The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-11-30

The food fishes of Alaska will no doubt prove
the most valuable OF all her marine products
The Goldfish nks are extensive aud neXhaust-
ible, and halibut exist In great numbers. More
than hundred kinds of food fishes are TO Do
found In Alaskan waters. The number OF cases
packed this season by the various cannerles
amounts TO 646,345 and 81 900 barrels OF
salmon were shipped from the twenty.fOur salt
Ing establishments.
The work of the General Land Office is great
In quantity and varied In character. 1t Is al
mnistrative and semi-judicial. The report OF
The commissioner presents in detail what has
been done by that bureau during the past fiscal
year.
The public lands disposed OF during the
year. by cash sales. miscellaneous entries. and
selections of all kinds, amounted to
1887 224.72 acres. In addition TO this,
2S,S7605 acres OF Indian lands were disposed
o. making an aggregate of 10,4O6. lOO.77
acres. The commissioner approxlmates the
vacant public lands remaining at 606 ,O40.-
313,71 acres. This does not include Alaska
(Which contains over 360.000.000 acres) mill
tary and other reservations. or railroad and
ether selections yet unadjudicated, parts of
which may IN the future, by sale or restoration,
be added 10 the public domain. The total cash
receipts from the disposal of public lands was
S2.674, 285 10; S91, 991 03 were received for
Indian lands.
l recommend that the Commissioner of the
General Land Office be relieved from the duty
OF deciding litigated land cases, and hat non
partisan court be created in connection with
the General Land Office. and that the decision
of this court. so far as the jurisdiction Of this
department is concerned, be made final IN the
class OF cases referred 10.
At tn close of the fiscal year ending June
80, 1894, 969, 544 pensioners were borne upon
the rolls, an increase OF 1852 pensioners dur
ing the year. The pensioners may be classed
as follows:
Soldiers and sailors, 753 968; widows. orph-
ans and other dependent relatives 216,162 +;
army nurses. Ala. OF these. 16.610 pen slonerS
are on account OF Indian and other wars prior
to the late war, and 1929 widows. orphans
and other dependent relatives. Under the act
of June 81, 1890, there are 375,084 pensioners
and 94,26O widows and orphans. II Is inter-
estlng TO note that nine widows ana three
daughters of veterans of The Revolution consii-
tute the pension roll for that war. FOriy-fVe
survivors OF the war of 1912 constitute the
remnant OF that list. The toal amount ex-
pended for pensions during The past fiscal year
was $3.50 S04, 461 O5, leaving balance from
the appropriation in the treasury of S25.2O5,-
712 65. The estimate for the fiscal year 1896,
made by the Commissioner, is $40. 600, 900.
The commissioner states that, In his opinion,
the year 1895. thirty years after the close of
the last war, must in the nature of thugs SCI
The highest limit of The pension roll which.
therefore, must begin TO decrease. The num-
Der of pending claims in the bureau has de-
reased over 10000 during the year. A large
number of the new claims are for increase by
pensioners now on the rolls. The number of
certificates issued was SO,213. The aggregate
OF persons added to the rolls during the year Is
39.OS5, and The total number dropped for all
causes 1881. The first payments during the
past year amounted TO S11 ,917. 359 So.
The Governor of Alaska in his report states
that the census OF 1890 computes the number
of white people in Alaska to be 1928; mixed
race, 1914; Indian. %, 532. The total popula-
tton OF the entire district of Alaska is 29.644
He states that there have been added 10 The
white population of Alaska by immigration
about 1000 people, most of whom have settled
at Juneau and the mining camps in that
vicinity.
There are now seventeen national parks.
Yosemite in California, covers an area of about
1912 square miles, being SO miles wide by Az
long.
Captain &. H. G. Gale, U. s A.. the acting
superintendent, reports but few depredatOns
of any consequence up 10 June 80, 1894 but
states that the cattle-owners in the western
portion of the park drove their herds in early
and were not overpartcuar about placing
them within Enclosures or keeping them on
their own land and a large number of them
were driven out by the patrols.
The acting superintendent recommends that
all land within the limits of the park taken up
and patented undrr the timber laws be repur-
chased by the Government at a fair valuation
and that homestead owners be required 10
fence their land and keep their fences in repair.
Game and fish are on the increase but en-
tirely without adequate protection during the
open season. The acting superintendent says
a large extent OF territory Is now included In
the reserve which Is OF practically no interest
to the sightSeer, nor does it appear to be useful
as a conseryator OF the water supply. He refers
chiefly TO the tract north OF the Tuolumne
River. There are also sections which are valu-
able as agricultural and mineral lands, but are
virtually useless for park purposes-notably in
The southeast and southwest corners. He
recommends reduction OF the park boun-
daries, and placing them on natural lines so far
as possible.
Sequoa Park is located in Tulare County,
Cal, and contains about $50 square miles. Gen.
eral Grant Park is situated in Mariposa
County, Cal, and contains about four square
miles. These reservations contain the finest
known specimens OF The SrQuoia gigantea, the
famous "big trees" of California. Captain
James Parker. Fourth Cavalry, United States
army, acting superintendent, reports that the
game in the SequOia Park has decreased some
what, and that in his opinion, the park is not
suited for game reserve, on account of the
heavy SHOWS in winter.
The acting superintendent reports that, al
though the enormous number of sheep in the
country surrounding the park have nearly de-
nuded 1t of trees and shrubs and made 1t prac-
tically desert, not much damage has been
done by them within the limits of the parks.
He states, however, that much trouble is expe-
rienced in keeping cattle out of General Gran t
Park and that 1t can be avoided only by the
erection OF wire fence around the park.
The acting Superintendent states that the
Giant Forest, by reason of its Inaccessible con.
dition, is rarely visited, but suggests that, if a
good road were built and hotels erected and
managed under proper leases. it would be a
great summer resort for those wishing TO es-
cape the heat of the San Joaquin Valley. The
road to the forest is rapidly becoming impassa.
bic.
While the Secretary of the Interior has for
hidden the entrance OF either sheep or cattle
into the forest reservation, it Is apparent that
it is the sheep ana not the cattle that are ruin
ing the country The few small herds of cattle
now on the reserve are owned by small farmers
occupying farms on the San joaquin side OF the