THE IDITAROD PIONEER
Published Every Saturday Morning at Iditarod, Alaska
Vol. 7 CHARLES A. DERRY, Editor and Publisher No. 21
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A SPLENDID PUBLICATION
“Alaska, Out Frontier Wonderland,” is the title of
a publication just received. It is issued by the
Alaska bureau of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce,
and consists of more than one hundred pages of mat
ter, well written and illustrated by artistic half-tones,
some of which are from photos taken by Mr. McPher
son, one of the compilers, during survey work in the
territory in the summer of 1914. Unlike much of the
“boom” literature associated with the early develop
ment of the West, it is conservative in its prophecies
and truthful in its assertions. It gives a comprehen
sive idea of Alaska’s possibilities and resources with
out entering upon extravagant dissertations. It is a
work that will give the outside world a wealth of real
information in regard to the territory, it is golt° n
up under the supervision of Scott ( . Bone, editoi o.
(Ke Seattle Post-Intelligencer, ar.d J. L. McPherson,
one of the best-informed of men on Alaska and one
of the most enthusiastic believers in its future, re
spectively chairman and manager of the bureau. The
following interesting information is from the work:
Gold vas produced in 1915 to the value of $16,000,000. That
of Calfioruia, in 1914. with a population thirty-seven times as
great] wa- only $21,447,801). The annual report of the director
of the ii i at for 1915 says of the gold yield of the state of Cali
fornia- ‘ With the exception of one year. 1888. the mined goal
output of the state for 1914 was higher than it has been since
1864. fifty years ago." ,
Copper production, the mining of which has only begun,
equaled ii, the year 1915 31 per cent of the product of Montana.
Coal 1 elds of greater area are exposed by nature alone than
are couta tied in the entire state of I’ennsylvania, and we know
geologic: ly only about 40 per cent of the area of ^Alaska.
Tin was produced in 1915 to the value of $79,471. Alaska
has the only tin mines on the continent.
Antim >ny ore to the value of $189,345 was mined during 191a.
Gypsum output in 1915 had a value of $65,800.
Marbit that rivals the marble of Vermont, both in quantity
and quail y, is being extensively developed in Southeastern Alaska.
The vain ’of this industry in 1915 was $104,888.
Miner d oil is being produced and refined from one claim. Dis
coveries if mineral oil have been reported in widely-separated
areas. No development in this industry is now possible, as all
od-bearini lands are reserved from entry.
Iron i eposits nave ueen uiseu\ficu in nuimnui.
developm at of this industry is dependent upon a local smelting
industry in Alaska, which in turn awaits the opening of the coal
fields.
Alaska's fishing industry is assuming enormous proportions and
continues to hold the ranking place in value of output. The value
of the fi lling products for the year 1915 was about $23,99. ,496.
That of die state of Washington was about $8,000,000.
Reindeer wore imported into Alaska from 1900 to 1902 to the
extent of 1,280 head. June 30, 1914, the herds numbered 57,872.
and during the previous year more than $94,000 was received from
the sale of meat, it is estimated that there is sufficient grazing
land in Alaska to care for 10.000,000 of these animals.
Agricultural development in Alaska today is a practical reality.
Probably 600 to 800 families are today securing part cr all of
their inn me from agricultural pursuits. It is estimated that there
are 100 4*00 square miles of arable lands. This is a greater area
than the entire state of Oregon.
Wat: • power is available in greater amount than possessed by
ml of c•:r Pacific coast states.
Inc book contains valuable and reliable informa
tion upon every phase of Alaskan activities, and
concludes as follows:
It is tidy with the construction of at least three trans-Alaskan
railroads, reaching from open harbors on tidewater info the vast
Interior of Alaska, with numerous branches as feeders, that the
wonderful resources of Alaska can be economically developed and
made to serve the uses of man. With the construction of these
roads and the building of the numerous branches as feeders, and
with a liberal policy of inducement and a spirit of encouragement
toward die pioneer and pioneer capital, Alaska will pour into the
lap of o**r people a stream of wealth not only of gold, copper snii
the prec ..us metals, but also of fish, agricultural products, meats,
furs am. coal, that will have no compeer. Alaska has a future
that cannot be pictured by the most enthusiastic optimist. A
country that has made such a showing with a mere handful of
men, under the most adverse and restrictive conditions, offers un
told possibilities. The construction of two trunk railway lines
will rest it in the opening up of an empire nine times as great as
the state of Washington, and more than nine times as rich in
natural resources. Its extent and wealth have never been ap
proached by any frontier land. Hers should be a future of the
greatest prosperity, and it is the duty of our people to see that
she secures, the rational development which she has so long been
denied.
-♦
STATEHOOD
On March 30, 19!6, Delegate Wickersharn of
Alaska introduced in the national house of repre
sentatives a bill providing that “the people of the
territory of Alaska be and they are hereby author
ized to form for themselves a constitution and slate
government, under the name of the State of Alaska,
which state, when so formed, shall be admitted into
the Union as hereinafter provided.”
In all this great Northland there will be no citizen
or resident but whose heart will throb with justifiable
pride when Alaska is admitted into the sisterhood
of states. It will be a red letter day in Alaska’s his
tory when sovereignty is conferred upon it. But it
is not quite clear w'hat good purpose can be served
by the introduction of this measure at this time.
The delegate himself surely cannot have any reason
able hope of its early passage, and other than to
familiarize the people of the country as well as the
members of congress with the idea of erecting a
state out of this northern territory at some more or
less remote time it w’ould seem to be wasted energy.
Thar congress should be expected to confer state
hood upon the immense territory of Alaska, with its
small and scattered population, does not seem at all
reasonable; and perhaps such action on the part of
the national law-givers would not be attended by
the benefits which it would be natural to expect.
There is one section of Delegate Wickersham’s
bill which needs some explanation. Section 8,
which provides for representation in congress, gives
fhe proposed state “four representatives in the house
of representatives of the United States, one to be
elected from each of the four judicial divisions.”
Representation in the lower house of the United
States congress is based on population, each state,
however, being entitled to at least one representa
tive. In the present congress Arizona, Delaware,
Nevada and Wyoming each has one representative,
and their population according to the last census
was as follows: Arizona, 204,354; Delaware,
202,322; Nevada, 81,875; Wyoming, 145,965.
The population of Alaska, according to the same
census figures, was 64,356, which included natives.
It is doubtful whether at the present time the popu
lation exceeds those figures. The white population
of Alaska recently was estimated at 44,000, includ
ing increases due to commencement of work on the
government railroad.
It is difficult to understand why congress should
be expected to grant, along with the privileges of
statehood, representation in the lower house of con
gress four times greater than that of states contain
ing four times the population (not counting na
tives). If representation were based on area this
might easily be explainable; but it is not. Why,
then, when it is conceded that it will be a difficult
matter to obtain statehood under terms of equality
with other states, should an attempt be made to
secure advantages not accorded to more populous
states?
If we are to make an earnest effort to secure
statehood, let us look the facts squarely in the face,
and not endeavor to delude ourselves with false
hopes. The people of Alaska should know more
about this measure and the circumstances under
which it was introduced.
- -♦
The decoration of Boy Ed by the kaiser wi'l not serve to dis
sipate the bad impression created by the signal honors conferred
on Von Papen, the other attache dismissed by the American gov
ernment, at the hands of the German emperor, and by the en
nobling of Dumba by Emperor Franz Josef. These diplomats,
each of whom was held guilty by the United States government
of overt acts against the laws of this country, now have the sat
isfaction of knowing that their actions were at least not offensive
to their home governments.
-^
I.aying aside the querulous complaints of those whose only
mission would appear to he find fault with the administration, it
strikes us that if the distinction which goes with the award of
the Noebel peace prize ever were earned justly, it was by Prc.-ment
Wilson. In spite of abuse and misrepresentation lie h-a- never
lost sight of the fact that international disputes, which must he
determined in any event through negotiations between the inter
ested parties, can be adjusted ju-t as wisely and equitably m-tore
a resort to arms as afterward.
♦
i Frank G. Carpenter, the noted newspaper correspondent, who
1 is writing a series of articles on Alaska for a number of Outside
I newspapers, has published an interesting description of the great
| Gastineau mines, near Juneau. Among other things he says: “Ihe
I company has its own stores, where the men can buy fur cash or
for coupons advanced on the basis of their monthly wages.
The men work flay and night shifts of nine hours each. It t.-t not
surprising that the iniquitous “truck" system is in vogue at the
big mines in Southeastern Alaska; but it will be news to many
that nine-hour shifts are worked. The governor of Alaska, in a
recent official report, stated that ihe eight-hum- law was slieadv
Generally in force in the lode mines of the territory.
-♦
The activities of ex President Taft in ronnecti- >1 with recent
events are not conducive to the dignity which should envel p a
personage who has held the high office oi chief executive oi thi
nation. In entering a protest against President Wilsons appoint
ment of Brandeis to the supreme bench, and in protesting against
the state department’s method of handling, delicate questions of
foreign policy he lays himself open to humiliation in case his
wishes are not complied with. In the event that his views are
accepted it would naturally be supposed that the fact that such a
distinguished citizen had advocated such a course had more to
flo with its adoption than had logic. And undue influence is not
an attribute the use of which should be encouraged in this re
public.
_A-.
They have again discovered the synthetic diamond, and a Ge
neva newspaper says: ‘ Research work is being carried out a* the
Gpneva laboratory of inorganic chemistry on the separation of the
carbonic anhydrids in the form of snow by chlorophylous pyridine
in solution and other nitrous organic liqui .-. In the residue, be
-ides free carbons of varying weight, have been found very hard
and very heavy white terahedral and actohedral crystals, which
burned without leaving ashes and were insoluble in aqua regia,
possessing, so far as the analyses made up to the present show,
all the properties of the diamond. ' Sounds .-imple enough, d s’-n t
it? And it may be possible that the making of diamonds would
provide a profit able amusement for sourdough Alaskans during
the h>ng winter evenings.
-4
Even amid war’s horrors, and with the economies and make
shifts imposed by the world struggle, the feminine mind refuses
to reconcile itself to dowdiness and frumpery, and insists that the
gentle sex shall adorn itself according to the dictates of fashion,
even if the fashion originate in a hostile nation. This was evi
denced at a recent well-attended meeting in Berlin, called by
women reformers of fashion under the patronage of the crown
princess. The purpose of the meeting was to appeal to the patri
otic women of Germany to cast off French and other foreign fash
ions and to wear hereafter only a truly German style of dress,
which, it was said, should at the same time be beautiful and dig
nified and free from fripperies. The speakers at the meeting
illustrated the proposed fashion? and condemned high-heeled shoes
and pumps, gauzy stockings, foreign fabrics and cosmetics. Space
had been reserved in the program for an opposition speaker, who
produced some of the latest models of gowns, which ran counter
to most of the patriotic theories expounded. The dismayed re
formers soon found that a majority of the audience had deserted
them and were applauding enthusiastically each new gown and
drowning out the disapproval of the minority, who favored the
truly German models.
-»
LEST WE FORGET
(Skagway Alaskan)
Stirred to wrath by the complaints of many people that the j
United States should not make and sell to the European belliger
ents munitions of war—and some even go so far as to say that
an embargo should be placed on clothing and foodstuffs the
Philadelphia Ledger has dug up H mass of ancient precedents that
are quite well worth reading, whatever view you may take of the
present situation.
Contraband of war has been defined as anything which one
belligerent does not want his enemy to have, and as this varies
considerably with different nations, pretty nearly everything be
comes contraband, with one nation or another, before the war is
over. The precedents which the Ledger offers are not advocated j
as good international law, but inasmuch as they were all aimed
at this young republic, they make interesting reading at this time.
“The most notable example of one nation selling contraband of
war to another,” says the Ledger, “is furnished by Germany itself.
When America was fighting for freedom, as Wayne MacVeagh
says, the Germans sold to King George not only guns and uni
forms, but 30,000 soldiers.
“ England sold to the Confederacy anything it could ship there.
“France violated the Monroe doctrine more viciously than any
other country when it sent a big army of invasion into Mexico
while the United States was in its great struggle to save the Union.
“And it was the Austrian prince, Maximillian, brother of the
present emperor of Austria, who placed himself upon the throne in
Mexico City.
“That the United States is under no very lasting or immediate j
obligations to these present day belligerents is very apparent. The
worst any American exporter has done during this war is mild in
comparison with the things France, Germany and Austria tried to
do to us.”
It is good to recall facts like these once in a while, as Kipling
says, “lest we forget.”
HERE’S ANOTHER VERSION
OF BANDIT VILLA’S LIFE
(El Paso Letter to United Press)
Peon farmer boy hoarder of unknown
wealth; outlawed bandit—soldier hero; de
voted husband barbarous bigamist; just,
free handed leader—cruel and vindictive die
tutor; cool and clever political adventurer
raving and bloodthirsty murderer; shrewd
statesman ignorant malefactor Such a
man is Francisco Villa, “The Tiger,” as
seen by his friends and by his enemies.
Rivaling Robin Hood in the varied career
of his life, but lacking the polish of that
famed old English figure, Francisco Villa
is u character about whom there has been
more written, perhaps, than about any other
Mexican of his generation; a man whose
name will go down in history as that of
one of the most picturesque and widely
known, though little known, men of in
trigue-ridden Mexico.
Villa’s personal history and life have been
as much a mooted question as has been the
right and wrong of hi.s cause. His birth is
shrouded in doubt place, time, ancestry.
Mexico’s “man of blood” has been claimed
as a brother of a negro, as a Mexican negro
blood, as a half breed of Mexican Indian
blood, and as a full Hedged Mexican of pure
Spanish extraction.
ine i\ev. urea 1 oung, a negro minister
of Baltimore, claimed Villa as his brother.
His hair is short and ‘‘kinky” like that of
the African; his check bones high and
prominent like those of the Indian; his
complexion that of the Mexican; his tem
perament that of the Castilian.
Perhaps the most direct line upon Villa’s
birth conies from the Mexican state of I)u
rango, south of Chihuahua. It was in these
mountain foothills that Francisco Villa was
born in ls7fi, the son of a peon farmer,
according to best reports. While he was
a child his parents moved to the state of
Chihuahua, the scene of the greatest ac
tivities of Villa’s iife a state that trembled
with fear at his name, yet whose people
benefited by his generosity.
While Villa was in his early teens his
parents died and left in his charge an older
sister, a beautiful, dark-eyed sen. rita whom
Villa loved.
This very devotion to his sister led Villa
into open conflict with the power then in
control of Mexico. Rurales, the roving
armed policemen of Mexico, were wont to
carry away for ihe magistrates *-f the gov
eminent any pretty woman who declined
iheir attentions.
Vil-a returned home one day from hi
plow to find his -Fur gone and in the,'
moment of discovery was born Mexico’,
fury. “Pancho the Tiger.”
Villa at once suspected the magistrate
of the town. He seized his rev- iver
mounted a swift horse and, compell ng 8
uriest to ride with him. started in pursuit
All day and all night they rode, and at *•
o’clock one morning, almost a week later,
they caught up with the party.
At ihe point of Vi la’s revolver the pries*
performed the marriage ceremony, the
magistrate signed his own death warrant,
and in less than five minutes the magi?
Irate was dead and Villa rode for the moun
tains of Chihuahua, a fugitive from jus
tice.
Thus began the career of the man who
caused more trouble1 for two governments
th: n any other one man in history. He
was outlawed, and a price was placed on
his head. Kindred spirits flocked to hi?
banner, and for eighteen yeevs they defied
the rurales. raiding, pillaging, murdering,
plundering.
\ ;ii:i s rii.r carnet; ioriy-eignt noicnes.
worthless obituaries of rurales who sought
to capture him and win the reward. But
his friends cf those days stoutly assert that
never did Villa rob or steal from anyone
who was of his people, the peon ela.-s. And
al.vays with them he was generous and
open-handed, a frre-giver and a kind man.
In the foothills of the mountains lay a
typic:l Mrs ;n village. Its inhabitants had
often heard of the bloody tights between
Villa and the rurabs, of the plundering
rai<!s of “The Tiger” on unsuspecting towns,
and they feared him.
One night the magistrates and soldiers
announced a dance, and plans were made
for a royal merry-making.
An hour before the dance started a power
ful. black-mustached man, clad in the full
unifi rm of un officer, strode into the small
general store and bought out the entire
stock of provisions. A pretty senorita.
the belle of the town, was the saleswoman.
“I’m glad you have bought our goods,”
she said to the officer; “we were afraid ‘The
Tiger’ would come and rob us.”
The officer laughed, then invited her to
the dance They danced throughout the
evening, he the gayest of the gay. During
the last dance he chided her for her fear
of Villa.
“What would you di if Vi.la were to come
hem now?” he asked.
“I would die of fear.” she answered with
a shudder.
“I have a secret to tell you,” he said.
and whispered in her ear: “I am Villa.”
Brazenly Villa danced throughout the
night with the very rurales who were seek
ing him, dead or alive, to claim the 10,000
pesos reward. Openly he courted and mar
ried the shop girl.
Then good fortune came. Madero re
volt.ed, and Villa and his followers, 1,500 ;
strong, placed themselves under Madero’s j
command. Many are the tales thet are i
told of his work in that revolution. He came j
to the front like a true leader of men—
strong, forceful, resourceful, daring. He |
never sent a soldier where he would not go |
himself. Always he was in the fight.
His powerful sorrel charger—Villa had a,
passion for sorrel horses—always carried
him at the head of the column. He cap
tured Juarez by strategy—seizing a federal
troop train and all telegraph operators along
the line and entering the town before the
defenders had discovered his ruse.
From outlaw to general in seven months,
Villa became the popular hero with the
revolutionary class His enemies he lined
up and shot, frequently with his own hand.
Intrigues werked around him and caused
his estrangement from his wife. His cru
elty to her was terrifying, it is said. He tor
tured enemies until they paid tribute, then
shared his tribute with the soldiers who j
worshiped him.
His officers he ruled by fear, his men by
fellowship, daring and generosity. With the
accession of Huerta and the death of Ma
dero the old banditry began again, and
Villa was again an outlaw. He swore death
to Huerta and was the hero of the revolu
tion that swept Huerta out of Mexico.
Carranza, nominally leader of the revolu
tion, was lost sight of in Villa’s brilliant
leadership of the armies. And to Carranza,
the man he has fought bitterly for a year,
Villa swore fealty less than tyo years ago.
In the spring of 1914, and as late as
August of that year, Villa disavowed any
desire to rule Mexico and swere that he
would give his life to Carrnaza, that he
would leave Mexico if Carranza so de
sired. But in September of that year he
broke loose again and carried on a warfare
that thrived in his native state of Chihua
hua, culminating in the raid on Columbus.
How great Villa’s strength in northern
Mexico was is a matter of conjecture. He
was feared, worshiped, hated, loved, villified,
defied. At Chihuahua city he maintained a
beautiful villa, where his wife resided. The
place was exquisitely furnished, richly
equipped.
His wife has been reported at San Fran
cisco, I,os Angeles, FI Paso, San Diego, Chi
huahua city. Whether it is the same wife,
or different wives, no one seems to know,
as no one knows the true history of this
many-sided man of Mexico, l iancisco Villa,
“Pancho the Tiger.”
BELOW THE R!Q GRANDE
(George Willard Bnnte)
Mexico, the home of Murder, where a
crime leads Man to Fame,
Where the law’s u mere fiasco and
the government a game,
Where regimes upon regimes in the
quicksands swiftly sink
While the half breed Yaqui Greaser
primes his piece and takes a drink.
The breeding place of Treason and the
hive of bloody Strife.
Where Treachery's a virtue and to
play straight means the knife.
The bones of slaughtered Yankees dot
the wastes of scorcing sand
In that frightful land of Judas, just
to 1 w the Rio Grande.
Mexico, beware the anger of the blue
eyed in the North,
Where the wrath (ires now a-smoul
'ring any minute may burst forth.
We’ve a million clean limbed young
sters who can shoot and shoot to
kill,
Should we once make up our minus
your tainted mongrel blood to
spill.
Once we thrashed you; now we warn
you it is time to call a halt,
Eliminate your festivals of murder
and assault.
If again our flag blows southward we
may have to take a hand
And clean up the noxious hell-hole,
just below the Rio Grande.
- Seattle. Post-Intelligencer.
CALL FOR THE COLONEL
While in Washington, J. A. Lewi.-, vice
president of the National Bank of Com
merce, was discussing poli:i ■- with several
Thuds in the 1. bby of the New WiLard
hole 1.
Lewis heard the Bull Moose referred to
several times and then a-ked: “What is
the plural of Bull Moose?’’
“It hasn’t any plural.” someone refilled.
"Wild it ought to have; it’s a noun,”
protested Lewsi.
“Will, if it is,” was the retort, “it’s an
unusual one. It’s seldom you find a noun
that’s active. irregular and in the past
tensed St. Louis GEbe-Domocrat.
Fre-h Olympia and Eastern Oysters.
SI.50 per can. Iditarod Meat Co.
Job Printing at The Pioneer office.
P r c > fe « s i o n a 1
Michigan, 1881 Alaska, 1910
Kentucky, 1391
George Woodruff Albrecht
COUNSELOR AND LAWYER
IDITAROD, ALASKA
The Pioneer Attorney or Iditarod
E. M. STANTON
Attorney at Law
Office: Corner Willow and Second Sts.
Iditarod Pioneer Building
CHAS. E. TAYLOR
Attorney at Law
BANK BLOCK
First Avenue Iditarod
Fred Harrison
ATTORNEY AT LAW
Room I Over Merchants Cafe
DR. r^OORE
PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON
DRUG STORE
DR. H. E. AURiNGER
Physician and Surgeon
Office: Fiat City Hospital, Flat Gtty
CoiiiuUatit.n Hours in Forenoons and by
Appointment
DR. H. BEHLA
DENTIST
FLAT CITY
.
, Will Arrive in Iditarod by the first boat in
the spring
Best of Everything
ALL THE TIME AT THE
Arcade Cafe
FLAT CITY
Open Dav and Night
FINE WATCH REPAIRING
NUGGET JEWELRY TO ORDER
J. L. SALE, Flat City
Se;ondSt, SOI I AROD MEAT GO. Pnono 15
b Gold St., Flat City
R SiS
Mrs. Geo. Mutchler, Prop.
Nicely Furnished Rooms Barn for Horses and Dogs Baths in Connection
HARRY DONNELLEY
EElE general merchandise
DISCOVERY, OTTER
THE BEST OF EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME
~MERCHANTS’ CAFE
araaMBEa GOOD MEALS
BgggggaaBBBBSg SHORT ORDERS ..
FIRST AVE. OPEN DAY AND NIGHT ZZZZ
Prop.
Groceries Hard ware
Glass ware China ware
Clothing
Leather and Rubber
Footwear
Ms M A H ON
FLAT CITY