Thkxxwkau " ;
A. N. B. PUBLISHING COMPANY
SUBSCRIPTION RATES.
The Alaskan, six months,... $2.50
Ihe Alaskan, per year ... $4.00
Published ever? Friday by the a. N. B. Publishing Co., Petersburg
Sintered In the Post Ofltae in Petersburg as Second Class matter.
HERE’S TO THE U. S. B. E.
This is a signed editorial. It is
signed so that all those who read
will know where the article comes
from and who is responsible. Real
ly, I have had to sneak the article
in. 1 was afraid that the manage
ment might hold the matter up,
and this for obvious reasons. The
President of all of the camps of
the A. N. B. is, also, the school
teacher of the Native children in a
U. S. B. E. school here in Peters
burg. The A. N. B. owns this pub
lication—THE ALASKAN. There
is a connection here that far fetch
ed officialdom might try to make
use of in a sort of elimination pro
cess. So, therefore, the editorial
bears the name of the writer. No
one else has anything to do with it.
It is all mine.
To begin with, I am going to
jump on school conditions here in
town. School conditions are bad
enough in other places, but for the
moment I’ll do my bit of grazing
in this particular pasture.
I have gone up on the hill several
times of late and sized up what is
known as the school for Native chil
dren. As an institution it is the
worst layout in the city. I am re
ferring to the building and its im
mediate surroundings. The school
building is old. The city used it
for a long time and abandoned it
for newer, bigger and more up-to
date structures. The United States
Buroau of Education took it over
and today that is where the Indian
children of the town are trying to
learn something between shivers of
cold, poor light and the danger of
falling through the floor. The
Bureau of Education has many
things to feel proud over, and this
layout here in Petersburg is cer
tainly one of ’em.
The sidewalks around the build
ing are a wreck. Many of the
planks are gone. The joi3ts arc
rotted off and broken. The founda
tions ’’just aren’t.” The view from
the streets is one that the city folk
are getting accustomed to and
tourists stand open mouthed ami
wonder over. Not so good. It’s
criminal. I understand that the at
tention of the higher-ups has been
called to this travesty, and the
wail comes back that nothing may
be done because the Alaska division
of the U. S. B. E. is broke. That’s
too bad.
Does the city of Petersburg school
its children in shacks because it
happens to be low in funds? Hard
ly. It has invested thousands oi
dollars in educational buildings.
It has gone wofully in debt t;»
do this, and in every possible way
has it reached out to build some
thing worth while, fitting and lat
ing. It has taken pride in stepping
up in line with other towns of its
size insofar as hou3ng, comfort,
light and school surroundings are
concerned. And directly in view ol
the big city school houses is the
miserable* day habitation of the
Indian children of the toWn. No
dirtier fling in the way of breeding
ostracism than this.
Broke!!
No money to do anything with.
No money to even buy coal or other
fuel to keep the teaching staff and
the children comfortable. The edu
cational division of the United
States broke,—a pauper!
This “broke” situation is the re
sult of one of five things, or pos
sibly, a combination of all of ’em
First. No rustling ability for ap
propriations. Too much weak voice
stuff when requesting funds to carry
on with and too much fear of job
losing If a voice louder than a1
whisper is made for actual operating
expenses.
Second. A “don’t give a damn’
attitude so far as Indian education
is concerned so long as salaries hold
out. So long as appropriations are
made for salaries what do we care
for appropriations for schooling Al
askan aborigines?
Third. Lack of confidence by the.
United States Congress. A feeling
that money invested in educating
the Native children of Alaska is
just that much thrown to the mala
mutes. Apparently ignorant of con
ditions and requirements through
neglect of the U. S. B. E. to pro
perly function.
Fourth. Using the Indian kids
of Alaska as stepping stones i.o
political positions. No particular
interest in education so long as jobs
are made passably secure and of
good pay.
Fifth. Lack of interest in mat
ters beyond a sort of display stuff
pulled for the passing traveler and
no particular call for funds outside
of just what this wool pulling will
cost.
Broke! Shame, shame.
No money to build a decent build
ing modernly lighted and heated
and equipped for the little Natives
who have as much right to educa
tional advantages as their white
brothers and sisters. As much right
did I say? Aye, and a better right,
for what they had we’ve taken
and we certainly owe them more
than a back hand slap in the tace
in a cold, gloomy, dismal, rotting
down shack of a school liouse(?).
Broke!
The salary of officialdom doesn’t
undergo any cut's. Seems to be
plenty of money to pay officials—
those who warm lofty perches; those
who look wise; those who talk edu
cation a little and politics much.
It is certainly bad enough in out
of the way places where few people
venture, but. here in the heart of
the city where all may see, the liv
ing quarters of the teaching staff
and the school, itself, are land
marks of disgrace and criminal
neglect. What’s^ going to be done
about it? Nothing, I guess. Tim
Division of the U. S. B. E. is broke.
Has no money to put up respectable
school buildings; has no money to
buy tuel to keep the shacks warm
Ex-Governor Bone, shortly after
lie left Alaska and went to the
States, had an article, under his
name, in The Saturday Evening
Post. In this article Mr. Bone didn't
pay very high compliments to any
of the government bureaus and he
said that the United States Bureau
of Education, Alaska Division, was
the weakest of the lot. Mr. Bone
had been in a position where the
doings of all the bureaus came
more or less before him. He didn't
see a great deal of good in the way
the U. S. B. E. carried on. And
he so remarked.
Now the Indian school, here, is
practically out of fuel. There is no
money to purchase coal enough r0
run the school year out. A re
quest will come before the city
council to supply coal—on its ac
count to carry out the term. I,
the coal is not provided the schoo
will soon close.
Broke!
The richest government beneath
the moon and stars; a government
so wealthy that its wealth is actual
ly a burden and it is, apparently,
satisfied with a shack for a school
house in Petersburg, and it gives
the order to close school, when the
littie pile of coal runs out, with a
sang-froid born of indifference and
callousness. Education of the kids?
Tut, tut, man. We're broke.
Naturally, one doesn’t expect
much from Dr. Tigert, the Com- '
missioner of Education, with head
quarters at Washington, D. C. The
Doctor is interested in politics first.
If there is any spare time he may,’
at intervals, shy a thought up Al
aska way. It doesn’t bother him
greatly, however. Then, the Doc
tor is much too lofty to pay much
attention to just Indians. What he I
has to do with Indians is little. j
What lie cares about ’em is less, i
As a master of education he’d make
a fair cracker drummer. When he
was first appointed the press, par- !
ticularly in the West, didn’t express ;
themselves in any great gobs of |
song for the successor to Commis
sioner Claxtftn. There has been no
occasion for any paeans of praise
since. He is strong for the lime
light, a speaker of dome ability and 1
his orbit is always in with the up •
per crust of society.
From the bureau office in Seattle
one gets the impression that there
is much too much Tigert utmos j
phore. Wagner fits in with Alaska, j
Native education like a square peg j
I fits in a round hole. He has had
|
little personal contact with the first
Alaska people, doesn't appear t >
have much interest and is willing,
apparently, to let thfngls slide so <
long as he isn't greatly bothered, j
The Seattle office is a nice place in
which to dr a v," salaries. Nothing
in i
coiisirucuve, oi mi . r< me our > ;
it. It is something like a morgu |
Beyond the Southeast Alaska I)i !
vision, in educational matters. I'm
not acquainted. But there is so !
much room for improvement in th" !
S. E. A. division that it is likel \
there is a lagging in the oth
divisions.
Juneau is the capitul of the ter ’
ritory. P’or a long time the Na j
live school there was a minature ,
affair within a biscuit throw of the !
government hospital. Some place [
for a school building, to be sure, i
How is the school building at |
Douglas? At Angoon? Are these '
institutions owned and operated oj (
the government, or by small, pov :
erty stricken districts? The school 1
building at Kake is practically- worn j
out by the wear and tear on years t
and weather. At one time it was i
fair for a school house. It was ;
certainly well built. It is like t
'lulling eye teeth to get even a j
shingle for it in 1 he line of repair j
work. And the living quarters I
tin re-—Kake. A botch job from j
the first and teachers have been ex
f
net t<*d to build over, improve, patch j
an»l make the place livable. This!
was made a line of duty in order
that the original building price i
which was greatly'exceeded wouldn't i
be added to.
* 'There was lots of money iu the
xxjuuuuife UUUUliig— SUllUUl ttlill
dwelling. The school building was ;
an abortion. Outwardly it has the
ippearance of a get-rich-quick man ’s
bungalo. It'was a hard building to !
heat, the basement a frost and th° ]
sanitation bad. 1 !
,
There you have it. Liots of money 1
'Oinetimes for some projects and 1
badly expended, at other times a *
crying need for funds and the \
bureau broke. ]
But there must be a new school ]
house at Petersburg, and that be ]
fore the thing now in use fall3 or. <
the heads of those compelled to <
live and attend school there. «
The great endeavor to make «
Metlakatla. the big industrial Indian *
School of S. E. Alaska shows how *
far the bureau will stubbornly go *
;n inflating its will and desires on }
the Natives of S. E. Alaska. One *
would think that the experiment at ♦
Hydaburg would have been a good ♦
lesson, dan it expect even a frac- «i
tion of the doubtful harmony at «i
Met lakatla Ihetre is at Hydaburg? i
I doubt it. s' ^
WILL A. BARROWS. ]
1______ <|
An American-woven cloth, for use $
in the manufacture of parachutes, j
equal In characteristics to any of J
the foreign cloth, which heretofore *
has been exclusively use in para- !
chutes, has been developed by the !
Bureau of Aeronautics of the De- !
pari ment f the Navy.
THE LOW DOWN ON THE STAFF
OF LIFE
Three-quarters of the price of a j
loaf of bread goes to the baker and
the retailer according to a recen! j
report of the Federal Trade Com- j
mission. For the past three years
i
the price of bread has been prae-'
tically 8.55 cents per pound. This j
is divided thusly: Farmer gets 1.15
cents for the grain. The miller
i
.41 cents for the grinding, the bakj
er 5.11 cents for the cooking, the ;
groceryman 1.28 cents for distrib- i
uting and the railroad and boats
.60 cents for transportation. The
groceryman gets more for a loaf by
the simple process of wrapping an 1
delivery (mostly over the counter ^
^ now days in the cities) than the
, farmer does for plowing, seeding,
harvesting, threshing, sacking and
| delivering. The baker gets more
i than four times as much. Where
• linkers sell direct, of course the pro
| fits are much greater. The trade
Commission found, on investigation,
hat the baking houses were doing
very nicely,, thank you. In fact it
reported that the average bread
price in the bakeries was about 25
p< r cent too high.
<>«> MUCH FOR THE LEAGUE
OF NATIONS
rile League of Nations is hardly
so much as a scrap of paper since
1 e Soviets of the United States of
Russia visited it. The League met
to talk about peace/ It was 3up
■cosed to be a deliberating body bent
on doing away with war and all
tilings directly or indirectly relat
ed to war. Litvinoff, the Soviet,
clumped in to the assemblage.
“Well, well,” he remarked. “A.regu
lar peace meeting hey? That’s fine
I’m something of a peaceful guy,
j tyself. What have you lads to of
i fer.”
i
Litvinoff was handed a copy of
the by-laws and constitution. H>
looked ’em over carefullv. “Not
l
so good," be murmured. “1 thought
you fellows wanted peace? If you
really understand all you know
about this business, I’ll make a real
peace proposition.’’ And he read
to the peace makers what Russia
, considered something worth while
” in this troubled world of ours. It
was this: Instant disbandment of
ALT, ARMED FORCES. The plac
ing of every soldier in ways con
structive instead of destructive. The
scuttling of all navies, the destruc
tion of all war planes and blimps
and the burning of all Avar muni
i tions. The League stood aghast
That was awful. The Soviet plans
|
were turned down quickly. They 3
weren’t treated at all respectfully
in great haste the big moguls of the
League adjourned. They were
afraid the Russians would spring
something else. It is evident now
that the League of Nations is a sort
of traveler’s club, where good wines J
are consumed, nice meals are gotten
outside of and much irrelevant gos
sip is carried on.
IT’S A BIG ONE
The Keratosaurus, a flesh eat
ing lizard of the Jurrasic age, is
seemingly with us yet. In the Cher
ski Range of Siberia, 180 by 680
miles,' it lives—or they say it does.
Over 100 feet long the hairy mon
ster is, and 80 feet of beam, and
it runs around with an adult cari
bou in its jaws as easily as you’d
carry a cracker in your teeth.
Whether this is an actuality or the
result of unripened vodka we don’t
pretend to say. Ages and ages ago
such things really walked the eartn
in plenty, but a living one now,—
well, the story of it it is out anyway.
!
HERE IS A GOOD GOOD POSITION!
FOR A REAL WORKER
We are offering Permanent Posi
i tiona to a few reliable men and wo
i
men, in which an excellent income
from side-earnings .even to PAR'!
TIME workers acn be made. During
our 35 years in business we have ap
pointed over 51S.000 agents who
vunnly our h.ousehold necessity to
lur customers in every country in
{ the world. Many of our agents
j have been with us over thirty years
and have achieved Financial Inde
pendence. Increasing local de
mands and repeat orders, make it
necessary to appoint more local re
presentatives in many localities in
J the United States. No special ex
j perience or capital required. A
(straight forward, dignified business
Why not represent the largest ana
best known house of its kind in the
world. Send us your address an 1
i the Manager of our Appointment
Bureau will send you FULL PAR
TICULARS. When we appoint an
j agent we furnish free samples for
i Trial Tests in the homes of your
■ locality, etc.
Address ALPHEUS BANCROFT
I WASHINGTON, D. C„ (Attention
!Clerk No. 1 ), 1 438 U (You)
j Street, N. W.
j_____
I
DRS. C. M. & R. L. CARLSON
Optometriste and Opticians
218 -19 Commercial Building
KETCHIKAN, ALASKA
Iks Spine
is the -Human
Switchboard
controlling
Health and
Vigor
HEART.
LUNGS-*
LIVER-—
STOMACH
PANCREAS
SPLEEN
ELS—
ENDIX
BLADDER—
/LOVER
ILIMBS
Chitvpractic
releases
~tAe
Porter
Within
DON’T T RIFFLE WITH MEAD
ACHE!
A headache may hurt so badly that
it seems the world is just cue big
ache. But do uot make the mistak ->
of trifling with that headache, of try
ing to deaden the pain with powders
or tablets.
For a headache is but a symptom
of a graver ill. The stomach, liver,
kidneys, eyes or nervous system may
be at fault, but there is something
back of the headache. To be on the
safe side, take Chiropractic adjust
ments and remove the CAUSE.
Aches Ended Alter Years—.‘Si nee
childhood I suffered with sick head
aches which grew more frequent and
severe, I had taken bottle after bot
tler of aspirin; the time came when
it did no good and I had to have
hypodermics administered. Finally I
decided to try Chiropractic adjust
ments. The headaches gradually
grew less severe and less frequent,
and now I believe I am entirely well
for I haven’t had, a headache in 3
months and am feeling better in
every way.”—Mrs. P. A. Lang,
Chiropractic Research Bureau, State
ment—No. 2273-S.
LEON ENSCH, D. C.
Palmer Graduate 1914
^****»*mJ****^**}m
f PETERSBURG,
**<*&■•+&******+**+****+**+*
ALASKA
WE GIVE PROMPT ATTENTION
TO MAIL ORDERS
ON JOB PRINTING
THE ALASKAN
John Fanning £
SHOE STOKE|
Dealer in
Complete line of Silk Hosiery
Best grade of Shoes for men,
women and children.
A Best Quality Goods
A .
at very low prices j
% 4*
♦♦♦ Shoe repairing neatly done. Y
4* X
X-X**XK-X-X«X»*X-X-X**X«X«XK»
The ever growing Circulation of
The ALASKAN among -buyers is an
Inducement to Merchants to Adver
tise in The ALASKAN.
Buy at Star Bakery and Save Money
Fresh Doughnuts, Cup Cakes, t.'ooki ■.»
and Cinnamon Rolls
Always on Hand Fresh
STAR BAKERY
AMERICA FIRST arrives in Pe
tersburg Friday morning, leaving
for Juneau via Kake and way ports
: ooui noon.
H A H O W T R A IMPORTATION
COMPANY
JAC0B1TZ TAXI
DAY & NIGHT SERVICE
Stand at Arctic Hotel
Phone 35
When in 1 own Stop at £
ARCTIC HOTEL
First Class Rooms
Reasonable Rates
CARL ROGER, Pro.
It! 1 lOllS
Rome Service Mending
of Laundered Goods
We give full value for your
money.
H. OYAMA, PRO.
Sanitary Market |j
A Roast you’ll like
Ihe Very Choicest Beef j
Mutton and Pork |;|
pi;
Vegetable in Season J
>1 :
■nnnnmnntntTrtmmmrTTTTTtrMiniiu
SITKA HOT SPRING
HEALTH RESORT
Rate $3.00 per
day and up
Dr. Goddard, Pro.
(i
thpli! if li IH li
Built
i -ttracii <ely
You cat jet
llie lutes, de
cent. in
Sasli, Doors
Millwcrk
diiectfro.nthe
aianafact rer
■I , , > A. T* f ^ V/ADU- Seattle. *
IL A»e. S. / l-- — \ v OxiAWultr
L fi,JPPI-" corps. \