Arizona republican., 1898-02-16
THE GOSSIP OF WASHINGTON.

Washington, Feb. 15.-Soren Listoe of St. Paul, the present consul at Rot terdam, has made his first report to the state department. It is brief, and as follows:
 Complaints have been made to this consulate by local wholesale dealers in various branches of goods that American manufacturers send circu- lars or catalogues giving cost or sell ing prices to the smallest retail stores, as well as to wholesale houses. To this the Netherlands wholesale deal CTS seriously object. They say that they consider manufacturers cata- logues as strictly confidential business communications, and that it is breach of good faith for either a man ufacturer or a wholesale dealer to let a retail dealer or an outsider become acquainted with it's contents. They insist so strongly on this interpreta- tion of business etiquette that whole sale stove dealer in this city lately refused this consulate the simple piece of information as to size and descrip tion of a certain English made stove (asked for by me at the request of an American stove manufacturer), on the plea that the descriptive catalogue sent him by the English manufacturer was confidential and only intended for his own personal use. Many whole sale dealers here refuse to deal with manufacturers who send their cata- iogues, with prices, etc., broadcast over tne land, and, for this reason, I have thought it might be advisable to so inform the American trade
 
 Pursuant to instructions from the acting secretary of war, special SUD- plementary report has been prepared by B. Hazard Wells, who acted as agent for the war department in bring ing Captain Rays dispatches and who has been in the country three times, has traversed the interior of Alaska in many directions and has a practical knowledge of the country that is pos sessed by few people. He says, among other things:
 There are undoubtedly large depos- it's of gold in Alaska, rivaling those of the British Northwest territory. I noticed excellent mineral indications upon the Panama river and in other localities in 1S90 I discovered a true Assure vein of quartz eight feet in di- ameter with we'll defined casing rocks upon the upper Panama. This quartz evidently contained metal Specimens which I secured to take out to San Francisco for assay were subsequently lost in a river catastrophe. Numer- ous creeks entering the upper Panama revealed colors of gold in the sand.
 All of the gold bearing streams of Alaska so far discovered, viz, Birch creek, Miller creek, Forty-Mile creek, Sixty-Mile creek and Seventy-Mile creek, head in the vicinity of the Panama river and flow away to the northeast. On the southwestern side and heading near the Panama are the noted Copper and Sushitna rivers, the latter being the gold bearing stream which recently came into prominence through the placer discovery on Cooks inlet. The Copper river is popularly supposed to be located in the heart of the mineral belt. It is a reasonable dedrction that if all the streams flow ing away from the Panama to the northeast and southwest bear gold that the Tanana itself must cut through a gold bearing country. This opinion is shared by nearly all of the old time miners now located in Dawson. Re gently excellent prospects were discov- cred upon an American creek, a trib- utary of the Yukon in Alaska, just be- low Forty-Mile creek, Miller creek and other streams within the boundaries of Alaska in the Yukon valley still offer inducements to placer miners. I do not believe that ally better mining region will be discovered in Alaska than will be found in the great Tanana valley"
 "Billick," the Esquimeau dog of MT. B. Hazard Wells, the writer and Alas kan explorer, was visited by many