THE NENANA NEWS
Application made October 30, 1916, at the l’ostoftice at Nenana, Alaska, tor
entry as second-class mail matter under the act of March 2, 1S79, by The Ne
nana Printing Company.
Published Weekly by The Nenana Printing Company
Day of Publication Saturday Edited by R. G. Southworth.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
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NENANA, ALASKA, SATURDAY, JULY 28, 1917.
PIIE HUGENESS OF IT
Tlio mere announcement ofi
millions appropriated for war
gives some idea of the magni
tilde of the struggle in which wo
have engaged. Hut the story of
our preparations is not clearly
told in dollars and cents. Tlu
dispatches tell us that onlyj
last week congress apropriated
nearly seven hundred millions
for constructing twenty-two
thousand airoplanes, and while
such a fleet will eclipse any
thing of its kind hitherto und
ertaken by any nation of the
world, few of us. it is safe to say
realize the amount of prepara
tion that will he required to
assemble that number of air
craft and make them ready for
service. In the first place, a
vast army of workmen will he
required to supply the material
necessary for such a tleel and
another army will be'engaged in
the manufacture of the planes
and their equipment. The serv
ice of other thousands of work
ers will be needed to prepare
the aviation camps, of which
there will be twenty-four byi
the end of the yearj and still
another army roughly estimat
ed at one hundred thousand,
will be needed to operate the
machines.
Hut the construction of the
airplane fleet, which is to be
six times greater than the fleet
Germany will have in the field
by next spring, is only a small
part of the general prepared
ness program. Another vast un
dertaking is the preparation of
the sixteen great army canton
ments, each one a city in itself,
sufficiently large to accommo
date forty thousand soldiers.
t Figures just made public will
go far to give an idea of the
magnitude of building activity
which will be necessary for the
construction of these military
cities as they are called. The
figures deal with the estimated
amounts of material required,
and cover such important items
as lumber, electrical equipment,
roofing and concrete materials.
They show that nearly twenty]
-.million feet of lumber will bej
needed for each cantonment, he-;
sides twent.wtive hundred kegs!
of nails, five thousand rolls of,
sheathing paper, six thousand
squares of one-ply roofing pap-[
er, twenty-two thousand squar
es of two-ply roofing and over
two thousand rolls of tarred
felt. The concrete work will re-i
quire nearly live thousand bar-!
rcls of Portland cement. In the!
electrical equipment it is esti-!
mated that fully twenty million j
feet of insulated wire will be I
needed for tin* sixteen cities,
and it half million feet of lamp]
cord. Ollier items on the list
are: eight thousand fire extin
guishers, five thousand water!
casks, one hundred and twenty
thousand fire pails and over
seventy miles of tire hose. It is
estimated that about four thou
sand cars wil be required to
'transport these materials to
each cantonment, ami while
they are being delivered many
more cars will he needed to
furnish the supplies required
for the workmen, who will
number from three to live thou
sand. according to the condi
tion of the work and the size of
the cantonment
Tin* government is aiso in
the market for thirty-live thou
sand auto trucks, which will
cost about three thousand dol
lars each, and require an in
vestment of slightly more than
one hundred million dollars. It
is estimated there are not more
than forty thousand motor
'trucks on the entire Western
battlefront in Europe, so that
the proposed equipment of the
American government would
put the I’nited States on a par
j with all the belligerents in this
respect.
The building of submarines,
transport vessels and general
supply ships will require anoth
er great outlay and in addition
there wifi be tin* cost of feed
fing and clothing the troops and
supplying them with the muni
tions of war. The initial outlay
for sox alone represents an in
vestment of more than a mil
lion dollars, and that may be
regarded as one of ■tin* least of
the many expenditurees that
will be required.
STL'/Eli ON TIIE .TOI!
Despite* flie fact that con
gress is seriously engaged in
flu* consideration of war meas
ures these days, Delegate ('has.
A. Sul/.er has been sufficiently
active to attract the attention
of that body to tin* needs of
Alaska and there is the promise
that numerous desired reforms
will be granted at an early
date.
The delegte has been partic
ularly active* in his campaign
for reduced parcel post rates
within tin* Territory, with the
result that definite plans for
tlx* inauguration of a special
zone* system are now being
worked out by the post office1
department. The argument used
by the Delegate* in yrging the
parcel post reform was that it
costs as much under tin* pres
ent system to send a package
from Juneau to Douglas as it
does to SQnd the same package
from the extreme end of Flor
ida to the most northerly point
in Alaska. Alaskans, he point
ed out, are required to pay the
same rate for a four-mile haul
as the residents of the States
pay for a five thousand mile
authorities at Washington can
haul. Properly presented, the
not fail to see the injustice of
flu* present system, and Dele
gate Sulzer has lost no time in
calling their attention to the
discrimination against Xorthen
ers.
‘‘Dutch” Khodekoit was in
Fairbanks several days during
the week on business matters.
FKATl'UK ATTRAt TIOX
AT (OUSIH'M Sl’XDAY
Tin* Coliseum management
announces tlit* five reel Metro
feature liliu, “A Corner in Cot
ton" as the attraetion at their
show shop tomorrow evening.!
The plot of the picture is
based on the incidents attend
ant upon the ravages of the
boll weevil in the cotton dis
tricts several years ago, when
untold hardship was brought
among the colored population
of tin* Southern states through
loss of employment, and for
tunes were made and lost on
the stock exchanges through
the manipulation of cotton
holdings. The story features
Marguerite Snow who, as the
daughter of a wealthy broker,
devotes all her time to allevi
ating suffering among the poor
and comes to see the unjust -
ness of conditions as they are
established in the social scale
of today. Six* eventually uses
her influence to break tin* at
tempt of her father to corner|
the cotton market, and suc
ceeds not only in doing so, j
but also in bringing him to a
realization of his selfishness. |
The photography is excellent
and some very interesting pic
tures, taken in the cotton
lields in the South, are shown.
The usual feature prices yill
prevail, a half dollar for gen
eral admission and a puarlerl
extra for reserved seats.
LISTS CIRCULATE!*
TO HELP WATCHjIAX
A campaign has been st-veted
hv employees of the Alaskan
Engineering commission, with
the sanction of Commissioner
Hijjjjs, to secure lands for das.
E. I »et h 1 efseii- both of whose
hands were amputated during
the winter as the result of
freezing them during the Cram-j
er lire. The injured man was
under the care of 1 >r. .M. E.
Smith for several months and
although the members are en
tirely healed now they are of
little assistance to their owner, I
who is practically helpless in
his present condition. The
money which is being raised
will he used to send the ben
efactor outside, where he hopes
to secure artificial' tinkers to
replace those which were re
moved.
The lists are being; circulat
ed among the employees of the
Commission and the residents
of the town also will he asked
to subscribe to the fund. Deth
lefsen was in the employ of
the town, in the capacity of
night watchman- when the acci
dent occurred. At present he is
employed by the Commission.
Murphy and Doolittle, the
two men who started for the
coast by way of the right of
way several days ago, were forc
ed to return on account of over
flows, and will go out bv way
of the Valdez trail. They went
to Fairbanks on the last tripj
of the Lund launch.
CHURCH SERVICE
Rev. F. L. Forbes announces that
his subject for tomorrow night will
be “Fomin unity Building'-—
•None of us livetli unto himself
and no man dieth unto him
self."—Horn. 14:7.
Church service also will be
held tomorrow morning, followed by
Sunday school. The morning service
begins at 11 and the evening service
at eight. The public is cordially in
vited.
d ■
7%
(joUeeii/^
SUNDAY
Metro Feature
A Corner in Cotton
Five Reels
Keystone Comedy Repeater
Caught in a Flue
Gen. Admission, 50c. Reserved Seats, 7 01
Same Program on Monday
na——■
BHBBHBSEHaUKiHBMI
TAVERN CAPE
Thoroughly Modern in Every Respect
New Building, New Furnishings
The Same Old Service
PRIVATE BOXES
Curley
Dutch
A XT [-TV IMIOII > DOSES
OFFERED MA'ANAI'ITS
Dr. -M- E. Smith lias request
ed the News to announce that
ho has a quantity of typhoid
anti-toxin which lie will give to
the people of Xeaana free of
charge if those desiring to
make themselves 'immune from
the dread disease will call at
tin* hospital for treatment. The
high water prevailing during
the past two weeks lias greatly
increased the danger of con
tacting tin* disease and Dr.
Smith urges tin* utmost precau
tion until ihe danger hits abat
ed. In his capacity as health'
officer of the town, lie insists
that all water for drinking
purposes he boiled before us
ing. !f tin* residents of tin* town
will observe this precaution
they will he less liable to con
tract the disease.
railroad \voi;ki:i:s
MAKE A IHSt’OVERY
A little flurry of excitement
whs occasioned in Nennnn this
week l*y the circulation of a
report of the discovery of gold
in n »rnvel pit a short distance
south of town. Ed Williams is
said to have hecn the discoverer
having- found a light color of
gold in the'gravely uncovered
hy the dragline excavator. A
larger prospect is said to have
heen found later, hut tin1 alleg
ed strike is too close to town
to at tact more than passing
notice- although cousideraljft
panning lias reunited.
Ed llartlett has completed
his contract work on tin* right
of way south of town and will
move to the Happy section,
when1 he has another hig con
tract on the Happy spur line
Miss Queenie Russell is ju
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