the Seward Weekly Gateway
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BERNARD M. STONE. President.
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Entered as second class matter at the postotlice, Seward, Alaska
si W \ui>. A I .ASK \, > A r 1 KI ^ . .1 ANCAKN , '"IT
Just at present, it should be remembered, the accusa
tion against Secretary McAdoo and others has no better
foundation than hearsay. Lawson has been able to say
no more than that someone told him what someone else
had said. The fact that Lawson told Chairman Henry to
his face that he spoke of the leak means really nothing
material as there was evidently rumor about leaks and
Henry or anyone else could be excused for speaking in
such a manner. We shall probably know today what
opinion to form, but certainly the cables yesterday con
veyed no proof of wrong doing. All of us remember well
Lawson’s articles in tiie magazine—Everybody’s, if mem
ory is correct—in which he spent months ranting about
the exposures he was about to make and linished up like
an exploded gas bag.
Lawson, although a successful stock gambler who
has made millions, seems to be torn by the ambition to
get into the limelight. It should also not be forgotten
that Wall Street did everything in its power to defeat
Wilson and his party and may be looking forward to the
next election, and may be already forging the weapons
with which to accomplish the end of the Democratic
party. All that Lawson has told us yet, unless today s
cables bring further information, is that his banker told
him that McAdoo was responsible for the leak. This
banker and McAdoo are still to be heard from.
A cable coming last night too late for publication says
that Henry declared Ambassador Bernstorif had made
two millions by the leak. If this is proven, and there is no
reason why it could not, it will mean, of course, that Bern
storlTs recall will be demanded. It will also mean that
McAdoo will be disgraced and the cabinet of President
Wilson and his administrative machine generally degrad
ed in the eyes of the whole people. This will not aifect the
honor of the President himself but it will create a world
scandal such as has been only associated hitherto with
countries like Mexico.
It is safe to say, though, that Lawson with his usually
irresponsible haste has made charges which he can never
drive home. One can go further and say it is also safe to
assume that if McAdoo lias been indiscreet nothing worse
can be charged against him. He certainly never deliber
ately gave away such a secret when its divulgence, he
must know, involved the father of his wife, fatally threat
ened the administration of which he himself is a part,
ruined his own honor and betrayed his own party into the
hands of the enemy. Lawson and his friends have lied or
blundered. It would be too terrible to harbor any other
belief.
Valdez is just now suffering severely. To the de
structive rires is added the horror of the feeling that citi
zens of the town might have been criminals. Atop of all
this comes the awful death of its most prominent business
iraa and the suicide of another. Either one of these cal
amitous occurrences might well be sufficient to cast a deep
gloom over the people of our neighboring city. All com
ing together must make every person in Valdez feel keen
personal suffering and despondency. Under the circum
stances we here in Seward cannot but feel the deepest
sympathy for our sister town and we should let it be
known in some unmistakable manner. Next to \ aldez
itself Seward suffers the keenest regret and we can only
hope that the people of that line city will be provided with
the fortitude to withstand its terrible trial.
Sam Blum is a loss to Alaska. He was big-hearted
and generous. Just after the lire that took a fortune
from him he wired from Seattle the hope that no one had
been physically injured, and the hope that other sutlerers
financially would stand up against their loss. In this town
of Seward something is published which Mr. Blum
thought might be of aid in advertising the territory and
ne subscribed for the publication for all of his three
stores. Little things like these illustrate his character,
but i nthe bigger things he always showed public spirit
and a real desire to make Alaska prosperous. 1 he terri
ble accident that took his life took a good friend and a
progressive citizen from the territory.
The mother of Thaw, the Degenerate, is like every
mother. Mo doubt she believes all the world is wrong
and her son alone is right. Providence has provided the
mother with a purblind view to regard the son that
mothers may not die of grief in millions and leave the
world depopulated. In all this hard world there is only
one undeniable, sure and unquestioning love and that is
the love of the mother. Its loss to the world would be
equal to the failure of the sun to shine. If young sons and
daughters could be only taught to appreciate it, to foster
it and prove it justified, “this wilderness were Paradise
enow.”
Bristol Bay is now the California of Alaska. Upon
the votes of that remote place depends the question of the
delegateship from Alaska. Some few short years ago
none of us ever thought that Alaska could till a seat in
the national congress, but now congress must listen to the
voice of Nushagak and Naknek, for whether it be Sulzer
or Wickersham he shall always be the gentleman from
Bristol Bay. Some deputy marshal up there may have
been the Hiram Johnson of Alaska politics and may have
turned his precinct in favor of the party in power. Other
wise, goodbye to the Alaska Hiram, so far as his job is
concerned.
—
Local men have sent to Valdez in the hope that the
result of the Bristol Bay vote might be learned here be
fore it goes to the clerk of court. If this effort fails we
must wait until the Alameda goes back to Valdez and de
livers the sealed package. Some of the men coming on
the Dora seem to believe that Sulzer is away ahead in the
voting there but no tangible evidence of this has been se
cured.
—
THE MUSHER
WHO BT OUGHT
THE GOLD
if the story of Bob Griffith, the man
who brought the half million of gold
from Iditarod, could be told as it
really is it would make a tale of
thrilling interest.
Bob came to Forty Mile, Alaska,
first in 188!>. Before that he hud
been driving stage in the Black Hills
and in other wild places. While en
gaged in that work he was held up
several times. Twenty-eight years
ago he hit out for the Alaska wilder
ness and got to Fortymile. At that
time only fifty men were in that part
of the country and they were engag
ed rocking on the bars, making good
money. Only one steamboat plied on
the Yukon river and one season that
boat got on a bar down near the
mouth. Jack McQuesten who was
aboard sent Indian runners out across
country to inform the Fortymile
miners and this Indian kept going till
he foil ml another who took up the
running. The course of these run
ncrs was by tlu* head of the lanana
river but the news got to the white
men and they started down stream to
get provisions. This was called
Starvation year on the Forty mile
In Mr. Griffith was sent for to
drive a tally-ho at the World’s Fair
in Chicago and he left Fortyinile in
a polling boat for the great journey.
He polled all the way up to Lake
Linderman and went out over the
Chilkoot Pass. At Five Finger Uap
ids the boat was portaged over the
big bin IT at the left hand side of the
rapids, going down. At Whitehorse
rapids tlu* boat was lined up on the
same side and portaged over the
famous canon. After the Fair Hob
again hit out for the Fortyinile and
was there when the Klondike was
struck. Today he has a store in the
Tolstoi, a summer mail contract
which he tills with his own boat for
the Iditarod, and at the same time
packs millions in dog teams over the
trails. The number of miles traveled
by him over the Alaska trails would
make a journey far greater than that
around the world. When questioned
about the possibility of a holdup of
gold trains on the Alaska trails, like
tho>e in the Black Hills days, Bob
said: “They’d be crazy to try it.”
SITREMK corin' REJECTS
R Ml.ROAD MAIL CASES
WASHINGTON. Jan. l.WThe su
preme court today rejected the rail
road test case which was meant to se
cure for the railroads thirty-five mil
lion dollars as additional compensa
tion for carrying the mails in 1917.
COOK INI.ET VOTES
MAY BE CTT OCT
If reliance may be placed on reports
that are current here hereabouts, the
vote of two of the precincts in the
Cook inlet country will be cast out
by the canvassing board, when it con
venes, for the reason that the election
judges, in their ignorance, burned the
ballots, after duly counting them and
certifying as to the result. And the
pity of it is that these two precincts
voted strongly in favor of Delegate
Wickersham.—Anchorage Times.
LAWSON WILL BE DEALT
WITH WITHOUT MERCY
WASHINGTON, Jan. 15. — The
committee of rules of the House de
clares that no habeas corpus in the
Lawson case will be considered if he
is committed for contempt. It also
says that Lawson must answer writ
ten questions or face the House on
the contempt charge. Great care is
to be taken to prevent the mention
of the name of the representative of
any foreign nation in the proceedings.
THAW MAY BE SENT
BACK TO ASYLUM
PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 14.—Harry
Thaw is rapidly recovering. None of
his family have arrived at his bedside
but his mother is expected. Henry
Scott, Thaw’s counsel, has asked the
governor for e hearing before extra
dition is granted.
MOTHER STANDS BY HIM
PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 15.—The
mother of Thaw arrived today and
told her son not to worry. “We will
care for you,” sho said. Attorney
Frank J. Johnston suys he has no de-1
sire to prevent Thaw’s removal and
the family is willing to have him re
committed to the asylum if anything
is found radically wrong with him.
LAWSON GOES TODAY TO
TESTIFY TO COMMITTEEi
j
WASHINGTON, Jan. 15. — T. W.
Lawson wired today that he is com
ing to testify before the committee on
rules on the leak matter and he ex
pects to arrive at two o’clock. This
wire came after the committee had
adjourned because of his non-appear-,
mice. The decision was then arrived
at to start the hearing again at 3
! o’clock. The most intense interest is ,
\eing manifested and bets are being
• Ait* up for and against the committal;
of the financier on the contempt;
charge.
i
-I
BLUM’S DEATH
ANACCIDENT
SUICIDE THEORY SCOUTED
SAYS VALDEZ PROSPECTOR
IN CABLE TO GATEWAY.
VALDEZ, Jan. 12.—J. M. Lathrop
lias confirmed the news that Sam
Blum of this city met his death acci
dentally today in Seattle by falling
from a third story window. The oc
currence was purely accidental and
the suggestion that he committed sui
cide is scouted by everyone. He was
dictating a letter to a stenographer
at the time and feeling faint he went
to the open window for air. As he
icached the window he fainted and |
fell through it to the street. The
suggestion that he committed suicide
came as a result of the fact that he
had suffered severely by the fire but
the truth seems to be that worry and
work resulting from the fire caused
the faintness which brought about his
death.
THE SEATTLE STORY
SEATTLE, Jan. 13. — Sam Blum,
the Valdez and Cordova merchant,
fell three stories from the window in
his otlice in the Pacific Building at
5:30 o’clock on Friday ami died en
route to the hospital. The occurrence
is believed to be accidental although
the police say it was suicide. They!
back their argument by the fact that.
the window was forty inches above
the floor and has a forty inch ledge.
There were no witnesses to the oc
currenee. J. M. Lathrop, owner of
the Valdez Dock Company and a per
sonal associate of Blum, is heart
broken. He says Blum never made a
complaint about his fire losses or any
thing else although he had been seri
ously ill for several days. He is pos-1
itive that Mr. Blum fainted and fell |
thiough the window. The two men
! were standing at the open window u
moment before the accident. Lathrop
went into his own office for a minute
and on re-entering the Ilium office j
Blum was gone. Because of the brief
period he was away Lathrop feared
the worst and he rushed to the street
to find his friend dying. All the
friends of Blum scout the suicide
theory. There was no reason for
such an act, they say. His credit
was unlimited and his business was
sound.
11. S. WILL PROBABLY REFUSE
TO SEND AMBASSADOR
TO CARRANZA.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 13.—The
American and Mexican members of
the Mexican commission will hold an
other joint meeting next Monday in
New York and then may come the
crisis in the relations between the
two countries. It is believed certain
that the intention to send Ambassa
dor Fletcher to Mexico City will not
be carried out as the actions of Car-,
ranza are no longer regarded as indi
cating a desire to smooth over the
difficulties.
.
TWENTY-SEVEN MEN KILLED
AND HALF MILLION POUNDS
OF POWDER DESTROYED.
NEW YORK, Jan. IS. — Twenty
seven men are reported to have lost
their lives and half a million pounds
of powder was destroyed by a fire
which took place yesterday in the
Dupont Powder plant at Haskell,
New Jersey. The cause of the fire is
not known but it is believed to have
been accidental.
___
SCHOONER PROGRESS
COMING FOR HALIBUT |
The schooner Progress which was
here catching halibut some time ago
has again left Seattle for Seward to
engage in fishing. j
GAME IS SCARCE
IN ALL PARTS
OF ALASKA
I
Cordova Times)
(iustavc Priesner, of McCarthy, re
ports that the fur from mink, lynx
and wolves is much better this year
than last, and stales that there are
at present eight big gray wolves at
Ling lake, where they never had any
i before.
Mr. Priesner is interested in the
I disappearance of ptarmigan in the in
tenor section, and is conducting an
investigation to learn if the same con
ditions prevail in other parts of Al
! aska as do at McCarthy and in the
! Chisana country. He says that some
of his friends advised him that they
had not seen more than half a dozen
of these birds in a twelve days cross
country mush, where last year they
had counted over a thousand.
In answer to a letter written Cov
ernor Strong, inquiring as to the
cause of the scarcity of these birds
in Alaska, Mr. Priesner received the
following reply:
“I have to advise you that this of
fice has received information through
the game wardens in the different
judicial divisions that the disappear
ance of ptarmigan seems to be gen
eral. This report comes from the
Seward peninsula country, from the
Yukon interior, the Tanana river val
ley, and from the Kenai peninsula,
and in fact nearly every section of
Alaska peninsula, from which I have
not as yet heard, but probably shall
do so as soon as winter mail com
munication is established, which
probably will be some time in Febru
ary. I may add, for your information
that 1 have reported the sudden dis
appeaance of ptarmigan to the biolo
gical survey of the department of
agriculture, and should I receive any
infomation as to the reason for the
disappearance of these birds I shalT
advise you.
“J. F. A. STRONG, Governor.”
OFFICIAL COUNT
NEXT FEBRUARY
The territorial canvassing board,
which meets in Juneau, will probably
begin its session during the early
part of February. With the vote so
close in the delegate race, it will
probably not be known definitely
who is elected until after the com
pletion of their labors. Just what
date this will be cannot be stated, as
all precincts must be included in the
count.
WHAT ALASKA SCHOOLS
COST TO MAINTAIN
i _
Fairbanks enjoys the distinction of
having a school system that during
the year 1915-16 cost more money
than that of any other incorporated
town in Alaska. The cost was great
er per pupil than that of any other
town. The cost per pupil was twice
as great as the average of all other
towns in Alaska. In number of pu
pils, Fairbanks stood fourth, but in
the amount of money spent for up
keep it was first. Fairbanks also had
more teachers for the number of
students than any other school. These
facts are disclosed in Governor
Strong’s annual report, on page 76.
Juneau, with 367 pupils in the pub
lic schools, leads the territory. In
Juneau there were 13 teachers, or;
one teacher for every 28 pupils. The
average salary of these teachers wa3
$1,138.07, and the average cost per
pupil for the year for maintaining the
Juneau schools was $54.19. The tot
al school maintenance cost $19,887.18.
Douglas, in numbers, is second with
an enrollment of 220 students. For
these were eight teachers, engaged at
an average salary of $980.31, and the
average cost per pupil for the whole
year was $52.10. The total school
maintenance cost $11,4633.
Ketchikan comes third on the list i
in point of numbers, having a total
enrollment of 196, for which six
teachers were employed, or one teach
er for every 32 2-3 pupils. The i
average salary of these teachers was
$1,030. The total cost of mainten
ance was $10,100. The average cost
per pupil was $51.53.
Fairbanks, with 192 students, is
fourth on the list in point of enroll
ment. For these students, nine teach
ers were employed, or one teacher for
every 21 1-3 students, a much lower
average than any of the other
schools. The average cost per stu
dent in Fairbanks was $117.25. The
total cost of maintenance was $22,
407.63. The average teacher’s salary
is $1692.30.
The total cost of maintaining all
public schools in the incorporated
towns of Alaska, exclusive of Fair
banks, was $89,509.94, and the total
enrollment for these schools was 1,
501, making the average cost per pu
pil $59.63.
Nome, where conditions are more
similar to Fairbanks than in any
other town in Alaska, amintained its
schools for $11,551.33, with 145 pu
pils, or at an average cost of .$79.66
per pupil. The average teacher’s
salary at Nome was $1,387.
All of these towns specifically
mentioned above have the full high
school course, as has Fairbanks.
SAY STRONG TO
BE GOVERNOR
ALASKANS IN SEATTLE ALL RE
LIEVE DISTRICT ATTORNEY
SPENCE MIST GO.
SEATTLE, Jan. 15. — News from
Washington and the information se
cured from prominent Alaskans
there and here indicates that a con
siderable shake-up will soon take
place in Alaska politics. It is said
that Strong, Jennings, Grown and
Gunnell will be re-appointed but that
a big political house cleaning will
take place in Nome officialdom. All
informed Alaskans believe Spence,
district attorney for the Third divis
ion, will “get the axe,” especially be
cause of his prosecution of the Valdez
Tillicum Club. Tom Donohue, nation
al committeeman, says Sulzer is sure
to “get” VVickersham.
OPERATOR HI RT WHEN
HE FALLS DOWN SHAFT
FAIRBANKS, Dec. 25.—Kenneth
Finlayson, who is operating on Wild
cat creek, in the Vault district, sus
tained injuries to both of his legs, one
of them being badly hurt, on Tuesday,
when he fell thirty feet to the hot-,
tom of his shaft. He was climbing
out of the hole, which is fifty feet
deep, on a ladder which he had ar
ranged in it, when he slipped and fell
back into the shaft when he was
about twenty feet from the surface.
A report received in town last night
was to the effect that his injuries are
not necessarily of a fatal nature, as
far as can be ascertained without a
medical examination, but that he is
suffering considerable pain as the re
sult of his experience.—Citizen.
VALDEZ BUSINESS MAN COM
MITS SUICIDE WITHOUT
APPARENT CAUSE
VALDEZ, Jan. 12. — Angus Chis
holm, a prominent business man and
an oldtime Alaskan, committed sui
cide this morning by cutting his
throat. No motive for the act is
i
known.
Mr. Chisholm was the proprietor of
the Senate saloon at Valdez but the
place was not destroyed in the recent
fire. His brother was killed accident
ally here in Seward at the sawmill
about two years ago. Angus himself
visited Seward recently once ia twice
while on the way to and from Anchor
age.
TWENTY THOUSAND VIEW
BODY OF BUFFALO BILL
DENVER, Jan. 15. — Two gover
nors, several army officials and some
ex-governors were amongst those who (
viewed the body of Buffalo Bill in the
Rotunda of the Capitol today. The
number of those passing the body in
review is estimated at twenty thou-j
sand. The flag of the capitol is at;
half mast.
ALASKAN DIES IN SOUTH
" ■■ —
The governor’s office has been ad
vised by the Sanitarium Company of
Portland, Oregon, of the death on
December 9 of Fidel Labon, who en-^
tered the sanitarium on August 23
1912, from Bristol bay, Alaska. In
terment took place in the Multno-i
mah cemetery, Portland.
RELATED TO WASHINGTON
Los Angeles, Jan. 4.—Jonathan
Custard, 82, descendant of George
Washington’s aunt and said to have
been the oldest living relative of
Washington, died here while on a
visit from his home in Lima, 0. He
is survived by a widow and two child
ren.
AN INACCURATE
LEGEND ABOUT
GUGGENHEIMS
There is growing up around the
Guggenheirns a legend that is about
as inaccurate as such things usual I\
are. Some Ferrero of the future
probably will have to dig up fact.-*.
One G. C. Forbes, writing recently tn
Leslie’s Weekly, recorded that “No
mountaineer, no prospector knew
more about hardships than the Gug
genheim brothers went through. The
Creator, they soon discovered, had in
variably deposited mineral * ealth far
from settled centers of civilization
and had surrounded it with obstacle*
which only the pioneer and brave
elected to encounter. Daniel Gug
genheim, with the other brothers,
slent in tents or wagons amid wild
surroundings as often as under a
roof." And then some more slush.
Daniel Guggenheim was a bold and
far-seeing financier and exploiter, but
lie was not a pioneer of the type of
Mackay and Hoarst, and any such in
timations are probably quite nauseat
ing to him.
In the early 80,s, Meyer Guggen
heim, a lace manufacturer in Phila
delphia, at the instigation of a fel
low Philadelphian, Graham by name,
acquired a half interest in the A. V.
and Minnie mine in California gulch
at Leadville, Colo. The venture prov
ed highly profitable, the A. V. and
Minnie becoming one of the big mines
of the district. Benjamin Guggen
heim, one of the sons of Meyer, was
:ent out to the mine as accountant,
and he, acquiring more or less inform
ation concerning the smelting busi
ness, induced his father and brothers
to go into it largely because of the
unfavorable terms the smelters woi *
making on the A. V. and Minnie ore.
which gradually became more zincy
and consequently less desirable in
character, from the lead smelters’ .
standpoint. The Guggenheims, in
company with E. C. Holden (who
soon retired), built the Philadelphia
works, a large plant at Pueblo, Colo.,
in 1880. At first this venture was dc
cidely unsuccessful but gradually
coming to the appreciation of the
necessity for securing the best pos
sible technical advice and acitng up
on that prrinciplc, together with their
own sharp commercial acumen, they
converted into a success what promis
ed to be a failure. Thus havirg ac
quired an insight into the smelting
business, they early appreciated the
great possibilities of smelting in
Mexico when the lead bearing ores of
that country were practically exclud
ed from the United States by the tar
iff of 1800. and erected works at Mon
terey and Aguas Calientes. This ex
pansion in business, to which the tar*
iir of 1800 opened the way, was the
real start of the business. When the
Philadelphia plant was built, William
and one or two other brothers went
out to join Benjamin. In later years,
when the business had become big.
there was a little rift between the
brothers who had been in the field
and those who had stayed at home.
And finally, Benjamin (who was lost
with the Titanic) and William retired
from the smelting business.—Engi
neering and Mining Journal.
FAIRBANKS EDITOR
IS SENT TO JAIL
In commissioner’s court yesterday
afternoon G. Hinton Henry, editor of
the Free Press, a local publication, /
was tried before a jury and convict
en on a charge of libel. The verdict
in part follows: “We, the jury, find
the defendant guilty as charged, with
a recommendation of mercy.” Henry
was sentenced to serve P20 days in
jail and pay the costc of the case.
The case will be appealed to the dis
trict court. Commissioner Heilig
fixed the bond at $1,000, which will
probably be arranged for by this
morning.
The charge was brought by is. K.
King and was caused by an article
which appeared in the Free Press a
short time ago, stating that some of
the subscribers’ papers had been stol
en, and that if Mr. King was too ^
cheap to buy a paper he would be
presented with one. The defense set
up was that the article does not con
stitute libel, and that it was simply
an offer on the part of the editor to
present Mr. King with a copy of his
publication.—Citizen.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 16.—Admiral
Dewey declined steadily during the
night and the end seems to be nearer.