The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-10-24

ton, leans toward the existing munich
pal administration. and the old federal
regime still represented by Marshal
Richards and United States Attorney
Grigsby, formerly of South Dakota;
while the latter puts up an opposition
which involves it's editor quite fire.
quently in those little pugilistic af-
fairs that impart to the life OF the
editor Of the frontier all the strenu-
osity which his love for sensation
Graves. The city is built of wood, as
are all the other towns of Alaska. No
fire insurance is written here except
on the warehouses of the large COM
mercial companies. The fire service
is served in summer with water from
the main which brings in the city
water supply by gravity from the hills,
but in winter water for fighting fires
is pumped from the sea. Living in
Nome is much less expensive than in
any other part Of northern and central
Alaska, because it has ocean transpor-
tation, and in summer, when Boring
sea is open prices are not much higher
than in Seattle.
Fort Davis, with it's garrison Of one
company, is three miles east Of Nome,
on the beach, but since the early days
Of beach mining the soldiers have had
little to do. There is also an equipment
for a fe-saving station for which con-
gress, in its inability to appreciate
properly any Of it's duties toward Alas
ka, has provided no crew. 1t would
take $4,000 to $4,000 to maintain
crew for the four months when the
sea is open, but that is a trifing. sum
compared to the Importance of the
work to be done. During our stay
two expert oarsmen and swimmers
were capsized in the surf and were
rescued with great difficulty and near
ly dead. Many lives are lost there
every year, which might be saved if
this station were manned at the light
expense mentioned.
TN summer Nome gets mail on nearly
i every steamer from Seattle, but
in winter letters, but no. papers,
are supposed to be brought from Daw
son once a month, altho the service is
uncertain. One Of the severest hard
ships Of winter residence in Nome is
the fact that it takes about seventy
days to get an answer by mail from
any, place in the central or eastern
part of the United States. What this
often implies in the way Of anxiety and
inconsistencies and mental depression
can be imagined. Insanity is not I'M
| known in Alaska.
It was hoped that Geographic COM
! munication with the outside world
would be established this fall, but has
not yet been accomplished SO far as
have learned.
| Coal costs SIT a ton in Nome and SAT
a ton twenty-five miles in the interior.
| A st. Paul man, L. +. Morgan, contem-
plates the manufacture Of peat from
| the tundra for consumption in the in
terror and expects to produce the same
results from peat for about what coal
costs in Nome. The tundra, it is
claimed, will make excellent peat, and
| If the manufacture can be made a
success in the, interior it will contrib
ute materially to- the development Of
the country. Tundra, as the word is
| used in Alaska, means the closely
matted mass of moss and vines and
roots which covers the ground to a
depth Of eighteen to twenty inches.
| The Nome district has appeared in
! the gold reports for eight years. The
total output up 1902 was s18,000000
| The production in 1902 was approx
! imate1y 100000. The receipts from
Nome at the Seattle mint for this
year to July 27 are reported at near
ly $4,00O,000. Probably $4,000
more for the season is not an over
estimate. This would raise the total
output from that district, which
means the Seward peninsula, to $29,-
| 100000. The output is increasing
from year to year and the increase
may be expected to continue as great