Interior Alaska Must Have Low Freight Rates
THE NENANA NEWS
VOLUME IV
MEMBER OF ASSOCIATED PRESS
NENANA, ALASKA TUESDAY, FEB. 14. 1922
NUMBER 157
FALL SAYS BIG BUSINESS IS ALASKA KEY
PRESIDENT HARDING OPPOSES TAXES FOR BONUS
' MINERS GO ON RECORD IN OPPOSITION TO WAGE CUT
** RESIDENT HARDING OPPOSES
SPECIAL TAX LEVY FOR BONUS
WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 14—
It is stated officially at tbe White
House that President Harding is
unalterably opposed to the enact
ment of legislation providing for
special taxes to provide the funds
needed for the proposed soldier bon
us.
It is indicated that the President
is doubtful if it will be possible to
raise the required amount under a
bond issue without advancing the ’
interest rate, thus destroying finan
cial tranquility.
It is understood that the Presi
dent is favorable to the bonus but
his attitude is that of finding a sane .
and sensible conditions for tbe ful-j
fillment of the promise without dis- |
turbir.g the desired return to finan
cial stability.
Conference* Suspended
Conferences between the Repub- [
licans of the house ways and means
committee, on the soldier bonus bill. J
have been suspended, pending the.
rendering of an opinion by Presi-,
dent Harding on the proposal to '■
raise funds by means of bonds in
stead of taxes. McCumber and Smoot
take the position that it would be j
unwise to increase the tax burden.
It is expected that the President
will confer with Secretary Mellon'
before reaching a decision.
DRY LAW RENDERS OBSOLETE
WORD ‘SOBER" IN ONE CITY
JACKSONVILLE. Fla., Feb. 14
Prohibition has rendered obsolete
the word -sober”, according to the
city council of this city, and the
term has been relegated to the scrap
heap officially by that august body.
The council recently, in considering
an automobile ordinance which pro
vided that certain persons must be
"sober” and of good moral charact
er, was surprised when one member
objected strenuously to the inclus
ion of “sober”.
“It is a reflection on the Govern
ment and the const:ration,” the ob
jecting member declared. “It recog
nizes a violation of the law, and
since we have prohibition, it has be
come obsolete.”
The objection at first was not tak
en seriously, but the term was elim
inated finally by a vote of 12 to 7.
One councilman refused to vote, ex
plaining that he “did not know
whether a man could be drunk or
sober under the new* order of things
resulting from the passage of the
prohibition act.”
WOMAN GIVES OFFICERS SLIP
NEW ORLEANS. Feb. 4—A Wo
man. who is thought to be Zey
Provost, who is wanted as a witness
in the Arbuckle case, escaped from
a hotel in this city last night by
lowering herself to the ground from
the third story, while detectives
were waiting in the lobby for au
thority from San Francisco to ar
rest her.
MAY EXTEND RESTRICTION
WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 14—
The house immigration committee
had ordered a favorable report on
the bill extending the life of the
three per cent immigration restric
tion bill to June 30, next year.
MARY AND MABEL UNDER BAN
LYNN, Mass., Feb. 14—At the re
quest of the city board of censors,
local movie theaters have discontin
ued showing pictures in which Mary
Miles Minter and Mabel Normand
appear as stars.
PACIFIC FLIGHT PLANNED
ST. LOUIS, Feb. 14—Major Gen
eral Mason Patrick, head of the
army air service, in an address de
livered before the Aero Club yes
terday, said that an attempt would
be made soon to cross the Pacific
ocean by airulane. He declined to
discuss the plans, however.
INTERIOR SECRETARY ADVISES I
REMOVAL OF RESTRICTIONS
STRANGER TELLS NEW YARN
ABOUT MURDER OF TAYLOR
SAX FRANCISCO, Feb. 14—The
police of this city have been inform
ed by Charles Carson, who claims
to be a sea captain, that he met
two tramps near Tracy in December
and that they told him they had been
hired to go to Los Angeles to kill
a movie director by the name of
Taylor.
The police are inclined to doubt
the story, but they have passed the
information along to the Los An
geles authorities, and are keeping
Carson under surveillance.
Mary Say* She Loved Him
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 14—Mary
Miles Minter, pretty little movie star
has issued a statement through her
attorney, declaring that she told the
investigators all that she knew about
the life of William D. Taylor.
She says that she cannot conceive
how any person could voluntarily
wrong him. ‘’There is no persona!
or financial sacrifice X would not
glodly make to bring his slayer to
justice. He was one of my best
friends until the day of his death.
He was to me the symbol of honor
and manliness, an inspiration, friend
guide and counsellor and the symbol
of all a girl admires in a man.”
Not Much Chance
District Attorney Woolwine, who
is devoting his entire attention to
the investigation of the murder of
Taylor, declared today that there
is “grave and« serious doubt at this
time whether the murderer of Tay
lor ever will be apprehended.”
Further than that there is no
news.
HELD HIS WIFE ON THE TRACK
WINDSOR. Conn., Feb. 14—Joe
Stroff has been placed under arrest
here on the charge of attempting
to kill his wife. He held her on the
track in front an approaching trolley
car. with the result that one of the
woman's legs was so badly crushed
that it had to be amputated.
* *
*! PERSONAL *
* *
9. 9. 9. 9 9. 9 99. 9.9.9 9999 9, 9, 9. 9
Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Reiter left
for Anchorage on Sunday, to take
in the Elks’ celebration.
Leith Russell was among the pas
sengers leaving for the coast on
Sunday. He expects to return next
Sunday.
H. B. Madland, Alaska represent
ative of the Seattle Hardware Co.,
was an outward bound passenger
on the Sunday train. He reports
having found conditions much bet
ter than he expected and is return
ing to the coast well pleased with
the orders given him in Nenana
and Fairbanks.
Mrs. Pete Wrenstedt and son
will leave for the Outside next
Sunday, enroute to Minneapolis.
District Storekeeper W. R. Man
ning left for Anchorage on Sunday
to help the Bills put their big cele
bration across.
The residents of McGrath and
nearby districts have petitioned Dis
trict Judge Clegg to retain Dr. W.
F. Green in office as commissioner.
Dr. Green is the only doctor in that
section of Alaska and the resident'
do not want to lose him. He practic
es dentistry, as well as medicine
. ..NEW YORK. Feb. 14—Not only
can tie Government easily pay 3
soldiers’ bonus, but the war debt
of the country can also be paid, if
Congress will “liberalize'’ the law,
permitting “big business” to develop
Alaska, declared Secretary of the ]
Interior Fall, in an address deliver
ed in this city yesterday at the
Lincoln I>ay dinner given by the
National Republican Club.
The secretary advocated develop
ing Alaska as a means of providing
fitting employment to war veterans, j
and he asserted that capital cannot)
be attracted to Alaska until existing t
laws have been modified.
The secretary said further, that
Government agents, in reports sub
mitted to his office, described the
Government owned riches of the
Territory as almost limitless.
ORIGINATED SHORT SKIRTS;
AFRAID THEY’LL GO TOO FAR
CHICAGO, Feb. 14—The skirts i
of Salvation Army lassies, at one
time the shortest of any worn on
the streets of America, must not
be more than seven inches above
the street level, according to an
order issued by Commissioner Wm.
Peart, leader of the organization :r,
fifteen mid-west states.
“A few years ago we were try
! ing to persuade our women to wear
them shorter." explains the commis
sioner. “The skirt that trails in the
dirt gathering germs is a menace
to the wearer’s health; but the skin
that flaps around the knees is very
[ much of a menace to the modesty
I of the woman who wears it. The
' skirt is about the only thing which
doesn’t appear to be coming down
■ these days and a back to normalcy
' drive on the too-short dress will do
: a lot to protect the morals of the
; rising generation.”
| The order will affect every Sal
vation Army woman in 77 countries
| and colonies where the organization
, operates, with the possible exception
i of China and Japan, where most of
. the lassies wear trousers.
_
UNCLE JOE SAYS HE’LL QUIT
WASHINGTON, D. C„ Feb. 14—
1 “Uncle Joe” Cannon, oldest member
of the lower house of Congress, has
announced that he will not be a
; candidate for re-election.
ARMY ENGINEERS RECOMMEND
WORK AT WRANGELL NARROWS
_
WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 14—
j Army engineers, in a report submit
ted to Congress yesterday, recom
mend an appropriation of ?2,000,
000 for the improvement of Wrang
j ell Narrows. The channel, the report
says, should be 21 feet deep at
mean low water, and 200 feet vide,
and it is urged that an initial ap
propriation of half a million dollars
I be provided immediately to begin
1 the work.
_
FOREIGN TRADE DECLINES
1 WASHINGTON, D. C.. Feb. 14—
! There was sharp decline last month
; both in exports and imports, ac
! cording to figures made public to
I day. January exports aggregated 279
; million dollars, the lowest recorded
in seven months, and 15 million
; less than those of December. Im
ports during January totaled 216
million dollars, compared with 237
million for December, and 209 mil
lion for January a year ago.
LADY BOWLERS OF TANANA
PLAY SERIES WITH WIRE MEN
FORT GIBBON, Feb. 14—The
Signal Corps bowling team defeated
' the ladies of Tanana and Fort Gib
| bon in three straight games yester
! day, conceding 50 pins per game
The individual star throughout the
three games was Sergeant Bill Kais
er, of the Signal Corns team.
The Co. G, 59th Infantry
ball team defeated the Pa-time= v
the score of 15 to 13. the game
ing hard fought, as indicated hv
score.
AIRMEN WILL ACCOMPANY
AMUNDSEN ON ARCTIC TRIP
CHRISTIANIA, Norway, Feb 14
Two Norwegian aviators. Lieutenant
Omdal and Sergeant Odd Dahl, will
accompany Roald Amundsen -when
he starts north again from Seattle
next May, and will make a dash for
the North Pole by airplane.
They will also carry a noting
picture outfit and about 30,000 feet
of film. Two extra men have been
engaged here by Amundsen for the
expedition.
Both Omdal and Dahl are expert
wireless operators and expect to
keep the Maud, Amundsen's ship, in
touch with Spitzbergen, and to re
ceive messages from the Norwegian
wireless station at Sravanger.
The two aviators will join the j
Maud at Seattle. The airplanes to
be used in the North Pole dash will
have motors of 60 horsepower, ac
commodate two passengers and be
provided with skis and wheels.
Only one machine will be used a.
at time, and the other held in re
serve. As the Maud does not offer
sufficient space, a shed mui be built
on the ice for them.
The Norwegian army and navy
have presented to the explorers the
arms and munitions they may need
and 60 boxes of specially selected
provisions, tested by Professor Tor
up, of the physiological laboratory
of the University of Christiania, will
be sent to Seattle for their use. |
GAGNON BACK FROM COAST;
TO MANAGE SEWARD HOTEL
W. C. Gagnon, who went to Sew
ard a fortnight ago to look over
conditions there, returned to town
on Sunday’s train, and announces
that it is his intention to move to
the Gateway City shortly to assume
the management of the Hotel Sew
ard. in which he has become inter
ested with Eric Nelson. He does not
know how soon he will return to
the coast, but expects to get away
within the next few weeks.
The Seward hotel is a landmark
of the Gateway City, and is known
to the traveling public from Nome
to Seattle. The building is substan
tial, the furnishings good, and the
rooms moderately priced.
The twon of Seward impressed
Mr. Gagnon very favorably. It com
pares in size with Nenana and over
looks the beautiful harbor, which is
said to be the best in Alaska. And
there is promise of much industrial
development there, in fishing and
the manufacture of paper.
Practically all of the fuel used
at Seward comes from the Evans
Jones coal mine in the Matanuska
district. The coal sells at Seward
at $14 per ton and is about the
same grade at the Nenana product.
Mr. Gagnon was in Anchorage at
the time of the recent disastrous
fire and turned out with the rest
of the people in town to he!t> fight
the fiames A s a result of his ex
rerior'ce. be is of the opinion that
* ge fiqi very poor fire protec
•*-jnTv fi->r ,p^cient than that of
l’o-p-a '*■*>0-0 were onlv two
-♦-oo— -■>*■>• available, he says,
I
and lack of adequate pressure pro-!
rented effective work. But for the
fact that a building in the path of
the flames was pulled down by means
of a rope, the fire loss probably
would have been much greater. As
it was, property owners and those
occupying the destroyed buildings
sustained an aggregate loss of ap
proximately $50,000.
But if Anchorage is lacking in
fire protection, Mr. Gagnon says
there is no dearth of enterprise in
the town, for even before the ashes
had cooled, preparations were being
made for the erection of new build
ings to take the places of those
destroyed, and it was indicated that
the new structures would be better
than those destroyed. Anehorageites
believe in their town and there is
wholesome cooperation in all mat
ters pertaining to the upbuilding of
that section of Alaska.
At the time Mr. Gagnon left for
the Interior, there was a movement
on foot to put the fire department
on an efficient footing, and he be
lieves there will be something doing
along that line in short order, now
that the inadequacy of the water
supply has been convincingly demon
strated.
BANDITS LOOT HOTEL SAFE
ST LOUIS, Feb. U—The safety
deposit boxes at the Hotel Wash
ington were looted by bandits yes
terday morning. The night clerk was
forced to open the safe, after which
the bandits helped themselves to
the contents, obtaining jewelry and
money to the value of $100,000.
YAP TREATY SENT TO SENATE
WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 14—
The Yap treaty, covering the alloca
tion of cable and wireless rights on
the island, was sent to the senate
yesterday by President Harding, for
ratification.
» *t m m *. * m * * *t n •> w. * « « *
*
PERSONAL *
r
Will Sherwin arrived in town from
the Canyon district on Sunday for
treatment for frost bite. He had
the misfortune recently to freeze
one of his feet and was unable to
get all the frost out.
Peter Hofsed., well known oldtim
er of Interior Alaska, was a return
ing passenger on the Sunday train
from the coast. He went Outside
intending to buy a small farm and
settle down, but he was unable to
find the kind of a place he wanted
and is back in Alaska to resume
prospecting. He says he did not like
the Outside, anyway.
Hank Pennoyer returned to town
on Sunday from a trip out the line.
Louis Johnson, proprietor of the
Johnson Store, left for Anchorage
on Sunday to have a look over the
coast section. He will return at an
early date.
The Simson building, at the cor
ner of First and A streets, is re
ported to have been sold to a resi
dent of Anchorage who plans to en
gage in business in N'enana. The
price is variously reported at from
$6,000 to $8,000.
Commissioner C. D. Leckie went I
to Fairbanks on Sunday on a brief
business trip.
WAGE SCALE COMMITTEE
OPPOSES CUT IN WAGES
INDIANAPOLIS. Feb. 14—T h e
wage scale committee of the United
Mine Workers, reporting: to the
special convention heie today, has
declared “most emphatically our op
position to any reduction to the
wages of miners.”
The committee insists that the
basic scale be maintained and advo
cates a general suspension of min
ing on April 1 if no agreement is
beached with the operators fcy that
time.
The report says a reduction of
wages would lower the standard of
living and cause poverty and suffer
ing. Other recommendations were
that all agreements must be based
on an eight hour day for under
ground work, with time and a half
for overtime and double time for
Sunday and holiday work. It is al
so advocated that the agreement be
made for a period of two years.
The committee is inclined to favor
the retntion of the present scale
for soft coal miners, rather than de
mand an increase.
DEMPSEY DENIES REPORTED
ENGAGEMENT TO ACTRESS
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 14—Champ
ion Jack Dempsey has denied the
report of his engagement to Bebe
Daniels, movie star.
Dempsey left hameu for the
East today, in response to a message
from his manager, who says he has
prepared papers' for a match to be
staged either in Paris or London. It
is thought here that the other party
to the contract is Carpentier.
JUDGE SAYS BOOZE AT HOME
IS NOT VIOLATION OF LAW
TACOMA, Feb. 14—In the cour.-e
of a decision rendered here today,
regarding liquor evidence. Federal
Judge Cushman declared that the
Volstead act is inconsistent in its
provisions and ambiguous in it
wording.
The judge held that the law pro
vides that the possession of liquor
in private dwellings is lawful, un
less it is sold or given away illegal
ly
UNIONIST PRISONERS URGE
RELEASE OF BALL PLAYERS
BELFAST. Feb. 14—-The fortv
two kidnapped Ulster Unionists hav<
sent a request to Premier Craig to
liberate immediately the Monoghan
football players who were recently
arrested for carrying: weapons..
The captive Unionists say they
will be help in custody until the
players are released.
OLD SOL IS IN TROUBLE
MIAMI, Fla , Feb. 14—Dr. Dav.d
Todd, former director of Amherst
Observatory, who maintains an ob
servatory here, has reported the dis
covery of a large outbreak of spots
in the center of the sun, covering
territory at least 50,000 miles across
and he predicts unusually bright
aurora borealis and the disturbance
of electrical instruments.
COLLINS WARNS AMERICANS
LONDON, Feb. 14—Michael Col
lins, according to advices receive 1
in this city from Ireland, has cabled
to the United States, warning the
American Association for the Recog
nition of the Irish Republic not to
assist or countenance the coup d'etat
which is said to planned against the
provisional government of Ireland.
CHINKS KILL EACH OTHER
SEATTLE, Feb. 14—Two China
men were killed here last night and
a third seriously wounded in two
shooting affrays in the Chinese dis
trict, resulting from a tong war. The
police arrested five suspects, and on
each was found a pistol and liberal
supply of ammunition.