Miners & Merchants Bank
IDITAROD, ALASKA
Capital, $50,000.00
General Banking Business Transacted Gold Dust Bought and Assayed
Drafts Issued on Any Part of the World
SEATTLE CORRESPONDENT. SCANDINAVIAN AMERICAN BANK
OFFICERS:
CHARLES ROSS, President
JOHN HOLMES, Vice President
R. C. BUTTON, Cashier
===Merchants Cafe
See Our Sunday Bill-of-Fare
HERBERT E. RILEY, PROP.
ALASKA
Lane’s Secretary Visits Alaska
L. E. Smoot of Washington, D. C„ secre
tary to Franklin K. Lane, secretary of the
interior, passed through Juneau to Seward
(in August 5. He was a passenger on the
steamship Northwestern, and is making a
vacation tour of the coast of Alaska.
Juneauites Utilize Icebergs
During the warm weather of July cabin
residents of Juneau towed small icebergs
floating in the bay from Taku glacier to
their cabins for relief from the heat. The
glacier streams were on the rampage, and
~~ considerable damage resulted to bridges and
10 mining and other property near the
streams.
Apples Grow in Juneau
For the first time, says the Juneau Em
pire. Alaska goes on record as an apple
grower. There are in H. P. Hanson’s yard,
in Juneau, three apple trees which have de
veloped full-grown fruit during the long
stretch of sunny weather, and the trees
are bearing heavily. So far as is known,
this is the first time apples have reached
full growth in the territory.
Mears Makes a Hit
Commissioner Mears has made a hit with
the homesteaders in the Matanuska valley j
by instructing the engineers to employ these !
men where possible on their homesteads.
That is. where the route passes through a
homesteader’s ground, the homesteader is
given the work of clearing the right of way.
etc. This makes it especially convenient
for the settlers, for they do not have to
leave home to seek work.
Fish Wantonly Destroyed
To sail for two days through dead fish is
the experience of Aaron Ericson, the game
warden, and an experience that shows the
recklessness of the people who run canner
ies. says the Seward Gateway. The fish
were caught in traps and left there to die.
If they had been released in time they could |
have been saved, but, according to the in- i
formation received, the trap owners dis- j
played a wanton negligence. Mr. Ericson |
returned on July 30 after a trip over
the district.
Fire at Metlakahtla
Fire at Metlakahtla on the night of Aug.
5, starting from a smokehouse, destroyed
four residences and caused a loss of $10,000. !
All of the able-bodied men of the town, ex- j
cept four, were away fishing at the time, I
and that was responsible for the fire’s j
spreading. Many other houses caught fire. j
but the flames were extinguished in every
instance save those mentioned. Patrick
Verney. a native formerly employed by the
Ketchikan Miner as a printer, received a
severe cut on the knee while fighting the
flames. The blow will be a severe one to
the natives of Metlakahtla.
Republicans Ousted
Sweeping changes were made on July HO
among United States marshals in South
eastern Alaska by Marshal Harry A. Bishop.
Six Democrats were given the places of
Republicans. James L. Manning was ap
pointed to succeed Hector McLean in the
head office at Juneau; W. C. Sharp suc
ceeds John H. Davies at Ketchipan; J. W.
Combs succeeds W. S. Harding at Haines
and Henry L. Bahrt succeeds John Goodell
at Sitka. Harry Wallace succeeds W. D.
Grant at Wrangell, and Martin Kildall suc
ceeds J. C. Allen at Petersburg.
On the Alaska Northern
Fifty men are now on the payroll, work
ing on the Alaska Northern railroad, and
if signs count for anything, the number
will be very much increased soon, says the
Seward Gateway of August 3. A small
gang was put to work yesterday to prepare
for putting in a double track across Lowell
creek for a distance of about 500 feet, and
a contract is now being let for piling at
Mile One for eight hundred feet of bulk
head. Men are also at work taking out the
old track that was destroyed by the fire.
The old iron of the cars, etc., will be
straightened out and the whole thing
cleaned up.
Bids for Railroad Supplies
A Seattle paper of July 28 says that the
cache of the Alaska railroad engineering
commission at Seward needs replenishing.
C. E. Dole, purchasing agent, is asking for
bids on a list of groceries, from desiccated
eggs to Roquefort cheese.
Here are some of the things the railroad
employes will need between August 15 and
the end of the fall season: Fifty-five and
one-half tons of flour, twenty-five tons ot
sugar, twenty tone of butter, thirteen tone
of beans, seven and one-half tons of coffee,
seven and one-half tons of bacon, three tons
: of salt, one half ton of crackers, 2,500 cases
canned goods, 1,000 bottles of extracts, 1,500
cases of condensed cream, 25.000 bars of
soap, ten cases of grape juice, five barrels of
ginger ale, twenty pounds of Roquefort
cheese, ten pounds of paprika, one pound
of thyme.
Marshal Erwin Makes Report
The reports of the expenditures made dur
ing the fiscal year 1915, ending June 30.
by the marshal’s and clerk's offices a; Fair
banks, have just been made up and sent to
the department of justice, says the News
Miner of August 6. They show a collective
expenditure in this division of approxi
mately $323,274.16. The disbursements
from the marshal’s office were $203,274.16,
and were approximately $14,000 less than
was expended last year, the report on June
30, 1914, having shown an expenditure of
$217,410.89. The report of the clerk shows
an expenditure of approximately $12,000.
The Fourth division is second only to the
Southern district of New York, which in
cludes New York city, in the amount of its
expenditures.
Dredge Fails to Do Work
The Sunrise Dredging Company, through
L. V. Ray. has filed suit at Seward against
the American Dredge-Building & Construc
tion Company, and asks for judgment in
the sum of $57,200. The chief members
of the Sunrise Company are Charles E. Her
ron and Dr. T. P. Barnes, who have been
operating a dredge this season on Sixmile
creek. The complaint states that they
bought a dredge from the American Dredge
Buildir- tt Construction Company and paid
down $22,000 on it. They also claim to
have spent $4,000 in bringing the dredge
into the country and $1,200 for wages for
the construction company's crew. In ad
dition to this they claim $30,000 damages
alleged to have been suffered by them by
the failure of the dredge to operate in the
manner said to have been provided for in
the contract.
Won’t Prosecute Wife
After being shot three times by an irate
wife and spending three weeks in the hos
pital as the result. Walter Campen this
morning appeared before United States Com
missioner J. B. Marshall and requested that
the action instituted against his wife by the
government be dismissed, says the Juneau
Empire of August 6. Mrs. Campen was
brought in with the injured man from Kake
three weeks ago and was shortly afterward
placed under arrest. A family row had en
sued and Mrs. Campen used a Colt auto
matic by way of argument. The chief wit
ness at the preliminary hearing was Lester
Campen, the 12-year-old son of Mr. and
Mrs. Lester Campen, who told his story of
what he had seen with unusual caimness,
and gave a graphic description of the rum
pus. Commissioner Marshall has not yet
acted upon the request for dismissal. Cam
pen and his wife are sure that their diffi
culties are cleared up, and both have ex
pressed their desire to let the affair drop if \
the government will permit.
Alaska Lumber
Work on the government raliway in
Alaska is progressing rapidly, and the esti
mate of forty miles of completed road in
1915 made by the commission this spring
undoubtedly will be fulfilled, said Harry
Miller, a lumberman of Anchorage, to a
Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporter. Mr. Mil
ler, with others, put in a sawmill at An
chorage following the announcement of the
railroad route, and while business in their
line is nothing remarkable just yet, they
expect conditions to improve. “We cut
spruce and birch, the native woods, but we
find a lot of competition from Washington
fir. which is shipped in,” said Mr. Miller.
“Our spruce to compete with fir must be
well seasoned, and that, of course, takes
time. Although Anchorage has the aspect
of a real city, I would not be surprised to
see the whole thing moved bodily to Mata
nuska Junction, a new town on the route
of the railroad. As the buildings at Anchor
age are temporary, such a move would be
easy.”
Thomas Riggs Visits Seward
Thomas Riggs, Jr., one of the three mem
bers of the government railroad engineering
commission, came to Seward on the Mari
posa and went to Anchorage today on the
Alameda, says the Seward Gateway of
August 2. He is conducting the work of
the commission at the Interior end, where
he has been perfecting the locating sur
veys. He came out from Fairbanks via
Cordova, and had been at the latter town
a week waiting for a boat. He comes
merely to discuss business with the other
members of the commission, and said, when
asked about his future activities, that they
would depend on the instructions he would
receive from Mr. Edes, the chairman.
A most interesting fact mentioned by Mr.
Riggs is that the building of the railroad to
Fairbanks will mean the doubling of the
output of that camp. The price of wood
there now is from $8 to $16, and the lower
grade placers cannot be profitably operated
until the Nenana coal can be shipped in.
Mr. Riggs was also asked its to whether
Fairbanks had been absolutely decided upon
as the Interior terminal, and he expressed
surprise that such a question was necessary.
“The President named Fairbanks in his ex
ecutive order,’’ said the commissioner. He
will spend about four days at Anchorage
and then come to Seward, later making
connections for Fairbanks, which he expects
to reach about September 1. He has no
comment to muke on the railroad matters,
and turned off all the questions by the re
minder that Mr. Edes is the man to give
out anything in the shape of information.
To Salvage Islander’s Treasure
A Juneau dispatch of July 30 says that
a second attempt to salve the rich treasure
supposed to be contained in the wreck of
the British steamship Islander will be made
when W. J. Rogers of Seattle will go down
to the wreck in a specially-constructed deep
sea diving craft of his own invention. The
launch Saint Nicholas is now on the way
to the wreck, off the south end of Douglas
island, with the barge Palmyra in tow, hav
ing on board the diving outfit. Rogers,
who is a mining man. and his associates
have been quietly working on plans to go
to the wreck, and only through the fact
that a strange diving craft was seen on the
deck of the Palmyra did the story leak out
that another attempt was to be made to
salve the rich treasure which went to the
bottom early in the morning of August 15,
1901
Rogers has used part of the ideas of Capt.
Finch, a well known Seattle diver, who made
an attempt to secure the ship's safe in 1904.
Rogers says he will first attempt to
secure the safe, supposed to contain from
$300,000 to $500,000 in gold dust, which
was being brought out from Dawson. If
successful in this he will then attempt to
raise the vessel.
Rogers’ diving vessel was thoroughly
tested by government officers from Bremer
ton off Port Madison, near Seattle, when
he made an offer to the government to
raise submarine U-4, which sunk in Hono
lulu harbor. At this time Rogers reached a
depth of 345 feet. The government officers
were satisfied with the demonstration, but
it is said the parties could not agree upon
terms. It is understood that Rogers has
all data gathered by Captain Finch in his
attempt to reach the wreck, and is now at
work locating the hull.
RETURNING OLD-TIMER
SPEAKS WELL OF MARSHALL
J. R. McGovern, formerly fire chief of
the city of Iditarod, but who has been ab
sent from the district for some years, re
turned on Saturday afternoon last, arriving
on the mail boat Sea Wolf. Mr. McGovern
lately has been making a tour of the dif
ferent mining camps of Alaska, and more
recently has visited the Tolovana and Mar
shall City. In regard to the future of the
latter place he is quite optimistic, and says
that the country looked far more inviting
to him than did the Tolovana.
One great drawback at the present time to
development at Marshall City is scarcity of
supplies, says Mr. McGovern. A very lim
ited stock is carried by the one trader there,
and those who wish to enter upon extensive
work will be compelled to get in their sup
plies from the Outside.
Mr. McGovern states that it would not
surprise him in the least if Disappointment
creek should in time rival the famous Flat
creek of the Iditarod district.
Mine Inspector on Marshall City
Recently there have been published letters
of William Maloney, territorial mine in
spector, which state that there are prospects
of a good camp springing up at Marshall,
but that up lo the present time there is not
much pay uncovered. On Disappointment
creek, he says, A1 Rhodes has very good
pay. He took out 477 ounces Iasi: summer,
and had taken out 150 ounces up to the time
Mr. Maloney was there. On Wilson creek
Charles Duggan and A. Edgar have an open
cut. They took out 500 ounces last sum
mer and made a couple of clean-ups this
summer. Mr. Maloney concludes:
“The formation is good for gold, being
porphyry and greenstone, with quartz string
ers. In fact, Tom Plunkett has a very good
showing on a quartz location at the head of
Willow creek. Free gold is visible to the
naked eye, and the vein also shows galena,
copper pyrites and bornite.”
ALASKA’S WEALTH IN COPPER
With one week’s shipments of Alaska cop
per ore to Puget sound showing a total
value exceeding SI.000,000. it is entirely
possible that the value of the copper output
of the territory may ultimately exceed the
value of the annual gold product, says the
Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
Prior to the present war copper touched
such a price level as to cause the shutting
down of the Northern mines. With the war
nations now in the market for large quanti
ties of the metal, the price has risen to a
profitable point, and the mines are working
to capacity.
The Northern ore is shipped to the Ta
coma smelter, which, under the influence
of the expanding demand, has been obliged
to increase its capacitv. Ultimately a smelter
may be erected at Cordova, but with the
increasing use of the metal there should be
amnle business for both smelters.
With the opening of the coal fields, the
stimulant of a large copper production and
the usual liberal yield of gold. Alaska is
beginning the period of awakening so long
looked for by its good friends.
HOW HE GOT HIS SHEEPSKIN
A Canadian named Morgan was appointed
to a government place that technically had
to be occupied by a lawyer, which Mr.
Morgan was not. The Benchers of the Law
Society, however, undertook to obviate the
technicality, and appointed one of their
number to examine Morgan as to his knowl
edge of the law. “Tell me, Mr. Morgan.”
said the examiner, “what do you know
about the law, anyway?”
“To tell the truth,” was the modest re
ply, “I don’t know a single thing.”
Whereupon the examiner intimated that
the questioning was at an end. He turned
in his affidavit wherein it was stated:
“I have examined Mr. Morgan as to his
knowledge of the law, and to the best of
mv knowledge and belief he has answered
a1! the questions with entire correctness.”
Tid-Bits.
Visit our new store at Flat.
Boas the Clothier.
First-class engraving.
W. TAYLOR, Flat.
PI AfARnC big and small, printed on
1 “"-olvUiJ paper, cardboard or cloth,
on short notice, at Idltarod Pioneer office.
CONVICT BRONSON'S
CHARGE UNFOUNDED
_
Angus Bronson, who was convicted in
this city in 1912 of participation in the dar
ing tram robbery between Flat City and
Iditarod, has written from the United States
penitentiary at McNeil island to Dan Calla
han of Fairbanks the following letter:
“Dan Callahan, Fairbanks, Alaska.
“My Dear Sir: Desiring to bring certain
details of my case to your attention, 1 ad
dress you at this time, trusting that same
will merit your serious consideration. Briefly
stated, then, the case is this: I was con
victed in 1912 of having participated in the
hold-up of a tram car north of Flat City,
and the theft of $30,000 in gold dust and
currency, and was sentenced to ten years’
imprisonment. The principal witnesses
against me were Chapman and another man,
and it is now believed by many people who
have gone into the case since then that they
testified against me to save themselves. But,
be that as it may, I have affidavits proving:
1. That it was a physical impossibility for
me to have taken any part in the crime.
2. That Chapman perjured himself in his
testimony against me. 3. That Crossley
schooled the witnesses to tell the same story
against me. The originals of these affi
davits, together with transcripts of the tes
timony of Chapman and the other man, and
my formal application for executive clem
ency, are now in the hands oi the depart
xnent of justice. I have placed copies of the
affidavit and application in the hands of
the inspector of prisons, and he talks very
favorably about the case. I have learned
since filing my papers that no action will
be taken without, the recommendation of
either the judge or the prosecuting attorney.
In this connection I have only to say that
this is impossible, so far as it concerns the
prosecutor; his attitude during the trial,
and the fact that he used illegal methods
to prepare testimony against me, is ample
proof of that. Then again. Henry Roden,
after accepting $150 for the defense, sold
me out by accepting the position of assistant
prosecutor during the trial, and worked
against me with a full knowledge of the
defense in advance. The foreman of the
petit jury contributed to the $3,200 reward
offered, and Bennett James, one of the com
plainants, was also a member of the grand
jury which indicted me. You can see how
much chance I have to secure a favorable
recommendation from the prosecutor. But
I have filed, with my papers, a petition car
rying nearly 400 names of people in Alaska,
headed by four members of the legislature,
which shows very clearly what the people
think about it. The only chance that I
have now is to secure a favorable recom
mendation of the judge (Overfield), now in
Los Angeles, Cal.
IMow, the one thing that will do more
to help me than anything else at this time
is for a few of my friends to write Mr.
Overfield and thus influence him to seri
ously consider the case upon its merits and
then, if he thinks the case warrants it, to
recommend executive clemency. If you will
do this for me, and also send to me a per
sonal recommendation setting forth what
you know of me, my character, etc., it will
place me under lasting obligation to you. I
am writing to Charles D. Jones of Nome
and Dan Sutherland of Ruby also, with the
same request. After allowing time for the
communications asked for to reach Mr.
Overfield, I shall forward to him my own
statement, and then it will be up to him.
“I might add that the court records of
this case will bear out every statement that
I make, and if I can secure the recommen
dation of the judge, I am confident that I
will be liberated. In addition to my other
troubles, I am now facing the probable ne
cessity of a surgical operation at an early
date, due to bladder trouble, and this makes
me doubly anxious to secure action. If you
care to you might have a talk with Billy
Casey, at the Northern hotel. He was in
Iditarod at the time of the hold-up and also
at the time of my trial, and he can throw
some light on the case. Again, I might
call your attention to the fact that with
Maltby representing the defense, Crossley
could hardly have failed to secure a con
viction. regardless of the nature of the case,
but I was up against the necessity of taking
him or nobody, and I knew nothing of legal
procedure. Drop me a line, and please
write to Mr. Overfield as soon as you can.
I see by the papers that you are still city
dad. Glad of it. Give my best wishes to
any who ask, and accept same for your
self. Trusting that I shall hear from you
sono, I am very trulv yours.
“ANGUS BRONSON.”
Bronson s Statement Declared False
Bronson’s statement, contained in the
above letter, that “Henry Roden, after ac
cepting $150 for the defense, sold me out
by accepting the office of assistant prose
cutor during the trial,” is declared by E.
M. Stanton to be unqualifiedly false. He
states that Mr. Roden had absolutely no
connection with the prosecution of Bron
son.
The assertion by Bronson that he has
filed a petition containing the names of 400
persons in Alaska, “headed by four mem
bers of the legislature.” will be news to
many residents of this district.
TURKISH BABY ADOPTED
BY RUSSIAN REGIMENT
A correspondent of the Associated Press
sends out the following from Petrograd:
“Our regiment has adopted a 2-year-old
Turkish girl baby,” writes a Cossack who is
serving with the Russian forces in the Turk
ish Caucasus. He explains:
“During our forward movement last week
one of our men found in a farm house this
baby, which had been abandoned by her
fleeing parents. The starving little creature
was cleaned, clothed and fed and then taken
to the staff quarters. In the Greek church
of the village of Bardus the foundling was
christened according to the rites of the
orthodox church, the commander of the
regiment acting as godfather, and Princess
Gelovanna, a Red Cross nurse and wife of
a member of the duma, as godmother.
“The child was named Alexandra Dons
kaia, after the name of the regiment. The
officers and men of the regiment subscribed
monthly amounts sufficient to pay for rear
ing and educating their regimental daugh
ter.”
It is never too late or too early to ac
commodate the people from the creeks when
they come to the
CROSBY MASSAGE AND BATH
PARLORS
The Home of the Twentieth Century Turk
ish Bath
Fresh Olympia Oysters, for cocktails, $2
csn Iditarod Meat Co.
Location Notices at Pioneer offisc.
J 1 Ball Band Rubber Boots and Pacs j j N. C. Co. Sole Agents for Alaska £
qq
Dog Lard, IOc ib,
«
Dog Bacon, IOcand 15c Ib.
S'
a
S'
5D
j Ball Band Rubber Boots and Paes j j N. C. Co. Sole Agents for Alaska |
MURDER SUSPECTS
HELD TOGRAND JURY
FAIRBANKS, Aug. 11.—United States
Commissioner Brown, after a preliminary
hearing of the charges against Julius Miller
and William O’Connor, accused of the mur
der of Mrs. W. E. Rowe on July 20 last,
has held them to await the action of the
urand jury without bail.
Cairns, the man v/ho accuses Miller of the
crime, told practically the same story on
the witness stand as in his published affi
davit, and most damaging testimony was
adduced.
A large crowd assembled in the com
missioner’s court when the time of the trial
arrived, and it was thought advisable to hold
the hearing in the district court room. The
hearings were separate, that of Miller being
first. The defendant stated that he had been
unable to secure an attorney when Judge
Brown asked if he had done so. Asked if
he was ready to go on with the hearing,
he said, “I guess I'll have to go on with
it.’’ His nervousness was that of an inebri
j ate, and his hands shook and he kept them
working continuously, and his voice was
shaky. He questioned the witnesses with
! due regard to the points he wished brought
out. Both Miller and O’Connor conducted
their own cases.
The Testimony
Sam Weiss of Chatanika told of having
known Mrs. Rowe, and of having seen her
! body with the face beaten to a pulp lying
: on the railroad track on the morning of July
! 20. He said she had been murdered, the
3 instrument of death being a spruce stick
! about eight feet long. Miller did not ques
; tion the witness.
bd Cairns gave the story ot the murder
j as he says it was told to him by Miller. He
| said that he had a talk with Miler on the
I evening of July 19, the day preceding the
; murder. “I’m going to get the money to
| night. I’m going to kill Mrs. Rowe tonight.
| She has seven or eight hundred dollars, and
! I’m going to get it.-’ is what Cairns testified
| that Miller told him. He saw Miller a few
j minutes after 8 o’clock, and that was the
| last he saw of him until about 3 o’clock the
! next morning, when Miller appeared to have
j been drinking. When told the next morn
| ing that Mrs. Rowe's body had been found,
; and that she had been murdered. Miller
said, “It can’t be possible.” Later the wit
ness accused Miller of the murder, and Mil
ler said, “You keep your damn mouth shut. ’
Miller had related the details of the
murder, telling how he and O’Connor had
committed the crime. Cairns testified that
Miller frequently had attempted to induce
him to go out on the trail with him, in
ferring that there was big money to be
made in the killing business.
Blood-spotted garments, which were pre
viously acknowledged by Miller as his. were
introduced during the examination of Dep
uty Marshal J. H. Miller. Miller also testi
fied that heel prints found by him near the
body fitted exactly the measurements of
Miller's shoes.
J. T. Morgan, called by the defense, could
not remember where Miller was on the night
of the murder. Jack Hicks, also called by
the defense, could not remember the where
abouts of Miller on that evening. He did
say, however, that Miller had made a propo
sition to him to go out on the trail, stating
that "when they reached the coast they
would have lots of money.”
O’Connor's Hearing
After Miller had been held to the grand
jury by the commissioner, the case of O’Con
nor was taken up. Commissioner Sam Weiss
told practically the same story of the find
ing of the body as he did at the first hear
ing. He was asked by O’Connor, “Do you
know’ who killed Mrs. Rowe, Mr. W7eiss?”
and was answered in the negative.
Deputy Marshal Miller had not noticed
blood on the garments of O'Conor when
he arrested him.
Cairns told the same story as in the pre
vious case.
Matt Benson was the only witness who
could testify definitely about O’Connor’s
movements on the night of the murder. He
had been cutting hay at a ranch on the
Chatanika river, and in going to OInes he
said he had met O’Connor about 2 :30 a. m.,
coming down the Chatanika river trail
O'Connor made an earnest attempt to break
down Benson’s testimony.
Gus Dourell and Carl Nelson were unable
to prove an alibi for the accused, and O’Con
nor exclaimed, “God Almighty! I wonder
if the whole country has turned against
me!”
O’Connor, testifying in his own behalf,
stated that he was not connected in any way
with the murder. He gave an account of
his movements for several days prior to
the fatal day, claiming to have been in bed
on the night the crime w-as committed. He
denounced Benson and Cairns as liars, and
said he was the first to tell Miller of the
murder, and that the latter had remarked,
“Mv hands are clean of this, anyway.”
O’Connor claimed to have been the first
to tell his employer, Gus Dourell, of the
murder, but this was denied by Dourell on
the witness stand. Carl Nelson also con
tradicted statements of the accused.
Mert Marston, of the firm of Riley &
Marston. the Otter creek operators, left for
Fairbanks on the Washburn last Monday.
Mr. Marston is planning an automobile
trip from Seattle to the San Francisco ex
position.
“STUPID PIECE OF SHRAPNEL”
MAIMS SEATTLEITE AT FRONT
Many of the war letters received from
Europe and published in American papers
are scarcely even of local interest, but here
Ls one from a Seattle boy which is a little
out of the ordinary, and well worth re
printing. It may be that some of our citi
zens may know the writer, as he went to
school in Dawson. The letter is from Aimar
Auzias de Turenne, who was wounded while
fighting with the French forces, and is taken
from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. It is as
follows:
As dear Mrs. L,., wnom 1 nad not met
again since my school days in Dawson City,
wired you, a stupid piece of shrapnel made
in Germany for your good son went through
my right eye on April 27 at Ypres, after a
seven days' battle, amidst gas, bullets, black
marias, the deep mud and many devils who
surrounded us, but whom we repulsed in the
end.
“An old cart with some kind of apocalyp
tieal horse took me to the rear ambulance,
where they extirpated what was left of my
eye and sent me to the Cambridge hospital,
where, to date, five different operations have
patched me 0. K.
“Cousin McLennan was literally blown up
on his gun, next to mine—a splendid death!
A black maria exploded on his gun and sent
it up fifteen feet in the air, coming muzzle
down deep in the mud. Cousins Le Mesurier
were all wounded, the three of them, and
when Uncle S-came in the hospital and
saw the four of use he sadi: “What blind
jacaasses are you, to get nurt an ai me
same time!' But his voice meant something
else, we knew, and when he left he said:
‘God bless you; you have done well!’
“When lying in the hospital I thought
that I was dreaming, thinking of a year
aco. when we were all at grandfather's
Manoir, at the Nominigue. And today I am
in Cambridge, England, where before I was
in Cambridge, Harvard. Well, one learns
in these days that life is brief and death
the real life. I have grown up older some
what, as you see.
“I met quite a number of my French
kin. I was very much struck by the silence
and the determination of the pioupious. And
they do sing ‘Tipperary’ with a slight dif
ference—‘It is a long way to * * * but
we will get there * * * ' And if you
look at their faces you, too, have no doubt
* * *
“The Germans fieht splendidly, but they
cannot be filled with the same battle lust
that maddened us when we saw Belgium
poor, heroic Belgium. I have seen its peas
ants, good people, who wanted only peace; j
I have seen them fleeing by hundreds, with
wives, their children, babies and dogs, and
always some handkerchiefs, containing the
pitiful souvenirs of the foyer domestique.
their home, burning behind. I have seen
women killed by shrapnel when running !
after the babies. * * * I wish I was
there again to help and fight. And it is j
the same in Northern France.
V\ e had sometimes some very tunny hap .
penings at the front in the midst of all that
suffering. You heard, no doubt, of Captain I
Hercule Barre of Quebec. Elarre had be 1
lieved all his life that the best French and
the best English in the world was spoken
in Quebec. Well, he was arrested one day
in the English line ‘by a little shrimp of a
cockney.’ said he. ‘Your English is very
lame/ said the headquarters officer, ‘and
your accent is worse.' ‘Hell!' said Barre.
‘my accent is the accent of one hundred j
million free people on the other side of the |
pond. Come across the Canadian line and
there you yourself will be arrested as a spy
on account of your lingo.’
“Later Barre was again arrested, but this
time by the Frenchman: ‘You must be a
Boche; your accent is quite heavy.'
“‘What!’ said Barre, ‘my accent again? 1
Tordieu de verat!’
“‘Stop!’ said the Frenchman. ‘I see that
you are a Canadian, all right; my poor
Grandfather used the same kind of swear- I
ing.’
“Barre is now in a hospital and studies •
diligently English and E'ronch with a de- i
lightful little nurse.
“Tell mother not to worry. I will be
back in about three months. My left eye is
now a real searchlight; it illuminates ti.e
hospital at night. Give also my best thanks
to the many kind friends of the university
and of Seattle, who have inquired so often
about me. Dear, peaceful paradise of .Se
attle! No one who has seen it once can
forget it. AIMAK.”
DEAF MUTES DANCE TO MUSIC
SAN FRANCISCO. July 20. The .leaf
mutes, to whom music is but a vague, elu
sive idea, danced tonight at a ball given
to those attending the National Association
of the Deaf, in convention here.
The dancers could not hear the dance
airs, but they responded to the rhythm of
the notes as accurately as the violinists'
bows. They replaced their missing sense
with the greater keenness of others.
Some "heard” the music by vibrations
the added, undefined sense that is a com
bination of keen sight and air vibrations,
that traveled through the floor; others in
and a few of the less gifted “heard” it by
proxy, watching sharply their more fortu
nate fellows and timing their motions ac
cordingly.
GUS IS A “SPARK-PLUGGER”
Gus Schuler has left for the upper Iditu
rod river in a gas-boat which he has fitted
up and equipped for prospecting purposes
Gus has been “as busy as a bird dog re
cently preparing for the trip, and he now
has a craft which runs els smoothly as a
watch. Gus claims there is a decided ad
vantage in the new method of transporta
tion over that of the old reliable poling boat
method. ___
WILE WILL LEAVE SOON
Postmaster Albert Wile has made ar
rangements to leave for h airbanks on the
boat leaving here about September <. He
expects to remain for a while in the Tanana
valley metropolis, and may locate there.
While no successor has yet been appointed
for Mr. Wrile, arrangements have been made
to turn the affairs of the office over to the
supervision of WT. B. Thomas, who will Jbt
until the vacancy has been filled. It is un
derstood that Miss Taylor and Miss Johnson
will remain in their present positions.
DEFENDANT SECONDED MOTION
NEW YORK, July 28.—Manhattan ex
perienced its first judicial decision under a
new and entirely extemporaneous system
here, and it resulted in the freeing of a
dusky prisoner charged with attempted rob
bery. The latter was penniless, and Judge
Malone, in general sessions, appointed a law
yer to defend him.
The prosecution failed to make out a case
and the feeless lawyer, addressing Judge Ma
lone, said:
"I move that the jury be directed to ac
quit.”
“I second that motion,' shouted the de
fendant.
Amid general laughter, the court acqui
esced.
“He just naturally had to do it." rorn
mented the negro. “Wasn’t it regularly
moved and seconded?”
The Boas Clothing Store at Flat. Prices
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