The Chitina Leader
CHITINA, ALASKA.
Entered as second-class matter, November 12, 1910, at the postoffice at
Chitina, Alaska, under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879.
—----r
ONLY NEWSPAPER IN CHITINA
Published every Saturday by
WEI A. STEEL—Editors, Managers and Proprietors—SABBY G. STEEL
Office: Hotel Chitina Building. Cordova Office: Daily Alaskan
Seattle Office: 551 Colman Building.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
One Month .L'5?
Six Months . 2.00
One Year . 3-»0
ADVERTISING rates
Made known upon application. They will be found reasonable for the service
given. Official publication for legal advertisements pertaining to mineral lands
of the Copper Rive: district.
CHITINA, ALASKA, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9,1913.
THE CHISANA STAMPEDE
The present stampede to Chisana will not prove a success
for every individual. No stampede ever did, and none ever
will, says the Dawson News. But there is a certainty that
gold strikes are great incentives in opening new countries.
Placer gold seems to be the lodestone to draw men into coun
tries for more permanent development. Once a region becomes
occupied it is a matter of detail to work out the riches by slow
and determined process. And there always are those who,
after the rush and excitement are over, settle down to the
heavier task of uncovering the lasting properties.
Every gold strike in the North has resulted in an area of
100 miles or more in diameter being prospected thoroughly.
Oftentimes areas 200 miles in diameter are opened. Far out
from Dawson is a circle of activity today due to the strike
within a stone’s throw of that city. Fairbanks is the center
of widespread activity. The same may be said in respect to
Nome and Iditarod. And not all is placer opened in those
regions. Nome has found tin and other properties. Fairbanks
has opened coal and quartz. Dawson has done the same, and
nearly every region can lay claim to something of great value
being opened as a natural sequence to gold mining. The
agricultural possibilities and timbering must not be over
looked. The Northland will be populated for all time and
gradually the number of homes will increase. In the Chisana
the copper will be the great asset after the placers are gone.
Men disappointed in one thing will find another. The army
which goes to prospect this winter will find opportunities far
from the barren and exposed mountain plateaus where James
and his party made the strike. The streams, much lower
down in the timber belt, are inviting, and men who work there
in many instances may be well rewarded. The Canadian side,
says Dr. Cairnes, has the same formation as the Alaskan, and
prospectors will do well to put in time on both sides of the line.
-o—o—o
CONTEMPTIBLE ALASKAN PRACTICE
. v-F
The department of justice at Washington must consider
that the people of Alaska are a bad lot. It seems that whenever
there has been a chance of a candidate from the territory
securing an appointment, charges would immediately be filed
against him. It would be a matter of no concern whether there
was any foundation for the allegations made, the intent being
to prejudice the attorney general against a candidate and hold
up an appointment. And reliance is placed upon the practice
not to divulge the name of the man or men who may have
ruthlessly attacked the character of an innocent man.
Another instance of this kind has just come to light
thorugh a letter received from a congressman by a prominent
applicant for the marshalship for this division. The letter was j
written before an appointment was made and stated that on j
going to the attorney general’s office in behalf of the candidate
written to he had been informed that serious charges had been
preferred against his friend. The name would not be divulged
but the department did finally state the nature of the charges.
They were to the effect that the candidate had been unlawfully
living with a woman in Alaska, that he was backed for office
by a saloonkeeper, who furnished him the money to make his
fight, and that when he left for Washington he turned over
the female to the saloonkeeper.
Those who are familiarly acquainted with the young man
referred to know that there is absolutely no foundation for such
a report. He has lived in Cordova and Valdez and the first
intimation heard of any such relationship as charged comes
from Washington, sent there undoubtedly either by some
personal enemy from Alaska or by a friend of another candi
date who sought to destroy the prestige of a leading candidate.
As to any saloonkeeper favoring his candidacy the young man
states that he has no knowledge that the favor of even one has
been in the remotest way exerted in behalf of his candidacy.
It certainly is bad enough when a candidate seeks to live
down any unfortunate occurrence of the past to have his private
acts, possibly long since forgiven and forgotten, exposed to
public censure. But when a candidate, whoever he may be and
whatever his politics, is unjustly heaped with calumny, and
possibly his prospects for preferment forever blighted, it would
seem as though there should be some punishment meted out
to his detractors, when they knowingly and deliberately resort
to malicious methods to destroy his prospects.
V V V
Uncle Sam hasn’t been very slow about establishing mail
service via the all-American route into the new Chisana gold
diggings. A mail two times a month will be sent in from
Cordova. And soon we shall expect to hear that a post office
has been established at Chisana.
The announcement that Judge J. J. Finnigan had been
appointed as United States commissioner for the White river
district, came as a surprise to several applicants who had sent
letters and wires to Judge Brown on the subject. The appoint
ment was made several days ago but no publicity was given to
the fact.
It seems pretty certain that the winter route to the new
gold diggings will be via Cordova, going from the interior
either via McCarthy or Chitina over the Gulkana route.
THE CHISANA TRADE
Dawson doesn’t appear to be getting the recognition and
trade that it seems to think it is entitled to. Onr neighbors
across the line read of scores and hundreds of stampeders going
from Cordova and of hundreds of pack horses starting from
McCarthy, and they feel that they are not l>eing treated right.
They seem to forget that it requires less than a week to go from
Cordova with pack trains while two or three times seven days
are necessary to go from Dawson. The News says on the
subject, in setting forth the claims of Dawson, as follows:
“The peopple traveling the Dawson route have brought
out the gold, and the news, and are the people in control of
the best ground in the camp. All this speaks for itself. It
proves Dawson is the natural base for the new camp. Let
Dawson wake up and get the business. The only publicity
given these matters comprised a few commercial messages
sent several weeks ago, and the press reports. Dawson’s com
mercial people should rouse themselves, and work and adver
tise like Cordova and Fairbanks. Agents should be engaged
at the important points, and literature should be prepared with
all the official and authoritative names possible attached, to be
distributed on steamers, through the mails and otherwise to
points up and down the river, outside, and everywhere a
stampeder may be met, telling the fact that the Dawson route
is the only route—the only one by which the stampeder can get
in with complete outfits. The statements also should inform'
the strangers that Dawson is full of first-class and ample stocks
of goods for all prospecting and other purposes which may
arise in the new diggings.”
-o—o—o
FAVOR THE BUDGET SYSTEM
The Chamber of Commerce of the United States, by
referendum of its organization members, stands for the adap
tion of the budget system in relation to government expendi
tures. The good judgment of the Chamber in making such a
united recommendation to Congress is confirmed by the
financial operations of July, the first month in the present
fiscal year. A deficit of $9,682,682 is shown. This has not
arisen from a decline in government receipts, which, as a matter
of fact, have exceeded those of July 1912 by $659,191 (July
1912, 1,353,992; July, 1913, $60,231,524), but from the method
of making appropriations without stopping to consider the
sources of revenue. The budget plan should, and, through the
good sense of the nation, will ultimately be adopted. It will
compel the executive to report to the legislative branch the
needs of all departmental activities and the expected revenue
for the year. It will thus place upon Congress the full respon
sibility of making appropriations other than those asked for.
-o—o—o
NOW TIME TO MAKE GOOD
There are particular reasons why the federal government
should build railroads in Alaska. Chief among them is that the
interposition of the policies of New Nationalism in the affairs
of the North during the administration of President Roosevelt
stayed progress. The bottling up of Alaskan resources, by
executive orders prevented the development of the Territory.
Done in the name of conservation, it has caused men to dissi
pate the earnings of decades and to waste seven or eight years
of their lives. The waste of time, opportunity and money that
has been caused to the thousands that live in Alaska and the
many times that number that could have benefitted themselves
by coming here, if conditions had been normal, by President
Roosevelt’s criminal foolishness and President Taft’s hesi
tating policy of inaction and cowardice has been ten thousand
times greater to the country than all that has been saved by
Pinehot and all the hired men of all the bureaus of the nation.
This terrible waste and hardship has been forced upon the
people of Alaska and the West over their protest, and it is the
duty of those that created it to make good a part of the loss.
That can be done only by building railroads and affording the
facilities that will enable those that have been able to hold on
to prosecute the belated development of the Territory.
The building of railroads in Alaska by the government,
under the circumstances, would not serve as a precedent for
the exercise by the national government of functions that
should be performed by private, municipal or state enterprise.
The construction of the Panama canal, the building of locks
and dams in rivers to make them navigable, and various other
undertakings have been performed by the national government
because of peculiar conditions that made it the fitting agency
for the purposes. There are peculiar conditions that make the
nation proper agency to do this greatly needed work in Alaska.
—Juneau Empire.
-n-n_n_
Stampeders continue to come and stampeders continue to
go, but the reports from the Chisana continue to be favorable.
Some of the Democrats in this division are beginning to
feel somewhat discouraged over the cut up of the offices. Some
complain because the organization of the territory seems to
be ignored, while others declare that a man’s strongest recom
mendation for the place is the fact that he is either a new
convert or formerly held office under the Republicans.
Millions for peace-^but they don’t seem to be cutting
much ice!—Andrew Carnegie.
Probably Harry Thaw can boast of being Not Wanted by
more states than any other man now before the public.
In traveling across the Atlantic by airship, too, you will
be able to escape seasickness and icebergs.
Honestly, now, as you gaze on one of Huerta’s portraits,
does he look like a man of that kind ?
“The Beast” pursues Judge Lindsay even into the
Chautauqua circuit. And it is by no means pleasant to think
that a woman is largely responsible for the onslaught.
Eventually, the powers will stamp their collective foot and
the Turk will move on. As the hobo of Europe, he will not
mind it at all if he is deprived of an occasional handout.
Mr. Brenneman has had no official communication from
Washington stating that he has been appointed United States
marshal for this division. But from the communications that
he has already received by wireless and telephone, from
various parts of this section of Alaska, Mr. Brenneman is
beginning to feel that he is a sure enough federal official.
Practically all the stampeders
who went into the Chisana country
from Dawson, White Horse and
Fairbanks are returning, if they do
return, via McCarthy and Cordova.
On Saturday night’s train there was
; a party of 11 old sourdoughs from
| Dawson and the interior country.
I They state that they had a hard
time during three weeks to get to
the diggings with horses but that it
was easy to come out without horses,
in a few days.
Although the interior papers in
sist that the best way to get to the
diggings is from Dawson or White
Horse, the published experiences of
some of the mushers does not seem
to bear out the claims. Often how
ever, there is a knock for the Mc
Carthy route, even after the pros
pector has had a quick and unevent
ful trip over that route. The Skag
} way Alaskan illustrates the point in
I referring to the arrival at that place
; on September 1 of Edward P. Dillon.
! It says:
“Mr. Dillon states that he is glad [
| to be home once more, and that the j
; trip as he made it was one of the
roughest he has ever made. On July
28, Mr. Dillon left Dawson for the
new gold strike, going in over the
Glacier Creek government road as
far as the Sixtymile, which stream
he followed until he came to the
j International Boundary line, and
! then took a due course south, fol
j lowing the boundary, until he came
to the Snag. Following to the
divide, he crossed over to Beaver
creek, and keeping well up on the
: side of the hill, crossed over to the
: new district, arriving on the James
and Taylor claims the 17th of
August.
“He remained two days at the
diggings, looking about for a piece
of ground which was not already
located, and a possibility of securing
some grub. Knowing that he had
to get out of the country, or run the
risk of starving, he hit the trail on
the 19th day of August, and arrived
at Cordova over the Scolai pass route
on the 27th of the month.
i “In speaking of his trip out, Mr.
Dillon said that the Skolai Glacier
was a “joke” as compared to some
of the trail via the so-called Cor
dove McCarthy route. The “Pass”
he stated, was almost perpendicular
and without a load, was almost im
possible to negotiate. In his opin
ion, the Skolai Pass route is now
closed for the balance of this sea
son -and any person desiring to go
into the Chisana country, had better
take a little longer trail and go in
over one of the three routes from
the Yukon, in preference to making
i an attempt to go via Cordova and
the Skolai Pass.”
The Portage Bay & Matanuska
Railroad Company filed articles of
incorporation with Secretary of the
Territory William L. Distin, at
Juneau. The home office of the com
pany is Valdez, Alaska. The capital
stock is placed at $5,000. The first
board of directors are: T. P. Ger
aghty, of Valdez, F. H. Estabrook,
of Cordova, D. Wheeler, of Terre
Haute, Indiana, A. L. Singletary, of
Valdez, and B. F. Millard, of Valdez.
The purpose of the company as set
out in the incorporation papers is to
construct a standard guage railroad
from the head of Passage canal,
Prince William Sound, to Cook In
let; thence northeastern to Fair
banks. Branch lines are also to be
constructed where desired.
Captain Telford, senior officer of
the Royal Northwest Mounted Police
at Dawson during the absence of
Major Moodie, who is now visiting
White Horse, has received word by
wire from the major to the effect
that all stampeders attempting to
ascend the White river or enter the
upper White country en route to the
new strike or vicinity without out
fits, will be stopped by the police.
Detachments are to be opened by
the police at points along the White.
Major Moodie ia at White Horse to
receive ten new men. Old-timers ex
perienced in the force will be sent
up the White. The other routes also
will be watched. Men without suffi
cient supplies and equipment for a
reasonable time in the country will
be turned back at the last supply
stations. Money, says the captain,
will not do in the diggings without
supplies, because there is nothing
in the camp as yet to sell. All
routes will be watched by the police.
MONTREAL, Sept. 3.—The Am
erican Bar Association passed a reso
lution strongly endorsing President
Wilson’s Mexican policy.
Chitina GRILL
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