The Way We Were

In the Sentinel 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago.

September 5, 1912: The element of luck in human affairs is both questioned and denied but it was either luck or the unsurpassed headwork of foreman Gingras in calling out hose cart number 2 in anticipation of a fire last Friday evening. The team had for drill purposes made a run to the Wrangell Sawmill and drowned an imaginary fire. As the hose was reeled back on the cart, some of the laddies smelled smoke from burning cloth. The scent was followed to the old men's house and after breaking several doors the fire was located in one of the rear rooms. Only a small amount of water was required to put out the blaze and the firemen went home with another victory swelling the company's average.

September 3, 1937: Mr. and Mrs. H.H. Hungerford moved this week into the new bungalow recently completed by L.B. Chisholm on his property at the corner of Reid Street and McKinnon Avenue. The bungalow stands well up from the street and from its elevation commands a beautiful view of the harbor. There are four rooms besides a sun porch. The attic is finished for storage and the basement contains oil burning furnace and full laundry equipment. The detail of the bungalow has been most delightfully worked out. It is thoroughly modern and desirable throughout and abundantly deserves the beautiful park-like setting in which it is placed. Five years ago when Mr. Chisholm took over a tract of land, which looked hopelessly wilderness, it did not seem possible that in so short a time he could transform it into the show-place it is today. He first built his own lovely home, doing a great deal of the work himself after long office hours. Last year he built a three-room cottage and this year the larger bungalow. Everything of beauty in the wild vegetation has been carefully retained and the landscaping, water lily pond and other features conform to a plan designed for all the lots.

August 31, 1962: All commercial and private aircraft throughout Alaska will be grounded for three and one-half hours Sunday, Sept. 2, according to an announcement from the Federal Aviation Agency in Anchorage. The grounding will last from 12 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. here, is to clear the skies for “Sky Shield II” the latest of a series of large-scale military exercises conducted during the past few years. The exercise, which also will ground planes in the continental U.S. for five and one-half hours, covers the entire North American land and sea area north of Mexico. It is designed as a test of the North American Air Defense System. Emergency flights will be permitted providing the pilot furnishes the nearest air traffic control facility with information on the purpose of the flight, departing point, route, altitude and destination.

September 3, 1987: WANTED: Local non-profit agency willing to provide adult supervision to youths every Saturday in exchange for half the proceeds from a can recycling program. That's the advertisement the Wrangell Litter Patrol would be issuing this week as the teenagers seek a non-profit organization willing to take over the growing aluminum recycling program. Started by the youths this summer, the recycling program could be expected to generate a minimum of $450 a month, said Litter Patrol Supervisor Sandy Armstrong. Bars, restaurants and other businesses are willing to collect their cans on a regular basis, while can drops at the community's grocery stores have attracted recycling-conscious homemakers, she said. With crushed cans selling for 40-cents a pound in Seattle - and shippers serving Wrangell willing to ship crushed cans south at no cost to a non-profit group - the advantages of continuing the recycling program are clear, she said.