Formerly The Sctvard Polaris Sr Komi Peninsula-Aleutian Chain News
Vol. 5. No. 38
SEWARD, ALASKA, SAT., NOV. 13, 1948
Price 10 Cents
Radio KIBH on
Air at 5 p. m.
Tomorrow
x oewara s new racno station, i
KIBH, will go on the air Sunday, '
November 14, with the greatest !
All Alaska Program in the history j
of the territory, with many high i
officials, including Governor
Gruening and Mayor Devin o* oe
attle speaking their welcome.
Originating in Seward with an
inaugural address by Mayor Gene
Lanier, the program will continue
with welcome speeches by muni
cipal and military officials in An
chorage. The hook-up will include
speeches by civic officials of Fair
banks. and other Alaska Broad
casting Stations.
The part of the broadcast orig
inating in Juneau will include
speeches by Governor Gruening,
Delegate E. L. Bartlett, and the
mayor of Juneau.
In Seattle the program will be
in the hands of Mayor Devin, the
Alaska Division of the Chamber
of Commerce, and Mr. M. Spencer
of the Seattle office of the Asso
ciated Press.
The network program, with Ken
Laughlin as Master of Ceremonies,
will be the most widely broadcast
program in the territory’s history,
according to Mr. Wm. J. Wagner,
head of the Alaskjr Broadcasting
Company.
KIBH has been making test
broadcasts since November 4, un
der the supervision of Mr. Berge,
who is an inspector for the govern
ment.
V. F. W. LADIES MEET
AT I. O. O. F. HALL
Future meetings of the Women’s
Auxilliarv of the Veterans of For
eign Wars will be held in the IOOF
Hall. At the first meeting of the
month, November 9, a joint so
cial session was enjoyed by mem
bers of both the VFW and the
Ladies Auxiliary.
A new committee of the Auxil
iary is appointed each month to
visit veterans at the Seward Sana
torium. Last month each veteran
there was given a package of cup
cakes attractively wrapped in yel
low, green and blue cellophane,
all prepared by Donna Lewis.
The next meeting of the Auxil
iary will be November 23.
SHUSTERS ON WAY HOME
FROM VACATION
The Gentry Shusters, who have
been vacationing outside for sev
eral weeks, wrote this week to say
that they have been having a won
derful vacation. Their trip has
taken them down to Montana,
Kansas, and New York, then back
to California.
They wrote from Bannig, Cali
fornia, that they would be leaving
for Seward in a few days. They ;
are traveling in their five-passen- '
ger Gruman Widgeon.
LEGION TO
ELECT OFFICERS
The next meeting of The Ameri
can Legion will be at the Legion j
Club on Wednesday, November 17.!
At this meeting the annual elec
tion of officers will take place.
Mr. and Mrs. Max Pierce have
a new baby girl born Thursday at
9:10 p.m. Her name is Leah Eliza
beth, and her birth weight was 8
pounds 12 ounces.
Booksy Magazines
Wanted By
Sanatorium
Do magazines and books ac
cumulate at your house? Why not
systematically pass them on as
soon as you’ve read them.
Mrs. G. E. Knight, Chaplain and
librarijan at Seward Sanatorium
is asking for current issues of pop
ular magazines. Do not stack
them away until they are out ot
date, but bring them as soon as
you’ve finished reading them. The
men are asking for the current
vvei-Kiv news magazines.
Patients do a great deal of read
ing so the heading matter is
needed to keep enlarging the li
brary. If you have books which
are gathering dust on shelves, and
if they are clear, legible print and
titles which the modern reader
enjoys, why not send them to the
Patients Library at the San?
The following books have been
requested. Carpentry' and Cabinet
Making, Wood Carving, Life of
George Washington Carver, and
books on Alaska.
Miss Huzzy, Occupational Thera
pist. is asking for educational
toys and books for children, chairs
for little tots, scrap leather such
as old purses and hand bags,
crocheting and knitting booklets,
scrap yarn and information as to
where she can secure a second
hand treadle sewing machine.
If you can supply any of these
magazines, books or handcraft
articles, please leave them at Re
liable Cab & Bus Stand or call
Seward Sanatorium, Black 4.
DOGS STILL BIG PROBLEM
TO POLICE DEPARTMENT
Seward City Point? report an
epidemic of distemper among the
dogs running loose around town.
Several cases have been reported,
and steps have been taken to dis
pose of the animals. At the pre
sent time the city has no dog
catcher, but it is hoped that ar
rangements may be made so that
the city truck can be used for re
moving the dogs. Police also re
ported that many dogs without
license tags are roaming the city
streets, and in present conditions
can cause-the spread of distemper
beyond control.
WRITERS' CLUB
FORMED
The new literary club of Sew
ard held its first meeting last
night. Membership will be limited
to those interested in creative
writing, and only those who actu
ally will produce some work of
their own will be invited to join.
There are many people in Sew
ard who have sold articles and
stories in the past, and who hope
to produce more in the future.
These people should be especially
interested, since at each meeting
there will be a period set aside for
reading new' works with round
table criticism and discussion.
Brick Porter of Anchorage was
in town this week on business for
the Railroad Brotherhood. Brick
is well known in Seward as well
as all points on the railbelt. He
worked for the Alaska Railroad
in Seward, before transferring to
Anchorage.
Mrs. Carl Clark of Hope is in
town with her daughter Bertie to
visit their many friends.
Mr. Leonard Henrickson returned
Wednesday noon by plane from a-.
two months trip out side.
Barge Still
Held by Sand
Awaiting Aid
The latest radio report received
yesterday was that the Alaska
Railroad Barge 738 was still
aground at Fern Harbor near Cape
Spencer. Efforts to pull her off had
been futile so far, but the two
tugs from Seattle would soon be
on the scene.
The report said that the barge
was not exposed to any severe
weather, and was resting securely
in place. At the time there was no
apparent damage to the vessel,
and if it had been injured at all,
the damage was still hidden.
No date was mentioned yester
day for the arrival of the wooden
motor ship North Star.
Basketball Season
Opens Tuesday
The first games of the City
League basketball schedule will
get underway at 7:30 p.m. Tues
day. November 16. at the High
Sehoai gym with the Seward Higi
quintet ar.d the Army five vieing
l »r top score. The second tip of
the evening, starting at about 8:45
p.m., will be between the Seward
Hardware team and the Seward
Lie i t & Power team.
All four teams have been in
training for some time and arc
raring to get started on this year's
series of games for the city league
championship.
A total of eighteen city league
game nights have been scheduled
with two games each night.
Games are tentatively scheduled
for Tuesday nights . at the high
school gym and Friday night at
the U. S. O. gym.
Seattle C. of C.
Requests Fuel Plant
The departments of Interior and
Defense will be urgently requested
by the Seattle Chamber of Com-'
Tierce to establish a commercial
fuel plant within the Territory of
. Alaska.
i John M. Perry, chairman of the
i Chamber's Alaska Committee, is
I requesting that the Board take
1 such action, called attention to the
fact that Congress has authorized
! the construction of three commer
i cial synthetic fuel plants in the
United States.
“The purpose of this is to pro
vide that fuels of the. character
essential for defense purposes
shall be available at strategic lo
cations in the event of emergency'' !
Perry said. “Alaska, which now j
constitutes an area of most vital |
strategic importance in the defense
(Continued on page 2>
I
SUNDAY SCHOOL AT
LUTHERAN CHURCH
Beginning Sunday, November
15, Sunday school classes will be
held each Sunday morning at the
Lutheran Church at 9:45. The
Sunday school Superintend
ent will be Mrs. Paul Lee, and
Mrs. Robert Elhard will also teach.
On future dates other teachers
will be there to assist with the
classes.
!
■— - i
Bob Burchard was in town doing!
his winter food buying. Mr. and
Mrs. Burchard have purchased a
location along Kqnai River be
yond Cooper’s Landing.
Airport Improvement Looms
As Mayor Gets Assurance
Of Government Cooperation
Cement Plant I
_ I
Gets Boost \
In Report
The first of a series of reports
on 37 potential Alaska industries
came through this week. The Sal
isbury report is a 61-page treatise
entitled “Alaska Cement." and is
backed up by geological surveys,
complete with charts and maps.
The proposed site for the cement
plant is between Windy and Cant
well, and has been recommended
after a month long job of core
drilling. The work was done by
Jesse Snyder of Churchville, Vir
ginia, Jack Herman of Cantwell,
and Chris Soudet of Juneau, who
are diamond core drillers from the
Bureau of Mines.
The plant would have a capacity
of 1200 barrels a day, and would
have the advantage of location
so that both production and trans
portation would be economical.
The need for inexpensive building
material in Alaska is quite ob
vious, the report said.
Nature has lavishly strewn mat
erials for cement making through
out Alaska, but the best location
along the railbelt is between
Windy and Cantwell. Limestone,
clay, gypsum and coal are all
found in this vicinity, and the
railbelt is in a position to handle
the materials economically from
this point.
The creation of a single cement
plant would result in a monopoly.
For this reason, it was recom
mended that the plant be owned
by the government so the price
would be subject to control.
In a letter received yesterday
by Mayor Gene Lanier lull sup
port for improvement of the Sew
ard airport has been promised by
the Department of the Interior.
The news was released yesterday
hy Mayor Gene Lanier through
an interview in which he said Sew
ard must get down to business and
decide exactly what it wants for
the airport.
There must be a definite pro
gram for the improvement of the
airport, even though it is not all
we could desire, the mayor said.
Without a program in mind, we
don’t know, ourselves, what to
ask for.
It was a lengthy letter from the
Department of the Interior, but
the main idea is carried in the fol
lowing excerpt from the second
paragraph:
“The suggestion has been made,
however, that the Seward City
Council should make a request of
| the Delegate that such funds as
! are necessary should be provided
in a special bill authorizing im
provement of the Seward field.
You may be certain that if you are
able to prevail upon Delegate
■ Bartlett to introduce such legis
, lation, it will have the full support
’ of the Department.’’
| The letter was signed oy Win.
S. Warne, Assistant Secretary of
the Interior, and was addressed to
Honorable Eugene Lanier, Mayor
of Seward.
It has been an acknowledged
fact for a long time that the Sew
ard airport has been quite inade
quate, and many plans have been
proposed. Planes as large as DC
3's have landed at times, but even
with favorable weather the land
ing of such a plane calls for great
care and skill.
Lions Club Scholarship Committee Sets Rules
For Assisting Seward High School Graduate
me toiiowing is a resolution
adopted by the unanimous vote
of tlie Membership of the Seward
Lion’s Club. Governing the selec
tion and awarding of a scholar
ship to a graduate of the Seward
High school, as provided in the
Articles below
Article 1—A committee of three
members shall be elected to ad
minister to the Scholarship fund.
One Member shall be elected for
a period of one year, one member
shall be elected for a period of
three years, and one member shall
be elected at the regular election
of officers to serve for three years
thereafter. The committee* shall
elect a chairman from their num
ber.
Article 2—The amount of the
Seward Lion’s Club Scholarship
shall be sum of Five Hundred Dol
lars, ($500.00).
Article 3—The sum of five hund
red dollars shall be placed in es
crow on or before January first
of each year, to be presented to
the student who received the
Scholarship Award at the regular
High School Graduation Exer
cises at the end of the following
school year.
Article 4—The most worthy
graduate student shall be selected
for the award, who must have
financial assistance in continuing
his education. And in no instance,
is the Award to be given to a stu
dent whose parents, family or
their personal finances assures the
student of a college education.
Article 5—Married students or
students who marry before college
enrollment are not to be consid
ered eligible for participation in
the Award.
Article 6—The decision of the
Scholarship Committee shall be
final and without further appeal to
any other authority.
Article 7—The amount of the
Award will be paid to the Finan
cial Authority of any University
or College upon written notifica
tion from the Registrar of said Un
iversity or College that the selec
tee has registered and enrolled for
the freshman year.
Article 8—Changes, alterations,
amendments in the above Articles
of this Scholarship Award, must
be made in regular meeting of the
Club's Membership, and with the
Unanimous vote of the members
attending.
Submitted for information and
guidance of the Club’s members
In any and all discussions -per
taining to the Seward Lion’s
Scholarship Awards.
Scholarship Committee.
W. C. Erwin * *
Harry L. Smith
Paul G. Nelsbn