Application made April 1, 1918, at the postoffice at Nenana, Alaska,
for en^ry as second class mail matter, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
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ALASKA S DANGER.
[Communication addressed to the
editor of the New York Times by
Hudson Stuck, archdeacon of the
Yukon.]
My attention has been called to
an article in your issue of the 11th
inst., about Alaskan same, in which
you refer to the diverse views pre
vailing as to the need of further
protection for the moose and cari
bou. I am loth to intrude the ob
servations of a mere missionary,
however wide they may have been,
into a discussion between sportsmen
and game wardens, because I know
that in some unintelligent but by
no means uninfluential quarters
mere missionary testimony is heavily
discounted—if, ineed, it be not un
ceremoniously brushed aside, as is
commonly the case in • Government
departments and bureaus. Yet for
what it is worth with the more in
telligent I would express my judg
ment that in the Interior of Alaska
the big game is increasing. The
diminution of the white population
of that region with the decay of
gold mining has doubtless been the
chief factor in that increase, and
any considerable return of the white
man to the Interior country would
involve a reduction in the game. I
am sure that for the last few years
1 „ . „ « .. .1 li <11-a nnn_
siderably increased in many dis
tricts, and that is the judgment of
the Indians also. So thait it would
appear that there is not just now
any need for further restrictive
measures.
Mr. Wenrich’s view that wolves
kill more caribou than all the hunt
ers put together I think is probably
well founded. I have more than
once traveled in the path of a large
caribou herd and found dead and
mutilated caribou strewn all along
the way, some slain for the mere
lust of killing, for their throats had
been cut by the fangs of full-fed
animals, who had not stopped to eat
at all. But the same gentleman’s
statement that the wolves some
times run in bands of a hundred or
more is not true of the Interior of
Alaska, as far as my observation
has gone. I have never seen the
tracks of more than four or five
wolves together. With the old pic
ture-book stories of packs of wolves
in Siberia in my mind—you remem
ber how the man in the sleigh cuts
loose one horse after another that
the ravening wolves may stop to
fight over its body, and finally
inching home as has one remaining
horse falls exhausted—I had ex
pected to find such packs in Alaska
Now I begin to doubt Whether they
exist anywhere out of the story
book.
Mr. Nelson’s testimony as to th«
extermination of the caribou along
the Arctic coast was within has owr
personal experience, for it fell large
ly during the term of his earl;
residence at St. Michael. But
think it was due to the depreda
tions of the whalers as to the lovi
of slaughter by the Eskimos, newl;
provided as they were by these sam
whalers with firearms. There ar
yet caribou on the north coast, 01
rather, in its mountainous hintei
land; but the herds of the west |
coast are gone. There was a little
caribou meat at Point Barrow,
thought I know not from how far
inland it had been brought, but I
saw and heard nothing of caribou or.
the whole coast two winters ago.
You will recall that it was Dr.
Sheldon Jackson’s realization of the
imminence of the extermination of I
the caribou that spurred him to that I
mose beneficent measure, the intro-1
duction of the reindeer, the domes
ticated caribou, in those parts. It
is astonishing how promptly Dr.
Sheldon Jackson’s observations were
validated, how his warnings became
weighty so soon as he ceased to
become a mere missionary and be
came a government official. Would
that there had been many Alaskan
government officials of his foresight
and vigor!
If there were one such today he
would be crying out not about the
danger of the destruction of the big
game, but a far greater danger that
is threatening all the inhabitants of
the Interior of Alaska: the destruc
tion of the Yukon salmon. It is, I
suppose, our misfortune in the In
terior that the Yukon salmon does!
not rise to a fly; we can hardly |
hope to enlist the active interest and j
sympathy of the sportsman. But so j
far as the main subsistence of the I
whole country concerns all kindly
disposed people, this matter of the
Yukon salmon may lay claim to gen
eral interest.
To a degree that is not under
stood by most people the whole
economy of the Yukon country is
built upon dried salmon.
The Nile is not more basic to the
economy of Egypt, flowing through
the midst of the land and bringing
fertility with it, than the Yukon is
to the Interior of Alaska, flowing
through the midst of it and bringing
this noble fish.
All the other resources of the
country are more or less dependent
upon dried salmon. Aside from itsr
' large use by direct human consump
tion, it is not possible to hunt big
game, it is not possible to trap furs,
it is not possible to prospect for
gold, without a dog team; and there
is no other food comparable in com
pact, transportable nutrition to dried
salmon; no other food—although a
'dog will eat anything—upon which
,a dog team may be maintained and
long distances traveled.
: The salmon is the harvest of the
j rivers, the one generally dependable
; resource which may with any jus
j tice be compared with the harvest
of the soil in more favorable lands.
It has fluctuations, as the yield of
the earth has its lean and fat years;
but there was never anything ap
proaching a complete failure in the
i fifteen summers that I have spent
! upon the Yukon—until last summer.
. j when, for the first time, a salmon
■ j cannery was in operation during the
[; whole season at the mouth of the
.! river. And this is the menace to
the inhabitants of Interior Alaska
j i today.
The question of the Yukon salmon
is only part of a larger question
that must be dealt with very pres
- ently and very drastically if there
ire to be any Pacific coast salmon
eft. The gTeat greed of the pack
;rs has pushed their highly lucra
;ive fishing nearer and nearer to the
nouths of the spawning streams,
intil last summer the catch showed
in alarming falling off. But the
dreams thus depleted of fish on the
Pacific coast are in the main mere
nountain torrents without inhab
tants along their banks. What is
jo my point is that the same greed
>f packing has at last brought a
•annery to the mouth of the great
river emptying into Bering sea, the
fukon, with its thousands of inhab
tants along its course, almost all
if whom are more or less dependent
tor their subsistence upon their sal
non catch.
Despite the “restrictions” imposed
ay the fish commission upon the
cannery operations on the Yukon,
the fishing is virtually unrestricted,
rhe restrictions are delusive. For
shen the thirty thousand cases and
die thirty thousand barrels anil
tierces which the regulations of the
rannery permit in the river itself
ire taken the cannery moves its
barges and its scows (it is a float
ng concern) just outside the mouth
if the river into Bering sea, and
takes all its wants, the commission
laving, it seems, no marine juris
iiction. Now, the fish taken in the
Bering sea at the mouth of the Yu
kon are all of them about to enter
the river. Anil it makes no differ
ence to the depletion of the fish
supply whether the fish are caught
actually in the river or just before
:hey enter the river.
Recognizing this fact, recognizing
tardily, that distress was caused
among the Indians all along the Yu
con this winter by the failure of
the previous summer's fishing, the
commission proposed to secure an
executive order forbidding cannery
fishing in Bering sea, where it is
under no restriction, and confining
the company to the limits imposed
ly the commission’s regulations.
Such a draf texecutive order was
Jrawn up and a conference was held
last month in Washington between
the heads of departments concerned.
I had pinned my hope for remedy
and relief upon the result of that
conference, but it decided not to
proceed with the matter, and the
only practical result of the confer
ment of commerce that if it ap
peared in the season of 1920 that
the Indians were unable to secure
sufficient fish, owing to the opera
tions of the cannery, the depart
ment would make good the shortage.
Such a promise is utterly unsatis
factory. The department cannot
make good a shortage of dried sal
mon if there be no salmon to make
it good with. It can only mean the
beginning of a system of doles of
flour and of bacon, the beginning
of the pauperizing of the native peo
jle of the Yukon, who have always
been self-supporting hitherto. And
I, for one, would rather see them
dead and buried and done with than
to see this self-supporting people re
duced to subsistence upon Govern
ment doles.
There is now no recourse, there
fore, save the passage of a bill by
Congress forbidding commercial fish
ing in the- Yukon and adjacent wa
ters. Such a measure I am seeking
now to have introduced, and for it
I shall ask the general support of
the kindly and of the righteously
disposed.
I am certain that i? a vote were
taken among the residents along the
Yukon and its tributaries, white and
native alike, all except persons di
rectly or indirectly connected with
the cannery and the henchmen of
the closely ailed transportation and
trading companies, would vote for
prohibition of commercial fishing.
A few days ago the New York
newspapers printed a preposterous
telegpram from Moscow to the effect
that Alaska was about to form a
soviet government of its own, a tele
gram so silly that I was surprised
that it was published. But it may
in all calm reason be asked whether
it is wise policy to permit the im
poverishment and exasperation of
white men, thlus expropriated of their
WANT ADS
ROOFING and Building Paper for
sale; also Chicken Feed. Simson’s '
Department Store.
s519
FRAME HOUSE and lot for sale. :
Best location in town. Good wa-!
ter. Inquire News office. s519
FURNISHED CABIN FOR SALE.
Two rooms, best water in town. |
Cheap. See J. H. Steele.
GOOD COOK WANTED for camp
out of town. Good wages. For
further particulars call at News
office.
BARN FOR RENT—-Cheap. Inquire
News office. ;
BARN FOR RENT—Second and E.
Three double stalls. Pump in
barn. Inquire at News.
BUNCH OF SEVEN KEYS found.
Owner can recover by calling at
j News office and paying for adv.
THE DWYER HOME FOR SALE.
Terms reasonable. tf
FOR RENT—Suite of three rooms,
suitable for light housekeeping,
with heat and light and hot and
cold water in connection. Also
office rooms, at The Arctic.
FOR SALE—Two-room house, part
ly furnished, with lot. Desirable
locality. Inquire News office. tf
FOR RENT—Cascade laundry. Fully
equipped and with established in
come. No cash required. Inquire
at Arctic.
! natural rights, the pauperizing and
degradation of the Indians, by al
lowing an outside commercial com
pany to sit down at the mouth of
the Yukon and confiscate the fish
that from time immemorial has been
the chief dependence and support of
all the people of Alaska. Is not
that calculated to arouse and keep
alive irritation and discontent?
Awnings, Tarps and Nets made to
order. Suits cleaned and pressed, *1
D’ORSAY’S TAILOR SHOP
Third and A Streets.
Jtenana. the dateway to McKinley
National Part
r.s. McDonald
Public Stenography Typewriting
Bookkeeping Conveyancing
REAL ESTATE
RENTALS LOANS
LIFE INSURANCE
FIRE INSURANCE
Only the most reliable companies
Safety Deposit Boxes
For Rent.
Pioneers of Alaska
Nenana Igloo No. 17
MEETS AT UNION HALL
FIRST MONDAY OF MONTH
AT 8:00 P. M.
Visiting Members Always
Welcome.
Frank Rourke, Martin Nash,
Secretary. President.
STOVES and RANGES
NEW PERFECTION
AMD
FLORENCE OIL STOVES
FOWLER & MORRIS
I ■ We Strive to Please
EVERYTHING THE BEST
I
X
Tavern Cafe and Bakery |
WM. RODICKEIT
Proprietor
* * * *.. A’VWVWVVWWWW999W9WVVVvW^^
/
■ 1 '
A Thoroughly Modern Hotel
The Southern
NENANA HOUSE |
Large Barn -In Connection -Dog Kennels j
MRS. A. B. EASTERLY, Proprietress. |
I
I
I
NENANA LODGE No. 1193
L. 0. 0. M.
MEETS AT MOOSE HALL
Fourth and B Streets
Second and Fourth Mondays
At 8:00 P. M.
ALEX FOWLER, ALF EKELAND,
Secretary Dictator.
I . ■■ _
Department of the Interior
Alaskan Engineering Commission
NOTICE
Passengers are required to pur
chase tickets before entering trains.
Tickets can be purchased from
the station agent, whose office is in
the employment office, on the ground
floor of the General Office Building.
Alaskan Engineering Commission, or
at N'orth N'enana.
Tickets will be on sale at any
time during office hours, and can be
■purchased in sufficient time before
the departure of the trains.
Regular trains for the south leave
the foot of A street on Wednesdays
'and Saturdays at 8 a. m., and ffom
North Nenana for Fairbanks, Tues
days and Fridays, at 1 p. m.
The following is the schedule be
tween North Nenana and Fairbanks,
subject to change without notice:
Leave Fairbanks at 7:00 a. m.;
arrive North Nenana, 11:30 a. m.
Leave North Nenana 1:09 p. m :
^arrive Fairbanks. 5:30 p. m
A ferry will be run between N'e
! nana and North Nenana to connect
[with Fairbanks trains. Passengers
for Fairbanks should purchase tick
lets in Nenana before crossing the
J ferry.
Trappers and Traders of Alaska
SELL YOUR FURS TO A HOME INDUSTRY. WE GUARANTEE
YOU HIGHER PRICES THAN OUTSIDE
CONCERNS WILL PAY.
During the last season we conducted an advertising campaign
throughout the North and are prepared to send you the names of
people in all sections of Alaska and the Yukon who will verify our
statements.
OuV*excellent Eastern connections, and the tremendous amount
of mail order business we are receiving from all parts of the
States for furs made to order enables us to turn our stock quickly
at a reasonable profit, but we must have fur, for which we guar
antee top prices.
Make as a trial shipment. If our price does not suit you, the
goods will be returned charges prepaid.
WE MAKE FURS TO ORDER
at more reasonable rates than can be obtained Outside. At present
we are working three operators, and need others. If you are an
operator and finisher, and want a good year-around job, com
municate with us.
CHAS. GOLDSTEIN & CO.
JUNEAU, ALASKA