FIFTH YEAR
CHITINA, ALASKA, TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 1915.
NUMBER 21
EUROPEAN WAR
PETROGRAD, March 9.—News received today will
prove discouraging to the enemies of the allied forces. In the
battle of the east the enemy has received a decisive defeat. Late
today the report received states that both the right and left
flanks of the German army in Northern Poland have been
dislodged. They put lip a fierce resistance but were gradually
driven back to within eight miles of the East Prussian border.
This is considerad a triumphant victory for the Russian forces
and as a consequence there is great jubilation tonight through
out the capital. Another gratifying report tells of the great
advance of the Russian foi’ces into Turkey in Asia. The army
has advanced through Armenia to within a short distance of
the Black Sea.
LONDON, March 9.—Meagre reports indicate that obsti
nate fighting continues along the eastern tVont. The losses
on both sides are considerable, but the Russians seenx to be
more than holding their own. The Germans ax-e slowly with
drawing from the River Niemen in the direction of the East
Prussian frontier.
WASHINGTON, March 9.—Representative Humphrey of
Seattle is causing some uneasiness here. In a vigorous declara
tion he predicts that xmless the administration permits a new
law to become a dead letter the United States will be in trouble
with Japan over the seaman’s bill in less than six months.
LONDON, March 9.—The English Admiralty has
announced that the honors of war will not be extended to
captured ci'ews oix German submarines. The government inti
mates that such men will be tried for murder at the conclusion
of war.
LONDON. March 9.—Announcement was made today by
the English Admiralty that but 15 ocean vessels, out of a total
of 8.749 had been destroyed by German submarines from
January 20 to March 3.
ATHENS, March 9.—Greece is all torn up over the
question of the advisability of entering the war. Everywhere
the question is being discussed and heated arguments
frequently lead to personal encounter. A sti-ong effort is being
made to delay decision. M. Gounans is forming a new cabinet
which will favor continued neutrality.
PARIS, March 9.—Special dispatches received here state
that Premier Radoslavoff, of Bulgaria, has been overthrown
by Czar Ferdinand. The latter was very much incensed
because the Premier desired to take immediate action against
Turkey and move on to Adrianople and occupy it.
CHETHAM. Mass., March 9.—Direct wireless communica
tion with neutral European stations will soon be possible
through the completion of a station at Cape Fox and one in
Norway.
HOOK OF HOLLAND, March 8.—All day long firing has
been heard from the North Sea and there is every probability
that a naval battle is now in progress. No details have been
received.
ATHENS, March 8.—A grave situation is presented as a
result of the deadlock over the question as to whether or not
Greece shall enter the war on the side of the allies. The feeling
is bcoming intense on both sides. All the Greek army officers
in Switzerland have been recalled.
ATHENS, March 8—There has been much discussion over
the advisability of Greece entering into the present war. The
cabinet considered the question and there was much difference
of opinion manifested. After the conference the members of
the cabinet resigned.
LONDON, March 8.—The British East India fleet com
menced bombarding the city of Smyrna yesterday. This city
of half a million people is located in Asia Minor, on the Gulf
of Smyrna, which leads into the Aegean Sea.
PETROGRAI), March 8.—The Russian and German forces
have been lining up for a few days past in Poland and today a
great battle is developing. The fighting has started and the
line runs for miles along the left bank of the ^ istula river, west
and southwest of Warsaw.
WASHINGTON, March 9.—Following a conference this
morning with the President, Secretary of the Navy Daniels
ordered two battleships to proceed from Guantanamo to Vera
Cruz.
WASHINGTON, March 9.—The state department has
notified General Carranza that unless better protection is
afforded foreigners in Mexico that the United States will take
steps to see that greater consideration is accorded them.
JUNEAU, March 6.—Secretary of the Territory Charles
E. Davidson was requested by a House resolution to give
information as to any officers evading the Territorial laws. In
a reply this afternoon he charged U. S. Commissioner Dillon,
of Fairbanks, in withholding his reports of records of births,
deaths and marriages. Also that he charges two dollars for
the recording of each instrument, when the Territorial law
only authorizes him to charge one dollar. He certified to the
House the names of other recalcitrant U. S. Commissioners.
After the reading of the same the expressions from the mem
bers looks as though there would be an investigation into the
violations or neglect to enforce the laws, with the probability
of laying the matter before grand juries in the various
* divisions.
OF MET TO IUSUB
SHIP CREEK TO MATANUSKA
AND VALDEZ TO FAIRBANKS
NEW YORK, March 8.—The New York Sun
claims to have authentic information to the effect that
the government will this summer build a railroad from
Ship Creek to the Matanuska coal field. That it is
possible that Ship Creek will be the ocean terminus of
the coal road, at least for the present. The story goes
that nothing further will be done this summer in the
way of construction or taking over any other rail
roads. In the meantime a survey will be made of the
route from Valdez to Fairbanks. The article also
contains an interview with J. Boland, attorney for the
Canadian bondholders in the Alaska Northern Rail
way. In this interview Boland is quoted as saying that
negotiations for the sale of the Alaska Northern to the
government has been declared off, as the offer to sell
had been declined. This is taken by some to be favor
able to the Cordova route.
ADMINISTRATION DENIES THAT
DECISION HAS BEEN REACHED
WASHINGTON, March 8.—The reports that
have been circulated and published in New York with
reference to the government railroad routes in Alaska
are proving embarrassing to the administration. It
was stated today that no decision had yet been
definitely made regarding the terminus of the Alaska
railroad, notwithstanding certain press agent stories
and rumors that have been set afloat. It is said that
interested parties here and in New York as busy circu
lating stories to the advantage of certain localities
favored by them. From the Interior Department comes
the statement that the only certain point in the whole
terminal matter is that no decision has yet been given
to the public or definitely decided upon. It is generally
accepted here that Ship Creek will be the temporary
water terminal for the railroad construction that is to
be done this year.
WASHINGTON, March 8.—Senator Jones and Repre
sentative Humphrey, both of Washington state, had a confer
ence on Saturday afternoon with Secretary of the Interior
Lane, with reference to the coal leasing bill, which was passed
by Congress and approved by the President on October 20,
1914. In that bill the Secretary of the Interior is authorized
to prescribe the necessary and proper rules and regulations and
to do any and all things necessary to carry out the purposes
of the act. Secretary Lane told his visitors that the form of
commercial lease for the Alaska coal lands was now being
prepared and that it would be as simple as possible. He
stated that the form of lease now used in West Virginia
was being taken as the basis for Alaska. Several tentative
forms had previously been prepared by the bureau of mines
but upon being submitted to various authorities and prospec
tive lessees were declared impracticable and unworkable. It
is especially true of Engineer Geo. W. Evans, of Seattle, to
whom two tentative “regulations” were submitted. He
severely criticized both.
BREMERTON, March 5.—The commandant at the navy
yard was notified today that work would shortly commence
near here for a government radio station to connect with the
high power station that it has decided to build a short distance
from Cordova. Arrangements are now being made to trans
port men and supplies to the north to start on the station which
was recommended by Commander Taylor after a visit to Cor
dova last summer. The necessary appropriation has been
made for the establishment of six high power stations through
out the country and work on all of them as soon to commence|
WASHINGTON. March 4.—Delegate Wiekersham’s bill
providing for the establishment of an agricultural college at
Fairbanks was saved at a late hour in the session. Last night
the measure providing for the "ranting of certain school lands
to Alaska to raise funds for the college, was adopted by the
House. The bill then went to the Senate and at 4 o’clock this
morning it was passed. The President signed the bill shortly
after 10 o’clock and it thus becomes a law. The measure
grants four sections of land near Fairbanks for the Agricul
tural college, and section 33 in the Tanana valley and other
sections for the support of the school.
MIS OF J! 616 lil
XETV ^ OK K, March 8.—Charles Ruroede, one of the
suspects who was placed under arrest because it was thought
he was a German spy, has pleaded guilty, lie alleges that he
; was in a conspiracy to pass himself and others off as German
, reservists thus obtaining false passports so that they could go
| to France and England to act as spies.
I AKIS, March (>.—An official note to the governors lias
I been issued giving the German losses since the beginning of the
war. The number is appalling The killed, wounded and
prisoners taken aggregate three million men. These figures are
based on known casualties in ten German regiments.
LONDON, March (i.—Bulgaria has <ecretelv mobilized
three divisions of soldiers, while Roumania is considering
asking a credit of $40,000,000 for military purposes. All of
which indicates that war announcement' will soon be made.
LONDON, March 0.—The Russians, with their fleet in
| the Baltic Sea, have assumed the offensive and are moving
toward the shores of Germany. It is expected that engage
linents will soon follow.
‘‘The work of maintaining a modern army,” says an eye
witness at the British front, “can be measured by the fact that
in ten days the army was supplied with 300,000 flannel belts
and that the weekly use of ointment for the feet is upwards of
five tons.”
LONDON, March 0.—It was announced late today that
the Anglo-French fleet had entered the Narrows in the
Dardanelles and that they are now bombarding both sides of
; the Straits.
LONDON, March.6.—It is reported this afternoon that
‘large Russian forces have pushed through Roumania and are
now at the border line of Austria-Hungary. They are strongly
i entrenched save at a single pass in the Carpathian mountains.
Their progress westward has been steady but a strong resist
ance is soon expected on the land of the enemy.
NEW YORK, March 6.—Among the passengers on board
the steamer LaTouraine were five American physicians who
were on their way to France to enter the hospital service of
the war department.
LONDON, March 6.—The indications are that the bom
j bardment of the Dardanelles will bring to a decision the atti
I tude of the Balkan states concerning the war.
LONDON, March 5.—The Admiralty announce today that
! an examination of the Ortis confirms the claim of her master
that she rammed and probably sunk a German submarine.
LONDON, March 5.—According to an official announce
ment two German submarines have been sunk in British
waters.
BREMEN, March 5.—The master of the American steam
| ship Gulflight. arriving this morning with a cargo of cotton
I from Galveston, reports that he witnessed the destruction by
torpedoes of two British freighters in the English channel.
PARIS, March 5.—Minister Manne announces that the
German submarine TT-9 has been sunk by a French torpedo
boat. The crew is reported as having been saved.
BERLIN. March 5.—The war department announces that
| the French left one thousand dead a- they retreated last night
from an attack on the western front.
BUCHAREST, March 5.—A fierce battle has been waging
: between the Russians and the Austrians. The Russian offensive
| movement resulted in forcing the Austrians to evacuate
! Cemowitz, the capital of Bukowine province. As a result the
Austrians are fleeing in great numbers to the Carpathian
! mountains.
LONDON, March 5.—The Russian fleet is now within an
hundred miles of Constantinople and reports indicate that
there are glowing prospects of soon pushing nearer. While
the French fleet is striking the Dardanelles the Russian Black
Sea fleet is attacking the approaches to Constantinople.
PETROGRAD, March 3.—Forty-nine thousand Turkish
prisoners have been captured to date, taken from the interior
and by the land forces. The prediction is made that so soon
as the allies battleships get through the Dardanelles and reach
Constantinople the number will run into the hundreds of
thousands.
ROM?], March 3.—The Russian army at Caucasus is driv
ing the Turkish forces before it and has reached the River
Ivhopachas in Armenia. The large force of Russians met with
very little opposition.
GENEVA, March 3.—A telegram was received here this
morning stating that the Austrian fleet of battleships, as well
as Austro and German submarines, accompanied by several
torpedo boats and torpedo boat destroyers, left Pola yesterday
at dawn. This is an Austrian naval base. The fleet sailed for
the Mediterranean, bound for the Bardanelles, to combat the
progress of the allies fleet that seeks to capture Constantinople.
LONDON, March 3.—Austrian warships are now bom
barding Antivari with telling effect.
AMSTERDAM, March 3.—The American note received
expresses the hope that Great Britain and Germany will make
concessions which will free ships of neutral powers that are
engaged in peaceful commerce. It suggests that both countries
agree that no isolated or drifting mines be laid and that
anchored mines be laid only for purposes of defense.
ATHENS, March 3.—Nine vessels of the allies have
resumed their bombardment of Chanak Kalise, the narrowest
point in the Dardanelles.