INTERIOR MAIL
SERVICE IMPROVED
Monthly Receipts from Out
side Now 3,800 Pounds.
Twice a Month to
Koyukuk.
Postmaster M. P. Fleisclnnan lias re
ceived the following:
Eagle, Alaska,
Dec. i8, 1904.
Sir: —I am in receipt of a com
munication from the honorable sec
ond assistant postmaster general
advising me that the depattment
has received numerously signed pe
titions from the residents ot Eagle,
Fort Yukon and Coldtoot, Alaska,
urging improved mail facilities;
and with this end in view they ask
for an increase in the weight limit
of mail dispatched from Skagway
over the Canadian border.
Upon request, the Canadian post
office department has allowed a
weekly increase of 100 pounds of
mail between Eagle and Dawst n,
Y. T. A further increase was re
quested by our department, but the
Canadian department denied our
request on the ground that they
were not ill a position, at present,
to make any change in the existing
contract between Dawson and Ea
gle. However, our department
have materially incieased our serv
ice through other channels, as
shown by the following compara
tive statement:
WINTER SERVICE, IQoy-04. Tolal
per mo.
Hi monthly service, Valdez to r.a- pourds.
gle, 200 pounds each trip 400
Hi-monthly service, Valdez to
Tanana, 200 pounds each trip 400
Weekly service, Skagway to ’.Ca
gle, 250 pounds each trip 1,000
Total monthly receipts from out
side .. ■ ■ 1,800
WINTER SERVICE. 19*4-05.
Pour times a month, Valdez to
Kagle, 200 pounds each trip. . . 801;
Four times a month, Valdez to
Tanana, 400 pounds each trip 1,60c
Weekly service, Skagway to Ea
gle. 35° pounds each trip 1,400
Total monthly receipts from out
side . 3.8oc
In addition to lbe routes oper
ated last whiter, service has t<een
established lietween Circle ami
t;airt>anks, forming a connecting
link between the two great source?
of supply from the States, ant
greatly benefiting comrunnrcatioi
between puMoffues in the interior
and service on the Fort Yukon
Betties route has teen increase*
irom once to twice a m<>nth.
Briefly stated, the depnrtmcn
has mote than doubled the amoun
of matt brought in from the outswh
within the past year, doubled th<
number of tripe between Valde
! ami Eagle and between Valdez and '
Tanana, doubled the number of
t ips on the Fort Yukon and Betties
route, established a new route be
tween Circle and Fairbatiks, and
reduced the time in transit on the
Valdez and Tanana route to twenty
days’ running time in both direc
tions.
Please post this letter where it
j can be read by the patrons of your
| office. It is the most satisfactory
reply that they could receive in
! answer to their petition, and is con
clusive proof that the department is j
! not unmindful of their just de- j
mauds. Very respectfully,
J. S. Robkkts,
Chief Clerk.
A MINER'S EXPERIENCE. '
I’ve panned from Peru to Point Barrow,
But I never located a claim
i Till I’d fully persuaded my conscience
That pay dird pervaded the same;
And this is the source of my sorrow,
As you will he forced to agree
When you learn how relentless misfor
tune
Has dumped all her tailings on me.
I have worked with my partner all sum
mer,
Crosscutting a cussed cold creek,
| Which we never once thought of locating
Unless we located the streak;
And when, at the close of the season,
We discovered the creek was a fake,
We also discovered the region
Had nothing left in it to stake.
A hundred long leagues to the northward,
O'er the untrodden,sun-burnish'd snow,
We struggled, half blind and half fam
ished,
To the sea where the staunch whalers
We found there broad beaches of ruby
And mountains with placers and leads,
| But all but the sky was pre-empted
By salt-water sailors and Swedes.
Then we climbed the cold creeks near a
mission
That is run by the agents of God,
Who trade bibles and praverbooks to ti e
heathen
l-‘or ivory, sealskins and cod.
] At last we were sure we had struck it.
But, alas! for our hopes of reward—
The landscape from sea lieach to sky line
Was staked in the name of the Lord !
j We're too slow for the new breed of
miners,
Km bracing all classes of tnen,
Who locate by pow er of attorney
Ami prospect their claims with a pen—
Who do all their tine work through
agents.
And loaf around town with the spurts.
On intimate terms with the lawyers.
On similar terms with the courts.
— Anonymous
officers of r!*♦* Pionwr*.
The grand half* °f the Yukon
Order ot FiniMti», which met in
I>aw*on Jan. ft, elected the follow
ing officer*:
President Captain Alcock
Vic* President Kohert Craig
Secretary. Caney Moran
Treasurer—A. IV ku«.
Chaplain Jtnn Arthur C.reene
Warden -C»*org* Bf in»*l*M».
RECEPTION SALOON
W. W. CROCKKTT
S. K. IIF.KTKR
WINES,
LIQUORS
AND GOOD
CIGARS
St. Louis
SBC
3BEERS
The Hlcheet Priced but
the Beet Quality.
BILLIARD
AND
POOL
ROOMS
12-year-old Crow Whiskey—The Only Stock.
Something New — Try Our Apricot Cocktail
The Flavor You Never Forget
Famous M. J. B. Whole Roast
tSelected Mocha and Java Coffee
PACKED IN 1-2-5 LB. IAIR TIGHT TINS
NORTHERN COMMERCIAL CO.
SOLE AGENTS
STRANGE WILL
LEFT BY KRUGER
The following curious extracts
are from documents which have
been deposited with the deeds office
at Pretoria, bearing on the last will;
and testament of the late president;
of the Transvaal Republic:
Oil this, tile 14th day of December, 1901, j
appeared l»-fore me, Wynand Cornelius
Venystingh. notary, at Utrecht, Holland,
in the presence of the following witnesses,
hisexcellency Stephanusjohannes 1’aulus
Kruger, president of the South African
republic, domiciled at Pretoria, tempo
rarily residing at Utrecht, Holland, who,
desirous of making his will, has instruct
ed me, and I, in accordance with his
wishes, have taken down in writing as
follows:
"I, testator, d.-clare as executorsof tny
last will, directors of my funeral, man
agers of my inheritance, auil executors of
my estate, anil sharers in my inheritance,
Messrs. Frederick Cbristofiel, my son-in
law, ami llerniauus Christian Itredell, my
private secretary.”
A codicil uus added to bis will at
Clarens, Switzerland, In-stowing a
gift of ^200 on Susanna Cornelia
Kruger, daughter of the late Jo-1
hannes Kruger.
Among the articles included in
the movable property left by the
late President Kruger in Ktirope,
the following are enumerated for
purposes of the will:
One bottle of suufT, one tall silk
hat. one Mack ear tulie, various
psalm books, a large Bible, six
smaller Bibles, right button decora
lions, a purse containing one Trans
vaal sovereign, one Transvaal *hil
ling: one straw hat. ibeOreatCnma
of the Netherlands I,me. the tier
man Red Eagle; the Portuguese,
the Belgian and the French Cross
of the Legion of Honor, and the
Great Cross of Mouaco, and two
envelopes containing hair and beard
of deceased.
There are also pictures of the
following:
Cemetery, Pretoria; the Dutch
Reformed church, Pretoria; coffin
of the late Mrs. Kruger, and picture
ot the late president’s arrival at
Marseilles in 1900; portrait of L.
Jacobs/.; map of the Transvaal and
Orange Free State; portiaits of
Boer prisoners at Ahmednagar lort,
and the Rev. Mr. and Mrs. P. Post
ma; some psalm books, a wire cut
ivi , « punt uiic I lailr
vaal half smereigu of 1897, one
Netherlands 10-guilder piece, one
English sovereign, two English
half sovereigns, ono shilling, two
English sixpences and seven Eng
lish threepenny pieces; one gold
wal h and chain, a gold ring, an
other large watch and chain, an
other large Bible, and one state
coach with harness. Cash in Euro
pean banks as follows: French
francs, about 183: Dutch guddern,
equivalent to ,£32,228; English
sovereigns, 2.149; total, .£34.377
The fixed projarrty of Mr Kruger
iri Europe was returned as nil.
A Kansas City paper published
an item saving: "The business man
of this city who is in the habit of
hugging the hirer! girl had better
quit or we'll puhlis'i his name."
Next day 27 business men called,
pawl their subscript ions and told the
editor not to pay auy attention to
loutish stories.