THE IDITAROD FSOMEER |!
ji
Published Every Saturday Morning at Iditarod, Alaska
Vol. 7 CHARLES A. DERRY, Editor and Publisher No. C
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GOVERNOR STRONG’S REPORT
The report of the governor of Alaska to the secre
tary of the interior has just been received here. It is
a most comprehensive review of the activities of tne
territory, and in many respects is a document of
great interest. Governor Strong discusses in able I
manner the future ol Alaska, its industries, and most
of the matters which come under Ins official observa
tion, and makes many recommendations tending to
the welfare of the territory. There also is an appen
dix containing much useful informaton pertaining to
Alaska. The introductory paragraph of the report
is as follows:
During the prist fiscal year Alaska has made substantial prog
ress in the development of its natural resources. This is particu
larly noticeable in the increased mining activity of the Southeast
ern and Southwestern divisions, whose means of communication
by water makes them more readily accessible than the remoter
sections of Northwestern Alaska and the vast Interior domain.
Much progress is also to lie noted in the increased attention that is
being given to the development of agriculture in the First, Third j
and Fourth divisions, where many persons have taken up home
steads with a view to making them productive.
Respecting labor conditions he says:
The territorial legislature at its recent session passed an eight
hour law for all workers in lode and placer mines; and during the
past summer in the Ruby and Fairbanks mining districts labor
strikes resulted in some of the placer mines, when the employers
attempted to reduce the wage scale which had been paid for a ten
hour day. In the Fairbanks district the difficulty was soon ad- |
justed however, and the men returned to work. In the Ruby dis- j
trict the difficulty has continued without settlement. An eight- |
hour law was generally in force in the lode mines of the territory, i
The wage scale paid to placer miners in the Fairbanks and Ruby .
districts during the summer season prior to the passage of the]
eight-hour law was S5 per day. In the Nome district no reduction ,
of the wage scale followed the enforcement of the eight-hour law.
Wage scales in other parts of the territory have remained prac
tically stationary during the year. The scale of wages paid in lode
mines in coastal Alaska is front S3 to S3.50 per da\.
In comparing the wage scales of the miners oi In
terior and Northwestern Alaska with those of the
quartz miners of the coast regions the governor
leaves the impression that a difference of from $1.50
to $2 per day only exists. The probability is tnat
this is not correct, as the Interior miners’ wage scales
include board. It is doubtful whether the quartz
miners of the coast regions receive $3 to $3.50 per
day “and board.”
As in former official documents, the governor re
verts to the matter of conferring “additional powers
upon the territorial legislature,” but again he fails to
define what these powers so ardently desired should
be. If the “additional powers” are so urgently
reeded as the governor would seem to imply, why
not be specific? That there are matters upon v/ruch
the territorial legslature is debarred from passing
is true; but it is not quite clear that either the federal
government or even the people of the territory con
sider the time ripe for the placing of additional
powers upon a legislative assembly constituted as is
the Alaska legislature. The governor says:
In my opinion the welfare of the territory would be materially
promoted by conferring upon the territorial legislature additional
powers, and I have to renew the recommendation in this respect
embodied in my last report, that the territorial lgeislature should
be given enlarged powers so as to adequately meet the growing
needs of the territory consequent upon an increase in population,
the development of its natural resources, and its industrial and
commercial expansion. This need of more extended power for the
legislature will become more and more insistent until such time as
the territory is ready for statehood, and the sooner it is granted
the greater will be the benefits accruing to the people.
It is noticeable that the territorial executive shows
r.o great enthusiasm on the subject.
The mining industry, of course, receives consider
able attention from the governor, but for some un
explained reason tne Iditarod and Innoko districts
are passed up with a ten-line paragraph under the
sub-heading, “Ruby District.
___A
LATEST PHASE OF THE MEXICAN SITUATION
As was to be expected, the murder of nearly a
score of Americans in Mexico has revived the de
mand for intervention by the United States in the
affairs of the republic of Mexico. And the demand
premises to be more insistent in the event that Car
ranza should fail to capture and punish the mur
derers. What, if any, effect the approaching elec
tion will have upon the efforts of the opponents of
President Wilson to make his position more danger
ous remains to be seen. I hat there are those who
are unpatriotic enough to take advantage of the
difficulties which beset the administration for politi
cal purposes there is no doubt.
President Wilson’s administration is at present
beset on all sides with problems such as probably no
American president has ever before had to contend
with. The anxiety of the President and his advisers
to put the nation in a state of preparedness for war
may have a significance which the people as a whole
do not yet realize. What influence recent interna
tional controversies have had in changing Wilson
the pacifist into Wilson the advocate of military
measures for the nation’s defense can only be sur
mised. But it seems probable that that influence
has been a determining one.
There have been vague rumors for some time
that foreign influence has been at work stirring up
further discord in Mexico, and the recent disclosures
of plots and conspiracies that have mlermeshed the
manufacturing industries of the country for months
past, involves, as many writers have put it, a state
of warfare in the United States. How far these rev
elations affect our intercourse with other nations has
only been hinted at, but sufficient has been made
public to give the impression that the diplomatic re
lations of the United States with other countries are
in a most unsatisfactory state.
Under these circumstances it is not to be won
dered at that President Wilson is trying to avoid in
tervention in the affairs of our sister republic if pos
sible. The policy of “watchful waiting” has been
sneered at, but it is confidently believed by true
friends of the administration that the policy is due
for a vindication. We desire peace in Mexico, and
we desire that peace be brought about without our
aid if possible. Americans have been murdered, it
is true; but there is no reason why wholesale murder
should be indulged in because of that unfortunate
fact. The invasion of Mexico by United States
troops would not bring life to the victims of the
Mexican murderers. We must wait for the kind of
reparation that other countries have exacted from
the United Stares ior the murder of their citizens or
subjects. The next few weeks will be the crucial
time in Mexico’s affairs. If Carranza shows ability
to handle the domestic situation all will be well; if
otherwise, undoubtedly it w:il be handled for him.
And patriotic Americans wii! earnestly hope that
government in Mexico may be restored without the
physical aid of the United States.
. A
THE ALLIES IN GREECE
Many who have followed the course of the great
European war through the news dispatches have
wondered on what grounds the entente allies have
justified their landing of troops on Greek so;!, in
view of the announced neutrality of that nation,
and what reason there was for refusing the same
privilege to the Teutons on the part of the Hellenic
government. A Paris dispatch or November 29
answers these questions as follows :
The entente allies in disembarking troops at Saloniki are not
violating Greek territory, nor can their action in Greece be com
pared to the German occupation of Belgium. This is Ihe semi
official reply to the German statement recently made in which the
Saloniki expedition was criticized as a violation of foreign territory.
The presence of the allies at Saloniki does not need any justifica
tion, according to the diplomatic view made known in Paris. The
‘Tench and British are not tolerated guests, but arc there as a mat
tci of duty and established right, it is pointed out.
Their action at Saloniki, it is further said, could be repeated at
any other point in Greece, and with perfect legality. The landing
of allied troops at Saloniki is based on the London treaty of July
13, 1863, guaranteeing the independence and constitutional institu
tions of Greece. This convention was preceded by various other
agreements entered into as far buck as 1822. In the boh-1 that
Greece is menaced from within and without, the allies, it is sahl,
have full liberty of action under the terms of the treaty and wilt
continue the work begun, certain of the international legality of
their action.
-<y
In spite of all that has been printed with reference to Secre
tary Lane’s plan for a “development board” for Alaska, which is
to transact the business of the federal government in the territory
instead of at Washington, there still are newspapers in Alaska
which aHect to believe that the plan contemplates a “commis
sion form of government” for the territory. The plan was evolved
by a man who had the interests of the territory and its people at
heart, and ail who have given the subject careful study unquali
fiedly indorse it. It is presumed that Delegate Wickersham’s bill,
recently introduced in congress, follows the lines laid down by
Secretary Lane, with possibly a few changes suggested by the
delegate’s more intimate knowledge of Alaska, its people, and the
conditions that exist here.
-A.
Representative London (whoever he may be) said in the
house of representatives this week that “every Socialist in the
country would fight if this country were attacked by a foreign
foe.” This is one of those bombastic statements so often indulged
in by public speakers when over anxious to make a good impres
sion for the cause they espouse. It as rot of the worst kind. No
man is aide to say what any other man who is a free agent will
do under given circumstances. And there is no reason to believe
that the Socialist is a more ardent patriot than are the Repub
licans or Democrats, for instance. Ii is a safe bet that not “all”
of the members of any of these parties would fly to their couri
trv’s rescue in time of danger.
❖
In a letter to the Fairbanks News-Miner. V/. F. Thompson,
former editor of that newspaper, who is now in San Francisco,
says that he would “rather be in Fairbanks with his back broken
than in San Francisco or any other place he has visited Outside
with ail kinds of foolish money in his pocket.” He speaks dis
paragingly of the fair, and says the Alaska exhibit was a crime.
“The Fairbanks quartz display,” he says, “had a shelf or two of
rock which the geological sharp in charge of the exhibit said would
go about $1.25 to the ton. Most of the rock sent out didn’t have
a trace of mineral in it.”
-«
The “Development number” of the Alaska Daily Empire, pub
lished at Juneau, reached here in the mail arriving last Saturday.
It is dated September IS, 1915. While it has been a long time
reaching here, it is almost as good as new, and is a credit to the
postal officials for the care bestowed upon mail put in storage.
The special edition of the Empire is a valuable publication from
every standpoint, and should prove useful to those seeking in
formation about the varied resources of Alaska, and especially of
the Juneau district.
-»
Considerable resentment has been aroused because of the fact
that the entente allies have been interfering with United States
mail destined for cnsbinental Europe. Probably the action of the
British and French ,.jay be in a measure evxplained by the fact
that the British ambassador in Washington was instructed to
make protests to the United States government relative to the
shipment of food to Germany by parcel post. The British gov
ernment asked that this be stopped, as they did not desire to be
compelled to search United States mails.
--♦
The people of Seward are informed by the Gateway that they
are paying 50 cents per line for official printing. And yet some
folks seem to think that printers’ ink is costly in Iditarod at half
that price!
—-«
ALASKA POLITICS
(Nome Industrial Worker)
Alaska polities has been, and is, three-fourths job-hunting and
one-fourth political buncombe. Possibly in this it is akin to con
ditions Outside. But it never was meant in Alaska to be taken
seriously. As for receiving the attention of thinking or thought
ful men with the mad rush on for the swill trough, that wasn't to
be considered at all.
There's always more or less buncombe about politics, and
Alaska has had more than its share, but surely there is a certain
amount of human interest attaching to any person who can ap
parently fool the majority of the people all the time.
-♦
SENSITIVE NEWSPAPER READERS
(B. L. T. in Chicago Tribune)
The war has been running twelve months, and during that
time we have written two or three hundred paragraphs about it—
pleasant, unpleasant, malicious, kindly, and merely stupid. And
through it all we have concealed from many readers the location
of our sympathies or prejudices, for we receive letters e. o. d.
charging us with being (1) pro-German, and (2) pro-English. As
a master of indirect statement President Wilson, it would appear,
has little, if anything, on us.
We discussed the question with Professor Cliff Raymond, our
favorite authority on boobology. His plausible theory is that an
idea does not register on the average reader unless it happens to
coincide with the reader’s own opinion. Everything else glances
from him without leaving a trace of impact.
BEYOND THE SKY-LINE
(By Kdward Cone)
Wo yearned beyond the sky-line,
Where the strangs roads go down.
—Budyard Kipling.
’Twas a sky line rough and ragged
That was given us to view,
And the peaks, snow-capped and jagged.
Ever pierced the ether blue;
And the Run, bent on adorning
With his strong, sure strokes, and bold,
Painted them at eve and morning
Painted them with red raw gold.
And we yearned beyond that sky-line,
With a wistful wish, to know
What was hidden by that high-line,
Clist’ning with eternal snow.
As we yearned and wished and wondered
Of the secrets there untold,
As the glaciers growled and thundered, ;
Came the whisper, “Red raw gold!” ;
With the whisper ceased our slumbers!
With the whisper came the sign,
Ami the boldest of our numbers
Headed for that rugged line —
Pushed into that unknown vastness,
And with trails uncut, untried,
Passed into that mountain fastness,
Where some cursed, and others cried.
With our sleds all racked and broken,
And our clothes worn, torn and soiled,
With a nameless dread unspoken,
Strangely silent, on we toiled,
Through dark canyons, grim death facing
Us at every step we took,
For the roaring waters racing
Dropped to depths we dare not look.
Treeless passe-'-, stern, forbidding,
Far above the timber line,
Unused passes, all but hidden,
Where fogs weep and cold winds whine
Passes that were steep and winding ~
These we scaled, and onward passed, ;
And with labor that was grinding
Reached the range’s top at last!
I
Reached that sky-line, red-gold pointed,
Beyond which we’d dreamed and yearned.
1 Seme had died, and others fainted;
! Not a few had backward turned;
I And the labor seemed unending!
j For the goal was yet unwon.
j Each to his own will attending,
! There the toilsome search begun.
By the ways that we were faring
We began the eager quest,
F'or each other little caring.
Nor cared we for need of rest;
But with labor unremitting.
Digging for the precious g< Id.
Tired, careless, and unwitting
Lies we to each other told.
Fume lost health, and some lost reason!
F: me were frozen, some were starved;
And many graves within a season
Marked we there, with stones uncarve l.
Gold we found—aye, red and shining!
Other came, and town- v re built:
i Starved ones turned to sumptuous dining,
| Quarrels rose, and Mood was spilt.
Thus came the ending to our yearning!
| Came the ending of our toils;
| With the lift-fires dimly burning
j Yet within us came the spoils.
Down, far down, below that high-line,
We grew crabbed, gray and old.
Of the things beyond the sky-line,
Death we found, and RED RAW GOLD!
~o
FELIX DIAX IS PLANNING
ANOTHER REVOLUTION
EL PASO, Dec. 1.--Felix Diaz is plotting
for another revolution, and is now actually
I engaged in mobilizing eight thousand In
I mans as the beginning of an army which he
intends to taVe into the field. It has been
learned that he has purchased a steamship
j at Vancouver and is now bringing arms
I and ammunition for the use of his force.
-^ —
HIS ORDERS
“Remember,” said the sergeant, “no one
I is allowed to dismount without orders.”
! Murphy was no sooner in the saddle than
| he was thrown to the ground.
I “Murphy,” yelled the sergeant, when he
j discovered him lying breathless on the
ground, “you dismounted.”
“I did.”
“Did you have orders?”
| "I did.”
| “From headquarters, I suppose."
“No. sir, from hindquarters.”—Chicago
Herald.
-^
j Fresh Olympia and Eastern Oysters, 81.50
j per can. Iditsrod Meat Co.
CLEANING AND PRESSING
ALL KINDS OF FUR WORK
Suits Cleaned and Pressed, Fur Coats and
Robes Lined, and All Kinds of
Fur Work Done
MRS. GHAS. LARSOftS
Orders may be left with Mrs. Thornton
LARSON BROS.’
Any Length Handled
Any Part of City
Telephone
Mutchler Bros,
GENERAL
FREIGHTERS
DAILY STAGE SERVICE
_ OPEN DAY AND NIGHT
FLAT CITY HOHSACK &. DURAND
Bet. the Grand and Bagcy's 3ar$
THE BEST ALL THE TIME
—
WE ARE HERE TO STAY
Best of Everything
ALL THE TIME AT THE
Arcade Cafe
FLAT CITY
Open LJ a v and Night
P ro fe s 3 i o n a 1
Michigan, 1881 Alaska, 1910
Kentucky, 1891
George Woodruff Albrecht
COUNSELOR AND LAWYER
1DITAROD, ALASKA
The Pioneer Attorney of Idltarod
E. M. STANTON
Attorney at Law
Office: Corner Willow and Second Sts.
Iditarod Pioneer Building
CM AS. E. TAYLOR
Attorney at Law
BANK BLOCK
First Avenue Iditarod
Fred Harrison
ATTORNEY AT LAW
Room 1 Over Merchants Cafe
DR. P^IOORE
PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON
I
DR. H. E. AURINGER
| '
; Off.ce: Flat City Hospital, Flat City
; Consultation Hours in Forenoons and by
Appointment
DR. H. BEKLA
i
Appointments by Telephone
FLAT CITY
y
SoD&ndSt. OO* Phono 15
Tfl@ ^ Cty
1 iul^ I ^lli Mrs. Geo. Mutchler, Prop.
Nicely Furnished Rooms Barn for Horses and Dogs Baths in Connection
HARRY DONNELLEY
EZE GENERAL MERCHANDISE
DISCOVERY, OTTER
THE BEST GF EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME
i
I FIRST AYE.
I
GOOD MEALS
SHORT ORDERS
OPEN DAY AND NIGHT
ROBT. 60UTAR P
Prop.
r&w n*
With a Well-Assorted Stook of
FRESH GROCERIES
AXES, SAWS, MAULS, WEDGES, GRIND
STONES,
POCKET BOOKS, MEMORANDUM BOOKS
BURLAP, OILCLOTH, RUGS, HEAVY
CANVAS
LOGGER SHIRTS, WOOLEN OVERSH1RTS
WOOL MITTS, CANVAS GLOVES
RUBBER BOOTS AND PACS
STOVES AND COOKING UTENSILS
FILES, AXE STONES, POCKET KNIVES
WRITING TABLETS, PENS, INK and PENCILS
STANFIELD AND MEDLICOTT UNDERWEAR
JUMPERS, OVERALLS, LEATHER GLOVES
AND MITTENS
MACKINAWS, SWEATER COATS
PIPES AND TOBACCOS
PAINTS, OILS AND VARNISH