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The Gateway to the
to the Kenai, Knik, Broad Pass
Great Coal Fields of Gold Fields
Matanuska l
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, . . » ... SEWARD. THE GATEWAY TO ALASKA, THURSDAY. DECEMBER 10. 191 L _'*" <<nt‘ C*Pr
\ i)l« ^ O* .)J _^——— ——————■mm. ^~ " .~m
ALLIES ADVANCE IN WEST AND GERMANS IN EAST
AWFUL FIRE DESFROVS
THOMAS EDISON PLANT
NEW YORK, Dec. 10.—Eleven out ot'
eighteen buildings of the Thomas A.
Edison manufacturing plant were des
troyed last night by a frightful con
flagration which inflicted damage to
the extent of seven millions of dollars.
The laboratory and workshop of
Edison himself were spared by the
flames and this is regarded as most
fortunate as the loss by their des
truction could never be replaced. I he
plant occupied ten acres of ground at
West Orange. In it were employed
seven thousand workers who will all
begin work today removing the debris
under the supervision of Edison him
self. Mr. Edison states that the plant
will be rebuilt immediately. The fam
ous inventor feels the loss chiefly be
cause it interrupts his work but the
flames had hardly diet! out before he
began preparations for the erection of
the new plant. No lives are reportod to
have been lost in the tire.
SAYS GOVERNMENT WILL
BI Y ALASKA NORTHERN.
Report in a Cordova Paper From
Washington Says Seward and
Matanuska Will Be Joined
By Fall.
In the Cordova Alaskan of Decern
ber 4 there is a message purporting
to come from Washington D. C. ir
which it is stated that Secretary Lane
will make a requisition for $>,000,000
in the general appropriation bill for
the purchase of the Alaska Northern
railroad and for the building of an
extension from it to meet new con
striction at Kern creek.
It also states that Secretary Lane
and Commissioner Edes believe that
the railroad will be built from Seward
to Matanuska before next fall.
W’hile many people believe that
the statement contained in the
Cordova Alaskan’s story is about what
will happen the publication of it is
probably premature as neither Com
missioner Edes nor Secretary Lane
would ever have made such a state
meut before the report of the com
mission has been made and before the
president has given an opinion.
DR. CHAMBERS OF NOME DEAD.
SEATTLE, Dec. 10.—Dr . J. J.
Chambers of Nome has died at Port
land. He was sent out last year to the
sanitarium having been declared in
sane.
MARIPOSA PASSENGERS.
SEATTLE Dec. lO.The following
passengers left on the Mariposa for
Seward: Marie Larvon and G. Math
ieson. For Kodiak: Mr. and Mrs.
Armstrong, Mrs. Kilroy, Miss White
man. For Unga: A. Komendal. For
Unalaska: F. Goodwin and wife.
FLETCHER ON THE NAVY.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 9.—Admiral
Fletcher commander of the Atlantic
fleet, told the house navy committee
today that the United States navy is
unprepared to cope with the most
powerful navy in the world.
(Note) This came as it is printed
but the wording seems to suggest that
the word “unprepared” should be
“prepared.” As the question of arma
ment promises to be the great one for
some time in this country the differ
ence in the two words is important
and an alteration of the words of such
an authority might confuse our
opinions.
| XXXX>C<XXXXXX>C<XXX>COC<>C>OOCK
MEETING OF COMMERCIAL
CU B THIS E\ ENING.
■ ■■ ■ ■ m
VII Members Requested to Attend as
Matters of Great Importance
Will be Discussed.
A meeting of the Commercial Club
will take place this evening at 8
o’clock when matters of such supreme
importance will be taken up for con
sideration that every member should
be present.
BERTHA W EST 8 I\ M.
The steamship Bertha arrived today
at noon anil will leave for the west
ward at 8 p. m. today. She will go as
far at Port Graham but will take no
passengers. She brought mail for
Seward but not so large an amount
as had been expected.
Some more difficulties are now
arising from the schoolhouse question
but are not yet ripe for publication.
The mail from Iditarod was at Mile
Thirty four last night and will prob
ably arrive by the time the paper goes
to press.
DANIELS SAYS
NAVYJS SOUND
OBJECTS TO BUILDING IMMENSE
NAVY SUGGESTED BY
OTHERS.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 10.—Josephus
Daniels secretary of the navy stated
today that in the light of the exper
ience gained from the European war
he would condemn the suggestions
made that the United States should
have a hundred submarines and fifty
battleships. He declared that the pres
ident approved the regular, normal
increase of the navy. This would mean
that in the coming year there will be
built two dreadnaughts, six destroy
ers, eight or more submarines and one,
gunboat. The United States navy has,
now, he said, two hundred and twenty
nine ships of which ninety per cent
are at present in commission. Mr.
Daniels declared he believed universal
disarmament practieable.The agitation
!n favor of increasing the army and
navy has assumed large proportions
throughout the country' and there is
apparent a growing belief that the
country will have to prepare to main
tain her “place in the sun” some day
sooner or later.
PRESIDENT AGAIN TURNS
DOWN WOMANS SUFFRAGE.
Says Again That it is a Question For
the States to Decide Themselves.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 10.—Presi
dent Wilson was again visited today
by a deputation of women asking him
to recommend the introduction ot a
constitutional amendment in favor of
nation wide suffrage but he once more
declared the belief that woman suf
frage was a question to be decided by
the states separately. Miss Martin of
Nevada waited on the president to an
nounce formally to him the victory
for woman suffrage in her state and
Mr. Wilson congratulated her saying
that this was the proper way to bring
about suffrage for women His
answer to the deputation, however, is
taken as a distinct loss to the causes
by the women .It is now made very
clear that he will never consent to aid
the proposal for national suffrage and
the women expressed keen disappoint
ment
GET REVENUE STAMPS.
Th»- local steamship agents have re
ceived the new revenue tax -tamps
which must be placed on all bills of
lcd’i g, freight bills etc. in tn». future
aw arding to the law passed con
gress to make up for the loss of rev-,
enue due to the war.
COLORADO COAL
STRIKE ENDED
UNION gives permission to
STRIKE BREAKERS TO BE
COME MEMBERS.
DENVER Dec. i).—The convention
of the United Mine Workers to
day voted to call the coal strike oil. I
Tho strike breakers now employed in
the mines will be given permission to
join the union . The tent colonies will i
bo continued for the present and Pres
ident Wilborn of the Colorado Fuel ■
and Iron company declared that he
will employ the men out of work as
fast as the opportunity presents itself.
Ho declared, however, that there is
a large and lawless element in the
section which has been taught to dis
regard property rights and these men
still occupy the tent colony so that
there is still danger that an outbreak
may occur unless proper care is taken
to guard against it.
A baby was born on the day before
yesterday to Mrs. Burns at Mile
Three. Mother and child are doing
very well.
Dr. Romig has sold a cabin on the
beach to J. ZincofT.
BRITISH TAKE EEIRK ARMY ON THE TIGRIS
Naval Battle Lasted Five Hours j
and No British Vessel
Was, Lost
THRILLING CHASE PROCEEDS
MONTEVIDEO, Dec. 10.—One of the most thrilling
chases on record is now proceeding in the south Atlantic
with the German cruisers Dresden and Nurnberg fleeing
at their utmost speed towards the port of Santa Cruz,
Argentine, and with British warships pursuing.^ From
the speed which the two surviving ships of the German
squadron are able to maintain it would appear that they
have not been so badly damaged as had been supposed but,
their capture or destruction can be only a matter of time.
That they will not surrender appears to be certain from
the lessons of the present war in which every warship
engaged has preferred destruction to the hauling down of
its flag. The German auxiliary cruiser Prince Eitel is now
cruising in the South Atlantic with fifteen hundred Ger
man soldiers aboard. The presence of the soldiers has
created the belief that she intends to land them in some
I created the belief that she intends to land them in some
I British possession.
NURNBERG ALSO SUNK
LONDON, Dec. 10.—Admiral Sturdee officially re
ports that the German cruiser Nurnberg which escaped
from the battle near the Falkland island has now been
sunk. The search for the Dresden is proceeding. He
further reports that the action between the two fleets last
ed five horn's. The Scharnhorst was sunk after three
hours fighting and the Gneisenau was sent to the bottom
two hours later. The light German cruisers scattered and
were chased by British cruisers and by the British light
cruisers. No British vessel was lost and the report does
not say that any of them was badly injured or otherwise.
The lack of knowledge as to the number of British ships
; engaged still leads to the belief that it exceeded the num
ber of the enemy but the fact that the British admiral was
able to force an inferior force to battle is regarded as
proof of brilliant ability. It is clear also from the reports
that the battle was a fierce one while it lasted. The names
of the British vessels engaged have not even been publish
ed and it is assumed that among them were the two dread
naughts which were reported off the West Indies some
weeks ago going south The Scharnhorst and Gneisenau
were each of 11,500 tons displacement. The Nurnberg,
; Leipzig and Dresden were in the three or four thousand
tons class. The British people are exceedingly anxious to
hear the full details but in the meantime they are celebrat
ing the victory hilariously especially as the result is the
i clearance of the seas of the enemy.
BRITISH CAPTURE TURK ARMY
LONDON, Dec. 10.—The British forces have captured
a whole Turkish army on the river Tigris and by their vic
tory have established themselves at a point which is
quarter of the distance to the city of Bagdad. It is as
sumed here that the British forces in that part of the
world are mostly made up of Indian troops under the
leadership of British officiers and were sent by sea up the
Persian Gulf from India. The Tigris affords a splendid
means for penetrating an otherwise difficult country and
the British forces are making the most of it. There
is still every reason to believe that the Turks have
made no advance in the direction of Egypt and from the
reports from all sides it seems to be evident that Turkey
is either not yet prepared or that its methods of making
war are only half hearted.
REPORT GERMANS GIVING WAY
LONDON, Dec. 10—The German line stretching
across France is reported to be giving way by the French
war office. The French account is that the allies have de
livered severe attacks and that advances have been made
in several places where an advance is most important.
Specific mention is made of the successes in several quart
ers and of the capture of trenches, victories in artillery
duels and other matters that have resulted in advances of
distances of two hundred to six hundred yards. These on
slaughts led to spirited counter attacks from the enemy
who yesterday made six attempts in the Argonne region.
All the German attacks are reported to have been failures
and the general situation is better for the allies than it
has been for a long time.
ALLIES WAIT TILL SPRING
LONDON, Dec. 10.—All the British and French of
ficial reports indicate that the allies are slowly but surely
gaining superior positions over the Germans and are
gradually getting ready for the moment when a general
aggressive movement against the enemy will be under
taken. This movement can hardly be started before the
grand effort will be made of clearing the Germans en
tirely out of France and Belgium. It is evident that the
allied forces do not hope to be able to reach any decision
in the western theater during the winter so that some
months must elapse while the two great armies face each
other in the besieged trenches. A far has been expressed
in some quarters that the German victory in Poland will
enable the Germans to detach mighty forces from the
east for service in the west but officials declare there is
no danger in this respect as Russia can continue to main
tain great armies to face their enemy for a practically
limitless period even though the Germans should take
Warsaw.
EKES WIRES FOR FACES
ABORT BEHAI RESORRCES
The Seward Commercial club this,
morning received a cablegram from ;
Chairman Kdes of the Alaska Kail-]
road commission that a full account
of the resources of Kenai Peninsula be
secured by the club and forwarded to
him at Washington. The club immedi
ately began the work of acquiring all
the facts and after compiling an ex
haustive report will forward it to Mr.
Kdes about the 15th of the present
month.
It is clear from this fact that Pres
ident Wilson and others directly in
terested are taking into account the
resources of the immediate countries
through which the railroad will pos
sibly run. As this paper said some
days ago, the president has sure
ly not in mind at all the construction
of a railroad to some particular point
in the interior without considering the
possibilities of the sections through
which it will pass. In this respect this
district possesses infinite advantages
JOSEPH SMITH DEAD.
INDEPENDENCE Mo.. Dec. 10.—
Joseph Smith, president of the re
organized body of Latter Day Saints,
died here today . During the past few
years he had got into unfriendly re
lations with many of his former col
leagues in the old organization but
during a long period he enjoyed a
national reputation.
■ ■ - "" 1 —
SENATE DEBATING THE
IMMIGRATION BILL.
WASHINGTON Dec. 9.—The senate
began the debate on the immigration
bill today and the question will prob
ably take up the better part of sever
al
over any other sections which have
made efforts to secure the terminal of
the trunk line. There is hardly a mile
of territory opened by the Alaska
Northern railroad which is not rich
either agriculturally, or in a mineral
or some other respect. The pass it
self from Resurrection Ray is fertile
in resources while the other passes
are masses of barren rocks or glaciers.
These are the facts which the gov
ernment is now evidently taking into
account. Its request for data relating
to the immediate country surrounding
the possible sites shows that its in
tention is to open the BEST COl’N
TR Y AND N OT J U ST R U N A R AIL
ROAD FOR THE SAKE OF JUST
RUNNING IT TO SOME POINT
SOMEWHERE IN THE INTERIOR.
The commercial club can now per
form the greatest bit of work ever
done for Kenai Peninsula if it gives
the true facts conservatively and in
telligently, which it will. Kenai Pen
insula has the goods.
PAPAS IS MAN SHOT
BY CARL ARMSTRONG.
The prisoner who attempted to es
cape from Carl Armstrong at Tacoma
is the one who was known as Tony
Papas whose trial was held at th: lost
session of the court in Valdez. The
tr'al would have been held he *j were
•t rot that the authorities were wait
ing to see if the victim of the assault
would live. Papas was not the real
name of the man and the name g ven
in the story in another column i> prob
ably the right one. He go; twenty
years as it was clear that he intended
to kill his victim and had actually be
lieved him dead when he tried to hide
the body.
GERMANS ADVANCING
LONDON, Dec. 10.—The reports today from the
eastern front state that the Germans are advancing in a
southeasterly direction towards Warsaw. It is not clear
ly said if this advance is on the right bank of the \ istula
or not. If they are on the right bank and also advancing
from the west on the city Warsaw is certainly in serious
danger. To the southeast of Cracow the combined Ger
man and Austrian forces are endeavoring to outllank the
Russian left. The Russians say that the latest movements
of the allied enemy have been repulsed but little further
can be told of the progress of the general movments of
the Teutonic armies. It seems to be clear that the Germans
and Austrians are now engaged in a titanic movement
in which all their millions of soldiers are taking a part
from East Prussia to the Carpathian mountains, this
movement is easily the greatest ever undertaken and its
results might be such as never has been equalled. Should
it succeed it would mean that the Germans from the North
and the Germans and Austrians from the south and west
could take the mighty Russian hosts between them and
inflict a disaster which the imagination cannot grasp. If
it fails it may mean to the Germans and their allies a re
treat which would be a far greater disaster than that to
the grand army of Napoleon in the same country.
GARRISON SAID TO BE HUNGRY
LEMBERG, Dec. 10.—Austrian prisoners taken in a
sortie from Przemysl by theRussians say that all the in
habitants have deserted the city which they say is fast be
coming uninhabitable. They also declare that the garrison
is on short rations and that it cannot hold out much longer.
The Russian forces are still surrounding the fortress and
continuing the bombardment with good results.
LOOKS LIKE AUSTRIAN DEFEAT
VIENNA, Dec. 10.—The Austrian official report is
sued today practically admits an Austrian defeat in Ser
via. The details have not been given but the people seem
to be certain that the manner in which the report is word
ed leaves no doubt that the advance of the Austrian army
in Sevian territory has at least received a severe check.