VOL. 3.
PETERSBURG, ALASKA, APRIL, 19, 1929
NO. 40
Ruction Over Tidelands Brings
Out Fire Department
Sunday morning Johnny Sales
and crew were put at work set
ting in a foundation off Front
Street back of the Band Stand
and between the *Kolstrand
Blacksmithing Shop. Mayor C.
E. Swanson appearing on the
scene ordered the men to cease
working on the property which
he declared was city property.
Upon their refusal to desist he
ordered City Marshal to take
steps to protect the property. Mr.
Nelson called up city magistrate
Carol Clausen and swore out a
complaint against the workers
for tresspas. Mr. Wheeler re
tained William L. Paul, attorney
of Ketchikan to take care of his
interests and to give any neces
sary advice to the men arrest
ed. A number of men gathered
in front of the magistrates of
fice and some urged turning the
water on the crew and their la
bor if necessary to eject them
from the property. Cooler heads
prevailed for the time being.
The crowd repaired to the City
Hall where the matte rwas fur
ther discussed by various citi
zens, property owners and oth
erwise. Someone suggested call
ing out the Fire Department to
wash out the piling set in place.
Immediately after the alarm a
large crowd gathered and fur
ther discussed the matter. Mr,
Ohmer .addressing the crowd
stated that a permit had been
secured by the Council from the
War Department to build a fire
station there, that it had been 1
House Cuts Out All
Home Rule In Bill
The House returned the Sen
ate Steel Controller Bill with all
features of control eliminated.
Tne senate wm consider the
federal bureaucratic control bill
today and will refuse to concur
with the House amendments.
The bill will then go into free
conference committee for fur
ther consideration. It has been
loudly whispered that some of
the important appropriation
measures will not pass if the
control features are eliminated.
SCHOOL RFFUND BILL
The House passed a bill which
will allow a 75 per cent refund
to schools with an enrollment up
to 150 pupils and 75 per cent
above with a limit of $30,000. It
is not likely that the Senate will
accept the first amendment.
The House passed the follow
ing bills: $30,000 for cooperative
mining investigations under fed
eral control, $20,000 for the es
tablishment of a fur farm at the
college; for investigation of the
warble fly and other reindeer
parasites $10,000 will be avail
able.
The boxing commission bill
was passed authorizing the gov
ernor to appoint three members
with headquarters at Ketchi
kan.
GOVERNOR WITHDRAWS
Governor Parks has with
drawn the name of George Love
for appointment as regent of the
college when complaint was
made that Love was a federal of
ficial. The name of J. W. Gilson
of Valdez was substituted along
with M. E. Stevens, Andrew Ner
land, John Kelly, all of Fair
banks. These were all confirmed
by the Senate.
used and held by the city for a
number of years. When he ask
ed what should be done about
the matter a number of men
said, “Tear it out” then proceed
so to do.
The crew who were arrested
were ordered to appear before
the city magistrate Monday at
ten o'clock. The matter was lat
er dropped without prejudice.
The Other Side
Mr. Wheeler claims that by!
virtue of purchase of upland pro
perty adjoining disputed tide
lands and relinquishemnt of
all rights to him by the Peters
burg Packing Company, the pro
perty was his. That certain im
provements stood on said pro
perty for many years; that the
ground is not and has not been
held, used or occupied by the
city at any time; that the Band
stand sets on the city street and
not on his property; that holding
July recorded deeds and relin
quishment for uplands and dis
puted property he was within
his right to go ahead with any
construction he might desire.
He wired Mr. Roden to Repre
sent him at Juneau an dto se
cure an injunction restraining
the city from interfering with
his peaceful enjoyment of his
property. The city wired Mr.
Faulkner to secure order re
straining Mr. Wheeler from
building any further on the pro
perty in question.
There the matter stands until
title is settled by the district
court.
ENTER NEW RiLES IN HOUSE
A bill providing for popular
election of the Commissioner of
Education in 1910 at a salary of
4>5,G00 per annum has been in
troduced in the House.
Representative McCormack in
troaucea a graduated tax on
fish traps with the basic tax at
$75, with three dollars per thou
sand up to a hundred thousand
and then an increase to ten dol
lars the thousand for fish over
and above that amount.
A bill from the Tihrd Division
provides for an appropriation of
forty thousand dollars for the
clearing of salmon streams in
conjunction with the Bureau of
Fisheries; also $15,000 is appro
priated to have the governor co
dify the session laws and have
same printed.
Workmen’s Compensation
The Senate passed the work
men’s compensation bill with
amendments which are agree
able to the House.
PENSION BILL PASSES
The Pioneers’ Pension bill was
passed by the Senate reducing
pension to the needy to $30 per
month and requiring a residence
of twenty years in the territory.
It is most likely that this meas
ure will not meet with the ap
proval of the House.
CONVICT BILL FAILS TO PASS
By a vote of five to three the
Senate sustained the governor’s
veto of the Poor Convict Bill. It
was introduced by Senator Di
mond.
Senator Hess has introduced a
bill to tax motor cars three cents
the gallon for gasoline. Dimond
introduced a bill regulating the
salaries of teachers in federal
and territorial and providing for
a system of pensions. Benja
min’s bill allowing $150. to pub
! lie libraries was passed.
Local Orators In
Contest
-o
On Monday evening at the
MacGregor Theatre, the young
orators of the town gathered to
gether and swayed their audi
ence as did orators of old. From
the first to the last number con
jsiderable effort and preparation
was shown and to select first
place was no sinecure.
The contestants were, Herbert
Mjorud, “The unknown Speak
er”; David Morgan, “The Old
Actor’s Story”; Matt Rayner,
“Toussaint LOverture’; Paul
Tveten, “The Boy Orator of Ze- j
pata”; Julia W^svick, “Cather-1
ine’s Plea,’ from Henry the VIII; j
Irene Runstaa, “Guinevere,” by i
Tennyson.
The judges were Miss Lillian
Swanson, Mrs. Oscar Gronquist,,
Mr. Oscar Sather, Mr. Chester
Archbold and Dr. Thomas H.
Rhone.
First place was awarded Herb
ert Mjorud and second place to
Irene Runstad. Mjorud leaves
on the Alamede for Juneau to
take part in the divisional con
test there Saturday.
Dimond Dunn Bill
The general school rev ision bill
proposed by senators Dimond
and Dunn was considere by the
Chamber of Commerce n a ver
brief manner the othei night.
The bid which is some thirty
pages long was consideied some
what an,oiguous ana rathe roi
dynamitic nature. It was not
generally felt that the bill was
sufficiently understood to bring
fort 1 :::iy j rotest or endorse
nuriit y i.i v iuu.
T'iO ph^e which deuit with
the act ool tx to be under con
trol of ti.e school board aroused
no In tic ( seussion. Question was
raised °s to whether tne bi
provided '.u a thirty mm tax oi
whet Ira. -half of the reveunc
of the Council was cut oq. The
ma'h:.: was referred to the sen
ator f{( m the Fourth Division
for rni.g’,;enment.
In the meantime in tv.o week
the iec;islaf< re adjourns with ev
ery ii d nation that the uppe
houce rill lefuse to pass appro
priation0 for the mining division
and colic, . This being due to
the refu.ii. of that division to
pass the Controller Bih in any
but jOKfr form.
Council Inducted
Into Office
-o
On Monday morning the City
Council met in the City Hall and
were sorn into office: Earl Ohm
er as incoming mayor and Rob
ert Allen, C. E. Swanson, Jack
Hanseth as incoming council
men. The meeting was adjourn
ed until evening when the regu
lar session was held.
The Town Treasurer reported
that additional $7,000 in out
standing warrants was paid off
leaving a balance of approxi
mately $10,000 payable and a
balance of $1700 on hand. The
council ordered payment of 1000
additional on the warrants.
The road in south Petersburg
is to be gravelled. Correspond
ence with Siems Carlson has
been ordered with the view of se
curing their price for scraping
and filling in the road.
Preparatory to this work, it
was ordered that the bridges at
the Sales place and below, are
[to be repaired to permit the
(FAVOR EXTERMINATION OF
SEA LIONS
Letters were received from the
Seward, Wrangell and Fairbanks
Commercial Clubs supporting
the effort of the local Club to
rid territorial waters of this an
imal which exterminates many
king salmon and .other fish.
Fairbanks Club stated while the
question was of no import to
them ,they were sufficiently in
terested in the territory to give
it the most hearty support.
Juneau writes that “after they
do a little investigating they will
take the matter up.” They pre
fer, like Nero, to “fiddle while
Rome burns,” or until the fish
eries are completely destroyed
by traps, trout, eagles, ducks,
sea lions and all other bird, an
imal and fish life, beside man,
that destroys fish life.
Klawock Girl Dies
After Operation
-o-•
..Rachel Roberts, .daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. .Bob .Roberts of
Klawock died at the St. Ann hos
pital, Juneau, Saturday after,
noon. Dr. Dawes performed the
operation and for thirty hours
thereafter there was every indi
cation of its being successful.
A sudden rise in the tempera- j
cure brought a hurried call for i
uhe doctor who saw her tern- j
perature rise to a hundred and;
ten degrees. Heart action also
went skyrocketing. She passed
away with the doctor unable to
stem the call of the Hereafter.
Miss-^Roberts was a girl of 23
years and had reached her last
year in high school at the Shel
don Jackson school, Sitka. She
was a girl of good clean and lov
able character and a fine lead
er in her home town and while
in school. She is survived by
her aged father Bob Roberts and
her mother Mrs. Roberts, broth
ers George and Peter and sister.
Mrs. Robert Peratrovich, all of
Klawock.
Alien Fisherman Bill
-o
Mr. Winn introduced a bill re
quiring that fishing in Alaskan
waters shall be limited to bona
fide residents over 18 years of
age or those who shall have de
clared citizen intentions. A fee
of $5 is required of every fisher
man and after May 15, 1930 no
one shall procure any salmon
without uch licenses.
heavy traffic necessary in the
completion of the south Peters
burg road.
Electrician McKecknie gave
notice that he was going to use
the pliers on those places which
were delinpuent in their pay
ment of light bills. He was in
structed to go right ahead and
do so.
A motion made and duly se
conded was passed reemploying
all present city employees. No
question was raised as to previ- i
ous ordinances on the subject, j
Dr. Thomas H. Rhone was ap- j
pointed city Health Officer for j
the ensuing year, replacing Dr. i
A. B. Jones.
Attorney Faulkner, who was j
retained as city attorney in the
case against James R. Wheeler,
involving land or tideland titles,
instructed the council to eject
Mr. Wheeler by force if neces
sary. Mr. Faulkner was instruct
ed to get in touch with Mr. Hen
Roden, representing Mr. Wheel
er in Juneau, to see about the
matter. And further to secure
restraining order to prevent Mr.
Wheeler from building any fur- ;
ther on the ground in dispute. J
Chamber of Commerce Hold
Busy Session on Various Topics
The Chamber of Commerce
held a long-winded and windy
session Wednesday evening at
the City hall. They fanned the
ozone a full hundred per cent
and then wound up with no one
getting hurt. The meeting w^s
harmonious but full of inter
est.
Forest Fryer reported that the
various organizations met and
decided on location for the pro
posed gymnasium—to be on the
school grounds, otto Welde was
instructed by the committee to
secure plans and estimates as to
cost of the building. When the
committee had this matter in
hand they would then devise
a budget and ways and means of
securing necessary funds to be
gin construction.
Dr. Rhone submitted a report
on a plan to cover a deficiency
of $180 guaranteed by the Club.
The plan offered by the Club to
the management of the Mac
Gregor Theatre was not accept
ed and a counter offer made. It
was not felt that this would be
aceptable so the committee saw
the management of the Variety
Theatre and made the same pro
posal. Mr. Enge was quoted as
saying, “Give me time, and we
will follow out the plan and if
one evening is not enough we
will make other evenings work
until the deficiency was met.”
The petition relative to navi
gation lights at Green Rocks
and on the north entrance bar,
was signed by all the captains
and pilots of both the Admiral
and Alaska Steamship lines. It
will now go forward to the Light
house Service at Ketchikan.
Changes in Capital
Capital facnt Krace
Changes in rules governing
me capnm 10 capitoi io,ee have
ueen made whereoy Petersburg
oecomes an omciai stopping
place. Time allowances, niaue
compuisoy and cumulative, will
oe tour hours out of every twen
ty-lour, with Petersburg, mark
ing that point on the travel
ruuuc where an competing boats
must have usea up their allow
ances. The idea being to make
it a real race from tins Port to
J uneau.
Under the rules promulgated
for this contest, tne nrst boat
entering Juneau will oe the win
ner, providing it follows ail the
rules of the race.
BURKE FINALLY OUSTED
-o
CharlesJames Rhoads, Phila
delphia banker has been named
to succeed Charles H. Burke,
whose resignation was forced by
Senatorial investigation. Mr.
Rhoads is president of the In
dian Rights Association of Phil
adelphia and has had lifelong in
terest in Indian welfare. His
selection was urged upon Mr.
Hooover by Indians and their
friends as being the type of man
who would look after Indian af
fairs largely as a welfare pro
position rather than as a job to
perpetuate a pernicious para
site sucking the very spirit of
independence out of the life of
the Indian and living largely by
grafting on eight billion dollars
worth of property.
Mr. Burke charged that Sen
ator Pine, who was conducting
the investigation, was seeking!
his (Burke’s) dismissal through
pique in Burke’s refusal to ap-i
Attention was called to ttu
navigation aids at Colorado Reof.
It was pointed out that tha
black spar marking the reef Is a
very poor one on heavy runouts.
Just a little error in following
the channel on a dark night wlU
do some craft much damage. It
was also pointed out that the
spar marking the north entrance
was not much better and these
should be replaced by better
markers.
Industrial School Location
A clipping was read from one
of the Seattle papers relative to
the proposed industrial school
for this Division. Mr. Wagner,
chief of operations of the Bu
reau of Education in Alaska, had
returned from Chicago where he
received instructions to piet a
site for the proposed school this
summer.
The secretary was instructed
to write Mr. Wagner calling Mo
attention to advantages ot lha
in Wrangell Narrows.
Endorse Tax on Alien FfsfceegMg
The amendments on the MU
to tax alien fishermen, propened
by Senator Benjamin, were Tied
The secretary wa sinstrueted to
write to Senator Benjamin eo*
dorsing the principle of his bUL
And in the support it was urged
that as high a tax as possible be
imposed on non-resident fisher*
men.
. Mail schedules had Its day
Attention was called to the
delays and poor mall service ac
corded by the Estebeth from
Ketchikan. The matter is to
be called to the attention of the
Superinendent of Mail Serric*
in Seattle.
GORST AIRLINE PLANE HIM
-o
The Gorst Airways Lines plane
enroute from Seattle to Juneau
stopped in this port for « half
an hour yesterday about noon.
The craft is on a scouting tour
with Mr. Gorst, vice president of
the company on board along
with several others, including
his sister Mrs. Taylor of Ketchl*
kan. “Slim” Iverson, employed
by the Kennecott Copper Coa
pany is a through passenger
from Seattle and Is the first pay
passenger to make the flight.
Under the old rules Mr. Iver
son is a pioneer having wltnoop
the coming and going of lee on
the Yukon. He is now doubly a
pioneer in that he is the first
pay passenger on the plants la
from Seattle in this division.
The plane, stated Mr. Qorat, to
on a scouting expedition with
the view of instituting a regular
run from Seattle to Juneau aad
possibly Skagway with Petere
burg a regular port of calL
Mr. Gorst was favorably Ua
pressed with the natural land
locked harbor and stated it wee
far superior to any on the run.
Mr. Johnson who proceeded
this party to Juneau several days
ago stated that a feeder plana
would probably operate ttoax
Skagway to Ketchikan connect
ing with the Union Air Line at
Ketchikan for Seattle.
The plane which went thru
was of the larger type and able
to carry seven passengers and a
limited amount of freight aad
mall.
point some-of Pine^sTfrlends fb
office. The records disclosed at
Washington before the Commit
tee hearings disclose Burke as
the most incompetent Commie
jsioner to direct the Indian ad
i fairs.