I
vo| n N!) SKWAIIII, ALASKA. SA'!Tlil>.\V. .IAN! AHV >_>7. 1MQK._
All Others of 1rr> Persons on Board Ill-fated Steamship Lost from
Small Boats or Life Rafts and Sixty Went Down with the
Vessel "hile City of Topeka and Two Tugs Stood
by Helpless to Rescue Them
Steamship Valencia struck a
rock on the coast ot \ ancouver
island ten miles f '.'('in \ ictoria
Monday at midnight and sunk a
few hours later. Thirty-three
of the i;>:» passenigers and mem
bers of crew W(»re saved. I he
wreck is the worst in the history
of the Pacific coast.
y
By Cable to Tho Daily Gateway.
Port Angeles. Wash.. Jan. -•>
Kightoen survivors of the wreck*,1,
steamer Valencia were picked up bom
a lif»- raft at midnight. They were in
a terrible c n from the exposure,
drenched :•» tin skin hy the icy waters,
which flash,■, eve? Item almost con
stantly. a:.*; tin u*Go:!:,'eg was only
kept from frte.kt g by the repeated im
mersions. They wen lashed to the
logs to ke* ‘ tin m from washing over
U ard »s t! > raft poi>, il on the top- * f
tie- hre.i \* s*
These i t with the fifteen who
rear; , d * shores of Vancouver island.
are he ie\ : to he the only survivors
of tin wreck. The names of the men
on the raft follow: John Johnson, third
cook; Ck L. Allison, tourist from St.
Paul, Minn.: YV Dorothy and Joint
Trigodas. firemen; - Thomas Garrick,
first assistant engineer; S. O'Brien,
waiter: A. G. Willis, passenger: G.
Primer, fireman: W. I). Harraden.
passenger;M. Tarptey, quartermaster;
W. Raymond, nu -> man: Wk D. John
son. coal passer; J. G. Kgals. fireman:
Kleepme, baker: Franklin, last
freight clerk: Joseph Met atTrey. J.
Watch, A. Hawkins, passengers: P.
Peterson, second officer: J. Uoddenot,
waiter; J. O'Brien, waiter. Twenty
one names, evidently three repetitions
with errors in sp* .mg. Kd.J
The Valencia was sounding for bot
tom when sin- struck the rock. I he
fog was almost impenetrable and a
high sea was prevailing. When the
vessel struck the passenger* rushed on
deck, many of them r.*»t fully dressed.
Realizing Hie sh ..it. *n th y rush*si to
the davits an 1 1 * we red >• vvral of the
lifeboats ; aeti -Ives, In their haste
and tenor men cut away the canvas
coverings • the boats which are in
tended to keep-'ont the hreitkers, and
thereby r« :»;•!, * tk, in useless, as they
filled with wat*1!* almost instantly when
lowered to ll ■■ waves. 'Tins was doubt
less resp** - ok- for the loss of many
lives w hie m ght i tv 1* < a saved.
Silks witft All oa toara
Kan tie Id. V.i> couver island, Jan. LN
K |i. Hi. J ,n* Valencia broke up and
Hunk v.iti; al! on l»< ard. highly pas.
sengVrs and sixty of the crew were
lost, eiuit wish the vessel or the
linking of small boats ot* rafts. VS hen
the steamship want down v* »el< sent
to her relief stood by watching the
dissolution, unaMt to render aid be
cause of the high -a as which threat
ened to dash them upon the rocks or
against the wave-washed steamship if
they approached too close.
Sixty human creatures were huddled
on the saloon deck when the doomed
vessel stink beneath the pounding s»*is
and their cries of despair were dis
tinctly heard by the men on the City
of Topeka and two tugs which stood
by helpless as the Valencia and her
human freight were swallowed in the
cortex.
Only til teen of the l.V> persons on
board the vessel were saved. Six
reached Cape Beale in a small boat.
They are T. D. McCarty, boatswain,
Charles Brown, Thomas Shields. John
R. Monk. W. Goslin: (one name miss
ing). Nine others, names unknown,
landed on a rocky Wach ten miles
away.
Picks Ip Six Bodies
The tug Salvador returned to Victor
ia at 4 o’clock with six bodies which
had been picked up on the water. The
following are known to have been lost:
First-class passengers for Seattle,
kl. H. Anderson, C. Allison, H. Brown.
F. L. Bunker, assistant superintendent
of schools, wife and two children, Miss
VV. Cole, J. -J. Dusel, Fred Ericson, F.
T. Fondo, J. Bv Graham, Mat fl. Har
raden, G. I>. Harden, H. Hoelsher, C.
A. Loban, W. Loomvaradina, yi’2 Ten
th avenue south, J. Merie, J. F.
Ni lis. (I. Nonendacker, formerly of
Bellingham. Bert Parker, K. Peterson,
D. N. Peters. Mrs. \V. C. Rosenberg,
William Hidle. Mrs. Alice Slot enberg
and t w<> children of Bellingham, Mrs.
1. Shave. Charles Samuels, 12s) Nine
teenth avenue south, H. W • Taylor, H.
; "i\ L oan, Mi>s Van Wyck of San
Pi itie:sco, ,1. S. Widmer, Harry Ward.
CL Walker, Mr>. Wilkinson.
Second-class for Seattle: W. A. Bean,
.!. Campbell and wife, Thomas t .
; . V. s, V A. CasettO, S. K. Dawson. D.
D.iiiv, ti. lain, G. K. Erickson, H.
1 si a. Harry tiregory. Peter Ghil*e,
Peter Hogan, 't osuska llosoda,' W. il.
Heiakamper. A. Handgeft. H. Haw
i...is, lb Hill, .1. Rosie. James Ingle
ho: • . J. N. Keating. Jacob Loot ing. J.
K. Lucas. W. Montgomery. T. Man
V. T. Martin, J. .Murphy. Mike
y me iaic. Jacob Nikko, (1. P. Nord
st in and wif. . M. O’Neil. L Rant bee,
S. Haaicuma. Theo Shtvve, J. i’»- Shan
non. T. Swanson. M. Smith, James
Weilet. W. Wei let. C. West. K. Vuker.
For Juneau: Mrs. B. D. Stewart, K.
P. i.till. For Bellingham; Mrs. J. C.
Thompson, W. ,s. Hume. For Van
couver: CJ. IL Gese, Donald Ross, Howe
D C. T. Fornie, J. McCalTerty. For
Tac ua: Frank Novoch. Tom Brown,
S. Ltntan, P. Weightel. E. Weightel.
List of officers: Captain O. M. John
son, first officer W. Holmes; second
officer, P. Peterson: third'officer, J. IL
Cameron: fourth officer, A. Abe: Pur
ser. J. J. O’Ferral; freight clerk, F.
Lehn: assistant freight clerk, F. K.
Hopkins; chief engineer, W. Downing:
first assistant engineer, T. Garrick:
s /t.ml assistant engineer, F. Davis;
thin; assistant engineer, R. M. Nelson:
chief steward, J. K Huddinot: second
steward. N. H. Campbell.
Struck Rock in a fog
Viet ria, it. C., Jan. 24 At least
sixty persons were lost in the wreck of
the steamship Valencia on the rocks
lx twi '‘ii Cape Heale and Katouche-Jen
miles from Victoria, Monday night
at in him _ ut. The ves>* l was groping
a:mg the coast in a thick tog near a
high clitT when she struck a rock.
Capt. T. II. Cann at once ordered the
engines to hack her into deep water
hi t she instantly began to till and he
urdreed ilie engineers to ran her on
tin rocks again to prevent her from
sinking.
Ho at s were lowered and tilled with
women and children, but us the frail
crah weiv putting oil the heavy seas
smash 'd them against the side of the
steamship and all in them were lost.
Aitoj'-tliet seven boats and two rafts
were lowered, ail tilled with passengers
and enough of the crew to man them.
Only i wo have been heard from. No
list of the drowned has been received
yet but the number is at least sixty
one.
Describe Agonizing scenes
Scenes of agonizing distress are dos
erilted by the men who reached this
cit y in a small boat yesterday afternoon
with the news. Another boat is known
to have reached ('ape Beale late yester
day afternoon. When the boats got
away the seas were washing the decks
and 1<h> persons were in the saloon,
which was rapidly tilling with water.
Other small boats were seen to till
with water and go down, and several
persons dropped into the water while
trying to enter the boats, and were
drowned.
A woman handing her children to
her husband to be placed in a boat
dropped one and the child fell into the
water and disappeared before the par
ents' eyes. A little boy was seen run
ning about the boat calling wildly for
his mother, who had been drowned.
Two men had succeeded in climbing to
the top of the high cliff and were held
prisoners tkc-pe. It is believed that
they were swept off and drowned at
high tide.
Steamship Queen arrived here yes
terday afternoon at 5 o’clock and
quickly unloaded all her passengers and
hurried to the scene. All the avail
aide tugs were rushed forward as soon
as the news was received, in the hope
of reaching the vessel before she could
. . \
(Continued on fourth page)
Expected to Follow Advice to
Step Out and Capt. Jarvis
May Succeed
Hy Ca'ole to Tlio Dally Qatoway.
Washington, D. (’.. Jan. 24 A tele
gram was sent to (Jov. Mradv of Alaska
this morning hy a friend in whom he is
known to have confidence advising him
to give up tlio fight to retain liis olliee.
It is believed that Brndy will resign.
Tiie succession is in the air. it is
known that (’apt. I>. U. Jarvis, form
erly collector of customs for the dis
trict of Alaska and now ir. charge of
the NortbwesternSteaiuship Company’s
packing interests in the territory , can
have the place if he will accept it, in
preference to either l-’erkins or IJog
gatt. Perkins, however, is ulso identi
fied with the Northwestern Steamship
Company and i> hacked hy its influence.
Jarvis will not become a candidate there
fore, unless Perkins withdraws.
Carl M. Johansen entered the race
today and Iris the backing of Senator
Nelson of Minnesota. No appointment
will be made until Brady’s resignation
is received by mail, but it is practically
settled that it will i*e forthcoming.
To light if Character Attacked
Washington. 1>. <'.. Jan. 22 A letter
from (Jov. Brady of Alaska to a friend
has been shown here, in which gover
nor says that he will resign it Church
ill's report does not attack his char
acter. If it does he will tight to the
hitter end.
it is known that the report does not
attack (lov. Brady’s character, hut
Churchill does state that the governor
refused to answer any questions put to
him by the agent of the interior de
partment or to allow an investigation
of his personal accounts.
Several senators called on the Presi
dent today to urge the appointment of
W. T. Perkins to succeed Brady
if the governor gees out. It is semi
officially announced that if Brady’s re
signation is not soon received it will be
requested.
Wickersham is Proposed
Seattle, Jan. 23 in an effort t6 set
tle the Alaska judiciary tight twenty
seven local Alaskans hist night sent
an urgent telegram to President
Boo.-evelt requesting the appointment
of Judge Wickersham as governor of
tin' territory. A petition is in circu
lation here today asking for Wicker
sliam’s appointment as governor, and
i- receiving many signers.
Judge F. M. Brown of Fairbanks
and Janies A. Burke of Valdez are in
charge of the movement and a dele
gation will probably go to Washington
at once to push it. A strong light is
being made at the capital for Perkins
hut it is claimed that Secretary
Ilitchcock’s opposition takes him out
of the race.
m MAN MAY
Washington, I). Jan. 23 Presi
dent Roosevelt has under advisement
the subject of asking Rev. Sheldon
Jackson to resign his post |as superin
tendent of the Alaska reindeer stations.
Many complaints have reached the in
terior department and the President
concer ling .Jackson’s management,
and upon information contained in
Agent Churchill’s report Secretary
Hitchcock has determined to clear out
all graft from the reindeer stations.
It is charged that Jackson has been
giving away reindeer right and left,
and general incompetence aid misman
agement are charged against him. *
Harness Aurora Borealis
Yukon telegraph operators have har
nessed the Aurora Borealis to their
wirtv> and talked with each other over
hundreds of snow covered miles with
out the use of the batteries, the lack
of which usually makes telegraph lines
impotent and and insensate things.
The experiment was tried about two
weeks ago when it was discovered that
electric disturbances in the vicinity of
the wires were interfering with their
operation. At times they were great
ly overcharged and at the suggestion
of the operator at Dawson the batter
ies were disconnected from the wire
and the operator at that place and
Atlin had no diiliculty in sending mes
sages hack and forth. It is said to be
the first time that this has ever been
done on a north and south wire, while
it is frequently done upon wires that
! run from east to west.
Wholesale Merchants Ask Major
Ballaine to Confer on Steam
er Line Here
Sy UalUo to The Dally Gateway.
Seattle, Jan. 22 Maj. John E. Bal
laine left last night for San Francisco
where lie will meet the wholesale mer
chants of that city, upon their invita
tion. to arrange for the establishment
of a direct steamer line from the Cali
fornia city to Seward.
From San Francisco Maj. Ballaine
will proceed to Chicago to see Presi
i dent Frost of the Alaska Central Rail
1 way Company, and from there he will
j go to Washington to lobby for Alaska
I measures. He will be absent about
three month.
PORTLAND SEEKS
LiNE TO SEWARD
Port land, Jan. 2.1 At a meeting of
j wholesale merchants of this city, a
j Harriman line agent and John E. Bal
j laine. representing the Alaska Central
| Railway Company, an agreement was
I reached to establish a line of steamers
from this city to Seward.
The whole matter was referred to
General Manager Schwerin of the
Pacific Mail company at San Fran
cisco. Maj. Ballaine will confer with
j Mr. Schwerin there. The Portland
i merchants are taking a lively interest
| in the possibilities of Alaska trade.
niNID EIRE CLAY ON
RESURRECTION RIVER
Fire clay of good quality has been
located on the Resurrection river about
fourteen miles from Seward by G. M.
Kerns and R. F. Groom. The clay was
found in a flat where the hills which
enclose the stream closely through-out
most of its length recede and leave a
small valley. The surface composition
of this valley is the clay upon which
! Kerns and Groom last November lo
cated two placer claims for the pur
j pose of claiming the clay.
While only a slight test, has been
j made of the clay Mr. Kerns says there
is no question but it will make a good
j quality of building brick, and he is
! hopeful that it may be of queensware
grade. He has bad some experience
in brickmaking in Missouri and Neb
raska and -ays jtlie clay will make a
brick equal to the best found in those
states.
Shortly alter me discovery Air.
Kerns made a test of a small quantity
i of tin* clay by burning it at. his home
! in this city and he affirms that it made
I a brick of unusual hardness and
smoothness without a suspicion of a
crack, ft further tests show that all
i the clay in the valley where theclaims
i wore located is of similar composition
brick enough can he made there to
erect a large number of brick build
! ings in Seward.
The clay was found by the locators
while they were prospecting for placer
gold on the creek.
The discovery of fire clay, if it
proves to be what the discoverers
claim, will put a new phase on build
ing methods in Seward. It has often
been said that one of the greatest
needs of the town was the discovery of
clay suitable for brick making, and if
this has been-found close by it will
doubtless largely supplant lumber as
building material because of its better
resistance to fire, and because it may
possibly prove cheaper.
Believes In the Yentna
Joe Anderson came down from Knik
Saturday night. He lias been working
on the Matanuska since the beginning
of cold weather. He owns several
claims on Dollar creek, one of the rich
est tributaries of the Kahiltna in the
Yentna district, and did enough work
there last fall to show that they are
rich. He is as enthusiastic over the
Yentna as all the other miners who
have been there.
Brotherhood Camp Mas 107 Members
Seward camp of the Arctic Brother
hood now has 107 members and more
ebraing. Several Checlmcoes were
led over the trail Saturday night, and
other tenderfeet have applied for a
permit to join the stampede to the
new diggings._
The demand for dogs of the mushing
variety has almost put them out of the
Seward market.
Peter Monahan Pocks Out !5Q
Ounces of Gold on Fork of
Upper River
By CaMo to Tio Bally Gateway.
Valdez, Jail. 25 ■ I Vter Monahan ar
rived at Copper Center yesterday with
150 ounces of gold dust widen he had
rocked out of a bench opposite Number
2 above on Vaklcz creek, at the head
of the Shushetna river.
Valdez creek is one of the upper
tributaries of the Shushetna. Cold
mining has been in progress there for
two years and Al White of Valdez has
had men at work steadily. Although
the region has been believed to he rich
'his is the first time that actual results
of importance have been reported.
Valdez creek is about ltiu miles from
Shushetna station, and about sixty
miles above the forks of tin* river.
These figures are given by W. G. At
wood, assistant engineer of construc
tion of the Alaska Central, who has
been through the region twice on pre
liminary surveys for the railroad. He
i«. not certain whether Valdez creek i>
an ca>t or west fork of the Shushetna
but thinks it is an east fork. The
easiest way to reach it is by way
of the railroad trail from Seward to
Shushetna station and from there up
the river.
The entire region around the head
of tin* Shushetna is believed by old
prospectors who have been in that lo
cality to be very rich. W. G. Jack of
the Crow creek placer mini*, was in
there Neveral years ago and stated
while in Seward this fall that he ex
pected an important mining field to be
developed there, expressing the belief
that it might prove to be equal to the
greatest yet discovered.
The Valdez creek camp is scarcely
more than ten miles from the surveyed
liue of the Alaska Central railroad
and it will ultimately receive its sup
plies from this city. Although it has
been developed mainly by Valdez men
it will be directly tributary to Seward
and more accessible from this city as
soon as the railroad company puts
through the trail to the Tanana in ad
vance of the track.
The big copper discoveries made
last year on the eastern slope of the
Shushetna valley, from the Talkeetna
northward, lie a short distance south
of the Valdez creek gold district, and
a stampede is likely to the entire re
gion which may rival the Yentna
rush.
FINDS RICH COPPER
ON INTERIOR CREEK
M. J. McKinnon brought to Seward
Saturday night some' of the finest
specimens of copper that ever saw
daylight. He brought them from
claims which he located la->t fall on a
creek not previously prospected, so
far as anybody knows, about fifty miles
north of the Kashwhitney river, where
other rich copper finds were made last
year. Assays will be made of some
I of the specimens, but others require
no assay as they are almost pure cop
per.
Mr. McKinnon is well known in
Seward as lie worked here nearly a
year. Last summer he went up the
Kashwhitney with two partners to pros
pect and they made the discoveries
which he now reports. He is of the
opinion that gold discoveries will also
be made in the same region, lower on
the creeks where the copper locations
have been made, as he saw good indi
cations.
Messrs. Kidson & Dobson of the
Louvre are interested with Mr. Me
Kinnon and will arrange to have the
property developed the coming
season.
Ben Downing Dead
Ben Downing, the famous Alaska
mail carrier, died in San Francisco
January 11, from blood poisoning, pri
marily caused by the freezing of his
feet several years ago, on a hard trip.
Downing went into the Yukon in 1894,
carried mail, freight supplies, pros
pected a little, ran several big stage
routes, and from penury worked his
way by sheer pluck and ability to a
fortune estimated at over $200,000.
And during the ten years spent in ac
complishing this he made more friends,
according to a man who knew him
well than any other person in the
North.
John D. Rockefeller’s income in 1905
is estimated at barely $40,000,(XX).
•
T£([1)MP ip|<£
Track Reaches 46 and Will ’i
for the Winter at tlie S .ti.a .
Within a Few Days
Tilt* end of the track on !! a':i>k:i
I Central was pushed past tip -loth ml. •
I post Monday evening, and i All tf.
ing slowly toward tin- summit, which
is precisely miles lion. the Sew
ard dock end. There the titmin
will remain for the winter .Some roc k.
work still intervenes between in en
of the track and the summit hut a.
fast as the grade is finished tii rail
will he laid for the remain in;' fine; im
of a mile.
Last Sunday and Monday ion:* I< «-t *
track was laid and a few rails ha •
been spiked down since. I*\ aho.
February 1 the track will reach th*
j summit and then the transfer ~>ation
I will be moved from mile \y n> tl. it
j point. From the summit a good wag' ’
I road with a downhill pull is already
use and no change in the teem mis wi
he made until spring, probabL u.
until tlie tunnels are bored. IL thm
lime the grade beyond the* tuim s t.
Turnagain Arm will lie completed a>
1 nearly twenty miles of track i at: t
1 laid with a rush.
In spite of cold weather t • ;< wee .
in the cuts has continued steam a
tunnel boring goes right along • i ;*
j six tunnels. Kich «.V Harris lu.ve a
1 air compressor coming upon an ear
boat from Seattle, which will facilitn'e
work greatlv on their contract.
LANDS PLANT 18
WORK PLACERS
A hydraulic plant to work placers«e
King river, twelve miles from King
bay, sixty miles nm t ji of Latouche,*is
landed at the latter port from the
Farallon by H. Anderson, who wilt
superintend the work. The property
is on a tributary of King river, whicl
tlie owners named Money creek win
they located the claims last sumirn
There are forty-four claims.
From Latouche Mr. Anderson w. .
take the machinery to King bay in
small boats. He has a steam lnuiu
at Latouche, which he andhi> partm r
j K. |{. Abney and J. W. Sutural
I brought up last sirnime: and used: -
I cruise along, the coast. At King bay
j they found a schooner of ter. to. -, cap
acity, which Anderson left rare
: lsiis when he lirst located the pi ■ pet ty
This was' in good condition ate1 \n
Lletvon brought up a new < ngim to ( u*
1 in it. He will take a force of men Vo
i Latouche and proceed to K>ng bay
i with his plant ju-t before th* «pri«.
1 break-up.
j This property was discovered n lku*
by Mr. Anderson, hut he did not bar*
the capital to develop it. Last year In
| formed a partnership with .’Messrs.
| Abney and Sumrall. and they can *
I north on the Hertha in the summer,
(putting otT in a small boat m r L»
! touche August .5. They made the
j necessary locations and came to Seward
in September to file their notices,
j They then went outside and organic
(the company which will prosecute the
J work, with Mr. Anderson in charge.
He is a California miner of much ex
perience in hydraulic mining, and is
also an Alaska sourdough, having spent,
most of his time in the north since 189k.
Messrs. Sumrall and Abney reside in
Laurel, Mississippi, and were never in
Alaska until last year.
RAFFLt OFF $200 ROBt
A single turn of a roulette wheel last
night gave Frank Watson a fox skin
robe composed of ten foxskins, aid
valued at $200. It is the only time Mr.
Watson has ever been known to take a
chance on the wheel, but he agreed to
take several chances in a rallte for the
robe and when it was decided to settle
the disposition of the prize on a single
turn of the wheel Watson took ten
chances. The lucky number was 5.
Thirty-eight chances at $4.50 each
netted $171 to the owner of the robe.
H. H. Hicks, who acquired it in his fur
business at Iliamna. There are thirty
six numbers on the wheel besides the
single and double 0. An interesting
feature of the result is that a well
known man whose lucky uurnber is 5
offered to take a chance until he found
that the 5 was sold. If that number
had not already gone to Watson the
man who always plays 5 would have
won the $200 robe on a single chance
at $4.50.