I
FISH BROS.
General
Merchants
Staple and Fancy Groceries, I
Hardware, Stoves,
Tile Pipe, Lumber, Shingles,
Doors and Windows,
Paints, Oils and Glass,
Boots and Shoes,
Men’s Furnishing Goods.
MM IB ran HI OUTFIT.
THE VALDEZ PHARMACY
Photo Supplies, Albums,
Printing Paper, Plates,
Films, etc.
riAQdZINES i£B BOOKS.
Candies, Fine Stationery
Toilet Articles,Perfumes,
etc. ^
PRESCRIPTIONS CAREFULLY COMPOUNDED.
H. T. WHITLEU, GEO. J. LOVE.
Merchants Cafe
AMD
Bakery.
MEALS AT ALL HOUHS.
Valdez Jewelry
and Optical House.
W. C. STU LL
EXPERT WATCHMAKER,
REFRACTING OPTICIAN,
MANUFACTURING JEWELER.
A COMPLETE STOCK of Wafd.es,
Clocks, Jewelry, Diamonds and Sil
verware. Nnjg'et Jewelry of Every
Descrijition Made tn Order. Your
I*atri#naj:e Respectfully Solicited.
tkiltj Street Util to to; (ah Saloon.
i (in «flL
_ •
TELEPHONE FRANCHISE IS
GRANTED.
The flection tas are Ratified.
Petition for Right of Way for Road
Introduced-Electric Eight
Franchise Wanted.
The city council held tlivir regu
lar meeting on last Monday night,
all the members Wing present at
roll call. Considerable business
was transacted, the most important
being the granting of a franchise
j to Dr. A. von (iunther fora tcle
| phone s\ stem.
This franchise gives to Dr. von
i (iunther the privilige of maintain
ing a telephone system in the town
of \ aldez for a period of ten years
at the expiration of which time the
city will have the privilige of pur
chasing the same if it so desires, the
price to W* fixed by a Uturd of ap
praisers. While the ordinance does
not establish the rate of telephone
j charges, it places the maxima rate
'at six dollars a month.
The telephone poles must W*
twenty feet high and six inches in
diameter at the top. They must lie
(set seven feet from the lot line on
fifty foot streets, and eight feet from
I the lot line on sixty toot streets,
and upon the alleys must l>v set as
near the lot line as possible. The
system must W* in operation before
the first dav of next Julv.
....
niv onmmmr jiupM'U mv nil*
following vote. Ayes, Stevie, Mc
Hie, Wood. Olson; Nays, Osgood;
absent, C'rary.
Messrs Rutherford ifc Crawford
asked for a franchise for an elec
tric light and itower plant to lie in
stalled during the present year and
to he conducted upon such tt rins
and conditions as shall lie equitable
to both tin; city and the company.
The time for which the franchise is
to run is left for the the council to
fix and the city shall have the right
to purchase the plant at the expi
ration of the time if it so elects.
The company is to lie responsi
ble for any damage done through
the fault or neglect of the company
and when not it its I by any person,
of any detached wires or other men
ace to public safety caused by the
company, it will he their duty to!
immediately repair such damage.!
The proposed franchise is very
liberal anil protects both the city
and the lompany. It is referred to
the committe on streets, sewerage
and wharfage, consisting of Olson,!
Mcllie and Osuood.
Messrs. Love and Whitley asked j
for an exclusive franchise for an j
electric light and power plant a !
few weeks ago ami the committee
still have it under consideration.
This franchise asks for the sole
and exclusive right for twenty yea rs.
No other person or corporation to
lie allowed to put in uu electric
light or gas plant for that length
of time. The company to lie res
ponsible for damages to person or
property, and to furnish light at a
rate to lie fixed by the eouneil.
It seems to lie the opinion of
some members of the eouneil that
the laiard should htiyc drawn a
franchise protecting the city and
then allow as many as wish, to put
in plants. However the eouneil
will lie very careful in granting
franchises to any one, although
each member is desirous of seeing
the improvement and advancement
of Valdez ;ind will do all in their
power to encourage ami promote
any and all improvements that
will lienefit our city.
Mr. W. W. Guilin |>ctitioiicd the
ENROUTE TO THE GOLCONDA
Mmalar^Scjle.'
Eleven Hundred Feet of Hose-Five
Tons of Provisions-Tools, etc.
Being Taken to Bremner.
Everyone is talking Bremner.
Prospectors are getting tlieir outfits
together to make a rush into the
land of gold, hut in the midst of all
the excitement, one party of ten |
are quietly moving a summers out
fit of provisions, tools, hose, etc., to
their claims on (iolconda, where
they will put in the season at
sluicing.
Phis party is eonii»oscd of fouri
men who prospected in that country
hist summer, namely: Monahan.
Bantu, (iillis and Me I .une.and six
more who are making tlicif initial
trip into that section: Heron. An
derson. King. Sweet. Muckier and |
Van Iderstein.
Tilt* crowd is taking five tons cf
provisions. (MX) feet of 11 inch, and
-*00 feet of (! inidi hose. Tliev are
fioiit" on the strength of pros|ieets
found hv the locators lust season.
It is stated hy some of the men.,
that "round was discovered which
would average twelve cents to the I
pan. Others claim that ten to fif
teen dollars, a day was made liv
panniii". The jrold is all coarse.
Most of last years prospcctinj! was
done on out-croppiii" liedrock. al- i
thoii"h the I tenches were investiga
ted enough to know that they con
tain "old.
The inemliers of this party are
all enthusiastic in regard to their
holdings in the liremner district,
and are confident of a successful |
seasons work. They own from one,
to three claims apiece and l»y hunch
in" them will he enabled to work
most advantageously.
Two of the company arc at pre- '
sent in the neighborhood of the
claims. The remainder left town
Tuesday morning. Their outfit at
that time was as far as Workman’s
road house. From there they j*o
up Lowe river, across the divide
onto the Tasnuna and down that
stream to Copper river. Crossin";
the Copper the trail leads up the
liremner to Golcondu creek.
City Council, Continued.
council for the privilege of eon-'
struct ing u plank roadway from the.
end of the new wharf 2”>0 feet'
along Reservation avenue to the
north side of Millie creek. This'
application would have to he I
granted by ordinance and was also ‘
referred to the committee on streets
sewerage and wharfage.
The election returns were can-1
vassed and there being no changes j
found, the persons declared elected
by the judges as puplishcil in last
week’s Punsi-KiToit were duly de
clared elected by the council. A
warrant was drawn on the treasur
er in payment of the judges and
clerks.
Considerable discussion followed '
in regard to whether the health
officer should examine the passen
gers and crews of incoming steam
ers to ascertain whether there was
any small pox alumni. Xo action
was taken and the matter was laid
on the table for one week.
Have the Pkosckctor sent to you
this summer and get the news from
all parts of the country.
inn bit
MANY CLAIMS STAKED IN
NEW GOLD FIELD.
20 Cents to tie Pan.
Crowd Return From Staking to
Get Supplies For the
Summer.
The rush to the Brentner is now
on. ninny are leaving for the new
diggings every day. Horses, dogs
and mules a re used and those who
are unfortunate enough to have
neither are supplying the nude
power themselves. A large mini
her are Imuiul for Slate creek and
thcChisna. hut the interest of the
public centers ahout Hreinncr.
We have before us a well executed
manuscript map of tlie new gold
fields. The map shows that a
large amount of staking lias been
done by a few people, powers of
attorney having been freely used.
These are a curse to the country,
hut as long as tin ir use is allowed
by law. they will certainly Ik*used.
i in. ri* writ* a imnmrr oi im*n on
the llreinncr in IS!),S mid 1S!H(. hut
as was done in most of the Coppot
river country at that time, the
ground was merely run over. A
small prospect was found hut was
not thoroughly investigated.
Last year several people traced
tlie gold up the stream to the small
tributaries of the llremner. They
also found good prt spects across
the divide about tin* headwaters of
the Chitlyna, but on aeeount of a
scarcity of provisions they returned
to the eoast without staking ail
they had intended to. They kept
mum about their discoveries, but
made* preparations for an earlv
return. They left town about
the middle of January and pushed
on with all speed for their destina
tion. At the-mouth of the Urem
ner they met a small party who
had proceeded them and whom they
tried to evade, hut it was no go, so
they joined forces and under a
staking agreement proceeded to-,
get her to tin* location of the rich
ground. The party of eleven men '■
staked on the various creeks l.'JOj
claims. Tin* staking was done on j
the snow and of course, to an ex-;
pi rirnccd man was not satisfactory,
and as often is the ease, the one
who goes in when the snow is gone.,
may do better than the original lo
cators.
1 lie claims an* Umitril on oi^ht
creeks, tributary to the Brenitier
and C’ldttyna. They were named
hy the party as follows: Monahan,
lfanta. Trail, (iillis. Annua, (Sol
eonda and Freeze-out (illicit. The
creeks are well him died and the
two watersheds are separated hy
a very low divide.
The distance from Valdez is ulatut
110 miles and can lie traveled with
sled in from four to six days.
Those who were in this district
last season state that the country
rock is slate and granite, traversed
hv numerous stringers of rusty
ipiartz and porphory. The little
work done hist season showed
good results, the very few that were
there hardy scratching the ground,
hut found coarse gold that ran as
high as twenty cents to the pan.
The creeks show a fairly coarse
gravel hut no large laiulders.
Most of those who went in to
stake, have returned for more pro
visions and to record. A party of
ten men and nine dog teams came
in last Friday. Their names are
(Sus Benson, (Jeo. Hooper, Will
Beaton, John McCluren.Tom (.Sane,
Max Kiegler, lly Heppel, Neil
O’Connor. Joe Curtis and Eli Pay
ment.
FIRST StIRVFT
| MADE BY GOVERNMENT IN
ALASKA.
Ohm For 5tfc.
Base Line to be Run Through Cop
per River Valley-Work will
Soon Begin.
The greatest tract of rich anil fer
tile agricultural anil grazing land
in Alaska is to he iqiened for settla
nient in a few weeks, and from
present indications Congress will
extend the land laws of the United
States, entire, to Alaska, so that
the settler may take up ISO acres
of land instead of >H) acres as at
present.
It is estimated that in the great
Copper river watershed there are
:!().()()!) square miles of as good, rich
farming and grazing laud as can Ik*
found in any country. The soil is
rich and loamy and the land can
lie easily cleared. The lulls and
Valievs abound in a luxuriant.
growth of ml fop anil hunch jrrass,
thut makes the l»est of hay. There is
an ahuuihinee of wood, whille water
is |ilentiful anil absolutely pure.
The ereeks teem with.fish, there is
plenty of "aim* anil in the hills, a
few miles away can Ik* found "old
and other precious metals.
There is ample room in thisjrreat
district for thousands of families.
The climate is exceed in jrlv healthy,
the summers heinjr delightful and
the winters not extremely cold, and
in many ways the country will
compare most favorably with Wis
consin. Minnesota and Michigan,
while it is far preferable to the Da
kotas. Wyomin" and many parts of
Canada.
As soon as a railroad is lmilt
throti"h the country, which will
certainly be done in the near future
this section of Alaska will be set
tled ijuite rapidly.
If a "ood thrifty class of farmers
and husbandmen, such as the tier
mans. Swedes or Xorweijrans, could
be induced to settle'in this "mat
rich valley, in a very short time
they would make of it a cultivated
prosperous country and would have
"ood homes and live in ease.
As stated above, tins great InmIv
of land will soon be open for settle
ment. In fact it is now open, but
has never l>een surveyed. .This will
soon be accomplished, however, as
the government has just appropri
ated a large sum of money for
surveying this land, which survey
will Ik- the first made by the gov
ernment in Alaska.
Mr. A. J. Adams of this place has
secured the contract from the gov
ernment and is authorized and in
structed to establish the base lines,
meridians and standard parollells
for Alaska in the t'opjK*r river val
ley. The total lengthof these lines
is 200 miles and after they arc
once established, it will not Ik-such
a difficult or expensive task to make
other surveys.
Mr. Adams is qualified in every
way to do the work. He has Wen
connected with government survey
work for the past 12 years, and for
three years prior to coming to Val
dez he had charge of the hydro
graphic work of the L’. S. Geologi
cal Survey, in Washington, the re
port of which appears in the 151th
and 20th annual rejKirt of the I'.S.
Geological Survey, Division of Hy
drography. He is now making ex
tensive preparations to start for the
CopjK-r river and will take a large
niimW-r of men and an outfit of
provisions, tents and such survey
ing instruments as are needed in
this work.