1
. STERLING TELLS OF CONDI
TIONS IN SOUTH AMERICA
(Fairbanks News-Miner.)
Writing from Cartagena, Colombia,
South America, Hawley W. Sterling,
formerly Fairbanks district superin
tendent for the Alaska Road Commis
sion, sends regards to his many
friends here and says that he often
longs to see the North again. For
, over a year Mr. Sterling has been en
• gaged in an oil development project
for the South America n Gulf Oil
Company. He is serving under Gen
eral James Gordon Steese, as he did
when the General was president of
the A. R. C.
Mr. Sterling remains in good
health, despite the fact that many in
the country suffer from malaria and
■■ dysentery. In many cases those from
the United States cannot stand the
ilimate and have to return home.
“They have started an enormous
amount of development work in the
way of building roads and railroads,
most of which is being done on bor
rowed money, with the interest being
paid by exorbitant taxes and terrific
custom sduties,” says Mr. Sterling.
“One pay 01-2 cents for a certain
brand of cigarets here on which the
government collects 4 cents. ChesU r
field cigarettes cost 45 cents per pack,
but in the long run they are almost
as cheap as the native variety, as the
latter burn like straw.
“While they are doing all this de
velopment work they seem to be over
looking- the wonderful possibilities of
their own country. Of course, they
have gone ahead with the tobacco and
coffee industries All of the country
around this particular part is suitable
for raising lemons, oranges, bananas,
corn, grapefruit, papayas, avocados,
etc., and yet there is little or none of
these things being raised. If this
section were in the United States it
would be made into a paradise in
short order.
* "Prices for foodstuffs are away out
• of proportion with the scale of wages.
Potatoes raised in the country are up
to 20 cents a pound. Most of the po
tatoes consumed come from the U. S.
and are sold for 12 to 24 cents per
pound. Onions are 16 to 20 cents a
pound. I have paid 60 cents for a
pineapple grown right here that
could be purchased in ’Frisco or New
York for 30 cents. The other day I
paid 30 cents a dozen for bananas.
“Of course, they stie kit onto the
American^ at every opportunity. But
for corn, which grows luxuriantly,
and which the natives use a good
deal, you pay up to $8 per hundred.
American canned fruits cost a dollar
per can. Beef costs 25 cents per
pound in this particular locality, re
gardless of the cut. If you are t ere
when the critter is killed you get a
good cut, poviding the butcher ti iks
well of you. After that it is ha. ! to
tell what you are getting, as hey
saw no bones—the meat being cv off
the bones in strips much the sar as
the Alaska natives prepare jer
“In order to get by, the nativ live
on what they can get fairly i on
ably, that is, rice, jucca (a root ge
table somewhat similar to pot: <es),
yams and plantains (of the banana
familp). In spite of the her they
■ cook everything in a deep grea One
of the other things that one Ukas to
have daily is eggs—they cost fr-'in 10
to 13 cents each. Every time' I pay
these outrageous prices it nm.kes me
want to apologize to any and all
Fairbanks grocers to whom I made
any complaint about prices.''
’ -FIVE AND TEN” ACT IN OKED
IN LIQUOR CASE, KE’K IIIKAN
Fred Handy, federal proh ’ tion of
ficer who will be stationed at Fair
banks within the near futur has cre
; ated havoc among bootleg™ rs in the
First City recently. One man arrest
i ed by him, George Carlsor., taxi own
er, faces the drastic pens :es of the
Jones “5 and 10” act. He was bound
over to the grand jury o ndharges of
possession and transportation of
liquor. Carlson was arrested near
t the Union, oil dock, at Ketchikan with
two pints of moonshine in his car.
The car was confiscated.
Another man was arrested onj
liquor charges and a cache found
U. S. Marshal W. H. Caswell made
within the same 24 hours. Deputy
the first arrest when he -nabbed,
“Little Mac’’ MacLean with 50 pint
bottles of moonshine. McLean had
been acquitted by a jury a fe w weeks
previous after having been arrested
in a liquor raid.
One hundred bottles of whiskey, i
mostly moonshine, but some bonded
goods, were found by Handy a few
hours later. There was no claimant'
to the liquor.
BILLIONS OF PAPER PROFITS
MELT A SSHARES ARE SOLD
NEW YORK.—American investors!
are entering the mid-year period!
many billions of dollars poorer than j
they were at the beginning of May. j
A statistical “bird’s eye view” of,
the federal reserve board’s campaign j
to reduce the volume of credit con- j
sumed by speculation shows that the j
value of 100 leading stocks listed on
the New York Stock Exchange has
dropped $2,124,978,000 during the
past month.
An analysis prepared by Fraizier^
Jelke & Co. divides the group of 100
stocks into various economic units j
Out of 13 units, three of them, elec- j
trical equipment, utilities and rails,
moved upward against the current
downward trend.
Five electrical equipment stocks
set in the index advanced 5.2 per cent,
10 utilities showed an average gain'
of 4.5 per cent, and 15 rails increased
1.2 per cent over prices prevailing at
the start of May.
Mining stocks showed the sharpest
losses during May, averaging 16.5 per
cent. Motor stocks were next, ths
seven seu in me uiuca snumug
averagee decline of 15.7 per cent.
Five amusement issues dropped 10
! per cent, f-'maller losses, ranging
from 8.4 to 1.1 per cent, were record
ed for industrials, foods, oil, equip
ments and chemicals.
The 100 stocks represent 380,467,
005 shares, whose value at the end of
May was $33,402,254,000. At the end
of April these same shares were
worth $35,527,232,000.
Assuming that all outstanding se
curities were affected by the same
forces and suffered proportional de
clines, the losses to holders of shares
listed on the New fork Stock Ex
change alone would be approximately
$6,000,000,000.
If the stocks listed on the curb in
various central exchanges throughout
the country, and unlisted securities
be included, the total deflation in the
American pocketbook could be esti
mated only roughly, but the figui-e
would probably be found to exceed
$10,000,000,000.
ELK PLACED ON KODIAK
ISLAND SAID TO B ETHRIVING
__
Game and fur-bearin g animal
stocking' experiments in Western
Alaska areas ar ehaving fine success,
according to E. M. Goddard, assistant
executive officer of the Alaska Game
Commission, who recently returned
from a three-weeks’ trip as far west
as Kodiak, reports the Juneau Em
pire. The experiments embrace elk,
deer, beaver and muskrats.
Eight elk planted last>y*ar at Kal
sin bay, Kodiak Island, wintered with
out difficulty and are in excellent
shape, Mr. Goddard said. Beaver,
originally planted in some lakes back
of the town of Kodiak, have spread
from there to Sycamore Bay, and
from Kalsin Bay to Eagle Harbor,
practically covering the eastern half
of the island.
The original stock of muskrats
show the greatest increase. These fur
bearers are spreading all over Kodiak
Island. They have spread down the
Kodiak Island coast for a distance of
16 miles.
Deer are thriving on both Long
Island and in Prince William Sound.
Feeding and other conditions on Long
Island are excellent, and the herds.
will remairt there without attempting
to swim off to tfctner areas until the
ranged becomessi stocked to eapaeity
In Prince W-iHia rhSound a number off
animals have been-'*ee» on Montague
Island and in other places.
Mr. Goddard1 brought 1 back with
him five red fox pups. - -They were il
legally caught at Three -Saints Bay.,
Kodiak Island, an dconfiscated by the
Game Commission. They ane. about,
five weeks old. The pups, will re
tained in captivity.by the Commission
until they ai-e old enough -to - look
after themselves. They will the t*-he
released i nsome area where they can
be protected as a stocking project.
Kodiak, Mr. Goddard said, is -vary
enthusiastic over the outlook for a
cold storage plant there. Wj J- JSrs
kine, who has worked on the project
for .several years, is now marketing);
the. stock on the Los Angeles market^
and indications are-favorable for ade^
quote financing.
TWO LIVES LOST IN -RAIL AO
...CIDENT AT SOUTH NENANA
George Valaer and* Archie Robinson
of the engineering department of of
1[he A laska Railroad were killed a few
days ago when the speeder on-which
they were riding was derailed at
Mile 409, about two miles south of
Nenana,-say sthe Fairbanks News
Miner.
The men were thrown on the track,
and the- engine of the northbound
passenger train ran over the- bodies
about an hour, later. It was first re
ported that one o fthe men was only
unconscious -and was killed .by- Ahe
train, but an examination made later
by Dr. J. H. Romig, Alaska Railroad
physieian and surgeon, proved- that,
both had been dead around an hour
before the arrival of the train.
Valaer and Robinson were both res
idents .of Anchorage. Valaer, be
tween 1 Sand 20 years of age, was
graduated this year* from the Anchor
age high school,- and* had started be
work for th erailroad only a short
nran U O nrQ C Q ctflr Koglrptha 11
player and was with the Anchoragf
team when it played at Fairbanks
winter before last. His mother died
about two years ago. His father lives
in.. A nchorage. Robinson is said-‘to
have bee nabout 30 years old.
Valaer and Robinson were thrown
on the roadbed and suffered fractured
skullts, fro mwhic hthey died in■* a
short time. Ballast work is being
done in the section at which the acci
dent occurred, and although there are
no curves there the high dirt fills
made it impossible for Henry How
ard, engineer-of the passenger train,
to see the bodies until he wasbut a
short distance away. Presumably he
had a clear track all the way through
and the train was traveling at a fair
rate of speed when the bodies were
sighted. H« applied the brakes a*
quickly as possibl, but the engine
wheels ran over the bodies before the
train could be brought to a stop. They
were badly mangled, but the fact that
there was little bleeding from the in
juries made by the engine wheels
tends to indicate that the men had
been dead for some time.
TABLE OF DISTANCES BE
TWEEN NENANA AND FLAT
Miles
Nenana ...-. 00
Tavern'Roadhouse . 17%
Knight’s Roadhouse . 22%
Nineteen-Mile Roadhouse —.68
Diamond Roadhouse..76
Roosevelt .. 89
Lake Minchumina . 116
Trappers’ Cabin —.. 132
Lone Star Roadhouse .— *60
Telida Roadhouse .-. 188%
Slow Fork Roadhouse .-. 187
East Fork Roadhouse .) 206
Berry’s Landing Roadhouse- 227%
Big River Roadhouse.3M
McGrath ..-. 262
Takotna .-. 280
Bill Goss’ Roadhouse .— S91
Ophir ...-. 300
McCafferty .306
Brown Creek shelter cabin-318
Frit* shelter cabin . 333
First Chance shelter cabin - 346
Schermeyer R. H. ..— 360
Iditarod .—.376
Flat . 384
Bonanz*a sheler cabin, 12 Bilan
from Flat.
Crooked Creek shelter cabin, 10
miles from Bonanza.
Babeesch Mooaehide.Mitts and Booti
Furs Bonf^ht and Sold * Clothing
All Kinds of Nice Freeh Groceries and Fruits
Canned Goods of All Kinds Beds and Bedding
H j
h
i Best erf Mealsand !Eoom$
« WWn SvwyfbMr Is Homelike tad
v Where You Are-Ceedially Wokoaod
GOOD'DOG HOUSES
BATHS
Ivar Ghitstrom
Prop.
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