MRS. GEORGE CRAIG DESCRIBES
AERIAL RAIDS AND SAW
AMERICAN TROOPS.
THEATRES RUN FULL BLAST.
Feminine Guards Are Seen at En
trances to Depots and Public Build
in srs and Wheat Is So Scarce Brown
Bread Is Fed to Soldiers.
“High up in the sky, blending with
the very atmosphere, is seen a swift
ly flying object which at times re
flects light similar to a minute par
ticle of glass, then pt, pt, pt, pt,
whiz-oo bang, and a bomb had drop
ped and shattered a part of London.
A second look into the skies reveals j
what appears to be the striking of i
matches, but again the pt, pt, pt, pt,
ut. of the aeroplanes reveals that |
British flyers and German Taubes are
in deadly combat in the very hea
yens.
Thus Mrs. George Craig, of Daw
son. in an interview in the Skagway j
Alaskan, describes German air raids
on London. She has just come back
from London and saw several raids.
She passed through Skagway on her
way to Dawson. Her husband. George
Craig, is an official of the court in the
Yukon capital.
Mrs. Craig says that there are al
ways planes flying over London and
that a person seldom knows whether
the sound of the machines is that of
an. enemy or of one of the British fly
Peculiar Hollow Sound.
\ ; until a bomb has fallen, and
the p culiar hollow sound of its strik
iiig its objective is heard do the peo
ns' know the enemy is seeking the
liv. - of the people. British artillery
i i nstantly practicing near London,
and the booming of the big guns is
so frequent that one gets used to big
explosions.
“I was living in an apartment house
when one of the raids came and the
people up-stairs all ran down to my
roon.s on the ground floor to watch,”
said .Mrs. Craig. We would watch
from the porch or from the windows
until the raid was over or until our
plan s had driven the enemv awav.”
Saw American Troops.
"I was in London when the first
American troops passed through the
city. Aeroplanes followed the course
of the men by flying high over them,
so that Londoners could always know
just where were the Americans. They
all looked serious, and seemed to
know already of the grim reality of
the war. They certainly were a glor
ious - ight to London people, and a
finer body of men 1 never saw.”
Mrs. Craig says that everyone in
Ei.gland is working, and that the
one idea is to win the war. that it has
not been won yet, but that it will be
won just as sure as time lasts. Wom
en are working in munition factories,
they are employed in banks almost
exclusively, they guard the entrances
to depots and public buildings, and
women act as conductors on all motor
buses and street cars. She says they
look very smart in their short skirts,.
ifctiiit'i wuuus anu naib.
Brown Bread for Soldiers.
“dhis war is to be won on wheat,]
said Mrs. Craig. “There is not i
enough wheat to go the rounds, and
to give just proportion of all. We
must use only one-third wheat in all
bread stuffs that we make. This is j
being done in England, and the sol
dier.- are getting brown bread.
“Prices in England are well regu- i
luted. We were allowed one-half
pound of sugar pei week, which we
had to secure from the same grocer
each time. W e were issued permits
on a grocery store and if it had the
sugar we got some, but if it was out,
we got none.
Theatres Full Every Night.
“The theatres of England are full
every night. They must be run, for
soldiers at home on furloughs need
recreation. The boys, however, do
not jest and joke as they used to do
at the beginning of the war. Any
thing that English people can do to
make their lives happier while they
are at home is done.”
Mrs. Craig left England ‘ for Can
ada about the middle of September.
Usually steamers leaving England
are ready to sail from one to two
v.eeks before they get away, and dur
ing that time all communication with
>. e is absolutely cut off.
Escorted by Large Convoy.
\\ hen Mrs. Craig left, however, the
boat sailed immediately and was met
by a large convoy which accompa
nied it clear across the Atlantic.
There were many boats in the convoy.
'I he ship she was on was a troop
ship. Four persons were crowded in
to one stateroom, and as she described
it, they were like herrings in a can.
It is awfully hard to get passage
to North America, she says, and re
quires a great deal of pull to do so.
For that reason many Canadians are
stranded in England.
Previous to the outbreak of the
war Mrs. Craig had two daughters in
Germany studying music. They were
on a vacation in England when the
war broke out and of course did not
return to Germany. For a time they
studied music in the Royal Academy
in England, and later have been do
ing war work. Mrs. Craig brought
them back to Canada and one is now
in Ontario doing censorship work in
the Ottawa post office, and the other
is working on the Victoria loan.
EIGHT HOUR I)AV AM) SC ALE
IT TO 87'2 C ENTS PER HOUR
ARE DEMANDED.
OVERTIME AS HIGH AS $1.31.
Inability to Obtain Fuel Oil May
Cause Locomotives on Line to Be
Converted Into Coal Burners in the
Near Future.
Reports are current of serious la
bor trouble on the Copper River and
Northwestern railway, but such re
ports are quite misleading, says the
Cordova Times. The shop and yard
men, continues the Cordova newspa
per, have, on account of the eight
hour law, asked for the eight hour
day and a new rate of wages running
from 62% cents to 8712 cents per
hour for straight time and 93% cents
to $1.31 for overtime. Of course un
der the existing law no one is allowed
to work overtime, but the men say
they want an agreement as to over
time for they feel the law at times
may be disregarded. The train and
engine men have demanded rates
from 72 to 98 cents per hour.
The issue is expected to be settled
amicably.
Superintendent Caleb Corser, of the
railway, has been notified in a letter
dated New York, from President Ste
phen Birch, of the railway, that the
Standard Oil company cannot prom
ise oil deliveries as required, and will
not guarantee to fulfil the balance of
their contract with the railroad, which
expires in a few months, neither will
they likely be in a position to take
any future orders.
Superintendent Corser has under
consideration the immediate conver
sion of their locomotives from oil to
coal. He has referred the matter to
the Seattle office in order to ascertain
whether the steamship company will
be able to supply enough bottoms to
transport a sufficient supply of coal
from the outside to Cordova, in order
to keep the road in operation so that
the company may continue to make
regular shipments of copper, which is
so badly needed by the government
for war purposes.
NORTH DAKOTA VOTES “DRY.
BISMARCK, N. D.—The North Da
kota senate has concurred in the
house resolution ratifying the federal
amendment providing national prohi
bition. North Dakota is in the dry
column among states already. This
is the third ratification, Missisippi
and Kentucky having expressed ap
proval early in January.
FRED S. RYUS IS DELIGHTED
WITH OVERLAND ROUTE BE
TWEEN TWO TOWNS.
TELLS OF HIS VISIT HERE.
Graded Streets, Cement Sidewalks,
Fine Buildings and Climate of This
City Impress Government Official
from Interior.
Townsite Manager Fred S. Ryus, of
i Nenana, who recently returned home
from the coast, is enthusiastic over
the proposed construction of a wagon
road between the ends of steel on the
government railroad, says the Nenana
News.
“Mr. R: us,” continues the News,
“made the trip out by way of the
Broad Tass route, arriving at Anchor
age sixteen days after leaving Ne
nana, and it is his opinion that the 1
route presents a splendid opportunity I
for the construction of a good road, j
which would connect Lignite and In
dian river. As a mail route, such a
road would bring Nenana and the '
coas1. four days nearer each other, and
it would enable Fairbanks to receive
...ad two days quicker than at present. ;
Open Water in Places.
“Mr. Ryus made the trip out in
I company with L. R. Ebrt, Dan Hal t- i
wig and E. Henderson. They had
no difficulty in following the trail,
but encountered considerable open wa- !
ter and thin ice, dangers which later .
were eliminated by cold weather. The
trip, Mr. Ryus says, should not be
undertaken until after the first of De
cember, by which time all the streams
usually are frozen solidly.
“The trail had not been marked at
the time the Ryus party crossed the
i ‘gap,’ but they met Engineer Dose,
and his party, who were engaged in
the work, headed toward Lignite.
“Mr. Ryus was most favorably im
i pressed with the appearance of An
chorage, with its many graded streets,
| cement sidewalks and fine buildings.
The location, he says, is splendid and
the climate much better than any he
experienced elsewhere on the coast.
The present population of Anchorage
is about 3,500, he declared.
Impressed very favorably.
“The stretch of reconstructed road
out of Seward also impressed Mr. Ry
us most favorably. He and Mayor J.
i Ci. Watts, of Anchorage, were the1
guests of Engineer Weir on a trip
over the line, and their work appear
ed to have been most thoroughly done.
By June 1 next the gap between Sew
ard and Anchorage probably will
have 1 een closed, and the line ex
tended north of Anchorage to Mon- ,
tana creek, giving the main line on
: the coast end a total mileage of 204
miles.
“Mr. Ryus attended a meeting of
1 the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce
for the purpose of interesting the
! businessmen of the railroad town in
the wagon road project and securing
their cooperation in the proposal to
have the interior mail routed via An
| chorage.
Weekly Luncheon Meetings.
“The Anchorage club holds a lunch-|
eon at a cafe and restaurant once a
; week, a plan that appears to have sti
mulated the interest of the members
I greatly in the work of the organiza
| tion. Mr. Ryus found the Anchor
j ageites most responsive to his appeal
for co-operating and it is his opinion
| that the two towns, Anchorage and j
Nenana, can accomplish a great deal
by working together.
“Hartwig and Henderson, who ac- j
,'companied Mr. Ryus to the coast, con-;
; tinued to Seldovia to look over that
section of the coast. Mr. Ebert went
to Seattle. On the trip out the mem
bers of the party were compelled to
siwash it five nights, owing to the ab
sence of roadhouse accommodations.”
CORRECT.
“Through «. hole in your pocket,” said
Rocket,
“A few of your coins you may drop;
But the dangerous hole in your pocket,
You'll find, is the one at the top.”
DELAY IN IDA
ALEXANDER ALLEN, MECHANIC
WITH EXPEDITION, TALKS
TO FAIRBANKS PAPER.
OUTLINES EXPLORER’S PLANS.
Effort Will be Exerted to Discover
New Land in Arctic Regions Next
Summer and Then Return Will be
Made to Civilization.
bringing to the outside world the
first authentic news of the explora
tions of Captain Vilhjalmar Stefans
son to be brought from the far north
in two years, Captain Alexander Al
len reached Fairbanks the other day,
after being on his journey from Ker
schel island about two months, says
the Fairbanks News-Miner. The chief
information given out by Captain Al
len in Fairbanks was in regard to
further intended explorations of Stef
ansson and a mutiny among his offi
cers.
Captain Allen brought out Stefans
son’s official report to the Canadian
government, but this was dispatched
by mail and telegraph from Foit Yu
kon, which was the first settlement
reached by Allen in his long journey
from the north.
Allen rested for several days at
Fairbanks and then continued his trip
to the states.
The official report of Stefansson,
Captain Allen says, has to do with
che activities of the exploring party,
during the two years just passed.
Stefansson had intended to go to Ot
tawa in person last fall to make the
report, but his ship became frozen in
on Barter island and he therefore de
cided to remain another winter in the
northern barrens.
Overtaken by Courier.
Captain Allen left Hersehel island
before Stefansson arrived there, but
the report and other papers were dis
patched to the captain by a courier,
who caught up with the captain after
he had been on the trail for eight
days. The report tells chiefly of the
movements of the exploring party
and of the intentions of Stefansson
with regard to future work. It also
gives the details of some trouble ex
perienced by Stefansson with a couple
of his officers with regard to the dis
obeying of officers. This trouble
caused considerable delay in the work
which had been lined out for the past
summer, according to Captain Allen.
The officers in question are Captain
Gonzales and Mate William Seymour
of the steamer Polar Bear, the whal
ing ship purchased by Stefansson
from Captain Louis Lane.
Stefansson had intended that these
officers should bring their ship to a
certain point at a certain time, ac
cording to Captain Allen, and they
deliberately refused to do so.
Arrested tor Disobedience.
They were arrested for disobeying
orders when Stefansson met the boat
again, by the Northwest Mounted Po
lice and are now being held until
Stefansson receives advices from the
Canadian government as to how he
shall proceed. The explorer has ask
ed for instructions on this point in
his report to Ottawa. The remain
ing members of the crew of the Polar
Bear are kept on the pay roll of the
expedition, but the two officers were
discharged at Bailey island during
the summer.
It is the intention of Stefansson to
make further explorations during the
coming summer, according to Captain
Allen. The trip will commence dur
ing the latter part of March and will
continue until July or August. From
Barter island, where the Polar Bear
was frozen in, Stefansson will pro
ceed directly north for approximately
100 miles, or to what is known as the
continental shelf, and will then pro
ceed westward across the ice pack.
Seeks Unexplored Land.
During this trip he expects to find
some heretofore unexplored land. But
four men will be taken by Stefansson
in the main dash but the remaining
members of his party of thirty men
will be distributed in relay and relief
amps along the route taken by the
exploring party. If he gets back from
,he trip in time, Stefansson will come
south in one of his boats and so
make his trip to Seattle, but if it is
late in the season when the journey
of exploration is concluded it is alto
gether probable that the recognized
greatest explorer of modern times
will go through Fairbanks on his way
to the outside.
Story Is Copyrighted.
Stefansson, it is stated, arranged
for the copyright of the story of his
explorations, to be printed in the To
ronto Globe, of Toronto, Canada.
Captain Allen describes Stefansson
as an indefatigable worker and says
that there are but few men who can
follow where he leads. His chief lieu
tenant is a native, and it is always
these two who penetrate farther on a I
journey of exploration than any other
members of the party. And the ex
plorer expects all of his employes to
work just as hard as he does himself
being willing to pay as high as $25
per day to white men who are able
and willing to undergo the hardship
incidental to one of his trips of ex- j
ploration. He does not pay the na- I
tives so well and his parties are j
therefore made up largely of native
helpers.
Captu;n Allen, whose Alaskan res
idence is Nome, to which point he will |
return in the spring, was with the
Stefansson expedition as a mechanic i
on board the steamship Alaska. He :
can rejoin the explorer next summer
if he wishes, but has not yet decided i
exactly as to the future.
OWNER OF ANIMALS HAD LENT
TEAM TO TWO PHOTOGRAPH
ERS AT S E W A R D.
SMALL BATTERIES DEVOURED.
Propreitor of Electric System De
mands $200 for Damage Done to
His Property, But Careless Picture
Men Are Missing.
A malamute clog attacked and car- i
ried off part of a Delco lighting sys
tem at Seward the other day, accord
ing to Gus Gillis, a well known travel
ing man from Juneau who arrived in
i Anchorage yesterday.
In Seward, Gillis purchased a dog
team intending to make use of it on j
j his trip to Anchorage. While waiting
to leave Seward two of his friends
i borrowed the team for the purpose of
going along the trail to take photo
t graphs. They obtained the views, re
turned to Seward and hitched the
dogs, in the rear of the Overland hotel
| to an auxiliary Delco lighting system,
which was covered by a small shed.
The leader of the dog team became
restless. He noted a number of small j
batteries connected with the lighting
system and proceeded forthwith to de
vour them. Three were partially eat
en and about seven destroyed when
Gillis arrived on the scene. He was
i
just in time to prevent the dogs from :
eating some of the vital parts of the
machinery to which they were hitched.
Then came the angered proprietor of
the hotel and demanded $200 for the
damage. Gillis paid the money and
is now busily hunting for the two
friends who borrowed the team.
Fearing the leader had acquired an
appetite for Delco batteries Gillis sold
i the team at Camp 87.
FISH AT REASONABLE PRICE.
The Canadian government’s venture
| to supply the public with fish at a rea
| sonable price has proved a success. A
; refrigerator service from Nova Scotia
to Ontario was provided, and the gov
erment’s scheme was advertised. In
one week there were three cars carry
ing approximately 60,000 pounds of
fish, as against normal shipments of
5,000 pounds. The varieties osld under
the government’s plan, which provides
that the buyer shall take the whole
fish, are haddock and market cod.
These were the only ones available in
quantities to justify the xperiment.
Haddock is well known; market cod is
practically a newcomer.
TEACH THRIFT
MARSHALL METHOD IS STUDIED
AT WRANGELL, JUNEAU
AND FAIRBANKS.
CORDOVA PUPILS PATRIOTIC.
3kagway Scholars Give Entertain
ment at Which They Realize More
Than Enough to Organize Junior
Red Cross Society.
Interesting news in regard to
schools in various parts of Alaska is
contained in the recent bulletin issued
by L. D. Henderson, territorial com
missioner of education, with head
quarters at Juneau.
Thrift clubs, the bulletins says, have
been organized in every room of the
Wrangell schools and the “Marshall
Method of Thrift Training” is being
introduced for use in the upper ele
mentary grades. Both the Juneau and
Fairbanks schools are at present us
ing the method.
Nine'.y-three pupils in the Fair
banks schools own a $50 Liberty bond.
As further evidence of patriotic Amer
icanism, the pupils of the Fairbanks
schools recently collected, washed,
hemmed and bleached 534 dish towels
for the use of the American army at
Camp Lewis, American Lake, Wash
ington.
The Ketchikan schools enroll 230
pupils, the largest enrollment in the
history of the city. A Spanish club,
meeting once a month and with pro
grams rendered entirely in Spanish,
has been organized among members of
the Spanish class in the Ketchikan
high schools.
Recently the Cordova schools gave
an entertainment at which $68 was
realizde. Of this amount $20 was used
to secure membership for the entire
school in the Junior Red Cross, $20
was contributed to the fund for Hali
fax sufferers, and $28 to the American
Red Cross. The pupils of the sixth,
seventh and eighth grades have con
tributed $12 saved from their earn
ings, to the Armenian relief fund.
The Juneau high school orchestra
enrolls thirty members of which num
ber fourteen are in the junior and six
teen in the senior orchestra. Each or
chestra is made of seven different in
sti’uments and meets for practice
twice every week.
The study of German in the Juneau
high school has been discontinued and
a course in Spanish substituted.
The net proceeds of a recent enter
tainment given by the pupils of the
Skagway schools were $111. Of this
sum, 10 per cent was set aside for the
Junior Red Cross organization. A sec
ond hand sewing machine for the use
of the domestic science department
and a Vietrola, together with several
records for the same, were purchased
with the remainder.
Superintnedent A. M. Mathews, of
the Juneau schools has devised a plan
whereby grades in the following are
issued to junior and senior high
school students every six weeks: atti
tude, initiative, industry, attention and
improvement. Grades secured in these
live traits are included with the regu
lar subjects of the curriculum in mak
ing up honor or examination exemp
tion rolls.
Superintendent G. W. Greene, of the
Douglas schools, has made a study of
the amount of time spent in daily les
son preparation by students of the
junior and senior high schools with
the following result: average daily
time per lesson senior high school,
fifty minutes; junior high school, forty
minutes. These figures are considered
to be lower than desired.
Physical culture, including regular
school ro'6m calisthenics, drills,
marches and folk games, has been in
troduced into the Skagway schools as
a regular part of the school curri
culum.
SIGNS IS SIGNS.
Sign on a building in North Phila
delphia, Penn.:
“The Coale Lumber Company,
Jim Wood, Mngr.”