The Way We Were

Jan. 27, 1921

Samuel Cunningham will erect a new home for his moving picture business as soon as the weather is sufficiently settled to permit building operations. The new building will occupy the Lemieux property between Sorset’s meat market and the building formerly occupied by the Shurick drug store. It will be two stories high to provide a balcony.

Jan. 25, 1946

A number of interesting figures have been made available this week by Postmaster E. R. Sharubroich in his annual report for the year 1945. A total of 26.22 percent more money was collected by the post office from stamp, box rents and second-class mail receipts this year than in the 1944 calendar year. Receipts from stamps the past year totaled $9,727.26. In 1944 stamp sales totaled $7,707.94. This large increase in one year is credited largely to the airmail service which Wrangell is now receiving. Despite bad weather and a number of times the planes were unable to land because of inadequate floats, airmail was received at the local post office 280 days out of the year. Airmail was dispatched on 274 days out of the year. An idea of the amount of airmail received can be gained also from the report. A total of 8,687 pounds of airmail was received and a total of 7,503 pounds of airmail was dispatched.

Jan. 28, 1971

What we go through to get your Wrangell Sentinel to you each week. As you might have noticed, the weather has not been very good for either flying or boating between Wrangell and Petersburg (where our press is located). Last week it came to pass that the paper was off the press and ready for distribution good and early Thursday but the weather was keeping the transfer from taking place. On Thursday afternoon the editor and Hap Jones took Jones’ 20-foot cabin outboard out of the Wrangell harbor bound for Blind Slough, where a rendezvous with a taxi and the papers was arranged. The taxi got there but the editor and Jones couldn’t quite navigate the 15-mile trip in the snow and had to turn around and come home with darkness nearing. We made it the next day, though, but this time it took a tugboat. The taxi returned and the driver put the papers aboard the Campbell Towing Co.’s Alasco 4, which was working in Blind Slough. The much-traveled papers arrived in Wrangell Friday afternoon and were out with our crew of patient and hard-working paper boys and gals Friday evening.

Jan. 25, 1996

The 1990s’ equivalent of the street corner pay phone is coming to the Alaska Marine Highway System. Cellular phones. “What we’re envisioning is that there’d be some place where the public can go and swipe a credit card and make a phone call,” said George Reifenstein, ferry systems operations manager. “Just this week it so happens the equipment is being installed on the Columbia for a one-month phone and computer access project,” he said last week. The equipment is being installed near the purser’s station. Assuming the demonstration project works, the state would request proposals, evaluate them and contract for the service. The Columbia is the largest of the fleet’s eight vessels, though the phones eventually could be added to the other ships, too. The new ferry being built for delivery to Alaska in 1998 will have space set aside for a cellular phone station, Reifenstein said.