SOCIAL NOTES
_ Homemaking —
Happenings About Town
_ Gardening —
_ —
Of This and That
By Betha Digree
It was “Happy Birthday” to
Walter Kraft Tuesday . . . We
know the cakes baked for the oc
casion by the girls in the Dry
Goods Department were delicious
. We enjoyed the portion we
had . . .
Everything is growing so fast
during these days of sunny weath
er. Flowers are at their peak of
perfection, but Kodiak also has the
biggest crop of bay, dock, pushke
and other weeds in the downtown
area that we have ever seen. It
appears there is a shortage of
weed-cutting implements ... or it
could be a shortage of civic pride.
Whatever the reason, one wonders
what the summer visitors think
about it all . . .
Last week two out of State visit
ors asked us why there were so
few trees in Kodiak, and added
that the town could be a really
lovely place if there were more
trees and a lot of debris removed
... We must agree with them on
that point. Some community effort
could easily change the bad im
pression to a good one . . .
Last Sunday we made our first
visit to one of Kodiak Island’s
cattle ranches and thoroughly en
joyed every minute. We spent a
few hours at the Beaty ranch at
Pasagshak and found it a truly
lovely place. Overlooking the sea,
with a beach on which are deposit
ed many glass fish net floats and
other treasures from the sea dear
to the heart of beachcombers, the
ranch is nestled at the foot of
mountains that loom protectively
in the background. A stream runs
near the ranch buildings, singing
a gay song as it ripples over the
rocks. Fields of lupine were bloom
ing and other wildflowers were
easily overlooked in the mass of
color. Dozens of saucy magpies
flashed through the sunlight, chat
tering angrily at intruders. Healthy
looking cattle browsed in the fields
as we slowly strolled along, and
a sense of peace came to us as we
gazed at the beauty around us.
The friendliness of Joe and
Freda Beaty and their son Jim
added even more to the enjoyment
of the day. It was with a deep
feeling of regret that we said good
bye as we drove away for a cook
out on the beach near the fossil
beds. Additional pleasure was ex
perienced as we drove toward the
beach when we saw two baby foxes
and two young eagles. Finding a
few fossilized clams and other sea
creatures, then eating lunch beside
a huge bonfire of driftwood ended
a perfect day.
Club To Meet
At Kraft Home
Members of the Kodiak Grand
mothers Club will be guests of
Mrs. Edna Kraft at a picnic Wed
nesday, July 27.
The affair will be held at Mrs.
Kraft’s summer home at Holiday
Island.
Mirror classifieds bring results.
'P'uuttiei TRecard Piwoen,
and, Sfajii
Some new “Made in Alaska” ceramics.
Mugs—Bookends—Sugar & Creamers—Salt & Peppers
Phone 2631
9-6 Weekdays
10-8 Friday
Anna’s Apparel
JUST ARRIVED!!!
Cotton Skirts and Blouses
Slacks and Jackets
Bulky Knits
AT A REASONABLE PRICE
Cocktail Dresses
Evening Bags
A Honeymoon Trip on a One-Way Ticket
Results in Permanent Residence Here
By Miriam J. Angell
When William Lamme, Postmas
ter of Kodiak, graduated from the
University of Oregon in 1940 he
lost no time in doing two things
... he married Lillian Shorb and
he bought two cn e-way tickets to
Kodiak, Alaska.
“We told the ticket agent we
were on our honeymoon and I can
still see the look on his face when
we told him we wanted one-way
fares. No one could understand
why we were going to Alaska.
People had so many misconcep
tions about it then and there is
still a carry over of that same
ignorance to some extent, although
statehood has helped to make Alas
ka better understood. We didn’t
know whether we would want to
stay so we said we’d stay for two
When a newspaper needs ink and
none is available your druggist is
the man to see.”
Mrs. Lanime added that they
also handset and printed the first
issues of the Kodiak Bear which
was then the size of the Mirror,
and that once, for a gag, they
printed a few copies on wallpaper.
In 1948 the Lammes sold their
newspaper and looked around for
something else to do. “I came to
work in the post office at Christ
mas time that year to help out
with the seasonal rush, and wound
up with a total of four years before
I was appointed) Acting Postmaster
on retirement of the past Post
master. My permanent appoint
ment came through last May. In
the interim I was also assistant
cashier at the bank and for two
■: AV V:-, ... ■ 2<€ H ' $
MR. and MRS. WILLIAM LAMME
Photo by Ameigh
months and if we liked it, a year.
My standing joke is that we are
still trying to decide whether we
like it.
“I had worked my way through
the university working in restaur
ants. One of the women who em
ployed me opened a restaurant in
Kodiak and offered me a job, so
we came up to take it. A short
time later I went to work for the
base (it was still in the early con
struction stage) and my wife got a
job on the Mirror.”
Mrs. Lamme had had extensive
newspaper experience; when she
graduated from high school she
and her brother owned and pub
lished a string of newspapers in
Oregon. After a year as mi em
ployee of the Mirror, she and her
husband, who had majored in
journalism, bought the paper in
December of 1941. Even before
the sales transaction they had or
dered a linotype machine; until
then the paper had been mimeo
graphed.
“When we bought the Mirror
the timing was bad. We took pos
session one day, war was declared
the next day and the following
day everybody in town cancelled
all their job and want ads. Our
first edition was an Extra to ex
plain the blackout signals and the
evacuation procedures. The lino
type machine we’d ordered was
frozen on the dock in Seattle . . .
strategic metals regulation ... so
we handset all our type. Our circu
lation dropped off about two
thirds. It was a rather bleak begin
ning.”
We asked what other problems
they had encountered under war
time conditions. “Our paper quota
was sufficient but help was always
a great problem. We did run out
of ink once when a shipment was
late. There was nothing to do but
make our own so we went all over
town trying to find lamp black for
a recipe the druggist gave us.
and a half years we were on vaca
tion. Lillian filled in during lunch
hour one day for one of the women
employees (here and she has work
ed for the post office ever since.
“We had not had a vacation in
eight years; we decided to take a
trip around the world and planned
to be gone one year. That was in
1952 and we were gone until 1954.
We spent one whole winter on the
Riviera at Nice, seven months on
the island of Majorca, attended
the Rotary International Conven
tion in Paris, and Queen Elizabeth’s
coronation in London.
“When we got back to the states
we didn’t know whether we wanted
to come back to Kodiak. We looked
up and down the west coast for a
place we liked well enough to live
in but we discovered suddenly that
we couldn’t get back to Alaska
fast enough. Friends outside asked
us what we liked so much about
Alaska. That is hard to analyze
and explain to people who have
never been here but I think one
reason is that it is still a frontier
and one gets a feeling that one is
part of history. It is still a new
land, growing up.
“Alaska has a fabulous history,
and Kodiak, in particular. Most
people don’t realize we are so old,
that when the Spanish were just
building their missions on the Cali
fornia coast, the bells for those
missions were being foundered
right here in Kodiak. Kodiak is
the oldest permanent settlement
west of the Mississippi. It was Alex
ander Baranof’s headquarters for
eight years before he went to
Sitka and his home is also the
oldest house west of the Missis
sippi. The original log frame is
there today, underneath the Cali
fornia redwood siding. One of the
first ships ever built in the west
was built on an island near here
under his direction.
“When we came here in 1940 we
could see traces of the first Rus
sian buildings put up south of here
and used until a tidal wave washed
them away and the people moved
to the present towm site. Another
fascinating bit of ancient local his
tory is the story about the Russian
attempt to colonize the Sandwich
Islands. Can you imagine this . . .
they took some Aleuts from this
area out to the islands and left
them to establish a colony. No
trace of information can I find to
indicate that the Russians went
back at all or as to the fate of the
colonists, but I wonder if they
were absorbed into the Polynesian
group. The Russians took another
group of natives from Kodiak to
the Farallon Islands to catch seals
and seemed to have forgotten all
about them. The natives who took
part in this abortive venture near
ly starved to death. Their only
food was what they could snatch
from the sea or dig out of the
beaches and the only water they
had was what little they could
catch of rain. They were in a piti
ful way when a passing British
ship rescued tnem. The natives’
descendants are living in Kodiak
now.
“The Russians also sold ice to
San Francisco when that city was
just a raw settlement. The ice was
cut from a lake on Woody Island
and shipped down on sailing ships.
We have seen copies of old news
papers in San Francisco advertis
ing Kodiak Ice For Sale. The
wages for ice cutting were two or
three rubles and a jot of rum a
day.
“The man who ranches out on
Chirikof has gotten greatly inter
ested in the history of that island.
It was used by the Russians as a
penal colony and the rancher has
found skeletons with leg irons still
on them. This whole area is so
rich in history that it seems a
shame to me that many people
come here and ignore it. One puts
down roots better and is happier
from learning the lore and back
ground of a place, though they
may live here for only two or
three years.
“One of my favorite stories is
connected with the iron bust of
Alexander Raranof which used to
set in a niche above the door of
the governor’s house. It was un
doubtedly put there to impress
the natives who came to the door
each week for their pay. We own
the bust now and I searched for
a long time to discover how and
who brought it to Kodiak. I think
the man who brought it and a num
ber of oil paintings of the czar’s
family, likewise to impress the
people here, was Count Rezanov,
a nobleman of low degree who fell
in love with Consuela, daughter of
the Spanish governor in California.
He met her on a trading mission
there but the romance engendered
under difficulties; the Spanish
were ordered not to trade with the
Russians. He was not able to make
the trip to see her again for some
time and when he did, his ship
was lost at sea and he with it.
Consuela did not hear of his death
for two years and when she was
told, it broke her heart. She enter
ed a convent and spent the rest
of her life as a nun.
Another bit of fascinating local
history is Father Hermann’s grave
on Spruce Island. Various miracles
have been ascribed to him, such
as the time he was said to have
turned back a tidal wave, thereby
saving an entire village from in
undation. His canonization is in
process now and he will be the
first North American priest to be
given sainthood in the Russian
Orthodox Church.”
The Lammes are both charter
members of the Kodiak and Aleu
tian Islands Historical Society
which was chartered in 1954. Mr.
Lamme hastened to tell us that
not he, but Dr. A. Holmes Johnson
(Continued on Page 9)