Show EXPLORING ALASKA departure of hie viking with hi sloney party diio truo inwardness of alio under lieutenant of alie chomas corwin muirine vs allu navy r the schooner viking sails today to day for the river in northern alaska leaving on board the exploring party commanded by lieutenant stoney this expedition has h as been fitted out by the naval department part ment for the express purpose of making a careful and comprehend sive exploration of all that unknown portion of alaska drained by the putnam river and its tribu baries two years ago lieutenant made a partial exploration of the river and was the first white man ever on the river he was the discoverer of the river only in the sense that he was the first to see it in verification of the reports made by the native tribes admiral B bechy did not discover nor explore this river in 1826 as has been pop believed he simply reported that the indians told of a river eo big that it took morn than thirty sleeps to reach the head of it capt hooper then of the thomas cor ann made the same identical report two years ago the indian name for the river is kawak meaning big river A certain captain EE smith claimed to have in 1874 ascended the river twenty five mile but hi clairl ia so lacking in necessary data to establish its that it has never been considered of any validity smith did not make his claim until depont was published and during all his explorations stoney never came across any evidence of a previous visit having been made by a white man it is incredible that any white man could have entered and explored such a river and not leave left some trace of hid visit it was last summer that an expedition was baut up the river in advance of lieutenant stoney under the command of lieutenant Lien tenant cantwill of the n en tee byj ninna launch was n coalburn er and totally unfit for river service while stoney used a wood burner the result waa that cant wall was overhauled and passed by the naval expedition and turned back after having proceeded up the biyer not more than one hundred and seventy five miles himself did not succeed in getting any higher up the river than miles the launch to be used by lieutenant stoney in this present expedition was built in this city and designed to meet every requirement and exigency of a prolonged cruise on the practically unknown river lieutenant stoney is accompanied compa nied by ensign purcell engineer zane ensign howard doctor nash and ten picked men the viking is simply chartered to cany the party up to the mouth of the river lieutenant stoney will make the topography of the region to be explored a special study making many and frequent purveys attention will also be paid to THE RESOURCES one of the officers having fitted himself for accurate and practical assaying there is believed to be in northern alaska a vast and desolate wilderness erness n which according to stories told by the indians not a living creature can be found nor anything with which to sustain life A desert region similar to the delta theLena of where do long per dished so miserably in siberia lieutenant stoney is to make an effort to ascertain the extent of this barren waste A year from next october ia the very shortest time eel for the bartys return how much longer time than that a proper exploration will consume can only be determined by actual work in the field the expedition is provisioned fur three years and will up and brought back by a vessel of the navy there is not the slightest danger to be feared from the natives and although right on the coast the in diaks are nt disposed to be a trifle dictatorial they grow more and more friendly as the interior is it is said that lieutenant stoney does not consider the mineral wealth of the region he is about to enter to be of any great value excepting perhaps the coal deposits which may in future years bo opened un the return of the expedition is looked forward to with considerable expectancy by many adventurous spirits who think they see u new el dorado in the far away north appears on tha surface to bo A CLASH between the navy and treasury department an expedition will bp sent up lie ruthian river under command of lieutenant cantwell of tho carmn according to accounts published lieutenant cantwell proposes to go up the to its source and then travel overland to yukon River down which he succeeds in securing portage alie party will float on rafts to st michaels on behring sea making a total estimated distance of 2000 miles should he succeed he will indicate a route by which chalers whalers or others held by the ice in the arctic ocean might find a way to the settlements on the pacific shores of alaska parties versed in matters of arctic travel say that the above report of intentions is either wrong or the man must be totally unacquainted with the nature of the work he has laid out for himself in the first place lie has not more than six weeks or two months to do all this work in and that too in a launch totally unfit for such work the idea of traveling 2000 miles through an unexplored country in the arctic in two months time is said to be most absurd especially as a portion of that distance would be though a barren wilderness tha duties of the revenue marine are of a nature not calculated to especially prepare its officers for scientific explorations or even coast surveying and charts ing the whole secret of the for mer expedition under lieutenant cantwell and the present contemplated one under the same officer is revealed by the disclosures of a little unpublished HISTORY chief clerk dark of the revenue marine laboriously endeavored two years ago to prevail upon congress to pass a bill placing the revenue marine under the jurisdiction of the navy creating a special bureau for it clark himself was to be permanent clerk at a stated salary the bill did not pass and a more disappointed man than mr dark was not to be found in washington he ascribed the defeat of the scheme to the machinations of the naval officers and in the heat of his wrath published in pamphlet form a letter in which ho attacked the navy in a most savage and disgraceful charge against all the officers naval officers say the dark has never let up his fight and seeks envery way to antagonize the naval and revenue marine service he is said to be vary bright and smart and has often pet A gentleman connected with the navy said to an alia reporter yesterday that he did not think cantwell was to make any such expedition as reported and furthermore he doubted if the corwin went to hathaw inlet at all the vast country drained by the kawak is as yet unexplored but it is believed that the river extends inland many hundreds of miles the delta of this stream has fifteen mouths and extends fifty miles inland in regard to the expedition under lieutenant cantwel it has been openly cli arged that the whole thing is a job in the interests of certain speculators and that the treasury department is being unwittingly led into aiding and abetting certain private mineral schemes S F call |