ALASKA. 



\ 



ABDURRAHMAN KHAN, 

 LATE AMEER. 



valued at Rx 294.605, and exports Rx 217,236; 

 imports of Candahar were Rx 329,917, and ex- 

 ports Rx 263,884. The trade of Bokhara with 

 Afghanistan amounts to about 4,000,000 rubles 



for imports, and 

 for exports the 

 same. The Ameer 

 gave his atten- 

 tion not only to 

 the military or- 

 ganization of his 

 people for defense 

 against either 

 Russian or Brit- 

 ish aggression, 

 but also to the 

 economical devel- 

 opment of the 

 country. Under 

 the direction of an 

 English engineer 

 canals and other 

 irrigation works 

 have been con- 

 structed. Forts 

 have been built 

 along the Oxus, 

 and heavy Krupp guns have been imported. The 

 arsenal at Cabul turns out small arms in quan- 

 tities, and smokeless powder. 

 ALABAMA. (See under UNITED STATES.) 

 ALASKA, a Territory of the United States, in 

 the extreme northwestern part of the North 

 American continent. It was ceded by Russia to 

 the United States in a treaty concluded March 

 30 and proclaimed June 20, 1867, in considera- 

 tion of the payment of $7,200,000. Its gross area, 

 according to the census of 1900, is 590,884 square 

 miles. The main body of the Territory is bounded 

 on the east by the one hundred and forty-first 

 meridian west from Greenwich, on the north by 

 the Arctic Ocean, on the west by Bering Sea and 

 Bering Strait, and on the south by the Pacific 

 Ocean. It includes also the Alaska peninsula and 

 the Aleutian Islands, trending southwestward for 

 more than 1,200 miles, and a strip, known as 

 Southeast Alaska, 600 miles long, bounded on the 

 south by Dixon Sound and Portland Channel, and 

 on the east by the summit line of the mountains 

 parallel to the coast; and where such a line is at 

 a greater distance than 10 marine leagues (34 

 statute miles), by a line drawn parallel to the 

 windings of the coast, which shall never exceed 

 10 marine leagues therefrom. The position of the 

 boundary of this southeastern extension is now a 

 matter of dispute between Great Britain and the 

 United States. 



Government. Alaska was without civil gov- 

 ernment from the time of its purchase till May 

 17, 1884, when it was made a "civil and judicial 

 district." Although frequently designated as a 

 Territory, it is not so legally. In the act referred 

 to above it is expressly stated that " there shall 

 be no legislative assembly in said district, nor 

 shall any delegate be sent to Congress " ; but in 

 the same act it is referred to as the " Territory 

 of Alaska." The original laws prohibited the im- 

 portation, manufacture, and sale of intoxicating 

 liquors, except for medical, mechanical, and sci- 

 entific purposes; and although liquor was openly 

 sold in Sitka, Juneau, Wrangel, and other cities, 

 public sentiment was strongly against the sale of 

 liquor to the Indians. In January, 1899, Congress 

 passed an amendment providing for a high-license 

 system in the Territory with a species of local 

 option. Liquor dealers by its provisions are to 

 pay a license of $1,000 a year, and the consent of 



a majority of the white citizens residing within 

 two miles of a liquor-dealer's establishment must 

 be obtained before a license can issue. All license 

 fees are to be devoted to educational purposes in 

 Alaska. The former prohibition is continued 

 against the sale to Indians, minors, and habitual 

 drunkards. 



The new code of criminal procedure went into 

 effect on July 1, 1899, and it has been of the 

 greatest advantage to the Territory. It gives the 

 court much more liberty in obtaining juries; has 

 enabled the enforcement of the liquor regulations ; 

 and has made smuggling an unprofitable occupa- 

 tion. The only sections that have met with seri- 

 ous complaint are those relating to the taxation 

 of businesses and trades. A Territorial conven- 

 tion met in Juneau in October, 1899, and sub- 

 mitted a memorial to Congress petitioning for two 

 additional judges of the district court; for a dele- 

 gate to Congress; for probate judges having, in 

 addition to the usual probate powers, jurisdiction 

 in certain civil and criminal cases; for commis- 

 sioners having the jurisdiction of the justices of 

 the peace and magistrates with like powers for 

 incorporated cities and towns; for education of 

 the white children of the district; for a civil code 

 and a code of civil procedure; for amendments to 

 the criminal code; for a general municipal incor- 

 poration law; for the extension to the district of 

 homestead, timber and stone and coal land laws, 

 with provisions for special individual surveys, and 

 for modifications in the mineral-land laws to stop 

 the wholesale appropriation by a few individuals 

 of the public mineral lands. 



Gov. Brady in his annual reports has specially 

 urged the extension of the land laws, the adop- 

 tion of a code of civil procedure, and the neces- 

 sity for roads, telegraphs, and the erection of 

 lighthouses upon dangerous points of the coast. 



The temporary seat of government is at Sitkaj 

 formerly the Russian capital. 



The following were the officials of the Territory 

 in 1901 : Governor, John G. Brady. United States 

 Judges Melville C. Brown, District No. 1, Ju- 

 neau; Arthur H. Noyes, District No. 2, St. 

 Michael; James Wickersham, District No. 3, 

 Eagle City. United States Attorneys Robert 'A. 

 Friedrich, District No. 1; Joseph K. Wood; A. M. 

 Post. Clerk, District No. 1, Joseph J. Rogers. 

 United States Marshals James M. Shoup, Dis- 

 trict No. 1; Cornelius L. Vawter, District No. 2; 

 G. G. Perry, District No. 3. Commissioners 

 Edw T ard de Groff, Sitka; Hiram H. Folsom, Ju- 

 neau; F. P. Tustin, Fort Wrangel; L. R. Wood- 

 ward, Unalaska; Philip Gallaher, Kadiak; C. A. 

 Shelbrede, Skagway; W. J. Jones, Circle City; 

 Charles H. Isham, Unga ; Lenox B. Shepard, St. 

 Michael; Sol Rapinskv, Haines Mission; J. P. 

 Smith, Kechikan; L. R." Gillette, Douglas. Officers 

 of Marine Barracks, Sitka Capt. Joseph H. Pen- 

 dleton, commanding, Lieut. George H. Mather, 

 Surgeon Henry B. Fitts. Customs Officers J. W. 

 Ivey, Collector; Walton D. McNair, Special Depu- 

 ty, Sitka; Deputy Collectors F. E. Bronson, 

 Sitka; John M. Tenney, Juneau; J. H. Causten, 

 Wrangel; John R. Beegle, Kechikan; Claude B. 

 Cannon, Kadiak; Frederick Sargent, Karluk; J. 

 F. Sinnot, Unga; William Gauntlet, Unalaska; 

 E. T. Hatch, St. Michael; Charles Smith, Circle 

 City; G. A. Waggoner, White Pass; John Goodell, 

 Orca; C. L. Andrews, Skagway; S. T. Penberthy, 

 Homer; Matthew Bridge, Wharfinger, Sitka. 

 Department of Agriculture C. C. Georgeson, 

 Special Agent; Superintendents: Fred E. Rader, 

 Sitka; H. P. Nielson, Kenai; Isaac Jones. Bu- 

 reau of Education Sheldon Jackson, Agent; 

 William Hamilton, Assistant Agent; W. A. Kelly, 



