VOL. 2
PETERSBURG, ALASKA JANUARY 6 1928
NO. 25
| Another Inning of the
Petersburg Commercial Club
The Petersburg Chamber of Com
merce held its regular meeting Iasi
Wednesday evening and it went thru
smoothly from beginning to end. A
report was on hand from the Light
House Dept., relative to placing a
light on Klochachof Island, entrance
Salshury Sound. The Department
stated that at this time there wasn't
money on hand to go ahead will
the construction of a light at this
point, but that the correspondence
bearing on the proposition would
be tiled. The department requested
however, further information in
connection with the recommenda
tions of the Club for the lighthouse
or navigation aids.
The Petersburg Commercial Club
is a member of the United States
Commercial body, and the latter lias
requesed that the local organization
supply it with the names of the in
dustries new to the city for 1927.
The cabinet shop and the cold stor
age plant were named. There was
also a small machine or blacksmith
shop and a large, new theatre and
movie picture house. That two
mills were forced to close because
the city cut off the power supply
j wasn’t brought up.
The Committee on the Herring
Question made a report to the effect
that a considerable progress had
been made towards completing the
v
literature that is to be inclosed
with the petitions designed for the
authorities at Washington, D. C. j
The Sitka petition had been receiv
ed and was on the club files for the
meeting. There'were 95 names af
fixed—a very good showing when it
is considered that the party to whom
the papers were addressed was in
Seattle and so much time was lost
before the petition was started on j
its circulating way for signatures. |
The new fish regulations came
i
in for considerable discussion. A
resolution was passed that a recon -
sideration of the st eel head close sea
son be made and that a request go
in to Henry O’Malley, U. S Fisa
Commissioner, to cause an open sea
son time for catching of steelhead
trout between March 15t.h and May
15th of each yeqr. Since the steel
head (rout are placed on the salmon
closed season schedule, those par
ticular fish enjoy a closed period
for the entire time they run. In the
proposed two months of open season
ther are no salmon entering any of
the rivers, streams or bays, so
there would be no menace to even
the very early runs of salmon any
where.
As the Light House Department
had made mention that there were
no funds available to put up Alas
ka navigation aids at this time, the
Club deemed it advisable to take
up the deficiency matter with Dan
Sutherland and ascertain whether
an appropriation could not be made
to meet the call of the special re
quirements. The vessels deriving
benefit from the proposed light at
the entrance to Salsbury Sound are
those navigating the waters west
of Edgecomb making Sitka and a
majority of the boats bound Peters
burg way from that locality and for
a goodly portion of the time all ships
in the waters westward of Edge
comb. Reference is here made to
fishing craft, but of course the pro
posed navigation aid would be of
material benefit to all vessels, big
and little, in those waters.
At the meeting of next Wednes
day the time will 'be at hand foi
the election of officers for 1928.
There will be an election of a presi
dent and an executive committee.
The executive committee has the
naming of the vice president, secre
tary and treasurer. The president
names the four standing commil
tees—Industries, Advertising, Tran3
portation. Membership and Finance.
Every member shop up, now.
A BOLD, BAD BOBBER MAN
On Monday night it was, when
few were astir, and most of folk
were nodding in their forty winks ,
In the shadows cast by alley walls, i
where the glimmer of no street
lights penetrated, he came—a real
robber fellow—with silent tread
and watchful eye. To the rear of
the Dairy Grocery he found a win
dow. It lifted and he entered. Ah'
some more; there was the cash re
gister. Brazenly it stared at the
intruder. Bang! Take that, you
motalic accountant. The register
iaw fell open and there lay seven
teen simoleons—10 and 7 smack
ers. Whoopee, but not so loud
„\ere was the padding of swift
feet; ther was the faint jolt from
the window jump, then all was as
quiet as before. The policeman
walked his beat, the thief beat his
walk, and we don’t know who he is
Come again some time when were
all at home.
ALL ABOARD FOR WRANGELL
The Petersburg Higiji School
Basketball Team, rooters, friends
and followers, will pull out from
town Saturday morning headed for
Wrangell on the halibut schooner
Mitkoff, and will play the Wrangell
team Saturday evening. Later, Sat
urday, the City Band will leave here
on the Charles T. of the Ohmer
shrimp fleet. So there will be mus
ic along with the rooting and ap
pearances are that there will be
some time in Wrangell.
DOWN M_ETLAKATLA WAY
Word coxnes from Metlakatla that
Llie city just overdid itself during th<;
recent holidays. All decked out in
its new and bright lights, blinker
signs, street brilliancy and extra
Christmas lighting effects, the town
stood out like a regular metropoli
tan burg. There were parties, fea3t3,
all sorts of appealing programs and
a holiday spirit second to none in
any town of its size anywhere.
A CALLER
G. J. Hildebrand was a visitor at
THE ALASKAN office last Wednes
day and there was much talk of
foxes, the gathering of fox feed and
othr things relative thereto. A
pleasant chat it was and broke he
monotony of pounding keyboards
and rustling copy.
Judge James Wickersham made a
hying visit to Ketchikan recently.
He went down on the Rogers and
returned to Juneau on the Admiral
Watson to Juneau.
Little Eddie Hanis was laid to
rest in the cemetery across the Nar
row's last Wednesday.
James Wheeler, of the Wheelei
Drug Company, was a Wrangell
passenger on the Rogers.
Other countries have ’em, too
A Brussels kid killed a boy youngei
than himself by pushing a pin in
to the little fellow’s spine.
FESTIVAL. TIME AT KAKE
Saturday, Sunday and Monday
weer give nover to good, old Christ
mas time at Kake. The three-day
affair went off as per schedule and
thoroughly enjoyed by the home
folk and visitors alike.
The beginning was made Satur
day evening on a program by the
Kake Public School. It was cer
taini well rendered, and a deal of
credit is due the teaching staff in
|coaching ability and for the parts
| it took. The children carried their
parts thru very nicely.
On Christmas morning, early, the
village was awakened by the School
Choir singing Christmas songs. This
gave the day its start in holiday
spirit and until the day’s close real
Chrismas pep prevailed. The finale
was at the union service at the Sal
vation Army Hall. ' The building
was crowded to capacity and here
theer were readings, recitations,
songs and music. The famous Kak?
Band was greatly in evidence and
punctuated the program, with ap
propriate selections. The Christian
Endeavor Society’s orchestra was
an entertainment by itself.
The evening of the following da>
was given over in part, to a basket
ball game between th school team
of Kake and a team of visitors from
Petersburg. In this tangle the
school team came out on top. After
this bit of scrimmage the program
turned to indoor games that went
merrily along until the serving of
lunch, and everybody tackled this
with a will. Thusly ended the win
ter holiday at Kake and all seemed
well pleased.
With aid provided by local sour
ces the Rockefeller Institute is go
ing to erect a $1,000,000 medical
school at the Brazilian city of Sao
Paulo. I
California has the only farm in
the world growing the giant cactus
for its fruit, which is made into
preserves, jellies and candies.
The consumption of all kinds of j
paper in the United States for the 1
year 1927 was 9,000,000 tons. This:
is an increase of 1,000,000 tons
from 1926.
I
Experimenters of the United
States Department of Agriculture
have developed a soil fertilizer of
pleasing odor as a by-product in the
manufacture of cocoa and chocolate
This will be better than the killing
of Alaska herring for fertilizer.
The German postal authorities
have gone into the carrying of pas
sengers on their regular routeed
mail busses. Last year they carried
40,000,000 passengers on 1600
routes.
Because fish like to live around
[sunken wrecks and feed on the
j marine things inhabiting them, the
New Jersey Pish Commission has
suggested that some worthless ves
sels be sunk ofi the coast to im
prove sport fishing. Give ’em some
of the Alaska gas mail boats.
A new automobile heater is an
apparatus using exhaust gases to
warm fresh , air, so there is no
danger of asphyxiation nor back
pressure on the engine.
An English pournalist praised
the speechs of Abraham Lincoln as
models of simplicity and directness,
in an address, the other day, at
Evanston, Illinois.
At the Oregon State Printing De
partment a run of 280,000 impres
sions were recently made from one
set of linotype slugs. Time of run
184.7 houra.
BY THE MEMBERS OF THE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
With an idea in mind of giving
the children of the Presbyterian
Church and Sunday School an in
structive and enjoyable Christmas,
the members of the classes of the
Native Bureau School certainly
turned out a splendid program
Christmas Day at Pioneer’s Halh
One of the outstanding features of
the occasion was the beautiful
Christmas play in which so many
young folk took part. There were
also many recitations and all were
reminders of the particular day
and date. Theer was plenty of candy
and fruit for everybody. The Glee
Club, composed mostlly of the
alumni of the Sheldon Jacksou
School, Sitka, at the midnight ses
sion of the program, sang a num
ber of sweet melodies that drifted
out on the wintery air in the call for
Peace on Earth Good Will to Men
Those in charge of this holiday
program desire to graciously thank
all who took part and assisted in
the making of it a success, and es
peciall thanking Earl Ohmer, Bert
Cornelius, Charles Grenna, The
Trading Union and the Bank of Pe
tersburg.
(Note by editor)—The above was
inadvertently left out of the De
cember 30th issue of THE ALAS
KAN. In a galley by itself, it was
overlooked when making up.)
A CLOSE CALL
After getting his small motor
boat oft' the grid irons, shortly af
ter the holiday season C.Parks climb
ed onboard and hit it out for Con
ey Island where live the foxes he’s
chaperoning. The day was bliz
zardy—cold, uncooked and windy
A drear chill blew out of the Stick
een. The sound was lumpy in plac
es. When nearly to his destination,
Park’s engine went on a sort o;
Christmas strike, thereby, not show
ing much Christmas spirit. Parks.
Captain, crew and bo’s’n, too, put up
a rag of a sail and attempted to trav
el, as did the Santa Maria,by powrer
of wind back to Petersburg. Over
wave crests, down in the caverns 01
the swrells and leaving a foamy
wake, Parks finally fetched up on
the Narrows and faced the ebb tide
that defied his jury sail and wind
alike. To aid the power of canvas.
Parks got into a small skiff and tow
ed. As he tugged at the oars, the
truculent seas came overside and
sloshed him, then the Polar blast
seared him and the frost bit into his
face, his ears, his hands and nigt
put him out of business. Not so
good. Seing progress alow and
the chances of making shore doubt
ful, Parks cut loose the tow line,
and free of dragging motorboat,
made the beach near town and then
hoofed it in. But old Jack F. had
nailed him more or less and for
awhile the Coney Island farmer
had to wear bandages where the
sprite of winter had bitten. The
day following, Albert Jorgensen, in
one of Ohmer’s shrimpers, found
the abandoned craft right side up
and beach resting. He cleared it
and towed it in to town. Mr. Park s
is getting along very well and the
frost bites will not permanently dis
able him.
An English inventor has produc
ed an auto for the kids that oper
ates on compressed air. The pres
sure tanks may be filled with a
tire pump.
American troops have gone into
the Panama country on what is of
ficially announced as “annual maneu
vers.’’ Funny, this, and election
time close to hand down there.
The Doings Of The Dads
Meeting of Tuesday evening, tak
ing the place of Monday, a holiday.
Meeting, called to order by Mayor
Swanson. Minutes read by Clausen.
First up was a call on the Fi
nance Committee. No report at this
time.
Fire and Water Committee. No
report at this time.
Relative to the school. Mayor
said that he had been talking with
Supt. Bowman bearing on com
plaints made against the heating
system. Some of the radiators froz
en. Evidence that the system wasn’t
functioning properly. Thought that
there might be some fault lying
with those in attendance—at the
school—in allowing the plant to
freeze up. Did not think it a good
policy to be negligent during time
of no school and cold weather hang
ing on. It was brought out that
there was considerable floor yet to
be laid, but that the workmen
didn’t care to lay floor before steam
fitting had been completed. Thought
that the fitting and laying of piping
would mar the wood work. Ap
peared that the work of completing
the heating system was too much
dragged out. There, also, seemed
to be a lack of heat control. Too
warm in some rooms; too chilly In
others. Allen voiced the opinion
that those at the school house didn't
know a great deal about handling
the system, anyway, and that pro
ablv ignorance had something to
do with the poor results. The af
•
fair was pretty well gone over and
an endeavor was made to get the
heating plant to function properly
so soon as possible. Then came up
the fire escapes, or lack of same.
Some pretty pointed remarks made
on this subject and while the mat
ter was being aired, Fryer came in..
Instructions were that the escapes
be assembled and placed on the
building immediately. Ohmer was
of the opinion that if the work
lagged any longer that orders be,
placed in Seattle for what was re
quired. Since Fryer was on hand
the freeze up of the heating system!
came up again. He stated that he
knew of no cau3e why the radiat
ors should freeze. They were sup-1
posed to self drain. Thought thar<
the outfit should be given more at
tention by those on hand at the
school house. Had an idea that
the lines froze on the lower floors
through lack of attention and tha
this caused the backing up of wa
er which later froze in the radia
ors. The evidence seemed to b
that the heating system as a whol
was somewhat faulty and was autd
matic only when there was somj >
one in attendance.
Report called for from the chie
electrician. Nothing at this
but he recommended that a tele
phone station be constructed clos
to the Papke house, down the Nar
rows. He stated that the Papke
house was too small for the equip
ment required. Thought that -i,
building about 6 by 8 feet would
fill requirements. Matter taken un
der consideration.
A report was made in reference
to the garage that wa8 ordered re
moved from a .street opening at
lower end of town. Came out that
just as soon as the snow thawed
down so that work could be carried
on, the garage would be removed as
requested.
Commcnicatlons from the West
inghouse and Pelton Water Wheel
people were read and filed. Insur
ance on the machinery, in storage
at Seattle until such time as the
weather permitted installation here,
was ordered paid. In the matter of
Anal payments, the Westlnghouse
I Company said that it was agreeable
to them to postpone the last pay
ment until time of shipment from
Seattle. Not so with the Pelton
Wheel Company, however. They
requested that the city dig up
promptly according to original con
tract irrespective of whether the
' machinery was shipped now or
'some other time. The date of final
payment is January 14th, 1928.
[The amount due around $1700.
i At this time came up the matter
'of accounts against the city. These
; bills were carefully gone over. The
bill of the government for ground
rental for power line elicited caus
| tic comment. On the face of things
| it appears that the government
l comes iu for a heavy hand out on
(these light and power systems. The
demands of the government footed
close to $300.
While the auditing committee
were going over the accounts pay
able, there was some talk on the
game situation. Reports made
that several deer had been found
starved and frozen.
There was some complaint
about the price of electric light
globes as billed to the city. In
structions given to look into the
matter and ascertain why so ex
^ pensive and how come so small a
discount.
Insofar as funds on hand permit
ted the accounts as audited were
ordered paid.
At this time the chief electrician
was questioned, about the progress of
auxiliary line extension (oil engine
line.) Reported that nothing could
be done on account of the snow.
The Council called for an outline of
the proposed new rates—light and
power. Reported that changes were
being made in the motor rate—
boosting it a bit and that the
schedule wasn’t ready to submit at
this time. Nothing further done
with it at this meeting.
Next up was the reading of de
linquent tax list by Clauson. Sug
gested that the Salvation Army cot
tage be stricken from the tax roll.
Voted on later and carried. The
tax against Mrs. Andreanoff was
ordered to be covered by the city.
In the matter of some things call
ing for legal opinion it was moved
that the Council await the coming
of Roden, Juneau, which would be
inside of a few days
The offer of J. Otness bearing on
a partial payment of $7.50 was tak
en up and ordered that the amount
be accepted as so much on account
paid.
The delinquent list of the light
and power department was brought
up, but not in detail, however.
Ordered that all those delinquent
after the 10th day of January, 1928,
be denied service and cut off the
line.
In driving your car on a black
night you may protect yourself from
the glare of approaching head
lights by tilting the windshield for
word from the bottom to top and
painting the ceiling directly over
head black.
From a number of gold mines in
Siberia airplanes are now used for
the transportation of the yellow
metal to the Soviet mints.
It is suggested that a portion of
the new terminals of the Seattle
Port Commission be named “Robert
Moran’” terminals. This would be
on the spot that the battleship Ne
braska was built and where Moran
constructed a number of river
steamers for the Yukon River in the
gold rush days.