Empire Archives: Juneau’s history for the week of Nov. 22
Published 4:00 am Friday, November 21, 2025
Empire Archives is a series featuring a short compilation of headline stories from archived editions of the Juneau Empires.
This week’s edition of Empire Archives takes us back 1915, when the paper was still called the Alaska Daily Empire. None of the stories carry bylines, as was common for news writing at the time.
“No meat, no cable, November. All of them, like the three blind mice, have hit Juneau at the same time. Even the Taku is blowing around town about it.”
A Nov. 16 article describes a week in which Juneau went without mutton, beef or pork, leaving residents to rely on local meat sources, including duck and deer. The shortage arose after every ship that typically supplied the city with meat failed to deliver.
One ship from Seattle had to reroute and return home after it “bumped a rock, or a sand-bar, or something.” A Canadian vessel arrived with no meat, and another brought only a small shipment destined for Treadwell.
At the same time, the telegraph cable connecting Juneau to the Lower 48 broke “somewhere between Sitka and Seattle.” The cable repair ship was stationed in Seattle and was expected to be dispatched immediately to fix the break.
Across the channel, the Nov. 17 Catholic Fair was not only profitable, but “one of the most brilliant successes of any similar affair ever staged in Douglas.”
Demonstration booths featured a variety of technologies and free eats. Electric Light and Power Co. loaned organizers a Westinghouse electric stove, used to heat a variety of teas and coffees. Needless to say, the booth was one of the most well patronized stops at the fair.
Misses Marie Coryell of Douglas and Molly Wittenan of Thane faced off at the fair’s popularity contest. Coryell won with 1,600 votes to Wittenan’s 1,300, earning a wool bathrobe trimmed with satin and valued at $35.
Local supply mishaps and community celebrations took place as the state turned its attention to the trial of Edward Slomke — known in Alaska as Edward Krause — who killed at least seven men in Southeast Alaska.
On Nov. 20, the Alaska Daily Empire ran the headline, “Krause suspected of slaying local man for $1500.” The article reported that Ernest Biesold, a 35-year-old baker, was last seen with Slomke at the New York Exchange saloon on 184 S. Franklin Street the month before. Biesold reportedly said he had a large sum of money in Slomke’s presence.
A witness said that Slomke invited Biesold to accompany him to his boat. Biesold accepted, and had not been seen since, the article reports.
