Ebr Bailg froBprrtnr
PUBLISHED BT
PROSPECTOR PUBLISHING CO.
H. B. SELBY, Editor and Proprietor.
VALDEZ. ALASKA
Published Daily Except Sunday_
Entered as Second-Class Mail Matter,
July 23, 1912, at the postofflce of v aides.
Alaska, under act or March 3, 1879.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
Dally Prospector.
Pv i a: rier. per month .f.I'JX
By mail, oer annum ...pio.no
The Weekly Miner.
The Daily Prospector and Weekly
Miner, by mail, to one address
only, per year ...fi2.5W»
3y carrier, per month .J
By mail per annum .*
The Daily Prospector and Week
ly Jiner, hv carrier, to one ad
drees, per month .® t.2fi |
Bus’ness Office and Editorial Rooma,
TEL, 152
Advertising Rates on Application.
1917 JULY 19171
ISUNIMM TUE>gPTHUl Fill 1 SATj
£2,3 051.6 (7 j
1819 Will 1514
15161718192021
^^15262728
gwoSirn u
.r ---
MONDAY, JULY 9, 1917
WHY IS INSPECTOR NEAL?
For several years resident of Al
aska coast towns have been asking,
"Why is Inspector Neal of the postal
department?” Ever since he was in
f!icte(V'on Alaska the post office busi
ness of the coast towns has been run
as though directed by the man who
used a wart on the back of his neck
for a collar button. From Cordova to
Anchorage protests against him and
bis methods have been almost contin
uous. He is as popular as a pain in
the stomach because of the parsimon
ious economy which has handicapped
the postal service throughout his jur
isdiction.
Every post office is short on cleri
cal assistance and every post office
clerk is overworked. Several years ago
the postmaster at Cordova resigned
because his clerical force was cut
down at the beginning of the winter
season just as the work of his office
was about to be largely increased by
the transfer of the Tanana mail from
the river route to the winter road.
Valdez has had two post offices
burned in two years and each time
Neal has refused to do anything to
help start a new one. Since the last
post office was burned six months ago
the Valdez office has been conducted
in the corner of a store like a back
woods office in a cross roads grocery
and everybody gets his mail by gen
eral delivery. The citizens are engag
ed in trying to get a new post office
by popular subscription for equip
ment and contribution/oward rent, as
they did the last time. Neal does
nothing but try to save nickels.
Anchorage has suffered from insur
ficient postal equipment aad facilities
ever since it appeared on the map
two years ago. It has an efficient and
hardworking postmaster, who is oft
ened blamed for conditions for which
he is not responsible. Nobody could do
better than Postmaster Wood does
under the handicaps imposed upon
him.
About 500 applicatgp for post o.ffice
boxes are on file wit^he postmaster
and there are no boxes to be had be
cause the postal inspector will not
recommend any expansion of post of
fice equipment. As many as ten per
sons are getting their mail in one
box and everyone is familiar with the
long lines of people who wait their
turn at the general delivery after the
arrival of each mail steamer. How
long, Oh Lord, how long?
The trouble with Neal is that he
seems to rate an Alaskan post office
as he would an office in a country
‘ 9
STEAM HEAT NEWLY FURNISHED
SEATTLE HOTEL
MRS. E. MILL, Propr.
VALDEZ ALASKA
town in the States which serves a
region six miles square. He refuses to
recognize the fact that offices like An
chorage, Cordova and Valdez handle
mail for branch lines as well as for
territory bigger than an outside coun
ty. He refuses to make allowance at
Anchorage for the fact that one-third
of the mail is government O B and
the postmaster gets no credit for it
in the sale of stamps because it pays
r.o postage. A postmaster’s salary is
based on stamp sales and hox rent
and the Anchorage office is short
changed on both by the refusal to
ftirnish enough boxes and the neces
sary fact that official business uses
no stamps.
The only remedy is to get a postal
inspector who can see something big
ger than a nickel. Inspector Neal
wouldn't pay ten cents to see a man
commit suicide. All Alaska ought to
unite in a demand for another in
spector.—Anchorage Times.
Inspector Neal's policy of entrench
ing in every way possible is partly
responsible for the loss of. the mail
and supplies here last January. Had
he taken the advice of representa
tive citizens and placed the building
where it was recommended, it would
undoubtedly be standing today. At
the rental price paid any man famil
iar with conditions in Alaska is aware
that the landlord would lose money
from the start, and that adequate ser
vice could not be furnished. Today
Valdez stands in a most peculiar con
dition. With one of the best paying
offices on the coast, and with this city
the distributing center for a district
as large as many, states in the union,
the Valdez postmaster finds condi
tions facing him appaling. The facili
ties afforded are deplorable, the post
master occupying one corner of the
Valdez Mercantile building, with less
space than that afforded by many
cross-road offices in the States. But
for the great courtesy shown the citi
zens by Manager Cuddy, in providing
a place for the distribution of mail
at great inconvenience to himself,
the Lord only knows where Postmast
er Todd would have been able to hang
his hat. The clerks are in each other’s
way and have to display a kangeroo
like agility in jumping mail sacks
and numerous packages and dodging
each other. The Prospector receives
its mail from a dry goods box, and
the recepticales run from a hat box to
a cigar box, with the overflow ex
tending onto the tables and other fur
niture. Postmaster Todd is doing the
best he can under tne circumstances,
but the distribution is necessarily
slow on account of lack of room.
Valdez in normal times uses from
300 to 500 boxes. With mail coming
in 50 to 100 sack lots it is hard to
handle it, and almost impossible for
the postmaster to find a place to pile
the sacks.
The citizens have become so irritat
ed over the parsimonious plan upon
which the office is run that they have
circulated a petition among the resi
dents of the town to get a new post
office by popular subscription, and
will take it out of the hands of the
government with the exception of pay
ing the postmaster’s salary, which the
government may yet kindly consent
for them to do.
We do not know whether Inspect
or Neal is responsible for this condi
tion of affairs or not. It hardly seems
possible that a man so thoroughly
familiar with Alaska could be, know
ing the high cost of fuel and labor
in the territory. But one thing is cer
tain, conditions must change, and
change quickly, or the Postoffice De
partment will get into disrepute in
this section of Alaska.
If Inspector Neal is responsible for
the pinch-penny methods prevailing
all pver this division it is time that
steps were taken to call the atten
tion of the department to the fact
that such methods are intolerable, and
to demand that they cease. If Mr.
Neal is no! responsible, and is only
obeying orders from his superiors,
this fact should also be ascertained,
and complaint made where it will do
some good. Valdez is entitled to as
good a post office as any other city
in the Territory, and the department
should be forced to pay the same rent
as any other tenant, In order to com
pensate the landlord for his outlay.
With a pinch-penny policy a landlord
cannot afford to make his tenants
comfortable,'and constant friction re
sults.
The postoffice burned in this city
the second day of January, and we are
apparently as far from having a new
one as we were the day after the fire.
Let us get busy and demand results.
THE road from Valdez to Fair
Fairbanks Is becoming so well trav
eled that autos are becoming a nuis
ance to teamsters, whose animals have
not yet become accustomed to the|
noise of the machines. At one time
yesterday four autos were seen going
through the canyon at one time. The
condition of the roads are so good i
that a driver can get about all out of!
a machine that is in it. and the seen-!
ery is incomparable The Valdez
Fafrbanks route, when once its charm
becomes known, will be one of the,
best traveled thorofares in the terri
tory, and one which w-ill attract an
increasing number of tourists each
year. The route runs for'many miles
thru the finest farming lands in Alas
ka, and these lands will be quickly
settled now* that transportation has
been opened up. A large number of
men are at work on the road and by
fall it will be in as good condition,
as any road in the states. Valdezansj
should get in and boost for this route,
with their outside friends, and it will
be but a few months until dozens of,
tourists come to Valdez and make thej
trip overland to Fairbanks.
---
THE Anchorage Sunday Times isj
a welcome visitor to our exchange j
table this week. It is a 12-page 7-'
column paper with a fine local and |
telegraphic service and a credit toi
Anchorage, and Alaska in general..
The Times is the only paper in Alas-1
ke getting out a special Sunday edi-i
tion, and that it will find a ready,
field goes without saying.
MARRIED MEN Ml’ST
REGISTER SAYS CROWDER
--
The War Department authorizes
the following:
Provost Marshal General Enoch H.f
Crowder denies the rumor which had
gained great currency that it bad been
decided to discharge all married men
from the selective draft. The story
grew from the remark of Secretary
Baker of the War Department, that he
hoped it would be possible to exclude;
from the draft all married men whose l
dependents were "solely dependent.” j
It was found that married men not!
only had the impression that mar-1
riage itself provided exemption from
the draft, but that it obviated even
registration itself. It order to correct
this misunderstanding, Gen. Crowd- j
er issued the following statement:
"The act establishing the selective;
draft authorizes the President to ex
clude or discharge from the draft
those in a status with respect to per
sons dependent upon them for sup
port which renders their exclusion or;
discharge advisable. The census esti- j
mate shows that almost half of the
men available for draft, under the act j
of congress, are married and any j
sweeping exclusion of married men!
would be inadvisable. Only those j
whose dependents must rely solely on
them for support should claim exemp
tion and, of course, all married men
between the ages of 21 and 30 in-!
elusive, must register whether they \
claim exemption or not.”
The Moose Band will hold their i
regular Monday night practice in i
Moose Hall tonight.
-—I
WANTED
I
TO ENLIST IN THE
U. S. NAVY
FOR PARTICULARS SEE
Str SATURN
CORDOVA ALASKA.
S. and W.
For quality and flavor nothing excells tic
S and \V line of fruits, vegetables, preserves
and jellies.
Packed under the strictest sanitary condi
tions, S and W fruits are choice selected ripe
fruit retaining all the natural flavors.
S and W vegetables are crisp, perfect gar
den products—nothing but the best going in
to the can.
S and W preserves and jellies are from
perfect fruits, no culls, or seconds are used.
A complete line of S and W products to
be had at this store at all times.
Good Goods S. BLUM & CO*) Good Goods
1
DRY ADVOCATES GET
VIEWS OF LAWMAKERS
______
WASHINGTON, D. C., July 9.—
Representatives of the organized pro
hibition forces conferred with the
senators and representatives who are
favorable to the "dry” element today
in an effort to determine their atti
tude on the bone-dry prohibition leg
islation, a debate over which has been
waxing for several days in the sen
ate, following the passage of virtu
ally such an act by the house. After
these conferences the executive com
mittee of the anti-saloon league is ex
pected to draft a letter to President
Wilson announcing its decision.
Regardless, however, of any action
the league or its sympathizers may
take, it is generally agreed in official
circles that the president’s interven
tion has had the effect of preventing
any interference with the manufact
urers of be£r and light wines. The
most the prohibitionists can hope for
at this session is the passage of leg
islation dealing with the manufacture
of distilled beverages.
WOMEN DON MALE
GARB. WORK HARD
I
CHICAGO, July 9.—It has come—
actual women in actual overalls do
ing the work of men just as they have
for some time been doing in England
and France.
A little group of grinning, be
trousered and healthy-looking women
went to work in the lumber yard of
the Ryan Car Company in a suburb
today. Supt. Chrisopher Davidson ex
plained: *
"Labor is becoming more and more
scarce, and we advertised for women
a few days ago. Five hundred replies
were received. In a week or so there
will be fifty or sixty at work and
eventually 200. They do men’s work
and receive men’s pay.
“We think women make as good
laborers as men. We are not figuring
that it will take two women to do the
work of one man; one woman can do
It. They work 9 % hours. The pay is
30 cents an hour. We are going to
place women as mechanics’ assistants,
and as helpers in all sorts of skilled
labor.”
Mrs. Charles Fisher will arrive
from Seattle on the steamship Alaska
this evening.
M. Sullivan is a passenger on the
steamship Alaska for Valdez.
Miss M. E. Billings will arrive in
Valdez this evening on the steamship
Alaska.
Fifteen round trip passengers are
making a tour of the territory on this
trip of the Alaska.
Mr. E. E. Merrifield will leave for
the States in the near future to join
his wife, who is visiting relatives at
present, and will probable make his
home in Seattle or on his ranch in
j California. Mr. and Mrs. Merrifield
have made many warm friends here
who regret very much to see them
leave the city.
Complete line of Bulk Chocolates.
Candy Kitchen. tf
VALDEZ LODGE
NO 108
Free Accepted Muni
Regular Communication! flrat Wed i
ueeday in each month In Mc-Klnlpy
Hall. Vleitora alwaya welcome.
F. M. BROWN, W. U.
ED WOOD. Secretary.
WE PAY
Cast Iron 925 per ton.
W’rought Iron 918 per ton. .. ..
Copper 926 per ton.
Brass 918 per ton.
liead 8%c per |>ound.
Rubber 7He per pound.
Qt. Beer Bottles 27He per doz.
Pint Beer Bottles 1714 per doz.
Rags 92.50 per 100 pounds.
Paper 91.00 per 100 pounds.
Manila Rope 414c per pound.
P. O. B. SEATTLE.
ATLAS JUNK CO.
1043 Railroad Avenue, So.
SEATTLE, WASH.
Launch Patsy
for Charter Anwyhere on
VALDEZ BAY
At any Time Day or Night
J. D. Jefferson
VALDEZ, ALASKA
LAUNCH
PATHFINDER
CAPT. BYRON SMITH
Sailing weekly ont of Valdes
will deliver passengers, mail, ex
press and fast freight at any
point on Prince William Sound.
RATES REASONABLE
Periodical service by agree
ment to outlying camps a spe
cialty.
CAPT. BYRON SMITH
VALDEZ, ALASKA
A. M. DIERINGER
Valdez Transfer
Company
Office on Alaska Avenue* in
George C. Treat Building
Telephone No. 60
General Trucking and Freighting
to all Interior Points.
AUTOS FOR HIRE
PAY OR NIGHT
Positively No Coal Delivered Un
less Paid for in Advance
PROFESSIONAL CARDS.
DR. S. WICK.ES MERRITT
Offices in Fish Building, adjoining
Tillikum Club.
Phone ’15 stcKtovey Street
Contract Surgeon, U. S. Army
A. A Purgeon, U S. Public Health Serv.
(Marine Hospital)
DR. H. COCKERILLE
Rrntutc National University,
Washington, D. t.
DENTIST
In Valdez Since 1898
PHONE 110
Office Rooms In Whaling Building
DONOHOE & DIMGND
ATTORNEY S-AT-LA W
OBce Opposite Conrt Home
Phone M VAI.DKZ. ALASKA
JOHN LTONB A B RITCHIB
LYONS & RITCHIE
ATTORNBYI.AT.LAW
OHcea la «* haling Balldlng
Phone mi valdez. alaska
ROBERT SIMPSON Opt. D.
JUNEAU, ALASKA
* Glasses Fitted Lenses Ground
VALDEZHOSPITAL
Private Rooms
Terms Reasonable
JOS. A. SILVERMAN, PL G. M. D. P™*.
Jos. A. Mlvermaa Pfc. G.M. D.
PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON
Office itnt-1 to 4 p. ■ —7 te 8 p. a.
Sunday by Appointment
Res. Tel. 176 Office Tel. 19
Boyle Block Valdez
J. E. WILSON
Freighting to all points
in the third division.
Horses bought and sold.
Phone 166.
Valdez Miners Union No. 188
Western Federation of Miner*
W. M. CONLEY Praasdaet. <
y^ImInii i
GEORGE M. BARRY Sacratary.
Valdai Alaska. _
Candy Kitchen
L W. HUNT—1*0*1 Dr*i St*r*.
FOUNTAIN DRINKS
HOT—-COLD