VOL. 2
PETERSBURG, ALASKA DECEMBER 23, 1927
NO. 24
By The City Fathers
In the matter of the new Westing
house generator for the city’s light
and power equipment, it was decid
ed to insure same and to have it
held at place of shipment pending
improvement in weather. Had no
place for it with the country snow
covered and frozen. Requested ex
tension of time of final payment to
such time as the outfit was shipped.
Practically the same plan was
adopted relative to the Pelton water
fhet i.
•ml brought up some
matters of finance and the sum asked
for was allowed.
The report of officers was read and
filed.
--wg’sp,
- -#3 .«§:•!
The roadway to the city garbage
dump was ordered cleared so that
the trucks could move the accumu
lated garbage out of town.
Notification sent to Olsen Bros.,
to vacate and remove garage on the
20 foot street donated to the city
on the Jack Nelson place. As this
was the second notice, Olsen Bros.,
were given a week of time to com
ply with the orders of the Counci1.
It came before the Council that
the school children living down Scow
Bay way were finding it almost im
possible to reach town by the main
road on account of snow and drifts.
Matter aken up with Henderson, Ju
neau, of the Territorial School Board
and with the Road Commissioner to
see if the matter couldn’t be remed
ied.
It was decided to put on another
man at the Blind Slough power sta
tion. It was learned that weather
conditions at the power station were
bad and that more help was need
ed. Decided to supply this extra
help until February 28th, or longer
if conidtions held as they are now.
The matter of the new light and
power rates were brought up, but
nothing definitely done at this time.
Rates come up for another reading
later on. With the installation of
new lights, or extension of the light
system, it was considered not ad
visable to carry any more heaters
(electric) until some future arrange
ments were made. No heater rates
decided on at this time, although
there was some talk on the subject.
New line connections, with the
oil engine auxiliary, were going sat
isfactorily. This bears on oil engine
main line to power devices and oii
^heaters.
some taiK ueariug uaca to gar
bage removal; some thought that
it was up to the truck drivers to
keep the roadway to the garbage
dump cleared. Finally it was de
cided that once the town made the
At The MacGregor
An exceptionally good list of pic
tures for the holiday week at The
MacGregor. Friday and Christmas
Eve is Johnny Hines and Edna
Murphy in “All Aboard”; funny, too.
All Chaney fans will be pleased to
learn that this worthy actor will
present himself in the inscrutable
“Mr.Wu.” New Year’s Eve (bar
ring the unforseen) the lovable
Coleen Moore will come before you
in “Naughty But Nice.” New Year s
day may vision “McFadden’s Flats”
with the comedy couple, Charley
Murray and Chester Conklin.
Didn't Stop Here
The Alameda slid quietly by the
city about 10 o’clock Sunday fore
noon. The nearest she came to stop
ping was slowing down as she pass
ed the water front of town. She
was heavily laden for ports to the
westward.
/
/
road open it would be kept that way.
Revenue of the city light and pow
er was brought up. Statement read
that the receipts to the last of No
vember had footed $23,000.
Though that for the year the total
would be beyond $25,000.
A communication from Waller,,
engineer, relative to the light and
power equipment was read, desiring
to know how the outfit was standing
up to its work. AVas told that there
was a deal of trouble caused by
faulty adjustment of insulators.
That the storms kept pulling the
high voltage insulators from their
pins and that the line came down
frequently.
To Whom It May
Concern
Seattle, Washington,
December 9th, 1927
Campbell Brothers,
Wrangell, Alaska
New salmon regulation provide
exclusive drafts in all bays, estua
ries and channels in Southeast Alas
ka. This means improved local con
ditions, and great benefit to Native
seiners. Leaving Saturday on North
western. Propose ■securing addi
tional fishermen from Wrangell. The
circulation of this information thru
a paper or otherwise will be appre
ciated.
IRA W. KELLY
Supt. and Manager F. C. Barnes
Company, Lake Bay. x
(Copy of telegram mailed to THE
ALASKAN, December 19th, 1927.
Norbeck Speaks For
Frame
United States Senator Peter Nor
|beck, Rep., of South Dakota, puts
in an oar for Arthur Frame of
t
Anchorage, Alaska. He has urged
President Coolidge to appoint Frame
to a federal judgeship in the first
District of the Territory of Alaska.
AT THE LUTHERAN CHURCH
On Christmas Day, at 11:3.0 a.m.
there will be English services at the
Lutheran Church. The choir an
them “Light o’ Heaven (by Tours!
will he under the direction of Mrs.
A. Johnson. In the evening the ser
vices will be in Norwegian. On
Monday there will be a Sunday
School program featuring a pageant
of the Sunday School children under
the direction of Mrs. J. Truit, Mrs.
W. Lotsfeldt, Mrs. A. Johnson and
Mrs. Wick.
Henry Roden, Juneau attorney,
expects to be in Petersburg soon.
A Blaze At Noon
Mid-day on the 22nd the fire bell
rang. The cause was the burning of
a small motor boat on the grids on
Sawmill Creek. Henry Ash, the own
er, went on board the vessel, open
ed the cabin door and stopped there
a moment to light a lantern. At
the flash of the match an explosion
occurred and the fire started. Mr.
Ash was burned more or less around
face and hands, but not seriously.
The fire was quickly extinguished,
Damage slight. On the icy streets
it was some job to get the fire appa
rtus down to the fire. It seemed
that for every two feet th machines
1 pulled ahead, they slid back three.
But the boys got there all right.
Sutherland Right
On lob
70th Congress, 1st Session. H. R.
Res. 55. In the House of Represent
atives, December 5th, 1927.
Mr. Sutherland introduced the fol
lowing joint resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Rivers
and Harbors and ordered to be print
ed. *
JOINT RESOLUTION
.AUTHORIZING A PRELIMINARY.
EXAMINATION OR SURVEY
OF PETERSBURG HARBOR
RESOLVED by the Senate and
House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Con
gress assembled that the Secretary
of War is hereby authorized and
directed to cause an examination or
survey to be made of Petersburg
Harbor, Alaska, with a view to its
improvement, the cost thereof to be
paid from funds heretofore appro
priated or available for examina
tions, surveys and contingencies of
rivers and harbors.
Making Baskets
. . The high school basketball play
ers of Wrangell arrived in Peters
burg about noon Saturday, and tha*
same night mixed with the team of
the local H. S.
Insofar as the players themselves
figured, the contest was good. There
was pep and dash on both sides. But
with the officials there wa3 a whole
lot lacking. Especially in clean
sportsmanlike decisions. And there
were most unfair decisions which
slowed up the game to a great ex
tent.
In the first quarter the Wrangell
team was top-side-ahead. They were
the leaders on the score card, but
from the second quarter on they
dropped behind as if they were going
the other way. Engstrom, Wran
gell, wasn’t considered a whole lot
as a referee. The final score stood;
Wrangell, 19. Petersburg, 32. The
Wrangell boys left Sunday morning
on the seine boat Seven Bros.
Returns From Juneau
David Paul, who was taken to Ju
leau some time back by the Marshal
on a deer killing case, is back to
Petersburg on the Rogers, December
22nd. At the hearing before the
District Court, he was sentenced to
three months in jail. The case was
handled for the government by the
Game Commission. On account of
past reputation ,the sentence was
suspended during good behavior.
FILLING UP THE COOLERS
For mixing in the booze business
and getting caught—the last fiscal
year records 64,986 arrests. This
is quite a number beyond former
records. The sentences foot up to
4,477 yeaVs. Fines amounted to
nearly six millions. Figures come
drom Washington, D. C.
FOR HOLIDAY SUPPLIES
Fred Friday, Arthur Johnson,
Eugene Dugaqua and Tommy Twist
came in at midnight, December
2-st, on the Three Brothers from
Kake. The trip up was windy and
rough. (
The Three Bros, took on a cargo
of holiday goods and turned back
down Frederick Sound the night o!
the 22nd. The holiday festival at
Kake will run through Saturday,
Sunday and Monday and prepara
tions have been made for a good
time.
CONVICTION SUSTAINED
It is reported, December 9th, that
the Circuit Court of Appeals, San
Francisco, h£,s affirmed the convic
tion of Val Klemm, Ketchikan, con
victed last fall—a year aga— for
taking salmon out of a cannery trap.
The sentence was three years in the
penitentiary.
Another of his crew, Walter Mc
Call is serving his sentence at Mc
Neil Island; another truned state’s
evidence and was set at liberty by
the court; still another member of
the crew fought hi3 case to a finish
at Ketchikan an dwas declared to be
not guilty of having taken salmon
from the trap, with the same crew,
at the same time for which Klemm
and McCall must pay penalty.
A Brief Look Around
The Independent (?) bosses, J. J.
Connors and eleven ounces of Troy,
visited Petersburg for the time their
steamer—bound Juneau way—stopt
at the city, Saturday afternoon. They
were returning from the Democratic
y(so-called) convention held recently
in Ketchikan.
LYING ON THE BOTTOM
By radio, December 21st, it was
announuced that the U. S. Submarine
S-4, was sunk and on the bottom
off Provinceton, Mass. Six men are
imprisoned on the vessel. Divers
trying to render assjstance. No de
tails at this time.
Senator Frank B. Willis, of Ohio,
has this to say bearing on the navy:
“When other nations undertake to
tell us how many ships we can build,
how long they can be, and the num
ber of guns they can carry, it i3 time
for the United States, in the inter
ests of peace, to strengthen the
weak pieces in our navy and make
out of it a well balanced fighting
force. We shall enter into no com
petitive race with any people, but
we shall do the things necessary to
protect American interests.” *
There is something in a program
of this kind. Presumably, there are
wars somewhere in the offing. So
long as war is possible and probable
it stands us in hand to be at least
partly equipped and ready to protect
ourselves. It appears, despite all the
peace meetings, that other nations
are going right on with their war
preparations and navy building. We
are tail enders in army strength and
naval equipment. Our condition at
present is such that it would take us
a long time to put soldiers in the
field and war vessels on the sea.
Should trouble arise with a nation
readyto declare war at once we would
be so seriously handicapped that
we’d suffer stupendous tosses in men
and property before we’d be able
to strike back. The more ready we
are to take care of ourselves, the
less liklihood there’ll be of getting
swiftly and dangerously kicked.
But we want the people of the na
tion to have a say as to whether or
not there shall be war. This leav
ing the jumping into strife to the
money bags of the country whenever
they see an opportunity to make all
the way from 200 per cent to 20,
000 per cent on a nice little scrap—
in which they, themselves, do no
fighting—is old stuff. s The idea of
killing off a lot of young people in
order that a few older and richer
folk should add to their bank roll
is getting out of the ordinary run of
things and shouldn’t be counten
anced. I
More
City Band Gives Concert
AN EVEN BREAK
Word comes from Seward that
Bessie Howe, a teahcer in the Ninil
chic School, U. S. B. E., has an even
chance to recover. She shot herself
acidently, some time ago, in the ab
domen while handling a gun. The
bullet cut through the intestines in
five different places.
Bound For The
Pen
The population of our penal in
stitutions is increasing faster than
the pro rata increase of population
of the United States. If this condi
tion should continue for a few years,
more than half the people of the
country would be in jail.
The United States Department of
Justice on October 31st, issued a re
port in which it was shown that the
Federal prison population had in
creased more than 110 per cent,
while the population of the country
was increasing about 20 per cent.
Is crime on the increase? Are
people more criminally inclined? Or,
is it true that our law makers are
manufacturig crimes faster than
knowledge can be assimilated? On
the face of things there is nothing
to indidcate that the world, or coun
try, is growing worse rather than
better, but there is the grotesque
spectacle of a inad race between law
makers and law breakers, with the
odds in favor of the former.—Wash
ington News Letter.
Shoots Herself
Mrs. L. A. Duer was found be an
Indian near Chitina, a few days ago,
lying in the snow, the top of her
head blown off and a revolver in the
clutch of her dead hand.: The snow
around the body was all blood stain
ed. Mrs. Dyer left two babies and
a husband, the latter a bookkepper
in he Chitina Cash Store. No cause
is known for the self-destruction.
The report comes from Cordova.
Some Salvaging
There is more or less salvaging
going on of the S. S. Northwestern
Some baggae that was listed as lost
has turned up locally. Merchcan
dise from the Sears-Roebuck and
Company, lost on the steamer, will
be made good by the company (S-R
& Co.) on their guarantee of safe
delivery soon as it is ascertained
what merchcandise was shipped on
the unfortunate boat. Some of tho3e
in the city who had purchased there
received notification that orders
would be duplicated.
A Show And Cards
The American Legion card party,
at the Grand Cafe last Saturday ev
ening was a two phase social affair.
Instead of following the original
program a change was made so that
the show at The MacGregor was tak
en in and enjoyed. Afterward the
cards were dealt around, as at first
planned, and “a good time was had
by all.”
To And From Wrangell
Jame3 Truitt, in charge of the lo
cal detachment of the government
engineers, made a brief visit to
Wrangell this week.
The concert given by the Peters
burg City Band, December 20th is
now history, but it’ll be remembered
as a fine, clean entertainment. Ev
idently, all of the band boys had
worked hard to make their offerings
a success and the audience appreci
ated the diversion of last Tuesday.
Of the band pieces, “Queen of the
Night,’’ “La Golondrina’’ and the
Overture “Lustspiel” stand out
above the others if there is any real
choice.
1 he violin solos, vocal solos, pi
ano solos were excellent parts of
the program and were spaced so that
they gave added attracion to the
evening’s concert.
Yes, it was all very good. There
was a fair audience—a good turn
out, in fact, when the miserable
weather of the day is taken into con
sideration.
It calls for a deal of time, labor
and expense to stage a concert such
as that of December 20th, but the
players get little or nothing out of
it, financially. The receipts go, for
the most part, in new instruments,
new music and equipment.
As Director Verney said from the
stage: “It is the city’s band and by
liberally patronizing the band con
certs the boys who do the playing
are enabled to better equip them
selves and make of the company
something worth while to the city.
Amusements
Thfe other night we wandered
down to the Variety show house
and took in the reel version of The
Pony Express. It was very good.
The staging of this bit of history
was excellent, and the scenes good,
the acting aobve average and the
costumes a pleasing flare back to
those exciting days.
Later we mosied up to The Mc
Greggor. The Winds of Chance,
screene from one of Rex Beach’s
western stories, was on. It is an
Alaska play from start to pleasing
wind-up. You see the stampede in
its youth at Dyea, you get glimpses
of the long climb over the Chilkoot
Pass, the drift down the rivers of
the interior and the climax at Daw
son. Scenes in the mining camps,
in the stop-overs along the trail, in
the streets and the sporting place3
of the mushroom cities were above
criticism. A double romance is neat
yl woven in the story and well
brought out on the films. The two
cantankerous miners who were also
partners were a scream. ’Poleon,
the swift water man. guide, packer
and the very Johnny-On-The-Spot,
all through the play was muchly the
bettor acor of all those who took
part.
A great many “Alaska” plays are
n’t worth going across the street to
look at. We are pleased to remark
that The Winds of Chance agree
ably surprised us.
Beat It
William Watson, Indian, sent to
McNeil Island from Juneau to 3erve
ten years , in 1924, for robery es
caped from the prison boat on which
he was engaged. It seems that the
boat went to a near by eown for
building material and while loading,
Watson slipped ashore into the tall
stacks. A reward was offered for
his capture.
Later.—Watson returned and gave
himself up to the prison authorities.
According to word received here,
the open sea3on for cannery salmon
will begin on the 15th day of June.