In the Sentinel 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago.
July 29, 1915: The baseball fans of Wrangell were treated to another of those fun-provoking ball games last Sunday afternoon when Leo McCormack’s “Counter Jumpers” went down to defeat before Cash Coulter’s “Has Beens” to the tune of sixteen to one. Although the score was very one sided the game was good and Leo says the only reason his team lost is because Harry Gartley went fishing instead of coming and playing ball. The boys are figuring on another game next Sunday. After the Counter Jumpers and the Has Beens had their innings, the Wrangell Team played the boys from King and Wing which resulted in a score of eight to six in favor of our home team. The game was close and good playing was evident despite the hard holding on our ground. Keep on boys, we are going to have some team and all we need is practice.
August 2, 1940: Progress on the new fire station was reported this week with the receipt of a radiogram by Mayor Van H. Fisk from the H.B. Foss Company, architect in Juneau, that $3,000 in WPA funds are available for use on the building. Original hope of the government was that $6,000 would be available from the government with the city providing $10,000 for the estimated $16,000 construction. Present plan is to get the project underway in the fall with the close of the fishing season, using the WPA labor.
July 6, 1965: Clayton Schmitt, administrative assistant to the Mayor, warned today that unless we receive a substantial rainfall it is inevitable that Wrangell will be without water within a week to ten days. There is no water coming in to the upper or lower reservoir, and we are losing more water through an ancient, crumbling dam on the lower reservoir than we utilize, he said. The possibility of closing the mill and the canneries has been raised but the economic impact upon the city due to the closure which would not solve the problem but would merely prolong it for a few days makes this temporary stopgap measure almost infeasible, he added. Schmitt stated that if the dams do run dry the city would immediately put two trucks with a combined capacity of 1,800 gallons to hauling water continuously. The water would be distributed from the trucks to containers provided by the residents at their homes. The city water mains might conceivably be flooded with salt water to provide fire safety and provide adequate water for sanitary facilities.
August 2, 1990: The Wrangell High School Board hired a new high school principal and renewed budget cut discussions in a special meeting July 26. The board hired Art Watson to a one-year interim appointment as the high school principal. Watson, a longtime Wrangell social studies and language arts teacher, beat out 14 other applicants for the post. Superintendent Lin Laughy said timing was a factor in hiring Watson. He is familiar with the operation of the high school and will provide continuity next year, Laughy said. Watson has taught at the high school for 19 years. He came to Wrangell in 1971 after teaching middle school in Snoqualmie, Wash.
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