Seward Weekly Gateway
_ _———————
— ,,, vo. I() SEWAKd” ALASK A. SATURDAY. «»< TOItKI? •-><>■ Mm«-_
WASKEY TALKS
ALASKA AFFAIRS
Short Term Delegate Arrives in
Seattle aiul Discusses
Legislation.
TERRITOR\ W VNTS HOME RILE
Says People ore Opposed to Politi
cal Parties but Desire Chanqes
in Mininq laws.
Xy Cable to Tbe Daily Gateway.
Seattle. Oct. 1*» Frank H. Waskey.
delegate to congress from Alaska for
»ii< short term, arrived today from
Notin' and n an interview says that
there are no |K>t:ticu parties in Alaska,
ami that he and t ale represent no
parties. The men who elected them
look no share in the political conven
tions held in the First judicial district
because they were optnised to estab
lishing political parties in the terri
tory. Air. Waskey said:
••Mr. fale and my-elf are anxious
to pav< the way -r utture legislatioi
in the interest of the whole territory.
Alaska demands home rule. F.videnee
that it is entitled to self-government i>
shown by the fact that all its elections
are quiet and no disorders have ever
•ecurred either at municipal elections
nr at its recent delegate election. I
intend to try to secure changes in the
Hie present delegate law regarding
registration and also changing the date
In the spring.
•‘The present mining laws should
also be amended. Under existing
•tatutes speculators acquire many
•(aims dishonestly. A land office
tturnld be established at Nome and an
other at Fairbanks, in addition to the
present one at Juneau. It should be
■ado the duty of the recorder of a
■ining district to satisfy himself of
the regularity of a mining location be
fore accepting and filing the notice.
▲ legal form of declaration that assess
ment work has been performed ac
cording to law should be adopted and
false swearing iu it should be math*
perjury.
•‘A lighthouse district should be cre
ated with a geodetic survey located
at Ketchikan. I shall ask the govern
ment to make such provisions for the
faiquiraos as will make them self-sup
porting.”
TREMOR CAUSES
FEVER EPIDEMIC
larthquake and Storm in Jaiisco
kill Many Animals and Car
casses Breed Disease.
By Cable to The Dally Gateway.
City of Mexico. Oct. l'» A tropical
storm in the Mexican state of Jalisco i
at the same time as the disturbance in
the Indian ocean was followed by an
earthquake which wiped out the town i
of Sopotillia. Thousands of animals |
were killed and their putrid carcasses
are causing an epidemic of fever.
Thousands of nati vos have no food or.
shelter and great suffering prevails.
Deaths are numerous. especially
among children.
Colima volcano i> erupting and its
fumes are tilling the air throughout
the valley, which i> deserted. No
death losses except by fever are re
urted.
Good Results on Valdez Creek
The Valdez Prospector reports that
twenty-two men have been working on
Valdez creek, on the upper Susitna
river, all summer with good results.
Although the season was short and
high water interfered with operations
they took out considerable gold. 1 he
gold is coarse and nuggets are numer
ous. Dan Kain exhibited several
specimens, the largest containing over
three ounces.
A two-ninth interest in the Tramp
group of twelve copper claims on
Hogan bay, on the east side of Knight
island, was sold recently for $10,000
•ash. __
The mineral production of Canada
fcas increased from $o,tM4,000 in 1871
to upward of $100,000,000 annually
at the present time.
TUE DID NOT
SAIL ON 8TH
Report That Equator Left Seattle
With Mail That Day a
Pipe Dream.
The tug Equator did not sail from
Seattle until October 15. instead of
October s. as cabled on tlu* k'th by the
correspondent of the Alaska daily
papers. The steamer Portland is;
bringing all the Valdez and Seward j
mail accumulated in Seattle for two;
weeks before her departure while:
tlu* Northwestern Steamship Company
was floundering for a start.
It is apparent that the steamship
company sent out the yarn that the
Equator sailed October 8 with the
mail simply as a bluff to appease tem
porarily the disgust of the Alaska:
port- which are compelled to accept j
the boat “service” offered by that out-.
lit anil another one just as bad. both j
typical of the Seattle spirit.
In this amiable false pretense the
press correspondent was an accessory
after the fact. i>ossiblv before. Cn
der date of October 8 lie wired the ex
plicit statement that the “Equator
sails today with mail.” He never
wired any contradiction. Whether the
Equator started and then sprung a,
leak and had to go back, alter the;
prevailing fashion of Seattle "steam
ers.’’ or never left the dock, is uncer
tain. Nine days after the Equator was
said to have sailed, to wit, Wednesday,
October 17, the Gateway wired to the
corresjKmdent asking for information
and received this reply:
"Equator sailed Monday as re
ported ”
Now wouldn't that hurt you? The
correspondent skilfully sidestepped by
saying “Monday,” and it is now re
ported that she did sail “Monday,” the
15th, hut that was not “Monday as re
ported.” She was reported a week
earlier, and for nine days the people of
Valdez and Seward laid the flattering
unction to their souls that the benefi
cent steamship company, although it
had suffered the loss of three “steam
ers,” *>0 yearned with anxiety to salve
the bruises of its victims that it had
gone to the heavy expense of sending
a boat on a 3000-mile round trip with
mail only, and the people gave credit
accordingly and tried to be cheerful
and patient. It is true that some per
sons who claimed to know said the
Equator was so slow she couldn’t get
out of her own way, but everybody
gave the company credit for doing the
best it could.
Now it appears that the tug did not
sail “; - reported” on “Monday” the
sth. It is now “reported” that she
sailed <>n “Monday” the 15th. What
for? The Saratoga, sailing two days
later, can beat her to it. Is she com
ing with some dim, unfledged idea of
whitewashing over the false report
(Continued on page 4)
GIVES SUPPPORT
TO OCTOBERISTS
Premier Stolypin Seeks to Elect
Members of That Party
to Parliament,
By Cable to The Dally Gateway.
St. Petersburg, Oct. 16—Premier
Stolypin has adopted the Octoberists
as the government party and will ex
ert every effort to achieve its success
in the coming elections for members ot
parliament.
In pursuance of this decision the
premier will seek to impress upon the
people the sincere desire of the im
perial government to adhere to the
promises made in the czar’s proclama
tion of October .'10 last year, in which
various pledges of reform were given
which have not been carried out, the
pretext being that the continuous
popular disorders made impossible any
governmental policy but that of re
pression.
The Lagrange hydraulic mine near
Weaverville, California, said to be the
most productive hydraulic mine in the
world, yielded $250,000 in gold this
year, and it shut down early because of
lack of water. The cost of operation
was $60,000.
The annual production of copper in
the United States now is more than
1.000,000,000 pounds.
BIG STEAMERS
ON SEWARD RUN
Saratoga, Pennsylvania and
Northwestern to Make Next
Three Sailings.
SANTA CLARA WILL DRV DOCK
She Will Come Back on Outside
Schedule November 16 and Re
main Through Winter.
By Cable to Tbe Dolly Gateway.
Seatt le, Oct. 13—The steamer Sara
toga is scheduled by the Northwestern
Steamship Company to sail for Seward
October 10. The Pennsylvania will
sail October 24 and the Northwestern
November 1. The Santa Clara will tfo
on the dry dock on her return from her
present trip but will return to the
run, replacin'*1 the Pennsylvania,
November 1(1.
According to present plans the Sara*
to-_ra. Northwestern and Santa Clara
will he the regular steamers of the
Northwestern company on the Seward
run during the winter. It is hoped to
have the Seward, the new steamer
which the company is now building at
Moran's, completed in time to take the
place of the steamer Northwestern
when the latter *foes back to the Nome
run next summer.
Steamer Saratoga Sails
Seattle, Oct. 17—Steamer Saratoga
sailed this afternoon for Seward and
Valdez. She carries a general cargo
and has seven cabin passengers for
Seward.
PUT EXCELSIUR
OUT OF RUNNING
Marine Inspectors Condemn Her
and Require Frame Work
to Be Rebuilt.
By Cable to The Dally Gateway
Seattle, Oct. 18—The local marine
inspectors today condemned the steam
er Excelsior. They found that her
frame work must be entirely rebuilt.
It is probable that she will never re
turn to Alaska.
The Excelsior is a comparatively new
boat. She was built at Eureka, Cali
fornia. iu 1893. Several of the steam
ers on this run are much older than
that. The Excelsior has been coming
to Southern Alaska for several years.
She is of N30 tons, gross.
TO MAP YENTNA REGION
Messrs. Cook and Porter Will Pub- j
lish Result of Topographical Work
Dr. Cook and R. W. Porter will pub
lish a map of the region lying south
and southeast of Mt. McKinley, em
bracing most of the Yentna minfng
district, soon after their return to the
states. Mr. Porter was topographer
of the Cook expedition last summer
and devoted nearly all of the four
months he spent in the region at
topographical work. Dr. Cook also
devoted considerable time to explora
tion.
Roth Mr. Porter and Dr. Cook
studied the mineral resources of the
Yentna region to the utmost extent
during the time at their command, and
both are well-informed concerning
the output of the creeks and routes of
travel among them. They declare un
hesitatingly that the country has not
yet been scratched for gold and pre
dict a yield next year several times
greater than that of the/ season just
closed. Their estimate of the output
is similar to that of others.
Biggest Gold Nuggets
The largest gold nuggets ever found
were the Welcome and the Welcome
Stranger. The first, weighing 2,217
ounces, was found in Ballarat, Vic
toria; and the second, 2,268 ounces in
weight, was found at Dunnolly, Vic
toria, in 1869. In both cases the for
tunate finder netted over $40,000 by
one turn of the pick.
Gets Pictures of Railroad
Dr. Cook secured various moving
picture views of portions of the rail
road line as far as mile 41 this week.
ALASKA CABLE
GETS APPROVAL
Gen. Allen, Chief Signal Officer,
Makes Annual Report of
Operations.
WIRELESS WORKS PERFECTLY
Head of Bureau Recommends Ex
tensions and Another Wire
From Seattle to Sitka
By Cable to The Dolly Gateway.
Washington, Oct. l-> The re
port of Gen. Allen, chief of the signal
service, states that the operation of the
Alaska cable and telegraph lines i>
satisfactory. He recommends that the
cable between Sitka and Juneau !>«• cut
and looped in to a point near < 'ape
Fanshaw, running a single'cable south
to vVrangel, thence to a point on
I’rince of Wales island near Hadley,
thence south to Ketchikan.
Gen. Allen proposes that in connec
tion with the Alaska road commission
the signal service construct a cut-oil
from the main land line to McCarthy.
Also a cut-oil between Glen and Tolo
sana. then abandon the line from Tolo
sana to Chena and construct a new line
from a point eighteen miles above
Tolosana, to Chena. He states that he
has assurances that the Gakona trail
will be located early next summer,
Gen, Allen advises that an additional
cable will soon be necessary from Se
attle to Sitka to transmit the increas
ing volume of messages. He reports
that the wireless system across Norton
sound from Nome to St. Michael is
working perfectly.
POACHERS GET
NO SYMPATHY
Japanese Government Investigates
and Finds Sailors were
Trespassing.
By Cable to Tbe Dally Gateway.
Victoria, B. C., Oct. 16—The steam
ship Empress of Japan brings the
news that the Japanese government
after investigation found to be untrue
the story of Japanese poachers that
they landed at St. Paul island and were
treacherously fired upon by the guards.
It has been proven that the men were
in search of seals.
It appears that the crew on the
schooner Toya Maru refused to work
unless the captain would permit them
to go ashore to club seals. They land
ed and when detected tried to escape.
One of the four occupants of the boat
was shot in the breast and died soon
afterward. His body was packed in
salt and taken to Japan.
FOUND UNMAPPED MOUNTAIN
Cook Party Discovered Peak 13,000
Feet High Previously Overlooked
While seeking a slope of Mt. McKin
ley which could be ascended the Cook
party of mountain climbers discovered
an unmapped peak 13,000 feet high,
which had apparently been overlooked
previously. At least it does not ap
pear on any map in general use and
Dr. Cook and his topographer, R. W.
Porter, say they never heard of it
before.
This peak lies almost directly south
of McKinley and viewed from that
direction appears to be a slope of the
big mountain. It is very close to Mc
Kinley but is wholly separated from
the big one by a deep depression. 1 he
miners on the Kahiltna creeks knew
nothing of it as it lies directly in the
line of their vision when facing Mc
Kinley.
During the summer Mr. Porter cov
ered about 3000 miles of territory pre
viously unexplored, lying south and
southeast of Mt. McKinley. He
describes the region as much broken
by hills of different elevation and cut
by many streams.
Building Cabins on Trail
* Anton Eide is building two cabins on
the Johnson creek trail to afford shel
ter to the mail carriers during the
winter. Mr. Eide again hfis the con
tract for carrying the winter mail to
Sunrise, from November to March in
clusive.
TAFT AND BACON
REPORT ON CUBA
Fiscal A^ent Will Be Appointed
to Direct Financial Affairs
of Island.
By Cable to The Dally Gateway.
Washington.!). (’., Oct. I!> Seen*-J
tary Taft and Assistant Secretary of j
State Bacon reported today to IVesi-j
dent Roosevelt the details of their con-1
duct of intervention in < ’uba. The ad
ministration lias decided to appoint a
fiscal agent to look after financial ar
rangements for the provisional gov
ernment of the island. It is undeter-1
mined what share of the cost to attach
to < 'uba.
Under Taft ’s direction 20,non undisci
plined t roops were disarmed. The U.
S. marines will now be withdrawn and
replaced with 7000 regular army
troops. Warships will be recalled but
a transport service will he maintained
during the American occupation,
j The Cuban elections will he held
j before evacuation hv the United States
! but no date has been fixed yet. Taft
hopes that Gen. Bell, who now com
mands the American troops in Cuba,
may soon be relieved as he is needed
| for general stall work. Funston was
j sent to < ’uba merely to help disarm the
! Cuban troops and there is no intention
! of placing him in command in the is
j land. lie has been sent to St. Louis
I to command the southern division of
the army and (Jen. Greely will com
mand the northern division atChicago.
All these changes are involved in the
new arrangement which requires an
army division in Cuba.
—
Refuses to Make Promises
Havana, Oct. 13—1Taft held a meet
ing today with insurgent and liberal
leaders who attempted to force from
him a statement as to the future poli
cy of the United States toward Cuba.
Taft refused to make any premature
promises but stated that no elections
will be held until the island is paci
fied and order and local government
restored in all provinces.
It is announced that provisional gov
ernment will be established in the Isle
of Pines. Taft realizes that Cubans
cannot govern the American citizens
there. The latter are working ener
getically to secure the annexation of
the island to the United States and
are aided by a large element of the
natives.
Taft and Bacon Depart
Havana, Oct. 15—Secretaries -Taft
and Bacon and General Funston sailed
for the United States on the battleship
Louisiana yesterday. A crowd of
prominent liberals and rebel leaders
were at the dock, as well as a vast
concourse of the populace. None of
the former government officials ap
peared to bid the Americans good-by.
(Continued on page 2)
YELLOW JACK
MENACES CUBA
Ten Cases of Fever Reported in
Havana and Twenty Through
out the Islaud.
By Cablo to The Daily Gateway.
Havana, Oct. 1G—Ten cases of yellow
jack are recorded today in this city
and twenty throughout the island.
The American administration is tak
ing rigid measures to prevent the
spread of the contagion as it is feared
that in the present disorganized con
dition of local governments its ravages
could not bo repressed if it should at
tain much headway.
Gov. Magoon received a voluntary
declaration today from the liberals
that they are not seeking office. He
says he believes them. He is now con
sidering the advisability of appointing
a commission of men of all parties to
recommend new laws calculated to
repress discontent with former condi
tions. _
Water from New Reservoir
Water was turned into the city
mains at noon Tuesday from the new
reservoir. It is very clear and ex
tremely cold.
The Seattle Times affirms that the
Great Northern is planning to operate
trains over the Cascades by electricity.
LID SHUT DOWN
HARD IN VALDEZ
City Council Makes Sudden Order
to Close Gambling an J
Dance Halls.
SPORTS GET READY TO MOV!
Local Official Action Taken Because
District Court Revoked Rule
Regarding Saloon licenses.
Tiy Cable to The Daily Gateway.
Valdez, oet. IT All gamblinghou.-es
and dance balls wen* closed \est.ecda.
afternoon by order of the city counci
becauae of the revocation of a rul<
made by the judge of this division or
dering that the district attorney'"
ollice approve or disapprove of app!
cations for liquor licenses. In; r thi
rule licenses were refused several - t
loons which were carryingongambling
and dance halls. Imt representation
were made to the court which c:ius>
the rule to ho rescinded.
Protests had been frequent for t
long time from clergy and citizens
against open gambling and tin disor
derly character of the dance halls.
Not being able to secure any restric
tion from officials here they mad*
complaint to the department of justice
at Washington, which instructed fed
eral officials to enforce the laws rig
idly. Uunder this instruction the rub
was made by the court requiring tin
district attorney’s office to approve or
disapprove of applications for saloon
licenses.
The saloon men who failed to obtain
renewals of their licenses then went to
work to obtain a rescission of the rule
and accomplished that result yester
day. This opened up the old fight,
and the city council, seeing the com
plex conditions and the probability of
trouble through further representa
tions to the attorney-general, ordered
all gambling and dance halls to close.
A general hegira of gamblers and
dance hall women to Cordova is on to
day and the town looks quiet. Some of
the sporting people will go to Sewaitl
and a few of the women to Latouche.
It is thought by some that a restrict
ed district will be established as in
large cities, and that everything will
open later.
GETS FINE CROP
OF VEGETABLES
%
Ole Martin Sells Two and One
half Tons of Potatoes
and Turnips.
Thirty-six sacks of fine potatoes ami
fourteen of turnips, an aggregate car
go of two-and one-half tons, came to
town on the train this week from the
ranch of Ole Martin three and one
half miles north of Seward in the K*
surrection river valley. They wer.
purchased by the Pacific Coast Trad
ing Company and are of as good qual
ity as any shipped in from the outside,
or as can be grown anywhere.
Mr. Martin also grows other vegeta
bles for local consumption. From hi
gardens and those of W. A. McPher
son adjoining the tables of Seward are
supplied with green vegetables of al
kinds during the summer season. Hot i
also raise handsome flowers of many
varieties. Mr. McPherson has several
hothouses and Mr. Martin one, in
which they cultivate plants with greai
success in cold weather.
These ranches have been hewed out
of the timber within the past thr. <>
years. The soil to a native of rich
prairies or valleys in the states look
sterile, being composed of gravel wash
with a little vegetable mold, yet th<*
growth of vegetation in it demon
strates that it is of remarkable
fertility.
MacArthur Sails South
The survey steamer MacArthur ar
rived in port early Wednesday on her
way to Seattle and sailed in the after
noon. She had spent the
summer alonjf the coast of Kenni
peninsula, from the Chiswell islands to
Seldovia. Capt. Rhodes stated that he
found several reefs uncharted and also
ascertained that several charted reefs
do not exist.