Douglas Island news., 1902-12-10

my cave us loilO"s' iho S"'Si
 75 feetlong and B feet deep, was form ed by an overhangiug cliff. Inside were found the burial places of sometwenty or thirty Indians. In a few of these mummies were found. At the foot of each grave, canoes, otter skins, bows, arrows and mating were placed. Some of these finds, together with stone axes and a large number of pieces of mum my wrappings, are now reposing in the historical section of the university mu- scum.
 James Fish, of the firm of James Fish & Co.,, returned to Valdez on the Excelsior. after an extended absence, during which the mail route from Val dez to Eagle was traversed and several improvements at the different relay and trading stations commenced. It is ln- tended to raise all the hay and grain needed for the mail route stock, and with this end in view, tracts of about ten acres each at Teikhell, Copper Cen ter, Chistuchina, Mentasta and Tanana were staked out and the work of clear inc for the blow has now been nearly completed.
 The first ship built in Alaska was completed in I794 in Resurrection Bay, The craft had two decks, three masts, was 73 feet in length and had a beam of g feet; the hold was 121a feet in depth, and her capacity was l8O tons. She was named the Phoenix. The ship builders had no paint or tar and were obliged to cover the vessel with a coat inc of spruce gum, ochre and whale oil. This craft was used in carrying sup plies for hunting parties, and between Siberia and the Aleutian islands until about 1900, when she was wrecked on the way from Kamschatka.
 "Real mining in Nome is just begin ming" says A. c. Stewart, who has just returned to Seattle after stay of two years in the northern country. 1.-The great drawback has always been the lack of water, but now with the Wild Goose pumping plant and the big Mic cene ditch, which cost S3OO,OOO, not to mention a number of smaller outfits who are putting in ditches on the branches of Nome and Snake rivers, they will soon be able to work ground that will pan half cent. It has been fpllv demonstrated this year that most of the pav has been deposited by eros ion and not in the old river channels. Tn less than two months the Wild Goose plant piped out over sSOo'ooo on Cooper creek. Jack Leedy has a Ieoge in place at the head of Snow gulch, ana a niece of ore broken off assayed S9o in cold and S14 in silver. There has been a foolish idea prevailing that there were no Iedges in place, either ore bearing or barren lodges, and conse- onentlv mining men were shy about the Nome district. The government re- port on the ledge at Hurrah creek was very misleading. They have fully S2'- 100000 in sight, and easy to handle Time, capital and few strong backs will demonstrate to the world the great riches in and around the Nome dis trict."
 The movement proposed by the com bination of Alaska cannerymen, recent lv organized, to secure the repeal ot the provisions which require the can neries to maintain salmon hatcheries in Alaska waters and to observe some what restricted closed season, does not meet with favor at the treasury depart ment, says the P. I. Some of the lead inc officers of the department have ex- pressed surprise that such a proposition should be made seriously, for the whole effort of the government has been in the direction of securing ad- ditional protection for the salmon in- dustry by preventing a depletion of tbe supply of fish. 1t is pointed out that the maintainance of hatcheries is the one thing that stands in the way ot an early derletion of the salmon fish cries in Alaska waters, to such an ex- tent indeed, that the canneries would have to go out of business within a comparatively short time. There is no inclination, either, to allow fishing to commence before the first of July The treasury officials who have the ad' ministration of the laws on the sub iact nnder their charge, appreciate the