THE NENANA DAILY NEWS
Application made April 1, 1918, at the postoffice at Nenana, Alaska,
for entry as second class mail matter, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Published every afternoon except Sunday, by the Nenana Printing
Company, at First and B Streets, Nenana, Alaska.
R. G. Southworth...Editor and Manager
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cation of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in
this paper and also all the local news published herein.
WHAT MR. BAKER SAW IN
FRANCE
In the midst of the vast, compli
cated and widely separated labors
at home for the war, the United
States is building in France an im
mense war machine which Secretary
Baker had but begun it inspect.
The press dispatches spoke of
Mr. Baker as walking three miles
along the dock frontage which Ameri
can engineers are adding to that al
ready existing in one French port,
where sixty average ships will un
load at once. There is another port
for American use. Near both, ware
houses with railway sidings are
springing up out of the marsh, mak
ing, as a French observer put it,
“potentialities equal to those of
Hamburg.”
Hundreds of miles of track will
connect the American docks with the
bases and these again with the fight
ing fronts. Eleven hundred loco
motives are being assembled in the
region visited; 172 are finished ;
meanwhile, in a distant province, 800
Belgian locomotives are being re
paired to save time and ocean ton
nage. Tractors divide the giant toil
with brayless mules. Powerful ma
chinery shifts the heavy guns—still
of French manufacture, again to
save tonnage.
“I only wish,” says Mr. Baker,
“that every American could see this
work as I saw it.” He must see it
for the rest of us. His assurance
that the engineers who “come from
a pioneering people have brought
to France a pioneering energy” are
so providing by devotion and indus
try that ‘ troops in action shall not
want the means of striking blows”
should be a welcome word to every
citien and well-wisher of the United
States.
LET McADOO DO IT.
In a recent issue of the Spring
field (Mass ) Union appears a strik
ing cartoon showing Mr. McAdoo
starting out for work in the morn
ing. The has seven different jobs,
and the final one is the general man
ager of the $500,000,000 United
States corporation. This is further
illustrated by the following squib
from a Philadelphia newspaper:
Poor Mr. McAdoo!
Think of the jobs he’s hitched up to
The treasury, the railroad crew,
The income tax, and then a few.
Each week they hand him some
thing new
To tax his time and temper, too.
He has to know when loans are due
What source to get his billions
through.
What fund to pass each dollar to,
Which tax is what, and who is who;
What bonds to sell and what renew,
Which “trust” to coax and which
to sue.
He stretches out each day to two
To do the things he has to do.
The job would flounder me or you
But it’s a cinch for McAdoo!
*****
MONUMENT TO THE FIRST MAN
With monuments to all sorts of
fellows, it’s a shame that there has
never been a monument to the first
man who was responsible for all the
rest. At least, that was the idea of
a Baltimore man; so he put upon the
lawn of his country home this simple
but difnified memorial: “Hats ofl
to Adam. On account of his jrougt
work at the apple tree we have tc
work; but we have a soft spot ir
our hearts for him just the same..’
*****
A country worth fighting for it
a country worth saving for. Buj
THRIFT STAMPS.
SCOLDING THE ENEMY
It happened in the Poelcappele
sector. The hottest fighting of
Haig’s recent drive centered there.
Stretcher-bearers were constantly
being shot by the Germans. When
a count revealed that one hundred
and nine of them had been shot out
of two hundred and fifty on duty,
this particular British medical offi
cer’s sporting sense and indignation
led him to act. He say three out
of a group of four streacher-bearers
shot down before his own eyes. The
Red Cross flag fell. The officer
stepped out from behind a shelter,
picked up the emblem supposedly re
garded as invilate by international
agreement, and deliberately marched
on to the German lines. The Ger
mans, utterly astonished, stared at
him. Standing alone in front of
their guns, he read them a lecture
in the choicest of German epithets.
“Only swine,” he concluded, "are
capable of sniping Red Cross men
engaged in rescuing sufferers from
the mud!”
Then he turned his back and slowly
walked back 'to his own lines. ’rhe
Germans were so taken aback they
didn’t fire until a contemptuously
defiant wave of the officer’s hand
marked his last appearance from
under cover.
The lectul 3 could have been rather
costly for him, but it manifests the
spirit that German behavior is sure
to arouse.
* * t- * *
THE OLD LADY’S LAUNDRY
Round the town of B- the Ger
man shells were very busy and
amazingly accurate in aim. Am
munition dumps, camouflage batter
ies—not a day but some one of them
went up in smoke.
Such unerring aim on the part of
the enemy always indicates more
than average “intelligence”; for no
aviator can photograph things under
the ground. So we were all put on
the qui vive for suspicious characters
but though the town was small, we
failed to find any until—
One day a young aviator, scent
ing for trouble from the sky. al
lowed his eye to rest on some bed
sheets spread on a lawn.
Of course white always shows up
well against the dark background
of the earth. That is why the land
ing stages are so painted, and that
is why we laughted at this chap,
who was not much more than a
novice, when he came down with
his story about the old lady’s laun
dry. She was a very old lady, dod
dering and quite poor, we had de
cided, or she would not have re
mained quite so close to the front
and taken in the washing of all and
sundry visitors.
However, though we ' laughed at
him, he received instructions from
headquarters not to let that laundry
out of his eye- He didn’t. And on«
day he reported those sheets as lying
in the position of the letter V. The
next day they resembled an R. Everj
day they were there.
So we investigated. And the boj
was right. Those sheets were being
used as a semaphores to point ou<
to enemy airmen positions wortl
the shelling.
Soon the old lady ceased her sig
naling forever.
• .* * *
Dr. F. L. Forbes, who has beei
touring Interior Alaska in • the in
terest of the Presbyterian Sunda;
School Board, arrived in Seward re
cently. Dr. Forbes will visit La
, touche, Kennecott and other place
before returning to his headuarter
at Juneau
1 t
BAKER’S VISIT TO FRANCE
• I
V
Secretary Baker’s first work after!
his conferences with French states
men and American generals at the
capital has been to begin to study
what the Americans are doing and
ought to do in France by a survey
of a great port department.
“I am still absorbing,” said he at
the end of a fourteen-hour day. "I
must say frankly that I did not
know the immensity of the enter
prise which we have undertaken in
opening new ports, and when I see
what we have accomplished here I
am satisfied.”
The American war secretary at
the particular port in question was
attended by Gen. Pershing, Major
Gen. Black, Brig. Gen Atterbury
and the officers of the engineers
who have been creating a vast new
equipment for docking and unload
ing ships.
The secretary walked three miles
along the American army’s dock
front, already constructed or in pro
cess of construction, as an exten
sion to the berths for a number of
ships placed at the disposition of
the Americans by the French gov
ernment. Two miles of this new
sea frontage was marsh on October 1
last. The ground has been filled
in from dredgings in deepening the
water-fronts and ships are already
alongside some of these new berths.
On other parts of the frontage con
creted warehouses are going up and
a great system of switches has been
laid or is being laid.
“I like to come ut here once a
week,” said a colonel of the engin
eers to the correspondent, "and see
how different things look from what
they did the week before. I almost
lose my way.”
40 Big Ship* Can Unload at Once
This new dockage with two other
new frontages being developed in
connection w'ith it, will allow of
forty large, or sixty medium sized
steamers to be unloaded simultan
eously.
Mr. Baker’s questions were fre
quent, penetrating and often tech
nical when the engineers were ex
plaining the railway plexus connect
ing the various ports with the bases
in the interior. He asked particu
larly about grades, so as to estimate
the requirement in engine power and
the heaviness of loads. He rather
astonished the engineers by the de
tailed character of his questionings,
which touched the very problems
that bother them most.
At a heavy artillery training
camp Secreary Baker saw a battery
of long range large calibre guns
put into position. They were swung
over by automobile tractors and
shallow recoil trenches were dug
quickly but with unerring method.
Mr. Baker took a stand close to one
of the great pieces and followed the
explanations of the major in com
mand. It was one of the new guns
from a French workshop and of a
type with which the American ar
tillerists are already making a rep
utation on the sectors at the front.
Sights Giant Gun In Camp.
The secretary had been told by
French officers of the American
gunners’ skill in handling this wea
pon, in the management of which
the French artillerists heretofore had
considered themselves unexcelled.
Mr. Baker became so interested that
he mounted the chief gunner’s stand,
looked through the master sight and
watched the adjusting of the piece
to the range markings.
The secretary train arrived at an
important town near the port at
8 o’clock in the morning. The prefect
of the department, the French gen
eral comma? ..g the district, and
numerous American officers were
there to welcome him. His reception
was simple. The band, as secretary
Baker and Gen. Pershing issued from
1 the station, sounded the salute to the
; colors, and a battalion of American
i soldiers stood at salute. That was
the only ceremony of the day ex
cept a small review of tne troops
at the artillery camp.
Official lunches and dinners are
i by the secretary’s request ommittee
- from his program. He and Gen
r Pershing remained aboard the trail
- at night and spent most of theii
- traveling days in business.
3 Biggest of Its Kind In Europe
3 The american secretary of wa;
spent a large part of one day in i
crude observation car (which was
only a flat car, hastily fitted at the
lunch hour with pine benches), go
ing through the railway yards of
the American forces, which spread
over the lowlands bordering a cer
tain waterfront in France. They
will be the biggest thing of the kind
in Europe when finished—something
to bring railway engineers from afar
in France to see.
The trackage will be 228 miles
and will provide for 2,500 incoming
freight cars and 2,500 outgoing cars
as well as 3.200 on the interior
switches.
Dredges are at work along the
waterfront, and nearby warehouses
of steel and galvanized iron are ris
ing. This development is purely
for American military requirements
and will provide a rather small port
in France with potentialities equal
to those of Hamburg, as one of the
French officers said to the corres
pondent.
With the sole object of winning
the war, the Americans are expend
; ing in this region on permanent
works about $4.00),000.
Secretary Baker watched for some
; time in another yard the assembling
' and setting up of the parts of Ameri
' can-built locomotives. One hundred
and seventy-two have been put to
■ gether so far, but it is intended
; to send out from these shops 1,100.
Bray Taken Out of Mule
i The secretary visited the remount
j shop, which for the most part con
sisted of immense mule stables.
| Here the Americans have adopted
French veterinary practice, extraet
1 ing the “bray” from a mule by a
slight surgical operation on the nose,
so that the silvery bray, which could
! be heard a mile or two on silent
I nights at the front, will become a
i harmless wheeze—not enough to
awaken the enemy and draw his
1 shellfire.
| Mr. Baker also visited wounded
j Americans, talked with them and
i listened to men’s experiences.
At the end of the day, back
aboard the train. Gen. Pershing said:
“I had long urged the secretary
to come to France. Now that he
is here we are delighted that he
means to take the time to master
the details of our situation. As our
chief, who carries all our military
effort at home and abroad in his
mind, he is seeing with is own eyes
what we are doing on this side, and
Lhis visit is a personal inspiration
I to every officer and man.”
Secretary Baker said to the cor
respondent:
“These days have been worth my
trip across the Atlantic in the infor
mation and encouragement which
they have given me. I have seen
only the effort in two ports, only
the receiving depots of the great war
plant which we are constructing. But
I have seen enough to convince me
that we now have an 'organization
which will meet the problem, with
its increasing volume of demand of
coupling up the ports of embarka
tion at home with the ports of de
i barkation in France.”
“I find that tin written reports
have given me an inadequate idea
of the difficulties, which the enemy
said we could not overcome, and
which we are overcoming. After her
long and stout-hearted defense
i France could spare us little material
or labor for our purposes except by
ill-advised diversions from her own
organization. She could offer us
j land on which to raise our structures
) and the right of way for our com
munications.
“I should like to pay a tribute to
the men who began last summer and
fall to bring into being the blue
prints of a great conception, which
is now advanced enought to yield
conviction of success to any ob
server, and a tribute to our engin
eers and experts from civil life in
all branches of the regular engin
eers in command of an increasing
army of workers, all doing their
part.
“They come from a pioneering
people, and they have brought to
France a pioneering energy. They
have turned marshes into docks, fac
. ing waterways, which they will
dredge, sent out a spur of railway
track and built warehouses and the
. I necessary supplemehtary plants for
t a system which will despatch along
COONEY MOTEL
Not Better Than the Best,
But Better than the Rest.”
NENANA .... - ALASKA
FOWLER & MORRIS
GROCERIES
DRY GOODS
COMPLETE LINE LOWEST PRICES
SOFT WATER PURE SOAP
HOUSECLEANING TIME HAS COME
HOUSEWIVES SAVE WORRY AND TROUBLE BY HAVING
Your Laundry Done Rough Dry
GARMENTS READY TO IRON AND FLAT WORK FINISHED
20c a Pound
LACE CURTAINS AND BLANKETS AS FINISHED WORK ONLY
NENANA STEAM LAUNDRY
ALLRED & BENNETT
SANITARY SNOW WHITE
oockx>ooooooockxx)oooockx>oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
t
the lines of communication to the a
front—food, clothes, guns, ammuni- >>
tion and all the material which the v
resources of our country can supply,
to be transported by ships which we
are building.
“We owe it to their devotion and
efficiency that the troops in action J
shall not want the means of strik- v
ing blows. I only wish every Ameri- e
can could see this work as I saw it. a
I ceased to be an official while I i
thrilled as a citizen with pride and t
satisfaction over the ever-increasing
force which we shall bring to the aid V
of the Allied armies in France.’’ 'f
cache'
BUSY
Fifty men will be employed' i
throughout the approaching mining I
season on the dredge by the Cache ;
Creek Dredging company on Cache c
creek, according to a statement made 1 c
CREEK HAS P
TIME AHEAD:
t Anchorage, by Charles R. Harris,
eneral manager for the company,
ho left the railroad town with a
arty of seven men recently for the
roperty.
More men will be employed this
ear than last and, with favorable
•eather conditions prevailing for op
rating the dredge, the most profit
ble season of the company’s work
i the Cache creek district is an
ieipated.
The supplies needed for the dredge
ave been freighted in over the ice
rom McDougal to the camp on
'ache creek and upon the completion
f the necessary repairs to the dredge
duch were commenced on April 15.
ctive mining work will start.
A letter received recently by the
'aldez Prospector reports living en
rmously high in Seattle, with wages
>w in proportion. Common labor
i quoted at $3.50 to $3.75 per day.
lent is out of sight and laborers
re compelled to go a long ways
ut of the city to secure rents they
an pay at the prevailing salaries.
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WS.S.
■WAR SAVINGS STAMPS
ISSUED BY THE
UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT
The habit that
makes men rich •
Saving is a habit—the habit that makes
men rich.
While the Government needs the money
that will be invested in the War Savings
Stamps, there are other, and simpler meth
ods that could be used to raise this two bil
lion dollars.
The greater purpose of War Savings Stamps
is to give every man, woman and child a
personal part in financing the war for free
dom and to teach the most beneficial habit
in life—the habit of thrift. So that when
the war is over the people will have saved,
out of the high wages of these days, some
part of their income, as a provision for the
future.
Look out for your personal future. Make
certain of it by buying War Savings Stamps
now, while you can. They pay 4 per cent
interest, compounded quarterly, and are
backed by the strongest treasury in the
world.
THEY EARN MONEY
THEY SAVE LIFE AT THE
FRONT, BY HELPING UNCLE
SAM WIN THE WAR.
BUY THEM AT THE
POSTOFFICE
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