In the Sentinel 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago.
January 8, 1914: Today at two o'clock the case of the United States vs. Chief Shakes in a complaint being made by A. Lemieux against Chief Shakes for criminal trespass on property supposed to be owned by Lemieux but claimed by Shakes was up for trial in the Commissioner's Court. Chas Ingersoll represented Chief Shakes and Richard Bushell the prosecution, upon motion from the attorney for the defendant the case was dismissed. According to the ruling made, no person can hold the title to Indian land that was quit claimed by them after the townsite entry was made.
January 13, 1939: A fire which might have swept the town was averted when Chet Lloyd, night marshal, discovered a blaze in the left hand corner of the dance hall on the entrance wall at 3:30 Sunday morning, following a New Year's eve dance. Members of the A.N.B. before closing the hall shortly after the dance stopped at 2 o'clock looked over the premises on both floors and everything seemed to be all right. The marshal, who has a key to the hall, went in to get some overcoats which dancers had left there and discovered the blaze, which he extinguished. It is believed a cigarette tossed in the corner was responsible for the fire.
January 10, 1964: Frank Murkowski of the Wrangell branch, National Bank of Alaska, was re-elected president of the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce at its meeting yesterday. Raymond P. Nims, superintendent of schools, was re-elected vice-president. The Shinsei V, which has been at Wrangell Lumber Company dock the past 10 days loading, sailed yesterday with 3,200,000 board feet of lumber and 800,000 feet of logs.
January 12, 1989: About 8 inches of snow was on the ground at the Wrangell Airport Tuesday as old-timers shared memories about the town's great snowfalls of the past. Comments made about the snowfall and whether it was considered exceptionally heavy or just average for January depended on how long residents have lived in the community. Those whose recollections go back 15 to 20 years maintained it was the worst snowfall in memory and Marilyn Thrift at the Senior Center said many attending the Monday luncheon discussed that fact. Those whose residency in the community dates back into the 1940s and 1950s, however, maintained this month's snowfall was nothing particularly special. “Don't quote me, though,” the woman said as she recalled one heavy snowfall with about 4 feet on the ground. “Other people will remember it differently.” However, statistics compiled by the National Weather Service tended to support the views of those old-timers whose memories date back to the 1950s. Larry Guay, meteorologist in Juneau, said the most snow ever to fall in Wrangell during January came in 1952, when 38 inches were recorded. The mean monthly total for Wrangell in January is 19.5 inches of snow, he said.
Reader Comments(0)