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General Wikis 1’. Richardson, President of the Alaska
Hoard of Road Commissioners, on the eve of his leavingj
-•uneau for Washington. D. C.. to report to the Adjutant
General, for temporary duty on account of the exigencies
Alaska, which has just been received by the Gateway:
To the people of Alaska
Tiie close of tile season of roadwork in Alaska tm
PUT brings with it a change in conditions and future out
look. and gives propriety to this letter. This is due in a
measurt* to the existing state of war, but aside from this
fact, there were alreadv indications of a coming change.
Most notable was the inclination of the Secretary of
War. during the past winter, to have the work transfer
red in the near future to some other Department, largely
on account of the persistent opposition from certain quar
Lyov, Marten, Wh'.te Weasel,
Bt ar. Mink, Wolverine, Otter
IN DEMARO
ReJ, White anti Blue, Cross
ami Silver FOXES in especially
STRONG DEMAND
„-;i. Ship to <;Shubert”
_J v Write or“chr^luilirrtShipper
% .yS{* eo. ia.:. v a. ’able Market in
S#*^**. V * 'it must have.
* ^ ^Mirrirr t 25-27 WEST AUSTIN AVE.
3. CHICAGO, U.S.A.
' *x*t-nrinmiffli
A Through Ticket
Via
Chicago, Milwaukee 8c St. Paul Ry.
WHY
By buving a through ticket you save from $10.00 to
$15.00* as against buying to Seattle and re-buying
there
Bv buying over the C., M. & St. P. Ry. you are as
sured the comfort that comes from riding behind an
electric locomotive — the most powerful in all the
world—and that personal attention which is a fea
ture of “Milwaukee” service.
For tickets, berth reservation and other particulars,
consult your nearest Steamship Agent.
A. P. CHAPMAN. Jr. J. F. BAHL
Asst General Passenger Agent City Passenger Agent
Stuart Building Second and Cherry
Seattle, Washington
A GOOD wife, a good
_ pipe, an’ a good con
science — ef triar s
anything nearer j
Heaven it ain’t in
my geog’aphy.
■d
VELVET, the Smoothest Smokin ' Tobacco,
makes any • i;v yood.
ters in the past to the Department’s efforts, unless as set
forth by the Secretary in letters to the Committee chair
man, after the present appropriation had been lost upon
a point of order on the floor of the House, Congiess
should enact some more specific law, authorizing the sub
mission of proper estimates which would not be subject
to the “point of order.”
The Secretary gave support and approval to the ex
isting appropriation of $500,000 for the fiscal year 1918,
and this, with the numerous and urgent representations
from commercial bodies and residents of the territory as
to the need for the appropriation, and with the assistance
of Delegate Sulzer, who arrived in Washington before the
final action, procured the re-insertion of the item in the
Army Bill, by the Senate Committee, and its subsequent
passage by Congress. The appropriation was made avail
aide for two years and it was understood that the same
was to be used for the completion, as far as possible, of
.work under construction, and for the maintenance of
roads already hunt.
Approximately $150,000 of this sum will be carried
over for field work next season, and an additional esti
mate of $100,000, all that could be asked for under the cir
cumstances, has been submitted for the next fiscal year to
meet the increased cost of labor and supplies. '1 bus, with
the Federal appropriation and the amount expected from
the “Alaska Fund,” together with the Forestry and Ter
ritorial funds, there will be available for the season of
1918—if not as much as could be desired for expenditure
to meet the many needs—yet, a fairly good working fund,
and the work will go forward as usual.
Recent changes in the organization of the Board em
brace the appointment as Engineer Officer, of Captain
Wm. H. Waugh, Engineer Officer Reserve Corps, formerly
Senior Highway Engineer of the Bureau of Public Roads,
Department of Agriculture: and the appointment, as Sec
retary and Disbursing Officer, of Capt. John Zug, Engl
neer Officers Reserve Corps, long associated with the Com
mission in different capacities. The work will fall i ■ -'1 *
; competent hands, and the distribution of the funds expect
' ed to be available has already been agreed upon, as far as
practicable, and following out the previous policy of the
Board, ot deal equitably with all sections.
It is hoped that certain amendments may he made at
the next session of the Legislature to the existing Terri
torial Act for Road Construction, to make the same more
effective; and it will be fortunate if the sentiment of the
Territory and of the Legislature shall early recognize the
advantage of co-operation with Federal agencies concern
ed in this work, or else the Territory may find itself in the
position of having all Federal aid withdrawn. It has al
ready fallen to me on more than one occasion to defend the
V
Territory before a committee of Congress for its past at
titude in this respect.
In case the local roads should pass generally under
control of the Territorial organization, as they must in
due time, that organization should seek the co-operation
i and support of the Forestry Bureau, and of the Bureau of
Public Roads, Agricultural Department, and should uti
lize as far as practicable any existing organization of
trained men in the Territory.
In taking leave o fthis work—to which I may not re
turn by reason of the need of my services elsewhere—and
of Alaska at this time, after twenty years of close associ
ation with its people, with affectionate sentiment on my
part, I wish to say, in no spirit of malice or resentment,
that the Board of Road Commissioners and myself, per
sonally have, unfortunately, not always received the
united support that should have been given us in this work,
in order to have produced the maximum of benefit to the
Territory; largely on account of wilful misrepresentation,
and a lack of understanding, on the part of many people,
of the difficulties that confronted the Board in the matter
of obtaining funds, as well as the cost of construction and
maintenance of roads in Alaska.
The Board needs no defense of its work. I speak with
no egotism, but rather with an intimate knowledge and
understanding of facts, when I say that the results obtain
ed for the money expended so far are of a character to
challenge any analysis or comparison, and do credit to the
energy and faithfulness of the superintendents, assistants,
/
und employees of the Hoard in the hold, in vaiious putts
of the Territory.
In case I should have the good fortune to return to
Alaska. I shall do so with an eager pleasure, hut in case
1 do not I shall hope to see this important work, now hut
fairly begun, go forward, and I shall not fail to give en
couragement and support to it on every occasion that
mav arise where I can do so.
W. P. RICHARDSON,
President of the Board.
SUPPRESSED PAPER
FOULED OFFICERS
FOR A LONG TIME
PARIS. Nov. 8.—The suppressed evening paper, the
Ponnet Rouge, appears to have succeeded in deceiving the
censor during a period of many months by publishing two
final editions, one with the suppressions ordered by the
i censor duly made and another containing the prohibited
articles or passages. This complete edition, a witness
averred before the examining magistrate, was secretly
i forwarded to the front in great numbers and distributed
among the soldiers in the trenches.
The witness declared that many of the condemned
articles signed “I. Badin” were written to Duval, one oi
i the directors of the paper who is under arrest for "intel
ligence with the enemy"—the man who is accused of hav
ing received more than 500,000 francs from the German
i banker Marx or Mannheim during the year 1916.
Beginning on the first of this month all pleasure boats,
w hether sail or power, of over five tons net, an excise is
levied. The official notification has been received by the
(late wav from Collector of Customs J. F. Pugh. 1 he cop
ies of the regulations, under date of November 1st, reads
as follows:
“That on the day this act takes effect, and thereafter
on .July fii'st in each year, and also at the time of the orig
inal purchase of a new boat by the user, if on any other
1 date than July first, there shall be leveled, assessed, col
lected, and paid, upon the use of yachts, pleasure boats,
of over five net tons and motor boats with fixed engines,
not used exclusively for trade or national defense, or not
Imilt according to plans and specifications approved by the
Navy Department, an excise tax to he based on each yacht
or boat, at rates as follows: Yachts, pleasure boats, pow
er boats, motor boats with fixed engines, and sailing boats
of over five net tons, length not over fifty feet, 50 cents
for each foot, length over fifty feet and not over one hun
dred feet, $1 for each foot, length over one hundred feet,
$2 for each foot; motor boats of not over five net tons with
fixed engines, $5.
‘‘in determining the length of such yachts, pleasure
boats, power boats, motor boats with fixed engines, and
sailing boats, the measurement of overall length shall
govern.
“In the case of a tax imposed at the time of the origi
nal purchase of a new boat on any other date than July
1 first, the amount to be paid shall be the same number of
twelfths of the amount of the tax as the number of cal
endar months, including the month of sale, remaining
prior to the following July first.”
“In the absence of formal blanks upon which to make
returns for the said tax, present liability thereto should
be disclosed bv letter mailed in time to reach the Collector
within the current month of October. Such letter should
be accompanied by postal money order, bank draft, or cer
tified check payable to the Collector of Internal Reven
ues.”
“Subject to future regulations, the tax will be reck
oned, in the case of boats of over 5 net tons, on the length
over-all at the applicable rate for each full foot, disre
garding the remaining inches of fractional foot, if any.
In the case of boats of not over 5 net tons with fixed en
gines, the tax is imposed at the flat rate of $5.00 per an
num, or $3.75 for the current period of nine months.”
-$» ■
BUFFALO, Nov. S.— Federal secret service agents
reported to Washington that they had discovered 1,000,
000 pounds of sugar in bags and' barrels labelled “top crust
flour” in a Buffalo warehouse.
J