SECOND YEAR
CHITIXA, ALASKA, «-TVRDAY, MAY 25, 1912.
NO. 33
ILLEGAL VOTER MEALY NOW A CITIZEN
(By WILL A. STEEL.)
M. R. Healy, United States Commissioner for the Chitina,
Alaska, precinct, was this morning admitted as a citizen of the
United States by Judge Edward E. Cushman, presiding over
the Third judicial division of Alaska. In his testimony before
the court “Judge” Healy swore that he cast a vote at the dele
gate election held in August, 1910, also that he was challenged
and that he signed a declaration. As all know, this declaration
contained the statement that he was a citizen of the United
States. Notwithstanding “Judge” Healy’s illegal act of vot
ing at a general election, and also the fact that he committed
perjury when he declared that he was a citizen of the United
States, Judge Cushman made no reference to this fact, passed
over other irregularities, and promptly admitted him to citi
zenship.
And thus another chapter has been read into what has been
a notorious, and will likely become a famous, case before its
ending. This itinerant Healy, who made his first declaration
for citizenship in 1891, has for years past continued to practice
a fraud upon various American localities where he has resided,
by representing himself as a citizen of the United States. About
a year ago this alien who imposed upon the court by disguising
the fact that he was not a citizen, was appointed to the judicial
office of United States commissioner. His administration was
so flagrantly objectionable to the people of the precinct that
over one hundred residents of Chitina petitioned to the court
asking for his removal. At the same time the grand jury that
was in session at Cordova asked permission of the court to go
to Chitina to further investigate the commissioner and the dep
uty marshal. This request was refused. “Judge” Healy was
summoned before the grand jury at Cordova, and for the first
time admitted that he was not a citizen. The grand Jury so re
ported to Judge Cushman, with the recommendation that it is
the intent of the Alaskan code and the national constitution
that no person hold a judicial office who is not a fully quali
fied citizen.
The general opinion was that “Judge” Healy would be
summarily removed. But no action was taken and the matter
drifted along for three months, during which time Healy con
tinued his acts of intimidation, abuse and persecution. Then
the editor of the Daily Alaskan and the Chitina Leader began
to expoes the methods of Healyism. He also filed a formal re
quest with the court, praying for Healy’s removal, and sub
mitting various statements as to his acts made by residents of
the precinct. Also a petition signed by seventy residents of
Kenneeott. who recently held a mass meeting and denounced
Healy and Brown. But the alien has been allowed to continue
in office, and today Judge Cushman removed a universal ob
jection to Healy remaining in a judicial position by making him
a citizen. An in the meantime the court called a grand jury to
investigate acts of Healy that are alleged to be criminal. These
acts involve the fraud that he perpetrated when he voted at the
delegate election two years ago and his connection with the
glaringly illegal and irregular eolleetion of the road taxes dur
ing the year 19H.
At the hearing this morning “Judge” Healy showed that
he was shrewd and crafty, and made the best of what would or
dinarily be a pitiable presentation of a petition for citizenship.
After filing his declaration twenty-one years ago, he in the
meantime lived two or three times in his mother country, lived
a fraud in the United States and its possessions by representing
himself a citizen, voted illegally at a general election, and
“proved” his five years’ continuous residence previous to the
filing of his petition by two witnesses who testified that half
of that five years they didn’t know where he resided. One wit
ness knew him in 1900, saw him again in 1908, and has known
where he has been since 1909. The other saw him in 1900, again
in 1904, and the next time was in June, 1909, and he stated
that he didn’t know where Healy resided between those pe
riods. Healy testified that he took a trip to Europe within thj
past five years, but of course he didn’t go to his mother land
to locate, only to show the recommendations that he had re
ceived while filling some clerical position in the Philippines.
The next episode in the Healy matter will be the investiga
tion of the grand jury at Chitiua, commencing June 3. By that
time possibly evidence will be accumulated to secure his crimi
nal indictment. That body may take certain matters more se
riously than has a friendly court, who had previously been in
formed of the various charges preferred against Healy, affect
ing his honesty, his moral character and his illegal voting at
Cliitina, when he was a subject of Great Britain.
ONE RESCUED, SEVEN DROWN
August Palmer, a seaman on the barge Hayden Brown, is
the only survivor of the eight men who were on the barge when
she went to pieces on a rock off Montague island Sunday even
ing, May 22. He was washed ashore to the island, where he
was picked up on Thursday morning last by the United States
lighthouse tender Armeria. He again had a narrow escape this
morning, with all others on board, when the tender had to be
abandoned and the 37 men were picked up from small boats by
the Admiral Sampson and brought to Cordova.
Shortly after 5 o'clock on Friday afternoon, May 10, after
battling for hours in a heavy sea and having had several nar
row escapes from foundering, the tug Pioneer cut adrift the
barge Hayden Brown, that was being towed from Akutan bay
to Seattle. It was feared that the barge would swamp the tug.
so the action was considered absolutely necessary. That was
eighteen miles southwest of Cape St. Elias. The Pioneer then
cruised around for thirty-six hours and not seeing anything
further of the barge, the captain believed that she had sunk
and all on board drowned. So the Pioneer came on to Cordova,
reaching here on Shnday morning. Deputy Collector of Cus
toms Whittier then got in touch by wireless with the revenue
cutter Manning, bound to Kodiak, and Capt. Perry started tc
search for the barge, without avail. On Wednesday afternoor
the Manning put into Cordova, having thought further searcl,
useless.__
BOAT CAPSIZES, TWO LOST
Henry Fitch, a sailor on the United States survey boat
. Taku, lost his life this morning in the angry waters off the Or
ca cannery. It was almost a miracle that two others did not
meet a similar fate. They were all sailors on the Taku and
started out in a rowboat to come to Cordova. When about 30C
yards offshore, and against the positive orders of Capt. Rude,
, they tried to put up a sail. A strong wind was blowing, which
caught the sail and immediately capsized the boat. The men
all had on slickers and high rubber boots. As the boat went
over Fitch disappeared almost instantly, evidently having been
injured so that he could make no attempt to save himself. It
happened that men from the shore saw the catastrophe. Among
them was G. W. Bowman, manager of the cannery. With rare
presence of mind he ran to a gasoline boat and, with two oth
ers, got everything in readiness in a few minutes and put oft
to the rescue of the unfortunate men who were floundering in
the cold water and holding on to the upturned boat that was be
ing buffeted about in a heavy sea. When the men were reached
they were almost exhausted, and it was with difficulty that on<
of them could be resuscitated after being brought ashore
However, they both came to and were in good condition b}
noon. If they had been a little farther away when the accident
happened it is likely that all three would have been drowned.
It was raining hard and the weather was so thick that it wat
not possible to see a very great distance. The prompt action
of Mr. Bowman and his associates in going to the rescue is
undoubtedly responsible for the present existence of the two
sailore who had such a narrow escape. The body of the unfor
tunate man who was drowned had not been recovered up to
late this afternoon. He was about 25 years of age and came
from Seattle, where he leaves a wife and small baby.
FLAG
i
Miss Dora Keen, of Philadelphia, has succeedea*iii an ac
complishment that she twice crossed the continent to aelv.e\e.
She ascended Mount Blackburn and planted the American flag
upon its summit of over 16,000 feet. She made the first attempt
last August, without success. On her second expedition she set
forth from Kennecott on April 22, and just four weeks later, on
May 19„ the residents of Kennecott witnessed her triumph ns
they saw the stars and stripes floating from the icy perk be-,
yond. It was a daring achievement that bespeaks an intrepid
spirit in a courageous undertaking. The party endured many
hardships, and at one time they were driven back four thousand
feet by a severe storm. But they plodded on. risiking l'fe and
limb, until finally they were rewarded in a victorious achieve
ment of what they had set out to do. The party returne 1 to
Ivenneeott today, where most of them reside. Miss Keen will
likely return to Cordova on Tuesday’s train.
TENDER ARMERIA IS WRECKED
Deeply mourning the loss of their splendid little vessel, the
United States lighthouse tender Armeria, 36 men, officers and
crew, arrived in Cordova at 12:30 this afternon, filled with
gladness because they were still among the living. The Armeria
anchored off Cape Hinchinbrook this morning at six o’clock,
expecting to deliver some supplies. Shortly after a heavy swell
set in that ruthlessly tossed the tender about. At 7:25 she struck
an uncharted rock and stove a hole in her bottom. Soon the en
gine room began to fill, and Captain Gregory realized that the
vessel was doomed. He had but little steam and realized that
he could not reach any harbor of safety, so he drove her on the
beach. In two minutes the fires were out and shortly the en
gine and fireroom were filled with water. The small boats were
quickly swung out and with some difficulty the men were en
abled to get in and pull away from the wreck that was being
battered by tempestuous waves. The men had no time to secure
all of their personal belongings, and were fortunate to be able
to escape with their lives. As soon as the Armeria struck the
rock a flag of distress was raised, which was sighted by the
steamship Admiral Sampson, that had left Cordova at four
o’clock this morning. She immediately went to the rescue, and,
notwithstanding the heavy sea that was running, succeeded in
getting all aboard. As it was considered futile at that time to
attempt to salvage the wreck, the Sampson put back to Cordo
• va, bringing the 36 men. Of that number, seven desired to go on
to Seattle, but the others will remain here, awaiting orders. Im
mediately upon arrival Capt. Gregory secured the tug Salamo,
and with many of his men started back to the wreck at three
o’clock, hoping that possibly the waves had quieted down and
that some of the valuable equipment might be saved. There
were aboard fourteen acetylene lights of the “flashing” type,
a large number of buoys, cargo of coal, many tons of supplies
for the different lighthouses, in all having a value of $70,000.
| It is feared that within twenty-four hours the tender will be
j broken to pieces.
SEATTLE, May 24.—Reports have
been received in this city that are
taken as reliable, and which indicate
that the banking house of J. P. Mor
gan & Co. has secured the Hill inter
ests in the xx'orthern Pacific railroad,
x'he reports state that it is to be used
in connection with the New York
Central Bystem as part of a transcon
tinental line.
LOS ANGELES, May 24.—Fran-c
Woodcock, who was postmaster at
Sitka, Alaska, about eight years ago,
has been the registry clerk in the
postoffice in this city. Yesterday he
was placed under arrest charged with
embezzlement of money. He is al
leged to have extracted money from
tetters that were passing through the
mails.
SEATTLE. May 25.—Major J. F
A. Strong has returned from hit
European trip and is now in this city
His future is undetermined as he h
awaiting the outcome of the Presi
dential election to know whether he
has even a chance to become Gov
ernor of Alaska. He is a delegate
to the Baltimore convention. His
fellow delegate-at-large is R. Cheney,
of Juneau, who is expected here
shortly. The alternates chosen are
E. E. Hill, of Nome, and Charles Cos
grove, of Ketchikan.
MINNEAPOLIS, May 24.—Late
yesterday afternoon at the Metho
dist conference Francis John McCon
nell president of Depauw University,
was elected as the fifth of the new
bishops.
SKAGWAY, May 24.—The White
Pass & Yukon railway has made ef
fective reductions in freight rates
on mining machinery, powder and
dynamite of 10 per cent, and ore
from White Horse to Skagway a re
duction from $3.75 to $1.75 per ton.
The rate on coal to Dawson is chang
ed from $6 per ton weight to $4.50
ton measurement, counting forty cu
bic feet to the ton. The penalty of
10 to 20 per cent additional for han
dling heavy dredge material is en
tirely waived.
SEATTLE, May 24.—Judge Han
ford has issued a decree which debars
Leonard Oleson, of i acoma, from ex
ercising the rights of an American
Citizen. It was not very long since
that Oleson was granted his naturali
zation papers. Naturalization Ex
aminer John Speed Smith says that
Oleson’s is the first case on record
where a naturalized citizen has had
his rights cancelled after being grant
ed. In giving his opinion Judge Han
ford, among other things, said:
“In order to secure a certificate of
naturalization he intentionally made
representations to the court which
necessarily deceived the court, or his
application for naturalization would
have been denied. Therefore, by the
petition which he was required to
file and his testimony at the final
hearing of his application and by
taking the oath which was adminis
tered to him in open court, he perpe
trated a fraud upon the United
States and committed an offense for
which he may be punished as pro
vided by law. The case, therefore,
comes clearly within the provisions of
the law requiring the court to set
aside and cancel his certificate of nat
uralization, and it will be so de
creed.”
WASHINGTON, May 24—The first
action on the Bristow amendment to
tne federal constitution providing
for the direct election of United
States senators has been taken in
Massachusetts, where it was adopted
by the legislature. It was only a week
ago that the proposed amendment
was sent to the governors of the dif
ferent states by Secretary Knox. As
all legislatures are not now in ses
sion, and some meet only biennially,
it seems reasonable to suppose mat
at least two or three years must
elapse before the amendment can be
acted upon by a sufficient number
of the assemblies to indicate wheth
er it can command the necessary
tnree-fourths vote to put it into op
eration.
Subscribe for the Chitlna Leader.
|
LOOM.mies
Jack Lawrence, the well known
freighter, left for Copper Center for
a few days. He has contracted for
the building of his barn here, 80x30
feet. Most of his pack train is work
ing out of McCarthy.
Magazines and post cards at the
Chitina Pharmacy.
Nearly everyone has gotten the
cleaning up spirit. The town is won
derfully Improved.
Dan Zaradjich is building a cabin
on Chitina Heights.
Dick Waters and Jimmy Hussy
staked a quartz prospect near the
trail three miles north of town, re
cently.
John Amber left for Mile 109 with
an outfit which he will pack in five
miles to his property, where he will
do some development work this sum
mer.
A. B. lies, manager of the copper
property on Nugget Creek, near Kus
kulana, is making arrangements to
have a few hundred tons of very high
grade ore packed to Strelna, a dis
tance of 22 miles. This is prepara
tory to extensive development later.
The Chitina Pharmacy has the
right fishing tackle at the right price.
The trail is getting pretty well
dried up now. It will be good about
the first of June, just when the mail
stops going this way to the interior.
“It's the water.’’
Ld. r,ruK9on was in town tnis
week from his prospects in Dean's
Basin, near Spent Mountain. He has
a showing of nickel and copper that
he considers very good and intends
to run a tunnel to determine the ex
tent o fthe ore. The way the ore
runs now he thinks every foot over
fifty will be worth a thousand dolalts.
His claims are near those of the
Spent Mountain Mining Company,
which has done considerable devel
opment work and built a trail to
their property last fall from Mile 121
on the railroad. Mr. Berry, with his
famous dog team, is prospecting in
that locality now, and will later do
some work on claims staked by Chief
Good-la-taw.
Pure cold water from the moun
tains piped throughout the Chitina
hotel and bar.
Among the peculiar arguments of
fered in defense of Healy by some of
his supporters, the limit is reached
by those who say that he might as
well stay here because the next man
will probably be as crooked as he is.
Gardens are springing up all over
town.
When the work train was return
ing to Chitina Thursday evening from
driving some piles at Mile 118 the
bunk car was knocked off the track
by a slide of rock that struck it. The
car rolled down the embankment and
would have gone into the river had
it not lodged against some trees. It
was thought at first that the five oc
cupants of the car were badly hurt,
but some unpleasant scratches sus
tained by Hartman, Saren and Boyle
were all the personal damages done.
Dr. Montgomery soon ham them all
patched ud.
“It’s the water that keeps it cool”
—Olympia Beer.
Those registered at the Hotel Chit
ina this week were: T. J. Bingham,
Axel Rosell, D. F. Hanlon, George R.
Goshaw, F. A. Lanson, Mrs. A. Sar
talon, J. M. Steffenger. R. S. Crad
dick, C. B. Boyden, E. A. Patrick, W.
A. Patrick, Charlie David, Henry Ed
ler, Isia Petre and wife. Perry S.
Bartley, Joe Petre and wife, Frank
A. Jordan, Jas. H. Miller, W. W.
Powell, Fred Hartman, N. Finnesand,
Charles Boyle, George Irist, Wl E.
Bollinger, J. W. Limback, Roy bed*
den, J. T'omp, E. F. Wood, Jack Day,
J. Irwin, Frank Wallace.
Dick Gilmore shot a brown bear
near his cabin on the Kotsina the
other day, and reports having seen a
blue or glacier bear in that vicinity.
—fl—o o
COLUMBUS, O., May 24.—The
complete returns from the state of
Ohio show that in the various dis
tricts Governor Harmon received 31
delegates and Governor Wilson 11.
As Harmon carried the state be will
receive four delegates at large.