Seward Gateway
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VOL tL SE "’ AKI >, ALASK A, Till 1M>A^ EVEM.XO, DKCUMHKK 1, liM.?_ M>’ *_
IDITAROD MEN
BELIEVED FOUL
PLAY VICTIMS
According to information received
t>\ District Attorney i'iv» ey. the au
thorities of t lie Second judicial divis
ion of Alaska, are searching for Jonh
Craven anil L. C. Waite, "ho h*lt luit
arod indune, 191 hand who have not been
heard from since. In she oomion ot
former District Attorney Kodey. of
Nome, who has charge ot the investi
gation, !bc case i> a repetition of the
Nelson case in which the two brothers
were murdered in Kuskokwim country.
The communication received by the
district attorney states that t raven is
a man 37 years of a^e and a ruduwt'
of Columbia university, while L». C.
Waite, the other missing man is about
the same ayfe, a resident of Napa, t ai
ifornia, and a metul*?r of the Idks.
They left Iditarud in June,Udi.head
ed for Copper Center, together with
an cx-siddiet* w no>e name is unknown
to Mr. Kodey. Within a few weeks
after the departure of the men from
Iditarod, tlie ex-soldier returned to
Iditarod and went to work tot .lack
Price. He stated at that time that he
had been separated from his com pan
ion-, and after wandering around aim
lessly for a time, had final I v succeedeil
ir. ret racing his steps to Iditarod.
Nothin- further was thought of the
matter tor some time, a- it w.t
tbought that the other lwo men had
reach'd their destination in safety.
A ft** i maty months, when no word
w:ix receiv'd, the matter wax taken up
w i h tin* authorities and a - wo wax
started, ilay i arke ot h* larod, u
verv in’tinate triend of V.a; rs
that the men must have met with a
in - lap u! some kind. for the missing
man had promised to corresnoiH! with
the Alarkan as soon as he reached Hie
(>ut s»de.
i in- Uiitatv< 1 mar doubts the cry i i
murder, however, as the travelers had
paactically no money upon them when
they left for the outside, and Mr. Clark
thinks their companion was aware of
their tinancial condition.
After the matter "as taken up by
the Nome authorities the case w is
placed in the hands of J. b. Warren,
special United States deputy marshal,
stationed at Seattle, and lie traced the
whereabouts:of the ex-soldier to Jun -
eau. W hen apprehended, tie gave a
very poor and rather contradictory ac
count of how he left his traveling com
panions. No arrest was made, how
ever, and the man is reported to be in
Southeastern Alaska.
The authorities are still investigat
ing the case, and are running down
evei'N possible clew that will lead to
the whereabouts ot the missing men,
or the fate tiial overtook them.
Oscar Christiansen, w ho sutlers from
rheumatism, plans on making a trip to
the sitka hot springs, in the hope of
gaining relief.
• Joe Laubner plans on a trip to the
states, but "ill return in time to par
ticipate in the spring boom.
The steamer Dora sailed from Ko
diak at noon yesterday, enroute via
Seidovia and Homer for Seward.
J. C. Tolman plans on departing for
the states on the Northwestern.
Fete Ogle has returned from atrip
to the Skeen Lech tier mine.
William Fair man is in from Moose
Pass.
All those having bills against J. C.
Tolman, please present same at once.
5ee the beautiful Xmas Cards at
Gordon's.
Pabsts blue ribbon beer at The
Branch. __
Butlwei*«r bt*r al ibe Bran«k.
CHICKIIM
CHEEK LOCKS
LIKE WINNER
Chickimun creek, in the Nelehina
district, is regarded as a stream ot
splendid possibilities as a gold pro
ducer. It is a fairly large creek and
flows from the left limit into the lower
reaches of Crooked creek. Its name,in
Chinook Indian nomenclature \signilies
money, and it seems very probable
new that it was a happy thought that
caused the original discoverer to so
designate it.
In a U tter received by J. C. Tolman
from William Klliott, better known as
••liillie the Horse," the writer ven
tures the opinion that Chickitnun will
prove a winner. This belief is foun
ded on prospects obtained by Klliott on
this creek. At the lime be wrote he
had penetrated the overburden and
attained a depth of three feet in wash
gravel, through which coarse gold is
liberally prevalent. Such a strong in
dication very naturally inspires the
ta.itii of Klliott. who writes that lie ex*
| pects to find rich pay on bedrock.
Klliott was among the tirst locators
on i hickimen creek. For himself he
staked No. 1 above discovery and tor
Mr. Tolman he located No. U above.
BIG DOC TEAM
RACE PLANNER
... ’.—
A big dog team race was arranged
) lit.st night, for a >u:*able purse, to take
place early in the >pring. 1 he eon
toting teams will be the on** owned
by Councilman K. F Chamberlain of
S.nvaid anti one owned by George
Iviley, tie* I.litarod mining man. which
carried h An ou* from the interior min
| tng camp.
Chamberlain's crack team is too
well known to need any extended men
tion. Suffice to say that it is composed
1 of tleet, well broken and trained dogs. 1
Riley's team won the Iditurod racing
event and comes with a record oi
achievement for trail work unsurpassed
by any in the big interior camp.
It will be a race between a coast and
Ian interior team, to determine the
championship. it is predicted that
much money will he wagered on the
• outcome, as the interior mining men
may be relied upon to back, to the
limit, Riley’s team, while the coast
fellows will remain loyal to Chamber
lain’s team.
Some curiosity is expressed over the
fair young lady who is seeking to cap
ture the first prize at the mask hall.
The Gateway does not propose to he-j
tray the secret, and the curious will
have to attend the big event and see ;
for themselves.
Tne heavy snow fail, rendering I
travel on the trail difficult, has delayed j
1 the departure for the Nelchena of Grit j
i Tolm an, Frank Whitney and Henry '
J Dohrman, but they expect to leave to
1 morrow moining.
Elgin Vaughan plans on departing
! for the Nelchena about the middle of
; this month.
__ --
Because the supreme court found
that authority had been made 2.17
years ago for* closing tin* stores on
Sunday, the lid was on in ^ ictoria, B.
C., on Sunday, October lb, more tight
ly than has been customary, and even
1 the sale of peanuts, cigars and popcorn
j were barred.
An exchange suggests that even the
college professors are finding out that
the Alaska coal policy is so rotten it
smells bad. *
—
Meet meat the Branch
|
Community silver, Sheriton.La Rose
and De Luxe patterns. George the
j Jeweler.
1 .
FAIRBANKS SUB
PORT MAY BE
Fairbanks, The Fairbanks Com*
mercial Plub, the Fairbanks
Council and mans of the leading mer
chants have sent telegrams of protest
to the Treasury department against
the proposed order to abandon Fair
banks as a subport of entry.
Tiie Northern Commercial Company,
which maintains a strong lobs Jin
Washington in connection with its al
lied steamship and railoud lines has
1 been working to secure the order des
ired trom the Secretary of the Treasury
in whose department the matter lies.
; Customs Collector Willis is known to
be friendly to the proposed closing of
the port, and President Dickeson, of
the White Pass railroad, when he be
came aware of the fact, sent telegrams
to merchants in Fairbanks, request
ing them to protest, which they have
1 done.
It the order is granted Fairbanks
; ceases to be a port of call for Canadian
l boats and the competition of the past
season, which resulted in cheap rates
' for passenger and freigh business will
1 slop.
Since the close of navigation the
| Northern Commercial company has
purchased the large stock of goons
brought into Fairbanks at low rates to
i the independent merchants, who were
i Unis able to light the large 'company.
The "N. has since raised tiie prices
of coniinodieies in town and tiie pros
pectors are paying as much for goods
now as previous to the starting of tle
tiglit, as the White Pa** i> unable to
place goods in Fairbanks ^h*s season.
The purchase oi People’s Slope, (Irif
liih amt tie* others )*v too ”.\. i
gave them the whip hand during the
winter.
DULL TIMES
T he population of Katalla has drop
ped to 08. The Alaska Oil and Refin
ing company. a concern having head
quarters in Vancouver is operating a
small oil refinery there, handling in
the neighborhood <>f fifty barrels of
crude oil in twenty-four hours, The
product -gasoline and kerosine—is
sold at (Valova and nearby points,
Init-h of the oil products being high
grade. With the exception of the
work arout d this plant, there is abso
lutely not long doing in or around Kat
alla.
ALASKA LUMBER
FINDS MARKET
Some weeks since, Foss Bros. *S; Co.,
of Hadley, Alaska, shipped to Calif
ornia a ship load of spruce lumber.
At the time the California lumber
tuasket was in a congested condition,
the docks being pretty well loaded.
When the Hadley shipment reached
there all of the San Francisco lumber
men were present to inspect the Al
aska spruce. The result was that it
stopped the sale of Jthe Oregon and
\\ ashington spruce, and the Hadley
shipment was pronounced to be fat
superior to any spruce lumber offered
for sale by either Washington or Ore
gon. The result is that Foss Bros. &
Co., now have sale for more spruce
lumber than they can cut. Of course
this work on their part will result in
a benefit not only to Foss Bros. <& Co.,
but to all other Alaska dealers who
care to take advantage of it.
Meet me at the Branch *
Field glasses at J. L. Graef’s.
To see Alaska, or a large chunk <»|
. the territory, by dog team is the pn
I pose of Demming Wheeler, a Uoosier
• state hanker. N’« d» « r the element ol
j r i me nor the expense entailed in ! In
overland journey, will eul any figure
!\\ith Mr. Wheeler. He is in Alaska
for an outiniK has plenty ot money at
his command, and is entirely fret* to
follow his own designs ami inclinations.
Mr. Wheeler has outlined for him*
j self quite a lengthy mush, which will
i take nearly the entire winter. His
; plan is % start from Cordova, goto
Fairbanks, from thence to the Fugle
j and Forty-mile regions; t lienee to
Kuby and the iditarod, and from
j thence to Seward. There is nothing
arbitrary about this planned itinerary,
however He will he guided in his
course entirely by bis own whim or
caprice, and go wherever he may wish.
While in Seward Mr. Wheeler pur
l chased a fine dog team from F. L.
; Bailaine and Brorins & Noon made
| him a sled just suited to the purpose
in vie v.
The pleasure seeker will he accom
panied on his journey by Scotty Dalton,
who has purchased a dog team from
! Oscar Christiansen. Dalton will de
i part on the Northwestern, to join Mr.
• Wheeler at Cordova, soon alter which
the musliers will set out on their way.
Fairbanks.** In a wire from Iditarod
tie* marshal's office was apprised of
j the fact that A. II. t'onlin. the newly
• appointed deputy for Flat t itv, had
taken the oath of office and assumed
his duties The oath was taken on
October *J7. The newly appointed offi
cial is taking the place of T. W. How
jell, who held the place under Marshal
Love, and who recently resigned and
j left fol* the < )utside.
The new deputy is well known in
Fairbanks, as lie mined on a number
of creeks in this district tor five or six
I
I years.
Owing to the fact that the ci y of
Dawson refused to pay $10,800 addi
tional for hydrant service for a three
vear contract to the Dawson City
1 *
j Water and Power company, Joe Hoyle,
I the manager, terminated the service,
jail city water mains and laterals being
j shut down for the tirst time in the his
tory ol Dawson since t he service began,
j The city is going back to the use of
tire engines, pumping from the river,
the same as a few years ago. There
is strong talk of forming a city munici
pal system.
William Allen, a former Sewardite,
has a contract to cut a large quantity
'of wood for George Riley, the Iditarod
I mining man. Riley says he should
! make a good piece of money out of the
! contract.
If the author of the poem,
“Beautiful Snow,’’ had to wallow
around up to his, or her, or it’s neck
in this stuff for six months in the year,
! he, she or it would deny the parentage
! of this fanciful dream about snow.
%
George Phelps,^of the Seward News
company, was the fortunate winner of
a deiicions fruit cake, and on Chrlst
h mas day he proposes to treat the boys
I who call at his popular retreat.
If you wish anything in the Christ
mas card line, Gordon’s is displaying
some nifty ones.
Ice creepers and ice skates at J. L.
Graef’s. __
For reliable information write Can
non, Pioneer hotel, Knik, Alaska, t
WOMAN TELLS
OF STRIKE IN
I |
Mi". .1 a me*. \\ It* of \V illiaiu .lame*,
the discovi rer of t tie Shush:,turn gold
j fields, who "•(" with lift* husband ;tI>
tiie time, talks inti-res?ing'v of the
si t'ik*•, *i s fuiiu ,v"i
••.Mr. James and I had prospected in
the upper White river country three
years, and Mr. Nelson aiso was in the
district v. nil us. We had confined
our attention to quartz on the beavet
ami vicinity above Snag bast. Apn.
.lames. Nelson and tuysell parked out
clogs, and made the hard and tedious
I mush over the divide ot the Beaver to
! the Chisana watershed. The snow
i >\M" not all otT and we had a hard tiip
| About the first of May we got. down to
i a point near the mouth of w hat is now
i known as Bonanza,and then we panned
' along the edge of the creek, in the
j edge of t lie ice. We got scene co'ors,
! and were inure encouraged by the pan
nings along the Bonanza riin.
“After we got the tirst gold on Bon
anza, Nelson said it looked good to him
and thought we could take out wages
if we had a flume hose. VY e had no
money with width to make purchases,
| but he* felt sure lie could get the hose
if he came to Dawson, lie struck out
about Max lit. arid went down to Daw
son. and got tie* hose, and then return
jed. \\ »* did not have much gold when
Nels left us. I believe we had panned
something like nine dollars at lirst
After Nels left. Billie and l went pan*
1 nil?.** up tii»* creek to the oilier points,
; i o put *ii * he t tine, vx t* had a little
| tent, and camped at var ious points
each night. living on a meager fare.
: In fact we almost "tarved before Nels
came hack.
i “When we got to a strange creek
i running into Bonanza, we followed up
it and looked for the rim. At one
place Billy spoke to me. saving’, ‘bet
me have the pan: here’s a little bed
rock cropping out. Be took the pari,
and. to our surprise, got live to ten
dollars in the bright gold. I had a
little frying pan. in which we had
cooked eggs in those lucky days when
we could procure such luxuries. In
this pan l got about live dollars in
in gold. \\ t* then prospected a Id tie
further up and found gold, and staked
a discovery. The claim where we got
! the rich pans mentioned we staked as
No. 1. and named the creek Little FI
! dorado. That is the stream on which
1 \Ve did most of our work this summer.
I While waiting for Nels to return from
! Dawson we went over the hill and
panned on Gold Bun.
“Before Nels returned we had taken
I some! hing like $.fdO out on Little 1.1
jdorado by panning, and we bad it in
| the pans to show him. When he camo
| up with the horses laden with grub,
| others also xvere present.. We were
! never so glad in our lives to see any
lone, and gave a wild cheer, but I can
tell you 1 had trouble keeping back
the tears. For days we were on Little
FI dorado eating the handful of rough
: food, with no sugar, no flour, no salt.
; We had wild meat; and. as we chewed
on it. we had great visions of other
good things which gold would buy in
some countries. There before us was
plenty of the gold, but we could not
eat it. In itself it was absolutely use
less. Matches were very scarce, and
we feared for a time we would use our
entire supply."
“Pop Corn Jim,” of the Branch, is
i having his resort repapered and re
painted, preparing for the good times
fast approaching.
\V. S. Perkins and A1 Wolf reached
town from Kenai river last evening.
Fred Bunce is in from Kenai lake.
Sleds for bovs and girls; sleds for
• •
men. At J. L. Graef’s.
Long distance telephone booth at tha
Branch. * *