sphere of usefulness should be greatly enlarged; to do this, however, the appropriation for the prosecution of the work should be doubled. The growing demands of the Territory along agricultural lines render this increase most desirable, if the best results are to be obtained and agriculture encouraged and fostered. The distinguishing feature of Government agricultural work during the season of 1915 was favorable weather, and this condition was conducive to the growth of vegetables, fruit trees, and fruit bushes, except in the interior, where there was a deficiency in the rainfall. There are four agricultural experiment stations in Alaska, located, respectively, at Sitka on Baranof Island, Kodiak Island, Rampart on the Yukon River, and Fairbanks. The Sitka station is devoted exclusively to horticultural work, the Rampart station to grain breeding and growing and testing of forage crops, particularly hardy alfalfas. The effort of this station is to develop varieties of grain which shall be better suited to Alaska than anything that can be obtained from a more southerly clime. Fairbanks station is devoted to demonstration work, the effort being to operate it as a model farm for the instruction and benefit of farmers in the Tanana Valley. Grains of many kinds are grown on a comparatively large scale, there being about 100 acres under cultivation. All of these grains matured this season, but the straw was short and the yield light. Galloway cattle and sheep are raised at the Kodiak station. The light rainfall of the present year was the cause of a short hay crop, and the dry spring and high winds caused much of the volcanic ash to drift and blow away from the roots of the young grasses seeded last year. Aside from this, the work of the development of the station progresses favorably. A site has been selected for an experiment station in the Matanuska Valley not far from the junction of the Matanuska branch of the Government railroad with the main line. No work can be done there this fiscal year for lack of funds. Many hundred homesteaders have taken up farms in this region, and the experiment station is needed, because the conditions of soil and climate differ materially from conditions found elsewhere in the Territory.

Reindeer industry.-The reindeer industry in Alaska had its beginning in 1892, when a few reindeer were imported from Siberia, and its success has been amply demonstrated. It has placed many of the native inhabitants beyond the reach of the grim want which always faced them during the long winter season. It has taught them to be industrious and to assume certain responsibilities in life. But there is still need of the extension of the industry. There are thousands of natives in the delta country between the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers and in the Aleutian Islands who can be saved from possible extinction by the introduction of reindeer among them 8161°-INT 1915-VOL 1-7

and by teaching them how to care for the herds and themselves. These natives, generally speaking, are always on the borderland of destitution, if not actual starvation. The Eskimos of the northern shores of the Bering Sea region have probably been saved from extinction by the reindeer, and a more general distribution of these animals will perform a like life-saving work among the natives of other sections who have not been reached. At the end of the fiscal year 1914 there were 57,872 reindeer distributed among 65 herds, 66 per cent of which were owned by 980 natives, 7 per cent by the United States, 10 per cent by the missions, and 17 per cent by the Laplanders. The total income of the natives from the reindeer industry for the fiscal year, exclusive of meat and hides used by themselves, was $77,934. The herds increased 22 per cent during the year. Heretofore no special endeavor has been made to foster the exportation of reindeer meat from Alaska in view of the fact that most of the reindeer butchered was required to supply local markets in northwestern Alaska. It appears now that such exportation is desirable. A few reindeer carcasses were shipped to Seattle from Nome at the close of navigation last year and placed on sale. The meat retailed at from 20 to 25 cents per pound. Exportation on a larger scale is expected this fall, when a corporation organized in the summer of 1914 at Nome, and which purchased 1,200 reindeer from Laplanders, will ship to Seattle, in conjunction with several native reindeer owners, about 1,000 carcasses. A systematic effort will also be made to introduce this product throughout the United States. A specialist of the Bureau of Animal Industry visited northwestern Alaska last year and consulted with the officers of the Bureau of Education as to the best means of improving the industry and the manner in which the problems were to be met, such as the ailments of the deer, exportation of meats, etc. Northwestern Alaska presents an almost unlimited field for the raising of reindeer, and if a market can be found for the product the industry is capable of great expansion. The meat is delicious and has been found to be a good substitute for beef.

Railroads.-The Alaska Engineering Commission, which is charged with the work of constructing a system of railroads in Alaska from the town of Seward, on the coast, to the Matanuska coal fields and interior Alaska, began the actual work of construction at Anchorage, on Cook Inlet, last spring. Owing to unexpected delay, the Alaska Northern Railroad, with its coast terminals at Seward, which was purchased by the Government, was not taken over until August, and only necessary repair work was done on that line during the summer. Work on the Government railroad from Anchorage toward the Matanuska coal fields has been prosecuted with success, when all the difficulties confronting an enterprise of this kind in a remote country are considered. The construction work also included the laying out

of a town site at Knik Arm, Cook Inlet, the erection of administration and other buildings, and the assembling of supplies, all of which has gone forward with commendable dispatch. Construction and other initial work can be done during the winter if the funds necessary for prosecuting it can be secured by appropriation from Congress. The task of making permanent surveys was continued during the summer. There has been no other railroad construction during the year. The total railroad mileage of the Territory is 446 miles, but the only railroads regularly operated are the White Pass & Yukon Route, 20.6 miles; Yakutat & Southern (a private railroad), 9 miles; Copper River & Northwestern Railway, Cordova to Kennecott, 195 miles; and the Tanana Valley Railroad, Fairbanks to Chena and Chatanika, 46 miles. The business of the Copper River & Northwestern Railway has increased largely during the year, owing to large shipments of copper ore from the copper mines of the Copper River Valley. Operation of the Government system of railroads at the earliest possible time is a matter of prime importance to the Territory. Although the work of construction may be said to have only fairly begun, there has been a large influx of people to the Territory, not all of whom are looking for employment, as many have come with the purpose of becoming permanent settlers.

Health conditions of natives.-There is little change to report in the health conditions of the natives of Alaska, these being much the same as in the previous fiscal year. The United States Bureau of Education continued to do what it could to alleviate the sufferings of the native population by diverting a part of its educational fund into medical channels. A medical force is maintained in certain localities, but it is entirely inadequate. Congress has appropriated the sum of $25,000 for the relief of natives for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1916. This is but a "drop in the bucket," but it is a step in the right direction. An appropriation of at least $125,000 annually is needed to establish a tuberculosis sanitarium and several hospitals at centers of native population, these institutions to be equipped and located at accessible places, together with the employment of a sufficiently large corps of physicians and nurses, to make it possible to reach the greater part of the native population. In addition to $25,000 for medical relief appropriated by Congress, the Bureau of Education has set aside $20,000 from its educational fund for medical relief. With this total of $45,000 the bureau is constructing a hospital in Juneau, in addition to maintaining its present medical force in other sections of Alaska.

In all districts where Indians are located there are always to be found old and decrepit men and women who are unable to earn a livelihood and who receive scant consideration from their relatives and who frequently suffer from lack of food. An appropriation to

relieve the necessities of these Indian indigents and dependents should be made by Congress to be expended under the direction of the Bureau of Education. There is a section of Alaska which contains several thousand natives remote from supply centers. This is the low, flat, marshy country comprising the delta region between the mouths of the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers. The conditions that obtain among these natives call loudly for amelioration. Their remoteness from the centers of civilized life make them an easy prey of unscrupulous white and native traders, who not only furnish them with intoxicating liquors, but encourage them to distill a native drink paralyizing and frequently deadly in its effect. These Indians need special attention. They are different from the average Indian or Eskimo of the North. They have never known the white man except as they have come in contact with missionaries, who occasionally visit them, and white traders. They are kind and peaceable and can be taught to be industrious, honest, and reliable members of the native population, but to accomplish this the complete abolition of the making of intoxicating drinks by native traders and others and the consolidation of the scattered villages of underground igloos into community centers, at desirable and sanitary locations, is essential. A special agent for the suppression of the liquor traffic among the natives should be permanently stationed in the delta country.

Aids to navigation.-During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1915, the Lighthouse Service of the Department of Commerce added 5 new lights to the number of aids to navigation in Alaskan waters, 2 lights were improved, and 10 buoys and 5 beacons were established. In addition to the foregoing, new lights will be established in the near future at a number of other places. A lighthouse is in course of construction at Cape St. Elias on Prince William Sound. The necessity of a thorough system of charting the navigable channels and water routes of the coast of Alaska by means of drag nets is again emphasized. Some work was done along this line during the present summer, and a number of new menaces to navigation in the form of "pinnacle rocks" were located. One steamer was wrecked during the past fiscal year, having been stranded on Strait Island. Fortunately no loss of life occurred. The commerce of Alaska is growing rapidly and many additional steamers are being added to the transportation fleets for passenger and freight service, and the importance of thoroughly safeguarding the navigable waters of Alaska's coast is emphasized.

Fur-bearing animals.-The killing of fur seals in the Pribilof Islands during the fiscal year was limited to the number of male seals necessary for food purposes of the native inhabitants. During the calendar year 1914 there were killed for these purposes 2,735

seals. Reports of the number of seals killed during the last half of the fiscal year 1915 have not been received. The department fixed upon 5,500 as the number of seals to be killed for food during the calendar year 1915. Increased facilities for preserving seal meat for winter use have been provided. This will reduce to some extent the amount of other forms of preserved meat to be purchased by the Government for the natives. The annual shipment of fur-seal skins and fox skins from the Pribilof Islands was made in October, 1914. The shipment consisted of 2,884 seal skins, 256 blue fox skins, and 25 white fox skins. Owing to the condition of the fur market these skins were not offered for sale at the usual time, Congress having authorized a postponement of the sale until such time as should be deemed advisable. A census of the seal herd taken in 1914 showed a total of 294,687 seals, a gain of 26,382 over the census of the previous year. The administration of the law and regulations for the protection of the minor fur-bearing animals was carried on by the Bureau of Fisheries through its wardens, and efforts were made to have these wardens include in their field of operations as much of the Territory as possible. Additional legislation is required for the conservation of wild fur-bearing animals. The shipping of wild fur-bearing animals from Alaska should be regulated, as should also the indiscriminate digging by irresponsible parties of young foxes from their nests for the ostensible purpose of utilizing them for fox farming. Bills were introduced in both the second and third sessions of the Sixty-third Congress for the purpose of amending the fur law, but they failed of passage. The total value of the furs shipped from Alaska during the fiscal year 1915, with the exception of shipments of fur seal and fox skins from the Pribilof Islands, was $649,629.90. Fur farming in Alaska has been in a somewhat depressed condition during the year as a result of the European war and the prevailing low prices for furs of all kinds. Nevertheless a number of farms have been established in various parts of the Territory, both on the coast and in the interior. Where due care is given to the selection and breeding of foxes the industry is a success. Mineral springs.-There are many mineral springs, both hot and cold, scattered throughout Alaska, both on the coast and in the interior. Few of these are utilized, however, except in a small way. Uncertainty of title to lands on which these springs are situated has been the principal factor in retarding their development and use. Provision should be made for the development and utilization of some of these springs either by the Government or by leasing them to responsible persons.

Alaskan insane.-The insane persons of Alaska are cared for at Morningside Sanitarium, under a contract entered into between the Sanitarium Co., of Portland, Oreg., and the Secretary of the Interior.