SCHLOTFELDT RECALLS EARLY DAYS IN FAIRBANKS AS TELEGRAPHER
, By Paul (Ip) Lien
Back in the late twenties,
getting weather reports on time,
tnd accurately, was as important
to our bush pilots as the good
running condition of their air
planes.
One of the fellows who dished out
■\ -ather to intrepid fliers was Leo
F'-h! feldt. pioneer trucking and
« xpressman in Fairbanks.
Schlotfeldt was born in Buckley,
tv ash. Nov. 8 1908. the son of a
Dutch dairy farmer. Ke had seven
brothers and sisters.
After graduating from high
school in Enumclaw. Wash., in 1925.
Schlotfeldt stayed on the farm a
year or two. and then joined the
< Id Signal Corps branch of the
VS. Army. He stayed in training
i r nine months in Seattle.
Sammy
Safety
Sez:
Cojrtesv:
J Fairbanks Health and Safety Council
Immunity is not much help—
"When you are in the water
'WITHOUT a life preserver . . .
Someone has to be the “other
jelloic" to u'hom accidents hap
pen.
* * *
CLEAN-VP: Now that we have
came through the initial phase of
Clean-Up and some of us are well j
spattered in the Paint-Up process,
let's KEEP IT UP and have the
greater Fairbanks area looking bet
ter than ever ...
* * *
BICYCLE LICENSES: Licenses
tor bikes are a good source of ac
countably and a big help in re
covery. in the event your bike is
stolen . . . Bicycle licenses can be
obtained any time during the day
at the Police Station. 12th and Noble
^ * * *
State highway laws, including the
new anti-litter law. will be discussed
when Jim Couch, Council public
relations director, interviews State
Police Copt. William Trafton at 6
p.m. Thursday during the Fairbanks
Health and Safety telecast on KTVF.
* * *
LIFE PRESERVERS, life vests, or
v hat you may call them, when being
■worn in a boat are a sign of com
mon sense. Several friends and
neighbors have been lost in the
Chena and Harding Lake in recent
years. None was wearing a life
preserver at the time of the acci
dent. We don't say a life vest makes
drowning impossible. We do know
it makes survival a lot more prob
able . . . JSC . . .
r
In those days messages were
transmitted to Seattle from Seward
via Ketchikan by underseas cable.
Seward, Then Frirbanks
Being instructed in the use of
the cable. Schlotfeldt was sent to
Seward in 1927. He stayed there
for a year or so. learned telegraphy,
and finally wound up in Fairbanks
in 1928 as a clerk and telegrapher
in the downtown office.
He had qualified to do telegraphy
instead of radio and cable work.
Messages in those days were tele
graphed to Seward, then transmitted
by cable to Ketchikan, where they
were relayed to Seattle.
Quarters for the Signal Corps
men in 1923 were near the old tow
er. part of which stands on the banks
of the Chena. near the old location
of the Independent Lumber Co.
Besides having the telegraph line,
the Signal Corps used wireless ra
dio and took messages from Ft. Yu
kon. Circle. McGrath. Pt. Barrow.
Nome and Kotzebue.
‘•Other men who worked with me
in Fairbanks were Sgt. (now re
tired Captaim Clarence Woofter.
Set Registration
For Homemakers
Course June 3
The 13th Annual Homemakers'
Short Course will ooen with regis
tration in Hess Hall on the Uni
versity of Alaska campus this Sun
day, according to Miss Agnes Sun
nell, state home economics leader
with the Cooperative Extension
Service.
Monday’s activities will include a
business meeting, the formal open
ing of Short Course by President
William R. Wood, and a tea at the
home of Dr. and Mrs. Wood.
Tuesday will see the homemakers
getting down to work with a ses
sion on program planning, featur
ing Mrs. Helen Turner, assistant di
rector of the Division of Home Eco
nomics in the Federal Extension
Service. Washington, D C.
Gerald Fasbender. immigration
officer in Fairbanks, will follow
with a class on “Citizenship Is Our
Heritage.”
The rest of the morning will offer
a wide selection of workshops for
the homemakers. Topics include
“Applied Art for Homemakers"
taught by the University's visiting
Carnegie scholar. Ronald Senunge
tuk; “The Pre-School Child”: “Know
Our Rocks and Minerals": and “Per
sonal and Family Finance."
Afternoon sessions will eovei
communications, kitchens and kiteh
en storage, hat making, and new
fabrics and sewing techniques.
Let us give your home
a 'new lease' on beauty
An expert paint job inside or
outside your home (or both)
will make it more attractive,
livable, hike re-sale value!
Get our free estimate.
Phillip Sundquist
PAINTING CONTRACTOR
117 Eureka—Dial GL 6*4089
Cliff Fellows. George Moran. Bill
Glasgow and Sg*. Ralph Reeser. Bill
Growden, who is well-known here.
worked the station at Ruby.
“What made our work more im
portant in those days was that air
plane pilots had to have weather
reports from all points in Alaska.
“We handled weather, not only
for the bush pilots, but covered
weather for the Wilkins Expedition.
LEO SCHIOTFELDT
—Photo by J.Y. Studio
| the Fox Film Group, Post and Cat
ty's round-the-world flight—and
other flights too numerous to men
tion.
Interference a Problem
“Here we had a problem.*’ said
Schlotfeldt, “because there was so
much interference.
Dangerous Raft
For Small Tots
For two years now there has been
a large, attractive, awning-covered
pontoon raft tied up to bushes at
the 40-Mile Street river bank
(Graehl) and, strangely enough, not
even the present high water has
tom it from its moorings.
However, it is a dangerous piece
j of river equipment for children to
j play on. and Graehl is noted for its
Cvet-abundance of small-fry playing
' along the Chena River banks.
No one claims ownership of the
raft, which is a valuable one. but
n i- q e*»riain*v it could vanish over
night. soon, before tragedy strikes,
as its moorings are weakening.
“This was the time of spark sets
and much interference.
“The equipment was obsolete—
and we had a lot of difficulty in
getting messages.
Used Imagination
“Actually—we had to fill in a lot
of the messages, just using our own
imagination.
“\V» had H men in this area to
run the downtown office and the
relay station near the old saw mill.
oi our ousmess came from
the Northern Commercial Co., Lav
ery & Eailey. and the Weather Bu
reau. of which Howard Thompson
was in charge with Jack Frost as
his assistant.
“One flight. I recall, which was
for the Army, was that of Capt Ross
Hoyt, who flew a single-seater Cur
tis fighter plane from New' York
to Nome.
“On his return flight Capt. Hoyt
had engine trouble—and bailed out
near Telegraph Creek in Canada.
“When Eielson was lost in Novem
ber 1929 we really went into busi
ness.
Reports Needed
“Weather reports w-ere needed on
the hour—twenty-four hours a day.
“One fellow who treated me real
nice w’as Charlie Thompson, who
was a partner w’ith Jimmy Rode
baugh and A. A. Bennett in the Ben
nett-Rodebaugh Co. He did this be
cause he said, ‘I gave him good
weather.’
“One time I got jammed with
traffic messages from Thompson in
the Weather Bureau and tossed his
messages in the waste basket in
order to get messages out for Lav
ery and Bailey and the N.C. Co.
“Weather had a priority and if I
hadn't I’d never have gotten the
revenue messages out. most of which
were orders to catch a sailing out
of Seattle.”
In 1931 Schlo'feldt went to work
for the Fairbanks Exploration Co.
as a winchman. He worked under
H. E. Hopkins at Chatanika.
In 1932 he married Agnes Hering,
member of a pioneer Fairbanks
family. They lived at Gilmore and
Chatanika until 1941 when th war
broke out.
Schlotfeldt ws unable to enter
the Service during the war because
of age and family, so went t work
at Ladd Field as a machinist in
Hangar No. 1.
Enters Hauling Business
In 1943 Schlotfeldt went ir.i > the
hauling business, taking ever the
Sourdough Express, which he still
owns. Starting out. he had himself
and two others in the business.
He hauled wood. coal, ore from
the mines and general cartage. Later
he hauled the first fuel oil in Fair
banks.
His office was at the nresent
location of the Polaris Building.
Today Schlotfeldt not only owns
Sourdough Express, but also is a
part owner in Denali Transporta
tion and Fidelity Warehouse, and
has other interests, one being a di
rector in the Northward Building.
He is a Pioneer of Alaska and be
longs to the Elks and Lions Clubs.
There are five children in the
| Schlotfeldt family: Leo Jr., who is
associated with his father in Sour
dough Express: Sue. who is now
Mrs. Richard Gregory, and Robert,
Dennis and Walter Patrick, who at
tend Monroe High School in Fair
banks.
For a guy w’ho came to Alaska as
a $21 a month telegraph operator,
•we think Leo Schlotfeldt, as an in
dividualist and sound businessman,
; has come a long way.
COMMANDER PUMPS
42 Gal. - FHA Approved ....Only $129.75
13 Gal. $109.75
4 Gal.. $ 99.25
Torgerson Bros., Inc.
1213 Second Avenue GL 6-5437
NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC
Garbage dump off Farmer's Loop Road on
campus of University of Alaska has been perma
nently closed to any and all public use as of last
Wednesday, 23 May 1962k
Anyone violating restrictions on dumping ref
use on public highways, the University campus,
or adjacent private property will now be subject
to prosecution under the law by appropriate
State agencies.
This necessary action was taken with knowl
edge, approval, and support of official represen
tatives of
Residents of Ballaine Lake Subdivision
Alaska State Division of Public Health
Alaska State Division of Highways
Alaska State Police
Signed: WILLIAM R. WOOD
President
University of Alaska