of would-be packers, who serenely in
troduced themselves into the herring
fishing industry without experience or
qualifications for the game. I admire,
and would help any man with true
ambition, but why encourage inexpe
rienced men to ultimately destroy a
new and rising industry.
The miserable misrepresentation of
Alaska Fat Herring on our market
this season was disgraceful to our
fair name as fish packers. The first
catch of the season was cured irre
spective of quality and practically
dumped into barrels and rushed down
to the early market. The first pack
of the season was easily disposed of.
The wholesaler on receiving the pack
observed the inferior quality, but as
he must supply his waiting retailer,
who in turn supplied the consumer,
the pack brought good prices. But the
consumer found the quality bad and
ocean into Prince William Sound.
Should a vessel from the herring fleet
strike the fish in or near one of these
entrances, all the fleet rushes there
in a body, leaving the remaining pass
es free of exploration.
Our herring seine boats keep re
cords of the time that fish were caught
in certain locations in former years,
so that year after year they may fish
these waters successfully. If they
prove unsuccessful in securing a catch
in any one of their old locations, they
readily come to the conclusion that
the fish are on the wane, instead of
exploring for pastures new.
Large quantities of herring were
caught in a bay at Naked Islands this
summer by men who were fishing in
Prince William Sound for the first
time, and were not familiar with these
bays and passes of the Sound. These
men impounded hundreds of barrels
ANOTHER VIEW OF IMLACH’S QUARTERS AT PORT BENNY
refused to buy. The retailer was left
with inferior grades of fish, and could
not stock the good qualities until he
disposed of the inferior stock. In
case superior qualities were bought
elsewhere by the consumer, the deal
er was obliged to destroy his infe
rior stock.
Not only is the inexperienced pack
er a menace to the trade, but his pres
ence is felt in the well established
salteries. The fishermen and gibbers
are paid by the barrel. The gibbers
of the inexperienced packer are kept
busy, the packer being out for quan
tity instead of quality, while the help
of the well established saltery who
cures only first-call goods, remains
idle, the packer in many instances
having to recompense them to avoid
trouble. When good quality fish are
caught suitable for Matje cure, the in
experienced packer, out for quan
tity only, accordingly keeps his gib
bers busy. To make them refill would
be to loose much time, so he ships
his seasticks to Seattle to be refilled.
“Seasticks” is a term used in describ
ing the pack on completion of the first
refilling operation. I would like to be
informed if a Matje requires a given
number of days to cure, how this
would-be packer can Matje cure his
pack, when they have been ten or
more days in transit? The packer
never sees the condition of his fish
on arrival in Seattle and knows noth
ing of their quality. The experienced
packer knows that when the pack is
“in seastick,” it is in the process of
cure.
In the fall of 1924 the writer shipped
seasticks from Halibut Cove, but not
the Matje cure, as these fish are a
harder cure, conditions in Halibut
Cove not being favorable, the weather
being too cold. Shipping these fish to
Seattle improved them considerably.
I believe that unless the inexperienc
ed packer is prohibited from dumping
inferior goods upon our market we
will gradually lose our trade. I would
suggest that before a person can op
erate a saltery in Alaska, they be ex
amined by efficient Government in
spectors as to their ability to cure
herring.
If this be done our great Alaska
would have a chance to flourish in
her rising new industry.
Have We a Waning Industry in
Prince William Sound
This question is often brought to
my attention, and many fellow pack
ers, business men and fisherworkers
contend that the fish are falling off,
with a consequent smaller pack. Per
sonally I do not agree with their con
tentions, for some people come to such
conclusions before they have studied
the situation from any or every angle.
The year 1924 was the first year of
a so-called scarcity of herring simply
because they were difficult to locate.
Herring, unlike salmon, do not search
for fresh water in which to spawn.
Therefore, their location is more dif
ficult.
There are six entrances from the
of herring, despite the fact that nc
herring had ever been known to come
from that location in former seasons,
simply because it was never explored.
I personally know that there were
enough herring in Prince William
Sound prior to the opening of this
1925 season to keep ail the salteries
in Alaska busy every day of the en
tire season. Those fish were here,
but we could not locate them. During
the summer of 1920, the fish packed
in Prince William Sound were caught
in Hogan Bay, Sheldon Bay and Erl
ington Pass, the fall fish being caught
in Whale Bay.
In 1921 the summer fish were caught
between Bainbridge and Prince of
Wales Pass. Fall fish for this season
were caught in Main Bay. In 1922, the
record year, the summer fish came
from Henning Bay and McLeod Har
bor on Montague Island. The fall fish
came from Main Bay. In 1923 the
summer fish came from Cape Earling
ton, Deep Bay and Prince of Wales
Pass. More summer fish were packed
this year than in any of the preceding
record years, but the fall fish were
never located.
In 1924 the fishing was a failure, al
though several thousands barrels
were packed by a few of the packers.
At Three Saints Bay, on the southeast
end of Kodiak Island, in the year
1921 the Alaska Sea Food Produce
Company packed 6,000 barrels. In
1922 the pack was about half that of
the preceding year. In 1923 it was a
failure, while in 1924 the packers did
not operate, anticipating another fail
ure, but the herring came in in abun
dance. Another company operated a
saltery, but being rather late in com
mencing, cured but 2000 barrels. In
1921 herring were so plentiful ir
Uganik Bay that three men who had
been employed in a local cannery, fish
ed with a beach seine net and Nor
wegian cured 800 barrels.
Owing to this record catch the Sai
Juan and Uganik Packing Companies
erected salteries there in 1922 and
1923, but both years were failures
Had these companies operated in 1{)21
they would, no doubt, have been ac
cused of exterminating the fish fron:
this locality.
I could go on naming instances like
this, all due to the migratory habits
of the herring. For centuries in
Scotland the same peculiarities have
been found, the fish moving from one
location to another, and periodical^
deserting one location for another
Fishing centers have seasons of sue
cess and reverses, but the fishing in
dustry there still continues.
Rev. and Mrs. W. O. Forbes, o:
San Francisco were brief visitors
in Seward • during tbe past summer
Rev. Forbes is superintendent of th<
Presbyterian missionary work of the
Pacific coast and made the trip tc
Alaska in the interest of his work.
It might be a mean thing to say
but the best liars make the bes
husbands.
B. OF ED. SHIP
EN ROUTE SOUTH
REINDEER MEAT
EUREAU OF EDUCATION VESSEL
SUPPLIES JUNEAU MARKET
—SOUTH FROM ARCTIC
With 400 reindeer carcaasses on
board, about 30 of which have been
sold to Juneau markets for local
consumption, the U. S. Bureau of
Education power boat Boxer, Capt.
S. T. L. Whitlam, master, arrived at
Juneau last week, according to the
Juneau Empire, en route from Point
Barrow to Seattle, completing the
second trip into the Bering Sea
country this year. The vessel occa
sionally, while southbound, calls
into Seward, but did not this year.
The Boxer also has seven passen
gers aboard, five of whom are Bu
reau school teachers returning to
the States after service in the north
and two are residents of Nome.
Juneau is the first port of call
made by the Boxer except a stop at
King Cove to take on water, since
the vessel left St. Lawrence Island,
October 21. Stops will be made at
the Alaska points south of here for
selling reindeer meat. This is the
fourth trip Capt. Whitlam has made
into Juneau with the Boxer.
Stormy Weather.
The Boxer is about three weeks
i behind schedule and was delayed on
; account of stormy "weather and
I heavy surfs through September and
' October which made it difficult to
land supplies at the various points
along the north coast, Capt. Whit
lam said.
This season has experienced a
most unusual ice condition in the
north according to Capt. Whitlam.
There was no ice at Point Barrow
when the Boxer left there the latter
part of August and none "was seen
on the southbound trip until the
vessel neared Juneau. The ice floe
in the Arctic was far up in the
northeast and was late in coming
south.
The passengers aboard the Boxer
going to Seattle are: Mr. and Mrs.
W. L. Wright, who have taught at
Shungnak the past two years and
their six months’ old daughter; Mr.
and Mrs. C. L. Andrews who have
taught at Wainwright the past
year; Dr. W. H. Cage who has been
in charge of the hospital at Noorvik
the past two years; Mrs. Allen, wufe
of Capt. Alex. Allen, owner and
opreator of the motorship Donaldson
on the St. Michael-Nome mail route;
Mrs. Ira M. Rankin, wife of the
boat operator and merchant of
Nome. Captain Allen is bringing
the Donaldson south at the present
time and should arrive in Juneau in
about a week en route to Seattle.
Reindeer Industry Good.
The reindeer industry among the
Eskimos in the North is constantly
growing, Capt. Whitlam said. Should
the present rate of increase continue
the local market will be unable to
take care of the output and an in
crease in supply to the outside mar
kets will be necessary in his opin
ion. A cargo of about 3,000 car
casses were shipped to the States
this year, the Captain said, and of
this number about 2,500 were ship
| ped by the Lomen Brothers and the
remainder by the Eskimos. About
400 or 500 were taken by the local
market in the Nome district.
Southbound on this trip the Box
er put in at Kivalina where 125
reindeer were killed by the Eskimos
and put in the ship’s cold storage,
at Kotzebue where 100 were killed
and at St. Lawrence where 200 were
killed. The shipment from these
three points is that now aboard the
vessel.
Natives Well Off.
The* health conditions of the na
tives in the North has been very
good this year, Captain Whitlam
said. There was a shortage of fish
but this was made up with seal,
walrus and whale which were abun
dant.
The whale catch was very good.
At Point Barrow 19 bowheads were
caught, at Waitwright two bow
heads and at Point Hope, 13 bow
heads, besides a good sized number
of belugas.
During the year the Boxer has
handled over 1,000 tons of school
supplies to the various points in
the north where Bureau schools are
maintained and has carried 40
teachers.
On the first trip the vessel left
Seattle June 13 last with a full
cargo about 480 tons of frieght and
in the Bering Sea at Ugashik, Kog
giung, Nushagak, Kulukuk, Togiak,
Good News Bay, Hooper Bay, Tan
unuk on Nelson Island and Nash
Harbor on Univak Island.
ARTIST COMPLETES
RELIGIOUS PICTURE
OF RESURRECTION
PUBLIC RECEPTION AT CHURCH
THURSDAY AFTERNOON FOR
THREE HOURS.
The “Resurrection,” by Van Emple
is without a doubt the greatest reli
gious picture in existance which has
for its background Alaska and Alas
kan life. It is a great asset to the lo
cal church and the community for it
will be an object of interest to tour
ists for it is beautiful and typically
Alaskan.
The public will have its first op
portunity to view this picture next
Thursday afternoon. The Rev. W. A.
Thomas will arrive from Anchorage
on Wednesday’s train and the follow
ing day between the hours of 2 and 5
o’clock p. m., the ladies of the church
have arranged an informal reception
for the public at which refreshments
will be served. The people of Sew
ard are invited to visit the Church
Thursday afternoon and meet Mr.
Thomas who has succeeded Mr. Lands
downe as priest in charge of the Se
ward and Anchorage missions.
The painting of the “Resurrection”
by Mr. Van Emple has been complet
ed and now forms the reredos for the
altar in the St. Peter’s Episcopal
Church at Seward. The picture is an
original idea .beautifully executed.
The upper portion of the picture
shows the figure of the risen Christ
surrounded by ministering angels.
The beautiful scenery of mountains
and water of Resurrection Bay forms
the horizon. In the lower portion of
the picture and in the foreground on
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Telephone us (number).
CARL E
ORLANDER
AGENT
SEWARD, ALASKA
each side of His tomb is grouped rep
resentative characters of the popula
tion of Alaska, both native and white.
An interesting feature of the figures
in the foreground is the variation of
expression from the simple and un
comprehending to that of Faith, Hope
and Religious ecstacy.
MOUNT SHUSHALDIN IN
ERUPTION, WESTWARD
CORDOVA, Nov. 9 (/P)—An extreme
ly severe earthquake occurred yester
day in the vicinity of Cape Sarichef,
immediately following a violent erup
tion of Mt. Shushaldin. Smoke spread
in dense clouds for many miles, the
clear sky at Unalaska being overcast
by evening.
The story is told of a Reno, Nev.,
gambling house which paid a com
mission to cappers who lured victims
into the roulette game. One player
who lost $400 complained to the
proprietor that the game was crook
ed and was asked who brought him
into the place. Told that the loser
had brought himself in, the boss said:
“Well, here is $80; I pay 20 per
cent to people who bring suckers in
here.”