““The Great The Great
ALASKAN ALASKAN
DAILY
DAILY j -
iciiirn it mi y FYrFPT SUNDAY LARGEST ALASKAN CIRCULATION
ADVERTISEMENTS BRING RESULTS _ PUBLISHED DAILY EXChFl MiJNDAi______
VoL 1Q No m SEWARD. ALASKA. FRIDAY. DECEMBER 22.1916_Ten Cents the Copy
GOVERNMENT SILENT BUT ENGLISH
PAPERS ATTACK U. S. PRESIDENT
BRITISH GOVT. SILENT
LONDON, Dec. 22.—Bona r Law announced today in
the house of commons that the British government has no
statement to make regarding the proposal sent out to the
belligerent powers by the President ot the l nited States.
He intimated, however, that the Entente is considering
joint action. The newspapers continue full ot headlines
and editorials opposing acceptance of Wilson’s suggestion
and some of them ask that it be rejected without hesita
tion. "It is singular, indeed." says the evening Standard
"if a statesman of Wilson's perspicacity could labor un
der the delusion that the Allies welcome his peace move.”
The Globe gets more offensive and says "We sincerely
hope President W llson is not ill.
Grave doubts are again expressed about the future
of Ireland. Duke, the secretary to the Irish government,
announced today that six hundred Irish political prison
ers, who have been interned since the rebellion in Dublin,
have been released, and many believe this is taking a seri
ous chance of letting so many irreconeilables have an op
portunity to cause further trouble.
BRITISH STARTLED
LONDON, Dec. 22—The most absolute and startling
surprise was the result of the publication of the informa
tion that the President of the United States has sent notes
to the belligerent powers asking them to come to some ar
rangement by which they might find some common
ground for peace discussion. The newspapers are all up'
holding Lloyd George in his resolve to carry on the war
to a successful conclusion and many of them speak strong
ly anil in an unfriendly strain of the Wilson effort. The
Liverpool Post calls the Wilson note “ill-timed and ill
judged." The London Daily News says the British peo
ple must try to appreciate what spirit the note was sent
in and to be cautious. The Chronicile declares that no
American communication for a generation has caused so
much pain. On the whole, the note can hardly be said to
have been well received here. In private circles the
American President is being attacked savagely. Smith,
a member of parliament on the Liberal side, has pleaded
for a consideration of the general peace proposal but he
received no support whatever from any other members of
the house. In answer to his plea Bonar Law promptly re
minded him that all the the blood and treasure spent
could not be permitted to be spent in vain. He cited the
Belgian atrocities, the Armenian masacres and other cir
cumstances and he said that until the nations have been
vindicated no enduring peace would be possible.
U. S. DOES NOT THREATEN
WASHINGTON, Dec. 22. — Secretary of State Lan
sing conferred with President Wilson today and after
wards gave out an interpretation of the peace note sent
bv the President. He declares that the note should not
%
be taken as a threat that the United States may be forced
into war because of the invasion of her rights by the belli
gerent nations. The complaint in this respect was
mentioned rather as an excuse why this nation took it up
on itself to offer mediation at all. President Wilson fears
that a misconstruction might be placed on the note in for
eign capitals and he desires to overtake the widespread
misinformation regarding the message sent by him. This
misinformation is made evident at home and the fear is
all the greater that it might be more pronounced abroad.
Lansing has told the representatives of the warring gov
ernments that the most frank replies are expected from
them, and that they will not only say whether they want
peace or not but that they will be ready to define their
terms and what territorial re-arrangements will be re
quired.
OTHER NEUTRALS MAY ACT
WASHINGTON, Dec. 22.—The diplomats in Wash
ington are now contemplating the possibility of other neu
tral nations appealing to the belligerents in a manner
similar to that of President Wilson, and some believe that
if all the neutrals follow the Wilson course it will have a
strong moral effect on the warring governments. The
fact that Wilson has particularly asked the belligerent
countries for frank replies is believed to approximate the
actual opening of negotiations as no reply can be frank,
it is pointed out, that does not indicate what each of the
alliances would concede or claim.
BOTHELL BANK
ROBBERS FOUND
BLACKSMITH CO NT ESS ES A N1 >
IMPLICATES HIS TWO
COMPANIONS.
SEATTLE, Dec. 22.—Oscar Lowe,
27, a blacksmith, has been arrested in
a Tocoma hotel and has confessed to
the Bothell bank robbery and impli
cated two others. The other two are
A. Bounds, a blacksmith also, aged
(JO, of Auburn, and Walter McDonald,
a longshoreman, aged 33. Both were
taken into custody immediately after
Lowe’s confession. Lowe says they
secured nine hundred dollars each bi.t
that he himself lost four hundred
while the posse was chasing him in
the woods. The robbery was commit
ted in broad daylight after the men
drove up in an auto driven by a Jap
anese chauffeur.
SEATTLE, Dec. 22.—Albert Wolf,
a married realty operator, has been
arrested for planning the Bothell
bank robbery which was executed by
others. It is supposed that the ar
rested robbers gave him away.
MARIPOSA AT 2 A. M.
The steamship Mariposa is due to
arrive here at 2 o'clock tomorrow
morning. She has 52 tons of freight
for Seward.
SEWARD LIQUOR IS
SEIZED AT SEATTLE
. .. — - —
Charles Henson Takes Steps
to Force Authorities
to Let Loose
On the 11th of this month the Dry
squad in Seattle went out of its way
to seize liquors consigned to people
in Alaska and amongst the consignees
is Charles Benson of Seward. Mr.
Benson first saw an account of the
seizure in the Seattle Times of De
cember 12 and he has now taken up
the matter with Attorney L. V. Ray
to proceed against the authorities.
The liquor was in bond, Mr. Benson
has his bill of lading and everything
in connection with the shipment was
perfectly regular, so that the seizure
was a most high-handed and unjust
procedure. The following is the story
in the Times telling of the seizure:
“Dry squad agents yesterday seized
liftv-one cases, a carton containing
two bottles and a five gallon demi
john of whiskey, all addressee* to pqr-j
sons in Alaska, at the Great North
ern freight sheds. The shipment was
consigned to Charles A. Benson, Sew
ard, and C. A. Smith, Ketchikan. A
five gallon keg of claret wine ad
dressed to the Flora Co., 421 Twenty-!
fourth avenue SoOth, also was seiz
ed."
■— -- “ i
PATROLMAN SUSPENDED
FOR TAKING A BRIDE j
SEATTLE, Dec. 22.—Patrolman i
Hagen has been suspended for re-1
* *
ceiving a bribe from bootleggers bul j
as he was the man who single handed j
unearthed the evidence of the con
! spiracy he will probably be reinstat
ed. The evidence that he took the
bribe was so strong that he did not
attempt to brazen it out.
- - ————————M^mmm
PARLIAMENT PROROGUES .
LONDON, Dec. 22.—Parliament prorogued this af
ternoon, and when the time came for the adjournment ali
the private members were in total ignorance of the inten
tions of the government with respect to the Wilson note.
Neither the note nor the German proposal was mentioned
in the king’s speech. The speech of the king was the
shortest on record and only expressed confidence in ulti
mate victory and the determination of the allied nations
to continue.
BRITISH FIGHT ON TIGRIS
LONDON, Dec. 22.—British aeroplanes successfully
bombarded the Turkish river craft west of Kut-el-Amara
on Sunday night. On Wednesday we made strong recon
noisances west of the Saumran bend on the Tigris. The
renewal of activity in that region by the British has creat
ed a belief here that this government has decided to wipe
out the stain of the surrender of Townsend by a victory
over the Turks.
BREAK DOWN RUSSIAN ATTACKS
BERLIN, Dec. 22. — The Teutons yesterday broke
down four determined Russian attacks on the Stritza riv
er and several Russian attacks in Volhynia have suffered
a similar ending.
SAY THEY EJECTED BRITISH
BERLIN, Dec. 22. — North of Arras by counter at
tacks we have ejected the British from advanced German
positions which the enemy had succeeded in entering. No
other fighting is reported from the west.
BAD WEATHER IN MACEDONIA
PARIS, Dec. 22.—Rain and snow are falling on the
Macedonian front and only intermittent artillery fighting
is possible.
RUSSIANS WIN HEIGHTS
PETROGRAD, Dec. 22.—The Russians yesterday
won positions from the enemy on the heights near Kimp
olung, Roumania. The attempts of the Teutons to ad
vance on the Zelota and Lipa rivers have been frus
trated. Violent battles are proceeding in Dobrudja.
SEVERAL LOST
IN BIG FIRE
Masonic Home in Wichita
Destroyed and Frozen Fire I
Plugs Meant Death, j
WICHITA, KANSAS, Dec. 22.—
Twenty of the one hundred inmates I
of the Kansas Masonic Home are be-!
lieved to have perished in a fire which
destroyed the building last night, i
The origin of the lire is unknown and
as it became general in a very short
time the cause may never be learned. ;
One of the saddest facts connected j
with the tragedy was that eight child
ren were entrapped in a wing of the
building and all attempts at rescue
were found impossible. When the
fire was at its height it was discov
ered that some of the lire plugs had
been frozen and to this fact the loss
of the eight children is blamed.
WICHITA, Dec. 22.—It was later
learned that only live people were
lost in the fire. They include a wait-1
ress. The loss is three hundred
thousand dollars.
HOW CONRAI) FREEDING
CAME TO SAD ENDING j
The following is a more detailed
account of the loss of Senator Con* j
rad Freeding, taken from a Seattle
paper:
"Freeding had taken his wife and
child to the springs and left nine da.v-. j
ago for Taylor Creek, a distance ot
twelve miles, on foot and alone. A
severe blizzard has been raging in
the Kougarok, and the temperature1
has been 50 degrees below zero.
"The route followed by Freeding,
from Serpentine Hot Springs to his;
roadhouse and store on Taylor Creek
is across a trackless waste of snow
and ice, with no trees for shelter, and
all hope that he is alive has been
abandoned by his friends, who have
been searching for him on snowshoes
and skiis, accompanied by dog teams '
"Freeding was found to be missing
by A. E. Hastings, who went to Ser
pentine Hot Springs to get the mining
man, his wife and child, in accordance
with an agreement entered into be
.'ore they left Taylor Creek.
"Hastings learned that Freeding
had left the springs a week before on
foot, saying that business att’aiis
made it imperative that he be back
at Taylor Creek as soon as possible.
He started from Serpentine Hot
Springs Thanksgiving morning. It
was 25 degrees below zero at the
time he began his journey. Later in
the day the wind reached a high ve
locity, and the air was filled with
snow. In a few hours the tempera
ture had fallen to 50 degrees below
zero, and the Kougarok was in the
grip of the worst blizzard in years.
“As soon as Hastings learned that
Freeding was missing he gave the
alarm and a searching party was or
ganized. A score or more of men on
snowshoes and skiis, with dog teams,
went over the trail carefully, but no
trace of Freeding could be found.
The search continued all day and
night without success, the party ol
men with their dog teams returning
to Taylor creek, but determined to re
sume the search as soon as the
weather should moderate.
“Victor Anderson took Freeding
and his wife and child to Serpentine
Hot Springs two weeks ago, where it
was believed the water would benefit
Mrs. Freeding, who had been ill. She
is now at Taylor Creek in a state of
collapse.”
E. M. Gibson, whose leg was ampu
tated yesterday, is progressing very
nicely.
E. K. Irving is now able to get out
of bed and walk without difficulty.
The doctors say a man can live with
half a liver and Irving has a lot more
than that left.
. ... .„•.** *
VILLA TAKES TOWN
AND STILL GOING
WASHINGTON, Dec. 22.—The state department is
in receipt of advices that Villa is now in fuli possession
of Santa Rosaiia and is planning a great campaign again
st Torreon. The Torreon communications have been cut
and two hundred foreign refugees are fleeing southward.
From ali the information received it seems to be evident
that the bandit chief is gaining recruits fast and is gradu
ally becoming the leader of a great army. It is also ad
mitted in official circles that the failure to settle the bor
der differences is having the effect of weaning the Mexi
cans from the Carranza side, and a crisis is expected soon
er or later.
SEN. HONAN WILL PRESENT
BILL FOR HICK SC HOOL'
Senator Jack Honan has expressed
his willingness to introduce in the
legislature a bill providing for the
creation of divisional high schools out
of the territorial funds. The plan ha:
been inaugurated here and Seward
will be a strong applicant for on-‘ of
the establishments should they be
irented.
EXAMINING EYES OF
THE SCHOOL CHILDREN
Mr. Simpson, the Juneau Opto
metrist, is examining the eyes of the
school children today by engagement
with the school board.
INTERIOR MAIL COMES
Eleven sacks of mail arrived last
night on the train from the interior
TOl’RIST HOTELS TO
BE Bl'ILT IN ALASKA
In one of the recent articles on Al
aska, Frank G. Carpenter, the world
renowned writer, who visited Seward
a year ago, says that a company is
being organized at the present time
to etsablish big hotels at Skagway
Dawson, Fairbanks and Seward
These will be for the purpose of ac
commodating in first class style tht
tourists whom they hope to steer
northward. The plan is to advertise
the trip down the Yukon and up to
Fairbanks, thence to the coast over
the government railroad, with a stop
over of a few days in each four
places above mentioned, so that the
visitors may study conditions and see
all the sights.
While Mr. Carpenter’s article does
not state definitely as to when this
plan is to be put into execution, the
intimation is that the hotels will be
established as soon as the railroad
is completed.
The company is to work in con- j
junction with the transportation com
panies and even induce the govern
ment to advertise the beauties of the
trip over the railroad from the inter
ior to the coast. '
1*13 SEASON FOR
ALASKA MINES 1916
JUNEAU, Dec. 14.—Territorial
Mining Inspector William Maloney,
recently in the city, spoke favorably
of the Alaska mining industry for
the year 1916. All of the camps
made good showings due to plenty of
available water.
Mr. Maloney left Juneau June 22,
and went to the interior on the first
boat down the river from Whitehorse.
He has been spending his time in the
Iditarod, Ruby, Fairbanks, Marshall
City sections, Hot Springs and Tolo
vana. He reports a very successful
season in all sections this past sum
mer. At first, the water was short in
several sections but later rains came
in the hills and there was plenty of
water.
At Nome the big cleanup was made
by the Pioneer Mining Company,
mostly from the Portland bench,
where that company in working a big
hydraulic plant.
“They made a $200,000 cleanup just
before I got there.” said Mr. Maloney
“The Marshall City camp is a good
one as far as one creek is concerned,
but if no other pay is discovered this
winter the camp will be practically
deserted after next summer.
“They have one very good creek
with about six claims on it, but so far
nothing more has been found. There
are about 500 men prospecting in the
section mostly from the Iditarod and
Ruby section and they fully expect to
find something before the winter is
over.”—Dispatch.
ALASKA’S ATTORNEY
GENERAL IN JCNEAC
George P>. Grigsby, attorney gener
al of Alaska, as a result of the recent
election in the Territory, arrived in
Juneau yesterday. Mr. Grigsby will
assume his duties as attorney gener
al January first; in the meantime, he
will act in the capacity of counsel to
the Territory, as successor to attorney
John H. Cobb. Mr. Grigsby was
busy yesterday conferring with the
governor and in locating suitable
offices. Mr. Grigsby registered at the
Gastineau.—Juneau Dispatch.
614 MEN ON SEWARD
DIVISION DEC. 2
Six hundred and fourteen men
were employed on the Seward division
on the 2nd of this month and the
force now can be very little less.
Figuring the wages for each man at
very little more than a day we;
find a daily payroll of two thousand
dollars. The following is the report
on this division taken in part from
the Alaska Railroad Record:
“Following is the progress report
of the Seward Division for the week
ending December 2:
“The force at work on the Kern
Creek bridge is making satisfactory
progress, despite the cold weather,
as are the station gangs between
Kern and Glacier Creeks. The sec
tion crews at Mile 45 and Mile 52
have been laid off for the winter.
Work on the railroad approach to the
Seward dock has again been resumed.
“The force report of this Division
on December 2 was as follows:
Headquarters Office . 10
Engineering. 35
Shops and Yards . 40
Stores and Dock. 20
Track, Grade, Ballast and bridges 256
Stationmen and Laborers.253
Grand total all employees Sew
ard division .614