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Mirrored Reflections
By SIG DIGREE
The reported move to lift the ban
on importing Russian crabmeat in
to the United States has caused
considerable speculation here,
which is natural.
It is easy to sit back there in
Washington, D. C. and come up
with a proposal such as that with
out weighing the consequences on
a small segment of the country
such as Kodiak. We here in Kodiak
have been used to getting the small
end of the stick, whether it is
roads, or other considerations —
our isolation has made of us the
forgotten island. We apparently
were again forgotten when the Rus
sians (as they undoubtedly did)
came up with the proposal to lift
the ban.
There were few in Kodiak not
so many years ago who thought this
town had much of chance of hold
ing its own, population-wise or eco
nomically. It’s reliance then was
dependent on what the powers-to
be aft the time thought of the value
of having the naval station here,
or at best, whether it should be
on a strictly caretaker basis or kept
as it was.
It was about that tune that Ko
diak litterally lifted itself by its
own bootstraps, or should we say
crab claws, and the development
of a new industry has made it one
of the best towns in the state, with
an economy sound and flourishing.
The crab industry has played a
major part in making it what it is
today. True, shrimp, clams, salmon
and other contributing factors have
helped it along. But, basically, the
men and boats, the canneries that
process the crab, and all those who
one way or another are connected
with this fishery, have put Kodiak
on its feet.
It hasn’t been easy. The men
who tend their crab pots have to
face all kinds of weather, keep
their boats in repair, lose a little
sleep, and generally speaking,
make a living the hard way.
The shape of things bear out the
belief the Russians will “invade”
the Alaskan fishing grounds to a
greater extent than ever in the
future. Russia apparently has it in
mind to corner the fish market—•
bigger boats, a larger fleet—these
aren’t idle threats, they’re happen
ing.
Ironically Russia wants to come
in our backdoor and take our crab
and enter the front door and sell
them back to us.
Giving Russia a deal like this
puts the U. S. at the bargaining
table without anything to bargain
with. Are we to give, give, give con
tinuously?
There is no doubt we as a nation
must give and take in world trade.
We need to ship our goods into
world markets, too. But the rama
facations in this issue point to a
lack of justification for any such
action as will flood the U. S. mar
ket with crab from a country lack
ing in ordinary scruples.
The whole thing has a faint odor
to it—we smell another step in a
master plan to weaken us econom
ically to further their own aims—
world communism.
* * *
Fairbanks is going to have an
election Tuesday that may turn out
to be well worth watching. As we
mentioned before the far North
city have been planning for some
Along The Waterfront
We didn’t hear the “Skater’s
Waltz” being played Sunday but
Bill Wright was pretty fancy-free
on a pair of skates as he glided
over a portion of the small boat
harbor now encased in ice.
Bill is owner of the 38-footer
Fancy Free which is berthed in the
small boat harbor. His hobby we
know for years has been boating,
but another one apparently is ice
skating. Where else than in Kodiak
can you endulge in two such diver
gent sports in the same season and
so close at hand.
The ice in the harbor is said to
be about twelve inches in places.
Small boys were also seen playing
on the ice. It seems to be a great
convenience for boat owners who
can now walk on the ice and per
form little maintenance jobs
around their boats. Alf Madsen for
one was seen as he worked on the
Explorer.
You have to get a little humor
out of the situation which isn’t ac
tually funny at all. Due as it is to
the fresh water that dumps into
the harbor from the drainage
mainly that originates in the upper
area of the Aleutian Homes pro
ject, it has brought considerable
concern to boat owners and City
Manager Bill Poland, who himself
is a boat owner. He has given the
problem quite some considerable
thought, and has come up with a
new “wrinkle” as a solution of the
problem. It is based on the idea of
the fresh water running along the
surface, and diverting it past the
float logs which act as a barrier in
allowing the water to pass out of
the harbor. We’U go into more de
tail in a later issue on this. The
nice thing about this, says Poland,
is that it won’t cost much to try it.
t
That skipperless, crewless Parks
XI, reminiscent of legendary boats
that drifted for weeks without ben
fit of human hands, has finally
found a resting place, according to
Bill Damery, marine surveyor, who
flew over to take a look at it
Wednesday.
The boat is well up on the rocks
between Ocean Beach and Black
Point on Sitkalidak Island, missing
Ocean Bay by a short distance.
George Inga, skipper on the Cape
Trinity spotted it. Damery said the
Parks XI was in bad shape.
time to raise the sales tax one cent
and eliminate the property tax.
Tuesday is the big day for the
voters to decide.
It will be interesting to see if the
voters can see any merit in the
switch-about in levying taxes—we
think the plan has merit. It would
be nice to see some other town try
it out first.
* * *
Old Timer Says: “A father and
mother can support a dozen chil
dren through thick and thin, but
the children want the government
to support the old folks.”
* * *
The lifespan of a dollar bill is
about 13 months, on the average,
while a 10-dollar bill lasts four
years . . . we’re going after 10-dol
lar bills from now on.
* * *
Quite a few of Kodiak’s residents
availed themselves of the fine
weather Saturday and the hospital
ity of Lockheed’s John Thompson,
Station manager of the tracking
station at Chiniak, to attend open
house there. A movie on the work
that goes into the missile launch
ing and afterwards was shown; a
fine dinner of fried chicken and the
trimmings; and a social hour after
wards filled out a very enjoyable
evening.
Seeks Safety Ideas
Alaskan pilots will have an op
portunity to air their views on fly
ing safety at a conference sched
uled in Anchorage May 19.
The meeting, one of six being
held throughout the United States
this spring by the Federal Aviation
Agency, is to include morning and
afternoon sessions at the Z. J.
Loussac library and an evening
gathering at the Commodore room
of the Westward hotel, according
to George Weitz, chief of FAA’s re
gional Flight Standards division
here.
The nation-wide series of Air
Share meetings (air your views;
share the benefits) are being held
in each of FAA’s six regions, Na
jeeb E. Halaby, FAA administra
tor, announced. Similar confer
ences are planned for Santa Mon
ica, Calif.; Springfield, 111.; Atlan
tic City, N. J.; Jackson, Miss.; and
Honolulu.
The Alaskans conference, to
which all persons interested in av
iation .especially aircraft owners
and operators, are urged to attend,
will be held to discuss general avia
tion (business and private flying)
problems and to seek practical sol
utions to those problems, Weitz ex
plained. Theme of the meeting will
be “Flying In the Late Ws,’ and
all civil aviation people will be
given an opportunity to air their
views.
Some wreckage was found near
Two Headed Island down on the
south end, which was thought to be
from Dave Murphy’s Western, but
later reports indicate this is not
likely. The bits of wreckage are
being brought in for closer inspec
tion and identification. No clue as
to the Western’s whereabouts has
been forthcoming to date.
t
Oscar Dyson is making a few re
pairs on his Susie Q which is tied
up in the small boat harbor. Many
of the crab fishermen have given
up for the season and are back in
port.
£
Alaska Packers, King Crab, Inc.,
and Kodiak King Crab canneries
all report a slowdown due to big
blows at the fishing grounds and
cold weather, very little crab has
come in.
Del Valentine of Alaska Packers
flew over to Polly Creek and Ninil
chik this week completing arrange
ments for clam digging. He re
turned today.
A Day For The Irish
Sure now and it’s St. Patrick s
Day.
This year marks the fifteen-hun
dredth anniversary of the death of
St. Patrick—historical authorities
have set 461 A. D. as the year of his
death.
Through the centuries, many leg
ends and controversies have arisen
surrounding the life of St. Patrick.
Almost as many countries claim
the honor of having been the natal
soil of St. Patrick, for example, as
made a similar claim with respect
to Homer. Scotland, England,
France and Wales have each fur
nished their respective pretentions.
PATTERSON WINS
Floyd Patterson retained his
heavyweight title in his ring battle
with the “Hammer of Thor,” Inge
mar Johansson, Monday night, de
spite the fact that he was knocked
down twice in the first roupd and
received several other rugged
punches.
JUNEAU (/P)—The Senate ap
proved establishing more exemp
tions to overtime provisions to
State wages and hours act.
Excluded were employees of
businesses where less than four
were employed on a regular basis;
employees of small mining opera
tions hiring less than 12; agricul
tural empolyees; employees of
newspapers with a circulation of
less than 1,000; seamen, taxicab
operators; loggers and lumbermen
in operations hiring less than 13;
outside buyers of dairy products
and outside salesmen.
Whatever douots may ODScure
his birthplace, however, he came
from a patrician family, as his
name implies.
When St. Patrick was 16 years
old, he was carried off by pirates,
who later sold him into slavery in
Ireland. His master worked him as
a swineherd on the well-known
mountain of Sleamish, in the
county of Antrim. Here St. Patrick
(Continued on Page 10)
Letter to the Editor
Kodiak Mirror
Kodiak, Alaska
Dear Editor:
I wish to express my apprecia
tion to those who have volun
teered their services as fire fight
ers to protect the people and their
homes outside the city limits
through the years. I know that they
only had one thing in mind— to
save a life or to put out a fire, re
gardless of where it was.
While living at the Children’s
Home, there was comfort in know
ing that the fire department would
answer a call in case of fire. This
was especially true since the Home
had burned down twice on Woody
Island.
The people living outside the
city limits have helped the prog
ress and growth of our town by
supporting our sales tax and the
business establishments with their
dollars and cents. I am sure they
will respond if we call upon them
to help fight our fires.
De Witt Fields
FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Your bank is a storehouse of financial
information — available to you on
request.
If you want to find out financial facts
to help you make better decisions on
money matters — use the facilities
of your bank.
tAl. Hochberger, Vice President
KODIAK BRANCH
NATIONAL. BANK
OF ALASKA
Mambar Fadan* Dapaatt Inawanca Caa»
and Fadaral Raaana Syatoa.
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