The Wrangell sentinel., 1954-09-03
THROUGH THE SENTINEL PERISCOPE
%# sI
Tourist Through Town


 There appears 10 nave been an other wrI1ing tourist through town recently on one oI the summer boats.
 Via the mail arrives q clipping from Che Pontiac, Mich, Press car rylng headline "aock hands rake m sl0 an hour at Alaskan port.
 The story bears d uate line ot Wrangell Alaska, and the by-hne of Joe Haas, Pontiac Press staIt Writer" Indicating that Joe must have been touring these parts re- centlv. the paper carries a datelipe of August 2l of this year lS54' ana the story indicates he may nave had something else in his suitcase besides a clean shirt.
 Joe wrote quite a piece; taxes almost a column Of newspaper space. Among the choicy para graphs handed his unsuspeeting Pontiac readers we find;
 Working on a short summer schedule. the earnings of some men in the most menial of seafaringI jobs have reached a quite fantaslle figure. Even the common dock wal lopers are earning up to $lO per hour. with other jobs in propor- tion.'
 Joe must have reached into the suitcase again for out comes thls literary gem:
 "One salmon header tells me that he was making $50 a week in a Detroit plant, but was attracted here by the higher wages. He says I wish I was back on the old job. I'd rather be earning my old wages in making automobiles than re- ceiving S8 per hour in swinging a l5-pound cleaver in chopping the heads off salmon in foul-smeillng plant in Alaska
 Maybe it's just as well that the tourist season is over so Joe can confine his reporting to the Michl- gan scene, perhaps something with which he is more conversant.
 S2 Question Unanswered
 The announced two-dollar boost in local telephone rates remained a mooted question this week. The City Council, which under Terrltof- ial law passes on utility rate schedules within its jurisdiction, directed a letter to the Alaska Tel ephone Corporation which operates the local exchange. that it was un- able to recognize the announced rate increase as nothing had been filed with the Council requesting such a raise. It requested that if such an increase is proposed as an nounced in the dear customer letter some substantiating data be provided the Council.
 Meanwhile, a petition circulated around town carried some SO-odd names of dear customers" who were advising the company to dis continue their phone service if the increased rate prevailed.
 Absentee Voting |
 For those who expect to be aDt sent from their voting precinct on general election day, October 12, absentee ballots are available at the U. s. Commissioners office. If you're going south to spend the loot this fall, might be a good idea to cast an absentee ballot before talk ing off. Qualified voters can cast one up to and including Oct. g.
 Registration
 City voters are reminded, as you will note elsewhere in this peerless family journal today, that registra-. tion books are now open at the CitS hall and if you are not permanently registered (voted last election) it's time to get your John Henry on a registration card. City election is October 5, just a week before the general.
 Without Objection
 Without objection, and hearing none, let's take a day off Monday It's Labcr Day. legal holiday, set aside, says our dictionary, ''in hon. or of, or in the interest of, worlI- ingmen as a class" Somebody blow ofn I,