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VOLUME XIV. VALDEZ, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, It* 16 NUMBER SB
SnUDSH STEAMER
m OFF BRAZIL
► fitettes Rock and Goes to Bottom with
Four Hundred and Forty Pas
sengers and Crew.
[ .SANTOS, Brazil, March 8.—Ad
vices have been received here of a
tragedy which occurred several days
a®™ when a Spanish ship struck an
uncharted rock off the coast of Brazil
and sank, carrying with her four
knndred and forty persons. The name
*6 the steamer nor the port for which
she was ‘bound has not been learned,
hut It is believed that she was an
imate to Europe from some South
American port.
Steamers arriving here bring the
mews that the wreckage of the steam
ier was observed by a passing vessel
and a search of the currounding wa
ters resulted in a number of survivors
feeing pldp»d up after they had been
dinglngto wreckage for hours.
It is believed that the steamer
ai!nst have struck a pinnacle rock,
which tore a great hole in her hull
as the survivors say that she disap
peared under the water almost im
mediately after the shock was felt.
k __
Tells House Committee that* Ameri
can Navy Will Soon Be on Par
With Hie German Navy.
WASHINGTON, D. C., March 8.—
Admiral Fletcher, comamnder of the
Atlantic division of the United States
navy, continuing his testimony be
fore the House committee on naval
affairs yesterday afternoon asserted
tllr,'4. the American navy would soon
fci or a par v. a the German navy.
The committee is investigating the
aiVcged inem-.oncy of the America;.
n«.»y and coast defenses and ques
tion od Admiral Fletcher as to the
velar? ve aroisth of the navies of the
world. TtaivAmerican navy, accord
ing to the testimony of the admiral,
will he equal to that of Germany
when the three dreadnaughts and
twrr cruisers which are now under
vmnatraction or been authorized by
congress, have been added to the
£ Admiral Fletcher reiterated his for
mer testimony that no time should be
bust in building a number of suma
vfnes of the latest type with which
tike cities on both the Atlantic and
Pacific coasts could be protected from
bombardment in the event that this
country should be involved in war
with any power possessed of a great
, navy.
WJ3TC> MADE RIBBONS
OP HEAVY CANVAS
When W. E. Patton, manager of
•be Patton Mining company returned
to hla camp the other day after being
absent for several days he was sur
prised to find that he had no more
»tone at the mine than a rabbit. The
* ifflvfng quarters had been bailt of log
wxlls with heavy canvas roof but tho
storm which has been prevailing the
Bast few days made ribbons of the
canvas and filled the building wPh
aaow.' Lnmber has been taken to the
t property and as soon as the storm
^ abates a boai% roof will be put on the
building. He is developing a prop
erly onAhe west side of the flat near
•be Valdez glacier.
TREADWELL HAS
CROSSED THE DIVIDE
OAKLAND, March 8.—Jas. Tread
woll, the original locator of the fa
■was’ Treadwell gold mines at Ju
Q’nsaa, Alaska, which have produced
more than one hundred million dol
lars. died at his home here last night
“at the age of sixty-nine years.
FOR SALE—Two room cabin and
tot. $ir>o cash. Good ten days only.
Alaska Investment Co.. Reed Bldg.
LONDON MAIL BELIEVES
GERMANS HAVE NEW SUBS.
LONDON, March 8.—The Daily
Mail expresses the opinion that the
German admiralty is using a new
type of submarine in the campaign
which was Inaugurated against arm
ed merchantmen of the Allies on
March 1. The vessels are reported to
have a tonnage of 5,000 and to be
capame of crossing and re-crOssing
the Atlantic without taking on fresh
water or fuel, and according to the
reports are expected to operate
against steamers in mid-Atlantic.
Quarrel In San Francisco Theatre Re
sults in One Man Being Killed
and Several Injured.
SaN FRANCISCO, March 8.—The
Chinese Tong war which was believed
to have been averted when the lead
£
ers of the tongs signed a peace pact
in Portland last week, broke out in
increased violence list night as a re
sult of a quarrel in a Chinese theatre
in this city.
The quarrel in the show house
reached a climax when a member of
the Souey On tong, drew a revolver
and opened fire on a group of Fine
Hop Sing tong men, killing one man
instantly and seriously wounding
three others. Two Souey On tong
men were later found by the police
to have been seriously wounded in
the fight.
The police fear that the shooting
will revive the bitter warfare be
tween the tongs and that it will
spread along the Pacific coast. The
leaders of the Chinese societies who
signed the peace pact in Portland as
sert that the shooting last night has
no connection with the difficulties be
tween the tongs but was the result
of personal emnity.
INCREASED WAGE
SCALE GENERAL
Industrial Report Shows that Work
ing Forces Have Been Increas
ed Fourteen Per Cent.
ill
f
WASHINGTON, D. C., March 8.—
An industrial census which has just
been completed shows that in seven
of the leading industries of the coun
try that the working forces have been
increased fourteen per cent during
the past year.
The payrolls of thirty of the larg
est steel industries show that their
employes are now receiving a thirty
five per cent Increase of the wage
scalo as compared with the corres
ponding month of 1914. In many in
dustries, especially those ©tigaged In
the production of war munitions for
the European countries, the increase
in the wage scale amounts to sixty
two per cent.
The report shows that all branches
of industry have responded to the
wave of nrosperity whleh lg becoming
general from the Atlantic to the Pa
cific and that factories which have
’'een closed or operating on half time
for months are now operating to full
est capacity.
RESIGNS FROM BIG STORK
AFTER SEVEN YEARS SERVICE
Marvin Burford, who for the past
seven years has been connected ^rlth
the Valdez Mercantile company, and
for the past twelve months’ manager
of the grocery department of the big
store, has resigned from his position
with the company. He states that he
has not definitely decided as to his
plans but that there were several po
sitions which he wat considering.
Mr. Cuddy, manager of the Valdez
Mercantile company, says that no ar
rangements have been made to fill the
vacancy but. that a successor to Mr.
Burford will bo appointed at an early
date.
GREAT NAVAL RATTLE IS
EXPECTED IN NORTH SEA
ENGLAND IS EXCITED OVER RE1» ORT FROM AMSTERDAM THAT
FLEET OF TWENTY-FIVE GERMAN WARSHIPS HAVE PASSED
FROM KEIL CANAL INTO NORTH SEA AND ARE PREPARF-l
TO GIVE BATTLE TO BRITISH FLEET FOR SUPREMACY OF THE
OCEAN—FIGHTING ON WESTE ERN FRONT HAS SHIFTED FROM
VERDUN TO EASTWARD OF M EUSE RIVER WHERE FRENCH
TRENCHES ARE CAPTURED.
LONDON, March 8.—Reports from
Amsterdam are to the effect that a
fleet of twenty-five German warships
slipped from the Keil canal during a
heavy Btorm last Sunday and that
they are now cruising in the North
Sea prepared to give battle with the
British fleet for supremacy of the
ocean. The report is generally be
lieved among British officials and a
great sea battle is hourly expected.
The recent reports from Amsterdam
that the German admiralty had
mounted guns on the German dread
naughts which outrange the British
guns has caused apprehension thru
out England as to the outcome of the
naval battle which is belfeved to be
imminent. Lord Balfour, first Lord
of the British Admiralty has issi^d
a public statement which is intended
to reassure the British public that
there is no danger that the British
fleet will meet with disaster in the
event that the report from Amster
dam is correct.
Fighting Shifting to East.
LONDON, March 8.—Official ad
vices received by the war department
from the French army headquarters
say lhat the fighting has shifted from
before Verdun to the eastward, be
yond the Meuse river, where several
hundred yards of French trenches
are now occupied by the Germans.
Regin Encircling Movement.
LONDON, March 8.—Military ex
perts here believe that the assault of
the German troops against the French
positions between the Meuse river
and the Argonne forests is tho be
ginning of a movement in which the
Germans ww attempt to encircle
Verdun. The fighting east of the
Meuse river is reported to have been
very severe with „oih sides suffering
heavy casualties.
20 DIE WHEN
JAIL IS BURNED
Believed tliat Guards Must Have Been
Absent from Posts ns Flames
Cut Off Men In Cells.
EL PASO, March 8.—Twenty per
sons were cremated and more than a
score fatally burned when tho ciiy
jail was destroyed by firo Tuesday
night. The lire originated In one of
tho cells and is*believed to.have been
set by a^prisonor who was mentally
deranged.
Tho loss ot life through the de
struction of the jail is being investi
gated by the state authorities as it is
believed the guards were absent from
their posts of duty when the fire orig
inated, and the prisoners who were
cremated were caught like rats In a
trap.
When the Are department arrived
on the scene the building was envel
oped in flames and the intense heat
prevented efforts at unlocking the
doors anu freeing the doomed pris
oners.
COMPULSORY DRILL
IN ALL COLLEGES
Vice-President Marshall Believes that
Bystem Would Provide Officers
for Army Emergency.
CHICAGO. March 8.—Vice-Pretd
dent Thos. It. Marshall, who is tour
ing the central states in a campaign
(or national preparedness, in an ad
dress delivered here last night favor
ed compulsory military drill in the
universities and colleges as a part of
the educational training of young
men.
He believes the system would pro
vide thousands of men competent to
act as officers in the event that the
nation should suddenly become in
volved in war. He also believes the
federal government should furnish
students with uniforms and compe
tent officers to give them military
training.
The vice-president is •■•a— to be am
bitious to be appointed to the Su
preme Court of the United States and
to attain that position would glady
sacrifice any politica. aspirations.
TO CRUSH TRADE
AFTER THE WAR
, -J
Mew York Journal of Commerce Sees
Danger to World Trade from
“Trade With Enemy" Act.
NEW YORK, March S.—In En
gland's “Trading with the Enemy
Act" tiie New York Journal of Com
merce sees the opening move of the
British to crush German trade after
the conclusion of the European war.
These plans are being elaborated by
British interests and include imperi
alist reciprocity between Great Bri
tain and her colonies and an imperi
alist tariff for imperial purposes.
Rider Haggard, who was appointed
a special commissioner by the British
government to visit the colonies and
arrange for changes which it is be
lieved are sure to result from the
war, is said to be strongly in favor of
the movement to cripple German
commerce. Associations of business
men have formed a league and with
this end in view and it is supported
by all the great British capitalists.
HRS LOOSE
IN SOUTH PACIFIC
Canadian Liner Raced at Top Speed
from Australia to Honolulu to
Evade Commerce Raiders.
HONOLULU, March 8.—The offl
ers of the Canadian steamer Niagara
which arrived here last night from
-ustralia say that they received
warning by wireless that Austrian
commerce raiders were loose in. the
ioutU Pacific and had been sighted
iff the straltB of Magdallne.
The passengers on the steamer
itata that the vessel was driven at
’ojrced speed all the way to Hono
ulu after the warnings had been re
ceived but that no enemy ship had
ieen sighted.
The Niagara carries several bun-*
Ired passengers and a considerable
shipment of bullion and would have
een a rich prize had she fallen into
‘.he hands of a Teutonic prize crew.
Just received a shipment of fresh
Halibut and Black Cod at Frye
Bruhn’s. tf
NEW CHIEF CLERK FOR
COMMISSION AT ANCHORAGE
A. M. McDermott, who has been
chief clerk of the Alaskan Engineer
ing commission in the Anchorage di
vision of the rairoad work since last
June, severed his connection with the
commission on March 1 and has been
succeeded by a Mr. Cunningham re
cently from the outside. The new
chief d!?rk is said to be a railroad
engineer by profession and previous
to coming to Alaska was in the em
ploy of the Twohey Bros., widely
known railroad contractors.
THREE MILLION
III ITM HIT
Government Reports that Troops are'
WeU Supplied with Munitions
and Reserve Created. .
ROME, March 8.—An official com
rnique has been issued by the Italian
war office which states that Italy now
has two million men engaged in the
war and is preparing to add another
million. About a million men are on
the firing line, stretched along the
mountains from Trentino in the west
to the Austrian stronghold of Gorixio
in the east. Another million men is re
served to fill in the gaps in the fight
ing line as needed, or to reinforce po
sitions threatened.
The third million is represented in
the additional classes in process of
training for the coming spring cam
paign as tho scope of tho offensive
and defensive operations may become
enlarged. •* *
Tho announcement has also been
made by the war office that the army
is well supplied with ammunition and
that a reserve store of munitions has
been created since the beginning of
the war notwithstanding the fact that
the government has found difficulty
in securing coal with which to oper
ate the munition factories.
HUGHES NOT 10
, BE CANDIDATE
Has Issued a tatter Forbidding His
Name to Be Used in the Massa
chusetts Primaries.
BOSTON, March 8.—Charles E.
Hhghes, associate justice of the Su
preme Court of the United States,
has published an open letter in which
he forbids his name to be used in the
Massachusetts primaries.
The refusal of Justice Hughes to
permit his name to be used in the
primaries in this state is believed to
mean that he will not be a candidate
tor the nomination for the presidency
at the Republican National conven
tion In Chicago on June 7th. It is
generally believed in Republican cir
cles that he will support the candi
dacy of Elihu Root for the Republi
can nomination.
INQUIRY IS MADE FOR
ELIAS PENN YBACKER
I
An Inquiry (or Ellis Pennybacker
has been received by the Alaska Rond
Commission from Chairman Edes of
the Engineering Commission, as he
had received requests from the rela
tives of the young man to assist them
in getting Into touch with him. Pen
nybacker took an examination to en
ter the government service and is be
lieved to be somewhere in Alaska but
all letters written to him have been
returned to the senders. He is 23
years old and any information con
cerning him wiu be welcomed If sent
to Herman P. Thomas, 6317 Pasa
dena avenue, Los Angeles, or to the
Aibw..^ Road Commission, Valdez,
Alaska.
..■
W. R. Hillard, superintendent of
the Qranite mine, is In town and will
leave for the mine tomorrow morn
ing on the launch B. F. M. He re
ports a very rough trip up the
sound.
PRESIDENT WINS
OVER APPONENTS
Resolution to Warn Americans O*
Armed Merchantmen of Bel
ligerent Nations Tabled.
WASHINGTON, D. C„ March 8.—
President Wilson has triumphed in
his fight against the passage of any
resolution by congress which wonld
interfere with his foreign policy In
regard to the rights of American citi
zens traveling on merchant ships of
any nation to any part of the world.
When the resolution which would
have required the president to warn
Americans from traveling on armed
vessels of the belligerent nationa
came up in the House yesterday after
noon it was tabled by a vote of two
to one.
The advocates of the measure mad*
two attempts to amend the resolution
in order that it would meet with th*
approval of the president but ho de
clined to approve of any action on
the part of congress which might cre
ate the impression in Germany that
his foreign policy in regard to tho
submarine warfare had not been ful
ly endorsed by congress and the
American people.
STORM SWEEPS
PACIRC COAST
Roared Hint. When Particulars are
Known Heavy l.oss of Rife will
He Round to Have Resulted.
SAN FRANCISCO, March 8.—A
terrific wind storm which has bc.ee
raging along tho coast of Oregon,
California and Mexico for more .than
twent-four hours has crippled the
coastwise shipping and caused a
number of deaths. The full extent
of the damage resulting from the
storm can only bo conjectured as
many of the smaller vessels not
equipped with wireless are unreport
ed and may have been lost.
Advices from San Diego and pointa
along the coast of Lower California
are to the effect that the gale took
heavy toll from the Ashing fleets off
the lower California coast.
During the period when the stone
reached the climax mountainous seta
rolled through the Golden Gate and.
buffeted the vessels in the harboc,
forcing them to remain tied up to tfce
docks.
Great damage is reported to have
resulted at San Diego where the
waves threatened the destruction of
the famous health resort on Coro
nado island, and caused the guests to
seek safety in flight to the mainland.
Two men are known to have tort
their lives when a gasboat was cap
sized in the storm.
SEWARD DEMOCRATIC CLUB
WILL ELECT OFFICERS
Tho Seward Democratic Club ha*
'ailed a meeting March 15 for the
election of officers and for the nom
ination of delegates to attend the
territorial convention at Juneau.
March 15 is Jackson day and special
ly chosen by the looal men for the
meeting. Seward will have eight dele
gates to the convention. “The Alaska
League of democratic Clubs" is the
nam j given by the National Demo
cratic League of Clubs, a circular
from which, carrying the name of that
Ala :kan organizations, has been re
'eivod by Secretary George Phelps of
the —ward Club.—Gateway.
Prank White will leave on tho
steamer Alaska for Seward en routo
to Anchorage. His brother conduct*
a roadhouse at Mntanuska junction
and he will spend a few weeks them
before deciding, upon the district tat
which he will prospect during tho
coming season.
Hotpoint Electric Heaters, CoeTrer%
Rakers, Percolators and Vaeuntt
Cleaners arrived on the last boat for
the’ Emporium. tf