at public auction, in accordance with the rules governing such sales, with the result that many natives are now receiving full value for their goods. The proceeds of all sales are sent to the individual natives, applied to the settlement of their accounts with the Seattle merchants, or placed to their credit in savings banks, as requested, and detailed account is kept of all transactions. The net proceeds of the furs, ivory, and whalebone thus sold in Seattle for the natives during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1914, was $4,615.90. The captain of the vessel which for the past seven years has made the annual delivery of supplies to settlements along the Arctic coast of Alaska has carried many tons of food supplies, packages of clothing, and household goods, purchased with the proceeds of the sale of furs and other commodities sent out by the natives during the previous summer. All transactions in connection with these sales, purchases, and shipments have hitherto been carried on under the general oversight of the chief of the Alaska division of the Bureau of Education, acting as a private individual. This philanthropic action, inaugurated as an emergency measure, has now received official sanction by the Department of the Interior and has been made part of the official duties of the chief of the Alaska division, who is under bond for the faithful performance of the same. During the summer of 1913 the natives of Tatitlek, under the instruction and supervision of the teacher, conducted a successful experiment in salting and exporting salmon bellies. The Bureau of Education provided the fishing equipment, including a drag seine and two gill nets, and a wholesale dealer in salt fish in Seattle furnished the salt and barrels and guaranteed the natives stipulated prices for the various species of salmon. This industry was continued during 1914, and 165 barrels of salted salmon bellies were exported during the season. The waters of Alaska teem with fish, and throughout its vast area wild berries grow in profusion. In the native villages, according to the ancient practice, the fish for winter use are either dried in the sun, crudely smoked, or buried in the earth, while the berries are preserved in oil. In order to replace these primitive methods, during the summer of 1914 steam-pressure home-canning outfits for use in preserving fish and meat, as well as berries and vegetables, were sent to Mountain Village, on the Yukon River, and to Klukwan and Metlakahtla, in southeastern Alaska. It is hoped that many natives will buy such outfits; their general use can not fail to have a beneficial effect upon the health of the native communities. The Bureau of Education fosters the establishment of cooperative enterprises owned and managed by the natives themselves. That the natives can, under proper supervision, successfully conduct |