TAiMAWA LEADER
Published Every Thursday at 'Panama, Alaska.
Vtl I SAM J. CALLAHAN. EDITOR No. 40
Ceo. M. Arbuoklo. Mona a or
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ARTIFICIAL VERSUS NATURAL CONDITIONS
OF TRADE
It would probably be an under estimate to put the
amount of goods sold to Iditarod stampeders by Fairbanks
merchants before the close of navigation at $150,000. Had
the Northern Commercial Company been so disposed it is
not unreasonable to believe it could have sold at leasl
$100,000 worth of these goods more than it actually did,
and at a greater percentage of profit, by eliminating tin
freight charges between Tanana and Fairbanks and having
the prospectors pick up their outfits at the company’s
Tanana house on their way to the new diggings. The
company’s Fairbanks, competitors could not have met tin
prices of its Tanana house, with sales conducted on equal
percentage of profits, because the company would lxavt
possessed the big margin-of the amount of charges for car
riage on the Tanana river, besides a considerable saving, in
incidentals, such as transfers, storage, etc.*' '
The Northern Commercial Company is often anathe
matized for its monopolistic tendencies, but here is an in
stance where it had the traders of Fairbanks ami Tanana
in the hollow of its hand, and refrained from exerting the
slight pressure that would have left them impotent in a
very considerable and profitable volume of trade. It had
the opportunity of becoming more monopolistic and at tin
same time being of advantage to a large number of pros
pec-tors.
It forbore, not because of compunction of conscience,
but because, like every institution of its kind, its interests
lie in a centralization of trade irrespective of the welfare of
outlying districts. The Northern Commercial Company
has a twin brother, the Northern Navigation Company,
which profits by the hauling of freight up the Tanana
river, and the two have many interests in common which
are served by the trade of Fairbanks camp. Had the
Northern Commercial Company transferred the trade for
the Iditarod to its Tanana house, it would have cut so far
under the prevailing Tanana prices that to have jumped
again to the high level would have caused unpleasant com
ment; whereas now the people bear wbat they look upon as
an unavoidable hardship with but slight murmurings.
These references are made to the Northern Commercial
Company, from as unbiased a position as it is possible to
assume, simply because that company is the determining
factor in the mercantile situation. There is another con
cern, the Pacific Cold Storage Company, whose relation to
Tanana is also important. It supplies the Fort Gibbon
military post and the town of Tanana with meat. Every
pound of that meat intended for winter consumption i&
transported to Fairbanks and back again. At this very
instant it is being sledded down from Tolovana, a distance
of about eighty miles. And the Jones who used to pay the
freight is dead and buried long ago.
•Between Tanana and Fairbanks there is 275 miles of
•costly, hazardous and frequently lossful Tanana river navi
gation. All goods for Fairbanks first come to Tanana.
Yet this year, until the summer was far advanced, retail
juices on practically all lines of goods were double at
Tanana what they were at Fairbanks during the same pe
riod. When a late summer reduction took jdace at Tanana,
prices still remained about 33^ per cent, higher than at
Fairbanks, and approximate that figure now. If anybody
can furnish data to confute these statements regarding
prices the columns of this paper will be cheerfully opened
to them, regardless of the fact that large quantities of
goods for Fairbanks were stranded on the Tanana river and
are being hauled to their destination at great expense. A
few Tanana prices are here given, and they do not include
uny article advanced on account of unusual conditions:
Sugar, 12 1-2 cents a pound; $12 a hundred. Rice, same as
sugar. Bacon, 32 cents a pound, $30 a hundred; dog bacon, 10
cents a pound, $9 a hundred. Ham, 30 cents a pound, $28 a hun
dred. Flour, hard wheat, $8 a hundred; soft whert, $7.50 a hun
dred. Beans, 12 1-2 cents a pound, $10 a hundred. Baking pow
der, $1 a pound. Butter, $1.25 a 2-pouud can. Eggs, 75 cents a
dozen, $18 a case. Lard, 25 cents a pound. Milk, Carnation, 5
cans for $1: $8 a case. Coffee, Hills Bros., 1 pound can 75 cents,
2-pound can $1.25. Rolled oats and corn meal, $1 each per small
sack; onions fresh, 7 pounds $1. Dried fruits, apricots and
peaches 25 cents, prunes 20 cents a pound. Fresh potatoes,
12 1-2 cents a pound, $10 a crate.
These prices within themselves will show one very
good reason why the Northern Commercial Company did
not choose to monopolize the Iditarod trade. They will
also show that the Northern Commercial Company’s mercy,
although its quality is strained, is an essential factor in
the existence of other Tanana traders, who, through its
self-interested tolerance, are enabled to sell merchandise at
a slight advance over the high prices that prevailed at
Dawson in 1899 and 1900.
Tanana’s favorable position, geographically, as a trad
ing point is frequently spoken of and is undeniable. But
it is well to remember that it is by no means unusual for
artificial conditions to overbalance natural advantages in
the establishment of distributing points and centers of
population. Just now the interests of the town are not of
sufficient magnitude to cut a big figure; but the fact that
stands out most prominently is that the best interests of a
great and promising region are being sacrificed in order to
sustain a position that is unnatural and contrary to the
general good.
LOCAL side to the coal lands question
The Alaska coal lands'controversy, which has been
attracting national attention for the past several months,
comes in for a degree of local interest because of the find
ing of coal of good quality in the vicinity of Tanana.
There is general ignorance regarding the present status of
the coal lands in this part of the territory—an ignorance
in which this paper largely shares. Shortly before his re
tirement from office President Roosevelt issued an executive
>rder (which he was authorized by law to do) withdrawing
from entry all coal lands in Alaska. If our memory is not
it fault he restored certain of these lands to entry by the
issuance of subsequent orders; and that is about the extent
jf our knowledge on the subject. It would be of no prac
tical benefit, however, to be able to repeat all the coal laws
ever passed and all the executive orders ever issued; the
whole matter is up to the interior department, and that's
ill there is to it.
It may be stated parenthetically that Mr. Roosevelt’s
conservation policy never did appeal to us: it appeared that
it would be more in accord with good sense and justice for
the government to retain title in the land and permit the
mining of the coal with no other proviso than that it be
actually mined and utilized. There is little doubt that under cir
cumstances of that kind the coal would be brought into use when
needed. c
In the case of the Tanana coal, it has been brought to a state
of development that would permit it to be sold at a profit to local
consumers who are anxious to purchase it; but the men who have
opened the mine hesitate because they ar§ afraid they might be
prosecuted. We would like to see them proceed on a prosecute
and-be-damned principle—but of course we cannot advise them to
do so.
Secretary Ballinger of the interior department, it is stated,
contemplates libel proceedings against some of his critics. The
recent termination of certain cases growing out of the Panama
canal site exploitation would indicate that Mr. Ballinger is a too
early product of history to make such proceedings effective in his
case. _
Some learned astronomer arise to remark that Halley’s comet,
if reduced to its constituent elements, could be stored in an ordi
nary pillbox. This is a case of a peddler of hot air decrying his
own ware.
IS SORRY FOR HARRY
I’m sorry for Harry, so woefully tired ! The sweet boon
of freedom to him is denied; in gloomy asylum he’s destined to
dwell, to eat in a dungeon and sleep in a cell; I'emoved from
the world, with its clamor and strife, to mix with the flotsam
and jetsam of life. I haven’t the gall, or I haven’t the guile,
to ask this poor fellow to cheer up and smile; I haven’t the
conscience to go to his cell and murmur: “Don’t worry, and all
.will be well!” I’d rather approach him and whisper: “Old
Sport, when next they are testing your brains in the court, be
warry and cautious and wise as an owl; if you jabber too much
you’re out on a foul. You brought yourself back to your pres
ent distress by saying you wanted to write for the press. Be
fore that announcement your chances were great: by making
it public you sealed your own fate; ‘to the cops,’ said the judge,
‘I must give you in charge, you’re surely too batty to wander
at large!’”—Walt Mason.
MYSTERIOUS DISEASE
KILLING MANY HORSES
A large number ot horses have died recently in Fairbanks and on
the creeks from some mysterious disease which is proving veiy baffling,
says the News-Miner of Nov. to.
In order to ascertain the nature of the affliction, Dr. Richardson,
veterinary for the Orr Stage Company, will this afternoon perfoim an
autopsy on a valuable horse of Arthur McNeer which died today. This
is the fourth animal lost this fall by Mr. McNeer, and every effort will
be made to discover the cause and nature of the epidemic
The horses are generally sick from several days to six weeks. They
apparently suffer no pain, but refuse to sat. They dwindle away until
just before death many are seized with lockjaw. The horses which
have not been in the country for .my great length of time seem to be
the first stricken. The very healthiest among them are generally vic
tims. Apparently the disease is not contagious, although probably in
fectious. Where several horses are together one may be stricken while
the others escape. In some cases the horse in the latter stages seems to
suffer from a stiffening in the neck. The liver of one horse examined
was found to be entirely black.
The last horse lost by Mr. McNeer had been sick for about six
weeks. The four animals he has lost were not infected by one another,
as they had never been together Over 25 horses have died recently,
all exhibiting the same symptoms. McDermott, the operator on Cleary
creek, has lost four valuable horses. Joe Landers, the freighter, lias
lost four. Another freighter on Cleary lost five horses—all he possessed.
Ike Loomis, the freighter, has lost two animals, and this week a
horse of the Orr Stage Company also died, showing the same symptoms
as the others. In most cases the animals die standing up.
I Going Outside This Winter? Subscribe for Leader
GOLDEN NORTH CAFE
Carrying the Best Supplies on the Market
OYSTERS, FISH AND GAME
IN SEASON
Centrally Located. In Connection with Grand Hotel.
ED Y. LEE, PROP.
IMPAIRING BALLY’S EFFiCENCY
Washington, Nov io.—Secretaiy of the Interior Ballinger has in
structed attorneys in New York to proceed against Collier's Weekly in
ihe courts, if in their judgment a charge of libel can be Sustained. The
Glavis story, in the opinion of the secretary, is nothing but a malicious
ittack upon his reputation, calculated to impair his efficiency as head
of a government department. He brands the whole story in Collier’s
ic o iLcho nf fnlctaiinirrlc
PUT HUGER
IN HER SHOES
San Francisco, Oct. 2.—In giv
ing her testimony against Win.
Lenz, steward of a Third street
cafe.whose arrest she had caused, j
Emma Schultz, a good looking]
waitress, said that I.enz had been
making advances to her and be
cause he had been repulsed he
filled her shoes with limburger
cheese. She wears slippers in
the cafe. "When she remonstrated
with Lenz he slapped her twice.
Lenz denied the limburger accu
sation and also the slapping. He
said she had been trying to make
trouble for him with his wife and
the other waitresses, and he sim
ply chided her for it.
Special Sunday Dinner at the Ken
tucky restaurant from ti to 8 p.m.
Mrs. M. K. Cooper, proprietor.
The Leader is on sale at the Tunana
post office lobby.
Northern Commercial Co.
STAGE LINE
Carrying U. S. Mail. Passengers ami Express
CONNECTIONS THROUGH TO VALDEZ
FOR RATES APPLY TO
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HOT SPRINGS’ NEWEST HOTEL
First-Class Restaurant Frank . Slant y, Prop
Cm GiCEGN HO. 25, Arctic Brother
1 lood, meets every Monday night
in A. B. Hall, corner Second st.
and Campbell ave. at 8:,'10o'clock.
Visitiijg Arctics cordially invited to at
tend the meetings of the Camp.
1’inr. liAU.AHKU, Arctic Chi> f.
J. HrssKf.i, Wau.K, Arctic Her.
When You Go to California Where Every Month
is June, Travel on the
CALIFORNIA
LIMITED
Duly Train in Southern California, via. Any Line,
Exclusively First-Class Travel
EAST OR WEST
THE COMFORTABLE WAY IS VIA. THE
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Railway
CLOSE CONNECTIONS
To All Points East or West, With Two Modern Over
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FOR FULL INFORMATION ADDRESS
F. I. Whitney, Passenger Traffic Manager, St. Paul, Minn.
—O R- j
S. B. Yerkes, Assistant Gen. Pass. Agent, Seattle, Wash.