Territorial Library
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SEWARD’S
All-cWeatkec
SEAPORT
Is Alaska s
Greatest Asset
Seward Seaport Record
THE ONLY NEWSPAPER IN THE WORLD THAT GIVES A HOOT ABOUT SEWARD, ALASKA
Voi. VI, No. 29
SEWARD. ALASKA, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1949
Price 10 Cents
Union Officials
Claim Whittier
Now CIO Port
Vernon Allbright, Alaska official
for tbe CIO, said Tuesday morning
that the CIO is organizing long
shoremen at the Port of Whittier,
and that the AFL longshore union
is folding up.
Longshoremen who work the
Port of Whittier must be brought
in from Anchorage, since Whittier
is strictly an Army installation. For
Army cargo the longshore work is
done by soldiers, ana it is only for
other than Army cargo that civilian
longshoremen are needed.
Tne CIO formerly had jurisdic
tion at Whittier, out the union
dropped its charter and joined the
Ai'L. According to information re
ceived here there were several rea
sons for the change to the CIO.
For one thing, the hourly Wage
scale was $1.87Vi whereas the rate
paid CIO men at Seward is $2.20.
A second reason is that they were
working with six men in the hold.
In Seward eight men are used,
which is said to be more efficient.
As far as could be determined
there has been no actual strike at
Whittier. Captain W. J. Lane of
the SS James Lick which just came
from Whittier, denied that there
had been any difficulty, and the
Northern Stevedoring and Handling
Company confirmed this.
It is understood, however, that all
commercial freight will now have
to be unloaded at Seward, at least
until one or the other of the unions
is recognized as the bargaining
agent. The usual procedure is for
the Labor Relations Board to re
quire a vote, according to informa
tion received here.
MISHAP PREVENTS POLIO
CASE IN SEWARD
Friends of Bob Creek, well known
among seamen in Seward, will be
glad to know that he is recovering
from paralysis of the right side by
polio that struck him down while
he was on his way to Seward.
Creek was removed from a plane
at Juneau and returned to Seattle
where his illness was diagnosed as
polio. After two weeks in the hos- j
pital for poliomylitis in San Fran- j
cisco he was sent to the Naval !
Hospital at Seattle for treatment
and therapy. His right side was
paralyzed, but he has regained the
use of his arm and leg. He does
fear, however, that his leg is
shortened enough to cause him to
walk with a noticeable limp.
Creek expects to return to Sew
' ard upon his complete recovery.
K-D LOG CABIN ARRIVES
FROM STATES
The housing problem in Alaska
being what it is, almost anything
courd happen, but almost as worthy
of comment as the proverbial re
frigerator for Eskimos is the K-D
log cabin that arrived at Seward
aboard the James Lick this week.
A great many K-D type (knock
down or prefabricated) buildings
have been used by the Army for
barracks and quite a few have been
made into civilian dwellings, but in
Alaska, where log houses are as
common as snowflakes, the arrival
of a prefabricated log cabin is as
odd as a shipment of bananas to
Central America.
Mr. and Mrs. Ozwald Dana report
that they are expecting to leave
Seward Thursday for a winter va
cation in Palm Springs, Calif.
Cave-in of Air Raid
Shelter Damages
Cass Building
The cave-in of a war time air
raid shelter on Fourth Avenue in
Seward Friday night caused a great
deal of damage to an adjacent
building owned by Earl Cass.
Part of the north wall of the cin
der block structure was knocked
out entirely, but the remainder of
the building was undamaged. Cass
has a sheet metal shop, in the
building, and while there was some
damage to material, most of the
stock and equipment was salvaged.
The air raid shelter stood about
eight feet from Cass' building and
vv.as covered with about three feet
of soil. Heavy rains added weight
to the soil and the roof sl'd side
ways into the building.
Local contractors are of the
opinion that the many tons of earth
and the roof itself hit tiie building
with such force that no wall could
have withstood the blow.
Classes Start for
On-Farm Training
Classes began Tuesday afternoon
at the Seward Public School for
on-the-farm training for veterans,
with R. O. Saddath, VIVID, as in
structor under the supervision of
Lynn O. Hollist of the University
of Alaska.
Sixteen students were present as
the class opened at 1:00 p.m. with
more expected to appear. The
course is given with the idea of
aiding veterans to gain the neces
sary knowledge to cope with local
problems in homesteading.
The class opened with an address
of welcome by Superintendent of
Schools Carl R. Carlson, who stated
that Alaska will benefit greatly in
furthering its agricultural industry.
‘•When people settle on the land,
they consider that they have made
their homes,” he said. There will
be a permanence that has not been
known in the Territory before.
With a stable agricultural economy
the country will be in a position to
grow industrially.
Before class work started selec
tions from the scriptures were read
by the Rev. E. Russell Clapp, who
also lead in the singing of "Ameri
ca the Beautiful.”
HARTWELL GIVES FIRE
PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION
Robert Harr wed. safety man for
The Alaska Railroad, gave a telling
demonstration of fire prevention
and fire fighting at the Seward rail
way station Monday evening to a
crowd of railroad employes and
townspeople.
Hartwell stated that there are
over 265,000 fires annually in the
United States. 90 per cent of which
could be prevented. Each day fifty :
eight people are killed or injured '
by fire.
Lack of knowledge concerning j
the use of fire fighting equipment:
is as dangerous as the fire itself, j
he said, since use of the wrong
type of extinguisher may result in
injury or even the spread of the (
fire. He also gave a demonstration j
to show how inadequate wiring can !
cause a fire. He set fire to material !
by placing too heavy a current
load on the wire.
NEW BASKETBALL SUITS
Displayed in the window of
Doyle’s are the new basketball
uniforms for the Seward High
School Basketball Team. The flashy j
green and gold uniforms are being I
furnished the team by Seward busi- j
nessmen at a cost of six hundred I
dollars.
Dept. Officials
Approved By
Council Mon.
The City Council met last night
in special session to clear away
the old business to make way for
the new council and adjourn.
At nine o’clock. Mrs. Martine Jo
hensen, City Clerk, gave the oath
of office to the Mayor, Eugene N.
Lanier, who was reelected to the
new two year term of office, after
which three new councilmen,
Mildred Kirkpatrick, Richard O.
Myers, and Donovan S. Wilson
were sworn in and the new council
seated.
Appointment's
Mayor Lanier made the following
appointments,, approved individual
ly by the council:
City Clerk, Mrs. Sigrid Stearns,
$350.00 per month.
Chief of Police, Leonard Clark,
$400.00 per month.
Fire Chief, Fred Kielcheski,
$400.00 per month.
Supt. of Streets, Ralph Van Guil
der, $400.00 per month.
Municipal Treasurer, Aaron Eric
son, $100.00 per year.
Municipal Health Officer, R. O.
Sellers. $25.00 per month.
City Attorney. Baumgartner and
Hunt, $200.00 per month.
Committees
Iwo-member committees were
appointed in preference to the one
man committees of the previous
council. Named as follows:
Airport and Small Boat Harbor.
Miller and Sfeferovich.
Police and Fire Depts., Wilson
and Myers.
Streets. Sewers, and Vet’s Hous
ing, Painter and Seferovich.
Tax Assessments and Finance,
Kirkpatrick and Myers.
Public Schools and Civic Center.
Kirkpatrick and Seferovich.
Public Health and Hospitals, the
entire council.
Changes
Fred Kielcheski was relieved of
responsibility of the Street Depart
ment and made full time Fire
Chief on the ground that both de
partments require full time atten
tion. He will be expected to en
force the fire ordinances recently
passed, and others still in exist
ence. such as the law concerning
the placement of fuel tanks and
fire exits in public buildings. To
inspect and keep in order fire hy
drants and fire fighting equipment,
and to supervise the building of
the fire hall. i
Ralph Van Guilder, as Supt. of
Streets, will receive such help as
seems necessary, especially in
snow removal, at day labor wages,!
to be hired when needed.
The financial report to the coun
cil showed a balance in the city
account of $28,277.00 after all bills
were paid.
Soc. Security Returns
More Frequent
The Juneau Field Office of the
Federal Social Security Adminis
tration is receiving an unusual
number of requests for a refund
of Social Security tax in excess of
$30, deducted from wages, accord
ing to James G. Browne, manager.
Many of the requests for refunds
have come from wage earners who
have had several employers, all of
whom have deducted Social Se
curity taxes from their pay. Social
Security taxes apply to a worker’s
(Turn to Page 4)
Hunter Sought By
Rescue Squadron
Return Safely
A party of goat hunters who set
out for Day Harbor Sunday morn
ing to get in one day's sport were
reported overdue at 2:00 p.m. Mon
day aftenoon and the 10th Rescue
Squadron at Elmendorf Field im
mediately got planes out to search.
Just as the rescue plane swung
over Resurrection Bay, the boat
with the missing party hove into
sight, and the plane returned fo
base.
The party had been delayed be
cause three of its group had gone
ashore to hunt and had lost their
dory.
The forty foot boat, belonging to
Mark Walker, could not get close
enough to the water’s edge to pick
them up. After reaching Seward,
the boat set out with a fresh crew
ancl a new dory to rescue the three
stranded hunters. They were re
turned home by 1:00 a.m. Tuesday
morning. Meanwhile they had eat
en only a few sandwiches during
the two days.
ASG Officals Visit
Seward Businessmen
H. N. Peterson, traffic manager,
and G. S. Duryea, general freight
and passenger agent for the Aias
ka Steamship Company were in
Seward last Friday to discuss strip
ping problems with Seward busi
nessmen.
Peterson stated that in order to
give better service to the Kenai
Peninsula and Railbelt the com
pany’s ships would be making
Seward their first port of call in
Western Alaska. As a matter o;
fact, many of their ships have been
coming direct to Seward from Se
attle for the past couple of months.
Duryea, whose office is in Ket
chikan, will be in Seward every
three or four months to take up
local shippers’ problems, and Pet
erson will also be visiting Seward
several times each year.
In dicussing freight rates in re
lation to the cost of living, Peter
son pointed out that cost of food is
higher in some Southeastern Alas
ka towns than it is in Fairbanks.
He also made the point that Sew
ard businessmen have the privilege
of taking advantage of the com
bination water and rail rate by re
ceiving shipments through Wood
row.
WOMAN'S CLUB RECEPTION
THURSDAY, OCTOEER 13
The Seward Woman's Club ex
tends a cordial invitation to Seward
townspeople to attend a reception
in honor of the Public and Bayvievv
School teachers, to be held at 8:00
p.m., Thursday, Oct. 13. in the
Methodist Church parlor.
The program committee, with
Miss Ruth Hussey, who is physio
therapist at Seward Sanatorium, as
chairman, has outlined an interest
ing program including fire preven
tion and extinguishing by the
woman at home, understanding
your municipal government, teen
age recreation, and other subjects
equally interesting and informative.
It is hoped that such a program
will enable the club to enroll 100
active or supporting members this
year.
The Rev. Martin F. Borbeck, S.J.,
pastor of the Sacred Heart Catholic
Church in Seward, flew to Homer
and Seldovia Monday to visit his
parishioners in those towns. Father
Borbeck’s parish includes Hope,
Kbnai, and all parts of the Kenai
Peninsula.
Fire Destroys
Soper’s Lodge,
$85,000 Loss
H. Martin Soper was in Seward
Monday buying clothing for his
family after a fire destroyed Soper's
Lodge near Cooper Landing early
Sunday morning, causing about
$85,000 damage, including clothing
and personal property.
The fire, which was caused by
an exploding lamp in the kitchen,
spread through the main building
in a flash, barely leaving time for
more than 25 persons to escape
with their lives. Some of the occu
pants did not even have shoes.
Lamps were not ordinarily used
at Soper’s but were being utilized
because of trouble with the electric
generating plant on which Soper
was working at the time the fire
started.
The blaze flared while cooks
were preparing breakfast for guests
and 24 members of the construc
tion crew of Munter-Phillips Com
pany, which is just completing a
bridge over the Kenai River in that
vicinity.
i me uuuumg was loiany ue
I stroyed in less than 30 minutes, and
six hours later, at noon, there were
still explosions of canned goods
that Soper had in his storeroom.
The popping of the cans could be
heard over a quarter mile away.
In addition-to the main building,
the boat house on the shore of
Lake Kenai, and quantities of
liquor, ammunition, guns, and
sports equipment were lost, along
with all personal possessions.
Witnesses at the scene said that
^f a fire truck had been parked at
the door with hose coupled, it still
would have been virtually impos
I sible to save the structure, since
the explosion scattered flaming
gasoline and fumes all over. A
large quantity of bacon was being
fried for breakfast, and the grease
from the bacon caught fire immedi
ately also.
Soper, who is very popular in
this vicinity, started building up
the lodge a few years ago, before
work on the Seward-Kenai road
had begun, and it was only recent
ly that his huge investment had
begun to pay a return.
SS JAMES LICK MAKES
FIRST CALL HERE
The SS James Lick, freighter of
the Coastwise Line is docked at
the Port of Seward to discharge
4.400 tons of cargo for Seward. In
cluded in the tonnage is a large
number of rails for The Alaska
Railroad. »
The James Lick is a Liberty Ship
commanded by Captain W. J. Lane.
Chief mate is W. E. Scrimsher, and
H. E. Morgan is chief engineer. •
Captain Lane is a commander in
the U.S. Navy, now on inactive
duty. He has not been in Alaskan
waters in recent years, but his first
voyage to Alaska was made in 1917.
The chief engineer came to Alaska
first in 1934.
Captain Lane said it may be some
time before his ship returns here,
because of a revision in his sched
ule. The Lick is clearing from iSeiv
ard for a Canadian port. Coastwise
Line has placed another ship in
service for Alaska which bears the
name WoolSey.
LUTHERAN BAZAAR
The Lutheran Ladies Aid Society
is sponsoring a bazaar to be held
in the church, beginning at 1:00
p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 5th.
THE SEA HAWKS’ SPORTS SHOW
Benefit High School Athletic Fund
Seward Hi Gym * 8 P.M. - Friday, October 14