ROMANTIC SKAOWAY APPEALS TO ALL TOURISTS
LOCATED IT HEAD
OF BE
PASSAGE
The following etory of Skagway
oy Cltv Clerk, Paul McClelland, \vas
the urize article of a series of Skag
way stories writteu for the Sk-ig
way Commercial Club.
Two towering mountain sides, for
est-grown ulmost to the very peaks, I
and '•etween, a fertile, level valley j
with a rushing mouutaiu stream
coursing along one side and tumbl
ing into the sea; extending from the
sea far back into the valley, a city,
with docks and warehouses) and
wide, straight streets; the many
voiced chorus of industry, the
shriek of locomotives, and above,
and prev»ding all, the insistent mur
mur of many waterfalls—that is
Skagway.
TEHMIXrs OP WHITE PASS R. K.
At t e head Qf scenic Lynn Can
al, the uortnernmost projection of
the storied Inside Passage to Alas
ka, Ska'way presents a bappy com
bination of romantic Interest, na
tural beauty, and commercial im
portance. At her wharves dock the
ceean it earners of five lajg# steam
ship companies. The same wharves
form <he southern terminus of the
White Pass & Yukon Route, which
by rail and river steamer affords a
continjous freight and passenger
TONY DORTERO
V. T. DORTERO
Wholesale and Retail Dealers
IN
CLOTHING AND GENT'S
FURNISHINGS
DORTERO & SON
Established 1897
Reorganized 1911
Skagway Alaska
DORTERO'S
Pioneers of Skagway
service from tidewater at Skagway,
♦hxough British Columbia and the
Klondike of Yukon Territory, and
through the very Jieart of Alaska,
crossing ai d recrossiog the Arctic
Circle, to tidewater at St. Michael
on Bering Sea.
SKAGWAY BORN l.N 1H07
Sksgway had its birth in the ex
citing days of the gold rush to
the Klondike in 1897, and the visit
er of todav finds much to interest
him 'n the many romanto land
marks reminiscent of • the city's
early history. Along the bluff may
still be seen portions of the old
wagon trail, hero is a building
which formerly resounded with the
shouts of the dealers at dice and
roulette, there a cross marks the
spot where a noted gambler died
at bay. On yonder site Skagway's
largest dai.ee hail has given place
to a solid business block.
POPULATION NOW HMM>
Today, Skagwajr lias a permanent
population of about one thousand,
with practically no illiterates, even,
among the small native element.
Its people are substantial, liome
loving citizens, loyal to their city
and confident of its future. No city
of its size can boast more efficient
public service and utilities.
M ATER, LIGHT, TELEPHONE.
From a lake, nestling among the
mountain flowers two thousand feet
above the city, comes clear, cold
water lu full and steady pressure,
summer and yvinter. At night the
'streets arc brilliant and tho Btorcs
and homes resplendent with a flood
of electric light. A comprehensive
telephone svstern provides exchange
J service day and night. Crime and
disorder are of such rare occur
rence that the tyventy-four hour po
I lice service is purely precautionary.
:The rrganized fir© department, ad
equately equipped, has time and
again demonstrated its ability to
safeguard the city from any fire
menace.
BUSINESS HOUSES
The material needs of the com
munity arc met by a battery of
up-to-date business houses, a list
of which would include grocer}',
I hardware clothing', dry-goods, fur
niture and jewelry stores, fruit
ttands, bakeries, confectioneries,
oharmacles and tobacconists, a bank
a real estate nnd insurance office,
etc., etc. Four hotels and two res
taurants provide ample service for
tourists and transients. Two dairies
Bupply the city with excellent milk
and during the summer season a
superabundant supply of fresh
vegetables is furnished by numerous
truck gardeners. No city can func
tion properly without a good hos
pital, and Skagway has reason to
*be proud of her railroad hospital.
CHURCHES
The spiritual needs of the com
munity are met by three churches,
Catholic, Protestant, hjuI Christian
Scientist. The members of ail Pro
testant denominations worship to
gether in a union church, the dif
ferent denominations taking turns
in directing tba work over periods
of two or three years.
The school^ system embraces the
grades and the first two years of
high school and a corps of four
•well-trained teachers has the over
sight of the ona hundred pupils
enrolled. Manual training and do
mestic science are given a high,
place in the curriculum of the
school.
ORGANIZATIONS
Besides the motion picture thea
ters, amusements include dances
given at regular intervals by vari
ous organizations, basket ball,
bowling, and other athletic con
testa, nn occasional performance by
some traveling stock company, etc.
Among the organizations having
lodges in Skngway are the EJK.s,
Masons, Eagles, Arctic Brother
hood and Pioneers of Alaska. The
White Pagg Athletic Club, original
ly designed for the use of railroad
employee? only, is now open to ell
on equal terms. In its commodious
building are maintained a well
equipped gymnasium, baths, a read
ing room and pool and billiard
tables. I
DAILY NEWSPAPER
A dpily newspaper is made pos
sible by telegraph service over
both the U. S. government cable i
and the Canadian government tele
grapn system via White Honse.
MINES
Copper aaid silver mines at Pa
vey, Caribou and White Horse pro
vide a steady market not only; for
staples of food and clothing, but
especially; for garden truck, etc.,
and recent discoveries of molybde
nite in quantity in the vicinity of
Skagway point to further mining
development,
OURIOS
Of keen interest to most tourists
are the displays of Indian baskets,
totems and moccasin, articles made
of Alaskan gold and old ivory, and
Alaskan furs in the curio and jew
elry stores. Skagway ha a many
curio stores, one of them having
the distinction of being the finest
in Alaska. On boat days native In
dian women may be see on the
street corners, exhibiting moccasins
and other Indian wares for sale.
FLOWERS
Perhaps the moet generally ap
pealing feature to the thousands
of tourists who visit Skagway every
summer is the unexpected profu
sion of beautiful flowers. With a
naturally rich soil, the residual
loam from the foreBt that up to a
score of years ago thickly covered
tl e valley floor, and with the long
days of the Alaskan summer, flow
ers and vegetables grow to extra
ordinary size. Walls and fences
tho city over are covered with
eweet poa^ eight to ten feet In
height, paasies ore ordinarily aa
large as the palm of a man's hand,
and nasturtiums, dahlias, gladioli,
stocks, popies and even rosea fill
the gardens and border lawns with
a veritable riot of color,
HUNTING AND FISHING
The sportsman finds Bkagway an
ideal base for expeditions of all
kinds. In Lower Lake Dewey he
may quickly fill his creel wit& as
tasty a catch of mountain trout as
could be desired. Across the bay
is Burro Creek, in an Eden of
beauty and filled to the brim with
trout, just b»yond the summit of
White Pass la the stronghold of the
greyling, never too full to take a
chance with a fly. A tramp three
or four houre from Skagway will
bring the hunter into the stamping
ground of the wild go«t, and a few
houns further will bring him Into
the moose, sheep and bear country.
MOUNTAIN CLIMBING
For those who enjoy hiking and
mountain climbing no better loca
j tion could be picked for a summer's
, outing than Skagway. A seven-mile
hike brings one to beautiful Den
ver Glacier and part of th« trip
can be made b£ railroad if tleslred.
Not ao far tiTe Black Lake, hidden
away la a mountain. pase, and Smug
glers' Cove and Dyea along the
beach. starting from the retail
district on Broadway, the climb to
Lower Lake Dewey may be made
easily inside of half an hour; from
the lower lake to Upper Lake Dew
ey requires roasibly two hours;
thence to the Devil's Punch Bowl
Will take another hour, and the fin
al spurt to the top of Dewey Peak
may be crowded Into the same
morning, leaving time for ft leisure
ly descent «R the afternoon and a
laminating hour spent among the
wild flowers fiat begem the rugged
elopes about the upper lake. A. B.
Mountain, Noma Mountain and Pace
Mountain are all readily accessible
and each may be scaled in a day,
provided one starts early and is
willing to out in a hard day's work.
And after the climb is over and
the rescendlng hiker has paused
just above the floor of the valley
to watch the laat flaming garment;
of the sua. drayvn after him behim
the silent ^etka ftni the Quickl fad
ing of the afterglow, more thai
likely, as th-) dusk deepens, sud
denly a wavering shaft of pali
light will shoot from behind th<
fringe of fir trees to the east 01
the south, f>nd then another anc
another, and more from the wea'
and the north, flickering, changing
fading and brightening, then con
centratln? in the north, will build uj
hlgnrr and higher until finally
with a quick addition of color, tht
zenith becomes the center of & ver
itable rocket buret of flame, pau
biak and blue and violet green,
glowing wlta the ardor of a divine
vision, for a moment, to fade away
at last leaving onfy a wonderful
memory of the Northern Lights.
Skagway's Big
DEPARTMENT
STORE
WE CARRY
Heavy Rubberized Rainsters, rain
proof and ■warm.
Silk covered and wool comforters.
Satin and Jacquard quilts.
Edwin Clap & Croeset shoes for
men.
Ladies' Crepe do Chine waists.
Georgette Crepe and Heavy SllJc
waijju.
Coats, of the Jateat stylo for wo
me*. , t
Hats, overcoats, and Bhirts for
men. J
Men's gold peal packs.
Men's, women's and children'ij
shoca. t ;
l.adiea millinery;. •
Serge dree sea.
ALBERT REINERT
(SUCCESSOR TO H. J. LYNCH)
Broadway, Between 3rd and 4th Phone 41
BANK OF ALASKA ALASKA'S BRANCH BANKING SYSTEM
Headquarter#, Skar/way, Ala*ka
Four Banks Strategically Located the Important Ports and
Gateways; of
SKAGWAY—Entrance to the Yukon River, Kiondyke,
Carcross and Atlin Mining Districts; Haines and Fort
Wm. H.Seward; Terminal V/hite Pass & Yukon Route.
W RANG ELL—Center of tfcac ■great South Eastern Alaska
Fishing District; Entrance fej Stikine River District of
British Columbia.
ANCHORAGE—Headquarters of the new United States
Government Railroad to the interior of Alaska; entrance
to the Matanuska Coal District; Broad Pass and WHlow
Creek mining sections and the Matanuska ancf Susitna
Valley farming regions
CORDOVA—The Copper Gateway of the Pacific Ocean.
Terminal of the Copper River Railroad leading to
Kennecott copper mines; The great fishing and mining
districts of Prince William Sound.
Capital and surplus $105,500 Resources Over $850,000
Commercial Accounts of Merchants, Miners, Shippers, Fishermen
and Individuals Solicited
Savings Accounts on which 4 per cent Interest is paid may be opened
with $1.00
Steel Safety Deposit Boxes in Fire Proof Vault For Rent at
Nominal Charges
Travelers Chechs and Draft# .for Commercial Purposes For Sale
■Copper and Silver Ore and Gold Bullion Handled for Miners
and Shippers
OFFICERS
Andrew Stevenson, Pres't Andrew A. Elenton Vice-Prej't
B. A. Ron, Auditor, W. L. Landsborough Caahier.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Zcheth S. Freeman,
Andrew Stevenson.
W. R. Hillery.
H. D. Walbridge, A. Benton.
P. H. Ganty J. T. Wfcstermann