THE KUSKO TIMES
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Takotna, Alaska, Daember 26, 1931.
"INDEPENDENCE.”
(Stroler’a Weekly.)
The day appears to have passed
vrhen a man could take a rifle, an axe
and a frying pan sad go -into the
woods and make a living. At least
It has passed this section of the Ter
ritory. Away up in the Central and
Northern part of Aliska, however,
one can find any number of oldtimers i
who are living on the fat of the land
with mighty little mosey. They have
a cabin by the side of a lake in the
moose country; raise their winter’s
supply of potatoes, carrots, rutaba- J
gas, and cabbages on a little patch
of ground, and if they need meat cut
down a tree close to their cabin and
pick their meat from the moose that
gather to browse on the tops.
These pldtimers come out in the
springtime chipper snd as fresh as
a hibernating bear. They work for
the railroad or road commission in
the summer; get a few dollars, lay
in a supply of beam, flour, coffee
and tobacco, and we see them no more
until the next spring.
The world has passed them by and
they are glad of it They live on
memories and mooae meat, and if
they get lonesome jog thirty or forty
miles over the hils snd through the
passes to a neighbor’s, swap a few
yarns, and hike back, convinced they
have paid their social obligations.
Any man can makes living in Alas
ka if he has the old frontier spirit.
Old age is the only foe to which he is
compelled to bow. Even then old age
is not vanquished until the 80 or 00
mark is passed.
Contentment is not a matter of en
vironment or possession.. It lies with
in one’s own bre^t Who can say
that thesp men .are not happier than
their brethren in the cities who are
broken in the wheels of commerce
and cast aside? }
At any rate thej have saved their
most precious possession—independ
ence.
A man who feDs a tree in the
province of Alicaste, Spain, is com
pelled by law to pint two in its
place.
...
James Jeans, London astronomer,
estimates that the earth weighs six
sextillion tons.
FIRE INSURANCE
Ytu ihould arry a liberal amount of fire insurance,
for the aaktof your credit and your peace of mind.
Needless togay this insurance should be of the very
highest quality.
!hfi the KIM Written By
Insurance Agency
FAIRBANKS. ALASKA
SAM FEDDERSON MURDERED
BY INSANE MAN, KANTISHNA
(Fairbanks News-Miner.)
“I went out and shot down the
moon and the stars and the next
night I met Sam Fedderson,” said
Charles Christensen, December 19, at
Knight’s roadhouse on his arrival'
from the Kantishna.
Christensen was obviously insane
i when he made the statement, but
Deputy Burnett, Kanishna resident,
who happened to be at Knight’s and
who knew both Christensen and Fed
dcrsen, had no doubt of the truth of
the talc.
Burnett was sent back to the Kan
tishna by Deputy U. S. Marshal H. I.
Miler of Nenana to make an investi
gation.
Yesterday he arrived at Fairbanks
to report that Christensen’s story was
the tragic truth.
He found Fedderson’s body lying
in the snow, face down, 250 feet in
front of his cabin on Little Moose
creek.
In the absence of an officer Burnett
did not care to disturb the body, but
its location and every other fact in
the case tallies so closely with the
account given by Christensen that he
has no doubt but that Fedderson was
shot down in cold blood, the victim of
an insane man whom he had long
feared.
When Burnett arrived several dogs
were still tied near the cabin where
Christensen had left them the day
after the murder. They were nearly
starved, some being so weak they
could not stand. Burnett fed them,
and b fore he left Eugene Morris ar
rived and promised to watch them.
Burnett returned to the railroad, 30
miles away, after covering Fedder
son’s body with a tarpauin.
In bus o^ten told story at Knight’s,
Christ isen declared Fedderson had
killed l is closest neighbor, a man
named McDevitt. However, Burnett
found McDevitt safe.
A McKinley Park ranger, said
Christensen, ordered hi mto kill Fed
derson. but the presence and prompt
ing of ; he ranger were only figments
of his pagination.
“Chr .Mensen said he shot Fedder
son with a high-power rifle,” related
Burnett yesterday, “and left it on a
bench back of the cabin. I was un
able to find the rifle in the short time
I was there, but have no doubt that
it will be located nearby.
“Feriderson was killed either on the
evening of the 17th or the 18th. He
had marked the 17th off on his cal
endar and Charley arrived at Knight’s
on the 19th. He told the story of the
slaying three times and never chang
ed it a bit. We who knew the men
had no doubt of its truth. Charley’s
mind had been slipping for a year.
Sam knew it and lived in fear of him
and yet, strangely enough, continued
to associate withh him. They made a
trip out in November and when they
were going back Sam invited Charley
to stay with him. Charley finally con
sented, although he first said he
i would go elsewhere. Sam committed
suicide by inviting Charley to stay
with him.
“The state of Charley’s mind is in
dicated by the fact that on the night
of October 10 he went out and shot
120 rounds of ammunition into the
air and when asked what it was all
about said he was sinking the Eng
Uish battle fleet.
I “The story Charey told and the
j story I believe is that Christensen
thought he was being gassed. Finally
his fear rose to the point where he
decided to kill Sara at once. Securing
his rifle, he started marching Sam to
ward the Clearwater, half .a mile
away, the spot he had picked for the
shooting. They had gone only a short
distance when Fedderson turned on
him. Charley said he was afraid
Sam would grab the rifle, and he shot.
Sam fell without a word. This ac
count is given plausibility by the fact
that Sam’s body when I found it was
covered by only light clothing. He
was bare-handed.
“Charey told us that after killing
Sam he went back to the cabin and
broke in the windows to dissipate the
gas which he imagined was there. I
found the windows broken and sluice
boxes which Sam had placed in the
house scattered about in a scene of
indescribable confusion. Sam didn’t
have a chance. He was unarmed. I
found his unloaded rifle in the cache.”
edderson was 56 years old. He came
to Alaska about 1908 and for many
years lived in the Delta and at Red
mond creek. Since 1916 he had been
in the Kantishna. So far as known,
there are no surviving relatives.
Ranger Missing.
Fear that Christensen should have
injured or killed John Ruhmor, Mc
Kinley Park ranger, was expressed
today when it was learned that he
has been missing since December 8.
Ruhmor is said to have been the
ranger Christensen always coupled in
his conversation about Fedderson.
Park headquarters was to be queried
today to learn if any information con
cerning Ruhmor is availabe there.
Christensen, who was adjudged in
sane at Nenana, is en route to Horn
ingside Sanitarium.
A LESSON TO ADVERTISERS.
If we could corral a thousand df
the leading business executives of the
United States in roomy, well-venitat
ed auditorium we shoud like to give
them a useful present—a brief state
ment of some facts brought out by
the Advertising Federation of Amer
ica.
The Federation collected the ex
perience figures of seventy-seven out
standing national advertisers for the
year 1930. Twelve of the concerns
reduced their advertising appropria
tions by proportions varying from lb
to 100 per cent. Thirteen made re
ductions of less than IS per cent, and
fifty-two actually increased their ap
propriations.
What happened? The net profits
of the twelve declined^41.2 per cent;
those of the thirteen were reduced by
13.2 per cent; and those of the fifty
two declined but 9.6 per cent.
It is foolish to dispute the Federa
tion’s contention that advertising has
a definite relation to the up-or-down
trend of business. Dependable sta
tistics show clearly that when adver
tising is fearless and liberal, business
expands, and that when it is fear
smitten and contracted business
withers.
As you eave the hall, gentlemen,
please remember that advertising is
to business what gasoline is to the
motor car. And that when the old
engine begins to labor a bit on a
tough hill you don’t try to help mat
ters by getting out and punching a
hole in the gasoline tank.—Frank A.
Fall in the Outlook and Independent.
INTERESTING NOTES.
Louisiana leads the United States
in quantityproduction of fora.
Florida citrus fruits were shipped
last season to every state in the
Union except California and Arizona.
The new census reports the village
of Killisno, Alaska, with a population
of 3.
New York City schools number
. 1,100,000 pupils and 36,000 teacher*.
i
Mcosehide Mitts and Boots
Fun Rought and Sold * Clothing
JMH Kinds of Nice Fresh Groceries and Fruits
Gonffg Goods- of All Kinds
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Fruits v Gandies
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