AN ITEM FROM ALASKA

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Aug 28, 1898

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 19, No. 42.

AN ITEM FROM ALASKA.

A LETTER from a missionary in Alaska to a lady in this city says that "Juneau has been a very unpleasant place for the past two years." Mr. Edwards, the Friends' teacher at Douglas Island, who was killed by whisky smugglers, is referred to. He was teaching among the Kalse Indians. The men who killed him were cleared by the jury, and his good name "traduced most shamefully." "His friend and successor in the Douglas Island School has been tarred and feathered by a lot of toughs for daring to say in a letter written to the East that Mr. Edwards was murdered, and for saying something about Alaska furies. It just seemed to loosen all the evil tongues, and the missionaries have had to bear many slanders." Poor natives are dealt with summarily, while white men who commit crime without provocation are acquitted. The present judge seems to be just, but it seems impossible to get a decent jury. May God give his servants power and courage to do the work he has committed to them.