COM MISSSIONER "OF EDIT A- “
TION NO LONGER ACTS AS
VALET TO SANTA CLAUS
WASHINGTON. — “The Commis
sioner of Education is no longer valet
to Santa Claus.”
In these words, William John
Cooper United States Commissioner
o fEducation, informed his staff that
the Secretary of the Interior, Ray
Lyman Wilbur, had acted favorably
upon the Commissioner’s recent rec
ommendation that other officials of
the Interior Department assume re
sponsibility for the reindeer of
Alaska .
On and after November 1 the bmm
On November 1 the Governor of
Alaska assumed supervision of this
herd of a. million reindeer.
This work has been a responsibil
ity of'tlie United States Office of Ed
ucation for nearly forty years, and is
often cited as an example of the
curious duties assigned to certain offi
cials in Washington and an indication
of the need of governmental reorgan
ization.!
In his annual report to the Secre
tary, Doctor Cooper summarizes he
early beginnings of the reindeer n-:
dustry in Alaska and explains vhy
the Office of Education has had u
pervision of it. In the early ’90 of
last century, Dr. Sheldon Jackson, he
Office’s “General agent of educa on
in Alaska,” urged that the Ui Red
States Government undertake to in
troduce the Siberian domestic rein-,
deer into Alaska. After two e; >rts
to get funds had failed in Congress,!
an appeal was made to the peop di
rectly through the press of Boston,
Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, and
Washington. From this appeal came
$2,146. With this money Dr. Jack
son, in the face of great difficulties,
secured 16 reindeer in Siberia, and,
accomplishing what appeared to be
the impossible, he transported them
1,000 miles through a stormy sea to
one of the islands of Alaska. From
this humble start in 1891, some mil
lion reindeer nnow graze on the tun
dra of this far northern Territory,
and bringto the fore new problems
which resulted in Commissioner
Cooper’s recoommendation and Sec-1
retary Wilbur's transfer order.
Rarely has a government undertak
ing worked out so ideally as this in
troduction into Alaska of an animal
not native to it, to take the place of
a food supply of whale and walrus
which was being cut off by hunters
from the outside world. The reindeer
has been developed to the point
where it supplies much of the food,,
clothing and transportation for a
whole people which, half a century j
ago, did not know of its existence.
The reindeer are, in fact, inereas-j
ing in such numbers that it I s be
come necessary to find an ou ’ t for ;
the products which they y ield. The
vast areas of Alaska that are > ; little i
use otherwise are capable of >- >port~.
ing even greater numbers of them,.
and of making an important ■ onttri- ;
bution to the meat supply • f the i
world. So great has been th access ;
of the reindeer develop*- -it of
Alaska that this year Canad' s have j
purchased 3,000 head, which hey are j
taking into that vast region ng the ,
Arctic east of the Macken: river,:
where, it is believed, the A' . ;fca ex
periment can be repeated.
As the numbers of the r ' ideer in i
Alaska have increased, new roblems
of administration have presented
themselves. The time is co ng when
range control must be estar hed. Al
ready the problem of mar’; ing rein
deer meat has become an : cute one.
There are scientific probh , such as
the control of the warble 'y which
lays its eggs on the ba s of the;
reindeer fro mwhich gruLs emerge,1
leaving holes which spoii he skins, i
There are also the proble of cross
breeding with caribou wl h the Bio
logical Survey are conducting on Nu
nivak island.
These problems, it is raid, are not <
properly in the province f the Office ;
if Education, which is a research ed- :
uactional agency. It is thought that
they may be more advantageously
handled by administrative officers on
the ground than from Washingtoon.
The Governor of Alaska, under the
law of February 10, 1927, is the ex
officio Commissioner of the Depart
ment of the Interior. He is on the
ground and his work is already co
ordinated with the work of the ex
officio Commissioner for the Depart
ment of Commerce, Dennis Wynn,
and the ex-officio Commissioner for
the Department of Agriculture,,
Charles H. Flory. It is natural there
fore that Governor Parks should be
come the Santa Claus in charge of al
the reindeer with its problems of
preparing, shipping and marketing.
The Secretary oof the Interior has
named Ernest Walker Sawyer, an ex
ecutive assistant attached to his
office, as contact man between him
self and Alaska. This is an entirely
new set-up established for handling
this peculiar task of government.
SORDID DETAILS OF MUR
DER NEAR KANATAK
Sordid, details of the killing of
Tom Williams, at Lake Becharog,
near Kanatak, by Bob Davis, were
brought back to Kodiak a few weeks
ago by the judicial party which went
there for the prisoner and for the
purpose of holding an inquest and a
preliminary hearing. From all ac
counts it was as cold-blooded a mur
der as has been committed in the
Territory. Davis, who is a pains In
dian from the Cherokee Strip, and
who is now in jail at Kodiak bound
over to the grand jury, slew his part
ner, Williams, with a rifle. The two
men had been fishing at Chignik dur
ing the season and had then moved to
Kanatak in preparation for the trap
ping season. They went up to Lake
Becharoff, about seven milles from
the coast at Kanatak, and on the way
to the Valley of Ten Thousand
Smokes, where they secured a boat at.
the Indian village. It was the boat,
apparently, that precipitated the
trouble between them. Davis admit
ted the killing, but excused it on the
ground that his partner wqs going to
steal the boat. There were no eye
witneses, but Davis said the deceased
had attempted to get at him with
a knife. As reconstructed from such
testimony .as was availabc and from
the condition of the body, Williams
was shot in the arm and in the thigh
while in the boat. He is theen sup
posed to have run up the bank to hide
in the bushes, but Davis is alleged to
have followed him later and killed
him where he lay weltering in blood,
a third hullet going through the
torso and the fourth and final copper
jacketed missile going to pieces in his
skull. Members of the investigating
party were free to admit it looked
like a considerable period of time had
elapsed between the first two shots
and the last two, and that the wound
man had lain in the brush bleeding
profusely. The inquest and hearing
were held at Becharoff and Kanatak
by U. S. Commissioner Stowe, assist- j
ed by Dr. L. Pryer and Special Dep
uty Norman Noble. Davis had come
down to Kanatak and reported the ■
killing and was held under civilian j
guard by Knight Mason, government |
school teacher at Kanatak.
Seventy per cent of the grizzly
bears in the United States are locat
ed in Alaska, according to a bulletin
issued by the U. S. Department of
Agriculture. This covers a nation-'
wide survey of big game animals on
national forest lands of the country.
The survey shows 2,500 grizzlies in
Alaska out of a total of 3,440 for the
country as a whole. Alaska brown
bears are listed as grizzlies.
Nine States have the remaining 28
per cent of this st<fek. The figures
given are compiled by rangers and
other officers of the federal forest re
serve.
Other big game animals credited to
Alaska aree: 6,100 black bears;
60,350 deer, 10 elk 550 moose, 9,500
mountain goats, and 2,000 mountain
sheep. .
NOTICE OF FORFEITURE.
To John Bernard and George Gunder
son, their heirs, executors or as
signs:
You, and each of you, are hereby
notified that I, the undersigned, your
co-owner, have expended in labor and!
improvements the sum of not less
than one hundred dolars for the year
ending June 30, 192'J, upon the Novi
kakct placer mining claim, Long
creek, Nulato recording precinct,
Fourth Division, Territory of Alaska,
in order to hold said claim under the
provisions of Section 2324 of the Re
vised Statutes of the United States
and the amendments thereto concern
ing annual labor upon mining claims,
being the amount required to hold
said mining claim for the period end
ing June 30, 1929.
And if, within ninety days after
the publication of this notice, you fail
or refuse to contribute your propor
tion of said expenditure, as well as
the cost of recording the same, ^nd
the costs of this advertisement, your
iriterest in said claim will become the
priperty of the undersigned, your co
owner, who has made' the required
expenditures under the terms of said
Section 2324 of the Revised Statutes
of the United States.
ROBERT DEACON,
Co-owner.
First pub. Oct. 2f>; last Jan. 25, 1930.'
NOTICE TO CREDITORS.
In the Probate Court at Ruby, Nulato
Precinct, Fourth. Division, Ter
ritory of Alaska, before William
N. Growden, United States com
missioner, and ex-officio probate
judge.
In the matter of the estate of Ed
SSchlatter, deceased.
Notice is hereby given that the un
dersigned has been duly appointed
administrator of the estate of Ed
Schlatter, deceased.
All persons having claims against
said estate are required to present
them, duly verified, with proper
vouchers attached, to the under
signed, at my residence in Ruby,
Alaska, within six (6) months from
the date of this notice.
Dated Ruby, Alaska, Oct. 25, 1929.
ALBERT VERHONIK,
Administrator.
JOHN W. DUNN,
Attorney for Administrator.
First pub. Oct. 2G.
NOTICE OF FORFEITURE.
To Peter Davey, his heirs, successors
and assigns:
You, and each of you, are hereby
notified that I, the undersigned, your
co-owner, have expended in labor and
improvements the sum of not less;
than one hundred dollars for the
years 1021, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925,
192G, 1927, 1928 and 1929 upon placer
mining claim No. 3 Above Discovery
on Esperanto creek, a tributary of
Madison creek, in the Innoko Mining
and Recording Precinct, Fourth divi
sion, Territory of Alaska, in order to
hold said claim under the provisions
of Section 2324 of the Revised Stat
utes of the United Staes and the
amendments thereto concerning an
nual labor upon mining claims, being
me amount required to hold said min
ing claim for the period June 30,
1930.
And if, within ninety days after the
publication of this notice, you fail or
refuse to contribute your proportion
of said expenditure, as well as the
cost of recording the same, and the
costs of this advertisement, your in
terest in said claim will become the
property of the undersigned, your co
owner, who has made the required
expenditures under the terms of said
Section 2324 of the Revised Statutes
of the United States.
JOHN KRIEGER,
Co-Owner, i
First pub^Oct. 26; last Jan. 25, 1930.
TABLE OF DISTANCES BE
TWEEN NENANA AND FLAT
Miles
Nenana . 00
Tavern Roadhouse . 1716
Knight’s Roadhouse . 23%
Nineteen-Mile Roadhouse . 58
Diamond Roadhouse.76
Roosevelt . 89
Lake Minchumina . 115
Trappers’ Cabin . 132
Lone Star Roadhouse . 150
Telida Roadhouse . 169%
Slow Fork Roadhouse . 187
East Fork Roadhouse .) 206
Berry’s Landing Roadhouse . 227%
Big River Roadhouse . 241
McGrath .. 268
Takotna .:. 280
Bill Goss’ Roadhouse . 291
Ophir . 300 j
McCafferty . 306
Brown Creek shelter cabin. 318 j
Fritz shelter cabin . . 333
First Chance shelter cabin . 346 '
Schermeyer R. H. 360
Iditarod ...,.376
Flat ..;. 364
Bonanzza shelar cabin, 12 miles
Crooked Creek shelter cabin. 19
miles from Bonanza
from Flat
Babeesch Moosehide Mitts and Boots >
Furs Bought and Sold Clothing
All Kinds of Nice Fresh Groceries and Fruits
Canned Goods of All Kinds Beds and Bedding j
! A. R. Eldridge - McGrath
i '
TAKOTWA ROADHOUSE |
Best of Meals and Rooms !
Where Everything Is Homelike and
Where You Are Cordially Welcomed
GOOD DOG HOUSES BATHS
Ivar Chilstrom - Prop.
Rough and Dressed Lum
her of Ail Kinds
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