Itwo versions of
SIDE BY SIDE.
The two extracts! printed below need but flight comment. Each relates >
to the same incident. One contradicts the other. Both can not be true. It )
is but just to add that ‘'the gist of the conversation between Mr. Ledger and )
the ‘manager’ of the Yukon Valley News,” as set forth under the later date, )
is true as far as it goes. It does not tell quite all the truth; but it bears no )
palpable falsehood on its face, and is therefore unobjectionable so far as the )
Yukon Valley News is concerned. ? ;
AN INCIDENT
From the Alaska Forum, May 5.
Under the heading “A Stormy Meet
ing,” the Yukon Valley News in issue
dated Nov. 15, 1905, thus paid its re
spects to the Miners' Protective Asso
ciation, and its first annual meeting:
“It leaked out that contention, bick
ering and strife were present at the
meeting of the Miners’ Protective As
sociation held in Rampart, Nov. 4. Re
port says at times a free fight was im
minent, and the meeting bade fair to
resolve itself into a head-breaking con
test.The Alaska Forum
names the following as the new officers
etc.’’
Thus an orderly meeting of miners is
branded as a disorderly crowd of fight
ing toughs, and furthermore the Forum
“names” the officers that preside over
the “head-breaking” mob. The only
authority for this attack: “Report
says/’
When taken to task by an officer of
the Miners’ Association for the above,
and asked for his authority for printing
it, “Manager” Callahan pleaded per
sonal inability to dictate what should
or should not appear in the columns of
the Yukon Valley News, and stated to
our informant that it was handed to
him and he had to put it in.
Now the Valley News gravely informs
the public that the editor of the Forum
“is the organizer of evil forces.” The
miners can best judge as to the “evil
forces” of an organization such as the
Miners’ Protective Association.
From the Alaska Forum, May 12.
To set Mr. Ledger right and extricate
from the false position the powers that
rule the Valley News, would designedly
place him, the Forum prints herewith
the gist of the conversation between Mr.
Ledger and the ‘•manager” of the Yu
kon Valley News.
Mr. Ledger called upon the “manager”
of the Yukon Valley News and asked
him why the article reflecting on the
Miners’ Association had been published,
and informed him that it was untrue.
“Manager” Callahan stated that the
information was given him by a person
whom he did not care to name. He
considered the article in question a
‘news item.’ Mr. Ledger then suggested
the advisability of having future articles
reflecting upon the Miners’ Association
duly signed. “Manager” Callahan in
sisted that the article in question did
not reflect any discredit on the Miners’ I
Association.
This is what Mr. Ledger stated at the
time, and has reiterated since the at
tempted application of the coat of mud
masquerading as an “open letter” ad
dressed to him in the last issue of that
malodorous sheet. The main objection
to Mr. Ledger in the “letter,” is that he
is “an avowed friend” of the editor of
tlie Forum, and this pretext is taken to
cast more mud at the Miners’ Associa
tion through its president.
$180 NUGGET
FROM LITTLE MINOOK
One of the handsomest of the many |
valuable gold nuggets that have been ,
brought to light during Rampart’s his- i
tory was brought in from No. 8 Little
Minook by C. R. Peck last Saturday.
It was picked up as the dump was be
ing shoveled in the evening before, and j
was evidently a product of the same dirt i
from which a $73 lump was taken during
the winter.
This last nugget weighs ounces. !
It is free from quartz and is worth about |
$180.
Mr. Peck reports that cleanups so far
on No. 8 have been fully as good as were
expected. So far as known the same is
true of other claims along the creek.
The frosty nights have held back the
water, and those depending on the pups
for their supply have not been able to
make much progress.
Mr. Peck stated that the last two or
three weeks’ drifting done on No. 8 was
entirely underneath old workings, on a
high point of rough and jagged bedrock.
It yielded some of the best dirt of the
season, going as high as $2 to the bucket*
WORK PROGRESSING
ON SHIRLEY BAR
Messrs. Frank Stevens, James Law
rence and George Shirley came in from
across the divide, arriving Monday
night. They don’t speak well of the
trail.
The Stevens-Lawrence party finished
cleaning up on Gold Run several days
ago. They were well satisfied with the
result.
Mr. Stevens and Erne McLeod have
had five men at work on Shirley Bar,
opening ditches, etc., for several days,
and they are now shoveling in. Indica
tions point to a somewhat more plenti
ful supply of water on the bar than
usual during the early summer.
TO RUN THE MESS
ON HOOSIER GREEK
Mrs. Nichols and Mrs. Strickland will
leave today or tomorrow for Hoosier
creek, where they will conduct the mess
for the hydraulic gang during the work
ing season.
Mr. Nichols and Mr. Strickland will
be members of the large working force.
GENERAL
MERCHANDISE.
r OUTFITTING
MINERS STORE
(In the Postoffiee Building)
Cigars by the Box a Specialty
NO BETTER COFFEE AT ANY PRICE
o
o
50 cents l
o
per pound =
all i
the o
o
year °
c
round t
e
o
nnnoonnnnnno
o
l Best value
3
= for
3
“ the money
3
l ever offered
’ the North
O
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 * 0 0
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOQQQ2
NORTHERN COMMERCIAL COMPANY, Sole Agents for Alaska
Chas. A. Traeger, |
Hats, Clothing j
and Furnishings. \
SAMPLES OF SUITINGS
All the Latest Styles for Spring,
Summer and winter Wear. ~
Leave your measure and have
made-to-order suits sent in.
Costs little more than ready made.
SITKA’S MUMMY
Old Citizen Forced From
Retirement.
From the Sitka Cablegram.
Repulsive, misshapen, ami green with
age or preservative, the mummy brought
to town Sunday night has been tiie
wonder of a never-ending crowd. Very
mysterious was the trip made Sunday j
afternoon by A. Pilil, Jim Teck and
Frank Biles, and there were only a few
who knew that an effort was to be made
to secure one of the mummies which
have been talked about for years as ex
isting in Alaska, but which have been
seen by few white men.
The trip was entirely successful, al
though its object was not accomplished !
without experiences which would have !
brought cold shivers to persons afraid of
ghosts. The mummy was found in a ;
cave under an overhanging‘cliff. There |
for years—how many nobody knows—
the mummy has remained a silent sen- ■
try on the lonely Alaskan coast. Its
only companions have been fifty or sixty
grinning skulls that were arranged
around the mummy with mathematical
precision. There were no skeletons or
other bones, and it is thought that the
heads were some sort of a tribute to a
dead chief.
For years ihe natives of this region
have told of mummies they have seen in
caves along the coast. Little attention
has been paid to these stories, although
mummified bodies have been found at
different points, notably in the Cook
Inlet district at the westward. Gener
ally, white people have considered the
stories as nothing more than Indian
lore, and the first reports of Pihl and
Teck’s discovery were received with in
credulity. The natives have had a
wholesome respect for the ancient graves
on account of a belief that anybody en
tering the caves where the bodies are
situated would be stricken blind.
Superstition, however, had not kept
them from talking of the weird occu
pants of the isolated caves. Recently a
native who had outgrown old beliefs and
fears showed Teck a cave near old Sitka
that contained a mummy. Teck bad no
hesitancy in visiting the spot, but could
not do so at the time, and later had no
way of getting there. He told the story
to Rihl,and Sunday the two, with Frank
Biles, all very skeptical, set forth on a
mummy hunt, a new pastime for Rihl,
who has hunted about everything else.
It was beginning to grow dark when
the cave was reached, and it was neces
sary to light a lantern. A gruesome
sight met the amateur promoters of sci
ence. In the center of the cavern was a
man, apparently asleep or in deep medi
tation. He was squatting down. His
knees were drawn up and his head was
bowed between them. Around him were
a large number of skulls.
lhe figure was not meditating. .Neither
was it asleep. It was dead, and how
long it had crouched thus nobody is pre
pared to say. Opinions differ, some say
ing the body is not over 150 years old,
while others place its age well up in the
hundreds. The native who pointed out
the cave to Teck said the body was not
that of an Indian, hut one of a race of
people who inhabited Alaska before the
Indian came. They were small people,
he said, and had red hair. In life the
mummy was a person about five feet
tall, and while at first glance the hair
looks dark, it has a pronounced reddish
hue.
There is, however, strong evidence
against the theory that the body is one
of a prehistoric race. It is partially
swathed in a coarse cloth, which falls
apart when touched, and near it was
found a wooden box, about two feet
square, that is unmistakably of Indian
make. It is composed of two pieces of
wood, one forming the bottom and the
other the four sides. This latter piece
is bent at right angles; the one joint is
secured with thongs. The outside of the
box has colored markings, which are
nearly obliterated by time.
Mrs. Fleischman and Miss Wield ac
companied Miss Peck on her return to
Little Minook Monday night.