""""T7Ijg Hin-kais
Published every Friday by the A N B. Publishing Co., Petersburg
Entered in the Post Office in Petersburg as Second Class Matte;
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
The Alaskan, six months..... $2.50
The Alaskan, ner year. $4 00
A. N. B PUBUSHINO COMPANY
PINNING TAILS ON DONKEYS
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In the old fashioned games in
the younger days of the older
members of the community, was
played the game of pinning tails
on a donkey. The picture of a
donkey was hung on the wall of
the living room. Each guest was
given a tail and pin. In turn,,
each person, blindfolded and
and whirled around until dizzy,
was left to grope his way to the
picture to pin the tail in place.
Much fun was gotten out of the
old game. Very few, if any, suc
ceeded in pinning the tail in
place.
All of which may illustrate
the sale of the municipally own
ed public utilities.
In the attempt to sell the hy
dro plant and water works, an
easy solution is being sought to
relieve the town of a financial
burden and at the same time
make a profit on the invest
ment. In which we are remind
ed of the game of donkey. We
are not getting personal, calling
no one names. We mean that
it is as easy to win in this game
against the trained, skilled en
gineers and brokers, as it is
to pin the tail on the donkey
and probably as close a hit will
be made.
The council represents busi
ness interests of Petersburg.
They siiow, in the main, good
business acumen as is evidenced
by their places of business. They
know how to buy and sell their
commodities. But when it
comes to stacking against the
trained engineers and brokers
they are entirely out of their ele
ment. Just because a man is
a good merchant does not quali
fy him to give expert medical
advice or know about the detail
of appraising public utilities.
There is no easy road to city
management, especially in one
that is growing as rapidly as is
Petersburg. Nor is it to be be
lieved that there is an easy road
to the financing of its require
ments. Optomism cannot be
cashed in on else Petersburg
would be the wealthiest town in
the Division. If there were an
easy method of financing the
necessary improvements of the
town we are entitled to know it.
But we need not be rainbow
chasers.
There is only one sure thing
to do—keep your feet to the
ground. Get all the facts and
weigh them carefully. If ne
cessary pay to get that informa
tion. Make haste slowly and re
pent more at leisure. While
hind sight presents the view j
easier to look at, foresight pays
better dividends.
i
WE ARE CORRECTED
Said a citizen to us the other
day: “I was surprised at your
statement last week that hydro
funds were used to build and re
pair city streets. Didn’t you
know that $6,000 of tax money
was expended on the plant in
the past three years? No, you
have made a mistake.”
All of which had us plumb
flabbergasted so that we could
make no reply.
Now, the city expended an av
erage, as per the statement, of
$2,000 a year for the past year
on the hydro plus an average
of approximately $25,000 the
year. Or in other words the
plant has cost the city $81,000
to operate, plus its bonded in
debtedness and small payment
on the principal. If such be the
case then our charge that the
Swanson administration was a
farce in management and the
epitome of mismanagement, is
true.
1 No auait ,}as been had in sev
eral years oi tne booKs of the
town. No business of any size
cun continue indihniteiy with
out an audit with the view to
making tiie business stronger
oy strengthening the weak spots.
SELL THE PLANT, THINK
AFTERWARD
-u-- -
No business man in town wili
think of selling his business off
hand at another man or men s
appraisal. Why sell the hydro
plant and water works after giv
ing it only scant consideration
and at the other fellow’s ap
praisal? ’Tis something wort.'}
going to sleep with, probably for
several nights. Getting a pro
per slant at every angle with
first hand facts to govern the
proposition.
An auditor will be here now in
a few weeks. He will audit the
cooks, which was requested oy
Mr. Eisemore, City Treasurer.
Basing his figures on facts and
figures at hand in the books, if
there are any, he should be able
10 show the tax payers wiiat an
asset or liability the public utiil
ites may be. ’Tis better to act
at leisure than to repent in
haste.
-x
GATEWAY PAYS RESPECTS
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“Not only does the federal
government exercise dominion
over the fish of the seas, the an
imals upon the land, and birds
of the air, but now a new im
perialistic dominion is asserted
[over the elected and official de
signated official legislators of
the Territory, by a-former clerk
in the department of the inter- .
ior with regards to a duly J
adopted referendum measure.”
Which is a lot worse than ev
er was said about the governor
by this ‘poor radical sheet.’ And
attention is called to the fact
that the Gateway gets more
“het up” over a political joke
than it does over the imperialist
ic hand, checkmating or stale
mating the electors of the ter
ritory and the playing with the
Fairbanks political college to do
so.
***“The Governor has either
a bunch of misguided fools ad
vising him, or he has forgatten
certain incidents in the early
history of the United States.”
Probably both.
“Why should the interior de
partment clerk be so concerned
over the law enforcement com
mission when up to this time
the apparent chief qualifications
of such office holding is the ab- j
ility to carry out orders from
Washington?”
Honest! We don’t know. Sup
pose you ask him, Jessen.
DOESN’T KNOW IT ALL
-o
“The Gateway has always cre
dited Alaska’s delegate to Con
gress, with being a politician,
but never knew he was a fisher
man. Now, however, we have
his sworn statement of Novem
ber 22, 1923, that for several
years prior to 1921 he was en
gaged in fishing in the waters
surrounding the Territory of
Alaska: laugh that off) that the
principal part of his business
and vocational training was as a
fisherman, and in other work
connected with the fishing in
dustry; that in the spring of
1924 he intended to engage in
fishing for commercial purposes
preparing fish for the market,
and buying and selling fish and
fish products in the Territory of
Alaska.” !
Now .Mr. Gateway, everytime
“swivel chair, scientific expert
fishermen get to talking about
fish, fisheries and fishermen,
they make a glaring display of
their ignorance. There is noth
ing more ignorant than an ed
ucated ignoramus who thinks
he knows it all.
There are men in the First
Division who fished with Dan
Sutherland the fishermen and
who still hold him in high es
teem. Dan fished for halibut in
Alaska when most fishermen
did so without hope of any fin
ancial gain. That was when
there was no competitive market
at Rupert; when men shipped
their fares to Seattle and had
brokers call on them for more
money to pay expneses of ship
ment.
And Delegate Sutharland by
virtue of his experience, knows
more about fishing than the
whole tribe of swivel chair fish
erman who help to propose laws
detrimental to the welfare of
Alaska fishermen.
COLVIN WARNS REPUBLICANS
OF PARTY POACHERS
-x
Ewing D. Colvin, Prosecuting
Attorney for King County, Wash
mgton recently made a speech
before the Young Mens Busi
ness Club of Seattle. Declara
tion of party affiliation at the
time of registration and repre
sentative nominating conven
tions are the only two available
methods of stopping the drift
of the Republican Party to a
chaotic state next door to anar
chy, he said.
“It is not too early to begin to
drive out the men who assume
the cloak of Republicanism
merely to gain office and who,
once in power, disregard or
combat Republican principles.
These political poachers are not
Republicans and are destroying
party responsibility. All per
sons should be required to regis
ter their party affiliations be
fore participating in a party
primary. If that is not done we
will continue to drift into a cha
otic state of nonpartisanship
which is next door to anarchy.
“Personally I do not believe in
the present primary method of
party expression. I believe in
representative party organiza
tion. We should, at primaries in
which only true Republicans are
permitted to participate, elect
representatives to mass conven
tions empowered to enunciate
party principles and draft party
platforms, and then to nomi
nate full tickets. Candidates
thus chosen could be held, after
election, to party responsibility.
It would do away with the pre
sent spectacle of nominees re
nouncing Republican planks and
frequently denouncing other Re
publican candidates.”
Wonder if Mr. Colvin spent
any time in Alaska looking over
the political situation? He as
suredly has a perfect descrip
tion of the hyphantes and the
federal machine.
BLIND PIGS AND POLICEMEN
Contributed by J. R. Little
According to Police Commis
sioner Whalen of the New York
Police Department, there are
32.000 speakeasies (blind pigs) in
New York City. In the old days.
I New York had 8.000 saloons and
j 8 000 policemen. One saloon to
one policeman. Now since the
, prohibition law ,and Jones law,
i went into effect, it has about
i two speakeasies (blind pigs) to
each policeman! So you see
there is a difference between
prohibiting and preventing.
The crime wave that s sweep
ing the length and breadth of
the land at the present time has
|given food for serious thot to -
those who have the interest of
the future welfare of our citi
zenry at heart. Some have tried
to legislate morality into the
people. We were told some5
years ago that with the advent
of strict legislation on one of
our great moral problems, pov
erty, crime and jails would dis
appear. Unfortunately the op
posite is the result. Poverty is
still with us. Crime is increas
ing; our jails are filled and new
ones are being built. “That so
cial experiment” has been in re
gard to crime, a miserable fail
ure.
NORTHLAND FLOWERS
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Some flowers blossom .best .on
Northland slopes,
Where chilling tempests blow;
Their life is found in frozen
ground,
Encased by banks of snow.
So with mankind—some mortal
souls
Bloom best in storm and gale;
Perform their part with sturdy
heart
When others quake and pale.
Others whom God has given
breath,
Wilt ’neath the Northland
frown;
Though well they toil on sum
mer soil,
Chill Boreas breaks them down.
As buds that blossom in the
North
Ne’er whimper or complain
Because their fare is frosty air
Instead of balmy rain.
So let me dwell in Arctic realms
Of trouble, care and woe;
My mind unvexed and unper
plexed,
With boldness flame aglow.
The flowers that cling to Alaska
Hills
Have joys no others taste;
And nenuphars ’neath North
ern stars
Grow strong amid the waste.
The man who walks the path of
ease
And shuns the blasts of grief,
His frailness shows like shelter
rose;
Weakness in flower and leaf.
To him my sturdier roots extend,
My boughs above him braids,
I envy not his pleasant lot,
For he must have my aid!
—JAMES R. LITTLE
What the Puritans gave the
world was not thought but ac
tion.—Wendell Phillips.
DRS. C. M.& R. L. CARLSON
OptometrUte and Opticians
218-19 Commercial Building
KETCHIKAN, ALASKA
minminimmnuimmmtmnwumm
Home Service Mending
of Laundered Goods
We give full value for your
money.
m H.OYAMA, pro.
OO'OCfO <*>r> <*> n r* < vr.rw Ww-.,
John Panning
I SHOE STORE
Dealer m
Complete line of Silk Hosiery
Best grade of Shoes for men,
women and children.
Best Quality Goods
at very low prices
Shoe repairing neatly done.
Buy at Star Bakery and Save Money
Fresh Doughnuts, Cup Cakes, t oo'-isr;
and Cinnamon Rolls
| Always on Hand Fresh
STAR BAKERY
C. H. Sundmacher
Attorney at Law
Arctic Hotel Petersburg
Built
Attractively
the latest de
signs in
Sash, Doors
& Millwork
dit ect f rooi the
man. if act .rer
at mone> lay
ing prices
Write *odaj
for FREi'. if
\uitraud tat
j^*A\illworic
^ 1 SUPPLY CORPR \
I
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Leave Seattle
Petersburg
Alameda
June 5
Northwestern
J une 4
June 12
Alameda
June 11
June 17
Northwestern
June 18
June 24
& W. Alaska,
C. A. WEST, Agent
Phone 15
Petersburg, Alaska
w *.**x,*X' *i*%*%i*,j4 ,
Pool Billiard And Card Room
Choice Cigars, Tobaccos And Candies
New Tables And Equipment
Dick Kuwata, Prop.
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Satisfaction Always
M Guaranteed
A complete line of men’s
Ikjj furnishings for wotk or
^ dress. A fine line of
Goods for women
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AT rENTION !!
Beat Owners
We can take care of general repair in wood and caulking
and a 1 i the blackMnith work on any boat up to 100 feet in
length at
Petersbuig Marne Ways
| J. C. Holton Sc Ed. Walwick
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'M.erceT SW&los
portrait's
Landscapes
Alaska
\^ieWs
COPYING AND ENLARGING
TINTING AND COLO RING DONE IN OIL
FRAMING DONE TO ORDER
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Service first
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Cittirg & Weldirg
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GENERAL
BLACKSMITH ING
John R. Kolstrand.
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i£ Front Street. ... Petersburg, A!asl a g $
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