£auari>!ailt)§ateni<«)
Of SEWARD, ALASKA
Established August 19, 1904
Pub. led Daily Except Sunday by Gateway Publishing Co.
SELBY & HOBEN, Proprietors
Ente r'd in the postoffice at Seward, Alaska, as second
class mail matter.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
Daily Gateway, by carrier, per month * * * - $ 1-25
Daily Gateway, by mail, per month - * - - 100
Daily Gateway, by mail, per year .... - 10.00
Saturday Gateway, by mail, per year .... 3.00
ADVERTISING RATES
Per single column inch, one to six issues, per inch $ .50
Per single column inch, per month.3.50
Homestead Notices, in Daily or Saturday Gateway 18.00
Legal Notices, per line per issue..15
Special rates made on all notices over six incues.
Classified advertisements, per line, per issue - - .10
Help wanted and Employment wanted Notices Free.
MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use
for republication of all news credited to it or not other
wise news published herein.
All rights for republication of special dispatches here
in are also resex-ved.
The Pioneers have once more done themselves
proud, their bean supper and entertainment last
night proving most attractive to those fortunate
enough to attend.
One of the exchange reaching the Gateway which
affords us the most pleasure to read is the Kusko
Times, published on the Kuskokwim, at Tocotna.
The paper is full of news of the interior district,
and as it is the only paper published in all this vast
stretch of country naturally it is of great interest
to the oldtimer. Editor Grant evidently has a sine
cure, or he would move to the coast.
Letters received on this boat tell of bad weath
er, lack of employment and high living in various
parts of the states. Alaska may be lonesome at
times and far away from the comforts of ultra-civili
zation but her people are much better off than they
are aware of until they hear from friends Outside.
As a whole we have much to be thankful for. The
only trouble is that we do not make the best of our
opportunities.
Many nice things are being said about the Gate
way in its new form, but the nicest expression of
appreciation is the large number of new subscrip
tions being received. It is hard to run a daily in a
small town, and harder yet to finance it, but the
day is not far distant when Seward will be entitled
to and receive a larger paper than the present one.
With the Associated Press and several special cor
respondents we do not believe our people have any
kick over telegraphic service, and our local service
will be better when our readers learn to phone in
the news.
News was received on this boat that the Signal
Corps will abandon the Valdez trail and the tele
graph line to revert to the uses of whomsoever desires
to use them. We believe this to be shortsighted
economy, as the line thru the interior has proven a
great help at times when the other line was down.
What Alaska needs is more means of communication,
and two telegraph lines are better than one in this
respect. The Government by all means should not
abandon any of its enterprises in Alaska, and the
Richardson road and telegraph line with its sta
tions at frequent intervals is one of the greatest.
The railroad serves Fairbanks, but it can never
uerve the vast district traversed by the Richardson
road. So long as the road is maintained the line
should be kept up.
The Gateway is receiving numerous communica
tions for and against the issuance of bonds by the
city for the purpose of building a new school build
ing. A number of communications unsigned have
been received, and these cannot be published. The
Gateway is always glad to receive and publish com
munications touching subjects of interest to the
city, but must insist that these communeations be
signed and that they are free from abuse. The
school question is one that is of great interest to
everyone, and should be thoroughly threshed out in
order that the voters may know what they are doing.
SLOPPY LAW-MAKING
Another striking instance of slovenly legislation
is the conflicting provisions of the income tax law,
one section forbidding publishing information and
the other requiring it to be made public.
So far, three newspapers prosecuted under the
forbidding section have won their cases in the Unit
ed States courts and they now must go to the su
preme court for final decision.
Endless annoyance and expense is caused state
and national govrnments and the public by the en
actment of legislation, either carelessly or intention
all} drawn in a manner to invite attack in the courts.
Practically all bills introduced in legislatures
or in Congress are prepared by lawyer, yet a large
percentage of laws enacted are later found to bo un
constitutional in whole or in part, or to contain am
biguous and conflicting provisions which must be
taken to the courts for interpretation.
A large majority of those that finally stand the
legal test are foolish or unnecessary, so that the out
put of our legislative bodies usually proves to be a
rather sorry mess.
The proposal of the government to pay the cam
paign expenses of the political parties is another
piece of idiocy that would lead to graft and scandal.
A survev shows good results from the Get-out
the-vote movement. Times change. In other years
the boys not only got out and voted without urging,
but voted two or three times.
In Connecticut payments for candy are being list
ed by candidates for office in their returns of elec
tion outlay, thus showing the influence of woman in
politics.
An alert Washington newspaperman says there
is “ uncertainty? ’ about Congress. As weunderstand
the Washington situation, that statement has been
good every day since 1789.
Secretary Mellon is predicting more prosperity
even before Some of us have had our first helping.
COMMUNICATION
To the Voters of Seward:
In the coming school election the
voters of Seward will have an oppor
tunity to indicate whether they are
progressive minded and desirous of
adequate educational facilities for the
children of the community or whether
they will be content to have a dis
tinctly second-rate school which is a
disgrace to a town of this size and
character. The present school facili
ties are unsatisfactory and inadequate
in practically every way in wrhich
they can be considered, and in order
that voters and patrons of the school
may have accurate information on
these Conditions these facts are giv
en:
That part of the buildings which is
used for high school consists of three
rooms. One so-called assembly room
with a capacity of 16 and w'hich is en
tirely filled; one built on dormer room
used jointly for a library and commer
cial room; and one basement room
used for class recitations in other
subjects. The high school consists of
four grades. When three of these are
having class, one must necessarily
meet in the assemmbly room where
the fourth group is studying. This is
contrary to all standard school prac
tice because (1) the time and atten
tion of the teacher is divided between
the class receiving instruction and the
group wdiich is supposed to be study
ing and is unable to do so because of
the diverting influence of the reciting
class; (2) this condition unavoidably
develops lnx study habits and is an
annoyance teachers and students
alike; (3) me term “assembly” is a
misnomer as it is impossible to as
semble the student body in this or any
other room for any purpose.
The second high school room used
for library and commercial work is a
built on room facing the hill. One
can stand flat-footed and touch the
ceiling. Electric lights must be used
all the time. There is absolutely no
provision for ventilation. The room
is too small to accommodate a desk
for the teacher, in fact it is almost
identically the same size as the bath
rooms in the Arcade Apartments.
There is insufficient air-space in the
room for the number that occupy it.
It is an injustice to ask either a teach
er or a group of students to work un
der such unhealthful and cramped
conditions.
The third high school room is lo
cated in the basement. It is suitable
in one respect only, the area of the
floor is large enough for class pur
poses. Light is admitted through six
ordinary cellar windows and artificial
light is always used. Since the room
is equipped with two small overhead
radiators, cold weather makes it unu
sable. During the cold weather of
November the temperature did not go
above 48 in this room and it was not
used for ovef a week. This threw
two classes in recitation in the as
sembly room with another attempting
to study. This basement room like
the commercial room has no provision
for ventilation or change of air. It
is located adjacent to an unsanitary
toilet room, making it doubly undesir
able. To give an idea of the con
struction of the building, this base
ment has storm windows and in
weather which is only slightly windy
the curtains are standing out away
from the windows from the force of
the entering draughts.
In addition to the lack of room, the
high school faces the added handicap
of having very little equipment. It is
necessary, in order to secure an ac
credited school, to offer two full years
of science work. At present there is
enough equipment for possibly one
month of such work. The same holds
true in regard to manual training and
domestic science. If equipment for
these subjects was on hand, it would
have to be stored for lack of room in
which to place and use it. It is plain
that as long as Seward has the pres
ent size and character of building that
the high school will not be accredited,
which in turn means that any student
having the intention of completing
their education in a college or univer
sity will go elsewhere for their high
school work in order to be able to
meet entrance requirements.
The records of the school show the
names of a number of students who
are not at present in attendance. In
checking these it is found that over
fifty per cent of them have either quit
school because of its lack of effi
ciency and holding power or have
gone elsewhere at additional expense
for their education. These might well
be retained in Seward with a suita
ble school. To show the sentiment
of the students whom are cognizant
of the importance of their education,
the following remark was overheard
in a group discussion this week: “I
would not graduate from this school
or attend it another year on a bet un
less it can give me the wDrk that I
can enter college on.” He cannot be
blamed for this attitude.
The above facts concern the high
school only and serve to show that
that branch of Seward’s educational
facilities are sadly lacking in effec
tiveness. Such a high school is a lia
bility to the community and not an
asset. Because of it money and peo
people leave this town. Whether or
not the condition continues will be
partly determined by your votes next
Friday.
(Signed) GUY D. BARNETT.
LIBERTY THEATRE
WALTER HINES
In
TONIGHT
2 Shows — 7 and 8:45
Walter Hines in the great
est comedy seen here for
a long time. : : :
100 PER CENT. FUNNY
Jf you want to enjoy yourself come and see this play tonight
ALSO A ONE-REEL COMEDY
And a Beautiful Scenic
Hurry Up
SUNDAY—TWO SHOWS
CONSTANCE TALMAGE
In a fine 7-reel feature
“DULCY”
DANCE SATURDAY NIGHT A. B. HALL
When we agi’eed at the arms con
ference to sink the battleship Wash
ington, we were graciously permitted
to use the vessel for experimental
target practice. But if we are to have
no more wars why should be want
to have target practice? And if there
is liable to be another war why sink
a perfectly good battleship.
Announcement is made that the
Swedish Aero Club will bestow a gold
plaque, its highest award of honor,
on Lieut. Erik Nelson, one of the
American around-the-world flyers.
If the recent mysterious pneumonic
plague had occurred a couple of hun
dred years ago, it would have been
declared a visitation of the Almighty
in punishment of sins of the world.
It was the sin of uncleanliness, how
ever, and science removed the mys
tery and the plague in short order.
Prof. Barnes in a recent magazine
article of criminology declares that
there is not the slightest iota of free
dom of choice allowed to either the
normal citizen or the criminal in his
daily conduct. His contention is that
every person does what he does be
cause of influences of birth, environ
ment, experiences, and his physical
and mental condition in spite of him
self. The professor states that the
advanced scientific view on the sub
ject and he may be right, but it gives
lots of people an excuse for their
meanness.
In modern business the rapid rise
of young men to prominence is of fre
quent occurrence, but one of the most
notable is that of H. R. Empie, who
seven years ago started as office boy
in the Oklahoma National Bank of
Oklahoma City. He is now president
of the institution and is but 27 years
of age. He probably did not put in
much time attending the new dances
or playing the role of sheik.
INVENTORY SALE
Bargains in all
Lines
ELLSWORTH'S
FREE FREE FREE FREE
TAKE A CHANCE
WE
NO
DO NOT GIVE AWAY wash
ing machine or Ford cars,
but we will continue to give
100 cents worth of ^ value
for one dollar. This will give
you a chance on the Bank to
make a deposit of your sav
ings from each purchase.
COUPONS REQUIRED
The FLOWERS GROCERY
Telephone Main 65
♦
g UNBEAM CABINET HEATERS
Look them over and see what they will do for
the Home or Store built without a basement—
PRICED AT $128.00 CASH
Terms of $30.00 down and the balance in 12
monthly payments will be made to responsible
home owners. The cleanest and most economical
heater on the market; an ornament to th e home
SEWARD MACHINE SHOPS
PLUMBING AND SHEET METAL WORKS
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