The Way We Were

July 6, 1922

The U.S. Secretary of Commerce has approved an amendment to the general rules which requires that no candidate for original license as master, mate, pilot or engineer shall be examined unless he has completed a course of instruction in first aid. “The manual is intended primarily to furnish officers and men of the American Merchant Marine a simple but comprehensive textbook on ship sanitation and hygiene, an outline of surgical and fundamental information regarding the treatment of disease,” an announcement by the Health Service says. “The information contained in the manual will be of greatest value to officers and men of vessels that do not carry a ship’s doctor and lack facilities for the care of the sick and injured,” the announcement says. “Sanitary conditions on shipboard are in many instances not what they should be – conditions that are due largely to ignorance regarding the elementary rules of sanitation and hygiene. Aside from the humanitarian point of view, it is highly desirable from an economic viewpoint that the sanitary conditions be improved.”

July 11, 1947

A construction crew from the Alaska Communications System in Ketchikan has installed a remote control receiving station for the local ACS station. This facilitates better reception for the local station. The remote control apparatus was constructed on the marsh back of Bishop Rowe Hospital on land given to the government by the city some time ago. The construction crew included a mascot and special guard, Lady, a German shepherd.

July 14, 1972

The filming of “Timber Tramp,” the biggest movie production in Alaska, got underway at Sykes Logging Camp at Bradfield Canal last weekend. This movie, starring Claude Akins as the tramp, with supporting actors Joseph Cotton, Caesar Romero, Roosevelt Grier, Tab Hunter and Leon Ames, will be largely shot the next six weeks at the camp. A number of Wrangell residents have bit parts in the film, and Dick Sykes is acting as technical director during the production. The company will also be shooting in Wrangell for a full week at the Brig Bar, starting about July 25. “This movie is about a breed of men that have never been given their rightful place in history,” says producer and cameraman Chuck Keene, who was a logger himself until 12 years ago.

July 10, 1997

The city council on Tuesday night gave the green light to a covered playground area, estimated to cost as much as $300,000 and probably to be located at Volunteer Park near Evergreen Elementary School. The facility, long a priority of the parks and recreation department, could be used for sports, crafts fairs, musical events and a skateboard park. The city administration was directed to issue a request for proposals for the design. Councilmember Bernie Massin worried that the proposed playground area is muskeg and may sink under heavy equipment or the weight of a concrete or asphalt pad. City Manager Scott Seabury said this will be addressed in the request for proposals, with the contractor required to determine if the ground is stable.