Iditarod pioneer., 1915-04-17

council meeting of last Wednesday evening
 one of the most interesting sessions that
 body has held for some time. In the first
 place, it was the first meeting of the newly elected council, and the formal election ot
 city officials was scheduled to take place
 A new mayor was to be nducted into office
 and it was expected that an outline of the 1 policy of the new administration would be to be appointed, and the affairs of the to be appointed. Also the affairs of the ! school district were expected to come up 1 for discussion But the chief matter of 1 interest was one which is open for discus | sion at any time and at any place III Alaska the eternal dog question. l Ever since the election of the new council there have been evidences that the question of enforcing the municipal ordinance re-
 garding dogs running at large would be l brought to an issue. Councilman William l Ansley had been outspoken in his determl-
 nation to insist upon the enforcement ot l the provisions of the ordinance, and the dis cussions aroused have been both prolonged
 and acrimonious. So on Wednesday evening
 there was a good sized audience at the | council chambers to listen to the delibera 1 tions of the city fathers, and among them
 
 were interested in the proceedings. 1 Prior to the council meeting little groups l of counciImen were to be seen conferring
 as though on some weighty subject. Back and forth they fitted, anywhere but in the direction of the council chamber, and 1t was plain that an enGeavor was being made to
 arrive at decision prior to the formal
 meeting Eight o'clock, the time set for the meeting, arrived, and no councllmen were in sight and for time it looked as | though there would be no meeting. How ever, shortly after S:30 Councilman Stanton rappcd for order and all the councilmen were in their places with the exception of Currin, who is out of the city. Officials Elected Mir. Stanton announced that the first or der of business would be the election of president of the council. Joe Smith nomi
 mated E. M Stanton, and on motion of Herb Riley the election of Mir. Stanton was
 made by exclamation.
 Other officers elected were as follows: B. M Meyers, municipal clerk; R. C. Button, treasurer; Earl Byers, chief of police and fire chief
 Upon motion the compensation of the
 municipal clerk was fixed at $l0 for each meeting of the council A motion was also carried continuing the office of fire and police chief until further action of the coun- cil, the salary to remain as at present, $20O per month.
 After the reading of the minutes of the previous council meeting, Mayor Stanton announced the appointment of the follow ing committees;
 Finance-Rley, Button, Ansley. Fire-Smith, Ansley Weir Streets-Weir Smith Ansley
 Poice-Ansley, Smith, Riley. Owing to the fact that Mir Currin will be absent from the city great part of the summer, his name was omitted from the makeup of the committees. Miscellaneous Business
 communication was read from J. J. Smith, chairman of the school board, in which the needs of the school district were outlined and specific sum was called for to carry on the school through the month of May Owing to the fact that the finances of the city are at present at 8 low ebb, the communication was laid over until future meeting.
 Messrs Albrecht Taylor, Stanton and Harrison submitted a recelpted bill for $40 for legal services rendered in furnishing an opinion to the members of the election board They were rendered vote of thanks.
 Joe Smith urged the necessity of safe guarding the city wharf during the ap- preaching breakup, and the street commit tee was authorized to expend the sum of sl00 for that purpose.
 Councilman Ansley proposed an improve ment to the water intake of the fire station, and the matter was left to the judgment of the fire committee. That Dog" Ordinance
 Then came the matter for which the audience had been waiting Councilman Ans ley called for the reading of the 'dog" ordl- nance and there was a craning of necks on the part of the crowd, and the handful of councilmen looked self-conscious and un- comfortable.
 The clerk read Ordinance No. 28, which provides that sluts shall not be permitted to run at large within the corporate limits; prohibits the running at large of dangerous, vicious and mad dogs, making it lawful for any person to kill such animals, and pro-
 viding penalties for the owners of such ami mals.
 MT. Ansley then moved that the pohce committee be instructed to enforce the or dinance.
 Uncle Billy" in support of his motion, spoke of the fact that Iditarod was one of the very few civilized places, even in the North, where dogs were allowed to roam at large and without restraint. That they were nuisance could not be denied, and he contendad that they were a menace to
 the life and health of the people He had recently stood on the street and counted
 twenty-three dogs in sight, and a person could hardly go into business house with
 out climbing over the animals, many of
 which were vicious In speaking of the
 danger to the children of allowing vicious
 animals to roam the streets at will, he spoke of case which occurred at Flat some time
 ago, in which beautiful little girl had been maimed for life by one of these brutes,