TANANA LEADER
Published Every Thursday at Tanaka, Alaska.
ftl i SAM J. CALLAHAN. EDITOR No.
Coo. M. Arbuekla. Managar
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FALSE HUMANITARIANESM AND CRIME
A reader has requested the publication of the follow/
mg. extract from an address to the students of Cornell uni
versity several years ago by Andrew D. White, ex-president
of the university, ex-ambassador to Germany, a noted
scholar, publicist and humanitarian. The basis of his
address was the fact that more murders are committed
every year in the United States than in any other country:
The number of homicides that are punished by lynching ex
ceeds the number punished by due process of law. There is noth
ing more nonsensical or ridiculous than the goody-goody talk about
lynching. Much may be said in favor of Goldwin Smith’s quota
tion “that there are communities in which lynch law is better than
any other.” . . Germs of maudlin sentimentality are widespread.
On every hand we hear slimy, mushy, gushy expressions of sym
pathy; the criminal called “plucky,” “nervy,” “fighting against
fearful odds for his life.” It is said that society has no right to
put murderers to death. In my opinion society must fall back on
the law7 of self preservation. It should cut through and make
war, in my opinion, for its life. Life imprisonment is not possible,
because there is no life imprisonment. In the next year 9000
people will be murdered. As I stand here today I tell you that
9000 are doomed to death with all the cruelty of the criminal heart,
and with no regard for home and families, and two-thirds will be
due to the maudlin sentiment sometimes called mercy. I have no
sympathy for the criminal. My sympathy is for those who will be
murdered, for their families and for their children. This sham
humanitarianism has become a stench. The cry now is for right
eousness. The past generation has abolished human slavery. I',
is for the present to deal with the problems of the future, and
among them this problem of crime.
At Tanana within the past few weeks there has un
doubtedly been much thinking along the lines set ou1
above. During the same period it would be hard to con
ceive a general state of mind at the city of Fairbanks s<>
conformable to accepted rules that quick and informal jus
tice would not appear preferable, on occasion, to the cold
-and sometimes perfunctory processes of the courts. Then
are times, we are prone to argue, when the quickened in
stincts of ordinary manhood may be a truer guide to right
eousness than the rules laid down in books. The feeling
is irrepressible that normal human beings ought not to be
asked to be considerate in their disposition toward individ
uals whose behavior is more abhorrent than that of any of
the orders of brute creation. Our inner consciousness tells
us that society’s right and duty and abiding strength is in
self protection, not in claiming protection as a due.
Such ideas are more than half true. Further, it is by
no means certain that lynch law is more liable to err in its
conclusions than is the-law of the courts. As a purely
local consideration, however, the'application of lynch law
here would fail of its object, the bettering of the condition
of the ordinarily decent people, by bringing them in con
flict with the recognized forces of government and lessen
ing their already too slight influence in the conduct of the
courts. At present the courts have a fair measure of the
best people’s confidence. There is at least a hope that
the dallying that caused a mircarriage of justice in th •
Perovich case will not be repeated and that society will be
enabled to cure its ills without resorting to remedies out.
side the regular course of practice.
DEFINING THE DUTY OF SALOON MEN
To an average resident of the town there was no visi
ble indication, previous to the shooting on the morning of
Dec. 16, that a grave crime was in danger :of being, com
mitted. Since that time.there :has come out a great deal
of evidence tending to show that the saloon men and. tlie
NOTICE
We wish to thank the public
for the generous patronage
during the past year, and trust
: it will continue to give us its
confidence in the future.
Wishing one and all a Kappy
and Prosperous New Year.
NORTHERN
COMPANY
. * sj * * -• y- -
habitues of their places were aware that for several hours
before doing the bloody deeds Barney had been in a dan
gerous frame of mind, that..he had made dire threats and
had laid himself liable for arrest on a charge of disturbing
the peace. After he had done his worst it was not pnnat
ural for people to ask why the. saloonkeepers had not called
for his arrest before it was too late. Few people will now
take into consideration the probability that had they done
so the saloonkeepers would have been criticised for takiu.<
into court the frivolous vaporing* of a drunken man.
In sending to each saloonkeeper in town, to be posted
conspicuously, the following notice Deputy Marshal Dono
van has made their duty clear in such cases in future:
NOTICE
TO....
You are respectfully requested that in case of any disorder i
your place of business, you at once report same to the marshal
office.
Yon are also requested not to harbor or encourage the pres
ence of any dissolute characters or vagrants.
These requests are intended for your own protection, as v e
as for the interests of good order and the welfare of the corn mu
nity. John J. Donovan,
Phone—3 rings on 12. Deputy U. S. Marshal.
EVENING
^ 9 IFE'S litile day is fading! f«kst; upon the mountain's brow the '
» sinking sun is gleaming,- red; the shadows lengthen now ;
■■ the twilight hush comes on apace, and soon the evening j
! star will light ns to those chambers dim where dreamless i
j sleepers are. And' when the curfew bell is rung, that j
- 1 calls ns all to rest, and we have left all worldly things at !
J • j
Azrael’s behest. Oh, may some truthful mounter rise, and say of j
you or me: "Cle vv.hiz/.l I’m sortvuhat he's dyad!. lie was a honey \
bee! Whate’er his job he did his best; he put on all his steam, in '
every stunt he had to do lie was a'four horse team. He thought j
.tint man was put .on earth to help bis fellowgu .s; be. never wore a
frost,- face, and balked at weeping eyes; the hard luck pilgrim al
ways got a handout a' his door, and any friend could help himself .
to all be had in stoie; he tried to make his humble home the gayest
sort of camp, till Death, the king of bogies came and slugged him
in tlie lamp I don’t believe a squarer gny existed in the land,
and Death, was surely off his base when this galoot was canned!”—
Walt Mason.
Ex-PoliceMii
Killed at Knik
Seward, Djc. 4.—John J. Ka-h
evnikov shot, and killed George
finches at Knik in a row over a
woman November 17 ,The tesi
dents held a meeting and decided
to hold Kashevnikov in custody
until iheariiv.il of ait officer Irotn
deward.
Ttie shooting took place in the
Kr.il; hotel at 1 oVluck a tu. From,
he report leceived-« -uoc-s not ap
pi'ar tint any third .person w:1s
present. Three hills from an anto
matic 35 entered the victim's body,
two in the stomach and'ofie in the
breast. The woman .in the -case is
known as Mrs. Pinches, Site mar
lied Parches several y.*ars ago
Later the discovery was mule that
Purches,had a wife in tlie stales,
ud the t'.io quit living together.*
During the past few months
| .Ka'dievnikov an 1 Mrs. Pinches
have been very friendly, and Pin
ches bt cun; jealous.
As Knik has neither a connnis
sioner nor a deputy marshal, the
residents organized a urine'r’s tjieet
iugt, with- Oe (^..Milier a$ chairman
ami.W H. Heath as secretary. It
; was decided to hold Kashevnikov
’to the courts, but he was allowed
his liberty . wliile-. Heath carpe t»
Seward Jto report tlje case .
Kashevnikov i.s a well known
young man who has lived around
Cook inlet for a long time. He
was formerly in the store of the
Alaska Commercial Company at
Sunrise,-and two years ago went
to Knik to take a place in G.. W.
Palmer’s' store;' He has had
charge of the Knik postoffice.
He and Purches had been friendly
and when Purches wa . in Valdez
at court last fall he was working
to have Kashevnikov appointed
United States commission^? at
Knik. He stated then that, he
would, send . down a . petition
for . Kashevpikov’s appointment
signed by everybody at Knik.
Purches was formerly a mem
ber of theJ*,W.M>p.. .-W th^..Brit
ish . Yukon. Later, he came to
Seward and was a clerk in -the
Alaska Central’s-commissary de
partment. Then he went to Knik
where he has been a miner and
roadhouse keeper.
Mrs. Purches is also from the
Yukon, where she was known as
“Rampart Nell.”—Valdez Pros
pefctor, Dec. 0.
MINING MEU COME
TO LOOK AT COPPER
Valdez Prospector, D-c. G: J
H. O'Connor and John T. Boyle
mining men who arrived on tlr
Yucatan; will leave Saturday tc
inspect a group of II eoppe
claims situated about 120 mile
northwest of Valdez. The claim,
were, located this year by Angu
McDougal!,': who '>will pilot th
otiiers t(^ |he. scene, where-th
locator st*ites%hat ho has'ledge”
which are 2o feet wide, fron
which assays have been tal.en
sliowing'values as high as 25 pe;
cent, copper, With from to $1
gold. _'
The French government is seri
roitsly considering the establish me i.
of, a mad service !>v neroplai,
(Cross the Sahara„desert.: With ai
up to date a»ro;.!aue, it would re
quire hut 24*hours to cros* abov
the burning- sands, where the cant
van now crawls for th.ee months t
connect Timhuctoo with Algiers.
The trip will lie made with three
■flops. Oases’will be! made depo:^’
for .gasoline, and the journey wd
require flights of eight hours each
with- V change of -aviator at eacl
place. . Furthermore, the strategir .
significance of an aerial route foi
the carrying of dispatches for the
gavernnignt is extremely important.
It is indeed with some pride that
the French government will labe
its mail -service:.. “Was ■ three
months; now pa hours. '’
j-;-i..- '—r ,4
Taking a Week’s Rest
Mike Galvin, the regular driver
of the mail stage between Tanana
and Hot Springs, was unable to
start on the trip^ last Saturday
morning, and John Racine was
substituted, in his stead..
Op tits last trip Galvin was out
in the heavy storrp. which, was1
prevailing during those days,
and contracted a severe cold. He
will be able, it is thought, to go
out on the next trip of the stage.
The Leader is on sale at the
postoffice lobby.
GOLDEN NORTH CAFE
Carrying the Best Supplies on the Market
OYSTERS, FISH AND GAME
ISM SEASON
Centrally Located. In Connection with Grand Hotel.
.ED Y. LEE, PROP.
Norihjrn Commercial Co.
Carrying U. S. Mail. Passengers and Express
"connections THROUGH TO VALDEZ
FOR RATES APPLY TO • •
GEG. J. MILLER, First Door Below N. C. Store
Doing Outside This Winter? Subscribe for Leader
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KOI SFiliKGS’ KEWEST HOTEL
;;rs‘>C:?ss Ecstarsct Frask . S zn! j, Frj?
-Txa
CAfc'P GiEBCH SO. 25, Arctfc Brother
hood. meets every Monday night
it) A. 13. Hall, corner Second .st.
and Campbell ave. at 8:,'i0 o’clock.
Visiting Arctics cordially invited to at
tend the meetings of the Camp.
Phil Gallaher, Arctic Chief.
J. Russell Walle, Arctic Rec.
When You Co to California Where Every Month
is Jane, Travel on the
CALIFORNIA
LIMITED
; Oh)) Train in Southern California, via.
Exclusively First-Class Travel
Any Line,
BAST OR WEST
':j’ Tan COMFORTABLE WAY IS VIA. THE
©rtlsern
CLOSE CONNECTIONS
To All Points East or W<*t. With Two Modern Over
land Trains in Either Direction Daily.
X — FOR FELL INFORMATION AUDRKSS • . - *
F. I. Whitney, Passenger Traffic Manager, St. Paul,linn.
—O R
S. B.Jerkes, Assistant Gel Pass. Agent, Seattle, Wash. •,
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