SEWARD’S
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Is Alaska »
Greatest Asset
Vol. VI. No. 1
SEWARD. ALASKA. TUESDAY, JULY 5, 1949
Price 10 Cents
Council Upholds Police
Chief In Stormy Session
In a three to two vole, with
Councilman Kennedy refusing to
vote, t lie City Council upheld
Police Chief Leonard J. Clark in
his right to hire department per
sonnel.
What started out to be an econ
omy move on the part of the coun
cil blossomed out into the hottest
controversy of the year with about
twenty citizens taking sides in the
argument over the dismissal of
George Turnbull from the force.
No Petition
Dr. Joseph Shelton, who started
out as spokesman for the group,
said that a petition had been
signed by a number of people,
but the group outnumbered the
signers, so the petition was not
presented. Although some bitter
accusations were made, most of
the group who spoke made the
point that they were well satis
fied with the record of the present
police department.
Mayor Lanier told the group
that the move to cut the depart
ment down to two men had re
sulted from an attempt to lower
the budget. He pointed to the
figures on the blackboard on the
council room wall, showing that
the city is obligated for the
amount of S42.000 on the school
budget alone.
Low Budget
With an $83,000 budget, he ex
plained, only $41,000 remained to
take care of all other city ex
penses, including salaries.
Several of the citizens who made
speeches asked that the depart
ment be held at three men, or
even increased, if that would mean
keeping the present high standard
of police protection.
In stating his side of the story,
Chief Clark said that the action
of the council had been a surprise
to him. At the meeting before the
One in which the council ordered
reduction of the force, Clark had
been present and had left with the
understanding that no changes
would be made.
At the succeeding meeting, at
which he was not present, the
council had ordered reduction. At
that time the council expressly
stated that the chief had the right
to choose the men with whom he
has to work, subject to the ap
proval of the mayor.
Some of the citizens asked
whether the council would consider
a petition to put Turnbull back on
the force if it were signed by fifty
per cent of the voters.
At one point Mayor Lanier told
them they may as well get out a
petition for the recall of the mayor
at the same time, but finally it was
agreed that the council would con
sider a petition signed by a ma
jority of the voters.
City Gets Deed to
Marine Ways
The city has received a quit
claim deed to the Marine Ways and
Cold Storage Plant from the War
Assets Administration. At Tues
day’s council meeting the council
passed a resolution accepting the
deed. A certified copy of the reso
lution is being sent to the War As
sets Administration as an official
receipt.
A 40-horsepower pump has been
leased by the city from the Seward
Sanatorium for use in pumping salt
water from the bay through the
mains installed especially for fire
protection. This will supplement
the gas engine pumps now being
used.
i
Veterans To Receive
Insurance Dividend
Payment of a $2,800,000,000 spe
cial National Service Life Insur
ance dividend on approximately
20.000,000 policies has been an
nounced by the Veterans Adminis
tration. About 16,000,000 veterans
who took out insurance during
: World War II will be eligible to
receive the dividend.
The VA stated that it hoped
distribution of the checks could
be started by. January, 1950, and
be substantially completed during
the first half of 1950. Amounts in
dividual veterans will receive are
not yet known, as individual cal
culations have not been completed.
Generally, every veteran who
took out NSLI and kept it in force
for three months or more will be
eligible for the dividend. In case;
where policyholders have died, the
beneficiary of the policy, if the
policy was in force, or to those
shown to be entitled in case the
insurance lapsed, will receive the
i payment.
The VA strongly emphasized
that veterans should not write
about their dividend, because let
ters will only cause the payment
to be delayed. Special application
blanks are bejng prepared and it is
expected that they will be avail
able sometime in August in every
postoffice, veterans service organ
izations and VA offices.
S'lANUAHD OIL TANK
NEARS COMPLETION
The new 20,000 barrel oil storage
tank being built at the Standard
Oil Company bulk plant here by
the Chicago Bridge and Iron Com
pany is nearing completion, it was
learned Monday. Work on the new
dock has been progressing.
Design for Power
wmn^ii ... WWMWWIIIIKW I »■ MfVl
Not half-submerged milk bottles but units of a new-type power dam
are these oddly-shaped concrete cylinders in the French Alps. The
clam rests in a jagged, rocky chasm, inaccessible by road, necessitat
ing construction of independent, “self-stabilizing” units. Plan is one
of many submitted to the U.N. Scientific Conference on Conser
vation and Utilization of Resources (UNSCCUR), meeting soon.
Aft. General Clarifies
Transportation
Return Law
i
Attorney General, J. Gerald Wil
liams, at the request of the Com
missioner of Labor, has given' an
opinion as to the meaning of Sec
! tion 1 of the Return Transportation
Law, enacted by the recent legis
lature, which provides that em
ployers who finance transportation
for employes within and without
Alaska, upon termination of em
ployment must finance return
| transportation to the place of re
cruitment.
! in ms opinion, me mioiney
General said, “After a careful
reading of the statute, it is my
opinion that if the employer ter
minates the contract of employ
, ment without just cause he must in
: all events pay the return transpor
tation of the employe. If the em
ployer terminates the contract of
employment for a good and suf
ficient cause, which in the opinion
of the Commissioner of Labor is
beyond the control of the employe
then the employer is liable for the
return transportation of the em
ploye. If, however, the employer
terminates the contract of employ
ment for a good and sufficient
'cause which is within the control
of the employe, then and in that
event, the employer should not be
liable fur the return transportation,
i Under the wording of the stat
utes, it is discretionary with your
office to determine which good
and sufficient reasons for termina
tion of the contract of employment
are within the control of the em
ploye. I would not attempt to dic
tate your policy to you, but in my
opinion the following reasons for
termination of employment con
tracts would seem to clearly be
within the control of the employe:
Continued and unexcused ab
senteeism, failure to perform du
ties assigned, assuming that such
duties are within the normal scope
of the contract of employment,
inability to perform duties which
the employe contracted to perform,
| intoxication, insubordination, etc.”
In commenting upon the Attor
ney General’s opinion. Commis
sioner of Labor, Henry A. Benson,
said, “employers and workers who
are affected by the provisions of
this law, may rely upon the excel
lent opinion given by the Attorney
General since the Territorial De
partment of Labor will be guided
by this opinion in the administra
tion and enforcement of this law,
which by its provisions can do
much to remove stranded employes
from the Territory and thus ease
the unemployment burden which
will face the Territory this coming
winter.”
Shipping News . . .
The Square Knot and the Abigail
Adams, both freighters of the
Alaska Steamship Company, are
now in port unloading cargo. Latest
news is that the Chief Washakie
was due to arrive here about 8 p.m.
July 5, and will continue on to
Bristol Bay after discharging cargo
here. Both the Square Sinnet and
the Flemish Knot are due here on
the sixth day of July.
BRIDGE LUNCHEON
Mrs. William Bauers entertained
her bridge club last Wednesday
afternoon. A lovely luncheon was
served followed by a pleasant af
ternoon at cards.
Those present were Mesdames
Ed Cowan, W. C. Erwin, Wilson,
H. Milroy, L. A. Miller, Millerman.
and O. L. Gilbert. First prize went
to Mrs. Wilson and cut prize to
Mrs. Miller.
Friends of Mrs. Millerman helped
celebrate the opening of her new
cafe last Friday afternoon. Those
present were Mesdames B. French,
Ed Cowan, W. C. Erwin, Wilson,
H. Milroy, W. Petrie, W. Bauers,
V. Gray, L. A. Miller, O. L. Gilbert.
After a luncheon the afternoon
was spent at bridge: Mrs. French
winning high score and Mrs.
Cowan the cut prize.
Marathon Thrills Crowd
Despite Slow Time
Fourth Observed With
Complete Program
CORONATION DANCE
From the opening of the three
day celebration with the Corona
tion Dance on Saturday evening
until the final sky rocket burst
against the mountain, Seward’s
July celebration was a complete
success.
A great many people of the town
expressed the opinion that this had
been the best celebration Seward
has ever known.
Coronation Dance
The first public function of the
week end program was the Coro
nation Dance. The Queen, Miss
Evelyn Gilbert, was crowned by
the master of ceremonies, Hal Gd
filen, and was attended by Misses
Vera Lohntan, Wilma Myers, Patsy
Woods, and Jacqueline Ratchford
as maids of honor.
About four hundred people at
tended the dance in the Civic Cen
ter. An orchestra organized b\
Charles Lechner and Pryce Harri
man played for the occasion.
Sunday's picnic sponsored by the
Izaak Walton League, drew at
least a couple- of hundred people
to Little Bear Lake, where the
main attractions were swimming
and trap shooting. Actually there
was no way of telling how many
attended because people kept com
ing and in groups of five to fifteen
or twenty people.
The largest group was the chil
dren from Jesse Lee Home. Tney
had a swim and a picnic lunch.
But trap shooting was the main
attraction with Ralph Van Gilder
taking top prize with a total of
23 targets broken. Pat Bogan and
Frank Lewis tied with high scores
of 22 and in the play-off of 11
shots each, Lewis got 10 to 3 for
Pat Bogan.
PARADE
While parades generally are con
sidered mostly for the entertain
ment of children, adults broke into
rounds of applause time after time
as it passed in review. Highway
Patrolman George Puckett preced
ed the marchers, while the National
Colors were borne by soldiers of
the security guard at the Army
dock. They were accompanied by
the colors of the American Legion
and Veterans of Foreign Wars.
First prize for floats went to the
Nobby Club: second to the Rain
bow for Girls’ float, and third went
to the Seward Elks Club. Judging
was made on the basis of obvious
effort in preparation and appropri
ateness.
Linda Norton, daughter of Air.
and Mrs. Russell Norton, won first
prize in the doll buggy parade;
second went to Virginia Blue; third
to Carol Ferguson, and fourth to
Patty Elhard.
In the pet parade, sponsored by
McMullen's, each contestant re
ceived a prize, since there were
first, second and third prizes for
best decorated pet, largest, small
est, most unusual pets and others.
RACES
Danny Rose thinks he must have
about the best bicycle in town,
since it placed in three races, al
though Danny only jockeyed it in
one race himself. Altogether there
were nineteen races on the pro
gram, although a couple of them
were cancelled for lack of con
testants.
GREASEp PIG AND POLE
The greased pig which Pat Bo
gan purchased from the Jesse Lee
Home went to one of the boys
from the Home when he caught
it and placed it in the box. Louis
Bernstein was the winner. Pat
Bogan, who donated the pig as
the prize, had a "hard time getting
one and finally bought it for $65.
At the last report Bernstein had
turned down an offer of $10 for it.
The five dollar bill at the top
(Turn to Page 4)
For the third straight year Ralph
Hatch won 'the annual Fourth of
.July Marathon race by a wide mar
gin in the slowest time recorded in
several years.
Crowds swept into town by spe
cial train, highway, boat and by air
to witness what has become one
of the world's most spectacular
races.
Since the course is visible from
almost any part of the city, it was
difficult to determine the size of
the crowd, but upwards of seven
bundled were estimated to have
watched Deputy Marshalls Metcalf
and Gilliland get contestants set
for the starting gun. About 2,000
people crowded the streets at the
finish line.
While the brilliantly clear sun
! shine made ideal weather for the
| spectators, the weather was hard
; on the nine contestants, a number
; of whom did not go the total dis
tance.
i Hatch’s purse amounted to $,'>00
I and second prize of $200 went to
Oscar <Moose> Steinwall. Bob Jen
i sen, a member of the government
! survey crew on the peninsula, took
! S100 third place money.
For the first thousand feet or so
only fleeting glimpses of the run
ners could be caught as they
scrambled up the trail through the
brush. Then they broke out above
the timberline on the 3022 foot
| mountain. Steinwall gave 'Hatch
1 a race all the way up. From the
| town they looked like tiny insects
i scampering up the rock faces and
1 over the unstable rock slides.
| Other runners on the way up
i were forgotten when Hatch and
> Steinwall began their headlong
descent, raising dust like the tail
j of a comet as they plunged down
i ward over rocks and dangerous
! slides.
j Hatch soon pulled away to a
long lead but the crowd got a
thrill when Steinwall pulled off
the trail, taking off like a rocket
trailing dust in a vain effort to re
gain lost distance. Hatch's time for
I the distance was one hour, six
i minutes and fifty-two seconds —
| about nine minutes more than his
time last year and about fifteen
i minutes more than the record
time established many years ago.
i
j Two news reel photographers
were in Seward taking shots of
the Marathon Race from start to
finish, using telescopic lenses for
the distance shots. They had not
come here for that purpose and
were amazed to find that the Mar
athon was such a spectacular
event.
Mr. and Mrs. C. M. Ladd are ex
pected to arrive in Seward on the
SS Aleutian July 7 to visit Mrs.
Ladd's sister, Mrs. Hal Gilfilen.
The Ladds, who make their home
in Walla Walla, Washington, are
expecting to remain for several
weeks. The Gilfilens hope they will
be able to spend a great part of
the time at their summer home
near Cooper's Landing.
Mrs. J. H. Shelton and daughter
Katie are back in Seward after a
Stateside vacation. They are the
wife and daughter of Dr. Joseph
H. Shelton.
Tom Jones, superintendent for
the Alaska Railroad in Seward, left
Tuesday morning for Whittier on
business.
Seward police reported an excep
tionally quiet holiday here, with
only seven arrests during the three
day period. Most of the arrests
were for being drunk on the public
streets. There was no disorder of
any kind. Seward police expressed
appreciation to Deputy Marshalls
Metcalf and Gilliland for their help
in handling the crowds as well as
to Highway Patrolman George
Puckett.