Sept. 1, 1921
The Zillah May sank off Strait Island on the evening of March 31. It was towed into port Monday night and is lying in the harbor, awaiting further attention from the local men who undertook to raise her. It will not be decided definitely what will be done with her until an examination reveals just what shape she is in.
The men who were instrumental in raising her were Chas. Benjamin, Heinie Heinbockel and Charlie
Lynch. They had been at work at the scene of the wreck for several weeks and had a
diver from Juneau assisting them at first. The Zillah May, held afloat by logs and air drums, her masts above water, was towed in by the
Sunland. She required a depth of 20 feet of water. Except for delays caused by the tide, the journey was continuous night and day.
Aug. 30, 1946
Although seine and trap catches continue to be extremely poor throughout the district, Fisheries Management Agent Howard Baltzo today said things do not look at
all bad in the troll and river gillnet fisheries. He said
king salmon are continuing to be caught in good numbers at many of the trolling
grounds. Coho trolling at Cape Pole has been good since last week, and the fishing that Point Baker has enjoyed through most of this month really became “hot” on Wednesday as the outside fish moved in, he said. Baltzo reported that the first heavy coho run of the season hit the Stikine River on Tuesday, with the gillnetters catching 35,000 pounds that day and 55,000 the next. Indications for a successful coho season are good, Baltzo concluded.
Sept. 3, 1971
Wrangell entered the fifth month of the 1971 tour ship season this week. The Greek ship Orepheus and the Canadian ships Prince George and Princess Patricia have made 45 stops at the Wrangell Wharf during the season so far and nearly 10,000 tourists saw the town. Wrangell’s famous welcoming band upheld its record and met each ship. The band even boarded a barge on June 25 to travel out into Zimovia Strait and serenade hundreds of passengers aboard the British tour ship Arcadia, which sailed past the town but did not stop. Meanwhile, the band members are taking stock of funds they have collected from appreciative tourists this year to see if there is enough to take them on a trip to Hawaii for their traditional holiday after their summer of performances.
Sept. 5, 1996
Ever since the city council chamber got its blue, upholstered chairs this spring, sitting through two- and three-hour meetings has become a lot more comfortable. Where did the chairs come from, and why weren’t they put here sooner? For being mere furniture, the chairs are remarkably well traveled. Yes, they used to belong to a movie theater — the 49th Star Theater, operated by Dick Ballard from 1958 to the early 1970s. Ballard started his theater in the old high school gym, leasing the building from the city. To outfit his new theater, he bought some used equipment from the Green Lake Theater in Seattle. In 1962, Ballard purchased a building on Front Street. When he moved his theater to the new location, he donated the wooden theater seats to the Baptist Church. Recently, church members remodeled their building and called the Wrangell Museum about taking the theater chairs.
With little storage space available, Bob Caldwell was given the chore of finding a place to put them. The suggestion to substitute them for the folding metal chairs in council chambers won approval from the mayor and other council members, and seems to have found favor with audience members, as well. Now, if there was only some popcorn.
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