WHERE. RAILS AND RIVERS MEET
THE NENANA DAILY NEWS
VOL. III. MEMBER OF ASSOCIATED PRESS
NENANA, ALASKA, MONDAY, MAY 17, 1920.
NO 35
T
COMMISSION IS ENROUTE TO COAL FIELD
WARNINGlSlSSUED BY RAILWAY BROTHERHOODS
• CARRANZA IS LEADING REBELS HOT CHASE IN MEXICO
BUI CARRANZA IS
. ill EASY 10 GEI
_
WASHINGTON. D. C., May 17.—
Reports from the South state that
the pursuit of President Carranza
is still in propress, a large force of
rebels now being engaged in the !
chase. The reports do not indicate, |
however, that the deeing president ■
is in serious danger. It is under
stood that he has a good start and
is being assisted along the way by
Mexicans friendly to his govern-,
ment.
It is also reported here that Gen
eral Pablo Gonzales has refused to
recognize the plan of Agua Prieta,
y under which the entire Carranza
regime is repudiated. It is stated,
however, in advices received by the
state department that Gonzales has
agreed to permit Governor Huerta^
to convene the Mexican congress in
extra session for the purpose ot
naming* a provisional president
The objections raised by Gonzales
are said to be merely technical.
4
SPOKANE SWITCHMEN
ME LEAVING POSTS
SPOKANE, Wn., May 17.—Local
switchmen in the employ of the
Milwaukee railroad failed to report
for duty this morning. No demands
were made upon the company by
the organization and there has been
no formal call for a strike. It is
merely an individual walkout, the
men say, to entourage the company
to increase wages.
The men claim that they are un
able to get along on the wages
paid, and many of them say they
sf will enter other lines of work if the
company fails to improve conditions.
STATE COMPENSATION
ACT IS FAULTY NOW
WASHINGTON, D. C., May 17.—
The supreme court of the United
States, in a decision handed down
* today, holds that the act of Con
gress of 1917, giving states the right
to enact compensation laws in re
spect to persons employed in mari
time service, is unconstitutional.
Hsass*. Win Bails sad KiTsrs Meet
REPRESENTATIVES OF NAVY
COMING FOR INVESTIGATION
WASHINGTON. D. C„ May 17.—
The conviction of Daniel O’Connell
and five others, all residents of this i
city, on the charge of violating the
selective service and espionage acts,
has been upheld by the supreme
court, in a decision rendered today,
following a review of the Pacific
coast proceedings.
O’Connell and the others were
members of the American Patriots,
an organization said to have been
formed for the purpose of testing
the validity of the selective service
act.
O’Connell was sentenced to a term
of seven years, and the others must
serve from one to three years.
REPARATION FIXED
AT ALLIED CONFAB
i
i PARIS, May 17.—It is understood
in local official circles that the
• Anglo-French conference at Hythe
! has decided that the sum total of
German reparation that will be re
quired must be 120,000,000,000
francs, or approximately thirty bill
ion dollars. ‘
It is also reported here this morn
iing that French troops have begun
ithe evacuation of the Frankfort and
j Darmstadt regions, in accordance
I with plans announced on Saturday.
ALBERTA TO BE SCENE
OF BIG OIL ACTIVITY
LETHBRIDGE, Alta.—Lethbridge
promises to become the center of
oil activity in the south of Alberta.
Drilling has commenced in several
places tributary to the city. The
Imperial Oil company is drilling to
the south and west on Dry Fork
and west of Nanton. This company
intends to spend two million dollars
in Alberta this summer in a search
for oil.
► BROTHERHOODS SAY
DELAYS DANGEROUS
A
:
CHICAGO, May 17. — A joint
statement has been issued by the
heads of seventeen railroad brother
hoods, in which apprehension is ex
pressed as to the probable result ol
further delays in meeting the re
quests of railway workers for in
creased pay. The statement point!
out that the country faces a serious
breakdown in its transportation ser
vice, and those responsible for de
laying the wage negotiations are
charged with responsibility for the
threatened breakdown.
The statement points out that in
controvertible facts show that it
costs a family of five $2,500 a year
to live, and it is further pointed
out that there are 600,000 workers
in the employ of the railroad who
receive less than $1,075 annually.
The brotherhood leaders began a
conference with the labor board to
day.
SEATTLE, May 17.—Lieutenant
J. Wess and Hugh J. McManus, ad-1
vance guard of the commission of i
naval officers designated to make
an investigation of the Malanuska
coal fields with a view to large-scale
development to provide coal for the
Pacific fleet, have arrived in this
from the East and will sail for
Alaska on Thursday.
Lieutenants Richard H. Gifford,
Robert T. Cannon and W. P. Thiel
are the other members of the com
mission and will be here in time to
sail for the North this week. They
will be accompanied by two civilian
mining engineers and two chief pet
ty officers of the navy. .
The naval appropriation bill car
ries an item of $1,000,00 for the
mining of Matanuska coal and its
transportation from the mines to
tidewater, where it can be loaded
onto naval colliers.
Should it be decided by the com
mission that the quality and extent
of the coal deposits are such as to
justify large-scale development for
naval uses, the members of the party
will remain in the North until No
vember. getting things in readiness
for large-scale operations.
The Eska coal mine, which was
opened and operated for a consid
erable time by the Alaskan En
gineering commission, was closed by
a strike early in April, and two
weeks later, following a meeting be
tween the coal miners and Assistant
Chief Engineer Gerig, it was an
nounced that the property would be
closed indefinitely. The following
review of the situation appeared in
the Anchorage Times of April 17:
Following the appearance of a
committee representing the coal min
ers at Eska, together with fifty-odd
men employed by the commission in
this line, accompanied by a request
for the Washington scale of wages
plus 10 percent, Assistant Chief En
gineer Gerig has ordered the prop
erty closed indefinitely, and unless
some adjustment is made in the im
mediate future there will be no
mining at Eska until the navy de
partment assumes control of opera
rtions.
Reaches Climax.
The climax to a series of negotia
tions came yesterday afternoon,
when the committee from the min
ers, headed by William Roberts,
placed the demands before Mr.
j Gerig.
j In a statement to the Times Mr.
Roberts said:
' ' “After President Wilson made ar
rangements for the miners and oper
ators of the country to get together,
the miners at Eska met and asked
the commission to take action with
regard to an adjustment of our
scale, which was a demand for the
Washington scale, plus 10 percent.
During January, Supt. Smith being
absent in the States, we kept work
ing, but on his return the gave an
interview in which he said that the
secretary of the interior had re
ceived no official information as to
i
the scale adjustment throughout the '
States, and therefore he could nor
entertain any negotiations.
‘‘We took Mr. Smith’s advice and
kept at work until the commission
in the States made its report, when
we again interviewed Mr. Smith,
who asked us to await the receipt
of an official communication from
the state of Washington as to the
scale award there.
“When at last the commission an
nounced its new rate of wages, the
men again interviewed Mr. Smith,
who stated that the commission
would take no action in the matter,
and that as far as it was concerned
this statement was tinal. After a
few days’ parley, the miners agreed
to cease work and come to Anchor
age.
Navy Will Take Charge.
“In an interview with Mr. Gerig
he announced that as the navy de
partment had intentions of taking
over the mines, and having a supply
of coal on hand to last for some
time, he had come to the conclusion
not to reopen the mines unless the
men would accept the commission’s
terms as to scale of pay.
j “There is absolutely no personal
friction nor ill-feeling between the
men and Mr. Gerig, and before leav
ing Eska the miners detailed men to
look after the boilers, etc., and live
stock.”
The Commuiion’s Attitude.
! Both Mr. Gerig and Supt. Sumner
S. Smith outlined the commission’s
attitude last night, saying that as
there was no official record of the
award of the Washington state com
mission, it was impossible to con
sider a scale based on that founda
tion.
“I wish to say,” said Mr. Gerig,
“that there is absolutely no bitter
ness involved in the matter, and 1
told the boys I would place all of
them to work on the railroad if they
wished. We have been paying $8.90
! per day, and consider it a fair wage
and higher than is being paid in
other places, considering the fact
that the men have work 300 days in
the year, instead of part time.
[ “While the mines could be oper
'ated at this time, it is not absolute
I ly necessary to do so in view of the
fact that we have ample supplies of
coal on hand for railroad operation,
as well as a large reserve. We are
in receipt of information that Ad
miral Koontz has been ordered by
the navy department to take over
the operation of the mines for naval
! purposes, and this will occur some
itime about July 1.
“This could hardly be called a
i strike, but rather a vacation on the
: part of the men.”
j Asked if the establishment of the
j status quo would result in reopening
the Eska mines Mr. Gerig indicated
that this might be done, but he
would not commit himself definitely.
In support of the position taken
j by the Alaskan Engineering commis
sion, the following table is pub
(Continued from Page One.)
GOVERNMENT WINS
IN JAP ELECTION!
HONLULU, T. H., May 17.--Ac
cording to advices received in thi
city today from Tokio, the genera
election held in Japan recently re
suited in a victory for the govern
ment.
The government claims to hav
won 252 seats, as against 104 woi
by the opposition and 28 independ
ent. The election involved 40
i
seats.
I The results of the election wer
mad$ known in a report received b
a local Japanese newspaper.
LONDONDERRY SCENE
OE FACTIONAL RIOT!
■
| LONDONDERRY, May 17.—Aft-.'
'two nights of rioting, this city toda
j is attain the scene of trouble, wit
'serious clashes in progress betwee
iSinr. Feiners and Unionists.
| Hundreds of workers failed to re
port for duty this morning and ther
, has been a partial suspension in a
lines of industrial activity.
^LUMBER IS DROPPING
AT BELLINGHAM MILL
! BELLINGHAM, May 17. — Th
;management of the Bloedel-Donova
1 lumber mills has announced a gen
eral reduction of ten percent on a!
grades of lumber, etfective immedi
ately.
REARGUMENT OF SUIT
IS ORDERED BY COUR
I -
; WASHINGTON, D. C., May 17.
;The supreme court has handed dow;
! a decision ordering a reargument o
•the Government’s dissolution sui
against the Lehigh Valley railroa
and its subsidiaries.
i
l
GENERAL SIAFF
j WASHINGTON, D. ("., May 17.—
jin a statement made today before
ithe special committee of the senate
^appointed to investigate the Sims
> Daniels row, Secretary Daniels cas
titrated those critics who have ad
jvocated the general staff plan for
.'the navy. He declared that the ad
I
sjvocates of the plan sought to Plus
1 sianize the navy and introduce rub
. i her stamp methods of* direction.
. j He referred to the Sims charges
as a palpable effort to discredit the
• I secretary of the navy, and in sup
i port of his opposition to a general
. ■ staff" he quoted reports and writings
1 of former naval secretaries to show
that they .also opposed such a sys
> tern for the navy.
. I
!H IN PROSPECT
! FOR COUNTY PROXIES
; —
I SPOKANE, May 17.—There is ev
ery reason to believe that a tight
r will be staged on the floor of .the
state convention here this afternoon
i for control of the Pierce and Kina;
! county delegations. The row is be
tween the state organization and the
. federal, faction, which is trying to
. retain its hold upon affairs.
1 ! There is some talk of throwing
all of them out of the convention.
BRIGHT’S DISEASE IS
FATAL TO ROY HALL
Information has been received at
I Fairbanks from the Logjam, on the
Tolovarta river, announcing the death
* at that place of Roy Hall, who was
stationed there as representative of
the Northern Commercial company
Death is attributed to Bright’s dis
ease.
j The deceased was an oldtimer of
. the Interior and had been in the
..employ of the company for a eon
f siderable number of years at Fair
t banks and elsewhere.
II -
Neuana, the Gateway to McKinley
national Park.
HERRON PAYS FINE
FOR CAMPAIGN LIE
i
| CORDOVA, May 17.—Arraigned
jin the commissioner’s court on Sat
urday night on the charge of crim
linal libel, in connection with his
jcampaign attack on George C. Haze
! let, through the columns of the
’Juneau Alaska Capital, Charles E.
j Herron entered a plea of guilty
and was fined the sum of $100 and
i costs.
In addition to paying the fine im
| posed by the court, Herron pre
pared a public statement in which
he retracts the untruthful news
stories and editorials which appeared
during the campaign in the Herron
newspapers at Juneau and Anchor
age, this being part of the repara
tion for the wrong done Har.elet.
Herron left for Chicago this
morning to attend the Republican
national convention. He emphatical
ly denied having pledged his sup
port to any presidential candidate,
notwithstanding the fact that Alas
ka’s two votes were promised by
Seattle Alaskans.
In addition to instituting criminal
proceedings against Herron for his
campaign attacks, Hazelet also start
ed a damage suit for .$50,000, which
is still pending.