The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-03-01
ALASKA.

ALASKA.
Of no part of the national domain is so little
known by the public at large as of Alaska.
Secured as a measure of diplomacy and good
will between the Russian and American gov
ernments in 1867, the attention of our citizens
was at that time sharply and earnestly directed
TO it, once acquired, it has passed over mainly
into the hands of the Alaska Commercial
Company, and, except for purposes of trade, is
scarcely regarded as part of the United
States It is to be hoped that Senator Harri-
sons bill, looking to the improvement of the
social and human side of Alaska life will meet
with the favor and consideration it no doubt
merits Seventeen years have rolled by; the
FIR trade has proved all that the Russians
represented it to be, and is sufficient to meet
all the expenses of the Alaskan government
and leave annually an excess in the treasury.
Alaska embraces territory equal to one
sixth of the United States and Territories.
The thirty-nni strip and the peninsular dis
.rict is modified by the Japan current, which,
stored with tropical heat and meeting here the
colder air and land of the north, gives rise to
the excessive humidity of the coast. The
Yukon returns these precipitations, and is one
of the greatest rivers of America, discharging
nearly as much water annually as
does the Mississippi The great
satar;or ,.yL;cb 4bic rivar drains ay+a,Nds II,
ice-bound rolling moors and low mountains,
seven hundred miles from Behring sea to the
British line, and is by its position and eli
matte conditions, barred out from settlement
and will forever remain in the possession of
its present savage occupants-brute and hu-
man Alaska has been a Territory in name
only. It is rather a customs district, with
collector and three deputies There are no
laws except Treasury regulations There are
no political divisions, no capital. The col
lector of customs and the officers of the rev.
enue cutter, the only representatives of police
authority, live at Sitka, and have no inter
course with the bulk of the Territory except
by way of San Francisco and by courtesy of
the commercial companies. The total popula-
lation is less than &c. 900, of which 400 are
whites and 1,600 are creoles. OF Indians
proper, there are 5000; of Eskimos, over
$1,000, and of the Aleuts over 1000 The
Aleuts are the Christian aborigines, living in
fixed places of abode and conforming to the
practices of civilization They have the ex-
preston and characteristics of the Monaghan
race, and in their general appearance suggest
the Japanese They are Greek Catholics, and,
beside the religion, have inherited
many of the customs of their early
Russian captors. They are the coast
and island inhabitants; they hunt the sea-
otter, use drift-wood for fuel, and are fond
of music The Russians taught them to
brew beer, ostensibly as an anti-scorbutic, but
really as ready method of opening a success
full trade. 1t is well known that the produc-
ton of alcoholic liquors is impossible where
neither grain nor fruit is raised Beer and
whisky, which the natives make of sugar and
-four, seasoned with dried apples and rice, have
proved the root of all evil with the Aleuts
and have been the main cause of their decrease
from over 20, 900, according to the early Russian
accounts, to one-tenth of that number
The great Eskimo naton-over IL, 000-are
hunters and fishers, and, as a rule, are sayages
They are far inferior to the Aleuts, who are,
in fact, one of the most curious and interest
ing of American peoples. The Eskimo live
in circular mounds of earth, dress as did their
ancestors, stick to their rude mythology, to
the exclusion of Christian doctrines, and are
but little modified by the influence of either
Aleuts Russians or Americans. Except where
in contact with the civilized influence of our
whaling vessels, they are, as a nation free
from the demoralizing influences of either
whisky or the Russian kvass, Some of those