Nenana Steam Laundry
OUR EQUIPMENT COMPLETE DL 7Q
WORK EQUAL TO THE BEST rllOIie /J
j. F. BENNETT.
GEORGE RICH
BLAINKFIELD 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 T# ORDER
AV Workmanship Guaranteed Pertaining to Heating or Plumbing.
The Nenana Sheet Metal Works street.
Prospectors
F armers
Trappers
Tourists
The Nenana district offers oppor
tunities for prospecting, farming, and
trapping that are unequaled m 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 of the Nenana
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
world.
Detailed information regarding the
resources and possibilities of the Ne
nana district may be obtained from the
Nenana
Comme r cial
Club
* * i
•t COMMUNICATION. « i
It «jl
It t ,
Nenana, March 9, 1920. 1
Editor News—Sir:
“The senate adopts a resolu/rion ,J
calling upon the secretary of the (^
interior to submit a report inform- '
ing the lawmakers what steps, if ’
any, have been taken by the de- 1
partment and the Alaskan Engineer
ing commission to develop traffic
and population along the Govern-,
ment railroad in the Territory.” |
Well, what do you know about
that? Somebody is getting anxious
to know if anybody will be here;
after the railroad is finished. Oh.
if this commission would only tell
the truth about what they have done
'to build up the Interior population,'
it would fill a book (nit). But there
is a ray of hope left us yet. The
'good people at Washington who
'voted the money to build this road
still have us in mind and are look
ing to our welfare. They no doubt
can see castles in the air and thriv
ing little communities on that $35,
j 000.000 which hits already been
spent.
But what has this commission
1 done to build up the population that
the congressmen think it has been
doing? It has done nothing but
j tear it down and discourage every
| citizen who has tried to build a
home here, and every business man
jwho has tried to build up the com
munity.
; The townsfte and lot question has
been retold many times; but it
: won’t hurt to tell some of it again,
ias our congressmen are asking now
jwhat the commission is doing to
; build up the population. When Mr.
; Christiansen, to use his own words,
| “put this town on the map,” he
'gave the people thoroughly to un
derstand the large payroll, public
buildings, etc., that would be here.
| And he also caused notices to be
'posted in conspicuous places to the
effect that any persons gathering
together for the purpose of keeping
prices down on lots would be suo
Siect to a fine and also a jail sen
tence. So with all these restric
tions lots went high. But that is
all over. We paid the price in good
faith, and are going through at our
own expense. But what right has
any employe of this Government to
tell that the Government did not
ask us to come here? The congress
men are asking now what they are
; doing to keep us here.
I There is only one thing that I
have seen which I highly recom
ment, and that is: they put a good
quarantine on, which probably kept
the “flu” out of the Interior a little
over a year ago. To offset that,
•the married men of the Interior
!who had to depend on the railroad
.work for a living have nearly starr
ed to death and most of them have
gone out and taken a chance with
the “flu.”
| Before starting business here. I
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For Copies
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With
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News Office
saw Mr. Dole, the purchasing agent,
st Seattle, and he made it distinctly
understood at his information office
the conditions under which this
railroad was to be built. Here is
his statement to me personally:
“This railroad will be built as
an experiment by the Government.
No large outside firm of any kind
will get contracts on this road. The
work will be given to Alaskans en
tirely, if possible, and the ordinary
working people are to do all the
work and make what money there
is in it.”
These were the instructions from
Washington. So the people of Alas
ka certainly had the good will of
Washington with them.
Mr. Dole also told me the rail
road would be built from both ends
from Seward and Anchorage, and
would start at deep water on the
Tanana river at Nenana. from the
Interior end. So anyone can see
that the heads at Washington were
in for a square deal to Alaskans.
We all know what has happened
since then.
The lowest possible wage anyone
could be induced to work for was
paid. And hundreds of hardy, able
bodied men who were interested in
the country and could have built
the railroad in short order, could
not exist on the low wages offered,
and most of them have left for the |
States, and Alaska and the Govern
ment are both losers thereby.
There are no better or more pa- '
triotic citizens than Interior Alas
kans, and 95 percent of them are
American citizens of the highest
type. They believe in law and or
der. and on the other hand, if the
railroad got tied up in a strike it
would leave every married man with
a family in a critical condition, as
there is no either means of support
here; and none of them would ha\e
enough money to reach the States,
for it is imposssible for them to
save any money from the wages
paid, and it is a very expensive
journey from the Interior to the
States. Under these conditions, the
best men have contnually been leav
ing.
As stated before, the wages were
placed at a figure out of all reason
as compared with other parts of the
country, to start with, and on top
of this, for the last year and a half
the necessities of life have doubled
in price, without any increase in
wages.
President Wilson, the late Theo
dore Roosevelt, and all our great
men have always encouraged the
men and women who rear children
and bring up a useful citizen to
help our country in time of need.
But it seems the heads of this com
mission look at it from a different
point of view in the Interior of
1 Alaska. For this reason, a mar
ried man who has to live at home,
'and who performs the same labor
that a single man does, gets really
one dollar less per day, which the
following figures will show:
j The Government charges the mar
iried man from 10 to 30 percent
— ;above cost at me
and at the Government messhouse,
j where it costs tho Government $2.2‘>
per day to feed a man, they give
him the board for $1.25 per day.
'besides lodging, heat and light for
’$1.50 per month. I have just paid
a bill of $10.40 for light alone for
I last month at my home. \\hy not
'equalize things and charge up ex
■ pense where it belongs?
! I am not saying the single men
get too much—they all need a raise.
But the married men have been
made the goats of the whole situa
tion.
It should not be a hard matter
| to straighten these matters out.
In the first place, we have just
fought the bloodiest war the world
has ever known, in order to give
every human being a square deal.
1 The war is over and there is no
need of camouflaging the monev
;
paid out by our Government any
more. The boys who went over the
top at $30 per month are the ones
who saved the day for us and made
it possible for others to make mill- j
ions. In my mind, any one of those
boys deserves more credit than any
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SHOW STARTS AT EIGHT O'CLOCK.
of our generals, for they had very
little to train and gave their all for
their country. And I feel, as the ;
father of one of them, that it is our
duty to see that their ideals are
carried out.
In the early days, when our large
transcontinental roads were being
built, thousands of Chinamen were
smuggled into the United States
from Canada to work on the rail
roads under contract, and a great
many Chinese made fortunes out of
the deal, and for years many of our
poorer citizens had to work with
this opposition. So wages for that
class of work have always been low.
But times have changed and we
have over 115,000,000 people in
the United States now, and we have
enough American citizens to do all
our own work. Our splendid school
system has educated the children
these last 15 years so that we
have a different class of people to
do manual labor now. And there
is no reason why our citizens should ■
stand aside and pay high taxes and
war expenses for the upkeep of the
country, and then be denied the
wages this part of the country is
entitled to. The laboring class is
coming into its own.
The United States has shown it
can feed the world if necessary- If
the war has done no more good, it
has at least opened the eyes of the
people and taken them out of a ’
rut they have been traveling in for'
centuries past.
My suggestion is this: l'hat all !
men boarding at the messhouse!
should be charged for the hoard
$2.25 per day, which it costs the
Government, and then have their
wages raised $1 per day. to offset
the increase in the price of board.
This would put all men. whether
boarding a? the mess or buy ng at
. the store, on an equal footing, j
There has been no raise in wages.
. for the last year and a hrlf, while j
commodities have gone up 40 pe.-- j
cent; therefore, all men shou'J have
a raise of 40 percent of the cost
of livinp at $2.25 per .lay, or Si
which would make the $4.00 mar.
receive $6.90 and pay board at
$2.25, which would leave him $4.65
per day and board.
The lowest wape paid by private
concerns is $5 per day and board,
or $6 and board yourself.
HERMAN ANDERSON.
Horlick's Malted Milk, fowler &
Morris.
ARCTIC BATH HOUSE
stands alone in par-excellence of
service and sanita«-y convenience.
Turkish, Steam. Shower
or Plain Baths, at
MODERATE RATES.
Roomi for Dressing and Retting
in Connection. Also Room* for
Rent, Transient or Permanent.
Mr. and Mrs. Heimburjjer
Proprietors.
If Comfort, Economy and the
Environment* of Home
Appeal to You,
STOP AT THE
MONTANA
SPECIAL RATES BY WEEK
OR MONTH.
MRS. BERT JOHNSON
Proprietress.
a
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8
SKOF HOUSE
That’s the Place
GOOD BARN FOR HORSES
IN CONNECTION.
Seeond and Market Sts.
MRS. JAMES LAVIN
Xanana, the Gateway to McKinley
national Park.
Miners and Prospectors! |
NOTICE OF GIUNOE OF RECORDING PRECINCTS ]
According to a recently issued Court Order by =
Judge Chas. E. Bunnell, the Nenana Mining and Re- |
cording District has been enlarged to take in the Bon- |
nifield and Totatlanika Districts. |
Miners and Prospectors of these districts will be 5
enabled by this change to do their recording and |
transact other business at Nenana, which is within |
easy reach of their mining activities. |
NENANA COMMERCIAL CLUB. 1
J. R. Bowen, President. R. J. Diven, Secretary, §
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