The Daily Alaska empire. [volume] (Juneau, Alaska) 1926-1964, 1939-05-15
HAWK inlet
FIST FIGHT
CALLS PLANE
juneau Longshoreman Is
Badly Beaten : Mid
night Mercy Flight


A severe beating which Leonard
Stokes, Alaska Juneau miner, adj
ministered last night at Hawk In
Ilet to Herman Russell, Juneau
Ilongshoreman, resulted in mid
night mercy flight" by Pilot Shell
Simmons, who took DR.. c. c. Car
ter and Deputy Marshal Walter
Hellan to the scene in his Alaska
Air Transport Lockheed through
black night.
Russell, suffering the loss of sew
eral teeth, a broken jaw, several
broken ribs and internal injuries,
which were thought at first to con-
lsist of a punctured lung but were
determined this afternoon to be
less serious, was brought to Juneau
for disqualification.
Stokes, who though much
smaller man than Russell, was for
merly a prizefighter, flew back in
the same plane.
No Arrest
No arrest was made, no warrants
have been issued and very likely no
further action in the case will be
taken by authorities here, U. S.
Attorney william Holzheimer said
this afternoon.
A quarrel which both Stokes and
Russell ascribed simply to "jeal-
ousy" arose between the two aboard
the steamer Baranof on which Rus
sell was a bellboy, having signed
on only yesterday. Stokes, on a
three weeks vacation from the
mine, was travelling steerage to Ko-
diak to visit his wife.
When the two began to push one
another around" in the Baranof
forecastle, another member of the
crew told them they would have
to transfer their belligerance else
where or be thrown into the brig,
Hellan quoted witnesses as saying.
Fought on Dock
The two got off on the dock at
Hawk Inlet and, surrounded by at
least 10 passengers and crew mem
bers interviewed by Hellan, fought
it out. Russell admitted swinging
the first blow, Hellan said.
Hellan said witnesses all told
him Stokes fought a "clean" fight,
not hitting the bigger man when
he was down. After about 10 min
utes during which Russell got very
much the worst of it, the fight end
led with Russelfs quitting and going
back aboard the boat. This was at
about o'clock last night.
Shortly thereafte~. FORAGE Adams,
General Agent of the Alaska Steam
ship Company here, received mes
sage from Capt. Joseph Ramsauer
of the Baranof asking that a doctor
and marshal be sent to Hawk Inlet
Immediately. When further infor-
nation was requested Ramsauer
replied that there had been a fight
and that one man was very serious
ly hurt, probably having a pune
tured lung.
Midnight Flight
Simmons took off at 11:15 O'Clock
and headed into weather which be-
came darker and darker the farther
he flew toward Hawk Inlet He
found a way across Admiralty
Island at Bear Creek, but was fore
ed to land at Funter Bay and taxi
about 20 miles through Chatham
Straits to the Baranof, which was
shining its searchlights into the
air to guide the plane.
J The Juneau men found Russell in
the care of the Baranofs stewardess
and nurse Lysbeth Rawston. He had
suffered several hemorrhages and
the left lung was full of blood
/ Stokes volunteered to return to
Juneau with Hellan, who had awak-
ened a dozen witnesses to question
them.
The plane returned to Juneau at
about $3.50 o'clock this morning,
guided into landing by the search
lights of the Haida.
Russell was taken to st. AIMS
hospital where he was reported to
be in an improved condition this
afternoon.
All of the witnesses, Hellan said
declared Russell was the aggressor in
the fight. Stokes said a quarre
between the two men existed in Jul
neau for some time, but Russell
denied this