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KENAI 4f% ALEUTIAN S|
en msula-Chain News
VOLUME_4 * INDEPENDENT ❖_SEWARD. ALASKA ❖ WEDNESDAY. MAY 12. 1948 ❖ UNITED PRESS SERVICE ❖ PRICE 10 CENTS Nu to
D. C. Brownell Insists on
Action Depleting City’s
Final Cash Reserve
Within the last week demands
have been made on the city ad
ministration to pay the amount
of $780.00 interest which is not
due but which is authorized in
an action by the city council of
March 22. 1948. This money is a
portion of the $0000.00 paid to
the city by Pege and Riley of the
Seward Fish and Cold Storage Co.
Stating that, “if this council is
wise" they will pay off the two
bonds, No.l and No. 2 of $1000.00
each "because the bank could fail
or burn down and the money
would be lost and the city would
be obligated to pay them in that
case" Brownell insisted that the
council pay these bonds off.
Councilman Kennedy following
considerable conversation in which
Keating, Pege and Brownell took
part made the motion to pay
these two bonds.
(Ed. Note: Councilman Kennedy
stated over the telephone some
time ago that his wife was the
owner of the bonds he was sup
posed to hold therefore he was
not responsible.
Attorney Baumgartner was se
lected temporarily to serve as
city attorney but was not present.
Brownell in stating his reasons
for requesting the payment told
of the trouble he had raising the
$8000. which was added to the
$32,000 already in the account
earmarked for the purchase of
the bonds.
Poge. he said, was supposed to
raise $16,000 but was unable to
get his backers to raise more
than S6.O00.
All operations had to be prac
ticed with the utmost secrecy be
cause of the opposition and only
one hour before the deadline
wsa the money in proper hands.
The only way he could obtain
the necessary cash. Brownell said,
was to guarantee the payment of
interest and the retirement of
two bonds in the 1st year. He
stated that he and Attorney Nes
bett sat up 'til 2 A M. in order to
prepare the necessary papers, and
even then Nesbett loft out an im
portant section which had to be
added later.
Brownell brought up the situa
tion at tiie Marine Ways in re
gard to the amount of different
materials lying about which were
-»f considerable use to the operat
ors of the Cold Storage.
Pine, conduils, valves, motors,
etc., many of which he said were
serviceable and should be the
city’s pn ■ ty. * Note: It has
neon brought out that quantities
if this belonged to Howard and
had been turned over to him
rather than hauling it to the junk
heap by eth army.)
S nee the city had purchased
the Marine Ways. As Is. this was
thought to be included in the
tmrch: so.
Statements substantiating this
T, ero made by Keating who stat
ed that quantities of windows,
soil pipe and “dandy” stoves were
stored in Ihe area and that “if
these items were looked into it
might ease the situation regard
ng Ihe Veterans Housing Pro
ject so far as the city was con
cerned ”
fNote: These supplies will all
be taken into consideration when
the settlement with the city is
made, according to Mr. Howard,
who is in Anchorage for the week
attending to business interests
there.)
Mr. Pege, one of the parly
holding the lease on the Cold
Storage, stated that he did not
want any trouble but that any
one who owned property there
should show proof of ownership
and that “unless this was done
he might not have more than
4 walls and a roof left."
He stated also he had given
Howard an additional month from
the date of May tilth to remove
his property which also included
some lumber.
The council approved a meas
ure presented by Sefrovieh to
have all identification go through
the chief of police.
I Note: The Army holds one in
ventory and the City has a copy
of the materials, equipment, etc.,
bought by them. 'Phis should de
cide who owns what. >
Property which was valued by
the Army at $878,000. later as
sessed at $317,000. while under
operation by Fred Howard and
today assessed at $118,000 and to
day insured at $40,000. The coun
cil decided to place $35,000 on
the Cold Storage Plant and $5000
on the surrounding buildings un
der lease to Pege and Riley and
allow those who lease the build
ings to pay for the insurance
while occupied.
* X *
SALES TAX OF 2°,
The Sales Tax was set at 2
and will he effective on July 1.
and will carry throughout for the
period of one year or until $50,
<'00 is raised. This money is to be
distributed between the School
Budget and the loan allowed by
the bank of $21,000 which falls
due about November 15. 1048.
Some discussion which would
raise the 12 mill tax to 15 on Real
Property in addition was unpop
ular and therefore the millage re
mained the same as last year.
* * *
BUDGET SET AT S70.000
Two items came in for consid
erable comment one of which was
the extreme cost of the U.S.O.
which last year was fixed at $2.
200. Heating and care regardless,
of the fact there was considerable
income was regarded as ihe c u e.
The other item of $5,500.00 foi
st: et lighting which DOES NOT
include the cost of the lights and
power used in civic units and in
t.-illations seemed rat Iter high.
It was stated that the ]! op
which were to he increased
throughout the city unrip ),'> pul
on lines which could hi switch l
off and on by an oner for at the
Plant. All thi ■ at the same price
it was said.
' ounrilmnn Sofrovich moved that
the budget be set at <570.000 which
- <d net neb'de the S"hool budget
or c20 000 which is taken c:\rc of
liy 0 of (ho Sales Tax nor the
loan from the bonk of <*21.000
which is to bo paid back by the
other 50’A of the Sales Tax.
Tn order to complete the rec
ords, Councilman Miller, second
— -—
Turn to page (2) two
(Ed. Note—iTlie opinions express
ed in this column are purely
those of the writer and do not
necessarily reflect those of the
owners of the Polaris.)
ALASKA, ENIGMA OF THE
NORTH
ARTICLE II
Wherever 1 go in Alaska, 1 hear
the shipping interests being cus
sed and discussed (Cussing and
discussing is the favorite pastime
in Alaska), I hear arguments pro
and con concerning the Jones Act
some of the argument.; are plumb
laughable.
1 wonder how many people in
Alaska have ever road the Jones
Act or how many of the mer
chants that are ready to discuss
the Act with any and al1 within
hearing distance, know just what
the Act means, or. on what end
they would be if the Act were
lifted.
1 wish the Act could he lifted
for a period of say. five years,
without! uiyone in the Territory
knowing that it was for that
length of time. Brother, if you
think they are hollering about
the Jones Act light now, they
would really be hollering inside
of a year it it were lifted.
Right after the first World War
"(' gave away our ships and let
the folks across the pond have
the shipping. England ruled the
seas. The Skandinavians. Japs
I MONEY MISSING
The city received a bill from
Gentry Shuster in the amount
of SlOo.T.i dollars for services
rendered Ex-Mayor Keating
and ex-city attorney Nesbitt.
1 his expense was for several
f lights to Anchorage, which
was purportedly to he on of
ficial business. A check was
sued payable to Keating by
Tom Howell. City Clerk, to
cover this amount but Shuster
has thus far not seen it.
Issuance of the cheek oc
curred about the last meeting
ot the old city council.
If Mr. Howard had been in the
city, no one. Mr. Keating. Mr.
Brownell nor Mr. Pege would have
made the statements contained
in the news story starting on
page one.
and Russians 1 locked into our
ports by the hundreds and carried
on the commerce we should have
had. The Japs and Russians had
pimple opportunities to sound our
harbors, map our coasts and pitot
or, i aph our installations to their
li'-ar! s content. Alone; comes
A ‘ rid War II: our fleet was
blown out of Hi1* water in the
course o’ a few hours, our liter*
1,1 oil shipping was at absolute
" "■ We didn’t have onouy.h
. : < to cany on a War with the
1 oh! of Yap let alone the Im
: < -i: l Japanese. We were forced
pour billions into shiny, ?■■ y
1 ildinrt ships while the enemv
knocked the hell out of us. To
: n ware of God and the will of
a free people to live we succeed
ed in httildine another war a n
f i-ote and a Merchant Marino see
end to none in Hie world. O'*
lines of communications were f .
tv l]v established through a trail,
of blood and money to where we
could carry on a full scale war to
victory.
~ ~——■—
'Continued on naee 2't
Fraud is Alleged in
Woods vs Rafter Case
Trial was under way Tuesday
on the suit against Lester Rafter
by Mrs. Fred Woods, mother
of tlie late Morris Gilbert. The
suit was brought against Mr. Raf
ter due to his allegedly convey
ing all real property over to his
w i f e.
In turning this; property over
to Mrs. Rafter, lie is being charg
ed with alleged intention to de
fraud to escape judgment handed
down by the District Court some
time ago. Several witnessess were
introduced into the court by Wen
dell Kay. Attorney for the Plain
tiff. They were Margaret A. Mur
kowsko, Irwin L. Metcalf. Tony
Murkowski, Thomas Howell and
John and Robert Eads.
It seems that the crux of the
decision depends on establishing
whether this transaction was for
tiie purpose of defrauding Mrs.
Woods of the Judgment received
against Rafter. It is claimed by
the Defendant that he signed over
his real property to his wife be
cause lie was Loing into a hazar
dous occupation, namely Guiding
far big game hunters and that lie
i wanted his wife taken care of
in case anything should happen
to him.
George Grigsby, attorney for
the Defendant, alleged that it was
inconceivable that the transac
tion was to defraud, as the exe
cution of the deed, giving Mrs.
Rafter ownership of the property
was prior tothe shooting. Iv. i.:
affirmed by t fie Defendant that-,
the deed was executed the latte.
part of December 1946 or the tar
ty part of January 1947. The
shooting of Morris Gilbert occur
ed January 23, 1947.
Attorney Grigsby, on one oc
casion in cross examining U. S.
Marshal Metcalf, charged him
with stepping out of line in gath
'•ring evidence against the De
fendant when he interviewed and
asked Mrs. Murkowski to sign an
affidavit. Marshal Metcalf replied
, that his duty to execute the judg
ment of the District Court justi
fied him in so doing.
Attorney Kay introduced as
! evidence into the court a lease
i between Mrs. Rafter and the Ead
| Brothers. This lease had original
ly been drawn up between Les
ter Rafter and John and Rober.;
Eads on January 27. 1947, but in
i_ . _ . _ _
(Continued on page 2)
CHARLES ADKINS TO OPEN
FUNERAL HOME
;
Mr. Adkins needs no inlroduc
! ticm in this business, as tie is at
I present and has for the past nine
| years been the Undertaker and
l E nbalmcr for the Seward Under
| taking Co. Mr. Adkins agreement
'a.tir the Seward concern termi
I
nate." May lfi. 1943. He expects m
(j. en his business about July "st
in the North Wing of the R. O.
Sellers Bldg. 4th Avc.. upon nr
, rival of stock and equipment now
[ on order.
! LAST MEETING
OF P.T.A.
I ^
The hist regular meeting of the
! Parent-Teachers Association sche
duled for this Wednesday even
ing of May 12 in the school audi
torium at <S:l)0 P.M. promises to
be one of interest and entertain
ment.
During the business session
there will bo the elcjrtion of of
ficers for the coming year and
Mr. Carlson will address the as
sociation clearly defining the Ac
credited School and what it
means.
The social hour L i the honor
of our to; chers and Mr. Lon Gray
Vice President will start it out
with a few short words of fare
"‘’11 to the faculty and the pres
entation of a token of friend
ship ad gratitude from the par
ti the - - —i lion. . fter v hirh
* he ; uditni ium v ill j..- d irkened
approxi > 45 minute
T're,:"am of sound movies consist
:nc of a March of Time film on
'•P'd “Men of Medicine", a Ken-'
nett • v S >n r Sh rt and a
Oh a die Barnett “Melody Parade*’!
k'ni will- be shown.
At the close of the evenin'* do- i
’minus refreshments furni died bv j
'r hath school mothers and
er-.-'-d by the mothers of the :
'hAh gr ide will ho enjoyed.
-\H are cordially invited to at-!
,fnd our last meeting i
«-’-|
JOT! I'ltlNTTM; j
tho “Por.Anrs”
MOTHER-DAUGHTER BANQUET
ENJOYABLE AFFAIR
The Mother and Daughter Ban
quet which was held last Friday
evening was well attended and
enjoyed by the many who were
seated around the prettily decor
ated tables in the banquet room
of the Seward Memorial Church.
A delicious turkey course dinner
was served while a lively pro
gram kept 1he diners amused.
Mrs. Cliff Whipple, President
of the Woman's Society of Chris
tian Service, who sponsored the
dinner with an invocation. With
Miss Ruth Lcichliter acting as
toastmistress and welcoming the
guests with a short address the
program continued. Numbers in
cluded a piano duet. “Danse Hon
groise by Mrs. Cecil Horton and
daughter Audnev. and a piano
trio "The Hummingbird”, played!
by Mrs. Hendrickson and daught
ers. Roberta and Eleanor. Mrs.
Haiold Davis played a selection
• m hte violin followed by a char
acter sung by Miss Phyllis Bak
i Paul McMullen cm personated
A! Jolsin to the delight of the
uunicnre and was called back for
;cpcati'd encores. During the pro
ram mothers and daughters woe
i on.- llv introduced and awards
a.o'e to the oldest and youngc«::
mothers present. An orchid cor
'■ was presented to Mrs. A
ni" Webb who was the oldest
n,o:,u'r n< the banquet. She is:
tiie mother of Mrs. Ed Webb and
has lived in Seward snice 1930.
ra.'iis is (lie only four generation
t'nmih here, it is believed. A
arcienia corsage was then pre
sented to Mrs. Cnthrvn Zentmire,
'•ie youn1 est mother. The corsag
es were gifts of Joe Doyle A
11 lbute to Mothers" was given
by Renee Faulkner with a “Re
sponse to Daughters’’ bv Mrs.
Dotty Skidmore. Guest sneaker
of the evining was Mrs. George
Gioen whose talk was received
with enthusiastic applause.
Credit for the success of the
delicious dinner goes to Mrs. Troy
Bogard. general chairman, and
her able assistants.