The daily morning Alaskan., 1901-12-05
WHY WIRE IS DOWN
Interior Indians Don't Like the
 raiking Wire

A victoria correspondent sa,s in hls dis- patch to Seattle paper that when tho linemen who are looking t up. locatc the
 trouble on the Klondlkc telegraph line n is not unlikely that it will he found that somewhere up In the north on some out of the way Indian ranchcrie they win Ind . piece cut from the wire which the untutored slwash needed to meni his
 fence. or make a guy line for totterinS totem. The Indian does not take kindly to the medicine wire" which has been stretched over his Iliahees In the forests of the north. When the line was oe'ns built the construction part'es had seVesai experlences of this antipathy, and tne shocks administered to those who clutch ed the strange medicine wire which won't
 from pole to pole did not Increase 'heT liking.
 T, was soon after they started from r.,srraph creek that the telegraph men first encountered the siwash in numbers opposed to the line. They were about twelve miles out from the Stikine head str,neing the wire through the village or the Tahltans there. whom the Indians crowded around them and tried to prevent the stringing of the wirc. Numbers ciutched the wire as it lay on the ground and tuxged it from tho linancn on the polc~. They could not be made Co let 70. untIi one of the operators started the current along the wire-and Jhen tho wire became known as 'thc medicine wire
 The Indlans dropped It with a howl. and there was a great "wa-wa." They could not understand the strange prorirtics Of this wire. and it looked es tholgh there would be trouble when the construction superintendents explained through an in- terprcter what the line was for. Then some of the Indians were Induced to take light shocks. and gradually Nnowiedge of the first rudiments Of electricity came Co tho people of Tahitan and oue man. who could stand the thriis of the current longer than hls fellows earned reno~n as a shaman. Such are. the snpersiiti,ns Of tho Indiana fr't
 At New Kitselass on the Sk'cm river where the wire was strung over the vil- lace of some Of the Skeent rive mdlnns there was a great Co do. The Indians tore the wire down. stamped oa it. anl thncat. cned that as soon as their chief came from the Naas where he was fishing they would soon make short wurk Of the wire. The wire was str;ug over tho totcms of the Slwash gravcyarl and this was the main grievance. ,his and the su- pcrstitlous dread of the wire which had made one of the barcfooted ones sump when he suddenly trod upon it as it lay s.auve'' on the ground.
 When the superlntcndenis and the cons structlon men continued to cnrry on Inc work and strung the line over the illahees on the skeena's banks the indians formed in a circle and held great pow-wow' at the end of which they ran in a body to the line Intending to dcnciish n there and then. but a current helng placed on the wire. there were wells and shrieA as soon as they graspci it-ond tho hne- men prevailed.
 At Kitgcgaiurn on the Skecna a potlatch was in progress when the linemcn reaeh- Cd the village with the virc. the occasion of jollity being the raisins of new to- tenn. The Indians were dancing when the men arrived with the wirc. and the in- dian curiosity overcame ths love of core mony. The potiatch waI abandoned Co protest against the strmge wire hcing sprcad from post to post The missionary resident there satisfactorily explained the workings Of the wire Co the Indians and trouble was averted therc. At number of rancherles there were objections by the Indians to the medicine wire" and their were incidents galore where the shock which followed contact with tho wire brought yens of terror and wondcrment from the Indians.
 Up the line from Telegraph creek the Indians footed two of the store cabins of the telegraph men and Included In the stolen goods, which Included -four and provisions of all kinds. was telegraph instrument which was perhaps taken to set new medicine man ID in business 10
 foster s,perstition among his fellows
 Several traces of the o:G Western Union wire built in days long nso were dis- covered by the linebuilders and six miles south of Iskoot summit the line builders went right through tN, ola companys right of way. Traces of the old wire were found on many Indian 'euces and many pleecs which had been carried away by tho Indians for various purposes were found