TTE TRUTH ABOUT TIIE
PURCH/ SE OF ALASKA
A!i ska enthusiasts who have been
using the figure generally recognized
as the amount of the purchase price
re;d for the Territory of Alaska when
v&s purchased from Russia in
i?< 7. ’amcly, $7,200,000, as a base
from whit1 to sh^w the value of the
7‘. o. v through pointing out how
_ iv itmes over AlasVn ha- paid for
so f :v. its pr J ”tion from fisheries,
’ *ai". fur~. t.i oth r resources.
■ uptarer’iy ultra conservative in
■ star. men*.if the rep rt of a
“h * f history" chronicled by Hon.
v inklin K. Lane. Secretary of the
:tcrior during the Wilson adminis
trations, is accurate. In fact by such
c rrrarisrns could properly be multi*
rLed by four and be approximately
accurate.
. r.e error seems to have occurred m
accepting the arrant of £7f20'.'.0'1-0 as
*>••• purchase price paid for Alaska,
*rte price noted in the history books,
while the evidence r. 'w at hand indi
eat r the price was actt’ally $1 ,4 0,000
—tie balance of the non: y transfer
red to Russia by the check apparent
ly fcsing a debt of honor of the Uni
ted States with the Imperial Russian
government for a display of friendly
naval power at a time when our gov
ernment needed a powerful ally.
The details of this almost unknown
part of the transaction are found in
the following “manuscript note” of
Mr. Lane’s dated December 29. 1911:
“Last night I dined with Charles
Henry Butler, reporter for the Su
preme Court and a son of William
A’ler Butter, for so long a leader of
li e 1 rw York bar.
“In tr? course of the evewncr. Mr.
C-orks Cl ver. president of the Riges
National Banks to.d me this bit of
hi tcry. That when he was a boy. !n
the bark one day, Mr. Cochran came
to him and h "tided him two w rrnntf
upon the United State? Treasury, one
for SI,400,000, and the other for $5.
?f:0,000. r» said, ‘But thos- in the
safe.’ Mr. Oi.aver did so. and the" re
mained there for s, w >• h*. • 1 y
were sent to New York. Mr. Cl -
•r'1 “Those warrant- vere the >y
.' r Russia for 'he Terr * ry f
.. —.f -h'-« *v-o war-'
1 never kn.vr uni same:
yen" Inter, when I learned the story
from Senator Dawes, who said that I
prie* to the w3i-. the— >ad h»en ? me I
negotiations between the United
S*stes and Pn- -ia for the purchase of
Ah hr., and the price of $1,400,000
was agreed upon. Tn fact this was
the amount that Russia csk°d for this
r at Tcwftory, which was regarded
as nothing more than a barren field of
“Purinp the war the matter lay
dormant. We had more Territory than
we could take care of. When England,
however. be~an to manifest her fr;’nd
1? d!«posit*on t/ward ‘he Conf-dera-v.
and v® ler** 'd from ‘r^t
F.nmand and France r- arryinp on
rpr fistic.!*!®1 for ®h° ro-ocnit'cr of
the h-...v-,—. s* • — *. c -i **o;i ■"1 '11 nf
rcr.c* manifestation by their de* *
acninst the blockade wkl~h we bed
instituted (and which thcv claimed
was not elective and merely a paper
blockade), we locked abot't for a
friend, and Russia was the onh- Euro
pean country upon whose friendship
we could rely. Thereupon Secretary
Seward secured from Russia 3 rt»mon
r*ration, in American ports, of Rus
sian friendship. Her sh ps cf war
sailed to both of our coasts, the At
lantic and Pacific, with the under
standing that the expense of the dem
onstration should be met by the Uni
ted States, out of the contingent fund.
It tes . j be kept a secret matter.
' Ice war came to a c.ose and im- j
mediately thereafter Lincoln was as
sassinated and the administration
hanged. It, ws no longer possible to
pay for .his demonstration, secretly,
under the excuse of war, but a way
was found for paying Russia through
the purchase of Alaska. The warrant
or SI.40. ,000 was the warrant for the
purchase of Alaska, the warrant for
$5,800,000 was for Russia's expenses
in h»r naval demonstration in our be
half, tut history only knows the fact
that the United Stater paid $7,200,000
for this Territory, which is now dem
on ' r. :ed to be one of the richest por- •
lion- of the earth in mineial d«pos-i
SHIFTING SAND DUNE
CREEPS TOWARD FARM HOME
IDAHO FALLS, Ida.—Shifting sand
an oval dune 100 feet high and one
eighth of a mile across, crept slowly
toward the farm home of Vernon Cur
tis recentiy. but the rancher declined
to become alarmed.
"That sand dune,” Curtis’ neighbor,
J. C. A rage, explained, “has been mov
ingbef.re the prevailing winds for
years, but since 1SS5, at least, it has
been content to travel back and forth
rn a quarter-mile course, going occa
sionallv 100 yards to the right or
left.”
The dune had pressed to within 100
yards of the A rave house, four miles
southeast of Idaho Falls, and since its
recent recession toward the Curtis
homestead has buried an improved
road and fences and is threatening
to overrun a corral.
“In 40 years,” centmued Arave,
“’.hat pile of sand has caused the mov
ing of 50 fences and hac forced the
county commissioners to buy new
rights of way i.r the road six times.”
A short cistcme to the northeast,
on the Joseph Jensen farm, a “baby
duiie” is pouring into a canal, send
rg .and 10 miles down the channel
and clogging hcadgate3 so rapidly a
new canal may become necessary.
“Th( sand is a costly nuisance, but
i~ » respect t least, it is of benefit
Arave sa-.d.
“The big dune leaves an alm st in
visible 51m of sand on the ground it
has left, and because of the nature of
the original soil, it becomes fertile
loam after a couple of years of cul
tivation.”
i Be Sure to
STOP
At the
Little Store in McGrath
SHOFS
for all ages and sizes.
We Specialize in
CHILDREN’S CLOTHING
In fact, everything to vryar and
good Things to eat.
We will be glad to see you.
MAIL ORDERS
given special attention
MRS. THOMAS H.
M’LEAN
McGRATE, ALASKA
MOTORSHIP
WOLF
CHAS. SMITH and FRANK LANG, Owners
MrGRATH. ALASKA
ALSO OPERATING A
FLEET OF BARGES
In order to give the people of
this section assurance of a
really dependable
WEIGHTING SERVICE
We Do the Lest Vve Can at AU Times”
HOUSEHOLD HINT'S
To clean a rug and make it look
like new, put a little vinegar in luke
warm water, wring out a cloth dipped
in the water, and rub the rug well.
Rice or macaroni will not boil over
on to the sto%’e if the kettle in which
they are boiled is greased three or
four inches from the top.
Brushes should be dried with the
bristles turned downward, so the wa
ter will not soak into the backs of
the brushes and loosen the bristles.
Cleaning and scrubbing while wear
ing rubber gloves makes picking up
slippery soap quite a task. A match
stem placed in one end of the soap,
leaving three-quarters of an inch ex
tending. solves the problem of slip
ping.
Any stain from fruit on table linen
should be attended to before the linen
is put to soak. Hold the stained piece
over a vessel and pour boiling water
through it. This is better than soak
ing in water as it prevents the stain
from spreading. •
Tar stains should be rubbed with
butter, left an hour or two, then
washed out. Tea stains should be rub
bed with glycerine a short time be
fore washing. This will remove even
the oldest stain.
Perspiration stains on silk or other
fabrics, may be removed with lemon.
Draw the stained spot tightly over
a cup of hot water, squeeze lemon
j juicr «a to the stain and rob gently
I until it disappears. Now dip into the
hot water, squeeze and iron.
_
Grained paint can be cleaned hy
| rabbins with a rag well soaked in
linseed oil. Polish after allowing to
soak in a little.
■ ■
i Stores in summer—To avoid con
stant biackleading, it is a good plan
to wash off all trace of the old polish
with warm suds. When thoroughly
dry, apply two coats of japan black
j ing, which withstands heat, grease
and acids. If the gloss becomes at
all dim, a light brushing with ordin
ary boot polish will make it look like
new again.
Grocer: What do you mean by send
ing me only 12 ounces of steak when
I sent for a pound?”
Butcher: “I’D tell you what I did,
I lost my pound weight, and so I used
c ue of yaw pound packets of tea in
stead.”
Remember the Advertisers
DO TOC NEED SOMETHING
FROM SEATTLE?
Let as do yonr shopping. Individual
selection of every order,
j BOYER'S PERSONAL SERVICE
935 17th Ave.. Seattle, Washington
1
LAWRENCE'S PLAGE
HARRY LAWRENCE, PROP.
Wbcn in Fiat, atop at Lawrence's Place. We are
open at all hours. Good Dog Baras in connection.
Through Lawrence's Place yon can obtain
Liquors of all kinds. Also Wines and Beer.
CIGARS — CIGARETTES — CANDY
FLAT, ALASKA
1WW 3 .’••• '. J \ •/ v3? v37' T 2l:W
Gome in and Look Over Our
FRESH STOCKS
v.
Groceries - Clothinj
Liquors
W. J. WIDMAN
mcgrath, Alaska
si
||
fj
*C •
jlj
I
■si
I
' Va
.s
I
Announcing...
THE KUSKO TIMES
Is Now Representing the Largest Magazine and
Newspaper Agency in the United States
i
Come into the office and place your orders for any
Magazine or Newspaper you desire
CHECK OVER THE MANY CLUBBING OFFERS
YOU WILL SAVE MONEY
PROMPT SERVICE - QUICK DELIVERY