aus-( Aas-w
Ist-sw- III-seh
VOLUME NO. VI.
PETERSBURG, ALASKA; SEPTEMBER 25, 1931.
-—------—
NO. 10
City Council Approves Plans
For New School Gymnasium
Plans
At an enthusiastic meeting of
the City Council, in the Council
Rooms last Monday, the School
Board, represented by Dr. Rude,
presented tentative plans for a
school gymnasium building 73
feet wide by 108 feet long, 24
foot sides, with an oval roof
covered temporarily with pre
pared roofing carried by trusses
to obviate the need for center
supports. The building will rest
on 93 concrete piers dug down
to hardpan at an average depth
of five feet according to sound
ings made by Henry Hasbrouck.
Mr. Louis Israelson and Mr.
Welty estimtaed the materials
and it is thought the cost of
materials can be kept within a
limit of $4,500.
After some careful calculation,
the Council decided it would be
possible to provide funds for
such a structure by using $5,000
which had been provided for
the retirement of school bonds.
Allowing for such taxes as may
not be paid promptly, the tax
levy should provide at least $1,
600 or $1,700, which will be
available for use this fall. This,
augmented by the above men
tioned $5,000, plus $800 which
stands as a donation from Jack
Hanseth, provides a fund which
is still insufficient according to
the Council’s advisors, for under
ordinary conditions, labor would
cost approximately as much as
the material. There are circum
stances, however, which the
Council thought should be taken
into consideration. The school
has needed a gymnasium thru
out the years. Other plans to
provide a building have failed.
Every patron of the schools is
heartily in favor of providing a
place where physical instruction
can be conducted in conjunction
with the school for the benefit
of all members of the student
body instead of contracting all
efforts on a favored few athlet
ic teams who really need it least.
There are many men who are
likely to And they have time to
spare for such a cause and the
Council believes they will be
public-spirited enough to donate
I a considerable amount of labor.
Others have expressed a willing
ness to donate two or three days
la week. With such a spirit, it
would seem nothing can-prevent
construction of the gymnasium.
The Council has accordingly
approved the plans and set aside
an appropriation of $7,500 which
will be used as economically as
possible. It is not planned to
finish the interior of the build
ing at this time and the equip
ment will be something for the
P. T. A. to provide,
i Robert M. Allen was appointed
to represent the Council and in
cooperation with a member of
| the school board to pass on the
i structural, secure prices on all
'building materials and to act in
la general advisory capacity.
John Abolin Kills
Self With Gun
-x
While the City Council was in
session last Monday evening, it
was interrupted by a call turned
in by C. Christiansen for Com
missioner Carol Clausen, saying
that John Abolin was found
dead in his cabin under sus
picious circumstances. The
coroner, a doctor, marshals and
a coroner’s jury, left immediate
ly for Abolin’s cabin.
They found the body in a
chair tilted back against the
wall. A Krag rifle was leaning
against his chest; a piece of cut
tyhunk was tied to the trigger,
in a loop of which the man’s
bare foot rested. The head had
been almost completely blown
off by the force of the charge.
The jury brought in a verdict of
suicide.
John Abolin, perhaps fifty
years old, has been well-known
in this vicinity for many years.
He was a hard worker and had
accumulated some real property
and had some money on savings
account. Seeking diversion, his
neighbors say, he and some pals
had been more or less intoxicat
ed for a week or more and it is
thought that he ended his life in
a fit of despondency.
The discovery was made by
John Brailand when he entered
the room in the evening and
turned on the light.
• The body of John Abolin was
interred Wednesday afternoon
in the cemetery.
-x
The Hungerford Bros., loggers
have moved their outfit near
Tonka where they will continue
geting out timber for ties for
the Alaska Railroad.
Harold Runstad left to attend
the U. of W., Seattle.
Mr. and Mrs. Manuel Isom
passed thru Petersburg on the
Yukon from Cordova enroute to
Seattle.
-x
c. S. Hubbell left on the Ad
miral Rogers for Seattle.
Fish Buyer Placed
Is Arrested Here
-x-—
On telegraphic information,
Deputy U. S. Marshal Hans WiCK
arrested A. J. Martin last Fri
day. It is alleged that Martin
obtained cargoes of fish under
false pretenses.
When arrested, he was on the
gasboat Galveston with a load of
salmon which he said he was
unable to sell here and he re
quested that he be permitted to
take it to Ketchikan. Pending
arraignment before Commis
sioner Clausen this was denied.
It is alleged that Martin re
presented himself as buyer for
the Juneau Cold Storage and
gave worthless orders on that
firm for fares he purchased.
-V
PACIFIC TAKES WINTER
SCHEDULE OCTOBER 1
-x
Beginning the first of Octo
ber, the Pacific, mailboat oper
ating out of Juneau will go on
winter schedule. She cuts out
Port Alexander and Tebenkoff,
and serves ports only between
Juneau and Petersburg.
Her first voyage on the new
schedule will be Thursday, Oct.
1 but thereafter the Pacific will
sail on Saturdays from Juneau.
J. D. Spencer and Merl J.
Moe, Ketchikan, were bound ov
er to the grand jury charged
with larceny from a boat and
bail set at $1,000 each.
W. H. Peterson of Haines, was
fined in Commissioner’s Court
charged with possession of liquor
in violation of the Alaska Bone
Dry Law.
-x
The dredging job on the Pe
tersburg Bar is progressing de
spite lack of scows to handle the
dredged material. A scow due
from Port Alexander will double
the speed of work.
AI Jorgensen has taken Frank
Barnreiter and his red hat up
the Stikine for a moose hunt.
-X
P. T. A.
Follcwirg the time-honored
'custom, the new members of
the teaching staff of the Peters
burg schools were tendered a re
ception by the Parent-Teachers’
Association last Friday evening.
A jovial party completely filled
the fraternity room of the se
cond iloor of the Sons of Nor
way Hall, giving the teachers an
opportunity to meet their new
friends, li’ie parents of Young
America.
A very pleasing program was
i rendered, including a piano solo
by Myrtle Johnson, two selec
tions by the high school orches
tra, a reading by Myrtle Dunlcel
berger and two vocal soles by
Miss Lillian Swanson. Dr. Rude
i addressed the gathering in be
half of the school board and the
parents and Mr. Beck, the new
principal, spoke for the faculty.
Both urged the parents to make
close friends and confidants of
the instructors of their own
children, suggesting that they
visit the class rooms often, thus
encouraging the teacher and
impressing upon the child that
mother and dad are interested
in his or her progress.
One of the most, delightful
events of the evening was when
the hostesses brought out plate
after plate of the most delicious
cakes with steaming cups of cof
fe. Mrs. Charles ^Anderson, Mrs.
C. Clausen, Mrs. fev Ohmer and
Mrs. T. Lando were the official
hostesses and they were assisted
in the serving by a bevy of high
school girls. All in all, it may
be said that the P. T. A. is off to
a flying start and many pleas
ant evenings may be expected
during the winter.
-V
Notes From The
Public School
The Seniors; Juniors, Sopho
j mores and Frosh of, the High
I School have organized and elect
ed their class officers as follows
Seniors:
Walter Lersten, president, Mil
dred Johansen, vice-president;
Henrietta Dahl, secretary-trea
surer; Jennie Hammer, class re
porter. Mr. George V. Beck is
their advisor.
Juniors
Hugh Harris, president; Ray
mond Swanson, vice-president;
Sigrid Lund, secretary-treasur
er; Fred Magill, class reporter.
Miss Dorothy Scott, Advisor.
SOPHOMORES
Randi Molver, president; Helen
Magill, vice-president; Howard
Heimdahl, secretary-treasurer,
Margaret Hanseth, class reporter
Miss Bertha Lero, class advisor.
FROSH
Jack O’Donnell, president, Joe
MacKecknie vice-president, Ger
trude Stensiid, se'cretary-treas
urer, Alma Gribble, class report
ter. Miss Sarah Josenhaus, Ad
visor. *
The Junior High school has
organized a Junior High School
Student-Body Association, ana
has elected Kenneth Dahl as
’president; Allen Lee, vice-presi
j dent and Sylvia Noreide, secre
tary-treasurer.
At the first meeting of the
Association, Beatrice Fryer, Nor
man Heimdahl and Ruth Tveten
were appointed as a committee
to draw up a Constitution.
This newest of Petersburg’s
organizations has all promises of
being one of the most active in
school this year.
A Boys’ Glee Club with 13
members and a Girls’ Glee Club
with 22 members, was organized
in High School this week.
There Shall Be
II ars and Rumors
Considerable excitement was
prevalent in Petersburg, Satur
day night when over th.; radio
announcement = was received thaG
China and Japan were at war.
Much conjecturing was being
made as to hew many nations it
would effect.
Eiplomatic relations were sore
y stiained and stretched by the
i threatened occupation oi the
Capital of Manchuria by Japan
ese troops and the landing oi
Japanese forces in China. The
waked city of Mukden was bom
b-rued and captured and a se
cond force of Japanese soldiers
canned at Tsingtao, southeoast
of Shantung.
The Chinese declare that the
Southern Manchurian Railway,
operated by the Japanese, was
destroyed in part by the Japan
ese for a pretext to attack Muk
den.
The Japanese Government was
making effort, to keep the con
flagration localized. The Chi
nese Foreign Office officials de
clared they had no official in
formation regarding the bom
bardment and capture of Muk
den and also exprossad the hope
that the trouble would be local
ized.
It was estimated that 15 Chi
nese were wounded and between
600 and 800 captured. Tire cas
ualties at Mukden were said to
be small. South Manchuria is
said to be in the grip of Japan.
Foreign Minister C. T. Wang
despatched a-- -vigorous- protest
to the Japanese Government in
[which cessation of hostilities at
Mukden is immediately demand
ed and that all Japanese troops
be withdrawn to their original
positions.
A dispatch from Changchun
[stated that heavy fighting be
tween China and Japan took
place and that a Chinese garri
son surrendered. About 30 Jap
anese were killed and 90 wound
ed 'while the Chinese casualties
were reported as being very
heavy as machine guns were us
ed by the Japanese.
-x
Will Form High
School Ass’n
-X
High school athletic coaches
representing Juneau, Skagway,
I Douglas, Wrangell, Ketchikan
and Petersburg schools will
| meet in Petersburg, Saturday
| Sept. 27th to organize an ath
letic association, formulate rules
| for contests and arranged a ten
tative schedule of games for the
j season. Mr. Regele of Skagway.
Mr. Dunham of Jimeau and Mr.
; Renan of Douglas arrived in Pe
tersburg today and Mr. Fabri
'cious of Wrangell and the coach
; from Ketchikan are expected
tomorrow.
--x
James Truitt of the U. S. En
gineers’ Office and J. C. Greely,
left for Wrangell.
-x
George Wolf took passage to
Wrangell this week on the Ad
miral Rogers.
-x
A charge brought by Engel
Risce against Archie Abbott, ac
cusing the latter of stealing
money from a purse in Risce’s
cabin, was dismissed for lack of
evidence.
-x
Mr. and Mrs. Pete Jorgensen
came in from their fox island in
Farragut Bay.
--—x
Frank H. Foster of Juneau
passed thru Petersburg today
Ask Liberty For
Jailed I. W. W.'s
-X
Hearings were given by the
penitentiary parole board and
'Governor Hartley of Washing
jton last week for release of the
I six remaining defendants in the
11919 Centralia Armistice Day
riots, the Rev. M. E. Boilen, pas
tor of the University Baptisl
Church, Seattle declared last
! week.
| He, with Dr. Fred W. Shorter,
{pastor of Pilgrim Congregation
al; Dr. Marvin O. Sansbury, pas
jtcr of First Christian, and Rev.
E. Raymon Atterbury, pastor of
Grace Methodist, all of Seattle,
represented a committee of thir
ty religious leaders and laymen
of Puget Sound cities in request
ing the release.
One of the sextete, Eugene
Barnett, reprieved by the gov
ernor late in May, is at Clarks
iton where his wife is recovering
jfrom a major operation. The
: parole board and the governor
(did not make an immediate de
! cision.
-y
I
Local Hunters
Bag Big Moose
The contest for the biggest
deer of the season subsided very
I abruptly last Saturday evening
[when Ole Husvik and ’Ms part
jner arrived at the Cold Storage
Dock and proudly hoisted up a
young bull moose with a full set
of antlers. The moose was kill
ed along the beach between Le
Conte Bay and Horn Cliff. Moose
have not been very plentiful on
the shores of Frederick Sound
i and thereby hangs a tale of
both good and bad luck.
It seems that Leon Hasbrouck,
fox rancher on Camp Island, had
been moose hunting on the Sti
kine River last week and early
Friday morning discovered fresh
moose tracks on the flats. He
followed the tracks from six
o’clock Friday morning until 11
o’clock that night, when he was
forced to admit the moose was
too fast for him although he had
driven the coveted trophy the
full length of the North Arm
from the main river almost to
his own door. Early next morn
ing a moose was sighted on the
beach by Husvik and his part
ner and a single shot behind the
ear made beef of this monarch
of the marshlands.
The people of Petersburg
thronged the wharf all day Sun
day to see it as all other moose,
which have been brought in,
were dressed and quartered
The animal tipped the scales at
830 pounds dressed. The head
is to be mounted.
Allens and Torkilsen Bring
Home Bull Moose
John Allen, Mary Allen and
Gene Torkelson returned from
the Stlkine River with a large
bull moose. The noise of the
motor of Torkilsen’s speed boat
started the moose on the run,
but they were able to get within
shooting distance. Miss Allen
scored a hit; two shots by Tor
kilson went wild but his third
and last shot struck the moose
in the neck and laid him low.
The party brought back the big
gest load of “beef” the little
boat ever carried.
A six-pound baby girl was
born to Mr. and Mrs. A. O. El
tad, at the Petersburg Hospital,
Saturday morning.
-x
Pity the poor Froshies on a
night like this—but it is an old
high school custom, don’chernoi,
Juneau Recognizes and Faces
Serious Unemployment Problem
-x
With over two hundred known
laboring men idle and with con
siderable more not listed, Juneau
is facing a problem like it never
has had to face before.
Last week ,the mayor brought
the matter before the Council
and that body undertook imme
diately to cope with the situa
tion by:
1. Employing an agent with
headquarters in the City Hall,
whose duty it will be to ascer
tain a market for the labor and
to bring together the industrial
agencies and individuals having
work for those desiring it.
2. Undertake by taxation or
other economic measures, a fund
of $10,000 for the benefit of un
employed.
3. Eliminate machines inas
much as possible in order to give
employment to a greater num
ber.
The Juneau Post of the Ameri
can Legion had listed 199 per
sons as unemployed and the Post
was making effort to provide
jobs for as many as possible.
The City levied a tax of 18
mills on property and were ad
vised by counsel that they could
place an additional assessment
of two mills in order to raise a
fund of $10,000 for this emer
gency.
The writer, while in Juneau
last June, pointed out that the
situation in Juneau was then
grave but was called “a pessi
mistic fool” for his observations.
Heretofore the town of the big
mine has been fortunate in that
the fishing population brought
in their earnings, small as they
were, which helped the situation
in many ways. This year, the
fishermen mostly did not even
pay their summer food bills and
so returned to Juneau looking
for work. Added to this was the
fact that the canning industry
employed less local and used
more cheap imported labor than
usual. This cheap labor was
paid off in Seattle which does
not add to the riches of Juneau.
This federal, mining town has
been out of sympathy with the
other towns which were entirely
dependent upon the fisheries for
their existence. Now they are
getting a taste, and with a ven
geance, of what the other towns
have had to contend with. And
perhaps they are going to take
care of not a few of the fisher
men from other towns.
Alaska has so much natural
resources that unemployment
should be the least of its worries.
This matter of providing for
needy folks, for men out of labor
has been a problem with other
towns and organizations for a
long time. The lesson, perhaps,
may percolate into the ivory
domes of the bureaucrats and
their political henchmen.
Sons of Legion Is
Formed
—-x—
The Sons of Legionaires, the
only organization of its kind in
the United States, was formed
to perpetuate the ideals and tra
ditions of the American Legion
for countless generations.
W. L. Chapman, credited with
the idea of bringing into the Le
gion folds sons of ex-service men
believes the organization will ex
tend from Butte,Mont., tnrough
out the country.
-x
ALASKAN SEES CHANGE IN
SEATTLE SKYLINE
-x
Dr. Harry C. DeVighne of Ju
neau, Territorial Health Officer,
arrived in Seattle last week en
roll te to New York where he will
take a post graduate course in
medical school. He commented
on the change in the Seattle sky
line, which he had not seen for
j several years. He recalled mem
ories of Seattle and Alaska as he
first saw them when he came to
the Queen City 27 years ago:
“Those were the days when it
itook us four weeks to carry se
' rum from Fairbanks to Nome by
! dog team at an expense of $1,000
j—nowadays we cover the same
distance in six hours by air
plane, and it does not cost more
than $250,” said the doctor.
Dr. DeVighne welcomed Dr.
Frank S. Fellowes as supervisor
of health work among the Na
tives in connection with the
Public Health Service, and said
this new arrangement would
mean the health work for whites
and natives would be divided in
to two groups with separate
appropriations, for the first time
through the Interior of Alaska,
for the latter thru the Bureau of
Indian Affairs.
-x
R. O. Warfield, 7th and 8th
grade teacher in the local pub
lic schools, received word of the
death of his father, Wednesday,
at the family home in Lewiston,
Idaho.
Fierce Devils Of
Desert Filmed
—*—x
Legionnaires—those fighters
of all nations who enlist under
the French flag for service in
the sandy wastes and savage
mountains of Morrocco—will be
shown at The Coliseum theatre
soon. This play, “Renegades,”
is a gripping story of heroism
and treachery in the Foreign
Legion.
The drama revolves about the
personalities of four adventurous
privates in the Legion and sworn
comrades, an alluring woman
spy who had earlier betrayed
one of the four. Breaking out
of the Legion jail, where they
were incarcerated for disorderly
conduct, the quartette distin
quish themselves in action. Dur
ing their subsequent decoration
at the hands of the minister of
war at Casablanca, the leader
sees the woman who had betray
ed him.
Hoping to prevent recurrence
of her deadly activities, he at
tempts to choke her to death,
but the arrival of his captain
prevents, and the four engage
in a desperate battle wdth na
tive police but are forced to flee.
One of the policemen is thrown
in the bay and thinking he is
drowned, three of them desert
to avoid punishment. Kidnap
ping the fourth later on, the re
united quartet boldly abduct the
woman from her hotel and take
her with them to the Arabs.
How the four renegades find
themselves opposed to their for
mer comrades when the Arabs
decide to attack a lonely out
post, and the woman, bitterly
trying to avenge herself on the
quartette, turns a machine gun
on them, forms the striking dra
matic climax of this screen of
fering. Warner Baxter carries
the feature role with Myrna Lay
playing the part of the spy.
-x
Harold Dawes is on a vacation
trip down the Narrows. John
Thormodsater is substituting in
his place at Hogue & Tveten’s.