The largest eireolatior,
of any newspaper In the
and. ihrd, 4th Divisions of
Alaska
“ALASKA'S HOME NEWSPAPER
The Seward Weekly Gate
way !• the best MUpaxa
Weekly in the Territory
of Alaska
-..—
MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOLUME XXVII. NUMBER 269. SEWARD, ALASKA, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1931.
PRICE TEN w ITS
Mayor Brownell’s
Letter on Bunkers
Included in Report
SALIENT FACTS PRESENTED TO COAL EXPERT
WADLEIGH BY MAYOR OF SEWARD WHO VI
VIDLY PORTRAYS NEED CONSTRUCTION LO
CAL BUNKERS AS REVENUE PRODUCER FOR
ALASKA RAILROAD—RELATES HISTORY AS
TO PAST ENDEAVORS AND INVESTIGATIONS.
The concerted local cooperation during the last two
months toward securing coal bunkers in Seward has been
further strengthened by Mayor D. C. Brownell, author
of the following letter to F. R. Wadleigh, coal expert of
the Department of Interior, who spent several months
here last summer compiling a comprehensive report on
Alaska coal and its relative value as a commercial ad
junct to the Alaska Railroad.
Mayor Brownell's letter, as w^ell as others from bus
iness men of Seward, Anchorage and elsewhere, is in
cluded in Mr. Wadleigh’s report of his findings to Secre
tary Wilbur. Incidently, it may be added, that copies of
this issue of The Gateway is being forwarded to promi
nent Washington officials interested in creating larger
tonnage and revenue for the Alaska Railroad.
L
l
CORPORATIONS BE FORBIDDEN
MAKE CONTRIBUTIONS
OFFICE SEEKERS
WASHINGTON, D. C., Dec. 22. i
’ j
4aP)—Legislation t-o limit campaign
, expenditures of the Pi’esident, Vice
v President and Congressional mem
bers was introduced into Congress
yesterday. The legislation also in
cluded a clause -which would for
bid the practice of corporations to
donate or contribute to a candi
« date’s campaign funds.
According to the legislation intro
duced, a seeker of the Presidency
of the United States would be lim
ited to spend $250,000 to conduct
the campaign. A party would be
limited to an expenditure of $500,
000 in behalf of their Presidential
nominee. Congressional members
are also to have their campaign
fund expenditures limited should
the new legislation be put into
force. Seekers of Senate seats
would be limited to $50,000 and
those for the House would be limited
to $10,000.
The proposed legislation would
centralize responsibility for cam-!
$ paign fund expenditures upon thej
office seeker himself or his man
ager and thus obviate much diffi-!
eulty in keeping expenditures!
straight.
Office hours of the Signal Corps
♦ radio station in Seward are now
from 7:30 a. m. to 10 p. m., daily,
according to a new schedule just
put into effect.
Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Manning were
arrived in Seward last night from
Tunnel. They are registered at the
Seward Hotel.
*.
Mr. F. R. Wadleigh,
care Alaska Railroad,
Anchorage, Alaska.
My dear Mr. Wadleigh:
It was with cynicism, and lack of
interest that I viewed your advent
in the railway belt. It was not a
personal feeling, but an attitude
resulting from experience in the
past, with fruitless results of many
investigations.
I have been in Seward since the
first rails were laid in 1904; rails
laid with the one object of provid
ing the means to transport coal
from the Central Alaska fields to
a deep wateip harbor where the
ships of the Pacific could come and
get it.
We settled here with high hopes
of a quickly established coal busi
ness, with great bunkers kept busy
night and day feeding our coal to
the hungry ships of trade. But
alas, twenty-; ~ven year’s have rolled
past and still not a sign of bunk
ers or other coal handling facil
ities is to be seen at this, the ter
minus of a 500-mile railway, tap
ping two immense coal fields.
We have watched dozens of in
vestigators come and go. We have
seen million dollar coal washing
and other machinery erected, used
a trifle and dismantled.
We know that the three cities in
the railroad belt use Alaska coal
exclusively, every heating require
ment being met by the different
grades of coal coming from the
great areas of the Matanuska and
Healy fields.
We have heard an endless song
of boosting; of schemes to pro
vide tonnage for the railroad; of
ways to stimulate commerce, etc.,
and yet never a start to provide
the Missing Link in the coal moving
chain that must be the basic power
line of the railroad’s development,
i.e. Coal Bunkers here at Seward.
There are the mines; the coal
loading machinery at the mines;
the coal trains arriving regularly
at tide water, and yet nine-tenths
of the ships leaving Seward are
empty, a condition mostly due to
(Please torn to Page Four)
I
1 BOMBING PLANES CONTINUE
TO HARASS CHINESE
IRREGULARS
TOKYO, Dec. 22. (/F) — If the
Chinese do not withdraw from the
Chin Chow area it is evident that
I the Japanese intend to launch an
intensive offensive against the
Chinese “irregulars” who are hold
ing the area.
The Japanese are converging to
a triple attack on the Chinese bands
in the area which already have
been sent helter-skelter by Japan
ese bombing planes. One attack by
the Japanese army, it is reported,
will be made on a group of Chinese
irregulars to the north of Mukden.
The Chinese there are said to num
ber 4,000. A second attack will be
I made to the south of Mukden where
j an almost equal number of Chinese
j are and the third offensive will be
I launched against Chin Chow in gen
! eral. The total number of Chinese
irregulars is estimated by the Jap
anese to number 25,00.
Neutral observers made predic
tions that the Nippon troops would
be in control of Chin Chow and
iarea before the end of the week.
I The Japanese troops advancing
j to the front have wrapped white
i cioth around their helmets as a
| safety precaution to keep from be
ing bombed by their own planes.
The Japanese flag has also been
altered in that a bright rim has
been added to it. The latter detail
was made necessary when it was
found that bands of Chinese “ir
regulars” were using home-made
Japanese flags to cover themselves
from being attacked by bombing
airplanes of the Japanese.
HEATS BEING KILLED
ST MIL MACHINE
HOLLYWOOD, Dec. 22. (/P)—Mar
ian Davies, screen star, narrowly
escaped serious injury and possible
death when her butler intercepted
a package containing an infernal
bomb machine which was to have
been placed in the actress’ hands
for opening. However, the butler,
it appears, undertook to open the
package but got wise to its con
tents before any damage resulted
and he tossed the package away.
Explosives experts, in describing
the machne, said that it was ar
ranged so that turning a key in
the lock of the package would bring
a number of match heads in contact
with sandpaper and this in turn
would set off the bomb. Had the
butler turned the key, a little bit
more he might have suffered ser
ious hi juries.
There was no clue as to who the
sender could be or what could be
the motive for the atrocious at
tempt.
CULBERTSONS LEAD
NEW YORK, Dec. 22. (£>)—At the
end of the 67th rubber of Mr. and
Mrs. Culbertson and Lenz-Jacoby
bridge match, the Culbertsons were
leading with a total of 9,445 points.
6
VICTORIA SAILS
SEATTLE, Doc. 22. (£>)—The SS|
Victoria sailed Sunday morning at i
9 o’clock and carried 55 first class |
passengers and four steerage. There
were six Seward passengers includ- ;
ing Mrs. C. H. Schiffler and daugh
ter, William Sargent. C. E. Lameis- ,
ter, M. Koslosky, P. H. Crowley and
four steerage.
YOUTHFUL SLAYER
HERBERT NICOLLS BE GIVEN
FULLEST CHANCE FOR
LIFE
OLYMPIA, Dec. 22. (£>)—A parole j
for Herbert Nicolls, boy slayer of
Sheriff John Wormell of Asotin
County, was denied despite the ef
forts of Father Flanagan, head of
the Omaha Boys’ Home, to obtain
custody of the boy and reform him
was deplored by Governor Harley.
Herbert Nicolls was robbing a gro
cery store when Sheriff Wormell
chanced to surprise the boy. The
boy shot and killed the sheriff and
was convicted by a jury and sen
tenced to life imprisonment.
Hartley’s decision was made pub
lic in a letter replying to Flan
agan’s personal written appeals for
removal of young Nicolls to the
home. The letter is based on the
results of an executive investigation
of Flanagan’s request.
The request was denied primarily
because Herbert, from testimony of
“well corborated experts,” and his
past record “as an incipient Hick- j
man and is not safe to be at large.” j
Governor Hartley explained fur- ■
thermore, when he said that any j
action permitting the boy who was;
sentenced to life imprisonment toj
be removed from the State wrould |
be tantamount to giving him a com
plete release as “there will be no
legal obstacles to overcome and le
gal authority over the boy could
not be vested to you or any other
agency outside of the State by exe
cutive action.”
Hartley said in his letter and
assured Father Flanagan that the
State could guarantee Herbert the
fullest opportunities of life.
SEATTLE, Dec. 22. (A5)—Everett
Frank Lindsey was convicted of
second degree murder for the slay
ing of his wife a number of months
ago.
Lindsey was convicted by a jury
consisting of men who returned the
verdict on their fifth ballot and
after three hours and 15 minutes
of deliberating.
It is said that no appeal of the
case will be made. Lindsey plead
ed self-defense.
He faces a prison sentence of 10
years to life.
ENROUTE TO CALIFORNIA
EL PASO, Texas, Dec. 22. (A5)—The
Tulane party, including 35 football
players, left here at 7:45 last eve
ning enroute to California where
they will play the niverslty of South
ern California on New Year’s Day.
SE1T0RS FIGHT
FOR RATIFICATION
OF DE8I HOLIDAY
DISARMAMENT CONFERENCE TO
LAST SEVEN OR EIGHT
MONTHS, THINKS
WASHINGTON, D. C., Dec. 22.
OP)—Under the heavy verbal bat
teries of the embittered opposition
the Senate supporters of the mora -
torium measure tried again to win
through passive resistence and
hoped for a ratification by tonight.
Holiday plans are still up in the
air and the Senators settled down
to listen to a renewed attack on
the debt suspension plan.
The first appropriation bill ap
peared in the Senate with Presi -
dent Hoover’s name on it. It was a
bill calling for an appropriation of
$200,000,000 to permit veterans to
resume making loans on their com
pensation certificates.
Indications were that the Senate
Agriculture Committee will reject
the Farm Board request to be paid
for the 40,000,000 bushels of wheat
that the Senators propose to give
to the unemployed.
Secretary, of State Henry Stimson
expects that the World Arms Con
ference at Geneva in February will
last for seven or eight months. This
was shown in his request for about
$500,000 to defray expenses of the
American delegation.
PHILADELPHIA WDMUN
HUES III SE1SI
ENROUTE TO INTERIOR
Mrs. Edward M. Biddle, prom
inent in Philadelphia social circles,
was an arrival on the SS Admiral
Evans from Seattle today, having
completed the ocean trip of her
lone trek into Interior and Central
Alaska on a trip to study how white
women have been transplanted to
the frontier cabins from their sur
roundings "such as the suburbs of
Philadelphia,” and to gather first
hand material for a book she is to
write on her experiences.
While at Ketchikan, Mrs. Biddle
said that she was not coming to the
North country to study the native
women as was announced as her
original intention.
While in Seward Mrs. Biddle is a
guest at the Va Gilder Hotel and
she will entrain for the North on
an outgoing train to the Interior
where she will make her treks to
scattered communities via the dog
team.
EVANS SOUTH THURSDAY
The SS Admiral Evans, of the
P. S. S. Co., in port today from
the South and which departed
early this morning for the West
ward, will leave Seward Thursday
morning at 10 o’clock for the South,
according to the local office.
On the Southbound trip of the
SS Admiral Evans’ last voyage the
vessel was forced to return to Ket
chikan because of the illness of
Charles Miller, purser. He was rush
ed to the Ketchikan hospital and
was operated on there for acute
appendicitis, says the Ketchikan
Chronicle.