Digital Bob Archive

3 July 1980 issue

JULY 2, 1919-A still and other distilling apparatus, together with a quantity of mash all fermented and ready for distilling into whiskey, were found in a house on Willoughby Avenue near the Juneau Transfer Company barn by Game Warden J. C. Lund, Jr. Deputy marshal C. H. Jassells arrested two men believed to be the owners of the outfit.

JANUARY 20, 1922-Organization of Local No. 251 of the National Federation of Federal Employees has been completed here, with Charles Naghel as president, Wellman Holbrook as vice president, M. L. Stepp as secretary-treasurer, and M. B. Summers, Louis King and M. S. Whittier as trustees.

NOVEMBER 17, 1928-Dedication ceremonies were held last night in the auditorium of the new Juneau High School on Fifth Street. R. E. Robertson, president of the School Board, delivered the opening address and was followed by Governor George A. Parks with the dedicatory address. Land was purchased for the building for $24,000 and the construction contract was for $59,000 plus $10,000 for gymnasium. Following the program there was a dance on the new gym floor with music by the High School band.

SEPTEMBER 11, 1930-?Cash is King? That is the motto of the United Food Company store which will open in the Goldstein Building at Second and Seward on the 13th. The store will carry a general line of groceries, fresh fruits and vegetables. S. A. Light is manager of the store. He has been associated with chain stores for the past 10 years and was in business in Juneau some years ago.

AUGUST 16, 1933-The Douglas Fisheries Company packed 11,098 cases of canned salmon in its plant at Douglas this season. This is the smallest pack in several years and about half that canned in the plant last year.

SEPTEMBER 25, 1934-Alaska Southern Airways, headquartered at Juneau, has been purchased by Pacific Alaska Airways, a subsidiary of Pan American Airway. Nick Bez, president of Alaska Southern, and Lyman S. Peck, vice president and general manager of Pacific Alaska, have been negotiating the sale for some time. Pilots for Alaska Southern are Gene Myring, Robert Ellis and Murray Stuart. A. B. Hayes is manager.

OCTOBER 16, 1936-Power was generated this week for the first time in several years in the Salmon Creek No. 1 power plant owned by the Alaska Juneau Gold Mining Company. The old power plant was destroyed by fire several years ago and has now been completely rebuilt at a cost of $130,000. Construction of the fire-proof steel building was completed last year and this year 10,000 feet of red cedar and creosoted fir flume has been completed. The generators all had to be rewound and new switchboard equipment installed before the plant could start up.

AUGUST 5, 1942-Frank and Harry Cashen and Elmer Savikko left yesterday for Pelican where they will work in the cold storage plant. The Cashens, who graduated from Douglas High School in May, had been working for a Bureau of Public Roads survey crew to Westward and returned home last week.

AUGUST 15, 1942-Tony Simin, longtime Douglas storekeeper, died in St. Ann?s Hospital at Juneau last night as a result of wounds received the previous night when he was shot down by a holdup man in his store. Officers are holding William Paddy, 31, in connection with the shooting. Simin, about 50, a Douglas resident since 1914, was shot twice with a .38 caliber revolver by a ?customer? he was serving. He was found behind the counter about midnight by Ray McCormick who found the store door open although the lights were out, and heard groans. The shooting is believed to have occurred about 10:30 p.m. Before he died, Simin made a statement in which he named Paddy as his assailant.

APRIL 7, 1943-Yesterday?s city election brought very light voter turnout in both Juneau and Douglas. Harry I. Lucas was elected to his 6th term as mayor of Juneau. Elroy Ninnis, Oscar Harri and Ed Shaffer were elected to the City Council and Russell Hermann to the School Board. All were unopposed and only 327 votes were cast, compared to 652 a year ago. In Douglas, Elton E. Engstrom was elected mayor with Thomas Cashen, Sante Degan and R. A. Hollingsworth named to the Council. Arne Shudshift was elected to the School Board. There were no other candidates and the total vote was 96.

JANUARY 8, 1944-The 65-foot Coast Guard vessel Prince of Wales, once a mailboat on the Juneau to Sitka and Juneau to Skagway routes, was destroyed by fire at the north end of Chatham Strait on January 5. One man, Seaman first class Kenneth A. Kraft of Ketchikan, lost his life but 16 others aboard the vessel were rescued by the motor vessel Stormy Petrel of Juneau, Captain Jack Westfall. The Prince of Wales was taken over by the Coast Guard at the beginning of the war.

FEBRUARY 11, 1944-The Juneau Melody House, owned by Mrs. Lena A. Erickson, had been purchased by Art and Lillian Uggen of the Alaska Music Supply. The Uggens have been established in business here for the past eight years and their shop is at the corner of Second and Seward Streets. Mrs. Uggen will manage it while Mr. Uggen takes over the management of the Juneau Melody House with Ernest Ehler in charge of the record department.

FEBRUARY 12, 1945-More than 300 visitors saw the art show sponsored by Beta Sigma Phi sorority at the Scottish Rite Temple on Saturday afternoon. Among the local artist showing were Linn Forrest, Mrs. Henry Harmon, Mrs. Robert Henning, Mrs. Jack Likins, Neil Moore, Mabel L. Morgan, Virginia Goff Newmarker, Jacques Shurre, Mary Shaw, Alice Tilton Thorne and Mrs. Joseph Werner. (Note: This was the beginning of the annual Arts & Crafts Show which has been a Juneau feature each spring since. It was carried on for many years by the Alaska Arts and Crafts Board and more recently, by the local chapter of the American Association of University Women.)