The Seward Polaris &
Ife KENAI ALEUTIAN
Peninsula-Chain News
VOLUME 5 ❖ INDEPENDENT ❖ SEWARD. ALASKA ❖ SATURDAY. AUGUST 28, 1948 * UNITED PRESS SERVICE *> PRICE 10 CENTS
No. 16
Rehabilitation Work On
Alaska RR Goes Ahead
School bells will be breaking up
some Alaska Railroad work gangs
late this summer.
That’s because many of them
have a healthy sprinkling of ex
GI's on summer leave from state
side schools and the University of
Alaska. M a n y section foremen
laud their “GI” help, maintaining
that the bos made some of the
best section men they’ve ever had.
One gang who won’t be affected
at all by the new semester recall
to school is the section gang at
Cantwell, 200 miles north of An
chorage Cantwell native women
have been working as section
hands since the railroad went into
operation. Descendants of a tribe
that left the Alaska coast over
300 years ago, the native women
last year helped the Cantwell
crew win the honor of the best
maintained section on the line.
Workmen this summer are busy
on Alaska Railroad rehabilitation
work amounting to close to $11,
000,000 and extending from An
chorage to Fairbanks. In addition,
the Alaska Railroad has been oc
cupied with its own regular sum
mer “house work” of maintenance
and rebuilding.
Largest amount of the mainten
ance work on the track is per
formed by the section gangs.
jnere is a section gang 10 worn
about every ten-mile stretch.
Backbone of the building and
maintenance work at stations
along the line are the bridge and
building gangs. There are 12 such
crews- They use outfit cars which
carry supplies, equipment, food,
and contain their living quarters.
Outfit cars house equipment re
pair shops and even blacksmith
shops. The B and B gangs move
from point to point as work is
needed. The gangs are “drafted”
lor emergency jobs. Three B and
B crews worked round-the-clock
schedules to repair the Kashwitna
River bridge last week.
Foremen of the 12 gangs are as
follows: No. 1, Chris Clausen; No.
2, Ernie Akeson; No- 3, Roy
Thomas; No. 4, Clarence Nolan;
No. 5, Jack Hansen; No. 6, Arrel
Walters; No. 7, Clifford McAdams;
-•Jo. 8, George McCeig; No. 9. Al
bert eNilsen; No. 10, Hugh Savage;
No 11, eNls Belpheim; and No. 12,
W. B. Wilson.
A typical “round of duty” was
performed recently by Clarence
Nolan and his gang at Curry.
Nolan had 16 men and 18 outfit
'ars. They practically renovated
~ne community. Their work in
cluded a variety of jobs, ranging
from the installation of two 75
Iciiowatt power generators and a
r.ew power plant to repair at the
Currv Hotel.
They re laid cable and a new
steel cinder line from the boiler
plant They put up seven Strand
fcteel huts for housing. They erect
ed a new telephone pole line be
hind the houses. They raised the
annex of the Curry Hotel, patched
the roof, and helped put in the
new lunch counter. They repaired
the roundhouse, and installed a
r.ew motor in the “stiff leg.” They
put up a 42-foot high, 25,000-gallon
capacity diesel oil storage tank in
the terminal yards. That and
plenty of minor repair jobs.
Work is progressing elsewhere
elong the rail line on contracts
that are a vital part of the rail
road’s three-year proposed $50,000,
000 rehabilitation program.
About 85 men in rail-relaying
crews of the William A Smith Co.
finished putting down 115-pound
rail from Potter to Anchorage last
Friday.
At Mile 208. 223, and 233, about
300 Morrison • Knudsen workmen
(living in outfit cars parked on
the sidings) are widening banks,
raising track, and replacing ties.
They will carry on to Curry (Mile
248.5).
From McKinley Station north,
work gangs, steelmen and bridge
men of the Alton Phillips firm and
the Cascade Contractors, Inc., are
pressing ahead with the job of re
placing six wooden bridges in a
five-mile stretch. Work is under
way on the steel span at Mile
350.3, bridging a 100-foot deep cut
Morrison - Knudsen crews are
working north and south of Nena
na. In Fairbanks, the M. T.
Munter Co. is clearing 30 acres for
the new ARR terminal yards a
mile south of the old yard. Mor
rison-Knudsen has begun putting
up the new buildings for the yard.
Stress is placed on bolstering
Turn to page (4) four
I ■ ■'' ■ ... ■ -
I 1948 SERVICE
!
I
With a flip of the wrist (steel),
manipulator’s “hands” tear off a
match, strike it against folder, and
light a cigaret for Miss Jane
Campbell, laboratory receptionist
where these mechanical “hands”
have been developed, according to
National Patent Council. The
“hands” can perform delicate chem
ical experiments, operate machine
tools and do countless other tasks,
and are especially valuable when
remotely controlled in a radioactive
area.
SHIPPING NEWS
i
*
The SS Denali, due to return
from Kodiak Island and Cook In
let ports September 1, will make
the following ports of call after
Seward: Yakutat, Sitka, Ketchi
kan and Seattle.
U. S. Draft Registration
Starts On August 30
Men born after Aug. 30, 1922
will lead Ihe list of over 0.000,000
who are between the ages of 13
and 20 who will list names, quali
fications. etc., and answer to the
service call as soon as the govern
ment is ready.
Mrs. Mildred Kirkpatrick will be
in charge of local draft board reg
istration which will take place in
ihe council room of the Seward
City Hall.
Following is a list of the dates
on which persons of a certain age
will register
The horns of registration are
from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Aug. 30—Men born in 1922. after
Aug. 30. 1922
Aug 31-Sept. 1—Men born in
1923.
Sept. 2-Sept. 3- Men born in
1924.
Sept. 4 Sept. 7—Men born in
1925.
Sept 8-Sept. 9—Men born in
1926.
Sept. 10-Sept. 11—Men born in
1927.
Sept. 13-Sept. 14—Men born in
1928.
Sept 15-Sept. 16—Men horn in
1929.
Sept. 17-Sept. 18- -Men born in
1930. before Sept. 19. 1930.
Step-up Of Antisubmarine Warfare...
. . . TRAINING WILL REATCTVATE NINE COWBAT SHIPS AND TKACTIVATir THE USff TOWA
I
Early reactivation of nine com
bat ships—an aircraft carrier and
eight destroyers now assigned to
reserve fleets—to permit intensifi
cation of the Navy's antisubma
rine warfare training program was
announced recently by Secretary
of the Navy John L. Sullivan.
Under the stepped up program
the USS Cabot, light aircraft car
rier of the 11.000-ton Independence
class will be reactivated beginning
October 1, 1948, .and eight 2,200
ton destroyers will be reactivated
beginning in January 1949.
The addition of the nine ships
to the active fleet will be made
possible by the inactivation be
ginning about September 1 of the
USS Iowa, 45,000-ton battleship
now assigned to the Pacific Fleet.
This will leave the USS Missouri
as the only battleship in the ac
tive fleet
The Iowa will join 13 other bat
tleships now held in reserve and
ready for reactivation on short
notice. The release of her person
nel will permit an intensification
of training in antisubmarine war
fare otherwse not possible with
1 the limited funds and manpower
available. The battleships n the
“Zipper Fleet" may be reactivated
on short notice to join the active
fleets with the same weapons
which they used with striking ef
fectiveness in the Pacific during
World War II.
The low#, which is being as
signed to the Pacific Reserve
| Fleet, was commissioned at a
time when the Navy was locked
in a battle to the finish with an
adversary that possessed such
' super-dreadnaughts as the Yarnato
and the Musashi. These Japanese
• ships were larger and carried
heavier guns than any ships ever
built.
Revolutionary developments in
! underwater warfare particularly in
the offensive phases since the end
of World War II emphasize the
need for intensification of the
Navy’s antisubmarine warfare
I training program. A prime factor
! influencing the rapidly changing
| concepts of antisubmarine warfare
has been the development of sub
marines capable of higher sub
merged speeds and longer periods
of submergence than the U-boats
i of the last war.
i The Navy marshalled hunter
; killer groups made up of aircraft
j carriers and escorting destroyers
: and built hundreds of specific con
| voy duty ships to meet and over
j come Germany’s submarine of
fensive during the battle of the
Atlantic During the peak of the
Atlantic campaign more than 350,
000 men in 12.614 ocean-going
Navy ships and a larger number
in aircraft anti-submarine warfare
stations ashore and thousands of
smaller craft were engaged in bat
tle against U-boats. In addition,
the British had comparable num
bers engaged in the battle of the
Atlantic.
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INVENTIONS
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Pnepated TLiumal Patent Gnuudl
FINAL SERMON TO BE GIVEN
SUNDAY BY REV. SKIDMORE
•
Rev- Wyburn Skidmore will
preach his farewell message to
morrow at the Sew'ard Memorial
Church before leaving for Ketchi- ,
kan by plane Tuesday to become
pastor of the First Methodist
Church there.
The Skidmores returned on the
Denali Wednesday from Ketchi
kan where they attended the an
nual Methodist Mission Confer
ence. There the decision to trans
■ fer Rev. Skidmore was made, by
■ representatives of the bishop and
I the mission board.
Since Rev. Skidmore became
pastor here three years ago mem
bership in the church has tripled.
The youth fellowship, Boy and
Girl Scout troops and other youth
groups have been formed under
1 the auspices of the church as well
as new adult recreational projects
such as the monthly fellowship
dinner for newcomers. Under the
direction of Mrs. Skidmore the
choir has been a musical inspira
tion to the congregation. During
the past two years the new Meth
odist church building has been
brought in from the army area,
the cornerstone laid, and the base
/nent almost completed as a com
munity recreation hall.
Although the Skidmores will be
a great loss to Seward, their many
friends here wish them well at
their post at Ketchikan where the
church has a membership of over
300.
Replacing Rev. Skidmroe will be
Rev. Robert Treat who has been
pastor of the Methodist Church in
Juneau for the past four years.
According to Rev. Skidmore the
new pastor is known in Juneau as
a progressive and was instru
mental in establishing a church ifi
Douglas. He is a graduate of the
Garrett Seminary in Evanston,
Indiana and came originally to
Alaska from Michigan. He has
been especially active in Boy
Scout work in the territory,
j Rev. and Mrs. Treat and their
small daughter, Mary Margaret,
are vacationing at present in
■ Michigan and Ohio and are ex
pected to arrive in Seward the
first of November.
I Tonight at six o’clock members
• and friends of the church are in
! vited to a pot luck dinner in the
church basement honoring the
I Skidmores.
PORTLANDERS TO FLY
TO SEWARD SEPT. 10
•
The Henry D. Lindsley. which
sails from Portland next week on
the maiden voyage to Seward, will
be met by officials and friends of
the Coastwise Steamship Line who
will fly here about the 10th of
, September. The steamer is due
here on the 11th.
WANTON WASTE
OF GAME FISH
* *
Any fish left on the banks of
creeks or rivers by fishermen con
stitutes waste and prosecution for
"Wanton Waste of Fish” Sec.
i 201.17 will be enforced.
C. R. MAGEE,
Fisheries Patrol Agent.
Fish and Wildlife Service
i
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