The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1909-07-16
PERKINS IN
ALASKA
MORGAN REPRESENTATIVE
AND PARTY LEAVE TO
INSPECT COUNTRY.
Sailed From Seattle Thursday on
Steam Yacht Yucatan Says
Trip Is Not For Pleasure and
that Inspection of Country Will
Be Thorough.

Seattle, July 1O.-George w. Per-
kins, lieutenant of J. p. Morgan, left
Seattle Thursday on the steam yacht
Yucatan for a tour of Alaska. With
him are Mrs. Perkins and a small
party of other pleasure seekers.
Il will be gone a month";" said Mr..
Perkins, land will visit every business
center in the territory and look at
every railroad now under construction
there
Meaning that your tour of inspec-
ton will not be confined entirely to
the properties which your company
is interested in, but to other railroads
as well?" Perkins was asked.
No military Prepared
Eyes," replied the financier. "This
trip is one of pleasure for the other
members of my party, but for myself
it is purely business. l never get a
vacation in the real sense of the
word. My object is to acquaint my
self thoroughly with every section of
Alaska, with all it's resources and with
all it's possibilities. l will look over
the Copper River & Northwestern, the
White Pass & Yukon and the Alaska
Central. I do not know whether the
Yucatan will go as far north as Nome,
but if we have the time We probably
will visit that section. We have no
itinerary prepared. Our course will
be governed entirely by the Conditions
that confront us.
For years it has been a miscon-
ception of the East that Seattle's pros
perity is dependent upon Alaska
Neither Mr.. Morgan nor any of the
officers of our company have believed
the Pacific Northwest, l have thor
ough knowledge of the state of Wash
ington and the city of Seattle. The
state of Washington is nation in it.
self Seattle would become one of the
great maritime ports of the Pacific
seaboard if Alaska never existed-if
it were wiped off the map. Thirty
years ago l visited Denver and it was
then predicted that when the mines be-
gan to peter out, that city would ex
perience a slump. Denver today is
one of the greatest cities in the coun-
try, and it no longer depends, upon
mines, but is maintained by agricul-
ture-grain and fruit.
To Lead Simple Life
II have visited every exposition of
any importance given in the United
States. The Alaska-Y ukon-Pacifc Elk
position, for artistic arrangement, is
superior to them all. It's electrical il
Elimination and floral arrangement are
incompatible. What has made a deep
err impression on the East than any
other ,feature-what has, in fact,
everyone's lps-i sthat the exposition
opened completed on time.
Il have been caused a great deal of
annoyance by the erroneous impress
sion gained from a press dispatch
that preceded us from the East to the
effect that our trip North would put
to shame the extravagant display of
the luXury-loving Romans" complain
ed the Wall Street man. ut was, at
first reported that Mr.. Morgan and
other financiers would accompany us.
AS matter of fact, when I first heard
that, Mr.. Morgan was motoring in the
south of France.
1--WE are going to travel as simply
as any American should and would.
We are not one whit different nor are
our teeth bit longer than any other
Americans. We work as long hours
as anybody else in this country. Look
at me: Here I'm on what is popu-
larly supposed to be vacation. Is
it really vacation? 1t may be for
the other members of nay party, but
so far as I'm concerned it is purely
business that draws me North