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VOLUME XXI, NUMBER 264.
SEWARD ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17,1926.
PRICE TEN CENTS
' WHO IS BLOCK! DRIVE OF REINDEER
BELONGING 10 THE NATION'S WARDS
TO ACCESS TO MARKETS DF THE WORLD
DEMAND FOR TEN THOUSAND ANIMALS IN THE
STATES WHILE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF
ANIMALS OWNED BY NATIVES AWAIT PLEA
SURE OF BUREAU OF EDUCATION—EVIDENCE
OF STUDIED PROCRASTINATION ON PART OF
POWERS THAT BE
\
CNLV SMALL Si REQUIRED TO DRIVE ESKIMO RERDS
Big Market Opportunity Catches Guardians of Native
Herders Unprepared to Respond—Believed Some Sinis
ter Influence is Working to Defeat Objects of Reindeer
Propagation
Who is standing in the way of the Bureau of Educa
tion transferring Eskimo herds of reindeer from the Sew
ard peninsula to The Alaska Railroad, where they may
be placed in a better position for disposing of their ani
mals in a fair market, and secure advantage of the high
er prices being paid for animals taken from Broad Pass
! to the States?
Reports from the North indicate that there is some
thing wrong with the reindeer situation and that, despite
the advice of experienced reindeer men, and document
ary evidence that the Eskimo, like the Indian of the
/prairies in the States, is a prey to whomsoever wishes to
despoil him, no steps are being taken to remedy the situa
tion.
According to figures from the Bureau of Education
Biological Survey there are,some 300,000 reindeer in Alas
* ka. Of these approximately 26,000 belong to the Bureau
of Education and are used for the purpose of schooling
the Eskimo in the business of reindeer herding, and then
for supplying the graduates with animals as the nucleus
of their own herds.
BONDS RECOVERED
WERE HIDING IN HAYSTACK
NORTH OF THE CITY; $10,000
STILL MISSING
REARDON, Wn., Nov. 17. (JP)—
Five hours after three masked men
held up the employes of the Farmers
State bank yesterday, getting away
with $20,000 cash and bonds, two of
the bandits were captured and $10,
^ 000 was recovered. The bandits hid
in a back room, and when three offi
cials came in they sprang out and
lorced the cashier to open the safe.
The two bandits were captured north
of the city hiding in a haystack, and
told where part of the money was
hidden.
JLIAMNA ELECTION RETURNS
The election returns from Iliamna
were brought to Seward yesterday by
I Capt. H. Berger, of the gasboat Hazel
and are as follows:
Marquam 4, Sutherland 18, Dimond
11, Frame 10, Price 15, Grier 14, Cof
fey 11, Sherman and Smith 10, Mur
ray 8, Scott 7, Wilcox 5.
Of the 350,000 head of deer known
to range the northern tundra approxi
mately 30,000 belong to one company,
the remainder are owned by natives
who have developed their herds and
a few whites who have acquired
breeders from Eskimos and indepen
dent owners. This would leave the
remaining 294,000 head in the hands
of Eskimo herdsmen, and white own
ers of small herds.
Lack of Shipping Facilities
Aside from the facilities provided
by the Bureau of Education steamer
Boxer— 500 carcass cold storage
space—there are no other facilities
■
for marketing animals from the Es
kimo herds unless characters may be
secured for ships to touch at points
where small cold storage plants have
been erected in the North.
Thus the industry which has cost
the government of the United States
many hundreds of thousands of dol
lars to develop in aid of the natives
of the North, has become the white
man’s business and the natives are
told by the Bureau of Education to
content themselves with eating their
deer and using its hide for clothing,
and occasionally selling live animals
to others for about §6 a head.
When the question of transferring
Eskimo herds to McKinley Park was
made by George Ashenfelter, a white
herd owner, married to an Eskimo
woman, and .fully familiar with the
needs and capacities of the native, it
met the sanction of those officials
(Continued on Page Four)
POSTAL INSPECTOR LAUDS
HOME TRAVEL, ALASKA
SEATTLE, Nov. 17. (/P)—Postoffice
Inspector J. E. Fitzgerald has return
ed after traveling over most Alaska
mail routes. Twenty thousand miles
were made with all kinds of transpor
tation. “I flew from Takotna to Fair
banks on a course that took us a little
more than 600 miles,” said Fitzgerald.
“The trip would have taken 40 days
by dogsled under favorable condi
tions, whereas it took us five and a
half hours.”
KODIAK IS CONFIDENT
COLD ST0RA9E PLANT
“A prominent business man of Ko
diak informed me while we were in
; port a few days ago that the outlook
for a cold storage plant was very en
couraging and that every indication
pointed to the fact a plant would soon
be constructed at Kodiak,” stated Mr.
Terhune, of the Biological Survey, Al
aska Game Commission, who was a
guest yesterday at the Chamber of
| Commerce Incheon held at the Seward
Grill. Mr. Terhune returned to Sew
ard on the department’s vessel Seal
which has been on a five months
cruise to Westward and Bristol bay
points.
Continuing Mr. Terhune said, “Gen
eral conditions throughout the entire
Westward regions we visited ap
peared very good. Tlhe successful
! fishing season of last year, naturally,
assisted greatly in the general pros
perity of the country. Regarding the
game conditions we found them just
i about what we had expected. Every
where in the Territory there seems
to be a crying need for wardens but
owing to appropriations at the present
time w-e are doing the best we can
with a limited force of men. The co
operation of the public is desirable
and is very much appreciated by the
department. The planting of deer
near Homer, from all reports, appar
ently has not met with success but
over on Kodiak Island the deer are
getting along quite well.”
TRADER IS VISITOR
George Albert, well known trader
of the Port Heiden county, Bristol
Bay, arived in the city this morning
on the S. S. Starr from a brief busi
ess trip to the States. Mr. Albert
leaves in the morning for home.
CONSIDER DRIVING.
HERD ID RAILROAD
TEN THOUSAND MAY BE DRIVEN
FROM NOME DISTRICT TO
ALASKA RAILROAD
SEATTLE, Nov. 17. (3s)—Secretary
Charles Garfield of the Chamber of
Commerce Alaska committee, said he
is considering the question of driving
a herd of 10,000 reindeer 800 miles
from the Nome district to the Alaska
railroad at Fairbanks for shipment to
the States. He states the herds are in
creasing at the rate of 20 per cent
annually and the market in the States
is increasing.
BRITISH COAL STRIKE
IS NE1DING SOLUTION
LONDON, Nov. 16. (JP) — No. 10
Downing street lias issued warning
to mine owners not in accord with
the coal strike settlement which the
government proposed, in which it
promised immediate legislation to ef
fectuate the proposals if the miners
accept them. The miners authorized
their committee to proceed with the
negotiations without stipulation con
cerning hours and wages. The gov
ernment asked the miners to effect
immediate resumption of work by
district settlements including hours.
STARR BUCK IN PORT
FROM Ml TRIP
SOUTH. INSPECTION
RETURNS WITH CAPACITY CARGO
AND FEW NEW FACES IN
PERSONNEL
: Capt. O. A. Johansen, master of the
j steamship Starr, owned and operated
by the San Juan Fisheries Company,
brought his vesesl back to the home
port at 5 o’clock this morning from
Seattle where the annual overhauling
and inspection was undergone. The
trip southward was ideal with the pos
sible exception of a heavy fog en
countered in Wrangell Narrows,
i which made navigation unsafe and the
[steamer was forced to anchor. The
| trip north to Seward was excellent
[and was made without incident. The
I vessel underwent it’s inspection at
| Seattle at the Commercial Boiler
I Works.
A capacity cargo of tonnage was
brought north on the Starr from Se
attle and a large additional tonnage
is being taken aboard locally for
Westward ports. First class mail
from the States was also brought to
Seward.
A few changes have been made in
the ship’s personnel but the majority
of the old familiar faces returned.
Among these is mail clerk Dorrance
who was transferred, by request dur
ing the summer months, to a rail job
running out of Portland. Purser Ben
der reports Mrs. Bender proved to be
an exceptionally good sailor on the
round trip and enjoyed the ocean
voyage immensely.
It is said under a new order, inspec
tion of the steamer is to be made
twice next season, which will require
an extra trip to Seattle during the
summer.
Captain Johansen, who is national
ly known as a veteran navigator of
Alaskan waters, and who is widely
known in Seattle shipping circles, as
has been his custom, in the past, gave
out several stores while in Seattle,
stories of the kind which he envari
ably enthuses, about Alaska, it’s pre
sent and future needs. The captain
always has a good instructive yarn
to spin, therefor, is eagerly sought af
ter by members of the Fourth Es
tate, for,, in the parlance of newspap
er men, he .is “good copy.”
According to late announcement
made today it is expected the Starr
will leave tomorrow morning resum
ing it’s regular run to thei Westward.
MELLON PREDICTS
OF 13001010
SUGGESTS ALTERNATIVE PROPO
SALS TO THE CREDIT PLAN;
PROPOSED ENTIRE SURPLUS
BE APPLIED RETIREMENT PUB
LIC DEBT
DEBT WILL BE CUT $500,000,000
Secretary Believed Would Just as
Soon Use Surplus Toward Retire
ment of Public Debt.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 17. (/P)—Sec
retary Mellon predicted an income
tax surplus o£ $300,000,000, which
would allow of a 15 per cent credit on
next year’s taxes. In a discussion
with newspaper men Secretary Mel
lon asked for alternative proposals
to the credit plan. Some suggested
be given on excise and corporation
taxes only. Other suggested that the
surplus dividend in greater propor
tion among individual taxpayers so
that those paying small levies would
get greater credit. Some proposed
that the entire surplus be applied to
the retirement of the public debt.
Secretary Mellon replied that he did
not feel it fair to take a surplus
created largely by Income taxpayers
and apply it to the reduction of
excise taxes, including automobiles
and admission dues. It would be dif
ficult, he said, to give the smaller
taxpayers greater credit because their
payments are now soi small. The sec
retary did not deny that he had just
as soon use the surplus toward the
retirement of the public debt, but add
ed that the debt, which stands at
about nineteen billion six hundred
million dollars, would be cut over
five hundred million this year. He
considered this sufficient.
ON TRAIL OF SLAYERS
SEATTLE, Nov. 17. {/^—Investiga
tors declared that formal charges of
murder in connection with the death
of Corliss R. Harris, are imminent.
George Fincent, an acquaintance of
Harris, is held as a material witness.
Deputy Prosecutor Peyser and Rich
ards, of King and Snohomish coun
ties conferred last night on the evi
dence, but arrived at no agreement as
to which county the killing occurred
in.
.* 4—
THANKSGIVING BILL NEXT
WEDNESDAY Bf THE 5, A. C.
For the purpose of endeavoring to
swell the depleted treasury of the
Seward Athletic club, officials of the
organization announce a Thanksgiv
ing ball will be presented to the pub
lic at Odd Fellow’s hall on Wednes
day evening, November 24. An ad
mission charge of $1.00 will be made
for men but no charge will be made
the ladies. The services of-'the “Jol
ly Three” orchestra has already been,
secured. Today, the boys were en- «
deavoring to decide the important
question of what kind of punch should
be served. Many will appreciate the
thoughtfullness of the dance conyml;
tee on this detail.