TERRITORY CLAIMS
Cm ESTATE
United States Sues for the Property
But the Territory of Alaska
Intervenes. ]
i
1
The argument of the demurer in ,
the case of the United States of ^
America vs. James Pish, administra- ^
tor of the estate of L. Camicia. came
up in the district court last Saturday
morning. ,
Under a section of Carter’s code for
Alaska, which is a compilation of ]
federal laws governing Alaska, any i |
person who dies intestate and with- ^
out heirs at law, who, at the time ^
of his death, is possessed of real or
personal property, provides that it j
shall be sold and the amount realized ;'
from the sale shall escheat to the
United States.
The Camicia estate seemed to come ’
under this section and in due course }
of time the proceedings required by j.
law were commenced by the district
attorney. However, in the meantime, j
the Alaska legislature got busy and j
enacted a law whereby all escheats j
should accrue to the benefit of the
Territory of Alaska, and Governor j
Strong retained Attorney Bunnell to j
represent the territory when the case |
came up for trial.
rm.„ .w.t rtf fhA lotriclaliirp WMS TlflSS* I
ed several months after the death of |
Mr. Camicia and Assistant Brubaker |
contended, and was well supported
by the authorities, that the act could
not be made retroactive, but Mr. Bun
nell did not contest this phase of
the case, but did contend that an
escheat was not a vested right, that
an estate could not escheat until cer
tain proceedings were had and' a
judgment entered. He claims that
the territory is entitled to the estate,
as the Alaskan law is of full force !
and effect and supercedes the sec
tion of Carter’s code, of which it is
an amendment.
Judge Brown has taken the case
under advisement, hut will not render
a decision for some time, as some j
of the reports quoted in the author
ities were not procurable in Valdez j
and it will be necessary to send out
side to procure them.
The case is a very interesting one
and is being watched very closely by
the local attorneys, as it will estab
lish a precedent in similar cases
should they arise.
NORTHERN MEXICANS
START GOVERNMENT
JUAREZ, Mexico, Dec. 8.—The £ol- I
lowers of' Carranza have organized a
civil government for northern Mex
ico and have appointed civil officers
to collect customs, impose taxes, ad
minister the laws and such other civ
il functions as a government must
carry on. The supporters of the fed
eral government have all abandoned
their property to the rebels and have
tied to El Paso or are held in the to- ■
cal jails as traitors.
Heavy Snowfall at Denver.
DENVER, Colo., Dec. 8.—Two feet
of snow fell here yesterday and street
traffic is at a standstill. The local
traction company have a number of
snow plows at work but are making I
little headway clearing the streets. !
The transcontinental railroads are al
so at a standstill and the officials of
the roads are making every effort
to clear the tracks and relieve a
•.^timber of passenger trains stalled
west of this city.
BRIGHTON' SAILS v j
WHEN MAIL COMES
Captain Stanley will hold the launch
Brighton in Valdez until after the ar
rival here of the steamer' Northwest
ern with mall for tho Port Wells
miners. The capta'n Intended to start
on his trip yesterday, but as a large ;
amount of mail is cn the boat he i
decided to wait until Tuesday morh"i
fug. Much freight is already on the
launch for Port Wells operators.
The Ida May left the Valdez dock |
this1 morning with a big load of sup
plies for the Shoup bay mining com- ,
panies.
NOME, Dec. 8.—The steamer Kar
uk, of the Steffanson Arctic expedi
ion, the Polar Bear, with a large
iarty of American scientists aboard
ind commanded by Captain Lane, the
reddy Bear and the Mary Olga are
til lost in the Arctic ocean and very
;rave fears are entertained for the
lafety of the vessels.
From Flaxman island comes the
•eport that the Polar B ar had not
>een sighted by Eskimos near that
teighborhood. The natives all along
he coast have been requested to im
nediately report any vessel that may
>e seen and have been offered a large
■eward if they will bring the mes
;age to the nearest point from which'
t can be sent to this city.
Vilhjalmar Steffansson is now at
Joint Barrow writh four of his com
Kinions. The explorer and his men
laving mushed 400 miles to the re
ief station at Barrow after they were
eft by the Karluk near Flaxman is
and. Steffansson and the men went
ishore from the Karluk to hunt ear
bou; the vessel was in wdnter quar
ers, fast in the ice, but when the
tarty returned to the shore after the
WAS ON CARIBOU HUNTING TRI P AND WIND SPRUNG UP, DRIV
ING STEAMER KARLUK FROM WINTER QUARTERS—DRIFTED '
AWAY WITH PACK—EXPLORER REACHED POINT BARROW.
hunt they found that the Ice had
broken up, the wind had risen and
driven the Karluk away with the
pack. After waiting two weeks for
the return of the boat he became
convinced that the ship was fast in
the pack and would remain so foy the
winter and therefore he was forced
to come to Point Barrow for sup
plies.
The Alaska and the Mary Sichs,
the other two ships of the Steffan
sson expedition, ate reported frozen -
in for the winter 200 miles east of
Point Barrow. It is expected that
Steffansson wil lot.ltit at Barrow 'and
make his way to the Mary Sachs to
continue the exploration mapped \out
for his party. t,
Fear for Polar Bear. \
The greatest fears are felt for the
safety of the steamer Polar Bear,* in
command of Captain Louis Lane. No
thing has been heard of the vessel for
many months and it is believed that
she may have sunk during the ter
rific storm of October, when the city
of Nome was so badly wrecked.
Aboard the boat are a number of
scientists from public institutions in
the United States, also Eben S. Drap
er, a son of the former governor of
Massachusetts, is one of the party and
eJPCIovernor Draper has epuipped a
relief expedition which is to start this
month from Kotzebue sound and work
north, hunting for traces of the miss
ing men. Captain eBckman, an old
time whaler, and familiar with the
coast, is in command of the relief ex
pedition. He will have with him a
number of white men and many na
tievs and will explore the coast and
work *’«:■ out on the ice in the hopes
of finding the ship caught in the floes
and drifting helplessly about.
The natives report that hunting
:amps are established by the Eskimos
rom Barrow to the Mackenzie and
ihould the men aboard the Polar Bear
)e forced to leave the ship they are
ilmost certain to be found by the
latives and taken care of until they
ian make their way to Point Barrow
>r to the mouth of the Mackenzie
-iver, where the Canadian govern
nent has a station of mounted po
ice and the Hudson Bay Fur com
pany have a trading store.
Many of the old-timers fear that
he vessel may have gone down in the
terrible storm of October, at which
time she was expected in Nome. The
jskimos report having seen the ves
sel last fall and expected that she
bad reached Nome before the storm.
The scientists aboard the ship are
collecting fauna flora and ethological
information.
The mail carrier, who arrived to
day from Point Barrow with the first
mail since the freezeup, brought the
information of the plight of Steffan
sson to this city. He also tells ol
open water along the Candle coass,
forcing him to travel around Kotse
bue Sound.
Cleanups of the Newsboy Mine Has
Caused Flurry Among Stock
holders in Fairbanks.
FAIRBANKS, Dec. 8.-—Manager
Drury, of the Newsboy mine, is in
town today with another gold brick
from the mine. He states that the
poor showing for the mine during the
past has been due to loss of values
in the milling of the ores. The rock
put through the mill during the past
month, which has been the most suc
cessful in the history of the prop
erty, was from the stopes on the
blind lead encountered in the tunnel.
The tunnel is being continued to
tap the lead from which ore was
milled at the higher levels. The ore
in the blind lead averages about $25
per 'on, while the other is between
$15 and $20 per ton. The shares of
the company are changing hands at
an increased value since the recent
cleanups.
SETTLE STRIKE
PUEBLO, Colo., Dec. 8.—Secretary
Wilson, of the Department of Labor,
reached here yesterday and is in con
ference with the mine owners of this
section with a view of bringing about
a settlement of the strike now on in
the mining districts of the state.
The secretary Is urging the operat
ors to agree to arbitration of the dif
ferences between the miners and the
owners, but so f»r he has been un
successful.
LADIEi to manage
NEXT MOOSE DANCE
The ladies of the Moose lodge will
have charge of the dance to be given
by the lodge next Saturday evening.
Mrs. Ames, Mrs. P. Butterworth and
Mrs. Morton have been appointed as a ■
Committee to have charge of’the af-i
fair. The order plan hereafter to have
a dance each month with a commit
tee of ladies in charge and the dance
this week will be the first of the
series.
Judge Thomas R. Shepard spoke1 to
the school children this mortting’bn
the subject, "The Place of Poetry in
the English Literature." .
Still Refuses Continued Demands of'
President Wilson That Provis
ional President Quit.
I
WASHINGTON. Dec. 8.— Provision
al President Huerta, of Mexico, has
again defied the United States gov
ernment and refused to resign as head
of the Mexican republic in spite of
the continued suggestion of the ad
ministration that he allow some oth-.
er Mexican to rule the country.
No indication can be secured from
the State department of President
Wilson as to the attitude the govern
ment will assume toward Huera, but
it is expected that as soon as the
American fleet reaches Mexican ports
a blockade will be inaugurated.
GIRL ' WEDDED
BY A CONTRACT
Round by contract instead of relig
ious vows. Miss Gertrude W. Hass
ler, concert and church singer, and
Frederick a. Carpenter, a Chicago |
business man, were married at Ken
osha, Wis., Nov. 11th by Judge Clif
ford E. Randall. The bride was re
cently awarded $50,000 for breach of
promise from Carl G. Fisher, the In
dianapolis millionaire and clubman.
In the contract signed by the bride
she promises “to be faithful so long
as he proves true, and I will Strive
to. fill with a vast measure of content
ment each day of our lives thus join
ed.”
Mr. Carpenter agrees “to be true,
faithful in words and thoughts and
deeds, to protect and love and devote
my life to her to bring her the hap
p'ness and contentment she so well
deserves.'’- '
Weather Report.
Valdez, Dec. 7, 1913.
Barometric pres"ure .28,962
Temperature at 5 p. m...,.,.26
Maximum tempe'ratufo — ;31 j
Minimum temperature. ..24 j
Mean temperature ' i i,.v ; . • v 27 M j
Preolpitation *...$3 :
Cloudy,, light breeze;, wind northeast I
8 miles. Snow at night,'light snojv !
all* day. j
L. JONES.;
Carpenters will soon have the cot- j
tage being erected for Father Van j
def Pol and Father Shepard com- ■
pleted. The bu'ld’ng will be aim of ,
th“ best in town, as it is plastered 1
;lnd finished in Vlrst-class condition. ;
ILLITERATES
Congressman Burnett Has Drafted
New' Immigration Law—Immi
grants Must Read and Write.
WASHINGTON, Dec. ti.—Congress
man Burnett has drafted a new im
migration bill with a literacy test of
a modified form attached. Under the
new bill no person will be allowed
to enter the United States unless they
can read or write at least one langu
age.
The last immigration bill passed by
congress was vetoed by President
Taft just before his term expired.
The former president stated in his
veto that many industrious and hon
est people had been admitted to the
country who could not read or write ]
and had made good citizens, while
thousands had come in, educated but
crooked, and that literacy was not a
good test as to the fitness of an alien
to enter the country.
Congressman Burnett, however,
would modify the requirements of the
former law, but would make it s' riot
er than the presen* immigration act.
WILL RAFFLE COMPLETE
PROSPECTOR’S OUTFIT
Smith & Wilson will raffle a com
plete prospectors outfit, valued at
$250.00. The tickets are to cost from
one cent to t>3.25. S. Blum & Co.
put up the outfit, which is said to be
as complete as it possibly can be.
The outfit is now on exhibition at (he
Exchange Bar.
Northwestern Due Tonight.
The steamer Northwestern left Cor
dova at 5 o'clock this afternoon and
is expected to reach Valdez at mid
night tonight. The boat will remaiu
here for twelve hours unloading
freight, as she has more than five
hundred tons of freight for local
merchants.
A severe snow storm visited Cor
dova the past few days according to
word received on the steamer Seward.
The wind also ptyyed havoc with the
stovepipe.s of the railroad town and
blocked the railroad tracks. Two
engines were unable to clear the track
to the dock with a wedge plow and
the dock officials sent to Cordova for
forty men. to shovel the track clear.
Postmaster J. D.. Jefferson and his
aides wfll work all nl^ht tonight sort
ing the mall arriving on the North
western!
. , *
IN SPIRIT CITY
Congressman Humphries. Asks De
partment to Sell Alaska Seal
Skins in Spirit City.
SEATTLE, Dec. k. Congressman
Humphries, of Washington, today re
quested tile Inter'or department to
have all sales of government seai
skins held in Seattle and not at St
Louis, as was the case last fall. Prioi
to that the government sent the furs
to London, hut the last lot were sold
in St. Louis and buyers came to the
sale from all over Europe.
Congressman Humphries asserts
that the proper place for the sale
is in Seattle, as that is the first port
of call in the United States where the
furs are received from the islands and
that therefore the skins should be
sold in Seattle. The congressman al
so claimed that as good and possi
bly a better price could be secured in
Seattle than in St. Louis.
MEXICANS FLEE
INTO TEXAS
LAREDO, Tex., Dec. 8.—More than
five hundred refugees reached this
city today, having crossed the line
to secure protection from the rebel
forces, which are now in complete
control of the northern states. Most
of the Mexicans are large land own
ers and before the war were wealthy
but the rebels have stolen all theii
stock burned buildings and robbed
the landholders, who are fleeing fot
their lives to the United States.
Dora Arrives at Seward.
SEWARD, Dec. 8.—The steamei
Dora arrived at this port at noon to
day from Unalaska and reports a very
stormy trip. The volcanoes to the
westward are all smoking, according
to the officers of the ship.' The epi
demic of measles Is still spreading
and many of the natives, mostly chil
dren, have died from the effects ol
the disease.
Henry Miller has been elected as
school reporter and will furnish the
Weekly Miner with the interesting
events and happenings at the Valdez
•jnd Reservations schools.
REPORT EXPENSE
STAKING TRAIL
Committee Collected $447.50 and Ex
pended $424.65 for Staking Gla
cier Trail and Publicity.
A committee, consisting of Chas.
Day, F. M. Doyle, Chas. Rudolph,
Dolph Smith and Jack Carroll, ap
pointed at a mass meeting held in
Valdez Sept. 22nd to secure fends to
send men into the Nelchina and re
port on the best trail to the new
diggings and also to stake the Val
dez glacier trail should any of the
prospectors and mushers desire to
take the short route over the Val
dez glacier, has reported the collec
tion of $447.50 and the expenditure
j of $424.65. Most of the money was
I used to locate and stake a trail over
j the Valdez glacier, avoiding the crev
j asses as much as possible. This is
1 the shortest route into the new camp
j and it is expected that a large num
i ber of miners will take outfits via the
Valdez glacipr in the spring, when the
wind will have made the crust hard
and enable dog teams to make fast
time, t he stionn- ss ot the route is
expected to appeal to many.
Up to the present, however, all
, who have gone into the camp are
leaving Valdez via the government
road across Thompson pass and re
port a good trail all the way into
the new diggings.
The report of the committee is as
follows:
Expenses.
J (Hen Names, for trip to Nel
i china to report on routes..! 50.00
j J. W. Frame, for advertising 25.00
j Telegrams .:•. 6.20
| Copper River Lumber Co. 41.25
J. W. Wilson, fre'ghting. 12.0o
: Telegrams . 2.40
.1. E. Wilson, horse hire and
j feed, staking trail over glacier 65.00
j Dougherty A Ferguson, provis
: ions . 23.00
i lliil Jones, staking glacier
I trail . fto.Oii
j A. S. McDowell, staking glacier
trail . <10.00
Valdez Doew Company, feed.. 4.75
J. W. Frame, advertising spec
ial edition . 15.00
i Total .$424.65
i The undersigned subscribed the fol
lowing amounts set opposite their
names:
Valdez Dock Company.$25.00
Valdez Mercantile Company... 25.00
S. Blum & Co. 50.00
Alaska Water, Light AL- Tele
phone Company . 25.00
Al. White . 10.00
The Buffet . 10.00
C. M. Day . 10.00
| Senate . 10.00
! Exchange . 10.00
it). Riffle . 10.00
! Mrs. Ed. Wood . 10.00
j Owl Drug Co., Inc. 10.00
] F. M. Boyle . 10.00
Ingram AL- Bush . 10.00
Dougherty ii Ferguson . 10.00
I’. S. Hunt . 10.00
Independent Laundry . 10.00
Robert McIntosh . 10.00
Copper River Lumber Co. 10.00
Louie’s Cafe . 10.00
Geo. C. Treat . 10.00
Anton Carlson . 10.00
Love-Whit ley . 10.00
Tom Donohoe . 10.00
A. M. Dieringer . 10.00
Chas. R. Crawford . 10.00
Orpheum Theater . 10.00
E. E. Ritchie . 10.00
C. E. Bunnell . 10.00
Valdez Sheet Metal Works.... 10.00
John Lyons . 10.00
W. H. Blackwell . 10.00
C. C. Rudolph . 10.00
J. R. Gelineau . 5.00
Jim Wilson . 5.00
Otto eKnitz . 6.00
City Express . 6.00
Jack Carroll .,. 5.00
Silverman, the tailor. 2.50
The Arctic, Mrs. Syrlng. 2.50
J. D. Jefferson . 2.50
Total .$447.65
Nothing more appropriate than^a,
box of Lowney’s dainty candles *$.%,, %
Christmas gift. Valdez Drug Store.
■ '