Repairs and Improvments
I* it ever powible to get doue all
the needed repair* about the place?
Il a queation continually confronting
h«. Thi* year amongst many things is
painting. It i« 12 year* linoe the
Minion and Winch Dormitory were
painted. Then the porch or “oalli
dor” a* it is called here, at the front
of the Mission we* *o badly rotted
that it had to ha torn down. In it*
place a piazza ha* been built which
add* greatly to the appearance of the
building. The material for thia, for
the moat part, as well as for other re
pair*, wa* oil hand, having been giv
en us in exchange for varioua aer
views.
The piazza will be glassed in for
winter, a friend having donated the
windows.
We hope soon to have a new pioture
of the Mission to present our readers,
enabling them to appreciate this im
provement to the building.
At the Winch Dormitory the water
pipes and drain pipes have again had
to be taken up, cleaned and replaced.
This sounds easy, but be assurred it
has meant a lot of hard digging and
dirty and very disagreeable work.
There are so many repairs to bo
made on this building or at least on
the cottage part of it, that the moit
economical plan in the long run,
and that which would prove the
inoatcomraodiui, satisfactory and un
itary would be to tear down the cot
tage part and put up a proper build
ing in ita place, but alas, there is no
money for auch an undertaking, ao
we mint continue t-hia most discour
aging and -expensive work of repair
ing repairs that really do not repair.
The Winch Dormitory is beautiful
ly situated and could be made a very
attractive place.
Prof. H. MeQinley at Kodiak re
ceived the cad ucva of hi* father’s
death. He sailed on the Watson Jnn«
20th for hie boose in I.id. to visit his
mother who ie not in good health.
John Lowell who has been in the
Orphanage about 14 vaars became of
age June 25th. He will remain at
the Orphanage with pay till after the
crops are harvested in Oct. He is
faithful in his work and will have no
difficulty in earning a good living if
he has the opportunity.
Every year in southeastern Alaska
there is a run of ooligans which are
much sought after, by the natives,
and from which they reap an oily
harvest. The ooligan, known as the
oandlefish, is a small, slim, nearly
transparent fish, akin to the smelt.
It oontains so much oil that when the
fish is dried it burns like s candle.
The uatives cure the fish on hemlock
branches. When fully dried the fish
has a dark silvery appearance. Oth
er natives fry the oil out of the fish,
and use it for oookiog. Ooligan oil is
also used by paint manufacturers.
The natives of southeastern Alaska
claim that the much abused devil
club which grows everywhere in the
Territory is a good preventative of the
influenza. They say that by burning
the devil elub on a stove the fumes
will kill all germs, and by boiling it
with seawater and drinking the de
coction it will produce an entense
perspiration. It is said that of forty
two natives at Tenakee who had the
influenza and used this drink not one
died, whereas in other villages which
did not use it a goodly percentage
died.