THIRD YEAR.
CHITIXA, ALASKA, TUESDAY, JAXUAJIY -_‘H. l»l:L
M MBKK IS.
ii i
The Iditarod is rather quiet at the
present, as all the operators have
closed down for the winter, the camp
essentially being a summer camp.
The Guggenheim dredge on the Mari
etta claim on Flat creek closed down
late in the fall. The gold output of
the camp estimates at $3,500,000 and
the production of this year will even
exceed that.
More prospecting is going on this
winter than ever before and owing to
the numerous strikes and stampedes
in the Innoko and Kuskokwim the
population of the Iditarod camp has
been considerably reduced.
Otter creek is looking better than
ever and much prospecting is being
done there this winter. Marsten &
Riley have closed down their plant
and are preparing for next summer’s
work. There are some new laymen
on the ground now. On 2 above
Chrs. Strandberg, formerly of Ester
crcck, has taken the lay which Lipsett
brothers threw’ up.
-o—o—o
dent of Alaska can cut or have cut
60 cords of wood, or 30,000 feet of
lumber, without any interference
from the government. This is sup
posed to be all any one person shall
need. If it is not then it should be
raised.
• Men may go in the business and
sell wood, but they must cut under a
permit granted them by the land de
partment. The reason of this provis
ion is that the government wish to
have the cutting of wood to follow
some reasonable rules and regula
tions. For instance, they do not
wish saw logs cut and sold for fire
wood because saw timber is scarce in
this country, nor do they wish to
have good timber wood cut and left
on the ground to rot.
“It has been said by many that all
the waste in Alaska does not com
pare with drop of water in the sea.
but unfortunately the waste is all
near towns and the most accessable
places are ruined by indiscriminate
methods to the loss of all.
ao interterence nas ever Deen
made by the land department with
the use of timber for the develop
ment of mining property and it is not
the policy of our department to hin
der, but it is rather our aim to aid
in the development of the natural re
sources of the country.”
W. J. Lewis, special agent of the
land office stationed at Juneau,
against whom some of the residents
of Seward passed resolutions object
ing his methods in handling his de
partment, explaining ins position
says:
“It is true that the people of Sew
ard met and passed resolutions, but
it is not true as stated in the Seattle
Times that I was condemned, nor is
there any great difference of opinion
between the people of Seward and
%
myself in the matter of the enforce
ment of the law, but to those whose
interests have been hurt by the op
erations of the law, considerable op
position has manifested itself.
“Let me explain the nature and
object of the timber laws and regu
lations. In the first place, any resi
The dogs of the signal service for
merly used at the stations along the
military line from Valdez to Fort Gib
bon have been banished to the sta
tions along the Yukon. From Fort
Gibbon to Valdez all the stations
have a horse apiece and in some in
stances two, as at Valdez and Tonsi
na, for the purpose of communication
between stations, repair work, for a
winter mail service between the sta
tions and for the purpose of keeping
the trail open, if possible, all winter.
Every dog has his day and the day
of the government dog at the tele
graph station has passed forever.
The signal service has also built a
relief station at the end of the lake,
near the summit. At this place the
telegraph lines crosses the trail and a
“cut-in” has been provided so that in
case of necessity communication can
be had with stations on each side,
and, if necessary, relief sent from
Wortman’s or Beaver Dam. The sta
tion is a large building, 20x40 feet,
with a living room 12x14 for men,
equipped with bunks and stove, wood
and tools. The remainder of the
building will be used as a barn for
the stock. The building has a double
wall and a double floor and will be of
great aid in crossing the summit.
Travelers from the other side can al
most always reach the relief cabin
and it will always be possible to
make the relief cabin if the summit
is reached from this side.
Lieutenant Prosser, chief signal
officer in charge of the Valdez end of
the line says: "The cabin is at the
service of the general public, but it
is also expected that the freighters
and others who use it will replace
wood used and in every way assist the
signal corps in keeping the buidling
stocked with fire wood, that it may
be in readiness for immediate use in
case of necessity. The service can
not keep the cabin supplied with
wood for the accommodation of the
general public unless the public will
do its share towards keeping the
cabin supplied.”
The material for the cabin was
hauled by the teams of the road com
mission, under the orders of Colonel
Richardson, the president of the
board. The signal corps had neither
the money to do the hauling.
In order to maintain the telegraph
connection across the summit in the
winter, there are now two deep sea
cables laid over the hill from . st
above Icy Point to the head of the
second big flat on the other side of
the summit. Two cables have been
laid so that if one goes down the
other will be in working ord^r
Advices have been received that
the famous Yukon Gold company,
backed by the Guggenheims, which is
operating extensively on Eldorado,
Bonanza and Hunker creeks, in the
Dawson camp, has given a world
wide scope. In other words, all the
placer operations which the Guggen
heims undertake will be in the name
of the Yukon Gold company. It was
argued by some when Thomas W.
Lawson, of Boston and New York,
sold $5,000,000 worth of Yukon Gold
stock in New York several years ago
by sensational advertising methods
all over America, that the company’s
placer would be exhausted in Klon
dike in ten years or so, and that tnen
the company would have no assets.
Now comes word from New York that
the Yukon Gold company already has
absorbed the old Cariboo Hydraulics,
in the famous British Columbia camp,
and is the owner of the extensive new
properties in Iditarod, where a dredge
was installed last spring. The dredge
w'as taken from Dawson. It also is
stated on good authority that should
the Guggenheims secure placers in
California, South America or else
where, the holdings will be merged
with those of the Yukon Gold, thus
perpetuating the company.
The Yukon Gold’s present dredge
properties in the Klondike, that is,
within 60 miles of Dawson, may not
be worked out, it is stated, before
1919, that is, seven years from now.
Some of the creeks may be worked
out within three or four years. Bo
nanza and Eldorado probably will be
the first to have their gravels of
the creek bottom overturned. Sev
eral miles of Bonanza already are
are worked
The extensive buying in the Idita
rod last year indicates plans for gen
eral expansion of the company’s busi
ness. It is understood the same
company has had agents at Ruby and
in the Tanan'a camp.
RECEIPTS OK THE CUSTOMS
OFFICE ARE FALLING OFF
A comparative statement of condi
tions of the customs service and busi
ness transactions during the fiscal
years 1908 and 1912 has just been
compiled by Collector of Customs
John R. Willis.
The report contains much valuable
information and is illuminating in the
fact that it shows a great reduction
in running expenses has been mad»
without in any way inpairing the
service although the decline in busi
ness has not been nearly so large.
For the four-year period dating
forward from 1908, the receipts to
talled $299,498.28; from 1908 to
1912 the total reached $265,638.12
showing a decline of $33,S6U.16.
For the same relative periods the ex
penses were $259,156.96 and $ 214,
021.91, net reduction of $45,121.05.
--o—o—o-■
I
I
Cordova should let no stone un- j
turned to secure a trail from along
the Copper River railway to the head ;
of White river, as Dawson people |
want to get the business we seek, as j
the following item taken from the
Daily News of that camp indicates:
A petition was formulated here last
fall at a meeting of some twenty own- j
ers of White river copper claims in
which they requested the Yukon gov- !
ernment through Commissioner Black
and Dr. Thompson, member of parlia- '
ment to build a trail the coming sum- i
mer from Coffee Creek to the head of j
the White. The commissioner and
Dr. Thompson declared themselves in
favor of the trail, especially since it
promises to make much business in
the coming copper camp tributary to
Dawson. Now it transpires that
Cordova also is after the business of
the head of the White, and Yukon
may have to hustle. The Yukon
trail can be made for much less than
the trail from the Cordova side. The
Cordova people want $20,000 from
the Alaska road commission, to build
a trail from the railroad connection
at Blackburn, or Mile 192, on the
Copper River & Northwestern rail
way, over to the new bridge that is to
cross the Nazina river, then along
that river and crossing Young, Chiti
tu and Dan creeks to the Chittystone
river, and over the Scolai pass into
the White River country.
Orders have been issued by the de
partment at Washington for the
agents, scattered along the Pacific
coast, to look after the white slave
trade, to congregate at Seattle for a
united campaign along the coast
towns of Alaska to ferrit out and
prosecute the white slavers of the
territory, including the owners of
numerous places in Alaska inhabited
by parasites. Already several of the
more prominent agents have arrived
at Seattle, and it is understood these
men sail for Alaska shortly to con
sult with federal officials at Juneau
and Valdez regarding the campaign.
Complaint has been filed at Washing
ton that at several of the Alaska
towns certain portions of the town
has been assigned to owners of build
ings, where numerous prostitutes
have been quartered, and recent
white slave trials held on Pugef
Sound, where the defendants were
residents of Alaskan towns, showed
a system of importing women to
Alaska for immoral purposes which
attracted the attention of the govern
ment.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 — The
Democratic leaders in Congress have
noted with embarrassment the fact
that without sanction of the caucus
or the rules of the House, various
state delegations have proceeded to
nominate members of their own dele
gations for positions on the Ways and
Means Committee. The House rules
provides that the Democratic caucus
shall elect members of the Ways and
Means Committee which, in turn, se
lects members of all other commit
tees. While there is nothing in the
rules to prohibit any state delegation
suggesting the name of one of its
members for membership on the Ways
and Means Committee, the procedure
so far has been for Mr. Underwood
and his colleagues to “make the
slate,” which is invariably ratified by
the caucus.
The various state delegations, how
ever, have taken matters into their
own hands. The Texas Democratic
delegation, for instance, unanimously
agreed to back Representative Garner
to succeed Ransdell on the Ways and
Means Committee. The Georgia
delegation has agreed upon Repre
senative Bartlett, of that delegation.
The Kentucky delegation has agreed
GOV. ANNOUNCES
HIS RETIREMENT
In speech delivered before the Ju-j
neau Commercial Club Governor
Walter E. Clark made the first public
announcement of his retirement from
office this Spring. In this connec
tion he said:
“This is a season, which lately has
been recurring once in about twenty
years, when a great number of offi
cial gentlemen are talking about re
signing, to enter other fields of use
fulness, and speaking of it just as if
they liked it and had expected to do
it all the time. So, following their
example, take this occasion to say
more publicly what I said to many
persons during my trip through the
interior, several months before the
general election, that I expect to re
tire from office in the spring of this
year. It will not be asy to leave
Alaska but it will not be hard to re
linquish the office I hold, the cares
and vexations and disappointments
of which at this stage of our terri
torial development are in an inverse
ratio to the distinguished honor of
being governor of a territory prob
ably larger than any other on the
earth’s surface administered by a
person other than soverign.
“And so when I send my resigna
tion to the new President on the 4th
of next March, it will be a proud re
gret but a profounder relief. I place
no estimate upon the work of my ad
ministration, but 1 think I shall end
by speaking of the subject which I
mentioned first when I came here,
lighthouses. I take some satisfac
*
tion that there are at least ten times
as many aids to navigation in Alaska
waters as there were three years ago.
I wish there were ten times as many
as there are now.
“This territory and this town have
had a wonderful attraction for me for
the last thirteen years; It has net
always been a welcome change to go
back east, but it has always been
easy to come back.”
TITLE TO TOWN OF HAINES '
HAS BEEN CLEARED
The Circuit Court of Appeals for
the Ninth Circuit, holding sessions
in San Francisco, has just rendered a
decision in the case of the town of
Haines vs. Sol Ripinsky, in which
title to the townsite of Haines was
involved.
The decision that has been made
finds in favor of the town of Haines.
By the decision Ripinsky retains title
to his house and garden, but no more.
Candidates for Speaker.
Senator-elect Henry Roden, of Idit
arod, is being urged to become a can
didate for president of the territorial
Senoate, but as yet, has not decided
to enter the race. He wishes to con
fer with his colleagues from that divi
sion, Senator-elect Dan Sutherland,
of Ruby, who may himself be a can
didate for the position.
The Governor’s office has compiled
the following list of schools, of all
kinds, in Alaska, in response to num
erous inquiries from people in the
States.
The schools in incorporated towns
are:
Chena, Cordova, Douglas, Fair
banks, Haines, Iditarod, Juneau, Ket
chikan, Nome, Petersburg, Seward,
.Skagway, Valdez and Wrangell.
The following maintain High
School work:
Douglas, Fairbanks, Juneau, Ket
chikan, Nome, Seward, Valdez and
Wrangell.
There are also schools in the fol
;lowing unincorporated communities:
Afognak, Candle, Chatanika, Chi
jchagof, Chitina, Council, Ellamar,
Fox, Garden Island (Graehl P. O.),
Katalla, Knik, Kodiak, Latouche,
Longwood (Kodiak P. O.), Menden
hall (Juneau P. O.), Ninilchik, Nush
agak, Ouzinkie, Reservation (Valdez
P. O.), Ruby, St. Michael, Scow Bay
(Petersburg P. O.), Sitka. Tanana,
Teller, Unga-Peninsula (lTnga P. O.).
Schools for natives (Indians! are
maintained under the direction of the
Bureau of Education, Washington, D.
C., with Mr. W. T. Lopp, Colman
Building, Seattle, Wash., as Chief of
the Alaska Division. These schools
number about 100.
upon Stanley. For the furth vacan
cy on the Ways and Means Commit
tee, Raker, of California; Hamill, of
New Jersey, and Ansberry, of Ohio,
are engaged in a three-cornered fight.
The embarrassment of the leaders is
caused by fact that heretofore they
were able to select carefully the kind
of men they wanted for the Ways and
Means Committee, and under this
plan they will have to accept without
question the most popular men re
gardless of the special Tariff-making
ability of ench influential delegation.
Were they to turn down the choice :
of Texas, Georgia and Kentucky they
would lose the votes of those delega
tions in legislative crises.
ALL LEGISLATIVE RETURNS
HAVE NOT BEEN FILED
No definite date has been fixed by
the Territorial canvassing board for
the canvassing of the vote of the No
vember election of members of the
Territorial legislature for the reason
that complete returns are not yet in
from many places.
The canvassing board consists of
Gov. Clark, Surveyor General Distin,
and Collector of Customs Willis. The
board will probably delay action as
long as possible so that lagging re
turns may have a chance in the count.
Candidates will probably be notified
by wire of the'r etc-*! n and certifi
cates issue on their ai rival at Juneau.
OF J
“The elements and not a lack of
motive power or anything else is re
sponsible for the long tie-up of the j
railroad," said Superintendent Geo.
Geiger this morning to a Daily Alas
kan representative. Mr. Geiger re- j
turned last evening from out the line,
where he has been since the begin
ning of the blockade. He left Mile
51 on Wednesday and mushed to Mile
39, where he remained over night,
yesterday walking to Flag Point
and there he was met by an engine
and brought to town. Mr. Geiger has
been suffering from an attack of sci
atic rheumatism and although housed
today expects to be about again very
shortly.
In discussing the railway condi
tions Mr. Geiger said: “With three
weeks of favorable weather the en
tire line could be opened up and regu
gular schedule of three trains a week
resumed. In three days from the
time the wind ceases blowing at Milo
51 the stnail rotadv shou'.u be back
in Cordova. And this is the kev to
the situation. As soou as the rotary
reaches here engine No. 20 will be
converted into a coal instead of an
oil bui u» r. This, together with the
other necessary repairs to engines
and rotary, as well as the time con
sumed in loading a train of fuel lor
distribution to the other motive pow
er along the line, will take about a
week. Then everything will be in
readiness for the return trip, and but
little trouble should be experienced in
bucking the snow in the canyon.
“Both the large rotaries are in
good shape. The one at Mile 55 is
entirely out of fuel, while the other
one at Cleve Creek has a broken ec
centric but this can be easily repaired
when a train reaches there. Of
course both these rotaries are dead.
The one at Cleve Creek has plenty of
fuel aboard to take her to Chitina, as
soon as the new' eccentric is received,
and under favorable conditions could
come back to Cordova, but at present
we cannot afford to take the chance
of putting her into service.
“Since December 21 there has not,
been a day that the velocity of the
wind was less than forty miles an |
hour. So far as motive power or I
trains are concerned it wouldn’t have
made any difference if we had a doz
en engines in service under the eondi- :
tions. If there had been three on
gines to a train they would have
choked the rotary and prevented it
from ploughing through the drifts,
and then again these engines would
have used more fuel and water and ;
thus necessitate coaling and water- j
ing more frequently. This would :
mean a great loss of time. For every
five shovels full of snow handled for
the melter four are lost on account
of the wind. In must also be re
membered that it takes fifteen inches
of snow to make one inch of water.
"On Sunday night, while at Mile
post 58, ploughing through a cut
snow fell and it was so light that it
covered up the rotary. The snow
sheds blew half full of snow the
second day after the first train left
here. Slides had to be contended
with continually and it was a com
mon thing to encounter from five to
thirty feet of snow from Mile 51 to
98. Fortunately we found no ice to
speak of along the tracks, as we had
taken the precatution to have track
walkers on duty along the entire line
and as soon as any ice was discovered
a gang of men was sent out to
pick it.
’’There has been an unusually
heavy fall of snow throughout the in
terior and a month’s continuous wind.
At times we had to shelter ourselves
from the wind, after bucking a drift,
by getting out of its sweep for fear of
being covered up.
“There are one hundred and three j
men at Miles 51 and 55, and this en-;
tire crew will be put to work clearing i
the track so that the small rotary can j
back to the loop at Mile 49, as soon!
as the wind goes down. The snow ia
only four feet deep there but blows in
as fast as it is shoveled out. As I
stated before after three days of calm
weather the little rotary should be
back in Cordova. The work at Mile
51 is in charge of Wilson. Townsend,
Tammany, Pike and Howard. The
men have good sleeping quarters and
plenty of provisions and I look for
them to accomplish the desired end
as soon as the wind ceases. Too
much credit cannot be given the boys
for th faithful manner in which they
labored to relieve the trying condi
tions caused by the blockade.
‘‘On account of numerous minor
accidents some little delay was
caused. For instance, the pilot beam
of the small rotary broke and it was
substituted with a 12x12, which could
not stand the pressure and finally it
became necessary to send it to the
shop here for a steel plate to rein
force it. Of course this and the usu
al accidents to be expected, in the
way of breaking chains, drawheads,
etc., all took time to repair.
‘ It is my opinion that water tanks
and fuel stations should be establish
ed about every five miles along the
road, for use in case of emergency.
There should also be erected four
miles of snow sheds.”
-0—0—0
During the recent years, with con
stantly growing use of the purse
seine, there has been a tendency upon
the part of fishermen using this form
of gear to violate the law prohibitive
of setting nets entirely across the
mouths of streams, says Governor
Walter E. Clark in his annual report.
It is not even an uncommon practice
for the fisnermen to go up into the
streams and drive the fish down from
the spawning beds into the waiting
nets. This practice is most vicious,
and its continuance will he a potent
factor in destroying or so reducing
the runs of salmon as practically to
ruin a great industry. The cry is
often heard that the traps are
destroying the runs of salmon—that
they catch countless millions of fish—
but a moment of impartial study of
the situation may lead to a different
conclusion. With a trap, or a series
of traps, extending out a thousand
feet into the channel often several
miles wide, the part of the passage
blockaded against the salmon is com
paratiely small, and the result is that
great numbers of the fish pass by un
harmed. Moreover, the trap is a fix
ed piece of apparatus and is suscepti
ble of regulation. The law provides
that It be so arranged as to permit
the free and obstructed passage of
salmon during the weekly close peri
od of 36 hours. After the fish have
passed the traps they head for the
mouths of streams, seeking spawning
grounds. Their habits are such that
they frequently school off the mouths
of the streams before attempting to
ascend. It is as they congregate thus
that the deadly efficiency of the purse
seine is felt. The purse seine is la
effect a mobile trav.
As to the contention that the traps
are catching all of the fish, it Is only
necessary to consult the statistics for
1911, the last compiled, and It will
be observed that of the catch of pink
salmon in southeastern Alaska over
60 per cent were taken in seines and
but 35 per cent in traps. Over 97
per cent of the total catch in this
section of Alaska was pink salmon.
In the case of traps, the fish are usu
ally not removed until the cannery is
able to handle them in a fresh con
dition, but in the case of purse seines,
a power boat often starts out from
the cannery and is gone several days,
sometimes a week, catching fish each
day, before returning to the cannery
or sending the catch in by a collect
ing boat.
-X-X-X
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 28—Louis
tllavis. of forestry notoriety, has aupd
a number of California papers for
libel and damages.