IN 1917
We think we have what the
people want
We have no experiments to
offer you
It has always been our aim to
give the people what
they want
Sam’l Applebaum
Drugs
A COMPLETE ASSORTMENT
DRUGS, PATENT MEDICINES
AND TOILET ARTICLES
Q Q Q
Dog Remedies
Glover’s Sore-foot, sure cure—
Glover’s Mange Cure
FRIAR’S BALSAM
Ansleys
Store
IDITAROD, ALAfXA
Watches and Diamonds
At
STRICTLY OUTSIDE PRICES
J. L. SALE
COMPARES GERMAN EMPIRE
TO OVERTRAINED PUGILIST
The developments of the battle on the
Sonune inspire an interesting inquiry. Is
it possible that Germany, with character
istic German thoroughness and system, [ire
pared through many years of effort to
tight one kind of battles, to make war in
one way,-and then found when it was too
late to change its system that it had
guessed wrongly? asks the Washington
Times.
There is no doubt that when the war
began Germany had all the advantage in
methods. Liege, at the very beginning,
showed that; for Germany had secretly pro
vided herself with giant guns that wrecked
the most powerful defensive works, with
their cement redoubts and steel cupolas.
To be able to accomplsih that before her
enemy knew she was equipped to do it was
a huge advantage.
Likewise in the detail of her preparation
to mobilize and bring into action her full
force more rapidly than any opponent could
possibly match it, Germany held a great
advantage.
But there were features of the new war
fare that Germany had not anticipated. Her
It Is Too Cold
To Advertise
Any Specialties
C. R. PECK, FLAT
CANDY
Society Chocolate Creams, per lb 5 75
Imperial Chocolate Creams, per lb. 1 00
GASOLINE FLAT IRONS Acorn Special Flat Iron, eact. 7.50 *
American Flat Irons, each 7.50
Tents, Tarpaulins, Nome Dog Harness, Webbing, Gasoline Lamps, Guns, Am
munition, Hardware, 8toves, Heaters, Furniture and Bedding, Rugs.
SMITH'S CUN STORE
IOITAROD, ALASKA PHONE 6 SECOND ANO WILLOW
close mass formations in the field were in
j tended to sweep everything before them;
! and they would have done so if the enemy j
had been willing to play the game as the
German staff had planned it. He wasn't,
and the close formations proved merely an
1 invitation to slaughter the greatest possible
; number of the splendidly trained German
i soldiers.
j At Verdun, when the war was a year and
a half old, the Germans began their ag
gression with methods that indicated that
! they still clung to the same ideas which
• they had formulated before the war started.
; They hurried in their great gray masses of
| men—to be mowed down by the French
! seventy-fives. They seemed still to enter
I tain the belief that Verdun would be
' taken as Liege and Maubeuge had been,
| by cracking their citadels to pieces with
‘ huge guns and then routing the defenders
i out with mass charges. But the French
. and British had meanwhile learned not to
| rely on the citadel ; they had come to ac
! cept it as a liability to be defended, rather
j than as a prime defense. So Verdun be
j came a sort of battle for the French, though
i the German method of attack was not
j greatly' changed. And Verdun did not fall.
Now comes the contest on the Somme
line. It shows the allies in offensive. They
j have learner), where Germany would not,
i by the earlier experiences. The allies, hav
| ing no such hard and fast, inflexible, in
I variable rules and methods, having no such
huge equipment of material intended for
certain very special uses, being under the
, necessity to devise both methods and ma
I terial to meet the emergency, were in po
i ation to take advantage of the things they
I were learning with every day’s bitter experi
i once. They suffered, but they learned. The
! Germans gained, but they did not win; and
j they did not learn.
I So at the Somme it is being demonstrated
j that the newer methods of the allies can
j actually make the offensive less costly in
! human forces than the defensive. Germany
| at Verdun paid twice the penalty that
■ France paid and yet did not win; the allies,
i on the Somme, have suffered less losses
! than the Germans, and yet have steadily
won.
The pathetic end of the prize fighter over
trained is familiar enough. Germany be
; gins to look like an overtrained fighter, un
1 able to adapt his “style” to that of his op
; onent
SAM BAYLES IN “HOT” TOWN
It is impossible to please ail the people
i all the time. Ike Bayles is just in receipt
| of a letter from his brother Sam, known
to so many Alaskans of the Interior as a
popular fellow, saying that he is doing a
l splendid business in the mercantile line at
■ Oatman, Ariz., but that the weather is un
bearably hot, and that he pines for the
snows of Alaska.— Anchorage Times, Dec. 9.
Job Printing at The Pioneer office.
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■ Job Printing at The Pioneer office.
RECORD TEMPERATURES
NOTED DURING WEEK
-TRAVEL SUSPENDED
Sixty-three degrees below zero was re
ported in Iditarod yesterday morning,
which is the lowest temperature ever re
corded in this district. From appearances
yesterday, there seemed to be no immediate
prospect of a change in atmospheric condi
tions. Travel is at a standstill, and no
freighting of any kind is being done except
what is absolutely necessary. The Iditarod
Flat stage has been laid off for several days,
and for the first time in many weeks there
have been neither arrivals from nor depar
lures for the Tolstoi. True, some hardy ndi
viduals have undertaken short journeys, but
the general impression seems to be that
traveling any distance under such weather
conditions is but tempting fate,
Mushers, teamsters and others who are
weather-bound in the city are spending
their time in making prognostications as to
the probable length of the cold snap, and
many arc the discussions, arguments and
relations of experiences suggested by the
unprecedented cold weather. All agree that
nothing like it lias ever been experienced in
this section of Alaska in the memory of the
white inhabit tints. Men who have prided
themselves on their ability to foretell
weather conditions have been silenced, and
none now has the temerity to predict when
there will be a break. The man who fore
casts weather by the changes in the moon
has been in evidence, but he, too, has about
abandoned the field.
An amusing incident occurred on Wednes
day last, when the barometer indicated a
disturbance in atmospheric conditions. The
assertion was promptly made that the tem
perature would drop 15 or 20 degrees before
morning. Instantly there was resort to the
Alaska mode of settling an argument, and
bets were freely made. The man who re
lied on the barometric readings backed up
his belief liberally, and found others of the
same opinion willing to follow his lead. As
there was nothing in sight to indicate a
change, the money was soon covered, and
plenty more could have been placed. The
expected change did not take place, and as
a consequence there is said to be a perfectly
igood barometer for sale cheap.
Daily Record of Temperatures
The following table of temperatures is I
from readings taken daily at 7 a. in. by j
E. J. Smith. The minimum is for the pre
ceding twenty-four hours. The third col I
umn gives the temperature for the corre- j
spending date a year ago:
Date— 7 a. 111. Min. HUS I
Dec. 30. --40 43 0!
31 ». 50 54 S ]
1916
Jan. 1. —52 —56 32 j
2 . -58 59 201
3 . ~5G —60 24 |
4 . - 51 60 26 |
5 . -—62 —63 10
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<00000000000000004
2 LOCAL AN9 PERSONAL <>
o o
400000000000000004
Grant Murdock and John Anderson, who j
spent severrl days in the city recently, left \
for Flat on Thursday, despite the Arctic !
weather conditions.
George Young left last Tuesday morning I
afoot for Ophir, when the thermometer j
registered 57 degrees below zero. Mr. 5 oung ,
expects to be absent several weeks.
J. E. Kcttlc'.vell, just to show how “tough" i
he was, mushed in from Flat on Thursday j
and returned the seme day, although the j
thermometer indicated 50 degrees below |
zero. I
Billy Hanlon, who has been doing assess
ment work on his Flat creek mining ground
during the past three weeks, spent several
days in town waiting until the weather mod
erated in order that he could start on his
return trip to Ruby.
Bob McMillan and Bob Goebel came in
from Discovery on Monday lest. Mr. Goebel
returned home on Wednesday, but Mr. Me- |
Millan remained here to await better j
weather.
A. J. W eiss, the Flat clothier, was a visitor j
in the city on Monday and Tuesday.
Charley Worden returned to town on i
Sunday last.
BUNNY’S HIND LEG WAS LOOSE
Two little brothers, one carrying a rabbit i
in a basket, wandered into the dispensary
of the Paterson, N. J., General Hospital
yesterday, says the New \ ork World.
They had walked twenty blocks with
their little pet, whose leg had been broken
by a dog. They showed the little victim
to Dr. John Van Winkle, house surgeon.
“Please, mister,” said the elder of the
two, “fix our bunny; his hind leg is loose.”
The doctor smiled and laid the rabbit
on the operating table. Gravely he reset
the broken leg and while the boys stared
in amazement, bound it in a plaster cast.
The registry book showed this strange no
tation: |
“Name: John Harry Bunny, pet. Aged
three weeks. Case: Broken right hind leg.
Referred: Outside patient department.”
KILROY’S OPERATIONS
Today George F. Kilroy sent by one of
Rowe’s terms a Union Construction Com
pany patent drill to Center creek. Mr. Kil
roy, representing the company, has a large
contract to prospect with the drill for the
Center Creek Dredging Company.—Nome
Nugget, November 16.
Caps made to order. Furs repaired.
Mrs. Shaller, Flat City.
PROSPECTIVE COAL MINER
SAYS LAW MUST BE CHANGED
While in Juneau on his way south, Maur
ice I). Leehey, the well known attorney of
Seattle, who represents clients seeking coal
claims under the government leasing plan
in the Matanuska fields, was interviewed in
Reference to coal development by a Dispatch
reporter.
Mr. Leehey has established an office in
Seward and has formed an Alaska part
nership with Leroy V. Hay. Clifford Mooers
will also be in the Seward office and Mr
Ray will be in Seattle during the winter and
assist with the work of the Seattle office,
and Mr. Leehey will spend most of his
time during the summer in Alaska and as
sist with the work in the Seward office.
Mr. Leehey said that his cosl clients were
prepared to spend $100,000 in development
work, but they find that the present mem
bers of the engineering commission cannot
establish railroad rates. The members of
the commission have taken the matter up
with Secretary Lane, and upon advice of
the commission Mr. Leehey has consulted
other Washington bureaus, but it seems
that there is no way to get around this
point without special legislation at the
hands of congress.
Meantime the coal claimants hardly care
to risk their money until given assurance
if stable rates. Profit for mining coal. of
course, depends upon the price at which it
can be laid down in the markets Outside
in competition with other coal and with
California oil, and the cost of transporta
tion and distribution of the coal naturally
are very important factors and must be
known in advance.
Mr. Leehey believes that the Matanuska
coal will command a better price Outside
for blacksmith coal and naval purposes,
tnd where high grade steaming coal is
needed, because of its quality, but even
then it must compete with high grade East
ern coal which is shipped via water, mostly
through the Panama canal.
The cost of mining hard coal in any part
of the East is much cheaper and the rail
transportation to any coast point is much
lower than is true of the Alaska coal. Ow
ing to the wages which must be paid in
Alaska and the cost of gettng in supplies
st the present time, Mr. Leehey stated that
coal could not be mined alone for much
less than S3 per ton. He says that the
estimate made by Pmrhot and Hampton’s
Magazine of SI and SI.50 per ton is a
pipe dream, and was estimated on Eastern
labor conditions ami Eastern transporta
tion, and not upon conditions as they exist
>n Alaska.
Mr. Leehey stated that Ala.-ka coal would
have to be laid down in California at $5
:>er tun to have a selling market demand
After mining the coal, say, for S3 per ton
it must he hauled to tidewater and at a
rail cost; it then must be loaded upon
steamers and hauled to San Francisco at a
water cost: it must then be distributed and
these facilities provided at an additional
cost, and one can easily figure where the
profits would not come in at.
Mr. Leehey also stated that the plan ad
vanced for having regular coal barges nr
coal steamers built for carrying coal alone,
the same as in the East, \v;ll not prove
practical for the Alaska business. The ham
is too long, with a limited market to be
supplied, compared with Eastern conditions,
and without any return cargo for the coal
barges
PLAN NAVIGABLE CHANNEL
FROM HUDSON BAY TO GULF
A navigable channel from Hudson bay to
the Gulf of Mexico that would put the
water that covers 1,250,000 acres of land
near Bemidji, Minn., into the gulf, was
planned hv a committee meeting held at
that city during the past summer. The
meeting was composed of representatives of
all Minnesota development associations and
citizens of Beltrami county most seriously
affected.
The estimated cost of the proposed plan
is $25,000,000. The Mississippi river is
navigable to St. Paul, and it ia planned to
bring the channel of the canal to that
point.
The canM also would pass through the
region of Red lake, the largest lake in the
nation entirely within one state. This lake
gradually slopes into vast expanses of swamp
laud without a shore line, and it is primarily
to drain this huge territory that the canal
is proposed. River traffic from the gulf
to Winnipeg also is to be considered.
-----
A TALL ORDER
An old Highland sergeant 'was going his
rounds in the barracks one night to see
that all lights were out. Coming to a
room where he thought he saw a light
shining, he roared, “Pit oot that licht
there!"
One of the men shouted back, “It’s the
irune, sergeant!”
Not hearing very well, the sergeant cried
in return, “I dinna care a brass button what
it Ls! Pit it oot!”—Ex.
--♦
HE’D BE SAFE THEN
“Do you think with your native American
independence you would feel unnerved in
the presence of a king?”
“Not if I held an ace.”—Baltimore Ameri
can.
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HOW IT SOUNDED
“How’s your daughter getting on with
her music?”
“Fine!” replied Mr. Cumrox. “She
sounds like a professional musician, ’spe
cially a piano tuner.”—W ashington Star.
For steam baths, go to the Snyder House,
Flat.
A. J. WEISS,
The
Clothier
THE HOME OF HART, SCHAFFNER & MARX
WHY RADIUM IS EXPENSIVE
One-sixth of the world’s output of radium
is made within seven miles of Philadelhpia,
in a factory at Lansdowne, which is one of
the six plants of its kind in the world, ac
cording to the Philadelphia Ledger. It has
a capacity of producing three grams of
radium a year. The process by which the
metal is made was discovered by Dr. D. H.
Kabakjian, assistant professor of physics in
the University of Pennsylvania, and a resi
dent of Lansdowne.
There are only two other radium factories
in the United States. One is operated by
a private corporation in Pittsburgh and the
tber, a government enterprise, is under
'he supervision of the bureau of mines in
Denver, Colo. In ail three plants the proc
css by which radium, the most valuable of
all substances, is made, broadly speaking, is
he same. In all the plants "radium salt”
' is made from earnotite, a yellowish, clay
like minor::! found in Colorado. Dr. Kabag
iau’s secret method of treating the car
notite ore, however, is bringing better re
mits ,han any of the other processes used in
.his country or elsewhere. According to the
nventer, it is extracting 90 per cent of ra
dium from the ore.
Some idea of the delicacy of the secret
chemical processes wliich the earnotite ore
undergoes can be gleaned from the output
if the factory. Hundreds of tons of car
notite are used during the course of a
rear. Twenty five men working nine hours
a day for a year will produce three grams
of pure radium salt. The market price of
radium is id 00,000 a gram at this time, and
he Lansdowne factory’s yearly output is
.verth $300,000. A gram is one-twenty
. ighth of an ounce.
Radium is sent to all parts of the world
from the factory in Lansdowne. "We have
o be mighty careful how we ship this ma
terial.” said Dr. Kabakjian. “The radium
alt is placed in a sealed glass tube like
his one,” and he relied between his fingers
little glass tube not much larger than
a five-penny nail.
A wealthy philanthropist has just placed
an order for $50,000 worth of radium with
the company. When the order is com
'Teted the metal will be sent to a large
Eadern hospital as a permanent memorial
Ip its donor. It is to be used for estab
lishing a free radium treatment clinic.
-a
NOTES OF ST. LOUIS FUR SALE
Eastern newspaper reports of the great
fur sale held in St. Louis during the closing
days of lest September show that it was of
record-breaking proportions, 1,458,178 pelts
having been disposed of, valued at about
$2,000,000. More than a million skins were
sold on the closing day, consisting entirely
of mink and skunk. These brought from
10 to 15 per cent better prices than had
been expected.
Heavy purchases were made at the sale
by Russian firms. Russia has had the
reputation in Europe of being the lending
producer and manufacturer. However, in
the last few years Russia has been making
heavy purchases in American markets.
More than 250 buyers from six nations
were in attendance.
The bidding for the United States gov
ernment offerings of sealskins from Alaska
was lively, and the prices showed an ad
vance ever the prices in 1913, when the
last hatch of government skins were of
fered. The government skins, of which
there were 1,900, brought from $35 to $51
each.
Much interest was centered in 500 silver
fox skins, a pair of which sold for $2,000.
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POLITICAL REAL ESTATE
“Do you expect a landslide next fall?”
“No,” replied Senator Sorghum “Out
our way I’m afraid the only movement in
political reel estate will be a little mud
slinging.”—Washington Star.
Fresh Olympia and Eastern Oysters. $1.50
per can. Iditarod Meat Co.
ANSWER TO ADVERTISEMENT
WHICH IS A GEM OF ITS KIND
(Valdez Prospector)
A Valdez lady inserted an advertisement
for a Filipino cook in a late issue of the
Prospector, and received the following in
teresting communication:
“During mo of September,
“Copper Port, Sewardland.
“Honorable Lady: Your humble servant
to be has the extravgant plesure and grate
join in communication to your worthiness
the information that the letter which Se
rene Highness sent to his by Valdez Pros
pec, has been inspected and once again he
is all to happiness and awaits reply and anx
iously pass money for Mr. Alaskasteamship
company.
“For last years has cooked for 17 dif
ladies so am much wanted for they are
missing many good things eats. My repor
ter is big follows Can do make Camp Com
fort of bungahousc; can polish old furniture
and make shine stove; hot con bre l and
baked the spuds 5 a. m.; can beat Arcade'
Wiil have clorance sale ev day can cook
malted milk just like Rainier and make
your bunks clean do. Early or late will
serve hot cake cocktails the time of differ
ence ranking not. Can develop picturegraph
and play phonogram, have educaship on
auto and like very much do ride when you
no use—Hen Ford my friends. Shave your
mans and manycure ladyfingers curl the
hair and take from nose the briliiantshine.
I am nuts and fruits and Hunt's covered
ones have nothing on me will massag your
ponyhorse and locate goldmine Sunday all
day. I like go picture shov/3 every new
ones give me trial and free tickets and I be
big producer for Hmie Reynolds he take
lesson from me I believe in prepared so I
S cook by Christmas signs and vote two times
I Charley Sulzer he uo beat I be prohibition
and go get in dry camp. Loan you m>
life insurance and die for you each day.
When you no care to go ladies aid meeting
Lgo & listen ail latest l ot ones, so can
keep snow off sidewalk all winter, no expect
tips but like pay every day meal times.
You like your friends I likem; you no like,
I not care; 1 like you send washing out
every week and by bakers bread cheaper
than cod. No more good things I dew on
paper so you Honorable Lady (Houorabl:
Twotimes) early reply you make by mail
“Your humble servant to be hope so.
“K---.
-w
RELIC OF WAR AT DAWSON
A piece of the famous German Zeppelin
which was brought down ne«r Loudon re
cently by Lieutenant Robinson, who won.
the Victoria Cross because of the feat, ha*
arrived in Dawson. It came to Arthur Col
drick from George Crookston, a Dawson lad
who went from here several months ago.
and is in the army service. Crookston saw
the great airship brought down, and after
ward got a piece of it for a Souvenir. The
specimen is a piece of metal, evidently of a
sort of a joint, with canvas attached. The
German Zeppelins cost an average of more
than a million dollars each, and the capture
or destruction of one is of far more im
portance than some have thought. Dawson
News.
---—4
W. Y. Fisher has abandoned his proposed
trip over the ice to Nome, and will, when
the weather moderates, return to his work
on Marvel creek. _
For steam baths, go to the Snyder House,
Flat. ___
FOR SALE
Two Yukon stoves, In good
condition.
Ladies' Furnishing Store
MRS. L. C. THORNTON, Prop.
FOR
GOOD POTATOES AND CIGARS
CALL UP
We Still Have Some to Wholesale
RING US UP ANY SERVICE WE CAN DO YOU ^S ^
Marquette AA Rye National Club Bourbon
«h»ceBUDWEISER iditarod flat city THE BRANCH a. d. currie