SEWARD’S
All-cWeatker
SEAPORT
Is Alaska’s
Greatest Asset
_ _ Territorial Library —p v
Seward Seaport Record
Vol. VI. No. 8
SEWARD. ALASKA, FRIDAY, JULY 29, 1949
Price 10 Cents
Gov’t Seeking
Beneficiaries
For S. Security
A search for Social Security ben
eficiaries is going on continually
and James G. Browne, manager
of the Juneau field office, is in
Seward now to make arrangements
for paying a number of possible
claims.
Few people realize. Brown said,
that there is an insurance program
for survivors if the worker dies
without collecting his pension.
A great many people are not
aware that when they pay social
security taxes, they are not only
paying for old age but also for
survivors’ protection. To be on the
safe side, if you have not told your
wife about Social Security, do so.
Tell her where you keep your card
and that if anything should happen
to you she should take your card
or write to the Juneau office of the
federal Social Security administra
tion and apply for the benefits to
which she may be entitled. Only
by doing this can you be sure that
this insurance, which you have
earned for your family, will be
paid to them promptly. As in
other types of insurance, the ap
plication for payment must be
made by the beneficiary, Browne
said.
Those Who Benefit
Monthly benefits ore payable to
the following survivors of deceased
workers:
1. Children receive m o n t h 1 y
payments until they are 18.
2. Widow, regardless of age.
caring for a child entitled to bene
fits, provided she does not re
marry. She receives monthly pay
ments until her youngest child is
18. The payments stop then, but
resume again when the widow is
65 and continue until her death.
3. Widow without children un
der her care receives monthly pay
ments when she reaches the age of
65, if she has not remarried.
4. Dependent parents receive
monthly benefits when they reach
65. provided the worker left neither
widow nor child under 18.
In addition to these monthly
benefits, lump-sum death benefits
are payable if the deceased worker
leaves no one immediately entitled
to monthly benefit payments, such
as widow, child, grandchild or par
ents. If none of these relatives are
living, a lump-sum death payment
is made to the relative or other
person who paid the funeral ex
penses.
For further information, Browne
stated you should write to or call
at the Social Security field office,
121 Federal Building, Juneau.
Tax Statistics Show
City Population
Now Above 3300
The number of taxpayers in Sew
ard has grown from 470 in 1947 to
1187 in 1949, according to figures
released Friday morning by City
Assessor Katheryn Ling. Statistics
show, Mrs. Ling revealed, that a
tax roll of 1187 persons represents
a population of not less than 3300
residents.
The increase had been taking
place steadily since 1940 when the
United States census showed a fi-‘
gure of 987 residents. The rate of:
increase has accelerated in the past
couple of years as shown by the
tax rolls.
From 470 taxpayers in 1947 the
list increased to 720 in 1943 and
reached the top figure of 1187 this
I year. Figures also show that the
I population is becoming more stable
since jobs formerly held by single
j men are now held by married men
! with families. Large property hold
l ings have been broken up and sold
! in small lots to individual owners.
Anchorage Bus Cc.
Asks Exclusive Route
The Matanuska Valley Bus Lino
has asked for a certificate of con
i' venience and necessity for bus
I routes covering terminal points
’ Anchorage, Seward, Kenai. Homer,
! Palmer, Wasilla, Willow, McKinley
] Park. Valdez and Haines,
j Seward and the Kenai Peninsula
I are served at present by the Kenai
Peninsula Bus Lines but when the
| highway link between Seward and
Anchorage is completed, it is ex
! pect’ed that'a system of bus lines
I will link the Peninsula with the en
1 tire Territory.
j The Salisbury Reports released
i by the Alaska Railroad last winter
i recommended that the Government
! finance bus lines for Alaska be
cause there would not be suffi
cient business for private enter
prize to operate at a profit.
There will be a hearing at Ju
neau on Sept. 8, of this year, at
i which interested persons may ap
| pear to show cause why the certi
! ficate should not be granted to
! the Matanuska Valley Lines. Those
who plan to appear must give
; written notice in advance.
LOCAL MAN FEATURED IN
CLEVELAND PRESS
A passenger from a ship was in
to see Leo Douglas at the Northern
Bar the other day to tell him that
his picture with a story had been
printed in the Cleveland Press!
an outstanding eastern daily.
The story was written by George
Davis, who was here with a large
group of businessmen from Cleve
land for hunting and fishing last
month. Davis is a veteran news
paperman.
Talking Peace in Indonesia
Talks between the Dutch and Indonesian Republicans under aus
pices of the United Nations Commission on Indonesia have resulted
in the return of the capital, Jogjakarta, to the Republican Govern
ment. A conference will be held at The Hague on 1 August between
representatives of Indonesia and The Netherlands to discuss the set
ting up of a United States of Indonesia. Here, Dn J. Leiinend,
c •■•cf Republican member of the “Cease Fire’’ subcommittee, c?v
; the situation with Dr. J. H. Van Roycn, of The Nether’:'
Local Property!
Values Show
Huge Increase
A few assessment returns have i
not been completed and some of!
those now in may be scaled down 1
a little, but this year’s assessment i
shows an increase in real property ;
value of $755,045.50 and $371,517.04 <
increase in personal property value
in Seward.
These figures represent an in- 1
crease of well over a million dol
lars over the value listed last year
and brings the total assessable
property value in Seward to the
six million mark.
Returns Slow
Taxpayers have been extremely
slow about turning in the new
individual assessment forms, but
for the most part the property I
owners have assessed themselves
as high or higher than when the :
work was done by the assessor
himself. i
The system now’ in effect was ;
devised to save the city the cost
of having the assessor call on the
individual taxpayer. The sum ot'
S500 was set aside for the job.
Long Hours
For that $500 Mrs. Ling has put
in 792 hours so far and has had to
pay $130 out of her own pocket for
additional help. Last week she put
in a total of 119 hours on the rec
ords.
One reason so much work has
been required is that people have
not yet become accustomed to the
idea of making their own assess
ments. Besides that the assessor
had to list ail automooiles, because
the city ■■revoked the auto license
ordinance and placed them on the
personal property list.
The council also instructed the
assessor to fill out the forms for
people who had not done so. A
total of 120 taxpayers were found
who had never been assessed and
who had not paid taxes. Some of
these w^re owners of new homes
or new cars. Records also had to be
checked on 83 transfers of property
which took place during the past
year.
18-Year-Olds Must
Register for Service
Calling attention to the fact that
failure to register is a violation of
law and makes the delinquent
liable to penalty, John L. McCor
mick. Alaska Territorial Director of
Selective Service, this week out
lined registration requirements un
der the Selective Service Act, 1948,
which he said he believed were not
thoroughly understood by all of
the general public.
"The obligation to register,’’ Mr.
McCormick said, "is a continuing
obligation and must be fulfilled re
gardless of whether men are being
inducted into the armed forces un
der the Selective Service Act. The
obligation to register is imposed by
the Act on every male, citizen or
resident, in the United States be
tween the ages of 18 and 26, with
only the general exceptions of
members of the armed forces on
active duty and certain aliens.”
Within Five Days of 18th Birthday
The young man who becomes 18
is required to register at a local
board office within five days of
the date of his eighteenth birth
day, McCormick explained, but if
he happens to be away from home
he need not return; he may regis
ter at the nearest local board con
venient to him and the record will
be sent to the local board having
jurisdiction, even though it is in
another state. After he registers, it
is mandatory that a registrant keep
his local board informed of any
change in his address or change in
status, the director pointed out.
This applies after he becomes 26
as well as before.
Questioned concerning the man
who did not register during the
(Turn to Page 4)
Tourist Bureau King
Visits Here
On Vacation
Sometimes a man will say after
a vacation that he needs a vacation i
from a vacation and the joke brings !
a laugh. But one man who can say \
that without joking is Ralph C. j
Berry of Kansas City, Mo. Berry 1
owns the largest private tourist
agency in the United States.
Mr. and Mrs. Berry arrived in
Seward aboard the SS Baranof j
this week on their postman's holi- i
day. They came with a group of
sixty Berry tourists and yesterday ,
made the trip to Anchorage on
the special boat train, which re- .
turned here at about 2 o’clock Fri- j
day morning.
Berry is especially interested in !
the Kenai Peninsula as a tourist
mecca, and on Friday morning I
Mr. and Mrs. Eerry were to make ;
the trip out the highway on the
bus.
Inspect Highways
On Peninsula
H. H. Stoddart, division engineer
for the Bureau of Public Roads, and
.1 D._ Reher, assistant to Stoddart,
were in Seward this week on a
routine inspection of highways in
the Territory. On Thursday they '
came by rail from Fairbanks with !
Baird French to make an inspection
of the work on the Seward-Anchor
age link at Mile 58.
Stoddart and Reher were to go
by train to Anchorage Thursday,
from where they will fly to Nome.
Fairbanks, and back to Anchorage
before returning to their office in
Juneau.
Work on the Seward-Anchorage
link is proceeding satisfactorily,
French said. The bridge over Can
yon Creek is completed, but it is
not open to traffic yet. Work on the
other bridges is nearing comple
tion.
Bridge construction is in the
hands of Munter-Phillips, sub-con
tractors to Lytle and Green. The
work has been difficult because
certain sections are practically in
accessible in the rugged terrain.
The Turnagain Arm bench pro
ject is now under way, and tre
mendous quantities of dynamite
are now being shipped in for rock
blasting. The project calls for
building a new rail bed beside the
present one. which will call for
miles of rock fill. The new high
way will occupy the present rail
bed.
WARREN PRELIMINARY SET
FOR FRIDAY AFTERNOON
Sidney Warren, colored, chief
janitor aboard the SS Alaska, was
to appear in the Seward Commis
sioner’s Court at three o'clock for
a preliminary hearing on a nar
cotics charge.
Warren was picked up by local
police when he left the city dock
shortly after the ship arrived here
last Tuesday. He had a number of
marijuana cigarettes in his posses
sion at the time he was appre
hended.
CARD PARTY AUGUST 3
AT SACRED HEART CHURCH
Mrs. T. J. Gerwer will be hostess
at a card party given by the ladies
of Sacred Heart Catholic Church
on Wednesday, August 3, at 7:30
p.m. The party will take place in
the newly decorated Quonset hut
next to the church.
EASTERN STAR PARTY
The ladies of the Order of East
ern Star will hold a card party
and dance at the Masonic Hall,
Saturday, August 6. at 8 p.m.
Everybody is invited to play or
dance.
Cleve Shearer, son of Mr. and
Mrs. K. C. Shearer, entertained a
dozen boys at a birthday party in
his honor, given by his mother on
Thursday, July 22, at the Shearer
home.
Gl Insurance
Refund Papers
Ready Soon
Application blanks for the $2,800,
000,000 National Service Life In
surance special dividend to be paid
to some 10,000,000 present and
former policyholders will be avail
able for veterans August 29, the
Veterans Administration has an
nounced.
The forms will be available in
every post office, VA office and
at veterans’ service organizations
on that date, which is the earliest
the Government Printing Office
can complete distribution of the
7.000,000 forms being printed.
All the veteran needs to do is
to obtain the application, which
is a three-fold card containing all
the instructions necessary to get
the dividend, then fill it out and
mail it to the VA.
In event the veteran does not
know the number of his insurance
policy, the application can readily
be identified by service number,
rank and the exact name used
during service with the armed
forces.
It will be unnecessary for vet
erans to write about their insur
ance number or about the status
of their dividend application, the
VA said. A portion of the applica
tion form will be returned to the
veteran showing that it has been
received and is being processed.
Checks will start flowing out
sometime in January of next year
and are expected to reach a maxi
mum of 200,000 daily.
ANCHORAGE BUSINESSMAN
VACATIONING NEARBY
Mr. and Mrs. E. Wells Ervin of
Anchorage "shipped their car by
rail to Moose Pass this week for
a vacation at Coopers Landing.
They have their three children with
them.
Ervin was formerly with the
First National Bank in Anchorage
and is also well known for his
many business enterprises through
out the Territory.
He expects his brother, Win
Ervin. Caterpillar representative for
the N. C. Co., to be here next
week.
The Ervins will be entertained by
Mr. and Mrs. Leo Douglas of
Seward.
POWER COMPANY REPORTS
FINE C60PERATION
Fine, wholehearted cooperation
from the public enabled the Sew
ard Light and Power Company to
limit its power output while repairs
w'ere being made last week, J. A.
MacDonald, receiver for the com
pany, said Thursday.
As most residents know, the
power plant is operated partly by
water power and partly by diesel
power. During the peak demand
period of the day, the diesel is
ordinarily needed to furnish all the
power needed. Current consumers,
however, cut down their use of
power voluntarily, MacDonald
said, while the big engine was
being repaired.
LUTHERAN BAKE SALE
A bake sale sponsored by the
Lutheran Ladies Aid Society will
be held at Osbo’s Electrical Supply
at 1:00 p.m. Saturday.
FORMER RESIDENTS RETURN '
TO MAKE THEIR HOME HERE
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Lee are enter
taining house guests this week.*
They are Mr. and Mrs. William
Yonker, who lived in and about
Seward for five years during and
prior to the late war.
The Yonkers returned to Seward
from Los Angeles this week, and
intend to make their home here.
They drove over the Alaska High
way. They have 1500 'feet of color
movies which they will show here
in the near future.