Keep Your Friends In
formed by Sending Them
The Chitina Leader
THE CHITINA LEADER
Opening of Bering Coal
Means Smelters for
Cordova
FIFTH vxri
CHITINA, ALASKA, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1915.
NUMBER 46.
Ore Shipments From Copper River Valley Are Over $2,000,000 Each Month
JONES POINTS
OOT NEGLECT
Lester E. Jones, superintendent of
the United States and Geodetic Sur
vey, who made a visit to Alaska last
year as Deputy Commissioner of Fish
eries, recently made an interesting
talk before the Pacific Fisheries So
city in San Francisco, in which he
emphaasized the need of charting the
channels and providing aids to navi
gation in Alaska. Among other things
he said:
“I am fully aware that in many in
stances these fishing companies have
found it necessary to make their own
surveys of the channels, which has
been done at considerable expense and
loss of valuable time.
“This may seem to reflect on the U.
S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. But
the blame does not lie there. The
survey is doing and has been doing
everything possible with the means at
hand—indeed it has almost accom
plished more than posible for it goes
without saying that boats like the
Gedney and McArthur, 41 and 40
years old respectively (ready to sink
at almost any time), are not only un
fit to accomplish efficient work for a
government like ours, but endanger
the lives of the men in our service.
In addition to these vessels, the steam
ship Patterson, used in more unpro
tected places, and the Taku, used in
carving on inshore soundings, are not
the kind of vessels which should now
be used or be kept in commission for
doing the most efficient work of this
sort. I am glad to say that Congress,
last year, appropriated money, a part
of which was for a new vessel to be
known as the “Surveyor,” which will
be used exclusively in carrying on
surveys in Alaska waters.
“This I hope, makes a new era, not
only in furnishing a high type of ves
sel, peculiarly and properly adapted
for this work, but which will mean the
beginning of an expansion whereby
we will have have given us regularly,
the urgent needs for carrying on the
work.”
Taken for a moose while hunting
at Katchemak Bay an old timer,
known all over Alaska as “Siwash”
Brown was accidentally shot and kill
ed by his son the other day. Mr.
Brown for many years has carried the
mail between Homer and Illiamna.
The father and son left for Katchemak
Bay about a week or ten days ago on
a moose hunt. About four days ago
they started out from their camp and
it seems that the father got ahead of
his son some distance. He was stoop
ing behind some brush and started to
get up, just as his son came in sight.
Mr. Brown had on a mottled colored
brown hunting suit and as he raised
his arm in the act of getting to his
feet the son took it for horns of a
moose and shot into the bush, hitting
his father in the heart. Mr. Brown
' died instantly.
The body was taken to Anchorage
for burial. The son is all broken up
over the tragedy. He is a young man
of about 20 years of age and was a
very close companion of his father.
:o:
Dr. W. H. Chase, who was success
ful In raising funds in the states for
the Cordova Mining and Development
Company’s properties at Port Wells,
left Seattle for here on the Alameda
last night.
-:o:
Wide In Its Scope.
The new ordinance passed Dy the
Valdez city council provides that the
bay, for a distance of a thousand feet
beyond navigable water, be included
in the city limits and the Valdez Min
er suggests that there is nothing now
to prevent the council from taking in
the whole Pacific to the coast of Asia.
RUSSIAN RETREAT III POLAND
DESCRIBED AS MASTERPIECE
MILITARY OPERATIONS
GENEVA, Sept. 4—A Swiss array officer, who acted as
military observer for his country with the Russian armies, and
accompanied the Russians in their retiring movement in Poland
all through the month of August, says that the Russian retreat
is a master piece of military operations. He describes the
country which the Grand Duke Nikolai has abandoned as being
terrifically and systematically devastated by the Russians as
they went back, and that it recalls accurately the retreat
before Napoleon to Moscow in 1812. An immense sea of flames
was left beyond the retiring Slavs, caused by the buring of
everything that was combustible, including standing crops,
and buildings of every description. Detachments of Cossacks,
constitute the rear guard, and they bury all the dead’ as they
go along. The roads everywhere are obstructed in an indescrib
able fashion, and no shelter is left anywhere.
PEACE DOVrSTHlliERS
OVER WARRING NATIONS
LONDON, Sept. 4—Although the British government had
no part in the initiation of the peace discussions which have
been growing more and more persistent of late, and which re
ceived a great impetus by the Pope’s message to President
Wilson on the matter, the officials from the cabinet down are
taking a keen interest in the developments and are watching
the situation closely. It is practically certain that proper
peace overtures from Germany would meet consideration, and
be earnestly considered by England. Nobody in authority is
willing to discuss the matter, and nothing official can be learn
ed as to Great Britain’s real position.
DARING ACCOMPLISHMENT
OF ENGLISH SUBMARINE
ATHENS, Sept. 4—A British submarine succeeded in ac
complishing one of the most daring acts of the war yester
day, when it threaded through the obstructions and submarine
nets at the mouth of the Gulf of Ismid and landed a party of
sailors who dynamited the bride at Gebize on the railroad con
necting Constantinople with Asia Minor. The men returned to
their boat without being captured, and the submersible return
ed in saftey to its base. The bridge was but partially des
troyed.
-:o:
PETROGRAD, Sept. 4—The Russian public feels en
couraged by the recent appointment made by the Czar to im
portant offices in the army staff. The appointments have been
made at the suggestion of* the Grand Duke Nikolai, who has the
confidence of the people and' the devotion of the army. Nikolia
has been putting his generals through a process of elimination
and now feels that he has put the right men in the right places.
General Alliev as been given the position of chief of staff being
the most important place in the army next to the commander
himself, and General Russkv, one of the most famous of the
Russian generals has been placed in command of the northern
army. Both of these men have fine records, and enjoy the
respect of military men all over the world, both having given
exceptional service to their country in the war with Japan.
The Russian offensive on the right bank of the Viliya river
has slowed down to some extent but the army in this vicinity is
still pressing the enemy and are forcing them to yield ground in
places. Russian military critics believe that the German plan
of campaign contemplates a crossing of the river Dvina and
the taking of the railroad line of communication between Riga
and' Dvinsk. The plan includes the capture of Vilna and
Grodno, and when that is done it is believed that the Teuton
generals will probably entrench for the winter. The chances of
making a successful defense to the Dvina line are excellent, and
if the Germans can be kept from cutting across the river, it is
felt that a serious impediment will be thrown in the plans of
Hindenberg. __ i ^ ^ j
BERLIN, Sept. 4—The war office issued an official state
ment this morning saying that the German army under Gen
eral Hindenberg, which is fighting a battle for the possession of
Riga had won an important victory, capturing the bridge at
Friedrichstadt on the Dvina river, forty miles below Riga, in
the large number of prisoners taken were 301 officers and 3300
men. Everything in this section of the front is progressing
favorably for the German arms, and it is now believed that
Riga will soon be in the hands of the Teutons. A strong effort
is being made to envelop the city and prevent the Russian forces
from retiring to new positions.
Allied Officers Eelect to Remain Prisoners.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Sept. 4—Twenty-seven Bel
gian, French, and English officers still elect to remain prisoners
on the island of Urk, in the Zuder Zee, rather than promise that
they will not try to escape from Holland and return to their
colors to fight. If they were willing to give their promise not
to try to escape they would be allowed to roam anywhere in
Holland, but the twenty-seven on the Island of Urk prefer to
remain prisoners, openly avowing their intention to escape if
possible. This makes the situation something of a game be
tween the prisoners and their Dutch guards. _
BIG COLLIER IN
(From Wednesday’s Daily)
Tbe collier Prothemus. which t’.rop
ped anchor in the Cordova harbor late
yesterday afternoon will remain here
until extensive repairs have been
made at the naval wireless station,
Whitshed. This will likeiy take two
months, although the exact amount of
work to be done will not be determin
ed until after an investigation has
been made, and launches left the col
lier with the radio party today for
Whitshed for that purpose.
The Prothemus has about 260 men
aboard, twenty of whom are officers,
forty civilian radio men and two hun
dred sailors. The vessel Ts 465 feet
long, with a sixty foot beam. She is
a complete repair ship and capable of
doing at sea any work that can be
done at the navy yard machine shops,
fully equipped to handle any job of any
size or any description. There is
aboard machine, blacksmith, boiler,
pipe, copper and pattern shops as well
as a foundry.
The colliesr left San Francisco on
June 15 and has spent all of its time
to the westward, where repairs were
made to the wireless stations at St.
Paul and St. George on Pribiloff Is
lands Dutch Harbor and Kodiak.
The plant at Unalga was dismantelled
and some of the machinery and ma
terial brought to Cordova, where the
efficiency of the station will be greatly
increased.
The following are the officers on the
Prothemus:
Capt. C. N. Off ley, commander;
Lieut. Gordon W. Haines, executive
officer; Lieut. J. G. Schuyler F. Heim,
senior engineer officer; Lt. J. G ..Frank
L. Luckel, Lieutenant J. G., Francis
Melendy, Lieutenant J. G., Harold
Snow, Dr. F. M. Hayworth, surgeon,
Paymaster John B. Ewald, Lieutenant
J. G.-R. M. Coman, in charge of radio
expedition,' assisted by Gunner A. J.
Holton; Chief Gunner, C. L. Bridges;
Boatswain, W. R. McFarland; Chief
Machinist, Thos O’Donnell; Machinist,
G. J. Romulus; Pay Clerk, A. J. Mar
shall; Carpenter, F. A. Saar.
ALAMEDA SAILED
SEATTLE, Sept. 3—The steamer
Alameda was delayed several days in
leaving here for Southwestern Alas
ka, but sailed last night at 8 o’clock.
Her Cordova passengers are O. L.
Larson and wife, F. Castle and wife,
Erma Snath, Dr. W. H. Chase. Alvah
Eames, L. Brown, Jno. Willis, W.
Happe, T. Pierson, Louis Payne and
wife, William Harper, Harry Stark,
Mr. Stanber, Mr. Hadley and Sam
Wick.
--.0;
VALDEZ HOME TOTALLY
DESTROYED BY FIRE
An early morning blaze destroyed
the Morgan residence, on Front Street,
Valdez. The fire department was
pomptly called, but the distance from
the fire hall to the building made it al
most impossible to get any water on
the blaze, and the small chemical ex
tinguishers were used to save the
Capric residence, which adjoined the
Morgan building.
-:o:-—•
8TEAMER ADMIRAL EVANS
HAS A NEW PURSER
H. A. Carey, who for some time has
been freight clerk on the Admiral
Evtns, and prior to that time on the
Admiral Sampson, has been promoted
and made purser of the Admiral
Evans, taking the place of Tom
Kehoe, who has retired from .the
steamship business, and will travel
through Alaska for several large
wholesale houses. The appointment
of Mr. Carey is well received In the
north where he has a host of friends
who are glad of his advancement.
Mr. Kehoe's many friends amnog the
shippers in the north will be glad to
welcome him when he brings his sam
ples to them.
-:o:--—
Ole Berg, who has been quartz min
ing in the interior for a number of
years, came to Cordova on yesterday's
train.
DEVELOPING
WASHINGTON, Aug 31.—Secretary
Lane is preparing his annual report to
Congress as Secretary of the Interior
and will recommed several new
changes in regard to the conservation
of the great natural resources of the
country. The administration is now
ready to go ahead with its water pow
er bill, the provisions having been
agreed upon and the secretary is now
drafting the measure which he will
strongly urge upon Congress in his re
port. The bill will place all water
powers throughout the west and Alas
ka, not now privately owned, under
public control, with probabilities of
being leased under government regu
lations. The Secretary will also re
commend the passage of national leas
ing bills for the coal, oil and other
public lands of the United States, and
while details are not yet available it
is believed that the secretary is in fa
vor of making the terms of the leases
reasonable so that capital will be en
couraged to invest and devlop these
resources. Mr. Lane said today that
he expected all these bills to pass the
senate in the coming session although
they failed of passage last year. The
terms have been considerably modi
fied.
ALASKA LEADS
IN PUBLIC
WASHINGTON, Sept. 1—Alaska has
more unappropriated public land than
all the states put together. The De
partment of the Interior recently com
piled the statistics in regard to public
land and its report shows that Alaska
has 378,165,760 acres of such land,
but 20,898,000 acres of which is reserv
ed. The total amount of public land
in the United States outside of Alas
ka, is 280,000,000 acres. Approximate
ly 300,000 avres of the public land in
Alaska has been surveyed under the
rectangular system within the last
five years.
:o:
KILLED Dr
SIERRA BLANCA, Texas, Sept. 1—
General Pascual Orozco, with four
companions was killed today by
Texans in the Green River Canyon.
Orozco was fugitive from justice
having bee narrested in El Paso some
time ago in company with Victoriano
Huerta, ex-president of Mexico, and
charged with conspiracy to violate the
neutrality laws of the United States.
Orozco was admitted to bail, and al
though supposedly closely watched,
managed to escape the vigilance of the
authorities and his whereabouts have
been a mystery since until today.
-:o:
Coal ands Reserved.
Prom official sources comes the re
port that the government will reserve
7,500 acres of coal lands in the Mat
anuska field; 5,500 acres in the Bering
river fields, and one-half of the aggre
gate area in the Nenana fields. Prank
M. Johnson, superintendent of surveys
in the interior department, is now In
the Matanuska fields, looking over
the situation.—Ex.
-:o:
Road Was Under Lease.
It is not generally known that the
Alaska Northern railroad has been
under lease to the government for the
past two three months, but such is
the case.
GOLFER .
DETROIT, Sept. 4—Robert Gardner,
of Chicago, won the national amateur
golf championship of the United States
here today when he defeated John
Anderson of Mount Vernon, N. Y„ the
runner-up. Anderson and Gardner
came through a big field after defeat
ing the best talent in the country in
cluding Fracis Quintet, of Rrookline,
Mass., last year's champion. The
match between Anderson and Gardner
was close, the first eighteen holes be
ing tied, the match not being decided
until the last hole on the second round.
A big gallery w-atch the play.
deatTc Ul M s
11 mmi i ii
ROME, Sept. 4—Cardinal Claudius
Vaszary, the primate of Hungary, died
in this city today. The dead cardinal
was one of the leading prelates of the
Catholic church and his influence with
the court of Francis Joseph was large
ly instrumental for the strong ties that
have bound the Vatican and Austria
in recent years.
Wants Gold for Freight.
It is said that the captain of the
ship Sinaloa, which brought the rail
road equipment from Panama, is hold
ing over at Anchorage and insisting
on payment in gold for bringing the
outgo north. The gold during these
war times is regarded by Mr. Captain
as the most sure and valuable medium
of exchange.
-:o:
Drowned Swimmming the Koyukuk.
W. B. Connell, an oldtime in Alaska
has been drowned while making an at
tempt to swim the Koyukuk river.
He was a powerful swimmer but the
extreme coldness of the water is be
lieved to have bronght on cramps.
-:o:
Farragut a Staunch Vessel.
The Admiral Farragut which has
been placed on this run is a fine ves
sel with double bottom, twin screws
and collision bulkhead.
-:o:
Sale of Valuable Mine.
The marshal's sale of the Alasica
Treasure mines brought three hun
dred dollars. The purchaser was E.
S. Heller.—Juneau Dispatch.
-.- o:
Departure of Mails.
Hereafter when a steamer leaves
Cordova during the night the mail at
the post office will close at 8 p. m.
By bearing this fact in mind and post
ing your letters before that time there
will be no need to worry about the
early dispatch of your mail.
--o:
Farragut Leaves Seattle Saturday
The steamer Farragut, which has
been added to the P. A. Company’s
fleet of boats on this run, is due to
leave Seattle on Saturday.
-:o:
i •
Fairbanks Realty Deal.
The Horseshoe block in Fairbanks
has been purchased by Miss O'Brien
and Walter Adam, who paid $20,000
for the building and ground. They
made the purchase as an investment
and the tenants are to remain in the
building.
Asks for Big Damages.
The officials of the Admiral line
have started a libel suit for $240,000
against the steamer Paraiso, of the
Pacific Coast Steamship Company, be
cause of the sinking of the Admiral
Watson at the Bell street pier Seattle,
on Sunday morning last.
Outgoing Passengers.
The steamer Northwestern arrived
in port at 5 o’clock yesterday after
noon and left for Seattle shortly after
noon today. The outgoing passengers
from Cordova were Mrs. C. H. Me
Court, Miss Emma Mueller, F. E. G
Berry, F. R. Townsend, August Thiel
and T. W. Jackson.
GARAY WINTER MAIL
OVER TRAIL BY AUTO
The Northern Commercial company
which has the contract for carrying
the Fairbanks mall, has decided to use
automobiles for the work on the Chltl
na trail during the winter. It Is ei
pected that the method will work sat
isfactorily over the snow trails but
horses will be kept for use in an
emergency. By the use of automobiles
in good weather a much faster and bet
ter service is hoped for.
:o:
In a statement issued President H.
F. Alexander, of the Pacific Alaska
Navigation Company declared that the
Board of Directors had voted to ex
pend a half million dollars for the con
struction or purchase of two steam
ships for the Alaska service next year.
The company operates the steamship*
Admiral Watson and Admiral Evans
on the Seattle-Southeastern Alaska
western Alaska route, including Cook
Inlet.
A few days ago the Alaska Steam
ship Company announced that it would
buy or build two new steamships for
Northern trade, owing to the heavy
tonnage of copper ore from Cordova
and Prince William Sound. Thla
company not long ago bought the
steamship City of Puebla from the
Pacific Coast Steamship Company,
It is announced that the newly or
ganized Parr-McCormack Steamship
Company at an early date will establ
ish a steam-schooner service between
Seattle and Southwestern Alaska. It
is expected the company also will
serve Bering Sea ports, including
Nome, St. Michael and Kotzebue.
PACIFIC MAIL
TO SELL ILL
ITS BOATS
_
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 1—Negoti
ations are pending for the sale of all
the boats of the Pacific Mall line.
The company officials have determined
that the Seamen's law passed by the
last Congress will compel them to do
business at a loss if followed, and they
are now making efforts to dispose of
all their steamship holdings. It is ex
pected that a sale will be made to
South American capitalists who will
use the ships on new lines between
this city and Mexican and Central
American ports.
MUM '
THE SEPTEMBER TERM
The following jurors have been
drawn for service in the district court
for the term beginning September 14:
Grand Jury—O. E. Meals, Walter
Elliott, M. Barrett, J. W. Date, Val
dez; J. Kipps, F. E. Parker, J. P. Em
met, Patrick Cummings, J. H. Mc
Donald, Anchorage; Nets Jensen, B.
F. Smith, Knik; Moses Dunn, John
Savoy, Chitlna; A. B. Brenner, Al.
Martin, Ed. Walsh, N. J. Black, Chas.
Cameron, Cordova; Otto Lubbe, Mc
Carthy; Charles Cana van, Eyak; J. E.
Dennis, Kennlcott; L. Anderson,
Granite mine.
The Petit Jury—Dan Wllcey. Val
dez; A. P. Brown, C. G. Boe, J. J.
Sherlock, B. D. Blakeslee, H. A. Clark,
Seward; Alfred Bensen, L. S. Barry,
Geo. Johnson, J. E. Price, Anchorage;
L. S. Wickersham, William C. Walker,
William Mahoney, Chitlna; John Raw
son, J. E. Gamble, Cordova; Ed.
Mickelson, John J. Buggs, Knik; M.
Connelly, Sunrise; F. R. Reed, W. S.
Pay, Latouche; Duncan Little, Copper
Center; W. E. Conant. Hope.