The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1879-08-14
Scenes in Alaska.

Scenes In Alaska.
A PhiladelphIan who is now in Alasks
thus writes home, from Sitka uudcr date
of june 1st: The United States steamer
Alaska came up here in hurry from Sar
Francisco in App il last to prevent our fel
low-citlzens from being murdered, and
know not what all. There was a great
necessity tor ship here judging from the
| accounts that appeared in the papers
But what the trouble was we have never
been able to find out, as the Indians have
never made any disturbance beyond kill
| ing one man in u drunken row, and when
they killed him they did the country a
service. This man carried on an illicit
still, making what is called here huchenu
vile kind of whisky, from fermen,ed
mOlasses. After selling rum to party OF
Indians, until he had fairly robbed them
of everything they owned, he refused
trusting them for another bottle. A
drunken row ensued, and Brown was
killed. Then came the panic, as nearly
| all the inhabitants here run still in q
quiet way, from which they make their
living. They felt certain they needed
protection. SO they could sell all the vile
rum they could make, and if the Indians
made any objections to their somewhat
peculiar ideas of business there would be
a force to put them down. The Indians
here may be low, but, 1 am sorry to say,
the whites are lower and far worse, and
were it not for the latter there would be
no Indians. These Indians receive no
annuities from the Government, and want
none: are kind TO their families, and make
good living by hunling and fishing; are
not only willing, but anxious to work !;
quick to learn and faithful. Let there be
q little law and some justice for the whites
and there will never be any trouble here.
Because am away up in this out-of-the-
way place, DON'T for a moment suppose
we are having hard time of it. I never
experienced. more lovely weather in my
life than during the past month. Living g
here is rather cheap. A fine deer can be
bought for $3.50; wild geese twenty five
cents apiece; wild ducks and large blue
grouse, twenty-five cents pair. How is
that for a market? Hallbut weighing fifty
pounds and over, from twenty-five to fifty
cents, and fresh salmon and trout in pro
portion, Our only drawback in the
market line is the want of beef, NUT
ton and vegetables. Those we receive
from Victoria by steamer, but
as she only comes once a month we
get short in the vegetable line at times.
Sitka under the Russians was place of
considerable importance, and q large lusi-
ness was done, but our usual suicidal
policy with the Indians in general has
been felt here also, and a great many furs
of all kinds that used always to be
brought here are now shipped and sent to
our English cousins. 1 said shipped. /
should have said the outside natives, many
of whom hunt and peddle in Alaska, will
paddle in their canoes a hundred miles to
trade with the English rather than with
the Americans, such as we have here. ALI
the buildings owned by the government
are fast falling to decay, and unless con-
gress does something soon there will be
but little left of the towu, beyond the
small shanties occupied by the Russians
and their lazy defendants.
There are seveZal cannieries hear en-
gagged IN canning salmon; they have only
been started year or so, and we are un-
able to say yet how they will make
out, but the owners seem very sanguine.
They ought to succeed, for the fish can
be bought for five cents o piece from the
Indians in any quantity, and the other ex-
penses are net great. Gold has been dis
covered in quite number of places; one
mine is being worked. Astamp-mill has
been started lately, and the owners say
there is money TO be made. take all
these assertions, however, with a good
deal of reservation, and have seen know
ing ones badly bitten in paying mines of
SldiliCIuid, anu dii pIcpdicu W cuy tuC
mines here not valuable. The principal
amusement have had here has been gun
ming. have been out quite a number of
times and generally have had very good
luck, leaving my lodges at one o'clock
and returning again before five with three
or four dozen snipes. For a while we
killed so many 1t was hard to give them
away, but they are scarce now and the sea-
son is about over. ] have had the pleas
ure of attending two Indian funerals, or l
should say cremations. Their mode is
crude, but effectual. A pen, composed of
logs about ten feet long and four feet wide
is built to a height of about Ave feet, with
large air space between the logs This is
then filled about half way up with ordi-
nary cord wood. The body is laid on this
pile. and more wood is placed on top. The
fire is then lighted and fed until all the
flesh Is consumed, when the bones are
carefully gathered placed in a box and
deposited in o rude looking little house,
which (if the buried party is OF any i'm
portance) is decorated with one or more
streamers, or whstsvcr the relatives may
fancy.
The Alaska, which arrsvcd here on April
I'd, left New York on its ernise June 10Th,
1876, and since then has visited the prln-
cipal ports of Brazil, Chill. Peru, Mexico
Central America, British Columbia. and
the Pacific Cost of the United States, her
voyage covering over 1884 miles,
[Philadelphia Bulletin.