V0L. 4.
PETERSBURG ALASKA, OCTOBER II, 1929
m 13
Centralia in Fight Over Public
Utilities In Superior Court
Suit was started in the Lewis
County Superior Court, Wash
ington by R. M. Jones against
'he City of Centralia, its mayor,
commissioners, city clerk, the
helion Water Wheel Co., West
mghouse Electric & Manufac
turing Co., Coneral Electric and
Pacific Development Co., in an
effort to set aside and prevent
a bond issue for tiie construction
of a municipally owned hydro
electric plant.
..•ones is an employee of the
Eastern rtaiiway & Lumber Co.,
v nich led tne upposnion in two
special elections for the bond
is,,tie but in each instance over
Wiieimingiy defeated. He dis
putes tiie legaiity of the last
election on tiie grounds that tire
live propositions ni the ordi
nance are unrelated proposi
tions; attempted ratification ana
validation of void contracts, at
tempteu ratification and valida
of certain uniawiui purchases,
attempted ratification of void
undertakings, and obligations,,
attempted ratification and rati- j
bcation and validation of pay
1,rents by the City of Centralia
from its treasury and the at
tempted ratification of <-a pur- |
ported scheme for nydro-electrie
development.”
Tiie plaintiff further alleges
that the proposed cost of the hy- j
riio-electric plant is far in ex- j
cess of its value, and that the !
revenues derived from the sale
of electric current wili be insuffi
cient to pay interest on the
bonds and maintain the plant.
Jones asks the court to de
clare null and void the election!
ordinance and all contracts and
agreements entered into by the !
city in connection with the pro- 1
jeet, and to issue a temporary re
straining order preventing the
commission from entering into
u.ny additional contracts. Re
turn of money paid to contractor
and equipment companies is also
asked, together with the costs
of the action.
Defendants are summoned to 1
appear in court in twenty days!
to show cause why judgment j
should not be entered against j
them.. The Council is confident j
of winning the case. The last j
election ratified action of the j
Council by a vote of 1,600 to 233. j
The bonds carried at a previous
election in February, but thisj
election was thrown out by the
State Supreme Court on the
grounds of insufficient notice of
it had been published.
-x
COAST GUADR CAPTAIN WILL
RETIRE
-o
Capt. Claude Stanley Cochran
of the United States Coast
Guard will retire from active
service in the near future. For
many years Capt. Cochran was
commander of the old revenue
cutter Bear operating in the
Behring Sea and has an enviable
record.
TIME TO GET SICK
-x
Albert B. Fall, former Secre
tary of the Interior under Pres
ident Harding, is due to go on
this week on the charge of re
ceiving bribe money in connec
tion with oil leases, is reported
as being ill with a possible fur
ther delay in prosecution of the
case.
I
Brothers Make Rich
| Find on Beach
Two brothers of Xaipara, New
Zealand found on the beaches
of that vicinity a lump of am
bergris wnich will net them $179,
000. This is from the sperm
''•hale and is valuable as a per
ium base.
WILL INVESTIGATE DK¥ UNIT
The Department of Justice,
under Jesse E. Hoover, director
of the Bureau of Investigation,
of the Department of Justice, is
to investigate the Seattle unit
of the prohibition enforcement
bureau.
Fear Foul Play For
Kake Man
Searching parties left Kake
last week to look for Jackson
Brown who had been missing
for a week.
Brown and wife had gone to
Security to put up food for the
winter. He located a camp with
moonshine and returned a bit
wobbly in the underpinning. Af
ter eating a dinner he started to
go back to the beach but his
wife refused; however when she
ihot him able to take care of
himself she objected no longer.
He instructed her to go along the
beach and pick him up at high
fide at a certain point. She did
this but he failed to show up ev
en after dark. She told a man
near by of the missing one and
was offered a drink of “shine” j
and told that with it she would
soon forget her man. She left
and was picked up by a fish buy
er who took her as far as Hound
Island from which point she
rowed in to Kake and reported
the loss. A small search party
started out but found no trace.
Sunday the Alaska Native
Brotherhood, of which he was a
member sent out a large delega
tion to search for him. The Sis
terhood sent along supplies and
others as cooks. Spreading out
ever the entire area the party
located first a barrel of moon
shine, then a club which it is
alleged had human hair on it;
next they found evidence of a
struggle and the area apparent
ly cleaned up and the moss
smoothed down. They sent in a
boat to report to the town offi
cials of Kake who immediately
sent a party to Petersburg to get
in touch with federal authori
ties. A boat from Juneau left
that port yesterday and, weather
permitting, was expected in dur
ing the night. A complete in
vestigation will be made of the
whole affair and the disappear
ance cleared if possible.
The fight between the “wets”
and the “drys” came to a legal
head in Philadelphia recently
when the circuit court of ap
peals of Philadelphia ruled that
a liquor buyer cannot be prose
cuted under the prohibition law.
The Treasury Department, As
sistant Treasury Secretary Sey
mour Lowman declares that the
Treasury Department does not
consider the ruling a set-back
in dry enforcement. Both sides
declaring a “win.”
Wickersham Favors
Auto-Plane Road
Advocacy by Premier S. F. Tol
mie of British Columbia, on a re
cent visit to Seattle, of the pro
ject for an automobile-airplane
international highway between
Vancouver, B. C., and Fairbanks,
Alaska, drew approval from the
rugged hills of Alaska.
Judge James Wickersham of
Juneau, here on a brief visit,
spoke enthusiastically of the
benefits to accrue to both na
tions through completion of the
visualized project.
As Alaska’s delegate to Con
gress for twelve years after serv
ing the territory as federal
judge for seven, Judge Wicker
sham is secretary of an organi
zation with headquarters at
Fairbanks which seeks financial
aid from both the United States
and Canadian governments to
make the highway a reality.
Sees Great Benefit
“A combined airplane anc
automobile highway from Seat
tle through British Columbia
and Yukon Territory to iUaska,”
said Judge Wickersham, “would
be of far greater benefit in se
curing the further settlement of
these territories and the devel
opment of their great natural
resources than would the con
struction of a much more ex
pensive ralroad along the same
route. It would bring popula
tion into the central parts of
those regions, give close person
al contact and create a feeling
of friendship and common inter
est which no other project could
no. It would establish towns
’/ilong its line, give settlers and
nrospectors an opportunity to
develop the agricultural regions
| opened, better than any other
possible plan.
“The extension of the automo
bile highway to include combin
ation with an airplane route
ought to strengthen public sup
port for both projects and insure
! official recognition and appro- ;
[priations from both the United ;
States and Canadian govern
jments. Such a combined high- 1
way, the airplane route above ;
Tie automobile road, both to fol
low a common course, with com
[mon supply bases, landing fields,
roadhouses and hotels will make
travel by airplanes and and
automobiles safe and more inter
esting to travellers, and double
the benefits to the regions tra
verssed by the great highway.
“The region to be traversed is
an untracked wilderness, cover
ed by dark forests and moun
tais, while unbridged rivers add
danger to airplane service. A
plane forced down in such a
country would be lost, and its
occupants would run great risks
of suffering death before they
could be rescued, even if they
should land in safety. If,, how
ever, the right of way along such
a highway through the forested
j areas should be cut a hundred
'ieet wide, a plane following its
course would be enabled to land
[safely on the roadway at any
[point along its thousand miles of
[length. Even if it were forced to
[land off the roadway, its near
Continued on Page 3
TOWNS FIGHT FOR LOW RATE
| Claiming that the present
rates charged them by the Pa
: c:fic Gas & Electric Company
| are “discriminatory and 'unfair,”
nearly two score unincorporated
i towns in the East Bay, Oakland,
California, headed by the mun
icipalities of Crockett and Valo
na, instituted a campaign for
power electric light rates.
Fourteen quack quack hunters
irom Ketchikan were in port on
Monday on their way to the
North Arm of Stikine flats. Doc
Walker and A. H. Ziegler were a
pair of the old reliables in the
crowd. From all weather indi
cations there should be plenty
pepping out North Arm way.
J. R. Heckman planned on
making this trip but was pre
vented by sickness of Mrs. Heck
man.
Land of Soviets Forced Down
Near Craig by Engine Trouble
Court Rules Sinclair
Must Serve Time
-x
Harry Sinclair, serving time
in jail for contempt action to
wards the United States Senate,
who appealed to the District of
Columbia Supreme* Court for re
lease from jail, had his petition
refused by Justice Siddons for
the 15th of this month.
Sinclair was not convicted as
is generally believed for illegal
transactions in connection with
the oil scandals of the Harding
administration but because of
his refusal to reply to questions
put to him by the Senate inves
tigating committee in connec
tion with the oil scandals.
Miners Oppose Land
Policy of President
At the recent convention of
the Western Division of the Am
erican Mining Congress, there
arose a sharp difference of opin
ion relative to President Hoover’s
proposed commission to study
Western land policies. A resolu
tion introduced by James F.
Caibraith of Washington, D. C\,
secretary of the congress states:
That the congress views with
Line apprehension any proposal
Looking to severance of surface
and mineral rights on public
Land.”
ATTACKS VET S RECORD
-x
Sergeant Bernard Early of
tfew Haven, Conn., and Percy
Beardsley of New Haven, Conn.,
lave set out to discredit Ser
jeant Alvin York’s war record
which brought him national
tame. He was credited with the
silling of a large number of Ger
nan soldiers and capturing over
130 prisoners single handed.
According to a published story
:oming from Boston, these two
nen are enroute to Washington
to present evidence purporting
to prove that York obtained his
imputation by fraud. That the
prisoners captured and accredit -
ed to Sergeant York, were hi
reality captured by a group of
American soldiers in which York
was not included.
If the record of York is proven
a fraud The ALASKAN suggests
that the hero worshippers lock
up the War Department record
of one Joseph Oklahombo, In
dian soldier over seas whose re
cord of killings and single hand -
ed capture in one battie exceed
ed that of Yorks
NOT MANY THINKERS
—o—
Dr. Arthur W. Holmes, profes
sor of psychology at the Univers
ity of Pennsylvania, Philadel
phia declares that one per cent
of the people of America do the
thinking for the entire popula
tion; the others read their thots
and think they thought them
selves.
The doctor is less charitable
towards the non-thinking public
than is this humble publication.
It is the view of this paper that
ten per cent do the thinking for
the ninety per cent who follow
like sheep.
Rather hard and sour dose for
the literati to take.
I
-x
The “Land of Soviets,” air
plane enroute from Moscow,
10 iMew York was forced to land
twelve miles north of Waterfall,,
Prince of Wales Island when
its two motors went dead on
them. Two of the aviators had
to walk overland twenty miles to
j reach Waterfall from which
point they sent word to Craig of
their position.
The plane left Sitka last Fri
day morning and encountered a
heavy storm along the Coast.
The vessel was swooping and
lurching from side to side when
the craft was not over 20 feet
above water when the left motor
began to miss. It stopped, and
a few minutes later the right
motor went dead also. A new
motor was shipped them from
Seattle. Craig will be their new
headquarters until they are
ready to continue their journey.
At the last report, the Coast
Guard Cygan was standing by
with instructions to give them
every possible aid.
ATHLETIC TAKE FIRST
The Philadelphia Athletics
handed the Chicago Cubs two
stiff jolts in the world’s baseball
championship series. Two out
the series against the Cubs
tnake a heavy handicap to over
come.
Will Install Sound
Pictures Soon
Mr. Neil MacGregor returned
from Seattle, Saturday last, af
ter attending Allied Associated
Exhibitors of the Northwest.
This and the National Allied As
sociation of Exhibitors, repre
senting 27.000 t heatres and
whose annual convention was
held in Minneapolis last month,
chose the R. C. A. Photophone
Vitaphone sound installation as
the best type of machine on the
market.
Such a machine, Mr. MacGreg
or announces, he has purchased
for installation in his theatre.
He also purchased all of the
United Artists pictures, which
are “talkies, released up to this
lime together with all of their
next year’s products.; also he
purchased the pictures produced
by Radio-Keith-Orpheum Cor
poration. These are 100 per cent
talkies, big specials including
“Street Girl” and “Rio Rita”, a
15-reel special. He contracted
for the Metro-Goldwynn and
Universal productions and all of
the only talking Westerns made.
He states that production of the
Westerns is being discontinued,
only one company now being in
that field. The only silent pic
tures which he has bought were
a number of two-reel comedies
starring Arthur Lake and Pe
tersburg’s own girl, Alice Nor
berg. A number of fine talkies
are contracted for including The
Iron Mask. Showboat, The Vik
ing, Review of 1929 and many
others.
Installation of the new equip
ment will take place in about
four to six weeks.
While Outside, Mr. MacGregor
bought the improved Peerless
lamphouses and other accessor
ies to insure the best projection
possible.