, 1878-03-22

and that if they stole it during the
night, he would have it back or the
Indians seal ps that dared to inter
fere.
A PRETTY MESS,
this state Of affairs. The customs
officials propose to stop the liquor
traffic among Indians at Wrangel and
in order to do thisthey must have aid.
Several Stikine Indians have ten
dercd their services and have been
accepted, and he who objects to the
searching of dwelling and canoes
must abide by the consequences.
The customs officials did not take
the steps they have taken until they
were appealed to by all good clti
zens and peaceable Indians. The
state Of affairs was such that some.
thing had to be done to prevent seri-
Gus trouble. The officials did no;
take the steps willingly, neither with,
out carefully considering the conse.
quences. Having assumed authority,
they proposed to exercise it and have
it obcyed, They cannot be bIuffed
or frightened. Therefore it behooves
Congress to do something and that
soon, that will tend to calm the sea OF
trouble.
BRIGHT PROSPECTS.
Aaska's darkest days we trust are
past and that the future will be bright.
At present indications are good, and
we have every reason to believe that
during the coming season the vari
Gus resources of the Territory will
be fully tested.
A CANNERY
has been located at Clawock. The
company, with "A capital of 100000.
mean business. BY the last trip Of
the California they landed at their
place l2O tons of freight, among
which was the necessary machinery
for "a steam saw mill and a large can
ming establishment; also 80 tons OF
tin. Within the coming three months
the California will land at Cawock
200 tons of freight and all the men
necessary to run the cannery busi.
ness. Should the canning of salmon
prove Il success at CIawock, within
the next few years canneries viii. be
established all over the country of
Islands. Regarding salmon, permit
me to say that while at Sitka few
days ago, | saw salmon that had
been caught by the Indians in Sitka
Bay. The salmon weighed 45 lbs.
This fish was equal in flavor and rich.
ness to any salmon caught at any
point on the Pacific Coast. Mr..
Whitiord, of SitLa, assured me that
at the present time the bay of Sitka
is full Of just such fish.
MINERS AND MINING.
The quartz mines at Sitka looks
well and encouraging. The Alaska
Gold Mining Company, are at work
and propose erecting
stamp mill at the mine the coming
spring. Samuel Militich of Sitka,
has returned from San Francisco,
having succeeded in organizing .
company with plenty of capital, and
work is to commence Immediately in
testing new discoveries.
Mr.. Healy, the celebrated quartz
discoverer, has several ledges which
are rich in gold. He has in his house
barrels of rock, specimens of which
are half gold. This rock he crushes
by mortar process and then extracts
the gold, making thereby plenty OF
cash.
Aside from the Sitka gold field, is
of no mean pretensions-the
Shuck district, up the coast from
here. The placer mines at this camp
during last season, gave employ.
ment to about 80 men, all of whom
made good wages. AU the present
time there are about twenty men at
work at those mines and more will
90 soon. In addition to the placer
mines at Shuck, are quartz lodges,
which show pure gold. These ledges
are now being prospected and ere
long the result will be known.
ENTERPRISE AT wRANGEL.
At this port a company has been
formed who propose utilizing the
myriads of herring that ibfest these
waters. The company have built
them vessel and a cooper.shop. The
herring will be taken and converted
to oil; also salted and dried. Several