THE PLACE TO STOP
GOLDEN NORTH HOTEL
Fine Rooms for Transients. Meals Best in the North
ED Y. LEE, PROPRIETOR
PUBLISHER’S NOTICE
No Subscriptions or Adver
tisements will be accepted for
longer than to Sept. 1.
After that date the paper will either be
improved or its publication discontinued. It
does not appear now that improvement will
be warranted.
TANANA LEADER.
Tanana Commercial Co.
For Fresh Fruit
and Table Gomestables
Try Us.
Everything * Hardware
Heaters a Specialty
The Official Visitors.
Attorney General Wickersham, Secre
tary of Commerce and Labor Nagel and
Governor Clark of Alaska arrived from
Fairbanks on the General Jacobs last
Sunday, and, after stopping at Fort
Gibbon for an hour, proceeded down
the Yukon. From St. Michael they
will go to Nome and thence down the
coast.
They were gratified by their hearty
reception at Fairbanks. The attorney
general is quoted as saying that never
in his life had he met with such open
hauded hospitality. Bands played, his
speeches (made upon insistent demand)
were listened to by throngs and he was
not allowed to open his purse while in
the city. Had not his visit extended to
Fairbanks, he said, he would not have
known Alaska.
DESERVED TRIBUTE
TO MAJOR CLUM
In an editorial in the Iditarod Pioneer
of July 24, captioned “The Need of
Postal Facilities,” a tribute is paid to
the executive ability to Major John P.
Cl uni to which thousands of residents
of interior Alaska would be glad to add
a hearty approval. As the Pioneer says,
“an adequate postal service for the
Iditarod is chiefly notable for its ab
sence,” and this condition prevails not
withstanding an entire summer has
passed during which the need for the
service was open to the scrutiny of all
men. Had Major Clum been present in
his former capacity it would have been
otherwise. Major Clum differed from
most federal officials in this: his ca
pacity for sizing up the necessities of the
occasion enabled him to overcome the
endless cliain of red tape which makes
intelligent action difficult and slow;
while in their cases the endless chain of
red tape made it impossible for them
to size up the necessities of the occasion.
He and they were as close together as
the north and south poles and no closer.
The Leader would extend both thanks
and congratulations to the Pioneer for
its timely reference to the intelligent
and potential services of John P. Clum,
Tana from Idltarod.
At noon today the steamer Tana ar
rived direct from the Iditarod at noon
today.
Aboard were the following well-known
people:
CAPT. J. J. DONOVAN, deputy
marshal, conveying a prisoner to the
federal jail at Fairbanks.
Mr. and Mrs. J. S. LANGFORD, for
forly of Gold Mountain district. Mrs.
Langford and her little daughter Lyda
will reside at Tanana this winter, while
Mr. Langford will look after his mining
claims in Gold Mountain district.
HENRY RODEN, lawyer, paying a
professional visit to his former home at
Fairbanks.
The Tana brought no mining news of
importance. The status of the Iditarod
camp remains unchanged: the good
ground so far proven to be such is in
sufficient to support the number of
people in the district.
The Fireless Cooker.
The fireless cooker has arrived.
It has been exhibited to numerous
enthusiastic friends by G. H. Tiffany.
It is a double-action contrivance and
does hot or cold duty according to the
design of its fortunate owner. Its only
drawback is that it only receives and
preserves the caloric or frigid qualities:
it does not produce them.
Thus, if one wants to cook a pot of
beans he first sets it to boiling vigor
ously and then transfers it to the cooker,
which finishes the job and keeps the
mess hot for an indefinite time. Or, if
freeze ice cream, say, on Thursday, he
could place it in the cooker and keep it
nice and firm till the following Sunday.
Mr. Tiffany only ordered a small cooker
in order to give it a trial. With one of
the larger ones it might be possible to
confine and ship outside enough 70
below Alaska weather to at least freeze
over a good-sized mill pond.
See Jack Cavanaugh for well water and
light express. Scavenger work a specialty.
Figuring On a Ball Game.
Baseball enthusiasts have been plan
ning a match game between the civilians
and the soldiers, but the constant rains
have interfered with the practice work.
It is yet possible that the match may be
pulled off next Sunday.
There are some good players among
the Fort Gibbon men, but the Tanana
fans believe they would stand a good
chance to beat them — especially bo,
since there are three good men in the
crew of the St. Michael who are lying
over here while the steamer is under
going repairs, and they would be pressed
into service in the town team.
Made Hay While the Sun Shone.
W. B. Burnyeat reports that he and
associates have already put up about
fifty tons of native hay at the Long
Lake meadows. The hay is in fine
condition.
This is a splendid record under the
circumstances, for the season has been
the most unfavorable imaginable for
hay making.
It is proposed to put up considerable
more if the present rainy weather clears
up in time.
Go to Nussbaum’s Barbershop for first
class work.
Ben Baker’s Bets.
Ben Baker, the old sourdough, came
down from Hot Springs on the steamer
Tanana last Saturday, and proceeded to
the outside by way of Dawson. He will
look over the country bordering the
Gulf of Mexico before continuing to his
old home in Kentucky. He says he
does not expect to return to Alaska, but
it would not be a bad bet that he will
come floating back on the open water of
1911.
Speaking of bets: Mr. Baker took oc
casion while in Tanana to hand over to
Dick Richards $100 which became due
at the time Johnson defeated Jeffries in
Nevada. The wager had been made by
wire. The hitting abilities of the big
black man also cost him about 300 other
good sound dollars. In telling about it
Mr. Baker was mightily tickled over
one transaction connected with his mis
judgment of the pugilists.
He and Ben Hastings, some time be
fore the fight, entered into an agree
ment whereby $500, or so much thereof
as takers could be found for, would be
placed on Jeffries, the two to go halvers
on the proposition. Hastings hiked out
to the creeks and placed $370. When
he returned he told Baker he was pretty
hard up and would like to keep all the
wagers for himself. Baker’s mind dwelt
on the good things his half of the money
would buy on the outside, but he could
not resist the appeal and his compliance
saved him $185 and put Hastings that
much more to the bad.
i _
Many Native Children Die.
(From the Valdez Prospector, July 14.)
Twenty-six native children have died
of measles at Tatitklek within the last
few days. Accurate information con
cerning conditions there is not yet ob
tainable, but it is understood that the
victims of the contagion are mostly very
small children, and that a large number
are now suffering from it.
News of the widespread malady in the
Indian village came yesterday evening
to Captain Bennett, commandant at
Fort Liscum, from A. R. Law, govern
ment school teacher at Tatitlek, who
asked for medical assistance. Captain
Bennett at once sent Dr. Jones, post
surgeon, down to the village to give
such aid as he can under difficult condi
tions.
Commissioner Reed was also notified,
but he has no special jurisdiction, Alaska
natives being wards of the bureau of
education. He cabled the facts to the
department of justice to give notice to
the federal government.
When Mr. Law was in Valdez ten days
ago he told the commissioner that meas
les was afflicting the Tatitlek Indians
and a few had died, but at that time he
did not think the contagion w ould
spread so widely. Since then it has
seized a large proportion of the native
population and conditions are pitiable.
Tatitlek is a native village two miles
below Ellamar. It has a population of
about 200. Forty children are in the
government school.
Noted Native Woman Dead.
Mrs. Nicolai, one of the oldest and
and best known native women in this
region, died last Monday and was buried
today. She was born on the Koyukuk
and lived many years at Rampart. She
had been ill for a long time.