SEWARD’S
All-^Weatkec
SEAPORT
Is Alaska’s
Greatest Asset
ecord
THE ONLY NEWSPAPER IN THE WORLD THAT GIVES A HOOT ABOUT SEWARD. ALASKA
Vol. VI, No. 78
SEWARD, ALASKA, FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 1950
Price 10 Cents
17TH CENSUS BEGINS SATURDAY, APRIL 1
Fire Destroys Nurses Quarters
At Seward Sanatorium
Fire damage at the Seward
Sanatorium at 9:00 p.m. Wednes
day, while it resulted in a total
loss of the nurses quarters, was
not as great as at first suspected.
Nurses and attendants remov
ed patients from the children’s
ward and evacuated Number 2
Barracks, which was occupied
by nurses and attendants, re
moving bedding and personal
effects from the building to a
place of safety under the trees.
Preparations were made by
the local Red Cross to evacuate
the entire hospital if necessary
to places of safety in town, us
ing the churches and Civic Cen
ter as refuge. Within 30 min
utes it was evident that the ne
cessity would not arise, that the
fire was under control, so Red
Cross stood by until all danger
was past.
Valuable surgical equipment
was removed from the surgery
early in the fire, against the pos
sibility that it could not be con
trolled, but was replaced with
out damage before the firemen
left the scene.
Mrs. Alice H. Reay, Register
ed Nurse, was injured when she
returned to her room in the path
of the rapidly approaching
flames to rescue important pa
pers and save what she could.
She must have thought that she
would have more time. She clos
ed her door to keep out the
smoke, but before she could find
anything, the lights went out
and the room filled with smoke.
Groping her way to the window,
she had difficulty in keeping it
up. The windows are not set
with the weights and ropes de
signed to hold the sash in place
when raised, but must be stop
ped by bolts. In addition, all
windows had been tightly
screened. By the time Mrs. Reay
succeeded in getting through the
window, she was burned about
the head and face, arms and
back. She was taken to Seward
General Hospital for treatment.
At least two other nurses, Mrs.
Swalwik and Miss Noble, were
having coffee in the kitchen of
the nurses quarters with Mrs.
Reay when they discovered the
fire already rolling down the
corridor. They escaped immedi
ately through the kitchen door.
The quarters had been remod
eled during the past year for
special use of the sanatorium
nurses, not all of whom had
rooms in the building. A large
living room and kitchen were
tastefully and newly furnished
by the Seward Registered Nurs
es Association at great expense,
so as to make living conditions
a little more pleasant for the
nursing staff at the hospital.
Most, if not all, nurses at the
sanatorium are from Outside,
and except for those who work
ed under war conditions and
unused to the poor quarters and
living conditions encountered
in Alaska, find off duty hours
rather dull and recreational fa
cilities definitely limited, situ
ated as it is away from the
city and more or less isolated.
All the furnishings, including
the new electric range and re
frigerator, piano, and living
room furniture was completely
destroyed. Every item of cloth
ing and personal possessions of
the 14 nurses quartered in the
building was lost. Money, bonds,
important papers, jewelry, etc.,
things that cannot be replaced,
are a total loss. Help can be
(Turn to Page 4)
Coastwise Initiates
Refrigeration
Coastwise Line has announced
that, effective with the sailing
of the SS James W. Cannon
from San Francisco on April 2,
refrigeration service will be ini
tiated on the vessels Coastwise
is operating in the California
Oregon-Washington-Alaska serv
ice.
As soon as schedules and oper
ating conditions will permit, ves
sels in the service are to be
fitted with two portable boxes,
each, giving each vessel a capa
city of approximately sixty-five
measurement tons of refrigera
tion space for freeze and or chill
cargo.
The addition of this refrigerat
ed space on Coastwise Line ves
sels will make the Liberty ships
operated by Coastwise as mod
ern and complete as any in
service. All of these vessels are
equipped with latest design ra
dar installations, and the com
pany has otherwise improved
and modified them for the Alas
ka trade.
Five Coastwise Line vessels
provide fortnightly service on a.
2500 mile run serving Long
Beach, San Francisco Bay area,
Columbia River and Puget
Sound ports, and Seward, Val
dez and Whittier in South-west
ern Alaska. The addition of re
frigerated space to the existing
dry cargo service will make a
complete Coastwise and Alaska
service available to Pacific
Coast shippers.
Former Local Woman
To Be Buried Here
Mrs. Ann Holman Isaacs,
daughter of Chas. Bern of Sew
ard, passed away Wednesday in
Anchorage. The body is to arrive
in Seward tonight for interment
in the Seward Cemetery.
Mrs. Isaacs is survived by
seven children, Jacqueline,
Viola, Patricia, Jasper, Jerry.
Dick and Lee Holman. Lee lives
in Seward. She is also survived
by her father, Chas. Bern, and
two brothers, Bob and William
Bern.
Mrs. Isaacs has lived for the
past several years in Anchorage.
Definite arrangements have
not been made for the funeral,
pending word from members of
the family living out of Seward,
but it is expected that the funer
al will be held at St. Peter’s
Episcopal Church on Monday.
CLIPPER CARGO RATES
REDUCED
The equivalent of a 25 per
cent reduction in Clipper Cargo
rates for volume shipments with
in Alaska and between Alaska
points and Seattle was announc
ed this week by Pan American
World Airways. The airline said
that, effective immediately,
scheduled Clipper flights will
carry volume shipments on the
basis of 250 cubic inches being
equal to one pound. Previously,
pound rates were applied to vol
ume shipments on a 200-cubic
inch basis.
Mr. C. L. Baker, father of
Mrs. Eva Lindsey, was taken to
Seward General Hospital for
treatment Wednesday. Word re
ceived from the family today is
that he is improving.
Dinner for Benefit of
University Fund
Woman’s Society of Christian
Service is giving a dinner to
raise funds to send a delegate
to Cleveland, Ohio, at which
time the decision will be made
where the Liberal Arts College
will be located.
Dinner will be served begin
ning at 6:00 p.m. through 8:00
p.m., Saturday, April 1, 1950,
(tomorrow) in the dining room
of the Methodist Church.
Tickets are selling at $2.00
for adults and $1.00 for children
under 12 years of age. Tickets
may be obtained from Walter
Sipprell. Charles Cole, The Blue
Shop, Youth Center, and also
at the door.
I The menu consists of Virginia j
baked ham, candied yams, Har
| vard beets, celery and carrot
| curls, hot rolls and butter, tea
| or coffee, apple pie with a slice
| of cheese.
Get your group together and
finish the evening with bridge,
pinochle or canasta.
Beverly Levan Injured
In Accident
■ Miss Beverly Levan sustained
a broken collar bone in an acci
dent Sunday evening when a
taxi belonging to the City Cab
Company and operated by Paul
Davis, went off the road at Mile
Four.
The car became hunsr on a
stump which damaged the un
dercarriage and other parts of
the body.
Miss Levan was thrown for
ward, causing her injury. Davis
suffered slight bruises on the
head.
Gifts Sent To Aid
Sanatorium Nurses
Generous shifts of cash were
received today by the nurses
who were burned out in the
sanatorium fire.
One gift was from the Anchor
age Registered Nurses Associa
tion with a card asking them
to accept the gift to be used
to replace little items of their
own choosing.
Another gift was from a local
sympathiser who preferred to be
unnamed. It was given for the
same use as the first.
Seward Nurses Association
have set aside the sum of $200
either for the personal use of
the nurses or for a start at re
furnishing another home.
Legion Post Passes
Membership Quota
Seward Post No. 5 of the
American Legion announces the
Post’s 1950 membership has gone
10 per cent over the quota set
for the Post at the last Depart
ment Convention held at Mc
Kinley Park in June of 1949.
To date the Seward Post is
one of four in the Territory that
have surpassed the quotas set
for 1950.
Present membership of the
local Post is 230. The quota was
set at 200.
Mr. and Mrs. R. E. Baumgart
ner returned from their trip
Outside last Tuesday night. They
drove up the highway to Fair
banks and flew down from there.
Being pessimistic, Mr. Baum
gartner said the roads were very
bad. They had been gone about
four months, spending much of
the time in San Rafael, Calif.
Izaak Walton League
Condemns
Inadequate Funds
Des Moines, Iowa.—Urging I
that Alaskan Fish and Wildlife
officials appear in person before
Congress to supply accurate
data on the condition of wildlife
there, delegates to the national
convention of the Izaak Walton
League condemned the meagre
funds presently being made
available for this work.
In asking the convention to
take this action, Burton H. At
wood, of Winnetka, 111., a na-|
tional director of the league, ]
said “Someone high in the In- j
terior Department is preventing
Congress from knowing the true
needs of the Service. Directors
of other Interior agencies in
Alaska are very successful in
developing tremendous pro
grams. They go before Congres
sional appropriations commit
tees and present their needs. As
a result, millions of dollars are
spent for such things as native
education and health. At the
same time, Alaskan budget re
quests are sliced so that, by com
parison, only pennies are avail
able for fish and wildlife which
are the basic source of liveli
hood to a large segment of the
population, both native and
white.”
Atwood said that last year an
effort was made to obtain Con
gressional approval for plowing
the Federal Government's tre
mendous profit on the Pribiloff
seal herds back into Alaskan
conservation operations, but the
committee requested they be
given more time to study the
situation. “Apparently they are
still studying it, as I have heard
no rumors of a change of heart,” i
he said. '
Fairweather Home
Has Roof Fire
The stand-by crew and fire
truck which was left on duty in
town Wednesday night at the
time of the sanatorium fire, also j
had their chance at fire fighting |
when an alarm went in for the j
residence of Charles Fairweath-I
er on Third Avenue.
Little damage was done by
the fire, which was quickly ex
tinguished. It was caused by
sparks from the furnace igniting
the shingles near the chimney. I
Mr. and Mrs. Fairweather were
called from their beds when I
neighbors noticed the roof was
afire.
JUNIOR WOMEN ENJOY
EVENING WITH CANASTA
The Junior Women’s Club of
Seward held a social meeting
Tuesday evening in the home of
Mrs. Lyle Edgington.
They spent an enjoyable eve
ning playing canasta. Arguments
were easily and quickly settled
as there were rules all over the
place. Prizes were taken by Mrs.
Frank Lewis and Mrs. Leonard
Clark.
Delicious gelatin salad and
crackers with coffee were served
by hostesses Mrs. Kendall Cob
ban and Mrs. Lyle Edgington.
Next meeting will be a busi
ness meeting April 11.
EPISCOPAL BAKE SALE
Ladies of the Episcopal Church
will hold a pre-Easter bake sale
in the Seward Trading Co. store
tomorrow, beginning at 11 p.m.
Besides cakes and pies, the
sale will feature home made
bread and hot-cross buns, salads,
and baked beans.
Clarence Keating, Director of
the Census for the Territory of
Alaska, left Seward Thursday
noon after issuing final instruc
tions for the local work.
Mrs. Alice Kennedy was ap
pointed crew leader and super
visor for the district, covering
Seward, Kenai Peninsula, Sel
dovia and Kodiak Island.
Enumerators for the city are
Mrs. Pearl L. Milroy and Mrs.
Alice F. Lorang. Sidney M. Urie
will work the rural area near
Seward, Federal jail, Seward
Sanatorium and General Hos
pital, Moose Pass, Cooper Land
ing, and the Railbelt to and in
cluding Hunter.
Mr. Francis Mullen will enum
erate the Kenai and Hope areas;
Rev. Oscar Olsen, town of Sel
dovia, and Mr. Thomas Shel
ford will make the count in
Homer and outlying Seldovia.
The city of Kodiak and the
Federal jail will be the responsi
bility of Mrs. Eunice Neseth of
Kodiak, but the outlying district
on Kodiak Island will be done
by Mr. William Poland.
This is the 17th Decennial
Census of the United States, and
for the first time in history Alas
ka will be enumerated simul
taneously with the States. An
exact census is of the greatest
importance to Alaska at this
time, as members of the House
of Representatives in Congress
are named according to the total
population of the area. Repre
sentation in the Territorial Leg
islature is also based upon per
centage of population, and noth
ing but the official census can
be accepted as accurate.
Mrs. Kennedy and Mr. Keat
ing emphasize the fact that all
enumerators have taken oath to
perform their duties as directed
and to divulge no part of the in
formation obtained. All answers
to all questions will remain sec
ret, and only the total figures
will be published after the first
tabulation is made in the Terri
torial office.
They ask that the enumerators
receive the full cooperation of
each person, that all questions
be answered honestly and
promptly, as the Census Bureau
is operating on limited funds,
and if the people cooperate to
the extent that enumerators can
make their contacts without de
lay, it will mean a saving in dol
lars and cents to the taxpayers
who pay the bills.
Every question is of vital im
portance to Alaska and it is re
quested that people give their
answers as quickly and com
pletely as possible. Perhaps the
most misunderstood and most
questioned item of the census
will be the details concerning in
come. This information is being
sought because of the close as
sociation between income and
housing. Future plans and as
sistance by the Federal Govern
ment will be based almost en
tirely upon the figures gained
from this census showing the
poor housing conditions in rela
tion to the income of the Terri
tory.
The work will begin promptly
on April 1, Saturday morning.
Enumerators for the district out
side of Seward left town Thurs
day by Safeway Airways for
their1 particular districts, after a
two-day training course under
Mrs. Kennedy. 1116 districts are
based on an estimated popula
tion of 2000 each.
CUB SCOUTS TO MEET
There will be a Cub Scout
Pack meeting on Sunday eve
ning, April 2. at 7:30. in the
Seward School Gymnasium.