In the Sentinel 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago.
May 11, 1916: A party of men of more than usual interest were in Wrangell this week. They were Dougal MacDonald, Jack Moran, Lloyd Simpson and Thomas Hankins, all of Telegraph, and bound to join the British forces at the front. The boys were given a big farewell reception at Telegraph on the eve of their departure and have many beautiful and useful tokens from their friends there. During their stay in Wrangell a purse was subscribed and a small bear cub was purchased and presented to the boys who are taking it to the front as a mascot for their company. Mr. MacDonald was a Sergeant in the British forces during the Boer War, and as one of the oddities of life, during his stay here met Capt. Jungmarker, a Capt. in the Boer forces, and on comparing notes it was found that Sergeant MacDonald was among the forces that captured the remainder of the company of Capt. Jungmarker, only nine men. The boys are all husky able soldiers and are the kind of men that England needs. We wish them God’s speed.
May 16, 1941: Approximately 1,500 beaver skins were taken in Southeast Alaska during the recent 20-day open season, according to wildlife agent H.R. Sarber, who was in Wrangell this week. Of the total more than 500 were brought into Wrangell. Sarber estimated a price of about $30 to the trapper, or a spread of conservatively $45,000 in cash to Southeast towns as a result of the open season. It might well total up to more. A shipment of pheasant eggs is expected shortly at the experiment farm in Petersburg, Sarber reported. If they hatch as well as before, plan is to release more of the birds in this vicinity where they have done so well. The agent reported that one of the worst predators on the pheasants is the ordinary house cat. Several have been killed near Petersburg by cats, he said, including, incidentally the Wrangell fighting pheasant, which was transferred to the experiment farm. The cat was caught in the act and eliminated.
May 16, 1966: Halibut landings initial trips have been slow throughout Southeast Alaska but Petersburg leads all other points thus far with more than 80,000 pounds as of last night. Tom Thompson of Petersburg Cold Storage Co. said no price has yet been set but didn’t indicate when one would be. Latest to arrive was the Ira II (Kurt Nordgren) with 27,000 pounds. Others were the Baldur, poundage not yet indicated, skipper Erik Fuglvog; Sokol, 5,000, Jake Hallingstad; Seanna, 19,000, Nels Otness; Lenor, 7,000, Sig Mathisen; and Miss Norma, 22,000. Arrivals at Sitka totaled 20,000; at Juneau, 15,000; and at Ketchikan, 12,000, Thompson said.
May 16, 1991: Jim Thompson had confidence in his king salmon, the 47.7 pound derby leader. He stopped by the Sentinel office shortly after 11 a.m. Monday for a photo before he even weighed it in. Unfortunately, Thompson’s fish is 2.3 pounds away from winning the $500 bonus for the first fish 50 pounds or over. If no one catches a bigger fish in the 11 remaining days of the salmon derby, Thompson could win the $5,000 first prize and the Sentinel’s $50 photo bounty, or the $3,000 second prize, $2,000 third prize or one of more than 65 prizes donated by local merchants. Thompson said he fished all day Sunday without a strike, but had three strikes Monday morning at Elephant’s Nose, before the big one bit. Thompson was hoping the fish was 50 pounds before it was weighed at the Totem Bar. Although all derby winners since 1980 have been over 50 pounds, fish as small as 44.8 pounds have won the derby in past years. Bruce Harding, co-chairman of the 39th annual Wrangell King Salmon Derby, said the bad weather over the opening weekend probably kept some fishermen on land, although about 50 fish were weighed in after three days of fishing. From those entered, it appeared fish were being caught at just about all of the usual local fishing spots. Harding said about 650 derby tickets have been sold.
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