Digital Bob Archive

21 July 1978 issue

JULY 30, 1938-The possibility of nickel production from a deposit on Yakobi Island loomed higher today when Carl Dreutzer, president of the Nickel Corporation of America, returned from the island. He reported that ?things look favorable.? Dreutzer, who is also president of the Arctic Tin Corporation and secretary-treasurer of the Arctic Circle Exploration Company, went to Yakobi Island on July 19 and was accompanied by Dr. Edson S. Bastin, head of the geology department of the University of Chicago. Dreutzer?s company holds 26 claims in Bohemia Basin on Yakobi Island and testing with a diamond drill is planned if assays are favorable.

OCTOBER 2, 1916-Melvin W. Summers, chief of the U. S. Weather Bureau in Alaska leaves on the next boat for the Westward to establish additional weather stations and check on work at those already established.

?The Juneau station will be ready for business by January 1 if the department approves the lease I have taken on the John Heid residence on Fourth Street, next to the Presbyterian Church,? Mr. Summers said. ?If approval is received, I will start to install the instruments upon my return.?

DECEMBER 26, 1912-The Christmas Eve dinner served in the dining room of the Occidental Hotel was the last meal that will be served at that hostelry, according to John P. Olds, the manager. For the first time since his father, John Olds, took charge of the predecessor Franklin Hotel, on the same site, in 1881, it will not be possible to purchase a meal there. The hotel itself will continue as in the past. The Occidental, on Front Street between Seward and Main, opened its doors in July, 1892. Two additions to the original building have been made since, one each in 1896 and 1897, and it has remained one of Juneau?s most popular hotels.

To take the place of the Occidental dining room, the Commercial Cafe will open in the Franklin Annex across the street at the corner of Front and Main. This will be under the management of Ernest Warren. The annex is operated in connection with the Occidental.

JANUARY 12, 1914-Through the efforts of William Britt, president of the local lodge, a reading room for members of the Sons of Norway has been opened in the Casebolt Building on Front Street. Because of the great increase in the halibut fleet fishing out of Juneau, many of those crew members belong to the Sons of Norway, there has been a demand for such a facility.

FEBRUARY 9, 1914-Douglas is an enthusiastic baseball town and there was a large crowd Saturday night at the Alaska Labor Union Hall to discuss plans for the coming season. The meeting was presided over by Mayor O?Connor who was elected president of the baseball organization with Jack Henson as secretary and E. E. Smith as treasurer. Because of his success with the Douglas team last year, L. D. Ferris was persuaded to again take the post of manager.

JANUARY 13, 1915-Dupont may never become a real settlement but it is a brand new location on Gastineau Channel. On the mainland side of the channel between Thane and Point Salisbury, it is the site of the Dupont Powder Company?s new installation. The company purchased a site there last summer and is erecting a wharf and warehouse for the handling of explosives received from the United States. A small boat will convey the dynamite from the Dupont wharf to the localities where it will be used.

The local people have long known the place as Mission Creek from the fact that E. W. Weisner of the Friends Mission at Douglas in 1889 staked a claim to 640 acres along the beach there for the purpose of building a mission. Some buildings may have been put up at that time, but information regarding it is vague.

JUNE 22, 1926-Bartlett L. Thane left this morning on the Princess Louise after spending three weeks here. He is on the way to consult B. T. McBain, the pulp and paper engineer, who recently completed an investigation of the proposed Thane project. Mr. Thane expresses complete confidence that a pulp and paper mill will be erected at Thane within the near future.

SEPTEMBER 22, 1924-Oscar Harri, who has been employed for some time by the C. W. Young Hardware Company in its plumbing department, has leased the shop and equipment from the company. He will operate the business under his own name and will do plumbing, welding and tinsmithing.

MAY 12, 1928-?It was 42 years ago today, in 1886, that I landed in Juneau from the steamer Idaho,? Juneau mayor Emery Valentine told friends today. ?I had intended only to take a look at Alaska but decided to stay a while. I purchased a lot from Joe Juneau on Front Street, put a small building on it and opened a jewelry store. At that time there were no buildings on the water side of the street and we had a clear view down the channel.? Mr. Valentine, who has served six terms as Juneau?s mayor, later put up the two-story Valentine Building at Front and Seward and moved his jewelry shop there.

JANUARY 12, 1935-Andrew Nerland of Fairbanks, the only Republican in the Twelfth Territorial Legislature, will again introduce his Alaska pension bill. Mr. Nerland, a past Speaker of the House, proposes to make all residents who have lived 20 years or more in Alaska eligible for pensions.