VOL. 2
PETERSBURG, ALASKA JANUARY 27, 1928
NO. 28
Wednesday's Com
mercial Club Affair
The meeting of Wednesday was a
quiet affair, and more inclined to
the social than otherwise. What
little business here was, was gone
over and gotten away with in rath
er a spirit^ of dinner conversation.
There was nothing of an exciting na
ture up before the members and the
gathering had more the atmosphere
of just a nice little talk l'est than
anything else.
The attendance was good, he din
ner greatly appreciated, the tem
perature of the room agreeable and
the temper of the members equable
So it was all very humble, so far
as a meeting was concerned.
A letter was received from E. M.
Gayer, of Seattle, relative to the
chances of making a first class met
al and tinning shop a success in the
city. Off hand, this is a hard ques
tion to answer. Of course there is
sheet metal work done here in a
year, but that is divided now by ar
lea^t four shops and all of them
more or less good at it. That a
new shop would run successfully
from the start is doubtful. It is a
matter of taking chances. The gen
eral conditions and the average op
portunities of the city will be mail
ed to Mr. Gayer.
The matter of membership fees
was taken up. Club authorized the
printing of due cards. Also author
ized the printing of membership
placards.
The Secretary of the Club, Harold
Dawes, read telegrams (or cable
grams) bearing on the herring pe
titions. Notified that the Ketch;
kan petition was on its way to Pe
tersburg, and that the Klawock pe
tition was in the mail Petersburg
bound. There are six oi tne peti
tions on file now in the Club Se
cretary’s office, so with the two
soon to arrive there will he eight
lists of signatures to present with
the other literature on the small
fish question.
AWAY ON THE ALASKAN
Those who ferried out on the
Charles T. to catch the S. S Alas
ka beyond the Narrows were: T.
Hadland, Ketchikan; Ole Haynes,
Seattle; H. Hofstad, Seattle; Mrs.
Robertson, Ketchikan; Marie Rog
ers, Ketchikan; Mrs. A. Garner,
Ketchikan; Mrs. Mamuel Isom, Se
attle; E. Olson, Seattle; Mrs. W.
Johnson, Ketchikan and Emma
Garner, Ketchikan.
FROM ANCHORAGE
George E. Carter and Theo. Han
son are registered at the Arctic
Hotel hailing from Anchorage. Chas.
W. Wilson is registered from Ju
neau.
AWAY FOR JUNEAU
The Ketchikan basketball team,
after trouncing the Petersburg Hi
School boys, pulled out on the Es*
tebeth for Juneau where other
games are staged. The team is ex
pected back to this city for anothei
conflict Monday, January 30th.
The motorship Wanderer, Capt
Bell, landed at the Citizen’s docl
Tuesday about noon. The Wander
er was in from Wrangell with tw*
passengers.
The Admiral Liner Admiral Wat
-son arrived in North bound las
Saturday with a small passenge
list and a considerable freight cargi
for the city.
KAKE ITEMS
There was a meeting of the Al
aska Native Brotherhood on the
10th of January that was well at
tended, particularly by those in
terested. but still non-members.
There were several appointed speak
ers and the outcome was an enroll
ment of 19 brand new' members.
Very good. The aim. well directed
now, is to be up with the strength
of the best camps on the organiza
tion. For some time this has been
the effort, but we are doing better
this year. At present there is an
enrollment of 78.
On the 7th of January Kake ex
'rieneed one of the worst storms
of its history. It was aggravated by
an extreme high tide, and this, with
the big waves pounded much of the
lower lands into the sea. Several
of the boats broke loose, but were
later secured before much damage
was done to them. Two of the
smaller vessi Is came ashore in the
gale and it was only by the work
of willing ailors that they were
saved from destruction. Paul White,
Edward Jacobs and Jack Skeek made
an attempt to pull out to the motor
boat Loon, during the storm, to
place another anchor. They made it
fairly well for a time, but a breaker,
some bigger than others, apparent
ly, rolled in on them and capsized j
the small boat. There was quite
a struggle of the three men to cling
to the upturned boat. The rough
■water kept sloshing them away
continually. Those on shore wit
nessed the trouble and three dingies
immediately nut out to rescue the
capsied ones. Two reached the half
drowned men and took them on
j board just as they were being tossed
I against the rock reefs. Two of the
j unfortunates were just about all in,
but they were given first aid treat
in t- ii i (iiiu jsuun i‘Milt* uiu it 11 rigriL.
It was a close call for the three of
’em.
Tn the bay the greater number of
the whiter fleet held to their an
chors remarkably well. We thought
for a while the whole fleet would
be torn loose.
ARTHUR JOHNSON.
WILL TRY IT A LAIN
j The New York Restaurant open
| ed its doors again last Wednesday
and is ready to feed all and sundiv
who come along, are hungry, and
have the price. Times are not any
better than when this house shut
jits doors, but spring is drawing
; near and. naturally, there is bound
j to be a looking up in things com
j mercial and otherwise. Closed
| business houses, nor dwellings eith
j er for that matter, aren’t good city
advertisements, and we are pleas
j ed to hear that the New York is in
- commission again.
t
|
HARD ON THE OLD STYLE STORE
: By way of New York, January
14th, we have gotten a portion of
the records of the cash and carry
stores, chain stores and of other
quick-turn-over merchandise insti
tutions. Seven leading chain store
companies sold $107,711,000 worth
of goods in December, 1927. This
is a gain of $14,000,000 over Decern
ber, 1926. Sales of other cash and
carry mercantile companies of the
year 1927 ran to $659,522,000. This
is a gain over 1926 of $87,540,000.
COMING FROM METLAKATLA
The Metlakatla Grade School bas
t ketball team will journey, via the
* west coast of Prince of Wales Is
) land, to Petersburg for a game
scheduled for February 3rd.
The Narrows Ferry
j . .Getting to be quite the 3teady
thing,—this ferrying up and down
(ho Narrows to Catch the big boats
that won’t stop at Petersburg. But
it seems that we just have to do it
if we want to get in and out. The
j Alaska, southbound, shook this burg
i off her calling list as a gull flips a
' drop of water from its beak. We
had to chase down the Narrows to
j catch her as the ship steamed up
| Wrangell way. The Charles T., of
(he Ohmer shrimping fleet was the
!
! ferry and she had a barge with her
loaded with products from the
shrimp plant. She left town Thurc
day morning about 2 and returned
to town about noon. She had pass
engers both ways, but carried no;
mail.
|
I
Ho! For The Band
i Concert
On Tuesday, Frebuary the 7th
you must come with a good turn
out to the MacGregor threater and :
listen to another fine concert by
your own city band. The last con-1
cert barely pulled out even, so
!
come with the will and numbers j
this time and help the band boys j
pay up on their instrument and f
music bills. The last concert was j
really fine and for every cent taken j
in there was given more in clean j
entertainment. The program for the
7th will be as long and better if it
is possible to make it such. The ,
musicians are working hard to give ,
all of us something out of the or-1
dinary. The band of Petersburg J
deserves a lot of credit for stick
ing. Other Alaska towns have tried
and labored to keep a band in com
mission. They have failed. Peters
Durg still Holds. i ou should appre
ciate this, and should show your ap
preciation by going to the show
house and listen in. It won’t be all
band music, you know. There will
be a song or two and other little
items to give the concert spice and
pleasure. The band has a right to
look for good support and you
shouldn’t disappoint.
WHAT THEY DID DO
On Monday, January 16th, there
was supposed to be a meeting of
the creditors of the Alaska Spruce
Mills. This meeting was advised
through a ukase of the bank of
Petersburg which notified the Se
attle Merchanst Association. It
read as follows: The bank of Pe
tersburg, holding a conditional bill
of sale of the entire property (saw
mill property) has notified us that
unless the balance of about $1700,
with delinquent taxes of $550. is
taken care of immediately, they will
foreclose on their contract.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN
READING IT?
Several newspapers have lately
celebrated their 50th anniversaries,
in this country, and several more
boast being 100 years old. Still,
those publications are young. The
Peking (China) Gazette has been
published without losing a press
day for 1400 years.
Marian Goldstein and Douglas
Austin recently traveled from An
chorage to the tributary waters of
- the Kuskokwim by airplane. The
J trip by dog team would have taken
around fifteen days. By airplane
1 the distance was covered in a few
hours.
I
Basket Ball Game
The Ketchikan basketball players
(lug into the contest the same day
they arrived in town and despite
jthe weariness of travel they put up
a speedy game and walked off with
the honors, 2 9 to the 26 the local
players made. Those who are ex
perts in matters pertaining to the
game remarked that the scrimmage
was umisally interesting and quite
well played. In the first half of
the game the home team was ahead
and there was a feeling, for the time,
at least, that we were going to
crown the score, but it turned the
other way before the contest was
over. The locals—the Hi School
team of the city—was handicapped
in weight and they showed a lack
of team work and proper coaching
The attendance was fair, the enthus
iasm great.
A SHORT LETTER FROM THE
STATES
Seattle, Washington,
January 9th, 1928
Dear ALASKAN:
We get the paper regularly and
are pleased with it. The reading
matter compares favorably with
that of other papers on our reading
list, and at times we’ve seen editor
ials that outshine those of highly
paid city editors.
A READER, (D. D. B.)
A SURPRISE PARTY
Wednesday evening at the Sons
of Norway Hall there was a pleas
ant party, a surprise affair, given
in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Ehrling
Johansen, Mr. and Mrs. Chris Olsen,
Mr. and Mrs. E. Winters and Mr.
and Mi's. Nelson Berg. There were
lots of nice presents given. The
toastmaster was Postmaster, Jack
Otness.
ORDER OF DEPORTATION
SUSTAINED
Nieholo Paolantonio, Italian, ami
Angela Paolantonio, Italian, man
and wife were married in Italy.
August, 28th, 1920, they landed in
New York and have since resided
there. On September 14th, 1926,
the husband was admitted to citi
zenship. The wife didn’t make ap
plication. On April 25th, 1925, the
wife was taken to an insane asylum
and on August 7, 1925, the Immi
gration Officers sought to deport her
as a person of constitutional psycho
pathetic inferiority, and was such
at the time of entry into the United
States. The case is complicated
from the fact that since arrival in
the United States three children
have been born to the couple. Low
I er courts held that the wife should
be deported. Sustained by the Unit
ed State's Supreme Court.
THE GREATEST IN THE WORLD
Today, the United States has, by
far, the greatest and most extensive
air mail system in the world. Much
remains to be done, even at that,
in the matter of perfecting the sys
tem, but it already has progress
ed far enough to warrant the state
ment that there is no doubt of its
great economic value and the nation
wide demand for its extension. It
will, from day to day, and year to
year grow more in importance and
real service.
Gold produced in Alaska, 1927,
$6,010,000; Copper, $7,280,000:
Silver; $320,000; Coal, $495,000;
Lead, petroleum, marble, tin, and
platinum, $340,000. This is behin.l
i the production of 1926 by $3,219.
J 800.
B. P. O. E.
Thursday evening at the Sons ol
Norway Hall, the Elks assembled—
a lot of ’em. It was a big doings
and those elk horns brought down
from Juneau Thursday on the Alas
ka were fitted to a number of new
members. The working members ol
the Elk’s team, Juneau, who came
in to town to fit the antlers were:
H. Messerschmidt, Frank Metcalf,
Fred Sorrie, H. M. Sabin, J. B. Bur
ford. Friday evening the Elks will
stage a big dance at the same hall
A VISITOR FROM KETCHIKAN
Stanley Oaksmith, an old timer
of Alaska and well known locally
came into town the other day and
was busy shaking hand's for a long
time. Mr. Oaksmith is a whole lot
of an entertainer. He knows Alas
ka and he knows lots of Alaska
folk, and he can talk—pleasantly
most of the time, but with a deal of
force when occasion warrants. He
came here on a business mission,
but is staying long enough to visit
and to feel out the political buds of
the neighborhood. He has called
at the office of THE ALASKAN fre
quently and we have enjoyed his
coming.
LITTLE GIRL INJURED
Dick Hanson’s little girl, the ba
by of the family, had her fingers
severely crushed the other day. She
had her hand in the door way when
one of the other children shut the
door with considerable of a swing
and the tender fingers were the fend
er. The poor kid fainted while the
doctor worked on the injured hand,
but soon came out of the callapse
and is getting along favorably now
Dr. Standard in aottendance.
CHEAP JUICE
The twentieth annual report of
the Ontario City Hydro-Electric
I Commission is now out. The cost
of electricity in Ontario is 2 cents
per kilowatt hour and the plant is
distributing 949,700 h. p. to about
400 cooperating municipalities.
• * *
The city owned power and light of
Tacoma, Washington, is ahead in
.light and power profit for 1927,
1 $900,000. A nice and tidy little
i
I sum. In regard to co^t to consum
j ers in different cities a comparison
I has been made between Tacoma and
j Washington, D. C. The latter ha=
a steam plant generating current
In Tacoma dwelling a house using e
certain number of lights and cur
rent for heat and power cost the
owner $16.65 for the total of 2,24S
kilowatt hours. In Washington th<
co^t for the same quantity and pow
er of current is $82.47. The Wash
ington power and light concern h
privately owned, and it claim:
that it is obliged to charge mon
because it must rely on steam t(
generate its light and power. Bu
this hardly holds good since powei
can be generated as cheaply in f
modern steam plant as by a hydr;
plant. In this witness the city o
Astoria, Oregon. Instead of goirq
to Youngs River Falls, a short dis
tance for power, it put in an up
to-date steam plant and claims tha
it can give electricity cheaper thai
if it had harnessed the water fall
for power and light. The Washing
ton, D. C. people must be gettinj
skinned.
The Estebeth arrived in fron
Ketchikan, Tuesday forenoon am
tied up at the Citizen’s dock floal
She brought In the basket ball play
ers from The First City.
Relative To The
United Sons Alaska
The digest of the United Sons of
Alaska organization given below is
for the information of those who
may not have heard of it and its
policies. It is political, of course,
and its back ground is—Alaska for
Alaskans. Read it.
The United Sons of Alaska was
founded February 7th, 1927. It is
a political organization, non-parti
zan, non-sectarian, and any voter
in the territory of Alaska is eligible
to membership. Its organization is
a necessity to dispel the ignorance
and selfishness manifested through
out the territory. Ignorance is
easily pushed aside by education,
but selfishness,—the twin brother
of egoism—is more difficult to cor
rect.
The United Sons of Alaska was
born 160 years after the Sons of
Liberty, and as the Sons of Liberty
drove the British from the shores
of the Colonies, so will the Sons of
Alaska drive the carpet bagger of
ficials and alien rule from tin
shores of Alaska and establish a
self form of government elected by
the people of Alaska accountable to
its citizenry.
The purpose of this organization
is to bring to Alaska the declared
principles of the Declaration of In
dependence and the full protection
of the Constitution of the United
States.
Alaska i3 now governed by Feder
al Bureaus conjointly with Feder
al appointed officials, with constant
friction between them and the elect
of Territorial officials, and this con
dition will continue and the ad
vancement of the Territory will be
retarded until the rights of her
| people are recognized and their
j constitutional rights granted. The
! sentiment of self government is gen
i
eral among the bona fide residents
of Alaska, but little headway can
be made without intelligent effort—
in uce the United Sons of Alaska.
Fort Ketchikan, post number two,
the key post of the United Sons of
Alaska, can boastingly brag of num
bering among its members men who
have set in the Halls of the United
States Congress, both on the Repub
lican and Democratoc side. These
men realize that the United Sons of
' Alaska has a work to perform and
is organized to keep faith with you
and perform what comes/ before it
better than any organization in Alas
ka.
ASSAYS AT THE FAIRBANKS
COLLEGE
For six months ending December
31st there were made at the Alas
ka Agricultural College and School
: of Mines, 515 custom assays; offi
' cial analyses and assays; duplicates
! and miscellaneous assays, 171; iden
i tification tests, 134. Determina
tions in connection with above were:
• Aluminum, 2; antimony, 1$; arsenic,
i 10; calcium 6; coal, 7; copper, 16;
> gold and silver, 639. Treatments
l on other metals were: Iron, 10; lead
; 20; magnesium, 4; manganese, 2;
- nickel, 2; platinum, 20, silica, 2;
- sulphur, 4; tin, 5; water, 3; zinc,
\ 10. The charge for combined gold
i and silver assay is $1.00 and a dol
5 lar for each additional metal. Or
- dinary mineral determinations are
? made free of charge. Prospectors
of Alaska are urged to take advan
tage of the service.
t
1 E. A. Cresa, who was manager of
. the Petersburg Electrical Shop, Is
- now located at the City Power House
operating City Electrical Shop.