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PUBLISHED DAILY EXCEPT SUNDAY
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Vol. S. No. 287 Member Associated Press SEWARD, ALASKA, MONDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 14,1914._Member Associated Press_Ten Cents the Copy
STEFFANSON’S MEN MET WITH HORRIBLE DISASTER
RUSSIANS OPEN
EIGNE ON SOIL
OF THE BELGIANS;
RUSSIANS ANI) BELGIANS UNITE
GHENT, Sept. 11.—The Belgian army has now attack
ed the Germans near Brussels and have been joined by a
large force of Russians. Both together have succeeded in
cutting the Germans in two at a place called ( ountenheig
between Brussels and Louvain and the condition of the in
vaders is said to be a most serious one. Great bodies of
Russians are said to be still disembarking on the Belgian
coast and before long the Germans will have a most for
midable army to contend with in Belgium. The people of
this country now seem to be sure that the Germans will be
driven once more Irom Belgium and that their late is seal
ed in the present war.
It is more than likely that the Belgian army cooped up
in Antwerp will come out to attack the Germans as they
retreat towards their own country and can inflict severe
punishment for the invasion ol this co-nation.
GERMANS STILL RETREATING
PARIS, Sept. 1L—The Germans are still retreating
everywhere and are abandoning the entrenchments that
they had erected to cover the retreat even before the
great battle before Paris had been begun. It is evident
thaf they looked forward to the result of the battle with
some misgivings as they had taken the greatest possible
precautions to prepare tor the retreat and had put up
strong defenses. They now seem to find, however, that
these defenses are useless against the advance of the allied
armies and they are falling back still further. The retire
ment of the enemy is officially said to he general and a de
cisive victory is now regarded as a certainty.
SUPREME CLASH NOT YET COME
LON DON, Sept. 14.—‘The first stage of the battle of the
Marne has been apparently won by the allied armies but
the main German army is sfill intact and the supreme
clash is still to come before the final result of the grea'I
battle can be decided.
The fighting is still going on along the river Marne so
that the retirement of the Germans must be very slow in
spite of fhe reports to the contrary. So close is the battle
field to the Marne that the battle is called the battle of the
Marne, and when it is remembered that the general course
of that river outside Paris is to the eastward it will be seen
that the Germans can hardly have retired much further
than they had retired two days ago.
GERMANS HAVE STRONG DEFENSES
The fortress of Metz and a chain of forts between that
place and Diedenhofen remain as a strong pivot for the
German left wing while the river courses and the dense
forests on the frontier, together with the strategic roads,
give the German army now retreating a splendid oppor
tunity for defensive action. Taking all this into account
the British military authorities believe that even the de
feat of the Germans in the present great conflict in French
territory cannot be regarded as final and they remind the
people that a tremendous task confronts the allies when
they attempt to follow the invaders into German terri
tory. Many of them assume that the German army will
entrench itself behind its fortifications and remain on the
defensive so enabling it to detach large forces to oppose
the Russians in the east.
LONDON CAREFUL
This government continues to warn the people against
being too sure that the war is won. It points out that the
Germans are by no means beaten because they were forc
ed to retire from a field which had been chosen by the
French commander in chief himself who, no doubt, in
making the choice placed the invaders at a very distinct
disadvantage. His skill is regarded here as extraordinary
and Joflfre will probably go down to history as one of the
great military leaders of all time. The magnificent re
treat made by him with the Germans constantly attacking
and the sudden stopping when he had reached his own
ground are regarded as some of the most wonderful ex
amples of martial genius since the days of Napoleon. The
name of Joseph JofTres takes precedence of the name of
any other foreigner alive today in the minds and hearts of
the people of England. It is pointed out in this connection
that the genius which has kept the French people in the
forefront through centuries of war and trials nearly al
' ways shines forth in some individual Frenchman when the
supreme crisis comes.
SAMPSON CREW
ON THE WATSON
EDWARD HICKMAN, FORMER PI
LOT OF THE EVANS, IS
HER CAPTAIN
SEATTLE, Sept. 13.—The Admiral
Watson when she leaves for Seward
next Tuesday will be in charge of the
majority of the men who were the
crew of the Admiral Sampson when
she was sunk by collision with the
Princess Victoria. Edward Hickman,
a ho was formerly pilot of the Ad
miral Evans, has been appointed cap
tain of the Watson and will be in
•ommand on this trip.
The Admiral Schley ami Admiral
Dewey will start on the San Francisco
run.
ALASKA RAILROAD
TAXATION MEASURE
One Per Cent Gross and One Per Cent
Net Must He Paid
He it enacted by the Senate and
House of Representatives of the Unit
ed States of America in Congress as
sembled, That in addition to the nor- j
mal income tax of one per centum on
the gross anneal income of all rail-1
road corporations doing business in <
Ataska, on business done in Alaska,;
which shall be computed and collect
'd in the manner provided in the Act
jf Congress, approved October third,
nineteen hundred and thirteen, en-!
titled “An Act to reduce tariff duties
and to provide revenue for the Gov
ernment, and for other purposes,” the
proceeds of which tax when collected
-hall be paid to the treasurer of Alas
ka and he applicable to general Terri- !
.orial purposes. So much of the pro-,
visions of the Act of Congress ap
proved March third, eighteen hundred
and ninety-nine, entitled “An Act to
define and punish crimes in the Dis
trict of Alaska and to provide a code
jf criminal procedure of said district,”
jr Acts amendatory thereof as im
pose a license tax of $100 per annum
jn railroads operated in Alaska is
hereby repealed, and all penalties for
nonpayment thereof are hereby re
mitted.
Approved, July 18, 1014.
NORTHWESTER N ARRIV ES
AT CORDOVA TONIGHT
Agent Guptil has received word that
.he Northwestern is due to arrive at
Jordova at 8 o’clock this evening.
Hoard, family style. Hreakfast,
from G to 8 a. m. Dinner, 11 a. m. to
1 p. in. Supper, 5 to 7 p. m. Rate,
$1.00. Commercial Cafe. Establish
ed 1905.
* <• ❖ ❖ •> ❖ ❖ ❖ * * * * v v v
C* '
* LOSS OF LIFE HORRIBLE
* IN WAR SAY SOLDIERS
•> - '
* LONDON, Sept. 14.—'The *
newspapers in London, Berlin
* and Paris are now publishing
* piteous stories from the sol
*> diers at the front which show *
•> that the loss of life in the early
•> battles of the war was something
* horrible. It is seen by those let
* ters that the stories of the
>:• fiightful butcheries were not
»> exaggerated in the least by the *
»> early reports. Some of the stor
* ies told by the soldiers are really
•> blood curdling. Hundreds of men
>> were mowed down by the newly *
•> invented instruments of warfare
$ as if they were weeds and in *
* many places the dead lay in veri- *
* table piles. In some cases it was
* considered advisable not to take
the dead bodies from the
> trenches after a battle but to
* shovel the dirt from the edges of
* the trenches back over the
•> masses of human bodies. Kng
:• land is now beginning to realize
> for the first time for more than a
*• quarter of a century the awful
> price in human life that must be
> paid for going to war. Many
> families throughout the British
:• Islands are now mourning lost
:• relatives. The highest as well as
:• the lowest are sunk in mourning
!• but the war will be carried on to
h the bitter end. *
>
•. A A A A A A «!* !* ♦!• •!• A ♦>
MARCONI WIRELESS IN
OPPOSITION TO CABLE
_
Moves to Smith Building to Improve;
Service to Alaska from Seattle
SEATTLE, Sept. 13.—The Mar
coni wireless telegraphy company has
moved to the L. C. Smith skyscraper
as a preliminary move towards enter
ing into competition more keenly with
the Alaska cable. It is the intention
of the company, the officials state, to
improve the service to Alaska as
much as it is possible to do.
COLONEL THOMPSON
DIES IN SEATTLE
Officer Who Was Formerly in Charge
of Alaska Cable Service
Passes Away
SEATTLE, Sept. 12.—Colonel Rich
ard E. Thompson who was formerly In
charge of the Alaska cable service
died here last night. During his time
in the service he was a most popular
officer and one who tried to do all In
his power for the people of Alaska a»
well as for the newspapers of the ter
ritory in the matter of giving them
quick service.
SEWARD GIVES
VIEW ON BILL
PEOPLE OF ALL CLASSES SEEN
AT RANDOM GIVE OPINIONS
ON ASSESSMENT WORK
A random canvas was made today
for the Gateway in the attempt to se
cure the opinion of all kinds of peo
ple regarding the bill which has been
introduced in congress to exempt peo
ple from doing assessment work this
year. As most of the people of the
city are interested in mining directly
or indirectly all who were met with
were asked for an expression. The
majority seems to be opposed to the
bill but as all were not seen by any
means it would be, perhaps, taking
too much on to declare that the
vote was for or against. Several
prominent business men declined to
be quoted one way or the other fear
ing that they would be considered as
interfering in what did not concern
them directly.
Ed Whittemore, chairman of the
Commercial club, declared emphati
cally that he believes it was nothing
short of an outrage to ask for the ex
emption from assessment work. He
is totally opposed to the bill.
L. V. Ray, president of the Alaska
senate, says the bill would be abso
lutely useless now, anyhow, as most
of the people have done their assess
ment work. For that reason alone he
is entirely opposed to it.
J. C. Gilpatrick, the prominent and
successful mining man, says that the
bill could do no good at all now even
if it could ever have done any good.
All the people in the Moose Pass re
gion have done their work already and
no such bill could help. He says that
one man in that district already this
year received $200 from Seattle peo
ple to do their work and he seems to
think similar examples could be quot
ed to show where the bill would be
really a positive hurt to the territory
S. L. Colwell says that if the bil
had been introduced earlier in the
year it might have done some good
owing to the hard times but it is use
less now and as most of the people
have done their assessment work he
is opposed to the bill.
D. A. Quinn is in favor of cutting
out assessment work because of the
hard times, he says, many poor people
feel keenly. Mr. Quinn is a mechanic.
George Sexton, a prominent city
man, is totally opposed to the bill and
says, also, that it is an outrage.
L. A. Thurston, locator of coal
lands in the Bering fields and a min
ing man, believes that assessment
work should be done and that the bill
should not be passed.
(Continued on Page 4)
MANY OF THE CREW OE
KARLUK DIE IN THE NORTH
NOME, Sept. 14.—'That many of
the members of the crew of StefTan
son’s ship, the Karluk, have lost their
lives in a most horrible manner was
proven today when the revenue cut
ter Bear returned with eleven men of
the crew whom the ship rescued from
Wrangell Island. The cutter succeed
ed this time in reaching the island
after several failures had been made
by it and by other vessels. It brought
back the eleven men in a most pite
ous condition while the number now
believed to have lost their lives is ex
actly the same. The men saved are
King and Wing, who had got away
from the island some time ago and
were transferred to the Bear, Magne
tician Wm. Laird McKinley, Chief En
gineer John Munro, Second Engineer
Bert Williamson, Steward Robert
Templeman, Assistant Steward Ern
est Chase, Fireman Fred Maurer,
Seaman Hadley and an Eskimo man
and his wife and two children.
George Stewart Malloch, geologist,
and George Bretty, fireman, died of
scurvy on the island. Bjome Mamon,
topographer, accidentally shot and
killed himself during the time the ex
pedition was absent.
Eight men who left the wreck of
the Karluk and tried to reach the isl
and never reached it and probably
have died frightful deaths on the ice
after having lost their way in the aw
ful frozen ocean or were carried away
to the north with the ice floes. The
eight men are First Mate Alex An
derson, Second Mate Charles Barter,
Seaman John Brady, Seaman H. King,
Alister Forbes, Mackay, oceanogra
pher, James Murray, anthropoligist,
and Henri Bouchat, seaman.
The news has come as an awful
shock to Nome where all the men
were well known as they spent several
weeks here last summer before start
ing on their journey.
The cutter had an exceedingly dif
ficult task set for it in getting to the
island as the ice was still present in
great quantities. It failed once be
fore and was compelled to return to
Nome for coal but it immediately
started off again on the work of res
cue and gallantly accomplished the
task.
COAL CASE HEARING
BEGINS HERE TODAY
Two Witnesses Present and Others
Are On the Way Here From Below
The coal lands hearing began here
today before Agent Christensen. The
only two witnesses in Seward are L.
A. Thurston and Judge Whittlesey but
others are on the way from below by
steamboat. It is stated that the par
ticular case involved is that of the
Cleveland Coal company on whose
property Mr. Thurston is said to have
been the first staker. It is in the Ber
ing fields.
The Girdwood homestead case will
also have a hearing tomorrow and the
two cases will be proceeded with in
the most convenient way for the wit
nesses who are now here or on the
way.
Harry Graff visited the city last
Saturday after a week of hard work
preparing the long distance telephone
line for the winter.
NOME CONDEMNS
COMMISSION AND
ASSESSMENT BILLS
NOME, Sept. 14.—At a mass meet
ing of citizens yesterday resolutions
verc passed protesting against the
passage of the Wickersham commis
sion government bill and also against
the Johnson bill which is introduced
for the purpose of exempting people
from doing assessment work in Alas
ka this season. The meeting war
manimous against the passage of the
ommission government bill and gave
ts expression of opinion that the bill
was nothing but a repetition of the
>ld Beveridge bill which was so uni
versally condemned that it had to be
thrown out.
The passage of the assessment ex
emption bill is also most distasteful
o the people here. Immediately on
receipt of the telegram asking the pa
pers here to use their influence to
have the bill passed the public gen
orally expressed itself as totally op
posed to the measure and congress
will be informed of the Tact Is no un
mistakable manner. It Is regarded
here as absurd that assessment work
would be eliminated on such a flimsy
excuse as the one presented, the ex
cuse that so many foreign residents
of the territory must go to Kurope t*
fight that the doing of assessment in
the territory would be inadvisable.
Nome objected before to the passage
of a similar bill eliminating assess
ment work for Seward peninsula but
that bill was passed without the
knowledge of the people here. It ha®
been stated at the meeting here and
elsewhere that some personal consid
erations have been taken into account
by the sponsors of the bill and that
the good of the territory is not in
question at all.
SERVIANS ON OFFENSIVE
NISH, Scrvia, Sept. 14.—The offensive movement of
the Servian army against the Austrians continues success
fully and the Austrians are losing every engagement. The
news from the Russian borders is also most favorable to
the allies of Servia and that the Austrians are fated to a
terrible defeat is now accepted as assured.
RUSSIANS ALSO CLAIM SUCCESS
PETROGRAD, Sept. 14.—1The news from the front
this afternoon shows that the Russians are continuing to
be successful on the Austrian frontier as well as in East
Prussia. No big engagements have probably taken place
within the past day or so but the advance ol the troops ol
this nation has been steady and sure. A fierce resistance
is expected from Konigsberg and the Russian war depart
ment is by no means blind to the fact that German border
is defended by powerful fortresses but the retreat ol the
Germans from Paris is regarded as sufficient assurance
that the German power is weakening and that ultimate
victory cannot be long delayed. The people ol this capi
tal are now' confident that Germany can no longer be the
cause of fear to Europe.
RUSSIANS REACH KONIGSBERG
PETROGRAD, Sept. 14.—The Russian army has now
arrived before the city and fortress ol Konigsberg and
w ill at once begin to lay siege to it. Konigsberg is situated
in East Prussia on the bay of Danzig and is one of the
most important cities in the eastern part of the German
empire.
It is very strongly fortified and the work of reducing
it w ill be very great particularly as the German warships
w ill probably be able to take part in the battle.
It was rumored here yesterday that the greater oart of
the Austrian armies that were opposing the troops of this
country have been captured and that the resistance of
Austria has been practically removed. This information
is not official, how ever, and can hardly be called more than
a rumor although it has come from sources which are re
liable.
NO NEWS FROM GERMANY
NEW YORK, Sept. 14.—No information has been re
ceived from Germany or the German government regard
ing the progress of the war for some days and an official
statement from that source is being eagerly awaited. The
silence is supposed to be due either to the desire of the
German government to avoid an admission of defeat or to
hide what its intentions might be in falling back. It is
generally assumed here that the masterful work of Gen
eral Joffre is preventing his army from being surrounded
in Paris and in so retreating that an investment of the
capital by the Germans would leave a great army in the
German south rear showed the German generals how fu
tile would be the attempt to capture the capital, especially
while haste was needed if the Russians were to be kept out
of Germany itself.
MANEUVERING FOR TWO DAYS
LONDON, Sept. 14.—The Daily Mail correspondent in
France declares that the engagements during the past few
days can hardly be regarded as more than skirmishes be
tween the two great opposing forces as they maneuver for
position. He believes, however, that the Germans are
continuing their retreat but he advises the people of Bri
tain not to be too sure as chance might at any moment
turn the tide of battle for both forces are still intact and
ready to continue the fighting.