Edeln nrd Bnily G «
MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS.
VOLUME XX, NUMBER 249
SEWARD, ALASKA, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1925.
PRICE TEN CENTS
STRANGLES SELF
TO DEATH; LOCAL
HOTEL MIDNIGHT
CARL BERG SUICIDES BY HANG
ING SUSPENDED FROM
CLOTHES HOOK.
Drinking Night Previous
Hard-Working Man Was In Town
for Days Preparing to Work
Again This Morning.
Another victory for moonshine!
Hanging from three foot length
of light rope, attached to a common
black clothes hook, Carl Berg, aged
44 years, was found dead at mid
night last night in an upper room
of the Seward hotel, by a room
mate, Hans Simonson. Death was
attributed at the inquest as suicide
by means of strangulation.
Carl Berg apparently was in a jo
vial mood and not intoxicated an
hour prior to the finding of his
body, according to a number of lo
cal people who talked with him
W shortly before midnight. He had
been remaining in the hotel thru
out the entire day on account of hav
ing been in a fight, the night previ
ous, Tuesday, while in an intoxicat
ed condition, during which time he
had received a black eye. He did
not want to appear on the street as
he was very sensitive, and due ta
his eye disfigurement, it is stated,
be was having his meals brought to
the room. Following the occasional
drunks he periodically went on, he
always was morose, accumulated a
melancholy temperament and be
came heartily disgusted with himself
Albert Johnson, his .partner of nine
months, stated this morning.
Body Was Still Warm.
Upon the discovery of the bod>
in the room by Hans Simonson, Os
car Dahl, proprietor of the hotel was
notified immediately, who m turn j
called Marshal Reed. Dr. Baughman j
arrived shortly after the marshal, ]
both conducting an investigation of j
the body and room.
With the exception of the lower i
^ extremities of the body, it was still
warm, but it was ascertained death
had arrived a considerable period
before the discovery. The clothes
hook, the common variety made from
heavy wire.' and which it would
seem impossible, could support a
heavy weight, was screwed into the
wall at a height of approximately
five feet. Attached to the hook was
a nine thread, small rope, such as
is often used for lashing purposes.
This rope was about six feet long.;
The dead man was five feet and nine
inches in height, and when found
was hanging slumped down, in
a more of a kneeling position with his
face against the wall. There was a
heavy red indenture around the neck
caused no doubt, from the rope loop
which had a double knot in it.
Was industrious Workman.
Carl Berg was of Swedish descent
V and, according to Mr. Johnson had
taken out his first citizenship pa
pers in Seattle. He had been in the
United States, it is believed for the
last 20 years. As far as local knowl
edge is concerned, the only living
relatives he has are four brothers,
all living in Sweden. It was stated
he was a member of the Knights of
Pythias, fraternal order, having join
ed the organization in some small
town either in Oregon or Washing
ton. This could not be ascertained
definitely late this afternoon.
" He arrived in Seward around July
4, on the steamer Northwestern in
company with Albert Johnson. To
Mr gether they secured a station job
on the Seinas-Carlson cut-off, Sew
Pope May Convoke
Ecumenical Meet 1928
ROME, Sept. 17. (^—Vati
can circles considered it certain
today that the Pojpe would con
voke an Ecumenical Council in
1928 which is expected to bevthe
largest in the history of the
Catholic Church.
The last Ecumenical Council
wras held in 1869. There have
only been nineteen in the his
tory of the Catholic Church.
The first meet wras held in Mi
coea, Asia Minor in the year
325.
MEMORIAL TO LATE
PRESIDENT IS
! UNVEILED
VANCOUVER, B. C., Sept. 17. (/P)—
;The Harding Memorial, a semi-circu
: lar monument with an elevated center
containing a bronze tablet showing
Harding’s profile, and an exerpt of his
last address at Vancouver in the cen
ter, was unveiled today.
On the monument are two bronze
j female figures symbolizing the two
icouhtries, which hold an olive peach
; branch in their hands. At each end of
j the structure is an eagle.
The monument is thirty-seven feet
1 lojpg, thirteen feet high and ten feet
I deep. The figures are seven feet in
j heighth.
i Coolidge, the former secretary of
| state, and thirteen American gover
' nors sent messages of dedication.
VANCOUVER, Sept. 17. (£>)—While
| a gathering of ten thousand persons
! stood in reverent silence a tthe unveil
jing of the Harding Memorial, good will
j was dedicated by John Moss, president
! of the Kiwanis. Fank Willis, Ohio,
| speaking at the unveiling, expressed
' the belief that “Harding’s dying wish
States into a World Court.” The next
congress, by a substantial majority,
will ratify the entrance of the United
Sattes into the conference, he assert
ed.
ard-Kenai road. They completed
their contract in good shape just a
few days ago, Berg coming into town
while Johnson continued work with
the road crew in another capacity.
The dead man had planned leaving
Seward yesterday morning for Moose
Pass but changed his mind, saying
he would take this morning’s train
out to the workings.
Coroner’s Inquest Held.
The inquest was held immediately
last night, or early this morning,
with the following six \nen serving:
H. E. Ellsworth, Frank Skeen, Ger
hard Johnson, C. E. Johansen, J.
Henry and D. P. Gage. The verdict
reached was: “Suicide by means of
strangulation.”
Undertaker P. C. McMullen is pre
paring the body for burial. Funeral
arrangements will be made during
the day.
Marshal Supplies Information.
The local marshal’s office supple
mented additional details this after
noon. It is learned that Carl Berg
was a member of the Nehalem Lodge,
the Order of the Knights of Pythias,
No. 102, at Nehalem, Oregon, of
which E. C. Allen, is the master of
finance. Mr. Allen is being notified
i by telegraph today. A declaration
of intention to become a citizen of
the United States was taken out in
Seattle in 1918. Tthe full name is
given as Carl Edvard Berg, and he
was born in Shofde, Sweden, March
3, 1881. He was a former resident
of Karlstad, Sweden, but of late years
had been living in Seattle.
ALASKAN AND
SIBERIAN FURS
SOLD SEATTLE
THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY
FOUR THOUSAND IN RAW
PRODUCTS ON SALE
$ilver Foxes Head the List
Maska Mink Also Bring Good Prices
at Auction Held Yesterday—Red
Fox Sell for $26.00
SEATTLE. Sept. 17 (^—Seventy
five thousand Alaskan and Siberian
furs, valued at between $350,000 and
5400,000 were offered by the Seattle
Fur Exchange.
Alaska silver fox brought $210, the
highest price paid during the sale for
any fur.
Forty per cent of the minks offered
were from Alaska, and brought $15.
Early caught brought from $9 to $11.50
with late caught light browns from $7
to $9; late caught ordinary pale $4 to
$6.50.
Alaska interior red fox brought $26;
ordinary one’s and two’s $20 to $22;
three’s and four’s $12 to $16.
Fifty per cent of the white fox sold
in lots, ones’ and two’s $35 to $40.
First class blue fox bifmght $124.00;
average lots $45 tov$75.
Cross fox, poor, except dark speci
mens.
Large number one lots of lynx brot
$28 to $30. All other lots averaged
$18.
The best lots of ermine brought
$2.20; average $1.50.
Nearly all otter offered were sold,
the large ones bringing $25 to $27 and
the average $22.50. The auction is
continuing all day today.
GEOLOGICAL PARTY
BACK STATES FROM
SURVEY IN NORTH
FITZGERALD AND SMITH FOUND
*01L IN ARCTIC RESERVATION
IN LARGE QUANTITIES
SEATTLE. Sept. 17. (/P)—Gerald
FitzGerald, head of the federal geolo
gical survey party arrived at Victoria
from nome on a recent steamer and
said oil exists in the Point Barrow
district and can be developed econo
mically if the field will produce oil in
a large scale.
“We spent the spring and summer
mapping the Upper Colville fiver dis
trict, formerly a totally unexplored
country, and the south west corner of
Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4. We
mapped geologically, and topographi
cally seven thousand miles of wholly
unexplored country to determine the
extent of the oil area.
“This we accomplished, as our mis
sion was to determine the source of
the oil, rather than whether it can be
produced in paying quantities,” said
Mr. FitzGerald.
“The results of our investigation
can’t be given now. We traveled
a thousand miles over the trails by
dog team, six hundred miles by canoe.”
FitzGerald, and W. R. Smith came
from Washington in March and went
into the country via Seward, Nenana,
and the Kotzebue district, picking up
Fay Delzene and W. R. Ellankenship
as mushers, making a party of four.
The party proceeded up the Noatak,
across the Brooks range and into the
headwaters of the Colville river. From
there they went down the Colville to
the Arctic ocean.
BRIDGE CLUB TO MEET
The Seward Bridge Club will meet
with Mrs. Henry Thoday tomorrow af
ternoon at one-forty-five.
Dr Welch of Nome In
Seattle En Route East1
SEATTLE, Wn., Sept. 17. (/P)
—Dr. Curtis Welch, the only
physician in Nome last winter
during the diphtheria epidemic
arrived here today en route to
New Haven, Connectcut for
a year’s vacaton. The Doctor
has been in Alaska eighteen
years, for the most part in
Nome.
Dr. Rex Schwartz of Seattle
will take his place.
SEARCH FOR SIX
WHO ESCAPED
SEATTLE JAIL
POSSE AND HOUNDS LOOKING
FOR MEN ON WHIDBY
ISLAND
SEATTLE, September 16. (/P)—The
! search for the six prisoners who es
caped from the King County jail yes
terday, after holding up three jailers,
two doctors, and one attorney, locking
them in a cell, has shifted to Whidby
island, across the sound from Everett.
Snohomish county Sheriff O’Cullogh
has taken his posse and bloodhounds
there to look for the escaped men. An
inquiry will be made to determine how
the men obtained four pistols and a
knife fastened pn the end of a broom
stick.
POWDER EXPLOSION KILLS
TWO IN VIRGINIA MINE
WHEELING. W. Va., Sept. 17. (/P)—
Two persons were killed and several
badly injured in an explosion caused
by fifteen cans of powder igniting on
?a mine car of the Elmer Grove oCal
company. Pock Sande, motorman and
William Kimball, tapper, are the dead.
BIG EXPENDITURE
FROM ANCHORAGE
OFFICE OF A. R. C.
SUPERINTENDENT OF ALASKA
ROAD COMMISSION, THIS DIS
TRICT REVIEWS SEASON’S
WORK EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE
SEWARD GATEWAY.
$200,000 Spent On Roads
Few Less Important Projects Are
Not Included, Nuka Bay, Lake Ke
nai and Fairview District.
Hawley Sterling, superintendent
of the Alaska Road Commission, in
charge of the department’s’ work in
this district, during his brief visit in
Seward the first of the week, an
nounced that during the present sea
son the sum of over $200,000 had
been disbursed out of the Anchorage
office on road projects in this divi
sion this year, including the Mc
Kinley Park road. Supt. Sterling
went West on the Admiral Watson,
on his way to Homer where road
construction has been under way all
summer. From Homer, he believed
he would go to Anchorage in a small
gas boat, but would perhaps, return
to his Anchorage office, v.a Seward.
Reviews Season’s Work.
Mr. Sterling gave exclusively to
the Gateway the following review
of the season’s work embracing the
Kodiak, Cook Inlet, Anchorage, Mat
anuska, Cache Creek, Willow Creek,
Talkectna and the McKinley Paik A
number of smaller projects art not
mentioned, such as the Fairview dis
trict, bwing to the fact, during the
brief interview, only the major
items came to mind. In a recent
news item which appeared in the
Seward Gateway and the Fairbanks
News-Miner, an item appeared with
reference to the transfer of the Al
aska Road Commission horses from
McKinley Park to Talkeetna where
(Continued on Page Eight)
Naturalist Tells of Strange Forms
of Bird and Animal Life in the Arctic
In the following dispatch, transmit
ted to the National Geographic society
from the MacMillan Arctic expedition
by radio and distributed to the Asso
ciated Press, Dr. Walter N. Koelz, the
chief naturalist of the expedition, tells
for the first time of strange forms of
life the explorers have found id the
far north:
“We had ample opportunity for hard
work at Etah, Greenland, and collect
ed there many fine specimens of bird
and animal life which we are sure will
be of great interest to the National
Geographic society.
“At Etah the water was cloudy with
jelly fish of a diaphanous gray but
just before we left there appeared
many winged snails. These curious
S creatures float through the water, and
propell themselves as they go along.
“One of the interesting aquatic ani
mals is the liparis which resembles a
bullhead, but has modified its central
fins into a powerful sucker by means
of which it attaches itself to the rock.
The suction is so powerful that con
siderable effort is required to dislodge
it.
“You will understand of course, that
I am giving a popular acount of some
of our finds of greatest interest to the
layman; many of our specimens will
require considerable scientific study
for classification and further analysis.
There has been collected a good ser
ies of Greenland red poll in juvenile
plumage. This species is scantily
represented in most of the museums
of the United States and birds taken
in summer are very rare in American
collections.
Bunks are Covered
. “A series o£ purple sandpipers have
also been obtained in their first juve
nile plumage which is unknown to a
number of ornithologists. The status
of the mandts guillemot cepphus man
dte has been established as a sub-spec
ies of cepphus grylle and its summer
range delineated on the Greenland
shore. We work all day and often
spend the night in the field. I am
sleeping on deck because my bunk is
covered with specimens.
“The region around Etah has spec
ial attractions for a botanist. Some
fifty specimens of flowering plants can
be found in bloom in a few minutes
walk. Poppies, pinks, dandelions,
dasies and buttercups can be gathered
beside the glaciers which touch the
ocean’s edge. In places the Kentucky
blue grass forms thick carpets, though
in general the plant does not grow
tall, the willow bushes being only one
or two inches high in favored locatians
where it is sheltered.
“Timothy grows so luxuriously that
an American farmer would be delight
ed at the fine crop of hay.
Besides the larger plants there are
lichens, which are the most conspic
uous plant growths here. The drape
the cliffs completely, up to a height
of 2,000 feet, in brilliant hues of or
ange and purple which, in mosiac with
green patches of grass and black,
where the birds have kept the rocks
1 bare, produces a spectacle of color riv
alling that of the chiefs’ bad lands.”