fir. The most valuable timber Is the yellow cedar; there is also balsam fir, used for tanning, but the wood of universal use is the Sitka or Alaska spruce, which grows in a stunted form even up to the Arctic circle.
Agriculture. Alaska claims only that she can supply her present population with its agricultural needs. Experiments have demonstrated that oats, wheat, rye, barley, potatoes, turnips, beets, lettuce, radishes, etc., have been planted, and nearly all reached perfection in the brief summer. In the Yukon Valley are wild berries of great variety, wild celery, wild parsnip, beautiful ferns, purple lupine and red columbine, yellow lilies on the ponds and iris on the banks,
Fisheries. The fisheries of Alaska are among the richest in the world; more than half of the salmon product of the United States comes from Alaska, while cod, mackerel, halibut and herring are found. The Pribyloff Islands are the seat of the fur seal industry of Alaska. The number of seals to be killed each year is fixed by regulation of the secretary of the treasury.
Education. Alaska has 35 public schools, and the Protestant and Catholic church organizations have their missions, churches and converts.
History. The peninsula and strait were discovered in 1728 by Vitus Bering, a Danish navigator in Russian service. The first settlement was made in 1784 on Kadiak Island at Three Saints, and in 1799-1800 the important one at Sitka. In 1867 the United States bought the territory from Russia for $7,200,000, and took formal possession on October 18th the same year.
Boundary Dispute. The United States and Russia claimed joint ownership of Bering Sea as an inland body of water to protect their seal fisheries. This Great Britain would not allow, for she had Canadian sealing interests to protect. At length in 1902 a protective agreement was entered into between the two nations.
Besides, there was an old contention as to the United States and Canadian boundaries which was never urged because the districts in debate were regarded as worthless. The discovery of gold in 1896-97 revived the question and forced a settlement. On September 3, 1903, the Alaskan Boundary Commission met in London, and on October 20, 1903, the official report was signed by the British and American commissioners, the Canadians refusing. The majority ruled, However, and the report was substantially in favor of the United States. By the decision the gold fields are part in Canada and part in the United States, but the Pacific coast-line is wholly within the control of the United States.
Cities. Juneau, in the southern district, near Douglas Island, is the capital (population 1,644); the other chief towns are Nome City, at Cape Nome on Norton Sound, opposite St. Michael (population 2,600), Sitka, on Baranof Island in Sitka Sound (population 1,039), Skaguay City near the head of the canal (population 872), and the chief mart where the miners purchase their supplies on their way north, by the Chilkoot Pass, overland to the gold mines of the Klondike and the Yukon.
Alaska is provisionally divided into two districts, the northern and the southern, the census of 1910 giving the territory a total population of 64,356.
Albani, Madame (Marie Louise C. E. Lajeunesse), a famous soprano and prima donna, was born at Chambly, near Montreal, Canada, November 1, 1850. After an education at Montreal, Paris and Milan she made her debut at Messina, in 1870, in Bellini's opera of La Sonnambula. In 1878 she married Ernest Gye, the English impresario. In 1897 sne was awarded the Beethoven gold medal by the London Philharmonic Society.
Albania (al-bd'ni-a) is the southwestern part of European Turkey. It is about 290 miles long from north to south, and from 40 to 50 miles in width. The country is mountainous, and is noted for its underground rivers and beautiful lakes. The Albanians are mountaineers and many of them brigands.
Albano (al-bafnd), a lake, mountain and town in Italy, situated about 15 miles southeast of Rome. The town (known as the Roman Alba'num) is built on the slope of the Alban mountains, on the site of Pompey's villa. It is noted for the beauty of its surrounding scenery and for the interest it possesses for the classicist and antiquarian. Population between 6,000 and 7,000.
Albany (al'ba-rii), the capital of the state of New York, is situated on the west bank of the Hudson River, 142 miles above New York City. It was settled by the Dutch in 1614, and was the first settlement, after Jamestown, within the thirteen colonies. In 1624 a Fort Orange was built, and the village which grew up around it was named Beaverwyck. This was changed in 1646 to Wiltemstedt. When captured by the British in 1664, the name was changed to Albany. The city was chartered in 1686. It is an important distributing point for trade from the west. It has a large trade in fruit, lumber, grain and wool, and extensive manufactures of iron, stoves, shoes and other products. It has many fine public buildings, of which the most notable is the state capitol, a magnificent structure, built of granite, at a cost of over $24,000,000. It is the seat of the State Normal College, Albany Institute, the medical and law schools of Union College
