and answered only to the casting
of a salmon egg.
A number of Anchorage' residents
were present at the lake yesterday
said Mr. Peterson and each Sunday
and holiday sees an increase in the
number of lake patrons and admirers.
The lake is located about seven miles
northeast of Anchorage and automo
biles may go as far as Whitney’s
ranch. A good trail leads from the
ranch to the lake.
280,000 MEN TO
BE CALLED IN JUNE
WASHINGTON, D. C., May 31.—
It is officially announced today that
280,000 will be called in the draft early
in June and that they will be ordered
to report to the respective military
camps June 24.
The Granby Consolidated Mining,
Smelting <& Power Co., which has ex
tensive interests along the coast of
British Columbia and Alaska, is hav
in an interesting new motor vessel
built at Seattle for use along the
northern coast. The boat is under con
struction at the yards of the Elliot
Bay Yacht & Engine Co., on the West
Waterway and it is expected that she
will be launched early this month.
The new vessel will be used in
Alaska as an exploration boat and is
required to carry a small amount of
freight and also to have accommda
tions for a mining engineer. She will
be very substantially built and hand
somely fitted and will cost complete
about $11,000. Although intended
for commercial purposes, the best
yacht practice is being used in the
finishing and fitting of her living
quarters. In her construction, how
ever, she is being given the strength
and proportions of a heavy towboat
her keel being 9 in. by 7 in. in one
piece, her keelson in one piece 11 in.
by 6 in., notched over frames, an oak
false keel 7 in. by 2 3-4 in. and a gum
stem 12 in. by 6 1-2 in. tapered to 2
1-2 in. at fore edge. Frames are of
white oak of double 1 1-4 in. thick
ness, sided 3 in. and spaced 10 in. in
engine room and for 14 ft. at fore
: ward end and 12 in. elsewhere. Beams
are sided 3 in. moulded 4 1-2 in. at
centers and tapered to 3 1-2 in. at
| ends with four strong beams 6 in.
1 sided. Two tons of cement and sand
! are being laid in bilges to top of bent
; floors and worked so as to facilitate
! drainage of pumps.
The boat is to be 58 ft. in length
and will be powered with a 50 h. p.
; 3-cylinder Samson engine. She will be
; electric lighted by a Delco lighting
i system and will carry a searchlight.
Fuel will be carried in three 150-gal
' Ion distillate tanks and a 25-gallon
gas tank and there will also be a 40
1 gallon air tank and 25-gallon lubri
cating oil tank. Fresh water will be
! carried in a 50-gallon tank at the aft
j end of the hold and in a 25-gallon
gravity tank on top of galley, the
! water being pumped from one to the
other by means of a 1-inch semi-ro
, tary hand pump in the galley. A j
power pump will be operated from!
the main engine for pumping out the
bilge and connected also with salt
watei for tire protection and washing
dowr the decks.
The main saloon is to be heated by
impelling fresh air from an electric
! fan placed over the lift in the galley,
1 the air to be drawn through the after
' galev bulkhead and driven through
a galvanized heating box fitted over
| the exhaust pipe from the main en
gine. A No. 33 Shipmate range will
provide heat for the galley as well as
taking care of the cooking.
; The space in the forepeak of the
: boat will be used for the chain lock
er. The forward cabin will be provid
' ed with a berth with lockers under -
1 neath, a seat locker, hinged canvas
cot, portable table, a sink with lock
er beneath and a crew’s toilet. The
I wheelhouse also will be fitted with a
j berth, with a hinged chart table and
j ample locker space. Full control of!
the engine will be brought to the j
helmsman making her a one-man con- j
i trol boat. Tn the galley in addition
to range will be a sink with dish and j
i provision lockers, a lift with balance '
; weights to ’ supply food to saloon, j
j coal box, flour bin, racks, etc.
The main saloon is to be equipped j
' with two wide settee berths and two i
| hinged berths to form seat backs
I when closed. There will also be a pol
; ished folding table with storm racks,
I a sideboard, wardrobe, built-in ice box
j etc. The toilet will have a bathtub
and will be furnished with hot water
from a tank in the galley.
The boat will be handsomely finish
ed, with teak companions, skylights,
doors, sashes, etc. She will be fitted
with leather spring cushions, a car
peted main saloons and a cork lino
leum floors in the other quarters.
PRESIDENT DRIVES
RIVET IN STEAMER!
ALEXANDRIA, Va., May 31.—
President Wilson yesterday lent a
hand in driving the first rivet in the
keel of what will be the steamship
Gunston Hall, a 9,400-ton freighter
for the United Staes shipping board,
j He pressed the trigger of a pneumatic
riveter, until the rivet was beaten into
shape.
Ptarmigan are working back from
! their northern migrations, and it is
! believed there will be a large crop the
j coming winter, provided we have a
! reasonably dry summer.
The Memorial Day program, under
the auspices of the Elks lodge was
held according to schedule yesterday
morning in front of the lodge rooms.
The program was short but impressive
and attended by a representative body
of Anchorage citizens.
The City band responded nobly to
the call and their efforts were very
much appreciated by every one; their
playing did much to make the occasion
a success.
Following the invocation by Rev. E.
M. Hughes, J. A. Wilkinson delivered
a short address which was well receiv
ed and for the benefit of those who
missed the opportunity of hearing Mr.
Wilkinson yesterday the Times will
publish his speech in full in Sunday’s
issue.
The parade formed in the order
named: American flag, city band, de
tachment of the 14th Infantry, Home
Guards, Elks lodge, Boy Scouts and
school children, marched to the ceme
tery where a further program was
held ending with taps.
DOUGLAS ISLAND
The Engineering and Mining Journ
al of May 4 carries an obituary of
Captain Braxton Bigelow, who was
formerly a Douglas island man and
who worked in the Mexican mine from
Deecmber, 1910, to May, 1912, and in
the cyanide plant and 300 mill before
leaving the island in 1912. He was a
fine type of men and well liked by all
who knew him in the north. From
the obituary it will be seen that he
died a heroic death after having been
decorated for bravery and unselfish
work.
Captain Braxton Bigelow, 170th
Field Co., Royal Engineers, British
Expeditionary Forces, who was re
ported missing on July 23, 1017, was
killed in action on the night, accord
ing to word received at his home in
News Brunswick, N. J. Captain Bige
low was graduated from Harvard in
1905 and from Massachusetts Institute
of Technology in 1910, and was em
ployed in Peru as a mining engineer
at the outbreak of war. He returned to
New York and sailed for England on
December 26, 1914. He first served
with the American Ambulance Feild
Service and later in Siberia with a
hospital unit. For bravery and unsel
fish work he received a medal. Re
turning to England in April, 1916, he
obtained a commission in the Brit
ish army as lieutenant in royal artil
lery and was sent to the front. Later
he was transferred to the Engineers,
and early in the summer he was pro
moted To captain. In August Cap
tain Bigelow was slightly wounded
and received six weeks’ leave. After
his return to France he was near Lens
when there was a suspicion that the
Germans were engaged in mine work
at a particular point in his sector. On
the night of July 23 Captain Bigelow
volunteered to head a small party of
sappers to investigate. He never re
turned. He was mentioned in dispatch
es for bravery and distinguished serv
ice. Captain Bigelow was the son of
Major John Bigelow, U. S. A., retired, j
and grandson of the late John Bige
low, author and minister to France
under President Grant. He was a
member of the American institute of
Mining Engineers.”
NAGLEY ENTHUSIASTIC
ABOUT TALKEETNA REGION
H. W. Nagley and Mrs. Nagley,
with their infant son, left this morn
ing aboard the power boat J. J. for
their home at Susitna station. Mr.
Nagley who in former years purchas
ed all of his merchandise and supplies
for his stores at Susitna station and
Talkeetna by means of the mails this
year spent several months in Anchor
age where he bought direct from the
traveling representatives of outside
houses.
Heavy purchases of supplies were
made this year by Mr. Nagley for his
Talkeetna store. He is very enthus
iastic regarding the ftuure of Tal
keetna and feels that with the opening
of the government“"raih'oad as far as
Broad Pass a tremendous activity will
lesult in the Cache creek, the Iron
creek and Broad Pass districts, and
that Talkeetna will be the first place
to feel the benefit of these activities.
CHISANA GOOD PRODUCER.
The Chisana district is reported
to have produced half a million in
gold since its discovery by Nelson
and James. The present yearly out
put is over $50,000. There is a resi
dence population of 50 to 60 in winter
and about 150 in the summer.
LOCAL LUMBER
Five hundred thousand feet of lum
ber will be furnished by the firm of
McNally & Maitland from the firm's
mill at Bird creek to the Alaskan En
gineering commission within the
course of the next six weeks, accord
ing to a statement made today by Ed
ward McNally, a member of the firm.
The logs are now at the mill and
work of sawing them into lumber will
begin early next week. Twelve men
will be employed during the time re
quired to make delivery of t'ne lumber.
Most of the lumber will be sawed into
timbers for use in bridges along the
route of the railroad and will be ship
ped from the mill at Bird creek to
Anchorage in rafts down Turnagain
Arm. The timbers will be transferred
to flat cars at Anchorage and distri
buted to points where needed along the
railroad. Delivery of the entire amount
of 500,000 feet will be made by the
firm in from five to six weeks.
Timber cruisers are now at work in
the country contiguous to the mill in
an effort to locate additional timber
and upon the filling of the contract
'with the Alaskan Engineering com
mission work will be commenced on
the sawing of several hundred thou
sand feet of lumber for the local com
mercial trade.
“The entering into this big contract
on the part of the Alaskan Engineer
ing commission at this time is a con
o ete, tangible evidence of the continu
ation of the construction of the gov
ernment railroad and the development
of this section of Alaska,” said Mr.
McNally. “Most of the timbers used
in bridge construction up to date on
the government railroad, continued
Mr. McNally, has been shipped in
from outside markets. The present
contract means that the money that
otherwise would have gone to the out
side lumber markets will now be kept
in Anchorage and will go toward the
immediate development of this city-"
and the nearby country.”
The City team beat the Soldiers
yesterday afternoon at Athletic park
by the score of 18 to 6. From a
farcical standpoint the game was
more interesting1 than the score indi
cates. Brown and Aumann pitched for
the City and Sherwin went all the way
for the Soldiers.
The managers of the three teams
will hold a meeting prior to Sunday’s
game, between the Soldiers and Com
mission, and rearrange the teams to
make them more even. Under the
present system the Commission is en
tirely too strong to make the games
interesting and the change will be
made to keep up local interest in the
national game.
The committee in charge or tag day
desires to thank those who donated
articles to the tag day sale. The re
ceipts from these articles amounted to
$57.00.
The committee also desires to thank
the Boy Scouts, the ladies and children
who gave their service so freely on
tag day.
The total receipts from sale of tags
amounted to $439.76.
Itemized statement of receipts and
disbursements follows:
Receipts.
Tags (Mrs. Chase) .-$103.50
Tags (city) . 336.26
A. L. U. dance . 46.00
Donated articles . 57.00
Total .$542.76
Disbursements.
Tag tickets (2,000) .$ 10.00
Red twine .50
A. L. U. tickets and adv. 12.55
Music, A. L. U. dance - 17.50
Total .$ 40.55
Net receipts
$502.21
BOY SCOUTS GARDENING.
Under supervision of Rev. E. W.
Hughes ,the Boy Scouts started actual
work on the garden in muncipal block
this morning. Sidney Anderson, presi
dent of the Chamber of Commerce, do
nated a sack of fine seed potatoes and
it is understood that other business
men will make donations of garden
seed. The proceeds derived from the
sale of garden truck will be donated to
the Anchorage Red Cross fund.
/