Long Distance
Of Unalakleet
Unalakleet, an Eskimo communi
ty bordering Norton Sound, an arm
of the Bering Sea, was united with
the rest of the world by telephone
on Friday, Sept. 14. The phone sys
tem was installed by Tundra Tele
phone Co., Inc., of Anchorage.
Teacher, Students
Make Ancient Find
A significant ancient artifact find
made recently near Donnelly Dome
along the Richardson Highway may
reveal clues to man’s activity in
Alaska from 8-10.000 years ago. The
find was made by a Fort Wain
wright schoolteacher and two school
age boys while on an outing.
They are Mike Brady, schoolteach
er, and former University of Alaska
anthropology student, and James,
age 11, and Glenn, age 10, MacDon
ald. sons of MSgt. and Mrs. William
MacDonald.
Items recovered from what ap
pears to be an ancient tool making
site, on a bluff overlooking the
Delta River and the Alaska Moun
tain Range, include an important
“core” from a flint rock that had
been chipped to make weapons.
Several other pieces of flint were
■also found. Flint is not native to
that area, and the men who worked
It probably got it through barter.
If the find turns out to be as old,
©r older than now thought, it would
mean that man. possibly forefathers
©f today’s Interior Indians, existed
north of the Alaska Mountain Range
at a time when glaciation in the
range was even more substantial
than it is today.
It has long been speculated that
Interior Alaska was ice free during
the great “Ice Age’1 that covered
much of North America; and was a
haven for animals and the ancient
men that hunted them.
for Village
Now Working
Unalakleet Mayor Frank Degnan
made the first call out on the new
system. It was a "conference call
hooking up the office of the Tun
dra Times and radio station KFRB
in Fairbanks, and the offices of
Frank Ditto, president of Tundra
Telephone, and Col. Harold L.
Hughes, commander of the Alaska
Communications System in Anchor
age.
The new phone system is part of
an expanding communications net
work being installed in remote Alas
kan communities. Tundra Telephone
already has systems in Bethel and
McGrath, and is in the process of
installing a system in Barrow. All
long-distance calls go over the Air
Forces Alaska Communications
System.
Phone systems placed in the com
munities are fully automated, re
quiring only part-time attention of
a maintenance man. Rates vary be
tween $9-$20 per month. The rates
are regulated by the Alaska Public
Service Commission.
Shortly after Degnan placed his
historic call, Howard Rock, editor
of the Tundra Times, answered the
phone in his Fairbanks office. He
congratulated Degnan on the pro
gress of his community, and the
good that could come from the new
system.
Martha Teeluk, an incorporator
of the newspaper, also talked to
Degnan. partly in Eskimo, from the
Tundra Times office.
Ditto and Col. Hughes also talked
with Degnan. KFRB put five min
utes of the conversations on the air.
Village news and happenings are
welcomed by the Tundra Times.
If you run across something in
teresting pertaining to your area, i
then write it up. and send it to—the
Tundra Times, Box 1287, Fairbanks,
Alaska.
I WOULD LIKE TO BUY OLD ALASKAN
TRADE TOKENS, "BINGLES" AND TRADING BEADS
FOR MY COLLECTION
Write Caro McDowall
2404 Darby Ave., Anchorage
From Barrow to Bethel, From Teller to Tok, It's
DONALSON COMPANY
for Fish Nets, Sewing Skins, Dog-team and
Trapping Supplies
We buy raw furs and seal skins
P.O. Box 845
Anchorage, Alaska
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Help Alaska's own industry keep growing
by sending us your seals you now have.
We need them right now to fill our orders.
Martin Victor Furs, Inc.
506 Third Ave.
Fairbanks, Alaska
Lady Reporter
Visits Times
“Alaska has more contrasts, more
things happening than any other
states. Though so large, you are
closer to important events because
you see people in high offices who
come through your city,” said Jean
nette Bradley of the Palo Alto (Cali
fornia) Times. “There are so many
people in our area that important
people get overlooked, but you up
here can meet them without any
trouble.”
Emphasizing Alaska as a prime
news source, she said, “For instance,
when that prominent miner was
killed by a bear, the story was on
the front page of the Palo Alto
Times.”
Jeannette was impressed with the
people, their friendliness, and the
cooperation she received while
gathering news material. She even
had a two-hour ride in a bush
plane with a real bush pilot.
Obviously well pleased with her
[ trip Jeannette said, “Someday, I
hope to come back to Alaska.”
She spent about a week in the
Fairbanks area gathering stoi'y ma
terial for her paper. She went to
Anchorage on a bus, “so I can see
more of the country.” From there,
she planned to go to Juneau and
Ketchikan.
j Palo Alto Times has 40,000 circu
! lation, Jeannette said, and has two
sister papers, the Redwood City
Tribune and Burlingame Advance
Star. The three papers cover the
whole Bay area around San Fran
cisco.
|U-A Museum Sets
I Decernber Open ing
| Ever since the University of Alas
ka decided to move the Museum
from the third floor of the Eielson
Building to the old gymnasium
building, it has been flooded with
phone calls from people who want
to know when it will again open.
According to the university, the
remodeling and moving will be
completed in December. The new
quarters will be in larger and more
accessible location on the first floor |
of the old gym.
“We are completely remodeling
the interior of the building to get
maximum exhibit space,” said Mu
seum Director Lou Rowinski, “We
realize that the Museum is a popu
lar place for Fairbanks residents
to bring out-of-town guests and re
gret that the Museum must be
closed for an extended period. We
are rushing the work as much as
j possible.”
THE BEST, THE NEWEST l
16MM FEATURE FILMS
for your village movie shows
write DICK NORMAN
j. at
PICTURES, INC.
! 811 8th Ave., Anchorage
Serving Alaska Since 1939
i
1 ________
FIRST BIRCH BOARDS—Robert Pickrell, left, of Ketchikan, an of
ficer in the Alaska Loggers Assn, is shown examining a birch board
at the sawmill of Guy Lindsey, right, located on the Chena Hot
Springs Road near Fairbanks. Lindsey is experimenting with sawing
Interior Alaska birch into lumber. The birch is said to be of excellent
quality. His work may be the fore runner of a new Interior in
dustry. —Tundra Times Photo
S.E. Loggers Predict Timber
Industry for Interior Alaska '
Twelve members of the Alaska
Loggers Assn., including nine of the
group's officers, met in Fairbanks
the weekend of Sept. 6-8, and be
fore leaving many of the woodsmen
predicted that Interior Alaska may
soon begin taking a greater part in
the state’s timber industry.
Though the group mostly repre
sented Southeastern Alaska “big
timber’’ operators, they conceded
that the smaller spruce and birch j
forests of the Interior hold promise
. . . mostly for house logs, pulp and j
plastics, though some lumber po- i
tential is evident.
One of the highlights of the visit I
included a tour, arranged by the :
State Division of Lands, of the Guy |
Lindsey sawmill, on the Chena Hot j
Springs Road, near Fairbanks.
Though joking that the establish
ment was a long way from being
competitive with the big mills of
the Panhandle, they did note that
Lindsey is making a fine showing
in his handling of native logs for
houses and lumbed. Lindsey dem
onstrated the mill to the group,
which took special note of a home
! made lathe used to turn whole logs
into a finished home building ma
; terial.
The group also visited the now
; Northern Forest Experiment Station
j at the University of Alaska, oper
i ated by the U.S. Forest Service.
| and several flew over the proposed
Rampart Dam inundation area
along the Yukon River, to see the
j forest in that area.
! Though a complete forest survey
i of the timber potential in the In
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Atmosphere of Friendliness
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Preferred by All Travelers
517 2nd Dial 452*2105
i terior has not been made, it hae
long been known that Interior Alas
ka holds the bulk of the state's
I timber. Though the trees are small
er than those in Southeastern, there
are more of them, spread over a
much larger area.
A pickup in the industry would
mean many jobs for people living in
the Interior, particularly natives,
who are already familiar with the
woods, and many of the tools used
in harvesting trees.
COUNTRY TOP TEN
IMake This World Go Away
Ray Price (Columbia 42827)
2 8x10
Bill Anderson (Decca 31522)
3 A Million Years or So
Eddy Arnold
(RCA Victor 8207)
4 We Must Have Been Out
of Our Minds
George Jones & Melba
Montgomery
(United Artists 575)
5 Not So Long Ago
Marty Robbins
(Columbia 42831
6 You Can’t Take the Country
Out of the Boy
Bob Luman (Hickory 1219)
7 Tell Her So
Wilburn Bros. (Decca 31520'
8 Faded Love
Patsy Cline (Decca 31522)
9 My World’s Losing You
Roy Drusk.v & Kitty Wells
(Decca 31523)
1 Don’t Let Her See Me Cry
j ■ U Leftv Frizzel
(Columbia 42839)
The Music Shop
FREE record cleaning cloths
with all mail orders mentioning
“Country Top 10”
Box 1068, Fairbanks
Next to Nordale Hotel