THE CORDOVA DAILY TIMES
Entered at the Postoffice at Cordova,
Alaska, as second-class matter.
H. G. STEEL
EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR
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SATURDAY, MAY 3, 1919.
PREPARED FOR ACTION
_^_ j
When the congress of the United
States is convened in extra session
this spring to consider weighty ques
tions which should have been dis
posed of by the Sixty-fifth congress,
many of the seats will be occupied
by new members, for the most part
unfamiliar with the measures which
will require their immediate atten
tion. Bills which failed of passage
during the late session because of
the pernicious activity of Senator
LaFollette, of Wisconsin, and his arch
conspirator, Sherman, of Illinois, must
be reviewed again in detail and a lot
of questions wpl be asked before final
action is taken.
Among the many requests for funds
which will be presented, will be that
of the secretary of the interior for
sufficient money to complete the gov
ernment railroad in Alaska. The sec
retary appreciates the importance of
securing prompt action on this mat
ter, and Alaskans have the assurance
that the request for funds will be ac
companied by a very complete ex
planation, covering work already
done, work contemplated and the
bearing that the completed project
will have upon the development of
interior Alaska’s resources. This as
surance is contained in the announce
ment, made some time ago, that J. L.
McPherson has been assigned to the
task of preparing data for the enlight
enment of congressmen unfamiliar
with the northland.
Mr. McFnerson is an oiaunie
Alaskan and, as manager of the
Alaska bureau of the Seattle Chamber
of Commerce, his time, for a number
of years past, has been devoted al
most exclusively to a study of Alaskan
conditons and needs and the encour
. agement of development and construc
tive legislation. He knows Alaska as
few men know the territory, and he
realizes that the interior country’s
greatest need at this time is a better
ment of transportation facilites.
Mr. McPherson spent several
months in Alaska last summer, in
quiring into the special needs of the
various districts, and he mushed from
one end of the railroad to the other
for the purpose of gathering first hand
information regarding the progress of
the government enterprise. Having
had considerable experience in rail
road work, Manager McPherson will
be able to present this information in
a manner that will materially’ assist
Secretary Lane in securing funds for
the completion of the railroad.
With the necessary funds available
Mr. McPherson believes the work
could be pushed to completion within
two years, and from an economic
standpoint, he says, the work should
be continued without interruption.
The added cost of the project, he ex
plained in a recent statement pub
fished in the Seattle Times, is due to
a marked increase in the cost of
labor, materials and supplies. Labor
costs, he says, have advanced fifty per
cent over the estimate of 1914, and
materials and supplies have jumped
from fifty to sevnty-flve per cent.
Overhead and operating costs are
increasing yearly and now average
approximately $100,000 a month,
which, he points out, la a strong ar
gument in favor of rushing the work
to completion.
For a number of years, i In the
opinion of Mr. McPherson, the rail
road must depend almost 'entirely
upon through traffic. For the devel
opment of local traffic, he says, it will
be necessary to build wagon roadB
and branch lines of the railroad into
districts which connot be devloped
under existing conditions.
If mistakes have been made by the
Alaskan Engineering Commission, Mr.
McPherson is not advertising the fact.
His trip overland, along the right of
way, from Nenana to the coast, has
convinced him that the work is pro
gressing satisfactorily now, and he ap- '
predates the fact that Alaskan condi
tions demand that the work continue
without interruption. He is interested
only in seeing that Alaska is given the
opportunity to develop. He knows
what the territory has done in the
past, in the way of contributing to the
wealth of the nation, and he believes
that the future has greater things in
store. He is an optimist of the first
water, charged with a thorough
knowledge of Alaska, and primed with
the Seattle spirit, a combination
which should prove invaluable to the
secretary of tlite interior in prevailing
upon the new Congress to assume a
friendly attitude toward Alaska.
PAINT UP AND CLEAN UP
Co-operating in the own-your-own
home campaign now being carried on
by the United States department of
labor are thousands of men and
women who already own their homes
or who rent dwellings, and their part
is to aid in the national clean-up and
paint-up activities. The appeal to
make every town and city in the
country a better place to live in has
been answered east and west, north
and south. As the weather permits,
improvemnts will be undertaken in
every state on a more thorugh scale
than usual, for the home-coming of
the soldiers adds a special stimulus
to the annual labor of removing the
winter's accumulations of rubbish.
This task, always imperative as a
safeguard to health, is more than ever
necessary now, when your armies are
coming back from overseas.
Hardware merchants, proprietors cf
paint shops, and florists have been
asked to aid the clean-up and paint-up
campaign now being carried on in
many cities. Requestes that window
exhibits be arranged so that the sug
gestion of gardening, repair work, and
general improvements may be given to
passers-by have been quickly com
plied with, and it has been demon
strated that wherever the actual task
of cleaning up and painting up has
been begun the idea of making a town
or city healthful and beautiful has
quickly spread.
The first thought naturally is the
removal of dirt and waste matter
from alleys and cellars. Business cen
ters have been sadly neglected during
the war and they present tasks that
municipal governments must perform.
In a number of the smaller cities vol
unteers are helping in this work,
which is-accepted as a patriotic serv
ice, since it makes for health and
provides against and prevents the
spread of disease as a time when
soldiers are returning from France.
Painting restores houses even when
they have a most dilapidated appear
ance, and after the houses have been
painted the next thought is the gar
den and lawn. Thus there is a de
mand for gardening tools and for
grass seed and flowed bulbs. “Spring
cleaning” has always had a fascina
tion for women, and for the last few
years national interest in gardening
has been on the increase. This season
probably will show that more thought
than ever before has been given to the
surroundings of the home and to city
parks, both by the housewives and by
the community at large.
VOICE OF THE NORTHLAND
PRESS
It is claimed by local boys that a
“Perfect thirty-six” Is a reality at the
present time on Douglas Island.—
Douglas News.
It is quite generally conceded that
the returned soldiers are entitled to
their old position if they so desire.
That is an elementary fact in the re
patriation situation, and while this is
not always the case, it is generally
observed.—Ketchikan Miner.
The price of gas boats on Gastineau
Channel has advanced. With the com
ing of spring it seems that almost
everyone feels he should own a boat
with which to catch fish. Next fall
no doubt there wdll be a number of
very good Ashing boats for sale
cheap.—Douglas News.
Ladies who have no cares in this
world and who are in no wise partic
ular whom they mate up with might
And a good home by answering the
advertisement for a wife in this issue.
The only requisites are that a woman
must be a willing worker, a poor
talker and willing to make a living
for an apparently shiftless husband.
“There ain’t no such animal.”—Valdes
Miner.
/ _
While it is regretted that the con
ference of governors of the Btates,
which was to have held its annual
meeting in Alaska this coming sum
mer will not be held according to
plans, it is perhaps better for the ter
ritory that it is postponed until 1920.
By thait time it is possible that condi
tions will be much improved and the
members of the conference will be
able to get a much better idea of the
real value of Alaska’s resources than
could be obtained at this time.—Fair
banks Citizen.
Nenanaites should take special
pride in making their property pre
sentable. The town has a natural
beauty, with good buildings, wide
streets and substantial sidewalks, a
combination of attractiveness which
gives rubbish the appearance of being
more than usually out of place and
which should prove an incentive for
the early and thorough cleaning of
unsightly premises. Let us hope there
will be a prompt response to the re
minder of the townsite manager to
get busy.—Nenana News.
As the spring sun comes out and
warms up the ponds the croakers be
gin to sing their doleful requiem.
Childish minds often imagine these
dismal notes mean impending doom,
and they flee from the bogey. More
mature and stronger minds know how
harmless are such croakers, and go
ahead with their enterprises, firm in
the assurance that as the season pro
gresses and prosperity makes the
land blossom the dolorous denizens
will fall into the obscurity which they
deserve. And so it works out. The
processes of nature sees the enter
prising citizen flourishing like the
green bay tree while the old croaker
dries up in the mud which was the
level of his vision.—Dawson News.
Well, Well! Look's who here! We
have before us a copy of the Seattle
Union Record—a marked copy sent
all the way from the Spirit City, con
taining an interview with one W. J.
Henry, who says he is from Anchor
age and who warns each and every
reader of the lgbor paper to keep
away from this town; to stay away
from Alaska, too. The sending of a
paper containing a marked article is
an Invitation for the paper receiving
it to publish it But in this instance,
we beg to be excused. We see noth
ing in the article worhty of reproduc
tion—same old knocking stuff. Henry
is posing as an Alaska "newspaper
man," now. Well, he Is. He used to
peddle newpapers on the creeks ip
the interior country, so there is merit
in his claim.
With the hew addition, the knock
ing quartet is complete—John E.
Bailable, Dunstan, Packard and
Henry. But what discordant music
they make, this inharmoni ous crew.
But let them hammer and knock all
they wish. Alaska is all right and
Anfchorage is all right. Indeed the
tone of this town has improved since
the departure of our contribution to
this quartet. We can only hope that
they make, this inharmonious crew,
ployed in knocking Anchorage and
Alaska on the outsioe that they will
not find time to return—Anchorage
Times.
The present election laws of
Alaska allow many loopholes for filing
a contest. In fighting such a case one
's almost certain to get dirty fingers.
Such eases are very seldom clean.
And no worthy man is going to get
mingled in one if he can help it.
A special election costs the territory
of Alaska money. A contested election
costs the government of the United
States more money. Both are neces
sary. But there is no way to avoid i
the election. Wickersham can’t even
contest until one is held.
But the way out of a contest is
easily found. The special election pro
vides it. Let Judge Wickersham enter
the race as a candidate for the va
cancy and run aginst the man whom
the Democratic party will select. And
in this manner let the people of
Alaska again say whom they desire to
represent them in congress.
Such a procedure will clarify the
situation greatly. It will save the
country money and will satisfy all
Alaskans who believe in fair play.
And if the majority of Alaskans are
satisfied neither Wickersham nor any
other individual has a right to kick.
It is a sporting proposition as well
as being econmoical. Wickersham told
the house of representatives last
January that he wasn’t going to con
est if he lost in the November
election. The present situation offers
him an opportunity to make his word
good and still give him a fighting
chance. He has claimed that the peo
ple of Alaska are for him. If he knows
this to be true, he should not hesitate
to leave the question of who is to be
Alaska's delegate in the next congress
for them to settle. Will he do it?—
Fairbanks Citizen. *
BOLSHEVIKI DEFEATED
ON EASTERN FRONT
HELSINGFORS, May 3 (by Asso
ciated Press).—The Siberians have de
feated the Bolsheviki on the entire
eastern front.
An Unexplained Rumor
PARIS, May 3 (by Associated
Press).—It is reported that the Finns
have captured Petrograd.
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