THE NENANA NEWS
Application made October 30, 1916, at the Postoffice at Nenana, Alaska, tor
entry as second-class mail matter under the act of March 2, 1S79, by flic Ne
nana Printing Company.
Published Weekly by The Nenana Printing Company
Day op Publication Saturday Kditkd by R. G. Southworth
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
Per month; by carrier . $1.00Sinjfle copies Two Bits
Six months, in adv-ince . . S.OOOne year, in advance.$10.00
NENANA, ALASKA, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9 1918.
A STEP FORWARD
The arrival of the first shipment
of native coal in Nenana marks an
epoch in Interior Alaska. The fact
that the coal burns well, does not
clinker or slack, and can be obtained
in unlimited quantities at reasonable
cost, as sooon as rail transportation
will permit, should convey to the
average citizen the importance of
this fuel to the future development
of the Interior country. All that
is now needed to put the country
in a position to go ahead again, is
the completion of the railroad to
Lignite creek, and there is every
reason to believe that work will be
accomplished reasonably early in the
summer. The outlook is most en
couraging and should inspire re
newed confidence in the future of
the territory.
—-<» —
WHY WAIT?
The dog nuisance is one which
should not longer be left undisposed
of. Every day that dogs are per
mitted to roam the streets unfed,
unattended and unwatched, adds to
the danger to which the children
of Nenana are exposed. The dogs
are becoming bolder and hungrier
daily and the time will come when
we will all regret not having taken
the matter in hand while there was
still time. Why defer action until
some child is killed by the vicious
brutes?
Our conservation program makes
no provision for feeding worthless
dogs, and so long as they are per
mitted the freedom of the town,
caches and storehouses are not safe,
Alaska dogs are adepts when it
comes to stealing, yet we are not
permitted to shoot them as we might
a thief in human form. A little
less protection to the dogs, it seem.
SCHOOL IS PRESENTED
TO PEOPLE OF NENANA
The formal presentation of thi
school building to the people of Ne
nana is announced in the following
letter received this week from Mgr
Christensen, of the Land and In
dustrial department of the Alaskar
Engineering commission, addressee
to the president of the local school
board:
Anchorage, Alaska,
“Anchorage, Alaska, Jan. 9, ',9IS
“President, Nenana School Hoard
Nenana, Alaska.
“My Dear Sir:—You are respect
fully advised that the Alaskan En
gineering commission has completer
the construction of the public schno
building at Nenana, Alaska, and tha
government of the United States
hereby presents the said building tc
the Nenana School District, Nenana
Alaska.
“The cost of the construction oi
this building will be paid for out ol
the funds received by the govern
ment from the sale of lots withir
the Nenana townsite, under the pro
visions of the Act of Congress ol
April 17, 1917 (Public No. 2-65tt
Congress), and under said act it is
presented to the people of Nenana
without cost.
“As this building is now the prop
erty of the people of Nenana anti
under the control of the Nenana
School board, no repairs, alterations
or additions will hereafter be made
by the Alaskan Engineering com
mission, and the responsibility foi
the maintenance and operation ol
said building now devolves upon the
people of Nenana, through theii
duly constituted authorities.
Very respectfully,
“A. CHRISTENSEN,
‘‘Manager.’
Te new income tan .law requires
every single person receiving $1000
per year and every married person
vaceiving $2,000 per year to make
a report to he government.
V ha Pan^lty.
The penalty for failure to file a
report of income for the calendar
year of 1917 on or before March 1,
1918, is a f r of. $20 to $1,000.
or making a false, or fraudulent
return, a fine of not to exceed
$2,000, or not exceeding one year’s
imprisonment, or both, and in addi
] to us, would insure greater protec
tion to both children and cahes.
Why not try it?
—()—
HURRYING COAL OUTPUT
l _
Every effort is being made by the
Alaska Engineering commission to
hurry the production of coal at the
two mines at Eska and Chicaloon,
but much ' preliminary development
work must be accomplished before
a satisfactory tonnage can be at
I tained. The coal measures are be
ing rapidly opened up by the sink
ing of shafts and driving of eross
1 cuts, and by summer the aggregate
output is expected to be greatly en
hanced.
The Eska mine shipped 476.25
short tons of coal during the week
ending December 8; the mine at
Chicaloon, 35 short tons. At the
former mine 120 men are employed;
at the latter 00.
-O—
Secretary Lane has recommended
: to congress an appropriation of
$100,000 to investigate the commer
cial and economic practibility of
utilizing the lignite coals of the
United States for producing fuel
oil, gasoline substitutes, ammonia,
coal tar and gas for power. There
are immense quantities of lignite de
posits in the public lands of the
United States lying near the surface
i of the earth and cheaply mined, but
the coal is of such character that it
does not stand transportation in its
natural state and is of small value
for fuel except in the immediate
j vicinity of the mines. If a satis
factory method of extracting fuel
oil and other substitutes is secured,
it would be of enormous value and
add immensely to the resources of
the United States.
It is proposed to have the investi
gations conducted through the bu
reau of mines.
tion 100 per cent of the tax evaded.
All good citizens will show their
their patriotism by making reports
promptly; also every good citizen
: should be interested in seeing that
1 all pay their just taxes and should
1 report tax dodgers to the Collector
of Internal Revenue, David .1. Wil
; liams, Tacoma, Wash.
Slackers Will Not Be Tolerated.
Get blanks here or write for them
to the collector of your district.
Blanks may be secured from G. I".
! Cramer, at the Commission office
1 building.
LIGNITE ROADHOUSE
CHANGES HANDS
Jack Singleton is now sole owner
of this roadhouse, having bought
out his partner, Chas. Wubbenhorst
recently. He plans on making manj
improvements and extensions ti
I meet the demand, which would ap
i pear to be inevitable. It is expected
j that many coal men and those in
I terested in the development of the
; coal fields will be visitors to this
i region in the near future.
Miss Irene Weiner come down from
Fairbanks several days ago to have
her tonsils attended to at the Gov
ernment hospital. During her stay
here Miss Weiner will be the guest
of Mrs. Daniel Hartwig.
The inmates of the Pioneers’ home
at Sitka have a fairy god-mother in
the person of Mrs. John Freusi, who
every year at Christmas for several
years has sent a large box to them.
This box contains, not presents, but
dainties such as do not come to them
every day except through donations.
They are substantially provided with
the necessaries of life, so she trys
to supply the trimmings.
The Iron creek mining district,
situated on Iron creek, a branch of
Talkeetna river, comprises about
one hunder recorded claims, con
fined to an area of five by ten
square miles. The first discovery
was made in 1908 and located by
the Wells brothers. This was the
report given by J. F. Major and J.
D. Ferguson to the Commercial
club of Talkeetna after extensive in
vestigations.
Tommy King will leave for Fair
banks tomorrow after spending a
few days in Nenana.
ELSEWHERE IN ALASKA
J. H. Landers, the general for
warding agent for the Gold Bullion
mine in Willow creek district, re
cently made a cut-off which short
ened the Knik-Willow creek road
by six miles. It eliminates all the |
heavy grades and avoids two lakes j
which have caused much expense
and risk in the past.
Anchorage lots against wjftch
there are long overdue taxes will
j be reported in a short time, accord
; ing to Mayor Watts, to the federal
land office for forfeiture. In most
cases the amount due is very small
and the land had many improve
■ ments placed upon it.
i - j
i The Hobson creek dredge at Nome ,
which was recently sold to Dr. Kit-i
telson was dismantled and will be !
taken up Basket creek.
George Ruinsefell, of the finance
committee of the Ketchikan Red
Cross, recently made the announce
ment that the Alaska Packers Asso
ciation of San Francisco, had do
nated the sum of one hundred and|
fifty dollars to ’ e local Red Cross j
fund. The money is to be used \
for the purchase of material.
I
■
Mr. Hanson, a resident of Ketchi
kan, recently had an exciting auto
mobile ride when he attempted to
climb the court house hill without
chains. His car skidded backward
and shot through the railing, finally
turning turtle in a vacant lot. Nei
ther passengers nor driver were in
jured.
Jack Hines, a former Nome resi
dent, is now a movie actor in New
York and is said to be doing quite
well.
Suit was recently started by the
city of Douglas to recover personal
taxes from P. II. Fox and W. Roene.
Notice was served on all persons
who had failed to pay their taxes
November 10, and all paid with the
exception of Fox and Roene.
_
Anderson and Erickson recently ;
left Nome for Dime creek, taking
their skates with the intention of
traveling on the ice whenever pos
sible. **
The Matanuska Farmer’s Associa
tion donated a large sack of Mat-1
anuska potatoes to the Alaska Labor ;
union for its big dinner on Christ-1
mas day. I
J. T. Hunt, a well known resident j
of duneau, recently took his oath as
a captain in the national army. He I
has been actively engaged for sev
eral months as chairman of the ex
emption board for the territory of
Alaska. Captain Hunt will be sta
tioned at the office of Governor
Strong on selective draft duty until
ordered elsewhere.
Two lives were lost in a fire that
recently destroyed a house at Pet
ersburg, early in the morning. Miss
Laura Guerrin, one of the occupants
rushed back to get some money in
the rooms and P. N. Neilson went
to her assistance. While in the
room an oil stove exploded,, burning
them fearfully. Miss Guerrin died
before rescuers could reach her and
Nielson passed away later from his
wounds. The fire was caused by
a defective flue.
James Evans, a native, has been
appointed postmaster at Metla
kahtla, and took up the duties of
the office on the first of the year.
Mrs. B. Prothen, a resident of
Ketchikan, lost her right eye re
cently in a peculiar manner. She
; had swept some shavings off the
floor the night previous and put
them in the kitchen stove with which ;
to start the fire. When the shav
ings were ignited, a cartridge, which
had been inadvertantly swept up
with them, exploded, the charge en
tering the right eye, inflicting a
wound which necessitated the re
moval of the entire eyeball.
A postoffice was recently created 1
1 at Eska creek coal mines, to be
known as Eska. There are at pre
sent over a hundred men employed j
at the mines and more will be taken
j on in the summer.
Iditarod recently felt that she had
just cause for grievance when
“White Dog” Smith the mail carrier,
arrived from over the Seward trail
with the news that the first con
signment of in-bound mail for Idit
arod had been lost in Knik Arm.
j _ _
| The first trial under the act of
congress of May 18, 1917, prohibit
ing any person from selling liquor to
a soldier in uniform, was won by the
saloonman. Bruce Brown, of Haines
was charged with selling liquor to
Walter Kranich, a soldier of the
commissary department at Fort Sew
ard. Brown stated that what he
sold Kranich was a cereal beverage
which was guaranteed to be free
from alcohol.
At a recent entertainment “The
Days of ’98” which was given by
a number of Anchorage ladies under
the direction of Mrs. Martha White,
netted the sum of $576.75, which
was turned over to the Anchorage
chapter of the Red Cross to buy
Christmas presents for soldiers in
the service of the United States.
Mrs. Karl Sinclair has been elected
chairman of the chapter to succeed
Miss O. D. Clark, who left the city
to take charge of the school at
Wasilli.
W. C. Mullen, a well known the
atrical man of the North, recently
arrived from the Inside and will take
charge of the Lyric theater at Doug
las, in conjunction with Manager
Ferris. Mr. Mullen has conducted
moving picture houses from Nome
to Dawson and Fairabnks and was
one of the original members of the
old Juneau Stock company.
Dr. J. L. Buckley, of Petersburg,
recently closed a deal for the pur
chase of the Wrangell hospital, and
with the assistance of his wife took
charge of the institution at once.
Earl B. Hunt and Miss Lucile Tay
lor were married at Iditarod during
the latter part of November. The
bride is a daughter of Attorney Chas.
E. Taylor.
The Alaska Wireless Telegraph
company’s station at McGrath is
completed, and in operation. The
rate from McGrath to Iditarod is
$2.50 for ten-word day or night
mesage, and for night messages.
The Anchorage Chamber of Com
merce recently held a meeting in
which they went on record as favor
ing six o’clock as the time for clos
ing Anchorage stores.
Eskimos in far northern Alaska
have been asked to help the Red
Cross. Miss Mary Westdahl, a
native school teacher, has under
taken the task of explaining: the
Red Cross to them.
Ketchikan now has 22 pupils en
rolled in her night school. It is
expected to enroll many more as
soon as the class in stenography is
started. Professor Knox is now in
charge.
Dawson’s output this year will run
into many millions, according to re
ports filed. The season witnesed
the working out of some of the
richest spots in the camp and sev
eral dredges have been dismantled
preparatory to taking to the States.
Capt. J. T. Westermann, formerly
vice president of the Anchorage
Bank of Alaska, recently sent greet
ings to all of his old friends. Capt.
Westermann is now stationed at
Camp Lewis, Washington. He left
Anchorage last summer to enter
the officers’ camp at San Francisco.
Fred A. Hansen was recently pro
moted to the position of engineer
of maintenance of way of the An
chorage division of the government
railroad to succeed K. K. Kuney.
This position is one of the most
important in the Anchorage division.
Turnagain Arm as a separate con
structs district division has been
abolished and has been merged into
the Anchorage terminal division.
The temperance sentiment which
has been rapidly growing in Kodiak
was recently strengthened by the
drunken brawls of fishermen which
took place there. Those who were
merely indifferent became convinced
as to the merits of the case.
John J. McGrath, who was recently
appointed territorial publicity agent
by Governor Strong, has resigned
the position, severed his connnection
with the All-Alaska magazine and
with the Juneau newspaper on which
he was employed, and has started
for Casper Wyoming, with the in
tention of getting in on the oil
boom under way there.
One hundred and fifteen men are
now employed in the government
coal mines at Eska creek. Consid
erable ice is being encountered thus
hindering to a certain extent the
work of development. A large in
crease in the force will be made in
the spring.
Contributions Advertise Nenana
NEW YORK NEWSPAPER GIVES PUBLICITY TO WORK
DONE FOR RED CROSS AND BELGIAN RELIEF FUNDS.
ARTICLE CONTAINS PICTURES OF NENANA.
I
'4
The war has gven Nenana the op
portunity to obtain considerable de
sirable publicity throughout the ]
United States, through contributions
to various relief funds. Outsiders
are learning that Interior Alaskans
although far removed from the great
conflict and almost as far from the
scenes of preparation, are keenly
alive to the needs of the country
and ready to assist in every way
possible.
The following interesting article
appeared in a recent issue of the
New York Herald, illustrated with
half tones made from photographs
of scenes in Nenana:
“Patriots of the newest town in
America, Nenana, Alaska, have sent
to Frederick R. Coudert, of No. 5
Rector Street, a check for $663.90
to aid the Red Cross and Belgian
Relief funds. The amount, which is
the proceeds of an entertainment
given recently at Nenana, was trans
mitted to Mr. Coudert by his sister,
Mrs. Thos. Riggs, Jr.
“Nenana is a new town on the
government railroad. A year ago
it was an Indian village. In her let
ter to Mr. Coudert, by his sister,
this to say of it:
“ ‘When we came here last year
the town was an Indian trading post,
with two log cabins and a few tents.
Now there are, besides the govern
ment reservation, with its attractive
houses and substantial buildings,
pretty little homes everywhere, wide
streets, with all sorts of shops, good
sidewalks, electric light to brighten
the long winter nights, and on the
reservation complete sewer and tele
i phone systems.’
“Mrs. Riggs then told Mr. Coudert
how the citizens of Nenana pro-:
! ceeded to raise their contribution J
I to the Red Cross and Belgian Relief
j funds:
| “ ‘The enclosed check for $663.90 ,
! is Nenana’s donation to the Belgian
Relife. I am sending it to you to f
i see that it gets there by the safest
1 and surest method. Of this sum
| $78.25 was collected by the post-j
j master, Mrs. Love, who is a woman
I who commands the affection and,
I respect of all who know her. 1 he
I remaining $585.65 is one-half the]
| net profit of a bazaar and dance
! given here at the tennis court on \
[June 16, by the ladies of Nenana,
for the benefit of the Red Cross
and the Belgian Relief fund, which
1 means that our whole profit was
I $1,171.30. Pretty good, don’t you
j think for the newest town in North
' America.
j “ ‘I enclose some photographs of i
! the entertainment. We made the
! Red Cross and the Belgian flags
! ourselves. The material for the
; latter was given us by a Belgian j
| woman in Fairbanks, to whom we j
■have since presented the flag. We
jhad more difficulty here in procur
! ing the material for tbe Red Cross
flag. The only red material in the
town was at the Indian trading
post, and was a red calico with black
dots, but we sewed it in wrong side
out and the dots don’t show. The
owner of the trading post, with the
same loyal spirit that prevailed
.hroughout the town donated not
>nly the red calico, but loaned us
ler player piano for the occasion,
ind the photograph of the dancing
>n the tennis court was taken at
nidnight.
“ ‘The paddle wheel was a great
success, and toward morning they
were auctioning off everything in
sight. Our doctor bought a pair
of lady’s slippers and while he was
prancing about in these, his own
shoes were sold over his head and
tie had to pay $2 to get them back.
A. very large and handsome pie
brough $16, which shows that an
Alaskan can appreciate the culinary
art as well as anyone else.
“ ‘At a mass meeting in Fairbanks
a Red Cross chapter was formed
with a representative appointed for
the different towns throughout the
Tanana valley. We have sold more
than 425 memberhip tags here; One
patriotic man presented a flag and
flagstaff and we made $55 more by
a contest for the privilege of rais
ing the flag. All this goes to show
that our railroad town is a real live
me, although it is not quite a year
old.”
“Mr. Riggs, the husband of the
writer of the letter, is an engineer
and a member of the Alaskan En
gineering Commission, of the de
partment of the interior, and was
the man who was in charge of the
building of Nenana out of an out
post in the wilderness.”
Mrs. T. K. Blakey, who was oper
ated on this week by Dr. M. E.
Smith, is now doing nicely.
Koland’s Stage
ROUND TRIP WEEKLY
BETWEEN
Nenana and Fairbanks
Carrying Mail, Freight and
Passengers
Make Reservations at Southern
Hotel
«
ELECTRIC PUMPS
DECK PUMPS
FORCE PUMPS
PITCHER PUMPS
WELL POINTS
Lang and Toledo
RANGES
JUST ARRIVED
Tanana Sheet Metal Works
I -
FOWLER & MORRIS
GROCERIES
DRY GOODS
COMPLETE LINE LOWEST PRICES
1 BEFORE BUYING
INVESTIGATE THE
WE WILL BE GLAD OF AN OPPOR
TUNITY TO SHOW YOU WHY
YOU SHOULD OWN ONE
• • *
Agents for Kohler & Campbell Pianos and
Autopianos
4