THE KUSKO TIMES
__ gESE*xL
VOL. 1. NO. 22
TAKOTNA. ALASKA. FRIDAY, JULY 2. 1937
PRICE. 25 CENTS
FIRST FREIGHT
AND MAIL FROM
LANGLEY HERE
The steamer Langley arrived.to. Mc
Grath from Bethel S. o'clock Sunday
morning.
With the arrival of the first ship
ment of Outside freight and second
class and parcel p: st for this season,
river traffic has started to hum
A. H. Twitched and Woodr w-Va»
derpool arrived in Takotna this week
with the first shipment of new sup
plies of the season. Vanderpooi
brought up twelve sacks of mail al
ong with a small amount of freight.
Joe Oates, Jr. chugged in -to town
early last evenm pushing three tons
of freight loaded on his little oargt
and boat. Joe said he made it through
from McGrath without trouble, omy
striking bottom once. He stopped
and helped Captain Miller rdf a grav
el bar and also gave a lift to the
Mud-Hen, piloted by Andy Miller
Latest reports state that the MS Al
askan is about 16 miles down the
river at the Takotna sawmill.
Andy Miller arrived here with the
K. C. barge, Mud-Herg propelled by
two kickers, at midnight last night
The barge was loaded with eight
tens of freight for the N. C. Store
at Takotna.
The MS Alaskan and the MS Sea
Wolf are due to arrive a: any time
having left McGrath the first of the
week. It is reported they have been
stuck on a bar somewhere below:
The water is quite low and^ the
boats are going to have _ difficult
freighting between here and McGrath
unless the weath. r man sttps in and
sends some heavy rains soon
JOHN McCLl'NG'S BROTHER
MAKES FAST TRIP HERE
Johnny McCiting’s brother, Maur
ice, landed in Takotna this evening
with Pilot Den Goodman. The
steamer Yukon docked in Seward
this morning with McClung aboard
and the young man landed in Anch
orage just in tim eto catch Goodman
vvh was getting ready to leave for
Tako.na. This is McCung's first trip
north. His home is in Washington
state.
MRS. ERNIE C-ENTKER DIES
IN ALTO CRASH. FAIRBANKS
Mrs. Ernest Gentler : f Fairbanks
wa- killed in an automobile accident
. F. i arks this week acccrd:ng tc
here- Tkt b - nf the ae
tit were not obtainable.
Gent her was a daughter od
.'oe Hubbard, fort erly II. S. Deputy
Marsha! at Takotna, a number o:
- srs ago, and a sistt: • w"11
hnewn Fa’rbanks flier Percy Hubbard
who had h;s foot smashed in an air
pane accident last year.
VIEW CLEAN UP AT THE
GANES CREEK DREDGE
Miss Ellen Ritdy and Mrs. Eri<
Hard were visitors curtTig the "clean
tip" at the Ganes Creek, dredge 'hi:
w-; ~k.
The results were a little disappoint
ing to the ladies but were as good si
c *ected by the dredge owners.
' hey have some very good gronnc
rhead of them aid expect better gc
irg as the season advances.
TOWN OF NENANA
» IS PARTLY SUBMERGED
NENANA, June 24—The Tanatii
Elver, on a second rampage this
rear is only six inches below tht
ree rd h gh w2ter mark of last montl
and is rising steadily.
it rea hid the 12-foot six-inch lev
*4 ho y before noon today.
A few inches more would let fi
*r.r ouch the ties in the big curve it
th: ra Iroad track which acts as s
levee until the river reaches the ffboc
strge.
Powboats are in general use in tht
ra^lr: id reserve end of the town bm
it wiT have to come up two feet be
fore it gets to -the -floors of residenc
es in the reserver Houses there art
elevated four feet above the ground
S'ire of the residents in cabins h
the other end of'town were forced tx
nj'-ve out.
The business section is sail higi
and dry.
The town of'Nenana wa- inrndat
ed rwo different times duririg Mai
fo’lowing the breakup of the ice ii
the Tatiana River. On both occasion
-esidents were compelled to leave tin
lower end of vwm. schools were clos
ed. considtrai lt damage resulted
Many Clean-ups
Are Made Here
By Mining Men
This week has been “Clean-up
Week" on the dredges and draglines
■n the creeks in this area.
The Ganes Creek Dredge had their
first clean-up of the season last Sun
day. Frank. Spel.iaek and Pete Mes
= :ch came in to town with Charley
Craver with the gold dust Sunday
-ion. Messich went on to McGrath
by boat with A. H. Twitcheil. return
np by plane Tuesday.
Tbs results of the clean-up on the
1 dragline operations of Vibe &
Scbwalsdall on Spaulding Creek last
Monday were reported to be highly
satisfactory. Mr. Vibe arrived in
town early in the afternoon with the
gold dust and engaged Joe Oates, Jr.
to take him to McGrath :n the kick
er. He arrived tack by plane Wed
nesday.
Felder & Gale, on Upper Yankee,
made their first clean-up of the sea
; son Wednesday.
Wain-o Funtilla, operating the
dredge on Little Creek, is reported
to be making a clean-up today.
ROOSEVELTS SON MAT
RUN' FOR TEXAS OFFICE
AUSTIN. Tex, June 25—Rumors
at the capitol here indicate that El
liott Roosevelt, second son of the
President, may enter one of the Tex
as state-wide races next summer. The
- reports generally link him with the
campaign for lieutenant governor.
Young Roosevelt, whose home is
Fort Worth, aready has evinced a
keen interest in Texas politics. He is
past officer of the state organiza
tion of Young Democrats and was an
active supporter of Governor James
V. Allred in his suc'essful campaign
last year for re-election.
TAKES BIG RISK
Bill Kokko made a trip to McGrath
with Pilot Savory Saturday and back
Monday night, leaving the N. C.
store in charge of The Wandering
Reporter.
MUCH ACTIVITY, M’QRATH
SINCE ARRIVAL OF LANGLEY
Add Barer* to Fleet—
Smith and Lang, operating the MS !
Sea Wolf II. are busy making an ex
tensive overhaul of their freighting
equipment at McGrath
They have dismantled and removed
the boiler and engines from the
steamer Amtabelle and have convert
her into a covered barge. They have
aim hauled out and are overhauling
their two other barges and have ar
ranged fo- the use cf Widman's big
batre, whi.h has just been overhaul
ed by Einar Carlson and Jack Stew
ut
me Sea Wolf’s engine has been
c< mpletely overhauled by Engineer
Bob and with this equipment ail in
good shape, they can handle a large
amount, of Takotna River freight
quickly and efficiently.
Sea Wolf Brings 0:!—
The Sea Wolf made a trip down to
Canal? Landing last Saturday for
Ted Strandberg and brought up 10 '
drums of oil to the new Strandberg
Landing.
Col. Ohison to Goodnews—
Joe Crosson came from Fair
banks last Friday from Fairbanks en
route to Go;.dnews Bay. carrying
Col. O. F. Ohison and Mr. Gustavason
when, they made an inspection of
the Strandberg operations on Clara
Creek, in the platinum area.
Kfng Improved in Health—
Forma- United States Commission
er Fred King of McGrath, returned
recently from Fairbanks in graatly
improved health. At present he is
staying with W. J. W id man.
Langley Brings Three Barges—
The SS. Wallace Langley arrived
here early Sunday rooming on the
first trip of the season from Bethel
with two barges loaded down with
freight. They intend going back to
pick up a third oarge that was left
at the Strandberg Landing.
ROAD COMMISSION HAS HAD
TO WORK ON SHIRT fi? J:\EY
The Alaska Road Commission, op
erating' under the Governor of Alaska
Ex-Officio C c tnmissioner for the
Interior Department, has completed
ts 2nd active working season as a
zi construction agency. Its ’uris
rtion covers all roads not within
confines of the Nationa Forests,,
r 94 per cent of Alaska.
During this period 24 ^ million dol
have been expended for the con
struction and maintenance of roads,
trails, bridges, aviation fields, cable
ways and shelter cabins.
More Than 2.000 Miles in Roads
The existing system now includes
2 miles of read, 80 miles of nar
r w gauge railroad. 1,650 miles of
-led road aDd 7,500 miles of trails
This mileage is scattered over Alaska
from Seldovia to Point Barrow and
frem Eagle to Teller. The main auto
mobile roads naturally serve those
areas with the greatest population
such as Fairbanks, Anchorage, \ al
dez and Nome. The longest connect
ed system is in the area served by
- tie Richardson, Sw-ese and Elliott
Hi rhwavs with their branches, a to
tal" of 934 miles. At Anchorage, the
"onneebad system totals 250 miles.
The balance* of the total read mileage
s in short sections or small systems,
]’ widely separated and varying
from a half iri. e to 80 miles. About
75 per cent of the roads or 15*10
miles are gravel surfaced and suit -
_b’e for automobile travel in any
kind of weather, 150 miles are par
ks y surfaced while the balance can
‘ be traversed by ear only during dry
weather.
Last Tear's Operations
1 ast year’s operatkns covered the
construction or completion of con
struction of 80 miles of new road,
chief among which was the connect
ing of Anchorage with Palmer and
the load system of the Matanuska
* Valley. This included one 1507-foot
steel bridge over the Knik River
with a 50 -foot timber trestle ap
proach. Other important operations
were the standardization of 12 miles
f road in Mt McKinley Nationa!
i Park and the extension of the Park
: road for a distance of nine mites.
■ The Elliott Highway from Fox to
■ '.ivengood was gravel surfaced in ail
. the worst sections making it pass*
We for automobile. Several short'
stretches of low type branch roads
were added.
Roads Help Mining
The construction cf roads has had j
a marked influence on mn'ng devel- .
orunent in the Inter 01 uf Alaska,
through the reduction of freight j
rates. Concrete tramples are every- |
where in evidence. Freight is now
being hauled from Fairbanks to
Det wood Creek on the Steese High
way for as low as three-fourths of a
cent a pound, former rate ten cents
per pound. During the boom days oi,
-he Livengood camp, all supplies!
w -e taken from Fairbanks by small
•as boats down the Tanana. thence
:p the Tolovana to head of naviga
on and from there over a w j den
railed tramway 13 miles to the camp,
total landed cost eight cents per
pound and uncertain service at that.
In winter freight was taken from
Dunbar on the railroad for three
cents per pound. It is now hauled by
crock direct from Fairbanks for one |
ent a pound—by airp’ane for four’
cents. Though the r d which at j
times becomes impassatue. freight is .
hauled to Poorman for two cents a i
p ana as against a price of ten cent?
when the road was first started. Nu
merous such exampes could be cited.
More and Better Roads Needed
In the face of these achievements
and though there is a constant jus
tifiable cry for new roads and im
provement of certain e~ ’.sting routes,
*be regular road appropriations have
gradually decreased from a peak of
Si.v22 =k>0 in 192? to $525,000 in fis
cal year 1037. It is true that emer
ger." appropriations during the de
press? n, but these funds were allot
ted for specific projects and under
conditions making it difficult to prop
erly plan in advance.
Need Mare Money
The current appropriations are in
sufficient to puperly maintain and
:mprove the existing sy-tem. At
least a part of the constructed roads j
are not receiving proper mainten
ance and needed new projects cannoi
be undertaken.
The recent stimulus to mining in
the Territory has created an unprec
edented demand for additional road
mileage to serve new .developments.
'INDS KILL OF LADING
N FISH CAUGHT RECENTLY
Mrs. Helen Konig who practic
ally has a corner on the fresh
n-h sittaiien in McGrath, recent
ly caught a large lush.
In examining the contents of
’he «tcrnach. she found a printed
form of paper partially legible,
apcsn-‘iy a bill of lading from
the Me ; Coast Grocery, ad dr es
se J to Keoir." Inasmuch as they
have tn order coming from the
V> rst C vast, she wonders whether
Purser Frank Mortimer took this
faster means of transportation
by spec al messenger.
Mrs. Konig is catch:ng a few
fresh s^imon occasionally, too.
*>ew Farrdly Arrives—
Frank Simpson, his wife and threi
•ear-old toy arrived from Anchorage
'ecently and at present are makin;
heir h T-.e in McGrath. He is bus;
>rightenirg the Marshal’s resident
vith some coats of white paint.
iVork Progressing Rapidly—
Work on Dare Clough’s new road
r use is pr-stressing rapidly. Mrs
Erickson arrived from Bethel and i
socking for Mr. Clough. An erro
rept into a recent article in Tb
Hrnes regarding the construction o
he new roadhouse in which it wa
rated that the dimensions of tb
rjilding were 18x50 feet. The correc
h mens ions are 30x50 feet.
iYinchell Smashes Thumb—
In uni ad.ng a heavy shaft at Idit
trod. Le nard Winchell, a brother o
^ilot Oscar Winchell, smashed an
moke his thumb in two places. H
rhe injuted man started by plane
dieted by 'A'. E. Dunkle for Anch
-rage the same evening. They were
K-wever unable to get through tb
dass, so spent the night at Fare we
Lake. They returned to MeGrath th
text day for gas and continued oi
o Anch rage.
rRAVELING MEN MAKING
SWING AROUND COUNTRY
Clark Andnesen. representing- Hun
k Mottet Hardware Co., ‘Tacoma
»nd Milton Odom, traveling for th
ft’. J. Lcke & Co., wholesalers ii
iouors, with head _ar*_ers in Seattle
rrived here last evening from An
•borage with Jimmy Dodson, pilot
rig a Wien Alaska Airways plane.
The p t»-’_r trar Jing n n hired :
•ar or eir arrival and left fo
Dph ere they'spent the nigh’
■eti >g here this morning. Pile
Doason took r.ff from here th
wj for McGrath. They plan >n go
ng from there to Flat and other In
erior p ints. Andresen resided «
he Territorj- for many years prio
o taking up his present work, ha
ng been manager of the hardwar
i:partmcnt of Brown & Hawkins a
'# ward for a number of years. He i
in old acquaintance of Alaska Ega
ind they enjoyed a good visit thi
norning.
LEAVES FOR SPAULDING
Alton Nelson, a brother cf “Takot
ns Bill" Nelson, left for Spauldin;
Creek last Sunday to work for Vib
k SchwrlsdalL Alton is a new arriv
il in the Kuskokwim area, com in,
Ertm Anchorage U> here. While i
Fakotna. he visited with The Kusk
rimes.
MAKING GOOD IN
GHOUND SAIDTO
BE WORTHLESS
Nels Vibe and Andy Schwalsdell
are finally petting the ‘“breaks" on
Spaulding Creek: a creek ft a' f •
years was considered “no goo a ’ by
the -id-timers.
For the last 20 years, ever sin:e
prospecting ha3 been carried on to
any extent in this dictnct, Spaulding
has la.n idle. Now and then, some
ambitious prospector would stop and
sink a few holes, after which, unsat
isfied with the results, he would
abandon the creek end move or.. Lay
eff Span:; ng.” became the by-word.
Sc .itone had already constructed
a dit_h line when Vibe & Schwals
dall took over the ground. They
started to work sluicing and made it
pay ,n a small way. and did enough
to sh> w that the money was there f
capita! could be raised to work it in
‘ the manner it should be worKed.
: After the ground was proven, it
was only a small matter to get the
: backing to install modern equipment.
A Bucyrus Erie drag-line, with a
yard and a Quarter bucket was ship
ped up and moved in la t summen
The equipment was moved in and
; instiled in time to get in 32 sh.fts
’ on the latter end of the season, that
netted $ .2.(00 worth -f virgin gold.
‘ Vibe and Schwalsdall are on the
; job this year with one good clean-ur
behind them and a promise of five or
; six more before the end f the sea
1 son. They have a go i th r.c on
Spaulding and we wish them a 1 the
success in the world. They had that
optimistic patience ana g ...
’ aeity to har.g to a thing in the face
: of the repeatedly given words of dis
1 courage mtn_ by the various wet
! bankets.
JOHN RIECK RETIRNS
; FROM PROSPECTING TRIP
i -
i John Rites ;ar. iea in town ia«t
i rrigfct front .his rlfiim on Ugoer
Gan-. . He expects to remain in town
until after the Fourth of July.
John is one of the few men who
, is doing active prospecting in this
area. If we had more r ai r-rosp.-c
tors scattered around •hr.ngh
c country, times would pick up and we
• would see a lot of gold dust iioating
i around again. “The c.a ,-iOj.
1 are dying off and the chechako,
’ seem: to be rati fed to r'av a < r.-.h
■ ar.d work for wages—afraid to get
' out and take a chance,'- Rieck said.
‘ POSTMASTER IS NAMED
FOR TOWN OF NENANA
WASHINGTON—For the postrr.as
’ U r-hip at Nenana. Alaska, Alice B.
. Gurtier was nominate i recently by
, President Roosevelt. The non nation
• was to the Senate for conSrm
. stion.
t JACK GUCKER VISITS
s J. W. G-cker arr.ved from. Eethel
) with Pilot Art Woodky. After si3
s itir.g the nser rants here ar.d in
Oph.r. Mr. tucker t perts to cc n n
ue on his tour, going over to the Yu
kon a- d river points and around to
- Fairbanks. Gucker travels for sevt a!
' wholesale firms and is one of the b t
s known traveling men in the North.
X Hjelde Is Visitor Here—
i Araulf Hjelde was a visitor ' Ta
li kotna from Ophir Saturday. arriving
by Joe Oates, Jr.
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