THE ID5TAROD PIONEER ■
_J I
Publlahed Every Saturday Morning at Idltarod, Alaska
v'ol. 8 CHARLES A. DERRY, Editor No. 8
ARBUCKLE 5. DERRY, Publishers
Subscription Rates
One Year $10.00
Six Months 6.00
One Month 51.00 !
Slnfllo Copy ...... .SB
Advertising Rates on Application
IDITAROD COMMERCIAL CLUB
A call has been issued for the annual meeting of I
the iditarod Commercial Club, which was deferred
from the regular date, early in january. It will be
held on Wednesday, March 14, and should be at
tended bv every business man ot the city and all
others interested. The annual election of officers is:
to take place at this time.
Matters of importance which are the particular
province of such a body as the Commercial Club,
affecting the interests of the whole community, are
to be taken up. Among these are the ever-present j
road question and the matter of securing a more;
adequate mail service.
Complaints relative to the shabby manner in which
this district has been treated m the distribution of
road funds have been plentiful in the past, and the
matter of mail service is one that is cause for con
stant dissatisfaction. The Commercial Club should
voice the sentiments of the community on these two
important questions.
There is no district in Alaska where the expendi
ture of funds for roads in an intelligent and system
atic manner would be so productive of good results to
the community, and to the entire territory, as the
Iditarod; and yet there is no district where the ap
propriations have been so paltry and the results ob
tained so inadequate to meet pressing needs. In the
person of j. E. Riley a practical man has been found
to undertake the work of road improvement, and
it remains tor the people ot the district to present
their claims for the necessary funds for him to work
with. It is likely that through the Commercial Club
the necessities of the district can be presented to
the Alaska road commission and the territorial au
thorities in such a light as to arouse their interest.
Out of the more than half a million dollars now being
spent annually by the road commission in the terri
tory it would seem that the people of this district are
modest indeed in demanding that at least $25,000
be spent in and about the second largest gold-pro
ducing camp in the territory.
With reference to the mail service, it is likely that
stress Will be laid upon the fact that while the win
ter trail between Iditarod and Seward has become
an important thoroughfare since its use by the mail
carriers, and that trail conditions ordinarily are the
best, yet the consignments of mail for Iditarod arc
continually diminishing, until during the present Win
ter they have shrunk to little more than first-class
matter. The fact that second-class matter, which
is so important in an isolated locality such as this,
is being held up by lack of means of transportation,
should receive the consideration of the club and
an effort should be made to secure relief. The
postal authorities should be impressed by the un
fairness of the policy which prompts the addition of
new districts to be served by the Seward-Iditarod
route without increasing the weight limit, thus cur
tailing the mail privileges of ail.
A WONDERFUL DISCOVERY
Those Republican newspapers which predicted
such dire consequences to the nation by reason of
the appointment of a man of progressive beliefs to
the supreme bench are experiencing a shock in the
discovery that justice Brandeis is capable of render
ing a decision in accordance with what he believe?
to be the law, irrespective of his personal economi;
beliefs. Says the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: ^
Additional interest attaches to the recent decision of the j
United States supreme court in the Pacific coast ret? case fren
the fact that it was written and announced by Associate Justice
Louis D. Brandeis. In the opinion the contention of the trans
continental railroads for the right to meet water competition
through the Panama canal in through rates to coast terminals,
13 recognized.
The contentions of interior cities was tha* the Panama canal, j
in its present liability to blockades, docs not furnish reliable water I
eompetiton, and that the restrictive clause of the interstate com- !
merer law governing long and short hauls would thus be operative
to prevent the makng of low long-haul rates to coast terminals.
Justice Brandeis found that the Panama canal furnishes a reliable
competitive route, and he suggests further that court interference
with the orders of the interstate commerce commission, on munici
pal applications, cannot be made consistent with the administra
tive freedom and energy the commisson should have.
Justice Brandeis' first important decision is some testimony to
his ability to deal fairly with the corporations he so often oppose;'
in his career as an attorney, and something of a pleasant disap
pointment to those who regarded him as hopelessjy unrtasonabl
in his attitude toward railroads.
♦
WHEN SPEECH IS BRAZEN
(Lousville Courier-Journal)
In years to come,” says the Philadelphia North American, "th
historian of American public affairs will find a striking theme ir.
the fact that in the great world crisis of 1916 the United State,
was prevented from taking its rightful place in the family of lin
tions because a few hundred voters in one state, California, sup
ported the Democratic candidate for President instead of the Rc
publican.”
For unmitigated post-election balderdash that is the worst
that has come under the Courier-Journal's notice.
Just what place in the family of nations the United State
would have taken under Hughes that it has not taken under \Y i
son lias never been explained. Such an explanation was sough
on all hands by those whose votes were asked, but it was n<
given, and nobody to this day knows what Hughes would hav<
done that Wilson has not done.
The Impudence of the North American’s word;; is accentuate
by the fact that that paper was one of the loudest and most v
ciferous in demanding that Mr. Hughes pome from cover and be
ciare himself; and it did not conceal its dispJeasure and content'
because it did not accede to its demand.
---*-.
“HE DIDN'T DO VERY MUCH'
(Ketchikan Progressive Miner)
There is a persistent rumor going the rounds that Govern;’
Strong will not seek reappointment; that someone high up in th
Democratic machine has put a “bug in his car,' which means lb;-,
he would not be reappointed if ho wanted to.
But what has he done that anyone should oppose him? It ma
be true that he didn’t do very much; at that he did as nrir’ f
any of his predecessors; which is very little, we admit. Tei U<
incumbent of that office is supposed to be a mere figurehead, ai.
as such there is nothing to do. One of the great objections that ;
being brought to light now and again is that he associates mud
more with Republicans than with Democrats. While this aesocia
ti-n may not be bad in itself, it is admittedly bad form; he:.:
the persistent desire on the part of tome Democrats to hav;
man in the chair who wid recognize none but Democrats; and th:
is the way it should be. Because, if the Republicans had the imp
hsnd, they would do the same. Republicans never recognize Den:
acrats even at a cockfight.
--—
AFTER A BETTER TRAIL
(Seward Post)
A couple of mushers from Iditarod, who went out on the botr
yesterday called before leaving and spoke vigorously upon the ne;
of a better trail over Rainy pas.-.
The travel between the lower Yukon country and Seward
increasing each year, as the operators in these gain Quite a lit.l
working time by remaining after the last boats sail.
Hundreds of men have traveled the trail so far this winter, an
hundreds more will make the trip in before the break up.
Of course the ultimate goal is a railroad, but in the meantim
men in the Interior camps are drawing up petitions to the Alask'
road commission for more extensive work on the trad from th
nearest point on the railroad. When the petitions are presente
an effort wi 1 be made to show Colonel Richardson that the trail
into the Kuskokwim and lower Yukon will be of greater value t
that section of the territory than the Yaidez-Fairbanks trail is to
Fairbanks.
--♦
Alaska political appointments seem to be as much “up in tiic
air’’ as ever. The latest rumor given currency is that Strong i.
a candidate for reappointment to the governorship. A Seattle new.
item says that there are indications of an impending “shake-up’
to take place in Alaska politics, and continues: “It is said tha
Strong. Brown, Jennings and Bunnell will be reappointed, but
that a big political house-cleaning will take place in Nome official
dom. All informed Alaskans believe that Spence, district attorney
for the Third division, will ‘get the ax,’ especially because of his
prosecution of the Yaldcz Tilhcum Club. Toni Donahue, national
committeeman, says Sulzer is sure to ‘get’ Wickers!:am. ’
A rumor has been circulated in Washington to the effect tha
President Wilson will have two more vacancies to fill on the su
preme court bench within the next few months. It s saiu tha
Justices McKenna and Day will soon retire, the former because oi
sge and the latter by reason of ill-health. Among those whon
the President is said to have in mind for the filling of future va
cancies ore Secretary of the Interior Lane end Senator Walsh of
Montana. Both are capable men, but the retirement of Secretary
I.ane from the cabinet would be a distinct loss to Alasaa.
-A-—
The Germsn-American crisis presents a situation probabl;
unique in international disputes. Germany evidently is seekin
to avoid a conflict with the United States, and has retrained from
direct attack cn American vessels so far. But she continues in her
attitude of defiance of this country in the matter of the submarin
warfare, and it would appear to be merely a matter of time until
some act which will call for an open declaration of war shall be
committed.
Fairbanks merchants have hit upon a plan of betterment in
the way of transportation, and have organized a company to
engage in the shipping of freight from Seattle to Fairbanks. It i- i
a plan which might well have suggested itse.f heretofore, and onr
which the merchants and shippers of this district might derive
profit from investigating.
If Mr. Wilson has the satiric sense, we should like his c^m
ments on the newspapers which, in editorials and news head-lines
have awarded the election first to one candidate and then to th
(her; those being the same newspapers which berated the Pre. i
lent for his vacillating policy.—?b*w ' nrk Tribune.
It was said at the Clinical Congress in Philadelphia that high
living was responsible for most operations. We have long sue
pected it. But the doctors insist on living high.—New York Mere
ing Telegraph.
-^
As we understand Colonel Roosevelt, during the seven and r
half years he was President this country was at no time in dance'
of war, because the rest of the world was afraid of him.—D
Moines Register. _
Speaking of opportunities in these strenuous times, the dor
mant nations soon become doormat nations. Brooklyn Ea-ls.
Ball Band Rubber Boots and Pacs
Bail Band Rubber Boots and Pacs
i
1 t*>
<
CL,
g
-J
<
03
HUNT’S CANNED FRUITS
Fisher’s “Blend” and "Art” Fleur
Golden Glow Butter—None Better
Dog Hams, 6c pound Dog Bacon, 12c pound
N. C. Co. Sole Agents for Alaska
N. C. Co. Sole Agents for Alaska
CO
>
t—
t—
73
§
09
m
73
!1
t/t
►
2!
O
"O
>
C*5
cn
DOWN THE YUKON RIVER
WITH “PHONOGRAPH JACK”
(Roger Foster in Springfield Republican)
Never shall I forget my voyage upon the
good ship Yukon, under the command of
Phonograph Jack. It more nearly resem
bled the hunting of the snark than any
thing I had seen before, in real life or upon
the stage. The steamboat was propelled
by a rear paddle wheel, and was of a type
which I had not seen since, when a boy, f
ipplauded at the Boston theater the boiler
explosion at the annual performance of “Kit
Carson, the Arkansas Traveler.”
The captain was haunted by the recolloc
don of some unhappy experience of the past
■r some bad habit had put his nerves into a
hronic state of irritaton; for he could not
•teer, by day or night, unless a phonograph
.hich lie kept in the wheelhouse was grimi
ng out some ragtime music of the cheapest
■ml most hackneyed kind. It is not sur
mising that on other voyages it was not
nusual for the boat to run aground. Why
-ho bowsprit did not get mixed with the
rudder sometimes during the vessel's tor
uous windings I never understood, until I
discovered that the boat had no bowsprit,
its place beng supplied by the barge pushed
n front. The discipline was like that upon
be good ship Pinafore. An officer wore hi
uniform or not. just as it suited him. A
'.runken lower-deck passenger might wander
ithnut interference through the quartcr.
f those who had paid for first-class accom
modations. The women had to move where
■hey could not bear his talK. ne nan ms
own way undisturbed. The stewards called
:e passengers by their first names or by
rch nicknames as occurred to then). I was
saluted as "Doc,” a title which, as I was as
-ured by the old settlers—rightly or wrongly
was a term of respect. Bui a vencrsbl
nd distinguished phy.-ician from Indianap
lis, who aLso received from his waiter the
,ame appellation, told me plaintively that in
his city the term was given to horse doctor;
only.
The waiters sat with us in the smoking
-nom, joined in the conversations and, I wa
i, Id, circulated scandals about the womer
■ho were traveling without protect or ••
These waiters also had their own nickname;
And the most efficient rejoiced in the ti l
f “The Popcorn Kid." He played at nigh;
on the guitar melodies which were repute'
*o excite jealousy in the heart of the skip
oer. Phonograph Jack. These stewards were
mostly working in the summer to earn
■nnugh for a grubstake, so that in the win
ter they might search for geld. The com
anv’s deck hands included princes of the
royfl blood—grandchildren of the king ot
he Moose tribe.
The passengers were a motley crew—In
dians, squawmen, trappers, jail birds, pro::
pectors about to leave such little civilization
as the river afforded for two years in the
wilderness, where they hoped to find the
recious metal, and pioneers of the A ukon
,vho had abandoned all hope of success in
ucii a search and settled down to hum
drum work for a stipend much less than
bey would have earned had they stayed at
■ ome. Tlmre were a few men who were
Das ing th.e territory with the little Icit of
what they had brought, a few traveler.; for
oleasure who grumbled at the food and ac
commodations, and a Seattle detective who
had assumed the disguise of a short-story
writer, living in Denver. Such tale.- e.s were
told in the smoking room could not el.se
where be heard. The trapper described the
habits of the lynx or other fur-bearers which
he caught. He trapped them in the way in
which Irask Walton put the worm on the
hook, “as though he loved them.” His
methods were not unlike those recommended
>y Stendahl in a treatise upon the tender
passion. Ha lured them, not by a bait of
food, but by exciting their curiosity and.
love of beauty. The lynx has a passion
for the color red. Po the man would hang
piece of scarlet above the trap, and the
animal must try to take it and then fall
nto the steel jaws. This taught me why
a salmon which will not e3t will snap s! sn
artificial fly. Others of the beasts are lured
v a pungent smell from some chemical
laced in a little house. Th;y cannol resist
the temptation to enter and find what is the
cause.
The squawmen told of the habits of In
dian women. Marriage by capture is still
the rule in Alaska. The girls are taught
by their mothers that their honor requires
physical resistance even to an honorable
lover. When a squaw runs at the sight of
a man she invites him to pursue her. (We
were reminded of the time-worn “fugit ad
alices.” He did not apparently agree with
the trappers whom in a canoe near Lake
Winnipeg I once heard discuss the respec
tive merits of wives of different races. They
"greed that a white wife was too lazy, and
he squaw uninteresting because too stupid
iealous; but that a half-breed wife \va
their ideal.)
The pioneer described his struggle in cross
ing the pass before the railroad came, carry
ing his supplies of provisions over the snow
in relays bv short sleighs to the summit,
n building a boat in which to sail acres'
the lake, shoot the rapids below, and de
scend the Yukon. When the ice broke the
lake was crowded with small craft; they
used for sails blankets, coats, sheets, towels,
and everything imaginable to aid their oars,
while from one boat a single bugle blew the
note of “Home, Sweet Home,” which seemed
the best music they had ever heard.
But the chief tellers of tales were Paddy
McKnigH and Caribou Jack. Paddy was a
’vernool Irish wharf rat who had drifted
‘o Alaska with no capital but his Celtic wit.
His principal vocation had been that of a
tage driver and hackman of the class
known in New York as night hawks. But
H had also hunted for gold without suc
cess and smuggled whisky, of which he had
consumed more than he sold. Garrulous
and unashamed, he poured out a continu
ous stream of stories about himself, in some
of which he disclosed matters which most
men would have tried to conceal. His
greatest pride was a song which women
■vhose reputation could not truthfully be
described as doubtful were wont to ring
vhen they wished him to whip his horss.
Oh, Paddy McKnight, they say, has no
style;
But he’s style all the time, all the
time.
Caribou Jack was a horse of a different
color. Tall and massive, a magnificent
specimen of humanity, he towered above
the other passengers, in his boots laced to
knee, and the blue mosquito netting draped
about his broad slouch hat. A . Harvard
man he was, said to be the natural son of
a distinguished general; he had been in New
York an officeholder under Croker, and later
a prizefighter; in Alaska a barkeeper, a
prospector, a lawyer and a writer for the
newspapers and magazines Outside. The
reminiscences by him and Paddy concern
ing the men and women of Alaska in early
times, all of whom were identified by nick
names more forcible than polite, although
interesting, would be more in place in a
volume of Smollett or Rabelais than in a
family newspaper. The women had been
mployed to dance with the miners at #1 a
waltz, which sum and the price of the
Irinka erd-red were split between the girl
and the proprietor of the dance hali. (In
lore than one case a miner paid a woman
iter weight in gold, duly balanced on the
calcs, which another man helped her to
pend.) One of these deuce hall girls later
ntered as a maid a Fifth avenue house,
New York, and there engineered a scheme
by which her employer, the. widow of a
multimillionaire, married the girls lover,
.vhile under the additional influencs of
Scotch whisky and champagne. All of these
women pioneers who had remained in the
erritnry, with a single exception, were now
duly married and were leading respectable
i ives 8s society dames. One of them, who
! vas on the boat, was the wife of the most
j nfltlential citizen in the territory.
1 REGULATION OF WIRELESS
BY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
WASHINGTON, Jan. 20.—First steps to
ward ultimate government control of all
adio communication between the Unitec
States, its outlying possessions and ships at
ea are proposed in an administration bill
o be laid before congress, providing for a
weeping revision of the law's regulatin,
vireless stations.
The proposal is in line with a plan worked
ut nearly a year ago by navy wireless ex
•erts and indorsed by Secretary l>tu::el.-i anc
ether administration officials in i : informal
uggestion to all of the American republic.
r uniform government wireless control
throughout the Western hemisphere.
As an initial step the measure to be pre
anted would authorize the federal govern
,ent to purchase commercial stations where
se owners are willing to sell at a fair val
ation; would permit government-owner
lauts to be opened for private commercial
•usings®, and, in the interest of national de I
.'ense, would throw restrictions about the j
rticipation of aliens in the control or op
eration of American wireless. Every pri
vate concern operating in the United State,
would be required, under the bill, to bring
at least two-thirds of its stock under Amer
icun ownership end to have a two-third,
majority of Americans on its board of di
rectors. No -alien would be licensed as ar,
operator in any land plant on American ter |
ritory.
The bill, drafted by representatives of thr
several executive departments interested
was introduced in the senate by Sctmiot
Fletcher, a member of the commerce com
mittee, and in the house by Representativf
Alexander, chairman of the merchant ma
rine committee. The expectation is that
it will, be pressed for passage during the
present session.
AN INACCURATE LEGEND
There is growing up around the Gugaen
j heirus a legend that is about as inaccum:
j ; such things usually are. Some Ferrerr
of the future probably will have to dig u
facts. One G. G. Forbes, writing recent!;,
in Leslie's Weekly, recorded that: “N
mountaineer, no prospector, knew more
hardships than the Guggenheim brother
went through. The Creator, they soon dis
covered, had invariably deposited mineral
wealth far from settled centers of civiiiza
tion, and had surrounded it with obstacle
"t.ich only the pi near and brave clecte '
o encounter. Daniel Guggenheim, with
'he other brothers, slept in tents or wagon,
-.mid wild surrour.dinzs as often as under a
f ” And then some more slush. Daniel
mggenheim wss a bold and far-seeing finan
ier and rx; 1 -1■. r. bui he was not a pioneer I
f the type of Mackuv rnd Hcarst. and any
such intimations arc probably quite nauscat
to him.
In the r -’’" 8C~ 'lever Ougtrrnheim, a
lace manufacturer in Philad^Iplva, at the
•nstigation of a felovv Philadelphian, Gra
hem by name, acquired a half interest in
the A. V. and Minnie mine, in California
gulch, at Leadville, Cob. The venture
proved highly profitable, the A. Y. and Min
ute becoming one of the big mines of the
ii‘-trict. Beniamin Guggenheim, one of the
• ns of Meyer, war sent out to the mine as j
ccountant, snd he. acquiring more or less |
.-.formation concerning the smelting busi
ness, induced his father and brothers to go
nto it. largely because of the unfavorable
arms the smelters were making on the A.
Y. and Minnie ore, which gradually became
more zir.cy, and consequently less desirable
'n character from the lead smelters' stand- j
ini. The Guggenheim?, n company with \
C. IF Lien, who soon retired, bu'lt the j
'hiiadeh’hia works, a large plant at Pueblo.
hi., in 1889. At first the venture was
decidedlv unsuccessful. but sradtially com
to the appreciation of the necessity for |
ccuring the best pos-ible technical advice, !
and acting upon that principle, together i
with their own, sharp commercial acumen. 1
hey converted into a success what prom
;sed to be a failure. Thus ha—'ng acquired
n insight into the smelting business, they i
early appreciated the great possibilities of ;
smelting in Mexico when the lead-hearing I
ores of that country were practically cx- j
! luded from the United States by the tariff j
'■f 1890. and erected works at Monterey an ! |
Agitas Calientes. This expansion in busi- j
ness, to which the tariff of 1890 opened the |
way, was the real start of the business, i
When the Philadelphia plant was built j
William and one or two other brothers went
out to join Benjamin. In later years, when j
fhe business had become big, there was a i
little rift between the brothers who had been
in the field and those who had stayed at
.lonie. And finally Benjamin (who was lost
with the Titanic) and William retired from
Tie smelting business.—Engineering and
Mining Journal.
---<*.
SOME SATISFACTION
Miss Green—Of course you can’t believe
everything you hear.
Miss Gadleigh—Oh, no; but you can re
peat it.—Boston Transcript.
Profession a i
Michigan, 1881 Alaska. l»ie
Kentucky, 18 »1
George Woodruff Albrecht
COUNSELOR AND LAWYER
iDITAROD, ALASKA
TLe Pioneer Attorney of Zdit&rod
E. M. STANTON
Attorney at Lav/
.fiice: Corner Willow and Second St*.
Iditarod Pioneer Building
CHAS E. TAYLOR
Attorney at Law
BANK BLOCK
First Avenue Hit*f»d
OR. P.'SOORE
PHYSICIAN AMD SURGEON
DR, H. E. AUR1NGER
Office: Flat City Hospital. Flat City
'onsuliatiou Hours in Forenoons and by
Appointment
FLAT DRUG STORE
0 e st of Everyth I ng
ALL THE TIME AT THE
Arcade Cafe
FLAT CITY
Open Day end Ni#ht
FINE WATCH REPAIRING
NUGGET JEWELRY TO ORDER
I J L. SALE, Flat City
03 4 f ADITS bit.* and small, printed en
t LAX.f\S\Ud pappr, cardboard or
»n .short notice, at lditarod office.
OFEN DAY AND NIGHT
I
I
TLAT CITY HOHBACK <1 DURAND
Bet. the Grand and Bagoy't Ban
THE BEST ALL THE TIME
WE ARE HERE TO STAY
French Jos's Roadhouse
SOUTH FORK KUSKCKWIM
DOC BACON AND FISH
FOR SALE
Big Stocks of Fresh Goads
Everything for the Miner and
Prospector
MAX SIMEL r«V
Stores at Cripple City and Mouth oi Tolstoi
j. h. Rooina
S^ew Restaurant
Open Early and Late
GOOD EATS, QUICK SERVICE
Only Correspondence SeJiool CM
in Alaska
Frrnt 8t., Idltarod, neat to Manuoll*
FINNEGAN & CAMERON]
FLAT CITY
Agency for Edison Diamond Disc Phonographs and Records
TOBACCO CIGARS STATIONERY
CONFECTIONERY AND BILLIARDS
C. R. Camoron Jas. F. Finnegan
THOS. McMAHON
DEALER IN
General Merchandise
FLAT, ALASKA