LAWMAKERS HEAR
ABOUT RAILROADS
I
— I
Testimony Before Territorial
Committee of Congress
Favors Valdez.
(Continued from page 3>
yet tho total length, with one cut-off
above mentioned, is tin- saint- sis last
year's trail.
"Tho Chairman. What is that from
which you just road?
"Mr. Harring. It is a letter from
the Heerotary of war transmitting the
report of the hoard of road commis
sioners. Now, then, what Alaska
needs first and foremost is railroad
aid, and next Alaska should he visit
ed by a congressional committee,
with power to take testimony and
make iiujuirics into the conditions as
they now exist with regard to the de
velopment of the territory. If our
demands here should produce results.
Manic of the leading features of tin
cabal will crop out right here in the
Kaat when you commence taking
test imony.
'".Mr. I lipids. We art* taking tes
timony. When you say that some
leading features will crop out in the
East, what do you mean?
"Mr. Barring. I mean as to the
mode and manner in whieh our own
enterprise has been suppressed.
"Mr. Ilignins. I to you know any
t hing about it ?
"Mr. Barring I can pmduee wit
nesses.
"Mr. Ilingins. You do not know
anything about yourself?
"Mr. Barring. 1 know they have
tried to put us out ol business in
every possible way, shape, and man
ner.
"Mr. Ilignins. Are you willing to
tell us what you know?
"Mr. Marring. Yes; if you persist.
For instance, they went to work to
bribe «»ur engineer.
"Mr. Higgins. Who tlid?
"Mr. barring. One ot the men
^oes by the name of Burgin.
"Mr. Higgins. What is his llrst
name?
Briber's Identified
"Mr, Barring. 1 do not know.
"(lovcrnor Hoggntt. Was he with
Mr. Gray?
"Mr. Barrinu. Yes; he was with
Mr. dray.
"Mr. 11 iggins. Is he a New York
man?
"Mr. Barring. Yes, sir.
"Mr. Iliggsns. With wiioiu is lie
connected?
"Mr. Barring. He is connceted
kuiih .Mi .lames 1'hillips, jr., <>t III
^11 'oadway.
"Mr. Higgins. What is their inter
est in Alaska?
"Mr. Ba/ring. They staked 1,000
acres copper lands near our property.
"Mr. Higgins. Is this the man to
whom you referred in your hearing
about a week ago, when you said
that lie offered to bribe you?
"Mi" Barring. No, sir; he was not
the man who tried to bribe me.
"Mr. Higgins. Who was he?
"Mr. Barring. That was our own
enginee. He was acting for them.
"Mr. lliggins. Acting for these
same people?
"Mr. Marring. Yes, air; I placard
hint for a while.
"Mr. Higgins. Ih thai all you can
way of your own knowledge concern
ing what has transpired outside of
A lawka?
"Mr. Marring. It is all I can way
of my own knowledge. But will pro
duce lots of other interesting testi
mony on that subject.
"Mr. Reynolds. What is the name
of the corporation with which they
nre connected?
"Mr. Marring. It had no name
then. They were then acquiring
copper properties, and did acquire a
lot.
"Mr. Reynolds. Under what name
^ did they do that?
W "Mr. Marring. Under the name of
_ the (Ireat Northern Development
r Company.
"(lovernor lloggatt. That is one
of the companies I referred to yester
day. This Mr. Murgiu used to be a
newspaper man. (To Mr. Marring.)
Was this gentleman a mining engi
neer or a railroad engineer?
"Mr. Marring. He was a railroad
{ engineer. You know him very well.
L They had him in their pay for nine
^MfTonths.
■"Mr. lllggins. You do not differ
With the statement, which (lovernor
^kuugatt has made except ho far as
^B'ars in the official report made to
■RFcwar department.
r "Mr. Marring. On what subject?
V "Mr. Higgins. On the nubjeet of
which we arc speaking.
"Mr. Marring. 1 differ with (lov
ernor Hoggatt when he says that
110 surveys had been made.
"Mr. Higgins. Except as to the
official report*, you do not differ with
the governor.
"Mr. Marring. No; but I should
think that a committee, as 1 suggest,
made 111* of trained lawyers, as you
gentlemen are, would be a proper
committee t«» be sent to Alaska.
"Mr. Iliggins. 1 do not agree with
you about that.
"(lovernor Hoggatt. I think you
ought to go to Alaska yourselves.
"The Chairman. 1 think that per
haps congress ought to appoint a
legislative eominittee with power to
take testimony and make a congress
ional investigation.
"(iovernor lloggatt. I think you
ought to have a congressional com
mittee who could go out and make a
thorough investigation.
"Mr. Higgins. We ought to make
investigation of the whole matter.
"Mr. Barring. 1 know one gentle
man named Hurch who acquired pro
perties for some of those big people.
"The Chairman. To whom do you
refer when you speak of "those big
people?"
Guggcnheltns Again
"Mr. Barring. 1 refer to the peo
plt who are connected with the
j Morgan ami (iuggenheim's syndi
cates. 1 do not know whether , the
(luggcnheimsare personally acquaint
ed with these men, hut 1 know that
if they knew them as well as 1 do
they would not have anything to do
with them. This man Burch I know
very well. 1 know all about the law
suit that was tried up there ahout the
Bonanza mine. The Bonanza mine
property was stolen from us. It was
owned by our people and was dis
covered by our prospectors, and our
people paid the money lor the pros
pecting, but the prospectors fell in
with this man Hureh, and liually the
property was taken from us through
bribery and perjury.
"Mr. Higgins. Have you been in
litigation there?
"Mr. Barring. Yes; for three
\ ears.
"Mr. Higgins. With whom?
"Mr. Barring. With those Burch
people. That was the time that Nor
man Sehultz came to the surface.
"Mr. Higgins. Is that known as
the (Juggenheiin interest?
"Mr. Barring. The (Suggenheims
probably knew nothing about the
lawsuit except from hearsay. They
did not have anything to do with set- i
I tin^ up the scheme of loot.
"Mr. Higgins. What was umr
company that was in litigation?
"Mr. Barring. At the time it was
the I'acitie < 'oast Kxploration Com
pany .
"Mr. Higgins. They were in liti-l
Ration tor the contrel ol the Bonan-I
/.a mine?
"Mr. Barring. Yes, sir; they
claimed ownership ot it. They lost
it because of certain testimony that
could not be produced in time.
When it finally was produced the
court would not allow it to be brought
in. We took testimony as far away
as the I'hillippine islands. The Burch
people switched oil two ol our em
" ployees and got them to claim dis
covery and they swore they were not
| employed by us. The pay roll had
| been lost, although it has since
been found, and that made it easy
for them to prove that they were not
in our employ when the discovery
was made. I have since found two
men who confessed to the conspiracy.
They received $'25,000 for their share
of the plunder, and we will bring all
that out if you will ^o ahead with
the investigation.
Justice Not Obtainable
"Mr. liiggins. Why have you not
brought criminal proceedings?
"Mr. Marring. (So to Alaska
with criminal proceedings? You
could not do anything there with
such proceedings. At that there
wan no judge in Valdez to whom we
could appeal. There were two or
three other judges in Alaska, but
they were not located in the Valdez
! district. We spent a large sum of
money out there to content the case,
I but wo lost.
"Mr. Higgins. It would not cost
• much to bring criminal proceedings.
"Mr. Barring. Senator Heyburn,
i of Idaho, was one of our attorneys,
! and 1 am sure that if you sent for
, him he would bo glad to come and
j make a statement of the court con
j ditions in Valdez at that time. I saw
| Judge Wiekershain at 11 or 12 o'clock
at night hobnobbing with the gentle*
' men on the other side of the case.
"Mr. Houston. You say that they
1 were hobnobbing: what do you mean
| by t hat?
"Mr. Marring. They had a private
mcoting. I could see through the
. window.
"Mr. liiggins. This hobnobbing
was done in Alaska?
"Mr. Barring. Yes; In Alaska.
"Mr. IfigKiuH. Do you mean to
say that you had no show in tin1
court* up there?
"Mr. Barring. In the first place
It is very expensive to court in
Alaska. We had to take testimony
all over the United Htates. The men
who got away with the Bonanza
mine were In our employ ;we supplied
them money and the fond to live on.
When wo asked the qtiofltion, "Where
did you get your food If you were not
employed on our ox|»editlon?" thoyi
said that they found some military |
supplies thut had been cached. To
disprove this statement, we had to
send a lawyer all the way to the
Philippines to take the testimony of
Major Ahereromble, und he testified
that 110 food supplies had been left
behind by him. That fact alone
weighed tons of evidence, and if the
case had been tried before a fair
judge we would not have been beaten,
flie judge simply refused to hear the
testimony we had obtained, because,
according to his views, it came to
late. lie held that we had had our
[lay in court.
"The Chairman. So that you lost
the Bonanza property?
"Mr. Uarrinn. Yes, sir: and the
whole thing cost us about $250,000.
Now you will see the difficulty of go
ing to law in Alaska.
"Mr. Reynolds. Beforo what judge
was t his tried?
"Mr. Barring It was beforo judge
Wickershain, The governor said
yesterday that he did not think that
anybody wanted to build a railroad
beyond the copper region. Of course,
we can not build beyond the copper
region unless we get help. We be
lieve. in fact we know, that all that
vast country between the Tanana and
the Yukon is a gold country. That
means that there would be a rush of
people and plenty of trafllc into that
section as quick as the road is built
whithin HO miles of the edge, and such
a road would certainly pay as far as
it is built. Tho White Pass Railroad
bad no more freight at the beginning
of operations than we would have and
probably not as much.
"The Chairman. But that road
bad a passenger trafllc.
Business in Sight
"Mr. Burring. Why would notour!
road have a large passenger traffic? i
Travelers pay now $150 for a seat in a j
stage to go into the interior as far as I
Fairbanks.
"Mr. Houston. From what point
do they pay that?
"Mr. Barring. They pay that to go
from Valdez to Fairbanks.
"Mr. Higgins. How long does it
take to make the trip?
"Mr. Barring. They go about 30
miles a day and it takes about seven ,
days.
"Mr. Andrews. Some people go on 1
dog sleds. I
"Mr. Houston. How many trips'
do they make?
"Mr. Barring. They make two
trips a week?
"The Chairman, Two trips each
way?
"Mr. Barring. Yes, sir: those]
stages bring as high as $1,000,000 in |
gold each week. Kvery stage coming
in brings some gold. 1 say that a
road built to the interior would pay
Irom its very inception. The moment
it not beyond the mountains every
mile of it would pay, because pros
pectors have a good deal of difficulty
now in getting in. It now costs to |
get freight on top of the mountains
about jsHO a ton, unless there is a large '
quantity on which a freight contract
can be made. You have literally got
to drag it into the interior, and you
can get up to the mountain only by
relays, That takes time. The traffic ]
begins mainly in February and March
when the trail is literally black with
people, horses, dogslcds and hand- !
sleds.
Afraid of Freeze-out
"I believe that iH about all I want
to nay on the subject. All we want
thin coin mi t tee to do is to consider
tbo I.overing bill favorably. What
we need is help, a little practical
help. We do not care who builds the
railroad, provided it is built for pub
lic use and opens up the whole coun
try and not only certain regions
where the railroad people control
things. We have certainly nothing
against the Ouggenhelms, and they
may build the road if they desire, if it
does not mean a freeze-out to other
independent interests. It was the
understrapper that we ran afoul of.
I believe that the Ouggenhelms are
as honest as other square-dealing
people, and I do not believe they
know everything that has been done
and labelled with their name.
"The Chairman. Is it not gener
ally assumed that tli'j (Inggenheims
are wealthy?
"Mr. barring. Yes, sir; they are
considered very wealthy, and I be
lieve they worked hard for] all they
own.
"The Chairman. It is fair to pre
sume thai they are able to build a
railroad without government aid; and
It is fair also to presume that they
have sufficient financial Interest in
the matter to Induce them to con
struct the road?
"Mr. Harring. Yes, sir.
"The Chairman. Ho that. It would
not seem nccessary, In order to In
du co the construction of a road into
the cop|>er country, that the govern
ment should render aid.
"Mr. Marring. I will tell you the
reason why. If the Independent cop
per companies bring copper out of
that, country In sufficient quantity,
the chances are that with the im
mense deponltft In the Alaska copper
region and the high grade of the ore
the price of copper will break. Our
private Information Is, that is the
reason why no railroad will he built
until all of the independent Interests
—"Wholesale and Retail
Dealers in
General Merchandise
and Carry the LARGEST STOCK In
Southern Alaska
Having been established since 1900 our experience
gathered in eight years has enabled us to guage the
requirements of this country accurately and our stock
is selected with this end in view* The Miner
and Prospector will find in our store everything
he may require for his needs* We carry:
Groceries, Provisions, Hardware, Stoves and Ranges, Drill Steel,
Dynamite, Fuse, Caps, and Gasoline, Hay and Oats, Mens'
Clothing, Hats, Shoes, Underwear, Blankets, Comfortables.
and a great variety of all clauses of merchandise too numerous to mention.
Ygene°radi° Banking Business ac^Tnsts
uy and Sill Exchange and Gold Dust
u 11 A. L. LEVY & CO. I. I
VilldfZ Good Goods AwSM
are rounded up. That is our infor
mation. A good deal of this may he
talk, hut the fact is tJ»ey are not do
ing anything in the way of railroad
building. They are jumping from I
one place to the other. We just j
have received information now that!
they have abandoned Copper river
and have gone hack to Vladez.
"Mr. Iliggins. Yon mean that the
large copper property owners of Ala- j
ska do not want that copper to come |
into the market for fear that the
price will not he maintained?
"Mr. Barring. It is the owners of
the copper properties in the United
States today that do not want that
copper to come into the United j
States for fear that the price will bo
depressed. We want to bring cop- j
per out. We want the tonnage. We |
will give any of security to build a
railroad. Wo want a road that can
be used by everybody and not by
just one concern.
"Mr. Kiggins. If you can give
security, you do not want any gov
ernment aid.
"Mr. Barring. The government
can give security which a private in
dividual can not. We need the gov
ernment credit to llo»»« our securities.
STARVING ACTORS
THRONG RIALTO
Nmv York, May 20—Gloom—largo
expanses of it/—today covers the
Ilialto like a pall. An African camp
meeting with all the lights out on a
(lark night would appear luminous in
comparison to the appearance of this
historic parade ground, for never in
the annals of American draina
comedy-tragody-vaudoville has such a
season been of record. Actors and
actorines, both real and near are
walking yes walking, for despondency
has routed the merry trip and the
stately stride in hunger.
No longer does the approaeh-to-a
heavy come upon his acquaintance
with a deep voiced "methinks sirah" ;
to the contrary it. is "have you the
price?" Bottles ami birds are no
longer the dream of the chorus
broilers; their nightly repose is dis
turbed by visions of coffee and,—and
tho dimo restaurant has becomo
familiar with the erstwhile stage door
magnet.
In truth it Is a state of affairs that
repells levity for there arc thousands,
literally thousands, of st age folks who
are unable to eat even one meal a
<lay. Managers' ofllces are thronged
every day but such a blight, has fallen
Upon the business that no hope can
bo offered to the dispairing appli
cants. What the end is to be 110 one
can foretell, and to make It worse
there is 110 real work at which theso
mummers can Ibid employment.
Crulfter Maryland Oeto Trophy
Washington, May lft—The navy de
partment today awarded the trophy
for tho host score made during target
practice of the fleet In Magdalena
bay, to the cruiser Maryland, It wan
announced that, the Maryland's score
establishes a world's record.
ALASKA COMMERCIAL CO.
Have established a sta
tion at SUSITNA, at
the forks of the Susitna
and Yentna rivers and
will carry a full line of
MINERS' SU P PLIES
Other Stations at UNALASKA, KARI/UK,
AFOGNAK, SUNRISE, KODIAK,
KAGUYAK, TYONOOK
Alaska Steamship Co.
All Alaska Routes
SEATTLE-SEWARD-VALDEZ ROUTE
SOUTHWESTERN ALASKA ROUTE—Steamers Sail from Pier No. 1
FOR CORDOVA. V AI/DEZ, LATOUCIIE AND HEW A RD
Steamships NORTHWESTERN, YUCATAN, SANTA CLARA;
Through tickets issued to Fairbanks, via Valdcz, and Eel. 8. Orr ifc Co.'a Stage Line.
SO nnDA Sails from Seward the l*>th of each month for Seldovla, Kodlak
■ U. UUnn t'yak, Cold Hay, Cnga, Chignik, Dutch llirbor and Unalaska.
SEATTLE-JUMEAU-SKAGWAY ROUTE
Southeastern Alaska Route -FOR KETCHIKAN, Wit A NO ELL, IHHTOLAS,
HAINES AND HKAOWAY
Alaska Flyers JEFFERSON and OOLPHIN
FOR KETCHIKAN, WKANOELL, METLAKA1ITLA, IIADLEY, DOUGLAS
ZTWWX S. S. FARALLON and DIRI00
All Steamers connect with the White I'ass and Yukon Route. Through tickets to
Dawson In connection with stage line from While Horse. Rltflit to ehango steamers or
sailing date is reserved.
J. H. BUNCH
Freight «fc Pass'ifr Airt.
SEATTLE, WASH.
Valdcz Dock Co. Agents
VALDEZ, ALASKA
Alaska Coast Co.
The "INSIDE" ROUTE
Between Southwestern Alaska-Pnget Bound. 1! Operating
Steamers, PORTLAND, BKRTHA and J KAN IK. liNext.
Hailing for Seattle, Taeoma and all in termed iate Porta:
5.5. Portland, May 25
Right. Is reserved to change steamers or sailing dates
without notice
H. b\ AIjKXANDKR, A. H. IMUTRIOK,
(iKNKUAI. MaNAOKH, TaCOMA. ( iKNEHAly AOBNT, VA1,DKZ
APPROACH OF FLEET
FLASHED BY WIRELESS
Hoattlo, May 21—A wlroleHH nioM
Hngn from the Moot wn« received at
midnight; lant night.. At that time
the wftr vohhoIr worn punning the
mouth ot the Columbia river on their
way to Puget wound.
Tho golden key of AIohIui nugget*,
whleh Ih to bo presented to tho flag
Bhlp Ih Completed. It Ih on oxhibl
hltlon and attraet* much attention
from vlHitorH and native* nn well.
I will remnln in my otllco Thursday
bv oning« from 7 to 0.
C. T. I )aooktt, Donttat,
Next to Heattle Hotel.
F. BUTTERWORTH
Civil Engineer and Surveyor
Hurvoyn acouratoly
and promptly made.
Ofllco over Valdez Market, Room ft
(Opposite Hcattlo Hot-»h
Notice of Sale
Notice I* hereby gl^cn that on the nth day of
.tunc, !!*«, nt II o'clock in tlir» forenoon of nnldl
ilny, nt the wnrchotiae on tho Keyatone, or
Mcyuold* wharf, In the town of Va'de«, the
Ala*kn Coaat Company will offer for «ale, and
sell to the h'Khcftt ttldder for caah, paynMe at
llioconMitnmntlon of the cat'*, the following
pergonal property, to wit: 4WW8aekaof Onn nt
marked "Alanka Construction Co;" W»1 Thirty
pound rail* nnd 2020 Fllh I'laten, marked
HoflttM Supply <<? Kqnlpment 0©
The aforesaid properly having remained un
claimed and the freight charge* unpaid for a
period of more than three month* from thin
date the aforesaid properly will be aold in
accord a n re with toe iroTltloni of 8ec. 7,
Chapter W, I.aw* of Alaakn,
A I.AHK A COAST COMPANY,
My A, H. Dantrlck, Oaneral Agent.