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Tokmotlsl IIUOI
VOL. 3.
PETERSBURG, ALASKA, FEBRUARY 15, 1929
NO. 31
Discrimination Against
Alaska Sawmills)
-o
A leading Alaska sawmill has
called attention to an unjust
and discriminatory practice, in
volving shipments over Canadi
an lines into the United States,
and has asked The Timberman
to co-operate in correcting this
unfair situation.
The communication says:
“Our Alaska mills are badly
hampered in our attempt to get
into the markets in the Twin
Cities and eastward by reason of
the fact that the Merchant Ma
rine Act of 1920, generally
known as the Jones Act, ex
cludes Alaska from the privi
leges enjoyed by the rest of the
United States in shipping over
Canadian lines of transporta
tion.
“Section 27 prohibits the use
of foreign ships in transporting
American goods between Am
erican points and has this pro
viso attached:
(The famous section 27, which
was slipped in while Delegate
George B. Grigsby was “sick” in
San Francisco, was here inserted
in the article.—Editorial note).
“You will note that this sec
tion established the right to
ship freight from one part of
the United States to another
part of the United States over
Canadian rail and over the wa
ter part of such routes by for
eign vessels. Alaska is exclud
ed from equal rights with the
rest of the United States. We
are prohibited from enjoying
the right of shipping through
Prince Rupert and thereby los
ing a very strategic means of
shipping.
“We have wired our delegate
to Congress, Dan Sutherland, in
Washington, to introduce a bill
whereby Alaska may be allowed
the same privileges as the rest
of the United States.”
The Timberman can conceive
of no good reason why the saw
mill operators of Alaska should
have closed against them any
Canadian gateway which is
available to the mills of the
United States, and is pleased to
be of assistance in calling the
attention of congress to this
discrimination which has 86
tendency to restrict the devel
opment of the lumber industry
in that rich storehouse of na
tural resources.
“Scott C. Bone, former gov
ernor of Alaska, in speaking of
the visit of the late President
Warren G. Harding to Alaska,
acompanied by President-elect
Hoover, then secretary of com
Continued on page 4
Speeding tip Work on
Theatre
Rasmus Enge since his return
from Seattle has added men to
the crew already working on his
theatre. He proposes to open
the theatre much sooner than
first planned.
When completed, it will be one
of the best little show houses in
the territory with improvements
that will make it compare to
some mighty good Seattle The
aters.
The Boy Scouts are putting or
a Court of Honor program at the
Sons of Norway hall, February
22rd from eight to nine. Aftei
which they will stage a dance.
Fish Schedules up in
Hearings
-o
The Ways and Means Com
mittee of the House of Repre
sentatives holds hearings every
day from ten o’clock in the
morning until five-thirty in the
evening. These are very inter
esting sessions which permit
any person who is interested in
tariff changes to appear and to
state his views. The closing
days of this week were given to
the schedule on agricultural
products and provisions which
include fish.
Delegate Sutherland appeared
and urged a duty of fifteen per
cent ad valorem on shrimp
meat now carries a duty of fif
teen per cent and Sutherland
told the Committee that they
were both luxuries and quite
similar foods and therefore the
tariff should be the same on
ealic product. Over half a mil
lion pounds of shrimp meat is
shipped from Alaska every year
at a valuation of over two hun
dred thousand dollars.
Mr. Sutherland also asked for
a tariff of four cents per pound
on stockfish. This is a product j
of southwestern Alaska. Resi- j
dents of the Shumagin group
of islands have been engaged
in preparing this fish product
for the American market since,
the close of the world war. Dur- ■
ing the past three years the
Norwegian product has flooded j
the United States market at a!
price with which the Alaska1
producers cannot compete.!
Sutherland seemed to have the
support of the New England
salt fish dealers in asking for
this tariff on stockfish. Al
though Sutherland contended i
that the duty on salt fish from
the vessels should not be reduc
ed but rather should be increas
ed the Gloucester, Massachu
setts, manufacturing interests
would have the present duty of
one and one-fourth cents per
pound reduced to three-fourths
of a cent per pound. There
seemed to be a difference of
opinion among the Gloucester
men on this item as several
held for the present duty.
The Alaska delegate asked
that the tariff on Scotch cured
be increased to two cents per
pound. There were represent-!
atives of New York importers
of salt herring and mackerel
present who urged that all
duties be removed from these
two varieties of salt fish.
The hearings are largely a
contest between American pro
ducers and the American im
porters. One man made a long
appeal for removal of the pre
sent duty of fifteen per cent on
crab meat. He represented the
importers of Japanese canned
crab- , i.f.
D.A.is Convicted
. Asa Keyes, District Attorney
of Los Angeles, California was
convicted of conspiracy and
bribery by a jury of his peers.
He was sent to San Quentin
penitentiary where he had sent
, jmany another poor unfortun
ate criminal. Like a pack of
wolves the occupants of the pen
itentiary awaited his arrival. If
L they had any plans to avenge
, themselves, it miscarried for the
man was given a special cell
in condemned row to avoid any
possible violence of the 2,000
prisoners.
! Faces Firing Squad
—
j Jose de Leon Toral, the slay
er of President elect Alvaro
Obregon, of Mexico, was execut
ed by a firing squad in the court
yard of a federal penitentiary
on the outskirts of Mexico City
at an early hour on the 10th
of this month. Toral faced
death bravely marching alone
, and with a steady tread to a po
jSition before his executioners,
j Eight military policemen fired
; immediately and Toral plunged
| forward. The Commander of
! the squad fired the coup de
| grace and a priest rushed for
ward and administered the last
rites of the church. Only about
one hundred persons witnessed
the execution.
Objects to Tarifi on
Halibut
-o
Mr. H. E. Lokken, represent
ing the Fishing Vessel Owners’
Association of Seattle, appeared
before the Committee on Fri
day in protest against any ac
tion by Congress that might
shut the Pacific halibut vessels
out of the Prince Rupert mar
ket. Mr. Lokken made a very
favorable impression upon the
Committee. His statement was
to the effect that any interfer
ence with the present method
of marketing halibut in the Bri
tish Columbia port would be
ruinous to the fishermen and
vessel owners. He said that
there were twenty-five hun
dred halibut fishermen on Se~;
attle and Alaskan boats and
that to a man they were
against the closing of Prince
Rupert market. Sutherland
supported him in this claim.
Representatives of the Ketchi
kan business interests have not
yet appeared before the Com
mittee. They will have an op
portunity to do so late in Feb
ruary when the free list is un
der discussion. It will be about
one month before the Ways and
Means Committee reaches this
free list part of the tariff bill.
Dr. Bunnel, of the Alaska Col
lege, has departed for the West.
One of the bills in which he is
interested has passed both
Houses and now awaits the
President’s signature. It would
convey large areas of public
land to the Alaska college to
be sold for the benefit of the
institution.
Convict Alderman
-o
Alderman Titus Haffa and 4
of his aides who invited two fed
eral under cover agents to join
them in their five milficn dol
lar bootlegging business were
found guilty on each of eleven
counts of violating the prohibi
tion law and conspiracy by a
federal jury today. Those who
were found guilty with Haffa
were, Joseph Bagheriu, ward
president of Mayo^ Thompsons,
America First Club, Edward
Hugsam and Simon at d Henry
\Iurray. The defendants face
heavy penalties since it is
possible that they will be sent to
prison on each of the eleven
counts with sentences running
consecutively.
Eats, sandwiches, cake and
coffee, Saturday night, February
23rd at the S. of N. hall. Boy
Scout’s Washington’s Birthday
Court of Honor and Dance,
Pictures for Alaska
-o
The ten thousand school-chil
dren and teachers of Alaska
have just received as a gift
from the National Association
of Audobon Societies, a supply
of bird-study material which
will not only serve to arouse
their interest in this important
subject, but will teach them
better to know and to appreci
ate some of the common birds
of their great country. The ma
terial consists of the pictures of
twenty Alaskan birds reproduc
ed in color from original paint
ings by America’s well-known
bird-artist, Major Allan Brooks,
These are acompanied by text
descriptive of the birds.
In addition there is an inti
mate letter to the children of
Alaska by Dr. T. Gilbert Pear
son on “The Value of Birds.”
This takes the form of an eight
page circular illustrated with
half tone cuts, and contains
vivid descriptions, in simple
language, of some of Alaska’s
best known birds. The value of
insect and seed-eating birds is
stressed and particular atten
tion is paid to the importance
of preserving the vast water
fowl resources of t he country
where the tundras afford breed
ing places for countless millions
of wild ducks and geese.
The letter also contains ac
counts of the picturesque sea
bird life of the coastal regions
and emphasises the need for
sanctuaries and enumerates
those that have been establish
ed in Alaska.
The circular closes with a let
ter from Governor George A.
Parks, “To the Boys and Girls of
Alaska.” The material is be
ing distributed throughout the
Territory by the cooperation of
the United States Bureau of
Education, the Territorial Com
missioner of Education and the
Alyaska Game Commission.
Steamer Service Cut
The Alaska Steamship Com
pany, in its new schedule, has
cut out service to Petersburg
with its Westward boats. This
brings forth a sharp letter of
protest from the local cham
ber of Commerce Wednesday
evening. Furthermore, this lit
tle port was given the go-by in
the publication which this com
pany puts out for its tourist
trade.
Messrs. H. Dahl, Jess Ames
and Mr. Bowman were appoint
ed as a committee to communi
cate with the Seward Club with
the idea of arranging a trip for
the local high school team in
event it wins the championship
of this Division. All informa
tion they can gather as to
games scheduled, guarantees,
transportation connection and
| so forth, they will present to this
, Club at an early date.
Protest will be registered by
the local Club to the Legislature
that under the present school
laws the local school, based on
expenditures of 1927, is getting
about 75 per cent instead of 85
contemplated by the law. Mr.
Bowman was appointed to take
this matter in hand.
Attention of proper authori
ties will be drawn to the incom
pleteness of the work in the
Narrows, especially at Green
where the turns for some of the
vessels is just about dangerous.
Capt. Andy Johnson will re
port to the Club as to the light
which was asked for in Icy
Nailed to the Floor
-o-*
Tire high school basketbal
team journeyed to Ketchikar
Hast week with a blare of trum
[pets and much cheering. Theii
many triends and admirers ad
monished them to “bring home
the bacon.”
They got to the First City and
took in the sights, ate more
than was good for them and
generally slacked up physically
and mentally. When they met
the Ketchikan high school team
the second night they were in
town the Ketchikan team played
ring around the rosy with our
boys. Every one of the local
boys was bolted to the floor,
and locknuts screwed up so tight
(they could not move out of
their own way to get the ball.
They had no offense let alone
speaking of defense so they had
the discomforture of tasting a
bit of the short end of scores
they had been handing other
! teams. They were left at the
;post and never had a hcanee to
jmore than let the fans know
j that they crossed the line at the
I finish. Score 13-7. „
The second game the coaches
jhad found some monkey tools
laying loose, so they got busy
and tied the local boys loose
i from their bolts, rivets and nuts
|so that the Ketchikan team did
| not know whether it was playing
basketball or just on the floor
to watch our boys pass, dribble
and shoot baskets at will. Two
lone shots for Ketchikan in the
first quarter gave them 4 to23
for Petersburg. Ketchikan still
thinks it can beat the local
boys. And they can if the boys
jfind another bunch of shackles,
bolts rivets or what have you, to
stick to the floor with. The team
returned on the Alameda Sun
Hay. The defeat did them a
| little good.
j The bill to correct the forty
eight hour law in canning or
| preserving salmon has passed
S the Senate. It should soon be
| reported to the House and as
[there is no objection to its pass
I age, it will probably become law
i before the close of this Con
gress.
Charles Greenaa after a brief
visit to officials on Court House
Hill in Ketchikan pursuaded
them that his buisness needed
him more than did court duties.
He returned home on Sunday
last.
Complete Naval Plan
■-o
The Navy Department has
practically completed its plan
lor the construction of the first
i five cruisers authorized by con -
gress. A maximum fund of $14.
POO,000 dollars for the recondi
tioning of the battleships Penn
sylvania and Arizona were pro
vided for in a bill which was
passed through the Ho te thi
week.
Local Tariff Only
Senator Smoot, of Utah, after
a visit with President-elect Her
bert Hoover, stated that there
will not be a complete tariff re
vision at the coming special ses
sion of Congress. Action will be
confined to farm relief and a
few industrial schedules.
Straits. The need of a light on
the port entrance to Snow Pass
| southbound, will be called to the
attention of authorities.
Washington News
The past week brings no par
. ticular ciiange in legislative
matters affecting Alaska except
that the bill to permit boxing
contests in the Territories of
Alaska and Hawaii has passed
both branches of Congress and
should receive the presidential
approval soon.
The fight in both branches
over the increase in the appro
priation for prohibition enforc
ment has held public attention
during the week. The increase
was practically defeated in the
House this week when the bill
went to conference. The in
crease was made in the Senate
to the amount of twenty-four
millions of dollars by what is
known as the Harris amend
ment sponsored by Senator
Harris of Georgia. The House
leaders fought the increase and
were joined by many heretofore
ardent drys. The anti-saloon
leaders were strongly for the in
crease. Some members profess
to see in the incident a break
ing away from anti-saloon lead
ership but it is more probable
| that the drys who refused to
'furnish greater funds for dry
law enforcement were prompted
by a desire to not embarrass the
incoming administration by
placing this large fund at its
disposal as it is not believed
that any great showing of en- ,
forcement could be made in the
' administration and the drys
would clamor for better enforce
ment with greater Hinds at com
mand.
The Ways and Means Com
mittee continues its hearings on
the tariff every day. They have
passed the schedule that in
cludes fish and will not reaeh
that item again until February
24th when the free list comes up
Continued on page 4
Text of Boxing Law
-o
The law which will permit
boxing in the territories of Ha
waii and Alaska is having clear
sailing in Congress. The text
of the bill follows :
“That section three two one
of the Act to codify, revise and
amend the penal laws of the
United States approved March
4, 1909 as amended, is amended
by adding at the end thereof the
following new sentence: Noth
ing in this section or in the pre
I ceding section shall be held to
- prohibit any pugilistic encount
er in the Territory of Hawaii or
I the Territory of Alaska in con
: formity with the laws of the re
i spective territories if the con
| testants use gloves not less than
five ounces each in weight, such
encounter is not held on Sun
day and does not consist of more
than ten rounds of a duration
of more than three minutes
each with an interval of one
minute between each round and
the succeeding round and each
j contestant is over eighteen
| years of age and one hour prior
i to such encounter has been ex
Jamined by a licensed physician
who shall certify in writing to
the referee of such encounter
that such contestant is physical
ly fit to engage therein.”
A copy of this bill will be
'available as soon as printed.
The Elks’ Hi-Jinx, held in the
Sons of Norway Hall, was one of
the big social events of the year.
“Everybody was doin’ it” and
all indications every body was
real happy.