CURTIS EXONERTED
y (Continued from Page 4)
had authorized Mr. Curtis to make
^loans of government property after
Curtis had satisfied himself that the
person to whom the loan was made
-was unable to get the goods else
-where. The telegram was dated
Juneau, June 12, 1918.
Ira Ball was called and testified
to having borrowed some jacks from
.the Commission on the 16th of the
present month. Mr. Pratt objected
to the question, but was overruled
„by the commissioner.
Mike Goonan testified to the fact
■of having loaned potatoes to the
Commission, of having bought some
,iiams for cash from the Commission
and to having borrowed some meat
from them, which was afterwards
returned. He also told of how he
had arranged to lend the Commis
sion some wood shortly after the
Tecent floods and how the Commis
sion men sent to remove the wood
loaned them had taken his neigh
bor’s wood instead.
Wm. Taylor, the local jeweler,
confirmed the statement of Goonen
and said that the wood removed by
the Commission people belonged to
him and that it was subsequently
returned.
Wm. Rodigkeit testified to hav
ing borrowed beef from the Com
mission and having returned same.
He said that in every case he went
personally to Mr. Riggs, who gave
instructions to the storekeeper to
loan the meat.
Mr. R. E. Burns told of having
borrowed a large quantity of saw
mill equipment from the Commis
sion shortly after the fire at How
ell’s sawmill. Mr. Pratt again ob
jected to this evidence, but the
Commissioner allowed the question
Grady Summerlin, former chief
steward, testified to having lent
meat to Mike Goonan and borrowed
potatoes from him with the know
ledge and consent of the proper
authorities. He spoke of a conver
sation with Mr. Riggs about borrow
ing and lending government prop
erty and said that Mr. Riggs told
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him that the Commission should be
neighborly in their attitude towards
the people of the town and help
in case of need- Mr. Riggs also
told him to handle all future loans
through the store department. This
arrangement, he said, was after
wards confirmed by Mr. Curtis.
William Gilcher was called, but
could not be found at the time.
Curtis took the stand on his own
behalf and practically confirmed all
of the evidence previously given
with regard to the loan made to
Waechter Bros., of 792 pounds of
meat. He said that at Mr. Pratt’s
request, he sent a telegram to Mr
Riggs and received a reply worded
similarly to the one received by
Mr. Pratt. The telegram was to
the effect that Mr. Riggs had au
thorized Curtis to make loans of
goods to merchants and other busi
nessmen in town, after he had been
satisfied that the goods needed were
unobtainable locally. He told of
several conversations he had with
Mr. Riggs regarding these matters.
| Mr. Riggs taking the stand that ow
ing to conditions existing in the
j North, the difficulty of obtaining
j supplies at will that it would be
in keeping with the traditions and
customs of the country to be neigh
borly and to lend and borrow when
ever occasion demanded, but that
such transactions should not be done
for any personal gain or profit. He
told of how the Commission had
been obliged to borrow from the
N. C. Co. and others, a great many
tons of feed to keep the Commis
sion stock from starving. A lot, of
about 50 tons, of feed borrowed
from Howell was afterwards paid
for he said. He did not receive, at
any time, one cent of profit from
any of these or other transactions
He had always consulted the head
of affairs before making any big
loans, but went ahead with other
small loans, under the authority
vested in him. He did not consider
himself head of the Commission at
any time nor did he consider him
self in possession of the government
property except in a constructive
sense, by reason of his being placed
in charge of same. He was not in
Nenana when the second loan of
meat was made, although he was
aware of the fact that the loan was
made. He satisfied himself that a
proper record of such loans were
kept. He said he had to pay out of
his pocket a sum of about forty
dollars for overtime work performed
by one of the store employees,
which the government refused to
pay; and was also out of pocket
several small sums for other things.
| He did not make any money out
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SHOW STARTS AT 8:00 O’CLOCK
M NERAL WAX IS
AID TO GERMANS;
FATS ARE SHORT
Scientist* Find Improved Method of
Extracting Products, of Value
to Nation.
STOCKHOLM.—The great short
age of fats in Germany and the
resulting necessity of using more
of all edible fats for human con
sumption have driven the empire’s
scientific men to extensive experi
mentation with so-called “mineral
wax.” The result has been both
a more varied use of this product
and a greatly improved method of
securing it.
Mineral wax is a substance ex
tracted from brown coal with the
aid of benzine, benxol or other tech
nical solvents. Benzol is now used
exclusively in Germany for this pur
pose. Old methods have been un
able to extract all of the wax from
the coal treated, but the Kaiser
Wilhelm Institute for experimenta
tion with coal is now winning nearly
the entire quantity in the coal
treated.
The main features of its im
proved system consists in extracting
, the wax under a high pressure, as
j much as six atmospheres, and at a
high temperature. A brown coal
which had produced only eleven per
cent of wax under the old system
gives 25 per cent under the new
treatment.
Mineral wax was used in peace
.times mainly for the fabrication of
j shoe-polish, phonograph records and
the insulation of electric cables. Its
^igh percentage of sebacic acid—
j about 60 per cent of its entire con
tent— has been turned to account
in the making of consistent fats.
It is also being used extensively in
the paper industry as sizing, taking
the place of colophonium.
Experiments are now being con
ducted to find a method of refining
the wax and giving it a lighter color.
of the government, and had alto
gether about $1700 in his posession
as a net result of working for the
government.
Ed Cronin verified the entries
made in regard to the loans of the
meat to Waechter Bros.
Curtis recalled, told of a letter
from Riggs to Ward, acting division
engineer and in charge of affairs
at the time. The letter, a signed
carbon copy of which was sent to
Curtis and is now on file in the
store office, relaVd to the extend
ing of commissary privileges to the
employees of the Geological survey
and the General Land office. Mr.
Ward, he said, did not know of such
letter.
Waechter was again recalled and
examined with reference to the en
tries of beef borrowed from the
Commission and his examination
disclosed the fact that the Commis
sion was getting the return of 79.‘$
pounds of meat, while their records
only called for 792 pounds. He
could not explain how this mistake
oppurrprl.
Mr. Pratt, in his opening remarks
to the court, stated that he had
taken up the case started by Mr.
Roth and that he did not have full
knowledge of Mr. Roth’s scheme,
but that he would do the best he
could. He confined his remarks
then to the law governing tile cist-.
Mr. De Journel, in reply, com
menced by saying that he was aware
of the tactics usually adopted by
Mr. Roth, whom he had known for
many years; but was remirded. at
this juncture, by the commissioner
that Mr. Roth was not on trial. H
then confined his remarks to the
evidence given by both the prose
cution and defense and was of the
opinion that the complaint charging
embezzlement was faulty in that
not a scintilla of evidence was pro
duced to show that there was any
intent on the part of Curtis to
profit by these transactions and
that he had act^d in good faith and
in accordance with instructions is
sued by Mr. Riggs and with the
knowledge and consent of those in
authority over him.
The commissi >ner thought that
I the complaint war. in order, but that
no evidence was heard in substantia
tion of it and accordingly dismissed
the case.
1 Court adjourned about midnight
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Served at All Hours---Made Fresh Daily
The Tavern
W. F. RODIGKEIT, Prop.
TRY SOME FRESH GREENS WITH ONE OF
OUR DINNER ORDERS
If It Is On the Market You Will Find It Here
WE MAKE A SPECIALTY OF DINNER PARTIES
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Fresh Shipment, Just Arrived
LEMONS, Large, per doz. - - $1.25
ORANGES, per doz. - - - - $1.50
GRAPEFRUIT, each.25c
APPLES, per doz. - - - - - $1.25
EGGS, per doz. - - - - - - $1.00
_CORN ON COB, Gallon Can - - $1.00
FOWLER & MORRIS
GROCERS
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I COONEY MOTEL
Not Better Than the Best,
But Better than the Rest.”
NENANA ..... ALASKA
I
■
A Thoroughly Modern Hotel
The Southern
Tom Smith, Prop.
NEW INDUSTRY WILL
HELP SUGAR MARKET
HONOLULU, T. II—The manu
facture of white sugar on a commer
cial scale will be undertaken by a
plantation here. The sugar to be
manufactured, while not of a refined
grade, is designed for home con
sumption and use in the pineapple
canneries.
j It will offset any serious danger
I of a sugar shortage,
i Hawaii, although producing raw
sugar for half a century, has never
turned out a refined product.
In a familiar story a man on trial
, for pocket-picking asked the judge,
“Now Judge, supposing you picked
my pocket—”
“But that’s not a supposnble case”
(“Well, Judge, supposing I picked
I your pocket—”
“Ah, very supposable; gi on."
The motive of this story is repeated
in the following from a current
magazine:
A negro who was well known to
the judge had been haled into court
on a charge of having struck a
relative with a brick. After the
usual preliminaries the court in
quired:
“Why did you hit this man?”
“.Fedge, he called me a black ras
cal.”
“Well, you are one, aren’t you?”
“Yessah, maybe I is one. But,
Jedge, s’pose some one should call
you a black rascal, wouldn’t you
hit ’em?"
“But, I’m not one, am I?"
“Naw, sa, naw sah, you ain’t one;
but s'pose some one’d call you de
kind of rascal you is, what’d you
do?”
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