Mr. Keithahm, Curator,
TERRITORIAL MUSEUM
The <%ward Polaris &
. KENAI ALEUTIAN
Penins Chain News
VOLUME 4 » INDEPENDENT ❖ ‘ SEWARD, ALASKA ♦ WEDNESDAY JAN. 28, 1948 » UNITED PRESS SERVICE ❖ Price 10 cents No 59
COAST GUARD INADEQUATE;
CONGRESS MUST BE AT FAULT
Economy in the Coast Guard
* by Congress jeopardizes every
life aboard every vessel which
plies the waters of the Pacific
within the area which may be
defined as a huge triangle, the
long rim extending from Seattle
to Attu. a distance roughly of
2500 miles and includes the Gulf
of Alaska and all ttie small in
lets. bays, natural canals, stra
ights and passes of which there
are very many and in summer
the Bering Sea, Cook's Inlet and
the Arctic Sea as for as the
Canadian line at Demarkation
Point just west, of Hershel Bay
in the far north.
This article is not intended as
a blast against the Coast Guard;
the opposite is true and the re
’ cord of the Coast Guard in Alas
kan waters is something every
Alaskan is proud of and one
which, many times, stands out as
among the finest groups known
for heroism on the world's most
treacherous waters.
The truth of the matter is that
there are just three small, slow
moving ships which are not in
The best condition to cover the
area from Cordova, (nearly 2,000
miles north and 1 hour west of
Seattle) to Attu, 2,000 miles to
the west.
They are the cutter Bittersweet,
which is in drydock in Seattle
at the time this is written: the
Clover, whch is on t he way to
.Seattle for repairs: the Cedar,
a converted lighthouse tender
which is very slow as will be
» shown in a following paragraph.
There is not a centralized com
mand as is shown by the follow
ing:
As the Aleutian Mail lay on
the beach with the bow on the
rocks and stern on the sand,
(she draws but 7 ft.,) prepara
tions were made to haul her off
at 12 noon which was at high
tide.
Captain Petrich of the M. V.
Aleutian Mail asked for a line
from the Cedar, which was st
anding by. with the idea that
when she “bounced” on the rocks
she could be pulled free.
At 10 A.M. the Cedar received
orders from Adak FROM ARMY
HEADQUARTERS to go to the
rescue of B.S.P. 1927 which was
hung up on a rock at Cold Bay
40 miles away. This was a 4-hr.
run for the Cedar.
The Aleutian Mail radio oper
ator was already in communica
tion as was two other radio sta
tions and 3 boats were standing
in toward the barge,, one of
which was only 30 minutes away.
Cnpt. Petrich notified the com
mander of the Cedar of the sit
, uation and the Cedar’s com
mander tried to get permission
to stand by until noon but per
mission was not granted until
enough distance was covered so
that it was 2:30 P.M. before he
arrived off the Alentian Mail’s
former resting place, on the
beach.
In the meantime at 5 minutes
to 12 the bow “bounced” and
the Aleutian Mail started to
sv-ing broadside on, to the beach.
Using his own power Capt. Pet
rich pulled her off ruining the
remaining screw in doing so and
got 2 anchors down a half mile
off the beach.
The Cedar arrived at 2:30 and
putting a line aboard towed hint
to Sand Point.
The point is this: If the Aleu
tian Mail had not been able to
pull herself free at. the crucial
moment she could have been a
total loss. This brings up the
point that the Coast Guard skip
i pers have very litle opportunity
to use their own initiative, a
fact that has in a large measure
built up the Coast Guard to the
honorable place it holds among
the several branches of service
in the government. The com
manders of these Coast Guard
vessels are men who are capable
of using their experience and
are* chosen for those berths with
that idea in mind.
No man is efficient who must
i obey two masters.
At no time was the B.S.P. 1927
in any danger and 3 dories were
aboard, any one of which would
have carried the entire personnel
ashore.
We offer the foregoing argu
ment" as proof that Congress has
hamstrung the Coast Guard in
Alaskan waters. .
i That the vessels themselves
are inadequate, as is their num
j her.
That any captain of a Coast
Guard ship who may be ordered
arbitrarily to another place by
an authority 1500 miles distant
and one who does not under
stand the situation and fails to
leave any hopfb for the man on
the scene and who is a proven
seaman iu use ins initiative and
good judgement.
To remedy this situation there
;are three things that should be
done:
1 — Better and faster Coast
Guard ships;
2 — More ships to cover the
area such as 1 at Cordova, 1 at
Seward, 1 at Kodiak and 7 or 8
further out on the chain such as
1 at Chignik or Perryville, an
other at King Cove, one at Un
nlaska, one at Atka and 1 or 2
at Adak.
3 — Centralize the order cen
ter for the captains and give
them more authority to use
their own judgment.
In summer these 11 ships could
be used to cover twice the area
and watch the seals, sea otter
and fishing.
It may be expected that those
who inhabit the Asiatic coast
and islands will encroach upon
American fishing grounds. The
expansion of the Hus fishing fleet
means they must have other fish
ing grounds or they are NOT
building a FISHING fleet.
This protection of disabled
ships and those who are in dis
tress assumes a different, picture
from a simple matter of increas
mg the C.G. Units. Those men of
the C.G. will know the Aleutian
waters and the Navy will not
necessarily leave to luck next
time if there is a next time—
when the "Washington brass
Hats" picked a man of the type
of "Squeaky" Anderson, to show
the Navy where to go.
litis picture of preparedness,
in time of peace, for war is one
which hinges on the ability of
Congress to translate dollars th
rown away—as well as Jives and
property into channels for the
protection .of lives and property
on the high seas—and readiness
for what may he in the offing.
This is no time to penalize a
man for traveling on Alaskan
waters: this is not the thing to
economize in. This is truly an
example of "too little, too late.”
This type of bureaucratic gov
ernment leads to the answer in
war —the only answer - "/hey
were expendable.” Do we follow
in the footsteps of the Roman
Republic?
OF THESE FOUR BILLS TO
PASS IN THE LAST LEGISLA
TURE PUTS TERRITORY IN JAM
Are we planning on returning them?
SENATE BILL - No. 80
General Property Tax
A bill to enable the Terri
tory to tax property outside of
incorporated cities, not to exceed
Estimated returns by the
Tax Commissioner, $600,000 a vr.
Yeas — 6
Brownell, Engebreth, Peratrovich,
Rivers, Walker, and Nerland.
Nays — 10
Butrovich, Cochran. Coffey. •Col
lins, Dawes, Green, Munz, Rogge,
Scott.
SENATE BILL - No. 81
Net Income Tax
A bill to levy an income tax
Ion money earned in Alaska,
I equal to one-tenth of the Nation
al income tax: and providing
an exemption of $45.00 for each
person having lived in Alaska
one or more years.
Estimated returns by Tax
Commissioner. $1,250,000 a year.
Yeas — 7
I Brownell, Butrovich. Engebreth,
1 Peratrovich. Rivers, Walker, Ner
land.
Nays — 9
Cochran, Coffey, Collins, Dawes,
Green, Jones, Munz, Rogge, and
Scott.
SENATE BILL -» No. 82
Uniform Trade License Fees.
Senate Bill No. 82 was kill
cd in the House.
HOUSE BILL - No 117
Net Income Tax.
A bill to levy an income tax
on money earned in Alaska equal
to seven per-cent of the Nation
al income tax. and providing an
exemption of S30.00 for each
person having lived in Alaska
for one or more years.
Yeas —21
Almquist, D. Anderson, Edw. An
derson. Barnett, Coble. Egan,
Engstrom, Garnick, Hope. Hoopes,
Huntley, F. Johnson, Joy, McCut
cheon, Newell, Nolan, Ost, Pol
lard. Snider, Vukovich, and Gill,
Nays — 2
M. Johnson and Laws.
In the Senate, the bill was
killed by being indefinitely post
poned. The move was to post
pone the bill indefinitely.
Yeas — 9 ~
Cochran. Coffey. Collins, Dawes.
Green, Jones, Munz, Rogge, Ssott.
Nays — 6
Brownell, Butrovieh, ' Engebreth,
Rivers. Walker, and Norland.
SUMMARY
It is estimated that the three
Senate measures would have re
turned $4,300,000 per biennium.
The only revenue measures ap
proved were those adjusting lev
• Continued on page 4
COMMERCE NOTES
•
The SS Denali will dock at
Seward at 1 P.M. on the 28th
on the trip to Seattle. She call
ed at Seldovia, Kodiak and near
by ports.
* *
The reporter on inquiry finds
that the cold cash of the crew
of one of the ships in harbor
here is growing scarcer as only a
few have been seen up town for
the pleasures of the town.
Some of the crew say that the
officers are cracking down, that
there has been demotions as well
as promotions and the hirng of
some new men.
In the coolness of the north
the tank tops have been forgot
ten: in the South Seas the boys
sweat it out with the mercury
anywhere from 100 to 120 degrees.
Another week. boys, and you’ll
have a chance to land at a
home port and see the folks.
“Take it easy!”
❖ H? *
The Aleutian will arrive in
Seward at 3 P.M.Thursday with
32a tons of freight and 80 passen
gers. She will leave on scheduled
time for Valdez. Cordova and
Seattle.
The Coastal Rambler is due in
Whittier at 8:30 P.M. Thursday
and will arrive in Seward at
11:30 P.M. on Friday night if the
present schedule is followed.
The Square Knot will arrive
here on Feb. 10th and leave sh
ortly thereafter for Port Graham..
jSeldovia. Kodiak. Chignik. Sand
Point, Squaw Harbor. King Cove.
False Pass. Alitak. and Uganik.
She will receive freight to Feb. 0.
It will he observed that the
i westernmost point on this sched
i tiled run is to False Pass,
j The Square Knot is a freighter
ond may not handle any passen
ger traffic.
■> f.- *
The Aleutian Mail will not be
in service until she has her year
ly inspection by the government
!;it Seattle. This, together with
• necessary repairs may take as
|long as 60 days. Notice will ap
(
• pear in these columns as soon
1 as she starts the westward run
j again.
— AS I SAW IT
(by Pfc. 13. Good)
fe
"Leaving Luzon."
One night a number of us
I were called out and taken to
the harbor in Manila where we
were put. aboard a small Jap
| vessel, which sailed within the
hour.
j Where we were going or what
was to happen to us, ran like
wildfire through the minds of
all the captives aboard. There
were over two hundred prisoners
besides our particular group.
Life aboard the Jap ship was
a prelude to the hell which fol
lowed. Beatings came regularly,
and almost every day someone*
was dropped over the side, weigh
ted down. '
There were a few women on
board. some American Nurses;
and four Philippine girls in their
early teens, which the Japs had
! brought along to play with. The
[young girls soon began disappear
ing one by one until only the
Army Nurses were left. Every
one knew the Philippines had
I been tortured while they were
j satisfying the Nip's passions. We
I had seen the hundreds of knife
, cuts inflicted upon them when
they came back to the group;
I wounds they had received by
I their immovable patriotism not
only to their country, but also
their sex.
1 lie while women had a differ
ent opinion of loyalty to country
and though they had a few knife
j wounds, they had, it seemed, re
alized that if they were to have
a chance to survive, they must
| give in to their tormentors until
the chance for freedom bresented
itself.
(Continued on page 2)
WANTED $3,000.00
You are cordially invited
to the
GEORGE WASHINGTON
BIRTHDAY PARTY
Feb. 20 8:P.M. School house
PINOCHLE & BINGO GAMES
SQUARE DANCE
Proceeds for
SCHOOL LIBRARY FUND
Admission 25£
THEY AVERTED TRAIN DISASTER
QUICK THINKING on the part ol these two youngsters—Eugene Caudell,
11, (left), and his buddy, Bobbie Rolen, 13—saved the Baltimore and
Ohio crack flyer “Ambassador” from disaster. They saw a huge oak
tree lying across the tracks near Berwyn, Md., and, knowing the train
was due in a few minutes, immediately notified railroad officials. The
train was (lagged in time and an accident avoided. The railroad said the
boys would receive a “surprise.” (International Soundphoto)