VOLUME NO. 5.
PETERSBURG. ALASKA, JANUARY 9, 1931
NUMBER 25
Federal Job Seekers
Getting Busy
Unconfirmed rennrts received
here this week, said T. II Chl
dester, formerly stationed here
as Deputy Federal Prohibition
administrator and more recent
ly assigned to Ketchikan as Fed
eral Prohibition Agent, is an as
pirant for the office of United
states Marshal in this Division.
This report could not be veri
fied here. Chidester, it is under
stood. will leave Ketchikan for
Seattle on the steamer Alameda
where it is thought he will seek
support for the marshalship—
Juneau Empire.
A1 White present United Stat
es Marshal has not indicated
that he is ready to step out of
office and to leave the field to
others. It is assumed that he is
building up his political fences
whereby he may secure reap
pointment to the office. Rumor
hath it that two others are in
the political arena with the idea
of copping on to this job which
comes by appointment through:
the President. But nothing tan
gible can be secured when it
comes to pinning would-be can
didates down to a straight out
and out question. j
Ketchikan Harbor
Project Use 30 Men
The Thomas Basin harbor im-1
provement in the Ketchikan Dis-!
trict, plans and specifications of i
which have been completed, will
be under way before very lone:.
Calls for bids have been made bv
the War Department and bidder
designated on the 16th of this
month. James G. Truitt, of the
Alaska Road Commission’s En
gineering staff, will be the gov
ernment representative on this
project. Mr. Truitt is iamiliar
with the improvement plan as he
made the engineering study on
which the project is based. He is
remembered in Petersburg for
his efficient work in the dredg
ing of Wrangell Narrows.
Construction of the Ketchikan
project includes the building of
a breakwater of the rubble
mound type. 950 feet in length
and the removal by dredging of
a laree quantity of silt and other
material. Work is to be started
immediately upon acceptance of
the bid.
With the surplus of labor as!
a drudge upon the Ketchikan!
markets, the officials of the I
town are not offering any in
ducements to other laborers to'
come to that town to look for
work. It is said that only 30 men
will be employed on this project.
-x
REAL HE-MAN
-x
M. S. Hoover, a trapper of
Kodiak was forced to jump from,
his gasbcat recently when it
struck a submerged reef and
sank. He swam a mile to shore
and then hiked nine miles to his
home while the wintry gale
swept the waters of that section
He was exhausted and ill from
exposure but was recovering
from the strenuous fight he wag
ed for his life.
Work on the Anderson Broth
ers new gridiron for their ship
3 ard is going up steadily. They
will be ready to take care of all
kinds of boat repair work and
construction work. The Ander
son Brothers have operated a
boat and shipyard at Wrangell
for several years and have es
tablished a reputation for doing
most excellent work.
-x
The High school has been
having the semester examina
tions this week.
« *-*- fair
z
New Building For
Kolstrand, Blacksmith
-X
I John Kolstrand who has been
| operating a general blacksmithy
i in the old Union Hall across
l from the Citizen’s Laundry has
l started construction on a build
png 32X46 feet just beyond the
old sawmill bridge. When com
pleted this new structure will
j house his shop where he will
[continue his work doing general
blacksmithing, oxyaceteline wel
ding, etc. John has operated his
shop in the Old Union Hall now
for several years and has es
tablished a reputation for doing
most excellent work. In his new
location he hopes to continue to
give satisfaction to the trade and
to be better prepared with more
equipment to facilitate the
handling of all work with dis
patch.
-x-•
Suggests Curtail Cost
Railroad Operation
-X
Recommendations for cuts in
operating costs of the Alaska
Railroad are being prepared by
a special senatorial committee i
which conducted an investiga
tion during the past summer.
The committee was composed of
Senators Robert B. Howell, Re
publican, Nebraska, chairman;
•John Thomas, Republican, Idaho
and J. B. Kendrick, Wyoming,
Democrat. In their investiga
tions they had found no way in
which the government could p-et i
rid of the railroad or entirely
wipe out the annual operating
losses. They believe, however, j
that if their proposals are a-!
c’opted, that the annual deficit I
which in the fiscal year amount- ;
ed to $1,231,998, can be reduced
by perhaps one-third.
The recommendations of the
committee, it is reported, will
orovide for the abandonment of
certain portions of the line, a
reduction in train service on
other parts, a cut in some of the
overhead operating expenses in
cluding elimination of some of
the employees and an increase
in freight rates. The committee
members found that freight
rates were only about half as
great as charges made by pri
vately owned railroads in other
oarts of Alaska. It was their
opinion, therefore, that freight
carried should made to bear a
greater part of the actual oper
ating costs.
-x
SEATTLE’S SUNSHINE CLUB
Down in the Queen City there
is a “Sunshine Club” operating
full blast. Through the Seattle
Star this Club is feeding from
1200 to 2000 hungry people each
day. The givers are getting as
much kick out of it as the re
ceivers. But it is sad commentary
upon the wealth of the United
States that such a Club is ne
cessary to take care of the des
titute and hungry.
-x
Martin C. Klabo formery of
Petersburg, who has been mak
ing Sitka his headquarters, was
lost overboard from his boat the
T-3043, near Kill Island, north
west of Chicagoff Island and
was drowned. He was alone at
the time of the accident which1
took place late in November. His |
craft was found on Hill Island:
by H. J. Christie, Juneau fisher-!
man while he wTas on a duck- i
hunting trip. Under direction of!
the authorities at Sitka, the
on Hill Island were the boat was
found, was dragged in an at
tempt to recover the body of the
missing man. The effort was
without success.
Klabo’s only surviving rela
tives are said to be a son and a
daughter living in Seattle.
I Rhetorical Contest
In B. E. Schools
—x—
Three years ago, in order
that the Indian boys and girls
of Southeastern Alaska might
(master the English speech, a
jrhetorial contest was started by
I Mr. Hawkesworth, then Super
intendent of the Divisional work
of the Bureau of Education. The
Alaska Native Brotherhood re
cognizing the- worth of the idea
and plan immediately joined
with Mr. Hawkesworth in bring
ing the idea to a full fruition.
So at each * convention of the
Brotherhood these contests are
held. Poems and prose selec
tions are worked on during the
year with local presentations be
fore the people of the communi
ty. Those events are supposed to
occur once a month. At the end
of the school year delegates are
chosen tc represent the schools
in the district contest to be held
in November. Gold and silver
Prizes are offered to the first
and second winners and a valu
able book goes to the contestant
winning third place.
Last November the winner of
first prize was Frank Hayward of
Metlakatla. also a former atten- j
dant in the Petrsburg school. His
subject was “The Victory of
Marengo.” second prize was tak
en by Charles Demmert, Jr., of
Klawock—“To a Young Man in
Ttaly;” a badge; Axel Skulka of
Hvdaburg took third place re
citing ‘Oh Captain. My Captain.’
His prize was “Uncle Sam’s At-!
tic” a book on Alaska by Mary
Lee Davis.
The winner Frank Hayward
speaking of his impressions be
fore the “mike” of KGBU of
Ketchikan said: “I did not want
to disappoint my teachers and
my town.” A spirit that might
well be the keynote of everyone
in every town.
-x ^
SAND SPIT LEGAL
CONTENTION
Contested Columbia River
Fishing rights near Cape Dis
appointment- were involved in.
Federal Court, Tacoma, Wn., re
cently. The action was begun by j
Stuart Davis against the Colum
bia River Packer’s Association.
The locality involved is near
Sand Island, Columbia River,
the scene of two campanion ac
tions pending in the Federal
Court as brought by the Federal
Government as guardian of the
Quinault Indians, against the
Bakers’ Bay Fishing Company.
The present case has nothing to
do with the Sand Island cases
however.
For several years this sand
spit on the Columbia River has
been the scene of much litiga
tion. A high rental is paid by
lessees of the sand spit by fisher
men or cannerymen—much
higher than any tax that has,
ever been put on the products by
any government.
-x
STAY AWAY FROM— |
KETCHIKAN
The Ketchikan Commercial i
Club and the Mayor of Ketchi- J
kan are announcing that the
First City is not going to be a!
mecca for the jobless. Fearing)
that the reported plans of oper- j
ations of the Zellerbach Paper
Company and the Harbor im
provement by the Government
was going to draw many jobless
to that city, they are early mak
ing effort to announce that Ket
chikan has plenty enough job
less on its hands without more
coming in. The harbor improve
ment project will require only
about 30 men and the pulpmill
project is still on paper.
--x
Pete Sluggen is renovating the
postoffice, making more room.
Co nmissioner Cooper
May Visit Alaska
Commissioner of Education
William John Cooper plans tc
visit Alaska and will make a
short stay in Juneau some time
this coming April. It is the plan
at that time to have representa
tive educators throughout the
Territory meet with him there
for a conference. Mr. Cooper is
one of the foremost educators in
the United States and this op
portunity of Territorial educa
tors to meet with him in Juneau
is one that should be fully uti
lized.
This plan was announced be
fore consideration of the-House
bill which would transfer the
Bureau of Education adminis
tration of educational matters
in Alaska over to the Indian Bu
reau. However, it has been an
nounced that the personnel in
this work would not be changed
so it is presumed that the ori
ginal plan for the visit will be
carried through.
-x
Ketchikan Treasurer
Breaks Her Ankle
-X
Miss Eversole, City Treasurer
of Ketchikan is in the hospital |
with a broken ankle. When near
the Revilla Apartments, Thurs
day night she fell in such a way
as to break her ankle and be
cause no one was near to hear
her calls for help she took a half |
hour to crawl alone to her a-,
partments where willing hands1
soon gave her all the help pos-!
sible. j
The gritty young woman is,
now in the hospital with a type-1
writer in front of her on a stand j
performing her usual duties.
I
Change Wording In
Land Grant Bill
-X
The Alaska Native Brother
hood of Ketchikan and other
natives have in Congress a bill
which would eive to them title
to an area of tide land 200 feet |
souare in the Thomas Basin im
provement harbor project, Ket
chikan. Considerable opposition
has been raised to the bill as i
now stands which would give
exclusive right and title to the
area to the Indians. After a rp
cent consideration of the bill,
the Brotherhood agreed to
changes in the wording of the
bill which provides granting of
title to the area in the same
manner as was granted to the
American Legion Post of Ketchi
kan which secured tide land
property in the same basin sev
eral years ago.
It was not intentional on the
part of the Brotherhood to have
the exclusive features of the bill
incorporated and presented to
Congress. The bill merely follow
ed the wording of an earlier bill
sponsored by the Secretary of
the Interior.
-x
WOULD BAR CANADIAN
- WHEAT
Chairman Alexander Legge of
the Federal Board has suggested
a temporary embargo on wheat
imports to meet a situation
which he says “seems to be get
ting worse every day.”
Legge made the suggestion in
a letter to Senator Arthur Cap
per of Kansas. Senator Capper
agreed with the proposal and
announced that he would in
troduce a resolution declaring
the embargo. He believed that it
would be passed if the need for
the protection remained.
-x
The Misstfs Henrietta Dahl,
Virginia Tate and Imogene West
are out of school on account of
mumps.
Prize Essay Conte si
in All Ter. Schools
——X
Again this year is being
fostered an essay contest simi
lar to that which was carried
last year. The subject is to be
based on the same course of
lessons contained in a mimeo
graphed pamphlet issued to
each school in the Territory in
1928. The conditions for the
school year 1930-1931 are as fol
lows:
The Prizes are offered by the
American Forestry Association.
To the Bureau of Education
school pupils a bronze medal
will be given to the pupil sub
mitting the best essay in each
Division and a large bronze me
dal mounted on a walnut block
tq the school in each Division
from which the winning essay
originated; the pupil to retain
possession of the smaller medal
and the mounted award to be
kept by the school for one year
and sent to the school winning
during the subsequent years, or
kept permanently if won three
years in succession. All schools
attended by Native children are
eligible to compete under this
head.
The same awards will be given
to children attending the Terri
torial Schools with the same
conditions as outlined under the
Bureau schools. Any school
which is attended by white chil
dren, such as parochial schools,
are included in this class.
The subject may be selected
by the pupil but is to cover
some phase off Alaska forestry
or wild life. It is expected that
in writing, the pupil will use
every available source of infor
mation regarding the subject I
discussed and not to be limited i
to what is given in the pamphlet
issued.
The competition is limited
to students of the schools who!
are of the eighth grade or under.
The essay should not be over
700 words and written on one
side of the paper. It shall be
composed by the pupil without
help from any teacher or in
structor in the school. It is un
derstood that the essay shall be
original and not the effort of
another more mature member of
the family.
UNDER BONE DRY LAW
-x
Charged under section 1 of the
Alaska Bone Dry Law, Fred Gun
derson was sentenced to six
months in the federal jail. He
was found in his cabin with a
couple of young Indian girls—
the both of them stripped down
to the garb in which they en
tered this world. Whether or not
Gunderson was drunk as the
two girls was not indicated, but
they were drunk enough. The
olaintive call “mother,mother,”
by a little child of one of the
girls was heard and investigation
revealed one girl outside on the
ground unconscious and the
ether girl in the cabin with
Gunderson giving her attention
is should put him elsewhere
than in the local jail. Last year
Gunderson was sentenced to six
months for his attempts 'to un
dress little white girls in his
cabin.
Virtual elimination of gas is
"laimed for a carburetor by John
Tuhasre of New York. The device
permits the use of gasoline, kero
sene or fuel oil in any automo
bile, airplane, motorboat or oth
er internal combustion engine, it
was reported by industrial en
gineers to whom it was submit
ted.
It has three carbureting cham
bers instead of one, with a sepa
rate nozzle in each and five out
let holes in each nozzle.
“Chier Bender Will
N. Y. Giants Coach
. -X
Chief Charley Render, famous
hurler on Connie Mack’s Athle
jtics World’s Champion Basebal
i team a few years back, will ac
I company the New York Gian1'
south for spring training this
year, but not to pitch. Bendei
was a student of the Old Carlisle
Indian School back in the spring
of 1902 when a scout for The
Athletics watched Bender in a
' itching duel with the pitcher of
Gettysburg College. Both of the
ditchers were signed up and
both were famous members of
the Athletics when that team
!was taking championships a3 a
matter of course. Bender gradu
ated from Carlisle in that same
year.
-x
Finds Wheels of
Renahan Plane
-X
Reverend Edwrard Marsden,
Presbyterian pastor at Metla
katla about November 6th found
a wheel at Point Davidson and
deposited it in his residence. It
remained unrecognized until the
6th of January when Jimmy
Leask also of Metlakatla ex
claimed, “That’s an airplane
v»hee\” whereupon Mr. Marsden
tbe wdieel to Ketchikan by
Ted Bcnscn his son-in-law on
the 7th. Mr. Dobson of the U. S.
Customs Service planed over to
Metlakatla immediately to in
terview Mr. Marsden. Search of
the Point Davidson district re
vealed a second wheel which
was recognized as belonging to
the Renehan party.
Charles Buchert with a party
on the gasboat “Welcome” found
a new' airplane blanket on Duke
Island along about the third
week of November or while the
Alaska. Native Brotherhood was
in convention in Ketchikan.
Search parties are now cover
ing the area from Point David
son to Duke Island. It is believed
that Renehan lost control of his
plane southeast cf Percy Island
and plunged into the sea.
X
BASKET BALL
-x
With a flourishing start the
basket ball season is on. The
f,r?t games of the season to be
n1r,T'od on the local, floor were
witnessed by an enthusiastic
gathering of fan? at the Sons of
Norway hall last Friday evening.
A double header game had been
announced with all four teams
composed of local boys. Through
out both games the rooters were
evenly divided in their loyaltv.
as well they might be for the
scores were often tied.
In the first game the High
school second team, faced the
Merchants second team. It was
a game which alone would have
been worth the price of ad
mission. It has been often
charged that in the American
svstem of competitive school
athlethics all the training is
showered upon those individuals
who stand least in need of it.
This is not true in Petersburg
this year and it must be a source
of satisfaction to the coach to
know that he has an excellent,
second team from which to
choose a sub for any position,
and the first team men must be
constantly on their mettle to
hold their places.
In the second game, which
was a contest between the High
school first team and the Mer
I chants first team the final score
I stood 35-34 in favor of the High
school. It was a great game for
the fans and they are still talk
ing about it—those who have re
covered from their hoarseness
sufficiently to be able to talk at
all. The game was fast and furi
jous right from the beginning
1.3 Per Cent In
U.S- Are Jabless
: -x
Tabulation by the Census Bu
reau of returns from 25 st rtes,
the District of Columbia and
three cities with a total popula
tion of 42,858,293, shows a total
of 567,540 persons, 1.3 per cent,
out'of jobs and looking for v ork.
The figures made public were the
first returns by classes compiled
from the April census which was
taken largely from the less dern
iy populated states, involving
about one-third of the nation's
population.
Figures compiled by others
than the government agencies
declare that the enforced army
of idlers is much larger as their
statistics make a general aver
age of the cities which included
the larger ones.
-x
ITALIAN FLYERS IN CR.V'I
Five Italian flyers died in a
crash which involved two planes
after taking off from Bolama,
Africa, besides two which were
forced to land in the ocean.
These two were salvaged by I I
ian warships. Ten other planes
crossed the Atlantic to Port Nat
al, Brazil in safety.
\-x
Prizes Offered For
Best School Record
-X
The Petersburg Camp of +he
Alaska Native Brotherhood pass
ed a resolution at its last meet
ing, Tuesday, which authorizes
a committee to select and secure
-uitable prizes to be given the
children of the local Bureau
School for perfect monthly at
tendance. A grand prize will be
awarded that pupil who has the
most perfect record of attend
ance and made the best scholas
tic record by the end of the.
school year.
It was the opinion of the
'membership that such prizes
| would be an added incentive to
the children to place their school
on a high standard of atten
dance and at the same time
give them further interest in
their class work. Haines school
during the month of December
had a 100 per cent perfect at
tendance record. This will be a
mark which Petersburg children
will be asked to better.
SON OF OI.D TIMFTl DFAD
Ansell Bn bier, foreman of the
floating cannery “International”
of the International Packing Co.
of Seattle died recently follow
ing an automobile accident in
California. Ansell as a boy grew
up in the Alaska Packers’ As
sociation cannery at Wrangell
where his father “Jake” Babler
was czar of the fisheries in that
district for many years.
and it was nobody’s game until
the timekeeper’s final signal
ended the play. Ness for the
Highschool and Wasvick, Sha
ouanee and Custer for the Mer
chants rolled up the big scopes,
which, by the way were a little
too high to suit the critics, pos
sibly indicating that both teams
are stronger on offensive pi ay
than they are in guarding. This
game was a significant one in
many respects. The Merchants
team is composed of older, mo-e
experienced players and the fact
that the Highschool boys are
able to pinch out a victory a
gainst such competition chal
lenges the attention of the whole
division to the fact that Peters
burg has real championship ma
terial in this year’s team. There
may be a team somewhere in
Southeast Alaska that can put
Petersburg down for the count
but we’re from Missouri and we
expect to be in on the shouting
j at the end of the season.