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SEWARD’S
All-W/eatkec
SEAPORT
Is Alaska’s
Greatest Asset
Seward Seaport Record
Alaska Historical Library
and Museum 3-51
THE ONLY NEWSPAPER IN THE WORLD THAT GIVES A HOOT ABOUT SEWARD. ALASKA
Vol. VII. No. 14
SEWARD, ALASKA. FRIDAY, AUGUST 18. 1950
Price 10 cents
Trailers Catch
35,009 Pounds
Silver Salmon
Trollers in Resurrection Bay
have brought in 35.000 pounds
of silver salmon since Tuesday,
according to reports from Sew
ard Fish & Cold Storage Co.
officials. Today's catch is expect
ed to up the figures to 40,000
and it is estimated that the
week's total will be in the neigh
borhood of 50,000 pounds from
the trollers alone. No seiners
have reported in as yet.
Three boats from Seattle and
Southeastern Alaska ports have
been trolling in the Bay this
week, after leaving Cape Clear.
Some local fishermen are also
in the Bay but most of the
local boats are seiners.
The Cold Storage Company
has offered the use of their fish
house to seiners for butchering
and preparing their fish for
storage, since most of them
have no facilities or room aboard
the smaller boats for this work.
The local fishermen have been
invited into the association of
Halibut Fishers Cooperative
this year.
181.000 pounds of halibut
were processed and shipped out
of the Seward plant this past
season. The 120,000 pound ship
ment via SS Victoria was the
last of it.
Cooperative officials report
the fish from the local plant
to be in line condition this year
and prospects are good for a
big fleet in Resurrection Bay
in 1951.
ALASKA, U.S.A., AND OTHER
FILMS TO BE SHOWN
SUNDAY EVENING
The film "Alaska, U.S.A.,”
filmed last year by Fred Mache
tanz and narrated by George
Sundborg of the Alaska Devel
opment Board will have its pre
mier showing in Seward Sunday
evening at the Methodist Church.
This film has some good Seward
scenes. Six prints of this picture
have been made and are in con
tinual circulation in the States.
Other pictures to be shown
Sunday evening are the history
of ACS and a good forestry film.
The showing is without charge,
and everybody is invited to at
tend. The Development Board
film emphasizes modern day
Alaska and its opportunities.
WATER CONDEMNATION
ORDINANCE PASSED
Ordinance No. 203, providing
instructions for the mayor of
the City of Seward to proceed
with a suit for the condemnation
of the existing water supply
lines and service was passed
under suspension of the rules
by the Common Council in spe
cial session Thursday night.
The firm of Plummer and
Arnell of Anchorage, attorneys
for the City of Seward, has
prepared papers for filing and
the ordinance is the final step
in the procedure.
ARMY RECREATION CENTER
LAUNCHES PLEASURE BOAT
ON LAKE KENAI
Lt. John Burke, Commanding
Officer of the Port of Seward
and Seward Recreation Center,
announced today that a 40 foot
fishing boat was launched on
Lake Kenai this week.
The boat will be used for en
tertaining the Army guests of
the Recreation Center. They will
be transported to the Ranger
Station at Mile 25 by truck or
bus, board the boat for a scenic
ride to Cooper Landing, where
they will go on by truck to
Russian River for fishing.
M. V. Pomare To
Sail Saturday
Tor Westward
The Motor Vessel Pomare, of
the Aleutian Steamship Com
pany, Seward, made port Aug.
17 and will sail 'for the West
ward Saturday, Aug. 19.
The vessel is accompanied on
its first trip to Alaska by Mr.
Harvey Bracker, son of the own
er Chas. Bracker, who is also
making his first voyage to Alas
ka. Mr. Bracker has had exper
ience in Pacific waters off the
coast of Mexico and Southern
California. The skipper. Captain !
Adolf Akesson, is an old familiar j
of Alaska waters with 34 years
of experience.
The Pomare is a reconditioned
F-S boat of 602 gross tons, the
same size as the former mail
boat. It can carry a few passen
gers, but will be used chiefly
for small freight and the West
ward mail. It will make one
I round trip each month leaving
Seward on or about the first
Friday of the month. On this
| first run, however, two round
! trips will be made to catch up
on the quantity of mail accumu
lated because of the delay in the
boat's arrival. This delay was
occasioned by a change of con
j tract with the Post Office De
i partment, which contract is now
held by the Aleutian Steamship j
Company, after failure by the j
first party to follow through
i with his mail contract.
Swimming Pool Plans
Get Underway
A tentative committee for the
promotion of a swimming pool
( was put into motion last week.
> The full committee is now organ
ized with the following roster:
; Murl Trevethan. Chairmaij; Mrs.
Ray James, Secretary: John
Rosness, Treasurer; Dick Beiss
ner, Jim Kirkpatrick, Russell
Painter and J. R. Jackson, En
gineering.
j After the meeting the group
settled upon a plan to improve
' First Lake by draining it, clean
i ing and refilling it to eliminate
i holes and debris. They propose
j bath houses, stone fireplaces and
; a control dam for flushing and
' filling the pool.
| The plans also include a paid
caretaker and life guard. The
| committee, in casting about for
! the most feasible plan within
the ability of the city to finance,
decided upon the First Lake im
provement as the best, in view
of a message from Governor
Gruening, renewing his piedge
to the people of Seward to back
their application for a swimming
pool to be included in the pro
posed new high school building.
This is not possible under three
i or four years, but until such
time as those plans mature, it
is felt that the lake pool will
make an admirable substitute.
Since that meeting, it has been j
said that Carl Thomas is defin-!
itely planning to drain the lake
over his mining operations. Un
til a report is obtained from the t
Swimming Pool Committee on j
this point, it is not known how j
or to what extent the mining
operation will affect with the
committee planning.
DONKEY BASEBALL GAME
TO ENTERTAIN SEWARDITES
We have sometimes felt that
it is only donkeys who would
play baseball in the hot sun, but
we understand that this time,
local menfolk will do the play
ing, but from the backs of
donkeys.
The novel game, first of its
kind in Seward, is being spon
sored by Joe Doyle for the bene
fit of the swimming pool fund.
Sunday afternoon, Aug. 27, at
the Jesse Lee baseball diamond.
Tickets are on sale in town.
Alaska Towns
To Develop
Tourist Trade
Mr. George Sundborg, head |
of the Alaska Development |
Board, and Mr. George Armi-!
tage of Hawaii, were in Seward
today in the interest of tourist
industry development in the
Territory. They were entertain
ed at lunch by the Seward Lions
Club and spoke on tourist in
dustry future in Alaska.
Mr. Armitage for 22 years
has been executive secretary
of the Hawaii Tourist Board
and has been engaged in an ad
visory capacity for 30 days in
order for the Development
Board to make use of Mr. Armi
tage's long experience in tourist
business promotion.
It is the opinion of the De
velopment Board, Mr. Sundborg
said, that one of the big indus
tries of the Territory is the
tourist trade, which, through
the right type of promotion,
can be increased tremendously
from its present estimated total |
of 10 to 12 million dollars per i
year. He advocates the organiza-!
tion of an Alaska Tourist Asso-*
ciation patterned somewhat after '
the Hawaii bureau, to be parti
cipated in by all Alaska organ
izations and business establish
ments.
Mr. Armitage told of the de
velopment of the tourist indus
try in Hawaii, which from a
pre-war figure of 1U to 12 mil
lion dollars annually, has been
increased to an estimated total
of from 35 to 40 million dollars
this year, exclusive of transpor
tation costs to and from the ter
ritory. He claims that Alaska
has “the most glamorous scen
ery—the most eye-catching pan
orama" that it has been his plea
sure to inspect and if Alaskans
want the tourist business, now is
the time to go after it. He also
stated that of the 14 towns visit
ed by the two men in the past
few days, Seward seems to be
the most ideally located to bene
fit from tourist industry promo
tion. What other town in Alaska
has the transportation facilities
of Seward—year-around steam
ship service, railroad, highway,
and airplane transportation?
The Development Board's pro
gram has been enthusiastically
accepted and subscribed to by
all of the 14 towns visited so
far on the trip, and Ketchikan
has pledged $5,000 annually to
further the promotion. No ar
rangements have been made as
to the extent of Seward's parti
cipation.
Unions Sponsor
Labor Day Dance
All Seward Unions have join
ed in sponsoring the Labor Day
Dance on Sept. 2. for the benefit
of the Fourth of July Commit
tee.
The Fourth of July Commit
tee handed sponsorship of the
affair to the unions who wish to
make the Labor Day dance an
annual union affair. Tickets for
the dance are on sale and any
person wishing to exchange his
Fourth of July Committee spon
sored ticket for the union spon
sored ducat may do so without
extra charge.
FIRE CHIEF RETURNS FROM
VACATION IN STATES
Fred Kielcheski, Seward fire
chief, will arrive on the train
tonight with his family after two
months vacaton in the States.
Members of the Fire Dep’t
plan a big celebration with the
fire trucks to meet the train. |
Unloading of First
Cement Shipment
Completed Today
Despite mechanical difficulties
encountered in the trial run, j
and the breaking in of new;
operators on the pumps, the
first shipment of 13.085 barrels j
of bulk and 4 carloads of sacked;
cement was completed at noon!
today.
Trouble developed with the i
first operation of the pumps, j
due to untrained handlers and j
faulty pumps. Two used pumps j
were put into operation that \
required some changes. Foreign ;
objects, such as bolts and small 1
tools were found in the bulk:
cement that damaged the worm 1
gears of the pump adding to1
the delay. One of the pumps1
had been used on the work at
the Grand Coulee Dam.
After the operation was run
ning smoothly, unloading was
carried on with a minimum of
time, the entire period being
only 12 days.
This first shipment has been :
more or less in the nature of an ]
experiment. Figures were kept
on every angle so as to arrive
at some definite conclusion as
to cost of operations.
The tug Monarch out of Se
attle, a tug owned by the Puget
Sound Tug & Barge Co., will
depart tonight with the barge
in tow for the return trip to
Seattle.
Board of Equalization
Meets Next Week
The Board of Equalization
will sit for five days beginning
Wednesday, August 23. The
hours set are 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Wednesday, Thursday and Fri
day. No meeting Saturday, but
beginning Monday, August 28,
the Board will sit from 7:00 to
9:00 p.m. for two days, that is,
Monday and Tuesday.
It is thought that by holding
sessions at different times, every
one who wishes to will have
the opportunity to meet the
Board.
Tax assessment notices will
be in the mail by Monday, and
any objections or corrections
must be presented to the board
in writing. Ordinance No. 1G2
reads as follows:
“Section 5, (d) That all per
sons objecting to the assessed
valuation of any property, or
the assessment of the same, shall
reduce such objection or objec
tions in writing and file the
same with the Board on or be
fore the hour of nine o'clock
p.m. of the fifth day of the sit
ting of said Board, and all per
sons failing to file their written
objection with said Board as
above provided shall be deemed
to have consented to such assess
ment, and the action of the
Board of Equalization, and shall
be forever barred from there
after making such objection; but
nothing herein contained shall
be construed as preventing the
Board from making such chang
es in the assessment as in its
judgment is equitable and just.”
FIRE DEP'T ANSWERS CALL
TO SANATORIUM
The Seward Volunteer Fire
Dep’t answered a false alarm
this morning at about 10:30
which called them to the Sana
torium- It was merely a trash
fire which someone mistook for
the real thing.
Observers stated that it was
not more than three minutes
after the first alarm was sound-1
ed at the Sanatorium before the !
first fire truck arrived on the j
scene. This unplanned drill
made better time than some of
the timed drills of the depart-1
ment in practice. . j
Seward To Be
Represented It
Conference
Mrs. Mildred Kirkpatrick was
appointed by Mayor Eugene
Lanier and the City Council to
represent Seward at the con
ference of Alaska mayors and
councilmcn which will be held
in Anchorage August 28 to 31.
This is the first conference
of its kind to be held in the
Territory. It is thought that the
discussions of mutual problems
and their solutions in the vari
ous communities will bring
about a better understanding
among the cities of Alaska and
will be a step forward toward
bringing unity of feeling and
interests to Alaska communities.
The conference developed at
the invitation of Mayor Z. J.
Loussac of Anchorage. All Alas
ka cities and communities have
been urged to send representa
tives.
Subjects to be discussed are
Alaska Public Works Projects
and other engineering problems,
with Dan Setchi'ield as discus
sion leader. A representative of
Alaska Public Works Authority
will give the address.
Anchorage Councilman Ed
ward Barber will be discussion
leader tor the day on finance
problems. Mr. Elmer Rasmuson,
Bank of Alaska, will address
the conference on the subject
oi municipal borro.ving. The
mayor oi Rome will speak on
the general property tax, and
the mayor of Sitka will speak
on the sales tax.
The third day will be devoted
to the discussion of health, zon
ing, schools ana civilian de
fense, under the leadership of
Anchorage Councilman Melvin
Peterson. Dr. C. Earl Albrecht,
Territorial Commissioner of
Health, will make the first ad
dress, on health problems of
municipalities. Mayor Johnson
of Pan-Dunks will speak on zon
ing and annexation. Problems
oi school district and cities is
the subject of Mayor Lee Bet
: linger of Kodiak. Mrs. Kirk
Patrick of Seward has the assign
ment on cities in civilian de
fense. Thirty minutes has been
allotted for each address.
Councilman Don Rozell is
discussion leader for the fourth
day of the conference on the
subjects oi law enforcement,
liquor, personnel, land office
and road commission. Speakers
will be U. S. Marshal Paul Her
ring, Highway Patrolman Jack
Davis, Robert E. Sharp, City
Manager of Anchorage; Lowell
Puckett, Regional Director U. S.
Bureau of Land Management.
Cities and road building prob
lems will be discussed by A. F.
Ghiglione, ARC, and Frank Met
calf, Territorial Highway En
gineer.
At the night session, Aug. 31,
there will be a discussion of
whether the Mayor’s League
should become permanent; what,
if any, new legislation should
be requested for Alaskan cities
and general discussion of mis
cellaneous topics.
TWO TENDERS REPAIRED AT
MARINE WAYS IN 36 HOURS
Two tenders from the Joe
Most Cannery at Cordova were
on the ways at Seward Marine
Ways for 36 hours this week.
The 80 foot steel boats were
on the ways at the same time,
scraped and painted then launch
ed together after 36 hours.
The double launching was at
two o’clock in the morning. The
little ships took to water and
sailed off without any fuss or
bother.