The Way We Were

Aug. 24, 1922

One of the largest single shipments of lumber ever by the Willson & Sylvester Mill Co. was made Wednesday afternoon when Barge No. 29 of the Foss Launch & Tug Co. was towed away from the mill dock with almost half a million feet of lumber aboard. The cargo will be unloaded at Seattle and from there will be reshipped to the East Coast of the United States. The barge is 100 feet in length, 36 feet in width, and 10 feet in depth. Richard Suratt, the famous cinematographer of the North, was on hand with his machine and was busy turning the crank while the mill hands were waving their farewells as the big barge was towed away from the dock.

Aug. 22, 1947

Frank Dufresne, who is meeting with the Outdoor Writers of America in Ketchikan and arranging for them to see Southeast before going to Juneau for their convention next week, reports from the First City that they have arrived 50 strong and are enjoying the hospitality of Ketchikan. They will be here sometime Monday afternoon. It is not known yet how many will be in Wrangell but it is expected a good delegation will be here. Tentative plans for arranging to entertain the distinguished writers here include a visit to Shakes Island and viewing the petroglyphs out on the cannery road. It also is expected that a few of the outstanding casters in the party will give a fly-casting exhibition. Various folks around town who have outstanding pictures of totems and Alaska scenery are to show the visitors both movies and stills. A reception is also being arranged but time and place will have to await more defined news of their arrival.

Aug. 25, 1972

Two Wrangell High School students have been credited with making a contribution to science by finding a kind of salamander which had been long sought by a Washington herpetologist. The honor went to Fred Wigg Jr. and Ed Kalkins, who spotted a long-toed salamander near Twin Lakes on the Stikine River recently, captured it and took it to high school biology teacher Rod Brown, who sent the salamander alive to Robert Hodge at the Point Defiance Aquarium at Tacoma, Wash. Hodge had asked the help of Southeast Alaska science teachers and their students in finding the long-toed salamander. Hodge said the official location of the salamander in Alaska was a scientific first. “The find is very valuable as it extends the range for this salamander considerably,” Hodge said in a letter to The Sentinel. “The long-toed salamander can now be called an Alaskan!”

Aug. 21, 1997

Plans are moving ahead to develop Sunrise Lake on Woronkofski Island as a source of fresh water and hydroelectric power for Wrangell. A feasibility study this spring by the Bentley Co. was encouraging about the project’s water and power potential. Development would also tie in to what happens with the Four Dam Pool hydroelectric projects, of which Tyee Lake (from which Wrangell gets its power) is a part. Attorney Eric Redman reported that Bentley’s preliminary work indicated that Sunrise is worth developing as a water source alone, and that hydro power would be an added bonus. Wrangell may need more electricity if new industry moves to town, or to supplement the city’s diesel generators when the Tyee Lake project is down for maintenance or repairs.