THE NENANA DAILY NEWS
Published every afternoon except Sunday, by the Nenana Printim
Company, at First and B Streets, Nenana, Alaska.
R. G. Southworth . Editor and Manage
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WAR TIME PRICES
People complain about war time prices, says the United
States Food Administration. They complain because they are
asked to reduce their consumption of meats, wueat, sugar and
fats. They complain because some of the substitutes cost more
than the food they are asked to save for their associates on the
other side of the ocean.
All right, suppose that we grant their complaint about prices.
But then let us look at the thing from another angle. Prices are
high. There is no way to get around that. War time prices have
always been high. They will always be high. But if we ate only
the things we liked fully as well as the things we must save, and
if we ate only the substitutes that were cheaper, how much of
a sacrifice would we be making in order to help win this war?
Suppose that the men who are supplying our ammunition said
it was disgraceful to pay high prices for steel when wood was so
much cheaper. And then just suppose that they used the wood
to make our guns and shells—it’s much cheaper and could be
painted and smoothed down to look about like steel.
How long do you think our armies could stay in the trenches
with wooden guns and wooden shells? They could stay just
about as long as they could if we made prices the excuse for tak
ing food out of their mouths.
Prices, or no prices, we must eat to win this war. Those
people need beef, pork and mutton, wheat, sugar and fats. If
we fail to save in order that they may have them, we could just
as well close down our steel plants and send them shells made
of wood.
Where there is war, food cannot be produced. A steel plow
helps production, but steel is not a good cultivator when it breaks
the land in the form of a shell. That has been shown in France,
Italy, Belgium and all of the other countries shattered by battle.
But a nation can be at war and still maintain production, if the
battle lines do not encroach on the farms. That has been shown
in Germany and is being shown in the United States. We have
been charged with the tremendous task of feeding our associates
in this war, of maintaining production on a scale that will meet
our actual needs and still leave enough to fill the gap between
Europe's production and consumption. The only solution is to
reduce cur own use of the foods most needed abroad. We must
emplty substitutes for beef, pork and mutton, wheat, sugar and
fats. This war is as much our war as it is Europe’s and there is no
reason why we should ask Europe to bear all of the sacrifices
and deprivations.
Did you ever stop to wonder why food prices are high in
war time? Or have you just complained about the fact that they
are high, and then wondered why in the world the government
hasn't stepped in and brought them back to the ante-bellum level?
The next time you complain about prices, stop to think of the
farmer who grew the things you are buying. Do you know that
he is paying S2 or 52.50 a day for labor he could get before the
war for SI or SI.25—and that he is having a mighty hard time
getting anybody at all. Do you know that every railroad in the
country is congested and that it is much more difficult to get
farm products to market than it was a year ago? Do you know
that the man who buys food from the farmers and then dis
tributes it to the wholesale dealers, has to pay much more for his
labor than he did before the war. And do you know that all of
his necessary expenses have been on the ascendant? Do you know
that the wholesale dealer is paying wages and salaries that he
could scarcely have dreamed of a few years ago? and that the
same thing is true of the retailers?
And then, on the other hand, when you wonder why the gov
ernment hasn’t taken a hand, have you stopped to consider that
prices have risen on a much lower scale than has ruled in other
wars?
Have you thought when you payed nine or ten cents for sugar,
with the country going through an actual sugar famine, that it
would have gone much higher had not the government, through
the United States Food Administration, taken measures to stabilize
the market? Have you stopped to wonder why the wholesale
price of flour is less than $11 a barrel, when it went as high as
SI5 last summer and threatened to keep mounting.’ Have you
remembered that the farmer is getting more money out of 510
or $11 flour today than he got out of $14 or $15 flour six
months ago?
No you haven't thought of these things. You just know
that prices are high, and you wonder why “somebody doesn't do
something about it.” If you stopped to think, maybe your tt re
would change from complaint to wonder. Prices are high, but
the wonder is that they are not higher, when you come to
think of it.
THE PEOPLE ARE SAVING
I -
Evidences are accumulating that the habit of saving among
the American people, especially among the patrons of savings
banks and postal savings, is outstripping the financial demands
made upon them by the government.
While no exact figures are available at present, it 's Known
that postal savings deposits have steadily gained during :'ne year
1917. and notably since the 1st of July of that year, which was
after the first issue of the Liberty Loan.
The report from savings banks also show a steady gain, and
the same is true of co-operative building and loan associations.
Nor have the people of small means been the only savers.
It is estimated that the savings of the whole people of the United
States, ordinarily $5,000,000,000 to $6,000,000,000 annually, were
increased to $14,000,000,000 to $15,000,000,000 in 1917.
The response of the people to the national need of economy
and saving has been general and generous.
Here is a suggestion for a saving plan for the toushold —one
which is tangible and easy to follow. Let the parents o • anize
their tots into home war savings groups so that the nildren
can earn their pennies and not have them donated to them—by
keeping their rooms in order, doing the dishes, running errands,
dusting, etc.
By earning their pennies in some definite and regular mt fi
ner and then purchasing Thrift Stamps with them, children w'll
gain in the spirit of self-denial, they will become conscious of
rendering a real service to their government and the habits of
Thrift thus formed will prove helpful to them as long as they live.
SUGAR SHORTAGE
IN THE STATES
Information bearing on the dis
tribution of the sugar supply in the
United States, obtained through the
: war emergency food survey for
August 31, 1917, has just been made
public in Department of Agriculture
| circular No. 96.
On the basis of the returns from
i the survey, the circular states, it is
| estimated that the stocks of sugar
j in commercial channels on August
j 31. 1917, were about 1.500,000,000
| pounds, as compared with 2,000,000.
000 pounds on August 31, 1916.
The amount of sugar in various
channels of trade shown by the in
' ventories for 1917 and 1916, taken
j in connection with the net available
I supply for 1917, makes it possible
I to determine the amonut of sugar
actually consumed in 1917. The
amount thus consumed was approxi
mately 9,100,000,000 pounds, or
188.3 pounds per capita. In the ab
sence of inventory figures for Aug
ust 1915, it is not possible similarly
to determine the amount of sugar
in 1916. However, approximate
figures can be given for the average
annual consumption of the five-year
period ending in 1916. This aver
age amounts to 8,300,000,000 pounds
or 84.7 pounds per capita. It is
thus apparent that there has been
a considerable increase in the con
sumption of sugar.
This increase is due in part to in
creased manufacture, for export, of
commodities like condensed milk, in
which sugar is an important ingred
ient, and to the increased use of
sugar in canning. It is probably
due in larger part to the normal
increase in the population of the
country, coupled with an increased
per capita consumption of sugar, and
to an increase in consumers’ stocks.
The facts ascertained from the
food survey in relation to the sugar !
supply are based on reports for
August 31, 1917, and the compara- j
tive figures refer to the holdings on !
August 31, 1917, and August 31,
1916. The sugar in the hands of
dealers whose total stock of goods
was valued at less than $1000, and
who were not called on for reports,
together with the supply held by
other dealers from whom, for one
reason or another, intelligible data
were not secured, can hardly equal
10 per cent of the supply. It is1
believed, therefore, that the figures
given above represent at least 90
pr cent of the total supply held by
all classes of concerns on the date
of the survey.
I
E
LEAVE FOR FRONT
Seventeen young men, most of1
them employees of the Commission, i
left Anchorage recently for Seattle
to join the Thirty-first Engineering
regiment now in course of organi
zation by Col. Frederickk Mears.
They will report to officers of
the regiment at Seattle and will
later be transferred to the training j
camp at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
The names of those leaving are
George L. Jenkins. H. R. Rydholm,
John O. Thielen, Harold Howard,
Edwin C. Oldfin, C. W. Wressel,
Don S. Griffiths, J. L. Strong, Ches
ter L. Duncan, Leslie Axe, Charles
D. Merritt, O. A. Kenyon, Harold
McCutcheon, A. A. Ferguson, J. P.
Momb, R. E. Bothby and Robert Y.
Jacobs.
j C. R. Breck, formerly connected
1 with the Alaskan Engineering com
J mission as district engineer with
i headquarters at Matanuska, has been
j appointed a captain in the Thirty
j First Engineers regiment which is
| being organized by Col. Frederick
j Mears. Captain Breck has been as
| signed temporarily to duty in the
i office of the director general of
jmilatary railroads at Washington, D.
C. The Thirty-First Engineers regi
ment is now in training at Fort
Leavenworth, Kansas, and it is ex
pected that it will be transported
to the war zone late this spring or in
the early summer.
COAL FROM THE
MATANUSKA FIELDS
BEING EXPORTED
Substantial progress in the devel
opment of the Matanuska coal field
was made during the year 1917.
Of the twenty leasing units em
braced within the limits of the field,
six units are at present in operation
-—two on Moose creek, one on Eska
creek, and three on Chickaloon
river. Oliver La Duke and asso
ciates, under the corporate name of j
the Matanuska Coal company, are
developing the Moose creek units.
Nos. 2 and 3; the Alaskan Engin
eering commission the Eska creek
unit. No. 7, and also No. 12 unit
on the Chickaloon river; and Lais
Netland & Co., operating under the
name of the Chickaloon Coal com
pany, are opening the deposits of
Units 10 and 11.
More than 50.000 tons of coal
have been mined and shipped from
the Matanuska field since the de
posits were made accessible by the
construction of the branch line rail
road. The heaviest production to
date has come from the Eska creek
mine, in unit 7, which to December
31. last year, shipped 25,981.18
short tons, nearly all of it being used
by the Alaskan Engineering com
mission and the residents of An
chorage. Previous to April 1917,
when the spur track to the mine
was completed, the coal from the
Eska creek mine was hauled by
team three miles to the railroad. It
is only since the completion of this
spur that heavy shipments have been
practicable. This colliery is oper
ated by the Commission, and about
125 men are employed in various
capacities.
Previous to the time when the
Eska creek coal became available,
the Alaskan Engineering commission
and the residents of Anchorage
were dependant for local fuel upon
the Doherty Coal company, a private
concern operating under a free-use
permit, who had opened a small
vein about a mile from the railroad,
near Moose creek. The total pro
duction of this mine to December
31. last year, was 25,760 short tons, j
nearly the entire output being con- j
traded for and used by the Com
mission at Anchorage for its loco-1
motives and terminal facilities.
Unit No. 12, on the Chickaloon
river, at the present terminus of
the Matanuska branch railroad, is i
being developed by the Alaskan En-1
gineering commission, under the
direction of Mr. Sumner S. Smith,
federal mine inspector, who is also
superintending the opening of the |
Commission's mine at Eska creek.
Unit No. 12 produced 911 short tons
of coal to December 31, last year.
About 50 men are engaged in driv-.
ing tunnels on the veins and other
wise opening the deposits.
The units leased to Mr. Oliver;
La Duke and associates (units 2 and
3) are located on Moose creek about
4 and one-half miles from the rail
road right-of-way on the Matanuska
branch. Development work was
started by the lessees in May, 1917.
In September a bed of coal from
nine to twelve feet wide, . of ap- i i
parently excellent quality ,was en
countered. A small force of miners ;
has been developing this vein during
the winter and to December 31, last
year, 112.25 short tons of coal had
been shipped to Anchorage and mar
keted.
Units 10 and 11, which are in
process of development by the
Chickaloon Coal company, are lo
II oans to your Government Mean I
| oyalty to your Government ;
I LIBERTY BONDS MEAN SUCCESS I
GO TO
NELSON’S
SELLING OUT SALE
SHOES AND GENT’S
FURNISHINGS
Remaining Stock To Go At Cost
FOWLER & MORRIS
GROCERIES
DRY GOODS
COMPLETE LINE
LOWEST PRICES
Hamilton TlXIlatcb
“THE RAILROAD TIMEKEEPER OF AMERICA."
WM. TAYLOR
AGENT
WATCHMAKER JEWELER ENGRAVER
/
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooocooooooooooooooooooo
We Are Closing Out Our Entire St'ck of
HARDWARE
3 Saws, Axes, Planes, Hammer and Axe Handles, Stove
Pipe, Graniteware. Kitchen Utensils and Many
Other Household Utensils We Have In Stock
MUST GO IMMEDIATELY
See Us For Bargains In Anv of the Above Lines
COONEYS’
DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Stage headquarters
THE PORTLAND
CIGARS POOL CONFECTIONERY
SOFT DRINKS ICE CREAM
First and A Streets Jackson & Brakke
■ated near the present terminus of
:he Matanuska branch line. The
first work on the units was done
luring September and October last,
.vhen one bed of coal was uncovered.
Recently two tunnels have been
•tarted to ascertain the extent and
tature of the deposits with a view
>f installing suitable machinery to
nsure a large production at an
;arly date.
In addition to the mines men
:ioned, four other local veins in the
.•icinity of Anchorage have been
)pened by private parties operating
jnder the free-use permits. The
iggregate production so far has been
■mall, but in two cases, at least, the
jutlook for a satisfactory future
;onnage appears to be encouraging.
Fred Hupprich, timekeeper at 20
Mile, has returned to his post after
i brief visit in town on official
business.
The Pacific Steamship company
recently played the part of fairy
! godmother to the hotels and restau
rants of Juneau. The sum of $1,S0U
was paid to the hotels and restau
1 rants for room and meals furnished
to passengers and officers of the
wrecked steamer Admiral Evans.
The crew were cared for by the
federal government and their ex
pense bills will be paid through the
Juneau customs house.
The general merchandise store of
E. Benson, at Metlakahtla was des
troyed recently by fire, the loss be
I ing estimated at $4,000.
The Malamute Kid was on trial
; in Fairbanks this afternoon on the
charge of cruelty to animals.
_
W. A. Coghill and Jack Dwyer
are passengers on the Thelin stage,
enroute to Nenana. They left yes
i terday.