The Way We Were

Oct. 4, 1923

For the past 20 years, big game hunters have been going into British Columbia’s Cassiar and coming out with wonderful trophies as evidence of their prowess as hunters. However, it remained for D. W. Bell of West Port, Pa., to get the world’s largest caribou ever known. It was of the Osborne species and was a most remarkable specimen. Its measurements were spread, 55½ inches, and length, 65½ inches. Sen. T. Douglas Robinson shot a grizzly bear 10 feet 2 inches long, weighing over 800 pounds, while his son, Mohawk, shot a caribou having 54 points. Sen. Robinson also got two other grizzlies, one 8 feet and 6 inches, and the other 8 feet, 1 inch.

Oct. 1, 1948

J. J. Carroll, manager of the local telephone company, announced today that his company had received 16 new cradle-type automatic telephones via the new air parcel post from Chicago in a record time of 36 hours after ordering. This is the first air parcel post to be received in Wrangell under the new postal service, inaugurated recently. Delivery of the telephones to Wrangell, to relieve a critical shortage, was made possible by Wiliam N. Maxey, chief engineer of the Alaska Telephone Engineering Corp., which owns the Wrangell system.

Oct. 5, 1973

Wrangell’s 1973-1974 4-H program is underway and young people are invited to participate, according to Mrs. Mamie Daly, coordinator. Programs for the year will include sewing, carpentry, photography, cooking, aviation classes and model building, child care instruction, electronics, gun safety, forestry, knitting and crocheting, handcrafts and more, Mrs. Daily said. Last year more than 125 Wrangell youngsters participated in 4-H.

Oct. 1, 1998

“It was super,” says cross-country coach, Monty Buness, upon the girls team returning home Monday from Sitka holding the first-place regional title. Both the girls and boys teams ran but the boys team, placing sixth, was plagued by injuries and Buness felt they could not show their best effort. The undefeated girls team knew that their toughest competitor at the meet would be the Petersburg team that had dogged them earlier at the Vikings’ home track meet. Then the points and places at the Sitka meet were determined, and the unexpected happened. Wrangell and Petersburg tied for first. According to regulations, the officials then looked at the sixth runner of each team. The Wrangell runner, Laurel Floor, came in 16th and Peterburg 19th, making Wrangell the winner. “It was very impressive,” says Buness. “All the girls came across the line dead. They knew exactly what they had to do. I am really proud.”