Mi J. Sullivan, Doming Wheeler
F. U. Estabrook returned Sat
urday from Portage Bay, where they
have been for the past two weeks,
having interested themselves in the
n*W railroad and townsite project
. at that point.
They are very reticent as to what
are the plans of the promoters of
th# project, but are apparently satis
fied that within a short time a rail
road will be built from that place
to the Matanuska coal fields, and
possibly to Tanana. In fact a pre
liminary survey has been made of
the proposed route from the head
Of the bay to the Alaska Northern
railroad at Kern Creek, and it is
understood an engineer has been em
ployed to make the location of the
proposed road through to the coal
fields in the immediate future. So
far as can be learned the road i3 to
'be built by private capital, unless
.the government should take up the
Preset before the work is begun.
‘In any event, Messrs. Sullivan,
_ Wheeler and Estabrook are appar
ently well satisfied with the outlook
for big things at Portage Bay in the
near future. It is said that a num
ber of people from Valdez have lo
chted ground at the junction of the
proposed road and the Alaska
Northern and at various points be
*jpfsen; there and the terminus on the
•bay, thus evincing, if not some be
,Wef in the success of the project,
‘hat they do not propose to takej
' «i - •
any chances of there being estab
lished a rival town in the heart of
the rich gold quartz belt, without
securing an interest therein.
It is rumored that some promi
nent railroad men from the states
will visit Portage bay in the near
future, and it is possible that these
men may be interested in the pro
jected road from that point.
. It now appears that the first news
of .the rich, placer strike in the White
River district was given out in Cor
*9™ by Bob Wiley, an old pros
pector of that section, when he
passed through here a couple of
weeks ago. The information was
given in confidence, and the story
pf the discovery of dust in the
White River section as told by him
itould certainly justify a stampede,
n' Wiley was returning from Seattle
vjhere he secured material and sup
plies for his interior camp, and he
Wee on route to the new diggings,
•there he will operate on a large
scale. The recent placer discovery
to on the Shusshana river, which with
t$ie Nebesna forms the headwaters of
tte Tanana river, draining the White
rjver basin. The river is nearly
parallel with the White river, which
empties into the Yukon.
•si The first real news of the placer
•trike reached Dawson when Mr.
&Uey went down the White river and
UP the Yukon river to market some
■eld, put the stampeders from Daw
son attempted to pole up the White
rtVdt'. an almost Impossible feat.
TTbe gold is very low grade, but
the diggings are so shallow as to
allow working of low grade placers
at a profit. However, Willey declares
the ground located and opened by
bttnself and partners to be as rich
as- die Klondike.
-Among those holding ground in
the new diggings is Henry Bratnober,
ftp Tacoma mining man, who is
president of the Cordova Power
Company. He has had three men
In that section for several years
representing his copper interests,
t^owever, it is understood the men
•tampeded to the new diggings and
arg'probably working placer ground.
» --o—o—o
Howard H. Fields, and Daniel
X)ee.arrived in town from the White
RlVer country yesterday, coming in
from McCarthy on one of the motor
cars belonging to the railroad.
Mr. Fields is a mining engineer,
belonging to a party representing
Eastern capital, which is making an
examination of the various mining
properties of the White river with
a view to taking an interest in that
aectlon.
Mr. Fields states that there are a
number of very promising copper
prospects in the country, many of
which are undoubtedly worthy of
large expenditures in development
work, but that at present no work
has been done owing to the diffi
culty of getting supplies into the
country.
When asked regarding the re
potted strike of placer ground on
the Sushanna he said that no one
had come out from the country yet
to ^confirm the report, -but that
members of hlB party, which was
camped about thirty miles distant
hMJtMQ lent to the scene, and had
not returned when he left. On the
way out, however, he met several
parties bound for the Sushanna, all
of whom seemed to give credence to
the report.
Mr. Dee, who accompanied Mr.
Fields, is a Montana man, who has
been with the party for several
months, will leave on the steamer
this evening for his home. Mr.
Fields will leave in a few days to
return to the White river, and later
this summer will come over into the
Chitina country to examine some
copper properties this side of the
range.
-o—o—o
Returning passengers from the
westward on the steamer Dora report
that Mount Katmai blew up June
28 and sent vast clouds of ashes and
dust into the air, covering the ground
for many miles and also blowing far
out to sea. The eruption was in no
sense as bad as that of a year ago,
but it caused some uneasiness to the
natives and the fishermen to the
west.
All the volcanoes to the westward
are very active this year and are all
smoking.
It is reported that the operators
of the United States wireless station
on W]ood island, near Kodiak, have
abandoned the station through fear
of a deluge of ashes from the Katmai
volcano. The old mountain, says the
teport, is in eruption.
William Hesse, the moving picture
man was very fortunate in getting a
fine set of films from the most active
of the volcanoes, King mountain. The
pictures were taken right at the
mouth of the crater, and it is thought
will prove to be the greatest moving
picture ever taken of a volcano in
action. .. „• /
The trial of Joseph McDonald,
formerly superintendent of the
Treadwell mine, charged with the
murder of C. N. Jones nearly ten
years ago, was commenced before
the district court at Juneau July 8,
with Judge F. M. Brown, of Valdez,
presiding.
Considerable difficulty is being ex
perienced in selecting a jury, there
being but one man in the box when
the regular panel had been ex
hausted. A call for a special venire
of 50 men was made, and a recess
taken until the jurors had been
summoned. I
The case is attracting widespread
attention, not only because of the
prominence of the defendant, a
wealthy mining man having large
interests in Mexico, but because of
the fact that so many years have
passed since the killing, at which
time he was exonerated by the
coroner’s jury.
Nearly 100 witnesses, from the
four corners of the globe, have been
subpoenaed and are now in Juneau.
The cost of bringing the prosecution,
it is estimated, will be the greatest
of any case ever tried in the terri
tory, while the defense, it is said,
will coet more than $50,000.
So widespread is the interest in
the case throughout the country
that two local writers have commis
sions to cover the Btory for press
associations and eastern papers,
while two women and three male
writers have been especially assigned
there to prepare stories.
-O-O-0
The Midas copper mine near Val
dez, on which the Alaska Syndicate
recently stopped work, will start up
again within the next thirty days
with a large force of men, according
to parties interested in the property,
who were passengers on last night’s
steamer for the outside.
After working on the property for
nearly a year, the Alaska Syndicate,
which held an option on the claims
from the Valdez holders, several
weeks ago, through Stephen Birch,
the manager of the Syndicate’s mineg
in Alaska, asked for an extension of
one year in which to further develop
the property before making the pay
ments then due. The Valdez parties
holding the claims through an option
to purchase from the original owners
refused the extension on the ground
that in the event on extension was
granted by them they would be com
pelled to provide for the payment
then due to the original owners or
pay an considerable bonus for the
extension.
Upon the refusal to grant the ex
tension the Syndicate stopped work
but made the proposition that , it
would again take up the property if
Within thirty days the holders de
cided to grant the extension desired.
Within the past few days arrange
ments have been made by the parties
interested to make the payments due
the original owners and within, a
Tew days, title to the "property will
pass to them.
It is not yet announced whether
the extension of time asked by Mr.
Birch will be granted and the Syndi
cate again take charge of-the develop,
ment of the mine or whether differ
ent arrangements will be made, but
information from a reliable source is
to the effect that a deal' is now on
with representatives of one of the
largest copper producing interests in
the States to take over the property
and that the deal Is practically com
pleted. It i8 further stated that
arrangements are being made by the
latter party to begin work shortly
with a large force of men and that
the property will be placed on a
shipping basis as speedily as pos
sible.
According to the report of the
engineer who recently examined the
property the development work to
date consists of something over 1,800
feet of tunnels, drifts and raises, and
there is now in sight more than
200,000 tons of ore averaging 7 per
cent copper, with a considerable vein
in one portion of the mine which
carries $27 in gold and about $6 in
silver.
Considerable excitement prevails
in Seward and Valdez over a rumor,
which has gained considerable cred
ence, that there is likely to be some
thing doing in the railroad line at
Portage bay in the event the govern
ment railroad bill passes.
Color is lent to the rumor by the
fact that last month a considerable
area of the ground near the head of
the bay, suitable for terminal and
townsite purposes, was located as
placer ground by a number of Val
dez and Cordova parties, and that
further stakings have been made
this month, practically covering all
the ground near the head of the
bay. It is also known that there are
several men connected with the
geological survey and other govern
ment bureaus now on the ground
and that a reconnaissance of the
route is being made.
From the latest developmentg it
is now generally conceded by Val
dezians that the Portage bay route
has a number of advantages over
most of the projected routes to the
Matanuska coal fields. From the
head of the bay a road of about 12
milea >n length strikes the proposed
route of the Alaska Northern road
above the head of Turnagain arm at
a point but a few miles from the
Ship Creek terminal suggested by
the Alaska Railroad commission as
a summer shipping point for the coal
from the Matanuska field.
The advantages of the route from
Portage bay are to an extent offset
by the fact that two tunnels, one
Reported to be nearly two miles in
length, and which it is estimated will
cost in the neighborhood of Jl,
500,000 to build, and another about
600 feet In length, although it is
argued in favor of the route that the
construction of these tunnels will
avoid the necessity for the construc
tion of expensive snow sheds, make
a road of the lightest grades of any
of the proposed routes to the interior.
Portage bay, however, is open to
several of the objections noted by
the Alaska railroad commission, in
asmch as, like nearly all the deep
fiords indenting the coast of Alaska,
while It is protected from ocean
storms during the winter months it
is exposed to the fierce gales which
sweep through the draws at their
heads, making it difficult at times for
vessels to remain at wharves or
anchor. Another feature is the ex
tremely deep water both in the bay
and at its entrance, which renders
the use of submarine mines as a
means of defense very difficult.
Among the Cordova parties now
on the ground and who have located
ground are: AJ. J- Sullivan, Doming
Wheeler and "Heine" Esterbrook.
It was decided by the Fairbanks
Commercial Club that a demand be
made on the postoffice department
for all first, second and third class
mall matter to be delivered in Fair
banks during the winter months and
under the winter’s contract. To that
end, the executive board will take
the matter up, and will ask (or an
increased mail appropriation (or the
interior.
-o—o—o
Attorney C. M. Frazier is in re
ceipt o( a letter (rom J. B. Howard,
an old time Alaskan, and (ormerly a
resident of Cordova, who is now at
Ruby, in which he predicts a bright
future for the camp.
Mr. Howard states that the win
ter dumps are being rapidly washed
up and the yield is far in .excess of
the most sanguine expectations, and
that the summer work will yield re
sults many times larger. He says:
“The yield of the winter dumps
will exceed $200,000 and this, to
gether with the summer cleanups
w;llj bring the total yield of the
camp to well above $1,000,000. I
saw $10,000 weighed up as the par
tial cleanup of one small dump.
Much of the gold, is coarse, and I
saw nuggets running all the way
from $10 to $125. The camp cer
tainly looks good to me. The North
western Commercial Company is
building two large warehouses,
which I think demonstrates their
faith in the future of the camp.”
The breakup was later than usual
this spring, delaying the sluicing of
the winter dumps, Mr. Howard
states, but the season’s output he
believes will be a surprise to those
who have looked with disfavor upon
the camp. <
-o—o—o— -
Delegate Wickersham has been ap
pointed by the speaker on the follow
ing commlttees of the house: mili
tary affairs, public lands, Indian
' affairs, territories and mines and
mining.
-o—o—o-- ‘
The Katalla Development Com
pany is being reorganized as the
Alaska Oil & Refining Company and
it is understood that sufficient capital
has been secured to place it on a
sound basis and to increase the
capacty of the plant. At present
gasoline and other petroleum prod
ucts for the local trade only are
being supplied.
-o—u—o—
Governor Strong expects to leave
for Fairbanks and Nome about .July
15 th for the purpose of taking up
the matter of building detention lio8_
pitals for the insane at those places.
He will probably return to Juneau
by way of Seattle from Nome, unless
he can make connection with a
revenue cuttter, in which event he
will visit the Southw'est Alaska coast
on his way to the capital.
-o—o—o
In making up the annual average
total of $450,000 which he says is
the cost of maintaining the cable
and telegraph service in Alaska, Sec- i
retary of War Lindley M. Garrison
includes these items:
Salaries of civilians and enlisted
men, including additional pay, cloth
ing, rations, transportation, medical
attendance; salaries of officers, and
cost of supplies and material, $260,
084.20.
Cost of quartermaster's corps for
transportation and other purposes on
account of the telegraph and cable
lines, $79,469.68. ,
Maintenance of the Burnside,
$112,844.63.
He admits, however, that the
Burnside, in addition to duties per
formed in connection with the
Alaska system, is essentially neces
sary for the maintenance of the
cables forming a part of the defenses
of Puget Sound.
In spite of all the items included
in this charge against the Alaska
cable and telegraph system, the defi
ciency is only about $90,000 a year.
-o—o—o
Generally speaking, the age of
superstition is over. The world has
civilized and progressed too steadily
and too comprehensively for the per
petuation of this brand of fanaticism,
yet at the same time there is one
brand of superstition that seems to
have been well founded. This is
the superstition of mariners that
three shipwrecks must occur before
the period of disasters is over.
“Three in a bunch,” is the way the
average seafaring man would put it.
Certainly in Alaska this tradition,
whether it be superstition or just
mere bunk, has been exemplified. A
glance at the files of the Alaskan
has proven this assertion. Three
years ago there were two sets of
wrecks, at intervals of several
months, and the wrecks came three
together. Last month the Yukon,
Curacao and Dolphin met with dis
aster. On thig theory it is reason
able to believe that there will be no
more wrecks for some time, if this
mysterious, will-’o-the-wisp supersti
tion is to be believed.
-o—o—o
H. Mitchell of Knik, proprietor
of the only glass encased hot house
on Knik arm, is daily demonstrating
that there are other ways of making
a living in Alaska than mining. Mr.
Mitchell, who is handicapped physic
ally, started to build a green house
a couple of years ago in order to be
able to furnish early vegetables for
the mines and to the residents of
Knik. Last year with three and one
half acres under cultivation, he not
only paid for the clearing of the land,
the erection of the green house and
his own expenses, but cleared the
sum of $350, and that on three and
one-half acreB of ground, an aver
age of $100 per acre. He will go
ahead and clear up his land and in a
. few years expects to become inde
’ pendent. At this time he haB under
i cultivation sixteen varieties of
i vegetables and all doing well.
POPU [ION OF
LjH
Statistics of the population of
Alaska, according to the census of
1910, are presented in detail in a
bulletin soon to be issued by the
bureau of the census, department of
commerce. It wa3 prepared under
the direction of Win. C. Hunt, chief
statistician for population. |
The census of 1910 was the fourth
enumeration of the population of
Alaska by the United States govern
ment, the others having been taken
in 1880, 1890 and 1900.
Statistics are presented for the
territory as a whole relating to
number of inhabitants, increase of
population, color or race, nativity,
parentage, sex, age, marital condi
tion, state of birth of the native pop
ulation, country of birth and year of
immigration of the foreign-born
population, males of voting and
militia ages, citizenship, school at
tendance, illiteracy, inability to
speak English, and number of dwell
ings and families. Statistics relat
ing to sex and age of Indians of full
blood and of mixed blood, by stocks
and tribes, are also given. All
topics covered by the thirteenth cen
sus are included except occupations
and ownership of homes.
Population of the Territory
The population returned for
Alaska at each of the last four de
cennial censuses, with the decennial
increase or decrease, is given in the
following table:
Increase over
Census vr. Pop. Preceding census
Number Per ct.
1910.64,356 764 1.2
1900.63,592 31,540 98.4
1890.32,052 —1,37.4 —4.1
1880.33,426 - -
(1- A minus sign (—) denotes de
crease.
The population returned for 188 0
and that for 1890 was partly esti
mated. As returned at these censuses,
the number of inhabitants decreased
1,374, or 4.1 per cent during the
decade preceding 1890. In the fol
lowing decade, however, the rush of
goldseekers to Alaska just prior to
the census of 1900 nearly doubled
the population, which increased
from 32,052 to 63,592, the increase
being 31,540 or 9S.4 per cent. Al
though a considerable number of
those enufherated in 1900 did not
settle permanently in the territory,
and although the Indians and Chin
ese, decreased in number by more
than 6,000, there was nevertheless
a slight increase in the total popu
lation (764, or 1.2 per cent.) dur
ing the decade 1900-1910.
Of the 14 incorporated towns
seven had, in 1910, 1,000 inhabi
tants or more. The population of
Fairbanks, the largest of the towns,
was 3,541; or Nome the second
largest, 2,600. The number of in
habitants returned for Nome in
1900 was 12,488; this, number, how.
ever, included persons on vessels in
port who had been attracted by the
discovery of gold in the interior.
According to the returns, the popu
lation of Skagway, the second larg
est town in 1900, had decreased dur
ing the decade 1900-1910 from 3,117
to 872. In 1910 eight of the incor
porated towns were in the first
judicial district.
' Density of Population.
The gross land and water area of
Alaska is 590,884 square miles,
which is nearly equal to one-fifth
of the area (3,026,789 square
elusive of outlying possessions), and
..
..
II * I
I 0. ADRIAN NELSON ji
.» _ «»
• • ' ■ *
j 1. S. Mineral Surveyor :
ii •»
it i»
i j I I
'I CH1TINA - - - ALASKA jj
CHITINA: BAKERY
AND
Coffee He use
HENRY GESSNER, Prop.
FRESH BREAD, CAKES AND
PIES ALWAYS ON HAND
slightly exceeds the combined area
of the three Pacific Coast states—
Washington, Oregon and California
—and Texas. Based upon gross
area, the density of population or
number of inhabitants per square
mile of territory in Alaska, was 0.1
both in 1910 and in 1900. This is
equivalent to an average area of 9.2
square miles, or 5.888 acres, to each
inhabitant. The average number of
inhabitants per square mile in the
United States (exclusive of outlying
miles) of the United States (ex
possessions, based upon the gross
area, was 30.4 in 1910.
Country of Origin.
In 1910 there were enumerated in
Alaska 22,734 whites, who were
either foreign born or native born of
foreign parentage (that is, having
both parents foreign born). Of the
17,974 foreign-born whites, 15.1 per
cent were born in Sweden; 14.4 per
cent in Norway; 12.3 per cent in
Canada; 8.6 per cent in Germany;
6.4 per cent in Ireland. 5.7 per cent
in England, and 37.4 per cent in
other countries. In 1900, as in 1910,
Sweden, Norway, Canada and Ger
many were the countries most largely
represented in the foreign-born
white population of Alaska. In 1910
there were in Alaska, 2,461 foreign
born colored inhabitants, of whom
1,057 were born in China, 897 In
Japan, 418 in Canada, and 89 in
other countries.
Voting and Militia Ages.
The number of males of voting
age in Alaska in 1910 numbered
36,901. The aggregate for white
males 21 years of age and over was
28.030, or 76 per cent of all the
males of voting age; in 1910, the
corresponding percentage was 68.t.
Of the 15,862 foreign-born white
males of voting age, 6,390, or 40.3
per cent, were naturalized; 4,068
had' taken out first papers; 4,716
were aliens, and for 638 the status
as to citizenship was not reported.
Males of militia age—those from
18 to 44 years, inclusive—numbered
28,621, of whom 21,714 were whites,
5,275 were Indians, and 1,632 were
of other classes.
School Attendance.
The status of school attendance
for 1910 are based upon the answers
to the inquiry as to whether the
person enumerated had attended
school at any time during the year
1909. There w-ere enumerated in
1910, 10,615 persons of school age
—that Is, 6 to 20 years, inclusive—
of whom 446.6, or 42.1 per cent, had
attended school at some time during
the year 1909; in the same period
also 218 children under 6 and 179
persons 21 and over had attended
school. Among native whites of
school age the percentage of school
attendance was 54.3 for males and
68.5 for females; among the foreign
born whites it was 13.1 and 52,
respectively; and among Indians
41.7 and 36.9. In the school popu
lation of Alaska the highest per
centage of attendance was for the
age of 11 years, which is the age of
maximum attendance also for the
white and Indian children.
Illiteracy
The census bureau classifies as
illiterate any person 10 years of
age and over who is unable to write,
regardless of ability to read. In the
population of Alaska in 1910 there
were 14,550 illiterates—that is per
sons 10 years of age and over who
were unable to write—constituting
26.5 per cent of the total population
of that age. in 1900 the percent
age of illiteracy wag 41.6. Among
males the percentage of illiteracy in
1910 was 19.1; among females,
48.2. These percentages do not,
however, indicate even approxi
mately the relative illiteracy of
males and females in the several
classes of population.
Inability to Speak Knglish.
In the population of 10 years of
age and over in 1910, there were
12,674 persons who were unable to
speak Knglish; of these, 10,212
were Indians, 1,212 foreign-born
whites, 746 Chinese, 273 Japanese,
and 231 of other classes. The non
English speaking element constitut
ed 61.8 per cent of the Chinese popu
lation 10 years of age and over, 56.6
per cent of the Indian population of
that age. 30 per cent of the Japan
ese, 6.8 per cent of the foreign-born
white, and 0.5 of the native white.
Itwellings and Families.
The number of dwellings in
Alaska in 1910 was 16,012 and the
number of families 17,809, the num
ber of families to 100 dwellings
being 107.2. The average number of
persons per dwelling was 3.9 and the
average number per family 3.6. In
1900 the average number of fami
lies to 100 dwellings was 127.4, the
average number of persons to dwell
ings 6, and the average number of
persons per family 4.7.
V VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV V V
Commercial Hotel
Just open under management oi John Palmer
Everything New and Clean. Warm Rooms
CHITINA. - ALASKA
ALASKA
Steamers via the INSIDE PASSAGE calling at Ketchikan, Juneau,
Yakutat* Katalla, Cordova, Ellamar, Valdez, Fort Li scum,
Latouche. Seward, Cook Inlet Points and Kodiak.
S. S. Admiral Sampson
Sailings From Seattle
5th 15th 25th
Of Each Month
SAMPSON calls at KNIK ANCHORAGE each trip, also calls
at Kodiak when leaving Seatle on the 15th of the month.
California connections—Alaska-Pacific S. S. Co.
Right is reserved to change this schedule without notice.
| B. F. WATSON, General Agent. ALASKA TRANSFER CO., Agent
Yj|\ ^VLiVSK^V
Y~~' STEAMSHIP COMPANY
Fast and commodious steamers sailing between
Seattle, Ketchikan, Juneau , Cordova, Valdez and Sew
ard, via INSIDE PASSAGE.
Sails from Seattle— Sails from Cordova—
July 12.MARIPOSA.July 21
July 18.NORTHWESTERN.July 26
This company reserves the right to change schedule of steam
ers without notice.
Tickets on sale at up-town office Alaska .Steamship Bldg.
Baggage or freight will not be received at dock luter than one
hour before sailing time.
F. B. TRACY T. J. TALLENT,
General Agent. Ticket Agent.
Subscribe for the Leader
* . -->M '• ; {•* ■)