m
Seward Daily Gateway
ivjnijViBEK ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOLUME XV. NUMBER 533.
WBemmmmwma
-EWARD, ALASKA TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1930.
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HEADLESS BODIES FOUND ON
WIND SWEPT WESTWARD SHORES
ADD ANOTHER ALASKA MYSTERY
KODIAK JURY UNABLE TO DETERMINE MEANS
OF DEATH THAT OVERCAME TWO ADVEN
TURERS ON BLEAK REACHES OF WIDE BAY
SOUTHWEST OF KANATAK.
From off the bleak and wind swept shores of Wide
Bay, 20 miles southwest of Kanatak, comes an unsightly,
* almost wierd spectacle; a display of the bones of two
men whose life history is unknown and the story of
whose demise has never been told.
It may be a story of death by starvation. They may
have drowned and their bodies swept ashore by the
winds and tides of the sea. They may have died of the
‘‘flu,” or a brown bear may have had a part in their un
doing. It is also not beyond the range of reason to say
that may have been murdered. Further mystery is
added by the mere act that the two bodies were found
dose together. _
Regardless of how eternity dawn- j
ed upon the two men the following
facts have been developed. About !
Oct. 1, J. P. Watkinson. book
keeper for Erskine Co., Kodiak,
reported to Kodiak Deputy U. S.
Marshal Boyer that he had been
told by a relative of Ottar Hofstad
that while fishing for salmon in
Wide Bay his party found the body
of a man in fairly good state of
preservation and at a spot well de- .
scribed on the shores of the bay. j
Boyer wired his suoerior officer, H !
P. Sullivan and after a couple of
days received instructions to go to1
Wide Bay, and, if found, bring the
body to Kodiak for an autopsy and
inquest. He chartered the S- S.
Olive, Captain J. A. Johnson and
on the second day reached the bay
and the exact soot where he was
bold he would find the body. In
stead of finding the body in good
state of preservation, this is who*
he found.
Tucked up under the foot of an
.most perpendicular cliff the
Marshal, Fred Mahle, and Ben F.
Pinks (the two latter being the
crew of the Olive) found the par
tial remains of two men. The skulls
of both were missing. The bodies
had been placed on two rough
pieces of boards and then covered
with rocks. In one pair of shoe
packs the feet of two men had
been thrust. Diligent search was
made for the heads but to no avail.
The bones were carefully gath
ered, wrapped in canvas and brot
to Kodiak. October 6th an inquest
was held- Doctor L. Pryer. while the
the Jury were examining the bones
explained to them why he knew
the bones were those of two in
stead of one man. This was appar
ent, as nearly all the bones of the
two men were in evidence. At the
hearing the witnesses testified in
substance as related and
Dr. Pryer gave expert testimony
calling bones by awful names
that neither the Jury, the Com
missioner and no one else but the
Doctor could understand. The Jury
then signed a verdict prepared by
the U. S. Commissioner of Kodiak,
in which they found that the re
mains were of two human beings
but that they could not determine
the cause or manner of death.
The jury consisted of Geo. O.
Thompson, C. R King, O. E. Olsen,
Louis Thompson, John Norton. Her
man Hendrickson.
Efka Pestriakoff, born in Kodiak
77 years ago, and who comes the
nearest to being an Undertaker of
anyone in these parts was em
ployed by the Coroner to bury the
remains. Here is where he struck a
snag. The cemetary is on a side
hill and the cemetary association,
recently formed requires that the
heads of deceased people buried
therein shall be placed up hill and
Pstriakoff was so informd. He went
to the Commissioner and wanted to
know what to do when there were
no heads. It is said he was told to
place the top ends of the bones
up hill and if he couldn’t tell which
were the top ends, to scramble and
bury them.
This writer has lived in Alaska
and Yukon Territory 32 years, 17
of which were spent in the hills.
He has hunted sheep, caribou and
moose, and has killed many.
From this experience he firmly
believes wolverine decapitated these
men before their remains were
found and given the crude burial
herein before mentioned- The first
thing a wolverine takes on his first
visit to a mountain sheep carcass
is the head and he does the same
thing with a young caribou, and
they carry them away to their dens,
often miles away in some slide from
a rocky cliff. If wolverines had ta
ken the heads after the bodies
were placed where they were found
the bones would have been }
tered and the rocks rolled away.
. SMITH CUPS FIHE
. DAYS FROM RECORD
PORT DARWIN, Aust., Oct. 20,
(JP)—Wing Commander Charles
Kingsford Smith arrived here
from the Island of Timor estab
lishing a new record of nine
days and 23 and one-half hours
for a flight between England
^ and the Australian continent.
The previous record was 15
* cays and was established by
3ert Hinkler in 1928.
GAME BY TONS
Paris, Oct. 21, (/P)—Six hours
after the game shooting season op
ened in France 12 and a half tons
of hare, partridge and woodcock
were offered for sale at the cen
tral public market. The entire
quantity was sold within fe tew
minutes.
650 BURN TO DEATH
CANTON, China, Oct., 20, (IP)—
Six hundred and 50 persons were
burned to death in a fire which
swept the tea house district of
Wuchow, Eastern Kwangsi.
NOTED ALASKAN AVIATORS
ENROUTE TO WENATCHEE
FOR TAKE-OFF
SEATTLE, Oct., 21, (fP)—.Pilot!
Frank Dorbandt and his il^rtner, ,
Mechanician Alonzo Cope, hopp
ed off for Wenatchee on the first
leg of a flight to Anchorage.
Dorbandt claims the logical
route to Alaska’ is via Wenat
chee as flying this route they
will escape fog and bad weather
along the coast. They will fly
behind the coast range instead
of to the south of them. He in
timated that Wenatchee may
be the terminal of the Pacific1
International Airways of Alas-,
ka.
Dorbandt expects to leave
Wenatchee Wednesday on the
light to Anchorage stopping on
ly at Whitehorse, Yukon Terri
tory.
MISTER IF CHIU
REJECTS 853 CLU5
IF PUBLIC UTILITIES
MINNEAPOLIS, Oct., 21, (/Pi—
j Edward Stringer, special master
in chancery, rejected 8505 claims
. filed by the Public Utilities Con
' solidated Corporation, charging
i the corporation has been paying
dividends "illegally, unlawfulyy
j and improperly” for more than
j a year prior to the time it col
lapsed with other concerns of
' the W. B. Foshav system.
The ruling determined the
; corporation has enough resourc
| es to pay its debts provided its
| rejection to some of the disputed
• claims were approved.
PLIES CRASH I
MIO-1' TWO KILLED
TRENTON, N. J„ Oct., 20, (/Pi—
, Two pilots, R. W. Mackie and
| George Zinn, were killed when
I their ships crashed rounding the
i first pylon in the free-for-all
races at the All Eastern Air
meet.
Witnesses said Zinn clipped
the tail of Mackie’s machine as
they turned at the first marker.
Both planes fell, Zinn in
flames. Mackie’s ship was demol
ished and wreckage was strewn
over a wide area.
TRE STOCK MARKET
Int. Tel.
A. Can .
Stand. N. J.
Richfield .
Zellerbach
A. Juneau
U. Cal.
Goldman
Lehigh .
A. Juneau.
Bancorporation
Kennecott .
Radio .
Steel .
Cans. Gas.
Cities .
Carbide .
Motors .
Durant .
. 29
. 116
. 56
no sale
... 7
6
. 30
. 11
. 8
. 6
. 27
. 26
23
149
96
24
. 63
35
. 1
It! I BOARD
VESSEL FOB SEATTLE
TOKYO, Oct., 21, (/P)—Brom
ley is enroute to Seattle on the
President Jefferson instead of by
airplane as he had planned.
Gatty is still here, ill from the
effects of gas poisoning receiv
ed during their attempted flight
when the fliers covered almost
half of the distance to America.
Bromley has stored the plane
and said he would return next
spring and attempt the flight
again.
IT
A suggestion that the City of Se
ward build a new city hall or muni
cipal building to house the fire de
partment. council chamber, muni
cipal hall or gymnasium and a city
clerk’s office came in for much ani
mated discussion at a meeting of
the city council Monday night. It
was not up for official action of
any kind but came informally as
an idea suggested by Councilman
Swetmann, who thought that such
a building might be desirable on
the city property just north of the
city morgue on fourth avenue or
Main street. The decrepit condi
tion of the present fire hall and the
need of a municipal gymnasium
were elements of the discussion. No
idea was arrived at concerning the
probable cost cr K”f
it was apparent that eacn
man will give the subject deep con
sideration.
With Mayor McMullen in the
chair there were few routine bus
iness matters disposed of includ
ing the approval of four applica
tions for city lots. Two of these
were for Paul Svedeen, one for Mr
Taylor in the Laubner Addition and
one for T. P. Lorang. adjoining his
present homesite. Ash cans were
authorized for the Seward General
Hospital and it was reported by
the public utilities committeee that
a telephone had been installed in
the school building. John Nelson
was given permission to tear up
the old wooden sidewalk in front
I of his lot on Third avenue and to
! replace it with a cinder walk.
REICHSTSG GIVES
APPROVAL CHANCELLOR'S
FINANCIAL IMS
BERLIN, Oct., 21, (/P)—By a
margin of 82 votes the Reichstag
gave Chancellor Bruening coali
tion of government and put a
new complexion on German pol
itics.
The result was unexpected be
cause the elections increased
fascists on the right from 12 to
107 seats; the communists left,
54 to 77.
The parties in coalition have
engaged in internal rows but
the three year program of finan
cial reforms presented, won the
confidence of the majority.
The fascists lost prestige in
the recent street rioting. A safe
majority is expected in the
Reichstag before it reassembles
on December 3.
FIRST REPORTS HAD IT 280
PERISHED; SOME FAILED
PUNCH CLOCK
ALSDORE, Germany, Oct., 21,
{/P,—Thirty miners were killed
and 40 injured and about 100
are unaccounted for under
ground, by an explosion of dy
namite in a shaft of the Anna
mine.
Victims were buried in the
wreckage on two levels, at 1,200
and 1,500 feet.
Previous reports said more
than 200 were killed but it was
revealed the workmen who had
! escaped had left for home with
! cut punching the time clock.
Dynamite exploded 700 feet
! underground from a cause as
i yet undetermined.
Mine officials said rescue work
is slow because the main en
trance was made impassable and
victims must be carried to
another shaft.
b
* m
LISTED IN CHICAGO .AS PCB
LIC ENEMY; BAIL SET AT
50,000 ‘SMACKERS’
WAUKEGAN, 111., Oct., 21, (JP)
—George “Bugs” Moran, former
North side gang leader and a
rival of A1 Capone, was arrest
ed at Cassidy’s roadhouse.
Moran made no resistance
when confronted by a constable
and five detectives. He was tak
en to Waukegan and jailed on
a vagrancy charge with bail
set at $50,000.
Moran and his body-guard,
Leo McGovan, have been sought
for months. McGovan, it was be
lieved, had been slain but later
information dispelled this thot.
Both are listed in Chicago as
public enemies. Moran will be
questioned about the slaying of
Joe Beatche Sam Fellar and
Frank Quark at Cross Lake, Illi
nois, May 31. The three were
shot dead by enemies.
LEAPING USE FAILS
STOCKHOLM, Oct., 21, UP)—
How a young cow moose failed
to hurdle a motor bus on a road
just outside this city is one of
the tales told this summer to il
lustrate the rapidity with which
the animals have multiplied.
The animal, grazing at the top
of a cut in the highway, became
confused by the lights, tried to
clear the road at one leap and
landed on the radiator, crushing
it and fatally injuring herself.
There is no open season on fe
male moose and bulls can be
shot during only a few days
each year. One of the big an
nual hunts is given on the roy
al preserves by King Gustav.