Woes of Natives
Persecuted by Their Old Enemy - Whalers Involved

The history of outrages on the natives of the Alaskan and Siberian coasts is as old as the time when the whaling industry was begun by the white man; and time has only lessened the number and virulence of the outrages because the whaling industry has waned, and, perhaps, whalers have become more humane with the passing of the years, says the Nome Nugget.

But ... the era of debauchery and drunkenness and murder has not passed...

...according to a story, which is well vouched for, an attempted outrage on two native girls, only last Thursday, on a whaler in the Nome roadstead, was only prevented by the fierce fight made by the mother of the girls and the girls themselves. The captain of the whaler whose name is mentioned in this connection has a reputation all over the Bering Sea coast that is notorious. He is alleged to be the "black devil" of the natives...

This man is captain Newth, of the whaler Jeannette. The whaler arrived in the roadstead a few days ago, and on Thursday she was visited by... one Apoweah, with his wife and two daughters, aged 9 and 13 years...

According to the story told by Apoweah... Captain Newth gave him some hootch, and then attempted to get his two little girls to go down to his (Newth's) cabin. They resisted with all their might, and their cries brought their mother to their rescue and with some difficulty she got them off the ship. Apoweah came ashore with them and reported the attempted abduction of the girls, for he alleges it was Newth's intention to sail to the Arctic with the victims on board the whaler...