Vo17- Valdez, Alaska, October 8, 1908.
No. 36
RICK WIDOW ROBS
MAN FROM ALASKA
WiuAeld, Kan., Oct. 3—Confident
of the lovo of Mrs.*Surah Riley, a
wealthy widow of this city, Louis
Thompson, of Douglas, Alaska, sent
her $2,000 to keepfor him. Now Mrs.
Riley is in jail, charged with ob
taining money under falso pretenses
and Thomas is here in an effort to
have her sent to the penitentiary
Thomas says that for a long poriod
he has been corresponding with Mrs.
Riley and that she had given him her
promise to beeomo his wife. In his
letters to Mrs. Riley Thomas had
mentioned the fact that lie possessed
a little more than §2,000 and she sug
gested that he send ' her the money
thatshc might keep it safely for him.
Thomas, believing in the woman's
protestations of affection, and know
ing that she is wealthy in her own
right, had no suspicion that anything
wrong was contemplated and sent her
the money.
Shortly after Mrs. Riley became
possessed of Thomas' $2,000 her let
ters to her admirer became less fre
quent and indicated that her affection
was on tho wane. Finally, realizing
that his dream of matrimony is over,
so far as Mrs. Riley is concerned,
Thomas tried to get his money back
and the present condition of affairs is
the result.
Friends of Mrs. Riley are greatly
surprised at her predicamont She
has always borne a good reputation,
and thoy believe that she will clear
herself of the charge of criminal nn- j
ture in connection with the affair.
TUG BOAT MASTERS
FACE PENITENTIARY
'San Franeicco, Oct. r>—Charges of
-cowardice and of deliberately aban
doning to their fate the crew of the
■cannery bark Star of Bengal and the
cannery employes aboard her are
made before tlieUnited States marine
inspectors by Capt. Wagner of the
ill fated vessel,' against the masters
'Of the tugs Hattie Gage and Kayak.
The charges of Capt. Wagner are
substantiated by other survivors of
the wreck and if they prove to be
true, the tug boat masters face pros
ecution on manslaughter charges.
The Bengal survivors declare that
at a time when there was little dan
ger the tugs abandoned their tow,
cutting the lines and allowing the
bark to drift toward shore. Capt. \
Wagner dropped his anchors and says
that for hours tho bark rode in ten
fathoms of water, burning blue lights
in call for the tugs to come in and
muke fast to hor. For hours those on
the Bengal waited for the help that
never came and flnalt-y the bark
drove ashore sending 100 men to theii?
doom.
From statements made by Capt.
Farrar of the Hattie Gago, shortly
after the wreck there seems little
doubt that the masters of tho tugs
displayed cowardice. Capt. Farrar
admits that ho cut loose from tho
Bengal when she began to make lee
way. Substantially Capt. Farrar'a
account of tho events just prior to
his desortion of tho Star of Bengal is
as follows:
"We wore making round the souths
ern end of Coronation Simdny night.
A stiff wind had boon blowing in tho
Strait and at midnight a gale sprang
Up. As we neared the open sea it
became stronger and at 2 o'clock wo
saw that wo woro making leeway and
rapidly drifting on the island. The
Hattie Gage practically had to han
dle the tow alone, as tho Kayak was
light aft and her wheel was out of
tho water most of tho time.
"We finally backed Into a narrow
bight for protection and when we
sounded found eight fathoms. PllOb*
phorous showed that thoro wore rocks
all around us, 00 wo cut the tow lino
and steamed out to open water. We
could see nothing of the Bengal but
one blue light. Tho gale Increased
««o that the tugs were in serious dan
ger so we made a course for Shipley
bay, twenty-six miles distant, leaving
the Bengal whore she lay."
The postponement of tho great ex
position planned atTokio, Japan, for
five yoars will enable the Japanese to
dovoto their time and oncrgy to a
greater display at the Alaska-Yukon
1'aelfle Fxposltlon atSoattll next sum
mer,
GEORGE SHEA TO
BE CHIEF DEPOT?
George Shea, one of the politicians
who tried so hard to elect John Cor
son as do legato from Alaska to con
gress, is to be chief deputy under.
Henry K. Love, recently appointed
marshal for the Third division of
Alaska. Mr. Shoa came to Valdess
with Jus superior, but will eventually
bo stationed in Fairbanks.
During the delegate campaign Mr
Shea was detailed to ace to it that
the precincts to the westward were
voted for John Corson, but either
Mr. Shea's heart was not in his work
or he is not a success as a politician
for the "Corson vote to the west
ward" failed to materialize. How
ever, failure as a vote-getter booius
not to have affected Mr. Shea's po- j
sition for his efforts will bo rewarded j
by the best job in the power of Mar- I
shal Love to bestow.
Since coming to Valdoz Mr. Shea
has said that he expects his promised
position to bo of temporary nature
only and that ho is t o be the marshal
of the new judiefcil division of Alaska.
This division will, it is declared, be 1
created so soon as congress meets in ;
December, and Mr. Shea, as chief 1
deputy, will go into training for his
pending position.
Mr. Love has not as yet qualified
•*
for his position, and cannot do ho un
til tlio arrival in Valdez of his bond, j
which is expected to * on iho Santa
Clara. Further than to confirm the
report of his purpose to appoint Mr.
Shoa, Mr. Love will make 110 state-'
meat of his intentions with regard to j
Lhe personnel of the oillce under his!
ulministration.
LOCAL COMPANY IS
IMPROVING PUNT
A largo force of men in now en
gaged putting in t no foundations for
the big concrete dams, which are
being installed by the Alaska Water,
Light & Tolephono Co., at Solomon
Basin. These damn when completed
will store up several million eubie
feet of water or enough to run this
plant from two to three days if there
was no water running into the creek.
Those dams are being put in at the !
Dxponse of several thousand dollars!
und should he completed inside of,
three weeks'.
Last winter the company had quite j
a little trouble from losing water
through the Hume and pipe line, so to
do away with a repetition of this dif
ficulty this year, a force of men have
been working for quite a while, re
lining tho flume and repairing the |
pipo line, so that not a drop of water
is lost through either of these soufces.
Another.great improvement has been
made in the water wheel, by which
the oflloioncy of the wheel has been
increased at least 10 per cent, so that
it is now believed that with the same
head of water which was received
last year, that twice tho amcunt of
power can be generated.
This company is also doing a largo
amount of work in town eroding now
and larger polos and also extending
lines to every part of the town.
While all this work Is being done to
increase the efficiency of lights this
winter, the telephone terviee Is not
being overlooked, as new cables are
now being installed through the busi
ness part of the town, whore the
telephone wires are getting too
thick. Kaeli one of these cables
holds two hundred wires, so that this
winter the heavy snow fall and wind
will not bo able to interfere with the
lines by gelling the wires crossed.
When all these improvements are
completed the telephone sorvieo WllJ
bo as good as the electric lights,
which t he officer# of the company be
lieve to 1)0 the equal of those of any
city.
Tho ofilcers of the company, feel
ing that their efforts of the past have
met with tho appreciation of the peo
ple of Valde/. are determined to ufte
all possible enterprise to the effect
that Valdoj! will be pointed to as tho
best Ugh tod city In Alaska, and 0110
in which the telephone service is of a
quality superior to that found any
where.
Fifteen to twenty ear loads of ma
terial are used dally in preparing tho
grounds and buildings for tho Alaska*
Ytlkon-pacific Exposition at Moattlo
in icon.
Secret Scrvice Operatives Unearth Plot Providing j
Upon Visit of Fighting Vessels Americans Shall
be Rendered Helpless and Trouble In This
Country Will Afford Excuse to Ac!.
San Francisco, Oct. 7—Fostered by
the Japanese government, its details
already completed, there existed un
til today a plot to capture tho Atlan
tic fleet when it reaches Japan. Dis
covery lum nullified (ho plot, which
was so Bi-obdignagian in purpose that
tho secret service operatives who
have unci it lit d the fat I of its being
are appalled at the possible outcome
and the offoct that its success would
have 011 tho entire world.
The details of tho plot have been
learned from Japanese spies in this
country and as a result it is probable
that the Atlantic fleet will never visit
Japau. Even with the information
at hand, information that seems con
clusive as to the truth of the admis- j
sion that the plot did exist, the >
United States government is as yet!
unwilling to bclievo that bitch an aet
is, or has been, contemplated by tho
government of Japan. Every effort :
has been made to keep from the pub- j
lie the knowledge now tn the govern
ment's possession concerning the
plot, and even now tho officials in
Washington refuse to discuss the af
fair.
Basing their plans on the laxity of
discipline that would naturally main
tain during the \ isit of the fleet to a
supposedly friendly nation, tho Jap- '
an oho plotters purposed that each of'|
the sailors of the Atlantic fleet bhould
«.>n all occasions !>e accompanied I>y
a Japanese, this action being cloaked
from suspicion on the grounds of
courtesy to guests. Ry invidious
methods ho many Japanese as possi
ble wero to bo kept aboard the t'nit ed j
States war vessels and when tlic cru- |
jeial moment arrived the capture I
would have been comparatively easy. \
While these arrangements in Japan 1
wero being perfected, Japaneso in I
San Francisco were to incite an out
break giving excuse for international!
'complications and the blow was to
?nl! in Japan. The commanders of
V.ueh of the vessels of t he Atlantic
licet as were not at that time in tin
power of the Japanese, were to be
t.>UI that unless they surrendered the
vfcsaelo would be blown up.
Undiscovered, there would have
'.>v< n nothing to prevent the Japanese j
from having at their mercy the men {
ot 'he Meet and by this one move the j
n.ivy of Japan would have been
doubled and the United States ren
dered practically harmless as :i tea
power.
What communication this govern
ernmcnl has had with the government
ot ,Ti»pan is not of public knowledge. |
MISS BENEDICT IS
CULLED k LIAR
Miss Mabel Benedict, when, before
the Ministerial Association of Heat
tie on September 150, she voiced sen
Hational charges against (lie men of
the revenue cutter fleet stationed
along the western coast of Alaska,
invoked upon herself t lie necessity of
clearing her own skirts of the accu
sation of dealing loosely with thtf
truth. In Seattle them is no one to
challenge tho {insertions of Miss Ben
edict but hero in Valdez it is differ
ent, for not only lias Deputy United
States District Attorney Bay thrown
contradiction into the tooth of the
talkative Miss Benedict, but here also
is temporarily stationed the revenue
cutter Hoar, whose master, ('apt. E.
P. Bertholf takes issue with Miss
Benedict in the following statement:"
"During the several times the Bear
has been at Unalaska I have not neon
a single caso of drunkenness, "either
on tho part of the sailors or natives.
There lias been no saloon in Unalas
ka since tho revenue cutter service
was Instrumental in having them
closed in 1005, and there is no way
for a sailor to obtain liquor within a
hundred miles of Unalaska. Natural
ly there could he no intoxication and
the crews of the vessel have conduc
ted themselves hi an orderly manner
the entire summer, During the sum
mer the various crews have given
three or four dunces a week in one of
the buildings on shore, and at these
dances almost the'eiitlre native popu
lation was always on hand. Strango
that the natives, both men and wom
en, should lie so friendly with 'tho
very men, who according to Miss
Benedict, treat the natives ho bru
tally.
No Prior Complaint
"No complaints have been made to
mo concerning the misconduct of my
crew, in any degree, and ho fnr an 1
know, no complaints have been made
to the commanders of the other ves
sels. Had there been a single ease
of gross misconduct at Unalaska this
summer, I wouldl havo heard of it.
"Several of tlie officers of the fleet
wero frequent visitors at the .Jyso
f.ee Home during tho summer, and
the teachers of the Home visited on
nearly all of the vessels, yet no hint
of tho outrages alleged by Miss Hene
dlct ever reached the ofHcers of the
I
vessels. One ot the oflicers who fre
quently visited the home is attached
to the Bear and lie informs me that
lie never heard a single word, even
of criticism, from any of the teachers
concerning t he eondnet of the crews
ot the vessels.
"So far from the Jessee Lee Home
being terrorized by the men, the
Nome is underobligations to the men
of the fleet, for occasionally when
the crew of some vessel caught an
extra large supply of (lsli, a portion
would be taken to the Home, and
gladly accepted by the teachers. Y< t
Miss Benedict would have one believe
that there was a teacher alwava on
guard to raise an alarm against tlie
same men and that t he teachers were
obliged to use revolvers to keep these
men away from the Home. Miss
Benedict allege.* she and hor sister
teachers lived in such terror that they
never ventured out alone and seldom
in company, when a revenue cutter
was in port. It. would be interesting
to learn how the lady reconciles this
remarkable statement with the fact
that, she was accustomed, during the
summer, to take long rambles over
the hills in company with certain of-I
Hears of the fleet, and at times could :
so far forget her state of terror as to j
permit herself to be carried across
trouI>1 esome brooks.
All Other# Tn Ignorance
' It is remarkable that-no one but
Miss Benedict should know of the
outrages she describes. It is more
remarkable that she should not dis
cover them until she had left I'naliis
ka. And it is significant that she did
not give voice to her tale until she j
•had reached Seattle, more than a ;
thousand miles away, knowing fu II 1
well that under ordinary circumstan
ces the victims of hoi* tirade would i
be none the wiser until the next
monthly mail reached them. I count
it fortunate that t he Bear should hap
pen to be at Valdc/, just at. th! I time, j
for a change Is thus afforded to de
fend tho crews of the vessels from
these vicious slanders,
"ItIs well to remember that every j
vessel has a captain, and in addition
the commander of the fleet has been j
on shore at Unalaska all summer, :
ayd it is inconceivable that a state of |
affairs as described by Miss Benedict
could exist without a single complaint
being made by her, or by somebody
else, to an oftlcer In authority. Miss
Benedict will not claim that terror
kept her quiet, for she paid a special
visit to the office of tlie fleet com
mander to bid him good by when she
was Ichvlng Unalaska,"
Photo supplies at Owl Drug C'o.
BUNKERS BURN 10
LOSS IS $500,000
San Francisco, Oct. <>—Fire start
ing in Hie coal bunkers of the Pacific
Coast Company here this morning
caused a loss of $500,000 and threat
ened for hours to destroy the entire
waterfroi t in its vicinity. As it was
the"lire spread for some distance and
was only subdued after four hours of
the hardest kind of work on the part
of the llremen.
It is believed that the lire has been
smouldering in the coal bunker.s for
some time, and that only tins morn
ing it gained sufficient headway to
become noticed. The dense smoke
made tho blaze particularly hard to
get at and several of the llremen
were overcome by the smoke and
gas.
Dan Kain expects to eolleel his hat
bet with Pete Monahan, tin! it will
probably not he until next winter for;
Kain went out on the Pennsylvania j
and Monohan lias not yet. arrived in j
Seward although he and Kain left
Valdez creek on tho same day. On
the day of departure Kain started out ;
by the way of Valdez while Monohan !
started by the Susitna route, the bet !
being as to who would first arrive in :
Valdez.
Kain arrived sonic time ago, and
being of a generous nature went to
Seward to meet Monohan, hut the
latter had not arrived. Kain came !
back on the Pennsylvania and says1
that Monohan was at Susitna Station,
arriving there September 2!), or sev
enteen days alter departing from
Valdez creek. Monohan's horses |
were expected along in four or five j
days.
in giving publicity to the foregoing!
facts Mr. Kain says that he acts not
with any desire to gloat over Mono
han, hut solely with the desire to let
the unwary know that the talk of the
Susitna route is not founded upon
I iiCb.
WAF! VESSELS ARE
TYPHOON TOSSED
Manila, Oft. f»—Not since they sot
forth from Hampton Roads have the
vessels of the Atlantic war fleet en
countered in tho way of .storms any
thing approaching llio severity of the
typhoon which they have just weath
ered wifely at. thin port. IIW twelve
hours tho storm that passed by this
morning tossed the huge fighting ma
chines about as tliongh they were
only shallops. At times Uio tvpho n
blew at the rate of 100 miles an hour
hlit tlie vessels of the lleet came
through tho ordeal without serious
injury.
The storm did much damage in
Manila and on adjacent islands, hun
dreds of small houses being blown
away. Telephone and telegraph
wires in this city make of t he streets
a tangled mass of wire and splintered
poles, and many of tho largest build
ings show the oifoot of the steam.
FLOOD IN INDIA
DROWNS 50,000
Bombay, Oct. ft—Fifty thounand
dead mid a property Iohs of morn
than 200.0(H),ooo rupeea, or nearly |60,
000,000, lit value 1h t lie record of the
flood that inundated Hyderabad two
day* ago. The nub of water# enme
ho suddenly that scarcely one of those
residing In the lower part of the
oily wan ablo fo oscnpo.
. The report* coming from the
stricken city say that tin* conditions
now existing are Indescribable. The
receding flood han left tho city sire wed
with corpses that are fertterlnR under
the tropioal huh, and pestilence and
i-uln are everywhere, There l« dan
ger of an epldemlo.
TWO WOMEN DIE
IN AUTO ACCIDENT
Mahany City, Pa., Oct. 6—Mrs.
Peter Young and her daughter were
instant I y killed, and three other per
sons seriously injured in an automo
bile accident here this morning. The
automobile plunged over a twenty
live foot embankment, and the two
women killed were caught under
neath the machine.
At the time the accident accurred
.Mrs. Young was driving, the machine
traveling at about twenty-live miles
an oonr. Rounding a slight curve
the hind wheels skidded and the ma
chine shot through the fence guard
ing the roadway and plunged over
the bank. The three who are injured
were (lung clear of the automobile
and their fail was broken somewhat.
EIGHT PERISH IN
TENEMENT BLAZE
New York, Oct. 0— Eight persona
were burned to death and many
were badly injured in a tenement lire
here this morning. The tire was in
ilie most thickly settled portion of
the slum district and the ftrenieni
were under great disadvantage in
light ing the blaze. *
Spectacular in the extreme by rea
son •>!' the many thrilling rescues
effected by the firemen, the scene
gained added excitement by the fact
tiiat dozenj of children were thrown
from live and six story windows to
the sidewalk. There was no chance
of saving all these children by bring
ing them down the ladders and so the
life-having nets were brought into
service.
VANCOUVER WINS
LEAGUE PENNANT
Seattle, Oct. 5—Vancouver wins the
championship «.f the Northwestern
League and the Seattle team in last
in t he pereentnge cohimi. as the re
suil of the games played yesterday.
As a matter of laet tlie result was
settled stme time ago for the Van
couver leiim whs so fjir in the lead
that there was no chance of it being
overhauled.
■ : a has heen fairly pronper
oii . <.;< ■ (I attendance heing the ride
in iv.ost i I tl.e t<<\\r.s. The floods in
Mor.tami played havoc with the
sell dale ami was a hard hlow to the
management of the team from Hutte,
The teamh stand as follows: Van
e< liver, Tanma, Aberdeen, Spekane,
Hut t e, M<. at»ie.
MSI SAYS KERN
RIDES ON A PASS
I /OS Angeles, Oct. 7—William It.
flea rat, inn speech delivered hero
: Inst nitfht added .John Kern, eandi
! date for viee-prenidcnt on the demo
j eratio. tiokot , to the Ibarst liHt- of
(hone who because of alleged afllilia
lion with tho Htandard Oil Company
arc undesirable a^ public officials or
private eltlzcns. Hearst declared
that Kcni rides on a pans prenonfced
i<> him !»y the management of tho
Hlg Four railroad, which is a branch
of the Htandard Oil Company accord*
lug to Hearst.
In addition to his strictures against
j the public motives of Mr. Kern, Mr.
Hearst reiterated bis statements con
i corning other memberM of one or tho
| Other of the political parties. Lead
era of the democracy and those of tho
republican party, alike were Heored
for their servility to the money pow
er* and pnrtlculArly to ibe Htandard
Oil Company.
Canada haw officially accepted the
Invitation to join in the Alaska-Yu
kon-Pacidc (exposition at Heat t ie
, next summer. Hhe will make an cx
i tensive exhibit of minerals, timber,
fruits, flub and agricultural product*.
Dentists
DAOOKTT «<r HOHKHTH
Next to Health* Hotel,