ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 329 



materially contribute to the cleanliness and health of the villagers, for 

 at present the washing- is carried to this lake shore and there, npon 

 their knees on the damp sodden turf, the washing is done by the women. 

 The washing of St. Paul is performed at a little lake lying below the 

 village, but at only a short distance from it. 



liecommeniJations. — Maps are presented with tliis report, carefully 

 drawn to a scale, from which it will be seen that if at the wells which 

 supply St. Paul a windmill was erected and the water i)umped into a 

 small reservoir on tlie hillside above and a line of pipe laid from this 

 small reservoir to a much larger one in the village the water would by 

 gravity fill this larger receptacle. There would not only thus be a 

 constant supply of wholesome drinking water, but it would serve as 

 a storage jjlace to tide over, what seems an anomalous condition, a dry 

 season on the Pribilof Islands. It should be borne in mind that these 

 islands are volcanic and composed of highly vesicular rock through 

 which the water quickly seeps away, and as during the season when 

 the surface is frozen the water does not penetrate to the regions below, 

 the supply already there passes off, and the question of j)rocuring a 

 sufficient amount of water is at times almost a serious one. This same 

 method could be employed with the well at St. George, while a more 

 abundant supply for washing purposes could be furnished by a pipe 

 from the higher lake to a reservoir at the village. 



Company will cooperate. — TLe company has expressed its willingness 

 to supply all the material necessary at a reasonable rate, while they 

 will transport it from San Francisco to the islands free of cost. The 

 (Government should not fail to take up the active prosecutioii of this 

 work during the coming summer after the killing season is over. As 

 iron pipe is rapidly destroyed at the islands by the ingredients of the 

 water, the kind of pipe to be used is an important consideration. 



Persistent supervision essential. — The most iniportant feature of a 

 better sanitary condition is that the resident agents from year to year 

 shall be persistent and diligent in their eftbrts along certain well- 

 detiued lines of improvement, and it is earnestly urged that the atten- 

 tion of the agents who may go to the islands next year be called to 

 this matter. 



MAINTENANCE AND EMPLOYMENT OF NATIVES. 



Uxistinr/ conditions affecting the problem. — During the period of small 

 killing upon the islands the proper maintenance and employment of 

 the natives is a somewhat puzzling problem, and is complicated (1) by 

 the fact that a few of the natives have a sufficient sum of money to tide 

 them over for several years, while (2) the people generally have not 

 reached the point of intellectual advancement where they can appre- 

 ciate the meaning of the ^rm independence. 



They willingly receive charity, and it is to be feared that the etiPectof 

 their maintenance by the Government will be disastrous to their already 

 weak characters. It was difficult to key them up to the point of work- 

 ing for what they received at the hands of the Government. After 

 repeated efforts to make clear to them that the Government intended 

 that they should perform service for every item received, that it was a 

 time of hardship and the utmost frugality must be employed, one man 

 who had $2,000 to his credit on the books of the company asked for a 

 Government order for provisions, stating that he had understood that 

 the Government was giving away goods and that he wanted his share. 

 Another came with the request that he be furnished with an accordion, 



