THE CHITINA LEADER
CHITINA, ALA3KA
Entered as second-class matter, November 12, 1910, at the postofflce at
Chitlna, Alaska, under the Act or Conbress of March I, 1979.
ONLY NEWSPAPER IN CHITINA
Published every Tuesday by
HARRY Q. STEEL, Editor and Proprietor.
Office: Hotel Chitlna Building: Cordova Office: Dally Times.
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the Copper River District.
CHITINA, ALASKA, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1915.
EASY TO FIND A “HARBOR,” IF NECESSARY.
It is said that R. M. Brown, who was in charge of the gov
ernment party, together with Capt. G- W. Porter, have com
pleted their mission at Katalla and returned to Seward, to re
port to Chairman Edes that they had performed their work well
according to instructions. They were sent to locate a harbor
and they “located” it. Which reminds us of an opinion ren
dered some years ago by the then city of attorney of Nome.
One of the members of the council intended resigning, shortly
after his election, but as that would have left a tie vote in that
body the legal adviser was prevailed upon to render an opinion
that a member of a municipal body cannot resign. This was
done and after the factional fight in the council had been patch
ed up the attorney admitted that in rendering his famous
opinion, that he could only find one antiquated case from Texas
to substain his position- On the other hand he said he could
have cited a hundred reasons why the member could resign.
But then it’s a long distance from Nome to Katalla, although
the tactics adopted in one community may not differ materially
from those used in another, to accomplish a necessary end.
-:o:
PRINCIPAL DISTURBER COMES FROM SEWARD.
Under the caption of “Conspiracy to Stop Government
Railway Project” the Seward Post publishes a three column
article which emanated from John E. Ballaine and is the veriest
kind of rot. It purposes to expose a deeply laid plot to attempt
to defeat the passing, by Congress, of additional appropria
tions for continuing the contruction of the governemnt rail
road and unfortunately a number of sweeping and untrue
charges are directed against everybody and' everything that
tended to serve the diobolical purpose of a lot of cheap adver
tising.
It is falsely charged that Stephen Birch and Falcon Joslin
“are manipulating attempts to discredit the work of the En
gineering Commission,” that Major Richardson is also in col
lusion with the arch-conspirators, and that these men in con
junction with “the New York and Seattle organs of the Alaska
Syndicate are planning to strangle the government railroad
project from Fairbanks to Seward;” also “a part of the cam
paign of the Alaska Bureau of the Seattle Chamber of Com
merce and o fthe Alaska Syndicate is to silence some of the
Alaska newspapers by giving them paid advertising—paid by
the Alaska Bureau. The newspapers accepting such adver
tisements may be innocent of the purpose, but the lobby for the
Alaska Syndicate knows the purpose.”
Unfortunately some people, who may not be acquainted
with Ballaine and his tactics, might give some credence to these
sensational charges, and therein lies the resultant harm from
the publication of such trumped up nonsense. That the Gate
way, of his home town, had Ballaine in mind when it published
the following editorial there can be no doubt, as he has always
been a disturbing element:
“A certain Seward man is going out on the Evans may
take it upon himself to go back to Washington and’ say he
represents the people here or any portion of them. He is a
gentleman who has the most extraordinary ideas on most
matters and very often is annoying. He has been to this paper,
anyhow, and the Gateway was compelled to make an enemy of
hi mbecause to be a friend meant publishing absurdities which
he seemed never to b etired hatching. It is quite possible that
his activities at Washington might be hurtful to Seward and
Seward’s paper, therefore, formally states that there is no one
going out to represent this city or people. ’ ’
So far as we have been able to learn this “gigantic con
spiracy” had its orgin in Ballaine’s imaginary mind, and is
is being forstered by him solely for cheap notoriety purposes.
Regardless of what may be the personal feelings of interested
parties as the proper route for the govmment railroad we have
yet to learn of a single person who is making or intends to make
a fight against Secretary Lane receiving whatever appropri
ation he thinks is needed to carry on the railroad work. On the
other hand all seem willing and ready to assist in any way to
bring about the desired result.
The frequent insinuation that Cordova is jealous of our
westward towns, in not being selected as the terminal of the
railroad, falls flat when it is known that ninety per cent of the
people do not want Uncle Sam to take over the Copper River
& Northwestern railway, preferring that it continue to be con
ducted under its present mamagement. What we do want,
however, and practically all that we want is for the govern
ment to allow the coal fields of Alaska to be opened and de
veloped on a workable lease, feeling secure in the fact that
as soon as cheaper fuel is provided the development of this
section of Alaska will go forward in leaps and bounds.
■:o:
THE SURE AND QUICK WAT.
And, by the the way, there are, besides game laws and
regulations, other legislative and departmental jokes inflicted
upon Alaska. Like unto the game laws, these, too, are tolerated,
where‘liot ignored by the people, rather than to make an organ
ized effort to bring about amendment.—Petersburg Report.
Why not ask Congress to strike the limitations from our
ganic act, and then we could arrange the game laws, the school
laws, the tax laws and* the other things complained of ourselves
through our own Legislature? That would be the quick and
sure way to remedy most of our ills.—Ex.
-:o:
London contiues to send out stories to the effect that the
Germans are about to submit tentative terms for peace. The
Germans continue to insist that these stories are born in Lon
don and that they indicate a British, not a German, desire to
end the war. No doubt both sides would be tickled to death if
somebody could get them together. It is folly to imagine that
either is enjoying this thing.
While the auto-trucks used on Chitina trail, for trans
porting passengers and mail, are all powerful the stage com
pany is not taking any chances of a tie-up this winter of its ser.
vice and horses are bing placed at all relay stations, to be used
in case of an emergency*
Delegate Wickersham is quoted as saying that at the com
ing session of Congress he will introduce a bill to prant state
hood to Alaska, and while this act is pending he will try to
secure broader powers for the legislature.
Cordova was one of the first towns in Alaska to endorse
Secretary Lane’s plans of the establishment of a Development
Board, to govern the affairs of this territory, and it is gratify
ing to note that other communities have followed our lead.
Among the receptive candidates for the Democratic nom
ination for Delegate to Congress from Alaska is George B
Grigsby, of Nome, who was formerly District Attorney of the
Second division under a Republican administration, but since
has been an active supporter of Jeffersonian principles.
A certain gentleman asked' the Gateway this morning by
letter if it could throw any light on what Delegate Wicker
sham’s attitude towards the government railroad would be,
and with the wisdom of a Solomon this paper answered that it
could not tell, but that it COULD tell what his attitude would
be towards the Cordova railroad, if anyone wanted to know.—
Seward Gateway.
The Herbert coal mine at Seldovia is being operated suc
cessfully and coal of a good quality is mined and put in the
bunkers for fifty cents per ton and delivered to customers there
for $2-50 per ton. In Cordova we pay from $11 to $12.50 a ton
for a poor grade of foreign fuel, and still we are not allowed
to work our large and rich coal fields. How long, Oh Lord, how
long are we to be compelled to suffer this hardship.
All is not serene in the Democratic household in Alaska.
The govenor’s former stenographer no sooner asked for a
house-cleaning of Republican federal office holders in the camp
of the “unterrified” than the Democrats themselves enter
upon a tremendous fight to have one of their own people, Dis
trict Attorney Spence, removed from office. He is charged
with refusing to affiliate with his party, using his office to pro
vide soft berths for all of his carpet-bag relatives, with being
incompetent and what not. The first gun was fired at Valdez,
and the Democratic organizations in Seward and Cordova are
going “down the line” in the effort to have an Alaskan suc
ceed this Georgian as prosecutor for the Third division of this
territory.
*---:o:
CORDOVA’S POSTMASTER RESIGNS.
Announcement is made by Postmaster H. G. Steel that he
tendered his resignation the same day he received word from
the Postoffice Department that the clerical force in the Cordova
office had’ been reduced and the salary of the one remaining
regular clerk was cut from $125 to $88.33 per month. This
action was taken by the Washington officials upon the recom
mendation of Inspector Neil, who visited Southwestern Alaska
towns last summer, which is the dull season in the postal busi
ness, and without any regard to the effect it would have on
the service during the winter months, when the mail for prac
tically all of interior Alaska is handled through the local office.
Under the new order the present efficient service cannot be
maintained, even of men could be employed to work for the
“scab” wages allowed by the Department, which they are not
likely to do. Experienced help is essential to the quick and'
accurate dispatch of mail throughout the territory It is also
necessary to have a force on duty that is willing to work un
usually long hours, without extra pay, and it must be said to the
credit of the Cordova office that there has never been a time
during the past four years at least, when the entire staff was
not on duty at any hour of the day or night to receive, disti*i
bute or dispatch a mail, if the occasion required it, and it fre
quently did'. As to the service rendered let the public pass judg
ment.
Whoever is appointed as Postmaster Steel’s successor he will
be greatly handicapped and the patrons of the office should not
be hasty in their criticisms if they fail to receive the service
they have been accustomed to, as no official can be expected to
discharge his duties in the most satisfactory manner if he is
provided with insufficient and poorly paid help. Efficiency
was never attained in any business along those lines, and the
sooner the Postoffice Department realizes that it has been im
posed' upon by a bull-headed and incompetent inspector the
better it will be for all parties concerned.
The Cordova office is a distributing station for eight months
of the year and handles a large volume of business. Instead of
endeavoring to practically demoralize a service that it has taken
years to build up the department should be willing and anxious
to add to its efficiency, which can never be done by endorsing
the recommendations of a man of Neil’s stamp. He is neither
an Alaskan, nor absorbs the spirit of our people, and his acts
show his ignorance of conditions in this northknd. He may do
for Puyallup or some country section, but not Alaska. Had
men of his calibre migrated north in the early days there never
would have been the Alaska of today, an empire in the making.
CALLS KNOCKING BUSH LEAGUE ETUFF.
Just at present quite a lot of “knocking” of the govern
ment railroad and its builders is made evident. This knocking
comes from a class of people that knock everything. Remember
this is not saying that Uncle Sam ought not pay better wages
and ought not to be more generous in every way. Without ques
tion the government of the United States should set a good ex
ample to employers, but the talk and “threats” which one
hears here just now are not of the kind to carry weight. There
is one litttle circumstance which we should all keep in mind',
and that is that some people might find political reasons for
creating all the trouble possible in connection with the con
struction of the railroad. It should also be remembered that
other “interests” might consider it worth while creating a
sentiment which might result in condemning the present site
of the railroad, and those interests would surely not stop at a
mere matter like hiring agitators. They have done it before
and they can do it again. Of course, the knocking is not much,
but it seems to have been growing in the past day or two. One
can hear about it even if he doesn’t want to talk about it at all.
It is a sort of a little campaign against officials, etc., around'
Anchorage principally. It is so negligible that the very men
tion of it in a newspaper leaves the paper open to the accusa
tion of having been bribed to speak of it at all, and so give it
advertising. Just on the spur of the moment the thought oc
curs that some of this stuff being whispered about is not only
small, but damned small—it is bush league stuff. Forget it.—
Seward Gateway.
C*PT. UNE TELLS
Capt. Louis L. Lane, who found
Vilhjalmar Stefansson in the Arctic,
will leave on the steamer City of
Puebla for the states, where he will
purchase another boat and outfit
and start north again in the spring.
Captain Lane found the great Arctic
explorer on a sandspit off Cape Kellet
on the 11 th day of August, three days
after Stefansson had returned from
his winter’s sled trip to the north.
The Polar Bear was weathering a
storm at the time. A northeaster had
sprung up, the ice was running dan
gerously fast, and Captain Lane had
been forced to put into the shelter
offered by the cape. A long sandspit,
8 or 10 miles in length, extends out
Into the ocean here. The skipper had
just dropped his anchor. Away off
in the distance he saw a tiny speck
coming toward the vessel. He put
out in a small boat to meet it. That
speck was the greatest Arctic ex
lorer that ever drew the breath of life,
Vilhja lmar Stefansson. He had just
returned from a long winter's sled
trip into unknown north. Of tea and
flour he had plenty, hut that was all
he did have except the meat his gun
could get for him. Words cannot
describe the feeling of the two men as
they clasped hands in that ice bound
country. Stefansson had been lost,
of that the world was satisfied. The
vetern whaler and trader, Captain L.
L. Lane, was determined to search
for him, for he believed that Stefans
son was alive. And it is Captain
Lane who found him; it is Captain L,
L. Lane who sold him the Polar Bear
and the best outfit that the veteran
explorer ever had to continue his
search for land in the unknown Arctic.
Sells the Boat.
Captain Lane sold the Polar Bear
to Stefansson. In exchange for it
he was given the North Star and
a cash consideration. But the North
Star was not where it was supposed
to be, and Captain Lane feared that if
he went to where the boat was Stfans
son would miss him. Therefore lie
waited for the explorer, figuring that
it was better to be stuck in the Arctic
than to inconvenience and possibly
spoil Stefansson’s plans. He later
got the Gladiator, a smaller craft, but
a strong northwesterly gale sprung
up and he was forced to put back to
Herschel Island. The gale lasted
days and the veteran whaler missed
making the trip to Nome, where his
wife awaited him by just 48 hours.
Mrs. Lane left for the states on
the third of the month and will be
joined by her husband in Seattle.
Stefansson’s Equipment.
“Stefansson had the best outfit he
ever had; and I think he has the best
men he ever had.” Asked whether
or not he took the crew of the Polar
Bear with him when he bought the
boat, Captain said;
“All but two white men and six
Indians went with Stefansson. One
engineer and one sailor did not sign
with the explorer, and are wintering
around Herschel Island.”
Left for North.
“When did Stefansson leave on his
trip to the north?”
“On September 3rd he sailed for
the north end of Banks Land. He
expects to do a lot of exploring to
the northeast and northwest this win
ter. He was going to the north end
Banks Land when he sailed with the
Polar Bear. Stefansson has request
ed the Canadian government to allow
him one more year after this winter
in which to continue his explorations.
He has found a new land which he
thinks is quite a large continent, and
which has some big mountain ranges
on it. And he believes that there are
other lands to be discovered.”
Refute Stories.
The only time that Captain Lane
showed any signs of feeling except
when he was stating how glad he
was to see his friend, the veteran ex
plorer, was when he mentioned the
story that was first to come out in
the Seward Gateway discrediting
Stefannson’s story. In the first place,
he branded most of the statements as
unworthy of consideration and down
right untruths.
“The statement that anyone who
knows anything about the coasts up
around Herschel Island could have
known that Stefansson could not have
let it be known long ago that he was
alive is foolish. Vilhjalraar Stefans
son was not near Herschel Island.
No man has ever gotten to a poirt of
communication with the outer world
from the spot where Stefanssor was.
It would necessitate a long, hard, ex
pensive sled trip, and would mean the
sacrifice of too much grub to make
the trip.
“I have been in the Arctic for
many years, and I have never heard a
single man deny that there are blonde
Eskimos there. They all claim, every
man who has been there, that there
are a small percentage of the Eski
mos, some with very blonde hair and
light blue eyes, in that part of the
country.
“The article says that men, whal
ers who have been where Stefansson
was. say there were no fair-haired
Eskimos there. Where the blonde
Eskimos live there are no whales,
and there are no whaling grounds
within 200 miles of the place. In all
my experience I have only seen one
whaler who has been in that part of
the Arctic.
The Commissioner’s Son.
“The story that the son of the
United States commissioner at Teller
had made the statement that he had
promised that he would not knock
the outfit is foolish. I don’t believe
that because a man is the son of a
United States commissioner he is any!
better or any worse than anybody I
else, but this man made the trip in
the trip in the Kurluk from Nome to
Point Barrow, and then quit the ship
because he was afraid to take chances
on the ice with it. He did not have
the sand to go through even in the
steam heated boat.
The Karluk.
“The statement to the effect that
Stefansson should have known that
the Karluk could not be frozen in
solid at the point where she was
stuck on the 20th of September is
foolish. I was stuck at the same
time, and was stuck for the winter.
Stefansson was in shallow water and
he did not think that the ice would
move again where the Kurluk was.
The ice run changes every year, you
cannot follow any set course or make
any definite plans in the Arctic
ocean."
Captain Bartlett.
Captain Lane tnen spoke of the
way that Captain Rartlett handled the
Karluk. ‘iCpptain Bartlett may be
an experienced navigator in the east
ern ice floes; there the water is deep
and the ice heavy, but things are dif
ferent here. The water is shallow
and the ice heavy. Captain Bartlett
was warned to stay toward the shore
but he started to drift with the floe.
It is a wonder he did what he did.
The Karluk is one of the three boats
I know of that ever drifted around
Point Barrow in an ice floe without
being crusehed.
Best Proof.
“Every prospector, whaler, trader,
trapper, Royal Northwest Mounted
policeman and native in that north
ern country have nothing but words
of praise for Stefansson. He made
the longest sled trip ever made in the
world on ocean ice. and got his food
by his own gun and neither his men
nor his dogs missed a meal. He is
the greatest hunter I ever heard of
and will live where the natives will
starve. Why two trappers who have
been in the Arctic for years made the
last trip with him, and one of them
had to quit. He is now on the Arctic
coast trading and trapping. ‘It was
too strenous for me,' was what he told
me. That is the best kind of proof
that Steffansoon is on the square. He
is the greatest man in that country
that the world has ever known.’’
Made Fast Trip.
Captain Lane made a very fast and
a very early trip. He left Herschel
fsland on the 30th of September. The
25 miles to the mainland he made in
an open boat. He was accompanied
on the trip by two prospectors who 1
had been in the Arctic for years and 1
who are bound for the outside. They '
came down the Old Crow and the
Porcupine rivers, hiring dogs until
they reached Circle. From there he
got horses to bring them over to
Chatanika, and from there he came to
Chitina in an auto. Captain Lane will
leave for the outside tomorrow morn
ing. He is going direct to Seattle (
where he will get another boat and a
new outfit.
The trip he made from Herschel |
Island is a record one both for time
and for the earliness of the season.
His wife was waiting for him in Nome
and went to Seattle on the last boats
from there.
A Great Man. ’
“I have met a lot of men in the t
Arctic, but Stefannsson is without •
doubt the greatest that I have ever i
met. He can live here where most i
men would die, and is a wonder for
traveling. He has some important 1
discoveries and believes that he will
make others this winter. And his be
lief is shared by every man who
knows the country and knows Stef- 1
ansson.” I
What He Left.
Captain Lane sdid that the Polar
Bear had on board about 165 tons
if supplies and fuel when he turned
ler over to Stefansson. That is an
nit fit big enough to last the party for
wo years with comfort and for three
fears if necessary. “Of course, they
would run short of some knicknacks,
mch as butter, but they have a dandy
jutflt,” said the captain.
Referring to the boat, Captain
Lane said that the Polar Bear had
probably bucked more tough ice than
any boat of her size, or, in fact, any
ather size, that had been in the
Arctic. He has had her for five years.
When he turned her over to Stefans
son she did not leak a drop. The boat
had been pumped out but twice this
Reason in her forward hold, and each
time only about two barrels of water
was pumped out. and this got through
a broken hawser plate, which could
not be mended by cement.
Captain states that the boat is so
constructed that, she can stand freez
ing, in without damage. Stefenasson
was well pleased with the boat and
tickled very much over the outfit.
Back Again.
Captain Lane knows where he can
get just the boat he wants to make hi3
annual trip to the Arctic and says
even if he cannot get it he will have
time to build before he has to start
again for the north. Captain Lane
leaves Seattle about the first of April
and trades along the Siberian coast
first. He cannot get past Point Bar
row until between the 25th of July
and the 5th of August. Asked how
the war had effected his Siberian
trade, the captain stated that it had
been benefited by it.
The Russian traders do not operate
along the coast now, and the goods
from Russia are not shipped to the
Siberian coast. Therefore the de
mand for American goods is greater
then ever, although the demand has
always been good.
-:o:
>•
IU11 PEARS
The Redoubt of Iltamna is smoking
ind also four tall peaks in that vicini
ty never known to smoke before, even
n the memory of natives.
The northeast redoubt of the moun
tain is also smoking, making the most
•emarkable volcano smoking exhibit
witnessed on Cook Inlet.
So far as known none of the volcano
vents is erupting, although there are
said to be occasional flashes of fire
which can he decerned amid the black
volumes of smoke they are pouring
’ourth.
Reports from the westward indicate
that all of the many volcanoes along
the Alaska Peninsula are unusally
ictive and it is said that Mt. Katami
s again busy.
Ten or twelve years ago the main »
•edoubt of Iliamna was blown off and
was preceded with the most violent
earthquakes shocks yet experienced
n this part of Alaska, and felt far to
wards the interior.
The eruptions of Katima, which de
eosited volcanic dust over the entire
toast of Alaska, a few years ago, Is
still fresh in the minds of the people
tere.
-:o.
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
■n Commissioner’s Court for Chitina
Precinct, Territory of Alaska, In
Probate.
In the Matter of the Estate of Nels
Jscar Sail, Deceased.
Notice is hereby given that E. E.
titchie has been duly appointed and
las duly qualified as administrator of
»f the estate of Nels Oscar Sail, de
teased, in a proceeding in the above
tamed court. All persons having
lairns against said estate are require®
o present them, with proper vouchers
vithin six months from the date of
his notice, to said administrator at
he office of the commssioner of Chiti
ia precnct, in the town of Chitina,
ilaska.
Dated, Chitina, Alaska, October 15,
915.
E. E. RITCHIE,
Administrator of the Estate of
Nels Oscar Sail, Deceased.
’irst Publication, Oct. 19, 1915.
.ast publication Nov. 16 1915.
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