Sewar > Weekly Gateway
— ,, N() ,s SEWARD, ALASKA. SAT fit DA V. .IMA I I. UHH8._
MITCHELL SHOT
BY HIS SISTER
Toung Victim of “Holy Roller”
Avenges His Death by Kill
ing Her Brother.
PLOTTED WITH MRS. CREFFIELD
Girl Shook Hands With George and
Then fired fatal Bullet as He
Turned His Back.
By Cable to Tbe Daily Gateway.
Seattle. July Id George Mitchell.
Mayer of Greflield, was shot and killed
by his sister Ksther. for whose ruin he
shot the "Holy Holler." as lie was
stepping on the train for Portland yes
terday afternoon at •*> o'clock.
The girl shook hands with George
and said good-by. then as her brother
turned to enter the train she drew a
revolver from under a coat which she
carried on her ariu. placed tlu* mu/./.le
close behind his left ear and tired.
George dropped dead instantly.
Kred and Perry Mitchell, brothers of
George and Ksther. had accompanied
George to the train and were standing
close by but the shooting was done so
quickly that no one had time to raise a
hand to interpose.
At the police station the girl was
ci>ol and talked freely . She said she
had determined as soon as George was
acquitted last Tuesday that he should
die. She had made an agreement
with Mrs. Greflield that whichever
:.rst got the opportunity should kill
him. Mrs. Greflield was immediately ;
arrested and confirmed Esther’s story.
She said she made no attempt to kill
George before he left the city because
she feared she was watched.
Asked Her to Come
George Mitchell was anxious to >ee
Ksther before lie left the city ami effect
a reconciliation. She took advantage
of this desire on her brother’s part to
murder him. knowing that he would
not suspect her. It was because of
this girl s ruin that George killed the
• Holy Roller.” Creftield had made
the girl believe that she would become
the mother of the second Christ. 1 he
girl is only l* years old now.
The depot platform was crowded
with curious men and women who
went down to see George Mitchell de
part and give him an ovation, and in a
few minutes after the shooting thous
ands were packed in the streets around
the de|»ot. Officers gathered close
about the girl to ward off attack a>
there were quick demands that she be
ynched. She was hustled into the
patrol wagon and driven rapidly to the
!>olice station.
Great indignation prevails in this
city and in Oregon, public sympathy in
both states being wholly in favor of
George Mitchell. Neither Ksther
Mitchell or Mrs. t'reffield would be
safe out of ja^l in either state.
Other Sister Pleased
By Cable to The Daily Gateway.
Portland. July 13 Mrs. Starr, sister
of George Mitchell, who was also one
of CrelHeld's victims, smiled when told
of her brother's death at the hands of
Ksther Mitchell. This is taken as
showing that she was informed of the
plot to kill George while she was at
tending the trial in Seattle. She de
serted her husband to go with Pref
field and it was for adultery with her
that the “Holy Roller” served two
years in the Oregon penitentiary.
Mrs. Creffield’s Father Faints
By Cable to The Dally Gateway.
Corvallis. Gre., July 13 O. V. Hurt,
father of Mrs. Maud Crettield. fainted
when he heard the news of the killing
of George Mitchell by Mitchell s sis
ter Esther. Hurt gave everything he
had and went broke to save George
from conviction for killing Crettield,
and had ju>t returned home from Se
attle. ___
Jury Acquits George Mitchell
Seattle. July 11 -The jury in the
George Mitchell case returned a ver
dict of not guilty in an hour and a
quarter, acquitting the defendant of
the charge of murder in the killing of
“Holy Holler'’ Crettield. The crowd
in the courtroom cheered loudly when
the verdict was read.
F. M. Myers, a mining expert, ar
rived on the Oregon, and went on to
Cook Inlet to look into a copper pro
position.
ALASKANS SAIL
FOR CONVENTION
Candidates and Delegates Will
Start From Seattle for
Juneau Tonight.
By Cable to Tbe Dally Gateway.
Seattle. July 10 The advance guard
of delegates to the Republican con
vention at Juneau will sail this even
ing on the steamer City of Seattle. In
the main they favor the postponement
| of the convention until proxies from
all parts of the territory can be re
ceived. It is known that several are
on the way which cannot reach Ju
neau by the 14th. the date fixed for the
| convention, ft is claimed that a dif
ferent course or any snap judgment
wpuld split the Republican party of
Alaska.
The candidates and nearly all the
[delegates will go tonight. With the
crowd are several men who do not live
in Alaska but have interests there and
who are trying to take a hand in the
politics of the territory.
R. ,). McC'hesney, formerly of tho
Fairbanks News, says the Tanana will
not send delegates to the party con
wntions hut will leave those contests
to other sections of the territory.
Delegates Sail for North
Seattle. July 11 All the delegates
to the Republican territorial conven
tion at Juneau who came to this city,
sailed last night on the steamer City of
S.-attV. Many other interested per
sons sailed with them. In the party
was Walter E. Clark, Washington
correspondent of the Seattle Post-In
telligencer, New York Commercial
and Toronto Globe, who will make a
three-month' tour of Alaska.
YOUNGS TIES UP
WITH PERKINS
Seward Candidate for Alaska
Delegate Makes Deal W ith
Nome Man.
By Cable to The Daily Gateway.
Seattle. July 7—Frank E. Youngs of
Seward says if he does not get the
short term Republican nomination for
delegate from Alaska at the Juneau
convention he will run independent.
He has made a deal with W. T. Per
kins of Nome to take the short term
and give Perkins the long term. A
large number of delegates to the Ju
neau convention are here. A majority
of them will sail for Juneau on the
City of Seattle July 10.
TO CELEBRATE ALASKA DAY
Fourth of July Committee Proposes
Observance of October 18
At a meeting Saturday of the Fourth
of July committee to close up the
tinancial business of the celebration it
was voted that the small cash balance
left on hand be kept by the treasurer
of the committee. J. L. Reed, to be
turned into a fund to be raised for the
observance of the anniversary of the
formal transfer of Alaska to the Uni
ted States. October 18.180". It was also
voted to instruct the chairman. Cecil
H. Clegg, to call a meeting of citizens
about the middle of September to ar
range for a celebration of Alaska day.
This was done in order to give the
citizens opportunity to name a com
mittee to manage the celebration, as
the Fourth of July committee did not
care to assume the authority itself.
The secretary of the committee was
instructed also to address a letter to
Gov. Hoggatt, requesting him to pro
claim a public holiday in honor of the
recurrence of the anniversary of
Alaska's annexation.
Digging Gold on Upper Susitna
Copper Center, June 29—The first
news of the season from Susitna was
received last night. Everyone is
working full blast with the very best
results. Monahan and Sweeney report
that the pay on the bench claim goes
from $20 to $:U>per yard. A big clean
up is expected this season. Location
notices for 47 claims were sent out here
to record.—Valdez News.
F. H. Nettleton, a well-known min
ing expert from Spokane, came up on
the Oregon to investigate a mining
proposition near Seward. Mr. Nettle
ton is an old friend of Frank Watson.
I
FLYING RED FLAG
IN RUSSIAN CITIES
Revolutionists force Citizens To Salute Emblem
of Resistance To Imperial Authority
Near Moscow fortress.
Mob Drives off Police Officers Who Attempt To Break Ip Meeting
and Even Cossacks Show Signs of Mutiny—Douma De
clares Resistance to Czar’s Attempt To
Control Agrarian Reform.
By Cable to Tbe Dolly Gateway.
St. Petersburg. July 10- Ilevolution
| ists are flying the red flag in twenty
cities. In many places they have
stopped streetcars and compelled the
passengers to salute the revolutionary
I flag. Near the Moscow military sta
J tion Lieutenant Tom was addressing a
| crowd of revolutionists when the |»olicc
attempted to disperse the assembly.
The mob drove the police back with
j sticks and stones. Later Lieut. lom
was arrested and taken to the fortress.
In ti»e People’s theater the audience
last night sang the French “Marsel
laise" and were driven from the thea
ter by Cossacks. Six newspapers here
have been suppressed and their plants
confiscated. The monasteries have
been forbidden to take any part in
the political struggle.
Disaffection has also arisen among
the Cossacks. The Cossacks of l st
medrieditsii refused to obey orders to
join with the police organization. The
Cossacks at VTisevoka were sent away
because they declined to tire upon a i
crowd of revolutionary manifestants.
Mutineers Mold Barracks
Tambov, July 10—A mutiny at Ker-j
soy worse than that at Sevastopol is
terrifying the city. Loyal troops
attacked the mutineers and in the,
tight several of the former were killed
and their forces driven off. The muti
neers are now entrenched in the bar
racks and are defying the government. |
Questions Czar’s Right
St. Petersburg. July 10—The douma
attacks the right of the czar to prom
ise any reforms in the laws affecting
the peasantry, claiming that the'
power rests with parliament alone.
The douma is now working out a!
plan of agrarian reforms. It is pro
posed to allot the public domain to the
peasantry and to reduce single hold
ing* one-half. A committee ‘s en
gaged upon the details.
Troops Still Rioting
St. Petersburg. July 7—Rioting by
mutinous soldiers continues at many
fortresses and the government is be
coming fearful of the loyalty of its
troop* everywhere.
The constitutional democrats disown
1 sympathy with the extremists and dis
I countenance armed revolution. Lead
| ers of the party in the douma hope to
name the new ministry themselves, it
I being admitted that the present cabi
net cannot continue long.
Yesterday the douma voted $7,000,
000 for the famine relief fund and was
informed by the minister of linance
that no funds were available for the
appropriation. He stated that the
PROPOSES TO TUNNEL
UNDER BERING SEA
By Cable to The Daily Gateway.
Berlin. July 10—A dispatch from St:
Petersburg states that Lovic Delobel
has practically completed the organi
zation and financing of a corporation
to build a railroad tunnel under Bering
sea from Wierschnic Kotymk on the
Siberian shore to Nome. The line
will run from Irkutsk to the Siberian
shore. It is proposed to bore a tunnel
61 kilometers wide and 50 meters un
der the sea. The cost is estimated at
1.250,000.000 francs. The czar has
been asked for land grants and is con
sidering the matter.
Cecil H. Clegg, assistant district
attorney and license collector, sailed
westward on the Dora on his annual
license collecting tour, visiting the
ports along the Alaska peninsula.
Mrs. Clegg accompanies him. They
will return on the present trip of the
Dora.
revenue figures were padded at tin*
time the last foreign loan was made in
order to secure funds to float the
bonds. The national treasury today is
practically empty. The ministry then
suggested a new loan for famine relief
purposes but the douraa refused, and
in>ists instead that the budget for
regular official expenditures he cut
down, claiming that it is extravagant.
Autocracy Faces Doom
Paris. July 11 That the Russian
autocracy is facing imminent doom is
the opinion of Anatole Leroy Beaulieu,
the noted author of a history ol Rus
sia. who has just returned from a visit
to the empire to make a personal in
vestigation of its internal conditions.
He says th«* constitutionalists do not
want to wreck the throne but will
probably be unable to stem the tide of
revolution which is steadily rising and
seems certain to sweep away im
perialism.
Beaulieu says the czar is terrified by
contemplation of the French revolu
tion, and fearing the fate of Louis XVI
is striving to avoid the blunders of
tb-At monarch bet overlooks the fact
that Charles ! of F.ngland reached the
same end by a different route. He
predicts the overthrow of the throne
and civil war with widespread devasta
tion and much bloodshed.
Sailor Kills Admiral Chouknin
Sevastopol, July 12 Admiral Chouk
nin. commander of the Black sea tleet.
was shot from ambush by a sailor
while walking in his garden last night,
and will die.
Chouknin was generally hated be
cause he ordered the execution of
Lieut. Schmidt, the popular leader of
the revolutionists last March, and be
cause when a woman shot at him in
his yards lasl February he ordered the
guards to kill her instantly on the
spot. He was condemned to death by
the terrorists then and they have been
seeking an opportunity to kill him
ever since. _
Clerks Give Out Documents
St. Petersburg. July 12—It has
been learned that the war office is
forming extensive plans to meet revo
lution with overwhelming force. Pa
pers showing arrangements to defend
Riga were stolen yesterday and pub
lished today. This has created a sen
sation as it shows that clerks in t he
government offices are allied with the
revolutionists.
The revolutionaries grow constantly
more bold and proceed with their pro
jects in almost open defiance of the
government. The publication of the
stolen papers is taken as an indication
that they are ready to strike when
ever a favorable moment seems to
present.
OREGON BRINGS 590
TONS OF STEEL RAILS
Steamer Oregon arrived in port at
3 o’clock Sunday morning bringing
590 tons of railroad steel for the Alas
ka Central and 139 passengers. Of the
latter 34 were lirst-class and 105 were
laborers for the railroad. The steam
er sailed for Seattle Tuesday evening.
New' Strikes on Knight Island
Dr. Boyle of Valdez reported while
in Seward this week that accounts of
new strikes on Knight island are crea
ting an aggravated epidemic of copper
fever in the town at the head of the
Sound and among the miners of the
region. Two new strikes are said to
have been made near the southern end
of the island, showing remarkably rich
ore. Development work is in progress
on an expanding scale in several
places.
Theo. Allen went to Cook Inlet on
the Dora to investigate several mining
propositions.
PLACER STRIKE
I AT NENELCHUK
Discovery Reported From Deep
Creek of Gravel Carrying
50-Cent Pans.
A rich placer strike on the western
side of Kenai peninsula back about
fifteen miles in the interior from
Nenelchuk, has started a stampede to
the diggings, which are on Deep creek
and Bat creek, a tributary of Deep
creek. It is reported that 50cent pans
are regularly taken out.
Miners from various places along
the Inlet and 'furnagain Arm have
fiocked in there until a few days ago
about 100 men were on the ground find
the number was constantly increasing
although the first arrivals were care
ful not to spread the news. The Inlet
steamer Neptune was beached at
Nenelchuk by the captain and crow
while they went to Deep creek to
stake ground.
The original discovery was made by
; an old Russian named .John Kash
evnikov of Nenelchuk. He confided
the facts to Chris Hansen, a well-known
Inlet miner and prospector, arid the
I two went to the place together. Han
j sen soon found that the strike was a
rich one, as he repeatedly panned 50
cents and took 15 cents from an ordi
nary shovelful.
Hansen and Kashevnikov staked
claims and went to work. In a short
time Hansen appeared at Seldovia
with $200 in dust and exchanged it for
an outfit and returned. In the mean
time news of a discovery had perco
lated through the Inlet camps and the
stampede was on.
The region is described as a beauti
ful country with low rolling hills.
Nenelchuk is a Russian settlement of
about 30 families a short distance up
the Inlet from Anchor Roint, where
lx ach diggings have been worked with
some success for several years. The
Russians hold aloof from the natives
and other whites and pay little atten
tion to mining.
It is reported that the Deep creek
stampede nearly busted up the Welch
railroad camp at Rainbow creek, on
'furnagain Arm. A lot of the men
hiked at the first alarm and those who
couldn’t think fast followed later. If
the strike proves to be the real thing
by the time Martin Welch gets 'back
from the states he won’t have any
more railroad camp than a John rab
bit and will have to start all over
again. ______
QUARTZ STRIKE
NEAR SEWARD
Stevenson Brothers Make a Rich
Gold Discovery in Hills Close
to Trail Lake.
A rich quartz strike has been made
recently in the hills lying southeast of
Trail lake.
When Skeen and Lechner made
their Falls creek discovery, last July,
among others attracted to the vicinity
were two brothers, Stevenson by name.
They pitched their tent over the di
vide, to the north, from Falls creek,
and prospected until the snow covered
the ground to such an extent as to
preclude further search for the preci
ous mineral. The winter months
were passed in hunting and trapping,
and when the ground again became
visible the brothers resumed their
quest for gold. Their search was final
ly rewarded by the discovery of a ledge
of white quartz, rich in gold values.
Theelementsof erosion-sun, rain, frost,
etc.—had attacked the surface of the
ledge to such an extent that the out
crop was merely a mass of decomposed
quartz, and it is difficult to determine
the vein’s width until the live quartz
shall have been struck. Samples of
the quartz show it to be similar to
that of the Falls creek mines—carry
ing values in free gold and tellurium.
The Stevenson boys came to Seward
a few’ days ago, purchased a large out
fit and returned to open up their pros
pect. __
To Prospect Upper Susitna
Geo. D. Marx, Geo. McConkie and
Geo. Heflin compose a party of pros
pectors who left Seward recently, their
destination being the headwaters of the
Susitna river. The party was equipped
by Charles D. Lane.
ADD TO FORCE
ON RAILROAD
| -
Larger Number of Men at Work
Facilitates Building
Progress.
WILL SOON FINISH TUNNELS
Tracklayers. Graders and Bridge
Crews Scattered from Mile
47 to f nd of 54.
Scattered at intervals along eight
miles of forthcoming railroad line 000
men, including engineers, foremen am
contractors, an* engaged in const rut
tion upon the Alaska Central. In
these hives of industry tnen are work
ing at every kind of railroad building
On mile 47, just beyond the presert
track terminus, a gang is surfacing
and laying rails. On 40 and ~i.\ tunne
boring, now near completion, is p
steady progress in four unfinished tun
nels. < >n 40 and 50 bridge building
across deep gulches employs seveia
several squads of carpenters. On
every mile from 47 to the end of 54
grading gangs are working, princi
pally upon rock cuts. Many stretche
of the easier grading work are com
plete.
Kach boat from Seattle now bring*,
from 50 to 100 men for railroad eon
struction and as few are quitting since
the weather became pleasant and the
rainbow lines in near-by regions ceased
to dazzle and attract, the building
forces will steadily and rapidly in
crease. Fortified by this assurance
the construction otlicials are now hope
ful that the rails will extend through
the ^tunnels and into Placer valley by
October—potentially in the first half
of the month, almost certainly before
it is gone.
/*lucli Grading Done
From the beginning of tin* level
stretch beyond Placer canyon to mil
(17 around the head of Turnagain Arm
the grading is largely done and it can
be completed soon after the tunnel*
are bored and the track laid near to
convey supplies and material. The
most economical plan of building that
part of the line will be from the end oi
the track because it is now very diffi
cult of access and the work is so light
that it can be done rapidly.
For several months tunnel boring
has monopolized interest because deep
snow in the adjacent valley prevented
I extensive outside work. KtYective
management of tunnel work has
brought the end in sight and during
the next ninety days the construction
of the grade around the wonderful
curves and loop on 4b-70 and ;>1 will b<‘
the chief feature. This includes sev
eral trestles, one of which will be 12<H>
feet long with an extreme hight of
l('»5 feet.
Nearing hirst l unnei
Two miles of grading between tin
winter terminus and the south portal
of tunnel No. 1. on mile 4b, are finish
ed except a few rock cuts, fills and
bridges, and men are working on all
these obstructions. Several rough
spots have been farmed out to station
men and their contracts require them
to linish early in August. It is ex
pected that the rails can be carried
close to the first tunnel by August In,
completing 48 miles of track. On this
stretch the course of Placer river is
changed twice to avoid bridging where
the line runs over the course of the
stream for several rods. This is done
by building cribs of heavy timber and
filling them with rock and gravel to
make a levee.
Watson & Snow hold the contract
for the bridge work and have HO bridge
carpenters employed, which is a suffici
ent number to complete all the bridges
and trestles by the time the track can
reach them. A large quantity of the
heavy, round timbers are on the
ground near where they are to be
used. They were mostly floated down
the river at an enormous saving of
time, labor and consequent .expense.
It is estimated that several thousand
dollars was saved by the contractors
by this simple device. In order to de
tain a sufficient flow to carry the logs
they were obliged to pen the water
and float the timber down in install
ments.
One Dizzy Trestle
The longest and highest trestle is on
a curve beginning just beyond the
northern portal of the tunnel. The
tunnel, beginning on a spiral, is pro
(Continued on page 2)