WHERE RAILS AND RIVERS MEET
THE NENANA DAILY NEWS
VOL. II.
MEMBER OF ASSOCIATED PRESS
NENANA, ALASKA, SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 1920.
NO. 244
PAUL DESCHANEL IS ELECTED PRESIDENT
SUPREME COUNCILMAKES DEMAND^ FOR WILHELM
AUSTRIANS CRIPPLE WARSHIPS AWARDED TO ALLIES
SAKE OF BEAUTY
NEW YORK.—Business men of
this metropolis, who are always
doing something extraordinary in
the way of commercial achievement,
are going to move an entire indus
try—the garment trade—employing
thousands of workers and millions
of capital and housed in hundreds
of buildings, from one section of
New York to another. The move
ment, known as the “Save Fifth
Avenue” project, started several
years ago and has just now assumed
tangible form.
Factories which have long de
spoiled part of America’s most fam
ous shopping thoroughfare, scores
of them, within a few months will
have packed up bag and baggage
and transferred their activity to
another area of Manhattan—west
of Seventh avenue from 3Qth to
39th street—there to establish the
garment center of the United States.
Fifth avenue for years has borne
the reputation of being the city'J
best residential street, the down
town section being devoted to re
tail shops of high and most diversi
fied types. Into this region of im
posing business buildings and ex
clusive merchants, as time went on
the cloak and suit manufacturers
made their way. Soon the sewing
machine bade fair to eliminate the
yardstick. America’s promenade A
elite trade and style was beinp
transformed into a factory distriei
where noon and closing hour whis
ties vied with limousine motoi
horns.
These cloak and suit manufactur
ers, however, most of the patriotic
Americans and jealous of the wel
fare of New York, got togethei
and, co-operating with a group ol
men known as the “Save Fifth Ave
nue Committee,” formulated plans
for the erection of factory build
ings in a less exclusive section ol
the city. Carrying the idea of co
operation still further, they pur
chased many pieces of real estate
totaling 92,000 square feet, in the
Seventh avenue section, and havt
obtained options on 102,000 square
feet more. *
Plans now contemplate the con
struction of four co-operative fac
tory buildings of 16 stories each
with a combined floor space of 1,
400,000 square feet, at a yearly
rental cost of approximately $700,
000, about 50 cents a square foot
as against $2.50 a square foot w‘ icl
many of the manufacturers are nov
paying. The men interested in th<
project estimate a saving of no
less than $3,000,000 a year in ren
alone, and other similar economies
they say, will “effectively slash th<
high cost of living as regards worn
en’s garments.” A reduction o:
from $1 to $7.25 per garment wil
be possible, they say, as a resul
of the stoppage of inflated rents
Sixty garment manufacturers witi
an annual output valued at $650,
000,000 are to begin the new ven
ture.
PAUL DESCHANEL IS ELECTED !
HEAD OF FRENCH REPUBLIC
NOTE 10 DUTCH;
E
PARIS, Jan. 17.—The supreme
council has forward a formal let
ter to the Dutch government de
manding the extradition of the
former emperor of Germany, who
is wanted by the Allies for trial
on grave charges of international
crimes committed during the late
war. »
YANKEES FEEDING
! POLISH CHILDREN
DANZIG. — More than 350,000
' tons of foodstuffs and raw cotton
have been shipped to Poland via
(Danzig from the United States since
[last February. For a time these
j supplies were arriving at the rate
of 5,000 tons daily. A shipment
of 150 locomotives is expected soon.
The American Relief Administra
tion for feeding European children
' directs its work in Poland from
Danzig. John H. Lange, of Seattle,
Wash., and Captain C. A. Abele,
| naval attache at Warsaw, are in
[charge. Mr. Lange told The Asso
ciated Press correspondent that in
Poland alone the American Relief
Administration was now feeding
; about one million .children.
“We expect,” he said, “to do
some relief work in Germany be
!
fore long, especially here in Danzig.
; There is very little milk in this dis
trict for children, and meat, sugar,
and fats are also scarce.
“Danzig will soon be a free city,
and, as Poland’s port, is more
Polish than German. At the pres
ent time the German government
bears the expense of importing most
of the foreign foodstuflTs and sells
, | it at a price which the people can
afford to pay. This arrangement
will cease soon, and I think there
will be urgent need then of our
. help.”
i
MEXICAN OIL WELLS
SPOUT SALTY WATER
TAMPICO, Mex.—Representatives
- of the principal oil companies op
erating in this district at a recent
, meeting discussed the failure of
several of the largest producing
: wells, which are now spouting salt
I water instead of petroleum. It was
..concluded tiiat there is no need to
I fear a sfrj^tage, because other weils
L in the vicinity are being brought
in, among which is one producing
30,000 barrels daily.
tWsaana, Vkm Balls and Bivsri Mast
VERSAILLES, Jan. 17. — Paul
Eugene Louis Deschanel, president
of the French chamber of deputies,
was this afternoon elected president
of France, to succeed President
Poincare, who will retire as head
f of the republic to become a mem
\ ber of the senate,
j Deschanel is o-l years of age and
i has been prominently identified with
the affairs of the government since
1879.
CLUB LETTER URGES
VITAL ALASKA AIDS;
A. E. C. WAGE ISSUE
The wage scale of the Alaskan
Engineering commission, in the
i Northern division, was debated at
i considerable length at a meeting of
[the N'enana Commercial club last
! night, the consensus of opinion
! among the members, freely ex
I pressed, being that employes of the
I commission in Interior Alaska ate
|very much underpaid. The meeting
was attended by more than twenty
members, and Engineer in Charge
Fred’k D. Browne and Examiner
[of Accounts R. H. Barndollar were
| there by special invitation, and
itook part in the discussion, which
jwas somewhat heated at times, but
I withal friendly.
The discussion of the wage <iues
tion arose in connection with the
consideration of a letter addressed
to Manager .1. L. McPherson, of
i the Alaska bureau of the Seattle
j Chamber of Commerce and Com
! mercial club, in response to a re
quest from him for suggestions as
! to how he can be of assistance to
i Interior Alaska at Washington this
|winter in furthering needed reforms.
■ The letter was prepared by Secre
tary Robert Joseph Diven and era
I bodies, in concise and attention
[compelling form, suggestions which
ihad been made by the members at
ia previous meeting
| After the letter had been read,
! Mr. Browne objected to the clause
stating that men were leaving the
Interior country because of the low
wages paid by the Alaskan Engi
I peering commission. And in sup
Iport of his claim that the state
'ment is incorrect, he called atten
tion to the fact that 'workingmen
;are leaving many sections of the
Territory, beyond the influence of
the Government railroad work. In
further support of his contention
;th»t men are leaving the Interior
< on account of the wage scale paid
iby the Alaskan Engineering com
; mission, Mr. Browne said, in effect.
that the fact that the workers them
selves had not complained to him
! indicated satisfactory wage condi
tions. Should any dissatisfaction
exist, he continued, he is ready, at
all times, to hear complaints at his
office.
Mr. Browne said that he had no
objection to an advance in wages,
and that, while he had no authority
himself to alter the scale, he
thought that a recommendation
made by him might have some
weight with those who have the
power to fix wages. Whether or
not he would make such a recom
mendation. or any recommendation,
he said ho would prefer not to say;
but he informed the club that the
question of wages had been under
consideration—was under considera
tion before taken up by the club.
In conclusion, Mr. Browne stated
that the request for an increase
in wages, coming from the Commer
cial club, suggested a desire on the
part of Nenana businessmen to have
the railroad employes receive more
money in order that they might
have more money to epend locally.
He also said that the men now
leaving are taking considerable sums
of money with them.
When Mr. Browne asked who
among the members would stand
responsible for the statement that
men are leaving the Interior coun
try because of the low wages paid
by the Commission, several declared
that they positively knew such to
be the ease.
Alf Ekeland, of the Portland,
said that he had heard scores of
employes of the railroad announce
their intention of quitting the coun
try because of unsatisfactory wage
conditions, and he said that he knew
of many who had left, giving that
as their reason for going.
Referring particularly to the con
struction of buildings, Mr. Ekeland
argued that the payment of better
wages to carpenters would enable
the commission to secure the serv
ices of the best carpenters in the
country, thereby saving the Govern
ment a considerable sum through
the elimination of mistakes and
wasted time and lumber, due to
inexperienced and incompetent la
bor. He called attention to the
cost of the new machine shop, and
quoted figures purporting to show
that the expense of handling the
lumber had been considerably great
er than it should have been.
Commissioner R. S. McDonald
ably set forth the original purpose
of building the Government rail
road, which he characterized as a
purely development project, intend
ed to assist in the development of
ithe country during the period of
construction as well as afterward.
(Continued From Page Two)
i
FOR ALLIED USE
1 GENEVA, Jan. 17.—The Austri
I
Jan warship fleet at Cattaro, which
'was awarded to the Allies under
jthe terms of the peace agreement,
has been seriously crippled by the
' Austrians in charge of the vessels,
after the manner of the outrage
I committed by the Germans at Scapa
Flow. Some of the vessels were
sunk, others damaged, and still oth
ers crippled by the removal of ma
chinery.
SECRET PASSAGES
PR01EC1 COBLENZ
j WITH THE AMERICAN FORCES
IN GERMANY.—Hundreds of tons
of old German army ammunition
were discovered recently by Ameri
can soldiers in a secret subter
ranean cell below an ordnance de
pot not far from Coblenz. Numer
ous secret passages have been found.
They lead from barracks used for
■ years by the German army to mili
tary points in the vicinity of Cob
; lenz, but some of them have been
out of use so long that they were
virtually worthless from a military
point of view. Some of the pass
ages extended for miles.
Apparently they were neglected
.during the war and either tilled up
with water or became clogged with
earth where the props had given
way.
j Owing to the uncertainty as to
^vhat the subterranean passages con
ceal, American soldier guards have
i
been placed at various points until
a complete investigation is made.
i _
MEXICAN OBSERVER HAS
FOUND NEW JAP COMET
MEXICO CITY.—The director of
the Central observatory here states
that he has seen the new comet
recently discovered by the Japanese
astronomer Sasakky, and that it is
■ clearly visible every nipht after
seven o’clock. This is the fifth
new comet reported during the past
year.
K KURKHHm R
j«t R
R TEMPERATURE R
R As reported by the government R
observation station, Nenatia R
!«e •- R
|R Saturday, January 17. R
jR Maximum .27 below R
|R Minimum .42 below *
i* *
It R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R It
r
t
GE:
DIARBEKIR, Turkey. Fear of
further massacres is causing num
bers of Christians in this region to
abandon their homes and seek safe
ty in the territory occupied by the
British, whose nearest post is at
Ourfa.
For days there has been a steady
procession of carriages, containin'.'
families with all their possessions,
on thi road to the southward. Many
of them are headed for Aleppo,
which means a hot, dusty journey
of several hundred mile.-, across the
plain.
The immediate cause of this ex
odus of Christiaons is the attitude
of their Moslem neighbors, coupled
With the notorious reputation tha'
Diarbekir won for itself in the
I massacres and deportations a few
,years ago; but back of it is a feel
;ing oi restlessness because of the
I fact that more than a year has
i
passed since the armistice, and as
yet nothing has been done to guar
antee the security of the non-Mos
lem population.
The Near East Relief, the Am
erican organization which is distrib
uting aid to the survivors through
a station in Diarbekir, has succeed
ed in obtaining assurance from the
authorities that the Christians will
not be molested by the government,
and that ’they may resume their
occupations. This assurance, how
ever. applies only to the authori
ties, and means that the Christian
are only to consider that if dis
orders begin, they will not. at least,
be at the open instigation of the
government. It does not entirely
promise protection, and therefore
the Christians, afraid that the Mos
lems may turn against them at any
moment, are electing to seek safety
in flight.
The situation is having its effect
on the work of the relief organ
ization in recovering the Christian
girls who were carried off, during
the deportations, to Moslem harems.
This work has been going «.:i for
weeks, the relief workers being un
dismayed by the thought of per
sona! peril. Now, however, the
Moslems are threatening the girls
with death if they permit them
selves to be rescued, and many of
them are afraid to leave their mas
ters.
Large numbers of these girls re
main to be recovered. In the early
months of 1915 about 08,000 Chri
tians were exiled from Diarbekir,
and from their ranks were taken
hundreds of the prettiest young
women. Even some of those who
escaped, and remained hidden in
the vicinity throughout the deporta
tions, later sold themselves to the
Turks, confronted as they were with
the alternative of doing this or of
starving to death. The condition
of these Christian girls is one of
the most tragic problems that con
front the relief workers, who state
that many of the girls, in their
shame, have killed the children of
their Moslem fathers.