VOL. 2
PETERSBURG, ALASKA DECEMBER 16, 1927
NO. 23
Mid-Night Fire Bells
It was 11:05 by the clock. The
snow was deep and in windrows and
hummocks and piles. The thermo
meter stood at nearly zero. There
was a misty, clinging fog coming
up oft' the water, a fog that stuck
to you, chilled you and bit at your
ears and nose. Then the fire bell
rang. Gee, who wanted to push a
hose cart around that sort of a
night? Who wanted to drag lengths
of .heavy hose over and through
those snow hummocks. The fire
bell kept on ringing and the boys
turned out. Turned out well and
did fine work. The fire was in a
rather difficult place, too.
It was the Thos. Iverson building
on the creek some 400 feet above
the mill bridge. By the smoke one
had an idea that a whole city block
was burning. Iverson had tried to
get a fire under way in his stove
with gasoline. Not. only did he sue
coed in getting a fire, but he wa^
badly burned, himself. The gas can
caught afire, exploded and the
rooms were a flame almost in
stantly.
Everything practically on the up
per floor was destroyed. On the
lower floor where there was a boat
building shop the greatest damage
was by water. The shell of the
structure remains, but it will cost
considerable to make the place liv
able again. Mr. Iverson lost a
trunk full of clothing and 3ome
currency along with the building.'
fixtures and furnishings. It was an
awful night to be turned out in
that sudden fashion and the sym
pathy of the town is with the loser.
DAN SIT HE BLAND'S MOTHER
IS DEAD
Mrs. Mary Ann Sutherland, moth
er of Delegate Dun Sutherland, died
in Philadelphia on the 4th of De
cember after d brief illnes3. Mrs.
Sutherland was 84 years old at the
time of her death. She was buried
in Philadelphia on the 6th of De
cember. ;
SIDETRACKED
According to a news report dated 1
December 6tlx, in the controversy I
over the seating of representatives
of the republican committee from
Alaska, the matter was laid aside
by the executive committee because
the representatives of the two con
testing committeemen were absent.
Report is from Washington, D. C.
A MCE LITTLE GAME
Charles R. Forbes, former head
of the U. S. Veteran’s Bureau and
recently free from the federal pri
son at Leavonworth is “getting
even.” In fact he’s doing a bit of
squealing. One of his stories bears
on a little poker game in the depart
ment of justice office, Washington,
D. C. He says that there was
around $75,000 on the table in bills
of generally large caliber, that the
late President Harding sat at one
o 1 the table and Will Hays at the
oth^r. Others interested were Al
be’t Lndker, Harry Dougherty, Ned
McLean, Mrs. McLean and Mrs,
Harding. Tt is surmised that Forbe?
was, also, a player as he claim* to
have won $390.
blORMY WORK
The International Fisheries
schooner Eorothy. Capt. Hvatum,
has been having a disagreeable time
in her work of scientific investiga
tion and tagging of halibut in Alas
ka waters. Snow storms have pre
vailed and the water held rough
right along. However, twelve hun
dred halibut have been taggd.
The Band Concert
Remember, on the 20th of De
ceber the band plays at the Variety
Theatre. The turnout this time
gauges the future of our winter mu
sical festivities. If there is apprecia
tion we’ll have good band enter
tainments every once in a while. If
the audience indicates that there is
n’t any interest taken, the public di
version won’t be continued. A big
effort is being made to offer some
thing beyond the ordinary,—a treat
in its line and it stands the town
folk in hand to make a creditable
Showing at the box office if good inu- |
sic has any appeal. Let’s go. I
Deer Feed Coming
Earl Ohmer recently got word j
from the Game Commission, Juneau, j
that 3 tons of feed are coming on J
the Admira ISteamship Admiral Kog J
ers. This feed is for distribution
in those places where deer are hard
put to find anything to eat and b nits
will place it, probably directly afte.'
arrival here. Practicallv all the
deer family are down on the water
fronts now. They may be seen in
numbers along the shores of (he Nar
rows any time. Last week, when E.
M. Gcddard was down in the Duncan
Canal country, deer were plentiful
along the beaches and at that time
seemd.to be in pretty fai shape
Some wolves were also seen. Deer
are coming right into the c<*v
Whether this is for protection
against wolves and roving dogs or an
attempt to find something to eat is
hard to say. Anyhow, they hr*
along the outer edge of to v 1 The
ducks and geese are suffe.ui;, too
One would think that whe i condi
tions got so bad that there was
starvation the birds would up
and beat it to a more agreeable cli
mate and where there was es •, snow,
but it seems tha! they dislike to pc.
away from the country thev are
are accustomed to and Ihev endeav
or to get along until, finely, they c
too thin and weak to fly a half mile
CARD OF THANKS
Through THE ALASKAN Thos.
Iverson desires to thank all of
those who so kindly came to his as
sistance during and after the burn
ing of his residence a few days ago.
For the matter of taking up collec
tions he expecially thanks Magnes
Sennes, and for shelter this winter
weather, Ed. Nelson.
THEY’RE STILL AT IT
And the billiard contest goes mer
rily on at Brennan’s. Every Tues
day and Friday there’s a locking of
horns—or cues, rather—and there’s
always some one winning—and some
one losing. The winner of the joust
last Tuesday was Nick Beloslutseff,
the loser Connie Nygard. There
are those who refer to Nick as the
Russian Phantom and he fanned
out 70 points to Connie’s 69. Pretty
close, what? This game was feat
ured by the sensational shots of
Beloslutseff. He wasn’nt connecting
often, but when he did it just kept
some one busy pushing the buttons
on the wire oord. The winners to
date are: Raynor, Dick Brennar,
Waswick, Gunnar and Beloslutseff.
Friday’s game is between Stout and
l Bailey. The first stanza of the
tournament is now drawing to a
I close.
SOLD, SIGNED, SEALED AND
DELIVERED
The Bill Worth residence and sev
erval lots, on the roadway below
the Standard Oil Warehouse, sold
thlB week to G. F. Hildebrand.
What The Petersburg
Commercial Club Did
At the Commercial Club dinner of
last Wednesday there was a good
represenmtion, a fine bill of fare
and an all around agreeable meet
ing.
The ev ning was taken up in the
main on discussions of wrild game,
the herring situation, dredging and
fire protection.
Karl Ohrner, of the dredge com
liULtce. I light in a lengthy report
beuriug on the committee’s activity.
It was brought out that practically
all of the information had been tab
ula Ud and was ready to send to
the proper authorities although
there was some printing to be done
and a few minor details to attend
to. Communications were read, from
Schomvald of the Petersburg can
nery, and from Stannard of the Al
aska Steamship Company asking for
details of the dredging proposition,
yardage to be removed, cost (ap
proximately) and the views of the
U. S. Engineeers on the proposed
work Haven, Clauson and Ohmer
are the dredge committee.
On the herring matter there were
communications from Chas. Gold
stein and others in the Juneau dis
trict. The gist of these letters were
to the effect that nothing could be
done wiih the Commercial Club’s
suggestions and requests as they
were understood by the writers. The
letters gave the impression of a
3ort of hold back on the part of
the Juneau folk as the club’s cor
respondence to other places was
aasilv understood and readily agreed
to. However, replies to the general
objections were formed and an en
ieavor was made to compose In de
tail all that had been taken up and
gone over before. It was cited that
conservation must be observed by
packers as well as those who were
in (he reduction business. No in
tention to allow packers to use
seines and catch indiscriminately
and throw overboard those herring
too small to put. up. Idea was the
use of gill nets of 2% inch mesh,
or bigger, which would snare only
the large and adult fish, and that
even in herring ponds gills nets
would have to be used in order
not to destroy the younger herring.
Tried to make it plain that herring
conservation meant herring conser
ANNUAL REPORT
We are in receipt of a copy of
the Annual Report of the Governor
of Alaska. The report is in paper
book form of 139 pages made up of
text, maps and statistics. We have
n’t had an opportunity to go thru it
any more than in a sort of fleeting
manner, but it will be a handy re
ference and on our desk all the time.
It is evident that the Governor
thinks the Territory is all hunky
dory for there are but five recom
mendations made so far as we've
been able to find. The first recom
mendation is for additional appro
priations for the United States Bu
reau of Education to build one or
more isolation wards for tubercu
lar patients.
Second, Enlargeent of the sta
tion at Tanana by providing a home
for defective children, isolation
ward for contagious diseases, and
an industrial school.
Third, Detention home for Incor
rigible natives in Alaska.
Fourth, Repeal of tax provisions
of Alaska game laws in-so-far as
they effect the residents of Alaska.
Fifth, Appropriation for capltol
building. (Report is for fiscal year
ended June Seth, 19*7). /
vation for one as well as another;
that there was no intention to be
at all one sided in the matter.
As to deer and other wild game:
Leter from Terhune, of the Game
Commission relative to a quantity
of feed for deer arriving on the
Rogers. This was through the re
commendation of Goddard who had
recently looked over the 'situation
in this section of the country and
had conferred witti those who had
taken an interest in game welfare
locally. In the Game Commission’s
correspondence it was made known
that pictures of the deer and other
game were desirable where they
(the pictures) showed feeding dif
ficulties on account of the weather
conditions. Reports of deer seen
along the shore of the Narrows
were made before the club together
with their general apparent shape
to stand the heavy fall of snow and
the freeze up of the streams. Re
ported that Swanson, licensing of
ficer for Petersburg, had heard from
Stewart, U. S. predatory animal
hunter, and had received articles
on how to trap wolves. Deemed
advisable to give this trapping ad
vice publicity.
Fire equipment: The matter of
adequate fire protection brought out
many expressions of opinion. Since
the present water mains of the city
aren’t heavy enough to 3tand any
pressure beyond what the hill res
ervoir now allows, it was deemed
advisable, in some way, to make up
for this through some sort of a
salt water auxiliary. On account of
the distance to salt water along the
city front at low tide the salt water
solution didn't meet with a whole
lot of approval. It was, finally, fig
ured out that if the main dam of
the city’s water supply were in
creased in height so that a greater
supply could be made to work by
a stepping up pressure appliance on
a truck taking water from the or
dinary hydrant. This would be a
gas pump, or oil engine pumping
device taking its water supply from
the hydrants and, through the
pumps, increasing the nozzle pres
sure to any de3ired number of
pounds per spuare inch. This idea
seemed to meet with the moat ap
proval.
TO HELP THE BAND
There will be no show at The j
MacGregor next Tuesday evening, j
On Tuesday, December 20th, the j
City Band gives its entertainment |
at the Variety Theater, and as Neil !
MacGregor desires that there be no j
competition with this effort of the1
town’s musicians, willingly closes
his show so that all may take in the j
good things that the band boys
have to offer. The members of the
band greatly appreciate the genero
sity of MacGregor in his move and
through THE ALASKAN express
their thanks for his endeavor to
make the entertainment a success.
CLERKS READ PRESIDENT’S
MESSAGE
The President’s message, deliver
ed to the capitol by messngr, was
read by clerks December 6th. The
message follows right along the lines
his administration has maintained
on the important issues such as farm
relief, national defence, foreign re
lations, flood control and taxation.
It was quite plain, in the message
that the President was as strongly
opposed to the McNaryHaugen farm
relief bill as ever.
Moonlight Views
Earl Ohmer, Fred Porter and H
Oyama are getting to be expert af
ter dark photographers. A few
nights back when the tides were
dropping below the zero line and
there were acres of mudflat3 exposed
the picture takers took a long time
exposure of the city’s front yard. As
the very low runouts take place af
ter dark at this time of the year, il
was necessary to shoot photos at
night, if they were to be shot at all
Developement of the negatives prove
that some splendid pictures were
taken even though att he time no one
had an idea there was sufficient light
to make an impression. The photo
graphs were taken to go with the
requests of the city to Washington
for harbor improvemens. They will
show, all right enough, that there
isn’t an abundance of water around
the docks on a low runout.
Ashore At Cape Mudge
This is the telegrom, or cable
gram rather, that makes it plain
why the Alaska Steamship Com
pany’s Northwestern isn’t steaming
north on schedule time:
“Northwestern ashore Cape Mudge
Unable to proceed. Alameda leav
ing Seattle Sunday P. M. Bringing
passengers to Seattle. Alameda will
sail regular route. Advise shippers
to duplicate Northwestern’s orders
for Alameda. Advice from North
western indicate that passengers in
no danger.”
These are dangerous navigation
days and nights. For a long time
the air has been worse than a fog
bank with falling snow. The in
land water way is narrow and crook
ed and snow storms are bad enough
in the open ocean where there is
sea room. It is hoped that the big
ship will get off without further
damage and- delay.
FOB THE PIONEERS
All of the exhibitors connected
with Alaska Film Exchange are go
ing to turn over the full returns ot
their show houses for Saturday
night’s entertainment (December
17th) to the pioneers of Alaska in
the Pioneers’ Home at Sitka. Here’s
where you have an opportunity to
make some pioneer man and wo
man happy. Here's your chance
to hand something to the trail
blazers. Here is a fine way to re
member the old timers who broke
into the North Land when the break
ing was hard, and who made the
going smoother for those who fol
lowed. Mr. Enge, of the Variety
Theater, is one of the Alaska Film
Exchange exhibitors, and the total
receipts of Saturday night’s play
will go to the Pioneers’ Home, Sitka,
as a portion of the Christmas cheer
from Alaska to the pioneers.
DON’T SHOOT ANY MORE
QUACK-QUACKS
On the 15th of December the op
en season for duck shooting closed.
Well, this bum weather is making
the birds rather thin anyway. No
body wants to kill game too poor
to eat. All in all, the season has
been a good one. There has been
any number of all kinds of ducks
and geese and It wasn't a great
deal of trouble to bag the limit any
afternoon where the game wa* fly
ing. Blind Slough was exceptional
ly good this winter.
Miss Mary Reep, a teacher In the
Petersburg schools, was a south
bound passenger on the S. S. Admir
al Watson. She will spend the holi
day season in the Staten.
Dan On The Job
On the opening day of the 7th
■ session of Congress, Dan Souther
hand introduced a resolution in the
J house of representatives that the
governor of Alaska be elected by the
people of Alaska. This would take
the selection of the excutive out of
the hands of the president, and
would be determined at the first
popular election to be held on the
first Monday in November, 1930.
Sutherland also introduced a reso
lution for an appropriation of $50,
000 for the selection of a herd of
musk oxen by the federal govern
ment for experimentation and do
mestication in Alaska.
Also, the authorization of appeal
of criminal prosecutions in the fed
eral court to the ninth circuit courts
of appeals.
Also, empowering the city of Anc
horage to issue $101)000 school
bonds.
Also, the patenting of public lands
near Seward to the Woman’s Home
Missionary Society of the Methodist
Episcopal church.
Al-30, transferring criminally In
sane persons in Alaska to St. Eli
zabeths hospital at Washington at
the government’s expense.
Also, establishment of a land dis
trict in Southeastern Alaska and ap
pointment of a receiver and regis
erar at the land office at Juneau.
Also, the fixing of salaries of U.
S. Marshals at $6,000 per year.
P. T. A. Meeting
The meeting of the Petersburg
Parent-Teachers’ Association took
place at the Lutheran Church, Dec
cember 14th.
The first part of the evening was
taken up with the program of Miss
Otness’ first graders—3 7 of ’em.
This program was made up of songs,
stories, recitations, duets and there
wa3 instrumental music by members
of the association.
since tne hrst graders had the
greatest number of parents present
at the meting, and as that is the
schedule on which prizes are given,
the first graders carried off the
picture for the month.
Down to routine affairs, it was
moved and 3econded to transfer the
$500 collected by the P.-T. A. over
to the City Council for completing
the work in the assembly depart
ment.. Communications were taken
up and acted on. Treasury report
read and it showed a healthy bal
ance on the right side of the ledger.
After adjournment there was a
light lunch and hot coffee.
Considering the importance of
these associations and the good they
are able to do if the members art
up and moving, the meeting of the
14th was disappointing. There
seemed to be a lack of spirit and
the whole affair gave one the im
pression of an uphill job with few
workers on it.
AT KETCHIKAN
Dr. E. F. Graves, territorial vet
erinarian, who stopped in Peters
burg a while back on his tour of
the fox farms in this section, arriv
ed in Ketchikan a few days ago.
He says that he has been greatly de
layed in getting from place to place
through lack of means of trans
portation, but that he visited most
of the farms between Petersburg
and Ketchikan. Said that he was
not in a position at this time to
make any definite statements rela
tive to foxes and fox farming. He
is In Ketchikan now to confer with
territorial office's and officials of
the Biological Surrey.
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