Library 8c Museum
Juneau, Alaska
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VOL. 21, NO. 68_ KODIAK, ALASKA, MAY 19, 1961 PUCE TEN CENTS
Power Scow Chief
Burns At Sea
VANCOUVER, B. C. (IP)—Five
men were rescued from the burn
ing Alaska power scow Chief of
Kodiak late Wednesday before it
sank in the Johnson Straits near
Alert Bay. They were saved by the
Northland Navigation vessel,
Northern Prince, which was at
tracted by dense smoke.
The blast started in the engine
room with the crew unable to get
below. They were taken off before
the explosions and the barge sank.
The skipper of the scow was Bill
Shimmel, 44, of Seattle, who said
20 years work was lost. Other crew
men were Palmer Albertson, 44;
Oscar Albertson, 42; Herbert
Scneider, 42; John Swink, 48, all of
Seattle. The crew watched help
lessly as the $500,000 vessel sank
off Broken Islands, 20 miles south
of Alert Bay.
Shimmel said the scow was carry
ing between two and three-hundred
thousand dollars worth of cannery
supplies and food to Naknek, Bris
tol Bay. Shimmel said; “It was 20
years of hard work that went down.
I worked as prospector, fisherman,
laborer for 10 years, always saving
for the barge, which I bought in
1050. Since then I poured all my
money back into the Chief, like the
$135,000 refrigeration unit I in
stalled.”
They first saw smoke pouring
from the engine room shortly be
fore noon. They turned on all fire
extinguishers, but within 30 min
utes flames engulfed the pilot
house. The crew abandoned ship,
which is partly covered by insur
ance.
Special Term Of
Superior Court
A special term of the Superior
Court for the state of Alaska, Third
Judicial District, is called to con
vene here on Wednesday, May 31,
beginning at 11 a. m., according to
word received from Mrs. A. M.
Vokachek, clerk of the court.
Sessions will convene in the
Courtroom above the Post Office.
The 1961 High School Graduating Class
THE 1961 SENIOR CLASS as they were snapped just prior to receiving their diplomas to become
^rsdustcs*
Left to right they are Virginia Johnson, Zola Petry, Audrey Beck, Melanie Draper, Dorothy Ander
son, William Hall. Gordon Franklin, David Dawson, George Kemper, Dennis Huey. 2nd row: Edward
Spencer, Carol Vail, Jerilynn Smith, Peggy Heglin, Verna Mead, Marjorie King, Jon Jeffries, George
Richardson, James Allain, Lenard Heitman, Kenneth Bortles, Danny Olsen, Jr. Back row: Jack Trent,
Perry Flotre, Gail Zieba, Reinhard Biermanski, Gail Cobb, Alan Herbert, Jerry Chaffin, Carl Ellison,
Donald Penny, Courtney Starbird, Douglas Woody, Alan Austerman and Bob Richmond.
Photo by Ameigh
House Inspection
Invited Sunday
The first Lockwall built home in
Kodiak will be open for inspection
Sunday when open house is held
at the newlyjbuilt home of Mr. and
Mrs. Bob Simon.
The house, located on Mission
Road and 7th Street, is a two-level,
four-bedroom home, with kitchen
and living room on the upper level,
commanding a fine view of the
Kodiak channel and the islands
beyond.
The house was erected by build
ing contractor Cecil Wilson. Agent
for the .Lockwall designed homes
is the Kodiak-Aleutian Realty.
Watson To Juneau
Elwood “Pye” Watson, Com
mander of the Veterans of For
eign Wars Post here, left this morn
ing for Juneau where he will at
tend the state convention of the
group being here there.
Mirrored Reflections
, By SIG DIGREE
All lots offered in the BLM sale
Wednesday went for a higher price
than the advertised minimum bid,
some of them double the price.
The brisk manner of sale and the
bidding is indicative of the faith
of residents here in the town’s
growth and future. It bears out
Gov. Egan’s analysis of Kodiak,
when he said in his speech at the
airport dedication luncheon, that
“the people (here) are convinced
. . . that the future holds great
promise.” He said that Kodiak is a
“community of optimists.”
* # *
One of the buyers of some of the
swamp land offered, said (jokingly,
of course) he’s going to build cab
ins and make it into a summer re
sort . . . This may not be as funny
as it sounds. They have been do
ing something of the sort In Flor
ida for years.
* ¥ *
Elsewhere in this column you
will find some remarks that lack
of space prevented us from print
ing last week. We feel that they
should be said, however. Though
the list as stated is by no means
complete, acknowledgement of
credit should be given where it
is due.
* * *
To single out for special mention,
the name of Dr. Bob Johnson, as
president of the Chamber of Com
merce, must be mentioned as the
inspiring planner, who sparked the
committee heads and members
with his enthusiasm and concept of
a big celebration, which raised the
Festival from a purely local obser
vance to a statewide attraction.
Ray Martin, Festival chairman,
also comes in for a word of praise.
He had many problems in his ca
pacity as chairman, and worked
many long hours. Through his ef
forts the Festival fund is very sol
vent indeed.
Chuck Weir, chairman of the Air
(Continued On Page 4)
FORMER RESIDENT HERE
MARRIES IN PASADENA
Mrs. Ruby Kilgore, nee Jacobson,
formerly of this city, was married
May 7, in Pasadena, Calif., to Mr.
Vilas E. Hull.
After a honeymoon in Palm
Springs, the Hulls will fly to Ha
waii, June 6, where they will make
their home.
Base-Town Buses
Operate Tomorrow
buses to ana from town and the
Naval Station will be provided to
morrow for people attending the
Armed Forces Day open house.
Events on the station begin al
1 p. m. Buses may be boarded from
the old bus parking area next to
Kraft’s Supermarket.
Along The Waterfront
There are many signs of the be
ginning of the fishing season get
ting underway once again—some of
them good and some not so good.
Boats making their annual trek
to Alaska are getting into trouble
—some of it serious. On the local
front, canneries here are just
mildly busy, curtailed somewhat
by lack of crabs due partly to bad
weather. Alaska King Crab have
about fifteen boats out, according
to Emil Norton, general superin
tendent, and operate about three
days a week. They expect to con
tinue until about June 1.
King Crab, Inc. are on quite a
diversified operation these days—
some of the time on shrimp can
ning, then a day or two of crab
canning and then switching over to
freezing halibut. A Canadian boat
unloaded about 15,000 pounds of
halibut here, which was frozen.
A1 King aboard his LAURIE has
been supplying the local market
with fresh halibut, and according
to D and A and Krafts, the two
stores have been doing a nice busi
ness with this fine fish, the first
fresh halibut of the season.
Bob SpringhilJ, superintendent
at King Crab, Inc., states they may
need some more help there for
crab processing. They expect to
process shrimp over the weekend
with a tender coming in late to
night. The RICHARD D is bringing
in crab from the mainland.
Power scows SELDOVIA and the
TOGIK, from Bristol Bay were in
at the dock, as was the COLUM
BIA, a converted landing craft, now
a tender, loading piling and ma
chinery for Bristol Bay.
Also at the dock is the LSM KO
DIAK, which will be tied up there
for today and tomorrow, on an open
house status, welcoming visitors
in connection with Armed Forces
Day observance.
Alaska F~ackers are in-between.
They have been busy with clam
canning. Digging has been hamp
ered by bad weather, but two tend
ers, the WESTERN TRAVELER
and the YARSH have been bring
ing in the clams, the former from
Polly Creek and the latter from
Swikshak beach. Merle Brown is
skipper of the WESTERN and
George Holland the YARSH.
Alaska Packers is readying its
plant at Larsen Bay for canning
reds June 1. Crews for the cannery
are arriving daily.
Some of the cannery officials
seen in recent days are Eric Bul
mer, who came through Tuesday on
his way to Ouzinkie; Justin Strom
left today with his family aboard
a Kodiak Airways plane; Earl Sif
ferman also left on a Kodiak Air
ways plane for Port Bailey. Wayne
Axelson, PAF superintendent left
Friday for the other end of the Is
land, but is back in town again.
Cannery crews are being shunted
regularly to Island operations.
The unpleasantries we referred
to are the several boat accidents
that have occurred lately.
The Chignik Fisheries’ ROBERT
M lost a barge she had in tow. The
75-foot fishing fender JAQUAR
heading up here last week, limped
back to Seattle following an ex
plosion aboard with estimated dam
age of $15,000. Elsewhere there is
a story about the CHIEF, a power
scow, which sank off of the British
Columbia coast.
The Landlubber.
Legal Gambling
Sought By Group
JUNEAU (/P) —An application
for an initiative to bring wide open
gambling to Alaska has been filed
with Secretary of State Hugh J.
Wade, by the Alaska Citizens Eco
nomic Study Group, of Anchorage.
The initiative was accompanied
by the signatures of 147 persons,
including the three sponsors, Har
old E. Deroux, Juneau; Julian Rice,
Fairbanks; Clinton Sharp, Anchor
age. A copy of the proposed statute,
32 pages long, was also submitted.
Secretary Wade said he would
decide by the middle of next week
whether it is in legal form. If he
decides it is, the preparation of the
actual initiative petition will take
another 10 or 12 days, when spon
sors will have to get the signatures
of 6,217 qualified voters to put it
on the 1962 primary election ballot.
Under the proposal all gambling
in the state will be under the jur
isdiction of a three-member Alaska
State Gambling control board.
Tax Privileges
For Fishermen
Legislation past the House last
week which would give fishermen
the same privilege now extended
to farmers in the payment of esti
mated income tax.
Under the measure, rather than
being required to file a declaration
of estimated tax on April 15 of the
taxable year, and paying quarterly
payments, the fisherman who re
ceives two-thirds of his income
from fishing would be permitted
to file an estimated return on Janu
ary 15 following the taxable year
at which time he would pay the en
tire amount. In addition, under the
measure, fishermen, like farmers,
who file their final returns for the
calendar year and pay the tax
shown to be due by February 15
will not be subject to any penalty
for underpayment of their esti
mated tax.
Farewell Coffee
For Mrs. Angell
Mrs. Mariam Angell, wife of Lt.
Cmdr. Roy Angell, USCG, was the
guest of honor at a farewell coffee
held Thursday morning at the
home of Mrs. A. Holmes Johnson.
Mrs. Robert Johnson was co-hostess
at the affair, and Mrs. Robert
Acheson poured.
Other guests present included
friends of the honored guest from
the Naval Station and town.
The Angell’s, accompanied by
their daughter Aleda, expect to
leave early in June for Lt. Cmdr.
Angell’s new duty station in New
York.
Airlines Seek
Merger Approval
JUNEAU (/P) — The Alaska
Coastal Airlines said its top offic
ials and those of the Ellis Airlines,
in Ketchikan have worked out a
plan for their long proposed mer
ger.
O. F. Bemecke, co-manager of
Alaska Coastal, said it must now
be approved by the directors, stock
holders, and Civil Aeronautics
Board.