The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-10-07
DEPARTMENT OF ALASKA.
General George VI. Randall Sub
mits His Annual Report.

The Tendency to I.ayyIessness in the
Gold Region Practically DisHP-
Peurs-ImProvcd Condition Of the
Nntives-IncOrporatio of Nome.
The annual report Of Brig. Gen. George
NJ. Randall. commanding the Department
Of Alaska. was made public by the War
Department This morning. The report is
dated at Fort St. Michael and General
Randall says:
beginning in the early part Of Sep
TENDER. the normal condition Of the
weather in this vicinity is one Of storm.
the gales increasing in frequency and viO-
Ience. until the closing Of the bay and
! adjacent sea by ice. There is no dock
age for ocean vessels. All supplies receiv-
ed must be Iightered from the ships in
open roadstead, the shaIIowness Of the
bay requiring vessels of only fourteen
feet draught TO anchor from one to two
miles off shore. and vessels drawing
! twenty-five feet or more to anchor about
six miles out The difficulty and expense
of Tightening naturally increases with the
distance Of the vessel from shore and in
[ weather at al rough the work of lighter
ing becomes impossible.
1t is therefore recommended that all
/ supplies for this point be shipped in yes
sells 6f-nghtest draught. if possible not to
exceed sixteen feet.
..EarIy in the season Of last year a con-
| tract was made with the ALASKAN Ex-
~ ~
| Of troops and supplies 20 and from river
I points. but the contractors failing to full
/ I'll their contracts satisfactorily, "a new
one was made later with the Seattle-Yu-
| kon Transportation Company.
The confusion and tendency to law
/ lessncss incident to the rush Of people in
/ 10 Cape Nome and vicinity had subsidized
to normal conditions practically by the
! close Of last summer. and the civil courts
( being in operation. the most important
work in the department. after providing
for the housing and supply of the troops.
became that Of constructing military
/ telegraph line and military road through
! Alaska
I'm connection with the telegraph line
il is proper u remark that in the original
/ plan for its construction il was proposed
/ that a large section of the line should be
for the present land cable, To be re-
/ placed gradually 10y a permanent line,
; regularly constructed. should the COuGi-
/ tons justify: also that St NichaeIs would
/ be connected by cable with CnaIakIik. the
point Of departure from the coast to the
| Yukon.
The total -eugth OF line constructed up
70 date aggregates approximately four
hundred miles. The work is being pushed
along the Yukon River above Nulato and
by the close Of navigation in September
. it is hoped that there will be teIegraphic
/ communication between this point and
1 Fort Gibbon, a distance by the line Of
about i21 miles
There are many difficulties to be over
come in such construction. and which are
peculiar 10 the Arctic climate. Along the
coast Of Norton Sound and portion Of
the Portage from Unalaklik TO Ksltag is
a tundra country, merging into spruce
forests, with dense underground as the
/ Yukon : approached. This latter condi-
ton extends generally throughout the
Yukon Valley. The cable from St Mich
ael 10 Nome, which was laid by the Alaska
Commercial Company, sajvors Of the cable
ship Orizaba. and operated for a time last
fan, was carried away by the ice en- No
I vember and has not been recovered up to
the present time.
The work upon the trans-Alarkan
military road under capt w r Abar-
crombie. Second Infantry. acting eEgi-
. ne=r Of the Corps Of Engineers dsuarr-
. meut. WIS prosecuted with energy and
. under trying conditions. The latest i'm
formation from Captain Abercroubie is
20 the effect that the crossing Of the Ia
Z mana Will be reached by next November
ON account o. the ptcuiiarites OF the ter
. rain previously mentioned. 10 is almost
/ impossible 10 have any drills.
Some INSCRIPTIONS person or persons
I having originated and spread rumOrs Of
I strikes Of rich placer diEsings on the
headwaters OF the Kuskokwiu River and
. its tributaries, large number Of pros
. pectors visited that section during the
winter. II is a country difficult OF ac-
cess, Of which but little Is known. with
practically no white settlements. aad with
n0 places where food supplies can be re-
plenished- The rumors of rich strikes
could not be- verified. and many ha-dshius
were encountered by the prOspccto-s who
I visited that region.
Conflicting rumors have been received
during the winter Of the Gepl0rabIe con
ditiOn Of the natives along the Yukon
. River on March I. Lieut.. Howard r.
/ HickOk. Ninth Cavalry. aide-de-camp. was
directed To investigate the situation
lieutenant filthFh maze the IND 10 II us
sian Mission and return. distance Of sd
I miles. by dog sled. visiting many native
I villages The condition Of the natives
( was reported 90 De much improved The
natives generally seemed 70 be fsriuE well
iu the late winter and spring. except that
report from Kotzebue Sound. ON the
Arctic Ocean side Of Behring Strait. stat
cd the condition Of the natives there TO
be one Of restitution and want. The dis
tauce and difficulty Of travel prevented
any relief beng sent from either here OF
Fort Davis. Recent observations or them
along the Yukon River show that they
hav. recovered from the distressed c0udi-
TONS which prevailed last summer and
fall But little sickness was reported
among them The run Of salmon has been
large and the catch abundant, which will
furnish them ample food for the com
ing winter.
In November last an attempt was
poratiou. which. however. was defeated
at the polls. BY another election held
early in April of this year Incorporation
was carried and municipal officers elected
In November the company stationed i'm
tho town Of Nome was Withdrawn from
there 20 Fort Davis. and small detach-
ment left e. guard the Government build
ing and reservation
Tn, location OF department headquar-
tcrs in Alaska for the past year IS be
Hevod Ia have had pronounced beuefi-