Seward Seaport Record
Published each Tuesday and Friday
Seward, Alaska
John M. Coleman . Publisher
Subscription rates . 75c per month, $8 per year
The
★ ★
3uul ffi X
By Mildred Kirkpatrick
It gives me great pleasure
to print the following letter
from Mr. Wiliam Deering, De
partment of Health Sanitarian.
He was kind enough to ask first
if he might make a rebuttal to
my article of Sept. 22. I agreed,
fully expecting it to be a stinger,
which it is!
“In last Friday's Cradle Rocker
it was reported that the Alaska
Department of Health had is
sued another warning advising
people to boil their drinking
water. Actually, what really
happened was that instead of
issuing a new report, the Health
Department repeated its advice
of early last summer. As far
as I know, the Alaska Depart
ment of Health has never indi
cated that it was safe to stop
boiling water.
“However, we are not excited
about the situation. Nor, do we
think that we have caused a
great deal of hysteria. From time
to time we have seen a few
cases of what appeared to be
hysteria among the minority
who followed the advice in the
Cradle Rocker and became so
alarmed about the situation that
they medicated their drinking
water with too much bourbon.
No harmful results have been
reported from drinking over
boiled or over-chlorinated water.
“Contrary to the Cradle Rock
! er’s opinion of us, professional
health workers are trained not
to get excited. The fact that
Seward's public water supply
fails to meet any of the criteria
of a satisfactory water supply
does not excite us at all. In
! fact, we are rather bored with
| the whole thing. Seward is not
the only town in Alaska where
I we hear the old routine which
goes roughly: “Well, son, I've
I used this water for thirty-five
years now and it hasn't hurt
me yet." Another popular varia
tion is the one about the water
in Anchorage. Actually, the
I water in Anchorage is much
I safer than the water in Seward.
At any rate, I have never seen
the water in Anchorage as dirty
! as the water was here a couple
| of weeks ago. Another thing
about Anchorage is that the con
ditions which prevailed in 1915
are never hold up as the ideal
public service. However, all this
is beside the point.—I mention
these things only to show that
we know about conditions pre
vailing in the Territory and are
not overwrought about any of
them.
“I am sure the readers of the
Cradle Rocker cannot think that
| we have tried to alarm them.
I We have said only, “The water
: may be contaminated with bae
I teria from your neighbor’s cess
I pool.” A simple statement of
fact. What can be so alarming
1 about it? I know that some of
| the people, of Seward are back
j ward looking but surely every
| one must know by now that di
! eases are caused by germs and
that even nice people have them.
SOUP.DOUSH
TRANSFER
Day or Night Service
For Service Call
GEORGE EVERITT
406 Wash. St.
MADISON 93
Osbo’s Electrical Supply
Authorized
O GENERAL ELECTRIC DEALER
KOHLER LIGHT PLANTS
H. C. LITTLE BURNERS
Phone Adorns 82
223 4th Ave.
When in Seward It’s
The New Seward Hotel
Oscar Dahl, owner
ALASKA STEAMSHIP COMPANY
SCHEDULED SAILINGS 1/ — il " \\l\ ‘
FROM SEWARD
SS ALASKA
Oct. 6 for
Valdez Wrangell
Cordova Ketchikan
Juneau Seattle
SS BARANOF
Oct. 12 for
Sitka Ketchikan
Juneau Seattle
Petersburg '_
as ULUAbt
Oct. 19 for
Valdez Wrangell
Cordova Ketchikan
Juneau Seattle
Petersburg
SS BARANOF
OcL 26 for
Sitka Ketchikan
Juneau Seattle
Petersburg _
Freighter Sailings from Seattle
WALTER W. SIPPRELL. Gen. Agent - Phone Main 125
It may be that Seward is such
a neighborly place that the peo
ple don’t care to offend their
neighbors by boiling the water.
I gathered from the Cradle
Rocker that a few germs from
the cess pool next door are
nothing to worry about — the
best thing to do is drink ’em
and keep quiet about it. No
thank you—I never touch the
stuff.
“I am not an archaeologist
so I can’t say for how long the
people have been drinking out
of the Yukon and Kuskokwim
Rivers and various tundra pools.
I imagine, however, that it has
been longer than 35 years. Let
us say about 500 years of using
the same water without a single
death from it. Yet, in the past
six years there have been a
dozen deaths from that water
which served so well for 500
years. There seems to be a flaw
in someone's logic.
“Admittedly, there is not
much that can be done about the
water right now — that is,
nothing but protecting your
selves by boiling it. But unless
some one keeps hammering
away it may be that nothing will
ever get done. Do you know
that lack of proper plumbing
and safe water will probably
be reason for prohibiting ships
from watering here. Do you
know that lack of a safe water
supply will probably hold up a
housing development planned
for this area? Do you know that
if you add Seward water to
bourbon that you are ruining
good bourbon? And. do you
know that I am not being faci
tious when I say that I am trying
to high pressure the people of
Seward to demand that some
one furnish them with safe and
satisfactory water supply and
that in the meantime it’s worth
the effort to boil water.’’
As I stated at first—I am
tickled pink to know that SOME
BODY reads this column. There
is nothing like a good argument
to stimulate interest in a pro
ject. I do feel, however, that
the first article must have failed
to get across the main point—
that even though our water sys
tem gets contaminated, we are
not blind to the situation and to
the danger, but until the condi
tion can be remedied, let’s don’t
get excited. If you have chil
dren or you feel safer, then do
as he says and boil your drink
ing water. After all, it is foolish
not to be absolutely safe at all
times. We can’t get away from
the fact that contamination has
been found at various times.
The city, unable to come to
terms with the water company,
and feeling that their selling
price of $200,000 was too high
for a worn out system, had no
recourse but to throw the whole
thing into court. A complaint
has been filed and the case will
be in Judge Dimond’s court next
month.
We cannot force the water
company to put in a purifying
system, even the Department of
Health has not that authority.
We know perfectly well that
when a new system, owned by
the city, is installed, it will in
clude a filter and purification
system. That time is at least
a year off if not longer.
In the meantime, Mr. Deering
is not mad at me nor with the
city administration. He knows
what the situation is, and it is
up to every individual to protect
himself or not, according to Mr.
Deering’s advice.
REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE
for
RE-ELECTION
as
OCT. 10. 1350
Catholic Information
Paging Mr. John Dillinger!
John Dillinger is dead! Public
Enemy No. 1 in an era when
gangsterism was at its height—
murderer, robber, perpetrator
of many hell-deserving sins —
was shot down in the act of
drawing his gun and died with
out regaining consciousness!
Hell-deserving sins, surely, yet
no Catholic would dare to state
that the. soul of this arch
criminal is still now in hell. No
mortal can tell whether or not
Dillinger was mentally respon
sible, nor whether in his dying
gasp he did not plead with God
for mercy and forgiveness.
‘But," it has been asked,
“John Dillinger was not a Cath
olic, and sinful or sinless, does
not your Church state that out
side its fold there is no salva
tion?”
But these words are only a
part of the story and, thus iso
lated, they give an entirely
false meaning to our doctrine.
Let us explain.
Christ founded one true
Church—a visible body to prie
serve and teach His Word in
fallibly to all men of all cen
turies. For him who, recognizing
this Church as Christ’s one true
Church, yet remains without its
fold, there is not—and in all
justice should not be—salvation.
But for those who lived before
the time of Christ—for those
today who have never heard of
the Catholic Church—for count
less others who in conscience
cannot embrace Catholicism—
well, let us finish with the words
of Pope Pius IX (1846-78). He
■ says:
“It is known to us and to
you that those who are in in
vincible ignorance of our most
holy religion (which merely
means those who do not, through
no fault of their own, know the
Catholic Church as the true
Church of Jesus Christ), but
who observe carefully the na
tural law and the precepts
graven by God upon the hearts
i of all men, and who being dis
| posed to obey God, lead an
I honest and upright life, may,
aided by the light of divine
grace attain to eternal life; for
God who sees clearly, searches
and knows the heart, the dis
position, the thoughts and in
tentions of each, in His supreme
mercy and goodness by no
means permits that anyone suf
fer eternal punishment who has
not of his own free will fallen
into sin.”
However, it must be under
stood that this doctrine does
not hold guiltless, any man who,
being convinced that he has not
religious truth, refuses to seek
I it for fear that the finding
thereof would be to his worldly
disadvantage. That’s why the
“invincible”—which means, in
this context, not culpable—is
put in before the “ignorance.”
If it's anything Catholic, ask a
Catholic!
Sponsored by The
SACRED HEART
CATHOLIC CHURCH
Seward. Alaska
adv
Westinghouse
SALES & SERVICE
Ranges - Refrigerators
Automatic Washers
Driers - Water Heaters
Home Freezers
Dodge Electric Co.
Phone Adams 137
Telephone Polk 166
McRae Concrete
Products
Box 621
SEWARD. ALASKA
"THE ALASKAN
AGRICULTURIST"
Published Monthly for and
by Alaskans.
Two Years for $1.00
Box 25 Anchorage
FOR—
LATEST NUMBERS
of Your
FAVORITE
MAGAZINES
Arrive on
EVERY
SHIP
THE MART
VARIETY
TANNING
Send us your furs and skins to be
tanned. Quick, efficient, reliable
workmanship. We return you*
finished skins immediately.
Valcauaa Fur Co.
National Bldg. — Seattle, Wash.
I
I
s
PIC & @PAH
Telephone Adame 92
Pickup & Delivery
Cleaning
Alterations
Pressing
Hat blocking
Meets 2nd and 4th Mondays
I.O.O.F. Hall - Adams St.
N. G.. Art McKeough
V. G., George Kipsgard
Sec., Tom Jones
SEWARD POST
No. 5
Meets
lst-3rd Wed. of Month
Legion Log Cabin
SEWARD
B. P. O. ELKS
Meet 2nd & 4th Wed. of Month
OPEN DAILY S;00 P.M.
United Brotherhood of
CARPENTERS and JOINERS
Seward Carpenters' Unlen 2304
Meetings at Medical Building
Affiliated With A. F. of L.
Meeting 2nd Tuesday of Month
Frank O. Gibbons — President
A. G. McRae—Fin. Sec. & Bus. Agt
International Longshoremen's
and Warehousemen's Union
Local 39
Meets First Monday of Each Month
7 p.m. — Union Hall
President — Harold Davis