Soft, Stylish,
Snug-fitting,
y\ Seamless.
SILK
HOSE i
3 pairs ||
gnaran- \
teed
3 months
Six Pairs
Cotton Hose
Guaranteed
to Wear
Six Months
or New
Hose FREE
Valdez Mercantile Co., Inc.
TRUE VALUES
On the basis of Security and Service
we solicit your account.
WE DO A BANKING BUSINESS EXCLUSIVELY.
VALDEZ BANK & TRUST CO.
Job Printing
At The Prospector Office
THE ANTARCTIC CONTINENT.
It Was First Diacovsrsd by a Daring
Yankss 8ailor In 1821.
History presents from time to
time some curious anomalies, and
not tlie least among these is' the
story of the original discovery of
the great continent surrounding
the south pole, says Outing. A
grim, inaccessible coast, guarded
from man’s approach by fields' of
impassable ice floes and bergs, it
resisted all efforts of the ablest of
early explorers to win its shores,
only to be discovered at last by a
boy of eighteen in command of a
little forty ton sloop.
Nathaniel Palmer was the lad s
name, and he came of the best of
old New England seafaring stock.
After some preliminary training at
sea, young Palmer sailed in 1812 or
1814 as second mate of a bark
bound for the sealing grounds of
the south Atlantic. After some
weeks of fruitless exploration and
terrific struggles with the wintry
gales of the region about Cape
Horn they came at last to the south
Shetland islands and soon had fill
ed the vessel's hold with a fortune
in furs.
This,voyage made such a stir in
all the New England seaport towns
on their return that before many
years a second expedition was fitted
out and Palmer, now Captain Nat,
was given codimand of a little down
east sloop called the Hero, which
was sent along in consort w’ith the
larger vessels. This diminutive
craft could hardly have been more
than sixty feet in length, but she
weathered successfully the rigors of
wind and sea and arrived in due
course at her destination.
At this time nothing was known
of the existence of any land of
continental extent within the ant
arctic circle—nor did Captain Nat
much care whether there was such
or not. What he was looking for
was seals, So when he came upon
a long stretch of coast line facing
to the north in the vicinity of the
sixtieth meridian west of Green
wich .lie examined the shore for
possible rookeries and, finding noth
ing but ice and penguins, sailed
away back again to the north’ard.
A few days after this the little
Hero fell in with two tall ships of
the Russian navy under Command
er Bellingshausen. When young
Palmer went on board for lunch at
the commander’s invitation and
mentioned casually his discovery of
land to the south’ard he must have
been surprised, indeed, to learn that
that which he in his little sloop had
blundered upon unsought and had
turned away from in disgust, these
mighty ships of the czar of all the
Russias had for two years been
seeking in vain.
Commander Bellingshausen, to
do him justice, gave young Palmer
full credit for his discovery, and
this—the first portion of the ant
arctic continent to be seen by man
—is set down upon the maps today
as Palmerland in enduring tribute
to the daring of the Yankee sailor
lad who first caught sight of it from
the deck of a little sailboat in the
year of grace 1821.
Getting Even With Justice.
The prisoner at the bar of the
police court was sore over bis treat
ment and could not conceal it
wholly.
“If I should express my opinion
of this court, your honor,” he said,
rising from his chair, “would you
fine me for contempt ?”
“I certainly should!” replied the
judge decisively.
“Thank you,” bowed the prisoner.
“I wish to extend ray congratula
tions to your honor and all those
connected' with the court for the
very fair and impartial trial that I
have received at your hands.”
Then the prisoner sat down and
the judge was flabbergasted.—
Judge.
Good Evidence.
Katherine had been brought up
to believe that talebearing was de
spicable, but there were times when
her greedy twin strained her prin
ciples to the snapping point.
“Katherine,” said her mother
one day, “is it possible that you and
Howard have eaten that whole bag
of peppermints that I meant to
take to grandmother, just because
I left the bag on the table ?”
' “I didn’t take one of them, moth
er,” said Katherine indignantly,
“but Howard—well, I shan’t tell
tales, but just you smell him!”—
Youtn’B Companion.
Justice.
“AU right,” fumed Jiblets, hand
ing over $10. “I’ll pay, but let
me say to your honor that it is rank
injustice. Why, look at ,the dam
age to my car from your rotten
roads—the mud’s an inch thick on
every bit of that machine.”
“Thet’s where the justice comes
in,” smiled the local Solomon. “At
$4 a load it’ll cost us about $10 re
storin’ the mud your old machine
h^s been a-gatherin’ up outen our
hinbwavs.”—Harper’s.
PRAYING FOR PREY. ~
The Mantie 8eems to Be Doing That
While Awaiting Victima.
Most persons know the praying
mantis—that large, greenish, grass
hopper-like insect which holds up
adoring arms as if venerating some
deity of the woods or making an in
vocation—an oracle among insects,
as the old Greeks thought it. But
these attitudes of prayer conceal
the most atrocious habits. These
supplicating arms, to fall into
Fabre’s picturesque phrasing, are
lethal weapons. These fingers tell
no rosaries, but exist to seize i the
passerby. Although a member of a
vegetarian family, the mantis feeds
exclusively on its living prey. It is
a tiger in ambush, and if only it
had sufficient strength its ogreish
appetite and its horrible facility
of concealment by color and form
among the green leaves where
peaceful insects travel would make
it the terror of the countryside.
At first glance it does not look
very terrible. Its neck is flexible,
and it can turn its head and loftk
with sharp eyes in all directions,
but no formidable jaws affright a
victim. In its powerful uplifted
fore limbs lies the hidden danger,
the cruel trap. Each long thigh,
shaped like a flattened spindle, car
ries on the forward half of its lower
face a double row of steely spines,
alternately long and short, and
three needlelike spikes, longest of
all, rise behind the parallel rows,
between which the fore leg lies
when folded in “prayer.” This
fore part of the leg is similarly arm
ed, but with smaller spikes, and
terminates in a hook with a blade
like a pruning knife and a tip as
sharp as a needle. Handle the in
sect incautiously and this armament
discovers itself to you instantly,
thrusting its needles and blades
into your flesh, gripping you in a
stinging vise and forcing you to
crush it to get free.
When the mantis is m repose
these weapons are folded and press
ed against the chest, showing noth
ing of their ferocity. The bandit’s
sword iB sheathed, and it seems at
its devotions. But let a victim
come within reach and the ruse—
if ruse it be—is abandoned like a
flash. The three long joints of the
deadly fore limbs straighten and
shoot out Heir talons, which strike
the victim like the unsheathed claws
of a cat and drag it back between
the saws of the thighs. The vise
closes with an upward motion, as a
man would bring his hand up to
his shoulder, and no cricket, grass
hopper; beetle or spider can strug
gle out of the crook of that terrible
elbow.—Harper’s Weekly.
i
Friendship.
A little boy got out of bed wrong
one morning and was so hateful all
day that his father finally found it
necessary to punish him.
A little while after the ordeal
was over his mother found him out
back of the barn tenderly caressing
and petting an old ram that was
pastured there. Her heart was
touched by this display of kind
heartedness on his part, and she
watched him tenderly for some time.
Then, walking over to where he sat,
she inquired:
“What makes my little boy so
good to the old sheep ?”
He did not stop or look up, but
answered, stifling a sob:
“’Cause he just butted pa.”—
New York Times.
Profitable Discord.
While passing an old fashioned
inn in Scotland some tourists were
attracted by an aged bagpiper,
who was tooting atrocious sounds
through an instrument that was
both dilapidated and squeaky.
“Great Jericho, Sandy!” exclaim
ed one in desperation. “Why don’t
you have your bagpipe repaired ?”
The old man ceased playing and
looked up in astonishment.
“Havers, mon, ye dinna under
stand ! If ma bagpipes wor in good
tune the inn mon wadna gie me 2
shillings to move on.”
Shuts Off the Black Looks.
“What a magnificent bouquet of'
flowers! For your wife, I pre
sume?” c
“Yes, I am a little on the outs in
that quarter just now, and”—
“And this is to square yourself ?”
“No, not exactly. These flowers
are for the center of our dining
table. Always get ’em when the
wife and 1 have a little tiff. Big
bouquet in the center of the table
gives us each something pleasant to
look at while we eat. She can’t see
me and I can’t see her. Get me?"
—Brooklyn Times.
A Pointer On a Pointer.
Farmer—If you want to get to
the village you must go this way.
Tourist—But the guidepost points
in the other direction.
Farmer—That is right. We have
pointed the finger in the wrong di
rection to keep Deggars and robbers
from entering the village.—London
Answers.
A. M. Dieringer
Valdez Transfer
Company
General Trucking and Freight
ing to all interior points
LIVERY and FEED STABLE
STORAGE
Teaming of all kinds'
Positively no coal delivered
unless paid tor in advance
PROFESSIONAL
Dr. H. COCKERILLE
Graduate of National University
[.Washington, D. C.
DENTIST
Phone 92 Feurteen years in
Office in'.Whaling building VALDEZ
Next to cable office
DR. GERMAN
Phone 19 THE DENTIST
Office rooms over Owl Drug store. Offloe hours
9 a. m., to 6 p. m.. 7 p. m.. to 9 p. m. Sundays
by appointment All work guaranteed
C. E. BUNNELL
ATTORNEY-AT-LAW
Offices Wall Street
Phone 31 VALDEZ
E. E. RITCHIE
LAWYER
phone 136 Valdez, Alaska
L V. RAY
«
ATTORNEY AT LAW
SEWARD, - ’ ALASKA
MINING ENGINEER
F. BUTTERWORTH
Civil Engineer and
U. S. Deputy Land and
Mineral Surveyor
Blue Printing Res. phone. 1S9
L. W. STORM. E. M.
Valdez. Alaska ;
Reports oh Mines
Patent Surveys
General Mining Engineering
Phone No. tos
Geo. f. white
The Assayer
Assaying and Ore Testing
CORRECT RESULTS
No More, No Less
VALDEZ, ALASKA
Valdez Lodge
No 168.
Free and Accepted Masons
Regular Communications first Wednesday In
each month in McKinley Hall Visitors always
weloome.
James H. Patterson,, W. M
C. C. Reynolds. Sec
F 6 E
VALDEZ AERIE No 1971
__Meet every Friday, 8 p. m. Eafrie Hal
CAMP VALDEZ No. 10
v\*B*
Meet every Tuesday evening at 8 o'clock In
Battle! Hall. All members are requested to
ttend. S. MCNIECE. Arctic Chief
PIONEERS OF ALASKA
IGLOO NO. 7.
Meets every first and third Mon
day ot each month. All visit
ing Brothers welcome.
E. Q. AMES, Secretary.