SEWARD’S
All-TVeatkec
SEAPORT
Is Alaska s
Greatest Asset
Territorial Library
Seward Seaport Record
Vol. VI. No. 14
SEWARD, ALASKA, FRIDAY. AUGUST 19. 1949
Price 10 Cents
4-50
City Revising
Warehouse
Assessments
At a meeting of the council after
the board of equalization hearings
Thursday evening the Seward City
Council made the decision to add
a scale for warehouses, chicken
coops, barns, and like buildings to
the tax schedule.
For warehouses the scale would
be 12 cents per cubic foot for
frame construction on posts and
without floors and 15 cents for
those with plank floors. Ware
houses with concrete floors will
be assessed against a value of 18
cents per cubic foot.
Barns oiv concrete foundations or
on creosote posts will be valued at
18 cents per cubic foot and at 20
cents if they have concrete floors.
City officials expressed a desire
to arrive at a better method of
making property assessments ac
cording to the type of construction
and use of a building as well as
its condition.
, The equalization board has been
in session every evening this week
and the members report that on the
whole they have fewer cases of
protests than last year. They ex
pect the more difficult cases to
come up Friday or Saturday eve
nings, however.
Mayor Eugene Lanier explained
that the new city administration
taking office in October must
have sufficient funds to work with.
If the present administration could
have been certain that the sales
tax will be approved, the property
tax could have been lower.
ELKS OUTING SET FOR
SUNDAY, AUGUST 21
The Seward Elks Lodge will have
its second annual outing at Hen
ton’s on Russian River Sunday,
August 21. The outing is for Elks
and their families only.
A baseball game is scheduled for
those who still have a little snap
in their garters, and for those who
think more of skill than speed
horseshoe pitching will be on the
program. There will be a fishing
derby, too.
Members will bring their own
lunches, but hot dogs and pop will
be served.
Recommends Military
Appropriation
For Alaska
Calling Alaska the weakest link
in our chain of national defense,
John Perry, Chairman of the Alaska
Division of the Seattle Chamber
of Commerce, strongly recommend
ed the adoption of the proposed j
$139,000,000 Congressional appro-1
priation to strengthen Alaskan de-1
lenses.
In a wire to the Chamber's Wash- j
ington D.C. offices, Perry requested
that all members of the Wash- j
ington State delegation be urged !
to apply their maximum influence
in behalf of the Alaska defense |
appropriation. Alaska is vulnerable, |
Perry said, which lends encourage
ment to aggresive action by for- 1
eign nations. The amount involved i
in the proposed appropriation is j
leaving the door open to military i
action against the poorly protected !
Territory. j
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Shipping News ...
The Sailor's Splice arrived at ’
Seward Friday to discharge auto- j
mobiles after which she will go to!
Nome. The passenger ship SS Alas
ka will arrive here Tuesday with j
passengers and cargo for the Rail- j
belt.
The Coastal Monarch do ked
here Thursday afternoon at four
o'clock, and two freighters, the
Diamond Cement and Lucidor, are
en route for this port. The John
Cropper is due here early next
week.
HARRIET COOPER WINS
CITY BEAUTIFUL PRIZE
The week's prize of So.00 in mer
chandise at Urbach’s store for the
City Beautiful Campaign was
awarded to Harriet Cooper. Ozzie
Dana and Kenneth Leypn were
accorded honorable mention.
People who visit Seward occa
sionally have remarked at the
great change in the appearance of
the city this summer, although the
change has been taking place so
gradually that residents have hard
ly noticed it.
i This week Novick's Bar and the
Seward Bar, as well as the Chop
1 Suev House, have been brightened
i up with new paint. A new brick
1 chimney on the Methodist Church
I has replaced the unsightly metal
stack. Lt. John Keidser has bright
i ened up the grounds around his
home in the Housing Area with a
I colorful little flower garden.
Progress of 1.1V, Permanent Headquarters
r.
i
Steelwork on eighteen of the 39 stories of the United Nations
Secretariat building in mid-Manhattan, New York, was completed
in July when this picture was taken. A contract was signed by U.N.
and the American Bridge Company for the furnishing and erection
of structural steel for the meeting hall area of the Permanent Head
quarters. The contract calls for 10,590 tons of structural steel at
a ccst of $2,225,090. Delivery is to be made by next October,
and erection is expected to be competed by April or May 1950.
Co-op Board
Requests Bids
On Building
• The Board of Directors of the
j Kenai Co-operative Trading Com
j pany in Seward announced that the
'Co-op intends to carry through
, with its plan to build the east wing
| of the new building on the corner
' of Fifth Avenue and Adams Street
• this year.
{ Prospective bidders have been
I invited to confer with the board of
i directors and to examine the base
i merit which has already been ex
! cavated and walled,
j The invitation to bid does not
I mention specifications, but the
j plans are available at the store.
; Each bidder is asked to submit his
! own specifications in accordance
I with his own views and construc
t tion proposed.
When the erection of the build
! ing was planned last spring, it was
j planned to complete one wing and
I to cover the remainder of the base
| merit with a concrete deck. Besides
! furnishing a large store room, this
plan would add several thousand
feet of storage space'to the amount
, presently available.
For the past three years the Co
lop has been renting the first floor
of tbe I.O.O.F. building. Original
j plans for the building called for
j frame construction, but it was dis
| covered that concrete block con
struction would effect a large sav
1 ing in insurance premiums. The
present call for bids mentions re
i inforced concrete a? well as cinder
j blocks.
paul McMullen enters
WHITMAN COLLEGE
Paul McMullen departed on the
SS Aleutian for Seattle where he
will spend a week with his sister,
Jane, and their brother, Mrs. Ray
: James, before going on to Walla
Walla, Wash., where he will enter
; Whitman College.
Mrs. James left for Seattle last
Saturday and expects to retyrn
next week with her daughter, Jane
McMullen, who will teach fourth
grade in the Seward Public School
this year.
APPLICATION FORMS FOR
G.I. INSURANCE DIVIDEND
Application forms for the special
G.I. insurance dividend for World
War II veterans will he on hand at
the Seward postoffice, at all VA
offices and at all veterans’ service
organizations on August 29, accord
ing to the Veterans Administra
tion.
Approximately 10,000 World War
II veterans in Alaska will share in
the $2,800.000.000 dividend fund to
be distributed to 16 million policy
holders by the VA.
Veterans whose insurance has
lapsed are still eligible for the divi
dend, provided their policies were
in force for at least three months
before the end of 1947, the VA said.
The application form is a simple
one, with complete instructions on
how to fill it out. If a veteran has
misplaced his insurance number, he
need not be concerned, according
to the VA. Inclusion of his service
number and his branch of service
will serve to identify his account.
After the application is filled
out, it is to be mailed to the Vet
erans Administration in Washing
ton. D.C. The VA will acknowledge
receipt of the application.
Veterans should give the VA an
address where they will be for at
least six months. Because of the
tremendous size of the job, the
first dividend checks will not be
mailed until some time in January,
1950. The VA hopes to complete
the distribution in June, 1950.
LUTHERAN SERVICES
Lutheran Church services will be
held at the Seward Lutheran
Church, Monday. August 22, at 8:00
o'clock in tne evening, Rev. A. O.
Odegaard officiating.
C of C Luncheon
Tuesday for
Coastwise Official
Members of the Seward Cham
ber of Commerce will meet at a
12 o’clock noon luncheon at the
Marathon Cafe Tuesday, August 23,
with Ben H. Parkinson, executive
vice president of the Coastwise
Line, as speaker.
Parkinson flew up from San
Francisco Thursday and today
made his request by long distance
telephone for a - meeting with the
local business men.
The Coastwise Line inaugurated
service to Alaska last fall, and re
sumed scheduled operations after
the shipping tie-up in December.
Last week the company announced
that it is placing two additional
ships in the Alaska service and
that besides Long Beach, San
Francisco and Portland, it will also
| call at Seattle.
While the specific topics to be
I brought under discussion at Tue&
: day's meeting were not mentioned,
Parkinson did say that he is tying
to get a complete picture o t.ie
shipping situation here.
Gage Has Schoo!
Siss Contract
The conlract for school bus Lans
I portation this year has been award
ed to Cari Gage, who operate tm
! Reliable Cab Company here.
I In a recent interview Gage as
serted that he will maintain an
i exact schedule so that at no time
j will children have to stand out in
the cold waiting for a bus that is
late. The bus will be well he..tea,
he said.
Gage also operates a bus service
to the Seward Sanatorium as well
as conducting scenic tours for v.si
tors.
W.S.C.S. POSTPONES PICNIC
The Woman's Society of Chris
tian Service has called off the pic
nic which they had planned for
next Thuosday and instead will
hold a business and social meeting
in the Methodist Church parlor at
8 pm. Monday evening.
The change in plans is due to the
arrival in Seward of Mrs. Clarence
Meeker of Medford. Oregon, who
is promotion secretary, and who
will be the guest of honor at Mon
day's meeting. Mrs. Meeker and
her daughter have been making a
i tour of Alaska this summer visit
j ing the W.S.C.S. in each town on
j the trip. While in Seward they will
be guests at the Jesse Lee Home.
! '___
LUTHERAN PICNIC AT
LITTLE BEAR LAKE
Members of the Seward Lutheran
Church and Sunday School and
their friends are invited to a pic
nic at Little Bear Lake Sunday,
August 21. Those planning to at
tend are urged to be at the Lu
theran Church at 11:00 a.m. that
morning.
People who will have extra room
in their cars are asked to bring
them to accomodate those who
have no available transportation.
Each family will furnish its own
lunch and dishes. The Sunday
School will furnish ice cream and
drink. In case of rain the affair
will be held in the church base
ment.
MRS. RAY RETURNS FROM
STATESIDE VACATION
Mrs. L. V. Ray returned this
week from a Stateside vacation of
two months. She visited with her
daughter, Mrs. Pat Williams, and
two grandchildren, Patsy and Der
rick Williams.
Patsy returned to Seward with
her grandmother and Derrick re
mained in Seattle for the school
year. Mrs. Williams will return to
Seward when school starts. During
her stay outside Mrs. Ray also
visited in California.
Susie Davis celebrated her fifth
birthday on Monday, August 13,
with a party attended by 18 chil
dren. Games were played and re
freshments served.
City Must Vote
Once More On
Power Bonds
A Seattle firm, Grande & Co,
Inc., is negotiating with the city
of Seward for the purchase of the
$104,000 in revenue bonds to be
issued by tiie city for the purchase
of additional generating equip
ment and rehabilitation of the dis
tribution system of the municipal
power plant and to retire bonds
now held by RFC.
The bonds now held by the RFC
I amount to a total of $54,000 and
the new equipment and other
work will cost $50,000, making the
total of $104,000.
Special Election
The picture has changed, how
ever, since tne voters authorized
the city to issue the bonds in the
; special election of June 17. It will
I be necessary, therefore, to draw
| up a new ordinance which the
i voters will be asked to approve
'along with the sales tax and the
['increased term in office for city'
! officials.
This will make the third time
that Seward voters have been
called upon to approve a utility
bond issue for the power plant. In
both prior elections a legal tech
nicality has prevented action, al
though the citizens voted approval.
Five Per Cent Interest
William Winn, representative for
Grande & Co., Inc., out.ined the
probable course of action his com
1 panv would take in disc •-ing of
j the bonds for the city. Tire com
pany is working with several cities
in Alaska on bond issues now, one
of which is Fairbanks.
The company has handled bonds
for other Alaska towns at four and
j one-half per cent interest, but
j Winn said he believed it might
j be necessary to ask five per cent
[ here because of the past history
l of the Seward Electric System.
Limit Profit
I The five per cent would not nec
j essarily cost the city more money
| because of the fact that Grande
; contracts to make a profit of not
| more than three per cent. If the
j bonds can be sold for a figure
above that amount, the difference
will be returned to the city.
I Having a maturity date of fifteen
, years, the bonds may be called at
; the end of seven years if desirable,
| providing the city could raise the
| money in that short a time.
Attorneys for the City of Seward,
Plummer and Arnell of Anchorage,
were given the job of drawing up
the new ordinance to cover the is
suance of bonds in the September
election. It is an ordinance pat
terned after those used in many
cities of the country, and will meet
the approval of the bonding com
pany’s legal department.
WOLVERINE SHIPPED TO ZOO
Although the local express han
dles a great variety of pets and
even wild animals for shipment,
Don Wilson got one last w%ek that
made him scratch his head a little.
It was a wolverine being shipped
to a zoo in the States.
Known as one of the most vi
cious animals in the world, it can
tear an ordinary cage apart. This
one was being shipped inside an
oil drum, with a few holes for
ventilation.
It is the duty of the express
agent to feed and exercise animals
but Don Wilson let this one take all
his exercise inside the oil drum.
He said he poked a one inch
board inside the drum to clean it
out and the wolverine snapped the
board in two.
CARD OF THANKS
We wish to thank our many
friends for their kind consideration
and sympathy in our recent be
reavement.
Sylvia Sexton
Neil Sexton