The Way We Were

May 10, 1923

At the meeting of the town council last Thursday night, the application of J. K. Nevill for a telephone franchise came up for final action. The council voted unanimously to grant Mr. Nevill a franchise for the installation of a telephone system in Wrangell, lasting 10 years.

May 7, 1948

A paper on “How I Can Improve My Home,” by Mrs. G. C. Crowell, made up the program at the monthly meeting of the Women’s Civic Club on Saturday. Mrs. Crowell’s contribution was filled with ideas for the homemaker and was greatly enjoyed by the 20 or more members present. It was suggested that women use their imagination and let the home be a suitable setting for family life, with simplicity the best guide. Mrs. Crowell mentioned several examples of wartime structures which were changed into attractive and livable homes by women at an Army Post who had exercised skill in the use of simple materials to affect the desired comfort and beauty.

May 11, 1973

Wednesday morning a week ago, the crew of the Debbie Ann drew a strange fish up from the depths of their gillnet. The Debbie Ann, out of Seattle, was fishing off Vank Island when what has been identified as a brown ragfish was caught in the net. It was humorously described as a cross between a salmon and a halibut by Wrangell’s Ralph Pickering, who was fishing with Debbie Ann’s owner, Elling Strangeland. The ragfish, according to the limited information available, inhabits deep waters from California to Southeast Alaska. Roughly salmon-shaped, the strange fish has a ridge running along either side from near the head to the tail. It is toothless and covered with skin rather than scales. The fish captured off Vank Island was originally a coppery gray in color, although this color faded rather rapidly, Pickering said. The bones and flesh are soft. The first known catch of this fish was made in 1912 and only a few have been caught since then, according to information Pickering was able to uncover. The fish has been given to the Wrangell High School and will be pickled to preserve it.

May 7, 1998

Last month, Wrangell totems received both compliments and compassion as preservation workshop participants noted extensive deterioration in the unique original totems which once stood proudly in Wrangell during the 1800s. Most of the original poles have been removed and placed in warehouses due to the danger of falling caused by rot, or of pieces of the designs detaching. When other workshop participants returned home, three workers chose to remain in Wrangell to apply the careful techniques of preserving the totems from further deterioration. Alaska state conservator Brook Bowman, who had come to learn the preservation maintenance procedures, stayed another week with the Wrangell poles, helping move and wash them, and to begin the specific procedures necessary to save them. Some of the totems will not be raised again outside, but may be placed inside the new museum.