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SECOND YEAR ~ CHITON A, ALASKA, SATURDAY, MAY 4, 1013. “ —~ ^o. 3" "
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Happenings About‘Town
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It was rumored that John Nelson
was going to return to Valdes, but
he denies the report and says he
thinks he is engaged permanently
now. He would like to stay here in
definitely.
Good progress is being made re
placing the Chitina bridge. Floating
ice and boulders in the river bed add
to the difficulty of driving the piles,
but if everything goes as well as is
expected there will be a train over
the bridge Monday.
S. Blum has been in town for a
few days looking after business. He
is well pleased with the patronage
his firm has received. He intends to
make some further improvements in
his building this summer.
The city water works are now in
operation.
Chitina hasn’t seen rain or snow
for two months. Sunshine all the
time and just enuf wind to keep
down the mosquitoes, which are al
ready numerous in the woods about
here.
John S. Conway returned to Chiti
na Thursday from Kuskulana, where
he has been packing in some sup
plies for the summer.
Jack Lawrence was in town last
Thursday, but left again for Copper
Center with a load of freight. The
trail is getting quite difficult for
freighting. It is drying up fast, but
the mudholes are thawing 'deeper
every day.
Capt. Northway arrived in Chitina
from Fairbanks. He will leave in
a week for his trading post at Nebes
na, on the Tanana. He has several
mining properties in that district,
and has recently bonded one of them
to parties in Fairbanks.
A big line of fishing tackle at the
Chitina Pharmacy, bee it.
Supt. Geiger came up on Thurs
day’s train to look at the bridge situ
ation. He is determined that traffic
shall be delayed as little as possi
ble this year, and has had every
thing necessary for replacing the
bridge on the ground for several
weeks.
Things are on the move in Chitina
Heights. There is something in the
air. Pete Cordes is constructing a
new cabin. - - - —-—
There were 860 guests registered
at the Chitina Hotel since the first
of the year. Stop there and you’ll
meet your friends.
Miss Nickell’s school is progress
ing nicely. The attendance has fall
en off some lately. Probably the old
er boys are needed on the farms.
Tibbs and Burkhart furnished the
music for a very enjoyable dance in <
McIntosh Mall Thursday night.
The Overland Hotel caters to the
discriminating tarveler.
Dr. C. P. Montgomery, who recent
ly left Ruby, is now located in Chiti
na. He has had a wide experience
in -various leading hospitals and is •
strongly endorsed by prominent peo
ple. He 1b capable and conscientious
and will give his clients a square
deal. It is to be hoped he can re
main, for such accidents as the col
lapse of the Chitina tunnel show the
need of a doctor nearer than Cordo
va or Kennecott'. (
The ice on Chitina lake is about
i
gone.
Have you tried those meals at the
Overland Restaurant? They’re great. 1
Three-foot wood delivered for <
$6.00. C. A. Simons. (
There has been some cleaning up ]
around town the past week, but
there are still left a few revolting
dump piles within a few feet of 5
jlain street. They are neither sight- l
ly nor sanitary. 1
The Chitina Hotel has just re- !
ceived $50u worth of Standard pipes. 1
See them. <
-o—o—o ■ 1
BALTIMORE, May 3.—In an ad- i
dress here last night Governor Har- i
mon denounced both President Taft 1
and ex-President Roosevelt for their ’
failure to bring about tariff reduc- <
tions. <
—_____o—o-O- 1
Subscribe for the Chitina Leader.
OFFER TO SEEL
WASHINGTON, May 1.—A story is current to the effect ,
that S. W. Eccles and other representatives of the Guggenheim ,
interests, the other week waited upon President Taft and made ,
the executive an offer to sell to the government the Copper .
River & Northwestern Railroad for twenty million dollars, or -
at cost. The story, however, could not be confirmed. Mr. Ec- <
cles and others of the party refused to discuss it one way or '
the other.
' The proposal to build a railroad into the interior of Alas
ka for the pui-pose of furnishing coal to the coaling station at
Seward received somewhat of a setback recently when the gov
ernment engineers pointed out the fact that, although the coal
ing station at Seward itself would be unassailable, the rail- <
road would be open to easy attack at the points along where
runs the shore of Ivnik Arm. So far as the construction of the
road as a war measure is concerned, the Guggenheims appear
to have all the best of it. Their road can reach the Matanus
ka coal fields from Cordova in a slightly greater distance than
the fields can be reached from Seward. The Copper River rail
load would have the advantage of the down-grade pull all the
way, while the Seward railroad would have to cross several di
vides. Further than this, there is no point from which the
Copper River railroad could be attacked. When these facts .
were made known before the territorial committee of the
House, the advocates of the Seward road were slightly non
plused. However, as all of the bills provide for the appoint
ment of a commission to select the route, it is probable that if
the road is built at all, government engineers will decide which
is the best point from which to build.
Col. A. G. Swanitz, who sun-eyed the Alaska Northern
Railroad, has appeared before the House committee several
times and impressed that body with the fact that the coaling
station at Seward is about fifteen hundred miles nearer to the
Philippines than is the naval station at Mare Island.
Representatives of the American Mining Congress have ap
peared before the committees several times in regard to Alas
kan legislation. The legislators generally show a disposition
to do something for Alaska, and there is yet hope that the work
started by the Seattle and other chambers of commerce will
bear fruit in the shape of larger appropriations—that is, as has
been said, if there are not “too many- cooks.”
The local Wickersham leaders now declare positively that
Delegate to Congress James Wickersham will not be a candi
date before the Valdez convention on the 29th, and further that
he will not seek re-election. Dr. Chase and others received let
ters from him on the steamer which arrived Thursday. In these
communications Judge Wickersham states that he will not be
\ candidate. He does, however, intimate that if Dan Suther
land is nominated at the Valdez convention that he would prob
ably support him. He further states that he expects to return
to Alaska the latter part of June. Among his local following
this information is received as in line with the ideas that Judge
Wickersham expressed when he was in Cordova last November.
)nd leaves them free to follow their own inclinations. With
Wickersham eliminated most of his Cordova following will un
Joubtedly support the regular Republican nominee, William A.
Jilmore, for whom some of them voted in the nominating con
tention.—Daily Alaskan.
NOME, May 3.—Telegraphic advices have been reecived
lere requesting that delegates be elected to the Valentine con
vention, to be held at Valdez. No interest, however, is being
taken in the meeting, and it is doubtful if sufficient effort will
be exerted to elect delegates. A few of the local supporters of
Jennings are trying to work up a sentiment and demand for
Wickersliam, believing that he would cut into Gilmore’s
strength here. But they have not met with much success, as
both factions of Republicans on the Seward Peninsula are prac
tically united in their support of William A. Gilmore. Local
pride will also induce some Democrats to vote for him. The only
real opposition here to Gilmore is the Socialists. They favor a
Socialist nominee from the Fairbanks district, and the card
members of the party will support him. It is believed that the
strongest candidate against Gilmore may be the Socialist. If
that be true, and the fact becomes generally understood, it is
thought that many Democrats throughout the territory will be
inclined to vote for Gilmore, as later developments will show
that with a divided party neither of the Democratic candidates
will have a chance of winning. It is not believed here that
Wickersliam will run, and that most of his former supporters
in all parts of Alaska will vote for Gilmore.
PROSPEROUS YEAR H)R STEAMSHIP IMF
At the recent annual meeting of t
he Alaska Steamship Company, and
i subsidiary organization, the North- (
western Commercial Company, held
it Seattle, all the directors were re- 1
leeted. The annual report of Cresi
lent Young of the steamship com
pany, among other things, stated:
“There was added to the surplus
iccount on December 31 last. $152,
161.09, which represents the net
irofits for 1911, and although $16,-1
146.82 less than similar results for,
he preceding year, the figures are1
onsidered satisfactory in view of
he heavy decrease in shipments of
ailroad construction material from
Seattle to Cordova due to the com
iletion of the Copper River & North
restern rail-way, which business this
ompany had enjoyed exclusively
luring the entire period of the rail
road's construction. The decrease
in gross earnings for 1911 as com
pared with the previous year on this
account alone amounted to $360,
935.80. Increases in the general bus
iness. however, reduced this loss to
$72,558.04, the gross earnings for
the year 1911 being $1,755,007.86,
as against $1,827,565.90 for the pre
vious year.
Purchase of Steamers
“The follownig important transac
tions have occurred since the last
annual meeting: Contract was closed
with the Oceanic Steamship Compa
ny on November 17, 1911, for the
purchase of teh steamship Mariposa,
sister ship to the Alameda, for $300,
000, which sale was completeu on
delivery of the vessel at San Francis
co on January 31. Alterations nec
essary to fit the vessel for the North
ern trade are now in course of com
pletion and are estimated to cost ap
proximately $28,600. The Alameda
and the Mariposa are considered to
be the two best ships operating be
tween the United States and Alaskan
ports, and will meet the require
ments of passenger and fast freight
service for a number of years to
come.
“Steamship Cordova, which was
launched at Wilmington, Del., about
January 1 and has just been com
pleted by Harlan & Hollingsworth
Corporation, has been purchased by
this company for $260,000, deliver
ed at San Francisco not later than
May 31, 1912. The vessel is of steel,
double bottom, oil burner, 251 feet
11 inches long, 41 feet beam, 20
feet depth, 3,000 tons cargo capaci
ty, with passenger accommodations
for 57 first-class and 150 steerage,
and on trial trip maintained 6peed
of 12% knots per hour light, and is
capable of making 11% knots per
hour loaded.
Improvements to Vessels
“Betterments to steamship Vic
toria, consisting of reboilering, in
stalling oil burning equipment and
rebuilding a portion of house, at an
aggregate cost of $150,000, were be
gun in December and will be com
pleted about May 1.
“Steamship Latouche, which was
built as a steam schooner with a
well deck, has been provided with a
shelter deck throughout, making her
a very much better ship for north
ern trade. Alterations and additions
to the Latouche which are similar
to those made on the oeward last
year, were completed on March 19,
1912, at a cost of approximately
$30,000.
“The Dirigo, which several years
ago was changed to a lumber carry
ing schooner, also had shelter deck
extended so as to make her availa
ble as a general carrier and cannery
tender. This work was completed at
a cost of $8,700, which also included
the retubing of her boilers.”
DEVELQPMENI WORK IS
REIKG_RKHED
E. F. Gray, manager of the Great
Northern Development Company,
came down from Copper Mountain
the other day and reached Cordova
last evening. He had expected to
start work this morning on his new
property across Kennecott glacier,
about two miles from the end of the
railroad, but the going out of the
Chitina bridge has made it impossi
ble for him to get through the neces
sary supplies. He came to see Super
intendent Geiger concerning the time
that shipment would be made. He
was assured that the bridge would bo
in repair by the end of the week so
that freight could be taken to the
camps along the Chitina branch. Mr.
Gray will likely return to Chitina on
the train in the morning, accompany
ing a large shipment of supplies that
S. Blum & Co. are sending in for
him.
WORK HAS STARTEO ON
SUMMER TRAIL
That work has been started on the
bridges between Fairbanks and Chit
ina is the word brought in by John
Zug, of the Alaska Road Commis
sion. who came in yesterday on the
Orr stage. The crew is working at
present on a bridge over the upper
glacier stream of the Delta. Later
they plan to put a bridge over Jarvis
Creek on the summer trail near Big
Delta. Then a bridge will be placed
over Gun Creek, north of Paxson’s.
The supplies for the road crews have
all been freighted in from the Val
dez end of the trail and are scattered
at different roadhouses along the
way. The appropriation has not been
passed tor the work of the coming
year, but in no event will it be over
$125,000, which is $25,000 less than
the sum allotted last year.—Fair
banks Times.
^ RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY
£ MASS MEETING IN CORDOVA
^ -
£
^ Whereas, on the 4th day of May, 1911, the people of Cordova,
^ for the purpose of exemplifying their righteous indignation be
^ cause of the unnatural and intolerable conditions resulting from
^ the unwise and unjust policy of the General Government towards
^ Alaska, by which its coal and other resources are withdrawn from
^ entry, and the development of the country almost wholly suspend
A ed, organized what has become popularly known as “The Cordova
^ Coal Party," and made a demonstration in force against the for
^ eign coal which we are compelled to purchase at a price fixed by
^ those having an absolute monopoly of that commodity; and,
^ Whereas, one year has passed and our coal and oil lands are
^ still withdrawn from entry; the development of the country is at a
standstill; our population is decreasing and our people are beeom
^ ing impoverished and discouraged, and there seems to be no imme
^ diate promise of any speedy or adequate measure of relief being
^ provided by the administration or Congress; now, therefore,
^ Be it resolved, by the inhabitants of the Town of Cordova and
^ vicinity, in mass meeting assembled, that we do hereby DEMAND
that orders withdrawing from entry the coal and oil lands of
^ Alaska be immediately and unconditionally rescinded, and that
^ all unnatural restrictions and impediments to the development of
^ the coal and other great resources of the Territory, and to the
^ prosperity and happiness of all the inhabitants thereof, be at once
^ removed; that the people of Alaska be given the same opportuni
ty and encouragement in the upbuilding of a great commonwealth
^ that has been accorded those who have pioneered in all other sec
^ tions of the United States.
^ WE DEMAND THE GOD-GIVEN RIGHT TO WORK OUT
£ OUR OWN DESTINY ALONG THE SAME LINES AND UNDER
^ THE SAME BENEFICENT LAWS THAT HAVE CONDUCED TO
^ THE FORMATION, DEVELOPMENT AND PROSPERITY OF
^ THE STATES OF THE GOLDEN WEST.
SAID MAJOR BUTT
BURNED MANY PAPERS
BINGHAMPTON, N. Y., May 3.—
Mrs. H. A. Cassabar, one of tne Ti
tanic survivors, stated that at the
rery last Major Butt burned many
papers, supposed to be of a diplo
matic nature.
TURKS MEET DEFEAT
WITH THE ITALIAN’S
PARIS, May 4.—Dispatches indi
cate that a brief but fierce battle was
waged at Lebda. The Italians de
feated the Turks and put them to
rout, after killing three hundred of
them.
CHANGE SIGNAL
In the course of two or three
months new men will be sent north
to take charge of the Cordova cable
office. The two years foreign serv
ice of Sergeants Robert L. Patton
and Arthur Gough will soon expire
and they have been directed to pro
ceed to the Presidio. San Francisco,
and there to report for duty. They
do not know where they will be sta
tioned nor just when they will be re
lieved from duty here. These two
officers and their families have many
friends in Cordova who will regret
to see them leave the town. Changes
in the signal corps in other sections
of this division will soon occur, as
follows:
Valdez—Sergts. Isaac P. Blade,
Michael Coyle, Rooert A. Tompkins,
Arthur W. Crawford, Ralph A.
Reeser and Loren F. Washburn.
Fort Liscum—Sergt. E. P. Smith.
Seward—M. H. Faust.
From the Trail—Fred A. Thayer,
Norman E. Scales, H. R. Smith, F. S.
Johnson, Bernard A. Brannon, J. L.
Dean, C. Arthur, M. Davis, Victor
Fitzke and Rex Kentling.
If the House concurs in the action
of the Senate, the double-time serv
ice which is now being given to U.
S. signal service men employed in
Alaska cable offices and at the tele
graph stations along the Alaskan
trails, will be discontinued. The ar
my appropriation bill which passed
the Senate on Friday contains a pro
vision eliminating the double-service
regulation. All signal service em
ployes in Alaska will be affected.
CONGRESS JPSS BILL
WASHINGTON, April 22.—If the old precept of “too
many cooks” does not get. in its deadly work, there is still a
hope that legislation pi ,iding for the construction of a rail
road in Alaska will be enacted before this session of Congress
adjourns. There are already five or six bills pending and in
committee, and one of them has been reported favorably by the
I nited States Senate committee. Senator Smith, of Michigan,
sprung a surprise in the chamber where sit “the greatetst de
liberative body in the world,” when he recently announced
that the territorial committee of the Senate had instructed him
to introduce a bill for the construction of a railroad in Alaska,
and the measure was placed on the calendar for passage. Sena
tor Smith’s bill—or rather the committee bill—provides for
the construction of five hundred miles of railroad from some
point on the coast to the Matanuska coal fields, and thence to
the interior waterway system.
With the advent in Washington of Senator John L. Wil
son, head of the Pacific coast chambers of commerce delega
tion, Senator Smith began to take a very marked and active
interest in everything pertaining to Alaska. The Michigan
senator became obsessed with an overwhelming desire to as
similate Alaska information, and his mail for many weeks was
composed mostly of government reports on the territory’s re
sources. A few weeks ago he decided that he would not pre
sent any Alaskan legislation for passage until after he had vis
ited the territory, but since that time it is evident that his in
cessant perusal of dry-as-dust official reports, has caused him
to take a change of heart. Senator Knute Nelson, tried and
true friend of Alaska, and many others whom he and Senator
Smith have interested, have promised to try and shove this
bill through at this session. Congressman Sulzer, who is some
what of a leader in the House of Representatives, will do his
share to push it through that section of the legislature where
the Democrats are in control.
Falcon Joslin, of Fairbanks, was largely instrumental in
the preparation of this bill, and it was he who gave it a provi
sion that the money necessary for the construction be raised by
the sale of government bonds bearing three per cent interest.
As.it is in line with the general provisions of the measure
endorsed by Secretary of the Interior Walter L. Fisher, this
bill likely will receive the backing of the administration.