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THE ID6TAROD F80INJEER
_i
Published Every Saturday Morning at Iditarod, Alaska
i
Vol. 7 CHARLES A. DERRY, Editor and Publisher Wo. 20
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PREPAREDNESS
The American ideals of government preclude the
possibility of the United States ever becoming a mili
tarist nation. But with nations as with individuals,
ideals are not always realized. That the hue and cry
being raised at present against a military program
That shall call for a large standing army and an im
mense n; vy are based mainly upon the fear that a
large martial equipment may breed arrogance and
eventually lead to unnecessary strife is quite appar
ent. Bui that there is need for increased armament
there apy ears to be general agreement. It is coming
to be generally recognized that the nation which
would maintain its own sovereignty and command
respect must be able to maintain its rights by force of
arms. The question before congress, which at pres
ent is in such chaotic shape, is as to how extensive
our armament is to be. The attempt of some poli
ticians to make a partisan issue of the matter will fail,
as it should, and eventually, when public opinion is
sufficiently settled, a plan will no doubt be agreed
upon which, while furnishing the nucleus of national
defense, to be supplemented by citizen soldiery, will
not necessitate the withdrawal of immense bodies of
men from useful avocations and the maintenance of
a military system which may in time become a men
ace to the liberties which it is intended to protect.
No matter what the outcome of the present agita
tion may be, it is bound to have a good effect. The
military system of the United States as at present
constituted is an anomaly m a republic. It is one
which foreign military men cannot comprehend—
that the defense of the nation should be intrusted al
most entirely to a hired army. It is coming to be
more ar.d more evident that the time is coming when
every citizen of the republic will be subject to mili
tary duty in some form, just as he is now subject to
jury duly and to his share of the national expenses.
Repulsive as anything which smacks of militarism
maj be to our people, it looks as though out of
the present disturbed state of the world s affairs and
(he agitation for preparedness at home, such a sys
tem may ultimately be evolved as will assign to each
citizen his place in the national defense. The plan
most talked of is suggested by the Swiss system,
which in brief is as follows:
*Jverv male citizen of the Swiss republic is liable to military
duty between the ages of 20 and 50, and officers until the age of
Between the ages of 10 and 10 the Swiss boy receives courses
of gymnastics or calisthenics in the public schools, and after the
last-named age the law requires him to go on with his gymnastics
and to make a beginning at musketry. Rifle shooting is a national
•port, and practically every boy belongs to rifle clubs that are un
der national auspices. The first line, called the “elite.” consists of
those from 20 to 32. inclusive; the second, or "landwehr.’ of those
from 33 to 44. inclusive; the third consists of all others from 17 to
.10 years of age. When a recruit reports he is fitted with his uni
form and equipment and given a rifle, all of which must be taken
care of by him and remain in his custody until the end of his mill -
tarv service. Recruits receive instructon from sixty to ninety
days, depending upon their arm of the service. For the “elite” a
repetition course of from seven to fourteen days is held every year.
Sergeants and higher non-commissioned officers serve ten repeti
tion courses. In the “landwehr” a repetition course of eleven days j
takes place every four years for all the different arms. All work is
in the fir'd and on the target range. Universal service and the be
ginning b. tfr vjuk in the public schools are the most prominent
elements of the Swiss system.
That marvelous military genius, Napoleon, is
quoted as saying: "So long as people have soldiers
whom they pay, they say: ‘it is for them to defend
us.’ A hired army (as opposed to a conscripted
army) destroys the national energy and deprives the
state of the resources which, m the face of necessity,
would be found in the courage of its citizens.” And
further: "Compulsory service is the fairest, kindest
and most democratic, means of raising men.”
Americans will not lelish the terms “compulsory
service” and "conscription, But universal military
service and liability to participation in the defense of
the republic, under whatever name it be designated, i
would appear to be the logical outcome of the “pre- j
paredness” program.
A -
A MYSTERY EXPLAINED
Poor old Emperor Franz Josef! Lor years the
stock story of European news correspondents when
there was little sti,ring was the death of the Aus
trian emperor. He has died more deaths than the
proverbial cat. And the strange part of it is that
whenever it is necessary for the emperor to appear
again it is never explained that the rumor of his
demise was even an exaggeration, as Mark Twain
did with reference to the premature reports of his
own taking-off. But now it is all explained. It is
possible, it we are to believe the following story
cabled from Geneva, that the numerous reports of
the death of the aged emperor of the dual monarchy |
were all true. The story is as follows:
GENEVA, Feb, 26. —The Petit Provencal of Marseilles pub- ,
lishes the following strange story, which is generally believed in
southern France:
“A former Austro-Hungarian diplomat who left the service of j
the dual monarchy many years ago and now lives in France states
that the present Austrian ruler is an imposter. The real Emperor
Francis Joseph died in 1884, after a short illness. He was poi
soned, but for political reasons the government and the court kept
his death secret. To explain his absence from Schoenbrunn it was
reported that the monarch had started on a hunting trip in the
mountains. Several weeks after the burial of the ruler a Hun
garian by the name cf Hyjanos, who looked exactly like the dead
emperor, was found and brought to Schoenbrunn. This man
‘played his part to perfection, but he lived only five years. When |
|5« di«d in 1889 another substitute had to be found. Since that i
h
time about a dozen old men who look like the original Francis
Joseph have been kept in a convent in Bohemia, and three of
them already have posed as rulers of the dual monarchy. The
present occupant of the thrones of Austiia and Hungary is a Bo
hemian peasant who cannot even read or write.”
The Petit Provencal promises affidavits to prove the story.
♦
\ large mail order house which does a business of considerable
proportions with Alaska has recently distributed $10,000,000 in
dividends among its stockholders, being a return of more than 10
per cent on the investment. It would he interesting to know just
what proportion of this sum Alaskans contributed to a concern
which pays no taxes in the territory, has absolutely nothing in
vested here, and is in no wise concerned with the local problems
which established business firms are railed upon to wrestle with
continually. It is exempt from the many items of expense wide
local business men figure on, such as charitable donations, when
some sick, injured or otherwise unfortunate individual must be
taken care of by his fellows; if makes no donations for public con
venienres, such as roads and trails, as local business men do, and
it contributes nothing to the support of local institutions, such as
churches schools, fraternal societies, newspapers, etc. The mail
order house plays absolutely a “cinch” hand -with nothing to lose
and everything to gain. It spends no money in the territory, even
the transportation of its goods tiring paid for in Outside pmt
oflices, and as it does business on a cash in advance plan, it ha*
absolutely no excuse to spend a dollar here. It is safe to say that
were the'money which is now spent with mail order houses to be
distributed among the local merchants the return to the resident
population would be relatively much more profitable. The home
merchant would be enabled to carry more extensive and diversi
tied stocks, and articles which arc now bought Outside as a matter
i f necessity could then be purchased here. The idea of spending
money at home instead of abroad should become more popular.
♦
Probably trimming his nub to catch the presidenti; 1 breeze,
Theodore Roosevelt attempts to allay the bad impression caused
by his recent bellicose outbreaks by issuing a statement ol his per
sonal views which is more moderate in tune than former utter
ances. “Don’t nominate me,” he said, “unless you are prepared
to take the position that Uncle Sam is to lie strong enough to de
fend his rights and every one of his people wherever those peopl
are, and he cannot be strong enough unless he prepares in ad
vance. 1 am not for war. On the contrary, I abhor it, and would
use every possible means to avoid even a just war; but I feel that
you do not in the long run avoid war by making other people tic
iiove that you are afraid to tight for your own rights,
❖
“Beneath the rule of men entirely great the pen is mightier
(han the sword.” And why may not this quotation be applied ti
the useful typewriter? Speaking of the refusal of Great Britain
to permit the shipment of typewriters to Germany, the Post
Intelligencer of Seattle says sm-eringly: 'it must be ad
mitted that, save for the two Mexican incidents, this country is
conducting ail of its controversies with foreign countries with
typewriters, and has shown exceptional skill in their use.” But
what would you have? Should we unsheathe our mighty sword,
or turn bn sc the brazen tongue of Roosevelt '.'
<»
“The great majority of politicians who arc looking for office
asp hypocrites, and the great majority of the people who elect
them are fo--K’' says the Seward Gateway. One is inclined to
wonder how much of this may be attributed to the desire to make
a startling statement and how much of it is justified by the facts.
And the mystery is increased when in the same issue of tnat pupet
appears the further statement: “One thing about the eleetii-n to
morrow can lie said, and that is that the candidates are as hen:
a bodv of men taken general.v. as one could find anywhere.
♦
President Wilson again has shown his utler e- ntempt for prece
dent and the conventionalities by accepting an invitation to dine
with General Hugh L. Scott, the chief of staff, id bi-rt Meyer. Ii
has been customary for presidents to accept no dinner invitations
except from members of the cabinet, and “soe-ety in the nation;:!
canitrl is said to be gasping with astonishment.
♦
Just prior to relinquishing the editorial chair of the Fairbanks
News-Miner Senator Gaustad perpetrated the f-Towing: “Bruthci
Caskey is kicking because the Democratic hosts are thinning so
rapidly in this neck o’ the woods. What can you expect ' Am
- (her grand jury and you won’t have enough I ft to try each
other.”
❖
In connection with the boost in freight rates between Seattle
and Alaska points, perhaps we are to be congratulated that it is
no worse. For instance, the increase to Dikeman wi 1 be only 10
I cr cent, while that to Ketchikan will be 100 per cent. But then,
the (.1-1 rate to Ketchikan was only $.1 per ton.
❖
H. J. White, known to all Alaska and Yukon as “Str- llcr"
White, has disposed of the Whitehorse Star and is now conducting
the Douglas Island News. The many who have enjoyed his dr.-l,
stuff will wish him success in his new field.
❖
"IT WON'T DO A BIT OF HARM"
(Nome Nugget)
The announcement that Delegate Wickersham will introduce
the much-discussed statehood bill on March 30 will doubtless
cause a butter among the professional politicians and their horn
blowing satraps down in the southeastern section, but we doubt
if it will be received by the rank and file of Alaskans with any
degree of jubilation. Despite the efforts of the howlers to make
it appear that statehood is a great, big, vital matter to the terri
tory, we doubt if more than 2 per cent of the citizens of Alaska
outside of the sacred precincts of that center of political trumpery,
the capital, look upon it as anything else but a bit of claptrap in
vented principally for the purpose of providing a new slogan for
the aspiring ones who seek to shine before the “dear peepui” in
the role of champions of the cause of Alaska. That kind of stuff
makes exceedingly good spouting material for the “give me lib
erty” bunch, who are surely hard-pressed for issues over which to
beat the drum and sound the horn up in this section of Uncle
Sam’s domain. They have pounded the “full territorial govern
ment” gag until the dear voters have ceased to take more than
passive notice, and they are perforce compelled to spring some
thing new or else retire into the sagebrush, where the silent hush
reigns supreme, and there are neither manna nor honors for in
dustrious politicians. To the great majority of Alaskans the state
hood bill means nothing at all, for the reason that they recognize
the utter futility of looking for statehood when it is plain that
even the elementary form of government at present in vogue
would be doomed to die a lingering death were it not for the
plethoric purse of Uncle Samuel back in Washington. It is all
right for the Hon. Janifs to introduce a measure calling for state
hood. It won’t do a tyi of harm, and at the same time it won’t
do a bit of good, so there is nothing to quarrel with him about on
that score. In truth, it may ultimately result in helping the ter
ritory to secure some benefits in the line of extensions of self
governing powers; but that it will be accepted by the Washing
ton Solons as anything but the ill-considered plea of an overty
ambitious section of the commonwealth will doubtless not be gain
said by any who have given the matter a small amount of atten
tion.
-♦
THE KUSKOKWIM
(Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
As a sidelight upon the possibilities of future development in
Alaska, a recent report of the federal department of the coast
and geodetic survey is significant. The work of the department
will result in the opening of a new inland waterway, the Kusko
kwim river, into the heart of Alaska, and make possible the de
velopment of new mining and agricultural districts of great
promise.
The coast and geodetic survey has been charting the ap
proaches to the Kuskokwim river for the past five years, and its
work is now completed. Supplementing this, a survey of the
river has been made for 550 miles into the Interior. It has been
ascertained that the river is navigable for steamers more than
700 miles inland, and with the branches, for more than 1,200
miles.
The great valley is second only to that of the Aukon in extent.
It includes excellent agricultural and grazing lands, is the home
of large herds of reindeer, and has large mineral deposits. There
are rich tributary creeks that prospectors are even now invading,
and the story of the rich discoveries along the Yukon and the
Tanana are likely to be repeated in the new district.
The work of the government survey party has extended far
enough to indicate that another great mineral and agricultural
district has been added to Alaska's area of possible development,
in the southwestern portion of the territory, which may in time
be tapped by a branch line from the government railway.
Meanwhile the district is easily accessible by ocean steamer
from Seattle and thence by river steamer 700 miles up the river.
It may be easily reached by prospectors, and next summer’s in
vestigations may be fruitful of results that will promise much to
Alaska’s future development and wealth.
SOME USEFUL INFORMATION
FOR LOCAL SPARKPLUGGERS
(Timken Magazine)
Garage men, beware! Autoists, atten
tion! Boatmen, be careful! Whenever you j
filter gasoline through chamois you are
playing hide and seek with one of the dead
liest combinations known to man—elec
tricity and gasoline.
If your tcnk is under the seat, be careful
when you fill it. If you are not, you are as
foolish as the man who looks for u gasoline
leak with a lighted candle.
Never strain gasoline through a chamois.
Now we’ll tell you why it is dangerous.
Gasoline and chamois do not get along.
They are not “neutrals,”
Let us assume that you are about to fill
your tank. The funnel is the nozzle. A
chamois strainer is in the funnel. The gaso
line is turned on and as it pours through
the chamois it generates static electricity.
Static electricity may be defined as elec
tricity that is at rest. It is an agent neither
of construction nor destruction so long as
nothing is done to unleash it. Unleash it,
] by brushing a clumsy finger against a nat
| oral law, and you have to deal with the
I most diabolical physical agent known—a
j force that destroys with the quickness of
lightning.
We have seen that gasoline, a volatile
I substance, passing through chamois, forms
j static electricity which charges the funnel.
| When the amount of electricity is suffi
cient to produce a jump spark, that spark,
following the inevitable law of electricty
attraction, jumps to the nearest ground,
which is your tank. In doing so it must
pass through the opening between the end j
of your funnel and the edge of the tank,
through which gasoline vapor is rising. Sud j
denly there is a violent discharge, like that j
of lightning, which is, after all, a gigantic j
jump spark. All those in close relation are, j
as it were, struck by lightning.
Many have been burned and scarred for \
life through ignorance of this fiend of elec- j
tricity. Many more, it is sad to relate, I
have been measured out on their last cool j
bed. No one was able to tell just why j
they died.
The moral to be derived from this article j
is: Do not put gasoline through chamois
skin. But if you still insist, on taking
chances, be sure that you have a ground
on it, by seeing that the funnel touches |
| the opening of the tank. Be doubly sure !
j that you take this precaution.
Fire department statistics of many cities
j show that an overwhelming per cent of auto j
I fires ere caused by using chamois with gaso
j line— a fatal cnbmination.
It might not he out of place in this article I
] *o state that thousands of persons do not ■
know that the vapi r arising from gasoline
I when mixed with the proper proportion cf :
air is one of the nrj dangerous and power
! ful ex; losives known.
... A
! ABOUT GENERAL PERSHING, !
IN COMMAND IN MEXICO
I - j
t (Washington Letter in Seward Gateway * [
A fighting soldier who wins battlxs by !
; diplomacy is a raiity. But that is the dis
| tinction accorded Brigadier General .John ^
.J. Pershing, the ‘‘man of sorrow” of 11 i:• j
| army, whose beautiful wife and three baby |
! girls were burned to death in a tire thai |
destroyed their home in San Francisco on
Ai:piist '-‘7, 1915.
Many and picturesque are the tales til
of this Beau Brummel of the army a hand
1 some, (ladling soldier, brilliant and bloody |
i in battle, equally brill;: nt in bloodless con j
: quests, hero of romance and strife; a lingu- j
list, diplomat, scholar; a man who won his i
: rank as much through peaceful conquer- ,
! ing of his enemies as through daring Fader
'hip in military campaign against them.
| Pershing and the Philippines arc synony ;
; mors. It was Pershing, then Captain Per
! King if the F-rst. 1 ter the Fifteenth cav
! :dry. who drew the i :-k of subduing the ;
l fanatical Moros of Mindanao and Join. IF
! was given 2,200 men and free rein. Not \
i one of those men was sscrified in batile. .
! Instead of beginning a war of extermina j
! lion against the M. ros. Captain Pershing
began a stuih’ of their language. Ke soon i
I mastered their tongue. He assembled the |
1 Moros. fanatical Mohammedans, on Fridays ;
, (their Sundays*, and taking texts from the1
* Koran, talked to them on reconciliation
| with the United States government. In !
j this way. without fighting a singl • battle |
he won all but two of the mountain tribes. |
and was consecrated a da*to by the sultans !
of the tribes.
But with the two tribes who spurned his j
efforts at peaceful conquest he showed re- :
i lentless and crushing power. Their strong !
mountain forts fell before his onslaught
until forty had been captured and their last
stronghold taken. One hundred and seventy
! live Moros paid the extreme penalty in bat
j tie for their folly. Only thirteen American
I soldiers were wounded, none killed.
His conquest in Mindanao resulted in
Pershing's appointment as adjutant general
of that island and Jolo, and Colonel Roose
velt, then President, surprised the entire
army organization by promoting him over
the heads of 802 ranking officers to be
brigadier general.
bitter struggle that threatened for a time
to blacken him forever. He had married
the daughter of Senator Warren of Wyom
ing a year before promotion. The wedding
was one of the most brilliant social affairs
in the history of the capital. Angry criti
cism arose, some charging that the promo- j
tion was due to favoritism. Roosevelt as
serted that he did not recall at all the fact
that General Pershing was a son-in-law of
Senator Warren when he promoted him.
Of his three little baby daughters who
were burned to death when his wife lost
her life, one was born in Tokio, Japan, in
1906, while the then Captain Pershing was
military attache at the Japanese embassy;
one was born in Baguio, Philippines, in
1908, and the youngest was born in Zam
boango, Philippines, in 1912.
General Pershing’s first fighting experi
ence was against the Indian outlaw Geron
imo on a punitive expedition into Mexico
in the late ’80s. He later fought against
the Sioux Indians in the Dakotas, served
as military instructor of cadets at the Uni
versity of Nebraska, and as administrator
of affairs in the provinces of Mindanao and
Jolo, Philippine islands. He speaks almost
every modern language, as well as the
tongues of many Indian and Philippine
tribes. General Pershing was sent to the
Mexican border in 1912, and served con- I
tinuously there.
-♦
Fresh Olympia and Eastern Oysters, $1.50
per can. ^ Iditarod Meat Co.
-♦——
Job Printing at Pioneer office 11
GOOD ADVICE
I started to build me a shed to
hold ice. and the neighbors came
over wit It helpful advice. They sat on
the grass, with the trees bending
o’er, and told of the sheds they had
budded of yore; such beautiful
sheds, said those eloquent jays, were
never beheld these degenerate days.
Whenever I drove a nail into a
board, some critic reared up on his
hind legs and roared, “Oh. you
mustn’t do this,” and “you shouldn’t
do that,” and “your wall is too
high,” and “your roof is too flat.” I
tried hard to follow the counsel they
gave, as 1 toiled with my hammer
and plane and spokeshave; I
changed and I titered. I fumed and
I fussed, 1 built and rebuilt it, and
cackled and cussed, and busted my
fingers and ruined my thumbs, while
critics sat round me displaying their
gums. Ami when it was finished it
fell with a crash, and nearly reduced
me to hamburger hash. I crawled
from the ruins and picked up a rail
and chased all those neighbors
through dingle and dale, and cried
as I smote them: “Ods fish and
cogs wound! No more shall 1 toil
with cheap alecks around! I’ll build
us I list, since I’m paying the price,
and woe to the gaffer who springs
good advice!’’ Walt Mason
AIHfcUiLAN BKAiriS MLUlULKfc
SINCE JONATHAN EDWARDS,
SAYS COLLEGE PRESIDENT
SEATTLE. April 10. America has had
no master mind since the time of Jonathan
Edwards, said Stephen B. Penrose, presi
dent (d Whitamn college, to guests of Phi -
Beta Kappa at the University of Washing
ton in the course of a formal address before
that honorary fraternity recently.
Philosophy since Edwards' time has
yielded its supreme place in educational d •
velopment, declared the speaker, and the
predominance of the sciences and the prac
tical arts has given rise to a shallow pre
tense of learning that is at the same time
far reaching and dangerous.
The spectacle of men of the Greek letter
-ocieties who know no Greek at ill except
the letters in the name of tie organiza*
fi< n to which they belong was emphasized
by Dr. Penrose to show the modern trend
of education, and the forcing into the back
ground of that which was considered highly
fundamental oidv a few wars a so.
❖ —
HARRY TABER IS WANTED
J. H. Taber <»f 912 Grove stre.-f, Boise
Idaho, writes to Postmaster An. ley making
monry f.-r his son. Harry Tab^r, aged 2d.
•vh.) is described as of light complexion an 1
about five feet seven inches in height. He
has not heard from him for two years, and
when last heard fr«»m he had started f r
Alaska. The father is 60 years of age an 1
in feeble health.
LOST Watch charm, with Masonic em
blem. Finder please return i > Earl B. Hun?
end receive reward.
Professional
Michigan, 1881 Alaska, 1«1 u
Kentucky, 1391
George Woodruff Albrecbt
COUNSELOR AND LAWYER
IDITAROD, ALASKA
The I'ioneer Attorney or Itlltaroct
E. M. STANTON
Attorney at Law
Oiiice: 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 1 Over Merchants ClT«
DR. MOORE
PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON
I
DR. II. E. AURtNGER
Office: Fiat City Hospital, Flat City
Consultation Hours in Forenoons and by
i Appointment
DR. H. BEHLA
FLAT CITY
Will Arrive in Iditarod by the first boat in
the spring
Al.r. THK TUCK AT THK
Arcade Cafe
I'L.Vl' CITV
Onen Dav and Night
FINE WATCH REPAIRING
NUGGET JEWELRY TO ORDER
J. L. SALE, Flat City
1
Se:cnc!StJS^S TAl^OD i¥l EAT CO. Pfione 13
Thfci Goid St" Rat City
110 ^sSl SLUG Mrs. Cso. Mutchier, Prop.
Nicely Furnished Rooms Barn for Horses and Dogs Baths in Connection
'~h/Trry downelleV"'"^' ~~ ^
EHEIE GENERAL MERCHANDISE
DISCOVERY. OTTER
lilt- oLM Uh LVLKY IrUKU ALL Inh 1 Imt
MERCHANTS’ CAFE
bb GOOD MEALS arassawHSHsi
FIRST AYE. OPEN DAY AND NIGHT | B0BT. ,OUTM
Prop.
Groceries Hardware
Glass ware China ware
Clothing
Leather and Rubber
Footwear
mcmahon
FLAT CITY