davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1916-06-04

in the open. They are on beds in a
lawn and their only protection is a
wlndsh'elG a wire fence walled with
glass which faces the channel to keep
off the cold blasts from the sea and the
mountains. Among the other flowers
in Mr.. Webers garden | saw mar:golds
five inches wide and red geraniums
equally large. There were also Jap
anese golden banded lilies with flowers
as long as your hand. l counted nine
teen such lilies on one single plant.
Going back to my hotel, l saw in one
of the store windows two tubs of
seraniums with stems as high as a man
and with red blossoms twelve inches in
circumference.
am stopping in skagway at the
Pullen House, whose vegetables and
fruits come from a farm that covers
the site of the old town of Dyea. Mrs
Pullen. who keeps the hotel. has
house of twenty rooms and eight baths,
surrounded by several acres of beau
tiful lawn, planted with trees and
flowers. A stream of mountain water
flows through the lawn, and she has
cut out a little island in the midst of
it and has built rustic bridges here and
there so that the whole makes one
think of Japan. Mrs. Pullen's farm has
$40 acres. She tells me she has forty
acres in oats. which she is raising for
grain hay, and that she has already
put her rye-hay crop in the barn. The
barn. by the way. is one of the desert
ed houses built during the mining ex-
citement. when Dyea had something
like 10000 people. Others Of the
houses have been torn away to make
room for the crops, and practically
nothing of the once thriving mining
center is now to be seen.
:: x
When gold was first discovered in
the klondike there were two roads
or trails from the head of the Lynn
canal over the mountains. One started
here at Skagway and climbed up
Evening star., 1916-06-04

a traditional fame here, something like
that of Slade of Mark Twain's Rough
ing It Smith went by the nickname Of
Soapy He got the title from having ped
died soap wrapped in bank notes on the
streets of the towns of Colorado. He
would pretend to wrap up the SOAP in
ten twenty dollar bills. selling it from
boxes, which contained both blanks and
prizes, auctioning off the packages The
game is a swindle. well known through
out the west.
Soapy Smith came to Skagway at just
about the time of the beginning of the
war between our country and Spain. He
got together about four hundred of the
vicious element of the place and Of
fered them to President Mckinley as
band of rough riders, ready to fight
the Spaniards. The President. who had
been posted as to their character, was
obliged to decline them. Soapy then
armed and drilled them. and used them
to prey upon the community. They
robbed strangers, singly and in crowds.
They committed a large number of
murders. and it was almost sure dea tn
to oppose them. The people were
afraid of them, honest men were in
timidated and a reign of terror arose
and lasted for months The gang had
all sorts of ways of fleeing the miners
who passed through on their way to
the klondike, and also of getting the
gold OF those who came back.
Capt. Baughman of the Humboldt. the
ship in which | came to Skagway told me
the other day how the advance agents
of Soapy's gang would go to Seattle
and come back with the crowd on his
steamer The crowd consisted of
miners. each of whom had an outfit
that had cost about $500, and in ad-
dition enough money to get him to
Dawson. Some had more, some less.
1t cost great deal to get the freight
over the mountains and Soapys agents,
who were pretended miners would or
ganiZe companies with a view to get
ting cheap freight, and they would
take from each member of the com
pany an order to the ship to release
MS goods to the packers. Upon land
Ing the men would run the miners into
Soapy's gambling saloon, where, within
the space of an hour. they were sure
Evening star., 1916-06-04


~, pack. on 10 VI ~ ,.otor % uo.' sta,, anu
or at every chue of the engine. Just
now there is talk of building a great
.ourist hotei ne.e, anu me ,iia 49, a,,,ata W.,
to the wonders of Alaska and know
they can he comfortably housed ana
ier ~, VIZ nj tbi, ~ ,,osl, ,ra
ihe .1 49,, a.
not coniilleu " III ~, 80 ~ 80
.ails. tne ss'oH ar. o,,,t iS cnncnrnad
.hls Part ol r tnv Iouu, ,ii,i - yieciars
III, .ie id,tei Is -uui'o @ ~ 80 IL; 10
me "lhte'S 80 -; .r,n,er CLor
re 20 Spsah ~. nt,,est of or.or IuSt
@ @mas Is " u" of wb;ta cIovar crow
nv NV "a 80 ,ba straete aud tba bius
vi 'lie si'e5 - " t,o - ,,-i1d aom
"Ie eo,eieu ~ mariJ,,4s Laya r.r
a MahE W NC tn, tbor e1ox all Tho
uem ,,etlo,hioi, "a ,,.ad Nv tbo town saw
49, S t.,,oria, tbis r,orning
Ui,e t",,n III t.i,l;si % bicb .s nv be.d
IA ; n",t as tbicE as my tbi,nb I
@ ea,u rh,,b,r, ,,-itb Ieayas as his ms two
90, ~ ~ nanenaner and st1.ms that
oIod "a -, - sbdnId.rs
- my
One of the flower gardens | visited
,,, ,ho. -, NJ T., 7 yveber vrb, is
a. ~, ~ ,,,,,;ta
Evening star., 1916-06-04
JOHN BURKE,
Treasurer of the United States.
photo by Clinedinst.)

receivable for all public dues. and they
may be held by federal reserve and
national banks as lawful reserve, but
these certificates are redeemable only
in standard silver dollars. Thus, 1t
seems that Uncle Sam, although he per-
mits his intimates to eat oleomargarine.
insists upon pure butter for his own
table.
Up to the present time silver certifi-
Gates. at the command of Congress,
called equal to gold. have been Of such
practical value that over s546.617, 900
have been circulating along with gold
money for years, and every one has
baen satisfied to take them. OF course.
tACle sam has deceived only himself,
Evening star., 1916-06-04

strange way OF disappearing and being
nevermore heard from.
The Skagway of today is an orderly
community. 1t has good schools, water
works and sewers. electric lights and
telephones. daily newspaper and several
churches. II has a courthouse of Its own.
and a Jail for possible criminals. The
chief business OF the town seems to be
the selling of curios to the tourists. There
are a half dozen stores that sell jewelry,
carvings. moccasins and baskets. The
1ewelry is made by the Indians. being
pounded out of silver dollars. The carv-
ings are OF walrus tusks cut by the Eski-
mos. and the moccastns and baskets are
manufactured by the natives about Skag-
way and in other parts OF Alaska. None
of these things is cheap. The finest bas-
kets, little ones that will not hold more
than a quart. bring from $50 TO Slo0
while cigarette cases of the same charac-
ter sell for SIS apiece. No basket OF nne
workmanship can be bought for less than
IS or $40. The best are made under
water. They are of straw woven nner
than the finest panama hat: and so DELI
cate and intricate that it takes several
months to make a basket as big as the
head OF a baby. The very finest come
from the Aleutian Islands. They are
woven by the older OF the Indian women.
The art is dying out and il will proba-
bly, pass away with this generation.
-
The most of the carvings come from
Nome and the Indian settlements about
the mouth OF the Yukon. although some
very good carvings are cut out by the
Indians about Skagway and Sitka. The
Indians make their own carving tools.
grinding them out of old razor blades.
using only the thick part of the razor. In
working they pull the instrument to-
ward them. digging out the ivory after
the style OF the japanese. This is the d.
rect opposite of the way our carvers work.
These natives OF Alaska seem TO have
a high sense of the artistic They are
initiative. and they can carve any like
ness II they have only A model to work
by. Among the most common Of the Gu
rios offered for sale are toys carved out
of walrus ivory. The EslNmos are begin
ming to make dolls in miniature and at
that they are succeeding wonderfully
well. The Eskimo will take walrus tusk
and cut out the figure, putting a carica-
ture of your own features upon it,
| am surprised at the number of photo
graphs that are sold throughout south
eastern Alaska. Every town has one or
two good photographers. and the stores
sell Photographic post cards at or 10
cents apiece. At some places you can get
three for 25 cents. Eight by ten photo
graphs cost 30 cents. and a good negative
brings in quite revenue. ! know OF
one photograph that has netted its own
er $780, and there are many steady SELL
ers which bring in a good income every
season FRANK g. CARPENTER.
Evening star., 1916-06-04

dollar. However, as eventually the
govrnment will have to pay the full
value of the silver dollar if 1t main
tains 1t on a parity with gold, this
profit is very ephemeral.
United states Treasury notes tell a
story of remarkable financing. Under
the act of 1890, Congress directed the
treasurer to purchase each month A.
100000 ounces of fine silver at the mar
ket price and to pay for it with Treas
ury notes redeemable on demand in
coin. 1t was made legal tender. unless
otherwise stipulated in the contract
Under this act, which in 1898 was re
pealed. 16s. .674 $50 ounces of silver went
into the Treasury, and S155,93l, 002
Treasury notes came out. The amount
of Treasury notes redeemed in gold ul
to the close of 1915 was s110,712.364
AS 100 is to Sc. so is the profit on s110.-
712,364 of silver converted into gold
Treasury notes now are Cancelled when
redeemed by standard silver dollars
interesting vehicle of exchange only
s2254000
United States notes, greenbacks, are
legal tender for all debts except duties
debt. They are redeemable in United
States gold coin at any treasury, and
when received are Immediately re-
issued. There will be no difficulty in
reissuing them on a gold basis as long
as the credit of your Uncle Sam con-
tinues in it's present state of health
There are outstanding S346,6S1, ,016 of
these promises to pay, and there is lit
. tile doubt that the banks of the country
would increase this amount consider
ably if the eccentric gentleman in high
silk hat. short trousers and striped
vest should make the request.
In 1875, when the resumption of spe-
cial payments was contemplated, Con-
eress authorized the creation of a gold
reserve, by the sale Of government
bonds. Later it increased the reserve
to s15o.Ooo,oO0 of gold coin and bullion
for the redemption of United States
notes and provided that if the fund fell
below 500, 900. the Secretary should
borrow money on bonds and restore the
reserve to the full amount. This reserve
is applicable to the payment and main
tenance of these legal tender notes
Federal reserve notes tnot federal
reserve bank notes, which are a diff
ferent thing altogether) are not legal
tender, but are receivable by the gov
ernment for amounts due to 1t, and by
all federal reserve banks, national
banks and other banks which are mem
bers of the federal reserve system
They are redeemable in gold coin by
the treasurer, and in gold or lawful
money by any federal reserve bank.
This system provides for an elastic
issue of money based primarily upon
the rediscount of commercial paper. On
Evening star., 1916-06-04

il any one. into believing that at the
present price of silver the silver money
is really equal in value to the gold.
Seigniorage, so called because 1t was
the privilege Of the seignior to levy a
tariff. for his own gain. on all moneys
coined within his own domain. is the
difference between the purchase price
of the silver bullion and it's face value
when coined. At the present time the
seigniorage or profit to the Treasury
department is about A cents on the
Evening star., 1916-06-04

NL\W United States, John Burke,
\TT took office his predecessor
handed over to him assets to
the value of billions. But it was a
varied lot of securities that came into
his possession-bonds, securities Of all
kinds gold bars and gold coin. silver
bars and silver coin. base metals, gold
notes. silver notes. gold in the reserve
fund. government legal tender notes,
national bank notes. fractional cur
rency and subsidiary coin.
No two classes have the same quail
ties, no two exactly the same value, in
trinsic or otherwise Yet people are so
eager to get anything with the stamp
of Uncle Sam that they accept il any
where at its face value, unless II is
required for some purpose which calls
for the peculiar quality OF a certain
kind of money
II ie mark OF confidence in Uncle
Sam that hts beautiful silver certlfi-
Gates are taken at their face value
when in reality they bear about the
same relation to gold dollars as oleo-
margarine does to butter-onlv. Ike
the oleomargarine, a certain artificial
value must be given 10 them,
out his product the government, in
Just horror. says 1t is wrong to tamper
with food, and the person who does II
must go TO Jail When Uncle Sam
sends out silver disk stamped with
his mark ne has made a good business
stroke. for he has placed in circulation
dollar So cents worth Of silver.
and put - cents worth Of bullion into
Gov Burke's charge, and, like the oleo-
margarine dealer. has made Il good
transaction
poor wreck of humanity. with a
grateful streak in his heart not long
since found himself IN possession OF
six trade dollars His first inclination
affer the shock 70 get drunk but
remembrance Of his mother came over
him. and like a good fellow. he resolved
70 send her fiv"-dollsr gold piece.
HIS first surprise cam. when he found
that his trade dollars. which contained
more silver than do the silver dollars
were only valued as bullion, and his
whole IS were worth only 1896 He
had overlooked the fact that when
those dollars were issued. back in 1873
Uncle Sam had omitted to indorse
them or TO give them any monetary
value other than their silver content
SO he did with his Sc what his uncle
had done, he went through a little
tansatcioh IN hleh rnance. which
makes one blush for him. He mixed
his dollars UP with some ''standa I'd"
silver dollars and persuaded a small
storekeeper 10 give him bills for them.
II happened that these bills were silver
certificates
He tried to induce the Treasury De,
partment TO take them In exchange for
the gold piece intended for his mother;
was politely told that while the Law
provided that the Secretary Of the
m a md oil
yer on a parity. the section had been
construed to mean that silver certif
Gates could not produce gold coin.
Evening star., 1916-06-04
The Unprepared.

m nEPRESENTATIvE AUGUSTUS p.
IN GARDNER said. in a preparedness
address in New York:
"The unprepared man is always at q
disadvantage. It's like a dialogue I
once heard:
"'Can you fight" shouted one man.
"N-no.' another answered.
Then shouted the first man, then
come on, you coward. "
Evening star., 1916-06-04

many thousands of American money
most OF II in bills. or paper promises to
pay These can never be enforced.
Where the bills were made by banks
the bonds deposited to secure the cir
culatfon will not be reduced and the
lost bills remain simply unidentified, q
liability never to be determined or paid.
Where the lost bills represent the
promise of the government secured by
the bullion or coin deposited for their
redemption. the conditions are the
same, except that in course of time.
upon the calling in of an issue. Con-
gress may authorize the use Of the
security representing the lost money
for some other purpose. In any event
the silver and gold are preserved for
whatever they may be worth.
The amounts thus lost from circula-
tion cannot be estimated. One may
venture estimate of the amount lost
on the Titanic, the Lusitania, the Sus-
sex. and many merchantmen, but not
very accurately. No one can guess the
amounts hidden by the miserly, by bur-
glars. train robbers or other criminals,
the various sums merely lost mis-
laid.
Annually fortunes are lost by burn
ing money hidden in stovepipes or
equally ridiculous places. Melted gold
and silver coins passing through fire,
If found. are worth their bullion value.
Bills, If they can be identifled-and tha
Treasury experts work wonders-ara
redeemable at their face value; and
even if they have passed into worthless
ash, the security on which they were
issued may be worth something some
day.
Mr. Burke, United States treasurer,
wishes II were generally understood
that when money is once covered into
the Treasury II can be taken out only
by act of Congress. Every warrant
legislative sanction behind it. II this
had been known to some of his corre-
spondents they would not have made
the requests which they did. One re-
quested him to send her a sample of
500, 5000 (there are none) and $500
bills. She wanted to buy some, she
writes. but wanted to examine them
before purchasing.
A few years ago a considerable sum
was received to the credit of Con-
science fund" and all the newspapers
published the story. Very soon the
treasurer received a request from an
other section of the country to return
that money; ii was a sum sent for re-
demption. Secret service men reported
that the second writer was attempting
a fraud, but If the transa ction had been
as he said, he could not have recovers
ed that money without the help of Cons
gress.
The responsibility of the ONCE which
receives and pays the national rev.
enues, through the various subtreasuries,
is great, but the safeguards are many
and we'll devised, and there is no dan.
ger that anything will be lost from the
Treasury.
Evening star., 1916-06-04
copyrighted. 1915. by Frank C. Carpenter.)
SKAGWAY

Copyrighted. 1915. by Frank G. Carpenter.)
SKAGWAY.
- IGHTEEN years ago Skagway
III was one of the most talked of
IT. towns in the world. 1t was
GS the chief gate to the rich gold
fields of the (Klondike. and miners came
by the thousands to tramp their way
over the passes in order that they
might get to the headwaters of the
Yukon and float down to Dawson. A
little later il became the terminus of
the White Pass railway. which runs
from here to White Horse, the head of
the navigation of the Yukon: and
within short time it sprang from a
village of tents to a bustling city
of wood and stone of $4,000 popula-
tion. The most of the citizens We're
tranSients who were moving back and
forth from the gold mines. Then the
mines began to play out, and the blood
of Skagway grew weak. Drunk with
prosperity, il demanded the gold cure.
but the cream had been skinned from
the klondike and the bottle was empty.
The miners grew fewer and fewer. and
the city dwindled and pined until it
now has. all told only five or six hun
dred
The saloons and dance halls of the
past have all disappeared. The hotels
and rooming shacks have rotted away
and many of the better class houses
are vacant. The town has changed
from a wide-open community of gam
blers. fortune hunters and miners. TO
q staid little settlement which lives
IN the travellers who pass through on
their way to Yukon territory and the
interior of Alaska, and on the tourists
who come north every season to see
glaciers and other wonders of this
southeastern part of the territory.
AS ii is now, several hundred steamers
call a. Skagway every season and they
bring thousands of passengers. Many
take the continuous round trip, but
many also stop off at Skagway for n
few days or weeks. The place is fast
becoming a summer resort. 1t has a
mild climate with much less rain than
other parts of the panhandle. In the
Immediate vicinity are a half dozen
glaciers and not far away is Glacier
bay. one of the greatest glacier gar
dens of the whole world. 1t is the
scene of much of the work of John
Muir. and there are the Muir glacier
and others which he discovered In
addition Skagway offers no end of ex-
cursions which one can make on horse
Evening star., 1916-06-04

QUEER "Con of the ReamSlver
X About Relation Gold Dollars
Silver Do-he
His Mother DoasGo the
Interesting
Evening star., 1916-06-04

Nondike Also
Gamblers vs. PreachesStoreso
FloVs-Th
Baskets Eachoney
Prospent
Evening star., 1916-06-04

may be held by federal reserve and ma
tional banks as lawful reserves. They
are Issued in all denominations, from
ten to ten thousand dollars, are conve-
nient to handle and are an excellent
Kind of money to have; they represent
fun value; lose nothing by a bra sion or
wear: and II destroyed the gold re
mains in the Treasury and there is no
loss TO the community condition
which the individual loser seldom views
with philosophical equanimity. Gold
certificates TO the amount of Sl,072,S -
sl9 had been issued and were in circu-
lation June 80. 1915.
AS Oleomargarine is to butter so
is the silver dollar to the dollar made
of gold-of equal value If people can
only be made to think so.
After the civil war the hrst silver
dollar put out by the government was
the trade dollar containing 40 grains
Of silver. They were legal tender for
amounts under 81. They have been
demonetized. Their artistic design and
the motto I'm God We Trust add
nothing to value Of the coin. and each
dollar is now worth 420 grains of sill
Yer bullion. now 81 cents. There were
nearly 4U,0oo,oOo of these issued and
the government redeemed over 300
600 The remainder of them have
merely hllion value.
Then comes the standard silver dol
lar, which contains 4l2.5 grains of sill
yer bullion. IT is legal tender at its
face value in payment Of all debts
public or private. except where other
wise stipulated in the contract There
Is no pretense now that the bullion
in the silver dollar equals in value the
bullion in a gold dollar: and it Is only
a legal tender because the act of Con-
gress has so ordained.
1t is very much as though Congress
should now pass an act requiring all
persons to accept oleomarga garine. when
rendered. instead Of butter. unless
there had been written contract be-
tween the parties that b-u-tt-e-r
should spell butter and not "oIeo-
margarine"
Far-sighted fnanciers frequently pro-
vide that payments due them are to
be made in gold and most institutions.
among them the one controlled by
Uncle Sam himself. find 1t necessary
to stipulate. when they want to bor
row money on long-term bonds. that
they will repay the loan, when due. in
gold coin or its equivalent.
Silver money Is too heavy to be car
ried in considerable sums. The large
man GsO pounds) would be bearing
nearly his own weight II he had to take
$4,000 in silver money to the bank, and
therefore Congress provided that sill
yer bullion might be deposited in the
Treasury and certificates. as in the case
OF gold bullion, issued against the de-
post.
In,y are not legal tender, 1ut are
Evening star., 1916-06-04

Thereupon he spent one of his dollars
for Dutch courage and. thus fortified,
determined somehow 10 secure that gold
piece for the mother who was becoming
momentsriiy dearer. He succeeded aft
Evening star., 1916-06-04

So it will be seen that on the whole
the government is the loser by its oper-
ations in silver to the extent Of about
s232, 100000. This was the result of one
of several congressional attempts to
overrule economic la why legislation, in
this instance to maintain the parity of
gold and silver 1t is said that King
Canute forbade the waves to come
higher upon his domain; but the waves
did not care what he said.
When gold coin becomes worn the
loss must be borne by its holder, who
can obtain for 1t only its bullion value.
But it is different with silver. as the
treasurer must accept coins of that
metal as long as their face value can
be ascertained by inspection and issue
a new dollar in return for Il.
When the Titanic. its cabin filled with
the nota BILE and wealthy. went down. 1t
carried with it, among other treasures.
Evening star., 1916-06-04
STREET IN sKAGWAY.

June 80. 1915. sso,374.S5O were in cir
culation.
National banks were authorized, upon
depositing United States government
bonds with the treasurer of the United
States. to issue their own notes ina
tional bank notes) in circulation up to
80 per cent of the value of the bonds
deposited. They were not legal tender.
but We're made receivable at par in
all parts of the United States Except
for duties) and for all government OBJ
legations except interest on the public
debt and the redemption of bank
notes.
have become federal reserve banks and
thus gain easier terms for the issuing
of their circulation.
Evening star., 1916-06-04

07 0HEN the new treasurer of the
NL\U United States. John Burke,
\TNT took office his predecessor
handed over to him assets to