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The Omineca Miner .

PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY AT HAZELTON, THE CENTER OF THE
GREAT OMINECA DISTRICT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. |

Macdonald & Rauk, Publishers and Proprietors.

SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada and British Possessions, Two Dollars a
year; Foreign, Three Dollars a year.

ADVERTISING RATES: Display, $1.50 per inch per month; Reading
Notices, 15 cents per line for firat insertion, 10 cents per line for each subsequent
insertion. Legal notices inserted at B. C. Gazette rates,

VoL, I. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1911. No,

To Remodel Oar Tax System

When, Premier McBride stated that his government intended to
reform the system of taxation in British Columbia, he evidently
meant what he said. Following his pronouncement came the
appointment of the special commission, composed of prominent and
capable men, which is now engaged in investigating industrial and
general conditions as affected by taxation, with the object of pre-
paring a report which will serve to guide the legislature in changing
the system. At the Vancouver sittings of the commission the
witnesges denounced the personal property tax and the poll tax.
Vancouver itself is getting along very well with what is practically
a single tax on land values, and its citizens would naturally like to
see the provincial system changed to conform with their plan. Itis
not probable that so radical a change as the repeal of the personal
property tax will be made in the prospective legislation; but there
is little doubt that the government will take action on the demand
for the abrogation of the polltax, The only reasonable argument
in favor of its retention is that it compels aliens and others who
have no interest in the province beyond their earnings to contribute
to the funds of the province. We believe the government may be
relied upon to give the province a more equitable tax law than that
at present in force. Conditions have changed greatly since the
present law was adopted, and the McBride administration is too
progressive to adhere to outworn systems when there is no
necessity for their retention, '

The First-to-Hazelton Motor Car

That the Pacific Highway, a modern roadway extending from
Tia Juana on the Mexican border to Hazelton, is not a mere dream
of the future is now apparent. On Wednesday there arrived in
Hazelton the advance guard of the great army of automobile
tourists, in the person of P, EB. Sands, a Seattle motorist who sue-
ceeded in coming through from the Sound city to this point in a
20-horsepower car, following the line of the projected highway.
The feat he performed was a notable one, and will not ‘only redound
to his credit and that of the car manufacturers he represents; but
will also gerve to direct the attention of all motorists—-a most
important section of every civilized community—to Hazelton and

the Omineca district, The papers of the coast cities have been
devoting pages of space to accounts of the trip, and the advertising
this part of the country is receiving in consequence cannot fail to
prove of great benefit in bringing Hazelton into prominence. It
was most fitting that the people of the Bulkley valley and the citi-
zens of Hazelton should mark the arrival of the car by the reception
and banquet which they tendered to Mr, Sands ¢ on Thursday

evening.

7 Our Coal Fields Ave Immense

In recounting the potentialities of this district, our “‘boosters”’
have hitherto laid but little stress on the vast supply of coal which
is being exploited in the various fields of Omineca district. The
proximity of the silver-lead and copper mines which are making
such an excellent showing has tended to keep the possibilities of
the coal measures somewhat in the background. Developments
of the last few months, however, have made it evident that in the
future the district will owe nota little of its importance to the
coal mines which will be developed at Groundhog, where there are
apparently inexhaustible supplies of anthracite which compares
most favorably with that of thé Pennsylvania fields. There are
other coal fields in the Bulkley valley and on the Copper river which |.
bid fair to make their mark. The mining and transportation of
the coal, and the industries which will follow the development of
the mines, will undoubtedly add much to the importance and pros-
perity of Hazelton and Omineca district in the years to come.

Omineca Trail Needs Improvement —

The historic trail which leads from Hazelton. to the Omineca
river placer district has been much used this season, & constant
succession of pack trains leaving Hazelton loaded with supplies for

Babine lake, Tatla lake, Manson creek ‘and other sections where
miners, prospectors and surveyors are busy. Sincesthe days of the
first Omineca rush, when thousands of miners flocked to, the placer
diggings of the district, there has not heen so much traffic over the
old trail, and its deficiencies have made ‘themselves obvious to 4
great many men, with the result that an effort is being made to
secure an appropriation for the improvement of the trail.-.- The
Omineca river country and the intervening districts will in the
_ future add greatly to the wéalth of the province, and it is only right
that the. provincial government should take cognizance of the
-necessity for improved means of access to a section of country pre-
senting so many, possibilities of development. @ are confident

. the: ‘Minister of Public Works will give heed te the representations
of those interested inthe district” reached ‘by the trail, and will
frovide for’. fyiprovementa -which will make the trail passable
ighout, its. ength | of, 180 ‘nifles, "Tete pleo:tecessary that a

gre installing hydraulic plants. on: tribu ie
thelr machinery through to the wate, _

-

t

THE OMINECA MINER, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1911.

e Albanian Trouble

The war between Italy and
Turkey is directing world-wide
attention to the Mediterranean
and the appanages of the Turk-
ish Empire, There has just ap-
peared in the Economist, an au-
thoritative English periodical, an
article so timely and apropos that
we reproduce it in full for the
benefit of readers who wish to
know more about the nations

6.}which are likely to engaged in

the impending conflict. ‘The

writer says:

“Geta large map,’’ was Lord
Salisbury’s advice to students of
foreign politics, and the Albanian
affair is an opportunity for its
application. The situation is ob-
scure; but there are some geo-
graphical facts whicfi throw light
upon it, and the principal, per-
haps, is the political geography
of the bays and islands of the
Dalmatian and Albanian coast.

News from Albania is at all
times untrustworthy; the Albba-
nians themselves have no means
of giving their own account of
events. It is particularly so in
times of strife; but there seems
to be little doubt that the seven
tribes of the mountains of North-
ern Albania — collectively, the
Malissori—are involved in a war
of extermination with the Turk-
ish army. The new broom of
Young Turkey is seeking to
sweep away the practical autono-
my which the tribes have pre-
served from time immemorial
against Greek emperors, Slav
barbarians, Norman barons, Ve-
netian admirals and Ottoman sul-
tans. Little success hus crowned
the Turkish arms in their open
conflicts with these untameable
mountaineers. The Gheg’s sole
interest and lifelong study is
guerilla war, and if it could ever
be said of a soldiery that it was
invineible, it could be said of
these haggard mountain hawks,
to whom the crags and gorges of
a land which has to the Turks all
the terrors of Eblis are as familiar
of a fireside. But large numbers
of the men, women and children
of the tribes are surrounded in
marshes of the Bregumatia, and
are dying quickly of fever; others
are surrounded on the heights
and are dying of hunger. Atom
miles off the Malissori of Norte
negro, a small but active section
of the population of the little
state, are watching the extermi-
nation of their race. It is easy
to understand, therefore, that the
situation is like a charged mine,
and that Montenegro is a percus-
sion cap. Will King Nicholas
maintain neutrality while the
Turks establish an efficient mili-
tary occupation of his frontiers—
hitherto protected by the practical
autonomy of the Ghegs? What
Powers are interested to restrain
him or to.spur him on to in-
tervene? The answers must’ be
sought, it seems, on the eastern
littoral of the Adriatic. That the

steams along that coast of stony

Austria, Ttaly and Russia wheel-
ing and prowling up and down.
Turkish torpedo-boats the while,
with new-found efficiency, shep-
herd the movements of barges
laden with troops, passing now

fresh insurrection amongst the
south,
is often forgotten is the strong

coast, which runs parallel for so
great a distance to her own, and
so near that a few hours’ steam
will bridge the gap at any point,
Sentiment still counts for much
in the polities of a nation which

tothe strength of an emotion,

to Dalmatia and Northern Alba-
nia. She cannot forget the cen-
turies of the magnificence’ of
Venice, when Italian admirals
set sail from the Riva dei Schia-
voni, the Slavs’ quay, to rout the
Slav pirates out of their Dalma-
tian stron ngholds, and Italian gal-
diers and. statesmen held and
ruled the coast. from Zara to
Corfu. The monuments of their
sway are. there to keep those
memories green. At Spalato, at

of. the ‘atee] seaport towns, the’
Lion of St. Mark can still be seer |
on old fortifieations and, over!
palace doors. At Cebenigo ahid-|

marble from the ‘hands of the
craftsmen of the golden age of.
Venice, the artists of the Gesuiti:
At Corfu the. black buttresses of;
the seaports —~ which, crowned!
| with cypress | arid: olive, Bra: Ot,

the town’s chief ornament—show.

5 the Trait at the power of Venlo:

Powers think. so themselves is|§
obvious to the traveler; as he/%

islands, brown mountains and|
blue bays, he sees warships from | J

from the northern ports to face |§
quieter tribes of Epirus and the |é
’ A factor in the situation which |

interest of Italy in this opposite] J

owes its independence or its unity | |

and historic sentiment binds Itaiy | J

Cattaro, ii many a narrow ‘alley Pek mo

den church survives, shining with | ae

and the point at which its grip
closed upon the throat of the
Adriatic, But there are more
practical and living elements in
Italy’s interest in the eastern
littoral, The trade of Dalmatia,
and to a less extent of Albania,
is in Italian hands, In the babel
of tongues which is heard Italian
is the language of commerce. In
Dalmatia the officials and the
garrisons speak German, and the
common people Croat or dialects
of Slav. In Albania Turkish is
the official language, and Alba-
nian is that of the country folk,
with Greek to help them out when
you get as far south as Epirus.
But everywhere the shopkeepers
and traders are Italian, and
Italian is, so to-speak, the civi-
lised speech upon which men of
different race fall back when they
have arrived at the extremities
of misunderstanding. The small
coasting trade is in the hands of
the bragozzi of Brindisi, Aneona
and Bari, the heavy barges with
their orange sails which flit back-
wards and forwards, bringing
the produce of a rich land to one
arid, unfertile and poor. The

i chief markets of the mountainous

district which stretch back from
the coast are along the quays of
the little seaports. The bragozzi
arrange themselves there in or-
der, and the skippers sell their
merchandise of meat, fruit and
vegetables from booths impro-
yised in the stern. Any money
passes — Austrian, Hungarian,
Italian, Greek or -French—and in
the rapid miscalculation of ex-
changes the nimble-witted Italian
finds an extra source of profit at
the expense of the puzzled moun-
taincers, Of more obscure politi-
cal influences’ in Montenegro or
the cities of Epirus nothing need
be said here. On the surface, it
is clear enough to the seafarer in
these parts that the civilization
of the coast, such as it.is, comes
from Italy. It is so, even in Dal-
matia, where the civil govern-
ment is that of Austria-Hungary
—no feeble engine,

The special interests and anx-
ieties of Austria become, per-
haps, most apparent at Cattaro.
She, the bearer of so many un-
remunerative burdens, has made
herself responsible for the gov-
ernment of the coast down to
this point. As far as her rule
extends she has brought civil
order and good administration,
and the sharp Italians have cut

in from across the Adriatic to

reap the material fruits of her
achievement. In the Austrian
ports there are good quays, fine
buildings and the beginnings of
railways andindustries. Assoon
as Turkey beging there begins,
too, the picturesque filth of Asia
and the Middle Ages. From Cat-
taro to Durazzo is a voyage of
only 70 miles or so, but of seven
centuries. Austria may well be
proud of her achievement, and
justly consider herself entitled to

maintain her ground. Cattaro is
the difficulty, Montenegro = has
also some claims to be proud of
herself, and, geographically. and’
ethnographically, Cattaro is on
Montenegrin ground. The har-
bor is a matchless one. Ships
approaching it steam for an hour
or more up a deep blue fjord of
many branches. where there is
safe anchorage for every ship in
the Mediteranean, At the end
lie the quays of the little port, as

upon the shores of a lake. The
town is stil] but a handful of an-
cient houses and Greek churches
huddled under mediaeval city
walls, but it is capable of becom-
ing, and perhaps destined to be-
come, the most popular pleasure
of the eastern coast. Above the
manding it, runs a sharp moun-
tain ridge, ‘and along that ridge
runs the Montenegrin frontier.
Behind lies Cetinje, the capital,
ten times nearer to the Austrian
outpost than to the miserable
open roadstead of Montenegrin
Antivari. How, then, can there
be any identity of policy between
Austria and the little state, the
cream of whose territory she has
skimmed? Walking from ‘Cat-
taro a few miles up the hill to the
Montenegrir frontier, a traveler
meets a guard of mountaineers
sitting on their eyrie, gazing out
over the long inlet, their birth-
right, where the black and yellow
flag is flying,
him to understand the traditional
alliance between their land and
distant Russia, and why Austria is

to mix himself and his army with
troubles which disturb the status
quo.

In such wise are the neighbor-
ing nations playing their parts
on the shores of the Adriatic—
Austria with much to lose, Italy
with much to gain, and Monte-
negro a lucifer match in the pow-
der magazine. Great interests
are involved, but, after all, none
can he greater than that the
‘Ghegs should be preserved from
ruthless extermination, To see
them quickens sympathy, and
gives substance to an. abstract
dislike for ravage and- massacre.
Physically the finest race in Eu-
rope, in character the most abnor-
mal, they are a possession Europe
cari ill afford tolose in. these days
when civilization tends to elimi-
nate ell special characteristics,

them. On the- one side is the

breeches,.a leopard in body with
the spirit of. an eagle; on the
other is the Turko- Circassian
pasha, pallid of countenance.
rounded in outline. the embodi-
ment of flabbiness, This corpu-
lent person is using his conseript
army to commit barbaritiés in the
interests of racial domination,
barren uniformity, and the ex-

[Continued on page 3]

resort and most prosperous port!

town and yound.the hay, com-|

The sight teaches;

net likely to encourage their King |:

and all peculiar distinction-with |.

Gheg, six foot six in his baggy.

a —\
maces For | a good =

Book o or
Magazine

—

Adams’ Drug Store

The Choicest Stationery,
Chocolates and Imported
Cigars.

I Mason Adams
DRUGGIST
Hazelton: :

mmm gO tO

\K

Royal ~
Soft Drinks

are made here --- "None. better
made anywhere"

Try or Ginger Ale
Lemon Soda

» Cream Soda
On Sale Everywhere

Royal Bottling Works

. Hazelton, B. C.

The Coffee
House.

q Where everything is well
cooked and appetizing,

- Our Pies, Cakes,. Cookies,
Doughnuts, Bread ond Buns, are
thé best, .

Try 2 pound can of our Special
Blend Coffee.. There is none bet-
ter anywhere,

Hazelton Bakery

{ Opposite Hazelton Hotel }

‘Quality Right

SARGENT’S

Prices Right

! Automobile Scarfs :

The’ latest. and most sensible fad of the season is “the:

Automobile Scarf. -

large and varied assortment, in which you wil find one |
to suit you.

Mackinaw Suits —

We have

just placed on sale a

ofp,

ws

For the cold weather’ which will s soon + be here Mackinaw |

Suits are the proper thing.
and, manufacture.

Wagon Covers a
The. rainy season calls for wagon covers, » which. are ex-

ceeding useful, being. convertible to many. uses.
have all sizes.

ra

Ours a are of the best material |

‘

We ay

Buggy Robes in variety
“The Famous Penetang Shoe Pacs :

R | $ S ARGENT . :

_ GENERAL MERCHANT”

pe fae