SEWARD DAILY GATEWAY
OF SEWARD, ALASKA
Established, August 19, 19U4
Published daily except Sunday by
Gateway Publishing Co.
Elite: cu in lie postoffice at Seward,
Alaska, as second-class mail matter.
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entitled to the use for republication
of all news credited to it or not other
wise news published herein.
All rights for republication of spe
cial dispatches herein are reserved.
METROPOLITAN JOURNALISM
In a recent editorial we confessed
our ignorance as to the meaning of a
short headline in an exchange, and
to fill our cup of humiliation to the
brim, the metropolitan daily comes
out with a column of explanation of
the following:
“Kasson Dared the Blighting
Breath of Ymir, Braved the
Rage of the Jotuns into the
very Heart of Neflim.”
At the time we wrote the criti
cism we had a hangover from the
night before, and after trying it on
our phonograph and upside down,
concluded it was a cross-word puzzle
and handed it over to the office force
for elucidation. Our foreman said
that Neflim was a Montenegrin at
Anchorage who was chore boy at the
paper, and our pressman said that
while the editor had been addicted
to Jotuns he understood that he had
nearly recovered. The stenograph
er opined that Ymir was a new face
powder, but she had not used it on
account of its color. And that’s
that.
Personally we felt like scratching
whenever we said it, and thot prob
ably somebody with a harelip had
coined the word “Neflims,” right in
the office.
Now that we have received the pe
dantic outburst from our metropoli
tan neighbor, all is serene and our
hose has been coiled down. Our
worthy colleague can smell the breath
of Jotuns any time he can get away
with it so far as we are concerned,
but it has ruined many a good man
in our time. The next volley of
verbiage emanating from the north
will pass unnoticed.
It just shows how dense we edi
tors can become and still hold our
jobs. Heathen mythology and an
Alaska editor should never blight the
breath of Ymir together.
A WORD FROM WASHINGTON
Senator Bartley Howard, in an in
terview given the Gateway Saturday,
following his return from Washing
ton and other Eastern cities, declared
that Senator Curry and other friends
of the Alaska Railway deprecated the
annual crop of charges emanating
from the Territory designed to in
jure certain Federal office holders.
We believe that this one fact has
done more to injure Alaska in the
minds of Congressmen than any other
thing. From time to time a mana
ger of the Alaska Railroad has been
appointed, and within a few weeks
the outpouring of criticism begins.
Hundreds of letters containing ac
counts of alleged wrong doings pour
into the heads of departments until
they are confused and disgusted, and
lay the matter aside with the oft-quot
ed remark that “Alaskans never know
what they want.”
And some times, being an Alas
kan and listening to Alaskans, we
wonder if they really do realize the
serious fault they have of harping
criticism of official acts; the cease
less nagging of bureau heads with
comments and useless advice. It is
a habit, because the average Alas
kan is generally a man of unusually
broad mind, and tolerant to a fault.
But he gets the idea that the Fed
eral government is all wrong and
that a little advice will go far to
ward smoothing out the tangles and
straightway writes a letter giving the
object of his wrath the devil and the
bureau head his opinions.
We believe, and have always con
tended, that the government should
pick out a man to run the railroad,
and then pull the plugs in the life
boats. Up to the present time we
believe every npinager of the rail
road lias been thoroughly competent,
and has given the country the best
in him for the development of the
country at large. With the possible
oxet ption of Mr. Smith, every offi
cial manager has been marked lo;
slaugnter by petty jea’v.usies outc.oo
P>ng in various railroad communi
ties and tiundreds of charges have
teen tiled.
Now, what is the matter with let
ting Mr. Smith run the railroad with
out giving him our advice. It can
not be worth much anyway, or we
would sell it to some man without
railroad experience who really need
ed it. Let’s get behind the new man
agement in his plans for developing,
not the railroad belt, but all of Alas
ka. The railroad is an all-Alaskan
project, and should help the entire
territory, and will, if we follow out
his plans to the letter. Mr. Smith
has had the experience; he is a prac
tical railroad man, and he is inter
ested in developing Alaska. Isn’t
that enough to warrant our support,
or must we handicap him as badly as
we have his predecessors.
EDITOR THOMPSON
TAKES HIS REST IN
SEWARD; LIKES IT
“Why are we here?” Thompson of
the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner an
swered this morning. “Why SHOULD
we be here? What excuse has ANY
man for being in Seward save that
he WANTS TO BE? I certainly am
not here to go into the newspaper
business against The Gateway. I am
here because Mother and the Baby
and myself were of the same belief—
that a little change of scene and rest
and escapement from work and coal
shoveling might be worth while. We
could have returned this morning, but
we didn’t; we had no desire to. Save
for business, and the other babies at
home, we wouldn’t care if we never
went back until we were warmed and
rested and ready to take our foot in
our hand and travel.
“The airmen could not fly in Fair
banks because they had no horizon—
no perspective. Stay in your own
back yard, looking down your old rat
hole, and your vision and understand
ing become constricted and an assess
ment to your own home town. Go
away from there for a few days, look
back upon your visioned home town
over the Everlasting Hills, and the
better you “get” it, the kinder and
more considerate you can be to every
one and everywhere therefor. I
needed a rest; the Girls put in with
me and are going to see that we get
it. Seward was the place chosen for
that.”
ANCHORAGE CANNERY WILL
OPERATE COMING SEASON
The Gorman Company of Seattle
will operate the old Anchorage Pack
ing company’s plant this season. Mr.
P. Wolden and Mr. W. W. Stolle ar
rived on the steamship Alaska, Mr.
inventory of the bankrupt Anchorage
Stolle going to Anchorage to make an
company’s plant at Anchorage. The
gentlemen have a lease on the proper
ty and are now looking for fishing
boats.
Nurmi Breaks Two
Miles Running Record
NEW YORK, Feb. 16.—Nurmi, the
speedy Finnish runner, accomplished
what was considered impossible for
any human being, when he made a
newT world’s record for the two mile
run in 8 minutes, 58 1-5 seconds. He
established a new mark for the mile
and three-fourths, in 7 minutes, 51
and 2-5th seconds, beating his former
record by four seconds.
After being lost for four years on
Baffin Land in the Arctic, Peter Fru
chen, a Danish explorer, was almosl
starved when rescued.
OFFERS PLAN TO LIQUIDATE
FRENCH DEBT
•KEYSTONE VIEW CO- NEW YOKK
Edward N. Hurley, former Chair
man of the Federal Trade Commis
sion, and now member of the Debt
Funding Commission, who has sub
mitted a plan for the settlement of
the French debt to the U. S. He
says a first payment in five years of
$100,000,000 would take care of the
principal and interest for 67 years.
On succeeding payments, half would
be invested in French Industrial
bonds maturing 25 years from date.
Sutherland Regulations
Approved by Secertary
SEATTLE, -Feb, 16.—The Alaska
Weekly has received Delegate Suther
land’s new oil regulations for Alaskan
fields, which have been approved by
Secretary Work. The regulations pro
vide notice that cancellation permits
must be published by the land office
at Anchorage, and that 62 days will be
allowed after publication for filing an
application for relocations. Drawing
by lots will be held the sixty-third day
of all lands advertised. Provision is
made that any person who goes to
the location may make a location dur
ing the 62 day period, and is then al
lowed six months from the date of lo
cation to present the lands for filing
at Anchorage. Actual locators have
prior rights to the ground located
and precedence in all filings, except
for similar actual locations made in
the field.
LURE OF DANCE HALL
RESULTS IN SUICIDE
(Stroller’s Weekly)
“He was 67 years of age and a pio
neer of Alaska.”
That is what a short telegraphic
account of a recent suicide in a cer
tain Alaska town said and in addition
to saying that weariness of life
prompted the rash act, it was all it
did say.
The first name of the man was
given wrong in the telegram, but. it
will not be corrected here.
It was in the fall of ’97 that an
honest tradesman, a Bavarian by
birth, then thirty-nine years of age,
arrived in Skagway from the outside.
He brought with him his wife, an at
tractive girl little more than half his
own age, and their baby boy only a
few months old.
The man, while highly educated as
well as being an accomplished musi
cian, preferred his humble trade and
the result was that his accomplish
ments were known to but very few.
Modest and of a retiring disposition,
the fellow made few intimate friends
and was but little known.
In those days the dance halls some
times started their services as early
as four o’clock in the afternoon and
the young wife of the honest trades
SEWARD CLUB
Under New
MANAGEMENT
OLD AND NEW
FRIENDS INVITED
GUS ANDERSON
ED ERICKSON
Liberty Theatre
One Show 8 P. M. Sharp
Your last chance to see
| The Purple Highway
All who saw this feature declare it very fine M
§U A compelling story story of the real Greenwich
§1 Village life. Of artistic Soldiers of Fortune
jj who fail and succeed.
| MADGE KENNEDY
as the girl who inspired the two failures to suc
II cess, does the finest works of her career.
MONTE BLUE AND VINCENT COLMAN
are great supports.
AND THE FABLE REEL
THE DARK HORSE
COPYAIQHTJJNOCRWOOO 4 UNOEAWOOD
Motion picture star now in Europe.
Reports are current that she is en
gaged to Bernard M. Baruch, Jr.
man, in passing them in going to and
from her home and the busy portions
of the town, often stopped and listen
ed to the music anc^ wondered what
was going on.behind the doors.
And thus she was standing one day
when a man approached her and said
“Come on in, Sister, and we will have
a dance!” She accepted the invita
tion and from that moment all inter
est in her husband, her baby and her
home was lost. It was the begnining
of the end. From that day on she
was a regular attendant at the dance
halls. Her husband remonstrated
but was told to chase himself. He
arranged for the care of their baby
and their home was scrapped.
Came a night when there was a
drunken fight and when the smoke
of battle cleared away the young wife
and mother was dead. It was claim
ed that she had killed herself. r
was also claimed that she had beer
shot by a jealous lover. However,
there was little law in Skagway at
that time, no fuss was made over the
affair which today lives only in the
memory of a few oldtimers.
Leaving his little son in Skagway
the father went to Dawson where lie
followed his trade and nursed his sor
rows for several years. Other fields
gold-tainted and alluring, were dis
covered and he went to them hoping
to find peace to his mind and rest foi
his tempest-tossed bosom. He never
dissipated and never spoke of the
trouble that was always on his mind.
But he never found peace. He sent
regular remittances to his son and
was always seeking a new location.
He was iii Juneau three years ago
and friends of former days remark
j ed on his aged and unusually morose
| appearance but those who knew* what
i he had been through and the bur
' den he had borne for nearly a quarter
of a century marveled not that he
was as he was. Nor were they sur
prised a week ago when they read
the short telegram previously men
tioned in this article. Overcome by
i
the burden which he had so long car
ried day after day and year after
year, during which time he sought
new scenes and new surroundings
only to find the weight of his bur
den increasing as time encroached he
finally surrendered and ended it all
by his own hand. Some may say
his last act was a cowardly one but
those who remember the tragedy
which entered into his life will desig
nate it as bravery rather than coward
ice and they will also have confidence
that when he fumbled for God’s latch
string on the day that he laid odwn
his earthly burden, he would find it.
Crown Clour
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