Daily Sitka Sentinel from Sitka, Alaska • Page 5

Notes and Comments by Robert N. DeArmond About Alaska The Sitka Jail, 1887 If there was an all-purpose building in early Sitka it was the old Russian bar. racks that stood on the site of the present City Hall. It measured 66 ty JQ and was three stories high, solidly built of hewed logs It was'built in 1854 and the Russians housed-their troops in it After the transfer; the Americans did the same until 1877. When John G.

Brady arrived in Sitka as a Presbyterian missionary in spring of 1878 the barracks building was largely if not entirely He cleaned up one floor and, opened a school there for Native children, with Miss Fanny Kellogg as the teacher. The school closed in November when Miss Kellogg moved to Wrangell, and it was not reopened until 18 months later. In the meanwhile, the Navy arrived to protect the residents and preserve order, a task that had originally been assigned to the Army It is not known whether the Rus, sians had jail cells in the barracks the American Army did, and the Navy continued to use married Navy officers lived in the building, and so did some civilians, including at least one collector of customs. When the Civil and Judicial District of Alaska was created by the 1884 Organic Act, the barracks building became the court house, uejail and penitentiary, the offices of the U.S. marshal and the U.S At various times a number ot the officials also lived in the big building.

Then in 19m, after those offices and officials had moved to Juneau, one classroom of the Sitka Public School was located there until 1908. This piece, however, is about the jail section of the building and is based on a daily journal kept by deputy U.S. Marshal and jailer, John Hanlan, from January 1 until September 15,1887, when this particular book was full. The book is now in the possession of a Hanlan (later changed to Hanlon) daughter Mrs. Margaret Osbakken.

John Hanlan had received his discharge from the Navy, in which he served as a boatswain's mate at Sitka in 1882. He ran his jail like a Navy boatswain: everything on a strict schedule, regular and frequent scrubbings of the cells and other rooms with soap and water, hot baths and clothes washing for the prisoners every Saturday morning, with shaving and hair trim- in the Sundays fe-were leisure days the regular, daily chores; There is no mention of religious services at the jail. There were two meal schedules, winter and summer. In winter, breakfast was at 8, lunch at noon! dinner at 4. In summer, breakfast was.at 7, lunch at noon, dinner at 6.

Only two meals, breakfast and dinner, were served on Saturdays and Sundays, when there was no outside work. There was a Chinese cook, Ah Sow, but he had some days off and a prisoner substituted as cook on those days. One prisoner was assigned as dish washer. The daily routine started at 6 a.nv\vhen prisoners were released from their cells, did chores and washed for breakfast Hanlan did not specify what the chores were but they probably included sweeping the floors, bringing in coal for the kitchen range and wood for the heating stoves, filling the lamps with coal oil and cleaning their chimneys and trimming their wicks when needed. In May they scraped off the old whitewash in the cells and offices and applied a new coat.

Outside work in winter was from 9- to mornings and from I until 3:30 afternoons. Summer hours for both meals and work began on April 15 and the work hours were 8 until 11:30 and 1 until 5:30. Occasionally there is a journal entry "weather too bad for outside but those are so infrequent that it must have been bad indeed. Otherwise, there was outside work five days a week, and the work varied. One contingent of prisoners with a guard went to Indian River almost daily to fetch water.

This John G. Hanlan was carried in a tank on a small wagon. As many of the prisoners were serving time for drunkenness they were literally "on the water wagon" when on that detail. Sawing and splitting wood was another regular occupation of the work squads. They also cleaned the grounds around the jail and other government buildings; cleaned the Parade Ground and, now and then, the city streets; repaired and painted government buildings; put up a new flag pole at the jail; and carried freight for the government offices when the monthly mail steamer arrived.

Another line of work for the prisoners developed in the summer of 1887. That was the year the U.S. government, defying international attempted to close the Bering Sea and seized 10 or a dozen sealing schooners, both American and British. The vessels were sent to Sitka and placed in custody of the marshal. The prisoners removed the sails, tackle and other moveable property, inventoried it and put it in storage ashore.

The government eventually lost its case against the sealers and paid heavy indemnity to the vessel owners. The prisoners, after the work day, had supper, did some more chores, then had leisure time until 9 o'clock when they were locked in night. The guards appear to have: shifts. There were at least two on duty during the day, only one at night. John Hanlan appears to have had few disciplinary problems, but he did put one man in "an outside cell" on bread and water for five days for fighting and causing a disturbance.

And two other men were kept locked in their cells for a couple of days for wrestling and making loud noises. Most of the prisoners were serving time for misdemeanors, but two murderers were lodged in the jail during the eight and a half months covered by the journal. Walter Pierce was an old miner from Douglas who had been drawn into a saloon brawl. The other, brought down from St. Michael by the Revenue Cutter RICHARD RUSH, was Frank Fuller, who had killed Roman Catholic Bishop John Charles Seghers in cold blood while traveling with him on the Yukon River.

Hanlan did not, in his journal, keep a tally of the number of prisoners in his charge and although he named them as they came and went, it is difficult to tell how many there were at any one time. The number was probably between 15 and 20, although a few years later, at the time of the 1900 census, there were 31 people listed in the jail. The number was reduced substantially after a new court house and jail was built at Juneau in 1904. But the old log barracks building served Sitka as a jail and office for the deputy marshal until it was replaced by a new frame building in 1920. Slope Contract Prices Fall ANCHORAGE (AP) BP Explo- ration (Alaska) Inc.

said Tuesday that its November contract prices for Slope crude oil are down slightly from last month. if BP spokesman Paul Laird said its "'West Coast contract price for November is $16 a barrel, 12 cents lower October's price. It is the second straight month West Coast delivery prices have fallen after they rose eight consecutive months from January's seven-year low of $10.38. 1 The contract price for delivery to the Gulf of Mexico is S15.90 a barrel, down 9 cents from October. November marks the third straight month prices have fallen in thru market fol- lowing seven increases in a row after prices bottomed out at $12.28 in January.

November's contract price is calculated as the average of the daily crude oil prices in October. The prices are similar to November 1993, when the West Coast price was $15.44 and the Gulf price $16.02. Every SI change" in Slope prices over the course of a year works out to a $150 million fluctuation in state revenues. Alaska derives 85 percent of its unrestricted income from North Slope taxes and royalties. BP accounts for about half of the Slope production, and is the only Alaska producer to announce its contract prices.

Other North Slope oil companies generally follow BP's lead. Through Sept 30, daily production from the North Slope was 1.6 million barrels, the same as the first nine months of 1993, Laird said. But said, compared 10 last year output from Pnidhoe Bay, the nation's largest oil field, has fallen off 8 percent to about 1 million barrels a day. Da si Sentinel, Sitka, Alaska, Thursday, November 3,1994, AdJWars Break Out In Governor's Race A "A i. mil, me ad says, nave skirmishes between ir Associaieo tress Writer sny smiles and good hair won't if rwr tuuic Knowles aide Bob King "The ANCHORAGE (AP) Alaskans it goes on to lump Knowles and bhc an l.

or paign is getting on a better track, nne down the double threat of low ClintTM ana em looking elsewhere in dis- OTMH 1IIC afe me aa says, have Associated Press Writer. shy smiles and good hair production watched and wondered "skyrofketog" the opment policy. The narrator asks: "Is ing who whUe the closing weeks in the governor's race were mired in debate over with campaign style. "Sometimes," says a philosophical former Gov. Steve Cowper, "that represents a political landscape that doesn't really have any major issues." But off-year elections can be a luxury for statewide candidates, a time to concentrate on local issues without the distraction of a presidential race.

In Alaska, the new governor's to-do list ranges from how to resolve the state-federal showdown over subsistence hunting and fishing rights, to how to cut the state budget, to how to attract private-sector jobs in a state jittery over oil industry layoffs. And that's just the short list. Polls show Alaskans also want action on health care, improved public education, campaign-finance reform and anti-crime measures. But some observers say those issues were getting unusually short shnft in the off-year race while fron- trunners Tony Knowles, the Democrat, and the GOP's Jim Campbell sparred over campaign ads. Also running are Jim Sykes, Green Party of Alaska; LL Gov.

Jack Coghill, Alaskan Independence Party; and Anchorage businessman Ralph Winterrowd, Patriot Party. "When the issue becomes how to describe the other candidate's hair that's pretty tragic," said Anchorage-based consultant Tom Begich, who supporting Knowles. That's not a level we've reached in the past." It was the partially balding Campbell who produced the "hair" ad, which had a brief radio run about a month before the Nov. 8 election. It featured a male narrator, who said hed noticed a few similarities between Knowles and President Clinton.

good hair?" I he spot followed a Campbell poll tnat Knowles says mischaracteiized nis stand on homosexual marriages. 1 the past month, Knowles rushed to defend against a GOP claim that he was willing to spend the Permanent Fund principal to bail out the state budget. Campbell later acknowledged he had no proof, and had based the claim on the fact Knowles never had said he wouldn't spend the principal. Ad wars plunged the campaigns into name-calling: Campbell said K-nowles was Knowles said Campbell's tactics were a "bie smear." 6 "I will not stoop to that level of mudslinging," said Coghill. "I believe they (Knowles and Campbell) are so much alike that they are trying to distance themselves by trying to create fabricated issues." The AIP, founded on the secessionist politics of Joe Vogler, has said it was the true conservative voice in the governor's race.

Sykes, making his second try for governor with a campaign that pledged to take no funds from outside Alaska, says didn't' feel left out when Campbell and Knowles squared off. The Green Party has expressed a generally liberal social agenda, while favoring conservative fiscal policy. "They don't consider me a serious contender," Sykes said, predicting a surprise victory in November. "But the more the Democrats and the Republicans trash each other, the easier it is for me to point out that it's business as usual with them." Peter Nolan, running for lieutenant governor on the Patriot Party, said is getting on a better track." Campbell agreed. "I want to get off p.

ve want to start talking issues," he said in a Campbell and Knowles, both of whom have raised more than $1 mil- Perot, calls for free enterprise that restores "true representative democracy." Analysts say attack politics can work when it underscores conventional wisdom about a candidate, or even if erroneous claims seem plausible based on what voters know about a candidate's stance. 'If attacks don't stick, the credibility of the person making the charge comes under question," said Henry Kensln a vv i list it) creation and budget cutting. Position papers aside, Campbell says this year Alaskans are looking for "someone they can trust." King said, "For once I find myself agreeing with Jim Campbell. But how can you trust a person who has run a campaign with such blatant fabrications regarding our "position?" A few days after the Natives' endorsement, Campbell regrouped with Kendri TMTM Campbell regrouped with TM? rf An ona endorsement offormer I a 1 TM Politicians Protest After Mayors Endorse Knowles T7 A A m.TT^-^* FAIRBANKS (AP) Some local politicians have complained after three area mayors endorsed Democrat Tony Knowles for governor. "The insinuation is, this is the way the community said Jerry Cleworth, a Fairbanks city council member.

"I think they kind of crossed the line." Cleworth says the politicians Fairbanks North Star Borough Jim Sampson, Fairbanks City Mayor Jim Hayes and North Pole Mayor Lute Cunningham were entitled to their opinions. Critics say the men were elected to non-partisan seats and should have kept their politics to themselves. Other leaders have questioned the wisdom of a public endorsement, especially if the Democrats lose. "They've put all their eggs in the same basket," said Denise Taylor, a North Pole city council member. "It wasn't a good political move." The endorsement last week skipped Shown Saturday Academy Award Winner for Best Foreign Language Film "Mediterra- neo" will be shown 7:30 p.m.

Saturday at the Sitka Pioneers Home The is located on the third floor. A sun-drenched Greek island is the setting for this sentimental comedy- drama with an anti-war message. Director Gabriele Salvatores chronicles the exploits of a platoon of battle-weary Italian misfits sent to occupy an idyllic Aegean isle during World War H. When accidentally cut otf from their commanders and the outside world, the bedraggled regiment finds it all too easy to succumb to the natives' gentle charms. Intoxicated by the heat and the languid rhythms of the Mediterranean paradise, the men gradually shed their cumbersome clothing, as well as their military point of view.

"Salvatores displays an assurance with actors that seems particular to mmmakers with a theater background, the ensemble quality of the work of me performers and crew gives this picture much of its buoyancy a review in Variety said. Admission cost is $4 for members and 56 for non-members. Museum Closed The Sheldon Jackson Museum will be closed Nov. 11 in observance of Veterans Day over two local politicians whose names appear on ballot Nov. 8.

State Sen. Mike Miller of North Pole is running as a Republican for lieutenant governor, and Lt. Gov. Jack Coghill of Nenana is running for governor on the Alaskan Independence Party ticket. The Knowles campaign has made use of the Interior mayors' support by featuring it in some-newspaper adver- 1 tisements.

Some residents say they can't recall a similar endorsement. The mayors say they've taken some heat from constituents but say they've done nothing inappropriate. "I'd hate to be running for office right now," Cunningham said. Hayes said he had received quite a few comments about the endorsement, about half of them critical. He says some voters upbraided him for backing the "wrong" party.

"After talking to Tony, I wouldn't have cared what party he belonged to I just felt comfortable with him Hayes said. Bob Logan, a borough assembly member and Coghill supporter, said most people he talked with were upset over the endorsement. But Logan said he wasn't upset "Personally, I don't have a prob- em with it," he said. "It's harmless." Tiiufeai a vl lyzing negative campaigns. The attack-politics fever broke in mid-October, when candidates concentrated on winning a first-ever political endorsement from the Alaska Federation of Natives.

The race took on a more familiar tone as delegates asked about Native self-determination and a rural preference in state subsistence law. To almost no one's surprise and certainly not Campbell's Knowles picked up AFN's support for governor. Some delegates said Native support for a Democrat was so assured that a formal endorsement would carry little weight "It's very difficult for a Republican to win AFN's endorsement the first time out," Campbell said, adding he believed he had support from rural communities not tied to AFN leadership. "That's quite normal." Since the weeklong convention ended Oct, 15, "we've been talking more and more about the issues," said Early Bird Bazaar Nov. 5 The Blatchley Middle School Early Bird Christmas Bazaar will be held from 10 a.m.

to 3 p.m. Nov. 5 in the school's multipurpose room and commons area. More than 40 tables of handicrafts, gift items and decorations will be on display for sale. Concessions featuring hot dogs, popcorn, pop, coffee and homemade baked goods will be available in the commons concession stand.

Senior citizens are invited to attend a free tea and early opening from 9 to 10 a.m. Photos with Santa, sponsored by RC Photo, and the students of Youth- crat who twice was defeated Knowles in the party primary for governor. McAlpine said he thought Campbell's views on resource development were a better fit with the thinking of most Alaskans. Democrats predicted the endorsement came too late to sway many voters. Community TV Provided This week on Sitka Community Television, viewers are invited to watch several programs of community interest.

The programming includes this month's schedule for Native American Heritage Month, reminiscences with Kathy Starostka and the moving to the new Sitka Teen Resource Center, volunteering with Elaine Craddick-Patt, defensive driving with William Ball and the Sitka Police Department, Clothilde Bahovec and the American Association of Retired Persons on the upcoming elections and voting, an inspirational entrepreneur talk, as well as other information of general interest A list of happy things, brain teasers and tobacco facts are also included in the two-hour presentation. This week's bioadcasts are 6:45 p.m. tonight, 6 p.m. Sunday and 10 a.m. Sitka Community Television is provided weekly on Alaskan Cable Network channel 36.

The presentations originate from Sitka High School. Cable channel 36 programming is provided through a consortium agreement of Sitka School District, Mt. Edgecurribe High School, Sheldon Jackson College and the Aission.othebazaarisSOcen*. Served 5 9 p.m. Chop Suey by Claudia Loretta Divers Meet The Alaska Harvest Divers Association the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission will hold an informational meeting concerning issues in current dive fisheries 7 p.m.

Wednesday in the Centennial Building Rousseau Room. Questions prior to the meeting may Bob ADFG, AHDA Let's cut to the chase. Do you think the Alaska Lesiglature did a good job last year? Well, no one else does either. The Alaska Legislature has done a lousy job. State spending is up.

State revenues are Classroom sizes are up. scores are down. salaries are still high and the State Budget still has to be cut" What's wrong with this picture? Ben Grussendorf, that's what's wrong. If you want more of the same, vote for Ben Grussendorf. If you want a change, vote for Paul Anderson.

What have you got to lose? Paid for by Anderson for House, P.O. Box 1454, Petersburg, AK 99833.