Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-05-20
ALASKA.
Items from The North.

PoRT townsend, May 1Sth.-The steamer
California arrived here from S;tka this even
ing. She reports having arrived at Sitka on
the 7th.
On the 10Th an Indian. who had been ar.
rested for stabbipg . squaw. hanged himself
in the guard-bouse by a leather strap made
fast to ring in the ceiling.
night OF the 10th to Miss Mary s. Ball, eld.
est daughter of Colonel NJ. d. Ball, Collector
of Customs.
The California left Sitka on the 18th, and
anchored at Harrisburg the same day at 10
P. M, having experienced the most fearful
weather, consisting of hail, sleet and snow.
In view of the increased il fux of miners
at Rockwell, Alaska, and the liability of dis
putes concerning property, which might lead
to personal collision among the citizens re-
sulting in loss of life, in the absence Of civil
laws in the Territory. Captain Glass, com
mander of the naval forces in Alaska, and
senior United States officer, has announced
officially that in case of necessity he will use
the force under his command TO preserve the
peace when a controversy has arisen involy-
ing the right to property which cannot be
anicably adjusted and personal violence is
threatened. Captain Glass will hold pos
session of the property in the name of the
United States until its rightful ownership is
settled by the proper Federal authority. He
closes his official notice by stating that the
operation of any mining regulations not in
conflict with the United States lava, will in
no way be iateIfered with, aud is not in any
way intended to offset the rights to any
property now held or to be acquired in ac-
cordance with such laws He declares that
military authority win be the only recognized
government until contrary instructions are
received from the President Of the United
States.
Lieutenant Rockwell, with force of q
marines and seamen ard four officers, are
now in quarters at Harrisburg, with instruc-
tons to make no interference save in the pre-
vention of violence or bloodshed.
The miners and experts say thst Harris
burg is the most pesceable camp they have
ever seen.
Captain GLASS; notice is merely a precau-
uonarv step to prevent the violent acts which
generally occur in mining camps.
There is yet much snow at the mines,
though good number CT lodges are exposed
and are opening up finely. The mines are
good, and the ore of a high grade but not as
rich as at first reported. A number of ex-
perts and capitalists have been driven off by
the exorbitant prices pnt upon the mines and
the unsettled condition cf rightful ownership.
Two or three sales have taken place. New
discoveries have been made in the same dis
trict, some eight miles distant. They ara not
reported on very favorably. The placer
claims are not considered OF much value, and
little or no prospecting has been done upon
them. The mining business is already very
much complicated, and in the absence of any
civil laws valuable property may lie idle for
a long time. There have been several dis.
putes regarding town lots. but they have all
been peaceably settled.
The California left Harrisburg on the l3sh.
coming through Wrangel Narrows. This
channel is a narrow shoal, and intricate, hut
can be sounded out and buoyed so as to be
feasible and safe.
No reports from the Cassiar mines.
The steamer Gertrude is reported aground
in the Stickeen river, which is lower than ever
before known.
The California leaves to-nisht for San Juan
Island, to load lime for Portland.