Miners & Merchants Bank
IDITAROD, ALASKA
Capital, $50,000.00
General Banking Business Transacted Gold Dust Bought and Assayed
Draft; Issued on Any Pari of the Wor'j
SEATTLE CORRESPONDENT. SCANDINAVIAN AMERICAN BANK
TERRITORIAL DEPOSITARY
OFFICERS:
CHARLES ROSS, President
JOHN HOLMES, Vice President
R. C. BUTTON, Cashier
LONDON IS NOW THE CENTER
OF WORLD S FUR TRADE
Imports of furs into the United States in
1016 exceeded in value those of any earlier
year, and were fully double those of 1915
or the preceding year, according to a New
York dispatch. The war greatly disar
ranged the fur trade of the United States,
since Germany supplied a larger value of
furs imported down to 1911 than did any
other country, while for other reasons con
nected with the war the exports of furs from
the United States show a marked decline. A
compilation by the foreign trade department
of the National City Bank of New York
shows that the total value of furs imported
in the years immediately preceding the war
exceeded $20,000,000 per annum, the figures
including both the undressed and dressed
furs, the “undressed” group consisting of
furs and fur skins and the latter group con
sisting of furs dressed on the skin.
Undressed furs form, during normal pe- j
riods, about three-fourths of the total im- |
ports. In the fiscal years immediately pro 1
ceding 1914 the value of furs, dressed and j
undressed, imported aggregated more than ]
$20,000,000 per year. In 1914 the total was j
but $12,000,000, in 1915, slightly less than
$10,000,009. In the fiscal year 1916, how
ever, a transfer of the chief source of supply
from Germany to the United Kingdom
brought the total for the year of undressed
and dressed up to $20,000,000. and in the
calendar year which ended December 31 last
the total will be quite equal to that of the
fiscal year which ended June 30, and that
«f undressed furs probably greater than that
of any earlier year.
The total value of furs imported in the
last decade, including both dressed and un
dressed, is about $200,000,000, and of
this about two-thirds came in the undressed ;
form, very largely from Germany. In the
live years ending with the fiscal year 1913
the imports of undressed furs from Germany
alone amounted to $29,000,000. from Great
Britain. $17,000,000; from Canada. $10.
VlOO.OOO, and from Russia. $3,500,000. a part
of the German shipments having presum
ably originated in Russia. With the cessa
tion of supplies from Germany, following
the opening of the war. the imports were
drawn more largely from the United King
Flat City's
Popular Resort j
□ □ !
The
Branch j
A. D. CURRIE
Marquette kk Rye
National Club Bourbon
Best Brands ot Cigars
BUDWEISER BEER
Family Orders Promptly Filled ;
iorn, the total from that country increasing
from $2,000,000 in 1914 and $2,500,000 in
1915 to $6,500,000 in 1916, while from Can
ada the imports grew from $2,000,000 in
1914 and $1,750,000 in 1915 to over $4,000,
000 in 1916.
Most of the furs now imported as above
indicated are now drawn from Great Brit
ain, which is looked upon as the world s
great fur market, drawing its supplies from
the British colonies and from Asia, South
America and Africa. Of the exports,
amounting to more than $17,000,000 in
1913, $7,000,000 worth of undressed furs
went to England, $6,000,000 to Germany,
and nearly $3,000,000 worth to Canada; and
of the dressed furs, amounting to $1,000,000
worth, a very large proportion went to
Canada.
The export trade in furs has been upset
also by the war, the total exports of furs,
which averaged more than $10,000,000 a
year in the decade prior to the war, and had
in some cases reached as much as $18,000,
000 in a single year, dropped to less than
$4,000,000 in the fiscal year 1915. but ad
vanced to $9,000,000 in the fiscal year 1916.
While the recent change in source of our
fur supply is due to war conditions, an
other change, which began to make its ap
pearance several years ago. is the develop
ment of fur farming, by which fur-bearing
animals are grown in semi-domesticated
form to take the place of the reduction in
supply caused by the enlargement of human
occupation of the areas from which the
natural supplies of furs were chiefly drawn,
the fur-farming industry having especially
developed in Canada, Alaska, Germany and
Russia.
--♦
HOW DAN FOLEY DIED
Dispatches to the Fairbanks, News-Miner
dated February 27 and 28. give the details
of the accident to Dan Foley which caused
Ins death, word of which was received by
The Pioneer at the time by telegraph. It
appears that he was prospecting a lay on
No. 4 below, Livengood creek, with Jerry
Kennedy, when a bucket of dirt fell eighty
feet, striking him on the head. The accident
was caused by the breaking of the shaft of
the hoist. Foley was working in a shaft
240 feet deep. Practically every bone on
his right side was broken. Preparations
were at once made to rush him to the hos
pital at Fairbanks, but he died before the
.start could be made.
Foley was badly burned some time ago
by hot muck, and it was only a few day's
prior to the fatal accident that he recovered
sufficiently from that injury to return to
work.
O
ALASKA COAL
Twentv-six carloads of coal came in on
the Sourdough Limited on February 27,
says the Anchorage Democrat. All you
pessimistic cusses who have been prophesy
ing that the government railway would
never get to the coal fields, please post this
in your hats.
♦
Job Printing at The Pioneer office.
NOTICE OF ELECTION
yp.tice is hereby given that on Tuesday.
April 3, 1317, there will be held in the city
hall, iii the town of Iditarod. Alaska, an
election tor the purpose of electing seven
oouncllmen and one member of the school
board.
The polls for said election will be open
at D o'clock a. m. on that day and will close
at H o'clock p. m. of ttie same day. and all
qualified electors of tile town of Iditarod
who have registered as provided by ordi
nance will be entitled to vote at said elec
tit,n G. G. GERAGHTY,
Municipal Clerk.
Dated March 3, 1017.
GRAND BAR “IT RYE
FLAT CITY MARC ANTONY CIGARS
Tho (f* n«| Coli Fl" at>
I IIU § 4£lvflfi%fl Mrs. Geo. Mutchlar, Prop.
Nicely Furnished Rooms Barn for Horses and Dogs Baths in Connection
Fresh Meats
Sesond St. IDITAROD MEAT CO. p^orveis!
Get“More Money” for your Foxes
Black, Silver, Cross, Red, White and Blue, Lynx,
Bear, Marten and other Fnr bearers collected in yoor section
SHIP YOUR FURS DIRECT to “SHUBERT”’the largest
house in the World dealing exclusively in NORTH AMERICAN RAW FURS
a reliable—responsible—safe Fur House with an unblemished rep
utation existing for “more than a third of a century,’’ a long suc
cessful record of sending Fur Shippers prompt, S ATI Sr AL. I UK Y
AND PROFITABLE returns. Write for £>bubrrt MWPer,
the only reliable, accurate market report and price list published.
Writ© for it-NOW-it’s FREE
A. B. SHUBERT, Inc.
PROMINENT MAN OF SCIENCE
VISITS YENTNA DISTRICT
Herschel C. Parker, former professor o!
physics at Columbia University, inventor
scientific writer, consulting engineer and ex
plorer of mountains in Washington, British
Columbia and Alaska, left this morning on
the train for Mile 40, en route to the Yentna
district, to act as consulting engineer ir
testing mining claims for himself and cer
tain New York owners, says the Seward Post
of January 24.
Professor Parker is a physicist by voca
tion. "Mountain climbing,” said the pro
fessor, “is not exactly a lucrative occupa
tion. If one could give assurance that there
was a mother lode of mineral on the top of
a certain mountain he could get an abun
dance of funds for an expedition, but the
mere idea of climbing is an entirely differ
ent matter.”
In his spare moments he invents. Among
his recent accomplishments in this line is
-he helioscope. This is a device used in
submarines for looking under the water. He
has offered this patent to the United States
government, with the provision of retaining
certain commercial phases of it.
The government is now making use of
one of Professor Parker’s previous ideas.
This is the so-called “motor destroyer. ’ a
type of undersea speed boat, operated by but
two men, and capable of hurling torpedoes
as well as traveling at a rate of forty miles
an hour. It was regarding this invention
that Henry Ford became involved in a con
troversy with Professor Parker just before
the former’s famous peace ship sailed for
Europe.
In 1897 Professor Parker sketched the
first map ever made covering the country
north of the Canadian Pacific railroad, in
which district he did considerable moun
taineering. He has to his credit in that
country the successful conquests of Mount
Goodsir, near Dawson, and Mounts Hunga
bee, Deltoform, Biddle and Lefroy, in Al
berta. He also climbed Mount Olympus, in
Washington state, in 1907.
Professor Parker, it will be remembered,
won woric-wnie iame uy ucihr iu«- “"ui wuu
headed the first party to reach the highest
point of Mount McKinley. This he accom
plished only after three different expedi
tions, finally reaching the highest of the
several peaks in 1912. He was with Dr.
Cook earlier; but after Dr. Cook's false
claim to have reached the top of Mount
McKinley, Parker's association with the doc
tor was severed,
“The spot photographed by Dr. Cook,"
said Professor Parker at the Seward hotel
yesterday, “and claimed by him to be the
summit, was a rock 250 feet high and
twenty miles from the base of Mount Mc
Kinley. I had taken a photograph from
almost the identical spot; and with this
testified before a board of scientific inquiry
in 1916.''
“Mv exploring days are not over.' con
tinued Professor Parker, “anti as soon as
my engineering work in the Aentna district
is completed I intend to beain the conquest
of the hitherto unattainable, the ascent of
Mount Everest., in Asia.”
Nobody has yet even reached the base
of Mount Everest, because of the network
of rugged peaks that so completely interlace
the approach. Mount Everest may be ap
proached only from the Tibet side, and rises
29,002 feet above the sea level, the loftiest
in the world.
Professor Parker formerly was vice presi
dent of the Explorers’ Club of New Aork,
and was acting president last year. He was
also a member of the very exclusive British
Alpine Club, as well as many other moun
taineering and scientific clubs.
He will return to Seward some time in
March, though his work in the A entna
country wall no doubt keep him in Alaska
more or less for the next few years. He
will bring equipment for the work some
time in the spring.
-♦
HOW NEGRO VENTRILOQUIST
BROKE UP A FUNERAL
A circuit judge, holding court, was clear
ing the docket when a negro appeared before
the bar and prayed that his sentence be
modified. He had been fined $100 and sen
tenced to six months in jail for breaking up
a funeral.
It was a swell negro funeral, attended
by all the pomp and ceremony and trappings
so dear to the negro heart. The defendant
above mentioned was a ventriloquist, and
was standing on a raised place overlooking
the open grave. As the pallbearers were
solemnly lowering the casket into the grave
a voice seemingly from the casket croaked:
“Let me down easy, boys!”
With a yell of superstitious fright the
pallbearers let go of the casket, jerking one
of their number into the grave with the
casket, and the balance, with the mourners,
high potentates, captain of the guards, servi
tors, retainers and spectators, vanished into
the horizon, breaking all records for speed
hitherto established in darkest Egypt..
Carthage, 111., Republican.
-*
EDUARD STRAUSS DEAD
A Vienna dispatch of January 2 last an
nounced the death of Eduard Strauss, the
famous composer of dance music. Eduard
Strauss was a member of a famous musical
family. His father, Johann Strauss, was
considered the most notable composer and
conductor of dance music of his generation,
and wrote 246 pieces of dance music, in ad
dition to a series of comic operas. Eduard’s
brother, Joseph, was known as “The Waltz
King,” and was the creator of 283 popular
waltzes.
More than 200 pieces of dance music are
credited to Eduard'. He was conductor of
court balls in Petrograd for several years,
and visited America in 1901 1902. In re
cent years he had made his home in Vienna.
He was 81 years old.
—---♦
MADE TO SALUTE FLAG
A Ruby dispatch to the Fairbanks News
Miner, dated February 28, says that word
has been received there from Long creek
that two men who were heard to make re
marks against the flag were compelled bj
two patriotic Americans to hoist the flag
and salute it. This little drama took place
in front of the postoffice at Long City. Con
siderable force was necessary to make tht
men do as directed, but no weapons wen
used and no one was seriously hurt.
-*
For violating Chapter 57 of the Alaski
Session Laws of 1913, Steve Darrell, a resi
dent of Flat creek, was sentenced by Com
missioner Geraghty last Wednesday after
noon to serve thirty days in the federa
jail.
FATHER JUDGE
The following poem, written by "Captain
Jack” Crawford, is reprinted at the request
of a Pioneer reader. The subject of the
poem, Father Judge, was a beloved char
acter of the early days of the Klondike, and
is held in affectionate remembrance by
numbers of the former residents of Dawson
and the Yukon. Captain Jack Crawford
spent two winters in the North:
Christ died for men jmd so did he -
The sweetest soul I ever knew,
And when he grasped the hand of me
His honest laughing eye of blue
Dispelled the clouds from out my sky
And warmed the chill from off my heart;
And when it comes my time to die
I pray we won’t be far apart.
But if there is a gulf between
0 The Father and the wayward stray,
His love will tell what might, have been
And Christ will open up the way.
And true as there’s a God above
I know with all my heart and soul
That all who suffer for the love
Of truth will reach the heavenly goal.
Not for a creed or circumstance
Would he a helping hand refuse;
Nor pomp nor power, nor great finance
Could change his broad and noble views.
He saw his duty. Who can tell
How much we loved him in the West?
But He, who doeth all things well,
To his tired soul had whispered, “Rest."
When last I gazed upon his face- -
His dear, dead face, so truly kind,
A halo seemed to light the place,
For God had left the smile behind,
And hardy miners bowed their heads
And felons wiped a tear away,
And fever patients in their beds
Were conscious of a loss that dev.
God’s martyr -His adopted son
He died, dear friends, for you and me;
He surely died as Christ had done,
In love, in truth, in poverty.
I crave not wealth, nor care for fame,
Nor wealth nor fame do I begrudge,
But Lord, permit me once again
To clasp the hand of Father Judge.
--♦
RULING ON INCOME TAX
OF IMPORTANCE TO MINERS
A recent ruling of the treasury depart
ment as to income tax returns, with refer
ence to mining men, received by McGowan
cfe Clark of Fairbanks, is of particular inter
e-t. A communication to the News-Miner
front the law firm, explaining the ruling,
is as follows :
“As a matter of general information to
the mine owners and operators of this dis
trict who are compelled to make returns to i
the treasury department of their annual
income, we beg to give the substance of a
ruling we have just received front the United
States treasury department on a subject that
his given considerable trouble to the oper
ators and attorneys of this district. The
query submitted to the department was as
follows:
" ‘What is the basis upon which returns
houhl be made? Are the mine owners and
operators entitled to deduct as depreciation
five-sixths of the purchase price of the claim,
as five-sixths of the claim have actually
been worked out?’
“We presented an authentic case, of which
for obvious reasons we cannot set forth
the details, but the facts were substantially
these: A partnership purchased a mine, pay
ing cash therefor, in the year 1916. The
amount taken out by the partnership, after
deducting the expense of operaticns, left a
certain sum as net income, which, when
divided among the three partners, made j
each partner liable to pay an income tax.
In 1916 the ground purchased by them was j
ascertained to have contained 140,000
square feet of bedrock values at the time of ;
the purchase, and 120,000 square feet were j
worked out during 1916, leaving 20,000
square feet of bedrock yet to be worked. I
The question presented was whether they I
could claim depreciation on the ratio that !
the worked-out portion of the mine during j
1916 bore to the purchase price, and in pass- j
ing upon the matter the treasury depart
ment rules as follows:
“ ‘It appears from your letter that the
unit of purchase was a square foot of bed
rock. $ (the purchase price), divided
by 140,000 square feet, would give the unit
cost. This quotient, multiplied by 120,000
square feet, will give the amount of allow
able deduction which may be taken by the
partnership in ascertaining its net income,
subject to division between the partners for
1916. Each partner should report in his
return of income his share of the net in
come of the partnership.’
“From the foregoing it will be seen that,
under the amended income tax law, greater
deductions are allowed to operators for de
preciation in the value of their mines, where
the mines were obtained by purchase, than
were permissible under the law as it origi
nally stood.
“As this question has been a troublesome
one for a number of years, we believe that
this ruling of the treasury department will
be of sufficient interest to justify the publi
cation thereof.’’
---A
GENERAL FUNSTON’S DEATH
WAS SHOCK TO MILITARY
The death of Major General Frederick
Funston. commander of the Southern de
I partment of the United States army, with
headquarters at San Antonio, Texas,
at the St. Anthony hotel in San Antonio on
February 19, is reported in papers just re
ceived. Death was due to an attack
of acute indigestion, and came so unex
I pectedly that it was a great shock to every
I one at army headquarters.
SUCH IGNORANCE!
The young reporter meant well, but he
was not posted up in the mysterious details
of feminine fashion, and, being unexpectedly
sent in an emergency to chronicle a fash
ionable wedding, he was very glad to avail
himself of the good-natured hints of a lady
journalist who stood beside him and took
pity upon his masculine ignorance of chif
fons. “That is Mrs. Betty Blank, with a
big plastron,” was one of her hints. Next
morning she read with horror: Mrs. Betty
Blank looked very charming, and by a taste
ful arrangement of lace and silk effectually
concealed the pink porous plaster which her
delicate health compels her to wear.”—
South Tacoma Press.^___
Charley Gerhart, who spent the winter
Outside, arrived in the city on Tuesday
lest over the Seward trail.
JOSEPH AND JAMES DUKE
PASSED AWAY ON OUTSIDE
That Joseph and James Duke, pioneer
residents of Nenana, died within a month of
each other at Hot Springs, Ark., is the word
brought to Fairbanks from the new railroad
town by District Attorney R. F. Roth, says
the Fairbanks Citizen of March 5. The
elder Duke died some time late in January,
but James Duke, the better known of the
two, died only last Sunday, his wife, who is
at Nenana, having received a wire to that
effect. Thp body of Joseph Duke was buried
at Hot Springs immediately after he died,
and James Duke was laid at rest at the side
of his father, at his own request.
But little can be learned of the history of
Joseph Dujce, the elder of the two men.
It is stated, however, that he came to
Alaska about 1903 and became associated
with his son, who was the first white resi
dent of the new and prosperous railroad
town.
James Duke established a trading post at
Nenana about 1902. Prior to that time he
had had a rather tempestuous career. He
was first in Dawson in the early days of
that camp, going later to the Koyukuk.
Leaving the Koyukuk, he struck out for the
Yukon. Arriving on the banks of the river,
he heard of the Fairbanks gold stampede,
and started toward this camp, but winter
caught him at Nenana, a then good-sized
Indian settlement, and it was there that he
decided to locate. He afterwards home
steaded the ground on which he built his
trading post, and after it was seen that the
government railroad was to pass near his
nroperty, placed a value of $40,000 on it.
It was later decided, however, that his
homestead was not valid, but when the
present town of Nenana was platted off and
the lots sol<! the government gave him tv.-o
of the most advantageously-located half
block lots in the town in payment for the
buildings which he had put up.
Duke had been in poor health for a
number of years. Diabetes is said to have
been the cause. As a consequence he spent
considerable time during his later years on
the Outside. He left Nenana last fall after
the government sale of lots was over. He is
■aid to have been about 50 years of age.
For steam baths, go to the Snvder House.
Flat.
-4
FOR SALE A quantity of hard lead (type
metal) ; superior to babbit for making re
pairs to machinery, on account of the
small percentage of copper alloy therein.
Call at Pioneer office, Iditarod.
IDITAROD
RESTAURANTmiBAKERY
CHARLEY HASEGAWA, Prop.
NOW OPEN
Under New Management
Pastries, Pies and Cakes Always on
Hand
Bread—Six Loaves $1—Bread
SHORT ORDERS GOOD COFFEE
French Joe's Roadhouse
SOUTH FORK KUSKOKWIM
DOC BACON AND FISH
FOR SALE
NOTICE OF REGISTRATION
Notice is hereby given that at the hour
of 10 o’clock on tiie 22d day of March.
1017. the registration books will be open
at the office or the municipal clerk, in the
United States commissioner’s building, on
Second avenue, In the town or Idltarod,
Alaska, for the purpose or registering all
I male and female persons, or twenty-one
•years of age. who are citizens or the United
j States, or who have declared their inten
tions to become such, and who have re
( sided continuously one year next preceding
! the date or election in the territory or
Alaska, and six months next, preceding the
I date or election within the town of Idltarod.
| All persons desiring to vote at said (‘loc
i' tion must, be Tore voting, register their
! names and qualifications with the town
I register of the n»wn of Idltarod.
j Itcgistration books will be kept open
every day, except Sundays, beginning March
122, 19 17. during the hours of 10 o’clock
I a. rn. and \ p. m. The said registration will
close on March :i 1. 19 1 7.
The said election will be held on the fir:
Tuesday in April. 19 17, for the purpose <jf
electing sewn (7/ councllrncn and one. !
j member of the school hoard.
(i. G. GF.KAGHTY, Municipal Clerk.
I
I ————
OPEN DAY AND NIGHT
! DISCOVERY
j CAFE
FLAT CITY HOHBACK 4 DURAND
Bet. the Grand and Bagoy’s Bars
THE BEST ALL THE TIME
WE ARE HERE TO STAY
Big Stocks of Fresh Goods
Everything for the Miner and
Prospector
MAX SI MEL ™a"dee"
(Stores at Cripple City and Mouth of Tolstoi
: -
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
J. H. ROGERS
JVew Restaurant
Open Early and Late
BCCO EATS, QUICK SERVICE
Only Correspondence School Chef
in Alaska
Front St., Iditarod, next to Manuol^
PI APARIK and small, printed on
I L«A paper, cardboard nr cloth,
on short notice, at Iditarod Pioneer office.
THE BEST OF EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME
MERCHANTS’ CAFE
. GOOD MEALS 1
.. a i- SHORT ORDERS
FIRST AVE. OPEN DAY AND NIGHT | noBT 80UTAR
---- Prop.
HURST CIGAR STORE
PIPES AND TOBACCOS
Full Line of Wellington Pipes, Wholesale
Westover—Wholesale Nice, Fresh Chocolates, Nuts, Candies and Fruits
POOL BARBER SHOP
J. A. NELSONTPeOP. hurst'brbs.
I _
j HARRY DONNtLLtT
EEEE GENERAL MERCHANDISE
DISCOVERY. OTTER 1
Furs hv?°a.s’ Furs
IS IN THE MARKET TO BUY ONE THOUSAND FURS
Black, Silver, Cross and Red Fox, Mink, Ermine, Lynx and last
year’s catch of Marten
IDITAROD FLAT
NICELY FURNISHED ROOMS BY DAY OR WEEK
Warm, Clean Well Ventilated
OPEN DAY AND NIGHT
THF PRfiQRV Massage and
JilL IjnUODI Bath Pariors
MEDICATED, MINERAL VAPOR, STEAM, m ^
TUB, SALT AND FRESH WATER
Caribou St., Bet. Black and WHlo.v Sts., on Waterfront
Eleetric and Faradic Massage Treatments by Expert Attendants
Lighted by Gas Heated by Steam