Digital Bob Archive

5 May 1978 issue

NOVEMBER 25, 1912-The halibut fishing industry is becoming increasingly important to Juneau. From October 1 to November 21, 668 boxes of fresh fish were shipped from the city dock by individual boats and 490 boxes were shipped by the Juneau Fish & Ice Company. This makes a total of about 570,000 pounds of halibut to the Seattle and Tacoma markets. There is talk of the need for a cold storage plant here, all the ice for shipping presently coming from Taku Glacier.

JANAURY 2, 1913-The local halibut fleet now numbers 34 vessels, of which 10 are presently in port. They are Gjoa, Anita Phillips, Thelma, Pollux, Dolphin, Dick, White Star, Vesta, Norman Sunde and Kennebec.

Out on the various fishing grounds at this time are the Rolfe, Dora H., Pacific, Mildred No. 1, Mildred No. 2, Active, Olga, Belle, Highland Queen, Louise, Volunteer, Valkyrie, Xhanthus, Waif, Lister, Olympic, Halley?s, Alameda, Uranus, Cedric, Comet, Sokol and a second Thelma. Most of these vessels sailed immediately after Christmas, but several have been out for two weeks or longer.

APRIL 19, 1894-One afternoon lately an old and battle-scarred Native walked into the NEWS office and presented a soiled, torn and ancient looking paper. When carefully opened, it was found to contain this message:

U. S. Revenue Cutter Corwin
Kootznahoo Lagoon
October 26, 1882

This is to certify that Shuskafe, also called Shuckleam, is a good Indian. He is an Indian doctor, and on the occasion of the late trouble at the whale fishery, when two white men, E. H. Boyne and S. S. Stulzman, were made prisoners by the Indians and were in great danger of being killed to satisfy the tribe for accidental death of another Indian doctor engaged in the fishery, he remained with the prisoners until rescued, and in the meantime exerted all his influence with the tribe to save their lives. I commend him to all succeeding commanding officers.

E. C. Merriman
Com. U. S. Navy, Com?ding U. S. S. Adams

MAY 7, 1921-Governor Thomas Riggs today vetoed an item of $10,000 in the general appropriations bill of the Fifth Territorial Legislature. The appropriation was to build a fish hatchery and experimental station at Ketchikan. The item specified that the money ?be expended under the direction of J. R. Heckman,? a Ketchikan merchant, banker and cannery superintendent.

?I regret having to veto this item,? the governor said in his message. ?The legislature has already enacted a law creating a Territorial Fish Commission and given it the authority to expend funds and oversee hatcheries. The members have been appointed and have taken their oaths of office.?

?There is no law authorizing money to be expended by an individual who is not an officer of the territorial government and one who is not even remotely connected with the government through membership on a board or commission. By specifying in a law an individual by name, the legislature is assuming an executive function, contrary to our system of government.?

JANUARY 11, 1937-The House of Representatives of the 13th Alaska Territorial Legislature convened at 1 o?clock this afternoon without ceremony despite an extraordinary circumstance-one of its members is the first woman member of the Legislature. She is Mrs. Nell Scott of Seldovia, wife of deputy U. S. Marshal Richard Scott of that community. Mrs. Scott, a Democrat, is 36 and was born in Marengo, Michigan. She went through school in Seattle and did secretarial work for legal firms in Seattle and Anchorage. She came to Alaska 13 years ago and made her first run for public office last year.

MAY 6, 1893-The season?s work at the Coulter property in Silver Bow Basin is now fairly under way. The mine has been leased for the year by Willis Thorp, Juneau businessman. A new dam has been built and water flumed to the mill. The work force numbers 27 men and mill runs day and night and an average of 30 tons of ore are crushed each 24 hours.

MAY 19, 1922-A scenic trail at Mendenhall Glacier and Nugget Creek will be built this summer by the Bureau of Public Roads, using funds furnished by the U. S. Forest Service. Work on the trail will start on May 26. The loop section of the Glacier Highway is also being pushed to completion. The bridge across Montana Creek was completed yesterday.

JUNE 13, 1887-The pioneer burro pack train of Alaska made its first trip from town to Silver Bow Basin today and will soon make regular trips packing gold ore for shipment to San Francisco. The burros, which arrived here in April on the steamer Ancon, are owned by W. A. Sanders who has mined near the top of the range at the head of the basin. Since these are the first burros ever seen in this area, they have attracted a lot of attention, particularly from the Indians who have done much of the packing to and from the basin in the past.

MAY 23, 1922-At a mass meeting last evening a new site was selected for a city ball park. It is a tract in the Casey-Shattuck Addition, triangular in shape, between West 9th Street and Gold Creek. The Casey-Shattuck Company has offered the tract for $3,000 and this will be paid by the Juneau Volunteer Fire Department. The down payment is $500 and the balance is to be paid within three years without interest. When the work of preparing the baseball field is completed, it will take the place of the field in Last Chance Basin, where it has been for many years. (Note: The site is now occupied by the Juneau Federal Building.)

MAY 14, 1903-The Basin Road was opened yesterday as far as the Humboldt and Ebner mines, cleared of the winter?s accumulation of snow and debris that had slid down the side of Mount Juneau. This morning the first load of supplies was taken to the Ebner. Crews are at work on the road to the Perseverance Mine but meanwhile, that mine has started up with a full force of men working a double shift.