Hemard Daily Göttewstu
MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS/ A) MsUaJL X ^ ^LS^gL
VOLUME XX, NUMBER 241
SEWARD, ALASKA, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1925.
PRICE TEN CENTS
FALCON JOSLIN
CLEAREDSECOND
DEGREE MURDER
ELLENSBURG, Dec. 24. (/P)— All
charges of second degree murder
agaiftst Falcoln Joslin for the acci
dental shooting and killing of William
Hartzog. a farmer and his hunting
companion, were dismissed by the
prosecuting attorney here.
SEVERE EARTHQUAKE
RECORDED ANCHORAGE
ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Dec. 24. (£>)
—One of the most severe earthquakes
in recent years aroused Anchorage
at one o’clock yesterday morning.
The disturbance continued for near
ly a minute, no damage being done.
WILL COOPERATE WITH
POLE EXPLORERS
SEATTLE, Dec. 24.(£>)—The Cham
ber of Commerce announced the De
troit Aviation Society had telegraph
ed its acceptance of an offer to coop
erate in preparation for the Barrow
to-Spitzenbergen flight. It is under
stood the planes and supplies will be
shipped north from Seattle.
CHINESE TROOPS
POURING INTO
TIENTSIN CITY
PEKING, Dec. 24. (£>)—Marshal
Feng entered Tientsin after fighting
in which a thousand persons were
killed and wounded. Troops of Gen
eral Li Civil Governor of Chihli are
fleeing, and it is reported Li has taken
refuge in the Japanese concession.
Mukden reports said General Kuo
told Marshal Chang he would surren
der if Chang would guarantee his life
and property. Chang yesterday cap
tured Paikipu and cut Kuo’s lines of
communication, capturing great quan
tities of munitions.
Mike McTigue Wins Fight
With Negro, Tiger Flowers
NEW YORK, Dec. 24. (JP)—Mike
McTigue, former World’s Lightheavy
weight champion, won the judges’ de
cision" over Tiger Flowers, the Atlanta
negro in a furious tern round bout, the
main feature of the Christmas fund
show. Fidel Labarba won the six
round semi-final over Lew Forfetti of
New York.
JAPANESE FARMERS REFUSE
FERTILIZE BECAUSE SUN SPOTS
TOKIO, Dec. 24. (>¥>)—The pres
ence of “spots” on. the sun is de
clared to have caused a decided slump
In the sale of artificial fertilizer in
Japan.
A boom trade had been expected
earlier in the year, but thus far deal
ers have found business extremely
bad An investigation disclosed that
the superstitious Japanese farmers
feared that the presence of aun spots
meant that a famine was due next
year and that the purchase of fer
tilizers would be just so much waste
of money.
What a pity we can’t find out how
fine the dead are before they are
dead and tell them so.
m V _ WOlf Ol
Christmas km, 177%
The tale of one of the moat heroic
and significant chapters in American
history, that of Washington Crossing
the Delaware and the resultant vic
tories at Trenton and Princeton, will
ever be in our memories.
The winter of 1776 marked the
darkest days of the Colonial cause.
When the fate of Independence seem
ed doomed to disaster, when the col
onists felt that theirs was a struggle
without gain and when faith gave
way to dismay, it was Washington to
whom the people looked for hope and
courage. The tale of his crossing of
the Delaware has become an epic.
Howe held Philadelphia, Cornwallis
was at Princeton, and Rail with 1400
men, mostly Hessians, was at Tren
ton. The small army at Valley Forge,
challenged by the hardships of a se
vere winter, endured the ordeals of
starvation and cold. Weary, half
clad, poorly-shod men responded to
Washington’s orders to advance. In
a cold! and blinding snow the army be
gan its march to Trenton.' Undaunt
ed by the distance the soldiers trudg
ed the white snow for twenty miles,
leaving behind a trail in their foot
prints of blood.
On this night before Christmas, in
1776, on the west side of the river and
\
COASTGUARD MEN WILL
FACE COURT MARTIAL
ATLANTIC CITY, Dec. 24. (#)—
Captain Randolph Ridgely, Junior
Frank was courtmartialed yesterday
and Frank Kassidy will face the same
court, charged with scandalous con
duct tending to destroy the morale of
the coast, guard. They were accused
by Commander C. G. Hundred of us
ing the patrol boats of the coast guard
to carry out notes and orders to boot
leggers lying at. anchor on rum row.
A man by the name of Erickson,
working on the crane in the local
railroad yards, had his wrist and
hand badly jammed last night in
making a coupling. Dr. Baughman
treated the injured man. This morn
ing Erickson left for the railroad
hospital at Anchorage where an
X-ray will be taken.
nine miles above Trenton, Washing
ton determined to attack the force of
Hessians quartered in that city. He
divided his forces into three columns
and ordered them to cross the Dela
ware. . Two columns were forced to
turn back because of the difficulties
of the passage. A terrific storm and
an ice-filled river demanded every
atom of strength. It remained for
the third column, with which Wash
ington himself marched, to cross the
river to the north bank, advance eight
miles through sleet, and surround the
Hessians.
On Christmas morning, in the midst
of< the revelry of the Hessians, who,
boasting of their prowess and invin
cible strength, were celebrating the
Yuletide, Washington made his sur
prise attack. He forced them to bat
tle and captured a thousand men. Rail
was killed in battle and the Hessians
were taken to Pennsylvania as prison
ers-of-war.
With renewed impetus, Washington
and his forces recrossed the Dela
ware and again faced the enemy, who
concentrated a strong force at Tren
ton. Leaving the camp fires burning
brightly, he slipped away during the
night, passed the British flank, and
on the morning of January 3, 1777,
defeated a strong force at Princeton.
HUGE SIGN FOR \
MORMON TEMPLE
SALT LAKE CITY, Dec. 24. (£>)—
Money has been appropriated and
Mormon church authorities have ap
proved plans to paint gigantic let
ter® spelling “Salt Lake” or “Salt
Lake City” on the roof of the fa
mous Mormon tabernacle. The sign
was decided upon in the hope that
it would aid aviators passing over
this section.
FUNERAL OF PIONEER
HELD IN SEATTLE
SEATTLE, Dec. 24. (JP)—The fun
eral of Phil Abrahams, Alaska pio
neer, who died here last Sunday will
be held today. He was a member
of the Skagway Masons and left a
daughter, Mrs. Alice Wright of Mon
treal.
DEATH STRIKES
MANY OF U. S.
PENSION ROLLS
WASHINGTON, D C., Dec. 24.(/P)—
The government’s pension rolls show
ed a decrease last year of 13,002, Sec.
Work was informed in the annual re
port made public by Winfield Scott,
Commissioner of Pensions. A total
of 512,537 was enrolled as pensioners
on June 30 last.
The loss during tne year was the
result of the death of 46,646 pensioners
which was largely offset by the ad
ditions of 33,644 to the rolls.
Although the war of 1812 was brot
to a close 110 years ago, the names of
21 widows of soldiers who served in
that war were on the pension lists at
the close of this year.
The total payments for pensions de
creased from $229,994,777 in 1924 to
$217,150,612.
The Commissioner estimated that
a few of the soldiers who served in
the Civil War would still be drawing
pensions in 1950, basing his estimate
on the fact that one Revolutionary
War soldier lived 86 years after the
close of the war and one survivor of
the war of 1812 lived ninety years af
ter the close of that conflict.
Shipping Board Sells Ships
To Alaska Steamship Co.
WASHINGTON, D. C., Dec. 24. (£>)—
The United States Shipping Board
today sold the Alaska Steamship Com
pany three vessels of fifty-one hundred
deadweight tons for two hundred and
seventy thousand dollars.
The vessels are the Jeptha, Depere
and Derblay, of the two-deck freight
type, built in 1920. The company al
ready has two of the same type ves
sels.
GENERAL BUTLER LAYS
DOWN BARRAGE CHARGES
AGAINST PHILA MAYOR
PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 24. (/P)—Gen
eral Butler released a mass of corres
pondence with Mayor Kendrick in
which he accused Kendrick of lack of
moral courage to enforce the prohi
bition laws.
Butler asserted the mayor ordered
him to “lay off the big places. There is
a difference between a seven million
dollar investment and a cleap place
which blackmails people.”
WOODEN VESSEL .CALLED BEST
FOR RESISTING THE ARCTIC ICE
SEATTLE, Wn„ Dec. 23. (AP)—
Whether it is possible to build a
steel vessel that can withstand the
pressure of ice packs in the Arctic
Ocean sufficiently to replace the cut
ter Bear is a lively topic among
Coast Guard men on the Pacific this
■winter.
The Bear, wintering in San Fran
cisco after her 37th sumtoer cruise
into the Alaskan Arctic in the Coast
Guard, was constructed of thick oak
in Greenock, Scoftland, in 1874.
With $925,000 appropriated by Con
gress, it has been proposed to re
place the Bear, following next sum
mer’s cruise with a twin-propelled
steel vessel.
The doubters declare no steel ves
sel can stand heavy ice pressure, be
cause the metal will first bend and
then break. They also predict that
the ice will quickly rip off one or
both of the exposed twin propeller*.