TsiE IDITARQD PIONEER
Published Every Saturday Morning at Idltarod, Alaska
Yol 8 CHARLES A. DERRY, Editor No. 25
ARBUCKLE & DERRY, Publishers
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EVIDENCE OF DISLOYALTY
William Bryan recently olTere.l his services In the govern
ment in any capacity in which he might be found useful. A1
the ugh well past the age at which he could serve as a private sol
dier, the inference was that he was perfectly willing to serve in
that or an equivalent capacity if a place could be found for him.
In view of the fact that there was no stronger opponent of the
v : r with Germany than Bryan, and that his whole attitude for
y irs has been one of unswerving opposition to warfare, being
i asidered the ablest and most insistent of the pacifists, the action
i i Mr. Bryan is conspicuous. But no one expresses surprise at
th's. Mr. Bryan is above all an American.
When the United States recognized a state of war as existing
briwirii this country and Germany, through emigre.-s and the
executive, it was taken as the expression of the will of the pepole,
which is supreme in our government. The action of the govern
ment is dictated by majority rule, represented in all branches of
the government. To question that rule of majority is to invite
revolution, or in war-time language, treason.
citizen o! me l alien .-vuies rosieem in im- luuaiou muna, |
v ho has been noted for his rabid pro-German sentiments, lias de
clared that in the present war between Germany and the United
States he i- neutral. It - is mistaken. He is a traitor, i here is
tie such thing as neutrality for American citizens in the present
crisis; and "ho who i- not for us is ugainsi us.' He is "giving
■id and comfort to the enemy." which is treason.
it has been abundantly proven that the attitude of contempt
>hov.n by the German government to the remonstrances of Presi
dent \Yihnn on the submarine outrages, prior to (lie breach be- i
tween the two countries, was due largely to the belief that our
citizens would not back up the policies of the government. The |
numerous German spies in this country had assured the kaiser j
hat the Germans and their sympathizers in America would con- !
irol the government, and their misleading statements had been be- |
Jieved. The attitude and utterances of such men as the one men- I
tu ned above tire what lent encouragement to this belief.
The remoteness of Iditarod from the seat of government must j
not lie taken as an excuse for violating the laws of the land. The j
long arm of the law extends to this district, as well as to every
other portion of Uncle Sam's wide domain. It takes longer for
d o machinery of the government to operate here, but it operates
ro jjso surely for this reason. Traitors and enemy aliens should
bred well the wise and humane admonitions of the government
for their guidance.
If there be those among us who cannot, like William J. Bryan,
relegate their own opinions to oblivion and work for the common
welfare, as all patriotic Americans are expected to do, they must,
for their own good, learn to put a curb on their tongues.
ALASKA LABOR TROUBLES
It is hardy possible that the labor troubles in the immense j
upper mines in the southern coast of Alaska may not have Seen
cuiueil by “Gorman spies," as intimated in the news dispatches.
Also it is t., be hoped that before definite action is taken in the J
promises by the federal government there will be a thorough inves
tigation. It may lie that the rate of wages paid the miners of j
the Kennecott company arc not commensurate with the tremen- i
dous rise in the price of copper, and that the miners themselves
believe they are entitled to at least a modicum of these profits. j
The management of the great quartz mines in Southeastern j
Alaska for years devoted their energies and the resources of the j
. too: a:-, to : lulling la :ac.-entativo... of the Western Federation j
of Miners from intercourse with their employes, and in-i.-Sed that 1
they should belong to no labor organization but one which they !
themselves instituted. The result has been that for years the
quartz miners of Alaska have received a lower wage than in ■
I
many of the Western states mining camps, when in fact they
should receive more than any. Becent arrivals from the coa-t
till of the difficulty experienced by the big mining companies in j
the vicinity of Juneau in retaining miners because -if the increased j
demand for miners in the States. In Butte, for instance, miners j
arc said to lie receiving from 55 to SO per day, and in the Utah '
end Arizona copper camps the rate of compen-aticn is equally as :
high. A recent arrival in Seattle, from Juneau made the fell living ]
rtatement to a Post-Intelligencer reporter:
“High wages for common labor in the States, particularly in i
the milling camps in the West, are attracting workmen from Ju |
neau and other places in Alaska. Common laborers around Ju J
neau are paid 35 cents an hour and work nine and ten hours a j
day. Miners receive 53.50 a day for eight hours' work. Living
expenses are a little more in Alaska than in the States. As a eon- |
sequence there has been quite an exodus of labor from the North,
and the aspects indicate that there will be no large movement of!
worker? to Alaska camps this season, as in former years. Labor- |
ns are not plentiful in the Juneau district now. The new'mill of (
the Alaska-.)uneau company is expected to be completed by June
1. It will be able to crush 8,000 tons of ore daily. The company’s I
mine, which is on Gold creek, about a mile and a half from Ju- [
neau, is connected with the mill by tunnel. Development work
in the mine has been in progress two years. When the mill is
ready for operation the company apparently will need at least a
few hundred more men.”
While it may be possible that the vigilant German spies have
taken advantage of the present crisis to foment trouble among
the miners in the copper properties, it will be found, in all proba
bilitv, that the companies are culpable themselves in allowing a
condition which makes such trouble possible. It r,.- like just
retribution that the big mining companies, which have shown such
a paternal interest in the welfare of their cm; byes that they would
not allow them to become members of a “wicked” labor organiza
tion, should now find themselves, by reason of the success of their
efforts, unable to retain men at the miserabb wages they have en
forced.
The progress of events will be watched with interest, but it is
greatly to be feared that treason is being charged where only u
protest against unjust conditions is being made.
AN EXTRAORDINARY BOOK
A remarkable book by Sir Oliver Lodge, the great English
scientist, entitled “Raymond, or Life and Death, with Examples
of the Evidence of Survival of Memory and Affections After
Death,” has been the object of widespread comment by the press
of the country. It purports to give “evidence” in the nature of
communications from beyond the grave with the author’s son,
Raymond, who was killed at Ypres, in Flanders, September 14,
1915, in his 27th year. A significant review of the book by Law
rence Gilman, author, critic, and member of the editorial staff of
the North American Review, contains the following comment:
“Only a fool or a fanatic would venture to comment, dogmatic
ally upon any phase of this impressive and most touching docu
ment of Sir Oliver Lodge’s; and only a defective would titter in
the presence of these stupendous issues. There is abundant incite
ment to ridicule in certain of Sir Oliver’s more disaffecting ex
hibits, if, as he gravely observes, ‘any hostile critic thinks ridicule
appropriate.’ That the casual reader should be persuaded of the
validity of the evidence adduced is not important.. That Sir
Oliver himself has been persuaded is of extraordinary interest and
significance. I'or none save the stupidly antagonistic can fail to
perceive ami respect the rigorously critical and challenging atti
tude of the recorder of these experiences toward their every
aspect, and his freedom from emotional compromises. No senti
mentalist traffics in Sir Oliver’s soul, lie is revealed throughout
as unflnggingiy skeptical, fearing every possibility of too sanguine
acceptance. ... It is no news to the world that r'ir d iver is
convinced not only of the persistence of personality, but that he
believes its continued existence to be more intertwined with the
life of every day than has been generally imagined- that there is
no real breach of continuity between the dead and the living; and
that methods of intercommunication across what has seemed to be
a gulf 'can be set going in response to the urgent demand of af
faction.’ . . . It is one of his dual meditations that ' loath’ is
not a word to dread, any more than ‘birth’ is. ‘Wo change our
state at birth, and come into the world of air and sense and myriad
existence; we change our state at death and enter a region of
what? Of Ether, I think, and still more myriad existence.
. . . a region in which beauty and knowledge are as vivid as
they are here; a region in which progress is possible, and in which
“admiration, hope and love’’ are even more real and dominant.’
These are immemorial and familiar thoughts, simply declared.
Perhaps im one today could hope to imbue them with more of
the dignity and earnestness they have here unless he were either
a great dreamer or, like Sir Oliver, one who (in his own fine
phrase) has never, through arrogance and dogmatism, ‘profaned
the modesty of ,-ci need And when Sir Oh 'cr asserts the ossein ml
unreality of death he speaks as well in the voice of those who
have dreamed greatly.”
The respect with which the utterances of Sir Oliver Lodge
on this subject have been received, even by the most skeptic-1
will have a tendency to revive investigations al mg fines which
heretofore have been unsatisfactory, to say the least, but which
reveal phenomena which puzzle even the greatest of the world's
savants.
*
The utterances of Theodore Roosevelt, while at times cloth'd
in rather vigorous language, are dictated by tile highest patriot
ism. His remarks on “the man who hates England more than
he loves the United States” are aimed at the worse than fool whose
animosity to tilings British will not ailow his addled brain to con
ceive the thought that Great Britain and America are fighting the
same enemy in the- interest < f humanity.
Ti e ready response of the citizen.' of thi- district to the de
spairing appeal for funds for the relief of starving children in B°1
gium was to he expected. The great heart of the Alaskan rev dis
at the thought of the fiendi-hness of condition.- which ini}).;.'
suffering on helpless children. Don’t wad for Mr. Button to ml
upon you, but send in your money to be applied to this worthy
cause.
- ♦
WHAT WE ARE FIGHTING FOR
(President Wilson'.. War Message to Congress)
There are. it may lie. many months of fiery trial an 1 par itir
ahead of us. It is a fearful tiling to lead this great, peaceful c
try into war, into the mc.-t terrible and disastrous of all w::r-,
ci\ilization itelf seeming to be in the balance. But the right is
more precious than peace, and we shall fight for the things which
we have always carried nearest our hearts—for democracy, for
the right cf those who submit to authority to have a voice in
their own governments, for the rights and liberties of small na
tions. for a universal dominion of right by such a conceit of free
; topics as shall bring peace and safety to all nations, and make
the world itself at last free. To such a task we can dedicate our’
lives and our fortunes, everything that we are and everything that J
we have, with the pride of those who know that the day has come j
when America is privileged to spend her blood and her might for
the principles that gave her birth and happiness and the peace
which she has treasured. God helping her, she can do no other.
-^
QUIPS OF THE PRESS
Germany b in greater need of home rule than Ireland. New j
York Telegraph.
It should not he a difficult t::?k to arouse patriotic farmers to
the importance of raising all the £2 wheat they can. —Indiana: dis
Star.
Go to it, Haig! You have the whole summer and the whole cf
Germany before you. -Savannah News.
You can’t escape fighting by marrying, a recruiting officer de
clares. Just what does he mean?—Philadelphia North American.
Those 50.000 German reservists who were ready to rise must
have counted the 50.000 lamp-ports that Ambassador Gerard as
sured Berlin were in New7 York, and verified his count. — New York
Herald.
Wouldn’t Billy Sunday make a grand chaplain for Roosevelt’s
division ’ —New York Telegraph.
The Hindenberg line, as central might say, is busy — Boston
Transcript.
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N. C. Co. Sole Agents for Alaska
N. C. Co. Sole Agents for Alaska
RULES TO BE OBSERVED
IN USE OF NATION’S FLAG
From army and navy usages the following
code of rules for flag etiquette has been
gleaned by an enterprising exchange:
1. The flag should not be hoisted before
sunrise, nor allowed to remain up after sun
set. It should not be displayed upon stormy
days, nor left out over night.
2. When the flag is displayed at half
staff, for mourning, it is to be lowered to
that position from the top of the staff.
It is afterwards hoisted to the top before
it is finally lowered.
3. When the flag is formally raised, all
present during the ceremony should stand
at altenton, with hand raised to the fore
head ready for the salute.
4. The correct salute to the flag, as re
quired by the regulations of the United
States army, is: Standing at attention,
raise the right hand to the forehead over i
the right eye, palm downward, arm at an
; angle of 45 degrees. Move hand outward
about a foot, with a quick motion, then
drop to the side.
5. When the colors are passing on pa
rade, or in review, the spectator should, if a
man or boy, remove his hat, and if walking,
halt; if sitting, rise, stand at attention and
unco\ or.
G. Whenever possible, the flag should be
down from a staff or mast, but should not
be fastened to the side of a building, plat
form or scaffolding.
7. When flags are used in unveiling a
statue or monument they should, not be al
lowed to fall to the ground, but should be |
carried aloft to wave out, forming a distinct- i
ive feature during the remainder of the :
ceremony.
8. When the nag is used out ot doors it
-1:, uhi always be allowed to fly in the breeze.
When clusters and draping of colors are
desired, bunting of cloth should lie u-ed. but
never the flag.
!). when our national flag and state or
other flags fly together, or are used in dec
orating together our national flag should
be on the right.
U). For indoor decorations, the flag can
only be u.-ed as a drapery; it cannot be j
used to cover a bench or table, desk or j
box. and where anything can be set or
placed upon the ting. For interior decora
ti< n th» flag may be caught up in many!
artistic fashions and used with bunting, but J
should never be placed below a person sit ;
ting.
11 Whin used on a bier or ca-kot at a!
funeral the star- should be [laced at tie,
head. In no case should the flag be allowed
to touch the ground.
12. The flag must not be marred by
advertisements, nor desecrated on the stage.
13. It is an unwritten law in the navy
that the flag is never to be washed; it is
always to he considered immaculate.
14. When “'ihe Star Spangled Banner” j
! played ad present should rise and stand)
at attention until the ending. The playing
of it as part of a medley should be pro
hibited, : nd it shoul ! not be played as an :
exit march.
15. The orb federal legislation with re j
yard to the flag forbids the registration of j
any trade mark which (a n-'-;, 0f , r com-|
[irises the flag or coat of arms, or other |
in ignia of the United States. or of any i
states or municipalities, or of any foreign i
nation, etc.
10. The flag salute adopted by patriotic :
organization-, and by military schorls. Boy1
Sc. uta and other organizations, and which
is recommended to be taught in the public
schools, is: “I [ ledge allegiance to my flag,
and to the republic for which it stands:
One ne.ii'ii indivisible, with liberty and jus- ;
uce to all.
17. Children should be taught to care- j
fully handle and guard th or Lttle flags j
from rough and disgraceful treatment, am!
not ho ; ermitted to carelessly toss them
about in parades and procc-sinns, nor throw
them away should a stick become broken
or should the child tire of holding it.
IS. Our most important holidays (when
the- flag should be displayed at full staff)
are: Lincoln’s birthday, February' 12;
Washington's birthday, February 22; Me
morial day, May 30; flag day, June 14; In
dependence day, July 4; Star-Spangled Ban
ner dav, September 14.
--
AN UN-ALASKAN INDUSTRY
- ;
(Anchorage Democrat)
The landing of machinery on the city
dock Sunday morning for the new car.nery
was a red-letter day for \ aldez. This en- j
terpri-e is sure to be a success, if there are ■
any fish at all this year, and if this cannery j
makes a big pack it is certain that other j
companies will enter the field here. There
is no reason why Valdez should not become
s canning center. We are close to immense
clam beds, and vast schools of fish run
within sight of the city. Our harbor and
water front is one of the best in the terri
tory. and the nature of the bottom of the
bay makes driving piling a comparatively
easy task. We believe too much attention
is paid to mining in this vicinity and not
enough to numberless other resources that
lie at our door. To make a good town we
must utilize every industry.—Valdez Pros
pector.
And what if your town does become a
cannery center? We have canneries near
this town, and their value to the com
munity is not as great as a single gas boat
in other lines of trade.
Valdez, no doubt, has rich fishing grounds,
and if this industry was like any other in
Alaska it might add a couple of thousand
people to the permanent population of that
place.
But let them take it from other places
where salmon is canned, the establishment
of the plants means little benefit under pres
ent ways of management. All of their help
will be recruited from Seattle and San Fran
cisco and ‘he crew's will be paid off at rhe
same places, and the provisions that will
sustain the crews while here will be pur
chased before sailing. And all that Valdez
or any other place will receive the worst
of it—fish depletion and murder trials.
Lawlessness and crime are the concomi- j
tants of the salmon industry in Alaska. But
it can and should be remedied.
-♦
Some statistician has determined that
women spend 40 per cent of the money
they handle for foodstuffs. But that’s not
much, considering how much it takes to
stuff some men.—Pittsburgh Gazette-Times.
-♦
The United States will have a great army
at the end of two years. If w'e had started |
that system two years ago we would not j
have needed an army now'.—Philadelphia
North American. >
PROCLAMATION BY GOVERNOR
Whereas, A state of war exists between
the United States and the imperial govern
ments of Germany and Austria, and a situ
ation has been created unparalleled in the
history of our international relations, the
duty devolves upon me, as governor, to re
mind the people of the territory that we
have within our borders men subjects of
those countries with which the United States
is at war. The present crisis, therefore, calls
for the exercise of sound judgment and for
bearance, and no word or deed on the part
of American citizens should operate to in
cite racial feeling or create prejudice against
those who have come to the territory for
the purpose of bettering their condition and
enjoying the inalienable right to lde, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness guaranteed by
the constitution of the United States. A.-:
st rangers in a strange land they are entitled
to the utmost consideration, always pro
vided that they comport themselves in ac
cordance with our laws and with due re
spect for our institutions.
This is a time when upon every earnest,
fair-minded, patriotic citizen of our com
mon country rest grave duties and impor
tant responsibilities. Few of us appreciate
how serious are the conditions that confront
us nor how fraught with good or ill may
be the course of the American people during
the present year.
We are called upon to render real service
to our country, and this includes a renewal
of our pledges in support of those institu
tions that have been the outgrowth of the
application of democratic principles to gov
ernment. I have, therefore, to urge upon
all the people of Alaska that the course
they shall pursue during the continuance of
this war be marked by the ■ c-rci- of the
hi.t judgment they can si:':.';,-.;; to their
aid iii a'l circumstances; law and order must
be preserved, and card’s , seditious or trr i
snnable speech on the part of any person
nr persons will be at their peril. There
will 1)0 ii ) trouble and no serious situeti -n
is l-kely to be created if each and all will
remember the duty they owe our country
hi:-'! flag, whether they b-' citizens of Amer
ica or sojourners swing r-llecicnce to other
ccuritrh - with which ? state of war now
exists. J. F. A. STRONG.
15v the Governor:
CHARLES E. DAVIDSON.
Ex officio Seer tary of '.la-ka
ROOSEVELT AS AN ASSET
(Louisville Courier-Journal >
Caesar being dead. Brutus wept for him.
Happily, in the case of Theodore Roosevelt
there i- no occasion for the (’ urier-Journal
to weep. He is vet in the land of the living
and very much alive. The dagger with
which the Courier-.! .urmd so often laid him
low wa • never a poisoned dagger. Its blade,
where it cut at ail, went little deeper than
the cloth of his coat. Not infrequently he
was r! ! to ; -drry the blow, for he Is very
dexterous. Anri crafty la, how crafty!
-Now? That is quite another breed of
dops! Woody will take no risk in giving
Teddy a chi nee! Congress need not fear
an enabling act if one be requisite. Even the
general staff of the army ! But never
mind the general staff; just send Leonard1
Wood a - chief of the foreign legion. Theo
dr n R .. :-v(l: as general of division, and
trust the rest to God. They did very well
together in Cuby! >
The reader will please excuse fervor, i
h. -te end a bad pen! It is hard to write
of Theodor? Roosevelt with the solemn dig- i
nity of the historic. or even the stereotype !
of the official page. He is the Peter Pan 1
of our public life. Wayward, headstrong, i
upright, resourceful, 1 >vabl • with talents;
to burn and a genius for getting there—in i
this dire emergency he becomes a national— |
an international—-isset.
It is ni supreme import that we strike I
the Eurpnean situation while the iron is
hot- that we do not let it cool that we
do no! allow the opportunity, the psychic
moment, to pass. Ar long range we shall I
come down with the stamps. At short j
range help to clear the sea lanes. But
something visible must go to the front -
must. go at once— the shine of Yankee steel,
the glint of the Stars and Stripes.
The President is a man of imagination.
He is largely possessed of the initiative. In
this war he will have to originate many
things—maybe break many precedents. He
must look to the spiritual and spectacular I
as well as the physical.
There is inspiration in the picturesque.
The commonplace of the soldier’s duty—
the humdrum of his technical routine—
even martial organization and discipline—
yield before the actualities, the startling
evolutions of war. What was Bedford For
rest but a military paradox? What was
Grant but a prodigy? At first they said
Sherman was crazy.
The “Little Corsicans” of history defy
all rules, ho does our “Teddy Bear” of ,
Oyster Bay. That is what makes him so
interesting. Turn him loose in the low
countries and Quentin Durward will live ,
Flat City Bakery
AND COFFEE HOUSE
Front St., Opp. Flat City Hotel
Our Coffee Is Unsurpassed
Our Bakery Products Always Fresh and
Wholesome
Pies, Cakes, Bread, etc.
KEENAN & MICHELS, Props.
again. As of old Israel Putnam it was
said, “If there’s an Injun to be killed or a
redcoat to be found, lie's the man to do it,"
may we say of Theodore Roosevelt, “When
deeds are to be done, you’ll find him in
the thick of them.”
Ife will carry the flag and lead the boys
across the Rhine—no River of Doubt to
him!—and march into Berlin shouting, "To
hell with the HohenzollernsHe will not
have to be introduced to William of that
ilk, either—as like as not he will call him
“Bill” and John Bull will hurrah and
Johnny Crapeau exclaim "By Gar!" whilst
The Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall
wave
over Potsdam, and the dead of Waterloo
shall rise from their graves and stand upon
the grassy slopes to give the Napoleonic
salute!
Go to it. Mr. President' Teddy alone with
the flag in his hand were worth an army
corps to those war-worn braves in the
trenches away yonder in Flanders, God bless
them! But Teddy with an army corps were
a victory! Yea, a victory for us no less
than for them; proof of who’s who and
what’s what; a breezy promise of what is
yet to come! Go to it, Mr. President!
I) ro fe ssional
Michigan, 18S! Alaska, 1»i0
Kentucky, 189 1
George Woodruff Albrecht
COUNSELOR AND LAWYER
IDITAROD, ALASKA
The Pioneer Attorney of Iditarod
E. M. STANTON
Attorney at Law
Office: Corner Willow and Second Sts.
Iditarod Pioneer Building
CHAS. E. TAYLOR
Attorney at Law
BANK BLOCK
First Avenue Iditarod
DR. MOORE
PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON
Office: Fiat City Hospital, Flat City
Consult ation Hours in Forenoons ar.d by
Appointment
FLAT 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
•doujo jaaunja pojviipi if 'aoiiou uoi*? uo
JO PJBOQPJFD ‘jaded r,n\TW'\wry j
no pojuiJCl ‘i[Cuts put: .Hiq oUgVJV Id
OPEN DAY AND NIGHT
I
FLAT CITY HOHBACK & DURAND
Bet. the Grand and Bagoy's Bars
THE BEST ALL THE TIME
WE ARE HERE TO STAY
Big Sleeks of Fresh Goods
Everything for the Miner and
Prospector
MAX SIM EL ™S
Stores at Cripple City and Mouth of Tolstoi
FINNEGAN & CAMERON
FLAT CITY
Agency for Edison Diamond Disc Phonographs and Records
rOBACCO CIGARS STATIONERY
CONFECTIONERY AND BILLIARDS
R. Cameron Jas. F. Finnegan
THOS. McMAHON
DEALER IN
General Merchandise
FLAT, ALASKA