armorial Library
D
SEWARD’S
All-cWeatkec
SEAPORT
Is Alaska’s
Greatest Asset
Seward Seaport Record
Formerly The Seward Polaris & Kenai Peninsula-Aleutian Chain News
Vol. V. No. 74
SEWARD, ALASKA, FRIDAY, March 18 1949
Price 10 Cents
Plan Smelter
For Alaska On
Custom Basis
Plans for a $25,000,000 smelter
somewhere in Alaska to lake care
of the vast mining potential of
the territory are put forth in a
joint senate memorial by Senators
Dawes, Rivers, and Jones.
The mining industry in Alaska,
the memorial points out, lies most
in the future in their opinion,
which is supported by investiga
tions of the U. S. Geological Sur
vey and the U. S. Bureau of the
Mines, w
The memorial points out that of
eight fair sized mining operations
in the Territory five have achieved
world records, even though it has
been necessary to ship ore several
thousands of miles for refinement.
The nearest smelter for gold and
silver and gold and copper is lo
cated at Tacoma over a thousand
miles away. The nearest lead
smelter is at Selby, California, an |
additional thousand miles away, j
Tin and zinc must be shipped to i
the Atlantic coast, the interior of |
the United States, or to foreign i
countries.
While the United States imports
more than fifty percent of the
world’s nickel, it has no refining
plant at all.
A custom smelting plant, cen
trally located in Alaska, could pro
cess all these ores, and provide a
payroll for several thousand men.
In addition such a centrally lo
cated smelter would make it pos
sible to operate on a profitable
basis many of the thousands of
mining claims now lying idle.
One of the determing factors
could very well be the great abun
dance of water pow’er available
for such an operation, and accord
ing to a quotation of Henry M.
Eakin, foremost geologist of the
U. S. Geological Survey, the en
terprise can qualify as self-liquid
ating within a reasonable time.
Development of mineral resourc
es is the key factor in raising an
economy from a subsistence level
to the high standard of the United .
States today.
The Seward Chamber of Com
merce has received a copy of the
memorial, in which the location of
the proposed smelter has not yet
been named. This copy will be
available at the office of the Sea
port Record for the inspection of
any who are interested.
ST. PATRICK'S DAY PARTY
THURSDAY A SUCCESS
A large crowd turned out for
the St. Patrick’s Day party spon
sored by the Sacred Heart Cath
olic Church. The program of vocal
numbers and dancing was well re
ceived with tiny Janice Hassman
stealing the show with her number
“That’s an Irish Lullaby.” Jack
Werner and Paul Doyle sang Irish
duets and Paul Doyle sang a solo
number. A dance by four little
girls in appropriate costumes fol
lowed and Paul McMullen closed
the program with the selections
“Heather on the Hill” and “Who
put the Overalls in Mrs. Murphy’s
Chowder?”
The 10th Rescue Squadron from
Elmendorf Field made an emer
gency flight to Portage Thursday
morning to pick up Robert Hillis
and take him to Anchorage for
hospitalization. Hillis is an engin
eer with the Public Roads Admin
istration on the Seward-Anchorage
highway.
Skating Rink Being
Put To Good Use
By Young Sewardites
The fact that, there rye very few
children running about the streets
of Seward these days was brought
to public attention this week, by
the Seward Athletic Association.
In the after school hours the
number of children found skating
at the Seward Civic Center or
making other use of its recreation
al facilities runs between t>0 and
70 daily.
The crov^d which appears each
night after the youngsters have
gone home has never numbered
less than fifty, and is increasing
as the time goes on.
While the greater part of the
group consists of ‘teen agers' or
those in the early twenties, it is
quite the usual thing to find a
large number of older people and
even a few grandmothers. In the
afternoon some youngsters under
the age of five go skating under
the supervision of their mothers.
Now that the desires of the
skating public have been known
sufficiently, the athletic associa
tion is working on a schedule of [
hours, and it will be published in i
the near future. I
C of C To Honor
Charles Sheldon
Sam Romack announced today
that plans for the banquet honor
ing our postmaster, Charles Shel
don, were progressing nicely. He
and Marvin Viale met Wednesday
find checked over the seating ca
pacity of the Army mess hall and
decided there was ample room for
all who wish to attend.
This banquet is to be held Thurs
day evening, March 24th at 7 p.m.
Tickets will be $3.00 and may be
obtained by contacting Sam Ro
mack, Marvin Viale, George Les
ko or at the office of the Seaport
Record.
Details of the dinner program
are not yet complete but will be
announced in the next issue of this
paper.
JUNIOR WOMEN'S CLUB . . .
The Junior Women’s Club held
its social meeting March 15 at the
Episcopal Church. Hostesses were
Mrs. Leonard Clark, Mrs. Clyde.
Gordon and Mrs. Arnold Apted.
A potluck supper for husbands
of the members was served buffet
style and the evening was spent
at pinochle games. High prize for 1
men was won by Clyde Gordon :
and the high ladies’ prize went to
Mrs. Casey Cobban. Low prizes
went to Arnold Apted and Mrs.
R. M. Bevan.
After the games refreshments
were served.
The club announced that part of
the proceeds from their February
bingo game went to the tubercu
losis association.
Three invitations to bid on con
tracts to supply lumber to govern
ment agencies have been posted
at the Seward post office. One bid
is for IfJOO pieces of 2 x 12s from
12 to 20 feet long to be supplied
to the Alaska Railroad. The other
two are for the Forest Service for
14000 pieces of 4 x 10s from 10 to
16 feet long for a job at Moose
Pass and 3000 bridge timbers from
4Vfc to 20 feet long for a job at
Hope.
Stanley G. Wilson pled guilty
to the charge of operating a ve
hicle without a territorial drivers
license Friday morning in the
commissioner’s court in Seward. He
was fined $50 and given a 90-day
suspended sentence.
City Officials
To Hold Office
Till October
Seward will not elect a mayor
and councilmen this April.
The new territorial law provides
that these officials will continue
to hold office until the new elec
tion date in October.
As a result of the new legisla
tion, Seward’s ordinance govern
ing election of mayor and coun
cilmen is voided, since it is im
possible for a municipality to have
a law on its books that conflicts
with territorial statutes.
Sometime before October the
city council must formulate a new
ordinance as a basis for electing
city officials, and, in order to be
legal, that ordinance must be ap
proved by a special election. It i
could possibly be decided at the
same election in which candidates
are elected for office.
While the law provides that the
terms of office may be two years
for mayor, and two or three years
for councilmen, the length of the
term could be kept at one year if
desired.
The new law, sponsored by re
presentative Clarence D. Keating,
also provides for the election of
the city treasurer, the city clerk,
and the city attorney if the city
itself wishes to do so. There is a
possibility that the election of
school board and utility
members may be postpoi
October also.
Although mayor Eugene Lanier
stated he had not wished to be a
candidate for re-election this April,
he said Thursday that he is glad of
the opportunity to follow through
on the program the present admin
istration has initiated.
The program includes the com
pletion and dredging of the small
boat harbor, black-topping the 1
city streets, collecting back taxes,
straightening out the garbage dis
posal situation, and the new health
ordinance.
One of the most important items ,
on the agenda of the present ad- |
ministration is the projected for- ,
mulation of a city code of ordin- 1
I
ances.
NATIVE SERVICE
LANDING FIELDS
Juneau (Special)—Some means
should be found for building air
plane, landing fields in more Alas
ka native communities, according
to Bob Druxman, Juneau public re
lations counsel, who recently made
an inspection of the Territory for
the Alaska Native Service.
In Alaska way of life today, the
airplane is almost the sole means
of transportation, he pointed out.
Most present landing accommoda
tions are treacherous and unreli
able. When weather conditions are
poor, he said, planes cannot land
on many fields for long periods of j
time.
Improved landing conditions are
needed to gave lives and to im- j
prove the general living situation J
in these communities, he declared, j
The airplane is their most import- [
ant link of communication and ;
everything must be done to make !
uninterrupted service possible.
He said that many villagers !
would contribute free labor if they
could secure the necessary equip- 1
ment and materials for this work.
They would need at least a bull
dozer and, in some cases, would
also require a truck and war sur- •
plus steel landing mats.
C of C Advertising
Folder Ready
For Final Okay
It was announced Wednesday,
by Marvin Viale that the proof for j
the new folder published by the
Seward Chamber of Commerce had
arrived. This is the folder author- j
ized by that body last year and ,
is the culmination of some very !
good work accomplished by the'
committee in charge. The actual i
make-up has been done by the
Ad-Craft Service of Seattle and
the folder will be beautiful in
tones of green and orange on rich
ivory or beige paper.
The Executive Committee of the
Chamber met in special session
Wednesday night to consider ways
and means of financing the pro
ject. Since the original idea was
to print 10,000 copies the problem
was to obtain an additional 15.
000 in order to bring the cost down
to a very low price per copy.
The committee decided that the
folder could do an excellent job of
selling.
last Chance To Sign
League Charter
The executive committee of the
Izaak Walton League has an
nounced that the charter will be
sent in within five days. All those j
who have signed membership ap- ,
plications and payed dues are
urged to take advantage of this
last opportunity of signing the
charter.
Some of those eligible to sign
tTTe charter are listed below:
Stanley Anderson, Dean Bedford,
Alex Bolam, Lloyd Calvert, R. H.
Chaney, Harold Clark, Bruce
Cruickshank, Forrest Davis, Har
old Davis, Robert Davis, F. C. De
laney, John Fish, R. A. Hall, G. E.
Namerly, Vance Hitt. Harold Ja-!
cobs, J. W. Jeffrey, Gus Johnson, I
L. L. Jones, Tom H. Jones.
James Kirkpatrick, Ray Lee, R. .
Murray, Henry Olson, V. F. Reid, j
Daniel Rose, F. D. Rustad, E. M.
Schnoeker, M. H. Seidner, R. O.
Sellers, James Shea, Bert Smith, j
G. E. Sweatt, Elwyn Swetmann, *
Carl Thomas, Dick Thomas, L. E. ;
Whitmore, A. M. Wisdom.
LUTHERAN TO HOLD
BAPTISM MARCH 27
Sunday, March 27, will be a big
day in the Seward Lutheran
Church. Reverand and Mrs. Oder
gaard will both be in attendance
at Sunday School, where Mrs. Od
ergaard will give a Flannelgraph
story for the classes.
After Sunday School will come
the Baptism of Children and also
Confirmation. There will then be i
Adult Baptism and Confirmation
A Communion Service will follow.
In the evening at 5:30, a Fellow
ship Supper will be held in the
Church for members and friends.
Everyone is cordially invited to
attend. This will commemorate the
first anniversary of the Church in
Seward, and a large birthday cake
will be featured. After the supper,
slides will be shown.
Who says Californians do not
like Alaska? The welcoming com
mittee was out again Monday to
meet Mrs. Charles (Barbara)
Anderson. This is the third time in
Ihe last nine months that Mrs. An
ierson has visited our fair city,
rhis time we shall try and keep
Barbara here. Maybe that is one
vay to get husband Charles away
rom their restaurant business at
Vfanhattan Beach, California, for
t visit. Mrs. Anderson is the guest
if the E. V. Nelsons.
Alaska Needs
6,5(50 Houses
Senate Hears
i!ic s>i.).uuu,iHX) housing program
before the Seriate Banking Com
mittee ttiis week would provide
6,000 to 6,500 additional dwelling
units in the Territory.
The committee was urged to ap
prove the hill quickly so that the
Alaska Housing Authority could
start putting up 1,500 houses this
summer.
The Seward Chamber of Com
merce has appointed a Housing
Committee with Bob Freeman as
chairman.
The purpose of the local housing
survey is to have an estimate of
the housing needs of the town
ready when the bill has passed in
Congress.
The survey will include informa
tion on the types of buildings most
desireable for this climate, the
number needed and the number of
people to be housed in each unit.
While 37 new dwelling units
were added to the town two years
ago in the Veterans’ Housing Pro
ject, and many new apartments
and single dwelling units have
been completed, there are still
many people here who are without
adequate housing or living doubled
up with friends or relatives. A
targe number of these houses are
much below standard.
Practically every ship which
docks at Seward brings some build
ing material, and the Chief
Washakie carried practically all
building material on its last trip.
However, there is little hope the
housing shortage will be lessened
this year.
ZENTMIRE ANNIVERSARY
Mr. and Mrs. Virgil Zentmire
were honored by a dinner party on
the occasion of their thirty-second
wedding anniversary Thursday.
March 17. The dinner was given at
the home of Mr. and Mrs. Harry
Southard, with Mrs. Del Zentmire
and Mrs. E. L. Senft assisting in
the roles of hostesses
Ice Pool
Breakup Dates
At Nenana
1917 April 30. 11:30 a.m.
1918 May 11, 9:33 a m.
1919 May 3, 2:33 p.m.
1920 May 11, 10:46 a.m.
1921 ^ May 11, 6:42 a.m.
1922 . May 12. 1:20 p.m.
1923 . May 9. 2:00'p.m.
1924 . May 11, 3:10 p.m.
1925 . May 7, 6:32 p.m.
1926 . April 26. 4:03 p.m.
1927 . May 13, 5:42 a.m.
1928 . May 6, 4:25 p.m.
1929 . May 5, 3:41 p.m.
1930 . May 8. 7:03 p.m.
1931 . May 10, 9:23 a.m.
1932 .* May 1, 10:15 a.m.
1933 . May 8, 7:03 p.m.
1934 April 30, 2:07 p.m.
1935 . May 15, 1:32 p.m.
1936 . April 30, 12:58 p.m.
1937 . May 12, 8:04 p.m.
1938 . May 6, 8:14 p.m.
939 . April 29, 1:26 p.m.
1940 . April 20, 3:27 p.m.
941 . May 3, 1:50 a.m.
942 . April 30, 1:28 p.m.
9^g . April 28, 7:22 p.m.
944 . May 4, 2:08 p.m.
945 . May 16, 9:41 a.m.
946 May 5, 4:40 p.m.
947 . May 3, 5:53 p.m.
948 . May 13, 11:13 a.m.