THE NENANA NEWS
Application made October 30, 1916, at the f’ostofiire at Nenana, Alaska, for
:ntry as second-class mail matter under the act ot March 2, 1879, bv The Ne
nana Printing Company.
Published Weekly by The Nenana Printing Company
Dav op Publication Saturday Edited by R. G. Sot thwdrth
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NENANA, ALASKA, SATURDAY, JANUARY 26, 1916.
GIVE US A CHANCE
Alaska is not being given a fair
chance to develop. By that, we do
not refer particulars- to the manner
in which the development of the
territory has been rough-locked by
the red tape of scattered bureau
administration. Nor is it , our de- ,
sire to burden Washington with our j
troubles at a time when the nation
is engrossed with more serious prob
lems. We merely mention the fact
that Alaska is getting the worst of
it by way of directing attention
to the possibilities of development
in this country.
We boast of the fact that, in aj
single month last year, our exports;
totaled more than twenty million!
dollars, and that the value of our j
productions, since 1867, exceed i
seven hundred millions. And yet i
development honestly may be said j
to be standing still. We are not j
receiving the benefit from this won
derful production. As Manager Me- j
Pherson, of the Alaska Bureau, j
Seattle Chamber of Commerce Club, j
recently expressed it, “a country j
that can produce and ship to the j
outer world products in one month j
of a value far greater than all of
Seattle’s industries, is capable of a
great and prosperous development
and of supporting a largo papula-;
tion.” The rich resources of Alaska.,
he points out, arc being ‘‘creamed, j
while nothing is being done toward
replenishing or assuring a continu
ation of the rich outflow. The :n
tensive development that .should be
encouraged and fostered, especially
at this time of great production, is
lacking, with the result that Alaska
is not building up with the industries
and permanent populaton essential
to the prosperity and rational de
velopment of the Northland.
One of our troubles is that we
do altogether too much exporting
of raw materials. The copper that
we mine in Alaska, for instance,
should be smelted in Alaska, instead
of being shipped in a raw state to
Tacoma and other Outside cities,
our white spruce timeber, for which
the war has created a very great
demand, should be manufactured in
to aeroplanes right hero in Alaska;
there should be wood pulp and paper
mills along the coast of Alaska,
turning the overflow timber of our
forest reservations to good account:
our fishing industry should be
wholly Alaskan, with Alaskan em
ployees and the Alaska label oh
every can and case; and Alaskan
furs, of which we have produced
more than seventy-five million dol
lars’ worth, should be prepared for
use here in the territory, with higher
prices for trappers and lower prices
for those who buy.
We send altogether too much
money out of the country. We are
making the transportation compan
ies rich and fostering Outside in
dustries which should be in Alaska.
We must keep some of this money
in the territory. We must stop the
yearly drain, or Alaska will never
be developed.
SEND THEM HOME
Of the many enemy aliens in the
United States engaged in attempts
to assist the Fatherland by blowing
up American munition plants, plac
ing powdered glass in food supplied
to our soldiers and sailors, distribu
ting poisoned pollen throughout the
agricultural districts and similar acts
inspired by their devil of a master,
it is safe to say that very few would
welcome the opportunity to return
to their native land. They are just
pro-German enough to be dangerous
to the land of their adoption. For
a stipulated sum they will poison
the wells of their American neigh
bors, but the kaiser has not gold
enough to induce them to return to
Germany and fight in the trenches.
Nor would they exchange the free
dom of America for German rule
in time of peace. Til .dr presence in
the United States proves that. They
are here because America suits them
better than Germany; because in
this country they have not been held
down by the iron hand of military
rule. The freedom appeals to them,
but it has not made good citizens
of them. They are not patriots,
either of this country or their own.
They are just co.nmon murderers,
willing tools of the men who are
distributing the kaiser’s gold in
America.
If our government cannot see its
way clear to punish these offenders
as they should be punished, the next
best thing, in our opinion, is to send
them home, where they belong.
There are several ship 'oads of these
hirelings in America, already under
arrest. Why not send them across
the Atlantic, exposed to the fire of
their own submarines enroute. and
force them to land on German soil?
It would cost us several ships, no
doubt, but that would be cheaper
than maintaining a lot of intern
ment camps and it would help
greatly to rid the countrv of a men
ace which is becoming more serious
daily.
—O—
WHY IS A WARDEN?
The appointment of a game
warden to fill the vacancy shortly
to be created in this division, is a
matter in which the people of Ne
nana should feel more than passing
interest. The new warden should
be a Nenanaite, but whoever he is,
he should be directed to make his
headquarters here, where he will be
in easy reach of the hunting grounds
south of town.
It is a matter of common know
ledge in Ncnana that the slaughter
of moose, caribou and sheep goes
on continuously in the nearby hills,
in open defiance of the law. The
men who are killing off the game
at all seasons of the year, to feed
packs of idle dogs, are not in danger
of molestation now for the reason
that the expense funds allowed
wardens do not permit of long jour
; ncyings from headquarters.
The answer to that is the appoint
ment of a warden from among the
residents of Nenana, with instruc
jtions to establish headquarters suffi
| ciently close to the game country
i to insure proper policing of the dis
i trict. Nenana is entitled to this
: recognition and we have no doubt
Governor Strong will welcome any
1 recommendations that may be made
aiong the lines of better preserva
tion of game.
The first section of the American
' army's new experimental truck trans
port service has starteil from Detroit
: on its way to the Atlantic seaboard.
iThe trip is being taken in an effort
to relieve congestion in freight ter
minals by the overland use of motor
trucks. The plans have been worked
| out the by the quartermaster depart
ment and the Highways Transport
! committee of the Council of Na
tional Defense,
If the plan proves successful, it is
iestimated that the total relief to the
railroads, through the shipment to
, the coast under their own power of
the 30,000 war trucks the army has
i under construction, will amount to
: 090,000 tons. The trucks have an
, average capacity of three tons and
only two of them can be shipped by
rail in a 40-ton freight car. The
! new plpn will, therefore, relieve
fifteen thousand 40-ton freight cats,
iand will also permit the transporta
tion of 90,000 tons of government
j materials to the coast from the iu
i terior storage depots. The actual
'number of freight ears which the
i plan will relieve, therefore, if suc
cessful, will be 17,250 forty-ton
| cars.
In reply to the telegram received
i from John M. Bowman, at Washing
' ton, D. C., head of the Hotel Con
i servation league, asking support of
■ the policy of Herbert C. Hoover,
j food administrator, Glen Bartlett,
jof Juneau, representing the league
in Alaska, recently wired as follows
direct to Mr. Hover:
“Hotel and restaurant men in Alas
ka resent the attack upon you in
I congress. You have been kind of
tough upon us here, Hoover, but we
were patriotic enough to follow in
structions without hollering. Want
you to know that we are with you
from the drop of the hat at all
times.”
NENANA TO HAVE
A NEW INDUSTRY
By John C. Murphy
We are told that one of the first
efforts of man at architecture was
to mold wet clay into cubes for the
erection of walls and houses. And
unbelievable as it may seem, there
i exists today in perfect preservation,
sun-dried bricks, made by the Baby
lonians and Egyptians over 4,000
years ago. On some of these are
valuable inscriptions relating to the
cause of the making. The cases
are many in which straw was used
with the clay to give it greater
coherence. »n the Bible, in Exodus
I, 14; V, 4-19, a narration is given
us of the Egyptians and Israelites
brick-makers. But nearer at home,
; and although scarcely less ancient.
| are the adobe bricks of Yucatan and
I Mexico. And wonderful is the story
| that can be seen, at the present day,
, in Colorada, Arizona, New Mexico,
i Texas and California, hundreds of
i these “adobe houses,” and although
' over 300 years old, are still inhab
ited. We have authentic evidence
that the Aztecs and other American
! aborigines were adopts at using this
! material and constructed wonderful
; and enduring archtecture out of it.
j Strange as it may seem, we have
no means of knowing the accurate
number of bricks manufactured in
the United States, but a conservative
j figure would be about 25 billion. Of
'this enormous output, over $1,000
1000 worth is exported annually.
With marvelous strides has this great
and valuable industry grown in the
l>ast few years in the United State's,
and yet the demand is more than
the make. In many parts of the
United States the proper and right
kind of raw material is scarce or
entirely absent. To most of us it
may be interesting to learn that
there are now in the United States
more than 100 different varieties of
brick made. Almost any conceivable
size, shap or hardness of brick can
now be gotten. Of course, there is
a great variance in the raw material.
Common brick for rough wall work
and filling comes from soft clays.
Fine face-brick comes from a higher
grade clay. Fire brick and vitrified
brick, both imperishable, is lormeil
nr made by the grinding up of shale,
fire-clay, quartz, spar, calcine, lime,
ochre and other similar hard ma
terials, by powerful machinery. Fire
brick is used exclusively between
the beams and joists of the modern
l skyscrapper building, to make it im
pervious to fire, and as it has been
j severely heated in its making, a fur
ther heat in any fire has little affect
on it. Vitrified brick, as we know,
is largely for street pavements.
| and wears for years.
Then again, the brick manufac
turer has another source of income,
in the making of terra-cotta tiling,
drainage pipes and beautiful colored
glazed bricks, used so much now-a
days for mantles and ornamental
work generally.
It is likely that between 70 and
1 80 per cent of all the brick made is
i the rough and semi-rough for wall
i work. To day most stringent fire
1 laws in the large cities of the United
States, compel the use of brick, stone
' or iron in the erection of buildings
within the fire limits. In many
I cities private homes are built of
brick, as cheaper and more lasting
than lumber. The slow, laborious
and old hand methods of making
1 brick have given away for up-to-date
; machinery methods, where one or
dinary machine can turn out 100,000
finished brick per day.
Mow brick-clay proper consists
largely of hydrated silicate of Alu
mina, with iron in varying quanti
; ties, and sand or free silica. It
i varies greatly in adhesiveness, hard
ness and value. Suitable brick clay
i is not so common as one would
! imagine. A community or city that
'has it contignous is indeed fortunate,
i It means tens of thousands of dol
lars if utilized.
How about Alaska? Well, up to
; the present, it has been found in but
I a few localities. And among these
I few, I was delighted to know that
| Xenana had immense bodies of high
i grade brick, terra-cotta, tile and
drainage pipe clay almost at her back
door. This means so much for Ne
nana and surrounding country. A
great industry will be built up here.
I have been on the site and taken
observations. The strata is ideal..
Then there is a yellow and blue
formation, the yellow lying on the
blue strata. A test of the size of
clay body in width and depth is
most assuring. Then I saw the lo
cality from which samples of both
the yellow and blue clay had been
taken, sent to Fairbanks, burnt by
crude methods in an improvised oven.
Afterwards I saw the formed brick
i and although the burning process
j was poorly done, the brick, on the
'whole, from each clay, yellow and
blue, showed up splendily in color
j and hardness. These sample bricks
are convincing proof of the great
industrial gold mine that Nenana
, has in her keeping. The writer has
jseen the Denny Clay Works, of
; Seattle, grow from a little one-story
' building and only a Seattle market,
until today its buildings cover acres
and its trade the entire Pacific coast,
and as far east as the Mississippi
river. Seattle, with her character
istic foresight, saw for the then little
industry, a future great and a won
derful field, and so her businessmen
gave it every possible encourage
ment and substantial material aid.
Here is Nenana’s chance. Will
she embrace it? I have every reason
1 to believe she will, and thus help
! to establish the first brick-making
; plant and other clay products in
; Alaska.
A question was put to me the
i other day, asking whether brick and
other clay products would and could
: stand the winter climate of Alaska,
i Well, the present day make of brick
! is a different article from the make
I of say 15 years ago. It is proving
j a successful test in Northern Min
! nesota, Dakota, Regina, Edmonton,
Winnepeg, Quebec and other extreme
northern towns, with a winter
climate in some of these places little
different of many parts of Alaska.
! 1 am reliably informed that Dawson,
I Yukon territory, contains one lone
' brick building, erected some 20 years
! ago, of poor quality of brick, that
i seeming is as good today as when
built. The burning of a brick eon
I trols its enduring qualities. A well
j burned brick is absolutely moisture
repellant and frost resistant. And
again, freezing and thawing weather
j are much harder on brick than where
; the frost is more steady and regular
I independent of any kind of low tem
perature.
Enterprising business men of Ne
nana have come forward to promote
a brick industry for Nenana. A
company has been formed called
Nenana Clay Products Company,
Incorporated. 1 am told the amount
of the capital stock of the said com
pany is $40,000; divided into 4,000
shares at $10 per share. The com
pany contemplates to establish a
small factory at first with a daily
output of fifteen to twenty thousand
brick, and this would involve a first
expenditure of about $10,000, for
the necessary equipment and ma
i chinery.
Lime is one of the necessaries in
in connection with building of brick.
This company informs me, that they
! will establish and nave its own lime
kiln near the Lignite creek coal
mines; have the same turning out
lime and ready to supply the demand
as soon as the government railroad
is prepared to handle shipments.
The manufacture of building brick
will be the company’s main industry
at first, but eventually other kindred
industries will receive appreciative
attention, such as paving brick, til
ing, sewer and water pipes, crock
ery, flower pots and electric light
insulators, including fire and vitri
fied brick.
And now, I would say, it is im
; possible to estimate the great value
to any community of such an enter
prise. A gratifying dinner-bucket
brigade is begun. Such an industry
like a magnet, will draw other in
'■ dustries around it. There will de
velop a steadily advancing out-of
town trade. This in surprising short
time may be developed, so that Ne
nann becomes a great distributing
point for all the surrounding coun
try, being as she is the railroad ter
minus, and really and truly at the
head of navigation and make her
as she is destined to be, a commer
cial and manufacturing center for
the entire Interior Alaska. Just as
suerly as the sun rises and sets, so
surely will this come to pass.
I believe it was Ralph Waldo Em
erson who said: “If a man can write
a better book, preach a better ser
mon, or make a better mouse-trap
than his neighbor, though he build
his home in the woods, the world
will make 'a beaten track to his doer.
District Attorney R. F. Roth and
Attorney Cecil H. Clegg were in Ne
nana during the early part of the
week on official business. During
their stay, each delivered an address
at the Coliseum, Mr. Roth choosing
the subject of Americanism, and Mr.
Clegg confining his remarks to the
war saving stamp campaign.
ELSEWHERE IN ALASKA '
A recent issue of the Petersburg
Weekly Report states that that town
is a horseless one all the delivering
being done with Ford cars. The
publication urges users of coal to
lay in their winter’s supply before
a heay snow comes and puts the
“Lizzies" out of business.
Arthur Fairchild, a Juneau young
man, has recently graduated from
the preliminary school of aviation,
and has gone East to take training
in the army aviation service.
_
The city council of Skagway has
voted the sum of $100 for the pur
pose of building a concrete base wall
around a piece of property in that
city for the purpose of maintaining
a permanent skating rink.
Eighty dollars per ton is iharged
for freight in the Ar'-in country,
with indications that it will go still
higher. As a consequence develop
ment work is at a standstill r.nd
many prospectors and miners are
leaving the country.
I _
The Cache creek placer district
wiil be rendered accessible when
the railroad reaches Talketna, and
the Alaska Road Commission com
pletes the road from that place to
McDougall, which is now being laid
out by Ross Kinney.
Hersehel Parker, who lias reported
the discovery of platinum in com
mercial quantity in the gravels of
the Kahittna river, left for New
York recently on the Alameda.
M. A. Ellis, of the Thunder Creek
Mining Co., was in Seward recently
attending to the transportation of
supplies for his company’s operations
next year. He reports a very sue-.
cessfui season and is preparing for
extensive operations next year.
William O’Brien recently took a
uantity of tin ore from his mine on
Lost river and will continue to work
through the winter. He has several
men in his employ.
John McGivney, editor of the
Nome Industrial Worker,left for the
Outside on one of the last boats.
C. M. Leland, former purser on
the Alaska S. S. Co.’s steamship Cor
dova, was recently killed in action
in France according to reports which
reached friends of his in Alaska.
George W. Palmer, the Knik mer
chant, will engage in the fish busi
ness at Snug harbor.
The Anchorage curfew law is
working regularly, pointing the
homeward trail to youths under six
teen. The bell rings at nine o’clock
nightly.
A report from Wrangell states
that several members of the crew
of the steamer Mariposa, who were
picked up by the steamer Ravalli,
became unruly on their way to
Seattle, and that the steamer put
back to Wrangell and placed the of
fenders in the custody of the deputy
marshal there.
I '
Chris Miehaelson, who took a shot
at young Julius Salinsky, a newsie,
in the Rainier bar of Seward, re
cently, pleaded guilty before U. S.
Commissioner Whittlesey, and was
sentenced to serve seven months in
jail. Miehaelson claimed tiiat his
act was done without malice.
A. R. Hoeras, a linotype operator
' on the Cordova Times, who left
recently for the States on account of
poor health, was taken off the boat
at Juneau, having suffered a severe
hemorrhage while on the way down,
| and later died at the hospital in
! that city He is survived by a wife
residing in Vancouvei
Commander E. H bodd, Pacific
Coast superintendent of the United
States na\y department, with head
quarters at San Francisco, has re
turned to his post after visiting all
the radio and cable stations in the
■ territory.
| Alex Shumakoff and John Judd,
i of Juneau, had been out just a week
from serving a sentence for peddling
j booze when they were brought back
[ to their old quarters again on the
same charge. They were caugut with
a jug of joy juice going to the In
dian quarter.
Peter Korth, of Anchorage, the
first native born Alaskan to enlist
in the army after the declaration
of war, is back in Anchorage again,
having been invalided home after
serving several months. Peter says
he feels all right, but the army doc
tors declare him physically unfit.
The five-ton gas boat Bertha,
owned by W. R. Hanlon, of Sitka,
was wrecked recently at Chichagoff.
The boat was tied to the wharf and
sunk during the night.
According to an article from the
Pacific Fisherman, a company ha-*
taken over an old tannery in Pitts
burg with the intention of exclus
ively handling fish skins. The com
pany advises the U. S. Bureau of
Fisheries that at the outset it will
be able to handle 150 skins daily
and is in the market for any skin,
two feet or more in length. *
The estimated budget for Alaska
the coming year by congress is as
follows: $7,365,758 for the Alaska
railroad between Anchorage and the
Interior; $64,000 for the completion
of the government court house at
Cordova; $125,00 for a lighthouse
at Cape Spencer; $7,000 for mine
inspection; $65,000 for agricultural
stations; $225,000 for education of
the natives; $72,500 for medical re
lief; $8,500 for reindeer; $37,500
for protection of game; $15,000 for
suppression of liquor traffic; $46.
500 expenses of the legislature, $10.
000 for road work; $147,415 for ,
cable service; $100,000 general fish
eries service, and $23,163 forest re
serve.
A letter to C. T. Boyles, of the
telephone and telegraph department
of the Alaska Engineering depart
ment from a friend in France states
that clothing such as is worn in
Alaska is one of the things sadly
missed by Northerners who have
gone to the front. His friend sent
and order for an O. D. parka, a fur
cap and a pair of mittens of hair
seal.
Union Hall Club Rooms
NOW OPEN
To Members and Their Friends
ALL ARE WELCOME
THESKOF HOUSE
Market Street at Second
\ Comfortable Rooms Spring Beds
Clean Bunks
EVERYTHING NEW and CLEAN
Highest Cash
Prices Paid for
RAW
purs
SIMSON’S