VOLUME I
NENANA. ALASKA. MARCH 24. 1917
NUMBER 27
TWO MUNITION SHIPS
SUNK BY PLOTTERS
BOSTON: Two large ammuni
tion steamers which recently ar*
rived at Archangel from New York
were destroyed by an explosion as
they lay at anchor in the harbor.
Fifteen hundred persons perished.
The report of the disaster, which
was brought here by steamer, in- j
dicate that the explosion was the
work of German plottersi
-^-—•
NEW HOLE STARTED
ON NEARBY CREEK
Although no gold has been found on
Little Coldstream to encourage prospect
ing, diligent search is being made by at
least one outfit for the paystreak which
Is believed to exist there. The work is
being done by two men, with a sfnall
prospecting boiler, and they are now
sinking the fourth hole. Water was
struck in the first hole at a depth of 57
feet. The second hole was abandoned at
a depth of 50 feet, and the third hole
was sunk on the rim. No gold was found
but the ground is highly mineralized.
After striking the rim, the plant was
moved to the other side of the creek and
the fourth hole started. The prospecting
is being financed by Nettafia money,
three well known residents of the town
being interested in the venture.
EDMUND BREESE
TO ACT SUNDAY
The attraction at the Coliseum tomor
row night will be the Metro feature, “The
i Lure of Heart’s Desire/’ a stiperb photo
drama based on Robert W. Service’s
popular poem,4 ‘Tile Spell of the Yukon,”
in which Edmund- Breese, the eminent
dramatic actor, will appear at his best.
The story is one of the Northland, in
which a wealthy mine owner and a pret
ty Indian maid figure prominently. The
wanderings of the hero, from the obscur
ity of a lighthouse station, to the go'd
fields of the Yukon, and back to the
Great White Way, give variety to the
picture, and both story and acting pro*
vide entertainment of a high order aftd
of particular interest to Alaskans.
The usual feature prices will prevail, j
FAIRBANKS-NENANA
TRAIL IS POPULAR
—■—-—
The river trail between Fairbanks and
Nenana is a very much used route of
travel this whiter—much more used prob
ably. than is realized by the people of
Nenana, who see only a few of the teams
which use the trail. Roy Lund, who is
now making all his trips to and from the
^ upper town by way of the river trail, says
h at he counted sixty dogs the other day
at Wood river, the animals belonging to
a number of teams which had stopped at
the popular river roadhouse for dinner.
On an up trip recently he passed more
than a score of dog teams, most of them
headed down river from Fairbanks. Near
ly all of them were met above Wood riv
er and were beaded in various directions;
some for Totatlinika, some for the Kan
tishua and some for Nenana.
NEW LAUNDRYMAN
IS NOW ON THE JOB
I
--
J. F. Bennett, a well known laundry-!
man of Fairbanks and other Interior Al
aska towns, recently arrived in Nenana
to accept a position with the Nenana
Steam laundry, and will remain here
permanently. Mr. Bennett is a first-class
laundryman, having gained, thru many |
_ years of experience, a Mioro knowledge
( of every branch of the business.
IAMERICA IS PRERARING
| TO JOIN ENTENTE ALLIES
TO MAKE WAR LOAN TO ENTENTES.
j
j NEW YORK: A war loan of $1,000,000,000 to the Entente Allies is being floated by financial
interests in this city.
i MASSACHUSETTS MILITIA CALLED OUT.
|
! BOSTON: Five regiments of Massachusetts militia have been ordered out by Governor McCall, after
a Conference with Secretary of War Baker, to protect the Fore River shipbuilding works.
NATIONAL CAPITAL UNDER GUARD.
i WASHINGTON: The War Department this morning called out the militia of the District of Columbia
to protect the national capital from violence which is looked for from the great number of German agents
which are known to be distributed tnruout the capital and the entire United States.
GERMAN ARMY ORGANIZING IN MEXICO.
GALVESTON: The officers of a Norwegian steamer which arrived in this port yesterday, declare
that thousands of Germans are leaving South America for Mexico with the freely expressed intention of
forming an army there to join with the Mexicans in an invasion of the United States.
UNITED STATES TO EQUIP FIRST UNIT.
WASHINGTON: The council for national defense this afternoon issued tentavie contracts for supplies
sufficient to equip and arm an army of 500.000 men. The moment war between the United States and
Germany is declared, which is assured when Congress convenes to the call of President Wilson on April
2, these contracts will become effective, and the vast amount of clothing, food, arms, ammunition, aero,
planes, siege guns, etcetra ad infinitum which is essential to thoroly equip this, our first unit of fighters,
for the requirements of modern warfare, will begin to flow from factories all over the United States to
J concentration points already determined.
BASEBALL BENEFIT
IS GREAT SUCCESS j
The illustrated lecture and moving pic- j
ture show which was given at the Colis
eum on Wednesday evening by Titos, j
| Riggs, Jr., for the benefit of the Nenana j
J Athletic club, was largely attended and j
! very greatly enjoyed. Nearly all of the |
! pictures were taken by Mr. kiggs during \
the 18 summers and four winters he j
has spent in Alaska and the Yukon, and :
' practically every section of the Northland
was represented, from Skagwav to the!
Arctic, from the Interior to Western [
Alaska by way of the International boun- j
dary, and also along the government and !
the Copper River & Northwestern rail
roads. Numerous of the views were tak- .
en while Mr. Riggs was in charge of the j
i boundary survey.
The proceeds of the entertainment -
will be used to purchase suits and other
parapheualia needed to equip two com
plete ball nines which will furnish enter
tainment to Nenanaites during the com
ing summer season. The sum of 5175
was netted, practically everything in j
connection with the show having been
donated, including the use of the theater!
and the services of the theater manage
ment.
DR. SMITH LEAVES
ON SHORT OUTING
Dr. M, E. Smith, head of the Alaskan
Engineering commission hospital, left
for Fairbanks on Tuesday and will spend
several days in the upper town on a com
bined business and pleasure trip. The
arrival here of Dr. David H. Moore last
Saturday made it possible for Dr. Smith
to get away from the hospital, and he is
taking advantage of the opportunity to
enjoy a brief rest. He made the up-trip
with Roy Lund.
Some of the finest ore ever seen in the
Klondike it being exhibited in Dawson
by Nick Donohoe from his property near
the head of Gold Run. Assays of the ore
give returns of from £18 to 5409 per ton.
Donohoe inteuds to operate the miue on
a large scale this- summer.
I Second class mail arrived in Fairbanks;
! today.
i Deputy Marshal Anders left for Ilot!
! Springs yesterday.
| Frank Cleary has been arrested on tire
! charge of selling liquor to an Indian in
1 Ruby.
! Dr. F. S. Whitney, pioneer dentist of
; Fairbanks, is seriously considering retir
| ing from active practice. His property j
i and practice are said to be for sale.
W. H. Gilcher has disposed of his Fair- ;
I banks residence to Dr. Fierce. The house !
lia% been occupied all winter by the Fun- .
nells.
Miss Adelaiue Ferretti, a former resi- !
dent of this city, has left Seattle on her j
; way back to Fairbanks. She will be em- i
ployed by ]. O. Ellis. The Pirate.
Dave Dufibar, well known traveling :
man who has made the rouuds of the vari- j
ous districts this spring, declares that the
; Tolovana is the best camp in the North,
j !
The underground dredge,which refused ,
to work last season, will be tried again j
soon by Austin Gibbs, who is planning to
o perate on Lower Cleary.
There are twenty-one private rigs
headed for the Interior at present on the
Fairbanks-Cliitina trail. Sylvester How
ell, A. A. Howell and Mrs. Cleveland
are among those enroute in.
According to advices received from the
National Grocery company, Joe Chambers
the well known commission man who dis
appeared mysteriously several months
ago, has been located in Houston,' Texas.
True bills have been returned against
Lige Frank, charged with grand larceny,
C. B. Sweeney, the homesteader, charged
witn shooting with intent to kilL and
George Johnson, charged with malicious
ly killing a dog. One no true bill has
been returned.
Geo. Ii. Holmes and John Moran, both
of whom lost their sight mining in Al
aska, have opened a machine-operated j
broom factory in Seattle and are doing a'
rthriving busiuess.
'mushers arrive
VIA BROAD PASS
| Five mushers, headed by John 1’. Me
j Laughlin, arrived from Anchorage on
Tuesday, having made tiie trip over t'ne
right of way via Broad Pass. The men
traveled liesnrely.- with dogs, cbvering
the distance in sixteen days. They found
a well-broken trail the greater part of the
distance, the only hard traveling being
encountered at the head of Jack creek
and around the canyon.
Asked regarding conditions in Anclior
; age division, McLaughlin stated that con
; sidefable activity was noted in Anchorage
! and along the line. The cost of living,
however, has advanced greatly on the
j coast end, prices there being practically
I as high as they are in the Interior, The
price of flour is the same in Anchorage
as it is in Xeuana, but tobaccos sell more
! cheaply ou the coast.
I The main line of the railroad has been
i completed to Matanuska junction, a dis
| uuice of 40 miles from Anchorage. Mr.
I McLaughlin and his partners had a corc
; tract with the Commission, which they
\ completed shortly before starting for the
i Interior. They will spend the next sev
1 era) months prospecting in the Kanlishna'
I country.
HENRY BAATZ HERE;
WILL BUILD HOTEL
Henry Baatz, old-time hotel man of the
j Fairbanks district,- and at present owner
of Hie Golden Eagle hotel at Ester, ai
rived in town several days ago with three
tons of bedding and furniture, which he
will install in the ne-fr building he is
planning to erect here. On a previous
trip to Nenana, Mr, Baatz purchased a
lot on Third street,- lieaT the townsite of
fice, and he has been busy the past sev
eral days getting the ground ready for
building.
VV. A. Ford, aged 77, who went Out
side a short time ago after prospecting
for eighteen years in Alaska, is returning
to the North to take up a homestead near
Anchorage. He will engage in chicken
raising.
INDIANA STORM FATAL
TO HALF A HONORED
' INDIANAPOLIS: The most de
structive tornado experienced in
this state in a score of years hit
this city during the night, causing
the death of fifty persons and de
stroying property valued at three
million dollars. Three hundred
persons were injured.
SCOTTY SMITH ENDS
LONG WINTER HIKE
Completing a round trip to the Arctic
coast, by way of the Koyukuk country,
a journey which ionsuuied the greater
part of a year, Scotty Smith, well known
bldtmier of Ruby and other Interior Al
askan camps,- arrived ifi Nfcnsna during
the eafly part of the week. Scotty start
ed for the Koyukuk from Rttby, and after
arriving at the northern digging?, decid
ed to cross over to the Arctic side. Wit***
a companion he portaged a poling boat
and a small outfit across the Kndicott
range and drifted down the Colville river
to the Arctic ocean. They reached the
coast just in time to be caught in the ice
and were carried eastward with the drift
to Herschel island, where they ran
across the geological party of the fltelaas
son expedition.
After a short stay at winter quarters of
the arctic whaling fleets, the two mush
ers started on their return, picking their
way along the coast to Point Barrow and
around to Kotzebue sound. From that
point they mushed up the Kobuk river,
crossed over into the kovukuk country,
and thence down to Rubv and up the
Yukon and Tanana rivers to Nenana,
Much cold weather and numerous
storms were encountered during the trip,
but no serious mishap befell tire tnusliers
rrntrl their return to the interior country.
On the way uy the Kobuk river Scotty's
companion frosted his hands and feet so
severely that it was necessary to lea\e
him at Shungnak.
The Arctic coast, as many oldtimers
know from expedience, consists of a vast
tundra, the distance from the ocean to
the nearest elevation of consequence being
frequently upwards of one hundred miles.
The water along the coast is very shal
low. On one occasion, Scotty says, tlVey
were out of sight of land in their poling
boat ami the water was only ankle deep.
The only fuel obtainable was an occas
ional piece of drift wood, and for the
most part the men cooked their meals
over an oil stove. They slept wherever
lute overtook them and only occasionally
were they so fortunate as tP find a cabin
or other less pretentious shelter to pro
tect them from the weather.
SAUM TO PROSPECT
KANT1SHNA CLAIMS
Bud Sautn is preparing to leave for the
Karrtishna country, where he will engage
in mining on Glacier creek, on property
staked during the winter by \V. H.
Grigg, of the t'ownstte office. Bud has
acquired a dog team during the past sev
eral weeks and will take a good sized
outfit with him. Pay is reported to have
been found on the claim above the prop
erly staked by Grigg. and there is reason
to believe that the streak extends across
the adjoining ground, which will he
worked by Sautn. Joe Vanorsdel is. int
erested in the venture with Grigg and
aum._•_
The keel has been laid at the Anchor
age marine ways for a single screw tun
nel boat for the use of the supervisory
officials in connection with the railroad*
construction work along the Susitna river
and tributaries. The boat will he forty -
four and one-half feet long', with an 11
foot beam, ami power will be furnished
bv a six-cylinder aU-S5 h. p Sterling"
enghie