Democratic Sentinel, Volume 22, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 March 1898 — ALASKA WITCHCRAFT [ARTICLE]

ALASKA WITCHCRAFT

NATIVES STILL PRACTICE THEIR DARK RELIGIOUS RITES. Governor Brady Makes His Annnal Tria of Inspection to Various Points on the Coast—Fire Wipes Out Downtown Property in Chicago. Cling to Old Customs. Secretary Bliss at Washington has made public an interesting letter from Gov. John B. Brady of Alaska, containing observations made by him while on his annual trip of inspection to the various points on the coast aboard the United States ship Wheeling. Special attention, the Governor says, should be paid to vessels navigating the Yukon, the traffic on which is so large that the tendency is to .take great risks. The Wheeling, after leaving Dyea, called at the village at the north of Chicago Island, called Hoonah. Here one of the leading men of the village had been accidentally killed by a child 6 years of age. The people never take account of accidents, and the Hoonah natives held the child's mother and her people responsible and demanded reparation, which was given, a body of 200 men thoroughly armed going to a native village near Killisnoe, at which place the child’s mother and her people belonged, and compelling them to turn over many blankets, trunks and money. The Governor severely admonished the natives and told them their old customs would not be tolerated. From this point the Wheeling proceeded to Yakutat. The Governor has considerable to say about the practice of witchery, which seetns to exist to a considerable extent in that part of the country. He tells of a man and two women who were bound and tied for bewitching ajnan. On the ninth day the bound man was released, and as he had nothing to eat, and but a few drinks of water, he was‘in a terrible physical condition. The Governor spent some time talking to these people, and after explaining the laws of the United States told them that in the future he would not deal leniently with those who had practiced witchcraft. The Wheeling returned to Sitka. Her cruise, in the Governor’s opinion, had done great good to the natives, as they dread a gunboat more than anything else. He says he is convinced it is time to take the natives vigorously in hand and break up their witchcraft, distillings of rum and manufacturing of beer, and compel them to conform to our laws in all respects.

POLITICS IS THEIR AIM. Railroad Employes at St. Louis Bring Oat a New Organization. An organization known as the Independent Order of Railway Men has been perfected in St. Louis, Mo., and St. Louis has been chosen as the headquarters for the grand lodge and the president elected is James S. Hardin, also of that city. It is said by one of the officers of the new organization that politics will be taken up, because only by dealing in politics cau certain objects iu view be obtained. The new organization is made up largely of former members of the Switchmen’s Mutual Aid Association, which went into liquidation in 1894. There is a paymei.-t in case of death and a disability weekly payment. Organizers will be started out at once to all sections of the United States and Canada. DISASTROUS CHICAGO FIRE. Burning of the Monroe Restaurant Places Many People in Jeopardy. Fire which started in the basement of the Monroe restaurant building, 118-120 Monroe street, Chicago, at (1:45 o’clock in the morning, swept away $20(1,000 worth of property, imperiled scores of lives and resulted in injury to eight persons. At noon the five-story structure was a ruined shell. No lives were lost, but there were many narrow escapes and the conflagration will rank among the worst in the city's history. It was the third great fire in Chicago’s downtown district within a week, and, as in the others, the Hames baffled the efforts of the firemen until the destruction was almost complete.

Accused by His Child. Several weeks ago Mrs. John Cox and one of her children werejiurued to death two miles east of Texarkana, Ark. It was reported as an accident, in which Mrs. Cox had fainted and fallen into the fireplace, where the embers set fire to her clothing and burned her up. The flames ■were supposed to have also ignited a cradle and burned the baby. Now, ns the result of a story told by rfn older child of John Cox, the husband and father has been arrested and is confined in jail charged with the murder of the woman and her child. Mysterisusly Disappeared. The whereabouts of H. H. Craig, a prominent merchant of Rochester, N. Y., have been a mystery to the .San Francisco. He was separated from his daughter, Miss A. B. Craig, in the crowd at the ferryboat, as they were on their way to take the train at Oakland for Pasadena. No clew has been found to account for his sudden disappearance. It is still a question whether he met with foul player succumbed to paralysis, to which he has been subject for some time. Marries Russian Count. Count Alexis Rozanoff of Kodisk has just been married to Miss May Dickson of San Francisco. The count is a young Russian who has business interests in Alaska. He has asked permission of the War Department to build a hotel on the reservation at St. Michael’s and is confident of a favorable answer to his request. He met his bride in Seattle. • Hocking Canal Sale Is Legal. The Ohio Supremo Court has decided that the act authorizing the sale of the Hocking Canal to the Columbus, Hocking Valley and Athens Railway Company is constitutional. The projectors of the road say it will now be built. Fatal Mine Explosion. An explosion occurred at Manown coal mine, near Monongahela City, Pa. Two are known to have been killed, five injured, and from fifteen to twenty-five are said to be still entombed in the mine. Ex-Cashier Is Found Guilty. In the United States court in Covington, Ky., the jury in the case of the United States against Thomas B. Youtzey, excashier of the First National Bank of Newport, Ky., charged with misappropriating the bank funds, found the defendant guilty on thirty counts. Get Gold from Sea Water. A consignment of bullion which was deposited from the water of the ocean was received at the United States assay office in New York. It weighed ninety-two ounces. It was extracted by the Electrolytic Marine Salts Company at North Lubec, Me.