AMERICANA Cities To See
Austin, City of Moonlight and Sunshine
A view of ttie Austin’s sky line from the Inter-regional Express way.
The sun shines all day In Texas, and there’s moonlight every night
in Austin.
It's no tall tale of Texas, they really "turn on the moonlight" at
dusk in Aims tin every evening. From the tops of twenty-seven cast
iron towers, scattered throughout the city, a misty silver glow shines
through oak leaves onto roof tops. When you first glimpse the Capital
City of Texas, either from the air or at the crest of one of the en
circling hills, the silvery-green lights look like fire-flies hovering
around the base of the Capitol dome that looms out of the center of
town.
Austin acquired the artificial
(hut never failing) “moonlight in
a trade for a railroad back in 1894.
The narrow gauge line had been
used to haul granite for the con
struction of the city’s first dam.
Short of funds to purchase a need
ed lighting system, the city made
a deal with an electric firm in In
diana, swapping the $50,000 rail
road for the 32 power lights that
solved the city's illumination prob
lem. The enchanting lighting sys
tem has been supplemented by
more modern, and less expensive,
white street lights, but Austin citi
sens won’t allow the towers to be
dismantled — 27 are still in use.
Austin, in the center of the big
State of Texas, is a beautiful city
«f some 187,000 population. It was
chosen for its beauty.
A center of education, Austin
boasts The University of Texas,
largest school in the South; St. Ed
ward’s University (often called the
Notre Dame of the South); Con
cordia Lutheran's College; Austin
; Presbyterian Theological Semi
nary; and the Episcopal Theologi
cal Seminary.
Great music is presented in an
nual concert series by the world’s
top artists and the Austin Sympho
ny Orchestra. The city’s 160
churches, from majestic cathe
drals to modern chapels, play a
dominant role in community life.
A new showplace, the Municipal
Auditorial, will be completed this
year.
Home from
Vacations
Miss Edna Swearengen,
Miss Joan Brandon and Mrs.
Nora Swearengen arrived in
Sitka last week, after com
pleting a most interesting
trip by car from North Dako
ta to Fairbanks and back to
H a i n e s. The ladies spent
some time is Banff and Jasper
National Parks in Canada,
visited friends in Fairbanks
and took in Mt. McKinley
National Park. And report
that the Alaska Highway is in
excellent condition in spite of
reports to the contrary.
Miss Edna Swearengen and
her Mother, Nora Swearengen
spent the summer months in
Carrington, N o r t h Dakota
a n d Miss Brandon joined
them there after a v isit to bos
Angeles.
Miss Swearengen and Miss
Brandon are both with the
Sitka Public Schools. Miss
Swearengen will teach 1st
grade this year and Miss
Brandon 3rd.
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Dick
erson and their two sons,
Gregg and Mark, returned to
Sitka last Friday having spent
most of the summer in Los
Angeles. The Dickersons also
made two very interesting
side trips to Arizona New
Mexico and Old Mexico while
in the South.
Although their vacation
w as most enjoyable the Dick
ersons are happy to be home
and are looking to the school
season. Mrs. Dickerson will
teach the 4th Grade and Mr.
Dickerson with Sitka High
School,teaching Social Science
and coaching the V a r s i t y
Team. The Dickerson hoys
will be in the 1st and 4th
grades this year.
THE TACKLE SHOP
for
Your Sharpe & Hart Rifle
REV. ROBERT H. HARPER
A SOFT AGE
QUITE a few persons in my
V hearing recently have talked
about the hard conditions of their
childhood, not in complaint but in
conviction that more hardness
might be beneficial to childhood
and youth today. For example, a
retired teacher, dodging the whiz
zing automobiles, remarked that
she walked a mile to a newly-es
tablished school in the town that
•ias since grown to be a city of
fifty or sixty thousand and all that
goes to make a city.
But in her school days, there
.vere no municipal buses, there
were muddy streets in winter and
dusty streets in summer. She
thought nothing of walking a mile
to school and a mile back, And she
finished at the Institute and later
graduated cum laude from the
State University.
Now the writer would not advo
cate a return to “the good old
days,” for they often lacked much
of goodness. But we cannot es
cape the conviction that there was
a wholesome discipline in hard
things and in the struggle to get
on the world. Let us not make
education and opportunity so easy
that there will be little appeal to
the sense of the heroic that is
latent in the human breast.
Edgecumbe
Alumni to be
Formed
Aii Edgecombe A I u in n 1
Association is to be organized
n the near future and all
E d g e c u in I) e High School
graduates and former students
will be invited to join and
participate in the activities ol
this new organization.
Out of 706 w ho have grad
uated from Ylt. Kdgeeumbe
High School since the first
graduating class in 1948, 116
are now residing in the Sitka
\lt. Edgecombe area. Many
former students, though not
g r a d u a t e s, of the Island
school are now living in this
area.
One of the mam purposes
ol this organization is to pro
vide a scholarship lor some
worthy Edgecombe Senior
student next spring.
Heading the organization is
Gil 'Truitt, a teacher at the Is
land School. Truitt is a 1948
graduate of Edgecombe. Gil,
the sports editor of the Baran
of B a li n e r, is an all-around
athlete and was captain of the
1948 Edgecombe basketball
rain. While at Harding Col
lege in Searcy, Ark., Truitt
was active in all sports.
They’ll Do It Every Time By Jimmy Hatlo
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We-The Pioneers
By one Jessica Mather
Another week-another scrap
of news!
Probably the most exciting
thing tiiat happened at the
Home this week and in fact,
in many a week, was the visit
of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Du
fresne from Olympia, Oregon
guests of Mr. and Mrs. Yaw.
The well known couple arriv
ed Friday, the 22nd and lelt
Monday, the 25th. Mrs. Du
frcsne whose pen-name is
“Klody Nelson” is an excel
lent writer whose latest book
Daughter of the Gold Rush
has been widely read, as, in
deed, have many of her other
work.
Frank Du 1 resne was with
the Chime Commission here
in Alaska or many years, and
is presently associate editor
of Field and Stream. It was
most exciting for us to meet
the Dufresnes who interview
ed the Pioneers and took
many pictures for their pro
jected article to appear in tile
Saturday Evening Post.
Two v acation ladies returned
this week; Mrs. Leslie Yaw
from a trip to Iowa and Min
neapolis and Mrs. Elsie Rine
hart from Seattle. When Elsie
left, flying her own plane, we
wished her well and hoped
that Cod would keep a hand
under her plane. We feel cer
tain. He did for she has made
a safe return.
This week brought the re
alization that we are all gel
ting a bit older three more
birthdays! Mrs. Jensina Peter
son, Mrs. Annie O'Conner
and Mrs. Carrie Parker had a
triple celebration last Thurs
day, August 21st the high
light of which was most de
I e c t a b 1 e chocolate cake,
cookies and tea served by
I ,, INDY” our wonderful
housekeeper. Lovely gift s
were received and a most in
teres ting puppet show was
given nv Mrs. Lois Fox, a
member of our staff. Music
was furnished by Ida Garner
then each of us in turn gave a
little talk on the most embar
assing incident in our life.
It was jolly good fun!
Among the part) guests were
Dr. Van DeBogart, a retired
Col i e g e President from
Salem, Oregon, his wife and
daughter, Florence.
Mrs. Beatrice Roberts, from
Ketchikan, w ho has had an
operation in the Sitka Com
munity Hospital, is expected
to remain a long while.
Mrs. Strut/ from Ketchikan
will be returning in about a
month though she was expect
ed this week. Mrs. Strut/ left
last April to visit in Ketchi
kan and Seattle.
Like the rest of Sitka we
had plumbing problems last
Saturday morning and over
t w o hundred o 1 d people
were very much disturbed.
Everyone was calling for Mr.
Yaw and there w as a good bit
of excitement about. It was
put right quickly through and
we returned again to our
usual peace and quiet.
Mrs. Patricia Parris, alter
the first of September, will be
quite busy with the care of a
h a b y for a few hours each
day. It will he a special plea
sure for all of us to have a
baby to talk about again and
even before the "sitting” be
gins the little girl has become
more or less part of this large
family of women.
Mr. Yaw went hunting with
his son one day last week. He
tells us he saw fifteen deer
but didn't fire a shot. Likely
story!
We have had several Elec
tion Vistors thispast weeks.
It's interesting to see the Lad
ies running for office. It seems
only yesterday when we con
sidered it a privilege to vote
let alone enter the political
arena actively and officially.
I’m far from being a feminist
but at the same time it is well
that we ladies express our
s e 1 v e s directly rather thas
playing the age old role of
that of “The Power Behind
Throne”.
The excellent weather has
permitted sitting in the gar
den this week. And aren’t the
fall flowers lovely.
And last but not least, we
“senior citizens” had a most
delightful surprise last Mon
Please Turn To Page 8
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Sitka Builders
Supply
Mile 1
Saw Mill Creek Rd
Making a Study of
Getting Ahead
First lesson in successful living is to learn
that systematic saving is usually indispen
sable to the achievement of any worthwhile
purpose.
First Bank of Sitka
THANE
YOU
"BRAD"
BRADSHAW