SEWARD, ALASKA, FRIDAY, DEC. 3, 1948
Vol. 5, No. 44
Price 10 Cents
Firemen Stop
Two Blazes
In High Wind
Seward Volunteer Firemen were
on the alert Wednesday night and
Thursday morning and managed to
catch two potentially dangerous
rubbish and grass fires before htey
got out of hand.
The one was a grass fire t(iat
started in the dry grass at the bot
tom of the hill behind the Seward
General Hospital. A second fire
was started by burning papers es
caping in the wind from a drum in
which they were being burned be
hind the school house.
Firemen answered a third call
for a chimney fire, which turned
out to be the glow of a neon sign
through chimney smoke.
Firemen again emphasized the
oft-repeated warning that rubbish
burning within the city limits is
strictly forbidden, and carries quite
a severe penalty. A few sparks in
dry grass could start a fire that
would wipe out the whole town in
the high winds Seward has had
lately.
People are also warned not to
throw away lighted cigarettes,
since the least spark can be fanned
into wildfire in a few seconds time.
Some residents have called at
the City Hall to get their house
numbers, but there are still a large
number in town who have not
complied with this request. The
only sure way of locating a build
ing in town is by a house number,
and the fh-emen must be sure of
the location of a fire when it is
reported.
Fire Dept. Replenishes
Injury Fund
The $1430 recently paid by the
City Council to the Seward Volun
teer Fire Department has been al
located as follows:
One thousand dollars of the $1430
was to cover two payments of $500
each which the city was to return
ip the Fire Department on the
purchase of the second fire truck
which was bought by the depart
ment ana for which the firemen
had borrowed from their injury
fund in order to make up the pur
chase price of $3250, and which
the city agreed to repay at the
rate of $500 per year. The $1000
took care of the 1947 and 1948 pay
ments. The $1000 has been returned
to the Fire Department injury fund.
The other fire truck was bought
with monies raised by popular sub
scription.
The remaining $430 of the recent
payment to the department was
for the last 13 month’s payroll for
20 men at the rate of $1.50 per
monih per man. The payroll funds
some time ago were voted into the
building fund and the $430 has
been applied on the Fire Hall.
Mr. and Mrs. Joe Edwards and
baby son, Mark, came in Tuesday
from Southern California. They
came to Anchorage by plane and
Gentry Shuster brought them on
to Seward. Mrs. Edwards is the
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Shuster
and little Mark is their only grand
child. Mr. Edwards is the son of
Harry Edwards, local station agent
for The Alaska Railroad.
Mrs. Blanch Gray has returned
to duty at the Seward Post Office
this week, after a pjeasant two
months vacation Outside.
City Property Titles
Subject to New Study
City Attorney Carl Hutton is
making an examination of titles
on all city property. Abstracts will
bo drawn up so that all informa
tion on city owned real estate will
be readily available.
When there were only., a few
people in Seward, and there had
been few transactions, everyone
knew the exact status of real
property holdings. In recent years,
however, many pieces of land have
changed hands a number of times,
i some have been mortgaged, and
' many others have tax claims
against them.
In the days when lots had little
j value, and inexpensive buildings
| were erected on them, it might
j not have been necessary to be
fussy about titles. But recently the
cost of real estate and buildings
has risen many fold. Hence those
who make purchases of such prop
erty now feel that a clear title is
imperative. 1
IK INCREASE IN SEWARD
SCHOOL ENROLLMENT DISCLOSED
Statistics submitted today by
Superintendant of Schools Carl R.
Carlson show that enrollment in
the Seward Public Schools has in
creased at the rate of 40 per year
for the last four years.
On the basis of the present pop
ulation of Seward an increase of
25 took place last year. If the gen
eral population increases at the
usual rate, however, the increase
in the number of school age chil
dren will be much greater.
Statistics
The latest figures disclose the
actual attendance at the end of
the first six weeks period of each
year. These figures are quoted to
call' attention to the people of
Seward the great increase in en
rollment in the Seward schools
during the last five years. At the
present rate of increase, in a
five-year period the number of
students would be four times as
great as in the year 1939.
Enrollments at the Seward
lie Schools from 1933 to date
High
Grades
221
194
157
123
134
100
73
108
89
93
98
85
87
80
75
79
Pub
1948
1947
1946
1945
1944
1943
1942
1941
1940
1939
1938
1937
1936
1935
1934
1933
School
70
62
55
48
39
43
40
70
55
56
53
61
54
66
53
52
Total
291
256
212
171
173
134
113
178
144
149
151
146
141
146
128
131
EXPECT SNOW TONIGHT
With the dying down of the
wind and rising temperature, a
light snowfall is expected in the
Seward area tonight. The report
came from the Anchorage weather
station, through Mrs. Tom Howell
who operates the weather station
in Seward.
HIGH SCHOOL PLAY IS GOOD!
Hal Gilfilen said yesterday that
the high school play tonight and
Saturday night will t>e one of the
best in years. The musical num
bers are out of this world.
Hal’s work will be seen in the
excellent make-up of the members
of the cast. He keeps a complete
stock of make-up supplies and
props for local entertainments.
The Lutheran Sunday School is
reported to be a success. Children
of all ages have been invited to
attend by the church, with books
and material available for all. The
Sunday School meets at 9:45, and
adult Bible classes meet at same
time. A Christmas program is now
under way.
Moose hunting has been better
than average this week, according
to reports received so far. Absence
of snow makes it easier on the
hunters. A good count on the num
ber of moose taken can not be
made till after the close of the
season.
Mrs. Charles Adkins returned
this week from Anchorage where
she has been on grand jury duty,
since November 22. Mrs. Adkins
found a little house cleaning job
awaiting her, since a window in
the Adkins apartment had been
blown out in last week’s wind
storm.
Beavers Take Over
Construction Job
Beavers have caused no end of
trouble to the railroad in times
past in the vicinity of Mile 5Vi>,
and it has sometimes been neces
sary to, blast out the dams of the
little workers in order to keep the
right-of-way from being flooded.
Recently, however, they have
moved a quarter of a mile west to
the location occupied by Carl
Ling's new' sawmill. They are
building a dam there.
Carl says they are quite wel
come there, since he intended to
build a dam himself anywTay to
make a mill pond for his sawmill.
The beavers have raised the water
level two feet, and Carl says if
they want to raise it another four
feet or so he’ll be glad to feed
them all w’inter.
MONTHLY DINNER SUNDAY AT
EPISCOPAL GUILD HALL
•The monthly dinner will be
given Sunday, Dec. 5, at the Epis
copal Guild Hall between the hours
of 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. These dinners
have alw'ays been quite popular,
and the hours have been feet so
that people may come before or
after the Sunday show. Tickets for
children are fifty cents and $1.25
for adults. Reservations may be
made by calling Mrs. Cal Brosius
at Madison 101 or Mrs. Leland
Miller at Madison 45.
SAINDON BABY
Mr. and Mrs. Bill Saindon an
nounced the arrival of a baby boy,
weighing 5 pounds 4 ounces, at
10:15 a.m., Nov. 26. The boy’s name
is Donald Harold.
The above information is in cor
rection of an item which appeared
in the Nov. 26 issue of the Record.
Eye Clinic Holds
Relief for Poor
Scholarship
The Territorial Department of
Health will conduct an eye clinic
for the children of Seward in the
near future, Mrs. LaPreil Bie,
Public Health Nurse, announced
yesterday.
A screening program is in pro
gress whereby the teachers, under
the guidance of the Public Health
Nurse, are picking out the children
who probably need the attention
of an eye specialist. To date, many
children have been found whose
eyes are badly in need of atten
Uon.
It was found that a large num
ber of children were having trouble
with their studies solely because
of correctable defects in their eye
sight. At a recent Parent-Teacher
Association meeting it was decided
to make a check of the lighting
system at the local school.
Ail children may take advantage
of the services of the clinic, Mrs.
Bie said. Those parents whose
children are not in school should
have them registered at the Health
Office in the Medical Building,
since it is only through the Alaska
Health Department that these
.services are offered.
All children, regardless of finan
cial status, will be given the neces
sary assistance. If the* family is
not in a position to pay for
the nceessary treatments or for
glasses, the Alaska Department of
Health, the Native Service, or the
Seward Lions Club will help them.
The clinic will be conducted by
Dr. Marlow Fritz, a well known
eye specialist in Anchorage.
Boy Traffic Patrol
Not Yet in Action
The schoolboy traffic patrol,
which was to become effective on
November 24, is still held in an
inactive status, it was learned
I yesterday. The reason given was
that the badges, belts and paddle
signs which would identify the
i boys as Junior Patrolmen, have
not been forthcoming.
It is understood that the boys
feel they have been let down, be
cause they can not do their work
without the proper equipment. The
Seward Police Department has ex
pressed a willingness to cooperate
with the boys when they begin
their natrol work.
Mr. Guy Zalbourg of The Alaska
Railroad has been in Seward for
several days on business. He took
advantage of his presence in Sew
ard to return a pair of socks he
borrowed from Phil Harding when
he got cold and wet during the
search for Doctor Bannister a cou
ple of years ago. Mr. Zalbourg was
a newspaperman for many years
before taking his present position
with The Alaska Railroad.
Edgar Engels returned to Seward
this week from a trip Outside,
which included a cross country
tour to most of the larger cities of
the country. Mr. Engels is a rail
roader by inheritance, since his
father has been an engineer on the
Great Northern for many years. He
took many interesting snapshots
during his trip, especially in New
York and Philadelphia.
Frank Blanchard, Bernie Spain
and George Disher were among
the first Sewardites to get a moose
this season, Wednesday at Mile 45.
City to Submit
Airport Plan
To Army
At this week's meeting of the
Airport Committee a tentative pro
gram was drawn up and plans
formulated for engineering criti
cism.
Mayor Lanier announced last
night that Engineer Bill Estes was
to draw up a provisional plan
which Gentry Shuster of Safeway
Airways will lay before Major
General Joseph H. Atkinson, com
mander of the Alaska Command,
Monday for his expert engineering
criticism.
The provisional plan calls for
lengthening the present landing
strip by extending it onto the tide
flats by a rock and earth fill. With
the planned extension, the landing
strip wguld be in the form of a
letter “Y” with the arms of the
“Y” at the south end.
The arms of the Y-shaped land
ing strip would permit planes to
take advantage of wind direction
normally encountered at Seward.
After having made a good landing
the planes w’ould have a 5000-foot
runway, which would provide a
comfortable margin of safety for
planes the size of a DC-3 trans
i * « ->
! port.
! Between the arms of the Y
1 would be a ramp for seaplanes,
where they could be drawn up on
the apron at the water’s edge.
While the plans so far discussed
i are merely in the tentative stage,
■ the committee has spent a lot of
; time and effort before submitting
j it. Many experts have been called
! on for advice and assistance, and
a great deal more work will have
i to be done.
The committee proposes to sub
i mit a workable plan that will not
I call for a prohibitive amount of
money when it is submitted to
Delegate to Congress E. L. Bart- '
lett for introduction as a bill in
Congress.
“This will be the first time in
many years that the City of Sew
ard shall be calling on Congress
for an appropriation,” Mayor Lan
ier said, “and is a worthy cause.”
Shipping News . . .
The Alaska Railroad Barge 742
finished unloading at the Seward
dock yesterday afternoon at 4:35
o’clock, after having unloaded
2450 tons of food and supplies for
Seward and Railbelt communities.
A surprise party was given at
the home of Mr. and Mrs. Hal Gil
filen Nov. 29 honoring Mr. Gilfilen
on his birthday. Those attending
were Mr. and Mrs. Tormid Bie,
Mr. and Mrs. Bert Culbertson, Mr.
and Mrs. Gene Lanier, Mr. and
Bob Henrickson and Dr. Pope.
—Buy and Use Christmas Seals—
■
SHOPPING