The Seward Polaris &
VOLUME 5 ❖ INDEPENDENT ❖ SEWARD. ALASKA * WEDNESDAY JULY 14. 1948 * UNITED PRESS SERVICE ❖ PRICE 10 CENTS No. 3
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Housing Project Mess
On Way To Be Cleared
• 1
Ex-Mayor Harding was pre- !
seated by Contractor Fred How- !
; rd in substantial! of his claim j
tnat the city through the then !
Mayor had ordered the oil stoves :
in the controversy involving some !
$5000 or $6000 between the City
and Mr. Howard.
Harding 'alleged that Brink
worth was short some $752.00 due
the city in connection with the
sale of certain quonset huts and
that he should be brought back
to Seward and made to explain or
straighten out the affairs he left.
He also stated that he was sure
n his own mind that the stoves
were re-embursable and, if as the
rules and regulations set up by
the F. H. A. for the project state
other furniture and equipment for
homes such as iceboxes and oil
heaters are furnished by the gov
ernment whether mentioned in
the contract or not, are re-emburs
able, the ranges should be in
eluded.
He hinted that it was possible
that certain additions were made
to the contract of the city which
would enumerate these items and
led his listeners to believe the
person who made the changes
was the Housing Engineer, Mr
Brinkworth. but it is assumed
ire acted in good faith even if
the items mentioned were not in
cluded in the bid or Howards
contract. He stated he was anxi
ous for him to return.
Attorney Hutton, who attends
Che council regularly, stated that
the easiest and most satisfactory
way to clear the matter up is for
the City to accept the Howard
contract and include the oil
ranges in the re-embursable items
when they are presented to the
government as the total cost of
he contract so far has not covered
the 'allotted amount of S120.000.00
as appropriated by the Govern
ment for the project.
On the other hand this would I
eliminate any reason for Howard
to bring suit by reason his bid
■did not include the oil ranges.
There are no two ways about
the matter as when one is se
tcted the city is bound to stand
; n that action and cannot change
io the other.
If the government does not
moose to re-emburse the city for
ne stoves the city must pay. If
he city chooses to stand on he
City contract which states the
•loves are to be furnished, How
rd might sue and the City could
ile a counter suit to recover the
mount due on the stoves from
Howard, however, the basis as
:;e puts it, is that the ranges ,
vere not included in the bid, ;
' nerefore, when things unmen- |
tinned in the bid are added after
the contract has been signed it
must be with the consent of the
■contractor. Mr. Howard’s contract
•-joes not mention the furnishing
of ranges or for that matter any
of the furniture and has to do
only with labor and materials
having to do with the construc
tion of the project.
Even sewer and water connec
tions are to be stood by the City
when outside the immediate area
of the project- I
The statement was made in
the Seattle office of the F. H. A.
that certain items and informa
tion were included in the govern
merit's copy of the Contract,
(which is like the city's) which
could not possibly have been in
eluded at the time Howard’s con
tract was written or signed.
•
The contract to build the
Home Economies room was let j
to Jas. Cameron who's bid of
$6756.96 was accepted by the
city at the Monday. July 12th
meeting and a bid by Gerrit
Hoogland for $8249.00 was turned
down.
Camerons bid includes every- j
thing to be done and is a step
forward in the plan to increase i
the school.
The Home Economics room is ,
a permenent addition and will be
about 32 x 50 ft. when finished
In order to pay for this work
it is proposed to sell the present
city hall and lot and move into '
the big U. S. O.
If this is not done the money
will have to come out of the sales j
tax.
School opens Sept. 7. 1948 and
the room is to be ready at that
time.
BASEBALL!
SH |
Everybody was either asleep af
ter working all night on the Bar
anof or out <tt Moose Pass Sun
day afternoon so the Organiza
tion meeting of the Ball Club
did not materialize
Tuesday quite a number showed
up for practice at the Fort Ray
mond Ball Park.
Carl Ling is another ball play
er who signed up this week.
Further word will be given by
phone, poster or in the Polaris
about further activities.
WATCH for them.
Who was the “gal,” who. chang
ing a film and desiring a dark
room to do it in was on board
the Denali on the last trip, bound
for Kodiak spent an entire after
noon in ;t clothes closet changing
the film and why?
Local Man Acts
Fast And Save Lives
What narrowly missed being a
tradgedy Sunday on Trail Lake
at Moose Pass was averted by
quick action on the part of Fritz
Brosseau. who has a boat on the
lake as has also young Denton
Dentons boat was not over
loaded with 3 persons aboard,
two of whom were employed at
the Seward Sanitarium, but some
way the boat overturned in the
very cold water.
Some gut into cars to get as
near to the accident as possible
but Brosseau whose boat was at
the dock near Irene's store shot
over to the capsized craft and in
a very short time had the two
passengers on board. The girl of
the party, whose name we did
not secure was chilled through
and shock and chill were appar
ent for some time but her com
panion was not so badlv off. 'Two
minuts more and she could not.
have lasted." said Mel Horner.
Brosseau shot back to Dentons
boat, got Denton aboard and tow
ed the overturned craft to shore.
Fritz Brosseau who is employed
at Lechner's Machine Shop did a
swell job in the nick of time,
i May we not be the last to con
gratulate him.
City Council Notes
Monday July 12th City Council
meeting opened with all present
except Painter.
The petition of the Liquor Deal- j
ers Association was presented by !
Attorney Robert Baumgartner and i
some time was used in discussion- j
(See story in another column.)
* * * j
i
Request that certain grading of
streets in the Veteran's Housing
Area was refered o Committee and
a report will be made at next
Monday’s meeting,
•¥• *
Fire Chief Kielcheski asked the ]
city to consider the purchase of
a new 2 or 2Vi ton dump truck
and dealers will be asked to sub
mit bids on certain specifications
set forth by Kielcheski and pre
sented by a committee to the car
dealers.
* * *
The June payroll was approved
and will be paid.
* * *
City Engineer Estes has finished
the map of the city and drawn to
scale it is 11 feet long by about J
36 inches wide. The map was ac
cepted and having been author- j
ized last year will necessarily be
paid for shortly. I
Copies for the public will sell
tor $6.00 or $7.00 but will not be
available for perhaps as long as
a month or six weeks. Those
who desire a map should leave
word with the City Clerk.
* * *
A letter from the Mayor of Un
alaska was read. 'See story on
this page i
the City Council will make re
presentations as will the Chamber
to get this matter adjused.
Petitions to the Postal Depart
ment are being circulated and
every citizen is asked to sign j
them at once so they may'be sent j
in.
* * *
The letter from the Wild Life
Commission states their inablity
to stop shooting near the ciy.
An area abou the city can be
set aside as a reserve but this
does not prevent the owners of
firearms from practice shooting.
It was stated that the Legisla
te could set aside a 3-mile area
in which shootion could be elim
inated completely.
* * ¥
A letter from E. A. Dixon of
Whittier in which he makes a
(Continued on paee 4)
Railroaders Took Moose
Pass By Storm Sunday
May Evacuate Chain
Unalaska Mayor Hint
to
A letter from the Mayor of Un
alaska was read at the City Coun
cil meeting Monday night setting
forth the very bad situation
which faces he inhabitants of Un
alaska »nd the entire chain un
less the Mail Boat Service is re
sumed at once as the* plane ser
vice as is now in effect is shown
to be inadaguate to handle heavy
shipments of freight and com
modities.
Quick action will be necessary
m order to eliminate famine con
ditions which are entirely poss
ihle. I
To quote directly from the
Mayor's letter they will "have to
have this service or evacuate."
Congress has increased the
amount of the contract price for
mail service to S250.000 per year
Service bv steamer is not suffi
ciently remunerative to ship
owners unless the mail contract is
included.
Bids have been or are ready to
present by persons interested in
the contract but government red
tape for all the adjitation thus
far made has so far left the Post
al Department unaffected.
Inability of the postal depart^
meat to realize the shortness of
he season and the climatic con
ditions as well as the lingth of
the 1500 mile area to he covered
leaves Aleutian Chain inhabitants
in a serious predicament.
If nothing is done it may be the
job of the Coast Guard to take
in supplies or evacuate these
people in the dead of this next
yinter from that area.
•
Liquor Dealers Assn.
Petition City Council
•
At the City Council meeting
Monday. Attorney Baumgartner
presented a petition or resolution
from a new organization formed
by the local group of Retail Li
quor Dealers in which they asked
that the closing hour be set at 2
A. M. instead of 1 A. M. as it is
now lor week oays anti lor Holi
days and Saturdays they ask that
the closing hour be set at 3 A.M.
A committee was appointed to
look into the situation and to
check he change in prices for li
quor across the bar which, it was
contended by some couneilmen.
was a raise in price but as pre
sented by the Liquor Dealers, was
a matter of agreeing among them
selves to charge the same for all
drinks making uniform prices all
over the town bringing 550 drinks
to 600.
Close co-operation on all points
of law was indicated as has been
the policy in the past.
A move to table the action was
unavailing and the committee
will report next Monday.
It was brought out by Attorney
Baumgartner that the longer
hours and increased revenue
would have a tendency to in
crease the amount of the 2% tax
collectable by the city.
•
With a load of 100 pounds per
dog, Alaskan dog teams average
over 20 milef a day.
What those Moose Pass people*
said about the visiting railroaders
from the railbelt and Anchorage
is a plenty;Jthey like ’em.
Last Sunday they defended a
Moose Pass like locusts—no that
wouldn’t be right,—in point ■ f
'numbers, yes, but they decende l
from the first and second sections
of two trains of 7 coaches each
which contained at least 6f> per
sons per coach. That would be
910 persons. Seward was repre
sented by nearly 200 and other
sections from nearby areas would
bring that up to a full 1200 at
least.
Can you imagine the little
town of Moose Pass being hoit
! and hostess to so many?
“Curley" Wolfe, acting for the
unincorporated Moose Passers pre
sented a huge golden key to the
Raidroaders and received in re
turn a huge golden spike, which,
i probably, will be beaten into a
golden key to present to the next
gathering at Moose Pass
j The day before the picnicers
arrived, Bob Hartwell was in
town getting the place ready that
i is to say, putting up tents in case
of rain, laying out race course's
with white lines and while we
didn't see ’em we’ll bet he did
the same out on the lake for the
i boat races,—he's just that tho
rough.
Well, he goi the tents up and
of course it didn't rain, Bobs wise
to old Jupe. ’twas just insurance.
It was one of those days that
Mel Horner said you see once in
a long—real long-time. Bright,
sunny, warm and calm and no
bugs or mosquitos.
; They had three buses on the
i train and some of the visitors
climbed in and rode to Lawing
j where they met Alaska Nell and
] looked over her Museum; others
: went the other way to Quartz
Creek to try their luck at fishing
! or to Russian River also. Some of
'em stopped at Sopers—that’s a
nice place,—did you ever see the
| mounted animels on the walls?
Everybody had a dandy time
and was back at the Pass to
climb aboard the train at six
o’clock.
Quite a number stayed over,
however, and enjoyed a dance,
and the evening among friend?,
returning later to Anchorage.
“Every one in Moose Pass,”
said Mel Horner, “had a dandy
time and enjoyed the picnic irr.
mencely. The visitors were ordet
ly and seemed to enjoy them
selves. too,—We in Moose Pas?
certainly hope they come again”
—which seemed to be the concen
sus of Moose Pass, judging by
what we have heard.
Mel said the stores wrere so
swamped that, “we all wished
we were twins”.
•-.
VERNON R. HALL
PAYS $100.00 FINE
•
Vernon R. Hall was fined
$100 in the U. S. Commissioners
Court at Seward after pleading
guilty to a charge of driving a
vehicle upon the streets of Sew
ard which was found to be defec
tive in equipment and unsafe for*
operation. The arrest was mader
by the Seward Highway Patrol
man.
•
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