SEWARD’S
All-cWeatkec
SEAPORT
Is Alaska 8
Greatest Asset
Territorial Library 7 a
Seward Seaport Record
OR*
Vol. V, No. 81
SEWARD, ALASKA, TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 1949
Price 10 Cents
Halibut Fleet Attracted
By Local Cold Storage
The halibut fleet is taking a very
active interest in the city-owned
cold storage plant. Walter C. Pet
erson, manager of the Halibut Pro
ducers’ Cooperative of Petersburg,
lias been in Seward looking over
local facilities.
Besides being manager of the
Halibut Cooperative, Peterson is
an official of the Boat Owners' As
sociation and is a member of the
city council of Petersburg.
That city is famous as having
the greatest per capita wealth in
Alaska. It is the fishing industry
which has made the city prosper
ous.
A great deal of the halibut take
is caught in the near vicinity of
Seward, and it would naturally be
of great advantage of the fisher
men if they could dispose of their
catch here rather than take time
out of the short season to run down
to Petersburg or even Seattle to
unload.
Peterson expressed surprise that
there were so few fishing boats op
erating out of Seward. It is a
known fact that in the past couple
of years there have been a few
boats trying to sell fish in Seward,
but some of these have been
turned away for lack of buyers’
money here.
Apparently the firm to which the
municipal cold storage plant is
leased has found enough financial
backing to buy fisli on a large
scale. If this is true, and if
the local plant is mechanically
equipped to handle the fish, it is
possible that Seward again may
become a fishermen’s port.
Peterson said that a number of
the halibut boats are hoping to sell
fish in Seward this season, if the
local concern can handle the busi
ness. But so far < it is only a hope.
Cost of Living
Getting Lower
It may be a bit hafld to see at
first glance, but the cost of living
seems to be definitely on the
downward trend in Seward.
Of this trend, the most startling
change is to be observed in the
cost of case beer. Dealers are ad
vertising a well known brand of
beer at $4.00 per case instead of
$5.00. • *
' The slight cutback in prices of
fered from time to time by food
dealers has amounted to a sub
stantial decrease and it appears
that dealers are expecting prices
to drop a great deal more.
There has also been a decrease
in the prices of automobiles and it
is said that some retail dealers in
gasoline have reduced the price of
gas for certain classes of con
sumers.
FLEMISH KNOT OF A.S.C.
RECOMMISSIONED
The Alaska Steamship Company
motorship Flemish Knot has been
recommissioned to help meet the
seasonal tonnage requirements of
the Alaska trade, Admiral F. A.
Zeusler, executive assistant to the
president of the company, an
nounced last week.
The Flemish Knot came out of
Lake Washington April 5 where it
had been laid up in the company
yards at Houghton since Jan. 7.
It was scheduled to sail April 10
for Ketchikan, Yakutat, Cordova,
Orca, Snug Harbor, Seldovia, Port
lock, Seward and Valdez.
Captain Albert C. Meyer was
named master. 7 1
Petition City for
Phone Service
Petition carrying approximately
fifty signatures was presented to
the City Council Monday evening,
requesting that the city install and
operate a telephone system here.
The petition was presented to
the council by Van Nyman, and
it is understood that most of the
signatures were garnered among
workers at the city dock.
The basis of the petition was
that the present service is not ef
ficient and that some telephones
are out of order.
A number of telephones have not
been put back in service since a
2300-volt power line of the city
owned Seward Electric System fell
across a telephone cable and
burned out cables, instruments,
and did a considerable amount of
damage to the switchboard in the
telephone exchange.
The petition wiil be given con
sideration by the City Council and
the utility board. The utility board
will be asked to collect information
concerning the cost and operation
of a municipal phone system.
One of the main objections to
the city's taking over a telephone
system is that it would require ad
ditional issue of general obligation
bonds. At present the city is ob
ligated for the electric system and
has just taken on an.extra $125,
000 for the school addition.
The City Council, however, aske !
the city attorney to make a study
of the local phone franchise as
well as the power and water fran
chises.
Some members of the City Coun
cil expressed the opinion that a
rate of five dollars per month for
each fire hydrant is excessive.
Shipping News . . .
The passenger ship SS Alaska is
due to arrive at Seward Friday,
April 15. It will not stop at Valdez
on the southbound voyage as pre
viously scheduled.
The Ring Splice completed dis
charge of cargo Monday and de
parted from this port. The Coastal
Monarch docked here Monday and
the Chief Washakie is due Wed
nesday.
At The Hotels . . .
At the New Seward—Sgt. A. N.
Broydon, Fort Richardson; E. A.
Steward, Fort Richardson; Mr. and
Mrs. D. R. McNeely, Anchorage;
Danny . Kirkpatrick, Anchorage:
Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Conners, An
chorage; Major Robert Libv, Fort
Richardson: F. S. Pampell, Hope;
M. L. Anderson, Anchorage; Walter
C. Peterson, Petersburg; Arnold
Cruickshank, Seattle; Paul R. Lour,
Fort Richardson.
SIX MONTHS FOR
KNIFE WIELDER
Mariano Cadiente was found
guilty of assault with a dangerous
weapon in the Commissioner's
Court in Seward Monday morning
and received a suspended sentence ;
of six months.
When the court inquired whether
he knew what a suspended sen
tence means, the prisoner replied,
“I’ll be good."
He was accused of attacking
Serafin Noya, a fellow crew mem
ber of the SS Baranof, with a
butcher knife.
Face Traffic When
Walking on Highway,
Warn Officials
Both the Seward police and the
Alaska Highway Patrol have j^sked
that pedestrians be reminded to
travel on the left side of the road
when walking. This makes it pos
sible for the pedestrian to see ap
proaching traffic on his side of the
road. This will give a measure of
safety, but it is better to keep off
the highway entirely if possible.
Plans Underway for
July Celebration
And Marathon Race
The world’s most grueling short
distance race will be run again on
July 4th on Marathon Mountain
at Seward.
The shortest time for the race
up the 3,022 foot Mount Marathon
and back to the starting line (a
little over a mile) was 54 minutes,
10 seconds, made by a man who
burst his lungs and died in the
Seward Sanatorium.
The longest period for the race
was something over 70 minutes.
However, the time may be affected
by such conditions as rain, mud,
wind, frost, or even the direction
of the wind, so that it is possible
for the time to vary a great deal
more than it has in the past.
Even though there should be no
more than the 1(3 minute variation
in the time of the race, it has been
figured that with 20 runners the
chances of picking the winner of
the race and the exact second
would be 1 to 19,200.
Ralph Hatch, two time winner,
has broken Jus own record and
Alaskans generally concede that
there is no one* in the Territory
who can better his time. Seward
ites don't think there is any man
in the world who can run up a
mountain faster, unless it could be
another Sewardite.
But there'll be many a runner to
try to beat Hatch’s lime of 58 min.
, 11 sec.
There's always the hope, too,
that it will be a rainy day and
some “mudder" will come along
to run a better race under adverse,
conditions.
The American Legion, Seward
Post No. 5, has taken the task
of promoting the Marathon Race
this year. The Legion, however, is
inviting every organization in Sew
ard to participate with the hope
that a permanent Fourth of July
committee can be formed.
All.those who know of any inter
esting facts about the past history
of the Fourth of July celebration
are asked to give that information
either to the committee or to the
office of the Seaport Record. '
RED CROSS BENEFIT
CARNIVAL A SUCCESS
The Seward Chapter of tne
Ameuican Red Cross announced
that the benefit carnival spon
sored by a number of civic organi
zations last Saturday night was a
success.
The gross amount realized on the
affair was $1024, of which approx
imately $400 will be needed to pay
for prizes and other expenses. This
will leave a clear profit of about
$(300. V
Due to illness and inclement
weather it has not been ppssible
for some of the volunteer workers
to complete all calls in the terri
tories alloted to them, but in the
near future the amount realized
in the drive will be made public.
Bids On Turnagain Arm
Highway Bench Asked
One-Way Traffic by
Fall of 1950
A call for bids wont out Monday
on the joint 12-mile railroad-high
way project along Turnagain Arm,
the Alaska Railroad Engineering
Department announced.
The joint bench, the king pin in
the Seward to Anchorage road j
system, will be finished by Sept. 1, 1
1951. The contract orders eomple- j
tion of the highway section to per- I
mit one-way traffic by Nov. 1, 1950. j
The new railroad right-of-way, ]
closer to the water, will be finished |
by Sept. 1, 1950.
All work will be under the ARR’s
direction.
Available for the job is $2,800,000,
according to the invitation to bid.
Additional funds have been sought
from Congress, but have not as jet I
been granted. No work will be or
dered which can't be paid for from
the allotted money, the call for
bids pointed out.
X no joint nignway oencn will i
move along a precipitous "toe of
the mountain" path between tow
ering rock cliffs and Turnagain i
Arm from the vicinity of Indian or j
Mile lit!.7 to Potter or Mile 100.G.
Survey work has been going on
through the winter and big yellow
surveyor's marks have been paint
ed on the sides of rocks along the
new route.
The plan of action is this:
The new railroad right-of-way
will go down first. The ARR chose
I the bench-side closer to the water
: deliberately so that it can haul
armor rock in ballast cars. The 12
mile stretch must be fortified with
rock to protect it against strong
Turnagain Arm tides. Armor rock
will be hauled from an ARR pit a;
Eklutna since the rock in the Pot
ter-Indian area is not sufficiently
tough for the job.
Trains will, of course, continue
to operate along the old right-of
way while this phase is going on.
When it is finished, the railroad
will switch operations to the now
right-of-way.
Work will then begin on the
highway which will follow the old
ARK route. Track and ties will
be taken up and the ground
smoothed. A 20-foot highway will
then take shape. Turnouts will en
able cars to proceed in both di
rections. This phase will be fin
ished by Nov. 1, 1950.
The highway will then be wid
ened to 22 feet, permitting double
lane traffic.
The joint highway-railroad bench
will link up with the highway
which is being cut now' from both
directions. The Alaska Road Com
mission is putting through tire road
link from Anchorage into Potter.
Max Kuney Construction Co. holds
the contract to build 19 miles of
road from the vicinity of Peter’s
Creek (near Portage) into Indian.
Lytle and Green won the award to
put in the 24.4 mile link that comes
up from the Kenai Peninsula.
M. P. Munter is erecting 15
bridges for this part of the road
system.
The new road takes off from the
present Seward-Hope road at about
Mile 56, mounts a low range into
the Quartz Creek area, moves down
Quartz Creek Valley and curves
around the end of the Arm into
Portage.
The Potter to Indian section is
an engineering project of the first
magnitude. Keeping trains running
while the work goes on will be
something of a problem. Rock
slides can be set in motion by
the blasting.
The size of the project to put in
the joint bench can be gained from
some figuies on material which
must be placed. It includes:
About 1,800.000 cubic yards of ex
cavations; 36,291 cubic yards of
crushed gravel highway surface;
some 8200 feet of culvert pipe of
various sizes; 2,784 feet of highway
guard rail; 68G cubic feet of hand
placed rock embankment: 149.136
cubic yards of select roadway
cushion material; 63,647 feet of
new 115-pound rail; 6,245 feet of
70-pound steel.
Five turnouts will be thrown
across Rainbow Creek at Mile 93.4
and Potter Creek at Mile 100.1.
EASTER ACTIVITIES IN SEWARD
With Easter Sunday only a few
days off, Seward is covered with a
couple of inches of snow and moie
falling at press time.
Although it looks more like a
white Christmas than like Easter
season, preparations are going for
ward for Easter celebrations.
The Seward Elks are planning an
Easter egg hunt at 1 p.m. Sunday
for the children. Few children have
the opportunity of participating in
an egg hunt through snow, but
young Sewardites may have their
chance Sunday.
On Saturday night t'he Elks are
having an informal dance for Elks
and their guests. The orchestra
will start playing at ten in the
evening. At 2:30 Sunday they will
serve; eggnogs from' 2:30 till five
p.m. i
On Wednesday evening selec- ]
.tijons from Handel’s Oratorio, The
1 i
Messiah, will be given by a con
cert choir of forty voices at the
Seward Memorial Church. There
will be no charge and the public is
invited to attend. !
Leading the Easter schedule at
the Seward Memorial Church will
be a sunrise service at 7:00. An
Easter breakfast will be served
at 8:00 by the men of the church.
Bacon and eggs and sourdough hot
cakes lead the menu. Families are
invited to attend the sunrise serv-'
ice and the breakfast.
Sunday School will be at 9:45
and Easter worship service at 11:00.
at which time there will be recep
tion of members into the church.
Masons. Eastern Star and Rain
bow Girls are to attend the 11:00
service as a group.
Sacred Heart Catholic Church
will have High Mass, celebrated
by the Rev. Martin F. Borbeck, S.J..
at 10 a.m. Sunday. The choir of
mixed voices will sing a new mass
for the occasion.
The Rev. Edward M. Turner, pas
tor of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church,
announces that there will be two
services on Easter. At 8 a.m. there
will be Holy Communion with Low
Celebration, and at 9 a.m. there
will be a sung celebration with
Communion, and the choir will sing
Easter selections.
Rev. Turner stated that the rea
son services will be held at the
early hour is that^he will have to
fly to Anchorage to conduct serv
ices later the same morning.