SEWARD’S
All-^Weathec
SEAPORT
Is Alaska 8
/•’ *
Greatest Asset
4
Vol. V, No. 93
SEWARD, ALASKA, TUESDAY, MAY 24, 1949
Price 10 Cents
Call New Bids
On Small
Boat Harbor
The City of Seward received
notice Tuesday that a second call
for bids lias been issued for the
contract for building a mooring
float in the Small Boat Harbor
here.
Changes have been made in the
specifications and the bids will be
opened on May 2G at 2:00 p.m. in
the office of Engineer Victor Rivers
in Anchorage.
Many Seward businessmen have
expressed disappointment that the
work on the small boat harbor has
been so slow in getting underway.
It now appears, however, that the
project may be completed this
year. *
Struggle for Improvement
Mayor Eugene Lanier and Coun
cilman Oscar Dahl have made it
clear that the City of Seward has
done everything in its power to
have all facilities at the disposal
of the fishing fleet.
It has not been the fault of the
people of Seward that such facil
ities were not available sooner. The
Interior Department, not the City
of Seward, controls the waterfront
here.
Plant Closed Down
For a number of years prior to
the war the San Juan Fishing
Company refused to operate the
plant now owned by the city,
since the company could buy lish
at Ketchikan and save the expense
of transportation.
During these years the plant
deteriorated considerably and it
was only when the army took over
the plant that it was put into oper
ation again.
Dahl said that the city has done
all that it could, and more than it
could to get it into operation. In
the first place, the city raised $40,
000 to buy the plant, and had to
defend its action in court twice.
Every bit of equipment had to be
overhauled before it could operate
and a great part of the plant's
buildings needed extensive repairs.
Full Capacity Soon
In the near future it is expected
that the plant will be operating at
full capacity. The city has accom
plished all this while taking care
of a number of other large pro
jects and at the same time, bal
anced its budget.
i
NEW PARKING STAND
FOR BICYCLES
The Police Department is having
a new bicycle rack built on the lot
next to Bunch’s Liquor Store on
Fourth Avenue. Chief of Police
Leonard J. Clark said Tuesday that
bicycle riders will be required to
keep bicycles off the streets and
sidewalks in the business district.
Clark pointed out five bicycles
parked against a plate glass win
dow of a store front and two more
lying in the street by the curb,
where an unobservant motorist
could easily smash them while i
parking.
The present bicycle rack will
accomodate about ten bicycles. If
more racks are necessary they will
be built, Clark said.
A telegram from E. S. Brunelle,
Clerk of Court in Anchorage, to
Mrs. Anna B. Southard, Acting
U. S. Commissioner at Seward,
announced that the special session
of the court in Seward has been
continued till May 31. Originally
scheduled for early last fall, the
session has been postponed a num
ber of times.
Call Volunteers
For Cleanup At
Swimming Hole
Mayor Eugene N. Lanier an
nounced Monday that the swim
ming hole will be cleaned up
Wednesday evening and called for
all interested citizens to be on the
job at 6:30 p.m.
The city will have graders, bull
dozers and trucks on the scene and
the work should be done in short
order il' enough workers appear.
Last fall Carl Thomas and John
Haines blasted a channel to lower
the water level so it could be
cleaned. After the clean up job is
done, the water level will be
raised.
It was learned that the land on
which the swimming hole is lo
cated is the property of 1). C.
Brownell.
Seattle Businessmen
Here On Visit
Leon Urbach, chairman of the
Chamber of Commerce welcoming
committee, said Tuesday that a
group ol Seward businessmen
would be at the dock to meet the
SS Aleutian when she docks here
Thursday with a party of sixteen
Seattle businessmen.
While a luncheon had been
planned tentatively, due to the
uncertainty of arrival time and the
short two-hour stay in town, it may
not be possible to plan such an
affair.
Members of the Seattle Chamber
of Comeree have made annual
visits to the Territory for many
years. Some of this year’s visitors
are well known from previou.
visits, it i.i expected that all Sew
ard businessmen who can possibly
make it will be present to renew
their acquaintanceship.
Sewardites will remember many
of the names listed in the group
of visitors:
Ross L. Cunningham, associate
editor, Seattle Times; Mike Ded
erer, president, Seattle Fur Ex
change; G. H. Duryea, Alaska
Steamship Company; C. F. Fling,
vice-president, McKesson and Rob
bins; August Krisloferson, presi
dent, A. Kristoferson, Inc.; Ken
neth Meisnest, manager. Wash
ington Athletic Club; John H.
Perry, partner. Perry Bros.; Mor
ton L. Schwabacher, president,
Schwabacher Hardware Company;
Edward H. Savage, commissioner,
Port of Seattle.
Irving E. Stimpson, partner, F.
Baker and Associates; B. R. Stret
ton, vice-president, Standard Oil
Company of California; Walter
Watson, manager, Seattle branch,
Armour and Company; Herb E.
Zobrist; Frank C. Cuiver, sales
representative, Affiliated Gas
Equipment Company; Victor E.
Rabel, president. Star Machinery ,
Company; and A. L. Granson, tour i
manager. !
The James Construction Com- j
pany has received word that it is
the low bidder on construction of
a bridge over Resurrection Creek '
at the town of Hope. The bridge
is being built by the Forest Ser
vice to connect the town of Hope
with the new road built by the
James Construction Company last
year. This new road follows the.
bench along Turnagain Arm for
nearly a mile.
The Chamber of Commerce re
ceived word that 100 contractor's
employes will make an excursion
trip to Seward by special train on
Sunday, May 29. returning to Ft.
Richardson the same day.
Spend $20,000
On Army Dock
Repairs Here
It was learned this week that
maintenance and repair work on
the Army Dock in Seward is to
begin shortly. The $20,000 contract
nas been awarded to the Date Con
struction Company of Cordova.
Among other items, the contract
calls for replacement of a number
of pilings, and the repair of the
sunken track, which settled recent
ly.
j Piling Expensive
The piling to be replaced are the
j biggest item of expense on the
job. They will have to be quite
long because of the great depth or
water at the dock. It is said that
some of these extra length piling
will cost as much as $1,200 or $1,
000 each.
Such lengths will have to he ord
ered before the trees are cut down.
A crew will go out into tne forest
! untl<select the trees to be cut. Aft
er being felled they are brought
to the mill to be dressed and suo
jeeted to creosote treatment in a
pressure tank.
They are then left to cure for a
couple of weeks and given a sec
ond treatment. Then they are ready
for shipment. It takes about
J thirty days from the time they are
I ordered unj.il pilings tire available
for the job.
Celebrate Colony Day
In Matanuska Valley
Palmer-—Saturday, Sunday and
Monday, May 26, 29, 30, will mars,
a three-day anniversary commem
orating the coming of the colon
ists to the "iVIatanuska Vaiie\ 1*4
years ago, it was announced this
week by L. C. Stock, general chair
man of tlie Colony Day committee,
it is planned, tins year, to make
this fourteenth Colony Day one in
which new Valley settlers, who
have come to live on the land since
the end of the war, will be invited
guests of older residents.
* Special guests of honor will be
members of 15 families who are the
living survivors of the earliest
farmers and homesteaders to settle
in the Matanuska Valley. These
guests, who will be seated on the
platform during tiie Sunday ad
dress, will include:
A. A. ‘Tex' Cobb, Carl Engstrom,
Gust Haller, Mr. and Mrs. C. Thorp,
S. Fleckenstine, J. J. Bugge, Jim i
Hanson, Ben Marino, Charles Mar
ino, Mrs. Mary Cornelius, Mr. and
Mrs. Ashley Egvet, G. Gustafson, j
P. N. Johnson, J. R. Springer and |
Mrs. Fanny Werner and family. !
General Nathan F. Twining of
Fort Richardson has accepted the j
committee's invitation to be prin
cipal speaker of the day. His ad
dress will highlight the Sunday
activities, which will culminate in
a free outdoor barbecue late Sun
day afternoon.
CITY POUNDMASTER
ON THE JOB
The Police Department this
week announced that the new
poundmaster is now on the job. He
requests that anyone having a
stray dog he wants to be rid of
shall call Madison 85 and the ani
mal will be taken care of.
It was learned that Forrest Ken
nedy has permitted the use of his
quonset hut located near the swim
ming hole in which the pound
master may confine the dogs he
picks up.
Pet Parade For
Fourth of July
Celebration
Part of the July 4th celebration
will be a pet parade with cash
prizes olfered, it was announced
this week.
Jo Ann Milroy and Gail Jacobs
have been appointed managers of
the affair, and Helen Varnell and
Shirley Cowan are to be the as
sistant managers. The parade will
be sponsored by the McMullen
store.
Detailed plans will be announced
at a later date, but all pet owners
are invited to participate with
their pets. A number of prizes will
be oflered. Tentatively, the idea is
to give a prize lor such features as
the most unusual pet, the best de
corated pet, etc.
Pet parades have been popular
throughout the country for many
jears, and in some of the larger
cities, the number of children par
ticipating runs in the thousands.
Busiest Tourist Season
In History Predicted
Juneau—The 1949 tourist season
will he the greatest in tne history
01 the Territory, it has been pre
dicted by the Alaska Development
Board.
More than 7,000 requests tor
tourist inlormation on Alaska have
been received during the lirst live
months of this year by the Devel
opment Board. On a single day
last week 120 requests were re
ceived.
According 'to inlormation now
available two out oi every three
persons wanting to visit Alaska b\
steamer this year are being turned
uov. n because oi lack oi uecommo
uations. A . travel will surpass
that oi any previous year, 'nine
out ot 'every live requests come
lrom persons wanting to drive to
Alaska.
Many Local Visitors
On June 6 a party ol 16 hunters
and iishermen from Cleveland,
Ohio, are scheduled to arrive here
in a PBY, according to inlormation
received by Gentry Shuster oi me
baleway Airways. Some members
ot the party will hunt Alaska
brown bears and the rest will fisn.
included m the party are a pho
tographer and a news reporter
Iiom the Cleveland press. Press
releases will be wired to Cleve
land daily.
The party has been organized by
iVIr. Winkler oi the mutual mie
Insurance Company. \\ inkier was
an army lieutenant stationed here
during the war. The group expects
to spend at least a week here,
with activities confined entirely to
the Kenai Peninsula.
Laily Arrivals
Small groups and individual
tourists have already begunv to
arrive in the Territory, although
the real tourist season usually
does not begin until after the first
of June.
The Alaska Railroad, the Alaska
Steamship Company, the Seward .
Chamber of Commerce and many
other public organizations have |
sent out thousands of attractive
vacation bulletins. The airlines,
particularly, have flooded the
country with them. The Seward
Chamber of Commerce has recent
ly received 25,000 six-page pictor
ial folders.
TICKETS FOR JUNIOR
WOMAN'S BANQUET
Tickets for the Junior Woman’s
Club banqifet to be held May 31
may be picked up by members of
the Club at Doyle's before Friday,
May 27. It was announced that
the banquet will take place at the
Legion Club.
Soil Survey To
Aid Settling
Of Kenai Area
Eight men and their director,
Thomas Day, arrived in Seward
Monday to make a soil survey on
the Kenai Peninsula. The field
work is to begin about June* 1 and
will cover the areas around Kenai,
Kasilof and Homer.
The purpose of the survey is to
determine the typical type of soil
in each locality and select samples
lor laboratory analysis. Such fea
tures as drainage and plant growth
in each locality will also be con
sidered.
Benefit of Homesteaders
Homesteaders will benefit di
rectly by the survey, since its main
purpose is to determine which
locations are capable of supporting
agricultural enterprises.
The land now being surveyed is
part of that which was with
drawn from entry in recent
months. When the survey is com
pleted, it is understood that it
will be reopened. Certain areas
which cannot be tilled profitably
will be turned to other uses.
Armed with this information,
homesteaders will then be steered
away from land on which they
might otherwise spend long per
iods of labor and all of their sav
ings with no hope of return from
their investments.
It will also.mean that they will
then know which types of crops
would be most suited to the soil
or whether it should be left to
timber or grazing. Another advan
tage will be that they will know
which kinds of fertilizers are nec
essary.
Inquiry has revealed no defin
ite information on the story that
it is planned to establish a colony
of displaced persons from Austria
on homesteads on the Kenai Penin
sula. The story created a great deal
of discussion' in this area, since
so much land has been withdrawn
recently. *
The only general criticism has
been that Americans should have
the first chance at the land. Most
people admit, however, that the
Austrian farmers from the Alps
would have the necessary know
ledge and experience to farm suc
cessfully in this country.
Shipping News . . .
The freighter John Cropper of
the Coastwise Line is due to arrive
at Seward about Thursday with
1930 tons of freight and 274.000
feet of lumber for discharge at
Seward.
The passenger ship SS Aleutian
is due to arrive in Seward about
noon Thursday, May 26. This will
be the first call at the port of Sew
ard since before the shipping
strike last fall.
The Coastal Rambler finished
unloading Monday and departed
for Seattle. On Wednesday, May 25,
the Square Sinnet is scheduled to
sail from Seattle.
CHICAGO ATTORNEY
VISITS SEWARD
Mr. Galen Hunt, attorney with
offices in Chicago Temple, Chicago
is in Seward on his way to Fair
banks where he expects to start a
vacation trip through the Arctic.
Mr. Hunt has visited Alaska sev
eral times, but never spent much
time in Seward before, so he re
mained this year to enjoy the
scenery and he says he likes it
more every day.
JULY 4
Managers
JO ANN MILROY GAIL JACOBS
Giant Pet Parade
CASH PRIZES
- JULY 4
Ass't. Managers
HELEN VARNELL' SHIRLEY COWAN