VOL. 2
PETERSBURG, ALASKA JANUARY 20, 1928
NO. 27
Wrangell Man In
Wreck
Fred Gold and partner, a young
man, had some experience in the Pt.
Mitchell country the other day. Fred
and partner, of Wrangell, located
themselves on Kupreanof Island,
near the point, and put up a tent
to shelter them while taking care
of a trap line. Their small motor
boat was anchored near the camp.
A day or so back, the trappers de
cided that they had captured about
all the loose suff roaming around
and prepared to leave. A lire was
started in the ship to dry and warm
her up. While the tent was being
taken down it was noticed that the
ship was afire. The cabin was burn
ing. Fred said that it took but a
few minutes to get the better of the
blaze, and after everything had been
drenched he went inside with a
lighted lantern to look over the
damage. Instantly there was an
explosion and Fred was kicked ov
erside with a badly scorched face
and burnt hands. No fire followed
the explosion. An investigation
showed that a small gas tube to the
engine had melted and a trickle of
gasoline was running down into the
hot bilge water. This quickly gasi
fied the cabin and when the lantern
was taken in the blow-up followed.
Wednesday morning Pete Behrs,
coming to Petersburg on his motor
boat “Hicks,” picked up the unfor
tunate men and brought them in
The hull of the burnt boat isn’t so
badly injured, but the cabin is to
tally destroyed. Fred is going
around with bandaged hands and a
compound covered face.
THE WORTH'S DEPART
Mr. and Mrs. William Worth and |
baby Barbara left Petersburg on
the Alameda last Monday, Seattle
bound. Mrs. Worth and the baby
will probably stay in the Queen City
for some time while Bill is looking
over new territory in California and
making a trip back to Massachusetts
The Worths intend to remain in the
States and this leaving Petersburg
marks the end of a number of years
residence in this region where a
strong endeavor was made to build
up a buisness and a home. Bill was
a member of the last Territorial Le- !
gislature and one of his successful !
measures w-as the securing of a re- j
fund to the City of Petersburg of
an old smallpox epidemic account
that had been up before the law
makers several times before. The
gratitude shown for this-bit of la
bor for the town was remarkable
The most recent display in this line
was the ripping out of the Worth
electrical fixtures in the hallway of
his business block shortly before he
left the city. The city advertises
itself well. Anyway, we wish the
family all sorts of good luck.
THE A. P. A. REPORTS
On January 18th, President Wm.
Timson of the Alaska Packers’ As
sociation gave out the annual report
on behalf of the directors. Accord
ing to the report, a regular quart
erly dividend of $2 a share will be
paid the 10th of February on the
outstanding stock as shown at close
of business Jany. 1st. Also, at the
same time a payment of $2 per
share will be paid on insurance furd
interest income. ' The insurance
fund at the end of 1926 was credit
ed $4,833,450. Close of 1927, $4.
755 712. Last season the A. P, A.
operated 13 Alaska packing plants
and one cannery in Washington
The pack was 581,981 cases ol
which more than half were sokois
The valuation of plants, terminal:
and fleet runs to considerably - ovei
seven millions of dollars.
From Boyd Nakatla
.
Hydaburg, Alaska,
December 17 th, 1927, j
Saturday, December 17th, was i.
gala day for the Hvdaburgers. Cof
fee sale, a program and dance wero
given by the A. N. B. and A. N. S
Considering the dull times the afr
fair was well attended . |
The Program • |
Initiating new members—A. N. B
Speech by Mrs. Frank Nix, Pres
iden A. N. S. 1
Song, Neapolitan Night by Leonj
ard Charles.
Speech, “What T saw at the A. N»
B. and A. N. S. Convention,” hf
Richard Nix Tn this talk Mr. Nijc
went over the routine doings at th<'
convention, then took up why
sit back and watch the few do th$ |
i
fighting.” He referred, particular- j
ly, to those who were not members
of the organization. It was a good
talk and well delivered.
Indian Love Song, by William 1
Jiamliton.
Speech. “Keep Fighting,” by Mrs
Jno. Skulka.
(Mrs. Skulka is the original organiz
er of the local camp. A. N. S.)
Duet, Indian Song. John Wallace,
Paul Morrison.
Indian Dance, by the sisterhood
This was a treat, especially for the
young folk. It was the first time
that an Indian dance had ever been
given locally. After the trapping
season it is planned to stage more
of these dances under the auspices
of the A. N. S.
This concluded the program of the
17tli. On the 19th December the
election of officers for ensuing year
came up and was smoothly carried
through.
Officers elected are
Powell Charles, President; Cecil
Nix, Vice President; Boyd Nakatla,
Corresponding Secretary; Ed. Ham
ilton. Recording Secretary; Fred
Grant, Financial Secretary; Wm.
Hamilton, Treasurer; Sam Douglas,
Sergeant at Arms.
John Wallace. Paul D. Morrison,
Fred Grant. A. N. B. Council.
AT CAMl* NO. 0, KLAWOCK
The 1928 officers for the Alaska
Native Brotherhood, Klawock, Alas
ka are:
President, George Demmert; Vice
President, Peter Anniskett; Record
ing Secretary, A. Wanamaker; Cor
responding Secretary, Jack J. Perat
ovicli; Treasurer, John Peratovich,
Jr., Financial Secretary, S. E. Thom
as; Camp Council, R. J. Peratovich,
J. K. Williams and John Skan.
AT WRANGELL
The 19 28 officers of the A. N. E.
at Wrangell are: President, William
H. Lewis; Vice President, James
Bradley; Secretary, W. J. Rudolph;
Treasurer, F. Willard; Financial Se
cretary, Dave Willard; Council.
George Shakes, Donald Austin and
William Hooker.
| William H. Lewis took oath of
office and never was able to take
over the duties of the office t)f pres
ident. After his burial special elec
tion was held and George Shakes
was elected Vice President to suc
ceed in the office of James Bradley
who automatically took over the of
fice of president.
Neil MacGregor, of the MacGreg
or Theatre, is down and out with an
ailment that has been bothering him
for several years. He was forced to
retire the early part of the week
and he has been bedfast since. His
illness throws a big load on the
shoulders of Mrs. MacGregor, but
. she seems to be getting along all
i right. We are informed that Neil
will not be able, for a number of
days, to be on the streets again.
NOT OVERLY WELL
POSTPONED MEETING OF
THE CITY COUNCIL
Monday evening at 8 o’clock, the
City Council met. No quorum.
Meeting called off with agreement
to meet Wednesday night Immedi
ately following adjournment of the
Petersburg Commercial Club.
Meeting called to order by Mayor
Swanson, Wednesday, 8:3$ p. m.
First before the body was a report
of schoolhouse conditions from notes
made by Robert Allen and Earl
Ohmer. Report read by Ohmer. Re
port had to do with lire escapes,
leaky roof3, falling plaster, dripping
ventilators, faulty radiators and in
sufficient heat.
Gist of this report was that the
fire escapes appeared substantial
enough, but thought that lower brac
es of same needed more secure fast
enings. Thought, also, that the free
end of fire escapes were too high
from ground. Suggested some sort
ef connection that could be swung
out of the way, but that would
reach practically to ground in caso
of need. Report said that roofs
were in bad shape and extremely
ieaky. Last rain some of the school
rooms had to be vacated. There
was a fear of plaster falling on ac
count of dampness. Reported that
some of the ventilators leaked where
roofing was attached to same. Re
ported that a conference with Fryer
relative to thermostat had been
mad. Thought that the instrument
was not in right place in building,
roo much difference, by report of
Caching staff, in the heat of rooms
Said that the heating plant of the
Science Room not yet completed.
Said there were signs of leakage—
roof—in the new building annex
Didn’t like the appearance of tin
heating system as a whole. Too
many leaky radiators. Didn’t know
whether the fault lay in a faulty fir
ing device or in improper assem
blage of piping bearing on the re
cent frosting of the pant. Suggest
ed that an inspection be made by
the Council of items of the report
and of the fire escape in particular
Nothing from Finance Committee.
Nothing from Public Works and
Public Property Committees.
Nothing from Light and Power j
Officials. i
Report by Hans Wick on delin- j
quent personal property tax of
Worth. Some sarcastic remarks by
some of the members. Impression
was that Worth wouldn’t pay nor
didn’t intend to pay when he left
Petersburg by semingly a majority
of the Council members. Allen
thought that payments would be
made alright. Gauffin otherwise.
Wondered if what was said would
have been said were Worth present.
Great sport, you know, to kick a
man when he’s down.
Personal tax of the sawmill brot
up. Put over to new business as a
representative of the mill was pre
sent.
Matter of ice on sidewalks brot
up. Mayor suggested that means
be taken to clear the ice, by proper
ty owners, off the walks in the more
traveled thoroughfares.
Communication read, at this time,
from the U. S. Land Office, relative
to the logging of certain timber pre
sumed to be within the elimination
reserve of the Cty. Letter filed
No action taken.
NEW BUSINESS
The Mayor wanted the wishes of
the Council bearing on what to do
about the school building. Said
that the more was done, the more
there was to do. Said that surely,
sometime, the job should be com
pleted. Said that, seemingly, the
worse things were the farther along
they got. Allen said that the roof
ing appeared to him to be like a de
cidedly botched piece of work. Said
that the roofing hadn’t been proper
ly laid in the first place; evidently
took no pains to make a good job.
Suggested that some one be engag
ed to roof the buildings who under
stood what he was doing.
Quite a long talk on this matter.
Finally, the names of two men were
put before the Council with the in
formation that they could do the
work properly, although the weather
at this time prevented anything
more than good temporary repairs.
At this time Mr. Fryer explain
ed the idiosyncracies of the heat
ing system thermostat. Said that it
wasnt’ in the right place according
to his ideas, but it was so installed
to please a member of the school
staff. Thought that it would
do better service toward more
in another part of the building.
Said that the probable cause of ra
diator freezings was that the back
circulation pipes went through a
very chilly portion of the buildings,
and that the condensation froze
there first and the oncoming con
densation froze upward and finally
fractured the raditors. Said that
he had never been present when the
automatic firing device was out of
commission. Whenever he had been
called the rig had been made to func
tion before he arrived, and it was
difficult to learn troubles when ev
erything was apparently working
well. Said that according to origi
nal specifications the piping put in
was too small and that this caused
i
naturally, slower circulation. Said,
in conclusion, that he would stay
with the appliance until it worked
all right.
At this time the Mayor requested
the Council to visit the school
buildings. Fryer made a request
that he be allowed to accompany
the members. All Okey.
Attorney Roden was present at
the Council meeting and at this
Lime Le was asked some questions
relative to tax and tax collection
matters.
Now came John Sales and stated
before the Council that he could
n’t meet the taxes on his property
because they were too high. S
that assessment wag practically
as high as assessment up-town, but
that there was no water, few town
improvements and often broken
down streets. There was consider
able discussion over the matter.
Aihough our sympathies are with
Sales, we think that the Mayor was
right in his explanations of tax af
fairs. We know how one feels when
he has a very strong idea that his
assessments and taxes are beyond
what he thinks they should be. It
is discouraging, we know, and par
ticularly so when times are hard
and money 3carce.
But taxes, like death, are before
us all the time. Taxes'*are a load
we all must bear, and care should
be taken that they are fairly appor
tioned. We didn’t know anything
about the value of the Sales proper
ty, nor have we taken the trouble to
learn the assessment and taxes
thereon. But the revenue laws are
quite easily understood and in all
States and Territories are funda
mentally the same. A levy is made
according to what the needs of the
city will probably be on so much of
an assessed valuation. The results
of this pass a reviewing board or
a boardof equalization. The en
deavor here Is to boost those pro
perties that are considered too low
and to shave off those thought to be
too high. The meetings are public
and all porperty owners should come
Last Rites At Wrangell
The funeral of William H. Lewis,
who died at Wrangell last Satur
day of pneumonia and complica
tions, took place at 2 p. m, Monday.
Mr. Lewis was 64 years of age at
the time of his death. The funeral
was one of the largest ever held In
Wrangell and there was a big turn
out of the Improved Order of Red
men and of the Alaska Native Bro
therhood, both of which organisa
tions he was a member. At the
time of his death Mr. Lewis was
president of the local camp of the
A. N. B. and Orand Treasurer of
the Grand Camp of the A. ,N. B
Those who atended from Petersburg
were: Mr and Mrs. Fred Lewis*:
Mr. and Mrs. Dunkleberger, Mr.
and Mra. William Tamaree, Charles
Jones and Louis F. Paul. Rev. H.
P. Cor8er who was the officiating
clergyman reviewed the life of the
departed in a touching manner, Mr
Lewis was one of the first graduates
of the Chemawa Indian School when
it was established at Forest Grove,
Oregon. For many years he wa# a
tower of strength and Influence in
his community and in the last few
years he broadened out by his work
in the Brotherhood and for hs ab
ility and worth, elected treasurer
of all camps. His death leave a
vacancy that will be hard to fill.
Those who sailed out of town on
the S. S. Alameda, January 16th,
are: W. E. Worth, Mm. Etta Worth
and baby. Mrs. Mamie Tveten and
two daughters, Ruth and Marguerite.
Also, S. Sorenson, C. Horgendorn,
Jesse Aimes, William Tamaree, Mrs.
Wm. Tamaree, Louis Paul, Chas.
Jones, Chas. Johnson, Mr. and Mm.
Jacobson, Mrs. C. Campbell, C.
Tinkler, Chas. Worthington, Capt.
Kenny and Miss Wandler.
>efore this reviewing board and
nake what suggestions or com
plaints necessary toward a fair tax
ill around. Once the sessions of
he board are over the assessments,
ievies and tax become fixed and
here are no authorities this side of
he superior courts of the country
who may change assessments, the
levies nor cut taxes nor make any
tax refunds nor accept a part of the
lax as a payment in full on any pro
oerty. The Mayor intimated that
nothing could be done in the mat
ter, locally, and he is correct. In a
district, or superior court review, a
change might be made. We don’t
know. It’s a matter of Jurisdiction,
evidence and so on. It appears that
Mr. Sales didn’t come before the
equalization board.
Now came Henry Hasbrouck be
fore the Council on the matter of
a personal tax on the sawmill out
fit here in town. Mr. Haebrouck
made no complaint about the tax,
but said that at this time he wasn’t
financially able to meet it. He
made suggestion to the Council that
it take over his 76 h. p. electric
power motor as security and hold
same until sometime within four
months when he could meet the
City’s bill. After some talk on the
matter this was agreed to. The
real tax was an affair of separate
adjustment.
There was another complaint
anent the lower town taxes, mostly
through the fact that the residents
therein thought that they were ne
glected In the average run of ctty
improvements. They didn’t care
to pay big taxes and be left oat of
the improveemnts as if they were
residing beyond the limits of the
town. The Council thought that
water mains and street improve
ments would go through to lowei
portion of the city next snmmer
The Mayor suggested that some ef
fort be made toward lire protection
for the buildings of lower town.
Commercial Club
Doings
Wednesday evening in the usual
place there was the usual meeting of
of the Petersburg Commercial Club.
Attendance fair. Communication re
ceived from the Fishing Vessel Own
ers' Association and it read that it
was cooperating in the matter of se
curing a navigation light on Klo
kachef Island. The Association was
corresponding with the U. S. Light
house Dept., and the prospects of
securing the light were good.
Ernest Klrberger, Postmaster at
Kake, had a paper before the Club
bearing on the present schedule of
tke Juneau-Petersburg-Kake mail
boat. Mr. Klrberger had, already
taken up the schedule with the post
al authorities, but he deemed it ad
visable to have the indorsements
of the Commercial Club, also. It
appears that Kake is served by the
mail boat but one way of the round
trip, while other and insignificant
landings are touched at twice of
the round trip. It is desired to have
a two way landing at Kake on each
round trip of the mail boat. The
endeavor has the good will of the
Club and the suggestions were in
dorsed.
Earl Ohmer reported to the Club
that he had received a number of
letters baring very favorably on the
efforts of the city in its harbor
dfwdging campaign. The communi
cations were from influential people
and the feeling was that the project
would have lots of the right kind of
help. No word was heard from
Washington, D. C. relative to dredge
affairs. There hasn’t been time
for correspondence to make the
round trip.
Some of the advertising material
cuts and so on, have been received
and appear to be alright. This is
for Commerecial Club advertising
and the advertising committee ia
going ahead nicely with its work
Copies were at hand of the Alas
ka Travelgraph, an advertising fold
er gotten out by the Alaska Steam
ship company. The article bearin'*
on Petersburg appearing in the spe
cial number of the Cordova Times
was a part of the paper and there
was also a nice picture of the city
therein. The whole was an instruct
ive and appreciated bit of good mat
tsr.
The Commercial Club has sent a
request to the Revenue Office, Ta
coma, asking that an Internal re
venue official be sent to Petersburg
to assist In the making out of in
come tax returns. Revenue officials
hare been here on this mission, but
their stay has been ao brief that on
ly a few people got the information
needed.
Henry Roden who was a guest of
the Club gave an interesting talk
on his trip abroad. The whole meet
nf was unusually Interesting.
OFFICE SEEKERS, PUT THIS IES
YOUR HAT
The Attorney General of Alaski
says that the latest date for Alin*
of declarations of candidacy fo
party offices, that Is delegate and a*
ternatlves to the National Conven
tlon, and for National Committee
men, has been changed by amend
ment—1927 Territorial Legislatur
——, but the amendment does no
change the form of filing declare
tlons o fcandldacy for party office
'by form contained in Chapter 31
Session Laws of 1917. Therefor,
the latest date for filing for 192
primary for any of the party offlc<
is February 7th—the first Tuesda
in February preceding primary ele
turn date.