The report of the commission created by this law was made in November, 1896. They found that many of the smaller streams which formerly produced red salmon had been reduced to such a condition as to render their use unprofitable. Under the new law, the inspection would be more thorough, and probably more effective. The report said that the pack for 1896 exceeded that for 1895, amounting to 965,450 cases and 9,314 barrels. The number of persons employed was estimated at 5,600, and about $130,000 had been paid in wages by the packing companies. There are two hatcheries, one at Karluk, where 5,500,000 eggs have been secured, and the other at Etholine Island, with a product of over 2,000,000 eggs.

WHALES.

66

"The whaling business," says Mr. Lyman E. Knapp, Governor of Alaska, in his report for 1892, " in which forty-eight vessels are engaged, resulted in a catch for 1891 of 12,228 barrels of oil, 186,250 pounds of bone, and 1,000 pounds of ivory. The total value was $1,218,293. Below is a comparative statement of the amount of oil, bone, and ivory taken during the last eighteen years:

CODFISH.

The next important fishing industry in Alaska is the codfish business, carried on by two San Francisco firms at the Shumagin Islands, and in the Bering Sea. The catch of 1890 amounted to a total of 1,138,000 fish, of the value of $569,000. Since the beginning of the codfishing business in this Territory in 1865, the total number of fish taken is 25,723,300, of the value of $12,861,650. The first four years, the business did not come near to its present proportions.

A hasty survey has given an idea of the extent of the banks, but there is much yet to be done to properly define their limits and determine their character. Portlock Bank, extending northeasterly from Kadiak, has an immense area; Shumagin Bank, south of the Shumagin group of islands, has an area of about 4,400 square miles; Albatross Bank, off the southeastern side of Kadiak, has an area of 2,900 square miles; Slime Bank, north of Unimak Island, in Bering Sea, covers an area of 1,445 square miles, embracing depths from 20 to 50 fathoms; Baird Bank stretches along the north coast of Alaska Peninsula 230 miles, with an average width of 40 miles, covering an area of 9,200 square miles. The depths range from 15 to 50 fathoms, with a bottom of fine gray sand.

HERRING.

The business of the Alaska Oil and Guano Company, at Killisnoo, Carl Spuhn, president and manager, gives employment to 45 white men, 50 Indians, and a few Chinamen. Their principal business is fishing and the manufacture of oil and fish fertilizer, though they also have a trading post. Their capital stock is $75,000. They have a fishing fleet of 3 steamers, 4 scows, and 2 small boats. The product of their factory in 1891 was larger than in 1890, being 300,000 gallons of oil instead of 157,000 reported the previous year. They also put up 700 barrels of salt salmon and manufactured 800 tons of guano. The value of the product was not less than $114,000. The oil is worth about cents per gallon and the guano about $30 per ton.

30

The fish used for the manufacture of oil is the herring, which is very abundant, very rich in oil, and finely flavored. It is much used as a food-fish and also as bait in taking halibut and other large fish. It is caught by the natives for their own use with a stick, toward the end of which are inserted several sharpened spikes. They dip the stick in the water, catch one or more herring, and with one motion land the fish in the canoe, and thrust the stick in the water again. In this way, they take immense quantities in a short time. These fish appear in the still waters of bays and inlets by the million, at different places, and at different seasons of the year, from August to February.

OTHER FISH.

Halibut abounds throughout central, southern, and western Alaska, and can be taken at any time during the year. They vary in size from 15 to 250 pounds each; those weighing from 50 to 75 pounds being preferred. It is not uncommon, says Governor Knapp, of Alaska, for Sitka Indians to visit Silver Bay or the vicinity of Mount Edgecombe and return the following day with nearly a ton of these fish. Whitefish, losh, and graylings are found in large quantities in the Yukon, and afford more food for the natives than the salmon. Black bass are abundant in southeastern Alaska, and trout and pike inhabit almost all the rivers.

The following tables, showing the extent of the fisheries of the Territory, are taken from the report of the United States Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, for 1893:

IX

Mineral Resources The Klondike Gold Region.

Mr.

Gold, silver, copper, lead, and iron are found in Alaska. Wilson says (Guide to the Yukon Gold Fields) that ever since the Territory was discovered, the Indians have shown much native copper, and mountains of the ore are said to exist in the Copper River region. This section is so little known, however, that much time must elapse before it will become accessible. Large beds of iron and coal are known to exist in many parts of Alaska, especially in the Yukon.

Prof. J. Edward Spurr, of the United States Geological Survey, says that all gold in Alaska is alloyed with a small amount of silver; and pure native silver is frequently found. The production of silver in 1896 was valued at $45,798. There was a good yield of platinum in the Yukon district.

Governor Knapp of Alaska, in his report for 1892, says that mining districts had been organized in the vicinity of Sitka, on Douglas Island, on Cook Inlet (where $120,000 worth of gold was produced in 1896), on Portage Bay, on Kadiak Island, and in the Yukon Valley. The Treadwell Mining Company, on Douglas Island, has a very large quartz mill with 240 stamps. The vein 400 feet in width, carrying free gold and auriferous pyrites, and outcrops on a steep hillside. The ore is of such very low grade that were it not for the peculiarly advantageous situation of the mine, which reduces cost to a minimum, it could hardly be worked at a profit. The report of Governor Sheakley for 1894 says that

is

during the year 240,000 tons of ore were treated, yielding $768,000, or $3.20 per ton. The quantity of ore, he adds, appears to be inexhaustible. The cost of mining and milling was $1.35 per ton; net profit $444,000. A Mexican mine on the adjoining claim runs 60 stamps with about the same results.

In a report made by Professor Spurr to the United States. Geological Survey, 1897, the statement is made that the first discoveries in the Yukon district were made in 1885, on Stewart River, Cassiar Bar, and Lewis River. In the following year, gold was found on Forty Mile Creek, and its tributaries, Glacier Creek, Davis Creek, Poker Creek, etc., were prospected with good results for several years. Miller Creek (on British territory) was opened for mining in 1892. Birch Creek, with its various branches, was discovered in 1893, and Circle City was founded. In 1890, the Director of the United States Mint estimated the production of the Yukon placers as $50,000; in 1891, this amount doubled; in 1893, the product of the Alaskan creeks was given as $198,000; in 1894 it reached $409,000; and in 1895, $709,000 was the amount estimated for the Yukon district, and $69,689 for outside creeks. In this year, Eagle Creek, a tributary of Birch Creek, was discovered. The condition of the Forty Mile district in the summer of 1896 was not as encouraging as formerly, owing to the six weeks' drought, which prevented the water from running the sluices, and caused enforced idleness. The Birch Creek region, on the other hand, was flourishing. At this time, discoveries were made on the Klondike River (about 20 miles from Forty Mile Creek). Placers on Hunker Creek, Indian Creek, and Bonanza Creek, the principal branch of the Klondike, gave good returns. On Bonanza Creek, $1,000 was taken out in August and September, 1896, and 400 claims were located up to January, 1897. Gulches and creeks showing good prospects are spread over 700 square miles. The mining population in the Yukon region was estimated, in 1896, at about 1,700; and the gold production for