fltyp Bathj JlroHpprtor
PUBLI8HHD BT
PROSPECTOR PUBLISHING CO.
H. B. SELBY, Editor ud Proprietor.
VALDEZ. ALASKA
Published Pally Except Sunday_
Entered as Second-Class Mall Matter.
July 23. 191.’, at the uostolticei of Valde*.
Alaska, under act or March 3, 187*.
■iuidnesK Oflice and Editorial Rooine.
TEL. 162
Advertlslii0 Rates on Application.
FRIDAY, MARCH 8. 1018
Food will win
the War;
don’t waste it!
i
THE GAS HOG.
TO ths raucous honk of a ribald horn
And the clutter of rusty chains.
And a roar from under a battered hood
Streaked gray with the suns and rains,
With a load of grub for man or beast.
In a cloud of dust I pass,
And only slacken my speed to swill
A hogshead or so of gas
A DUSTY demon In dungarees
Grips hold of my steering wheel.
His eyes are flint and his lungs are brasat
And his nerves are tautened steel.
I go all night and 1 go all day.
And need no hay or grass
Or feed of oats to All me up.
But only a drink of gas
mHE aeroplane Is a pretty thing
As It spins In the distant blue.
And the racing car Is a brother o’ mine
And a wonderful traveler too.
But I am king of the long, long road.
And lord of the motor class,
For the army mule has lost his lob
To the army hog of gas.
—Leslie’s
TRAGIC LACK OF SYSTEM
The loss of the transport Tuscania
has developed the unfortunate fact
that the war department has worked
out no efficient system of Identifying
the soldiers sent to. France. The list
of soldiers on the ship went down
with the vessel and ^he tags on the
bodies of the unfortunate victims of
the disaster failed to identify them.
Thus the only means of identifying
the men was by a process of elimina
tion—that is, by checking off the
names of the survivors and comparing
them with a list made up containing
the names of the troops sent on board
the steamship. A supplementary sys
tem was worked out by taking the
finger prints of the unrecognized sol
diers whose bodies' were recovered on
the Irish coast. By these means the
war department hopes, by sheer good
luck, to be able to identify all the vic
tims of the enemy’s submarine.
It may be assumed that most of
the Americans on board were insured
with the government. But the ques
tion is whether, in case some of the
bodies are not identified, their depend
ents will be able to collect on their
policies. It will be impossible to prove
that their lives were actually sacri
ficed, and if the government is will
ing to pay the insurance without
knowing whether it should be paid,
the possibility of wholesale fraud
arises.
Even conceding that the task of the
war department in raising a big army
on short notice has been stupendous
and that errors of omission and com
mission cannot be avoided, it is little
short of astounding that such tragic
evidence of lack of system has been
thrust upon the country.
THE DOOM OF THE U-BOAT
The doom of the U-boat, according
to all reports from the allied war capi
tals, has been sounded. Certainly, the
kaiser’s ground for boasting on the
score of submarine successes is de
cidedly shadowy. There has been a
downward curve in losses from sub
marines for several months and new
devices are being perfected which pro
mise to minimize the menace still fur
ther.
The announcement of the vice
chairman of the naval consulting
board that means have been found
whereby transports—and other ves
sels—are rendered unsinkable by U
boats is deeply interesting. It is the
first statement yet made by anybody
in authority that an unsinkable boat
is more than a dream. Tet we are as
sured that a transport so equipped
will still float though a hole thirty or
forty feet in diameter be blown in
her. side—that ‘such a hole would
waterlog but one-tenth of the honey
combed airtight cells." . v
Only a few days prior to this an
nouncement the secretary of the navy
said that a new type of submarine
enemy, which is neither destroyer or
submarine but which resembles both,
is being built, and that within a short
time these craft will be manufactur
ed at the rate of one a day.
Meanwhile American and British
destroyers are scouring the seas for
the submarine enemy—and with suc
cess. The American depth bomb has
accounted for a number of the kai
ser’s “stiletos of the seas.” British
and French patrol boats, seaplanes
and “blimps” or airships, also are
tracking down the foe. The allied gov
ernments, particularly the United
States and England, arc turning out
new ships in largo numbers; already
the rate of construction is practical
ly the same as the destruction. In oth
er words, the full resources of the
allies are concentrated on the U-boat,
while the rate of output of new sub
marines in Germany must be decreas
ing.
The prediction of Admiral Jellicoe,
formerly head of the British fleet and
later chief of the admiralty, that the
submarine menace would be remov
ed by August, evidently is based on a
general survey of all known factors
in the situation. In any case, the dark
side of the picture is facing Wilhelm
strasse.
THE KETCHIKAN MINER takes
a fall out of workingmen for striking
for higher wages and shorter hours,
and calls them traitors and other
misapplied epithets. Why not call the
men traitors to the country who raise
the price of rent and foods so high the
workingman is forced to strike to get
enough to live on? Rents In Seattle
have reached an exhorbitant figure.
Foodstuffs have mounted sky high.
The man who is trying to live on four
or five dollars a day has no protec
tion. The dealer can raise his price
and get It without question. The
workingman has no other recourse
but to strike when his demands are
refused. The Prospector as well as ev
ery other paper in Alaska has raised
its prices. Are we traitors to the coun
try for so doing? Why then, should we
call a man a traitor who adopts the
only means at his command to secure
a higher price for his commodity? As
fast as the price of necessities rise the
price of labor must also rise, if the
laboring man is to escape bankruptcy.
The best way to avoid strikes would
be to place a reasonable profit on both
necesities and labor and compell all
parties to adhere to the scale estab
lished. And this is what the govern
ment will yet be compelled to do to
prevent the profiteers plunging the
country into revolution. While we
believe that no good has ever been
accomplished by a strike, when the
waste of time and money is consider
ed, yet it serves to call the attention
of the nation to the underdog, and
is only a means to the end. Labor
should be extremely careful not to
embarrass the government by its ac
tions in these parlous times, but
the profiteers also should be properly
tagged and numbered and not allow
labor to receive all the blame.
ONE of the best arguments for
statehood yet advanced is the refus
al of Senator Key Pittman to endorse
the nomination of Thomas R. Riggs
for governor because he thought some
other man should have the job. So
long as Alaska is jockeyed out of her
officials and used as a moneymaker
for profiteers living in the States, just
so long will her development be held
back. Alaska for the politicians and
to hell with her inhabitants has been
the rule at Washington for the past
few years.
NEWS DISPATCHES today assert
that the telegraph lines of the country
are crowded with official business to
the exclusion of private messages of
business men. Which brings the thot
that if every town in the United
States received the waste paper that
Valdez does the government printing
office must be expanding faster than
the shipbuilding plants.
THE LAST two days have proven
conclusively that to be fitted for this
climate a man should have a wooden
head and his hair nailed to it. if he
would save any of the hirsute adorn
ment generally used as a handle by
his wife.
THE GERMAN peace treaties seem
to be a sort of military camoflauge
The Teutons sign a treaty with their
enemies and then wipe them out when
their armies are demobilised.
Anything you want in the line of
photography—Jenner can do it for
you. tf
The Valdez Packing Company win
send in a consignment of machinery
and building material on one of the
next boats.
Several new fishing boats and
scows will be constructed by the Val
dez Packing Company at this place
this year.
The Order of Alaskan Moose held
a business meeting at their hall last
evening.
DIABOLICAL TRAPS LAID
TO KILL FRENCH TROOPS
WITH THE FRENCH ARMIES:
!The diabolical ingenuity of the Ger
mans met its match in the cleverness
I of the French after the German re
treat from the Chemin des Dames, as
after the retreat of last March from
'the Noy<.'. salient. A hundred devices
! r f great cunning were left behind in
the trendies and shelters. They were
inte .dnd to dc. troy imprudent pursu
I ut. as a matter of fact, not one
French soldier lost his life in these
German traps.
In some cases branches were placed
across doorways and attached to the
branches were strings. If any of the
branches were pushed aside they set
off mines.
A book was left lying on a table in
such a way that if It were lifted, a
charge would be exploded by means
of an electric wire hidden along the
table leg.
Percussion instruments were hid- f
den in old heaps of coal.
Explosives were hidden in stove
pipes, so when the fire was lighted
everything would blow up.
A sack was left in the entrance to
a dugout in such a way that when it
was removed a dozen grenades hid- j
den near by would be set off by a wire.
A nail was left projecting from a >
step, so that when pressed it would j
set off a charge underneath.
Telephone wires seeming to lead in
to a gallery, led in reality to a mine,
and would have exploded it if they
had been touched.
A shovel was stuck between the
logs of a shelter in such a way that if
removed, it exploded a charge by
means of a string.
Doors, branches, table drawers,
tools, pieces of metal, even "souven
irs" and artificial flowers were ar
ranged to set off grenades or charges
of explosives if touched.
In the trenches hand grenades were
attached to wires and would explode
if the wires were pulled. Slat walks
were placed over grenades so these
would explode if the slats were walk
ed on. Contact grenades were hidden
under a layer of earth or among
branches.
Shells Hurled in Roads
Under the roads mines were placed
which would explode when a horse
trod on a certain spot. In the same
way shells were buried upright be
neath the road, the fuse set, so that
the pressure of a horse or wagon from
above would set them off.
Grenades which would explode at a
touch were hidden in the straw of
stables or under bricks or tiles.
How did the French avoid them?
Simply by the exercise of great wari
ness. Soldiers were forbidden to en
ter shelters, dugouts, houses or even
certain trenches until after they had
been thoroughly examined by special
ists. The traps were discovered one
by one, the strings or wires cut, the
mines, charges, shells or grenades re
moved. The finest handiwork will
leave some trace, and by this trace,
however faint, the French succeeded
in recognizing the hand of the Ger
man and in frustrating it.—New York
World.
PAID ADVERTISEMENT
____ _ ___________._„___ — — - *
CHAS. A. SULZER
Candidate For Re-election
__ As
DELEGATE TO CONGRESS
From Alaska
“In deciding to enter the primaries as a candidate for Delegate to
Congress from Alaska; I feel impelled to make a brief statement to
the people of the territory. It Is now nearly a year since I was seated
in the House as Alaska’s representative to congress. During the most
of this time the United States has been engaged in a world war, and
every resource of the nation, Including money and man power is be
ing devoted to the single purpose of winning this, great war. Every
member of congress in considering legislation for the nation, has
placed the country’s war needs above all needs and requirements and
has subordinated his desires to the military establishment of the
United States. *
"Alaska has responded nobly to the nation's call. She has given
her share willingly and unstintingly. When the democratic party
went before the people of Alaska in November, nineteen sixteen, It
stood for a certain constructive program which embodied as its prin
cipal elements a wider measure of home rule for the territory, and a
sane and rational policy in the development of natural resources and
every possible aid to the pioneers of the country.
"I have Introduced among others the following bills in congress
which I am pressing for passage as opportunity affords:
“Granting Alaska full territorial form of government with home
rule the dominating principle.
“Regulating the fisheries of Alaska along lines that will be fair
to all, and the protection of the salmon supply from depletion.
“Making changes In the homestead laws by abolishing the eighty
rod reservation.
“Authorizing free surveys of homesteads in isolated sections.
“Changing the game laws so as to give the people a better oppor
tunity to use the game of the country without its being slaughtered.
“Extending the federal farm loan act to Alaska.
“Providing for the care of Alaska’s insane within the territory.
“At all times I have endeavored to keep constantly in mind the
needs of the territory ai d the people of the territory. In spite of the
war some measure of progress has been achieved. I have assisted In
passing a law which helped the prospector by suspending assessment
work on Calms during the years nineteen seventeen and nineteen
eir htee t. The extension of the wireless and cable system In Alaska has
been a'eomp’lshed with bright prospects for a further extension.
T e.og: ttlo ha' keen forced for Alaska in the matter of appoint
ments to the ‘eem'd series of training camps for officers. Contracts
which prevented the farmers of the Interior from supplying army
posts with their vegetables are oapoelled.
“Suggestions aid requests that I again go before the people of
Alaska have come to me. from Alaskans all over the territory. Reit
erating my desire to serve the best Interests of Alaska I am submit
ting my name as a candidate for the democratic nomination for
Delegate to Congress.”
TO SERVE OUR COUNTRY
We have enlisted in the U. S. Food Administration
U. S. FOOD ADMINISTRATION CONTROLLED
COMMODITIES.
Apples, dried
Beans, dried and canned
Bread
Butter
Canned Mutton
Canned Beef
Cooking Fats
Corn, Canned
Corn Grits
Cornmeal
Corn Syrup
Cottonseed Oil
lyigs
Flour
Fruits, fresh
Hominy
Lard
Milk, canned
Molasses
Oatmeal and Rolled Oats
Peaches, dried
Peas, dried and canned
Pork, canned and cured
Prunes
Raisins
Rice
Salmon, canned
Sardines, canned
Starch, corn
Sugar
Syrup
Tomatoes, canned
Vegetables, fresh
We pledge ourselves to give our customers the ben
fit of FAIR and MODERATE PRICES,
selling at no more than a
reasonable profit
above cost
to us.
S. BLUM & COMPANY
Member of the United States Food Administration
License number G-48525
GOOD GOODS --- RIGHT PRICES
Ansco FUnu Will
fit any standard make o f camera.
They are the standard. Guy E. Cam
eron. **
Just receired all the latest popu
lar songs at O. O. Relnke's. tf
NOTICE
By order of the Attorney General
of the United States:
All Germans who have not taken
out their full citizenship papers must
report to the postmaster between the
dates of March 18th and 23rd and be
registered.
Aliens will give strict attention to
this notice as any alien who fails to
register will be prosecuted.
F. R. BRENNEMAN,
tf U. S. Marshal.
J. E. WILSON
Freighting to all points
in the third division.
Horses bought and sold.
Phone 166.
FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS
F. and A. M.
Valdez Lodge No. 168
REGULAR communications, first
Wednesday in each month in Ma
sonic Hall. Visitors always wel
come.
WALTER ELLIOT, W. M.
C. C. REYNOLDS, Sec.
L 0. 0. F.
Valdez, No, 6
Meets every Monday night at 8:00
o’clock p. m.t in Odd Fellows’
Hall. Visiting members cordially
invited to attend these meetings.
OTTO ELFSTROM, N. G.
R. D. NICHOLLS, Secretary. |
Fraternal Order Eagles
Valdez Aerie No. 1971
Meets every Friday night in Eagle
Hall. Visiting Members cordially in
vited to attend these meetings.
ED. WOOD, W. P.
C. J. TODD, Sec.
Order of Eastern Star
Valdez Chapter No. 5
STATED communications, first and
third Tuesdays of each month at
Masonic Hall. Visiting members
always welcome.
RENA E. CRAWFORD, W. M.
J. A. SILVERMAN, M. D. Seo’y.
Valdez Miners Union No. 188
Woatora Fad •ration of Minora
Frank Gustafson, President,
Valdai Alaafca.
GCORCE M. BARRY SmOvt.
Valdai Alaaka.
SAFETY FIRST
Travel On The
“SHAMROCK”
Prompt Service -
D.D. STEWART Master
LAUNCH DELLA
Capt. H. L. Rider
Weekly trips from Vsides to
Ellsmsr, Lsndlock, Fids!go and
way ports. Passengers landed
st all points.
Carrying freight and passen*
gers.
For rates apply oa heard.
CAPT. H. L. RID HR
PROFESSIONAL, CARDS.
DR. H. COCKERILLE
Graduate Natloul Ualveratty
Waaklagtaa. D, C.
DENTIST
la Valdez Since 1808
PHONE 110
Office Rooms Above Louie’s Cafe
DONOHOE & DIMOND
ATTORNEYS-AT-LAW
OAcm Opposite Coart House
Phaao M VALDEZ. ALASKA
JOHN LfONg C E RITCH.g
LYONS & RITCHIE
ATTORN EYS-AT-LAW
<>■«• Balldla*
RAoac 101 VALDEZ. ALASKA
---
ROBERT SIMPSON Opt D.
JUNEAU, ALASKA
Glasses Fitted Lenses Ground
VALDEZHOSPITAL
Private Rooms
* Terms Reasonable
JOS. A. S1LVEUAS. n. C.. n. D. Pn*.
Jos. A. ^ihreman PL G.M.D.
PHYSICIAN AND BVRHDON
Office keen-1 te 4 p. ■ ~7 te S p. m.
Butujay by Appointment
Re*. Tel. 176 Office TeL 16
Boyle Block Valdes
Arctic Hotel
All Warm, Outside Rooms
Transleat Trade Solicited
Special Rates by the Week or Moatb
Baths in Coaaecttoa
PHONf 1S9 MRS. STRING. Prep
LOVE & MEALS
Insurance
Fire-Surety Bonds-Life
HOTEL SEXTON
Seward Alaska
Geo. Sexton, Proprietor.
The traveling public’s
home.
I *!.•••■'- t
European Plajv *
HOTEL SEXTON