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Seward weekly gateway. (Seward, Alaska) 1905-1914, July 28, 1906, Image 1

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Persistent link: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn98059811/1906-07-28/ed-1/seq-1/

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Sewar i Weekly Gateway
—— - N(, ~ si:\\ Al!l>. ALASKA, SAT! ltl>AV. .II I.V •-**. i;><><>■_
REVOLUTIONARY PLOTS
CONTINUE IN SECRET
Russian Police Unable To Prevent Popular Meet
ings fven in St. Petersburg and Capital
City Regarded by All Classes as Smok
ing Volcano With Eruption
Probable Any Moment.
By Cable to Tbe Daily Gateway.
St. Petersburg. July gl devolution*
ist> are holding secret meetings in
many parts of the city '■ n spite ot tlu
vigilant surveillance of the police,
who disperse the meetings whenetet
they tind them and arrest large num
t*>rs of the participants. While the
city is outwardly quiet under the re
pression enforced by the overwhelm
ing array of troops it is felt by all
classes that the capital is a smoking
volcano which may burst into tierce
eruption at any moment.
The workingmen’s unions are de
bating the question of declaring a gen
eral strike all over the empire in all
trades simultaneously. The only
thing that holds*it back and has done
so for weeks is the fear that if railroad
operation ceases the peasantry in the
famine districts "ill be reduced to
starvation. They have no stores of
provisions and subsist upon what is
carried into them from day to day.
Premier Stolypin in an interview to
day says that the policy of the govern
ment is stronghanded repression of
disorder and drastic reforms: that to
accomplish these results numerous
arrests are necessary and expulsions
from the country are indispensable be
cause it i> impossible to compel wit
nesses to attend court and testify i
against accused persons.
The premier says he expects a man-!
ufactured outcry against the policy of
the government, and the false charge
of intimidation, but that in fact the
relief of the peasantry from their
present hard conditions is the subject
nearest the czar’s heart: that the
mustering of an overwhelming force
of soldiers in the capital and other
great cities which are known to be
revolutionary centers to repress insur
rection is the right of the government
since it is admitted in all nations that
a loyal array of sufficient strength to
maintain the government is a neces
sity. He states that only revolution
ary newspapers have been suppressed.
Blow at Constitutionalists
St. Petersburg. July 21 The adop
tion of the agrarian address to the
people yesterday by the dourua is re
garded a> a death blow to the consti
tutionalist'and they tried hard to de
feat it. The government now fears
that the faction has not enough
strength in the dourua to accomplish
anything and will probably withdraw
the offer to allow it to form a new
ministry. The douma seems to be
hopelessly split and unable to unite a
majority of the members upon any
legislative proposition.
The czar was in conference with his
cabinet until midnight. Troops kept
arriving in the city in large numbers
all night and general alarm was roused
among the citizens because of the fact.
It is believed that the bureaucracy is
preparing to resume autocratic meth
ods and to ride rough shod over the
populace without sparing whip or
spur. _
Cznr Dissolves Parliament
St. Petersburg, July *23—Czar Nich
olas peremptorily dissolved parliament
Sunday by an imperial ukase which
orders the convocation of a new par
liament within six months. Martial
law was at the same time proclaimed
in St ."Petersburg and it is made plain
that the czar intends to rule by force.
Martial law is also being established
as rapidly as possible in outside prov
inces, causing a panic among the pea
santry. The whole nation is in a light
ing mood this morning.
The ukase was issued yesterday
morninglafter an all-night session of
the czar's closest advised in his palace
at Peterhof.ftThe whole province of
Kief, surrounding St. Petersburg, was
immediatelylplaced under martial law
and every quarter of the city was
crowded with troops all day yesterday
and today. Never before were so
manv soldiers seen in the city. The
czar remains in his^Jpalace, which is
guarded bv impenetrable military
forces.
The military guard of the city is
! complete. Troops occupy every street,
railroad station and bridge. The pre
fect of police and governor of the
province have been given dictatorial
powers and they are causing the arrest
of every known revolutionist. They
are sentencing many prisoners to
death without trial, ordering the sus
pension of the press, forbidding all
assemblages of the people, public and
private.
Douma to Resist
Members of the douma withdrew to
Viborg. Finland, immediately after
dissolution and from there the outlaw
parliament will meet and issue an ad
dress to the Russian people, advising
them when the time comes to act.
Members met today in a hotel dining
room.
The different factions of the douma
are now cemented and the whole body
! is now united in a determination to re
! sist the autocracy. An armed uprising
is expected to follow the issuance of
the douraa’s address.
The outcome of the crisis depends
almost wholly upon the army. The
douma leaders believe that at least
half the army will eotne over to the
popular side, in which case blood will
I tiow in every province. It is expected
J that armed revolution will be in pro
I grew throughout the empire in a few
days. Gen. Von Schwanbach, comp
troller of the empire, in an interview
today expresses the belief that the
capital is >afe from the revolution
aides but that the imperial govern
ment may be overthrown in the south
ern provinces.
The czar this morning ordered Stoly
pkin to assume the premiership, dis
placing Goremykin. The parliament
building is closed and guarded by a
platoon of soldiers.
| All publishing houses and printing
shops have been warned not to print
the address of the douma to the peo
ple. Gen. Trepoff and the bureaucracy
: again have the czar under their
thumbs. They have convinced him
that the Cossacks are faithful to the
throne and that the great majority of
tin- army will remain loyal, thereby
enabling tho reactionaries to establish
monarchical rule in Russia upon a
basis which will continue forever.
The czar remains in strict seclusion in
the palace at Peterhof and trusts
wholly to his advisers.
Gen. Trepoff was again warned to
day that he is marked for assassina
tion. The terrorists outline their plan
by condemning every prominent reac
tionary to death, including the czar.
! Insurrection is rampant in the country,
and yesterday the peasantry seized the
lands of the Grand Duke Michael,
brother of the czar.
Workingmen Strike
Odessa, July 23—Ten thousand work
ingmen went out on strike today. They
claim that plans have been formed for
a general strike of the laboring men
all over the empire and that all are
ready to participate when notice is
given. _
Declare Siege in Finland
St. Petersburg, July 24—The czar
today declared Finland to be in a state
of siege in order that the military may
legally arrest the members of the
douma in the event of their attempting
to hold another meeting.
Copies of the address to the people
which the douma adopted were sent to
all the city newspapers but policemen
were stationed at the entrances to the
newspaper offices and not a copy of
any issue was allowed to go on the
street for sale until it had been passed
by the censor. By this means the
government will prevent the publica
tion of the address.
Nevertheless the substance of the
address will be circulated verbally
among the people. It urges the Rus
sian people to stand firmly against the
czar’s government, affirms that the
czar has no right to collect taxes or
draft men for military service without
(Continued on page 4)
ALASKA CENTRAL
IN HIGH FAVOR
No Danger at Any Time That It
Would Lack Required fi
nancial Support.
Kastern capital is gaining such con
fidence in Alaska investments that it
is no longer difficult to finance an
Alaska project which investigation
proves to be legitimate, such as the
Alaska Central railroad. The stand
ing of that enterprise now is such that
a new syndicate stands ready today to
take it off the hands of the present
owners at any time they desire to sell.
This news is brought to Seward by
Maj. Iiallaine, who organized and pro-j
muted the railway from the beginning
and has been with it throughout its
history. Discussing the present
standing of the project in the financial
world Maj. Iiallaine said this morning:
“The people of Seward never had
the slightest reason to be uneasy, as
they were for a while last spring, over
the possibility that railroad work
might close down. I took the precau
tion early last spring to get another
syndicate together, to be prepared to
take the work off the hands of the
Frost syndicate if such action should
he necessary.
“The new syndicate has been mak
ing an investigation of the work done
on the road to date, and the traffic
possibilities. The result of the inves
tigation is that the new syndicate
is ready to take over the entire Frost
interest and continue the work without
a month's interruption, with myself
as president of the construction com
pany, in cast* Mr. Frost wishes to
withdraw.
“The new people whom I have got
ten together are so well pleased with
the situation that an offer to buy the
Frost interests outright will be made
as soon as I return to Seattle and can
go on to New York for that purpose.”
RAILROAD FORCES
MOVING FORWARD
Construction Will Soon Be Concen
trated on Grading and Bridging
Around the Loop
The near completion of railroad con
struction up to the first tunnel, on
mile 4!». is moving the grading forces
over to camp 51, where the largest
number of men will be employed for
the next two or three months. The
force employed there is steadily grow
ing and several hundred men will soon
be scattered along miles 50 and 51,
which include several heavy rock cuts
and some deep fills.
The tracklaying gang is slowly push
ing tiie rails forward and the track
end is now near the end of mile 47. It
will be laid close to the tunnel en
trance by about the middle of August
and a new transfer station will then be
located at about the end of mile 4S,
and the wagon road from the winter
transfer station on mile 4fi will be
abandoned.
Watson & Snow's bridge builders are
now engaged upon the foundations of
the big trestle just beyond the first
tunnel and another across the moraine
on mile 50. The latter is 900 feet long
but not very high, and will be pushed
rapidly to completion. Work upon
I the high trestle will proceed slowly
until the track reaches the new trans
fer station, in order that the timbers
may be hauled there by train.
The first tunnel will be bored be
fore the end of August. At the south
end it is still an open cut and the
tunnel is apt to be much shorter than
was first planned because the nature
of the rock so far encountered in the
side hill where the tunnel begins is
unsuited for tunnel walls. The side of
the open cut is now* twenty feet high
and the cut may be pushed many feet
farther before the portal is estab
j lished. _
NORTHWESTERN BOATS
TO CALL AT KATALLA
By Cable to The Dally Gateway.
Seattle, July 21—Vessels of the
Northwestern Steamship Company
will call at Katalla hereafter. This is
understood here as notice that the
railroad project backed by Northwest
ern interests with Katalla as its base
is likely to be under way very soon.
The fact that an ore deposit is super
ficial-does not go down—is no indica
tion of its poverty. Some shallow ore
deposits are very rich, thus compen
sating for lack of depth or magnitude.
The Klondike gold clean-up in May
was $959,422.50.
FIND GOOD PAY
ON CACHE CREEK
Late Letters Bring" Favorable
Reports From Whole
Yentna District.
Thirty-two ounces of gold taken out
J in twelve days on Cache creek l>v three
i men with a hollow log for a sluice box
j is one of several favorable reports re
ceived from the Yentna district.
Cache creek is a tributary of the upper
Kahiltna. Letters brought l*y the
Portland from the westward to differ
ent men in Seward from different re
gions of tin* district all agree that
prospects there are exceedingly prom
ising.
Several new strikes are reported and
the partial recession of high water lias
made possible sluicing operations in
many places, although the streams
were Hooded to an extent which pre
vented extensive work before July.
The creeks of the upper Kahiltna seem
to he the center of greatest attraction
now, but Lake creek is lined with men
who are actively employed.
The extraction of the 22 ounces of
gold by the crude process was reported
in a letter from T. R. Wilson to J. D.
Sheldon of Seward. Wilson is well
known here. He started for the dis
trict in March with two partners,
Jones and Collins, and states that they
found some difficulty in getting ground
on Cache creek, as nearly everything
there had been staked. He confirms
the report brought by R. E. Shanklin
of a rich discovery on a new creek
called Poor Man's creek.
Omer Patten received a letter from
Harry Ellsworth on Lake creek, giv
ing an optimistic description of the
situation there. Ellsworth, George
Parks, P. H. Buck and Frank Kelly
have taken a lay on Patten's claim,
No. 6 above discovery. They went in
a month ago. From a brief try-out of
the ground Ellsworth expresses the
opinion that they can take out 812 a
day per man.
A letter to Hans Farnsworth from
Susitna Station states that Litchfield
Churchill’s store has been practi
cally emptied of goods in the last few
weeks. In May 100 tons were shipped
in there to add to a fair stock which
had been carried over winter, but the
men from the creeks have got it all.
Dr. McMasters reports that Dave
Wallace came down to the Inlet from
the Yentna district a few days ago and
gave an optimistic account of proceed
ings there.
WILL SEND GOLD ORE
TO TACOMA SMELTER
Stevenson Brothers to Send Sample
Shipment from New Strike
Near Trail Lake
Stevenson Brothers will send "»00
pounds of ore from their new strike
near Trail lake to the Tacoma smelter
to obtain a sample mill run. The ore
was taken from the vein as it lay in
place, without any attempt at selec
tion. Samples taken when the strike
was made were assayed by H. S.
Waterman and showed as high as $133
per ton.
The discovery made by the Steven
sons offers the best indications of any
yet made in the Falls creek region.
It lies just over the ridge northwester
ly from the group located along Falls
creek by Skeen and Lechner last sum
mer and is apparently on the same
lead, as the strike of each is directly
toward the other. The Stevenson lode
has a pay streak varying from eigh
teen inches to five and one-half feet.
It has been traced by outcroppings for
1600 feet.
The Stevensons are experienced
quartz miners and prospectors from
Montana. They are immensely pleased
with their discovery and express the
belief that the whole region will prove
rich in quartz gold. The ore in their
discovery is white quartz, exactly like
that on Falls creek.
SCHOONER CHARTERED
TO BRING DYNAMITE
The Seattle Times of July 10 says:
“The schooner Martha W. Tuft,
owned by the Seattle Shipping Com
pany, was today chartered by the
Alaska Central Railroad Company to
carry a cargo of dynamite to Seward.
The vessel is now preparing for the
journey. She has been laid up during
the winter months.
“In addition to her cargo of dyna
mite the vessel will carry a cargo of
general merchandise. In all she will
take 200 tons.”
FINDS GOLD ON :
CHULITNA RIVER
Prospector Reports Location of
Placer Near Ouart/. Previ
ously Found.
SUFFERS SEVERE HARDSHIPS!
Arthur Baer Makes Gold Discovery
but Gets Down to Dog Meat
on Return Trip.
With promising samples of coarse
gold in his pocket, which he gathered
on the upper Chulitna, and a hair
raising story ot several days spent as a
castaway on a drift heap in the Susit
na, where he subsisted on a diet of
malamute and occasional fish, Arthur
Baer arrived in Seward Saturday
night to tell of a new strike northeast
of Mt. McKinley. He located six
claims there for himself and the men
who grubstaked him, and affirms that
ho can stick a shovel into the ground
anywhere and scoop up colors, gener
ally in surprising quantity.
Baer started inside in February with
a limited outtit and made his way to
the upper waters of the Chulitna,
where he made the strike which he
reports. He did not have enough sup
plies to remain long and so started
back as soon as the rivers were open.
His progress was slow but he linally
got through the box canyons, past the
rapids and down to the main river,
where he embarked in a frail boat.
The river was high and the plunging
Hood hurled his little craft against a
blocked heap of drift on a small bar in
the middle of the river and wrecked
it. Baer and his dog Held to the drift
wood and climbed out of reach of the
waters, but the boat anti the small re
maining supplies which man and dog
had expected to subsist on until they
reached the Inlet, sailed down with
the current.
Eats his Dog
Baer held to his gun but as no edi-{
ble game was kind enough to approach
to be shot he soon grew hungry. In a j
few days the gnawing at his stomach
cast a lilm over his eyes and the atten
uated sides of his dog gradually as
sumed in his blurred vision the simili
tude of porterhouse steak, lie saw
they could not both survive and with
apologies to his unfortunate canine
companion he slew the animal and de
voured it.
Soon after the supply of unground
sausage was exhausted the water re
ceded and an occasional fish floated
near. Baer managed once in a while
to spear one with a sharp stick, get
tingaboutone in a hundred that he
stabbed at, and in that way he per
petuated his existence for several days
longer. Finally a prospectors’ boat
came by and he was rescued. He looks
a good deal worse for the wear.
Near Quartz Strike
The strike which Baer reports is in
the same region as the quart/, strike
made a short time ago by Richard
Oderkirk, who got a $53 assay from
rock he brought down. Baer gives
the same description of the country as
Oderkirk did. It is much broken, in
dicating upheavals of recent geologi
cal age, but gold colors can be picked
up almost at random. The gold Baer
brought shows iron stains. Copper
indications are also abundant.
Baer expects to go back in a short
time. He hopes for better luck next
time. His first trip was exciting from
the start. He was grubstaked by a
local business man and several rail
road men. On his way over Crow
creek pass he was caught in a snow
slide which barely missed several
other men on the trail. When the
slide stopped Baer rose up from the
side opposite his companions and wav
ing a snow-covered cap shouted, “I'm
still going!” That was the last that
was seen of him by anybody in Seward
until he turned up Saturday night.
Will Ship 2000 Tons a /lonth
Development of the Boulder bay
copper property of the Reynolds
Alaska company has reached the point
where a steady output of 2000 tons a
month can be made, according to C.
W. Paget of the company, Arrange
ments have been made to ship this
regularly to the Tacoma smelter. De
velopment of the property on Latouche
island is also progressing rapidly. The
company has built a good dock at
Boulder bay.
MINER SURVIVES
FIERCE TORTURE
Blinded By Dynamite Billy Hogan
Wanders for Two Days
in Total Darkness.
RESCUED AND WILL RECOVER:
Lone Prospector Has Narrow tscarv
from Horrible Death on
Knight Island.
Blinded by an explosion of nit;
glycerine which mangled hi> face ii
strips of bleeding flesh, tore ore- t .
from its socket and temporarily <
stroyed the vision of the other, w:ui
ing through tide water in -ightle*
j groping to find his cabin to obtain
stick of dynamite to end the horrib •
torture of existence, wandering tw»>
days about the beach without food or
water in pursuit of his grim purpose,
—rescued finally by two other men am1
taken to a surgeon who dressed his
wounds, restored the sight of his n
maining eye after live days of inde
scribable suffering,—and now cheerful
and ambitious as ever at the prospect
of returning health,—this was the ex
perience of Billy Hogan, prospector or.
Knight island, as nervy a man as ever
shook off the hand of death when it
rested ujion him.
Early in .July Billy Hogan and Jack
Whalen went to Knight island t<»
prospect for copper. They decided
that they could accomplish more by
working separately and Whalen went
away into the hills while Hogan ex
plored the coast around Dryer ba>.
One day he thawed some dynamite
hot water and later went back to tho*
more. He had thoughtlessly left m
the can the water in which he hat
thawed the first sticks. As usual pr -
of the nitro-glycerine had been dra’.ui
off in the thawing process and floated
on top of the water. Hogan built .
fire under the can to heat the wat<
and as it burned slowly he blew into
to fan the embers.
Flame Blinds him
Suddenly a flame rose and curie (
around and over the top of tin* can.
| As Hogan drew back the flame ignit« «t
I the oil on top of the water in the can
and a fierce explosion and blindin'.-'
Hash in Hogan’s face hurled him vi«
lently to the ground, cut his face into
ribbons and left him sightless.
Realizing his plight and mad.
| desperate by the frightful agony amt
belief that his sight was gone forev. i
Hogan in a moment decided to end hi*
life. He had no weapon with him and
| his only resource was to grope his way
I to his cabin and secure a stick of dvna
i mite. The powder he had with him
was frozen and useless.
The cabin was two miles away. To
reach it Hogan was obliged to walk
along the beach, and in places where
the hills jutted in the water, to wade.
The thought of drowning himself never
occurred to him in his half crazed state.
While wading he stepped beyond his
depth and sank under the water.
When he came up the salt wave had
cleared his remaining eye of clotted
blood and for a moment he could see.
He located the open beach and mad.
his way to it but before bo reached it
his sight was lost again.
Gropes for Two Days
For two days Hogan wandered about
the beach in racking torture, blindly
trying to find his(way to his cabin with
the fixed determination of killing him
self with dynamite, but he was unable
to reach the spot. Then two pros
pectors came along in a boat, saw and
rescued him and took him to Latouche,
where his face was dressed as well as
possible. The first large boat which
came along was the survey steamer
Taku, which carried him to Ellamar.
A surgeon there dressed his wounds
and found that while one eye had been
literally torn out of the head the other
was uninjured.
Hogan suffered no permanent injury
beyond the loss of one eye and the
disfigurement of his face. H. A.
Ingalls, who saw him at Ellamar and
brought the story to Seward, says he
was in a cheerful mood and expects to
be out prospecting in a short time.
He is considered by all who saw him
soon after he was rescued as nervy a
man as ever walked. The prospectors
who found him wandering on the
beach, blind, and suffering indescri
ble agony, say that he was walking
about silently, and never uttered a
moan on the journey to Latouche ot*
when his wounds were dressed.

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