TOPICS OF THE TAN AN A
Conditions* mid Outlook in the Hoorn Country
Around Clienn and Fairbanks-tiusiness
Men Scored for Grab-All Policy.
Chena, Aiaska, Felt. 5, 1905.
To the Yukon Valley News.
Thinking a few notes from the
boom Tanana country would l>e of
imerest to at least a few readers, 1
beg lea\ e to serilrble a few; so away
she goes.
Chena, the tamp of destiny, is
iiuict. Situated on the right b ink
of the Tanana 225 miles from the
mouth, nature clothed and laid out
si townsite here; but the devil ran
away with the plat s. There are,
however, not a few natural advan
tages to this town, and some busi
ness men predict that when the
railroad is completed the wholesale
district will ultimately be here, as
the extra haul would incur an un
necessary expense to rcship goods
to Fairbanks and then back over
the same spur and out to the creeks
But let it be said >d the eneigy of
the people of the latter place: They
put goods up the slough from Chena
< the head of navigation,) in poling
boats, and nearly always under ad
verse conditions, and then sold at
least 75 per cent, of the merchanta
ble goods cheaper than was done
here in Chena. But the people of
this town must consider, with the
margin of profit maintained in both
• owns, that a few ex»ra miles haul
will not impede the progress of the
upper town in the least; and until
Chenu is infused with a tew really
alive business men—men who
would let the other man live, hav
ing, in the meantime, a little inter
est in the town and a spark of|
benignity for their neighbors and
lellow townsmen—not until then
can the lower town hope to exclaim
for the survival of the fittest.
At any rate, if no strikes are
made outside of what has already
been found, those dreaming of vast
possibilities in the advance of prop
erty rates in either town had lietter
unload while they can command
.»<>»««• price. By reason of no strikes
lieing made up to the present—or
since the stampede rightly started
last spring — some business men who
have large holdings are getting
>haky. One of them asked me
lately if 1 thought there would tie
any more strikes made in the camp.
I told him that is the reason I am
a poor man. I said:
"You know I am digging, don't
vou‘ You know there are Ihiee or
tour hundred men out looking lor a
paystreak* That by reason of ex
irbitant prices, a good many are
looking for rabbits, some tor tracks,
ithera for skins, others arc oat
with lead pencils and axes, while
others are running about from one
creek to another to see if theii
neighbors’ bacon and b.ans arc
holding out and incidentally to get
a quiet tip by the way? I’m dig
ding, as well as an army of others,
would make the answer to the
question obvious. I know no more
about a strike than I do about what
we will have to pay for grub next
winter.”
These business men have their:
little quiet talks, with notebook in :
hand, looking askance and finding I
shorts, thereby putting the necessi ;
ties up to an exorbitant price. They !
are not three degrees removed from
highwaymen, one way or the other,:
excepting the road man with the
persuasive big gun ain’t such a bad
looking fellow altogether. When
he gets one’s well-filled purse the!
victim can console himself by ar
guing that he ought to have gone
around, or taken a gun (to make a
standoff;, or gone the other trail.
But in the other case there must be'
no gun, and there is no other trail— ;
only the trail of imperative neces
sity that leads unto the counter:
and one pays from 50 to 65 cents a
pound for bacon, when it should
only be 25 and not to exceed 30
cents.
This was why the Miners Asso
ciation was former! last summer
and a Mr. R. A. Chisholm made,
general manager and sent to the!
outside for provisions. He landed ;
in Chena on Sept. 27 last with the
steamer Seattle No. 3 with 160 tons !
of merchandise for the Miners As-1
sociatiou. It was a badly mixed!
tness He did not prove an efficient
man, and had brought a lot of
goods not ordered, ostensibly for
private use. He also let the N01 th
em Commercial company' filch him
on freight up the river from St.
Michael to the tune of $*5 per ton,
after charging $18 per ton for light
erage at St. Michael- when the
transport! :on from Seattle to the
latter pL was secured for $12 per
ton, a distance of 2,700 miles. I
will not qualify these statements,
but have them from a most reliable
source.
That is the way the N. C Co.
dug its tentacles into the Miners
Asaociatiun. A viciousness of in
dividual as well as corporate greed
wrought the association into a bad
plight, but it is stated it is goiug
to meet the conditions m a more
determined effort neat summer.
The first venture remitted in a
RECEPTION SALOON
S. K. IIKKTKK
W. W. CROCKKTT
WINES,
LIQUORS
AND GOOD
CIGARS
r
St. Louis
sac
BEERS
The Richest Priced hut
the Beet Quality.
BILLIARD
AND
POOL
ROOMS
1:!-year-old Crow Whiskey — The Only Stock.
Something New — “Try Our Apricot Cocktail
'File Flavor You Never Forget
Famous M. J. B. Whole Boast
Selected Mocha and Java Coffee
PACKED IN 1-2-5 LB. AIR TIGHT TINS
NORTHERN COMMERCIAL CO.
SOLE AGENTS
financial slap.
The N. C- Co. has no trading
post in Chena; but the outside
management has an eye to business
and has bought a block of good
ground on the river front in con
nection with the purchase of the
Sharp & Kirkpatrick warehouse.
The company’s passenger and
freight traffic to these points has
been tremendous—aside from the
sales of machinery and merchan
dise in Fairbanks reaching one day
in September last the enormous
sum of $37,000. taking sixty men
in and about stores and warehouses
to handle the business and look
after the affairs.
A fine ruse they worked on the
people when they installed the
large elect!ic plant and put coal oil
to $20 per case—and, of course, a
shortage at that. Will the suffer
ing public ever yell, “Take him
off! I've got enough" ?
I lielieve the company's entire
income in the Tatiana country will
exceed the output of gold in the
camp for this seasou, although it is
predicted by enthusiasts it will
reach $6,000,000. But what do
you say if we cut this in two? The
result will be more probable.
There are five steamers below
Chena at various |K>iuts that were
either too heavily loaded or were
impeded by drift ice, namely, the
Independence, the Florence S. the
J. P. I.ight. the Helen Bruce, and
the Tyrrell. Those steamers win
tering at Chena are the Robe:t
Kerr, the liiuan Not!, the Marga
ret, the Husky lUamond. the Vim
ueapolis. the Monarch, the I.os
Angeles, the Isabel and the l.ouclta.
I
besides two or three little dingies,
| all of which give the town a Vlad
ivostock appearance.
The winter should come in for
mention and would do credit to a
more temj eiate zone. The wind
was hardly perceptible from the
24th of September to the 9th of No
vember, when there was three days
of windy, disagreeable weather.
The first snow fell on Sept. 28 to a
depth of four inches, which disap
peared in a shoit while and left the
ground bare till Oct. 28, when there
was another light fall. No more
fell of any confidence till Jan. 10,
when there was about eight inches.
The weather has been extremely
fine throughout the winter; but as
the groundhog undoubtedly had a
good impression of himself it will
not be advisable to shed woolens
for a long time yet.
For pure bravery and asserted
1 individual rights, one of the agents
jof the big companies here, after
[losing $900 at a gambling table in
a saloon not long ago, pulled his
revolver and blazed away at the
I clock, putting it out of business.
Shooting a poor ole blind clock !
When it comes to jt and osten
tatious display, some of these agents
are ’ Charley at the ratbole. ”
Truly, J. L. R.
Considerable excitement was
caused in Chilkoot camp, eiglit
miles west ol Custer, S. 1‘ak.. over
the discovery of a 'arge body of ore
carrying platinum Reports on the
ore have beeu received from Wash
ington, and a great platinum dis
trict is predicted. About $u an
ounce is the price ol platinum now