VOL. 3.
PETERSBURG, ALASKA, JUNE, 7, 1929
NO. 47.
Charley Is Getting Old
Charles Chaplin was ill at his
home in Hollywood the last oJ
May, of lumbago,, which held up
work on a current comedy.
Charlie blamed overexertion
at tennis for the attack. A sign
of age, Charley. The bones get
old and joints stiff, especially af
ter a hard game of tennis.
Indian Chief Asks
Three Changes
—o—
The weakness of two Sioux
Indian chiefs for new silk un
derwear and three baths a day
proved quite a financial prob
lem for the officers of the Izaak
Walton League of Chicago re
cently.
The League, in convention,
imported Chiefs No No Flesh and
Eagle Thunder, both in their
80’s, to add color with their
tom-toms and pow-wow songs.
But when the redskins learn
ed (from a salesman) that all
good Indians should bathe at
least thrice daily and change
underwear (silk, by all means)
after each bath, the league offic
ers were puzzled.
“We don’t object to the three
baths a day,’” said Bert F. Bell,
Rapid City S. D., director of the
Indian exhibit, “but they want
new suits o* underwear after
each bath. They dont wear any
at home. Something’s got to be
done about it,’”
To Repair Hospital
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Councilmen Allen and Swan
son advised the Council that an
estimate of $1500 would cover all
necessary repairs and renovating
of the old Hospital when it
would be ready for use again as
a hospital.
The Cou cil felt that sucn ai’
institution was a nece>sify in
the community as it did not
seem possible to get medical men
t come to Petersburg ci stay
»tcause of the lack of proper
, nspitalhntion for such cai-*e as
c d’ed foi it.
Hop Was Real At fair
Many of the town folk enjoy
ed a dance, Wednesday evening,
given by the boys from the U .S.
S. Gannett in the Sons of Nor
way Hall. There was a goodly
crowd in attendance and from
all appearances all enjoyed the
hospitality and had a genuine
good time.
An augmented orchestra pro
vided the music composed of the
regular dance orchestra togeth
er with several pieces from the
Gannet boys.
During a slight intermission,
Mr. Ohmer expressed an appre
ciation of the hospitality of the
boys and the pleasure it was to
have them in Petersburg. He
extended them an invitation to
stop here when enroute south.
PARKS FLIES SOUTH MONDAY
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Governor George A. Parks left
on the seaplane Juneau for Se
attle last Monday, hoping to
make the flight to Seattle in one
day. He left via Ketchikan and
Seattle from which latter port
he hoped to catch a plane for
California, thereby setting a re
cord for the flight.
Alaske Steamship Company is
going to maintain a schedule to
Westward ports every two weeks
this summer.
To Suryey Property
In Dispute
I Mayor Oiimer advised the
Council that James Truitt ,with
the U. S. Engineers was going to
make a survey of ‘the lands and
jtideiands whose ownership is in
'dispute between James Wheeler
land the City.
It was further stated that the
allegation in Mr. Wheeler’s com
1 plaint that the lands were up
lands was not true. That on a
13.8 foot tide the most of the
property in dispute was under
; water.
On tile 4th of June. Mr. Mer
' cer, local photographer under di
jrection of Mr. Wheelr, took a
; picture of the property in ques
tion, on a 13.8 tide. Council
man Hanseth and City Clerk
Clausen were present when pegs
were driven showing height of
tide. Only a portion of the low
er end of the property was un
.der water.
Mr. Faulkner, who represents
the city in this case was quite
optomistic as to tile outcome of
the case.
Gannet Team Wins Its
Game by Close Score
A very nlose game of ball was
! played between the team from
the U. S. S. Gannet of the Alas
ka Aerial Survey stationed here
the past week, and the Peters
burg Town Team ,which result
ed in the Gannet Team winning
with a score of 13 to 11. The
Gannet batters were much in
evidence during the fore part of
the game; but toward the close,
Petersburg was going strong and
prevented their opponents from
getting too much of a margin.
A good crowd attended the
game and rooters were much in
evidence on both sides. Yep,
the Gannet Team had some
“fair” rooters, also.
Oppose Naval Program j
. .President Hoover has indicat
ed that he may seek an earlier
international action on naval
disarmament than has been ex
pected and further the ad
ministration questions the wis
dom of carrying out the fifteen
cruiser program of the Coolidge
administration.
Secretary Stimson caused a
formal statement to be issued
this week in favor of naval re
duction, stressing the enormous
outlay of money contemplated
by the fifteen-cruiser program.
Word has been received that
Mrs. Patrick Verney’s father died
in Port Angeles, Washington,
last week.
CITY TREASURY LOW
Monthly bills and payroll were
presented for payment and or
dered paid. City Clerk Clausen
reported that there was hardly
enough to cover payment at the
moment but by the end of the
week there would be sufficient
to cover the bills.
T he Wrangell Mill team was
over last Sunday and gave the
Petersburg Town team a wallop
ing to the tune of 11-10. Fabri
cius, whose wooden arm still had
a bit of rubber in it, was too
I much for the glass-eyed local
j batters. However, Fabricius had
to keep on his toes all the time.
.DIVORCE SUIT OF WEIGHT.
Charles Zeichner of Los An
geles recently filed suit for a di
vorce from his wife, charging
technical cruelty—his wife was
getting fatter and fatter every
day and was making no effort to
keep said poundage down; and,
on top of that said Eva Zeichner
has to shave every day, which
was too much of an invasion of
man’s prerigatives.
Aerial Mapping Is
Nearing Finish
The naval aviators doing aeri
al mapping from this section
were able to cover considerable
of their work Wednesday and
Thursday of this week. They
have about three or four more
days of work ahead and they
will have completed the map
ping in this vicinity. They will
proceed north and will anchor
in Hood Bay, Admiralty Island,
the Gannet going on to Juneau
and returning to the barge for
completion of surveys in that
section of Icy Straits. When
this section is completed the
outfit will move to Juneau from
which port they will finish the
balance of Icy Straits mapping.
At the present time, according
to reports, it can rain sheets of
water until the middle of July
and still the photographers will
not be behind their schedule.
Eruption On Island
Eruption of a mountain on the
south end of Akutan Island, a
thousand miles southwest of
Cordova has been reported and
that it appeared as if flowing
lava would overspread the en
tire island.
The mountain top appeared
to have blown off and lava half
way down the mountain side
On the north side of the is
land is the village of Akutan, a
whaling station an d cattle
ranch with probably a dozen in
habitants. The fate of these
people had not been ascertained.
FIRE AT FUNTER BAY
Fire at the plant of the Alas
ka Pacific Salmon Corporation’s
cannery at Funter Bay. Two
Oriental bunkhouses and several
Indian “cottages”—shacys—were
destroyed by fire and one Chi
nese laborer badly burned.
The loss caused by the fire was
estimated to be about $20,000.
.. ..-x
CALLS IN STOCKS
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The Victor Talking Machine
Company has called for redemp
tion on August 1, all outstand
ing 7 per cent cumulative prior
reference stock, 195,000 shares,
redeemable at $115, plus accrued
dividends. On the same date the
company will redeem all of the
outstanding $6 cumulative pre
ferred stock at $110 and accrued
dividends.
The report comes from Ketch
ikan that trollers brought in to
the market there one humpy
and a dog salmon. They were
caught in Hecate Straits. One
salmon does not make a run any
more than one swallow makes a
summer.
i
-o
Pat Verney writes from Wran
gell that his cousin Mathew Ver
ney died recently. Mathew was
quite a musician and lead most
of the village bands in the First
Division.
1 . / •
\
Earnings Sound
Very Good
-0
The deep sea fishermen oi
Seattle earned $216,457 during
the month of May, according tc
H. E. Lokken, manager of the
Fishing Vessel Owners’ Associa
tion.
The aggregate catch included
I, 571,400 pounds of halibut val
ued at $210,957; 36,900 pounds
of sable fish which sold for
$1,845, and 182,750 pounds of
mixed cod, which brought the
fishermen $3,655. The total re
presents 144 trips ,or about 70
fishing vessels and approximate
ly 600 men.
This catch is below that of
| May 1928 which in 180 trips had
ja total of 2,199,700 pounds of
'halibut, fewer boats and men
> participated, and through bet
iter prices this season, the re
ceipts for the month just past
: almost equalled the figures for
jMay of 1928. The prices for hil
. May of 1928. In that month the
.halibut- brought $216,619 on a
I catch approximately a third
larger.
! Tubercular Fake Cure
!
Exposed By Gov'rnment
-o
I Federal authorities recently ex
! osed what is said to be the big
||est “tubercular cure” swindles
| eter operated in the West when
fe persons were indicted on a
cfiarge of using mails to defraud,
i '$he “guaranteed cure” prepar
ation is claimed to have victim
; ized more than 10,000 persons
and yielded the promoters ap
proximately $1,000,000 over a pe
Iriod of several years.
That the remedy is worthless
was the unanimous opinion of
government chemical experts, in
,the treatment of pulmonary dis
eases. The company has been
! operating under the name of the
San Romay Company.
Roy In a Tax Muddle
—o—
..Roy Olmstead, Seattle “booti
can” now doing penance in dur
ance vile for catering to thirsty
gullets for pre-Volstead liquids,
! has an income tax of $98,000 to
I pay his Uncle Sammy on income
taxes for the years 1923-24 and
11925, with interest and penalties.
.Using up a bit of lead one finds
.that Roy’s income, represented
by the tax, is based at $221,000
j for the three years. According
to Burns Poe, Collector of Cus
toms, Olmstead’s income tax due
in 1923 was $36,479.40 which re
presents an income of $140,000.
The voters don’t drink like they
vote else these figures would not
be so large.
PAGE SHERLOCK HOLMES
-o
While in Mexican waters .re
cently, the ship’s safe of the
Dorothy Alexander, containing
more than $2,200 and weighing
more than 150 pounds, mysteri
ously disappeared. The entire
crew and four passengers were
held by the police in San Fran
cisco, pending investigation.
The local team is pretty well
shot to pieces with Runstad,
and “Swede” out of town. Does
not look like Petersburg is going
to have a team this year at all,
unless some of the Athletic Me
thuselahs get back into the har
ness.
ANNUAL BASEBALL DANCE BF
HELD SATURDAY NITE
-x
Members of the local baseball
team are sponsoring a dance to
morrow at the Sons of Norway
Hall. Tickets are being sold in
advance and present indications
of the sale ,there will be a good
sized crowd in attendance. The
funds from this dance will be
used to defray expenses of the
team.
Cost of Cemetery
Comes High;
Councilman Hanseth reported
that he had inspected the ceme
tery with the view of estimating
cost of clearing out an acre so
that proper interment could be
made. It was his belief that an
acre of clearing would cost ap
proximately $1,500. The matter
was left pending the time when
j funds would be available.
| Mr. Eric Ness, representing
j the Sons of Norway requested
j tiie Council for a plot of land on
I either side of the cemetery for
(exclusive use of the lodge. They
I plan to start clearing as soon as
the matter could be arranged.
Owing to the fact that title
had not been granted by the
Land Office the Council could
not designate any portion until
surveys had been made. It was,
however, to let the lodge have
a plot of land for the purposes
designated.
Drive for New Settlers
-o
Colonel Otto F. Ohlson. gen
eral manager of the Alaska rail
road, recently went to Seattle
looking for settlers for approx
imatel 3,000,000 acres of agricul
tural land in Alaska.
Finland and Scandinavian
farmers are wanted in the Tan
ana Valley, owing to the low
temperatures there in winter,
while Swiss. Germans and Hol
landers are wanted in the Mat
anuske Valley, wfiere it is said
the climate is not unlike that of
Western Washington.
Advertisements will be carried
in forty agricultural papers in
an effort to get at least 50 or
100 families to settle in Alaska
this year.
Suicide on Increase
It has been said that only a
coward would commit suicide.
If such be the case then the fol
lowing figures must be of some
significance:
Frederick L. Hoffman, consult
ing statistician of the Pruden
tial Insurance Company is auth
or of the statement that the sui
cide rate in the United States in
1928 was 17.5 per 100,000. The
highest since 1916, when it was
18 The rate in 1908 was 21.5,
but the tendency of this year is
toward a higher rate in the fu
ture.
-o— .
HAINES PICKED UP NEAR
KETCHIKAN
-o
Raymond L. Haines who was
attempting to make a record in
a boat with an outboard engine
from Juneau to Seattle was
picked up about two hours south
of Ketchiuan by the tug Falcon
last Friday. His engine had
broken itse crankshaft. He was
transferred from the tug to the
Coast Guard cutter Cygan and
returned to Ketchikan.
Haines is undaunted by his
experience and will return to Ju
neau to make another start.
Reserves Decision
-o
Sing Lee, local merchant pre
sented a bill in the sum of $61.35
for lumber taken and used by
the city during the previous city
administration.
He stated that he purchased
the lumber from Gordon Mc
Donald and showed bill of same
to cover the lumber; that Mc
Donald had secured said lumber
from the Alaska Spruce Mills
as payment for logs sold the
mill.
It was stated by members of
the Council that the lumber was
secured from the Spruce Mills to
cover indebtedness for power,
therefore the bill was not owing
Sing Lee.
Sing waxed wroth and ex
pressed in no uncertain terms
his opinion of the council in no
complimentary manner.
It was decided ,in view of his
bill of sale to investigate the
right of McDonald to issue bill
of sale to Sing. If it was proper
then payment would be ordered.
Would Accept Offer For
Public Utilities
The City Council held a long
session last Monday night con
sidering the proposal made by
Mr. Van Orsdell to purchase for
the Foshay interests of Minne
apolis, the municipally owned
hydro-electric plant and water
works and system.
The first offer made by Mr.
Van Orsdell last week was in the
sum of $185,000. The Special
Committee, which heard his pro
jposal, countered with a price of
$210,000 .free water and lights.
At first Van Orsdell stood pat
declaring his price rock bottom.
The council also stood tough and
the matter stayed there until a
second offer was made by Van
Orsdel who raised his ante $15,
000, free water for city purposes
and city lighting to be taken up
in detail when drawing up the
franchise.
Mr. Allen opened up the sub
jecting by suggesting the Coun
cil stand pat on its price of
$210,000 pending decision by the
principal, Mr. Foshay. Mr. Ohm
er spoke to the subject and said
that it was possible that the of
fer made by Van Orsdell might
be withdrawn and all chance of
selling the utilities lost if the
Council stood pat on its price.
Each councilman when called on
to express an opinion felt the
same way so on motion a reso
lution was adopted instructing
the clerk to write Van Orsdell
at Juneau, advising that the
Council was willing to accept his
offer pending drawing up of the
franchise and presentment to
the tax payers.
ASK HONEST TRIAL FOR
PROHIBITION
..A number of prominent Am
ericans, including Thomas A.
Edison, Henry Ford, Robert Dol
lar, J. C. Penny and other prom
inent in business, signed a mes
sage to the American public urg
ing them to give “prohibition an
honest trial. They state “That
law observance plea” in Presi
dent Hoover’s inaugural address
invited “Americans of whatev
er previous opinions and social
practice, particularly those in
business and professional life, to
join with us in following the
President. Let us unite to give
'the 18th Amendment an honest
chance and complete enforce
ment.”
Have you gotten your ticket
for the Baseball dance