THE IDITAROD PIONEER
Published Every Saturday Morning at Idltarod, Alaska
Yol. 8 CHARLES A. DERRY, Editor No. 24
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AN APPEAL TO HUMANITY
A communication from the governor of Alaska, addressed to
the mayor of Iditarod, has been referred to The Pioneer. In of
fering it to the consideration of our readers, in connection with
other matter relating to the appeal, we offer no further sugges
tion than that the appalling conditions recounted be given due
consideration, and that the promptings of the individual con
science be followed in the matter. No argument we could offer
could be half so strong as the bare recital of the facts given.
The governor's letter is as follows:
“My Dear Mr. Mayor: I have been requested by the directors
of the Rocky Mountain Club Hoover Fund for Relief in Belgium
to use my efforts a? far as possible in securing subscriptions for
the relief of the stricken |>eople of Belgium. Mr. Herbert C.
Hoover, as you know, has been in charge of this fund ever since
1914. and he advises that the sum guaranteed for the relief of
Belgium failed to meet the requirements by one million dollars
monthly, which sum it is believed can be raised in the United
Flute--, and now Alaska is urged to contribute her share.
“Hitherto we, the most prosperous people in the world, have
fallen far short of the example set by other countries, even those
staggering under the burden of such a war. America has given 8
cents per capita, against 18 cents in Canada, $2.34 in New Zea
1 lid am! $0.23 in Tasmania. According to Mr. Hoover, a million
little Belgian children are weak, tubercular and under-nourished,
and the million dollars a month for which he pleads will be ap
plied toward supplying one supplementary nourishing meal a day
for these children.
the Rocky Mountain Club, as you may know, is a New i ork
club composed mainly of and for western mining men and others
who may be visiting New York. I may add that John Hays Ham
mond. the eminent mining engineer, is president of the Rocky
Mountain Club, which has a number of members in Alaska, I my
self being an honorary vice president. Mr. Hoover was a promi
nent member of this club, and the club, therefore, believed it its
duty to assist him in the noble work of increasing the American
contributions for Belgian relief, as it was believed that it was
peculiarly the task of the mining profession—a task, by the way,
initiated and hitherto largely administered by mining engineers,
and for this reason, as well as because no industry has profited
more by the war than mining, it is urged that it is incumbent on
the mining professions and the mining sections of the territory to
give whole hearted support to this cause, as far as may be, and
hence the obligation is not confined to the recipients of large sal
aries, but is equally binding on wage-earners, each according to
his ability to pay.
“I have, therefore, to urgently request that you organize in
your community a local committee which will endeavor to collect
contributions large and small from all who can be made to feel
the force of the appeal. One dollar will feed one child for a month.
If you will consent to and endeavor to assist in this work I shall
be pleased to act as treasurer of the fund, and will make prompt
transmittal of any sum that may be received to the Rocky Moun
tain Club-Hoover Belgian Relief Fund, New York, giving due
acknowledgement of the sum so transmitted. I am endeavoring
to give some little time to this matter, notwithstanding my many
duties which press upon me, especially just at this time. I am
also inclosing herewith a number of receipts for your use in trans
mitting money to me; or, if time would be saved, may 1 suggest
that you transmit your own contributions direct to the following
address: Wm. B. Thompson, Treasurer Rocky Mountain Club
Hoover Fund for Relief in Belgium, 65 West Forty-fourth Street,
New York city. On second thought, I believe this would be the
better method; that is, make your contributions direct, as noted
above. I shall greatly appreciate anything that you may be able
to do in this work. I am
“Cordially yours, J. F. A. STRONG,
“The Honorable the Mayor of Iditarod, Alaska.”
Accompanying the governor’s letter there are addressed en
velopes and blanks for the remittance of funds to the treasurer of
the Rocky Mountain Club fund, which may be had on application
at this office.
IS FAIRBANKS GREEDY?
Appropos of the introduction of a bill in the national congress
by Delegate Sulzer to appropriate $200,000 for a federal budding
at Fairbanks, the News-Miner of May 26 says:
We have always maintained, and we always will maintain,
that if anybody anywhere else beats Fairbanks people to it
in working for or looking after Fairbanks’ interests, that per
son will be going some. Today, however, we are compelled
to admit that Congressman Sulzer is “going some.”
The recent territorial legislature appropriated $60,000 for the
establishment of an agricultural and mining school at Fairbanks,
which, when ready for the accommodation of students, will be
entitled to an allotment of $50,000 annually from the federal
government.
The great bulk of the funds at the command of the Alaska
road commission for expenditure in the Fourth division have been
used in and around the Fairbanks dsitrict, and the only exten
sive road project undertaken by the commission outside of the
Fairbanks region and the approaches thereto was inaugurated last
summer in the commencement of the work on the Ruby-Long
Creek road.
The whole of the territorial funds apportioned to the Fourth
division from the national forest funds have up to this time been
expended by a Fairbanks man in the Fairbanks district. The re
cent territorial legislature made an appropriation of 8100,000 for
each division, and evidently with a view of having these funds
used in various parts of the division, provided for a commission
to disburse them. Naturally, these men were selected from different
sections. Now come the people of Fairbanks, and through some
as yet unknown influence, connive at the recall of the Iditarod com
missioner, under the plea that it is necessary that two Fairbanks
men be on the commission in order to sign requisite ns and other
wise facilitate the carrying on of work in that locality.
Three of the four members of the lower house of the last legis
lature were elected from the Fairbanks district, and only his popu
larity with the anti-saloon element enabled Mr. Snow of Ruby to
be elected. Furthermore, it has been customary, whenever ap
pointments to official positions in outlying precincts were to be
made, to select Fairbanks men.
The whole attitude of Fairbanks and its people seems to be
that the resources of both the federal and territorial governments,
as applied to the Fourth division, are the exclusive property of
Fairbanks. In other words, there is an assumption that its inter
ests are supreme, and that those of outlying districts are not
worthy of consideration. “Going some,” the expression used by
the Fairbanks newspaper, succinctly expresses the activities of the
people of the Tanana metropolis.
But some day Fairbanks is going to awake to a realization that
its attitude is thoroughly provincial. No community ever thrived
by depriving its neighbors of a just share in the efforts of govern
ment for general improvement. I'airbanks is not a self-supporting
community, and must rely for its prosperity to a large extent on
other sections of Interior Alaska. Efforts to enhance its own
prosperity at the expense of neighboring communities is bound in
the long run to result disastrously to Fairbanks.
A WRONG R5GHTED
The world at large has nothing but commendation for the
man who, having made a mistake, endeavors to rectify it when
he is convinced that it was a mistake. No stigma attaches to the
man who changes his mind when convinced 1 hat he has been in
the wrong. So in the case of the attempted recall of the appoint
ment of J. E. Riley as road commissioner by the governor, end
the later reaffirmation of the appointment, Whatever opinion
may have been held locally as to the unwisdom (to put it mildly)
of the attempt to turn over the divisional road fund to the Fair
banks boosters, we must on thi-- occasion at lea^t commend the
action of the governor in speedily undoing the attempted injury
to this community.
The advisability of selecting a strong, vigorous and energetic
man to represent a community on such a board as tlie divisional
road commission is exemplified in the case of Mr. Riley. Some
men would have quietly acquiesced in the decision of the gov
ernor. But not so with Riley. He knew an injustice was being
done, and he stood up for his own and the community’s rights,
and his vigorous telegrim to the acting governor, backed up by
the strong protest of the Iditarod Commercial Club, brought about
the revocation of the obnoxious order.
The people of the Iditarod distirct can be assured that at least
the interests of this community will be considered in the matter
of road-building under the new act. We congratulate the district
on the outcome of the incident.
-♦
The present season is remarkable for one tiling, and that is
the non-appearance of the pesky mosquito, which, of course, is
due to the unseasonably cold weather. It is not thought that the
optimistic hope expressed by a local man, that the mosquitos have
disappeared from Alaska in the same mysterious manner as did
the ptarmigan, will be fulfilled.
THE UNIVERSAL OBLIGATION
(New York Independent)
Democracy implies universal obligation; for democracy means
equal rights, and wherever there are rights there are inseparable
obligations. As free members of a nation “conceived in liberty
and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created free and
equal,” we demand from our common government equal protec
tion in the enjoyment of our common rights and privileges. In
turn we owe to cur common government whatever service it needs
for the protection of our common country and the prosecution of
its high aims and purposes. All citizens must pay taxes in pro
portion to their ability; the proposition is unnebatable. In like
manner, til citizens must aid their country in war, in proportion
to their ability; there is no more room for dissent here than there.
Democracy cannot be divorced from the universal obligation to
service.
—---♦
MAY BE DRIVEN TO COMPETITION WITH AH FONG
(Fairbanks News-Miner)
So far this month we have been writing checks for telegraph
tclb averaging about £12 a day. On an average twenty-six-dry
service per month, this would make our telegraph cost us £312 a
month, or very nearly (within £30) as much as wc receive per
month from our entire subscription list. Advertising is light and
job printing light, while paper has increased in price to a ridicu
lous extent, and wages are climbing every month. The outlook is
bad for the little newspapers of Alaska, and it is going to be a
problem to keep them going. Of course, a newspaper never dies,
and they will be kept going in some unknown way, probably by an
act of Providence; but it occurs to us that "safety first” would
warrant us in endeavoring to buy Dick Thorn’s warehouse, next
door, and establishing therein a large and competent laundry as a
means to the end of keeping this enterprise alive.
-—-♦
THE DECENT COURSE TO PURSUE
(Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
The German-American has worn and will wear well as an Ameri
can citizen, but what of the American German, that citizen of Ger
man blood who opposes the national aims of his adopted country
and defends the old world empire? For him the decent course to
pursue would be to no longer accept the protection and maintenance
that the nation he renounces now gives him. He should betake him
self to the country where his affections and his loyalty lie, and if
this be impossible just now, he should go to Mexico, where so many
of his kinsmen have gone, and where his hostility to the nation s
purpose could be met by force of arms and not be sheltered by the
flag he renounces.
----♦---—
WE THANK YOU
(Anchorage Democrat)
The last issue of The Iditarod Pioneer to come over the trail
has arrived, and is as newsy and carefully gotten up as ever.
| . . . The whole sheet is chuck full of good reading. Long may
1 it keep up the good work.
Ball Band Rubber Boots and Pacs
Ball Band Rubber Boots and Pacs
Special
Ball Band Rubber Shoes, eight-inch Top,
with and without heel, all sizes,
while they last...
$3.25 Pair
N. C. Co. Sole Agents for Alaska
N. C. Co. Sole Agents for Alaska
IN NAME OF GOD THE FATHER
LET US STOP STARVATION
OF CHILDREN OF BELGIUM
The following stirring appeal is reprinted
from the Literary Digest. Taken in con
junction with the letter of Governor Strong,
printed elsewhere, it presents a truly heart
rending picture of conditions in unhappy
Belgium. The people of the Iditarod dis
trict have had but little call made upon
their generosity by the many war relief
funds, and the thought that a million chil
dren are suffering the pangs of hunger, and
the consequent ill effects of stunted physical
and mental growth, must strike the average
Alaskan with remorse that he is not doing
his share to relieve this appalling condition.
The Literary Digest’s appeal is headed,
“In the Name of God the lather Let Ls
Stop the Slow Starvation of the Million
Belgian Children,” and continues:
“After i two years end a half beneath the
upper and nether millstones of war, the Bel
gian people find themselves facing a new
peril—the slow starvation of more than one
million children.
the meager rations mat nave uureij
sufficed for adults have proved insufficient
for growing children. There are 1,250,000
of these children who are directly dependent
upon the food supplied by the Commission
for Relief in Belgium. The ration which
that commission has been able to supply is
less Than that provided to British prisoners
in Germany, less than that provided Ger
man prisoners in England, and about two
thirds that supplied in poorhauses of Eng
land by the British government. It is
enough to keep body and soul together in
an adult. It is not enough to do even that
for the growing chddren. It consist- of ‘a
hunk of bread and a bowl of broth’ each
day, and it costs about <i cents.
One Million Belgian Children Must Have
an Extra Ration Each Day or They Are
Going to Die of Slow Starvation
“This extra ration consists of a biscuit
made with lard or fat and a cup of cocoa.
That is all; but it is enough to arrest de
generation of the growing child. That is
all; but it is enough to check the ravages
of tuberculosis, rickets, and other diseases
that have begun to develop with appalling
rapidity among the under-nourished chil
dren. That is all; but it means the differ
ence between life and death, between con
tinued vitality and slow starvation. One
biscuit a day! ‘A little more, and oh, how
much it is!’
One Dollar a Month Will Supply This Extra
Ration and Save a Child
“The appeal comes to the United Stales
lo furnish that money and save these chd
:!ren. It comes from Herbert Hoover, chair
man of the Commission for Relief in Bel
gium. It comes from the heads of churches.
It comes from American physicians fDr.
Lucas of the University of California is one
if them1 who have made examinations of
these children for the commission. It is an
appeal that comes from the most distressed
oaticn on earth to the wealthiest nation
the urn ever shone upon.
1 How in God’s Name Can Such an Appeal
Be Disregarded ?
“Think of it. you Americans who read
this, you fathers and mothers of growing
children! The controller of the currency
in Washington a few days ago proclaimed
ihc wealth of the United State- as $220,
000.000,000. On the first, dry of the new
year one single industry—the railways—had
$412,000,000 to be paid out as interest due
! on railway bonds. I'or two and one-half
years Belgium, formerly ‘the beehive of
Europe,’ has been rescued from destruction
at a cost of over $200,000,000. and the
United States has contributed than
$9,000,000 of this sum. Yet the Commis
sion for Relief in Belgium is composed al
most entirely of Americans. It works under
the American flag. That Hag ha - protected
its workers, protected the truck- that car
iied the provision . protected the ships that
brot ght them. All through the towns and
village-; of Belgium the people in gratitude
took hits- if yarn and cott; n and made sraa.l
American flags, colored them with paints
and dyes, pinned or sewed them to their
ragged garments, and wore them proudly
week after week. It is to America that their
! !,parts have gone out. Yet while France and
i England have been between them providing
$7,000,COO a month for the support of Bel
gium, the people of the United States have
contributed less than $9,000,000 in more
than two years. While scores of Americans
have been devoting their whole time to the
work of relief without a dollar of recom
pense—some of them were capable of earn
ing the highest salaries paid—winning for
their country and their flag imperishable
honor and gratitude, the support they have
received from their own countrymen has
been pitifully inadequate. For all the dis
tressed people of Europe, Asia and Africa,
according to the controller of the currency,
yve have contributed, since the war began,
less than one-twentieth of 1 per cent of
our aggregate income. That is to say, we
have diverted one dollar out of $2,000 of
income to the relief of such distress as the
world has never before seen. And in the
same time provisions for the Belgians alone
have been purchased from this country to
the amount of over $100,000,000, according
to the official documents of the Relief Com
mission.
it is not eenerany understood mat, even
in times of peace, Belgium has to import
78 per cent of her breadstuffs. Even in
normal conditions she produces but 22 per
cent. The harvest of 1914 was never reaped.
The American commissioners all testify that
those Belgians who have means have done
and are doing their utmost in relief work.
It is “up to” America to save these million
slowly starving children, if they are to be
saved—to give Alfons, and Josef, and Geral
dina, and Achiel, and the rest, a biscuit a
day as a supplementary meal, in addition
to the less than poorhouse rations they are
now getting.”
Herbert Hoover's Appeal
Before a gathering of the Rocky Mountain
Club in New York recently Mr. Hoover said
in part:
“Our finances are in great jeopardy. As
time goes on the situation becomes more
desperate in Europe; our necessities grow
greater; it is growing more and more diffi
cult to see our way through. Today our
budget calls for about $18,000,000 to $19,
000,000 a month, if we are not to reduce
the already short food supply of these peo
ple. We are receiving $14,000,000 a month
from the allied governments. There is no
hope of any increase in that, and there is
always the possibility that at some stage we
,may lose it altogether. In any event, we
*are from $3,000,000 to $5,000,000 a month
short. We have to raise this money by
public charity and the few financial conces
sions which we are able to secure, and we
thought that perhaps the American people
would take off our shoulders the burden of
those 1,250,000 children, I make this ap
peal here with a certain feeling of confidence
because I know I am appealing to men
largely from my own section of the United
States. Many of you have been my friends
for years; many of you are of my own pro
fession—you are miners. Some time ago,
in a moment of desperation, I .assessed the
mines in Australia, where I had a connec
tion for many years. I told each one what
I thought they ought to do. I received a
total, within, I think, about two months,
of $750,000 from a country already combed
to the bottom for relief and distress work.
We appealed to the miners in Johannesburg,
and the laborers in the mines gave 10 per
cent of their wages, and the owners dupli
cated the amount.
“This matter is one of more importance
even than the feeding of 1,250,000 children,
as large as that may be. This relief ha
come to be America’s greatest exhibit in
Europe. We are undertaking to do it with
faith in the American people; we are tin
dertaking to do it knowing that the Ameri
can people will help in an American way.
We want to give a demonstration of that
great strain of humanity which we know
runs through our people because we know
the character of the people that make up
this
ONE WIRELESS STATION
THAT CAN’T BE SHUT OFF
Writing from Aniuk, cn the Kuskokwim,
under date of June 1, Duke E. Stubbs tells
of a trip he made up the Aniak river a
week prior, at which time he found the
boat used by Oscar Boulet at the time ho
met with his fatal accident a year and a
half ago. The boat was found eighteen
mSfes below the scone of the ; . w- , and
had evidently turned over, as the anchor,
axe and gun had disappeared, although it
was right side up when found. It had stif
fened rough usage.
The ice in the Kuskokwim river broke
on May 5.
Mr. btubbs relates the following rather
i musing incident:
“The order issued by the government to
.dose all amateur wireless stations in Alaska
•will fad to be effective in one station, at
least, in (he Far North—for the present.
The bureau of education for Ala-ka natives,
n addition to the great work it lias ac
ccniplishcd among the abofig ual tribes, has
evolved many plans to make progress with
the natives along the paths and highways
to a larger and fuller civilizationa, nd
among other things hit upon the happy
idea of installing wireless stations at the
various prominent schools, thereby enlarg
ing and broadening the views of the siwa.-hes
and incidentally- in ea-e they are not
scared tiff at the ge;-away- making some
<*cod win-1.’: > operators < ut of them.
“Mr. John W. muckiuck can snoruy, uy
of the wireless and Continental code,
and in unpronounceable words, send his ten
Jor me.-1 gos to little Miss Susan B. Seal 1
end thereby save a long and hard trip over
the trail. That i- what he might do, pro
viding Mr. Muckiuck had plenty of eats at
name''; bu once I t the eats get short and
that wireless scheme is going to fall with
an awful thud, as far as the siwash is con
cerned.
‘Last year the bureau of education
shipped ir me of the best types of wireless
outfit, but without an operator, to Norvik,
on th: Kobuk river. The teacher’s 18-year
1 i sc n i . a young man away above the
iveraee in brightness and mechanical abil
ity, and without any other assistance than
a diagram sheet of directions and a monkey
wrench, erected the entire plant, and in so
successful a manner that the spark is equal
to chat of any 2 k. w. plant in Alaska. Lack
dig experience and personal instructions, he
has failed, evidently, to get the receiving
separates properly adjusted, and seems to
"holly fail to receive anything. He has
become quite expert at sending, practicing
during the long winter night, and generally
practices about the hour Nome and Nvi-to
are working, jamming the air so badly that
these stations have to stop until he gets
lired, which hasn’t economized cussin’ to
any great extent. He sends largely from
the bureau of education code book, and
•tarts off with the word ‘Petrograd.’ ”
•
PATRIOTISM GF A, A. WILLIS
COMMENDED BY COAST PAPER
The following is from the Juneau Empire
of May 11 :
“A splendid example of patriotism is ex
emplified in the stalwart person of A. A.
Wiilis, a passenger last night south-bound
. n the Mariposa, who mushed from the
Iditarod over the trail to Anchorage to en
Mst. Upon arrival at Anchorage he was
informed that recruiting stations had not
vet been established in Alaska, and he con
tinued his journey to the States.
“As soon as the declaration of war reached
Iditarod and the President’s plea went out
for fighting men, Mr. Willis left his lucra
tive placer claim, heeded the call, and figur
atively shouldered his musket and set out
for the nearest recruiting station to offer
his services to his country.
“It is no mean thing to make the trip
this time of year, when the headwaters of
the innumerable creeks and rivers are break
'ng up; when the snow has melted, making
dog teams impracticable, and the journey
has to be made on foot, encountering m2ny
perils and hardships and experiencing the
disagreeable elements. There must have
been some rare incentive for a young man
to start out alone on a trip of that nature.
It is good to know that this incentive was
actuated from love of country—his coun
try. It is glorious to know that this Alaska
is full of just such men who are willing to
sacrifice their life’s blood for their coun
try’s flag and in support of the govern
ment.”
Arthur Willis wili be remembered by
Iditarod people as the man who brought
word to Iditarod early in the year that Dun
can McDonnell was lying at the point of
death from freezing at Kolmakoff. He made
the journey from that point in rmarkable
time by traveling day and night without
rest in order to secure medical aid for the
. tricken man. Mr. Willis already has had
military experience. He is said to have been
an officer in the British army during the
Boer war. He is the owner of placer ground
on Bear creek, in the Kuskokwim district.
FELIX AND*HIS MULES
Felix Riley, generally and familiarly
known es “Hot Air" Riley, in recognition of
a well-known propensity for “peddling,” is
carrying his head a little higher these days
because of the fact that he has been “dis
covered” as a subject for magazine notice.
In a recent issue of Popular Mechanics, a
periodical devoted to exploiting the new
fnd unusual, appears a picture of Felix
driving his tandem mule team on the Idit
arod-Flat tramway. It seems that the crude
tramway, with its wooden rails and uneven
track, is the excuse for the reproduction of
the picture, and not Riley and his mules.
Job Printing 3t The Pioneer office.
Professional
Michigan, 1881 Alaska, 1910
Kentucky, 189 1
George Woodruff Albrecht
COUNSELOR AND LAWYER
JDJTAROD, ALASKA
The Pioneer Attorney of Idltarod
E. M. STANTON
Attorney at Law
Office: Corner Willow and Second Sta.
Iditarod Pioneer Building
CHAS. E. TAYLOR
Attorney at Law
BANK BLOCK
First Avenue Iditarod
DR. VIGORS
PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON
DR. H. E. AURJf4GER
Physician and Surgeon
Office: Flat City Hospital, Flat Gity
Consultati a Hours in Forenoon* and by
Appointment
I AT DRUG STORE
FINE WATCH REPAIRING
NUGGET JEWELRY TO ORDER
j. L. SALE, Fiat City
Best of Everything
| ALL THE TIME AT THE
Arcade Cafe
FLAT CITY
__
Open Dav and Night
i
_CPEN DAY AND NIGHT
iSGOVERY
CAFE
FL/ CITY HOHBACK & DURAND
Bet. the Grand and Bagoy's Bars
THE BEST ALL THE TIME
WE ARE HERE TO STAY
nn
Big Stocks of Fresh Goods
Everything for the Miner and
Prospector
W AX SIMEL S
Stores at Cripple City and Mouth of Tolstoi
FINNEGAN & CAMERON
FLAT CITY
Agency for Edison Diamond Disc Phonographs and Records
TOBACCO CIGARS STATIONERY
CONFECTIONERY AN0 BILLIARDS
C. R. Cameron Jas. F. Finnegan
THOS. McMAHON
DEALER IN
gneral Merchandise
| FLAT, ALASKA |