The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1891-11-14
SlTKA AND ITS PECuLlARlTlEs.
An Interesting village with Population
Decidedly Mixed,

81 MA AND ! ! = IRREGULARITIES
An Interesting Village with n Population
Decidedly Mixed.
SitlSa, the Alaskan capital, is u peace
full village on the Baranoff Island. Once
1t was wide-awake Russian town
with its celebrated Baranoff castle,
where the Tip a-bob" of the Russian
nobility We'd with those of the mother
country in their lavish hospitality, elab-
crate dinners and princely balls The
old Baranoffs lived high. They enriched
themselves with the furs of the land
and subsisted on the appropriations of
the crown. Then the Russian American
company, with n charter similar in many
respects to the Hudson Bay Co., barter
ed with the Indians, and became opu-
lent and powerful, while poor Lo"
got the experience. Now from the
sleepy, picturesque village nesting at
the foot of austere, snow-capped noun
tains one looks out over the beautiful
bay dotted with wooded islands west
ward to the broad Pacific On either
side Mounts Edgecumbe and Verstovis,
extinct volcanoes, with their snow-fill-
ed craters, stand guard as sentinels,
their sides still marked and crossed
with streaks of hardened red lava. Lin
gering in the tower of the deserted old
castle we could but think how hard it
must have been for the loyal sons of
Russian Alaska to see their flag dip to
the Stars and Stripes, when on that
memorable day, October IS, 1867, we
formally took possession, our moral
persuader of $4,000 900 having proved
too tempting bait for Russia's depict
ed treasury
In the last forty-six years only once
has the mercury at Sitl1a registered be-
low zero Certain it is that the climate
is never severe, and though northward
at Fort Yukon, where the elements
hold high carnival, the thermometer
falls to fifty-eight degrees below zero,
the Japanese current so tempers the air
along the southern coast that at SitSa
an overcoat is rarely needed. Indeed,
the mild and beautiful summer DAYS
tempt the traveller to rest awhile and
watch the lingering twilights as they
almost blend their brilliant colors with
the morrow's coming sun. The rain, it
raineth every day, and clears away as
easily. proving a continued blessing to
the wild flowers which bloom in great
profusion. The vivid greens of the
MOSES and ferns and unusual size of
the leaves with the rank growth gen.
orally, bespeak the exceptional rainfall
of over fifty-five inches year.
Sitka boasts at present of some 1, 500
people, 500 or 1000 of whom are Indians
and the balance evenly divided between
Russians and Americans. Wandering
down the principal street, in fact the
only one of the town, you pass several
old Russian structures used for court
house, barracks and government Offices
two or three general stores, and few
story-and-half cottages. The Greek
church with its gourd-shaped tower
and green roof is the center of
attraction. The Russians expend $780,
600 year in the support of their
churches and missions in Alaska, and
the chimes of three little brass bells in
the Sitka church, which we did not
hear, are said to have a melody for all
Americans who respect the Sabbath.
The interest in Alaskan Indian life
naturally centers here, and the ranch
erie at one end of the town has a
strange, semi-civilized appearance. The
houses, many of them white washed,
are set at all angles, and the canoes
drawn up on the beech in front are COW
cred with blankets of various colors.
Boards covered with bright salmon dry
ing lie in the sun, cared for by squaws,
whose bronze faces, set off with gray
red or yellow kerchief, are tempting
studies for the numerous artists. The
houses are all numbered in even hun
dreds. Mrs. Tom, the queen of Indian
town, lives at No. 67OO, while next door
may be No. $500 or No. 100 without re-
gard to numerical precision. Mrs. Tom
is great authority among the Siwash,
and, though reputed worth $4,000,
chiefly in blankets, she still descends
to the sale of bracelet on the gala oc-
casion when excursion steamers arrive
at Sitka. Legends are to be heard for
the asking, and the thread of many a
bear, raven or seal story is woven
around ancient Edgecumbe; while let
tered on one of the Indian houses is the
sign, "Elish Ltokin, head of large
family of orthodox Christians."-
Springfield Republican.