Nearly all the sealskins used in the markets of the world come from two little islands belonging to Alaska. The skins of the sea otter are also very valuable, and there are many choice land fur-bearing animals. The waters are wonderfully rich in fish. Besides cod, “Alaska can supply the world,” says Dr. Jackson, “with salmon, herring, and halibut of the best quality.” It is also “the great reserve lumber region of the United States.” There are “thousands of square miles of yellow cedar, white spruce, hemlock, and balsam fir that densely cover the southeastern section of Alaska.” Gold and silver mines of considerable importance have been opened, and there are indications that the Territory is rich not only in the precious metals, but in other minerals, especially in iron, copper, and coal. In the interior the climate along the Yukon is not unlike that of Dakota. At Fort Yukon the thermometer often rises above 100 degrees in summer, and indicates from 50 degrees to 70 degrees below zero in winter. Along the immense southern coast and islands the climate is moist and warm. At Sitka, according to records kept for forty-five years, the mean spring temperature is 41.2 degrees; summer, 54.6 degrees; autumn, 44.9 degrees; winter, 32.5 degrees; for the whole year, 43.3 degrees. “The surprising fact is brought to light,” adds Dr. Jackson, who takes the above figures from the Alaska Coast Pilot, “that the winter climate of Southern Alaska for forty-five years past has been the average winter climate of Kentucky and West Virginia, and the average summer climate of Minnesota.” The mild climate of this region is due to the warm Japan current of the Pacific, the Kuro-Siwo. Generally of Alaska, Mr. William H. Dale, of the Smithsonian Institution, says: “I come back convinced, from personal inspection, that Alaska is a far better country than much of Great Britain and Norway, and even part of Prussia.” The total population in 1880 is given at 33,426, of whom 430 were white, 1,756 Creole or mixed races, and the rest Indians—Innuits, 17,617; Aleuts, 2,145; Thlinkets, 6,763; Hyda, 788, distributed as follows: The whites and creoles are nearly all in Southeastern Alaska, the Aleutian Islands, and Kadiak, which is the division including the south coast of the Alaska Peninsula down to Zakharof Bay, with the adjacent islands, the Kadiah group, the coast and islands of Cook’s Inlet, the Kenai Peninsula, the coast of Prince William’s Sound, and valleys of rivers running into the waters of these coasts. Since the census was taken the white population has been greatly increased by the influx of gold miners and speculators. This Territory is still without a regularly constituted civil government. The laws of the United States “relating to customs, lumber, and navigation” are extended over it, and the Collector and Deputy Collectors have authority to arrest persons violating these laws and send them to Oregon or California to be tried in United States courts. Otherwise the government is mainly a provisional one, organized by the people and enforced by general consent. It is high time that this state of things was ended.
THE AGE OF BENEDICT ARNOLD.
Ogdensburg, N. Y.
What was the true age of Benedict Arnold? No doubt you are aware that authors do not agree as to the time of the birth of General Arnold. Will you please give us light?
R. W. J.
Answer.—It is true that authors differ as to the age of Benedict Arnold. Appleton’s Cyclopedia says he was born Jan. 3, 1740. Lossing’s Cyclopedia of History gives the time as Jan. 3, 1741, and other authorities do not agree. We prefer to adopt the facts given by the Hon. Isaac N. Arnold, of this city, who has just written and published what there is good reason to believe is the most carefully prepared and impartial history of the American arch traitor of Revolutionary times that has ever appeared. This historian fixes Arnold’s birth on Jan. 14, 1741, and his death on June 14, 1801, in London.
METROPOLITAN POLICE.
Warsaw, Ind.