THE KUSKO TIMES
TAKOTNA. ALASKA. FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 1937
VOL. 1. So. a.
PRICE, CBSfTS
JOHN M’GLUNG
MEETS DEATH
BY DROWNING
Johnny McClung. 25 year? of atre
fill over-board and drowned in lb*
Takotna River at Nixon Forks early
last Tuesday morning. The bod;.
t was recovered by a searching ports
at 2:30 o'clock Wednesday afternoon
McClung left the camp about thret
o’clock in the morning with inlets
t.ons of making a trip up the Nixor
E ver where he was establishing i
rapline for this winter. Later tha:
morning, ”Ciiriy' Anderson disco v
tired the boat still tied in place ant
McClung and the rifle missing. Af
-r a frantic search and failure tf
nd him, Anderson went to McGrati
and reported the disappearance oi
v- partjrer. A search was orgariizec
y 0. S. Marshal McDonald and tin
•jo.ly and the grun were finally recov
trod the next afternoon.
The remains were taken to Me
ath where an inquest was held
verdict of accidental death bj
wrung was returned,
t is believed that in the dark, tht
tor lunate young man had accidea
n.y knocked his nfle overboard. It
turned attempt to recover the
.liking gun. he evidentally lost hi;
balance and toppled over the side oi
drowning was returned. The jury
named by U. S. Commissioner W. J
Vt idman, consisted of J. I. Wills
foreman. Oddie Hallson, Frank Bel
ovich, Bert Demienlieff, John O.
Strand and Wiktor Nystrom.
McClung came to Alaska in June
1P33 and had been employed by the
ARC here ever since until. July this
year, at which time he qtifc to pre
r.are to go trapping this fall. He
eaves his parents and a brotiet and
sister in Yakima. Wash :.;rU-r,. and
..neither brother, Maurice,who has
,een in Takotna this summer, to
urvive him. The latter was with
his brotner at tbe Nixon, camp until
he evening before the sad accident,
..aviiig left at that time for Takcrna.
The two boys were planning on
spending tie winter together trap
ting up the Nixon River.
The remains, accompanied by
Mauriee McClung, was taken by
plane to Anchorage yesterday after
noon where they will be prepared for
shipment to Y'akima.
Johnny had made many friends in
Takotna ana vicinity during the
three years spent here. He was a
pleasant, happy-go-lucky chap and
his carefree air and engaging smile
will be missed by the sorrow-shriek?
en friends left behind.
ENJOYING SUCCESSFUL
SEASON AT FOLGER
Harold Strandberg and Max Ran
taila were passengers from Strand
virg’s op*erat;.ns at Folger yee-ter
uay noon.
Strandberg informed the Times
that everything is going fine at Fol
ger and that so far they have had a
very successful season.
He left here for McGrath with
Ralph Savory where he met his
father. The two went from there to
Candle, where they expect to start
operating the new Candle Creek
J —- today
, BARNHILL'S PLANE SINK
GLACIER LAKE IS REPORT
It is reported that Pilot Barnhill
sank his plane, sometime last week
m Glacier Lake. It is not positively
knjn here just where. Glacier is.)
He is said to have tied up and went
ashore only to return a few minutes
later in time to see the last wing*
tip sink oat of sight.
DR. SHER ARRIVES TO
RELIEVE DR. C RTHELL
Dr. J. Sher. of. the Bureau of In*
dian Affairs, stopped overnight here
last evening expecting "t*i leave for
Mountain Village on the first plane
where he will relieve Dr. Corthtll
who plans to gtr to Columbia’s Um
versiys medical! center in New York
to take up post-graduate surgical
work.
Dr. Sher is a newcomer in Alaska,
having just recently con.- from Cal
ifornia where he has been for the
past year. The new doctor’s home is
in Colorado. We welcome you to the
Kuskokwim,. Doctor 1”
ARC OFFICIALS MAKE
TOl'R OF THIS DISTRICT
Following close on the heels of th'e
two engineers. Hawley Sterling and
W iiliam Hesse. Fred Space, superin
tendent of the ARC activities in fir
western Alaska, arrived by plane
Wednesday afternoon from" Bethel
via Flat, completing his circle of in
spection of activities being carried
on in the Bethel. Gusdhews and Flat
districts.
Steading and Hesse also made a
brief visit to Ophir after landing
If re.
WHAT’S DOING IN McGRATH
By Special Correspondent
Enroute to Aoctwigf—
Pilot Loo Moore and wife witl
three other passengers arrived en
route to Anchorage from Sleetroute
He plans to make a slight motor re
pair here before leaving.
Pilot McKenzie to Anchorage—
Pilot McKenzie, carrying Tiny Sas
seen. O. L Erickson and Dick Me
Ginnis from Eek River, complete
repairs on their plane on the fiel<
and left for Anchorage.
Enters Employ X. C. Store—
Ward Stone arrived here to relievi
Edgar Clausen at the X. C. Store
Clausen will leave for Fairbanki
where he will attend College. Wart
came here from Fairbanks where hi
was employed by the F. E. Co.
Makes Frequent Trips—
Pilot Don Goodman makes fre
quent trips to McGrath carryinf
freight and passengers. Don took :
forced resting spell on the Ruby fieL
one day last week where he sal
from 4:30 a.m. to 3 pun. waiting foi
weather.
Dragline Operated Three Shifts—
Hubert Dibble and Dick Craft an
in town enroute to Anchorage iron
Candle Creek where they have beet
employed by the Strandberg Com
pai.y. They state that the work then
is progressing rapidly. The drag
line has been running three shift:
tigging, a long bedrock drain and i:
is now practically completed. Then
are 36 men now employed. One o!
the tractors is steadily hauling
freight to Candle along the roac
built this summer from Strandberg
Landing about nine miles below Mc
Grath. They expect to begin con
struction of a landing field on th:
hill where the freight was landed
last spring on skis, using their big
tractor and bulldozer.
l ivable to Get Over Pass—
Pilot Estol Call came throng!
McGrath enroute to Anchorage iron:
Flat with the remains of William
Savage who was accidentally killed
i there by a dynamite explosion. Mr
and Mrs. Patrick Savage aecom
_ panied the remains. They tried tc
get over Rainy Pass, going to ai
... altitude ol 14,500 feet, hut had tc
return to McGrath. They gol
through the next day.
Enjoying C’) High Water—
McGrath is, again enjoying “ho
hum" and high water. Rut although
the sidewalks float and dance as the
freighters take advantage of the
high water, they’ll soon return tc
their arcustumed level. All the in
convenience of Venice, Italy. bu1
without Mussolini's black shirts anc
gariic. Just another small flood.
New Freighter Arrives—
E. O. Gurtler arrived in McGratl
with his new freighting powei
barge. It is of tunnel stern con
struction and seems to have a gooc
turn of speed. Well no doubt sec
him quite often now that his freight
<r.g service has begun.
Sees Mattern's Plane Crvi-l p—
Pilot Jimmie Dodson arrived a1
McGrath from Ruby with Elmei
BrandelL, well-known mining man
Pilot Dodson was on the Fairbanks
field when the tri-motored Ford fuel
ing plane that was u> refuel the fly
ing boat, piloted by Jimmie Matjeri
ir the search for the lost Russiai
fliers, cracked up near the field. Th<
plane was damaged beyond repair
landing on the soft muskeg and nos
h;- over onto her back. No one was
hurt.
Mrs. Tibbs Leaves For States—
Mrs. Dorothy Tibbs left recently
for Anchorage where she will visit
a short time before continuing tt
the States.
Tin route to Takotna—
Captain and Mrs. Miller arrived it
McGrath on the Alaskan Wednes
day morning bright and early. Af
*er a general visit of the town, they
left Tak Ana bound, car rying a large
-argo of fuel oil. two tractors foi
Hard & Uotila and buDding mater
ial. Mrs. Kocig and Mrs. Chocolate
and families accompanied them a;
Xixon Fork together with the Millet
family, gave the M.S. Alaskan the
merry appearance of an excursion.
FORMER SECRETARY OF
THE TREASURY PASSES
PITTSBURGH, Pa., Aug. Z(
i —Former Secretary of the Treasury
Andrew Mellon died late this after
j noon, according to a radio report to
1 night.
Mellon was Secretary of the Treas
ury under President Hoover and was
clksoed as the fourth or fith richest
- nr ia the world. He was 82" years
cf at tha time of his death.
| Freighting to Candle—
i Victor Nvstrom, well-kr. own trap
• per, makes occasional trips to
. Strandberg Landing, nine miles be
• low McGrath, carrying freight and
passengers. He uses his poling boat.
Makes Mail Route Survey—
Pilot A1 Horning >assed through
, McGrath euroute to Anchorage with
L Mr. and Mrs. Jn^ge Wood, Mrs.
Wood’s sister, Miss Huff and Mrs.
A! Horning, who accompanied her
husband on the trip. Mr. Wood is
returning from an inspection of
. post offices and has made a survey
of the most feasible mail routes in
; this region.
i -
Complete Loading Equipment—
Eric Hard and Gus L'otila com
pleted loading the Alaskan and two
barges. They loaded part of their
. dragline, a large tractor, Ford V8
■ truck and many other items. Uotila
, remained here and is busy making
| preparations for loading their mach
: inery and equipment items that they
■ wish the Sea Wolf to load on arrival
here.
. - ■■ —
Will Operate Portable Sawmills—
Oddie Hallson and Chas. Wood,
doubling their boats, carried a load
; of freight and mail from McGrath
to Medfra to W mans Trading Post.
They carried as passengers, Ronald
Morrison and Ed Cornwall. Hallson
returned bringing Morrison and Jack
Dunn. Mr. Dunn has been mining
on Eagle Creek during the summer
and is now arranging airplane trans
portation to his extensive traplines
in the Tonne/na. Dry creek. East
Fork region. Mr. Cornwall and fam
ily expect to spend the winter in the
Medfra-Nixcn mine region the com
ing winter. He plans to set up and
operate portable sawmills at both
- places. He has had long experience
in the lumber business in the States.
McADAMS LEAVES ON
FIRST TRIP TO McGRATH
T. S. McAdams pushed off for Mc
Grath today in his newly construc
ted boat.
He has been spending the last few
weeks completing the job of con
struiting a five-ton barge and boat
combined, powered with a Universal
inboard motor. ’’Mac” expects to
carry a 9HP kicker along to furnish
additional power over the riffles and
wherever else needed.
OPHIR NEWS ARTICLES
Bv Christian Bolgen—Special Correspondent
Working On Opencut—
Victor Hill is working- early aril
late on his opencut below the month
of Spruce Creek.
Pete Messieh Visits Here—
Peter Messich of the Gants Creek
Dredging Company, arrived in town
Tuesday night ami returned today.
Crew Bringing Dragline.—
Tom Shaver, Tyvo K -ander and
W. A. Lyons went to Takotna at the
end of last week to assist in the as
sembling and bringing to Ophir the
m in ’ n g machinery belonging to
Lot3a & Hard, which is now unload
ed on the bank of the Takotna, a
short distance below town.
I'aes Xew Truck—
Last Monday night Gus Uotila
! came over on the new Cotila & Hard
: truck and brought over to Takotna
Mrs. Hard and Mrs. Shaver. The la
dies returned the same evening with
Tom Shaver driving. They were the
first pay passengers on the new
I truck.
Visitors in Town—
After a visit for a couple of days
at the PuntiU. dredge :n Little
Creek, Frank Maas, t-hie! engineer
of the Ganes Dredging Company
dredge, and Mrs. Maas, accompanied
by Frank Larson and Arvid Larson
and his wife and Clac.de Nyfoerg,
made a short visit to town at the
end of last week, coming in with
Warner Alford: leaving the same ev
ening far Little and Canes Creeks.
Heavy Rains Great Aid—
During the recent heavy rains,
Mrs. P. A. Anderson has been able
: to do great work ground sluicing on
1 the openent on her Anvil Creek
! property. Mrs. Anderson, besides
, mining, finds time to raise a fine
vegetable garden in Ophir and
around her home an Anvil, there is
a garden with a perfect riot of
fijZKB v Almost e> -ry week she
PUN TILL '» DREDGE HAS
GOOD CLEANUP IS REPORT
Mr. end Mr?. JackDeLane and Mrs
Arcid Larson were overnight visi
tors in Takotna. having come ii
from Little Creek with Warner Al
ford last evening.
The Deranes left for Ganes Creel
this morning where they will visii
and spend the day fishing. Mrs. Do
Lane. who is cooking for Puntilli
on Little, has a week's vacatioi
ending Sunday.
Jack reports that the Puntill;
dredge is on good pay and a receni
cleanup of four days run turned ou
unusually well. Mr. DeLane is en
gineer on the dredge, holding dowi
one shift and Chas. Anderson th<
; other.
MATTERS* GIVES UP SEARCH
FOR MISSING RUSSIAN FLIERS
Jimmy Mattern returned to Fair
banks Wednesday stating that hi
had done all that was possible _foi
! him to do in his search for the mis
} sing Russian f.iers. although he wai
considerably handicapped by the
cracking up of the Ford refueling
ship.
The Ford nosed over on the Tan
ana Flats when, unable to locats
Fairbanks the pilot attempted t<
land on what he thought was i
smooth, open flat, but turned out tc
be a moss-covered tundra. The shi{
ploughed two deep furrows in tlu
moss and nosed over, damaging th<
plane, but no one was injured.
Leaves For Fairbanks—
C-apt. J. H. McLean went to Fair
banks for medical attention Wednes
day morning, taking passage witl
Pilot Jimmy Dodson of the Wiet
Airways.
CR A VET'S RETURN TO
FAIRBANKS AFTER VISIT
Jflr. and Mrs. J. J. CRA VET, whe
have been visiting their son Charles
and wife out on -Ganes Creek, left
for Fairbanks Wednesday morning
The elderly couple enjoyed theii
visit very much, stating that, thej
were tr-.a--.-t* very “i yally” by ev
eryone on Ganes.
Mr. Cravey. being interested it
mining, visited ail of the camps or
Ganes. “That creek, looks like a
pocket country to me,” Cravey said
“I wish I had the time to spend tc
do some prospecting here.” Like ali
old-time prospectors, apparently, the
Fairbanks mining man can not look
at a possible mineral formation
without wanting to go prospecting,
Visits From Little Creels—
Leonard Zaiser arrived in town
Wednesday from Little Creek, where
he has been employed on Frank Spel
jack’s ground.
I brings cut flower; from her garde-:
as presents to ladies in town. How
, ?he finds time to do it ail is an un
| solved mystery.
—
Leaves For Property—
Eric Hard left Tuesday for bis
property on upper Ophir Crock. r w
being worked by Hard k Johns n.
Arrives With Mail—
Mas Simel arrived with the Ophir
Holy Cross mail at the end of las:
week. This was next to the last trip
: on that route for this season.
Makes Several Trips—
Gus Uotila has been making quite
a few trips b-tv -u Ophir and Ta
kotna with the n w track during the
past week, carrying quite a lot of
freight. U otn has been in the
freighting business so long in the
past, that it may be hard for him
to quit all of a sudden.
Finish Seven Drill Crosscuts—
After finishing .-even drill cross
cuts on the Innok'j Flat, between
Spruce and Little Creeks, Chat. Hol
ky and Alf Greenberg have moved
their drill to a point about a quarter
of a mile b'f w ) . :lh of Vic:., r
Gulch. Last Sunday Bolky drove his
par-nor Greenb-. :g and Mrs. H. A
Vinal to Takotna where they intend
to take a plane: ?5rs. Vina, resturu
ng to Seidovia after s.-endmg a
week or more £ ing to busmens
m Ophir, and Alf Greenberg making
a bush: ss trip to Filter. Mrs. Vi
nal is interested in mining property
on Spruce Creek; the property is
now being worked by Jaquemai k
Weir, under a lease, Mr. Greenberg
intends to return to Ophir shortly,
on his return td Ophir. he visited
Ganes Creek and took in all the
camps on that busy creek. He says
that both dredges are working away
at full speed; the new diesel engines
on the big dredge running like sew
ing machines. He also -r i s i t e d
Schwalsdall k Vibe’s camp on
Spaulding Creek, and says t .ey are
doing great business there.
DETAILS GIVEN
ON DEATH WM.
SAVAGE AT FLAT
Wm. Savage was killed in a dyna
mite explosion at Flat Saturday,
August 14.
Particu.ars of his death were
learned this week with the return of
Pat Savage, who was the young
man's uncle, and Mrs. Savage, wao
returned to Takotna Sunday.
At the time of the accident, the
unfortunate man, with a helper. Jas.
Stenberg. were working ground on
upper Flat Creek owned by Pat Sav
age. Stenberg was in a cut prepar
ing for the blasting of two large
rocks when he heard the premature
explosion that caused the death of
the young miner. He rushed out to
find the badly mangled body of _ his
fellow worker.
In returning from the powder
cache with dynamite to blast the
rocks, the young man had evidently
stepped on a larg, smooth rock and
slipped and fell, discharging the dy
namite. Several sticks of unexploded
dynamite and short pieces of fuse
with caps attached, were found lying
close by.
The deceased was born in Water
bary, Conn., Nov. 11, 1911. He is
survived by his father and one sis
ter. who still live in Waterbury, and
Pat Savage, his uncle.
The young man came to Alaska in
the summer of ’34. He lived with
Mr. and Mrs. Savage at Flat. At
the time of his untimely demise, he
had charge of the hydraulic opera
tions on upper Flat Creek, owned by
Mr. Savage.
The remains were taken to Anch
! orage from where they will be ship
ped Outside, accompanied by Mr. Sa
vage.
WORK ON McGRATH
FIELD AT STANDSTILL
IOa account of the recent rains and
the flooding of the ground work on
the McGrath landing field is at a
standstill. The crew has been handi
capped and the work hasn't pro
gressed as fast as was expected.
Continuation of the work will be
, carried on as soon as the flood wa
Assistant Chief Engineer Hawley
Sterling informs us that they are at
. present undecided as to whether to
make the landing field suitable for
floats or wheels. He states that by
digging out a little dirt they would
have the former, or by adding a lit
tle (quite a little), they would have
a wheel landing. At the present
time, wheel planes are unable to
land in McGrath
A survey of the landing field at
Takotna will start sometime shortly
after the first of September.
HOLES DRILLED ON BEACH
AT GOODNEWS ARE BLANKS
William A. Hesse. Territorial
Highway Engineer. Dr. J. B. ilurtie,
of the Geological S-rvey. and Haw
ley Sterling, Assistant Chief Engin
eer of the ARC, arrived in Takotna
by plane from Bethel and the Good
new- Bay district.
Murtie’ states that drilling opera
tions to date on the beach at Good
news have been blanks.
Shonbeck and Beaton drilled ver
100 feet deep and didn’t reach t -d
rock or get any -:gn of a co or.
Other hole- hav been sunk net. 'y
a.- deep and look just as disec urag
ir.g." the geologist sa.•!.
The three officials left Takotna
Wednesday morning going V> jlc
Grath and’ from there_to Anci -.-age.
They were traveling n a chartered
plane piloted by A1 Homing.
MAKING GOOD PROGRESS
IN MOVING THE DRAGLINE
Uotila & Hard dragline started on
the long trek to Ophir today.
The crew have been busy setting
up the new Northwest machine for
the past week. The operator, Har
old Hanson, stated today that with
good going, they c-uld make the trip
-’ough and be on the ground with
in three days, but they have several
bad detours to make around which
they may encounter some difficulty,
which makes it impossbile to estim
ate the time it will take to land the
machine on Ophir Creek.
FREDDIE STEELE'S MANAGER
D, S: EIGHT IS POSTPONED
SEATTLE, Aug. 25—Dare Miller,
manager of Freddie Steele, middle
weight champion of the world, died
early this morning. Death resuled
j from spinal meningitis.
The young fighter mourned the
death of his one and only manager.
Miller having taken Steele from the
- start and brought him up through
the ranks to atain and hold the
world’s championship.
Steele was uiotched to meet Ken
I Overlin in a title fight this coming
week. At the death of the cham
pion’s manager, the fight was Indefc
nitrly postponed.