' _—_I
Miners & Merchant
IDITAROD, ALASKA
Capital, $50,000.00
General Banking Business Transacted Gold Dust Bought and Assayed
Drafts Issued on Any Part of the Woi'ij
SEATTLE CORRESPONDENT. SCANDINAVIAN AMERICAN BANK
OFFICERS:
CHARLES ROSS, President
JOHN HOLMES, Vice President
R. C. BUTTON, Cashier |
-----"i
MRS, L, C, THGBNTGN
Will Hav e on Sale During the Com
ing Week the Following
Bargains
—French Gingham . 29c
(Outside Price, 25c)
Pequot Sheets .—$1.50
72x90)
Yard-wide Sllkoline 25c
House Dresses reduced to.... 2.25
BEST LIQUORS AND C1GARS~
Three-TImes-Move Bar
(Formerly the Stanley House)
JOHN BAGOY, PROP.
GOOD ROOMS CLEAN BEDS
_FLAT CITY_
IDITAROD
Office Hours—it a. m. to 5 p. m.
Mail closes 3 p. m. Sunday.
Registered mail closes Saturday at ;> p. ni.
General delivery window open between
12 and 1 on Sundays.
FLAT CITY
Hereafter and until further notice, mail
leaves Hat at 11 a. m. Sundays.
A. CHITTICK.
BEATRICE’S CHRISTMAS PARTY
l.ittle Miss Beatrice Atwell entertained
her young friends at Otter creek at a Christ
mas tree party on the afternoon of Thurs
day, December 23, from 2 o’clock until a.
The room was tastefully decorated for the
occasion, and games and music were en
joyed and refreshments were served, which |
all" present seemed to enjoy. Those present •
were Herbert, Arthur, Viola and Esther ,
Strandberg, Victor, Ralph and Virginia Riv- ,
ers, and Beatrice May Atwell. !
CLOSING-OUT SALE
Stock Will Be Sold
^DUfUvUaUy Regardless of Ccst
Satisfaction guaranteed or money refunded. Our entire stock of H.gh-CJass
Merchandise must be sold before June 1, 1916, as we will close our store at that
time.
Come yourself or send in your orders and they will be filled at genuine bar
gain prices.
SMITH’S ~GUN STORE,
SECOND AND WILLOW STS. IDITAROD, ALASKA
SNYDER HOUSE - ™“™‘BEAS0MBLE
FI AT CITY
. FINE DOG KENNELS IN CONNECTION
MRS. DICKSEN, Prop._
>0000000000000000000000000000000000000<
CIGAR AMD POOL ROQfJi
ALEX GRUBAS, Prop. FLAT CITV
Cigars, Candle:, Fruits and Soft Drinks
HURST GW MR STORE
PIPES AND TOBACCOS
Westover—Wholesale Victor Phonograph Needles for Sale
Nice, Fresh Chocolates, Nuts, Candies and Fruits
POOL BARBER SHOP
J. A. NELSON, Prop. ,f„T/rT*£
FINNEGAN & CAMERON
POOL ROOM CIGARS AND TOBACCOS
FLAT CITY
GRAND BAR nothing but the best
FLAT CITY ™e P'ace “ Mee*
Your Friends
Stores at Iditarod pL IS I|j2|f keI iPlk ^3* Highest Prices Paid
and Flat City EE 0 lissiP xlgS' SriiL for Raw Furs
A Full Line of Clothing and Furnishings
HIPPRESS WHITE RUBBER SHOES AND BOOTS
PRICES REASONABLE
NICELY FURNISHED ROOMS BY DAY OR WEEK
Warm, Clean Well Ventilated
OPEN DAY AND NIGHT
THF fififiW Passage and
12“ UnUOUT Bath Parlors
MEDICATED, MINERAL VAPOR, STEAM, m JL1L-.
TUB, SALT AND FRESH WATER BSir
Caribou St., Bet. Black and Willow Sts., on Waterfront
Electric end Faradic Massage Treatments by Expert Attendants
Lighted by Gas Heated by Steam
ARRIVAL OF OPHiR MEN
REMINDS OF KLONDIKE DAYS
(Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Nov. 11)
The arrival of five mining men at the
Northern hotel from Ophir, in the Iditarod
district, with dust in their pokes estimated
at between $20,000 and $2o,000, caused
Proprietor Ralph Boyer to remark that it
looked like the days following the Klondike
strike. The men came overland by dog
teams to Seward. Those in the party are
Lew Edwards, Sam Ilounam, John Krieger,
August Olson and Albert Erikson. Mr. Erik
son is a merchant as well as mining oper
ator, and is making his tirst visit to the
“outside” in eighteen years All are out for
the winter, ami all plan a trip to the San
Francisco exposition.
REPUBLICAN CONVENTION
TO BE HELD IN SEWARD
That the Republican territorial conven
tion will be held in Seward in March is ap
parently regarded as a settled fact by YV. A.
Gilmore, who ran as the Republican candi
date for congress in the last election but one,
says the Seward Gateway. In a letter to a
member of the Gateway staff Mr. Gilmore
states positively that he will be in Seward
in that month as a delegate, and the only
deduction possible is that he knows by
communication with other leading Repub
licans that Seward has been chosen as the
convention city already.
PORTAGE EAY COMPANY
IN FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES
■■■■
H. E. Ellis, as trustee for the Talkitna j
Lumber Company, operating on Portage |
Bay, has taken charge of the property of ;
that concern and wdl retain the same in
his possession until such time as the com- i
pany is in position to resume active opera- j
ticns, says a Valdez dispatch. The trustee
holds a mortgage on all the property of the 1
company, which said mortgage was recorded j
recently, and all the creditors have agreed |
to accept a considerable payment on all the j
claims and to await complete settlement at a j
future date.
The present difficulties of the concern are
entirely due to the disappearance of Mr. i
Johnson, who was to have forwarded the '
necessary funds to meet the payroll and 1
other obligations, but who, since putting in j
his appearance at the Arctic Club at Seattle
some time ago, never has been heard from,
although strenuous efforts have been made
to locate him by interested parties.
HIS NON-APPEARANCE
CAUSED SOME ANXIETY
(Ruby Record-Citizen)
William McConn arrived in Ruby yester
day from Iditarod. Arriving at Ophir sev
er: 1 weeks ago, McConn concluded to do
some prospecting on the Innoko, opposite
Yankee creek, but neglected to mention it
or leave word at Ophir. No record of his
having traveled this way from Ophir caused
Tom Hanlon, who made the trip from Idit
arod two weeks later, to make inquiries,
and thus a report became current that
something might have happened to him.
Mr. McConn says he feels that he owes an
apology to his friends for his neglect in not
leaving word at the roadhouse of his in
tentions. But he is safe and sound and it
may never occur again.
SUIT FOR ATTORNEY’S FEES
E. M. Stanton has tiled suit in the district
court against B. T. James to recover
the sum of $54.5.85 claimed to be due for
legal services rendered in an action in which
Richard Kell and John Folsom were the
plaintiffs and B. T. James defendant.
OIL WITHIN ARCTIC CIRCLE
(Cincinnati Enquirer ■
The vastness and wonderful resources of
Alaska have hcon so often dwelt upon oy
many writers, including those of the En
quirer, that there would seem to be nothing
left in that remarkable territory of ours
to talk about, anil yet here comes the dis
covery of oil to amaze us with an addition
to those resources.
We have long known something about
the riches of Alaska in gold, copper, coal,
timber and other minerals and products of
the ground and of the surrounding seas,
including furs and fishes; also that there
are large tracts of arable lands upon which
vegetables, fruits and cereals may be grown
in abundance. And now we are told that
in the far north of that country, within the
Arctic circle, there is a great wealth in
oil awaiting development, according tc state
ments of a discovery made by Eskimos and
confirmed by W. B. Van \ alin of the United
States bureau of education. The native
discoverers found four springs of thick >il
close together and maintaining a lake of
thick, green oil of the consistency of vase
line, into which ducks and geese occasion
ally plunged from a considerable height,
mistaking the substance for water, and, of
course, perishing there. These Eskimos
were in utter ignorance of the nature of
their find, and so greatly puzzled that they
made a reindeer express trip 450 miles to
the south, to the settlement called Wain
wriglit, to consult this teacher of whom
they had heard, and who, it seems, was so
much impressed by their story that he
made the trip back with them over the
snow and ice and frozen tundra 450 miles
to a point whose location he has not yet
disclosed. There he found this great lake
of oil constantly fed by four springs, pump
ing away under pressure of natural gas. He
made cartful investigation and surveys and
staked off his claims, and, provided with
samples of the liquid, went back to Wain
wright and thence to Nome and finally to
Seattle.
The Post-Intelligencer of Seattle seems to
give entire credence to Mr. Van \ alin’s
recitrl of his adventures and discoveries, in
connection with which it produced a pic
ture of him in his Arctic furs.
There is nothing to tell us a hint of the
location of this richness in oil except thit
it is in the far Northwest, north of the Arc
tic circle, and not far from the navigable
waters of the Arctic ocean or some river
tributary to it.
FOR SALE
Two horses, harness, two sets of blankets,
No. 4 sled with rough-lock, pole, doubletree
and neckyoke, wood and freight racks. Price
for entire outfit, $550. Apply G. Wada.
-♦
Fresh Olympia and Eastern Oysters, $1.50
per caa. Iditarcd Meat Co.
STROLLER WHITE GIVES
ANOTHER INDIAN STORY
{Stroller White in Whitehorse Star)
While, from the standpoint of sanitation,
the Stroller favored the moving of the In
dians from their village above town, it
works a hardship on him every time he has
occasion to interview his old friend, Kow
akadada, in his efforts to secure reliable in
formation for his readers concerning what
^ook place in this country in the far away,
dim and distant past. For example, in order
that he might intelligently answer a num
ber of communications inquiring about what
to expect in the line of (leather during the
winter on the threshold of which we are
now standing, it became necessary a few
days ago for the Stroller to visit the new
Indian village north of town, and he is glad
he went before it acquired that odor which
has characterized Indian villages ever s
the march of progress led by the white man
has crowded Indian villages back and still
back from the Atlantic to the clam-strewn
shores of the Pacific. (Just here the Stroller
desires to incidentally inject the remark that
in his belief the story about Pocahontas sav
ing the life of Captain John Smith in Vir
ginia away back in 1007 by concealing hii 1
beneath her skirts is all buncombe. There
is a glaring possibility that the story is true
but, knowing Indians as the Stroller does,
asphyxiation would have been liable to fol
low the spectacular rescue of Captain Smith
by the dusky Pocahontas.)
On his arrival at the new village on the
occasion of his first visit, the Stroller ex
perienced no difficulty in locating the wig
wam of his time-seared friend whose thrifty
squaw, the Sore Eyed Sage Hen, was busily
engaged in front of the tent jerking rab
bits. (To “jerk” a rabbit is to remove its
works.)
“Ki ac a hu la gic ko tie go ux tuk” (You
will not enter the presence of my liege lord
until you are searched, as the last time you
visited him you left him soaked to the
neck), was the greeting of the Hen, so
there was nothing for the Stroller to do but
hand over a bottle of Gooderhum & Werf
with which he had hoped to bribe the old
man to come across with the dc-ired. in
formation.
The Stroller found the cl 1 men more chop
per than he had seen him for a long t»me.
He was deeply engaged in the study cf en
tomology. but abandoned the search imme
diately the former entered the tent. Di
vining the intent of the visit, and having
witnessed through a hole in the tent the
confiscation by the Sore-Eyed Sage Hen of
the oil cf joy, he said something about
finding her cache later and at once tapped
his fountain of wisdom and weather lore
from which flowed the following:
“The years of my pilgrimage are one
hundred, thirty and nine. In that stretch
of time it has been mine to see much of
the perversity of man, the wiliness of
woman and the unstableness of weather.
Man has talked to me with tears in his
eyes about a blessed immortality beyond the
grave, and he has sold me fire water that
ate he les in my innards and put me in bad
at home. Woman has kept me guessing a
good part of my life and again she has
put mustard plasters on my turn turn when
I thought the jig was up. Without her I
would have died and with her I have wanted
to die but couldn't. The weather is the only
thing I have been able to understand, and
that I can foretell with unfailing accuracy.
For example:
“You may think you have seen snow, but
you have never seen anything like what the
piesent winter will bring, compared with
which previous winters of your knowledge
will be remembered as bare ground. In all
ny one hundred and thirty nine years I
have seen but two real snows, but the third
is in the oiling and will be here before the
rcbirts nest again. This is certain, as the
indications now are the same as on both for
mer occasions.
“In the year 1797 and when I was but
21 years of age there was snow that was
snow--seventeen feet deep on the level. All
that fall Hip-Shot Elizabeth had been in a
quandary whether to tie up with Woodtick
John. Whosoever Will or myself. In the
meantime she occupied a wigwam by her
self, When the big snow came she was
snowed in, and we three realized that the
first one to dig a tunnel from his home to
hers would be accepted. Talk about digging
—believe me, I have been tired ever since.
But I won out, beating Woodtick John by
only four feet and Whosoever Will by less
than six. When they completed their tun
nels ‘Liz’ was in my tent reviving on a
moose steak. Big fool me. The following
April ‘Liz’ was caught in a tmowslide and
I intimated to Woodtick and Whosoever
Will, who had been sulking around since
their defeat, that if they could put it across
me again in digging, the winner could have
her. That was when I ‘soldiered,’ and Wood
tick won over Whosoever by two feet. In
less than a month Woodtick’? face was
trimmed in scowls, and that spring he killed
my best dog. He knew then why I ‘sol
diered’ in my tunnel.
“The next snow came during the winter
of 1811, fourteen years after the first By
that time Blithesome Jane and myself had
been intermittently cooing and quarreling
for a dozen years and, incidentally, aur wig
warn was becoming crowded with olive
branches. When the snow topped our tent
by fully fifteen feet I refused to dig, with
the result that Jane and the flock went at
it while I cuddled in the hay. That was
'one instance of a woman putting one over
on me. She made a tunnel to the neighbor’s
tent, parked out all our grub and then dy
i namited the tunnel, leaving me to dig or
'starve, and in doing the former I all but
did the latter, and when, worn, wan and
wearied, I finally emerged, Blithesome Jane
gave me the glassy eye and never again was
1 deuce high in her estimation. By my lazi
ness 1 hud alienated the affections of one
of the most true blue squaws that ever
wormed fish or jerked rabbits and otherwise
contributed to the gayety of nations. 1 hut
was more than one hundred years ago, but
time has not cauterized the wound in my
lie-art, nor have the smiles and caresses of
other squaws served to mellow the cherished
memories of Blithesome Jane in my seasons
reared heart. In fact, to this day Jane visits
me in my sleep and
“Ba rac is da qon sum icca guk. Ko die
a ku la. Ke di kik a wow go ibta gok a
hiloic ki waka wow.” It was the Bore-Eyed
Sage lien, who, having heard the old mart's
1 burst of confidence about Blithesome Jane,
!came hustling into the tent. What she said
was: “So Jane visits you in your sleep,
does she? I.et me catch her ghost snooping
around here just once. Wow! Just for
what you said about Jane being the best
[ that ever wormed fi.-h or jerked rabbits you
can dig your own tunnel this winter for all
! of nte. Whoop la! You still have cherished
memories, have you? I'll give you some
thing to cherish.”
But for the intervention of the Stroller
she would have landed on the old man. The
| latter, however, merely shrugged his shoul
ders and said something to the, effect that
he hoped she had left him about three fin
Eers.
Before closing the interview the Stroller
learned the indications which mean unusu
ally heavy falls of snow. They are seen in
j the aurora borealis in the form of departed
; spirits engaged in skirt dancing, and, accord
ing to the informant, they have been seen
1 on numerous occasions lately, and during
■the beautiful demonstrations of northern
lights. A little imagination is required to
; see the spirit forms, but they are there.
-:
DAUGHTER OF PRESIDENT
DISCUSSES HER STEPMOTHER
(Chicago Herald)
“Uni-m! Mrs. Gult. Why, I think-"
Mr.;. VV. 0. McAdoo, who was Miss Eleanor
Wilson before her marriage to Secretary Mc
Adoo, toop a deep breath in Chicago yes
terday.
“To put it mildly, we ore all delighted and
overjoyed at it! As for Mrs. Galt we are
devoted to her. f^he is the most lovable,
cultured woman in the world. There could
' not be a happier happening in the Wilson
family.
“I wish I could begin to express myself
without getting superlatively enthusiastic.
Not that I do not want to rave, but I never
know when to stop. Let it suffice to say we
all love her.
"She is a remarkable woman and will be
a most gracious mistress of the White House.
She has dignity, personality, charm, sweet
ness and wisdom. Our family more than
welcomes her.”
Her demeanor was that of a college girl
at her first fudge spread. She looked like
a college girl, too, in her short little black
dress, filmed about the ankles—her trim
shoes and the froth of white tulle at her
neck. She wore a big white fox, which she
Hung about with reckless discretion or re
gard for its tail. Had Eleanor Wilson Mc
Adoo been in college she would have ex
pressed herself as “almost tickled to pieces,”
but being in her room at the Blackstone,
she repressed herself.
-—--w
HOPE MAN IS KILLED
IN ENCOUNTER WITH BEAR
The disappearance of W. S. Peterson of
Hope, some sixty miles north of Seward,
was explained on November 17 by the find
ing of his terribly mutilated remains in the
brush some miles from the town.
When last seen by anyone Peterson was
on the trail of a large brown bear which
had put in an appearance on the outskirts
of Hope during the early morning of the
loth. Petersen is said to have shot and
wounded the animal and later followed it
into the brush back of town. From the
appearance of the body, the bear evidently
took him unawares anti literally tore him
into strips. The body was taken to Anchor
age for burial.
-*
A Matter of Preference
It was a summer hotel, and the baby,
being warm and fretful, cried.
“Tut! Tut! We can’t disturb the neigh
bors this way,” the fond father said, taking
the child in his arms. “Let me sing him to
sleep.”
He sang, and straightway came a knock
at the door and these words: "There’s a
sick lady next door, and if it's all the same
to you, would you mind letting the baby
cry instead of singing to it?”—Denver
LOST—Package containing moccasins and
mitts, between Iditarod and Horsefly
creek, on Sunday or Monday last. Leave
word at Tram office.
DISLIKE OF AMERICANS
NOTED BY RECENT TRAVELER
Tlic three fat, well-dressed, indignant Ger
man women, comfortably seated in the. com
partment of the railway carriage into which
the Schaffner politely ushered me at Wies
baden, looked up from their knitting needles
-“war socks,” of course- and sniffed pa
trioticidly, on surmising that 1 was not of
tin Uriah, in spite of ray German journals.
Presently, while 1 was drawing a curtain,
one of the three abruptly arose, looked with
easy uncinbarrassment at one of the labels
r:n my handbags, and, perceiving an Anglo
Saxon surname, she whispered her conclu
sions audibly to her companions. An Eng
li liman was an impossibility I must there
fore lie one of the detestable Americans.
Thereupon all three of the women got up
suddenly, arranged their belongings with os
i Umtatious exactness, and sat down acrobat
ically on the edges of the carriage seats,
witli their backs to me.
With frequent soiui-audible remark:-?, of
no kindness, they continued to sit in that
.significant and decidedly uncomfortable posi
tion-patriotic ail the rest of their ride. When
l we reached Speyer they cautiously rose, still
j with those contemptuous, fleshy hacks to
me. gathered their effects, and then pro
! cceded to sidle out of the compartment,
| carefully holding from all contact with my
! person their skirts and satchels. Fatherland
! love and hatred of America are two of the
! great popular passions in the Reich today
1 I mention this little incident because it
illustrates the psychologic transformation of
the mind of the average German toward
everything end everybody from the United
States. Ami it will indicate to Americans,
who have occasion to cross German terri
j tory to reach Switzerland or other neutral
! countries, the .or; of thing that they must
expect—not to say incidents of more impor
| taut and unpleasant nature.
Americans are decidedly “not wanted” in
Germany today. Mo matter what has been
the sentiment toward American society, to
ward American money- without which
I hotels, shops, industries and so much else in
i Germany are likely to suffer seriously—that
! kindliness, or a merely commercial hypoc
! risy of it, is at an end. Americans traveling
| in Germany, in fact, will do well to avoid
| communicating to others their nationality,
■ almost as prudently concealing it as if they
! were British, at least in public. The two
i chief Anglo-Saxon nationalities are eon
fused angrily and intentionally in the popu
lar Teutonic mind as never before.
They “hate” us, our whilom German
friends, and they show it. That Americans,
at the risk of loss of self-respect, will care
to find themselves much in German sur
roundings during or soon after the present
war is doubtful; but such visitors or trav
elers as there may be will be sure to meet
with sour looks, sour words, insults and in
conveniences of varied sorts. Lausanne
(Switzerland) Letter to the New-York Even
ing Post.
. A._
SHE KNEW COFFEE
I -
A great many people "'ho flatter them
selves that they are judges of coffee or other
beverages may learn a lesson of caution
from the experiments carried on by Sir
Hiram Maxim when he was trying to find
a palatable preparation of wheat and coffee.
It occurred to me, says Sir Hiram, in
“My Life.” that very few people knew
much about coffee. One Sunday I brought
out from the Maxim lamp works about
thirty young men and women. My stenog
rapher also was present: she was one of
those young ladies that know ail—from
whose decisions there is no appeal.
I had cleared off a long bench and ar
ranged on it a large number of cups, milk,
sugar, cream, much coffee, and plenty of
apparatus for making coffee. I got from
the Army and Navy stores various kinds of
coffee that were supposed to be the very
best in the world, such as Mocha, Java, and
so forth, and I also got from a dealer in
coffee some of the sweepings and siftings
of his shop—small, imperfect and broken
kernels. These I freed from dust and dirt,
roasted and ground, and mixed with three
times their weight of chicory. I was ready
for the test.
My shorthand writer came in, tasted the
Mocha, the Java, the Costa Rica, and pro
nounced them all very bad. She then tried
some of my wheat coffee, and some of what
was half wheat and half coffee, which, ehs
said, were also bad, but not so bad as the
others. But when she reached the mixture
of siftings and chicory she was delighted.
“That is coffee!” she said, with an air of
finality. “That’s it! That’s the right stuff!”
In all probability the young lady had
never tasted a cup of genuine coffee in her
life until that Sunday morning.
-*
Job Printing at Pioneer office.
Ball Band Rubber Boots and Pacs
Ball Band Rubber Boots and Pacs
J N. C. Co. Sole Agents for Alaska
”| N. C. Co. Sole Agents for Alaska