JJm&rrstto of
Food— The We apon that will Win the War—Help to Save It
The Nenana News
VOLUME NO. 2
NENANA, ALASKA SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 1918.
WHOLE NUMBER 72
SDKS SAYS SUB
LONDON, Feb. 2.—Commenting
on the year of ruthless submarine
^ warfare, which has just come to a
’ close, Sir Eric Geddes, first lord of
the British admiralty, declares that
the U boat campaign is being held
stationary by the Allies. Coincident
with this announcement, comes the
disclosures, in a Dutch newspaper,
that German military and financial
authorities are very much disap
pointed as the result of the failure
of the German submarines to end the
war. They confidently expected
that the undersea campaign would
bring about the defeat of England
, within six months. Instead, how
ever, the sinking of merchant ships
has dropped below the level main
tained before the ruthless policy was
inaugurated.
Interest in the German strike situ-!
ation has been added by the publi-1
cation, in German newspapers, of
the outline of an alleged Anglo
American plot to spread dissension
throughout the Central powers. The
press claims that tne sum of two
hundred fifty million marks was
raised at Washington for the use
of an organization which was to ;
start revolts in Germany and Aus
tria.
Threats of force have been used
by German miltai'y authorities to i
• crush the strikers, but tnese meas
ures have not yet ended the strike
movement.
GERMANS GIVE AIRMEN
LONG TERM IN PRISON
AMSTERDAM, Feb. 2.—Accord
ing to German newspaper just re
ceived here, two British aviators,
who were captured behind the Ger
man lines, have been sentenced to
ten years in prison. The charge
against them was that they assisted
in distributing hostile literature in
Germany.
MAY SUSPEND ORDER
WASHINGTON, D. C„ Feb. 2.—
According to announcement mad''
this afternoon, the fuel administra
tion is willing to suspend the order
requiring one heatless day each week,
should state fuel administrators, who
are to meet here on Monday, con
sider that the weekly closing of
factories has served its purpose.
VETERAN FIGHTER DIES
ADLINGTON, Mass., Feb. 2—John
L. Sullivan, veteran of the prize ring
and one-time champion heavyweight
of the world, dropped dead at his
home here today.
The deceased was apparently en
joying his usual good health yester
day. He returned from a visit to
Boston last night and arose early
this morning. Death was due to an
attack of heart trouble. The vet
eran was fifty-nine years of age.
GERMANS MAKE MORE
ARRESTS IN BELGIUM;
- i
THE HAGUE, Feb. 2.—Advices,
received in this city state that the
arrest of Belgians is increasing
steadily, forty-two prominent per
sonages having been taken ;nta cus
tody by the German military au
thorities during the past several
days,, the majority of the arrests
having been made at Brussels. The {
list included Paul Lambert, great
French manufacturer, and Eduard
Laguerre, son of the French deputy
of that name.
SOCIALSTS DEMAND
RELEASE OF LEADER
LONDON, Feb. 2.—Herr Dittman.
Socialist member of the reichstag,
was placed under arrest this morn
ing while he was addressing a crowd
in Berlin. As a result of the action
of the government, a national de
monstration is being arranged as a
protest.
Replying to the request of the
Socialists for the release of Dittman,
Chancellor von Hertling stated this
morning: that he could do nothing:
in the matter, as the city of Berlin
is now in the hands of the military,
who caused the arrest of the offend
ing; member of the reichstag. Ditt
man’s offense was that he reported
that the Berlin factories, where
strikes have occurred were being
placed under military control.
TROTSKY MAKES PUBLIC
LETTER OF ANARCHISTS
PETROGRAD, Feb. 2.—The min
istry of foreign affairs has trans
mitted to Ambassador Francis a
copy of the letter addressed to Trot
sky by a group of Petrograd anar
chists, demanding that the ministry
bring pressure to bear on the Ameri
can embassy to secure the release
of Emma Goldman, Alexander Berk
mann and Thomas Mooney. The
ministry also included a copy of
resolutions adopted by the anar
chists threatening to enforce their
demands on the embassy .
COAST ADMINISTRATORS
WILL DISCUSS PROBLEM
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 2.—Food
Administrator Merritt has announced
that a conference will be held at
Portland on Monday for the purpose
of discussing the vital food prob
lems of the Northwest and Alaska.
Special attention will be given to
the meat problem. The conference
will be attended by the various
food administrators of the Pacific
coast.
ANARCHISTS BELIEVE
BOL WILL HELP THEM
NEW YORK, Feb. 2.—Emma
Goldman and Alexander Berkmann
surrendered themselves this morning
and have commenced serving time
for conspiring to interfere with the
draft law. Berkmann declares that
the Bolshevika of Russia will make
a demand upon the American gov
ernment to release the two prisoners
and let them return to Russia.
Berkmann will serve his sentence
in the Atlanta penitentiary, and the
Goldman woman will go to Jeffer
son City, Mo. Each will serve two
years and pay a fine of $10,000 in
addition. They both made impas-'
sioned speeches here yesterday be- j
fore the Bolsheviki controlled Rus
sian colonial congress, urging the
delegates to carry the spirit of the
: Russian revolution through America.
_
DANIELS TELLS GRADS
OF NAVY DEPARTMENT
ANNAPOLIS, Feb. 2.—Addressing
the special graduation class of 300
reserve officers of the naval acad
amy, Secretary Daniels declared yes
terday that the naval reserve force
now numbers 69,000 men and 7,800
officers, a force larger than that of
i the regular navy at the time the
war started and three times as large
as it was during the Spanish-Ameri
can war.
WAGE QUESTION SETTLED
WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 2.—
Secretary of Labor Wilson an
nounces that his department has
made a satisfactory settlement of
the wage question, involving five
thousand employees of the American
Locomotive works.
CAPPER AMBITIOUS
TOPEKA, Kan., Feb. 2.—Gover
nor Capper has announced his can
didacy for asseat in the United State
senate. He will make the race on
the Republican ticket.
SPAIN MAKES KICK
MADRID, Feb. 2.—The Spanish
government has decided to forward
a vigorous protest to Germany, de
manding reparation for the sinking
of the Spanish steamer Giralda.
TRAIN WRECK FATAL
SEATTLE, Feb. 2.—A freight
train crashing into the rear coach
of a passenger train at Seedro
Wooley yesterday resulted in the
death of six persons and the serious
injury of a score of others. Among
the dead are Charles Patton, wealthy
local lumber mill man, and Henry
Thompson, commissioner of Skagit
county.
CHINA HAS FORCE
READY FOR FIELD
WASHINGTON, D. C„ Feb. 2.—
General Chians, of the Chinese mis
' sion, is authority for the statement
that his government now has a force
of half, a million men ready to enter
the trenches on the side of the Allies.
In addition, there are another mil
lion men under arms, a reserve of
two million and a population of four
hundred million more to draw upon,
should the need of additional troops
arise.
The only obstacle in the way of
sending troops to France, General
Chiang says, is the lack of trans
ports, but he has been assured by
the Allies that both ships and the
necessary fu(ds to engage in the
i war will be forthcoming when the
I time for the movement of the troops
I arrives.
LAWMAKERS MUST PAY
TAXES TO HELP NATION
WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 2.—
j That the salaries of senators and
representatives of congress are sub
! ject to the provisions of the war
j supertax, is the opinion of Com
j missioner of Internal Revenue Lopers
expressed in a letter addressed to
collectors. Lopers contends that it
was not the intention of the law
makers to exempt their salaries and
i he has instructed the collectors to
proceed with the collection of the
war tax.
FRENCH RAID TRENCHES
TAKE FEW PRISONERS
PARTS, Feb. 2.—In aw .official
statement issued by the war office
this morning, it announces that
French troops raided the German
! positions near Nieuport, Belgium,
yesterday, capturing a number of
prisoners. Raids also were made
during the day in the Rheims sector.
There was very little activity, how
ever, at other points along the
Western front.
AUSTRIANS NOT ABLE
TO RECOVER GROUND!
ROME, Feb. 2.—Several unsuc
cessful attempts have been made by
the Austrians during the past two
j days to recover positions which were
lost to the Italians in the Monte Del
Bella sector. Italian war officials
announced this afternoon that the
enemy had failed to reach the Ita
lian lines at any point.
FRISCO POLICE GRAB
SUSPECTED DYNAMITER
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 2.—Frank
Burger, believed by the federal au
tnordies to be a dangerous radical
and suspected of connection with
the Governor Stephens dvnamitc
plot, is under arrest n this city
being confined in the local jail in
communicado. He was arrested s.x
v-eeks ago at Fresno.
DEMAND REPRISALS
LONDON, Feb. 2.—British news
papers are demanding of the gov
ernment that reprisals be ordered
immediately because of the impris
onment of British aviators by the
Germans.
SPOKANE IS REPAIRED
SEATTLE, Feb. 2—The steamship
Spokane has been repaired and will
leave for the North this afternoon,
on her first trip since the wreck.
GOING TO FRANCE
WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 2.—
Secretary of War Baker will leave
for France within a short time.
This was admitted at the war office
this morning, but the object of the
trip has not been made public.
RAID FATAL TO MANY
PARIS, Feb. 2.—According to of
ficial announcement made today,
the German air raid of Wednesday
was fatal to forty-five residents of
this city, including eleven women.
More than two hundred were injured.
AMERICAN IROOPS
NEAR ENEMY EINE
WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY,!
FEB. 2.—Amundsen, the Norwegian
explorer, who is visiting the Ameri
can zone as correspondent for sev- j
eral Scandinavian newspapers, re
ports that the Y'ankee troops, at one
place in their sector, are only sixty
feet from the German trenches. At
other places they are fully a mile
distant from the enemy. The Ameri
can trenches, he reports, are in a
marshy country, it being necessary
for the men to pump constantly to
keep the water out of their dugouts.
The water is an advantage, however,
since it keeps the trench rats away,
a source of great annoyance to the
troops in drier sectors.
Amundsen has informed his papers
that the Americans are a fine lot
of men, full of confidence and eager
for the spring activities to begin.
AMERICANS MAKE GOOD
IN WEDNESDAY’S BATTLE
WASHINGTON, D. C„ Feb. 2.—
Additional information received from
the American headquarters in France
regarding the raid made by the Ger
mans on the American listening
post during the week, indicate that I
only the heroism of the platoon in
the trenches nearest the raided lis
tening post prevented the Germans
from entering the trenches. It is
known that the German attacking
force was superior in number to
the Americans, but the determined
stand made by the Yankee troops
put the enemy to rout before much
damage had been done.
SPAIN NOW REGARDED
AS COMPLEX PROBLEM
WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 2.— ■
In the opinion of diplomats, Spain
today presents one of the most im
portant and complex problems con
fronting the Allies. It is believed
that the Spanish government is
merely waiting for developments to j
indicate which side is going to win, i
before deciding to enter the world 1
conflict. The government is re- j
garded as neutral, but the army is1
believed to be largely pro-German, i
PRESIDENT TELLS SOLONS
AGITATION HURTS NATION
WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 2—
A number of prominent Democratic
senators were summoned to the
White House yesterday afternoon,
and informed by President Wilson
that agitation in congress for the
creation of a super cabinet and
minister of munitions and the radi
cal reorganization of the war de
partment is hurtful to the country.
The president pointed out that the
discussions in congress on the ques
tion are being garbled by agents of
Germany in an effort to make it ap
pear that Americans are not entirely
determined to win the war. The
president declared that he is unal
terably opposed to any change being
made at this time, but several of
the senators attending the confer
ence refused to promise that they
would make an effort to stop fur
ther agitation in congress.
RUMANIAN BOATS SEIZED
BY BOLSHEVIKI FORCES
LONDON, Feb. 2.—As the result
of the outbreak of hostilities be
tween Rumanian forces and Bolshe
viki border troops, the revolutionary
committee of the Black Sea fleet has
resolved to confiscate all guns and
transports belonging to Rumania.
Already forty steamships and war
ships in Black sea harbors have been
seized by the Russians.
SNOW IN WASHINGTON
SEATTLE, Feb. 2—The first snow
of the winter fell in Western Wash
ington yesterday and today prac
tically the entire country is covered
by the white mantel.
UKRAINIANS OVERTHROWN
BY BOLSHEVIKI FORCES
PETROGRAD Feb. 2.—The Bol
sheviki forces have overthrown the
Ukrainian government at Kiev and
a number of the members of the
new government are now under ar
rest. The others have taken flight
to Kishiniev, where they are seek
ing the protection of the Rumanian
troops. It is the belief of the Bol
sheviki government that the defeat
of the Ukrainians will delay the ef
fort being made by them to make
separate peace with the Germans.
Polish troops are reported to have
joined the anti-Bolsheviki forces in
Volhynia.
MEXICANS TAKE NOTICE
Mexico City.—The activities of
German propogandists in Mexico
have reached such a stage as to at
tract the attention of the Mexican
government. A legislative com
mittee this week instructed the at
torney general to investigate charges
to the effect that von Eikhardt,
German minister, is responsible for
alleged corrupt conditions prevail
ing in the Mexican chamber of depu
ties.
LARGE FORCE AT
WORK ON RAILROAD
At the present time there are
over six hundred men in the employ
of the Alaskan Engineering com
mission here, including contractors
and laborers. The main crews are
at Camp Twenty-Mile, engaged in
laying steel up to the new bridge.
The glacier overflow there has caused
much trouble to the engineers and
the men are all at work in an at
tempt to dam the flow. From Twen
ty-Mile out as far as Lignite, con
tractors’ outfits are scattered along
the right of way at intervals of a
few miles, building grade. There
are also several outfits working on
wood contracts for the commission
in the vicinity of Thirty-five-Mile
crossing.
HEALTH BOARD NAMED
TO REGULATE NENANA
By authority of an act passed by
the territorial legislature of 1913, 1
the Nenana School board, at the I
meeting held this week, named a
health board for this district, con- j
sisting of Mrs. M. J. Sweeney, presi- >
dent of the school board; F. S. Ryus, 1
townsite manager; and Dr. Malcolm 1
E. Smith. The new board has au- j
thority to do all those things neces- !
sary to safeguard the health of the i
community and it is the intention !
oi the members to enter immediately
j upon a campaign requiring citizens
j and property owners of the town
| to clean up their premises and other
i wise conform to the regulations that
j will be announced from time to
time.
CASS WILLIAMS RECEIVES
ACTIVE SERVICE APPOINT
J. Cassin Williams, of the Alaska
Engineering commission disbursing
office here, will leave for Washing
ton, D. C., via the Fairbanks trail,
on next Monday. Mr. Williams has
made several attempts to enter the
| service of the United States army
i during the past six months, but as
I he was not positively assured of a
! chance to get into active service,
| he has stayed in Nenana until his
chances are certain. When the last
report was received from Governor
Strong regarding the Alaskan regis
trants being allowed to volunteer
their services to the government,
Mr. Williams immediately tele
graphed' to Washington, D. C., and
received an assuring reply to the
effect that if he would come out
immediately he would receive the
appointment that he wished. Fur
ther inquiries as to details were so
satisfactory that Mr. Williams will
take advantage of his chance at once
and leave on the next stage for the
coast.
Mr. Williams is very enthusiastic
over his departure, and while his
many friends in Nenana are sorry
to see him leave, it is certain that
if he shows the Huns the same spirit
of aggressiveness that has permeated
his work on the various patriotic
committees in our city, that Nenana
will be assured of a worthy repre
sentative on the firing line.
PETROGRAD, Feb. 2.—Another
unsuccessful attempt to assassinate
Premier Lenine was made last night.
The first attempt was made on
January 16.
DIET
I OLD BY PREMIER
PEACE IS DESIRE
i
AMSTERDAM, Feb. 2 —In an ad
dress delivered In fore the Hungarian
diet, Prenver Wekerle declared that
the desire for peace, on the part of
Hungarians, is sincere and earnest.
“We never strove for conquests.”
he said, “and we are ready now to
seek a just understanding which will
bring lasting peace. The only con
dition that we insist upon is the in
tegrity of our country’s territory
and liberty to regulate our internal
affairs. We will oppose any at
tempt to dictate our policies, but
we desire to maintain our alliance
with Germany, as we regrad that as
one of the most effective safe
guards of peace.
Advices received here today state
positively that Premier Czarnin, of
Austria, has forwarded numerous
messages to President Wilson, assur
ing the American executive of the
guilcssness and sincerity of Aus
trian diplomacy in the efforts which
are being made by that country to
bring about peace.
BLAMES OFFICIALS
! WASHINGTON, I). C„ Feb. 2—
j In a statement made today before
I the senate military committee, for
mer Governor West, of Oregon, said
that the delay in getting spruce for
| airplanes could be charged to ignor
, ance of the spruce industry by offi
} cials of the Signal corps in Washing
; ton and the Oregon advisory, board.
GERMAN NAME UNPOPULOR;
FIGHTERS DEMAND CHANGE
| CAMP DIZ, Feb. 2.—Declaring
that it is not patriotic for an Ameri
can soldier to have German measels,
those who have the malady at the
cantonment have started a move
ment to have the name changed to
something more American. Many
of the soldiers are in favor of call
ing the disease Liberty measels.
GREEK RESERVISTS CALLED
LONDON’. Feb. 2.—Sixteen classes
| of Greek reservists have been called
I to the colors, according to advices
i received in this city today from
Athens.
j LONDON, I1 eb. 2.—Advices re
ceived in this city this afternoon
: state that a three days strike has
j been declared at Munich.
----
J LONDON, Feb. 2.—Dispatches re
jceived from Copenhagen state that
| the strike situation in Germany is
i little changed. The dispatches also
[ state that the police have seized the
! Trade Union building at Berlin and
placed a number of strike Readers
under arrest.
SEATTLE, Feb. 2.—Private ad
j vices received in this city state that
I some of the graduates of Camp
j Lewis, including several Californians
i participated in Wednesday’s fighting
on the French front in which two
Americans were killed.
NIGHT SCHOOL PUPILS
BUY WAR SAVING STAMPS
The Nenana Citizenship Night
school pupils largely foreigners, are
doing their “bit” for the country of
their adoption. On Friday they
made a purchase of one thousand
dollars’ worth of certificate war sav
ing stamps, and within two weeks
there will be an additional purchase
of similar, if not greater sum.
This Nenana school is probably
the only one in Alaska, public or
quasi-public, that has raised such an
amount to help carry on the war,
and it speaks much for Nenana arid
Alaska generally.
Evidently the teachings received
daily are bearing fruit, even this
early— leaving one to imagine what
these schools will do in coming years,
for Alaska and for the country, in
general.
Mrs. T. K. Blakey, of Camp No.
16, was a visitor in Nenana for the
last week.