Seward Weekly Gateway
VOL. 11 NO. SEWABD. ALASKA. SATUBDAY. MAIM’ll 31, 1000.
HUNDREDS JOIN
RUSH TO YENTNA
Trails Lined With Mushers and
Valdez Sends Over Squads
of Prospectors.
Kvery new account of the rush to the
Yentna adds to the number who are
said to have gone into the district, or
at least Started over the trail. Frank
Waison came in from Knik last night
and reported that a large number of
men have crossed over the range from
Valdez and gone in by way of theereeks
above Knik Arm. The number of these
ia uncertain but is probably HX) and
may be greater.
The number who have gone from
Seward and tin* railroad camps is
placed by all who are in a position to
form anything like an accurate esti
mate at not less than 4<X'. Many of these
will not get through. Some of them
bad insufficient supplies and Others
were Cheeohacoos of the primary cla>s
who an* apt to get cold tootsies Ik fore
they reach Shushetna statiou. Mr.
Watson turned a few of these back iu
sheer charity, hut others disregarded |
bis advice and went on to get bumped.
“I met two well-dressed men,” said
Watson, “who each had a suit case and :
a camp stool in their outfit. I gently
suggested to them that they had bottei
lit row those things away and carry
more guunysacks in their place. I hey
said no. the stutT just titted nicely in
Iheir packs, so I let them go in peace, j
I saw they had some experience com
ing that would do them more good than j
an injunction to stop them.”
Mr. Watson repeats the warning
already given that Crow creek |»u-- i>
becoming dangerous because of the!
frequent slides. \\ lien he came over ,
it was safe only in the early morning!
when the eight's freeze held every
thing down until after sunrise. He
aauseof this several parties turned |
back ami are now waiting at (* lacier
•reek for a chance to got around the
Arm in boats. From Knik they can go j
through to Yentna for several weeks
jot before the ice breaks on the river.
Several railroad men came in from i
Turnagain Arm last night. 1 hey say
that the snow is gone from th** north ;
side of tin* \rm, and west «>f *1 tin*
ground is muddy in the day time.
Although the thermometer-drops some
times nearly to zero in the night tlu*
sun brings it above th** thawing point
every day.
PUTER CAUGHT
BUT ESCAPES
By Cable to TUe Hally Gateway.
•onviet h! las! v. ar o : iml
Oregon, aad under iooictnii-r.: fori ther
•(Tenses of t In- sam< k id, who j
his bail and disappeared several months i
ago, was eapl r a i Ins e’iP- la d- -
teetiva s yesterday. He bad been in
•
covered the solitary ih'P’Ctlve " he was
guarding him with the latters ov.a
revolver and made bis escape. He lias
not yet been recaptured.
Detectives had been on Puter's trail
(or seven months. He and Horace G.
McKinley, former r. S. land otlice
register at Roseburg, were jointly con
tie ted but it is understood that they
bad been promised immunity from pun
ishment if they would give state’s
evidence against prominent Oregon
politicians and they were released on
small lHinds, which they promptly
jumped.
After the pair left Portland they en
gaged in extensive frauds by means of
forged land warrants and secured many
thousands of dollars in the Middle
West through the disposition of these
forged warrants. Before the disclosure
of these forgeries they disappeared en
tirely from public view and it was re
ported that they had sailed from San
Francisco for tho Orient.
Go Back to Crow Creek
Andrew Nisbet, superintendent for
the new owners of the property form
erly belonging to the Crow Creek
Placer Mining Company, and W. G.
Jack, one of the former owners, start
ed for Crow Creek Sunday on the
train. Operations will begin on an
extensive scale us soon a> additional
equipment can be taken in around the
inlet.
E. R. Lockhart on Excelsior
K. U. Lockhart, who was local agent
of the Northwestern Steamship Com
pany for a short, time before Mr. Stiles
•ame, and who was freight clerk of
the Oregon prior to that, is now purser
of the Excelsior.
BRING MEN FOR
RAILROAD WORK
Steamers Santa Ana and Oregon
\rrive With Laborers From
Seattle.
About r>»> laborers for the Alaska
Central were shipped from Seattle on
the Oregon and Santa Ana, the latter
bringing t>S yesterday, and the Ore
gon, tine today, carrying about SO.
The shipment of laborers to Seward
was entirely suspended during the
Tatiana rush in February and March
because they come at a reduced rate
and the steamship companies were
were scarcely able to carry all the
travelers who offered at regular rates.
From this time on men will he sent up
on every Northwestern Steamship
Company boat.
Steamer Santa Vna, Capt. Moore,
arrived in port yesterday morning
with ninety-four passengers, and sailed
again for Seattle yesterday after
noon. Sin* brought sixty-eight lalwr
ers for the Alaska Central, of whom
-ixty were shipped from Seattle and
the remainder picked up at Valdez.
Only three men of the Seattle con
signment were lost at Valdez by the
usual hard luck story told on the wharf
of that town that the railroad had
stopped work and a stampede out of
Seward w«u> in progress. Among the
men who came hack to work were
several who left the Alaska Central to
go to \ aide/, w ithin the past few weeks,
lured by the rumor that better wages
were going there. In the Seattle
crowd were about a dozen who worked
on the Alaska Central last year and
went outside for the winter.
Besides the steerage passengers
twenty-six cabin traveler*arrived. The
Santa Ana’s freight cargo for Seward
was only eighty-live tons, as she left a
great deal of freight for the Orea
cannery and for Valdez. She is making
an extra trip on account of the heavy
tradio demands upon Southern Alaska
steamers and will return to Seattle bv
the in*ide passage without stop after
loading ore at KUamar until she reaches
Juneau.
Steamers Kxcelsior and Dora came
into port Wednesday night. 1 hey
had he- u held in Prince William Sound
twenty-four hours by a blinding snow
storm, which accounts ior the delay of
their arrival. The Kxcelsior brought
about forty passengers.of whom twenty
eight were from Seattle. The Dora
brought eight. Several were from the
Tanana.
i apt. Moore and the old crew of the
Dora are all on the little steamer
which *hows no signs of her long east-j
aw a v voyage. She »u!Tered no serious i
damage.
Th D »ra *ailed Thursday after
tor the w. *fward. Among
h, - passengers wa> L. L. Bales, who
got". to the Alaska peninsula to begin
making a collection of zoological speci
mens for a scit ntilic institute. He will
return to Seward in June. S. Baxter,
a fur buyer and representative of
* i i t big wholesale houses of Seattle,
w ; > also a passenger. The Dora
should return to Seward in about
fifteen days.
The Kxcelsior did not get aw ay until
this morning because she went on the
beach above town to have a new pro
peller put in to replace the one which
was broken in Wrangel narrows on
her way up.
To Make Grass of Cactus
Luther Burbank, the famous tlori
euiturist of California, claims to have
invented a spineless cactus which w ill
grow only on desert soil and which is
as nutritious as any grass. He pro
poses to introduce it on the arid plains
of Arizona and other desert regions
and affirms that he will convert those
wastes into the greatest cattle grazing
lands of the continent since the prairies
have been put under the plow.
Walter Scott, the Death Valley
miner, has gone upon the stage, and it
seems to be agreed that he was not
waylaid and shot recently but that his
theatrical manager was simply giving
him a little preliminary advertising.
Clays which resist the heat cf ordi
nary furnaces are called refractory.
Many volcanic rocks, chiefly tutfs.
I resist heat admirably and these are
1 therefore suitable for furnace linings
| and the like.
In the tropics timber cut when the
j moon is full or rising rots in six weeks.
No explanation of this has been found
but the fact is affirmed on high scien
tific authority.
The Cleary creek miners’ association
i> trying to bar gambling from the
camp.
'GEORGESON TO
BRING CATTLE
Head of Alaska Experiment Sta
tion Coming With Eleven
Galloways for Trial.
i By Cable The Dally Gatoway.
Seattle, March g<) — Prof. C. C.
Georgeson, in general charge of the
agricultural experiment stations of
Alaska, arrived here this morning
with eleven head of Galloway cattle
imported direct from their native
habitat in Scotland. They will he
shipped to the experiment station at
Konai on Cook inlet.
If the Galloways thrive in Alaska,
a^ Prof. Georgeson lirmly believes
they will, he has the promise of the
agricultural department that large
numbers of them will he introduced in
to that region. Prof. Georgeson has
great faith that within a few years
large herds of Galloways, and possibly
other hardy cattle, will he success
fully bred and raised in Southern
Alaska.
FLAMES WIPE
OUT WRANGEL
By Cable to The Dally Gateway.
Juneau. March 27 The town of
Wrangel was practically wiped out
yesterday l>v tire. As the town is
isolated and has no cable the news was
not received outside until too late to
render assistance. A Lynn canal
steamer brought the news this morning.
Juneau and other neighboring towns
are sending provisions and material
for tlie construction of shelter by all
the available tugs and other vessels.
No lives were lost.
TO RAISE HONEY IN ALASKA
Mon Tells Portland Paper Me is
Headed tor Se>\aru wiui news
Par in the interior of Northern Alas
ka a Portland man will turn his hand
to bee culture. lie i> Morrell K.
Warren, who bought a ticket yester
day afternoon for Seward from P. P.
Baumgartner, local agent for the
Northwestern Steamship Company.
Mr. Warren arranged for the shipment
of nine swarms of bees.
After reaching Seward, the bee man
will push his way north to the Shu
shetna valley , where he spent asummer
about six years ago. He says he has
had long years of experience with bees
and believes they will thrive near the
Arctic zone. Me has been following
the bu>ines> for y ears at Cedar Mills, a
little hamlet a few miles out from
1 \>rt land.
“Flowers are in bloom ‘or a longer
period in tlu* Shushetna valley." said
Mr. Waryen, “than in this country.
“There is also a greater variety of
them. The valley, hillside and neigh
boring mountains are covered with
them for fully live months of the year.
During my stay in Alaska I did not see
a single hoe. and 1 kept constant look
out for them. With llowers so plenti
ful I expected to see wild bees, hut
was disappointed.”
The site he has selected is 100 miles
from Seward, the nearest town. By
the latter part of the season he expects
that the railroad building from the
coast to the Tanana district will have
been completed to the little bee farm
that he will establish. Unless
an occasional prospector should happen
along that way. Mr. Warren says he
does not expect to see anyone until the
railroad has been extended.- Portland
Telegram.
Col. Boyle Locates in Seward
Col. A. R. Boyle, father of Dr. P. M.
Boyle, owner of the Owl Drug Com
pany of Valdez and Seward, and of
Eddie Boyle, came to Seward on the
Excelsior to locate and engage in the
jewelry business. He will take the
room now occupied by the Bank of
Seward as soon as the hank moves to
its new quarters. Col. Boyle comes to
Seward from Dover, Delaware, where
he 1ms lived nearly all his life. He
was colonel of the First Delaware regi
ment in the civil war. He comes to
Alaska because Delaware has too
much hot weather for his health.
H. Ituhe sailed on the Farallon for
Juneau to close up his business there.
He will return to Seward and locate
here permanently.
O. G. Herning sailed on the Farallon
for Seattle to buy a stock of goods for
his store at Knik. He will return as
soon as possible.
JUNEAU TO BE
j ' THE CAPITAL
Gov. Hoggatt Will Move Territo
rial Offices There as Pro
vided in Code.
I By Cable to The Dnily Gateway.
Washington, I). (J., March 27- (Jov.
Hoggatt of Alaska told the president
today that he desires to make Juneau
the territorial capital in fact. H-e ex
pects to move the capital to that city
! as soon as he returns there. Ih- in
| tends to leave for Alaska next week.
The civil code of Alaska;, enacted by
| congress in PtOO, names Juneau as the
ten itorial capital but provides that
suitable quarters must first be secured.
! As (Jov. Urudy was a resident of Sitka
! he preferred to keep the capital there
and consequently made no effort to
| effect the transfer to Juneau. (Jov.
Hoggatt says that buildings ample for
the territorial offices can be secured by
rental at Juneau.
NELSON STOPS
ALASKA BILLS
By Cable to The Dally Gateway.
Washington, D. March 26- Sen-J
ator Nelson is holding up all Alaska
legislation until the Wiekershani case
is decided. It is claimed that the
Minnesota senator has threatened that
if Wiekershani is continued lie will kill
both tbe bill for an Alaska delegate in ;
congress and the bill for a division of j
tin* Third judicial district of the terri-;
torv.
If the judicial bill passes it means
the creation of several new otlices of,
importance, including an additional;
judge, district attorney and marshal,
beside numerous minor appointments. J
Judge Wiekershani is still in Wash
ington and will remain until his ap
pointment is passed upon by the senate. ;
It I** »<yw tuo ! • ip [q 1)0^' l**' |
session of court at Fairbanks. II he is j
continued the judge will probably go |
immediately to Juneau to try several
important cases in which a change of'
venue has been taken from Judge Hun- j
nison of the First district. He will then 1
go to Valdez to bold a special term.
MORE ALASKA STEAMERS
Seattle Times Says that is Problem
of Transportation Men
The Seattle Times ha* tbi> to say of
the demand for more carrying capacity
in the trade of Seattle with Southern i
Alaska, based upon the purchase of the
Bertha and Portland by ('apt. (>. J.
Humphrey:
"It is known that the Alaska Coin-|
inercial Company had been trying to
sell out for more than a year before
(‘apt. Humphrey took over their
>tearners and mail contracts. He has
acted as the local agent of the company
during that period and his steamers
will continue to carry shipments of
freight to their trading stations in
Alaska.
“It is understood that ('apt. Humph
rey will not content himself with the
present steamers but will branch out
and give the residents of Alaska a
service equal to any on the Coast. The
Bertha and Portland have been on the
northern run for a number of years and
are officered by experienced men. The
Portland is at present on the ways at
Eagle Harbor and when in commission
again Capt. Humphrey says that the
vessel will be as staunch as any on the
inside passage.
“The is no question but what Capt.
Humphrey will increase the fleet by
new and larger steamers. It is under
stood that it is his policy to place mod
ern boats on the run and the steamers
will be capable of handling passengers
and freight to the best advantage.
“The Northwestern Steamship Com
pany is also purchasing vessels for the
Valdez and Seward route and before
another year passes it is likely that the
fleet running to the westward will be
materially increased. The rush to the
Tanana over the Valdez trail the past
two months has made business good for
the companies and the steamers have
been leaving port with all the freight
and passengers they could carry.
Walter A. Wyatt Leaves
Walter A. Wyatt, for the past four
months business manager of the Gate
way.has resigned his position and sailed
on the Santa Ana for Seattle, accom
panied by Mrs. Wyatt and their little
daughter. Mr. Wyatt is an ex
perienced advertising man and goes
outside in search of a larger field of
effort.
TAKES REINDEER
FROM JACKSON
Secretary Hitchcock Delivers Man
agement of Alaska Herds
to Gov. Hoggatt.
dv Cable to Tbe Daily Gateway.
Washington, i). March JO Secre
tary Hitchcock decided today to turn
the Alaska reindeer herds over to the
management of Gov. Hoggatt. He
asserts that the reindeer management
of llev. Sheldon Jackson has hoen a
scandal. \V. 'I'. Lopp, for many years
stationed at Tape Prince of Wales in
direct charge of t he reindeer herds, is
here, and his report is believed to have
had much to do with taking the rein
deer management away from Jackson.
Gov. Hoggatt was a guest of the
president at luncheon today in the
White House. He will start for the
west within a day or two.
TO BRING UR THE CASWELL
Little River Steamer to Start North
About April 12
Captain Thomas Kelton has been se
lected to take the little steamer Cas
well to Cock inlet for operation on the
Shushetna anil other streams leading
to the Mt. McKinley district. United
States marine inspectors went over the
Caswell's equipment today and Captain
E. A. Swift, who purchased the boat
for the northern trade, says she will
leave for the Alaska coast about
April 12.
Captain Kelton is a well-known sea
faring man and was master of the tug
Resolute, which acted as a convoy to
the twelve river steamers sent north
by Robert Moran in 1899. During the
summer (’apt. Swift will remain in the
north as master of the Caswell. Capt
ain Kelton will return to Seattle. The
Caswell is now tied up alongside of
Pier 2. where her machinery is being
overhauled.
Captain Swift says in* has decided to
make Fire lulu***1- . niiles from
the mouth oi the Shushetna ri»er, me
transfer point for freight. The steam
er Neptune, also owned by Captain
Swift, will meet the ocean steamers at
Seldovia and take freight shipments
for the Mt. McKinley district to Fire
island, where they will be transferred
to the Caswell. It is 120 miles from
Scldovia to Fire island. Seattle
Times. __
Incorporate Alaska Coast Company
(.’apt. Omar J. Humphrey has organ
ized a new steamship company to be
known an the Alaska Coast Company.
J. IS. Pharo, until recently with the
Pacific. Coast Steamship Company, is
to he general manager. Capl. Hum
phrey is president of t he new corpora
tion. This is the company which has
bought the Bertha and Portland from
the Alaska Commercial Company.
The Portland has been reli t ted at
ISagle Harbor and according to the
Seattle Times has been remodeled
with an especial view to the comfort of
passengers. She will have only two
berths in each stateroom.
New Coast Steamers to Sail
Advices have been received at the
offices of the Northwestern Steamship
Company that the steamer Saratoga
will sail from New York the later part
of the month for Seattle, and the Yu
catan will clear in April. The steam
er Orizaba is to leave next Thursday.—
Seattle Times.
New Strikes in I anana
Several strikes have been recently
reported from widely varying points,
which are of interest in mining cir
cles. One of these is upon the C’hena
river; another is upon lower Fairbanks
creek, and a third is upon Caribou
creek, in the Salchaket district; a
fourth is upon Banner creek, the paral
lel creek to Tenderfoot, in the Delta
district; and another upon lower
Tenderfoot creek.—Fairbanks News.
H. M. Love, special agent of the in
terior department, has announced that
the stum page tax for timber cut on
government lands will be advanced
each year until the final price will be
30 cents per cord for firewood or the
same price per 1000 feet, board meas
ure, for logs cut for lumber.
Farallon Sails Southward
Steamer Farallon returned from the
westward Saturday afternoon at 5
i o’clock and sailed southward two hours
later.
The Fairbanks News is touting
Esther creek as the real thing and it
quotes miners who offer the opinion
that it is as good as Cleary creek.
All metal prices continue stiff in
New York and London.
COAL STRIKE
SEEMS CERTAIN
Miners and Operators Unable to
Reach Agreement and Walk
out Saturday is Likely.
By Cable to The Daify Gateway.
Indianapolis, March 2d After spend
ing all of last week in conference rep
resentatives of the coal operators an«
the miners meeting jointly were un
able Saturday night to reach an agre* -
ment. upon the wage scale for the com
ing year beginning April 1. Hitter
personalities marked the proceeding
and it does not appear now that
settlement can be reached.
< foal miners in nine states are affecti.
by the issue which is reaching a crisis.
A walk-out next Saturday night u
midnight seems certain and if it coni'-s
225,000 miners will go out on strik< .
The entire east is o i the qui vive am
much curiosity is felt to see whether
President Koosevelt will attempt t<»
intervene.
/liners Present Ultimatum
Indianapolis, March 27 The repre
sentatives oi the coal miners in con
vention yesterday evening drafted ar
ultimatum which was presented to the
operators today. There is little hope
of its acceptance and a general strik*
next Sunday seems certain. At lea«»
225,000 men will be involved at tie
start and if a sympathetic strike is d< -
dared th** total will reach l.ooo.oo"
men.
Ask Roosevelt to Intervene
Indianapolis, March .'*0 Coal mine
operators from live states who hav*
steadily opposed the wage scale pro
posed by tin* mine workers, met la
night and decided to appeal to tie
president to extricate them from tie
predicament of an impending -trike of
vast proportions. This strike will in
volve 225,000 min*- workers if it i
ordered.
The operators ask for the appoint
ment of •• oomi"‘ —i“n I»v t tie president
to investigate present mining cond -
tions and pass judgment upon th**
merits of the present wage scale an*
the demands of the mine workers'
union. The miners still threaten l<»
strike Saturday nigljt unless their <i
mands are conceded.
TELLS OF PLOT
TO BURN TRAIN
By Cable to The Daily Gateway,
Boise, Idaho. March 2k Stev< Adaiu
the member of the Western Feb'rat ion
of Miners who is held in jail lu t e upon
th(> charge of complicity in th< ass,ass
nation of Kx-Gov. Steunenbrrg amt who
has confessed the charge, today mad'
further confession of crime, giving th»
details of a plot to burn an entire train
load of non-union miners with Hire
lire.
This train-load of miners wa> sen
from Colorado to the Coeur d'Alene*..
Adams says he was sent to Pocatello.
Idaho, by Moyer and Haywood, offic
ials of the Federation, who are now in
jail also charged with the Steunenbere
murder, to lire the train. Adam-*
stationed himself beside the track near
Pocatello but when the train came by
it contained a large number of women
and children as well as men and his
heart failed him so that he could not
bring himself to throw the bomb con
taining the deadly tire.
The government recently sold 50.
000,000 feet of standing timber on tin*
Montana division of the Yellowstone
forest reserve to a contracting company
which will use it for railroad ties.
The gold-bearing gravel deposits
along the valley of the Rio Grande, in
New Mexico, are said to be from 50 to
over 000 feet in depth. They are often
cemented, and miles from water.
Trains began running through the
Simplon tunnel January 25. This tun
nel through the Alps is 12.4 miles long
and occupied more than seven years in
boring. It is the longest tunnel in the
world.
The fit* of the Northwest, commonly
known as Oregon pine, is the strongest
wood known for sustaining heavy
weights.
A fractional mining claim requires
the same amount of work annually as
a full claim, no matter how small the
fraction may be.
Steamer Zapora took 225,000 pounds
of halibut from Dixon entrance, the re
cord catch of the season.