The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-04-25

thetss THstefore this Mo.eA Of the In.
dams, with $50 OF his people. aban-
doned their homes. their property. ev-
erything but q few household goods,
and went out from under British rule
to abide under the protection OF the
Stars and Stripes forever.
1t was no small sacrifice for this
once savage people to leave their
houses, mills, canneries-works Of their
for the 120 of their number who re-
mained with the bishop. But the
empty dwellings soon fell to decay.
the clearing partly relapsed to under
brush. the large church was partitioned
Off to hold the handful of wOrshipers.
and when few years later the bishop
departed the ruin was complete: and
to quote the words Of Skidmore. ''The
nearly deserted village remains as
monument Of misdirected religious
zeal. of civil injustice and oppression.
the shame and reproach of church and
state" This old abandoned village is
In plain sight Of passing vessels and an
object Of great interest to the tourist.
THEIR NEW HOME
Their new home. though won after
much tribulation, Is just as good, clean
and delightful as New England town.
On August Z, 1887, Mr.. Duncan planned
a dedicatory service. The new church
bell was tolled, the Indians and the
officers and passengers grouped togeth-
er. Prayers were offered. psalms OF
thanksgiving were chanted by all the
natives in their own tongue. Spiritual
sorgs We're sung by the passengers.
Speeches OF congratulation as well as
of protection were offered by the invit-
ed guests and In the presence of United
States Commissioner Dawson the cap
tain and sixty passengers of the steam
er Ancon. a gun salute was fired and
the Stars and Stripes Were unfurled
with the promised protection OF our free
American government. The old totem
poles We're destroyed (save two given
TO the Sitke Museum), the town was
apportioned into town lots and the
New Metlakatlahans began anew,
building their present attractive vii
lage, which Is said by all to be a mar
vel regard 1t as great pleasure
and high honor to land here. and to-
gether with our distinguished vice pres
ident and other passengers to grasp the
hand of the veteran Apostle. and learn
from his lips of the wonderful progress
in civilization made by this people. 1t
was an unexpected pleasure to be es-
corted by him through his cannery.
where were laying In trenches hundreds
and perhaps thousand Of fresh caught
salmon. weighing from four to twenty
pounds each, and watch that process of
canning by these people formerly Il
race of savages, but now Christian
neighbors. Rev. Mr.. Meyers tells Of
two row-boats that nd just arrived by
the wharf with q days haul of over
1000 salmon of twelve to thirty pounds
| each, and thrown on the landing like
so many blocks Of wood. One of the
Indians tallies on the slate and a round
$3.50 Is credited to the two craft for
the days toll. I never saw such a pile
! OF fish. Their process Of canning SAL
mon IL interesting as well as skillful
| For short, they are scraped and
cleaned, cut into small strips or bits:
cleansed, then put into pint and quart
tin cans. Set on iron crates, wheeled
into boiler steamers, taken out, sealed
and labeled with rapidity simply
astonishing. The daily OUTPUT of this
cannery Is 800 cans, which are sent into
the markets Of the world. These In
dians can their salmon for east
ern markets from six to eight
thousand cases every year. They
publish and edit their own newspaper.
They maintain all kinds of business Of
a civilized community. including CO.
operative stores. photographers, silver
smiths and the colony is in fact a self
supporting. even mOney-making indus
trial settlement and the capacity of the
Indians for civilization Is here fully
demonstrated. / can truly say this vii
lage and its inhabitants is indeed a
wonder Of the age, and stands a last
Ing monument of the benefits of Chris
tianity to these savages, who it has
cleaned, educated and civilized. even
the vices of she white man have been
removed from this vicinity.
1t Is simply tantalizing that our limit
Of time ION account of tide) does not
admit of our remaining longer, and
amid the martial music of the Indian
band Of twenty pieces playing Hail
Columbia" In honor of our distin-
guished vice president and an au revoir
from Mr.. Duncan and his co-worker,
DR.. Bluett. the only two white men at
Metlekatlah. we steam away on our
course to Fort Weangel. through Ton
gass, Narrows. Belim, Canal and Clar-
ence Strait, night passage, where we
will arrive at early morn. Thus endeth
our third days itinerary.
John +. Richmond.
| =
The Nickel Plate Road runs along
the shore Of Lake Erie and through
l LN~l4