Valdez Daily Prospector
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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1915.
THE CASE OF THE DACIA
Are there any influences, other than
an ordinary commercial interest, be
hind the intention to send the steam
ship Dacia, formerly German-owned
and now under the American flag,
across the ocean with a cargo of cot
ton for a German port? Is the ad
ministration planning a “dare” to
Great Britain? The talk that is be
ing made suggests a deliberate at
tempt to work tip the public mind to
a state of irritation over the pros
pect of a manufactured "indignity to
the American flag.”
We shall watchfuly wait, trusting
that the State Department will han
dle the matter sensibly, instead of
forcing a controversy. If a vexatious
issue develops out of the case of the
Dacia, the conclusion will have to
be that it was deliberately forced by
the same unfriendly and unneutral
influences w'hich have heretofore
manifested themselves in Washing
ton—to the amazement and disgust
of the American people.—Providence
Journal.
A Cause for Thankfulness.
The incident of the steamship Da
cia will serve a good purpose if it
shall open the eyes of the adminis
tration and the people to the perils
involved in the government ship pur
chase plan which is being so strenu
ously pressed by President Wilson.
The transfer in time of war of a ship
from a belligerent to a neutral is al
ways a suspicious circumstance.. Of
course, if the transfer is bona fide
it cannot be questioned. But that is
precisely the point. The questions
involved are difficult and delicate.
The people of both countries should
be very thankful that they are not
raised over a government-owned ship.
For under such conditions the good
faith, not merely of a private citizen,
but of the government itself, might
be involved.—Indianapolis News.
State Department ineptitude.
Probably the most inept proposal;
that has been fathered by our State j
Department in two years is the re-j
quest that Great Britain will permit !
the Dacia to sail from Port Arthur,!
Texas, to Rotterdam, with a lead of j
cotton, without question as to the •
right of the boat to fly the American
flag.
The sale of the ship, formerly own
ed by a German company, to an Amer- j
ican named Breitling is claimed in j
London to be a subterfuge to escape'
molestation; that the boat is sub-i
ject to seizure under the internation
al rules relating to warfare. If that
is the case we are trifling with trou
ble, are going out of the way to
look for complications when we grant
American registry promiscuously, as
has begn done since the war was pre
cipitated. It is contended even that
some German in*erests back of the
Dacia are planning to have her sail
in the hope that she will be captured,
so they can raise a clamor about an
American ship being seized, and thus
get the UnUed States into a contro
versy with the Allies.
That suspicion may be an injustice
to the Germans, but such a compli
cation is easily possible under the
present feverish anxiety to add to
our merchant marine, regardless of
consequences. American registry
should not be granted where it is
not merited Once granted, it should
be as inviolate as American citizen
ship.—'Indianapolis Star.
WEALTH IN LOW-GRADE ORE.
In the general plans for the con
struction of railways, opening of coal
and agricultural lands and extension
of the areas of placer gold mining
in Alaska the great asset of existing
low-grade gold ore bodies has been
largely overlooked by the general
:public. Secretary J. L. McPherson, of
the Alaska bureau of the Seattle
Chamber of Commerce, foreshadows
a production of at least ¥60,000,000
annually from the low-grade ore de
posits, commencing within the next
two or three years. The effect of
such a tremendous gold production,
added to the developments under pro
gress by the federal government, is
difficult to measure, not only for the
district itself, but for all the terri
tory that comes within its trade in
fluence.
There are unlimited quantities of
the low-grade ore, yielding from $2
to $4 and $5 per ton, in the neigh
borhood of Juneau and Douglas and
•other portions of Alaska. The prob
lem in the reduction of these has
been the procuring of large sums of
money for the installation of exten
sive machinery. The Treadwell mine
has blazed the way and in thirty years
has produced $55,000,000 in gold from
this ore. Col. D. C. Jackling and
other men of wealth have, for sever
al years, been expending millions of
dollars in installing machinery and
preparing for similar work near Ju
neau. Now the great plants are be
ginning their work of crushing moun
tains of ore into the gold residum.
It means to Juneau the employment
of thousands of men and the growth
of large industrial cities on both
shores of Gastineau channel.
Since the profit on one ton of ore
is very small, adequate returns de
pend entirely on the amount of ore
that may be handled. Within two
years, it is stated, this daily hand
ling will amount to 35,000 to 40,000
tons at Juneau and Douglas alone.
It is a very bright prospect that
Mr. McPherson outlines, both for
Alaska and for Seattle, its natural
market place, and one that has in
spired the Seattle Chamber of Com
merce to exert itself in assisting in
development and in preparing to
meet the requirements of the tre
mendous growth in traffic and in
dustry so soon to come.—Post-Intel
ligencer.
CONCERNING NEUTRALITY.
We are a genuinely neutral nation.
We are neutral in our diplomacy and
our commerce. We are neutral in
our national attitude toward the war
in the sense that we started with no
prejudice for or against any nation,
and we are still open-minded enough
to permit our opinions to be shaped
by events.
Our wise and proper public neutral
ity naturally imposes silence regard
ing war topics on all official repre
sentatives of the government. But
it is a peculiar interpretation of neu
trality that would seek to interfere
with either the formation or the ex
pression of opinion on the part of
any private citizen.
Thought and speech are free in this
country. Any citizen has the right
to form his own judgments about
public affairs and public officials, and
to express them without hindrance as
long as he does so decently. We are
not afraid of ideas. We have no.fear
of logic or criticism applied to our
own domestic affairs. Why should we
hesitate to look facts in the face when
those facts have to do with foreign
nations whose conduct and ideals in
timately concern our own interests?
Charles W. Eliot, president emerit
us of Harvard University, pronounces
the war the greatest catastrophe that
has ever befallen the human race.
Other scholars call it the greatest
crime of history. It is now, and may
long continue, the most important
event in the world. Nothing within j
the experience of living men has been
so fraught with vital import for the
destiny of the race. The problem of
warfare, the most insistent of all the
problems of civilization, is now be
ing worked out before our eyes—and
worked out just as effectually with
in our own minds. No man or wo
man of intelligence can help ponder
ing on the war, seeking for its causes,
watching its progress, speculating on
its results and assigning praise or
blame to the statesmen and nations
involved. And no person who thinks
deeply and feels deeply can help giv
ing expression now and then to his
opinions.
It would be cowardice, rather than
praiseworthy neutrality, for individ
ual Americans to shut their eyes and
close their minds to the moral con
siderations involved. Every citizen
owes it to himself to think about the
war with all the clearness and concen
tration at his command. He owes it
also to his country and to the world;
for nothing but a great volume of
clear thought can put a stop to war.
The more definite opinions we hold,
and the more clearly and powerfully
we are able to express them as in
dividuals and as a nation whenever
opportunity serves, the more we shall
justify our citizenship and the more
we shall be able to do for humanity.
—Ex.
THE RISE IN COPPER.
We doubt If any further rise In
copper Is to be regarded with the
same enthusiasm as Is exhibited by
those gentlemen who are trying to
engineer a boom in copper shares.
If the uhsold accumulation of cop
per has been reduced to a moderate
figure, a rise is, of course, justified;
and if the tendency continues to be
to draw further on stocks some re
sumption of the former scale of pro
duction will be justified. The ideal
condition would be a price of about
14%c. per lb., net cash, New York,
for copper and a production substan
tially adjusted to the demand for cop
per at that price. There is need,
'however, to proceed very cautiously
in departing from the previous basis
of copper production, reduction to
which was the only thing that saved
the copper industry last fall. The
present danger is that some produc
ers will forget that we are still de
prived of our largest customer, Ger
many, that domestic consumption in
this country is still not what it ought
to be, and that the present large de
mand for copper is to a considerable
extent for military purposes; and for
getting these things will be tempt
ed to increase output and produce
conditions from which we may suf
fer later.—Engineering and Mining
Journal.
MANY MAROONED
ON FLOATING ICE
Passenger Steamer Sunk By Ice Near
Chicago—Another Boat Report
ed Damaged.
CHICAGO, Feb. 4.—Intense excite
ment prevailed along the water front
here last night when it became known
that a large passenger steamer had
been crushed by the ice and had
gone to the bottom. The ice prevent
ed any attempt at rescuing the pas
sengers. The arrival of daylight re
vealed fifty persons, the crew and
passengers of the ill-fated vessel on
the floating ice, where they had been
marooned after the sinking of the
ship.
Another steamer is reported to
have been damaged by the ice and
to be making an attempt to reach
shore in the hope of landing the
crew-. The terrible storm which
swept the Great Lakes yesterday
WTOught havoc along the water
fronts of nearly all the ports. It is
estimated that the damage to ship
ping will run into the millions of dol
lars.
GERMAN GRAIN
SUPPLY SHORT
(Continued from page 1.)
that Gen. Hindenburg will be forced
to weaken his forces before Warsaw.
Forcing Germans Back.
The Russian army operating near
Mlawa have driven the Germans back
thirty miles during the past three
weeks, and are now nearing the Ger
man boundary.
WARNED FROM
FRENCH COAST
(Continued from page 1.)
to the sections close to Perthes,
where the Germans succeeded in cap
turing $ number of French trenches
only to be driven back when fresh
troops were brought up. Both sides
are reported to have suffered heavily
with no decided advantages gained
by either.
German Torpedo Boat Sunk.
PETROGRAD, Feb. 4.—It has just
been learned that a Russian subma
rine sunk a German torpedo boat off
the coast of Denmark on January 29.
The crew of the torpedo boat were
lost.
The One Most High.
God Is the highest that we know;
The noblest moral yet evolved!
God Is the over-arching bow
Of dimming mists at length dis
solved !
God is the joy of ev’ry thing;
The bursting bud, the airy wing;
The song at twilight’s starry eve;
The dream that! fearless souls re
ceive !
God is a fortress, crown and cross;
God is a triumph in the end,
When from the ashes of each loss
We see the lily bloom ascend!
God is the soul, aspiring, pure;
The water in the golden ewer;
The growing good where’er defined
In earth and *lme, in man and mind!
—Leslie Clare Manchester.
A nice line or art pictures just re
ceived from New Tork at Valdez
Drug Co. tf
Boys’ Clothing
DESIGNED BY
MAYER BRO&
CHICAGO
Does Your Boy Need
a New Suit?
If he does come in and select one
for him from our large stock.
We have Boys’ Suits in all sises
and our prices are right.
We Carry the
Famous Tess and Ted Children’s School Shoes
Children’s Rubbers and Arctics.
Boys’ Packs and Boots
Jersey Sweaters and Sweater Coats.
Qualified to Speak.
"Say, pop. what bird lias the biggest
bill V”
“Tile stork, my son. unquestionably.”
—St. Louis I’ost-Dispateh.
Grim Reality.
“And so you are married?”
"I told you 1 was going to be.”
"But I thought It was a joke.”
“It Isn't.” — Cincinnati Commercial
Tribune.
A hunting party composed of Jack
Bishop, Carl Nelson, Bob Dore and
Charles Nelson, which have been
hunting around Sawmill bay and El
lamar, have returned to town.
Jafet Lindeberg, president of the
Pioneer Mining company; Dr. J. H.
Mustard, a physician, and G. J. Lo
men, an attorney, all of Nome, have
acquired a herd of 1,300 reindeer.
TIDE TABLES PORT OF VALDEZ.
Compiled from tne official tide tc
bles Issued by the Coast and Geodet
ic Survey. The time for high and
low water is for the Port of Valdez
and is Valdez time. Immediately fol
lowing the time of high and low wa
ter is given the height of the tide
in feet and tenths:
Thursday, February 4
High tide 2:52 a. m„ 12.0; 2:58 p.
m„ 11.1.
Low tide 8:69 a. m., 0.8; 9:03 p.
m„ 0.4.
Friday, February 5
High tide 3:28 a. m.. 12.2; 3:50 p.
m„ 10.1.
Low tide 9:53 a. m., 0.7; 9:40 p.
m., 1.2.
Saturday, February 6.
High tide 4:10 a. m., 12.3; 4:55 p.
m., 1.1.
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Copper River Lumber Co., Inc.
ALL KINDS OF
Native and T T Tl\flDl7D and Building
Puget Sound JLU1V1DljI\ Material
CONSTANTLY ON HAND
Prices Right W. M. FINICAL, Mgr. Phone 18
Patronize a Home Industry
Independent Laundry Co.
Satisfaction Guaranteed
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Foot Keystone Ave
Rouirh Dry ICe lb.
ALASKA
STEAMSHIP CO.
S. S. Mariposa and S. S. Alameda sail from Seattle
the 1st, 8th, 16th and 24th
EVERY MONTH
From Valdez south—7th, 15th, 23rd and 30th for Cordova,
Juneau, Ketchikan and Seattle.
Regular freight service for Ketchikan. Juneau. Sheep creek Treadwell, Douglas
Cordova. Ellamar. Valdez and t.atouche. Explosives. S S Seward. S S Seward. 5th’
S S I.atouche. 15th: S S Cordova. 25th of each month—Right reserved to change this
schedule without notice.
F B. Tracy, Gen’l Agt- Valdez Dock Co., Local Agt.
Bcrrmn in who
a*1®1#*
M. JHp. ou
."»8pineli
biSiM
FULL
QUART
■ ■—BOTTLED IN BOND
Has Had no Peers for Fifty Years
SOLD BY ALL DEALERS
WEATHER BULLETIN.
Valdez, Alaska, Feb. 4, 1915.
STATION Above Below, Snow In. WEATHER CONDITIONS
Clear, calm, trail good. McCallum . 10 13
Clear, calm, trail good. Paxson’s . 8 12
Cloudy, calm, trail good. Hogan . 0 17
Cloudy, calm, trail good. Gulkana . 12 I4
Clear, calm, trail good. Copper Center - 7 9
Cloudy, calm, trail good. Tonslna . * 24
Cloudy, calm, trail good. Teikhell . 5 25
Cloudy, calm, trail good. Beaver Dam . 6 39
Cloudy, calm, trail open. Summit . 12 50
Clear, calm, trail fair. Wortman’s . 18 43
Donnelly . 1 3 Cloudy, calm, trail fair.
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