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~v SEWARD’S
All-cWeatkec
SEAPORT
Is Alaska’s
Greatest Asset
Territorial Library
Seward Seaport Record
Formerly The Seword Polaris Sr Kenai Peninsula-Aleutian Chain News
Vol. V, No. 65
SEWARD. ALASKA. TUESDAY, FEB. 15, 1949
Price 10 Cents
Sawmill Runs
Despite Fire
Of Saturday
The Seward Lumber Company
sawmill was back in operation
Tuesday, after being severely
damaged by fire last Saturday
evening.
Carl Ling, who operates the
mill, used a lot of hard work and
great ingenuity to build a new
engine radiator out of copper tub
ing to get the mill back into pro
duction.
Although his shirt, trousers
and hat were burned off him, and
his face was blistered by the fire.
Ling was not seriously burned.
This is the second serious fire
loss for the Ling family within
a very short time. Their home was
gutted by fire in which practical
ly all their personal possessions
were lost Dec. 29.
Before the fire was out more
than five hours, the work of re
pairing and refitting the mill had
started, Mrs. Ling said Monday
morning. While it may take some
time to fuHy repair the damage,
she said, they expect to have the
mill in operation within a short
time.
The fire started when fuel from
a broken line came in contact
with an overheated engine, and
it was in cutting of the fuel sup
ply that Ling’s clothing caught
fire.
Damage was not covered by in
surance, although Mrs. Ling said
that they had attempted to take
out insurance on the plant last
December. They were told, she
stated, that they could not get in
surance on a sawmill.
Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Thompson
are parents of a boy born Satur
day, Feb. 12, at the Seward Memor
ial Hospital. The baby weighed
eight pounds four ounces at birth.
He was given the name of Lee
Brian.
Seward Weather
Fine After Trip
Outside
G. W. Shuster returned from a
flying visit to the States, includ
ing stops In New York, California
and points across the country.
“I’m glad to be back in Sew
ard,” he said yesterday. “Except
for California, Seward is the
warmest spot I’ve seen.”
His return trip from California
took six days, he said. He spent i
one day at Fort St. Johns and a I
day and a night at Snag. At Snag, j
famous for low temperatures, the j
temperature was only two degrees'
below zero, and to the travelers!
it felt warm, since there was no
wind. They learned that Snag j
never has a wind velocity above '
five miles per hour.
Shuster, who is Alaska distribu- ,
tor for Piper planes, attended a ;
Piper distributors’ convention at ]
Lock Haven, Pa., where it was'
announced that Piper is now j
building a new four-place plane j
to sell at $3,000. Piper has also j
purchased the Stinson, new mod
els of which will be faster. He re
turned in a new Stinson Station
Wagon with Jack Penrose, who
has been visiting his father dur
ing an illness.
YOUNG LADY KXTEHTAIXS
AT DINNER PARTY
Margaret Turnbull, daughter of
i Police Officer George Turnbull,
entertained friends at a dinner
which she cooked and served her
self last Friday evening.
The affair had a double signifi
cance, since besides entertaining
friends, Miss Turnbull’s culinary
efforts won for her a Girl Scout
merit badge. Guests at the din
ner, besides her mother were
Mrs. Cecil Horton, Mrs. Arreta
Howell, and Mrs. Ora Whipple.
After the dinner, the guests en
joyed an evening of pinochle.
Mrs. Ray Markovitch was hon
ored by a group of her friends at
! a baby shower given by Mrs. Eva
Lindsay in her home last Satur
day.
Gardiner-Shea Nuptials
Solemnized on Monday
Biggest social event of the year
was the wedding last night, Valen
tine’s Day, when Barbara Gardin
er and Seward Shea were united
in marriage by Father Edward
Turner in St. Peter’s Episcopal
Mission Church at 8 o’clock.
The very colorful procession
was led by little Miss Claudianne
Walker and Yvonne Walker as
flower girls, dressed in long Em
pire dresses of pale green and yel
low organdy trimmed with white
lace. They carried cornucopias of
white satin ribbon filled with rose
petals.
The bride was attired in a
white satin gown with fitted
ijodice, high neck, full skirt, long
sleeves pointed over back of her
hands, and a finger tip veil caught
up into a coronet of orange blos
soms. She also wore an ivory nug
get bracelet belonging to Mrs.
Anna Shea and which had been
worn by other brides in the fam
ily. She carried a white prayer
book with a single white orchid
backed with a white plume with
trailing ends of rainbow ribbons.
The beautiful gown was made
by the bride’s mother, Mrs. Robert
Burchard.
Matron of honor, Mrs. Burt
Walker, sister of the groom, wore
white moire, •severely out, bodice
with fitted hip line falling into
full ripples at the floor. The back
of the bodice was trimmed with
crystal buttons and- crystal choker
beads were the only ornament.
She carried a colonial bouquet of
gardenia, rose tulips, Chinese
iris and daffodils in paper lace.
The bridesmaid, Miss Audrey
Woods, was beautifully dressed in
light blue Marquesette, fashioned
with full tiered skirt, and had a
matching bow in her hair. She
carried a colonial bouquet of pink
carnations.
Groomsmen were James Shea
and Martin Urie.
The church was decorated with
baskets of salmon pink gladiolus.
A reception was held for 100
guests in the parish hall where
the Ladies’ Auxiliary served as
hostesses.
The new* Mrs. Shea is the
daughter of Robert Gardiner,
formerly agent for the Alaska
Steamship Company here, now
stationed in Fairbanks.
Mr. Shea, well known in Sew
ard as a partner in Seward Metal
Works, is a veteran of World War
II, was born in Seward and at
tended high school here.
Navy Smoker Changed
To Thursday Niaht
The date of the boxing program
for entertainment of the Navy haB
been changed to Thursday eve
ning of this week.
The entire program has not yet
been announced, because there is
a possibility that some of the
Na\iy visitors may be interested in
a little mix-up in the squared cir
cle, provided suitable matches can
be arranged.
In the headliner, Trevethan and
Wangley, a couple of oldtimers,
will keep a date the town lias
been looking forward to. Treve
than, fighting under the name of
Johnny Frayne, was middleweight j
champ of Nevada some years ago.
and the toast of the coast, having
won the crown from Les Odom,
known in those days as “The
Pride of Reno.” i
Wangl^y fought under his own
name, and numbered among his
victims Hammering Henry Arm
strong, when he was on the way j
up. Wangley, alway a dangerous '
fighter, took Shea to a cleaning,
anil lost a 10-round decision to
Bud Taylor for the world’s chain- 1
pionship in a bout that is still re- j
membered and talked about in 1
Minneapolis.
Chamber of Commerce Considers
New Meeting Place
The Chamber of Commerce was
informed that the basement of i
the Palace Cafe, formerly used by
the American Legion as a clubi
room, will be available for a meet
ing place.
The Chamber is desirous of ob- i
fhining this location, because of !
available dining facilities. While;
the rent was set by John Matich ;
at the low figure of $65, it is
more than the Chamber feels it
ought to carry alone.
It is hoped that five organiza
tions will cooperate to use the
meeting place, eacli paying about
$lo per month. If the facilities
were used l|y others on open dates j
any money made would be used
to liquidate the rent.
Organizations at present con
sidering use of the meeting place
are the Carpenters’ Union and the
Veterans of Foreign Wars. It is
hoped the Lions Club might take
advantage of the facilities also.
If arrangements can be made with
other clubs, it will be possible to
take possession March 1.
Seward Cagers
In Anchorage
Members of the Seward High
School basketball team hoarded
the train for Anchorage Tuesday
morning to take part in the Fur
Rendezvous Tournament this
week.
The tournament will last from
Feb. 15 till Feb. 19, inclusive.
The Seward Ponies should be
well rested after winning a slow
game against Kodiak last Friday
night by a score of 52 to 45.
While the Ponies were never led.
they were hard pressed through
out the game to retain their h ad.
In the final quarter, the Kodi
ak team made a final bid for the
game by bringing the score to a
tie within a couple of minutes of
the eiid of the game. The Seward
players tightened their defensive
play while running up several
baskets to make the final score
52 to 4 5.
RAIL I LIT IS REDUCED FOR
Fl it RENDEZVOUS
It'll cost less for rail transpor
tation from Seward to Anchorage
for the Fur Rendezvous.
The Alaska Railroad announced
today that ltailbelt folks who
want to go to Anchorage for the
show can buy round-trip tickets
for the price of a single fare from
Feb. 19 to Feb. 2ti. Final return
date limit is March 2.
The saint; savings will apply to
customers along the Railbelt who
want to take in the Fairbanks Ice
Carnival. Round-trip tickets for
the price of single fares will be
sold from March 2 to March 5.
Final return date is March 8.
Stop-overs aren’t allowed, and
no baggage checked on the tick
ets. The reduced rates are an an
nual ARR service to help attract
Railbelt people to the two winter
festivities.
Orin Welch returned this week
sad from a trip to the States.
ISAAC VVALTON' LEAGUE
It is reported that there will be
a meeting of the Isaac Walton
j League Friday evening, February
118, at which there will be a sign
I ing of the charter and election of
^officers. Anyone is eligible for
| membership according to infor
| niation received here. Members
are asked to make sure of the
' exact time of the meeting in ad
I vatice.
I
I -
j Many members of the Seward
i Rebekah Lodge, in a conspiracy
j of friendship, showered Mrs. Ann
! Clarkson with Valentine greetings
! on Valentine’s Day, Mrs. Clark -
! son has been ill at the Seward
General Hospital for some time.
Father Fenn Visits Former
I
Rectory on Way Outside
! Father Warren R. Fenn. Priest
i of AJI Saints Church, Anchorage,
is visiting Father Edward Turner
| and his many friends in Seward
| on his way Outside for an ex
pended leave, after 19 years of
work in Alaska.
Father Fenn is well known to
Seward residents. He served the
Mission of St. Peter's for nine
years, sharing his time between
Seward and Anchorage until 19-12
when Father Win, Gordon, pres
ent Bishop of Alaska, was sta
tioned at St. Peter’s. Father Gor
don was followed by Father Ed
ward Turner in 1944. Though
born in Connecticut, Father Fenn
attended seminary at N'ashotah
House, Nashotah, Wis., with a
boyhood friend, and just before
his final year in 1930 was sent as
a deacon to St. Saviour's Mission
at Skagwray for the summer work.
When he returned to Nashotali
House he had no idea of ever re
turning to Alaska, although he
said he had put in a very happy
and pleasant summer'at Skagway.
The next summer, however,
found him again in Alaska at the
Pro-Cathedral at Juneau, follow
ed by two years of substitute work
ia ,all parishes in the Territory,
among which he found the Tineh
Indians at Anvik on the lower Yu
kon a most interesting people.
Calm, peace-loving, though back
ward. Father Fenn called these
Indians, intensely earnest once
they grasped the concepts of
Christianity, and. “indeed,” he
said, , “they put the white Chris
tians to shame.”
i In 1933 Bishop Rome sent him
i to Anchorage to take over All
Saints Mission with 11 communi
cants. Under the leadership of
Father Fenn, this charge has
grown to a membership of 300,
with a Sunday school of 200 chil
dren, and in 1945 became All
Saints Church, the first Episcopal
Church in Alaska to become self
supporting.
When asked the reason for his
great love of Alaska he replied
that he had found most of the
people possessed of a sincerity and
honesty not too common in the
rest of the world these days. That
people were coming to the Terri
tory seeking contentment and sat
isfaction, and for those who were
willing and ready to work the
country accepts them and offers
that quiet reward which they
(Turn to Page 6)
Ask Teeth in
Territorial
Labor Laws
Commissioner of Labor Henry
A. Benson, in the biennial report
of the Alaska Department of
Labor, recommends protection for
workers brought into the Terri
tory by outside contractors.
Some statutory provision, the
report states, should also be made
to protect the workman against
the failure of shoe-string oper
ators and the employers who hire
people with nothing more than a
m< re expectancy that they will be
able to meet their monthly pay- *
rolls.
The increasing number of work
ers who are transported into the
Territory under contracts of hire
made in the States and upon ter
mination are left stranded in the
Territory should have the con
sideration of the Legislature.
These stranded work* rs become
the problem of the local communi
ties, none of whom are able to
either provide employment or to
assume the costs of returning
these unfortunates to their homes
in the States, the report says.
The present lien laws provide
no protection for the large num
ber of workefs in mercantile,
clerical, maintenance and service
occupations. We therefore, the re
port continues, again urge the
enactment of legislation which
will give every wage earner the
right of lien against the assets of
his employer.
NO OPERATOR'S LICENSE;
! FIXED SIOO
Curtis C. Jacobson was picked
up and arrested Sunday on the
Kenai road on a charge of operat
ing a vehicle without an operat
or's license. He pleaded guilty to
the charge in the Commissioner’s
Court at Kenai and was fined
$100.
Law enforcement agencies have
repeatedly warned motorists that
they must have up-to-date oper
ator’s licenses.