THE KUSKO TIMES
A. \. Grant, Publisher, Sole
Owner and Editor.
Published Every Saturday
$1 Per Month
Advertising Rates.
IReading matter, per line, per
issue.S .25 1
ILegal advertisements, per line,
issue « .20
Transient display, per ipch, per
issue (minimum charge SI).. .50
Entered as second-class matter Au
igust 20th, 1023, at the postoffiee at
Tokotna, Alaska, under the Act of
.March 3, 1870.
7 * 7*. *1—i
Tokotna, Alaska. January 9, 1926
Writing Alaska’s
Balance Sheet
(.'By John E. .Meals, Editor of Path-1
finder, in Prosperity Edition of j
Seward Gateway.)
Suppose that some immense syndi-1
«cate proposed to buy Alaska and j
icarry it on as a business proposition,
;and they asked lor a consolidated
.balance sheet. There indeed would be
;an engagement to satisfy the most
iambitious of public accountants.
Any investigation which attempted
tto calculate the value of Alaska in j
• dollars and centts would be an ex
hauscive one, necessarily, and would
in\ ive consideration of factors dc
mauding the advice of financiers, c
•gineers, sociologists, historians, pok
ticians anamanyotners—it wou: ,
fronttheaccount ahtateveryturnw ith,
front the accountant at every turn
with assets so intangible that valua
tion would be nearly impossible, and
•estimates soon become guesses.
For who can set the value of the
■happiness of a whole people, or say
what a man’s life is worth—or proph
esy what is hidden beneath the rock,
•or what t he soil will bring forth?
At the outset we would meet trou
Ible in consolidating the records of ]
fifty-seven varieties of bureaus, and j
.attempting to translate their reports
into one coherent statement.
When we investigated the reports i
<of gold production we would find that i
no law obligates an operator to re- j
port his production, and we would |
■conclude that the figures were prob
;ably understated; we would find that
:a good many furs had slipped through i
without being mentioned to the ilio
ilogical Survey folks, and that the cus
toms house figures took no account of
parcels post shipments.
And then we would find that but lit
ttle distinction had been made by the
■present owners between capital in
vestment and a revenue expenditure,
;and remember that everything is a
■dead loss to the federal government—
the theory being that it outlives all
diving and material things, and it is
.therefore imaterial whether the new
marble postoffice is charged to invest
ment account or thrown into tbo sama
Ifaag with the salary of a prohibition
ragent, except that capitalization and
.depreciation would provide employ
ment for another commission and a
great many accountantst and might
ibe worth consideration from that
;point.
And, I uppoe that even if we did
:audit and reconcile all these volumi
nous reports and consolidate them,
:someones with a bent for economics
would suggest that the changing pur
chasing power of the dollar through
All these years had an immense effect
upon the reports.
So, in the end, I think we would
throw the mail in the wastebasket.
And after failing to estimate the
actual inventory value, so to speak,
we would probably turn to the cap
italization of income, and our account
ant would say, “Here is a country
which has produced over a billion dol
lars, with imports of approximately
half that amount. The yearly ex
ports are about fifty million, and the ;
imports—if we leave out th.e values
used in .capital investment—are about
half that amount.”
Then, by t he use of algebra, calcu
lus and the ouija board, he would
\
compute that every one of the 25,000
or so white men, women and children
in Alaska had an antral production
credit of about $2,000—one thousand
for the excess exported, and the other
thou-and for capital improvements at
home.
“’i te problem is simple,” he might
saay. “The net profit or capital in
lrea eis about fifty millions a year,
and the country is worth one and a
quarter billions, because that is the
prim pal which would earn fifty mil
lions at four per cent.”
Of course he would ignore any
iino ion of depreciation or depletion
—as he might very well do in such
a vast country.
And then, I think, we would hear a
great grumble from all the commer
cial clubs. They would wire back in
Was hington or Paris, or wherever ne
gotiations were being held, and say:
“Wait! This man is obviously incom
petent and corrupt, and we ask that
he be removed because he hasn’t
gi\ on Alaska credit for holding God
knows how much more wealth that is
not now being touched, and we de
mand that the capitalization figures
be based upon an estimate of what
the country could produce if we had
the population which we can sup
port.”
And they would hire more account
ant. and figure that the Territory
could support three million people—
the Scandinavian countries would
prove a reasonable yard stick—and
they would say that if we had two
million people in Alaska they could
tin i produce net profits of four bil
ljo: a year, and the proper valuation
would hence be one hundred billions!
" >n ! t ink some of the financiers
-'nr what happened to
> l ock, and others would
tment in dry gush
1 .• t he administration be
that the government
; is in Alaska last year
!v gut a million and a half
ha. ,, and Alaskans would consider
I: . numbers of oflicials sent out with
al ' their advice or consent and feel
like the woman whose husband beat
her up and then “grumbled so much
for her own pleasures” when the doc
tin s and dentist’s bill came in,
\ nd finally, I imagine one of our
financiers would pick up his Bible
(perhaps to find a name for the new
capital), and would come across
something about faith being “the sub
si-., nee of things to be hoped for; the
evidence of things that appear not,”
and he would spring up with a solu- (
tic,n to the deadlock and say, “We
buy it on faith—and then get busy
and move the mountains.”
\fter that it would be a perfectly
< pie caase of sordid bargaining,
v. 1 which, of course, no accountant
would be asked to soil his white
hands.
There would be long speeches in
Congress, and flaring headlines in the
papers, and everybody would call
everybody else a crook, and when the
deal was made William Randolph
K arst would apply for an injunction
to top it, and Will Rogers would men
tion it in the Follies.
Before the thing got well started,
the Florida realtors would be sneak
ing off to Alaska, and men would say
to their wives, “There must be some
thing: up there,” and they would buy
a fur coat and a couple of Oliver
Carwood’s novels and start North.
The syndicate would market its se
curities all over the United States,
and when thoosuands of people began
to get little dividend checks the stock
would go up higher than the rent of a
modern apartment—especially if the
syndicate happened to remember that
one can’t plant apples today and pick
them off the trees next summer.
In the end perhaps the question of
valuation would never be settled, as
the taxpayers would find some way to
assess a capital increase, and, in any
event, so much of the production
would continue to be in brains and
ideas and healthy bodies, in prosper
ity and contentment, and for such a
number of people, that only a very
young and cocksure accountant would
attempt to place a cash value upon it.
It is an intriguing subject, and
while Alaska’s balance sheet may
-.■ver be written, it would be an en
kte, ; V and inspiring thig to try.
I know it would demontrate to the
' at Alaska is somewhat in the
joition of t he lady who worked all
week washing c lothes and gave the
money to her husband; when she
asked him for a dollar to buy some
more soap, he said: “Huh! not with
MY money!”
GOITER: ITS CAUSE AND
HOW TO PREVENT IT
(B Harry C. De Vighne, M. D., Terri
torial Commissioner of Health.)
Simple goiter is one of the few dis
eases with which we are afflicted that
may be easily and certainly prevent
ed. But while the cause of the un
sightly growth is certainly known,
and may as certainly b e remedied,
the cure of a goiter after it is well
established is not uesh a simple mat
, ter. It had long been known that
| goiter affected certain regions only,
} and the inference was tlmt there were
| natural Conditions pff\ab-nt in those
, localities which fav'ored the develop
| rnent of the disease.
To Switzerland belong^ the honor
| of discovering just what this condi
tion was, viz., the lac kaf idine in the
; food and water. Further investiga
] tion in Derbyshire, England, where
the disease was common, verified the
report of the Swiss observers, and
tstill further studies in various parts
of the world proved conclusively that
ismple goiter was nothing more than
a defect in nutrition.
This disease affects chiefly the thy
roid gland, situated in front of the
lower part of the throat. This gland
cannot be seen when in its normal
condition, but when it is suffering
from want of one of the elt mentis
necessary for the proper performance
of its functions a swelling appears,
easily recognized as goiter. This
swelling increases the secretion of the
gland, naturally, which function has
much to do with holding a balance in
the normal development of certain
mental and physical traits in the
child. Children thus afflicted may be
come overgrown, or on the contrary
suffer from undergrowth. They are
often unable to keep up with normal
children of similar school age in
school work. And the disease is spe
cially serious in girls because in cer
J. H. McLean
Tokotna
Swift’s Ham and Bacon
Golden State Butter
and Cheese
New Stock of Green Hood
Woolen Goods „ . •
Hood All Rubber Paes
Ladies’ Furnishings
Areties Felt Slippers
King Island Mukluks]
Stamped Kin broideries
Ladies’ Shoes and Slippers
Max Simel
The Pioneer Trader
Furs Bought and
Sold
Miners’, Prospectors’
and Trappers’
Supplies
Steamer Service On the Inoka
River.
Ask the People ot‘ Ophir about us.
STATION
Fairview, Innoko River
tain periods of their lives additional
work is required from the thyroid
gland. Moreover, chronic enlarge
ment of this gland may cause its in
creased secretion to poison, the body,
causing harmful effects in the. entire
nervous system.
Among the different localities in
■ the United States where iodine is de
ficient, the. states of Montana, Idaho,
i Oregon and Washington, British Co
i lumbia, and Alaska, have the least,
|and%oiter is extremely prevalent in
thoose regions. That the native i
races of these totalities seldoom con
tract the disease is-due to the fact
1 that much of their diet is fish,
which contain an excess of iodine.
Various methods are practiced to
overcome this natural defect in the
supply of iodine. In Switzerland
chocolate tablets containing a small
amount of iodine are given to all
school children at regular intervals. (
The state of Michigan, which is also
in the iodine-free belt, requires that
all table salt contain a certain amount
of this element. Other places provide
for an admixture in the water reser
voirs at regular intervals. Rochester,
N. Y., practices this method.
In the absence of an yterritorial or
city regulations in this matter the
I
i
Tokotna ;
Pool Hall
.
---
Avoid the Rush!
Toilet Articles
Cigarette Holders
Cigar Holders
Pocket Combs
Sanitary Tooth Brushes
Extracts Lemon, Banana j
and Strawberry Flavors
Imperial Cigarettes
at cost price
Jack Mutchler
Proprietor
simplest plan is to administer a smali
amount of iodine to each child at
regular intervals in the form of tab-*
lets, which are absolutely harmless
and yet supply the vital need. The
majority of the grocery stores in
Alaska sell table salt from which the
iodine has not been extracted, or will
carry this preparation if requested tc
do so.
Room for Improvement.
The insurance was $10,000, and the
store was valued at $7,000.
“We’ll call it a total loss,” the ad
juster decided.
“.Can't you do a little better thar
that?” the owner complained.
—American Legion Weekly.
Du Rand’s
Cafe and
Hotel
i Flat City
B. & E. Store
McGrath, Alaska
—., , i .
MUKLUKS (
HIP BOOTS
KNEE MUKLUKS
MUKLUKS FOB BOTH
KIOS AND LADIES
SPRING LOTS
3 feet wide
AT COST
A. R. Eldridge |
Geo. W. Hoffman
Pioneer Trader of the Kuskokwim Valley
Napamute, Alaska
GENERAL MERCHANDISE
Good Prices for Your Fur