TIMES
VOL. IX NO. 24 |
TAKOTNA ALASKA SATURDAY. JUNE 22, 1929.
PRICE 25 CEN
Four Killed
At Fairbanks
A. R. C. ROAD SUPEHINTENDENT
AND 3 WOMEN PERISH WHEN
AUTO PLUNGES INTO GULCH.
(Fairbanks Newts-Miner.)'
Four persons were killed at an
early hour this: morning when the au
tomobile in which they were riding
plunged off the road and. rolled, down
«. .gulch 18 miles from Fairbanks on
the Steese highway. The dead are:
H.-G. Haslem, 40, Alaska Road
Commission . superintendent for the
Fairhanks district;
Mrs. May Haslem, 23, his wife;
Mrs. Helen. Burmaster, 25, of Fair
banks;
Mrs..Julia.Warren,, of Mason creek-'
There were not witnesses to the
tragedy, which is the worst of its j
kind that has ever occurred in the. In-j
terior. Reports conflict as to the time
the party left the Summit Road
ha usb, where they had. attended a
dance, on the return trip to Fair-'
banks, hut as nearly as can be!
learned it was between 4:30 and 5:15
a-.m., and the accident followed with
in a few minutes of the time they
left.
Suffocation caused the. death of all
the.victims,.an examination made.this
morning, by. Dr. J. A. Sutherland,
found, and only Mrs. Haslem and.
Mrs. Burmaster were, bruised..
Wedged tightly against the ground,,
with the weight of the overturned car
on them., they probably died within a
fe.w. minutes after the machine had
stopped rolling.
The car was a Ford of the light de
livery type, with only one seat, and
the fact that all were crowded into
this may have had, it is believed,
something to do. with the. accident.
Haslem, who wasdriving, had just
negptiatedan S curve, the. sharpest on:
the entire road, and was attempting
to straighten it out when it plunged
down the embankment.
The tracks made by the tires from,
the time the curve was passed until
the car left the road could, be clearly
seen this morning. The machine ran
along the very edge for a consider
able distance, until the loose dirt gave
way under its weight and it rolled
into the gully helow. Two reasons
have, been advanced for Haslern’s ina
bility to swing back into the center
of the road, o neheing that, th.- steer
in. ggear may have been defective,
and the. other that with so many in
the. seat he lacked room and fu uld not
swing the steering wheel far enough
to avert the.accident..
At that point the hill is steep, and
the car rolled about fifty fe. c before
coming to. rest against the : tump of
a . tree. It is believed that it turned
over twice. It was overturned when
it stopped. The light top w:., crushed
in, pinning the. occupants in with no
hope of escape.
The wrecked car was found shortly
after 6:30 by Buster Andei.on of the
Midnight Sun Transport: t in Com
pany. He and the two uassengers
who were riding in the si ige went
dawn the: hill to invemigate the
wreck. At first they believed no one.
was in the car, but on looking further,
discovered one of the b dies. They
were unable to right the . ar. and hav
ing no ar with which to (.v :. the stump
hurried to the Summit. From there
news of the tragedy w telephoned
to Fairbanks, and Martin. Nelson, A.
R.i C. foreman, who has a samp near
by, were notified. Men were sent
dawn from his.camp imaudiately, and
with the help of those in the- stage
the bodies were soon removed. They
were brought to the Ross mortuary.
The party had already started from
the roadhouse and had gone a mile or
so on the way when it was discovered
that Mrs. Haslem’s glasses had been
forgotten, so they returned and start
ed out again immediately after secur
ing the glasses..
Mrs. Haslem was the daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. A1 Morency. She was
born in Fairbanks and spent nearly
her entire life here, making her first
tip Outside last winter. Sre is sur
vived. by her mother and father, sev
eral sisters and hrothers and two
daughters, Alice, 5, and Bertha, 2.
Mrs. Warren was the wife of Wil
liam Warren. They formerly lived at
Ruby, but for the last several years
have lived at Mason creek, in the
Tanana district, where Mr. Warren
was mining. Mrs. Warren arived here
from Mason creek about two weeks
ago..
Mrs. Burmaster was horn in Circle
City, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Nels Rasmussen. She had lived in|
Alaska all her life. She i ssurvived
by her mother, brothers and sisters,'
and a daughter, Lee, four years old.
Since .last year Mr. Haslem had
been A. R. C. superintendent for this i
district, being appointed to that posi-j
tion upon the resignation of Hawley i
W. Sterling. He had been with the
Alaska Road Commission since 1922,!
first as location engineer, then as su-'
perintendent of the Nenana district,
and when that was consolidated with
the local district as assisant superin
tendent under Mr. Sterling. He was
born in Maine and lived there until
manhood. He attended the University
of Maine. The family then moved to
Vancouver, B. C., where Mr. Haslem’s
mother and two sisters still live.
Prior to hi sconnection with the A. R.
C. Mr. Haslem was with the Alaska
Engineering Commssiion during the
construction period of the Alaska
Railroad.
BEAVER TO HANG; HOOVER
REFUSES LESSEN SENTENCE
President Hoover has refused the
application for executive clemency
and for commutation of sentence in
the case of the United States versus
Constantine Beaver, and the Indian
must hang. He was convicted by a
federal jury in the District Court here
on February 24 of" first degree mur
der in the slaying' of Engatta Neck
etta, also a native, and was sentenced
by Judge Cecil H. Clegg to hang on
May 18, says the Fairbanks News
Miner.
On April 16 a reprieve was grant
ed by Governor George A. Parks so
that the application for commutation
of sentence could be placed before
President Hoover.
United States'"Attorney Julien A.
Hureyy has filed a motion for fixing
the date of sentence. The.* motion will
come up for hearing i nthe District
Court next week and if granted Bea
ver will be sentenced to die some time
after August 19, when the reprieve
expires.
The last hanging in Alaska oc
curred in Fairbanks on October 7,
1921. At thaA time Hamilton, an
aged native^ was executed for killing
another native.
“BOOK OF GOLD.”
SEATTLE.—The Alaska “Boo kof
Gold,” which will contain the roster
of former Alaskans and Yukoners, is
having hundreds of names added
weekly. The roster is being dpub
lishe in connection with the sour
dough stampede to be held" in Seattle
August 16, 17 and 18 in commemora
tion of the thirty-third anniversary
of discovery.of. gold in the Klondike
3 Workers
Are Killed
PLUNGE TO DEATH WHEN HIGH
WATER. UNDERMINES ALAS»
KA RAILROAD BRIDGE.
Three men lost their, lives when
two spans of the bridge on the Alas
ka railroad branch line leading from
Healy Fork to the- llealy River Coal
Corporation’s coal mine at Suntrana.
were taken out by high water at 5:31)
o’clock in the afternoon, a few days
ago, according to the Fairbanks
News-Miner.
The dead are Richard Conway, Carl.
Spach and Charles Seaman. All were
members of Jack Hansen’s B. and B.
gang. All are believed to be from the
coastal district. So far as could be
learned, none was married.
The accident occurred while the
three men were making preparations
to strengthen the bridge by driving
piling. A concrete pier extending six
feet in the rock had fceenexposed al
most, to the very bottom by the eros
ive action of the swiftly-moving Ne
nana river, letting obe side of the
structure sag slightly. The spans
collapsed suddenly when the men
were in the very middle. They had
no opportunity to escape and were
plunged suddenly into the raging
water. Whether they were killed by
the. fall or were drowned is unknown.
Preparations for making repairs to
the bridge, which, is a vital link in the
line over which coal is shipped to
Fairbanks, were started almost as
soon as General Manager Ohlson had
received word of.the accident. Han
sen’s crew will be reinforced- by Sid
Sheldon’s, and the collapsed span wil
be cleared away and the work of driv
ing piling commenced.
The steel and concrete structure
had five 80-foot spans. It was erect
ed at a cost of $160,000.
CHIEF JUSTICE TAFT UNDER
OBSERVATION AT HOSPITAL
WASHINGTON.—Chief Justice W.
H. Taft was taken to the Garfield
Hospital to be placed under observa
tion for gall bladder trouble. The
physicians said that Taft was suffer
ing from over-exertion as the result
of a trip to Cincinnati and that the
patient must have complete rest for
several days to recuperate. They be
lieve that an operation is unneces
sary.
Chief Justice Taft returned today
from a visit to relatives in Cincinnati
and planned to continue to his sum
mer home in Canada, but decided that
his physical condition was not suffi
ciently satisfactory to permit the
making of the trip.
THOMAS MILLER RELEASED
FROM ATLANTA PRISON
ATLANTA.—Thomas Miller, for
mer alien property custodian,, is re
ported to< have been released on pa
role from the federal penitentiary
here, after serving a little more than
18 months of his sentence for conspir
acy to defraud the government.
Prison attendants said they were
not allowed to talk, and declined to
confirm the rumor of Miller’s release.
Miller was convicted in New York
in 1927, after a spectacular trial. He
was accused jointly with Attorney
General Harry Daugherty with con
spiring to obtain German-owned pro
perty and fined $5,000. The jury dis
agreed as to Daugherty.
FORMER PROFESSOR BREAKS
DOWN AFTER GRILLING AND
CONFESSES TERRIBLE CRIMI
COLUMBUS, June 21.—Dr. James
K. Snook confessed killing; Theresj
K. Six, Ohio State University co-ed
on a rifle range near here last Thurs
day night.
The confession was made to Count;,
Prosecutor John J. Chester Jr., aftei
23 hours’ grilling. Snook said h<
knew Miss Six three years and helpec
her through school.
He said, “She developed a more de
termined attitude in regard to dictat
ing my movementts lately.” Wher
they met at the rifle range Thursday
night, Snook said, they began to quar
rel. She reached for a revolver anc
he said he struck her with a hammer
intending to stun her, and continued
to strike her •when she fought back
Snook said he finally thought hei
skull was fractured and she was suf
fering so Le cut her jugular vein with
a knife.
FIV EIDAHO ABDUCTORS
ARE PLACED IN CUSTODY
JULIETTA, Idaho, June 24.—Five
members of the gan gwhich abducted
Lieutenant Governor Kinne and twe
other men were rounded up. George
Norman and George Livingston were
found by two boys within a few
hours of the kidnaping.
Talbot Reynolds, Frank Lane and
Engos Snoysland were rounded up by
Livingstone officers. They were said
to have made fuSIMpfttJsions,' involv
ing their companions. Later, all
signed confessions.
Kinne and the two men who at
tempted to rescue him were bound to
trees and gave the alarm after free
ing themselves.
-1
MRS. HOOVER CONDEMNED.
AUSTIN, Texas.—The Texas Sen
ate is on record as condemning by
resolution Mrs. Herbert Hoover for
entertaining Mfcs. Oscar DePriest,
wife of the negro member of Con
gress from Illinois, at the White
House last Wednesday.
Mrs. Margie Neai, Democrat, the
oniy woman member of the upper
house of the Texas legislature, intro
duced the resolution, which was
adopted, with' only two dissenting
otes.
ILLINOIS SENATE REFUSES
TO PAS DRY REFERENDUM
SPRINGFIELD, 1111.—The State
Senate defeated the Weber-O’Grady
House bill for 'a referendum on the
question of the qrepeal of the repeal
of the State prohibition act. The vote
was 28 to 21.
The bill passed the House by a
wide margin. The Senate, which is
recognized as being dry, was sharply
divided between Chicago and down
State Senators. The Chicagoans vot
ed solidly for the bill, and the down
Staters, except two, were against it,
A similar measure was defeated in
the Senate two years ago.
Mrs. Georgie Hagen was an air
plane passenger for Fairbanks on
Tuesday. She expects to return here
possibly within the next two or three
weeks.
Mrs. Kozevnikoif, m ther of Mrs.
Tvar Childstrom ar.d Mrs. Ralph An
Serson, was an airplane passenger
Tuesday night for Fairbanks, wher.
she expects to make her permanent
Andy Peterson, the Traveling
Swede, was a departure on Wednes
day for Ophir.
Gene TunneyJ
Makes ReplJ
HAS
FORMER CHAMP SAYS HE
ALREAY PAID $35,000 TO 1
THE WOMAN.
BRIDGEPORT, Conn., June 24.—,
Janies Tuncy has filed an answer to
the $500,000 breach of promise suit
brought by Katherine Forgarty of
Fort Worth, Texas, together with a
counter-claim.
Tunney’s answer reveals that Billy
Gibson, his former manager, paid
Mrs. Fogarty sums of $1 and $35,000
“to relinquish claims on the defend
ant. On receiving these sums Mrs.
Fogarty signed a release.”
The answer does not say whether
the charge that Tuney asked her to
marry him is true. The answer al
leges that Mrs. Fogarty’s suit is an
attempt to damage his reputation and
to vox Tunr.ey.
It charges that before the second
Dempsey-Tunney fight and before the
Heeney-Tunney fight she spread li
belous statements regarding her re
lations with Tunney. Another allega
tion said she was seeking notoriety
and financin' gain from the publicity
attendant to filing the suit.
Colonel Lewis Field, Mrs. Fogarty’s
attorney, said: “In general, Tunney’:
allegata ir-isjuntrue, but on Mrs. I"
garty’s befiaff a make no stat
mer.t.” Field said Mrs. Fogarty
CAPTAI NOF DOOMED SHIP
REMAINS WITH HIS CRAF1
ASTORIA, Ore., June 23.—Detei^
mined to salvage his ship if possible
! Louis Johnson, captain of the ill-fate
steamer Laurel, still remains aboaU
the wreck, playing a game of freeze^
out against the pounding seas aft®
i spurning pleas of coast guardsmen t<
come ashore. i
Wedged on Peacock Spit, at th<
mouth of the Columbia, the large*
portion of the ship is held only bj
the gritty captain, after thirty mem'
bers of the crew have been taken ofl
in groups.
Coast guardsmen tried to take off}]
the captain yesterday, but he refuse*
to go. Portland agents of the States '
line sent word to the captain to leave
the ship, but rough seas prevented a ■
Coast Guard cutter from relaying the
message. j
NORD’S LICENSE REVOKED
FOR PERIOD OF 60 DAYS
SEATTLE.—United States steam
boat Inspectors Donald Ames and
; Thomas Short yesterday suspended
! for sixty days the license of Captain
J. G. Nord of the Aleutian, which
sank May 26 near Kodiak Island.
I The inspectors.said the rock which
j the ship hit was marked on the latest
j charts. Efforts of the Coast Geodetic
j Survey to find the Aleutian have been
| unsuccessful.
I It was learned that the impact
■ shattered the ship’s metal hull. Some
copper ore and part of the cargo were
•' -n the rock, which at extreme
ner is awash and covered
* of water at half tide,
found the ship was
, out oi us court#* at the time of. the
| wreck. The accident was the first for
! which Nord was ‘responsible daring
| his thirty years’ service as -a master
V ariner in waters.