B LAIN KFI ELD EXPRESS
CONNECTING WITH FAIRBANKS TRAIN.
PASSENGERS BAGGAGE MAIL
Clean Dry Wood for Sale Hauling of All Kind.
OFFICE AT THE TERMINAL.
Prompt Reliable Satisfactory
STOVES OF ANY KIND MADE TO ORDER
All Workmanthip Guaranteed Pertaining to Heating or Plumbing.
The Nenana Sheet Metal Works street.
V
v
Prospectors
F armers
Trappers
Tourists
The Nenana district offers oppor
tunities for prospecting, farming, and
trapping that are unequaled in any
other section of Alaska.
, Gold placers of known value, close
to Nenana, are producing annually sub
stantial amounts, and there are scores
of streams within the district on which
little or no prospecting has been done.
These streams, until a short time ago
almost inaccessible, are now easily
reached by means of the new Govern
ment Railroad, and undoubtedly soon
will be the scene of much mining ac
tivity.
Farming in the Nenana district has
the advantage of a growing season fully
ten days longer than that of any other
section of Interior Alaska. There is
much desirable land in the district open
to homesteaders, and marketing possi
bilities are being expanded steadily.
Fur-bearing animals ot tne iNenana
and adjacent districts are noted for the
fine quality of their fur, and trappers
annually bring large numbers of pelts
to Nenana and receive for them higher
prices than are obtained for the average
furs of other districts.
Game of all kinds abounds in the
Nenana district, there are scores of
trout streams easy of access, and the
• ♦
scenic wonders of the district are un
surpassed. The district is the natural
gateway to Mt. McKinley National
Park, and close to Nenana may be
viewed the largest coal ledges in the
t world.
Detailed information regarding the
resources and possibilities of the Ne
nana district may be obtained from the
Nfcnana
Commercial
Club
—
* mHHK <<«r.Kltli|| nl
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* COMMUNICATION. *J
« n1
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Nenana, March 1, 1920.
Editor Nenana Daily News.
i Sir: We desire to announce what'
we term an injustice to the labor- j
ing man and see if such an act will
be commended by the public, or
whether it will be one of those “I
TOLD YOU SO” things that so
often pass to the credit of those in
power and permit the laboring man
to suffer on.
The undersigned laborers — with
others—accepted position with C. N.'
Banks at a stipulated salary, to com
plete a contract for the Alaskan j
Engineering commission, in an effort
to furnish that branch of the Gov
ernment with a certain amount of
lumber, ties, and other material as
,
[set forth in contract No. 713, and
:
two supplemental agreements of a
later date, and we continued to per
form our agreements under a stated
salary—or rather the promise of a
'salary—unai! the freezeup compelled
us to cease operations, about Oc
itober 4, 1919.
. During the time we were working
1
on this contract, we became uneasy
about our wages, as we could easily
see that the mode under which the '
work was being carried on would
not earn sufficient revenue to pay
us, and we accordingly appointed
the woods foreman, Mr. J. Lytle,
and the sawmill foreman, Mr. C.
O’Flannagan, to come to Nenana
and interview Mr. Browne, the en
gineer in charge, to see if any ar
rangements could be made to as
sure us of at least a part of our
pay, as many of us were not finan
cially qualified to subsist through
the wdnter without an assurance of
[either employment or some money,
[and if there was no assurance of
i wages, we intended to seek employ
ment elsewhere in order to get
'money enough for the winter, as
some of us were men with families,
j When these two men accosted
Mr. Browne, who was then in the
; hospital in Nenana, he informed
them “he took it upon himself to
I.
go ahead with this proposition, that
it was not compulsory upon him to
j deduct .the commissary charges first
on this special contract, that he
! could deduct one thousand dollars
,or as little as ninety dollars, as the
investment was a permanent one
and would be good for several years
and could not be expected to pay
jout in one year; that the men would
;be paid at least a percentage of
!wages based on amount of manu
factured material on hand at the
freezeup, but that if any man for
urgent reasons wanted all his money
• he would pay him all; that he fin
janced this business so far and was
going through with it and would be
■ getting out logs all winter and
] would run a sidetrack in there, and
i if any balance of wages remained
■ unpaid this fall they would receive
| same next spring; that the men
■ could do no better than by sticking
| to this contract.” The foregoing
j between quotations was sworn to
;and the affidavit is now in our pos
jsession, and was acknowledged by
la notary public on Nov. 3, 1919.
j We, accordingly, resumed opera
tions, or, rather continued work un
til the freezeup and came into Ne
nana and tried to effect a settle
ment of some kind, in order to get
some money for the winter, and,
after much quibbling and Mr.
Browne’s denial of making the above
swom-to assertions, we each re
ceived the following letter, dated
Nov. 14, 1919:
“I received a statement from Mr.
C. N. Banks of the amount due to
you for work and labor, amounting
to $. The statement received
from Mr. Banks states that you
worked for him on Commission work.
“The statement that you worked
for Banks on Commission work is
not true, as the Commission had no
contract or agreement either with
Banks or with you whereby the
Commission agreed to pay any part
of your wages.
“Yours truly,
(Sgd.) “Fred’k D. Browne."
In a statement connected to this
letter, or rather these letters, we
:opy in part: “Mr. C. N'. Banks— •;
Ihe statement contained in said
statement, that . worked for
you an Commission work, however,
is a mistaken statement, as there '
was no Commission work connected,
with any work that you were doing,
ar that Mr. was doing for ,
you, and as you know, the written
contract of the Commission with
you, No. 713, dated Nov. 11, 1918,
and supplements thereto, was that
the Commission agreed to buy lum- .
ber from you at a certain price j
per M, * * *”
This statement is also—at some;
length'—is signed by Mr. Browne.
Mr. Browne refused to pay us any-!
thing at all. ^
When we awoke to the fact that
we were being beaten out of our;
wages, we employed an attorney to ,
look into the matter, and he im- ;
mediately took the matter up with
Mr. Mears at Anchorage. In a wire
he stated, briefly, the conditions
as above referred to and asked for
consideration for the men, stating
that, while the laws of Alaska per
mitted the men to lien the product
of their labor, he had sufficient con
fidence in the integrity and honor
of the officers of the A. E. C. and
had advised against a lien and ac
cordingly wrote Mr. Mears a full
statement of the facts connected
with the case, and received a wire
to the effect 1hat he-was sending l
Mr. Bamdollar with full authority
to settle these claims, and accord-j
ingly Mr. Bamdollar arrived here—
to settle? 1
Our attorney and Mr. Bamdollar ,
conferred, referred, and then de-'
iferred. The attorney went home1
and Bamdollar INFERRED that we
might get some of the money some
way sometime, and, by kraut, we ■
did. I
The above statement, signed by
i Mr. Browne, that we were not em-.
i :
jployed by the Commission, and were;
;not doing Commission work, we nor
Mr. Banks, was somewhat modified :
i
iby subsequent acts; as Mr. Howell, J
from whom the sawmill was pur-!
ichased, was paid in full; Mr. Palmer,
who transported the mill from Stan
jdard creek to its present location,
| was also paid, and the cook who
cooked for the men operating the
j mill was paid, so we are informed)
.each month by check; and now wet
j your whistle, Mr. Banks, instead of
j being a defunct contractor, and be
jing treated as such, was paid the
|sum of $175 per month for the
(period of this contract on which we
.were employed, and is now working
;for the Commission, as foreman of
(this same mill, for the same salary,
and received and now has, or had,
a receipt from this same Commis
sion that owed nobody, no time, for
$9,000, or thereabouts, and has now,
or had a few days ago, the sum
of $500 to his credit, which he re
fused to accept until the men were
jpaid. The Commission, of course,
I received the full amount of its bill
[for commissaries, for, as the mat
ter stands, Mr. Banks had nothing
to do with the contract, as he was
working for a salary, and received
a salary; but the men, the ones who
built the mill, cut the trails, cut
the timber, drove the logs down
Goldstream, wading water to the
waist, built the bunkhouse, mess
house, stable, hayshed, cabins,
camps, and swamped out Goldstream
for a distance of 25 miles, were
not performing this work for the
Commission, and were only entitled
to about 60 centiron the dollar, pro
vided we signed up to suit the con
venience of Messrs. Browne and
Barndollar, a paper that they claim
to be a bar to further claim on
Banks or the Commission.
We had implicit confidence in the
word of Mr. Browne, and the same
in the word and affidavit of our two
foremen who came in to interview
Mr. Browne, as they were both men
with families, who must work to
support them and must receive their
wages to get them through the win
ter. Mr. Browne’s flat denial of
these swom-to statements is the
only way he could avoid the pay
ment of our wages. During the
five months this matter has been
under consideration, there have been
COLISEUM
EXCEPTIONALLY STRONG PARAMOUNT FEATURE AND
LATE PATHE NEWS FOR PROGRAM
TONIGHT.
LATE PATHE NEWS—PICTORIAL
THE WORLD BEFORE YOUR EYES
Showing: “Wilson in Rheints Ruins,” “Allies Guard U-Boats,” and
Other Scenes of Vast Interest.
Jesse L Lasky Presents
THE EXQUISITE EMOTIONAL STAR
Mme. Petrova
IN
“The Law of the Land”
BY GEORGE BROADHURST
IN FIVE POWERFUL ACTS.
MUSIC-VIOLIN, PIANO AND DRUMS
General Admission 50 cents Reserved Seats 75c
SOLDIERS AND CHILDREN 25c.
SHOW STARTS AT EIGHT O’CLOCK.
numerous ways open for settlement. ’
When we met with Mr. Browne last
fall, we offered to accept a portion
of our wages and return to the
work and cut logs for the mill all!
winter, in order to furnish the Com
mission with lumber, which we knew
it needed badly, and were told by
Mr. Brownie that the time had
passed, that he did not need any
lumber, although we knew that lum
ber would be badly needed in the'
near future, and the outside pu’
|
chases of lumber verify this asser
.
tion; but after the arrival of Barn-|
dollar this some proposition was of
fered in a modified form; the Com-\
mission offered to sign us on and ‘
guarantee our pay, but the time had 1
passed for this also.
Numerous proposition were made [
us from time to time, none of them j
being with apparent recompense for;
our past labor, but no agreement j
was arrived at. At one time there j
were not sufficient funds available
here to liquidate these claims (so •
rumor said), at another they were j
going to start the mill on a sort !
of co-operative system; but none of j
these schemes said a loud word j
about a mint; but the facts are that!
we were paid a small portion of our
wages, wre who did the work, and
the defunct contractor was rolled
in a salary to cover all ills of his
lonely conscience, and the Commis
sion is preparing to operate the mill
this summer—as the urgent need j
for lumber has probably arrived— j
and we are permitted, by goo 1;
grace, to retain our good health, i
and now we are permitting the peo
ple of Nenana to judge what is
just and what is unjust, and whose
tracks were being covered.
E. P. COX.
ALBERT BARRETTE.
,T. F. LYTLE.
C. C. STECK.
A. PERRY.
WALTER FOREST.
JOHN GILBERT.
Manana, Alaska's Interior rnel Depot
WATCHES
JEWELRY
Watch Repairing
DESIGNING AND NATIVE
JEWELRY A SPECIALTY
| WM. TAYLOR
ARCTIC BATH HOUSE
stands alone in par-excellence of
service and sanitary convenience.
Turkish, Steam, Shower
or Plain Baths, at
MODERATE RATES.
Rooms for Dressing and Resting
in Connection. Also Rooms for
Rent, Transient or Permanent.
Mr. and Mrs. Heimbur^er
Proprietors.
If Comfort, Economy and the
Environments of Home
Appeal to You,
STOP AT THE
MONTANA
SPECIAL RATES BY WEEK
OR MONTH.
MRS. BERT JOHNSON
Proprietress.
SKOF HOUSE
That’s the Place
GOOD BARN FOR HORSES
IN CONNECTION.
Second and Market Sts.
MRS. JAMES LAVIN
Nenana. the Gateway to McKinley
National Park.
itmtniunniinmiiitmntutmvuu',
| Miners and Prospectors! 1
| NOTICE OF CHAN6E OF RECORDING PRECINCTS j
1 According to a recently issued Court Order by 5
| Judge Chas. E. Bunnell, the Nenana Mining and Re- |
I cording District has been enlarged to take in the Bon- §
i nifield and Totatlanika Districts. |
| Miners and Prospectors of these districts will be =
| enabled by this change to do their recording and f
= transact other business at Nenana, which is within |
| easy reach cf their mining activities. |
| NENANA COMMERCIAL CLUB. 1
= J. R. Bowen, President. R. J. Diven, Secretary. |
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