SEWARD’S
All-cWeatker
SEAPORT
Is Alaska’s
Greatest Asset
Seward SeaporrKecord
Territorial Library jf C
Vol. V, No. 83
»
SEWARD, ALASKA, TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 1949
Price 10 Cents
Railroad Moves Dock
Office To New Building
railroad moves into new dock offic
The Alaska Railroad moved its
Seward dock office into its new
building last Sunday afternoon.
After many years in the old loca
tion on the dock, with its pot
bellied stove and dark interior, the
new office, with central heating,
light interior and roomy, conven
ient arrangement, comes as a plea
sant change to office personnel.
The office, 72 feet long and 25
feet wide, is situated at the foot
of Fourth Avenue at the entrance
to the dock. It should be more con
venient to the townspeople than
the old office on the dock itself.
The former office is being torn
out and converted into badly
needed warehouse space.
Beside the new dock office is the
new jitney shop. This is a long
quonsett-type building added on
to the old jitney shop. This will
give plenty of space for servicing
the jitneys and leave a little over
for welding and repair work.
LOCAL PASTOR
RECEIVES COMMISSION
The Rev. Paul I. Irwin, pastor of
the Seward Memorial Methodist
Church, has been notified by the
Office of Naval Officer Procure
ment in Chicago that he has been
appointed as Lieutenant, junior
grade. Chaplain Corps Reserve,
United States Navy.
The Rev. Irwin has served in the
136th Field Artillery 37th Div., and
Division Artillery of the 38th Div.
He has just recently received his
honorable discharge from the
Army of the United States and
looks forward with pleasure in
serving the Navy in the capacity
of a chaplain.
Railroad Pians for
Summer Work
Despite uncertainty on the
amount of money Congress will
grant. The Alaska Railroad recent
ly sent out requests for bids on re
laying 101 miles of rail. Comple
tion date is the end of the 1949
season.
In addition to this new call for
bids, the William A. Smith Co. of
Kansas City, Kans., must still lay
55 miles of rail from last year’s
contract. Funds for this phase of
the job have already been allotted.
Rail-relaying is a vital part of
the ARR’s three-year rehabilitation
plan. Recently, the project was
curtailed when Congress cut $8,
000,000 in cash and $10,000,000 in
contract authority from the ARR’s
budget request for the 1950 fiscal
year.
The 101 miles of new rail will be
laid in two sections; namely, from
Caswell (Mile 201.7) to Curry
(Mile 247.8), and from Nenana
(Mile 413.8) nearly to Fairbanks
(Mile 467.9). New 115-pound steel,
already delivered in Alaska, will
take the place of worn 70-pound
track, some of it 25 and 30 years
old.
The job also includes ballasting,
track raising, one short line change
at Mile 212, and tie replacing. Ties
will be placed so there are 24 per
39-foot length of rail, instead of 18
per 33 foot length as at present.
Requests for bids on. 144.1 miles
of bank widening and grade rais
ing— another top-notch priority
program — have already been sent
out. Bank widening is a term
which includes ballasting, tie re
(Turn to Page 3)
Housing Committee
Appointed for City
At Monday night’s council meet
ing Mayor Lanier appointed a
housing committee consisting of
one councilman, two local con
tractors and tlie vice-president of
the Chamber of Commerce.
The purpose of the committee
is to make a survey of local
housing and to determine the
amount of new housing necessary
to bring Seward somewhat Closer
to meeting its housing needs.
One local contractor explained
the need for housing as developing
from the influx of a more stable
population. He pointed out that
while there are not many more
jobs available in town than there
were a few years ago, there is a
new type of worker for the job.
Formerly most of the jobs were
filled by single men who came to
Alaska to work, for a while and
then return to the states. Now the
man who holds the same job has
brought his wife and children with
the intention of making a perma
nent home here.
This means thaL where housing
was formerly needed only for the
single man, it is now necessary to
find shelter for a family.
Local contractors said that if the
Housing Administration makes j
money available at four per-cent
they believe that work could begin
on twenty to forty houses almost
immediately.
Red Cross Completes
Fund Campaign
The American Red Cross expects
to finish up its fund campaign in
Seward this week and it is ex
pected that within a week or so
members will be asked to attend
a meeting to hear a complete
rep(5Vt.
With chapter chairman Mrs.
Mildred Kirkpatrick ill at home,
and fund campaign chairman
Bruce Cruikshank in Connecticut
for a month, the work of bringing
| the campaign to a close has been
slowed down considerably.
| The greater bulk of the dona
tions have been turned in so far
and it is believed that bills can be
paid by the end of the week. The
only bills are cost of materials for
the carnival.
The Red Cross committee felt
that special thanks should be given
the Seward Athletic Association
for the generous offer of the Civic
Center for the evening. In all about
twenty local organizations parti
cipated in the affair.
Same of them were the Regis
tered Nurses Association, the Vol
unteer Firemen, the Rebekahs, the
Catholic Altar Society, the Lions
Club, Eastern Star, Lutheran La
dies Aid, Episcopal Guild, Woman’s
Club, Junior Woman’s Club, Sew
ard Elks and the American Legion.
T|je committee also expressed
thanks to the local businesses who
gave discounts on materials and
to the newspaper and radio sta
tion for publicity.
Vic Murphy received a beer and
wine permit for his new’ chop suey
parlor across from the railroad
depot in Seward.
There will be a special session of
the district court in the courtroom
at Seward May 11 at 10:00 a.m.
Seward Sanatorium Has !
New Post Office
Assistant Postmaster, Tom How
ell, reported Tuesday morning that
the Seward Sanatorium will have
its own post office beginning May
1. The new postmaster is to be
Mel Anderson. It is said that the
name of the post office is to be
Bartlett. The Seward post office
will continue to lake care of mail
for the sanatorium until the first1
of May.
Coast Guardsman
Gets Bronze Star
Lieutenant Freeman Henry Har
mon, commanding officer of the
USCG cutter “Cedar,” now at
Kodiak, was recently awarded the
Bronze Star, with the Combat “V,”
for outstanding service, while serv
ing with the Coast Guard under
the Navy during World War II.
The medal was presented to Lt.
Harmon by Rear Admiral A. E.
Montgomery, Commander Alaskan
Sea Frontier, at the Naval Operat
ing Base, Kodiak, Alaska, with the
following citation:
as f irst Lieutenant oi the
Northland, CG, during offensive
operation in Northeast Greenland
from July 24 to October 1, 1944,
courageous and skillful, Lt. Har
mon voluntarily commanded a
landing force in surrounding and
destroying a German weather sta
tion and capturing valuable equip
ment. On the same day he con
ducted an investigation party
across four miles of disintegrating
ice floe to an abandoned German
.is&L
when the Northland sustained a
broken rudder while maneuvering
in heavy ice, he supervised and put
into operation a jury-rig that en
abled his ship to resume opera
tions. His initiative, courage, and
devotion to duty reflect great
credit on Lt. Harmon and the U.S.
Naval Service.”
For the President:
(s) John L. Sullivan,
Secretary of the Navy.
Originally from eastern Maine,
Lt. Harmon enlisted in the Coast
Guard in October, 1927, and re
ceived his commission as lieuten
ant in 1944. He has been on con
tinuous sea duty since 1942, spend
ing all of it in the north—Iceland,
Greenland, and Alaska.
At The Hotels . . .
At the New Seward — Wm. Ost
man, Verginus, Minn.; Helga
Heimburg: C. M. Mull. Seattle:
Jack Conley, Kenai; A. K. Wood
ward, Seward; Ed Shephard: J. V.
Brown, Jr., Anchorage: O. E. Me
berg, Seattle; Lester J. Asher. Se
attle; W. P. Boos; Carl E. Carter.
Whittier; John O. Pelle, Tacoma.
Wash.
Junior Play “Meet Me In
St. Louis,” April 29-30
On the nights of April 29 and 30
the Junior class of the local high
school will present the famous
comedy by Sally Benson, "Meet Me
in St. Louis.” The scene is laid in
the year 1904 when the World's
Fair is being held in St. Louis. It
deals with the trials and tribula
tions of the Smith family.
With lots of songs and special
ties, “Meet Me in St. Louis” is sure
to provide an evening of sure-fire
entertainment.
Mrs. A1 Davis is expected to
return to Seward for a visit very
soon. Her husband was one of the
original partners of Hoben and
Davis, the Alaska Transfer Co. and
Seward Water System.
Start Blood Typing All
Residents Here Thursday
Prehearing on Air
Service Application
A prehearing conference con
cerning the application of Safeway
Airways, owned and operated by
G. W. Shuster of Seward, for air
service to Homer, Seward, Whittier
and Cordova was held in Anchor
age April 14.
Shuster appeared in person at
the conference, while John E. Man
ders represented Pacific Northern
Air Lines and James L. MeCarrey
represented Cordova Air Service.
Both air lines have filed a petition
to intervene. II. George Kurtz ap
peared for the Civil Aeronautics
Board.
It was agreed at the hearing that
most of the evidence to be pre
sented at the hearing will be in the
form of exhibits or written stipu
lations, which will include factual
data.
Both Pacific Northern and Cor
dova Air Lines will have to cover
such items in their evidence as
present needs and traffic poten
tial, extent of existing routes, ap
plicant’s experience in service,
financial estimate, airmail, opera
tions plans, benefit to public and
other factors.
It was tentatively agreed to hold
the hearing in Anchorage and the
intervenors will have until June 1,
*1949, to present their evidence.
Insurance Policies
For NW Vets
National Service Life Insurance
polices are now being distributed
by the Veterans Administration to
Pacific Northwest veterans of the
Second World War who have con
tinued the insurance, the VA re
! ports.
I The new G.I. insurance policies
| replace temporary certificates the
VA issued servicemen when they
first took out the insurance. No
actTon on the part of veterans is
i necessary to obtain the new po
licies.
Policies the veterans are now re
ceiving contain a full statement of
the provisions of N.S.L.I. contracts
as established by law. They are
I being issued only on renewed term
insurance or on insurance which
veterans have converted to one of
the permanent types now avail
able. The original temporary cer
tificates will remain in effect un
til each veteran has renewed or
converted his insurance, the VA
said.
The VA pointed out that the
new G.I. insurance policies do noj
show the names of beneficiaries
because these may be changed by
the veteran at any time to suit
his current desires or needs. Also\
since information about beneficiar
ies is contained in the veteran’s
VA files instead of on the policy
itself, the veteran does not need
to return the policy when request
ing beneficiary changes.
Veterans who have not brought
their G.I. insurance beneficiary
designation or method of settle
ment up-to-date should notify the
VA in writing so their insurance
files may be corrected.
_ t
Robert Cruzen of this city suf
fered a broken ankle while work
ing on the dock last Saturday. He
was taken to the Seward General
Hospital and is reported to be
recovering.
As a public service the Seward
Tuberculosis Association will begin
taking blood types of all Sewaid
residents Thursday, April 21, at the
Medical Building.
Mrs. Car] Ling said that the pur
pose of the blood typing is two
fold. She stated that as a matter
of personal safety it is very im
portant that a person know his
blood type, so that in an emer
gency it will be possible to give a
transfusion without delay.
The second purpose is to find a
list of possible volunteer blood
donors for the Seward Sanatorium,
where it is necessary to perform
chest surgery in a great many
cases.
All branches of the military serv
ice require that personnel be blood
typed and a record of the type be
kept on file. In addition to this,
every member of the armed forces
is required to wear at all times a
tag with his blood type stamped
on it. This makes it possible to
give a transfusion immediately in
case of an emergency.
There are four types of blood and
it is absolutely necessary that the
patient receiving a transfusion be
given the type of blood corres
ponding to his own.
In addition, when blood types
are taken, a record will be made
of blood count, coagulation, and
Rh factor, all of which are vitally
important.
This information will be on file
at the office of each doctor in Sew
ard. No one knows when he may
be struck with severe illness or
accident. It is to every person's
personal advantage to have his
i blood type on file in case of an
emergency.
Dr. R. O. Sellers has donated his
office facilities and the TB Asso
j ciation will have qualified persons
there Thursday to type all those
who appear. It is a public service.
No charge.
Shipping News . . .
Only one of the seven ships in
port last Friday remained here
Tuesday. The passenger ship SS
Baranof is due to arrive Thursday,
departing Saturday for Seattle
with intermediate ports on its
schedule.
Two freighters are due to dock
at Seward later this week and
j Heine Berger’s boat was due to
arrive Tuesday. Berger has the
contract to carry mail, passengers
and freight to the westward.
DUN AND BRADSTREET MAN
VISITS SEWARD
Mr. John O. Pelle, Dun and
Bradstreet representative, *is in
j Seward this week calling on local
merchants. He is staying at the
New Seward Hotel.
I Mr. Pelle’s home is in Tacoma
where the recent earthquake was
severely felt, and his wife and
children are there. This week he re
ceived a Tacoma newspaper show
ing many pictures of the quake
damage in the Northwest.
Bruce Cruikshank, manager of
KIBH, left Seward Monday for a
month's vacation at his home in
Connecticut.
Mrs. Luther Jones is reported to
be seriously ill at the Seward Hos-'
pital, where she had a surgical
operation last Friday.