412 ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 



eries day and night. No complaint was ever made by them. In the 

 month of June they were provided with ample clothing to keep them 

 comfortable in that cold, damp climate until the coming June. 



Beds and bedding were furnished families who had been sleeping on 

 the floors so far as it was possible to obtain them. It is a patent fact 

 to all those who have noticed the condition of health and appearance 

 of the natives the past few years since the Government has taken the 

 matter in hand and furnished them with beds and compelled them to 

 sleep upon them instead of on the floor, where they were subject to cold 

 draughts and damj^ness and noxious vapors arising from the cesspools 

 which served in lieu of privies, that this improvement of condition has 

 had more to do with their present healthy condition than anything else. 



During the fall of 1892 there were 4 privies of 4 rooms each built for 

 native families on the island St. Paul, thus furnishing privies for IC 

 families. These families soon became accustomed to the use of them 

 and took great pride in keeping them clean. For the bettering of the 

 sanitary condition of the village, I would recommend that a privy be 

 built for each native family on the islands. The island of St. George is 

 wholly unprovided for in this respect. The natives are compelled to 

 use a vessel in the house and dump the excrement in a wheelbarrow, 

 which stands by the door until it is loaded ready to wheel away. It is 

 either this or the practice of stepping out doors and being exposed to 

 the gaze of the rest of the villagers, which is worse. This state of 

 aflairs does not tend toward civilization, nor to decency or morality. 

 I do, therefore, urge the early correction of this evil by furnishing 

 them privies. 



SCHOOLS UPON THE ISLAND. 



Much has been reported by Treasury agents upon the subject of 

 schools during the past twenty years. Many suggestions for their 

 improvement have been made, yet the same system stands to-day as at 

 the beginning. If it is the purpose of the Government to educate, 

 enlighten, and civilize these people, some change in the school system 

 will have to be made. I have no especial reason to censure the teach- 

 ers employed on the islands for their apparent failure to teach the Eng- 

 lish to these children; neither is it the fault of the children on account 

 of their dullness that they do not learn. It is, in my opinion, far more 

 the fault of the parents, who get their incentive from the priest and 

 church upon the islands, than either teachers or children. If these 

 children were removed from this home influence and instructed by the 

 same teachers, I am inclined to the belief that there would be more 

 advancement in one year than there is under the present system in a 

 whole school lifetime. I would therefore recommend a boarding school, 

 in charge of a husband and wife who have had a successful experience 

 in this line, or an industrial school for both boys and girls, teaching 

 domestic industries. If, however, the present system must be continued, 

 I most earnestly request that the school year begin on April 1 and con- 

 tinue eight months, thus giving the children the benefit of the long 

 days and best season of the year instead of the short, dark, cold days 

 of midwinter. 



August 24 the information came to me from the superintendent of 

 the lessee's company that a sum of money, between $400 and $500, had 

 been handed him by Father Kezoff, priest on St. Paul Island, with a 

 request that he transfer the same to the authorities of the Greek Cath- 

 olic Church at San Francisco, Cal. This money had been gathered from 

 the natives on the island during the past two years. I requested the 



