VOL. I
PETERSBURG, ALASKA DECEMBER 24 1926
NO. 24
NEW JUDGES
. The Alaska Weekly is the father,
or is it mother of the report, that
Judge Wickersham of Juneau is
slated for the judgeship of the
Third Division in place of Judge
Ritchie who could not prevail upon
the Senate to confirm his nomina
tion while they also state that At
torney General John Rustgard is
slated for judgeship in the First
Division. Wonder if this Holiday
trip of certain editors of this Divi
sion has anything to do with or
against the appointment of these
candidate. There are others how
ever.
Anyhow, somebodies uncle to a
very dear friend heard it whisper
ed to somebodiy elses sister-in-law
that such is the line-up in Washing
ton. We wouldn’t be sorry, were
it true. Judge Wickersham and
Attorney General Rustgard need no
introduction to the citizens of Alas
ka and with such material at hand
we fail to agree with the politicians
of Juneau that theer is “no avail
able material” for those offices in
Alaska.
FLAG CONTEST
A contest is now being held for
the purpose of securing a design for
Alaska’s flag, which the American
Legion of Alaska will endeavor to
have adopted by the Territorial
legislature as the official flag of
the Territory. All States and Ter
ritories of the United States, ex
cept Alaska, have an offiicial flag.
The contest is open to all chil
dren who are in the seventh and
eighth grades and high schools of
the public, private and Indian
schools in Alaska.
One member of the local Ameri
can Legion post, the school super
intendent (principal or teacher)
and one other citizen (preferably
a member of the school board or
P. T. A. ) shall constitute a local
board of judges, who will choose]
the ten best designs and forward
them to J. T. Petrich, Department;
Juneau, for submission to the final
awards Committee. In towns where
there is a Legion post, this com
mittee shall be appointed by the
Post Commander. In towns where
no Legion Post exists the school
superintendent (principal or teach
er) shall be the chairman and he
or she shall select two other citi
zens for this committee, who will
act as local judges in selecting the
ten best designs. The designs
should be mailed so as to reach the
Department Adjutant, The Amri
can Legion, Juneau, not later than
March 1, 1927.
The Department Executive Com
mittee of th American Legion in
Alaska will select the Final Awards
Committee.
Name, age and address of con
testant should appear in pencil on
reverse of design.
The winner of the contest will re
ceive a gold watch on th back of
v.hich will be enameled his or her
design of the flag, an dthe case of
which will be suitably engraved.
The pupil whose design is adjudged
second best will receive a cash
prize of $15. and the pupil whose
design is third best will receive
a cash prize of $10.
Should the Legislature adopt the
design at its next session th« Le
gion will make effort to have the
Legislature appropriate funds with
which to send the winner of the
contest to Washington to present
the first flag of Alaska to the Presi
dent of the United State-a.Empire.
/ "
The “skeleton In the closet” of
the Harding administration was nu
corered and the bones of Jesse
Smith made to rattle whn Senator
J. Thomas Heflin of Alabama de
clared this week that Smith was
murdered "because he knew too
Ik uch and it would open the eyes
of the nation” if the inside story
of the Fall-Doheny acquittal was
ulso revealed.
He declared that Secretary Mel
lon advanced $6,000,000 to the Re
publican National Committee and
Smith was delegated to receive
back 42,000,000 of it from bootleg
gers throughout the United States
through the aid of District Attor
nes. He pictured Mellon as re
ceiving funds collected by Smith
in payment for advances made to
the Harding campaign funds.
Testimony of former District
|boyles of Southern Alabama in the
Mobile Court proceedings were
read to substantiate his statements.
Senator Heflin said, “Smith
knew more than anybody else ^con
nected with the Department of
Justice of the high handed work of
former Attorney General Daugh
erty. The reason for getting rid
of him, was a vry strong one. We
conducted an investigation into the
whole thing. It was rumored that
i Smith grew exceedingly nervous
over it and had decided to make a
clean breast. He was murdered.”
Earl Ohmer remembered all of
hi* shrimp pickers and trawlers
jwith a bag of Christmas cheer and
a token of frienship. Hogue and
Tveten Company was the Santa
Claus in this instance. The broad
smiles on the faces of the men and
[women was evidence that the gifts
were appreciated.
E. A. Rasmussen, President of
the Bank of Aalska Is reported as
being enroute to Washington for
the purpose of completing with the
Secretary of the Interior, a lease
of the Metlakatla cannery to Rev.
Henry R .Sanborn of Ketchikan
and associates. The lease is to be
effective next year and is to be for
seven years.
Rev. Sanborn president of the
corporation has appointed A. H.
Z-ogler of Ketchikan, Herbert Mur
chison of Metlakatla, Mr. Rasmus
on, of Skagway and Mrs. M. R. San
1 orn of Ketchikan as representa
tives of the directorate.
The company expects to get all
its boxes from the Metlakatla saw
mill, receipts of which will accrue
one hundred percent to the city.
We have wondered why it is that
the lease of the Metlakatla cannery
should be made for a number of
years. In the instance of the last
lease to Simonds, the town of Met
lakatla did not benefit as fully as
they should have, had the matter
been made more competitive. We
wonder further whether or not
the Secretary of the Interior made
it a uolnt to secure competitive bid
ing before making this lease.
That red and green ice cream at
Worth'’s is the clear quill. It would
not take much coaxing to get us on
the outside of a whole brick of It
even if we did turn into a young, or
old refrigerator.
i
NEAR EASE RELIEF
Seattle, Washington
December 8.1926
To the Editor:
Last week wrote you concern
ing a friend here in Seattle who has
Iren telling me about conditions
in the east. He has left my apart
n ent, having read to me the most
cjucerning the situation in the
earthquake zone in Armenia.
It seems that on October 23rd,
the American Relief workers had
put thier nine thousand orphan
children to bed when a severe earth
quake centered in the orphan dis
trict. Amid falling chimneys and
walls the American doctors and
nurses rushed back into the build
ings and brought all of their ter
on this earthquake said that to the
coolness and courage of these
Americans was due the fact that not
one of the nine thousand children
was killed.
After the children recovered from
their first excitement, they thought
it quite a picnic to sleep in the
aifalfa fields all night, as the we
ather fortunately was not very cold
and the children are hardened to
enduring suffering which our child
ren could not stand.
Six days later, the children
wakened in a blizzard. Many of
them forgot their own sufferings
in the fact that thousands of other
children from the villages were, if
possible, in a worse plight than
they were, and they cheerfully di
vided their blankets with these other
children.
Fortunately ,the Near Fast Re
lief hospital was not destroyed, al
ccllapsed. Six hundred patients
iu the American hospital were rush
el out into the wheat fields. Hos
pital tents were erected, and one
physician operated continously for
48 hours, when he stopped for eight
hours of exhausted sleep. He was
awakened from this to reorganize
his first-aid stations in twenty
villages which had been wrecked
by the shocks. Twenty-eight earth
quake babies were born in the tent
hospital.
The shocks continued for fif
A9K FOR HOSPITALIZA
FOR NURSES
Congressman A. L. Binkle, of
North Carolina, has asked and re
ceded the assistance of Watson B.
Miller, chairman of the National
Rehabilitation Committee of The
American Legion, in preparing an
amendment to the World War Vet
orans which permits the hospital
ization of nurses employed by the
Vettrans' Bureau who became ill
during employment. It is under
stood that the amendment will be
aimed to assist principally nurses
who hare contracted tuberculosis
while attending tubercular World
War veterans.
John l. lewis again honor .
John L. Lewis, president of the
United Mine Workers was reelect
ed by International poll. The en
tire administration ticket was re
turned to office with President
Lewis .
. JUNEAU TO TAKE CENSUS .
The City Council of Juneau dis
cussed plans to take census of the
town owing to the fact that the
schools are crowded and steps arc
to be taken to determine whether
or not an annex should be built to
the Juneau schools to accommodate
the overcrowded condition of the
scnools. _ »
teen days, seventy-five shocks being
registered. In the entire district,
five hundred people were killed out
right, twelve thousand houses are
in ruins and eighty thousand home
less people face the long severe
winter of the Caucasus. Their
extra clothing and bedding are
buried under tons of debris and
stones, now frozen into a solid mass
after having been soaked by days of
.*aln, sleet and snow. Their poultry
and cattle have been killed and food
supply of the entire region destroy
ed.
I scarcely know which to admire
the more—the heroism of the Am
erican relief workers, the unselfish
ness of the children who gave up
their food and blankets to children
less fortunate, or the people of the
thirty-five wrecked villages who, af
ter years of hardships, had just be
gun to come back, now finding
themselves deprived of food, cloth*
ing and shelter. In spite of their
hopeless circumstances, they grim
ly went to work again cheered by
the knowledge that America ,which
had saved from death more than
135,000 of their children, would
again extend aid in this crisis.
Shelter was immediately provided
by the Americans for eighteen
bundled village children. To re
store the wrecked buildings and
to care for this additional number
of children will require an outlay
of at least $300,000 by the Near
East Relief Work this winter.
Because I am so sure that Alas
ka people, when they understand
this situation, will not be satisfied
to do less than they have always
done in such an emergency, I am
asking their generous contribu
tions to be sent to Western Wash
ington and Alaska Near East Re
lief Headquarters, 339 Burke Build
ing, Seattle.
Next week I am to tell you the
story of a man, who, almost single
handed and alone, is responsible
for the saving of the ilves of four
thousand children.
ALASKA CHAIRMAN
Near East Relief.
| .deputy marshal removed.
Alleging that United States De
puty Marshall Harry Staser ofg An
chorage had made derogatory re
marks about his home town, his
dismissal was ordered by the At
torney General of the United States.
A newspaper story was cited as
the cause of the trouble. A dispatch
quoted Staser as agreeing with
of the military post recently
there were more than 30 places on
the main street where a man could
get a drink.
Staser denied having made the
statement, and demanded his right
to make a defence against the
charges.
FIRE AT SITKA
An overheated stove In the
teachers’ cottage of the Sheldon
Jackson School at Sitka was the
cause of a fire doing an estimated
damage of $5,000. It is expected
tlirt a new cottage will he built
next year.
CHRISTENING CEREMONY
On Friday afternoon, the 24th,
Rev. Sydness christened James
Lewis Ohmer, the infant son of Mr.
and Mrs, Earl Ohmer at their home.
Mrs. Harold Dawes and Mrs. J. A.
« A. Mendenhall, were the god-moth
^ era. and Mr. Henry Grinrod ond Mr.
j Harold Davis were the god-fathers.
MICE SINK!
The gasboat Reliance, capt E. W.
Stagg was destroytd by an explo
sion off False Point Arden, Taku
Inlet while bound for this port.
Stagg, owner of the boat was in
the engine room at the time of the
explosion and was blown through
the window into the water. His
partner, H. A. Johnson, who was
on the after, deck shoved off in a
skiff just as the boat sank from
following explosions.
The two men tore a seat from the
skiff and used it for an oar and
got ashore
Boatmen who saw the explosion
reported the matter to the Coast
Guard Cutter Unalga, which im
mediately to the aid of the two
men. Stagg was severely burned
and his ears frozen while Johnson
was apparently none the worse for
the experience.
The explosion was thought due
to a hot engine caused by the wa
ter leaking out of the jacket . The
oil in the bilge took fire while
Stagg was attempting to fix the en
gine.
O. E. Iverson, whose headquar
ters was at Juneau, while on an
Inspection tour of traps in this lo
cality was suddenly taken ill at
Ketchikan. He did not realize the
seriousness of his condition until
after leaving Ketchikan. As a re
sult of a leaking exhaust in the en
gine of his boat, his system had ab
sorbed fumes which poisoned his
entire system. He came to Peters
burg nd was under the care of
Drs. Standard and Standard from
Wednesday until Saturday, when
he returned to Juneau. Reports
from Juneau state that he immedi
ately went under medical care
but was unable to withstand the
ravages of the poison. He died
veiy shortly after returning to Ju
neau. Iverson was a veteran of the
World War.
The reindeer industry in Alyaska
promises to become an important
factor in the future of the Terri
tory, says the Biological survey of
the • United States Department of
Agriculture. It is comparatively a
recent undertaking and as a com
mercial enterprise dates back only
a few years. The original stock
of 1,280 animals imported from
Siberia 25 years ago has increased
t oabout 360.000, distributed thru
out the Territory in 110 herds.
The rapidly growing industry re
quires that scientific studies be
made for its best development, and
under Congressional authorization
such studies were begun by the de
partment in 1920 thru the Biologi
cal Survey. Improved methods
have been recommended to herd
owners for handling reindeer, and
utilizing the range. A study of the
range is now being made with a
view to in'll!geratlng a permanent
system of grazing allotments. Care
ful and continuous Inspection will
be Msquired to determine whether
an area is being under or over
grazed.
bou, adoption of improved methods
by.crc3s breeding with native cail
of corralling and branding, keep
ing sled reindeer in each herd, and
providing for herd ownership or
the percentage basis for lucre u^s.
with one registered brand for a
community herd. ffl
The Department of Agriculture,
Washington, D. C. has copies o' the
I new bulletin now ready and copiet
of same may be bad for the asking,
Under the provisions of the Act
there is due to the Territory of
Alaska, as its share of receipts from
National Forests for the year 1926,
the sum of $28,336.90.
“Net” or actual Forest Lands)
June 30, 1926
TERRITORY OF ALASKA
Forest Net Forest Amount paid
area acres to State 26%
of receipts
Chugach 4,794,079 $3,084.44
Tongass 16,549,093 25,252.42
Total for 21,343,172 $28,336.90
Alaska
OF MEREST TO NEW YORKERS
Time for filing application.-! for
the bonus paid by New York Sine
to its veterans of tht World war
pires December 31, according to
Frank S. Harris, director of the
State hold ers’ Bonus Bureau.
I
While General Rousseau and his
American troops attended the cere
monies on the parapet facing Prince
Maksoutoff’s castle at Sitka, anoth
er American officer caused the stars
and stripes to be raised at Chilkat
in place of the Hudson Bay flag.
I The ‘^Lincoln,” Captain Howard,
i w as obliged to seek shelter at Chil
kat on the evning of October 16,
IS 67, according to Rev. A* P.
Kashervaroff in the January Alas
ka Magazine.
The next morning it was blowing
so hard that he did not send boats
ashore, but about noon the wind
died dwn and at 1:30 five large
war canoes came alongside, one fly
ing the Hudson Bay Company’s
flag and piloted by Jack, an inter
preter, who was dressed in the full
uniform of an English officer.
Soon afterwards the head chief
arrived, accompanied by his wife,
the daughter of the great chief of
the Stikines, and Capt. Howard re
ceived the party on board. The
Captain reports that the chief was
a very quarrelsome Indian who was
much incensed when whiskey was
not offered. “If you have no pre
sents, coats, trousers and shirts,
why come?” he demanded, “Talk
w.tbout whiskey is nothing—sup
pose plenty of whiskey, then talk
good.”
Pacified with a red-lined over
coat and gifts of molasses, tobac
co and bisuit, the chief departed
in charge of an American flag and
staff, which promptly replaced the
Hudson Bay Company’s banner in
the prow of his canoe, and Capt.
Howard reported, “The flag was
hoisted at Chilkat within a few
minutes of the time it was hoisted
at New Arkangl, as it was after
wards ascertained.
Father Kashervaroff, who is cu
lator of the Territorial Museum,
also confirms the story of the tangl
ed Russian flag dropped from the
staff to flutter down on the bayon
ets of the Russian soldiers. His
story Is illustrated with rare pho
tographs of th America nand Rus
sian officials involved and views of
the old Baranoff Castle.
. . . HITS DRAFT DODGER . . .
. . An amendment was agreed upon
by the House Committee to pre
vent Grover Cleveland Bergdoll
from benefltting by the Alien Pro
perty Bill.
Why only Bergdoll t