The Wrangell sentinel., 1939-06-16


Knyg J. Johansen who returned last
week from a months travel and
sightseeing. But the captain Isl
quick to point cut" only if you
leave the women al home He viii
not even guess how much extra ex-I
pense a woman would involve, but
from his bachelor viewpoint bel
thinks it would be plenty.
However. for himself, he travelled
from Wrangeu to Seattle on a steer
age ticket aboard the Canadian Pa
cific liner Princess Louise. thereby
saving SIS. He says he was treated
well. and the accommodations were
as good as first class passage on
early Alaskan steamers. He had
good meals. clean quarters, and thel
steward gave him an extra blanket.
Before leaving Wrangell he had
carefully charted his course finau-I
cially and determined never to spend
more than a dollar a night at al
hotel for. says Knyg, that is all
any hotel charges for a good room,
the amount they tack on above al
dollar being for bell hops. braided
uniforms. and what nots-the stuff
women like He found his dollar al
day hotel. spent two days pleasantly
in Seattle and then bought a ticket,
special exposition fare, such as heI
had seen advertised in the Nrangell.
Sentinel. both by the Northern Pa.
cifie and the Southern Pacific Rail.
ways. roundtrip from Seattle to New
York by way Of California, the Gulf
states and up the Atlantic seaboard,
then return across the northern
states to Seattle al for $50 in chair
coaches. or S135 in STANDARD or tour
list pullman sleeper. Capt. Johansen
chose the chair coach fare and de
clares he travelled very comfortably.
Pillows at night were furnished
without extra cost except in the
middle West and East, where port
ers charged "two-bits" for a pillow.
He visited the san Francisco fair
first, spending three nights and two
days there Again he paid a dollar
for a room at d nice hotel, clean,
comfortable and with the advantage
of being within a block from the
waterfront from which for ten cents
he travelled by ferry to Treasure Is
land. There he enjoyed every minute
of his stay. He was particularly i'm
pressed by the Government exhibits,
in which It is shown how the Gov
eminent enters into the upbuilding
81 hzT q n
mobile industry exhibits, the art
museum and the South American
republics and the scientific exhibits.
He had an interesting talk with
the manager of the exhibit from
Chile. In 1890, Johansen, after be-
ing four years in military service,
during which time he served in the
bodyguard of King Oscar II, king Of
Sweden and Norway, left his native
Norway for Chile The engineering
company then building a railroad
through the Andes connecting
Buenos Aires with Valparaiso, de-
cided it would be a good idea to get
some Norwegian ski runners TO keep
connections open between the end
points of the railroad which was
building from both sides. Johansen
was chosen as one of the runners
and the adventures of the twelve
young Norwegians in the Andes, he
says. would fill book in itself, but
when their work came to an end,
the young fellows scattered to the
four ends of the earth. The skis
which they left behind, so Johansen
was told in San Francisco, were
carefully kept for patterns and were
used for many years by South Am
orleans specially detailed to such
work. In recent years, however, ski
ing as a sport has swept Chile, as 1t
has the United States, and ski re-
sorts are built everywhere. 1t was
Johansen's impression that the orig
inal skis of his party are still kept
as models.
Captain Johansen took the day
light train from San Francisco tC
Los Angeles and in an air condition
ed train with numbered, reserved
seats in the chair cars, thoroughly
enjoyed the 11-hour run along tbs
Pacific ocean, which he says is &
beautiful ride.
After a half hour wait at Los An
geles he changed trains for New
Orleans. Arizona, New Mexico anC
western Texas is very poor country
he says, sandy and burned up, ant
no crop expected this season. HI
stopped off at Houston to rest over
night, then after a comfortable
night at a good dollar hotel, re
sumed his travels. Eastern Texa
looked pretty good and he enjoye'
a brief stay at New Orleans.
The country through Louisiana
Alabama, Georgia, the Caroiinas an
Virginia was all fine looking, h
states. He was surprised to find Viz
ginia such a scenic country. H