ONLY-NSWSPAPER
PUBLISHEW IN THE
KUSKCVWIM COUNTRY'
EDITORIAL PAGE OF THE KU3K0 TIMES
THE
COT
ilk J. Guskey
JXA.RY PUBLIC
<Fhe ~&umkt> (Time*
T. R. McROBERTS and ALASKA E. KGAN,
Publishers
Published Every Friday, at Takotaa, Alaska
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Transient display per inch, per issue. Minimum
charge $1.00)-— -50
“Entered as setsmdilas3 matter February 1, 1937,
at the post office at.Takolaa.- Alaska, under the Act at
March 3, 1879.’ ’
Represented- Nationally by
J. W. GREELY and ASSOCIATES'
603 Stewart Street, Seattle, Wash,
FRTDAY. SEPTEMBER. 19, 1937.
PLACING THELU. Si FLAG
BACK OX THE HIGH SEA—
i
(The Alaska Daily Preas)
Oac of the queerest, things in*- American history has
baen the way in. which the country has allowed its mer
chant marine—once one of the finest and most famous on
the seven seas—to sink to the position: of unwanted and
badly undernourish ad stepchild
A century ago American ships were seen in every
pqrt on the globe, ard the;fiag was a familiar sight on
every sea. This not only meant that American exporters
were doing a whale of. a business; it meant that the na
tion was fully alive to its.membership in the world com
munity, and that the .odd idea of building prosperity in
side a Chinese wail had jno.t .yet been, thought of.
But during rthe past generation, the merchant marine
dwindled and almost died. Save for the coastwise trades,
Ametican-flag .-ships j were rarely seen.-. An enormous
fleet had been, built during the war. bht it was rusting to
obsolescence in remote harbors. The country; seemed to
have forgotten the part its ships had once played in
building up prosperity.
A fewiyeane ago, attempts were made to revive trie
merchant marine. The government awarded mail-carry
ing contracts to divers steamship lines, paying out fab
ulous sums so that a packet of a dozen: letters might be
dropped off at out-of-the- way ports. The contracts were
reall subsidies, o .enable steamers to make runs which
otherwise would inert pgy, Since they were disguised
subsidies, they were -expensive and inefficient.
Now, at last, it! begins to look as if .the merchant
murine .is. to be established on a straightforward "basis.
The old mad contracts have been canceled. In their place
are a set of straight-out subsidies. The government has
signed contracts with 23 steamship companies, under
which the companies will receive direct money payments
from Cncle Sam so that they can: compete with foreign
flig lines on atr. equal basis.
Oddly enough;-the direct payments are proving less
expensive than the indirect ones which were made under
the mail i contract system. For instance: agreements
-which will keep 151 ships in operation-durmg the next
six months are costing* the government $5,600,000, under
under the mail contract system, the cost for the same
ships in the same period would have -been $7,600,000.'
Furthermore thfc subsidies are set up ire such-a way
that the steamship-companies, oy returning to the gov*
eminent all profits abdve lafper-cent, actually--stand in
some cases tp. return the full price-of .the subsidias.
The net result of this new system should be all to
the good. In ithecfirst place, it will' lead to much new
ship building—it is estimated, for instance, that 100 new
fast ocean ships will be built in the next few years.
Lastly, it whf prove a stimulus to American com
merce. Our eyes will be-umed beyond the seas once
more, as in the great old days before the Civil Wan We
may get away frt)m the Chinese wall theory of prosper
ity_and, with the-world for a market. find a strong new
prop for industrial richness:
-o—
The only direction-at the North Pole is south! mak
it hard for Stalin to determine wheth er his mere up there
are swinging too far to tne Idlt
-:-0
Vice President Gamer's reference t6 himself'as the
government’s “Spare tire"'doesn't necassardjr indicate
another inflation scare
-o
If we are running oat of ideas for the unemployed,
why not put ttHmt to work digging -sbed hides for-that
■ext war ? *
We have taught monkeys so successfully they don't
even show th%*r resentment where people gawk at them.
* We’ve made do* much ot foreign film players names
when the actors themselves aasura us thin, the letters
spell only Success?
A field the union leaders have overlooked is organ
izing the alienists at tiwrder ana Is
-—o
Send in youc-cowwnunicatione to the editor on any
subject. We’ll giadf? -publish them.
-o
PLACER LOCATION NOTICES w* am sale ai
The. riusko Tines office. Gat .ygan -todsm
SIXTEEN YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
(TAKEN FROM THE FILES OF THE KUSKO TIMES)
The Shamrock. Capt- Nystrom,
left Monday for Berry Landing, hav
ing as passengers, Mike Blantisha
and Tom Swallow, headed for the
Nixon mine, and Andrew Olson, for
his home near Sam Nesvoog’s place.
The McGrath school opened Tues
day morning with ten children enrol
led. More pupils are expected after
the freero-up
Douglas Meade, one of the four
men who lost their way from Ruby
to Ophir, arrived in Takotna with
Messrs. Sweeney and McGinnis, mak
ing the trip from Flat in six days.
Mr. Meade says the members of the
party, while lost, suffered no very
great hardships. They were com
pletely out of grub for two days, liv
ing on blueberries for two days just
before reaching a cabin on the Tol
1 stoi river. The party made a raft on
the Tolstoi, and did not meet anyone
until just before reaching Shageluk i
slough where they met a native. The!
party was very fortunate in killing
a .moose, and lived on moose straight
j during the trip down river.
—
TAKOTNA — Thursday evening *
Are started in the ceiling of A. Hig- ■
\ gins’ dwelling house, caused by an
1 overheated flue. Bob Prochn, one of
the occupants, started a fire in the
. heater aai.when warm, made him-;
self comfortable near the hearth
and commenced reading a book, “1
want to go-back,” when, to his as
tonishment. the burning paper from
the ceiling began to drop on the
neatly carpeted room. He at once j
gave the alarm, which was responded
to by the Takotna bucket brigade,
and consequently the fire was extin
guished in time to save one of the j
most up-to-date dwellings in the
thriving town of Takotna.
i
Carlson £ Hounan arrived at Ophir
with a scowload of supplies for their
store on Sept. 1, and left down river
for another load the next day.
A. Higgins, Takotna’s leading
merchant, is taking down the ware
house adjoining his store, which will
greatly improve one of the principal
street^, as it will widen it 15 or 20
feet.
CapL J. H. McLean has put in a
good line of merchandise, and is now
behind the counter with a smile
which says, “show me the color of
your coin.”
R. E. Lowrie is hard at work in
his machine shop, filling orders be
fore winter sets in.
Deputy U. S. Marshal McMullen
returned from a trip to Ophir.
Joe Keene and Harvey Williams,
on the launch Snookie, left yester
day for a trip up the Kuskokwim.
Dr. Snap—“You seem to think _ I
am nothing but a miserable idiot.”
Mrs. Snap — “Oh, no, you are
cheerful enough."
“How long have you been mar
ried ? ”
“About five years.”
“Did she make him a good wife?"
“No: b
good husband.”—Exchange.
Judge—“Can’t this case be settled
out of court?”
Kelly—“Sure, that’s what we were
trying to do, your honor, when the
police interfered.”
Send in your Subscription to The
KUSKO TIMES today.
■I
OATES FREIGHTING
SERVICE
We Han) Anything
Heavy or Light
Where You Want It
WE ARE LOCAL DISTRIBUTORS FOR LUMBER FROM THE
MILLER. SAWMILL
i JOE OATES, FREIGHTER
TAKOTNA. ALASKA
Passenger Service
FREDBIE OASES. P*«*.
TIMELY EP'ne
Culled From < - - —
DON'T SELL SEATTLE
A]
(The A1«X
At the Washington S*17^
last week, we had the
Scavotto, president of th
in our opinion a budding
votto took serious issue »
this city throughout the
not to “Sell Seattle shor
are so inextricably bounttOCk Ol
iness and social ties it m J
discuss briefly Seattle's
Be it said to the ere
es serious financial siuattOr 3Ild
are not in agreement w 11111 ■
] that economy is bunk a
1 hooey. Neither are thejJ
1 complete management (
whether they are A. F.
O. The majority of the
favor of the use of plai
| of the city’s affairs whi
nor wild extravagance a j •»-»
budget balancing. .Q 1\0
They are facing th
B
, , . elike ana
of hot air which is bem weicoma<j
and whenever he chancg system
the right of the streetory room,
services, they are coop'
see editorials such as
j Monday edition of he
I which, in the guise
; plight of our city is bi
| ed to protest. The ciOI*3H
that the “fair metro; —______
repuation so unsavory
concerned.” That mar___
i reputation it is not th
{S.-9K jyv&M
1 tie except as that citi
; in office a chief execi
background.
It is natural tha
center of any state
forces contending for
headquarters for each
in general is inflictei
growing city which
a city of close to ha
j years should be bur
such a city essential
possible taxation. Co
of taxes paid to the
i of Seattle. Gasoline
: proximately 30 per 1
j lected are collected 1
I return, get 10 per
| of Seattle streets.
t tion of the state liv
! 25 per cent of the
j the taxes on gasoli
| Seattle is held up 1
| debt.
We could go 01
j agree with the adv
SEATTLE SHORT
>ly
Aril
make a great and
CON
tain lack of balam'J'AKQTNA
j It will take more
to stop it, for the,
people combined vi
tuallv outweigh the
machinations of it.*”
I
J_
aper Published
THE SOIRDOIC r
t Alaska South
fromTthor“Sr»me and West of
I icated on Labor Day, ,
There is no reason to anticipate opposi?^?^1 e* -
some danger in dawdling along. Labor Day will be
upon us soon and if that’s to be the day of dedication,
there must be hustling. In this connection other sugges
tions have be-in offered. One is that Alaskan Way be
permanently lighted from standards cast in the form of
totem poles. We have never been very strong for the
t/)tcm pole as an item of community decoration, and we
doubt that a lot of them strung along the waterfront
'•ouii give lasting pleasure.
One other matter is much nearer the hearts of Al
aska p oneers and others resident in Seattle. This is
the acquisition and placement of the heroic statue of
xne Sourdough,’' wrought by Alonzo Victor Lewis, and
In itself now complete. Local Alaska groups have long
b en quietly at work to procure this statue anu have it
permanently set up at some suitable location. Since the
name of the bayside thoroughfare has been finally de
termined bey have been w .rking the mo-— earnestly,
wi •> the idea of mounting “The Sourdough” at some
point eiher on or easy of access from Alaskari Way.
This appeals to us more strongly than the tot m pole
lighting plan. Seattle owes much recognition to the
urdough; but not so much to the aborigine.
Knock knees are be secret of dancing success, says
an osteopath, who will get little thanks for tapping a
new source of artistic expression.
PLALER LOCATION KOTICBS tow wn sale At
, The ¥■»':: Time* Get yrars idmf.