The Wrangell sentinel. (Wrangell, Alaska) 1909-current, 1935-07-12
PUBLIC ENEMY NO. l MAKES
MATANUSKA LIFE MISERABLE
(Contiued from Page 0ne)
Public EnemY No.


hat. Wherever land has b e n
cleared and air circulates there Is
little discomfort from the mosqui-
toes, but as soon as one enters the
timber the assault begins.
The Matanuska mosquito is Pub
lie Enemy No. 1.
1 found the caterpillar drivers
protected by head nets, but it was
hard for the lOggers to perform
their work under nets and most of
them depended on certain obnoXi-
GUS lotions which they rubbed into
the exposed portions of the bodies
for relief from the pests.
These were the Transient Work
ers, unemployed sent up from the
transient camps of California, Ore
gon and Washington to build
roads and houses and clear land for
the colonists. They were known
locally as the Gees (Civilian Con-
servation Corps) but they ywere
not enrolled as such nor did they
receive the same treatment and
privileges as the CCC youths in the
States. In age they averaged be-
tween 80 and 40 years. They are
said to have been chosen for spe-
cial ability as loggers, truck driv-
ers, well drillers, carpenters and
other useful crafts.
l watched the timber workers
for an hour-fallers, trimmers,
rigging men, caterpillar drivers.
There were few nOvices among
them. One of the cat SINNERS"
seemed particularly capable in
handling his rigging, as well as in
driving. The machine snorted and
reared like a horse as it climbed
over a fallen tree. AS it balanced
itself atop the log the driver cut
his throttle and eased the big cat
over gracefully, then again the
exhaust reared. An inexperienced
driver might have killed his engine
in this operation.
THAT guy can make a cat climb
a tree" the foreman of the gang
assured me.
What pay does he receiver"
THE same as the rest-dollar a
day. He's worth a dollar an hour
of any mans money"
The Builders
Two log houses were under con-
struction at Camp No. 2. There
had been no time, evidently, to
clear the ground, and the work OF
erecting the buildings and drilling
a we'll was carried on in the sha
dow of the heavy timber which
surrounds the domestic. Everyone
wore a mosquito veil.
A small portable sawmill was
used to square the logs, after which
they were dragged by cater.
pillar, or, in the case of lengths,
carried by the men to the build
ing site.
The buildings were quite large,
40 feet spare at least, and would
provide ample space for four
rooms. An excavation about 10x12,
10 feet deep, with timbered sides,
had been dug for a root cellar
under the kitchen of each house.
The log walls, which were up
about eight or ten feet that day.
were neatly notched at the cor
ners, and between squared logs
were two skeins of oakum. A well
was being driven behind each
house.
No Kick About Grub
At noon, when they ate their
lunches, the foreman handed a
white slip of paper to each man.
Its our time Slip" one of the
men explained, ''if we lose it, we
lose a days pay-a whole dollar. ="
"How's the grub?"
I'VE got no kick about the
grub"
II understand there were 80 of
you shipped back to the States.
What's the trouble?"
I'VE don't like it. There's over
a hundred more of us signed up to
go back. How would you like to
work and fight mosquitoes for a
dollar a day."
But you knew that before you
engaged to come up here" l re-
minded them.
I'VE didn't know we were going
to be treated like dogs"
"They promised us an advance
ON wages of $500 every month for
spending money. We haven't been
able to draw a cent"
THE Alaska Road commission
pays its laborers $500 a day,
Why don't they pay us that-or
half that. We're doing the same
kind of work"
Col. Bliss Criticized
"Col. Bliss might know how to
lead bunch of doughboys but he's
not the man to handle workers"
visited other camps, other
crews, and found the same discon-
tent everywhere. The morale of the
transient workers had been shat.