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A
STORY RETOLD TO PRESIDENT HARDING BEFORE
HIS ALASKAN TOUR REGARDING PURCHASE PRICE
OF TERRITORY INTERESTED THE CHIEF IMMENSELY
_4_
By JOE MITCHELL CHAPPLE, In National Magazine
WHEN Mr. Charles C. Glover of the Riggs National Bank re
told me a story that very much interested the late Presi
dent Harding just before his Alaskan trip, I was all eyes
and ears. It conveys a new light upon an incident in United States
history concerning which there has always been a great deal of com
ment, but nothing definitely declared. When a young clerk in the
Riggs National Bank, C. C. Glover was accosted by General Simpson
who was then living in Philadelphia and kept his bank account in
Washington and came to pay his life insurance. The latter told him
an enlightening story concerning the purchase of Alaska, which now,
for the first time, is available for publication.
“According to the story told me,” said Mr. Glover, “the truth
of which has been vouched for, the United States did not, as the his
torians tell us, pay $7,200,000 for Alaska. The actual purchase price
was $1,400,000, although the warrant turned over to Russia, which
was handled by me, called for $7,200,000.”
General Simpson, from whom Glover, then a young bank clerk,
got the tale, was later Governor of Montana. After his term of of
fice lie was sent to Alaska, and while on the train going West he met
Senator Dawes of Massachusetts, who had something to do with the
negotiations, and who told him the anecdote which thus bears the
stamp of Senatorial authority.
Prior to the war, negotiations had been started by Russia to sell
Alaska for $1,400,000. It was decided to conclude the sale before
England annexed the territory in extending her northwest boundary,
at the time a land of icebergs. The war interfered with the nego
tiations. In the darkest days of the struggle, when England was about
to break the blockade and declare her sympathy for the Southern
Confederacy, Secretary William Henry Seward was looking about for
some way of checkmating the move which he was informed had been
definitely decided upon.
Soon after he called in the Russian Minister, Stoehl, for a con
ference and arranged to have a Russian fleet come to New York and
a small fleet was sent to San Francisco as a warning to England to
keep off the American coast. This little demonstration had much to
do with turning the tide and was an emphatic notice to Great Britain
that Russia was friendly to the Union. The cost of this little dem
onstration was about five million dollars, which England added to the
costs of the war to the U. S. A.
After the war, the deficiency fund was exhausted and the treas
ury was so depleted that there was no possible way of passing a bill
to pay Russia for its services without giving offense to England. It
was decided, when the final arrangements were made, that the price
paid for the territory purchased should be made to cover the full cost
of obtaining Alaska, at $7,200,000. This sum, of course, included the
original purchase price of $1,400,000 and the cost of sending the Rus
sian fleet to safeguard the Union. Five million dollars and more wms
the sum paid for the services of the Russian naval vessels. Thus
in what purported to be only the price paid for Alaska was payment
also, for Russia’s friendly demonstration at a most critical time.
i
ALASKA DAY AND
SEWARD DAY ARE
. LEGAL HOLIDAYS
Alaska Day Commemorates
Actual Transfer From the
* Russian Government to U.
S. Government.
TRANSFERED OCT 18, ’67
Seward Day, Mar. 30, Nam-1
ed in Honor Former Sec-1
retary of State William H. j
^ Seward.
Two days are observed in the Al- (
aska schools which are not familiar |
to teachers employed in the Terri-'
tory for the first time. They are
Alaska Day, October 18th, and Sew
ard Day, March 30th. While both !
days are legal holidays neither are j
school holidays. The reason for this .
is that those who framed the Ter
ritory’s school laws felt that little
is accomplished in the wray of ex
pressing belief in a commonwealth
or honor for a great man by closing
the schools, thereby depriving
children who are under the influ
ence of the school for less than one
fifth of their waking hours, between
the ages of six and eighteen, of
the benefits which the school has
to offer. It was felt, rather that
much more can be accomplished
along the line of instilling a feel
ing of loyalty to Alaska and of re
spect for the man who played so
large a part in making Alaska a
part of the United States, by keep
ing the schools in session and de
voting a part of the day to exer
cises appropriate to the occasion.
Information concerning the pur- j
chase of Alaska and the life of j
SewTard is available in the majority
of the schools. It will not be in
appropriate, however, to review I
briefly some of the more important
phases of the process by which Al
aska became United States territory.
As early as 1854 Russia had approach
ed the United States with an offer to
sell Alaska. The disastrous results
of the Crimean War and the fear
that England would secure possession
of Russian America, as Alaska was
then called, were the motives which
impelled her to make this offer which
was not accepted by the United
States. However, the matter of the
purchase of this Territory was given
serious enough consideration for the
subject to become a political issue
during succeeding years. Such high
ly interesting and enlightened terms
as “Zero Islands,” “Polaria,” “Wal
rusia,” and “Icebergia” wTere applied
to this section of the North American
continent by the newspapers and pol
iticials of the day.
The value of wnat is now Alaska
was appreciated by some, however,
and in 1867 a syndicate of Amer
ican fur traders consulted William
H. Seward, then Secretary of State,
regarding the international complica
tions which might ensue should they
purchase Russian America. From
time to time the matter of the pur
chase assumed more definite propor
tion. Finally after much negotiation
between the two governments a trea
ty ceding the territory to the United
States was signed by Seward and a
representative of the Russian govern
ment, Baron Stoekl, on March 30,
1867. The Senate confirmed the trea
ty on April 10 largely as the result
of a masterly discourse on the im
portance of the purchase and of the
resources of Alaska by Charles Sum
ner. The formal transfer -was not
made until October 18 of same year.
This transfer took place at Sitka,
the Russian capital, in the presence
of army and navy representatives of
the two nations. The physical trans
fer was marked by the lowering of
the Russian flag and the raising of
the Stars and Stripes.
Alaska Day, October, 18, therefore
commemorates the date of the actual
transfer, and Seward Day, March 30,
the date on which the Treaty of Ses
sion was signed.
OLD RUSSIAN ELOCK HOUSE AT SITKA
WHALING STATION
AT AKUTAN HAS
FINE SEASON
TOTAL OF WHALES CAUGHT AT
AKUTAN EXCEED 500—LARG
EST 86 FEET IN LENGTH
The greatest whaling season ever
experienced at the Akutan station,
owned and operated by the Atlantic
Pacific Sea Products Company, has
been recorded this season. It is stat
ed the grand total of whales killed
amounted to more than 500.
Whaling which began May 1, came
to a close the latter part of Octo
ber. The Akutan plant is reputed as
the largest in the world. The com
pany owns eighteen whaling vessels,
six of them having been engaged at
the Akutan station this year.
The names of these vessels and
the number of whales caught per
boat are given as follows: Kodiak
and Unimak have caught 100 whales
between them to Sept. 30.; Patterson,
90; Aberdeen, 35; Tananek, 70. The
Moran, caught 42 whales.
Up to the first of Septeihber more
than 14,000 barrels of whale oil, be
sides an enormous quantity of fei'
tilizer, had been put up and shipped
to the states from the Akutan plant.
The fertilizer is shipped in sacks.
No ambergris had been found to
date to the westward.
The largest whale caught this sea
son measured 86 feet, it was stated.
The world’s record for whales caught
is 98 feet and six inches. And this
record beater was caught in Alaska
waters a few years ago. The rec
ord whale of this season weighed
in close to 100 tons, and great ex
citement prevailed before he wras fin
ally landed. It is reported this large
denizen of the deep must have been
equipped with about 2,000 h. p. en
gines, for he straightened out 40
fathoms of heavy hawser besides
torwing the whaler at a speed of ap
proximately five miles an hour.
One of the peculiarities associated
.with the sperm whale is that twice
each month, with the change of the
moon, he switches his diet. His fa
vorite food is devil fish, squids,
sharks and halibut. Owing to the
fact the sperm whale is the only
whale possessing a set of ivories, it
is an easy matter for him to gorge
himself on the above named delica
cies. The finback whale has no teeth
and lives on small fish.
The big feeding grounds for the
sperm and finback, especially for
the sperm whale, is off the coast of
Africa. The end of October saw prac
tically all of the whales heading for
the long sea voyage to the African
waters, and like ducks, they, will head
back for the cool Alaskan waters in
the spring.
Alaska Educator Honored
Merited recognition of the services
which they have rendered to the
cause of education and to the general
advancement of society was given to
two Alaska educators during the past
summer. President Charles E. Bun
nell, of the Alaska Agricultural Col
lege and School of Mines, was award
ed the honorary degree of Doctor of
Laws, by his alma mater, Bucknell
University. The same degree was
conferred upon William T. Lopp, for
many years in charge of the work of
the U. S. Bureau of Education in Al
aska, by the institution from which he
was graduated, Hanover College.
President Bunnell made the journey
to Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, in June,
and was present at the graduation ex
ercises of Bucknell University, from
which institution he already had re
ceived degrees of A. B. and A. M. Dr.
Lopp was unable to visit Hanover Col
lege and the degree was conferred up
on him in absentia.
Hagelbargers Pass was found by
Paul Hagelbarger, who was a mem
ber of the 1917, 1918 and 1919 expe
ditions.
The distance from Seattle to Sew
ard is 1,700 miles and the round
trip takes approximately fourteen
days. On the trip to Fairbanks, the
“Heart of the Golden North,” via the
Alaska Railroad, one week longer is
required.
Miss Emma Gittinger, who has
written the “Mary Jane” column in
the Frederick, Md., News for 30
years, recently celebrated her 75th
birthday.
Mrs. Robert W. Chambers, wife
of the popular American novelist,
proved herself a heroine by rescuing
a man from drowning in the Thames
river, London.
Miss Helen Wills, national wo
men’s tennis champion, is a junior
at the University of California, spe
cializing in art. In spite of the time
devoted to tennis, she is rated “high
B” in her studies.
Mrs. Kate Walker has been keep
er of a lighthouse in New York har
bor since the death of her husband
35 years ago.
The KOHLER Automatic
produces 110-volt current
The Kohler Automatic Power and Light Plant produces
standard 110-volt electricity, and therefore allows you to
use the same standard electric light bulbs and appliances
used in cities. These appliances are available everywhere
and cost less than those of lower voltage.
Coupled with this advantage of the Kohler Automatic is
the feature of “no storage batteries.” This does away with
the trouble and expense of maintaining a large bank of
glass-cell storage batteries. The only battery used with
the Kohler Automatic is a small, automobile-type, for
starting the engine.
Thus the Kohler Automatic gives you all the advantages
of city electricity with the same convenience—simply
turn any button on the circuit and you have electricity
for power or light. Send for illustrated booklet. Come in
and see the plant in operation.
No Storage Batteries 110 Volts Automatic 1500 Watts
CARL E. ORLANDER
SEWARD - - - ALASKA