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AKJERMANN-ALABAMA

kings of Armenia, and the scene of many conflicts between the Greeks, Armenians and Persians. It was taken and devastated in 1228 by Jelal-ud-deen, and completely destroyed by an earthquake in 1242. In some writings it is referred to as Arjish or Ardish. Population, 4,000.

AKJERMANN. Same as AKERMAN, Vol. I, p.

436.

AKKA, a race of race of pygmies discovered by Schweinfurth in the Nepoko River region, in Central Africa. See BUSHMEN, Vol. IV, p. 575. See also article on AFRICA, in these Supplements. AKMOLINSK, a Russian government district in southwestern Siberia, lying on the Kirghiz steppe. Area, 229,609 miles; population, 500, 180. The capital and chief town bears the same name, and has a population of 3,130. See RUSSIA, Vol. XXI, p. 67.

AKRAGAS, the Grecian name for a town of Sicily, the Agrigentum of the Romans. See AGRIGENTUM, Vol. I. p. 417; GIRGENTI, Vol. X, p. 623.

AKRON, capital of Washington County, Colorado; lies 88 miles N. E. of Denver, with which it is connected by rail. Population 1890, 599. AKRON, a city of northeastern Ohio, lying on the highest elevation between Lake Erie and the Ohio, is 36 miles below Cleveland, on the Ohio and Erie canal, and is the point of intersection of four lines of railway. Here is located the printing establishment of The Werner Company, publishers of this ENCYCLOPEDIA, and one of the largest concerns of its kind in the world. It is the seat of Buchtel (Universalist) College, and other institutions in keeping with a progressive city of its importance. Its factories, the value of the products of which amounts to $16,000,000 annually, employ 7,000 hands. Population 1880, Population 1880, 16,512; 1890, 27,601. See AKRON, Vol. I, p. 437. AKSHEHR, a city of east-central Asia Minor; located on an important route from Syria to Constantinople; lies at the foot of the Sultan Dagh Mountains and five miles south of Akshehr Lake. The nearest town of importance is Konieh, 70 miles to the southeast. Population, 15,000. also referred to as Akscheher and Aksher. ALABAMA, a river of Alabama. See ALABAMA, Vol. I, p. 438.

It is

ALABAMA, STATE OF. Area, 52,250 square miles; population 1880, 1, 262,505; 1890, 1,513,017,

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Creek rebellion of 1814 and the admission to the Union in 1819, Alabama enjoyed increasing prosperity, uninterrupted until her secession in 1860. In 1861 the convention of Southern states met at Montgomery, made it the capital of the Confederacy, organized the provisional government, and elected Jefferson Davis president. During the

Civil War battles were fought in Alabama, at Mobile, Selma, Talladega, Tuscumbia, Montevallo, Scottsboro, Athens, and in Mobile Bay. Under the reconstruction act, state conventions met in 1865 and 1867; and in 1868 a new constitution was submitted to the people and adopted, and the state was readmitted to representation in Congress.

Alabama lies almost entirely within the Gulf Slope. Its northern section, except the rich agricultural and grazing land of the Tennessee valley, is widely and picturesquely broken, and contains rich mineral deposits and many mineral springs. The middle section is level, declining toward the Gulf, and includes the great cotton belt and the principal corn-producing district. South of this are the vast pine forests, and a light soil, yielding grain and semi-tropical and other fruits. The agricultural products of the state include, also, large quantities of tobacco, cereals, sugar-cane and ramie. The forests, streams and bays produce large quantities of game and fish. Lumber, staves and railroad ties are exported through Mobile, the only port of entry. The principal manufactures are of cotton goods, iron, lumber and machinery. Mobile's chief export is cotton; annual value, about $15,000,000.

In 1890 Alabama was the seventeenth of the United States in population, and sixteenth in value of agricultural products. In output of coal (4,500,000 tons) Alabama was sixth; in production of cotton, fourth; in number of acres under cultivation, third, the number of farms having doubled during the last decade. The recent development of the iron industry, of which Birmingham is the center, has been remarkable. In 1890 Alabama ranked second in output of this mineral, 1,877,815 tons of ore having been mined in that year.

In 1891 the production of pig-iron was 891,154 tons, and of rolled iron 34,022 tons. In 1886 the state had 2, 105 miles of railway; in 1891, 3,611. The chief cities and their populations are: Montgomery, 21,883; Mobile, 31,076; and Birmingham, 26, 178.

The state has not been able to increase the appropriation for education as fast as the increasing population has demanded, and schools in the rural districts have been at a standstill. Normal schools are located at Marion, Florence, Huntsville and Tuskegee. Tuscaloosa is the seat of the University of Alabama; Auburn, of the Agricultural and Mechanical College; Mobile, of the State Medical College; Greensboro, of the Southern University. The state has a blind asylum at Mobile, an institute for the deaf, dumb and blind at Talladega, and an insane asylum at Tuscaloosa. The public and principal private libraries contain more than half a million volumes. In 1892 there

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ALABAMA ALABAMA CLAIMS

were in the state 187 newspapers, 16 of them being dailies. Of religious denominations, the Baptists are the strongest, others being well represented. The penal system, formerly bad, has been improved in recent years, the employment of convicts in the mines having been made illegal. In the summer of 1894, striking coal-miners in the northern part of the state having killed negroes employed in their places, Governor Jones kept the militia at the scene until order was restored. The elections of 1892 and 1894 were marked by a bitter fight against the regular Democracy by the fusion of disaffected Democrats and Republicans and Populists of the state, whose nomination of Reuben F. Kolb for governor was finally defeated, although both Kolb and the regular Democratic nominee Oates claimed for a time to be elected. GOVERNORS OF ALABAMA: William W. Bibb, 1819-20; Thomas Bibb, 1820-21; Israel Pickens, 1821-25; John Murphy, 1825-29; Gabriel Moore, 1829-31; John Gayle, 1831-35; Clement C. Clay, 1835-37; Arthur P. Bagby, 1837-41; Benjamin Fitzpatrick, 1841-45; Joshua L. Martin, 1845-47; Reuben Chapman, 1847-49; Henry W. Collier, 1849-53; John A. Winston, 1853-57; Andrew B. Moore, 1857-61; John G. Shorter, 1861-63; Thomas H. Watts, 1863-65; Lewis E. Parsons, 1865; Robert M. Patton, 1865-68; William H. Smith, 1868-70; Robert B. Lindsay, 1872; David P. Lewis, 1872-74; George S. Houston, 1874-79; Rufus W. Cobb, 1879-81; Edward A. O'Neal, 188284-86; T. Seay, 1886-88-90; T. G. Jones, 1890-94; W. C. Oates, 1894-96; J. F. Johnston, 1896.

The population of the state in 1820 was 127,901; 1850, 771,623; 1880, 1,262,505; 1890, 1,513,017. See ALABAMA, Vol. I, p. 438.

ALABAMA, ALIBAMO, ALIBAMON OR ALIBAMOU, as variously written, that branch of the Muskhogean or Creek stock of Indians who, according to the historian Pickett, having been originally driven out of Mexico by the Spaniards, settled in the region of the Alabama River, near where the city of Montgomery is located. Here Here they were reduced by constant warfare, finally joining in the Creek rebellion of 1812-14, after the suppression of which they emigrated westward, and are now mostly settled in Polk County, Texas, where they have adopted the habits of the whites.

ALABAMA CLAIMS. The settlement of the claims of the United States against Great Britain, known as the Alabama Claims, by a tribunal of arbitration, was one of the most important international events of modern times. These claims arose from the depredations upon American commerce during the Civil War, by vessels which either had been fitted out in British ports under the direction of the Confederate government, or received into them and there allowed supplies exceeding the maximum amount stated in the proclamation of neutrality made by the British government. The Alabama, the Florida and the Georgia, built by Laird and Son, were of the former class; the Sumter, the Nashville, the Retribution, the Tallahassee and the Chickamauga were of the

latter. Besides these, there was included the Shenandoah, known earlier as the British Sea-King. She, having been irregularly armed and taken in command by Captain Waddell, of the Confederacy, ran into Melbourne, where she coaled, repaired, and enlisted 45 men. This was done in the face of numerous protests by the United States consul at that point.

The interference demanded at this time by the United States was refused by Lord John Russell, on the ground that he had no authority beyond the Foreign Enlistment Act, under which only judicial proceedings could be made, thus making it incumbent upon the United States government to begin proceedings in British law-courts. In 1871, in consequence of negotiations reopened by Secretary Hamilton Fish, a joint commission, consisting of five representatives of each government, sat at Washington. The treaty drawn up by this joint high commission on May 8, 1871, styled the Alabama Claims "differences which had arisen between the two governments, and still existed, having grown out of the acts committed by several vessels, which gave rise to the claims known as the Alabama claims." For the government of a tribunal of arbitration "Three Rules Relating to Neutrals" were adopted by the parties to the before-mentioned treaty. The rules are as follows:

"A neutral government is bound,

"1. To use due diligence to prevent the fitting out, arming or equipping, within its jurisdiction, of any vessel which it has reasonable ground to believe is intended to cruise or carry on war against a power with which it is at peace; and also to use like diligence to prevent the departure from its jurisdiction of any vessel having been specially adapted, in whole or in part, within such jurisdiction, to warlike uses.

"2. Not to permit or suffer either belligerent to make use of its ports or waters as the base of naval operations against the other, or for the purpose of the renewal or augmentation of military supplies or arms or recruitments of men.

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3. To exercise due diligence in its waters, and as to all persons within its jurisdiction, to prevent any violation of the foregoing obligations and duties.

The tribunal of arbitration was composed of five members: Sir Alexander J. E. Cockburn, appointed by the Queen; Charles Francis Adams, appointed by the President of the United States; Count Frederic Sclopis, appointed by the King of Italy; M. Jacques Staempfli, appointed by the President of the Swiss Confederation; and Viscount d'Itajuba, appointed by the Emperor of Brazil. The court met at Geneva, Switzerland, Dec. 15, 1871, and not until September 14th of the following year was the final conclusion announced. The case was argued for the United States by William M. Evarts, Caleb Cushing and Morrison R. Waite; for Great Britain by Sir Roundell Palmer, later appointed Lord High Chancellor, and raised to the peerage as the Earl of Selborne. Mr. J. C. Bancroft Davis, of the United States,

ALABASTRUM—ALASKA

and Lord Tenterden, of Great Britain, attended the tribunal of arbitration as agents of their respective governments. The tribunal refused to consider consequential claims, but for "losses growing out of the destruction of vessels and their cargoes by the insurgent cruisers, and the national expenditure in pursuit of those cruisers," it awarded $15,500,000, to be paid by the British government in compensation to the United States. The decision was signed by all the arbitrators except Sir Alexander J. E. Cockburn, of England. It gave general satisfaction in the United States, and is believed to have furnished a lasting guaranty of international peace.

ALABASTRUM, a type of vase common among relics of ancient Greece. Originally so called because made of alabaster; later the term was used of any small, elongated vase rounded at the bottom and having a winglike expansion around the reduced orifice. See Matt. xxvi. 7.

ALACOQUE, MARGUERITE MARIE, a French nun (1647-90), the founder of the devotion of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the emblem in the Catholic Church of the divine love for men.

ALA DAGH ("beautiful mountain "), a range of the great tableland of Erzerum, in Turkish Armenia, north of Lake Van. The Murad, the eastern head-stream of the Euphrates, rises on its northern slope. It greatest elevation is about 11,000 feet. Agri Dagh, or Mt. Ararat (17,112 feet), is 15 miles north of its eastern end.

.ALAGON, a river in west-central Spain, about 120 miles in length, emptying into the Tagus, just above Alcantara, after draining the plains of Placencia. It is noted for its fine trout. A railroad from Lisbon terminates within eight miles of it. It is also referred to as Allagan.

ALAKUL, an upland lake in eastern Turkesstan, a Russian province in west-central Asia. Lies 2,500 feet above sea-level; is 40 miles long, and 17 broad. Same as Alakool, Alaktoo-Kool, Koorghi-Nor, or Alakt-Ugul-Nur.

ALAMAN, LUCAS, Mexican statesman and historian, born in the state of Guanajuato, Oct. 18, 1792. He was graduated at the College of

He

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ALAMGIR. See AURUNGZEBE, Vol. III, p. 99. ALAMO, THE, often spoken of as "The Thermopyle of America," is a fort in San Antonio, Texas, celebrated as the scene of a fierce combat, in which, from Feb. 11 to March 5, 1836, a few Texans resisted an overwhelming force of Mexicans, until, reduced to a hopeless remnant of six, these were compelled to surrender, and were butchered by their captors. "Remember the Alamo!" became the Texan war-cry.

ALAMOSA, a small town in Conejos County, Colorado, 130 miles S. W. of Pueblo. It has four churches, two banks and a newspaper. Population 1890, 973.

ALAPAYEVSK OR ALAPAEVSK, a town of Russia, just beyond the Ural Mountains, in Asia, government of Perm, on the Alapaika, about 50 miles N.W. of Irbit. It has large iron-foundries. Population, 5,447.

ALARCON, PEDRO ANTONIO DE, Spanish author and politician, was born at Guadix, Spain, March 10, 1833, and early devoted himself to journalism. In 1859 he served as volunteer in the Morocco campaign; he entered the Cortes as Liberal deputy for his native town, and worked for the restoration of the constitutional monarchy in the person of Alfonso XII, who later made him a councilor. Of his novels, the best known are La Alpujarra, El Escándalo, and El Sombrero de Tres Picos. Alarcon died July 20, 1891.

ALARMS. See FIRE-ALARMS, in these Supple

ments.

ALARM-THERMOMETER, ELECTRIC. Recently an electric alarm has been applied to thermometers, causing them to sound an alarm whenever the temperature rises above or falls below any required point. It is designed for use in offices, schools, hospitals, breweries, and all places where the maintenance of an equable temperature is desired. The electrical alarm can be arranged to sound at any distance from the thermometer, and the device can thus be used to sound an alarm in case of fire. As to alarm-clocks, see CLOCKS, Vol. VI, p. 24.

ALASKA. For early history and general deLa Concepción, and at the Mexican School of scription, see ALASKA, Vol. I, pp. 443 et seq. Mines, and traveled through Europe. He was minister of foreign affairs in 1825, and again in 1830. He gave his support to Santa Ana, and became minister of foreign affairs in 1853. published Dissertations on Mexican History, and also the standard history of that country, Historia de Méjico. He died in Mexico, June 2, 1853. ALAMANDA, a tropical American genus of Apocynacea, cultivated in hot-houses. Alamanda cathartica, a native of the West Indies, has violently emetic and purgative qualities.

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ALAMEDA, a city in Alameda County, California, on San Leandro Creek, on the Alameda branch of the Central Pacific railroad, about eight miles east of San Francisco, across the bay. It contains a high school and two newspapers. Ship-building and the refining of petroleum and borax are the chief industries. Population 1890, 11,165.

Alaska has an area of 580, 107 square miles, and is therefore about one fifth the size of the United States, or nearly equal to the combined areas of the New England, Middle and Southern states east of the Mississippi River. With the interior of this vast area we are little acquainted. A number of reconnoissances have been made by officers

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of the army, and by private travelers and prospectors, through portions of the territory, and the courses of several of its great navigable rivers have thus been determined.

The territory naturally falls into six great divisions, as follows. (Statistics are according to the United States census of 1890.)

1. The Arctic division, containing 125,245 square miles, and comprising all that portion which drains into the Arctic Ocean. There are 3,000 Eskimo and about 400 whites along the coast.

2. The valley of the Yukon River and its tributaries, so far as they lie within our boundaries. This division contains 176,715 square miles; is heavily timbered along the coast, and inhabited by an Eskimo and Indian population of about 5,000. Here they chiefly fish. Lately, gold has been found in considerable quantity along the Yukon Valley. The island of Saint Lawrence, in Bering Sea, is included.

3. The Kuskokwim division, containing 114,975 square miles, bounded on the north by the Yukon division, and comprising the valleys of the Kuskokwim, the Yogiak and the Nushagak rivers, and the intervening system of lakes. The Bering Sea washes its whole western and southern coast. This division, which also includes Nunivak Island, is mountainous, and has a population of about 6,000.

4. The Aleutian division, containing 14,610 square miles, and comprising the Alaska Peninsula westward of the isthmus between Moller and Zakharof bays and the whole chain of islands from the Shumagin group on the east to Attu on the west, including also the Pribilof or Fur Seal Islands, is populated by 3,000 Aleuts, who kill seals and fish.

5. The Kadiak division, containing 70,884 square miles, and comprising the south coast of the Alaska Peninsula down to Zakharof Bay, with adjacent islands, the Kadiak group of islands, the islands and coasts of Cook Inlet, the Kenai Peninsula and Prince William Sound, with the rivers running into them, is washed along its south shores by that section of the North Pacific named the Gulf of Alaska. This district contains mineral wealth, and is inhabited by several hundred whites. Total population, 4,500.

The

The southeastern division, in which Sitka, the capital, lies, contains 28,980 square miles, and comprises the coast from Mount St. Elias in the north to Portland Channel, in lat. 54° 40′ S., together with the islands of the Alexander Archipelago between Cross Sound and Cape Fox. eastern boundary of this division is the rather indefinite line established by the Anglo-Russian and Russian-American treaties of 1824 and 1825 respectively, following the summits of a chain of mountains supposed to run parallel with the coast, at a distance not greater than ten marine leagues from the sea, between the head of Portland Channel and Mount St. Elias.

Following is the population of Alaska as per United States census of 1890, it being understood that the figures are not absolutely accurate.

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Whites comprise 3,853 males and 445 females. "Mixed" are descendants of Russians with native wives, and comprises 885 males and 934 females.

Indians comprise the Eskimo, Thlinket, Athabaskan, Aleut, Tsimpsean and Hyda tribes, aggregating 11,987 males and 11,287 females.

Mongolians (Chinese and Japanese) have no females. "All others" have only one woman among them.

NATIVES. The Eskimo (or Innuit) inhabit the coast-line west of the 141st meridian, excepting the northern part of Cook Inlet, that portion of the Alaskan Peninsula west of the 157th meridian, and the Shumagin and Aleutian groups of islands. Recent investigators believe that their migration to Alaska occurred at the time of general tribal migration resulting in the settlement on Greenland. This opinion is strengthened by the fact that all the Eskimo tribes, whether on the Alaskan coast, the eastern coast, or in Greenland, use the same kind of skin-covered canoes, and are similar, also, in their modes of living.

The Aleuts inhabit the northern coast of the Alaskan Peninsula from Stroganof Point westward, and its southern coast from Pavlof Bay westward, the Shumagin Islands, and the whole group known as the Aleutian chain, extending from the Shumagins in the east to the island of Attu in the west. As to their origin, there are various opinions. Some believe they have a common origin with the people of Kamchatka; others, however, urge that they could not have migrated from Asia, owing to lack of facilities, and must have descended from the earliest nations of America.

Their

They are divided into two tribes, Unalaskans and Atkhas, speaking different dialects. They wear ornaments in the nose and upper lip. weapons consist of barbed darts and lances, spears, harpoons and arrows. They also carry a sharp stone knife ten or twelve inches long. Their household utensils are made of stone, wood and bone; mats and baskets are neatly woven of grass and tree-roots; bone needles with thread and cord of sinews, etc. They are very hospitable, and fond of dancing and pantomimics.

All native villages on the Alaskan coast are built directly on the beach, not only because the Indians look to the sea for a living, but because making homes inland means such labor as felling trees and clearing the ground, which only the white race undertakes. In the genuine Alaskan lodge there is no window, one door only, and no second story. In the center of the floor, on the ground, is a fire-place, around which, at a distance of several feet, runs a continuous platform, which constitutes

ALASKA

the sleeping-apartments. Occasionally the room is divided by curtains. The ground beneath the platform constitutes kitchen and reception-room. The head of the house sits opposite the door, his family and friends on either side, while slaves, if there be any, sit with their backs to the door. In front of many of the houses stands one or more large poles, carved from top to bottom, generally representing bears, whales, eagles, ravens or wolves. These are the genealogical trees of the natives, of which they are very proud.

The Aleuts have a tradition that in olden times the climate of their country was clearer and warmer, the winds moderate; that their forefathers came from their original dwelling-place in the west,―a great land called Aliashka, or “continent"; that in that early country peace and prosperity prevailed; but that in the progress of time dissensions arose, resulting in war, separation and divergent emigration. They also say that in their old country there was a very great flood sent upon the people, because of their disregard of sacred customs.

They maintain that in former times the seashore along the whole group of islands was more deeply indented. In some localities this is even yet perceptible. The grandfathers of the present Aleuts in their youth heard from their grandfathers that they found on elevated spots, and often far distant from the sea, signs of former dwellings, such as whale-ribs and large logs of driftwood. Between these places and the shoreline they also found small pebbles tied with whalebone fiber, such as are now used for sinkers, fishlines and nets. From these indications the Aleuts came to the conclusion that at one time these elevated positions, showing the remains of dwelling-places, were on the sea-shore, and that over the places where the sinkers were found the sea once extended. All this was subsequent to the before-mentioned flood.

INDUSTRIES. Prior to 1885 the chief industry of Alaska was the seal-fur trade (see SEAL, Vol. XXI, p. 583). On account of the long-standing Bering Sea dispute between Great Britain and the United States (see BERING SEA QUESTION, in these Supplements), and consequent legal limitation placed upon the killing of seals, the annual published take has been greatly reduced. The reported value of seal-furs taken in 1889 was $314,925. In 1880 it had been $2,096,500. The majority of all seals taken, however, were taken illegally, and of these the census of 1890 takes no Regulations for the control of the sealcatch were recommended in August, 1893, by the Paris tribunal for arbitration of the Bering Sea question. These, adopted by the contending governments, have proved as ineffectual as their predecessors, and an estimate published in a recent United States navy report states that, during the last five months alone of 1894, 30,000 seals were killed in the Bering Sea, and of these 85 per cent were females, the loss of which is greatly to be deprecated, since it inevitably results in the death, by starvation upon the rookeries, or otherwise, of

account.

III

fully an equal number of pups. Unless the seals of Alaskan waters be promptly and adequately protected from such ruthless slaughter, their practical annihilation will be accomplished after a few more seasons. There is considerable traffic in other furs, and in fish, as well as an increasing production of minerals. production of minerals. Between 1867 and 1890 the value of furs taken in Alaska amounted to $49,000,000. The annual yield of sea-otter skins has reached 5,500, worth $500,000;beavers, 10,000, worth $25,000; silver foxes, 200, worth $20,000; martens, 20,000, worth $60,000; red and cross foxes, 10,000, worth $15,000; and other miscellaneous skins, valued at $25,000. Notwithstanding efforts made by the United States government for the preservation of these fur-bearing animals, the supply is continually decreasing, and will ultimately become extinct. The only important breeding-grounds of the fur-seals at present are the Pribilof Islands, lying in the heart of Bering Sea, about 200 miles westward of Cape Newenham on the mainland. Two of these islands, St. George and St. Paul, by reasons of their temperature, surface and facilities for landing, are specially adapted for the life and reproduction of these animals.

Sea-otters are most abundant from the island of Unimak northeasterly along the Alaskan Peninsula. The land-otter, whose skin is used in the manufacture of an imitation sealskin, is found on the whole coast, from the southern boundary to the northern shore of Norton Sound, and on most of the islands. The beaver, the brown bear, the mink, the cross, blue and white fox, the marten, and a few other valuable furbearing animals, are also found in great numbers in many parts.

The fisheries of Alaska are annually increasing in importance, and are destined to become its staple industry. The salmon industry is exceeded in importance only by the fur. The largest salmon-cannery in the world is at Karluk, in the southwestern part of Kadiak Island. The value of the yearly salmon product from 1884 to 1890 was $7,000,000. At Killisnu, on Kenesaw Island, in the southeastern district, there are important herring-fisheries, and from this point 150,000 gallons of herring-oil are shipped each year. the south coast, and in the Bering Sea, there are large codfish banks. The value of the fishery product (exclusive of seals) was $1,058,865 in 1889, against $564,640 in 1880.

Off

The value of the mineral products of Alaska amounted in 1889 to $926,568; $4,000,000 in gold had been exported since the purchase of Alaska up to that time. In 1890 placer-mining in the Yukon region gave a $90,000 output, and since that time the yield has largely increased, the announcement of the discovery of valuable mines causing a large influx of miners in 1896.

The Klondike (see KLONDIKE, Vol. III, p. 1799) region, in which immense gold discoveries were reported in 1897, is in Canadian territory. of the routes to this and adjacent territory caused the traveler to pass through Alaskan territory,

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