Valdez Daily Prospector
PUBLISHED BY THE
Prospector Publishing Co.
TERMS.
Daily Prospector.
By carrier, per month....$ 1.00
By mail, per annum. 10.00
The Weekly Miner.
By carrier, per month. '
By mail, per annum.$3.00
The Daily Prospector and Weekly
Miner, by carrier, to one address
per monlli.$1—5
The Daily Prospector and Weekly
Miner by mail to one address
only per year..$i2.ou
Business Office anil Editorial
Rooms, Phone 152.
Advertising Rates on Application.
MONDAY. FEBRUARY 2i. 1013.
TRUTH ABOUT MAIL SERVICE.
—-- i
A roll m I Nome ill I In* present
lime sonn* people lire altering an
amazing lol ol' poppycock about
the mail serviee. Their knowl
edge of conditions ip other parts
of Alaska may be compared to
that "little dangerous learning
which is so apt to lead people in
to absurd errors.
A slide occurs on I lie railroad ;
between Cordova and Chilina. On ,
an average about one boat per
week comes to Cordova from !se- j
attic with mail. A blockade on
the road for two weeks and a
fraction would therefore mean at
the most that one outside man
iiad been delayed for that full
period, provided the lirst Irani
blockaded had outside mail
aboard. 11 a s**coud mail cairn* m
the meantime it would be at most
delaved between one and two
weeks. Such slides do not occur
often, but a slide on a railroad
which is owned by wealthy peo
ple like the (iuggenheims is too
beautiful an opportunity lo let
blBut the most glaring piece of
nonsense has been the sugges
tion that when a slide occurs on
the road the mail should be sent
over by Valdez. This would mean
nothing less than the making of
a new contract and those now
having the contract would be
compelled to lake the chances,
while a new outfit had the mail in
charge. But, outside of the con- ;
tract, other questions arise. A ;
slide like (he present occurs on- ;
ly very seldom. Blit take a slide >
which occurs and blocks the road;
for two mails and then see what ,
can be done. In the first place,;
boats run to Cordova much more !
frequently than to Valdez, owing j
to the railroad's presence. If the ;
mail were lo wait at Seattle for j
a Valdez bound boat it would j
probably have to wait much long
er than the time lo overcome I lie |
difficulty created by the slide.;
The only other way would be to,
send a s pecial boat with the mail :
from Cordova lo Valdez, which,
of course, is an absurdity. Ihe j
train runs from Cordova to Chit-j
ina in pari of a day. Cliitina is i
very much nearer Fairbanks than ,
ValdeV. is and splendid roads and j
service obtains between lln* two
places named first.
The travel between Clnlma and |
Fairbanks is infinitely greater:
than the traffic between \aldezj
and Fairbanks, so that the trail i
in the former case is always in :
a far better condition and the ser- i
vice by that way would beat the
service ihe other way even with
slides on I hi* railroad as a draw
' Valdez, naturally. wauls that
mail service. II is always notor
iously inclined to exaggerate ev
ery fault of tin* Cordova railroad.
This railroad is a Cuggen-heim
property, therefore Valdez enlists
.in the fighl all those who are op
posed to capitalists.
The Fairbanks Times is one
newspaper which willingly attacks
the mail service. Indeed the
principal policy of that paper is
to attack the mail service al all
times. F.ven during Ihe summer
months its attacks on the North
ern Navigation Company lakes up
a lot of space, although at that
time the mails come by the river
routes. , „
Of course, every one wants the
best mail service possible and ev
erything oossibb* should be done
to'secure if. But because an ac
cident occurs on the railroad and
mail is delayed is no reason why
uninformed or prejudiced views
should be expressed broadcast to
exnose our ignorance on such
subjects.
If. when a slide occurs, the
regular contractors did not find
some one ready to take a sub
contract to bring tin* mails over
(he Valdez route it would he nec
essary for Ilu*m lo establish a
new line of their own. This would
mean a greater delay Hum that
occasioned by the effort To clear
the railroad. Anyhow this block
ade of lln* road is exceplional and
is probably removed by this lime
or the mail lias been forwarded
hv oilier means, as tin* Nugget's
lelegram from Cordova indicat
ed.—Nome Nugget of Jan. fOth.
The following answer appeared
in Hie Nome Industrial Worker
(he day afler the above appeared
in Ihe’Nuggel and shows an un
dersijjnding of the situation (hat
is surprising, considering the ex
treme distance the editor is from
the seat of trouble1:
The Industrial Worker, remarks
a very able article on the fourth
page in the Nome Nugget, devot
ed to whitewashing the mail ser
vice. and suggesting that a lot
of dope is being uttered by peo
pie in this community which is
all poppycock and "their knowl
edge of conditions in other parts
of Alaska may be compared to
that ‘little dangerous learning’
which is so apt to lead one into
dangerous errors.”
We take pleasure, therefore, in
very respectfully pointing out
some errors in that article, and ,
although our experience of the
Alaskan interior, as well ns the
coast line, was acquired more
than seven or eight years ago,
we will say that we have endeav
ored to keep in touch with local
conditions throughout ns lies) we
could.
“The most glaring piece of
nonsense has been the sugges
tion that when a slide occurs the
mail should lie sent over tile Val
dez trail. This would mean no
thing less than the making of a
new rout rarl,” etc.
Fur I lie informal inn of I lie writ
er in Ihe Nugget il will lie staled
Dial the contract calls for direc
tion over the Valdez trail. Mc
Manus is authority for the state
ment that il is with the consent
of the department and Ihe con
tractor il was diverted over Ihe
Copper Hiver railroad via Chil
ian. And in any event. w hat is
Ihe purpose of a mail service hul
In accommodate Ihe people, and
Ihe more the needs of Ihe people
are met in this respect Ihe heller
will lie the service.
"In Ihe lirsl place, the finals
run to Cordova much more fre
quently than to Valdez, owing to
Ihe railroad’s presence.”
We would verv much like to
learn when this happened. W'e
make every allowance for the
Nugget correspondent’s superior
knowledge, hut would fie pleased
li.i fie informed what passenger
fioat carrying' mail ever stops at
Cordova and passes up Valdez, a
busier, more thickly populated
and more important, city.
"If the mail were to wait at
Seattle for a Valdez hound final
il would probably have to wail
much longer Ilian the lime to ov
ercome Ihe difficulty created by
the slide.”
So? Well, for the information
of the mail with an overplus of
knowledge of local conditions, Ihe
Industrial Worker will recite Ihe
facl that the Northwestern and
Mariposa, of the Alaska Steam
ship Company, keep up a four
times a month service throughout
the winter between Valdez, via
Cordova, to Seattle. Any man ac
quainted with coast conditions
knows that Valdez is the better
harbor, and storms not infre
quently have compelled steamers
to give Cordova the go-by in In
to its land-locked harbor withal.
The mail maintains a regular
five-day schedule with Valdez and
Cordova between the Pacific Coast
or Ihe Alaska Steamship Com
pany. .
Says the writer in the Nugget:
“A blockade on the railroad for
two weeks and a fraction would
therefore mean that at the out
most that one outside mail had
been delayed."
According to the Cordova Alas
kan the mail arriving at Cordova
on December - I never yet reach
ed Chitina; the mail which arriv
ed on December -Mi was also stall
ed, another consignment of 3,iy>0
pounds which had been lying in
Cordova since December 31, is al
so stalled; yesterday another mail
of still larger dimensions was
sent forward, representing the
mail for January i and 9. and is
now en route to Chitina to be duly
preserved in cold storage.
We waive all desire to learn
the mental alchemy employed by
the Nugget's writer or corres
pondent in reaching the interest
ing conclusion that “but one out
side mail was delayed."
We would further be glad to
learn where and how was acquir
ed the information that such
slides do seldom occur on the
Copper River railroad. Why, every
man that has ever been keeping
in touch with conditions knows
that this is the reverse of true.
During the last summer the ser
vice was suspended for practi
cally an entire month, due to
washouts on this unfortunate
road. Never a winter yet that
slides did not delay the mail from
one to two weeks, while passen
gers were lied up at either end.
The Valdez trail has been al
wavs a severe one across 1 homp
son’s Pass. Iml that is the only
portion of it that has subjected
travelers to danger and travel to
any serious impedimen!--lwenty
miles at the most to he carefully
traced for that it lie kept open.
The Cordova railroad on the
other hand, is for almost its en
I ire length id' 1 7K miles subject
ed to slides and obstructions, and
why it receives the boost from the
correspondent or writer in the
Xuggei we cannot for the life of
us imagine. If it is boosted be
cause it is a (iugge'nheim road,
then it ill ..is the whitewash
man to attack those who criticise
the road because it is owned by
enpil alist s.
Travelers have been delayed
seven, eiglil anil Ieii days at Cliil
jnil, wailing fur the road I" clear
itself uf slides.
Not a single year since t he rail
i-nail has been eunsl rucled but
during the advancing spring the
road was lied up fur varying per
iods on account of slides. We
have seen travelers lied up. and
compelled Io rusticate at l.hilina
after going from Nome to lhal
burg all I lie way overland.
In any enuulry where is ahun
danl snowfall and where railroads
are built exlcnsively along side
hills, and whal are known as side I
hill cuts extend, there will always i
follow slides lo worry, to obstruct,
and impede the operation of the
road. The Cordova road plenti
fullv made use of sidi> liilj cuts
in ds construction, for it is the
cheapest, quickest and possesses
other advantages to builders and
contractors, and just as long as
Hie side hill cuts are there just
so long will there be slides dur
ing the melting of the snows or
during the fall of excessive rains.
The Industrial Worker declares
that it cares not, a whoop in
Hades as between the wealthy
contractor and the poorer stage
operator. Why should it ? Ann
as between Cordova and Valdez we
have not I he slightest choice lo
make. ,,
But the facts are that the Val
dez trail has been available for
one month during which lime,
lacking but a few days, mails have
been held up between Cordova and
Chitina. The last mail to leave
Chit ina left Cordova on Decem
ber l<>. That will arrive prob
ably at the end of next week, or
thereabouts, in Nome, and there
fore none will arrive for almost j
one monlh which will contain '
| lirsl-class matter.
Xol once during the entire tune
that (lie mail traveled via the Val
dez route was it subjected to a
delay of any serious extent; a few
days at the most; not once, not a
dozen, but scores of limes since
!the mail has been routed via (“hit
ina have there occurred delays of
more or less seriousness. These
are facts beyond even dispute by
those whose “acquaintance with
conditions is profound."
Truly the logical conclusion of
the Xuggei writer that Valdez en
lists in the light against Cordova
(continued on page 3).
Independent Laundry Co.
Satisfaction Guaranteed I
Telephone 66 !
I Foot Keystone Ave
I Rough Dry 10c lb.
VALDEZ DOCK CO.
JOBBER IN
COAL, HAY AND GRAIN
PHONE NO. 1.
Agent for
ALASKA STEAMSHIP CO. ALASKA COAST COMPANY.
FOR SALE
2 1-2 H. P. Stationary Gasoline
Engine
A BARGAIN
Keystone Dock Valdez Iron Works
THE BEST BRADNER BUTTER THE BEST BRADNER BUTTER THE BEST
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Fresh Eastern Eggs 35c the doz., 3 doz. $1.00
Seattle Ranch Eggs 45c the doz.
PETALUMA
the Egg that will poach, 50c the doz
THE BEST BRADNER BUTTER, BRADNER BUTTER THE BEST
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Daily Prospector and Weekly
Mloer $1.25 tire mo. delivered
Economical
Ironing
To iron economically
you must not waste
heat.
Ironingwith ordinary
flat irons is very waste
ful of heat; most of the
heat goes up the kitchen
chimney; a lot of it is
wasted in charring the
ironing pad and in
scorching the clothes.
Ironing with a
G-E Electric
Flat Iron
is quite different—all the
heat is in the iron, ready to
go into the pieces ironed in
stead of going into the Boom
or up the kitchen chimney.
None of it is wasted.
To use only the amount of
heat actually needed for
ironing, be it either heavy
damp pieces or laces,
embroidery or other light
goods is real economy.
That’s why G-E Irons are
used in thousands of homes
throughout the country.
We keep all styles and sizes
—■Let us send you one on trial.
Alaska Water,''Light
& TelephoneXCo.
H-61 .
Steam Heat Electric Lights
THE COPPER BLOCK
Finely Furnished Rooms All Modern Conveniences
Good
Goods
THE BUFFET
Good
Goods
Copper River Lumber Co., Inc.
ALL KINDS OP
a Native and | f TR/TDCD and BuildinB
Puget Sound JLUlVlDlluX Material
CONSTANTLY ON HAND
Prices Right W. M. FINICAL, Mgr. Phone 18
Patronize a Home Industry
VALDEZ DRUG CO.
Drugs and Druggist Sundries
PRESCRIPTION SPECIALISTS
Telephone Orders Solicited Free Delivery
Arguments May Be Disputed, But
“Facts Are Fads”
It i- a fact that Valdez beer is a food and not a tonic.
Ask any doctor you know. Valdez beer aids digestion. Use
it a few times with your meals and you’ll find we're right.
If you drink beer you should use Valdez beer in preference to
others. First, because of its unquestionable high quality.
Second, because it is a home pr duct; brewed in your home
town and all who are interesled in the growth and prosper
ity of Valdez should patroniz home products.
VALDEZ BREWING AND BOTTLING CO.
We do a
general
Banking
Business
I HIr^H__ _ ___ .
Bank in
rear of
mercantile
departijt
We Pay 4 Per Cent Interest on Time Certificates of Deposit