The daily morning Alaskan., 1900-01-01

Among the many oeneaeent agencies thA' marked their birthday on last years diary of important events in the history Of this city. was the Chamber Of Commerce. us red letter day Is March 25th. on the even inx of which date a meeting was called Tor the purpose. and succeeding In laying the foundation stone Of an institution whieh ha. already been productive Of great pup lie good. as the following brief summary amply show. Those present at the birth n, ths association were: F. N. Woodruff. A. c. Fa.el. E E. Hooker. Arthur Cope land. E. A. Sceley. E. D. wishaar. L. :. Keller and $. c. Kaufman. This would sseua but a small gathering for the start ing Of a movement Of such importance but they are all energetic, earnest men, snd alter having organized by the election O, temporary orlcers. their personal stand Ing and taelr activity 10 the matter soon led others og the leading men ot the elty ,o loin them.
 No Chamber O, Commerce in any city has a large membership. or one Ia pro- portion Co the interests oi the city Tor u is difficult Co Hnd men capable Of discuss- lnE large questions and formulating there on oylnlons that will influence. who will thus unselasaly sacrifice their time and theIr means Co the mere advancement ot the public good. It is much to she credit Of SkakWay. therefore. that her young Chamber of Commerce has nearly forty astlye members. and what they have se- complsAed ia the few months Of the ex- lstsace of the Chamber Ia well worth re- calling.
 The Chamber has succeeded iu one im- portaLt particular where almost any other agency would have failed. and 'ha, is in making Skagway iayorably known all over the United states. Time and again there have appeared in the newspapers the re- eommendations of the Skagway Chamber of Commerce in regard 10 almost every im- portant question touching the welfare ot the people of Alaska. Letters to the President. the Presidents replies Co the members of the Cabinet. to the Joint High Commission. Co Senators and Congress men and others. and the effect Of these communications. have kept the name oi skagway before the reading public. as no other agency could have succeeded in do- lng. and ln this way the work Of the Chamber has given a prominence to the city.
 As early as its second meeting the Chamber took up local postal aaairs. which were then. and had been for some time. In a most deplorable condition. Represen- tations in strong terms were made to the Postmaster General. One of these strong terms was that the money order de- partment og the ofice. so eminenuy use ful Co a business community. is farce" Coming from sn organized representative body like a Chamber ot Commerce. the communication met with Instant eonsid- eration where all former appeals from here on tae subject had failed. As is well known the Postmaster General sent a spec Ial inspector to investigate matters. and ws have now post-ofiee that meets all the requirements Of the city.
 To the great question ot the Alaskan boundary the Chamber has devoted much time and thought. Ia It's several we'll drawn protests against eoding any part ot Alaska Co Canada. it enlisted the gym pathy and aid oi all the Chambers Of Com meree on tho Paciae Coast. it appealed to the President and 70 his secretary of state.
 NHHaa NN hH1 Joiut hisa Commissioa on the question aud eli.lIed replies from them, Interested leading senators aud COngressmen on the subject. and appealed 10 all the great Jour mas all over the States 10 take up the eudSels ia de,eaee Of Alaska's Interest. The Amesiean members oi the Joint High Commission were strongly urged to pay skagNay a v.sit. and Seastor Fairbanks, their chairman. vas Induced to accept the invitation and did come here with large pArtJ. at the personal solicitation of tho FresidelL
 When be came the Chamber was fully prepared to receive him. They escorted him and tho members of bis party to the summit of White Pass. and there explain cd. ugon the ground. the merits Of the question as to the disputed boundary. Wher the party returned to town they he'd coa.erances with him. at which spec ially prepared mags were exhibited to make clearer the data the Chamber had collected on the subject
 Alter the visit of Senator Fairbanks came large party Of Congressman. in- eluding the ehairnin ot the committee on territories. To these also the Chamber exposed the boundary contention. and also presented them with carefully prepared representations on the legislation abso- lutely necessary for the progress of AL aska.
 Following up thls latter subject the Chamber appointed a committee to con- sider the advisabllity Of holding a general convention of all Alaska. for the purpose of formulating laws for the district. and sent a committee to the Juneau Chamber of Commerce for conference on the sub feet The result Of this movement was tho successful convention held at Juneau and the election or a member or the Chamber. Mir. J. G. Price. as a delegate to Congress. to present the result Of the conventions deliberatIons-
 Another important subject the Chamber took up in which It's efforts were of some avail. was the urgent need of lighthouses and other aids and safeguards to naviga- ton in the waters Of the Inland route to skagway. A strong representation on the point was made to the chairman of the Lighthouse Board and his reply was most gratifying. He stated that the eommuni- cation of the Chamber had bean eonaidsr-