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.
ONLY NEWSPAPER IN CHITINA
Published every Saturday by
vmt.t. a. STEEL—Editors, Managers and Proprietors—TT A BBT Q. STEEL
Office: Hotel Chitina Building. Cordova Office: Daily Alaskai
Seattle Office: 551 Colman Building.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
.* 5t
.. 2.0C
'. 3.5C
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 River district,___
CHITINA, ALASKA, TUESDAY, JANUARY 6, 1914
A WASTE OF FUNDS
A review of the many criminal cases which have come
before.the local court from remote parts of the Fourth judicial
division during the past several years leaves little room to
doubt the claim that many thousands of dollars have been
wasted in the investigation and prosecution of cases sent to
Fairbanks by ill-advised, indiscreet and otherwise incompetent
commissioners. Thousands of dollars are lost to the govern
ment annually in this manner, and it frequently happens that
sourdoughs are needlessly dragged from the far corners of the
district to act as witnesses, sometimes risking their lives on
the stormy trails and usually losing a season’s work.
Were the exact amount of this annual waste of funds made
known to the federal authorities at Washington, together with
the waste of time to Alaskans, we venture the prediction that
steps speedily would be taken to ascertain the cause and to
supply a remedy. They doubtless would reach the conclusion
that it would be money saved to provide fixed salaries for
commissioners, for that" is the only way in which competent
officers can be secured. Under the fee system, it is seldom that
a man possessed of the requisite qualifications can be induced
to accept an appointment as commissioner in the smaller
communities. An honest man cannot afford to hold the office
where the fees are small, unless he has a source of private
income; and even honest men often lack the good judgment
which is essential to the successful administration of such an
office.
We do not claim that it is impossible to secure competent
commissioners under the present objectionable system. Many
worthy officials have held commissionerships in this division in
the past, and we can name a number of present office-holders
who are just in their decisions and not a source of unnecessary
expense to the government. But it is chiefly by chance that
the good' mem have been secured, and tljere is no assurance
that the next appointment to be madeWrll prove more satis
factory than some with the government. The man who will
consent to assume the responsibility of making both ends meet
is usually the one who gets the office. His qualifications can
not be questioned too closely, lest he refuse to accept the
appointment; and thus it is that men oftentimes are placed in
office who would not be tolerated if better men could be
secured.
The money the government is compelled to expend every
year in the vain attempt to secure impossible convictions in
cases sent to the higher court by commissioners would go far
toward improving conditions in Alaska if used properly. But
a part of it at least should go toward paying living salaries to
the men upon whom rests the responsibility of administering
common justice with a due regard for distances and the
northern cost of travel.—Fairbanks Times.
-o—o—o
THE PARCEL POST LIMIT
The resignation of a number of rural mail carriers in
Southeastern Iowa, owing to the extra burdens imposed upon
them by the parcel post, directs attention to a feature of the
service that must sooner or later demand consideration.
Difficulty is being experienced in finding men to fill the places
thus vacated and it is feared the grievances of the carriers
which have forced the Iowa men to resign may become general.
So far the parcel post has been operated largely with the same
force that handled the mails before this addition. Everyone is
familiar with the physical evidence of the increased burdens
placed upon the carriers. With the extension of the weight
limit to 50 pounds in the states, at the beginning of the year
it is obvious that the carrier limit will be about reached.
The new service is estimated to return a profit of
$30,000,000 in its first year, with the increased weight limit and
the inevitable extension of use indicated by its remarkable
progress in popularity the department will soon be obliged to
provide special means for parcel post distribution as it done in
England and abroad, where the mail carrier is not made a
pack mule.
One Month
Six Months
One Year .,
AJ —u—u*
ELECTRIC POWER FOR ALASKA
In all this discussion of railroads for Alaska, nothing has
been said or written of the possibility of developing electric
power in this territory for teh operation of its future railroad
system. No country in the world presents such a fair field
for developing unlimited water power for the generation of
electricity. Along thousands of miles of coast line sufficient
water to turn the wheels of any number of great power houses,
industrial plants and railroads is daily going to waste. The
Copper River alone could produce energy to operate the entire
iailroad system from the southern coast to the Yukon valley.
The same is true at various other sections too numerous to
mention. A great power plant is being planned for the opera
tion of the Alaska-Gastineau plant and another for the Alaska
Juneau mill, while, scattered about the territory are various
small plants for light, heat and power, hut the development of
electricity on a large scale has never been attempted.
Coal is absolutely prohibited by withdrawal of all coal lands
and it does not look as if anything can be accomplished in
restoring such lands. On the other hand oil from California
is quite expensive, so the operation of future railroads bj
electrfcity is a question worthy of the most careful considera
tion. Of course the water power is withheld in forest reserves
largely and, according to Gilford Pinchot and H. S. Graves, it
is much better to see these vast streams going to waste century
after century rather than utilizing them in turning the wheels
of progress. This theoretical obstruction will have to be
overcome and the time is at hand when these questions will be
satisfactorily adjusted. At the recent convention in Wash
ington of the National Conservationists, the solid West showed
the theoretical East that Gilford Pinclit, Louis Glavis, Forester
Graves and the rest have little standing west of the
Mississippi River where conservation has been applied and
has caused the greatest damage.
o—o—o
THE SEAL HERD
“Tlie real vanishing race,” says the Brooklyn Standard
Union, “is not the American Indian, but the Alaska fur seal.”
The Elliott-Gallagher report moved that paper to make this
remark.
It is true that the fur seal has been the source of a very
great profit to a few persons. It is also true that the herds
have been unwisely depleted to about 5 per cent of their
former greatness. Nevertheless the seal qustion is not as
important as we have made it.
As a race we could exist comfortably and happily if there
were not a single sealskin coat left in all the world. The fur
seal, in other words, is not a necessity, but the source of a
luxury in the perpetuity of which the average man or woman
l as not the slightest personal interest, present or future.
Periodically we allow ourselves to become heated over a
herd of nomadic mammals, and even threaten ourselves with
war because sealers of foreign nations poach on our preserves.
Why should we do this?
The seal is a beautiful, soft-eved, intelligent and interest
ing creature. It is a shame, a national shame not unmixed
with sin, that they have been so wantonly destroyed; but the
fact remains that there are more important things to conserve,
more vital matters to be made subjects for international broils,
than the future of the seal herd.
We might provide for the use of idle water power and
save our coal. That would benefit people who never expect
to be in the market for a sealskin. We might make use of
timber now rotting in forest reserves and thus reduce the first
cost of homebuilding. That would reach pocketbooks which
will never be opened to purchase a fur coat.
This does not mean that the seals should be left to the
agents of destruction. They are worth preserving and should
be saved from extinction, but from a utilitarian standpoint
they are not a national asset nor a future necessity of such
value that three nations should periodically find them a
threatened source of disruption and a stumbling block to
continued amity.
-o—o—o
“THE STREET CAR GLIDE”
Dances are multiplying so rapidly these days that it is not
easy to keep up with them; the fact is most of us arc* wholly
out of touch with what is happening in circles where dancing is
an art, and where not to know the latest in dancing is a
disgrace.
The street car glide is the latest thing, and it comes out of
Tennessee.
We know something of the banana slide and the ’possum
a la; something of the bunny hug and the back step, of the
tango and the hoedown, and once or twice we peeked in to see
a serpentine wriggle of some sort brought over from the Orient
to add somewhat of gaiety to our Occidental civilization and
to impress upon us the ceremonial value of the dance; we have
even moralized at the graceful gyrations of the Igorottes and
other of our primising islanders; but frankly, we cannot see
where this street car glide is to have a place on our already
crowded program.
What is this new creation, anyway?
Ragging of some kind, no doubt.
Still it might be an exact reproduction of the acrobatic
stunts of the straphanger who desperately tries to right the
ship when the car lurches; or of some panicky suburbanite
hitting the high places in an effort to catch the last car, or of
the lean man’s sly maneuver to get his corn from under the
fat lady’s foot.
But why speculate? The street car glide is here and soon
we shall meet it face to face.
O-0—o
THE PROTECTORATE PLAN
The Washington administration hastens to deny a
reported intention to establish a protectorate over Central
American republic on the order of our relations to Cuba,
although admitting the proposed treaty with Nicaragua is
along that line, but at the request of Nicaragua. Santo
Domingo is exercised over rumors that American observers
are to oversee its elections. An agreement is said to have
been signed by President Bordas and the revolutionary
generals to this effect, witnessed by the American minister.
Dominican finances are now under our control through the
plan put through under the Roosevelt administration, which
provided for American supervision of the customs and distribu
tion of the revenue for the protection of creditors. It was
argued at that time that it was certain to be followed by
political entanglement.
The motive of the administration is understood to be its
determination to promote the Mobile policy of refusal to recog
nize governments in these countries that do not rest upon
popular choice. The “observers” idea is to assure that such
choice may be properly obtained. This, it is remarked, is
going a great deal farther than the “dollar diplomacy” so
much criticized by Mr. Bryan’s friends during the preceding
administration. Already Central America is reported to be
alarmed over the prospect which, if realized, may undo all that
has been accomplished toward establishing better understand
ing with Latin America as a whole.
RICH POCKET POUND
IN KOYUKUK CREEK
Recent arrivals from Koyukuk,
the land of lean gravels and rich
pockets, freport that another very
rich "pocket” has been found on
the Bowman & Scofield ground on
Hammond river. Four thousand dol
lars to the six-foot thaw was being
taken out when the Koyukuk men
left the district. The largest nug
get obtained by the men weighed
something over $300 and $100 pans
were common. This is in keeping
with the history of mining in that
district. The gravel all carries a
little gold but it is a rare occasion
when so rich a pocket is picked up.
DANCE AT CHITIXA
NEW YEAR'S EVE
The crew of the rotary report a
very pleasant dance at the Chitina
Hotel, Chitina, on New Year’s eve.
There are quite a few strangers iu
the town and these together with
the residents formed a pleasant
party. The old year was ushered
out and the new one in with appro
priate festivities.
-o—o—o
PASSENGERS WERE BOUND
FOR CHISANA DIGGINGS
The train this morning for the
interior carried a number of pass
engers bound for Chisana and Fair
banks. Several of those who arrived
from the outside on the Alameda in
tended going in to the diggings.
-o—o—o
OFFICIALS OF COMPANY
COMING OX MARIPOSA
SEATTLE, Jan. 6.—When the
Mariposa sails for Alaska on Satur
day next she will carry Mr. R. W.
Baxter and Mr. J. H. Bunch on
their annual trip of inspection to
the ports at which their steamers
call. The former is president of
the Alaska Steamship Co. The offi
cials will go as far west as Seward.
-o—o—o—
SEVENTY-FIVE PERISH
WHEN FLATBOAT SINKS
WINNIPEG, Jan. 6.—Seventy-five
railroad laborers perished in the
wreck of a flatboat in the river here
last night. Particulars of the dis
aster have not been received but
it is believed the boat was crushed
by the ice and sank suddenly.
-o—o—o
NOTICE
I, the undersigned, will not be
responsible for any debt made by
anybody without my written order.
PETER FRANKS
IN THE UNITED STATES COM
MISSIONER’S COURT, THIRD
JUDICIAL DIVISION, TERRI
TORY OF ALASKA, IN AND FOR
CHITINA PRECINCT.
In the Matter of the Guardianship of
Nels Oscar Sail, a mentally in
competent person, and his estate.
It is ordered that Friday, January
30th, 1914, at 10 a. m., be appointed
for the hearing of the application of
Charles G. Sail, for letters of guar
dianship of the person of Nels Oscar
Sail, who is alleged to be mentally
incompetent, and of his estate situ
ated in Chitina Precinct, Third Judi
cial Division, Territory of Alaska,
and it is further ordered that the
time and place of said hearing be
published in the Chitina Leader, a
paper of general circulation in said
precinct and territory, for four con
secutive weeks.
(Seal) PAUL d’HEIRRY,
U. S. Commissioner and Ex-Officio
Probate Judge, Third Judicial
Division, Territory of Alaska in
and for Chitina Precinct.
Date of first publication, Decem
ber 23, 1913.
Date of last publication, January
13, 1914.
0. ADRIAN NELSON
U. S. Mineral Surveyor
CHITINA ■ - - ALASKA
CHITINA: BAKERY
AND
Coffee House
HENRY GESSNER, Prop.
FRESH BREAD, CAKES AND
PIES ALWAYS ON HAND
(Mina GRILL
Good Eats for Particular People
Prompt Service. Popular Seivice.
Next to Chitina Hotel.
CHITIXA
ALASKA.
"♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦*♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Chitina
Pharmacy
DRUGS,
STATIONERY,
CANDIES,
KODAK SUPPLIES
CIGARS & TOBACCO
If you canuot call, write
us. MAIL orders our
Specialty.
A. G. MOREY, Prop.
+♦♦♦♦♦»♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
***** I I I W441 11 h H4
GROCERIES, HARDWARE
MEAT MARKET
We have a big line of Sec
ond-Hand Goods, and can
save you money on your out
fit. Bunk House, with free
Cook House, in connection.
CHITINA HEIGHTS
c. A. SIMOXS & CO.
Feed, Fuel
and
Lumber
hay, bua\, oats, chops,
ROLLED BARLEY
We can make prompt ship
ments to points on the rail
road. Our feed is the very
best quality.
0. A. Nelson & Co.
ilCHITINA
HOTEL
WASHINGTON
ANNEX
SEATTLE
New, modern and fireproof.
All outside rooms
The most conveniently located
hotel in the city.
Rooms and suites are partici*
larly large.
Very desirable for families or
parties traveling together.
RATES MODERATE
Auto-bus meets all boats and
trains. Write for booklet.
J. H. DAVIS, Prop