X
TOL. 3
PETERSBURG, ALASKA, JUNE, 14, 1929
NO. 48.
Lame Ducks May Bep
No More
Senator Norris rpesented a re
solution m tue senate to sub
mit to tiie states an amendment
to the Constitution to abolish
what has become to be known as
the lame-duck sessions ol' Con
gress. The resolution was adopt
ed and sene to the House by a
iOte of 04 to 9.
These lame-duck sessions are
the short session of every se
cond year in which defeated
congressional members retain
their seats until the succeeding
March fourth.
Four times previously has
this measure been presented
and defeated as many times in
the House.
This measure would also pro
vide for changing the date of
presidential inauguration from
March 4 to January 4.
The Senate vote was consid
tWw-tiiirds required for ap
erabiy more than the necessary
proval of a constitutional amend
ment.
Pearls from Fish Scales
Pearls traditionally come
from oysters, but many modern
pearls, imitations of real beauty,
come froi i oar dines.
Million ui iridescent herring
scales on : were not only a loss
to the iisiihig industry, but a
nuisance as well. New weirmen
sell them 10; only t cents a
pound and m ,y make from $10
to $75 a day from tlie salvaged
scales. The sources of supply
for pear assense factories, so
called, are sardine factories or
the weirs, or the boatmen who
bring in the herring to the can
ning factories.
It is said that 100 pounds of
scales obtainable by the pearl
essense factories for $7 will pro
duce a pound of pearl paste
which commands the price of
$125 in the New York market. It
is estimated that during the last
season the pearl essense factor
ies bought at least $250,000
worth of these herring scales.
According to which it ap
the scales are worth more than
the herring when cured for the
market.
Bats in Belfry
Fred Gunderson, (not related
to the Wrangell Gundersons)
W'as arrested Tuesday afternoon
on a charge of contributing to
the delinquency of a minor. Af
ter the children gave their tes
timony, he waived counsel and
made a plea of Guilty. Judge
Clausen gave him six months.
For several weeks prior to his
arrest Gunderson tried to and
did entice little girls to his cab
in near Sons of Norway Hall.
He gave them small pieces of
money, fruits and ice cream and
with such bait got them to take
off their little duds and stand
before him in the nude.
The penalty for seduction of
a chaste female is severe but it
is only a misdemeanor under the
laws of Alaska to contribute to
the delinquency, virtual seduc
tion of a minor.
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SECRETARY OF LABOR MAY
RESIGN
Secretary of Labor James J.
Davis, refused this week to con
firm or deny a report that he
would resign his office soon to
become president of a merger of
radio tube manufacturers.
Salmon are now reported as
running in the Kodiak district.
ALASKAN WINS DECISION
-x
Walter Cleghorn, Alaskan Es
kimo middleweight, and “K. O.”
White, Chicago negro, drew in
their battle in a six round event
in Tacoma last Friday.
Freight Rate War
On Sound
Reductions and further reduc
tions in freight rates are being
announced between Puget Sound
and California ports are being
announced these days.
Reductions now average 5 to
10 cents per hundred pounds.
Some of the# cuts are as much
as 25 cents per hundred pounds
for less than carload lots com
pared with the basis before the
start of the rate war.
Some of the cuts are as fol
lows:
Sugar, from 20 to 12 cents;
salt, from 17y2 to 15 cents; can
ned goods, from 24 to 15 cents.
The Admiral Line, the Mc
Cormick Steamship Co., the Nel
son Steamship Co., and the Bay
side Steamship Co., are involved
in the rate war.
Shipping circles in Portland
Oregon were notified that “rates j
are wide open” as the rate war i
which started on the Sound
spread to Portland,
spread to Portland. It is as
serted that the northbound :
traffic is principally involved.
x
“Scientists” Coming
-o—> -
Seattle shipping news item as
above captioned says: “Also
aboard the Alaska will be Bruce
Thorne of Chicago and George
Cce Graves, 2nd of New York,
members of a zaalogical expedi
tion of the Field Museum of Na
tural History; Roy C. Lyle, pro
hibition administrator, Mrs. Lyle
and Leonard Regan, prohibition
investigator who will make the
Yukon Circle.”
Roy C. Lyle, “scientist’?
Corking Trap Legal
The Pacific American Fisher
ies Co., and the Chicago Fishing
Co., recently continued exten
sion of the Village Point trap,
near Bellingham, Washington,
as a result of a ruling by Super
ior Judge Gruber,
The court overruled a motion
of the Carlisle Packing Co., ask
ing a temporary restraining or
der. The Carlisle Company
claimed the extension would re
sult in a complete “corking” of
the Carlisle trap and exclusion
of the salmon run.
“Good Bye Dear Heart”
—-x
Friends of Lester D. Hender
son, late of Commissioner of Ed
ucation, tendered him and Mrs.
Henderson a fond farewell. They
are leaving for the States short
ly
It has been stated that Hen
derson and other political ap
pointees along with the Bureau
crats were not Alaskans, except
for thei riobs and owed no al
legiance to the Territory and its
people. His leaving at this time
acording to many Alaskans is
proof of the fact.
George E. Buchannan with a
group of boys are due in Seattle
enroute to Alaska on the 10th of
August.
Juneau Lions Club disbanded
last week. Too much duplica
tion of activitis being the reason
given.
Fire At Theatre Is
Soon Controlled
-O
What could be more disap
pointing than to be disturbed
while completely obsorbed in a
screen portrayal of a most fas
cinating Alaskan story; not to
know if the heroine of the play
finally found her real father; or
to know if the contemplated
dog race was held, and who was
the winner; and, lastly, not to
know the all-important of the
play—if the hero won his fair
lady. What could be more dis
appointing than such a denoue
ment?
The patrons of the Variety
Theatre were thusly disturbed
last Monday evening when a cry
of “Fire! Fire! Fire!” shrilly rang
out from the balcony and roused
them from their seats and in a
minute’s time were all congre
gated out on the street. A fire J
there was; but it was confined to j
the projection room only.
Immediately after switching!
from one machine to another,
Mr. Enge turned to hang a fiim
3n a hook. An unclosed shutter
Dn the machine not in use allow
ed the light to strike on a part
Df a film which had not cleared
Diit of the projection area. Mr.
Pnge opened the door to throw ;
ihe film out on the street but
before he could make another '
nove other films in closeproxim
ty caught fire. The door being
pft nnpn whilo TTnoro W3C trvincr 1
to get a fire extinguisher, a vel
vet hanging was burned beyond
further usability; two seats
near the projection room besides
ceiling and walls were consider
ably scorched.
A hose was attached to a near
by faucet and with the assist
ance of some of the boys from
the U. S. S. Gannet and a num
ber of local citizens, the fire was
extinguished before the fire
truck arrived—also pulled by the
crew of tlie Gannet.
The men on board the Gannet
were just turning-to when the
alarm was sounded and were
just ready to come up the dock
when the fire.was extinguished.
Mr. Enge advises that dam
ages will run in the neighbor
hood of four to five hundred dol
lars and that he has insurance
to cover.
So, the play, The Heart of the
Yukon, which completely held
the interest of all those who saw
it, is no more. And the patrons
of Monday evening are still won
dering about the outcome of the
adversities encountered by the
principal characters, and if it
ended as do all good fairy tales
—“they lived happily ever after
ward.”
NAMED DISTRICT ATTORNEY
Warren N. Cuddy, for seven
years clerk of the court under
Judge E. E. Ritchie, at Valdez,
has been namd as district at
torney of the Third Division
with headquarters at Valdez.
Julius H. Hart, assistant dis
trict attorney of the First Di
vision, was named by the Presi
dent as district attorney for the
Second Division. The names
were sent to the Senate by the
President for confirmation.
The Copper River salmon pack
is reported as exceeding that of
1928 by 45 pr cent. The run was
confined to the east side of the
delta.
Haines of Juneau started anoth
er attempt to set an outboard
'record from Juneau to Seattle.
Famous Murder Case
May be Reopened
The Hall-Mills murder case
which is without doubt the most
widely reported case in the his
tory of modern newspapers, may
take the screaming headlines
on front pages of newspapers
again.
Comes now a statement by one
Kenneth Gladeau, ex-convict,
that he positively can identify
the principals in the case, that
he was an eye witness and re
ceived $3,000 to forget what he
saw. The statement was made
by Gladeau who was arrested at
Plymouth, Michigan May 2, and
statement before federal auth
orities. The statement parallels
that told by Mrs. Jane Gibson,
the pig woman” of this mys
terious case. U. S. Attorney
General’s Office has requested
the New Jersey officials to in
vestigate the statements.
Aerial Mapping Is
Difficult Job
-X
Has come to our desk from
;he Department of the Interior
i pamphlet descriptive of the
lerial expedition which has been
lere with us a couple of weeks,
rhe statement follows:
The making of maps from
Dhotographs is no new thing, ]
-nif tlio dfivoni' nf +V»a aimlcmo h
has made it possible to get pic
tures of large tracts of country.
Various departments of the gov
ernment, as well as private con
cerns, have utilized this new
means. The progress of aerial
photographic mapping made it
evident to the Geological Survey
that this method would be par
ticularly advantageous in South
eastern Alaska, which is a re
gion of strong relief and diffi
cult to map economically by or
dinary methods
“As the Survey had no facil
ities for doing the flying, it en
entered into an arrangement
whereby the Bureau of Aero
nautics of the Navy Dejartment
was to do the flying and take
the pictures. The Alaskan Ae
rial Survey Expedition was or
ganized by the Navy Depart
ment, and in 1926 successfully
photographed about 10,000 miles
in Southeastern Alaska.
Bulletin 797-E, by R. H. Sar
gent and F. H. Mofflt, entitled
Aerial Photographic Surveys In
Southeastern Alaska” was re
cently published by the Geolog
ical Survey giving an account
of this project and of the meth
ods by which the photographs
are being worked up into maps.
Copy of this bullitin may be ob
tained from the Director U. S.
Geological Survey, Washington,
D. C. The bulletin contains a
map part of the Ketchikan-Hy
of Revillagigedo, Annette Is
land, Gravina, and Duke Is
lands and part of the near by
mainland and Prince of Wales
Island. All streams, lakes and
other water areas are shown but
relief is not shown.
Pictures of various sections
may be obtained on application
to the department at a very
small cost.
W. S. Pullen, manager of the
Juneau Light and Power Com
pany issued statement in which
he denied that the utility would
be sold to Foshays. Mrs. Anna
Webster, president of the com
pany emphatically denied any
offer to sell. No appraisal was
authorized.
WAGES IN LUMBER MILLS
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The Coos Bay Lumber Com
pany has announced a $4 min
imum wage for all employees ef
fective as of July 1. The min
imum is now $3.GO. Nearly 1,000
mployees are on the payrolls
jf this company.
Makes New Record
Altitude
-o
Lieut. Appollo Soucek, Navy
air service, established two new
world's records last week when
he was credited with reaching
an altitude of 38,555 feet, or 560
feet more than the record set by!
Lieut. S. C. Champion of the
Navy in 1927.
Lieut. Soucek’s record was
made with a sea plane.
In Paris the International Ae
ronautical Federation credited
Lieut. Soucek with a world’s land
plane record with an altitude of
39,144 feet, established tco new
3th of last May before he at
tempted the record with a sea-!
plane. Willy Neunhofer, Ger-!
nan flyer is credited with hav- J
ng topped this record with an j
iltitude record of 42,123 feet on
:he 26th of May. j
Tuff on G. 0. P,
-x
Republicans celebrating the
oirth of the G. O. P. at Ripon,
VV lieIU. <X WII1C !
Wisconsin, had the works gum- I
med up by the prohibition squad
when a raid was staged and
foamy liquid to wet dry whistles
was nabbed with several legis
lators blowing the suds off the
top the schooners sailing over
the bar of a soft drink estab
lishment. ’Twas fine, smooth
sailing until, as if by a precon
certed signal the prohis swooped
on the establishment and gave
no little excitement to bystand
ing crowds.
Not Uncharted Rock
-o
Investigation of the wreck of
the steamer Aleutian at Uyek
Bay, Kodiak Island has brought
out the fate that the vessel hit
a charted rock considerable out
of her course. Charts show the
rock to be one-quarter of a mile
south of Amook Island.
At extremely low water the
rock is awash, and at half tide
it is covered with from three to
seven feet of water.
The Geodetic Survey steamer
Surveyor has been rechartingthe
bay in connection with inves
tigation of the wreck. Effort is
being made to locate the wreck
by officers of the Surveyor to de
termine her course when she
struck the rock. .
Nice Little Protit
-o
The Metropolitan Life In
surance Company of New York
now claims to be the largest fi
nancial institution in the world,
with assets of $2,695,475,965, a
gain of more than $300,000,000
during the past year.
This was the statement of
President Haley Fisk at the an
nual convention of Metropolitan
managers in New York, recent
ly.
At close of 1928 the Metropoli
tan had insurance in force to
the amount of $16,371,956,002.
The income of the company for
the year was $750,000,000, or
more than $14,000,000 a day.
Policyholders were paid $281,396,
831.
U. P. to Excavate
Alaska Mounds
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In the hope of making im
portant finds that will throw
further light on the early his
tory and culture of the Eski
mos, the University of Pennsyl
vania Museum has made ar
rangements to excavate some
unusual mounds of Eskimo or
igin which lie near Point Bar
raw, northernmost tip of Alaska.
Work on the site will be start
ed anytime now, weather per
mitting. The first group of -
mounds of the type which will
be excavated was found in 1918
by W. B. Van Valin, a research
worker in anthropology for the
museum. Native Eskimos new
of the existence of the mounds
but supposed them to be of na
tural origin until one of Van
Valin’s helpers discovered hu
man bones protruding from one
of the group of mounds.
,Excavation revealed that in
each of the mounds was a struc
ture resembling a house. These
houses contained the remains
of 83 persons. Beside each body
male or female, lay implements
and possessions of daily life, in
cluding drink cups, baleen ves
sels containing small pieces of
seal flipper and blubber and a
three-pronged spear.
Absence of certain features
cvhich are characteristic of
modern Eskimo culture in Alas
R.ci was puj. tiuuuti iy nuieu. i\eu,u
er labrets nor any evidence of
their use was found, no tobacco
pipes or accessories, no trace of
iron, copper or any other metal,
no lamps or vessels of soapstone,
no nets, net needls or mesh
sticks, no flsh hooks, nor even a
trace of the existence of a dog.
P. T. A. Take Charge
4th July Program
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William Dunkelberger, presi
dent of the P. T. A., at the sug
gestion of Earl Ohmer, presi
dent of the Commercial Club
and Mayor of the town, has
called for a meeting of tlae P.
T. A., next Wednesday evening
at 8 o’clock.
The purpose of the meeting is
to devise ways and means of pro
curing funds for Independence
Day Celebration and to arrange
for a program suitable for that
day.
It was felt by the members of
jthe Commercial Club and the
Council that municipal expenses
are so heavy and city exchequer
in such condition that an am
bitious program would hardly be
in order. This will be discussed
at length and committees ap
pointed to keep the spirit of the
day in the mind and hearts of
every American citizen.
The Time—Wednesday at 8
o’clock.
The P 1 a c e—Public School
auditorium.
The Purpose—Fourth of July
Celebration.
Every interested citizen urg
ed to attend.
GIVING US THE ONCE OVER
Ernest Walker, Solicitor General
is a northbound p assenger on
the steamer Alaska. He is mak
ing the Yukon Circle and w etao
ing a trip covering the entire ter
ritory, by boat, train and plane.
It is reported that he is investi
gating political offices and ap
pointments which report is bring
ing forth considerable conjec
ture in political circles.