Fire Razes Ranch On Ricliradson
Trail; Cat Blamed for Blaze
One of four restless house cats
bore the blame last Saturday for
a fire which left only charred
ashes and twisted shapes of met
al where until 2 am stood The
Ranch one of Fairbanks’ most
popular suburban roadhouses.
Building, equipment, and stock
including large stores of food &
liquor valued at a total of $26,000
were destroyed in the flames
which burst from the cellar, raz
ed the two-story structure, and
burnt an adjoining garage to the
ground.
George Gilbertson, co-proprie
tor, six employes, and several
patrons were driven from the
building into a 20-below temper
ature. All escaped injury.
Attempts of a hastily formed
bucket brigade, sped to the spot
two miles from the city by a vir
tual caravan of taxis, to reach
the building with water from the
ice topped Chena Slough failed,
and chemical extinguishers sent
to the scene by the Fairbanks
Fire Department could make no
impression on the roof-high
blaze.
Gilbertson, operator of The
Ranch with E M Jones now in
California said he believed the
fire was started by one of the
pet cats sharpening its claws
against a case of matches close
enough to the heated furnace to
ignite.
Harvey Gilbertson, brother of
George, reportedly had been in
the basement only a few minut
es before the fire started. Patrons
were said to have asked what
was causing “so much heat” in
the recreation room. Harvey, up
on investigation, said he discov
ered a damper which he had
thought closed was open instead.
He said he closed it immediately
and returned to the ground floor.
Shortly thereafter a muffled
‘poof!” was heard from the cel
lar. and smoke poured through
the furnace registers.
When the cellar door was open
ed a strong odor of sulphur
swept the room, and smoke was
so dense it was impossible to de
scent to the basement.
By a stroke of good fortune
the leaping flames were not waft
ed to more than a dozen drums
of gasoline stacked within 40 feet
of the roadhouse on the opposite
side from the garage.
The fire brought destruction to
$10,000 worth of stock and equip
ment less than two weeks after
the operators had been granted a
cocktail bar license for the year
1940, in anticipation of which a
new bar had been erected in the
lower floor.
I
BRISTOL BAY PLANT
WILL OPERATE IN 1940
ASTORIA, Ore., Jan. — The
Columbia River Packers Assoc
i iaticn has decided to continue
operation of it Bristol Bay can
neries despite the government’s
50 percent reduction.
The fishing company spokes
man said the 1940 regulations
would not affect normal opera
tions of the floating cannery Mem
non, south of Bristol Bay and
that only about one-half the \
j usual number of Bristol Bay fish
'ermen will go north.
About the same number of can
nery workers will be required;
but overtime employment will
be curtailed the company -an
Inounced.
h r"£BU
ADS ARE NEWS
Printed In Big Type
FOR WAR’S PICTURE ALBUM —To the sagas of the sea must be added the story of the
Navi’s 10 OCC-ten pocket battleship, the Admiral Graf Spec, seen 24 hours after it had been blown up
aj;d Si allied I'.; r»e ir Montevideo, Uruguay. With the alternatives of a naval battle or intern
imji, ;lir Sp. c xiiih. presumably lest her secrets fall into Allied hands.
UmJ.i ' nww.'w.-* 5? ‘mmmmmm
‘NO MORE OF THAT, PLEASE! Waggling his fingrer solemnly, two-year-old Walter
Newman of Philadelphia admonishes his baby sister, Barbara, three months old, to mind her P’s and
Q’s, especially at this time of the year, but it looks like Barbara doesn’t believe a word of that broth
erly advice. Maybe Walter’s tired and wants to sleep.
L
EAT AT THE
I North Pole Bakery
And Restaurant
BAKERY GOODS
ALWAYS FRESH
FOOD ALWAYS GOOD
For Oualitv Service
and
Prompt Delivery
Call
Modern Cleaners
.-.
Lyons & Orton
Attorneys At Lev
Rooms 918-921 Alaska Bulletin*
Seattle, Washington
Thos. R. Lyons Ira D. Ortov
CHAS. CAVEY
Has Opened A Liquor Stor*
Carrying an Assortment
of Fine Liquors, Win
es, and Beers.
FRONT ST. NOME.
l. o~o7K
No. 1413
Meets first and third Mondays
of each month
Odd Fellows Hall, 8 p. m.
Pioneer Water Co.
1 Fresh, Sparkling Spring Water
ALWAYS AT YOUR SERVICE
NELSON AND BULLOCK
Phone Black 44 or Main 15
I •
I FARM AIDE —From Gaines
ville,*. Tex., comes Grover B.
llill (above), former ranchman
recently named assistant secre
tary of agriculture. He succeeds
Harry L. Brown, who resigned.
r • ~
1 ft > X ' JS
w*- . W
WORD WAR-Girding for
the 1940 political campaigns is
Franklyn YValtman (above), Re
publican publicity chief whore
friendly foe is the Democrat'*
Charles Michclscn.
FAIRBANKS CHAMBER
FAVORS CHANGE OF
NAME OF ARMY FIELD
A resolution favoring the name
“McClellan Field” for the new
U. S. Army airfield at Fairbanks
was adopted unanimously by the
Fairbanks Chamber of Com
merce, in a recent meeting.
The request will be forward
ed to the War Department, at
Washington. The resolution came
upon suggestion by Pietro Vigna
who explained that recently the
announcemet was made that the
'field at Fairbanks is to be known
| as “Ladd Field,” after the late
Capt. Ladd, who was killed while
in the service of the army in the
States. About the same time a
field in California, it was an
nounced will be named after
Capt. Hez McClelland, who also
was killed while in the army ser
vice. Mr. Vigna explained that
while Capt. Ladd was a most es
timable and valued member of
the air corps service, that Capt.
McClellan bore the distinction of
having come to Alaska with the
first fleet of U S Army bombers
and the following year was sent
back here and flew his plane to
all parts of the Territory, and
| was virtually a pioneer in the
! army air service in Alaska, and
I beloved by a great number of Al-,
jaskans whom he contacted.
RODEN DAVIS, AGED NINE
SWALLOWS TACK AND IT
STICKS IN HIS GULLET
—
Little Roden Davis, nine years
old has a tack in his esophagus.
; He doesn't mind it much. He is
going to school as usual, but his
parents, Mr and Mrs Roden Dav
is and his physicians, Dr. David
! Hoehn and Dr. Rex F Swartz
are not without some concern.
1 The lad was studying his les
jsons in his classrom in the Fair
banks public school recently, the
i while having in his moutha large
I thumb tack. Thoughtlessly, he
j swallowed it. It didn’t go clear
down to his stomach, and stick
ling part way pained him suffic
iently to bring him to a realiza
i tion of what he had done.
I "Teacher,” he exclaimed, ra
i ther frightened, after he had rais i
led his right hand and gained the !
[attention of Miss Katherine Bos |
| well, the instructor, “I’ve swal
I lowed a tack.”
He was immediately summon
ed her to her desk.
“Cough it up,” she admonished,
flapping the lad on the back.
He tried, but in vain.
“Spit it out, Roden,” some of
his stalwart classmates urged,
but to no avail.
The boy was hastily taken to
the room of the school nurse.
Miss Dorothy Menwin. She sum
moned a taxicab and rushed him
to Dr. Hoehn’s office.
The doctor took the lad with
out delay to Dr. Swartz’s office,
where an X-ray machine was
swung into action.
The physicians spied the
thumb tack half way between
the mouth and the stomach —■
about the level of the first rib.
A light diet is the regimen that
has been prescrbied for the boy,
but otherwise he is allowed to
pursue his studies and indulge
in recreation as usual.
•J *>
...'v/- ' W - ' ‘r* 4
m i mm it: .
F A H 5 A D—Change in the
farm lending policies of the or
{faniz.ition may fol’ow recent
anointment by F.P.It. oi !) .
A. G. Black fabovc) as gover
nor cl Co federal credit , d
1 : ’ ■n - sacc ted3 F. F.
who resigned post.
M - M
‘TO THE VICTOR BELONG... ’—After a two-hour
battle during which the shark attacked the boat and bit into the
sponson, E. Bullen of Sydney, Australia, captured this 779-pound
whaler shark—a record for Sydney waters.