JOHN H. BERGMANN, WHO HAS
HOMESTEAD NEAR EKLUTNA,
SELLS FORTY BALES.
HAS 223 MORE ON HIS PLACE.
Price Is $2, Which Is Lower Than
Outside Product and Quality, from
Viewpoint of Stock Feed, Equals
Imported Timothy.
John H. Bergmann, who has a
homestead at Eklutna, Mile 141, on
the government railroad, recently
shipped forty bales of hay to Anchor
age. the bales averaging between 85
and 115 pounds in weight, according
to a statement issued here by the
iand and industrial department of the
% Alaskan Engineering commission.
.ur. Dergraann usea a nanu oater in
baling the hay, which consists of a
mixture of rye, oats, wheat, Canadian
field peas and wild pea-vine, raised by
him during tne season of 1917. He
has been selling the hay for $40 a ton
or $2 per bale. Ke has 225 bales, or
ffcfver. tons, of hay on his homestead
vx >iy for shipment.
Stock fed on his mixture of : a. is
said to thrive as well as if fed cn die
imported timothy.
Cheaper Than Outside Hay.
It is interesting ,in this connection,
to compare the price charged by Mr.
gBergmann and the cost of timothy
from the outside. A Seattle quotation
n Xe. 1 timothy a short time ago was
$9,5 per ton. The freight rate from
Seattle to Anchorage in 50-ton lots
(double compressed bales) is $15.50
pci ton, making the cost at Anchor
age $50.50 per ton or $2.53 per bale;
in lo.'S than 50-ton lots the freight is
'j per ton move. The freight rates
on grain are about the same as for
hay.
The Alaskan Engineering comission
♦luring 1917 purchased 1,500 tons of
hay ar.d 1,200 tons of oats for the An
nounce division, while seventeen of
the r erchants on the line of the gov
ernment railroad who replied to cir
cular? sent them by the land and in
1 a-trial department, stated they would
■y d X V'i tons of hay and 1,232 tons
of < - ' I’ eir trade.
Cepi:.-- irom Homesteaders.
II lies from ninety homesteaders
estimated their production of hay for
1917 at 648 tons and oats 66*2 tons.
I Tact: •aby the entire crop was reserv
ed by the farmers for their stock,
from which it is apparent that all the
grain and hay sold by the merchants,
in the past as well as at present, is
shipped to Alaska from the United
State.- proper.
It will thus be seen that the ready
market and attractive returns for
grain and hay should be a great in
centive for the Alaska farmer to un
dertake raising large crops of this
kind.
J'* production of large quantities
of ;main will also stimulate the stock
raising industry in Alaska, which has
been conducted on a small scale in the
past, due in part to the high cost of
imported feed.
HOMES TO BE BUILT
* FOR SHIPBUILDERS
SE.V'TE PASSES BILL APPROPRI
ATING MONEY TO BUY LAND
FOR DWELLINGS.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 19,—A bill
authorizing the expenditure of $50,
000,000 by the United States shipping
board for the purchasing of lands
njflK shipyards for the erection of
homes for the use of shipyard em
ployes was passed late yesterday aft
ernoon by the senate.
A low truck and tractor for use
abmit factories has a large caster
whe^jpin front that permits it to be
turned m its own length.
Read The Weekly Times.
CHARLES SEAGREEN IS FOUND
DEMENTED BY JURY IN COM-*
MISSIONER’S COURT.
TO BE SENT TO MORNINGSIDE.
Aged Man Is Suffering from Senile
Decay and His Condition Has Been
Steadily Getting Worse for Several
Months Past.
Charles Seagreen, a well known and
respected pioneer resident of Valdez,
was adjudged insane, following a
hearing the other day before United
States Commissioner Dimond and a
jury at Valdez, says the Valdez Pros
pector.
The demented man will be sent at
once to the sanitarium at Morning
side, near Portland, Or.
Mr. Seagreen, who is an old man,
is suffering from senile decay, and his
condition has been steadily getting
worse for several months past.
SCHEME ORIGINATED IN NEW
YORK AND ASKED FOR MON
EY FOR ANAESTHETICS.
DENOUNCED AS A RANK FAKE.
Correspondence Reaches All Paris of
United States and Alaska—Federal
Authorities Seize All Remittances
Now.
Business men of Anchorage, like
comment persons elsewhere in Alas
ka and the states, gave support to the
chain letter scheme that originated in
Now Y'ork ostensibly for the purpose
of raising funds with which to buy an
aesthetics for use in surgical opera
tions in military hospitals in the war
zone.
The scheme has been denounced by
the federal authorities as a swindle.
The original letter, starting the
chain, was supposed to have been writ
ten by a nurse, “Elizabeth Whitman,”
in New Yrork city. This letter repre
sented that “owing to the scarcity of
anaesthetics, operations which cau$e
indescribable pain and suffering have
to be performed daily without aid to
mitigate pain.”
Every recipient of one of the chain
letters was asked to send “Miss Whit
man” 24 cents and to write four Ut
ters to as many friends, asking each
of them to send her 24 cents and to
write four letters, to keep the chain
unbroken.
Spreads All Over Country.
The system reached all parts of the
United States and Alaska. Some weeks
ago the federal authorities, when in
formed of the scheme, seized the mail
addressed to “Miss Whitman” as fast
as it arrived in New York.
Sidney Anderson, vice-president of
the Bank of Anchorage, is believed to
bo the first man in this city to have
received one of the chain letters. It
was sent to him by a man in Juneau.
Mr. Anderson kept the chain unbrok
en by contributing 24 cents and send
ing letters to four of his friends.
The following is a copy of the letter
! as sent by A. A. Shonbeck, the mer
: chant, to Frank I. Heed, the hotel man,
j antl illustrates how just one branch of
The scheme worked:
List of Names
I he “attached list” to which refer
I ence is made in Mr. Shonbeck’s letter
j follows:
Text of Letter.
I “Mr. Frank I Reed,
“Anchorage, Alaska.
“Dear Sir: I am in receipt of a let
ter in which he advises me that he had
received a letter from Mr. H. W. Na
igley, enclosing a list of contributors
‘ toward the purchase of anaesthetics to
be used in the hospitals of the allies.
“Owing to the scarcity of anaesthet
ics, operations which cause indescrib
able pain and suffering have to be
performed daily without aid to miti
gate pain.
“We appeal to you to contribute 24
cents toward the purchase of chloro
form to be used in the hospitals of the
allies.
To Keep Chain Unbroken.
“Mr. Harris was asked to write four
letters to as many friends, that the
chain might not be broken, and ask
them to send 24 cents each, to Miss
Elizabeth Whitman, Superintendent of
Nurses, New York Eye and Ear In
firmary, 318 Second Avenue, New
York city, and write four letters to
four more people asking them to con
tribute 24 cents each to this fund.
“The letters to your friends should
j be accompanied by the attached list
to show who have already contributed,
i and be numbered 177.
“It is the desire to push this chain
j forward to its final number, which is I
500. Very truly yours,
“A. A. SHONBECK.”
168. Mr. N. C. Blanchard wrote to:
Prof. H. L. Rice, Annapolis.
Mr. J. P. Daily, Ketchikan.
Mr. W. Britt, Juneau.
Mr. Geo. Blanchard, Port Orchard.
169. William Britt wrote to:
B. M. Berrins, Juneau.
John Beck, Juneau.
P. F. Mahone. Jtineau. I
L. B. Dawes, Juneau.
170. John Beck wrote to:
Governor Strong, Juneau.
R. P. Nelson, Juneau.
Simon Hirsch, Juneau.
Henry Shattuck, Juneau.
Governor Writes to Four.
| 171. Governor Strong wrote to:
i N. E. Zuber, Ketchikan.
N. H. Sealey, Juneau.
N. G. Smith, Junetu.
C. E. Davidson, Juneau.
172. N. G. Smith wrote to:
R. C. Wood, Fairbanks.
Sidney Anderson, Anchorage.
Malcolm Brock, Cordova.
Merer Blumm, Valdez.
;
173. Sidney Anderson wrote to:
H. W. Nagiev, Susitna.
F. B. Wood, Anchorage.
B. A. Ross, Anchorage.
_ i
Barney Simon, Anchorage.
Surrounding Towns Reached.
174. H. W. Nagley wrote to:
Charles R. Harris, McDougall.
T. I'. Weatherall, Talkeetna.
Joe Krummenacker, Susitna.
O. G. Horning, Knik.
175. C. R. Harris wrote to:
A. A. Shonbeck, Anchorage.
A. Shyman, Anchorage.
Fred Parsons, Anchorage.
H. H. Hook, Anchorage.
176. A. A. Shonbeck wrote to:
Charles Brown, Anchorage.
C. W. Bolte, Anchorage,
Frank I. Reed, Anchorage.
Frank Redwood, Anchorage.
177. Chas. E. Brown wrote to:
Felix Brown, Anchorage.
Sol Silverman, Anchorage.
Dr. F. M. Boyle, Anchorage.
Tom Branbury, Juneau, Alaska.
178. Sol Silverman write to:
Wilbur Ward, Anchorage.
Robert Courtney, Anchorage.
j Sidney Anderson, Anchorage.
Fred Tracy, Anchorage.
OLD TIME WAR METHODS.
! Uylsses S. Grant was a seocnd lieu
tenant in the national army when
General Taylor was sent to the Mexi
can border to mobilize for the Mexi
! can trouble in 1843. It was by chance
! that Grant had his first experience
with Mexican bullets. He was riding
| a horse far from his regiment, be- j
cause he was curious to see the
“front.”
Just when he reached the front the
Mexicans opposing the Americans be
gan firing, and the nearest American
regiment was ordered to charge, j
Grant, as he later related, did not have |
the moral courage to turn back, so j
charged with the soldiers. A number j
of men were killed, but Grant escaped j
i injury.
j Shortly after he left his own regi- j
j ment at Palo Alto. The 3,000 men j
j under General Taylor faced a much
larger force of Mexicans. The two
armies watched each other as both
drew up in battle line. There were
no trenches. The Mexican cannon am
munition was inferior to that used by
the United States, and it was largely
the superiority in artillery that per
mitted Taylor to sweep everything be
fore him.
Regarding the Palo Alto battle.
General Grant in his memoirs said:
“The Mexicans immediately opened
fire upon us, first with artillery and
then with infantry. At first their shots
did not reach us, and the advance was
continued. As we got nearer the can
non balls commenced going through
the ranks. They hurt no one, how
ever, because they would strike the
ground long before they reached our
line, and they ricocheted through the
tall grass so slowly that the men
would see them and open ranks to
let them pass.
As for the fling lock muskets then
in use, General Gran said, “At a dis
tance of a few hundred yards a man
might fire at you all day without your
finding it out.”—Wall Street Journal.
HOOVER GETS
SUPPORT FROM
GLENN BARTLETT, OF JUNEAU,
REPRESENTS HOSTELRY
AND RESTAURANT.
NORTHERNERS DO NOT HOLLER.
Message of Food Administrator Ex
presses Resent at Attacks Made on
Him by Congressman and Pledges
Loyalty.
Glenn Bartlett, of Juneau, has been
selected to represent the hotel and
restaurant men in Alaska for the food
conservation movement, to work in
connection with Judge Royal A. Gun
nison, federal food administrator for
Alaska. Mr. Bartlett, says the Juneau
Empire, has been busy some time
sending out requests for the observ
ance in Alaska of meatless and IIoov
erized meals. The other day he re
ceived the following telegram from
John M. Bowman, head of the Hotel
Conservation league for the United
States with headquarters at Washing
ton, D. C.
“Will you wire Heibert Hoover, na
tional food administrator, pledging
hotel and restaurant men of your state
his support and deploring attacks of
congress. Would suggest you getting
everyone you can to wire his congress
men and senators that he is for Hoov
er and he knows the good Hoover has
done and is doing for conservation.”
In response to this request, Mr.
Bartlett sent the following message to
Mr. Hoover:
“Hotel and restaurant men in Alas
ka resent the attack made upon in
congress. You have been kind of tough
upon us hei-e, Hoover, but we were
patriotic enough to follow instructions
without hollering. Want you to know
that we are with you from the drop of
the hat at all times.”
PAINT WAR SCENES
PICTURES OF BATTLEFIELDS
WILL BE FINE TRIBUTE TO
CANADIAN SOLDIERS.
LONDON, Jan. 21.—Fifty artists
have been engaged to paint pictures
of battlefields, roads of France, ruined
towns and various other war scenes
for the Canadian war memorial fund.
The paintings are to be exhibited in
London for a short time before being
sent to Canada, where a building will
be erected in which they will remain
as a permanent tribute to Canadian
war heroes.
The scenes will be of war sectors in
which Canadians have fought.
The artists engaged include Major
Augustus John, D. Y. Cameron, Will
iam Orpen, George Clausen, Julius
Olsson, Charles Shannon, H. W. Nev
inson, Frank Brangwyn, Wyndham
Lewis, J. W. Morrice, the doyen of
Canadian painters, and Ettore Tito,
the famous Italian painter.
The women chosen are Mrs. Swin
nerton, Laura Knight and Airy, and
Claire Atwood. They will do train
ing camp scenes, munition workers
and Red Cross depots.
GOME FOB
STURTS HERE
WHISTLES AND BELLS SOUNDED
IN ANCHORAGE AT 2 O’CLOCK
IN AFTERNOON.
STORES CLOSE THREE HOURS.
Canvass Is Made of All Homes in City
and All Residents Sign Pledge
Cards to Obey Regulations for Sav
ing Edibles.
By C. W. JONES,
Publicity Agent of Food Campaign.
The food conservation campaign in
Anchorage was officially opened this
afternoon at 2 o’clock and was at
tended by the blowing of whistles and
the ringing of bells. The big siren
at the Alaskan Engineering commis
sion’s quarters gave the signal to oth
er whistles, and bells and all were
sounded for a period of two mniutes.
All business houses and stores were
closed between the hours of 2 and 5
o’clock this afternoon and the resi
dents remained at home, where they
were called upon by the lieutenants;
and campaigners who secured pledge j
cards from practically every person!
Vlhllf U.
All heads of families called upon
by the campaigners have signified
their willingness to obey the instruc- j
tions and suggestions of the food ad- j
ministrator in every detail thi-ough- j
out the continuation of the war.
A “four minute” address was de- j
livered by John F. Coffey, city editor !
of the Times at both shows of the !
Empress theatre last night. He i
strongly urged the people to observe
strictly the pledges given by them !
for the conservation of the staple i
foods needed by the soldiers at the |
front.
Workers Hold Meeting.
A meeting last night was held in
the Masonic hall and was attended by
the captains, lieutenants and cam
paigners, who received their final in
structions relative to making the con
servation drive effective and success
ful.
John H. Dunn made an interesting
talk and pointed out in forcible lang
uage the need and urgency for imme
diate action in the matter of saving
our food supplies. About 100 persons
all of whom are connected with the
conservation drive were present at
the meeting.
Four-Minute Talks.
Tonight at the Empress theatre At
torney J. L. Waller will give a “four
minute” talk. Tomorrow night John |
H. Dunn will be heard at the same
theatre and will urge the people to
live up to the spirit of the food
pledges given to the campaigners this
afternoon.
Andrew Christensen, personal rep
resentative for this district of Terri
torial Food Commissioner R. A. Gun
nison, of Juneau, requests that the
captains in charge of the drive report
to him by 9 o’clock tomorrow morn
ing either in person at his office or
over the telephone giving the number
of pledge cai*ds secured in their indi
vidual districts.
Mr. Christensen issued a statement
this afternoon expressing thanks to
captains and lieutenants for their
work.
AMERICA GETS NO
WAR STOPS IMPORTS OF DAIRY
PRODUCT, WHICH WERE
63,800,000 POUNDS.
WASHINGTON, D. C., Jan. 21.—
The war has revolutionized the coun
try’s foreign trade in cheese, accord
ing to a statement issued by the
bureau of foreign and domestic com
merce of the department of commerce.
During the fiscal year 1914, the last
year before the war, the United States
bought 63,800,000 pounds of cheese
from Europe. The average monthly
imports were about 5,300,000 pounds.
In August 1917 only 99 pounds of
European cheese was imported.
SUPERINTENDENT O F COAST
AND GEODETIC SURVEY IS
FRANK IN CRITICISM.
MORE CHARTING IS NECESSARY.
Federal Authorities Instead of Being
Pioneers in Work, As Should be the
Case, Have Followed Efforts of Pri
vate Parties.
Surveying and charting of Alaskan
waters have been flagrantly neglected
by the United States government,
says E. L. Jones, superintendent of
the United States coast and geodetic
survey, in his annual report to the sec
retary of commerce. Superintendent
Jones urges greater activity in this
important work on the part of the fed
eral authorities.
“An important difference between
Alaska waters and those of the conti
nental United States,” he says in his
report, “is that scarcely enough work
has been done to let us know just
how much must be done to complete
the charts. The development of the
country has far outstripped the prog
ress of surveys, not only because of
the few vessels and parties engaged in
the work but because of the great
length of coast over which the various
activities are scattered and the intri
cate system of channels for so much
of its extent.
Water Routes Only.
“In order to appreciate the need of
rapidly extending the surveys of these
waters, it should be clearly under
stood that Alaska’s only connection
with the rest of the world is by the
water routes.
“The government railroad now being
built and the other existing lines are
not trunk lines in so far as connection
with the continental United States
and Canada are concerned. The trunk
line is the waterway from various
ports in Alaska to Seattle and other
west coast points. The Alaska rail
roads and local steamboat lines are
feeders only.
“The industries, which include chief
ly mining of gold and copper on an
immense scale and of various other
minerals to a less extent, fisheries, es
pecially salmon canning, but also sup
plying halibut and other fish to the
market, agriculture and grazing, now
of minor importance but developing,
are scattered everywhere, and connec
tion with the principal ports is by
boat. The principal towns are on
good harbors suitably located with ref
erence to the steamer routes and the
more important mines and canneries,
and any town that loses any of these
advantages soon declines in import
ance. In practically all cases the can
neries and mines along the shores are
visited directly by steamers. The value
of water-borne commerce during the
past year was $110,368,178.
“The amount of these natural re
sources ripe for exploitation has been
so great and the prize they offered so
tempting that transportation could
not wait for the government to make
the w?Py to them secure. It has gone
ahead, finding its own path to each
new field, suffering great losses in so
doing, but content to suffer them be
cause the returns were so immensely
greater.
“The Coast and Geodetic survey,
which in this field should have been the
pioneer showing the wray for com
merce to reach each new enterprise
has, instead, been following impotent
ly behind, charting the dangers less
from data obtained by its own sur
veys than from reports of vessels
which have been wrecked upon them.
“It is high time that such a state of
affairs be corrected, yet it will now
take years before the surveys can
reach a point where they can even
meet the needs of the present com
merce.”
FINE FOR HUBBY.
“My wife has just made a valuable
discovery.”
“How’s that ?”
“Finds she can utilize her summer
furs for winter wear.”