Truman Wins; Dewey Concedes!
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Seward Seaport Record
horrnerly The Seward Polaris & Kenai Peninsula Aleutian Chain News
Vol. 5. No. 35
SEWARD, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1948
Price 10 Cents
Audit Starts as
Housing Head
Leaves Post
i Auditing of the books of the Vet
erans Housing Project was started
in Seward at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the
city hall.
The books were seized by Mayor
Gene Lanier and Councilman Rus
sell Painter Saturday, shortly after
it was learned that Manager P. J.
Fails had obtained air transporta
tion for himself and his family to
the States.
According to Mayor Lanier, Mr.
Fails left his post here without ob
taining leave of absence, and it
was stated by Mayor Lanier that
a Housing Project bank account
was overdrawn.
The audit will be completed
some time today and until that
time no further official statement
will be made.
Fails was appointed to the job
of managing the Housing Project
last July 1, and had been acting
in that capacity for some time be
fore that in a temporary status.
Some time ago a committee com
posed of residents of the Housing
Project appeared before the city
council with complaints against
Fails.
it was just about a week ago
that news was received that the
Public Housing Administration in
San Francisco had accepted the
plan settling the financial tangle
arising from the building of the
housing units in the area. The
Housing Administration requested
a complete record of all spending,
both of government money and
that raised by the city for the pro
ject.
It was stated at the council
meeting that there is much unfin
ished work in the winterizing of
the buildings there. For one thing,
sojne of the water pipes have been
left uncovered and are in danger
of freezing. A number of stoves are
in the area awaiting installation.
On Monday night Mayor Lanier
stated that he had received a large
number of applications for appoint
ment to the position occupied by
Fails. The mayor said that matters
would have to be cleared up before
any new- appointment could be
made.
Residents of the area are re-1
quested to pay their rent at the ;
city hall until further notice.
!
Shipping News . . .
The Alaska Railroad ship North
Star is scheduled to start loading
cargo at Seattle on Thursday, Nov.
4. The cargo will consist of food
and supplies for Seward and points
on the railroad. A second barge is
expected to follow.
The Alaska Railroad Barge 754
departed from Seward at 3:30 p.m.,
Nov. 2, and Capt. Stack estimated
arrival in Seattle in one week.
On its next trip north the barge
will be equipped with stanchions
and have hatch- covers welded.
Next arrival ot the 754 in Seward
is expected to be about Thanks
giving Day. All types of cargo will
be accepted for shipment to Seat* j
tie’on the . next outgoing trip of
the barge.
Census Bureau
To Be Brought
Up-to-Date
A map of Seward was received
from the Bureau of Census at the
city hall this week. According to
council members, the map was
made before the year 1916, and
shows very little of what consti
tutes the present city.
The Bureau of Census requested i
that corrections be made to show !
any changes in the city. One j
glance at the map shows that the [
only way to show the change is to j
send one of the new maps that'
Bill Estes has made.
The map will be used by the
Bureau of Census to compile the
National Census of 1950, which
will begin in Alaska in 1949.
The Seward City Council has
been considering a census of the
city, but has decided to pass it up .
now that the national census will
be taken so soon.
Col. J. P. Johnson
Visits Seward
Col. J. P. Johnson, general man
ager of The Alaska Railroad, spent
an hour in Seward Sunday dis
cussing barge operations with Mr.
Larry Moore, assistant to the gen-*
eral manager.
Col. Johnson flew to Seward
by special plane and returned to
Anchorage immediately after his
conference with Mr. Moore. The
Railroad executive flew to Seattle
Tuesday to check barge operations
of the railroad there.
REAL ESTATE DEALER
LEAVES FOR STATES
Mrs. Mary Ann B. Brown, well
known in- Seward as a real estate
dealer, 'is leaving Thursday for
Anchorage, where she expects to
board a plane for Tulsa, Okla
homa. Mrs. Brown will be accom
panied by hoi- son, Don Balmat.
She expects to remain in Tulsa j
till next spring, and during this
time will be working in real estate j
circles in Tulsa, having had an
office there for eleven years.
ARR TO RESCUE OF
SEAGOING TUG
An oddity in transportation oc- 1
curred this week when The Alas
ka Railroad was called on to assist
a seagoing vessel. The tug Osage
encountered radio difficulty en
route north and called on techni
cians of the railroad to repair their
communications system before
starting on the return voyage to
Seattle.
HIGH TIDE YESTERDAY
AT SEWARD
|
At high tide yesterday noon, the
water rose to a point about eight
inches up the heavy floor timbers
of the sunken track on thp Seward
City Dock. It did not rise high
enough, however, for the water to
come through the floor and dam
age goods in the dock warehouse. '
Old-time residents said it was the
highest tide within memory. No ,
reason could be given for the ex- j
ceptional height of the tide.
Harry O’Malley and Ruth Woods
worth of Anchorage were married j
in a double ring ceremony by
Mrs. Harry Southard, at . the South
ard home Tuesday.
Lutherans
Buy Home
For Church
Announcement was made yester
day that members of the Lutheran
Church in Seward now have a
church building in which to hold
their services. The old Methodist
Church was purchased this week,
and will be placed in service im
mediately.
The Reverend O. E. Odegaard of
Anchorage will continue to con
duct services here twice a month,
the second Thursday and probably
the fourth Wednesday. With the
arrival of Sunday School books,
which have been ordered, there
will be Sunday School in the
church.
The Lutheran Ladies Aid Bazaar
will take place upstairs in the
church on Saturday, Nov. 6, be
tween the hours of 2 p.m. and 8
p.m.
There will be a fish pond for the
children, a food, booth, fancy work
booth, and a booth for white ele
phants as well as a hot dog stand.
Coffee and cookies will be served
free to the public.
The quilt, which is on display
in the window of the Totem foun
tain, was made by the Lutheran
Aid. Tickets may be purchased at
the fountain or from members.
Record Time for
Barge Unloading
At 3:30 p.m. Friday, The Alaska
Railroad Barge 754 east off from
the Seward dock to begin its re
turn trip to Seattle. The barge
docked at 6:30 p.m. on Friday eve
ning and unloading was begun im
mediately.
The .work progressed so smoothly
that the last of the 2220-ton cargo
was unloaded by Tuesday after
noon. which means that less than
three days were needed for the
work. It is believed that a record
time for unloading cargo in Sew
ard has been set on this job.
CASKET ON DOORSTEP
HALLOWE'EN PRANK
Police were called to the resi
dence of Troy Bogard, city clerk,
last Saturday evening to investi
gate a report that the body of a
baby had been placed in a casket
and left on the Bogard doorstep.
A closer examination showed
that the baby was a large doll with
a huge knife stuck into it and
ketchup poured around it. While it
was merely a prank, the finding of
the casket had been a severe shock
to Mis. Bogard.
The casket had been removed
from the Seward Undertaking
Company building, and was a reg
ular baby-sized casket.
Seward police reported Tuesday I
that they had discovered the
pranksters, but in view of the fact !
that they were all children with
out previous complaints against
them, they will be dismissed.
Police reported that they had '
also found those responsible for.
breaking city street lights. In this !
case, as well as in the case of the
casket, those .concerned will be re- i
quired to make restitutio^ for all:
damages. j
• ' , ‘. ■; • '•>- f ■•■<■1
Patronize Home Industry
Democratic Congress
Assured; Gruening Given
Hope for New Term
/President Harry E. Truman was reelected yesterday on the
basis of returns available up to noon today. At the last tabu
lation of returns he seemed assured of 304 electoral votes, 38
more than required to win. Dewey trailed with 189 votes and
the Thurmond Dixiecrat party polled 38 electoral votes;
Wallace, none.
Along with his outstanding victory against two revolts in
his own party, President Truman apparently was given a
sate majority both in the House and senate,
with the Democrats leading 13 to 2 for the
15 Senate vacancies and apparently sweeping
the completely re-elected House by better than
I 2 to 1.
Political observers stated today that the
worst that could possibly happen to Truman,
should later returns reduce his lead, would be
to throw the selection into Congress where the
Democratic majority would name him in short
Th» Pr*iid*nf
order.
Early this morning dispatches announced
that Dewey had sent Truman a congratulatory message,
pledging his further cooperation in solving world affairs. At
that time Truman was ahead in ZS states, Dewey in 16 and
Thurmond in 4.
Communications were severely disrupted by storm condi
tions this morning, but what little came through indicated no
change in the situation.
According to Alaska Democrats the election means three
things:
1. Governor Ernest Gruening will be confirmed for an
other term.
2. federal projects already planned for the Territory will
go through without interruption or delay.
.v 1 he 25-year-old record of "as Alaska goes, so goes the
Nation” is sustained.
l abor generally was jubilant and predicted that the mari
time strike soon may be settled as the election apparently was .
a repudiation of the Taft-Hartley law which the Republicans'
sponsored and Truman opposed.
Firemen Over Top In
Dance for Funds
With incomplete returns from the
annual Hard Times Dance in hand,
the Seward Volunteer Firemen an
nounced late last night that the
Fire Department had cleared at
least $1000, which will be sufficient
to clear all debts.
The dance itself was a colorful
event keynoted by unusually good
music. There were enough slow
rhythm numbers adn waltzes to
give the older bones a break, and
enough lively tunes to satisfy the
more limber legs.
Most people got into the spirit
of the hard times affair by wear
ing old and patched clothing, and
there were a large number of inter
esting and spectacular costumes in
the great throng of dancers.
First prize was won by Mr. and
Mrs. John Penrose and no one
present had been able to recognize
them before their masks were re
moved. Mr. Penrose had a monkey
suit with fitted rubber monkey
mask, while Mrs. Penrose, also
masked and in costume, acted as
the keeper and kept him on the
*rid of a' string. The first prize was
an award of $15.00 in trade at Pat
Friede's Garage.
The orange and black Hal
lowe'en decorations were effective
ly arranged to center attention on
the band stand, and the low ceil
ing effect produced by the long
bands of crepe paper strung across
on wires.
The main attraction of the eve
ning, of course, was the award of
the car to Mrs. Helen Gwin of
Cooper’s Landing. Mrs. Gwin had
been in Seward a couple of days
earlier expressly for the purpose of
securing tickets on the car.
About thirty-five prizes were
given in all, and two of the prizes
are still unclaimed. The tickets
drawn appeared to have been
signed by Joan Carlson and Helen
V. Murl Trevethan, secretary of
the Volunteer Firemen, said that
if the people could identify their
signatures the prizes will be given
to them.
Both the Elks Club and the
Wagon Wheel closed till after the
dance so that their musicians could
play in the dance orchestra. Mem
bers of the orchestra were Doris
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