Douglas Island news. [volume], September 12, 1919, Image 2

About Douglas Island news. [volume] (Douglas City, Alaska) 1898-1921

Image provided by: Alaska State Library Historical Collections

                
The Douglas Island News
huinml at IK>utfla? I'imI Oitim ?? S*onu<l-CU?* Nl> > Matlar
Ft/KUSIIBD KVKKV KKUMT
HutMcrlptiua f 3.00 per Ywr In Advane*
AMEN
Alaska a p| tears t?> be ill for a long eol<
winter with little* business . The boats ar
swamped with passengers for the outdid
and the outlook is discouraging. Howevei
hut little is gained l?v going to the State.*
as living is practically as high there as i>
Alaska, and after working all winter fe\
of those going out will have as much read,
eash ahead as if they had remained in tin
Territory and worked part of the time
Alaska is u'oing through a erisis, but Wt
have unlimited faith in the rejuvenatiol
ol the Territory. We lielieve with ever,
true sourdough that times will pick U]> ii
the spring, and that with the o]teniug o
tli? fisheries . nd mines work will again In
plentiful. Valdez is not in as bad shape n:
some of the eities on aeeount of her stead'
p?\ roll from federal enterprises. Busines:
h;<s drop|Kil down to a bedrock basis .then
having In-cn few failures the jiast year, bu
one mall eoneern sroing out of business. A
tln> | k! of depression every dollar vol
ern s|M-nd at home should lie spent here. I
e\ery person would resolve to trade witl
Valdez merehauts until the hard times havi
I Missed it would In- but a short time unti
there would be no hard times. The voluuu
"l business done would increase fully 4<
per cent., and the inonev returned to von
The nuiin tiling is not to be discouraged
One is better off in Valdez broke than out
Mde with a small capital. Our people havt
never yet turue?l down a worthy jtersoi
nor have our merchants refused tlicm cred
it The town is what you make it. It is tin
index of your efforts. If you try to sli]
b\ ami fail to do your share of lioosting i"
?vill return to you in the sha|tc of less bus
in? -s and les- friends. Say in Alaska
Make no move until you know you can d<
better. .Many a supposed corpse will re
\ivc under careful nursing. ? Vailde;
TH AT SKVKNTKK N* MILLION
Tin- seventeen million dollar appropria
T :? >ti has passed over the first and most dif
find hurdle liefore l>eeo]niii? a law. Tin
Kill a short time ago passed the house ant
. very one seeirs confident that it will pas.'
t lit' Senate with east-.
The seventeen millit>ns are ti> he nset
for the completion t>f the government rail
????.id ln-t ween Seward and Fairbanks. Tin
t> |\ drawback to the matter is the faet tha
tin Senate will pmhaMy he very busy fti
stunt' time with international hnsiness, st
that they will not he ahle to aet on this a]>
propriatitdi matter for some tunc.
This being the ease, it is prohahh- tha'
110 umisiial progress will he made on tht
railroad this year, as the season is tptitt
well advanced.
With all this money before it. the Kail
mad < 'ounnissioii should make the dirt fix
in i lie - prinjr. and all the towns from Sew
ard to Faiihanks should feel the stimulus
What is good for Western Alaska am
Interior Alaska should he good for the re
maintler of the Territory, so that we in tht
Southeastern part should not feel any jeal
ousy hut wish our neighl>ors good luek ant!
lit >| >e for a s|K*etly eonipletion of the rail
roatl project wh it'll is to tap the heart of
the Territory.
We predict lianl going for the hi" f<?r
a full Territorial form of government re
??cut 1 y i tit i*< h in t'ongress by our dele
gate. A^ f<>r the people of Alaska, real
Alaskans, they are for it. The op]>o?ition
will eoiiie from those seasonal Alaskans
who come to the Territory in the summer
and skim the eream. then dejMirt again for
the Smith with tin- geese in the fall. If they
had their way. Alaska would remain a wil
derness, governed from Washington by
countless bureaus. I'ndera full Territorial
form of government the people of the terri
tory at least would have no one to blame
but themselves if the natural resources of 1
the country were taken away from them.
As it is now we can kick, but are forced to
like it. We have no redress.
The rcccnt tragedy in Western Alaska
in which 1*. S. Deputy Marshal Isaac Ev
?ns was killed by a degenerate murderer, is
a sad one indeed. From all- indications,
Marshal Evans was killed while perform-'
ing his duties as an officer of the law. The
murderer has confessed to another brutal
killing. It seems like, a strange trick of
fate that a good man should be sacrificed
by one who owns up to being worthies.1
and who never would have been missed if
a bullet had buuiped him off.
We can see nothing ahead of Alaska
next year but great prosperity. Western
Uaska will have its big railroad appropri
ition and its Matanuska fields to be used
>v the Navy, Southeastern Alaska has the
cw Hvder strike and the great pulp mill
Ktssibility All over the^ Territory there
re rumors of developments that will be
arried out in the spring, when peace has
nine to the eoiuitry. Alaska looks like a
I country to tie to right now.
Most on, the Cultured, the Hub of the
'inverse, the very apex of civilization in
\merica. is in the throes of a great strike
md mobs almost have control of the city.
We have not yet heard what caused the
trike, but v. e suspect that it was the
nounting cost of beans. It is dangerous
o conic between a Bostoiiian and his-beans.
President Wilson has stated in one of
lis speeches while on tour that the League
>f Nations perhaps will not make wars im
tossible but will make them improbable.
Vothing is impossible, and if the league re
luces war to .111 improbability that is good
'iiough. and we art1 for it.
Tin* passenger congestion on the steani
diip lines has been somewhat relieved.
Most of those desirous to leave the terri
ory have pone. Those who arc left are
'lie real Alaskans, and the ones who really
?ount.
Delegate Grigsbv staved by the ship
mt il the appropriation bill passed the
! louse. His speech in favor of the bill went
i long ways towards helping pass the bill,
lie is on the job ami is making a pood rec
The jwict of Xenana who is complaining'
ilmut the treatment received by him from
n editor, has an awful nerve. He should
?onsider himself lucky to be alive. Does
le not realize that the o|ten season on poet.1
- all the year in Alaska f
From the reception President Wilson
* receiving on his tour over the country,
t would seem that he is not quite as unpop
ilar as some of the Republican senators
vould have us believe.
Yukon is dry as far as the public saloor
- concerned. To many sourdoughs that
s absolutely the last straw, and they art
villing to pass in their checks and quit thh
opsy-turvy world.
Although 110 new snow has fallen on tlx
o|?s of the adjacent mountains, some even
ngs there is a chill in the air that briugt
o mind that old saying about the sununei
rages.
They aii' filming the "Silver Horde,*'*
{ex Beach's stirring novel of the salmon
ndustry. It will be a nice tiling to remcin
?cr the Alaskan salmon bv in a few years.
The transportation companies are about
o raise the passenger and freight rates an
other twenty |mt eent. Bov, please page the
Territorial Shipping Board.
Outside of 45 amendments and four res
ervations, the Senate foreign relations coin
mittee found the peace treaty all right.
That isn't had ? for the Senate.
It is said that Austria signed the peace
treaty with a smile. Why not 1 A smile
doesn't <*os| anything and helps in any
rase.
It would seem that lately it is a mighty
dull day in Yaldez when a new strike of
mineral of fabulous richness is not re*
ported.
The local gas l>oat fleet is coming home
for the winter. Now the hot-stove fisher
men will have their innings.
YUKON RIVER
IS MAN'S FRIEND
Provide!' Food, Shelter and Meant
of Communication ? It
Great Stream
Klver worship seems never lu have
been practiced by the peoples of Uio
earth. says a statement Issued by the
teen no woudor If the Indians of
Alaska. llvluK along the cowrie or
the mighty Yukou. had regarded It
with adoration, for throughout Cen
tral Alaaka the Yukon Is tho giver
of food to maintain life. The won
der Is rather that tho Indians did
not worship the river.
Asltje from furnishing food for the
.iatlvpn, the river plays a great pari
in tho maintenance of Christian
mission*. It la tho Arm and stead
fasl friend of tho missionary, even
though at tlmoe It menaces his life.
It neve} forgets the lone missionary
along Its 2.000-mlle course as he of
tentimes feels that his church and
Its membership ha* dono when tho
money for the support of the mis
sion and the workeri, to buy food,
phelter and clothing come* In lu
little drlbleta.
If the missionary Is hungry he
has but to go to the Yukon, winter
or summer, and with little or no ef
fort food lu the form of fish Is
ready for his needs.
It he Is In need of shelter, from
Its swift current he ran capture
spruce logs with which to build a
abin. His clothing it cannot fur
nish. But what heathen god ever
supplied his devotees with even food
and shelter?
Missions have been established
here and there along Its length In
Canada by tho Church of Kngland.
from the Alaska-Canadian boundary
to Its confidence with the Tanana
river by the Episcopal church of the
United States and from Tanana to
Its mouth In Norton Sound by the
Episcopal. Itoman and Greek Catho
lic churches. No other churches
have any missions In the great Yu-.
Hon territory. The work In the In
?erlor is among the native Indians.
Near the Yukon's mouth and north
nlong the coast the work Is among
the Kaklmos.
The missions, schools and hospl
'als established there are few and
far between and the workera are
icarco. The Indians of the Interior
.ire ready for the body and spiritual
*ld offered them, but facilities for
arlng for them are larking. It Is
believed by those who Initiated the
uatlon-wide campaign of the Epls
opal church In the United Slates
'or mobilizing the resources of that
-hurch that It may adequately meet
it* full responsibility In the Alaskan
Held as well as In Its work at home
nnd In the foreign countries, thai
the campaign will result In Increas
ed funds and personnel for the
"hurrh's educational, medical nnd
"vnngelistlc work In our Northern
?errltory.
The Importance of the Yukon In
'ho development of the Interior of
\laska ran hardly be exaggerated,
't feeds the natives and the mls
donarlee in all season* of the vear;
<t Is the only means of communica
tion with distant villages In the
lummer time; It brings material for
louses in the shape of spruce logs
almost to the very door; It has had a
beneficent Influence throughout lis
length; It is the principal physical
'eature of Alaska, traversing Ihe
'errltory from the oast to the west.
It is the largest river In Alaska
ind the flfth largest in North Amer
ica. It Is approximately 3.200 miles
'ong in a great arc beginning in
l^ake Dennett near the Harlflc line
in British Columbia and ending in
tiering sea. It* catchment area Ik
130,000 square mile*, more than
half of whlrh is In Canada. After
lowing northwest It turns to the
southwest of Kort Yukon, Alaska,
on the Arctic Clrrle. but again I urn*
northwest at ? point nouth of Nor
'on Sound Into the south shore of
?vhlrh It lator flow*. The Missis
sippi Is longer by 2G miles.
The course of the rlvor I* divided
Into four Rub-province* or physio
graphic divisions: The Upper Yu
kon. extending for 4B0 mile*, where
'be river Is from one to three mile*
wide; the Yukon Flat*, 200 mile* In
length, the valley being from 40 to
too mile* In width and the river
Itaolf from ten to twenty mile*; the
llampart Region. 110 mile* In length.
Iho stream being from ono to threo
mile* wide; and the Lower Yukon,
soo miles In length, extending from
t'ho 'unction of the Tanana river to
ihe coast. Ihe river varying In width
from two and three to flfteen and |
twenty miles.
The Yukon Is navigable from June
I to October 1 ? sometime* to No
vember 1 ? for a distance of 2.000
miles, or with Its tributaries, for
*.500 miles. The nearest harbor
for oceans ships It at St. Michaels
on the Island of the aame name. SO
miles northeast of the delta. There
passenger* and freight are transfer
red to the flat-bottomed boat* whlrh
I'nter the Yukon through the Apoon
Pass, where at low tide the water
I* but four feet deep. Six feet Is the
greatest draft of any river *tcam
boat. These boats, with a capacity
?f 600 tons ind 200 passengers, rnn
iscend the river to Dawson and the
Klondike in Canada. Above Dawson
ihe boats are smaller and must be
equipped with powerful machinery
[or battling with tho swift current.
These boats connect with tho
White I'm* k Yukon Hallway irt
Whltohorso anil In eight hours pu -
Miigera from tho head of the Yukoi'.
2,300 mlloa from its mouth, cu.i
reach Hkagwuy on tho count, which
la lu communication hy ocean steam
ahlpa with Seattle. Vancouver. Vic
toria and other Western porta.
The current of the Yukon In
awlft, muddy and full of lalandu an t
ahlftliiK ahoala and sandbars whlc't
make It difficult to uavlgate. At It i
delta It separates Into sevoral crook -
ed. shoal-Hold dreams which aeei.
the sea In different directions. Ttto
current continues nourly to tho oc\
and the Influence of tho tide la
scarcely noted 100 miles above tho;
river's mouth. At low tldo tho watc.
<>n the sen coast Is freshened by t lie !
Yukon .stream for a distance qf sev- 1
eral miles.
Oovernment mall Is passing nlom; :
the creator part of tho "river thru
oat the year. To the leas arcotfelbl >
offices deliveries are made monthly
In winter and fortnightly In sum
mcr. tn winter only letter mall 1 1
carried by don-sled. In tho atimr:cr
papers and parcels arc carried -by
(he steamboats.
Tho Yukon Is not only Alaska's
great commercial highway, but Is
Its great storehouse of food. In the
summer time great catches of salmon
are made while the flsh Is migrating
to the clear headwaters of the river
nnd Iti tributaries to spawn. The
winter diet of dried salmon Is varied
hy the flesh of fresh eels, ling,
whlteflsh nnd plckerol caught In
traps submerged "nder the thick lee
of the river.
Along the Yukon flats,- whero the
river has more the appearance of a
marsh or lake with Its thousands M
shoals and Islands, the banks are
ontlnually eaten out by tho swift
deep current and from fifty to 200
reel o ftlmbered land falls Into tho
current hero and there several times
u day. The entire Alaskan soil, un
der the two to four feet of aurface
sol I thawed out by the summer sun,
is a froxen mass and along the Yu
kon Klata It Is a sandy, crumbly soil
which has no cohesion once tbo cur
rent has thawed the ico and hcncc
It constantly glvci away before the
encroachments of the current.
CH'.F.F INJURED
Maftl Tiitoina. chief of the Tatlt
Ick Indians ami a man of consider
ate ability, wu shut nirl danger
uesly woundo<l n* the village r^icnllv
a gun In the hands of his young aon
being discharged and the whole load
of shot lodging in his foot near the
plantar fascia. The load carried
part of his rubber boot and clothing
Into tho wound, inaklnr a horrll-te
laceration An X-ray picture of the
wound, taken by I)r. Joseph A. Sil
verman at the Valdez hospital, allow
ed that the navlculare and Internal
cuneiform hones were shattered and
that the chance of shot was lodged
In the foot, which was badly morti
fied front the lack of medical atten
tion.
Kverythlng possible was done for
ih? Injured by by Dr. Sllvorman.
hut It was found necessary Tuesday
to amputate the foot to save his life.
Tatoma Is resting easily (it the hos
pital and unless complications set
In will got well.
BACK AGAIN
Prank D. Caraway, after tiavlng
spent the past several months work
ing at Latouche. has come back to
the Channel and expects to go to
fhlchagof to work.
Job Printing at the News office.
FOR PRINCE RUPERT, VAN COUVER, SEATTLE, ETC.
PRINCESS ALICE
September 8, 18
PRINCESS MARY
September 20, Oct. 5, 16, 26
Particulars and Kmwrvationi from
OLIVER OLSON, OK L. 8. FERH18.
AK?ut. Douglaa Tr?adwall.
K. F. W. LrOWLI, Oen'l Agent, Juneau.
SAFETY .CODRTESY SPEED SERVI.C.E
Pacific Steamship Company
ADMIRAL LINE
NORTHBOUND
Adm. Evan*
Sept. it Tj
City of Seattle
Sept. 16
WESTBOUND
Adm Wation
Sept. 14
SOUTHBOUND
City of Seattle
Sept. l?
Adm. Evani
Sept. 22
THREE SAILINGS A WEEK FROM SEATTLE TO
CALIFORNIA POINTS
Rail Ticket* to All Point! in the United Statei and Canada at
Lowest Rates
ALASKA .. WASHINGTON CALIFORNIA
Kor Information concerning date of arrival* and departure*
call at or phone to local office*
GUY L. SMITH Agent.
DouRlaa, Aluika
TREADWGLL MARKKT
WHOLESALE and RETAIL
Beef, Pork Mutton and Poultry
Ham, Bacon and Lard
Fish and (fame in season
'PHONE AUTO J -8 Treadwell, Alaska ?
r.: zz: :xtr^trrrrrri:r: ::in: >t.r; rm ! i i r 1 1 1 1. 1 w
THE
B. M. BEHRENDS BANK
ESTABLISHED 1601 INCORPORATED 1914
JUNEAU, ALASKA
OLDEST AND LARGEST
BANK IN ALASKA |
Modern Safe Deposit Boxes ill Fire -Proof
Vault for rent at reasonable prices
Four per cent interest paid on time deposits. ;?
THETREADWELLSTORE
Abused feet express t 1k?iii??'1 vt?s in
painful corns, aching bunions, broken
arches, strained muscles and serious or
ganic derangements. Half the cases beings
treated for rheumatism arc really nothing
more or less than strained and painful
muscles resulting from flat feet. A pair of
Arch Supporters will solve your feet
troubles, and you may get them expertly
fitted at the Treadwcll Store.
For the coming Winter we have many
Fine Walking Shoes
Each boat brings new arrivals in Ladies', Men's and Children's
Shoes. And, best of all, the usual
Treadwcll Prices Prevail
PEOPLE WHOSE FEET ARE DIFFICULT TO FIT WILL
FIND SATISFACTION HERE
Alaska Treadwell Gold Mining Co,
Mercantile Department