, 1886-03-25
Alaska
\ BATCH OF INTERESTING NV IrEsfS
FROM THE FAR NORTH.

Alt.-Ai since tIe aiulIlJH 10 uef OF
steam power. The trip was
a very successful one: all the lumber
and the cargo OF general merchan
disc beng easily disposed Of at fair
prizes She made the trip to SitEa
IL thirteen days; hut SIX Of those We're /
lost by being compelled to lie al
anchor IN the more severe storms.
She left here FEB 9th. and arrived III
Sitka on the morning Of The 18Th.
The return trip was made III Q! days,
with considerable head wind to con
tend against In the Straits, on
Monday and Tuesday last, a snow
storm was encountered. The return
cargo consisted of about 1900 gallons
of herring oil. taken on at killlsnoc.
and 100 barrels Of salt salmon.
The town Of Juneau IS very brisk
at present \ number of buildings
are being erected, the lumber for
which is obtained from 4 sawmill
there, which supplies only rough lum-
Der, all the dressed lumber teing
shipped from Puget Sound mills.
The people expect large immigra
ton in the coming summer, and al
ready several parties are fitting cut
to push their way into the interior on
prospecting excursions. In juneau
there are about - saloons. and II
stores doing Il general merchandise
business. The town contains one
thousand inhabitants, and the com
petition in various branches Of busi-
ness Is SO great that IL many articles
the prices are nearly as low as on the
Sound.
On the way up the schooner met
the tug Tacoma in Albert Bay, Capt
George acting as pilot. No one on
board of the tug seemed 10 know
where they had been or where they
were going. and altogether her ap-
pearance was mysterious. The Alas
kan of March 9th, after quoting from
the Nanaimo Free Press an announce
ment of the Tacoma's trip to Alaska,
has the following to say of the mat
ter:
THE question now arises as to
what point in Alaska the Tacoma Wis
tied, and what has become of the
promised revelations. She has not
been seen in tEis section, and it is
limited that the object Of her cruise
was an entirely different one than that
limited at by the Nanaimo paper. 1t
Is much moro than probable that she
vas more intent on burying some of
the secrets of the opium and liquor
smugglers than in revealing then
1t is to be hoped that the public may
not long be kept in ignorance as to
the objects and results of the Taco
mas mysterious cruise to ports she
failed to show up at"
The little steamer Lucy, which left
here about the 1st of FL bruary, under
command of Capt. Morgan, arrived
at Sitka on the 9th ult. Three men
were in the little tug. The cause of
the long passage is said to be that the
coal used as fuel was washed from
the deck, and they were compelled to
stop frequently and chop supplies of
wood. The tug Is to be used by the
Treadwell mining company for tow
ing purposes, but tits understood that
she will be used frequently on pros
pecting cruises. This Treadwell
company is the largest one of the
kind in the country, and at present
are pushing their work. Some of the
Juneau Merchants arc alarmed at the
probability that the company are
about to establish trading post up
on their property on Douglas Island.
Such proceeding would seriously
interfere with one of Juneau's prin
Eoipal fields of trade
Nothing was seen of the little sloop
Annie. ia which Mr.. Bangs and party
left last week for Alaska 1t is prob
able they passed each other in the
Gulf OF Georgia. In speaking of the
enterprise, one of the officers of the
Leo said that it required considerable
tact and skill to trade successfully
with the Indians. They are all self
sustaining, and some of them have
accumulated considerable means.
Formerly they used to hoard their
earnings and buy blankets, but of
late they have taken to accumulating
coin, always preferring silver dollars,
and ignoring entirely O. s. currency.
They are shreWd traders, and hold
their own with all kinds of specu-
laters.
One OF the passengers on this cruise
was Walter Burritt, of this city. He
sailed from Port Townsend and took
as freight one barrel of sugar and
several cases that looked like ordi-
nary cases of coal oil. At Sitka E. H.
Brown, Deputy Collector of Customs
for Sitka seized this freight and found
it to contain various kinds of liquors.
The sugar barrel contained 81 bottles
of Old Tom gin and the coal oil cases
contained cans filed with whisky.
The laws of Alaska regarding the
landing of intoxicating liquors are
very strict, and recently the officers
have been exercising unusual dill
gence in making seizures. The no
tice of seizure was published in the
ALASKAN, but no claimant appeared,
and the goods viii probably be sold
at auction by MIR. French, the Col
lector of Customs. Mr.. Burritt, who
returned en- the Leo, said he did not
want to claim the goods after their
seizure, though he thought he could
recover them. He further stated that
one case was not seized at Sitka, and
on arriving at Juneau he prepared to
land the goods and collect his com
mission, claiming that he was acting
in the whole matter as an agent. The
case was lowered into boat and taken
ashore. Mr. Burritt, claimed his
cash, but the other man desired to
sample the goods. The case was
opened and a glass of the liquor
drawn OFF. but, to the taster's disgust
it was found TO be salt water instead
of whisky. MIR. Burritt thinks the
ssilors on the Leo helped themselves
to the 1lGuor and filed the cans with
salt water. In this manner the en-
tire lot Of freight for which Berritt
was agent was seized or spirited
away.
The Leo viii be ready to sail for
Sitka in two weeks- Seattle P.-L
The Restriction Act.