TANANA LEADER
Published Every Thursday at Tax an a, Alaska.
Ill 1 SAM J. CALLAHAN. EDITOR No.lO
Coo. M. Arbucklo. Manager «
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INQUIRIES ABOUT ALASKA
The most interesting document bearing the imprint of
the government .printing office that has found its way tr
The Leader’s fireside this winter is a pamphlet containing
the questions, ansvvers and statements at the sessions of the
senate committee on territories January 19 to 22, inclusive,
during which Delegate James Wickersham, Major W. P.
Richardson and ex-Governor W. B. Hoggatt were subjected
to inquiry regarding conditions, surmises and opiniom
bearing on the bill introduced by Senator Beveridge “Tr
create a Legislative Council in the District of Alaska, t<
confer legislative powers thereon and for other purposes.”
Within the 72 pages of the pamphlet is philosophy
that is worthy of the school of Sancho Panza himself.
It will be remembered that when promised the governorslii]
of an island Sancho said if it was just the same to hh
illustrious chief he would prefer to have one peopled
by blacks; so that if he could not govern them profitably
he could sell them and thus save his administration from
total failure.
Senator Clarke, of Arkansas, did most of the question
ing, and it is according to strict lines of truth to say that
he is an adept in the art of quizzing. Witness this dialogue:
Senator Clarke: Is the population of the region distributed prett'
uniformly over the whole territory, or is it located at three or loir
points ?
Mr. Hoggatt: It is located at about five or six points.
Senator Clarke: How distant are they one from another?
Mr. Hoggatt: From 250 to 500 miles.
Senator Clarke: What is to be found in the intervening territorv ?
Mr. Hoggatt:]'Hiils and water and whatever is contained therein
The senator had heard a good deal about Alaska’s
agriculturaL'possibilities. He had got the proposition
pretty well established that whatever growing of crops
there is must be.accomplished in a period of about a hun
dred days, and'had informed himself of the perpetual frost
just beneath the surface of the ground... Then. > lie put the
question to Mr: Hoggatt: ■
“Did you ever see a wheat field growing in Alaska?”
Answer: “Yes; I did.”
“Where, and of what size?”
Answer: ‘T saw it at Rampart. I was across the rivoi
from it. It had not matured. .When I got to Fort Gibbon,
the agricultural agent was there, and he asked me if I had
been to visit his experimental station. I said no; that 1
saw it across tlie river,” etc.
The questions that followed indicated that the senator
considered a wheat field with such surroundings was worth
crossing the"river to see. '
A great many of the questions seem funny to people
here on the ground. Much of the information sought, too,
seems inconsequential to the business of the committee ih
hand. It must be. acknowledged, however, that the mem
bers of the'cornmittee manifested due ipatience and impar
tiality in.their Investigations, "and'the resiilt as* gratifying,
for it appears that the bill under consideration has been
rejected. ‘l!5'. v
Delegate Wickgrsbam before the senate committee on
territories said: “If \he [Beveridge] bill is passed in its
present form, it wilt remove all legislative matters from
Washington to this commission in" the Territory of Alaska.
The delegate from Alaska would-have practically no fur
ther duties to perform; and if the bill should pass in it*
present form gn amendment abolishing the delegate ought
to be made, because he would be a fifth wheel of the wagon,
and would be absolutelyjiseles*. If the bill should pass 1
certainly“shou|d not want- to be delegate from Alaska, and
I do not think any other-man would, except for the pur
pose of drawing the salai®^, for that is all he would have to
do, except to quarrel v$t|rptha cotmmssion. Under the
present bill the comraissftmlwould be'in "constant friction
with the people of Alaska- .Every interest in the Territory
of Alaska is very strongly opposed to it, except the big in
terests there. The people are unanimously opposed to it;
and there would be constant friction between this form of
government and the people1 of Alaska.” With the bill re
jected, these words indicate that Judge Wickersham would
like to be elected. - _
If the President of the United States had had power
to issue a writ of mandamus compelling senators and repre
sentatives to follow instructions less valuable time .would
have been lost by congress. ]
The Chamber of Commerce indulged in business, poli
tics and pleasure all in a lump when it passed the resolu
tion of thanks to Delegate Wickersham last week.
It has not been noticed that any injunctions Were is
sued against those undesirable citizens who boycotted the
meat trust.
WINTER’S CARNIVAL
We have seldom seen a winter 'ike the winter that’s nigh past,
For dark and freezing weather, snow drift and biting blast;
Old Sol was on vacation and Boreas took command—
He ordered up snow, frost and wind, and, having all at bancl,
He arranged his schedule upon a sliding scale . . . .
Which sent zero down to bedrock, then boomed upwards with a gale
That dispersed the snow like feathers in curling wreaths and shrouds,
And high sent it sky hoot ing till it. blended with the clouds. . v.
Old Boreal looked approving—it near went beyond recall,
He gently stroked his whiskers, and, whistling, bid it fall;
It tumhlcd down on Mercury and put Zero in the hole,
Then with the bears and Eskimos he danced around the pole —
And sung a wild “come-all-ye” for a regular Arctic howl,
Then the Arctic fraternities pranced around him cheek and jowl
To the piping of the north wind'they purSbed their darksome fun—
Sung ‘"We won't go home till morning,” till .they’d seen the rising sun.'
Then these Arctic, sports all faded, it was all off with the dance,
They knew the jig was up with them when they seen Old Sol advance;
To escape his glaces they dodgetl behind the pole,
Or under snow or icebergs they crawled into a hole:
Now, Winter's powers declining, of it we now may joke.
Its tail may give some twisters, hut Old Sol its hack has broke;
He is coming brightly smiling, closer, warmer every day,
He'll be our guest, at home vith us. about the first of May.
By his kind and warm embraces our ice fetters he will dis-olve—
They will slip off in laughing waters as around him we revolve;
The streams will dance and spark;e 'ntid the landscape till abloom,
In the endless days of Summer we will forgive the Winter's gloom;
We must know and feel the contrast, all pleasure to enjoy.
And a constant round of pleasure would upon our senses cloy;
But here we have variety, which is the spic^ of life.
It d"oes not grow monotonous where frequent change is rife.
Alaska! you're a darling—alternate in extremes—
A land of night, a land of light, of ice and flower-banked streams
In constant change we are flitting as we citcle 'round the sun,
There is a varied lot of pleasure in the seasons us they run.—John Kehoe.
\
THE GREAT MEN
Lives of great men all remind ns that it pays to advertise;
every day of life should find us making all the people wise, to
our coming and our going-nothing comes to him who’s coy;
ail our wares we should be showing, if the limelight we'd enjoy.
Let us seek the bland reporters, jf they do not hunt for us;
seek them in their dismal quarters, in their inky, pasty muss,
giving them our warm opinions of all things beneath the sky;
over all the earth's- dominions let imagination fly. Famous
men? The crowds adore, them! Lions thrive in every land!
Let us keep our names before ’em, anti they’ll cheer to beat the
band! Let our pictures oft be printed, lest the people should
forget, even though the section tinted is the only place we get.
Better have our faces beaming on the pink and yellow page
than to have the people dreaminmthat we are no more the rage.
Advertising! Let the grocer pay for space to bill his name:
shall we do it? Not for Joe, sir! That is not the great men’s
game; we are on t" smoother capers than the merchants often
see; we have learned to work the papers and to get our boom
ing free. —Walt Mason.
TRAMP THE SUPPORT OF THOUSANDS
If the tramp were suddenly to pa»s away from the United
States, widespread misery for many families would follow. The
tramp enables thousands of men to earn honest livings, educate
their children and bring them up God fearing and industrious.
I known
At one time my father was a constable and hunted tramps
for a living. The community paid him so much per head for
all the tramps he could catch, and also, I believe, he got mile
age fee .’v Ways and means were always a pressing problem in
our household, and the amount of meat on the tatde, the new .
pair of shoes, the day’s outing, or the text book for school were
dependent upon my father’s luck in the chase. Well I remem
ber the suppressed eagerness and the suspense with which I
waited to learn each morning what the results of his past
night’s toil had been; how many tramps he. had gathered in
and what the chances were of convicting them. And so it was
later, as a tramp, I succeeded in eluding some predatory con
stable I could not but feel sorry for the little boys and girls at
home in that constable’s house; it seemed to me in a way that
I was defrauding those little boys and girls of some'of the good
tilings of life.
But it’s all in the game.' Tlie*wbobu..*de*>es society and"'so
ciety’s watchdogs make a living out of him. Some hobos like
to be caught by the watchdogs especially in winter time.Of
course such hobos select communities’ where the jails are
“good,” where no work is performed, and the food is substan
tial. Also there have been and most probably still are consta
bles who divide their fees with the hobos they arrest. Such a
constable does not have to hunt. He whistles and the game
comes right up to his band.—Jack. London. ■
Errata
Through an error of the printer the 1
names of A. G. Frenzell and Jack Me
Mullen were left out of the list pub
lished in this paper of the voters for
members of the school board last week.
For £lerk,.Vachon’s vote was printed
88 when it should have read 82. The
correct statement of the vote is—
For Treasuror—Rodman 95, Chan
quist-82.
For, Clerk—Campbell 97, Vachon 82.
For Director — Anicich 83, Smith 85.
o Total number of votes, 181.
SQUIRREL RIVER
NOT YET TESTED
A correspondent writing to the Nome
Nugget'from Candle says there is no
taeiith' in the reported big strike of gold
on Squirrel river. Candle parlies sent
a representative to Squirrel river to
uscertain the truth about the reported
strike. The representative returnea
with the information that a little gold
was found at first, but no work of an.v
consequence had been done toward as
certaining if a pay streak of much value
I exists. The features of the country
1 look promising.
ST. JAMES’ CHAFEL
Fiist Sunday in each month. Holy
Communion 11 ». tu. Other Sundays.
Evening Prayer. 7:30 p. in. Friday
eveninjjs, during Lent, Evening Prayer
and Litany at 7:30.
Winthrop Peabody,
• Priest in Charge.
BILLIARDS
ANDPOOL
Elegant New Tables
Gibbon Bar
BEST Of WET OOOOS
GOLDEN NORTH CAFE
Carrying tie Bast. Supplies on the Market
OYSTERS, FISH AND GAME
IN SEASON
Centrally Located. In Connection with Grand Hotel.
ED Y. LEE, PROP.
Northern ‘ Commercial Co.
STAGE LINE
Carry ins U. S. Mail. Passengers and Express
CONNECTIONS THROUGH TO VALDEZ
FOR RATES APPLY TO
GEO. J. MILLER, First Door Below N. C. Store
1
Going Outside This Winter? Subscribe for Leader
HOT ^PRiMOS* FEWEST HOTEL
F.rs!-C!css Restaurant
Frank . S anl y. Prep
Cn. P 6IBECN KO. 25, Arctic Brother
hood. meets every Monday night
in A. B. Hull, corner Second st.
mid Campbell ave. at 8:110o’clock.
Visiting Arctics cordially invited to at
tend the meetings of the Camp.
Phil Gallaher, Arctic Chief.
J. Ri.’SSELL Walle, Arctic Rec.
When You Go to California Where Every Month
is June, Travel on the
CALIFORNIA
LIMITED
Only Train in Southern ('n 13 torn in. via. Any Lint*,
Exclusively First-Class Travel
HAS .1 PULLMAN CAR FOR ('.RAN!) CANYON
EAST OR WEST
THE COMFORTABLE WAY IS VIA. THE
ail way
CLOSE CONNECTIONS
To All Points East or West. With Two Modern Over
, land Trains in Either Direction Daily.
FOR FULL INFORMATION AUDRESS
F. I. Whitney, Passenger Traffic Manager,St. Paul, Minn.
-O R
S. B. Verkes, Assistant Gen. Pass. Agent, Seattle, Wash.
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