.
M
k v '
Library & Museum
Juneau, Alaska
i
VOL. 21, NO. 87_KODIAK, ALASKA, MARCH 3, 1961 PRICE TEN CENTS
-t i) ihuhwju.., 5:-: •:«>^^<\-^v:.:-«-''->':v>>>>-/
High Winds Play Havoc With Boats;
Dave Murphy’s Western Reported Lost
Four known boats broke from
their moorings and power outages
were the rule of the night Tuesday,
when Kodiak was hit by winds of
80-90-mile velocity and gusts re
corded up to 135 mph.
Two boats, the Kasilof and the
Hekla broke from their moorings
at the King Crab, Inc. dock about
12 midnight and despite efforts of
crew members, drifted ashore just
adjacent to the Southwest break
water of the Small Boat Harbor.
The accompanying picture shows
the Hekla in the forefront and the
Kasilof nearby.
The two boats as well as several
others were in trouble during the
chilly night. Heavy lines were used
but snapped as the high velocity
winds tore the boats from their
moorings. In the channel, the two
tenders were helpless in the blow.
OUTDOORSMEN TO MEET
Kodiak Outdoorsmen meeting is
scheduled for Tuesday, March 6.
All members are urged to attend
the meeting as officers will be
elected for the coming year.
Bill Protects Independent Fishermen
JUNEAU (A*)—Rep. Jay Ham
mond (R-Naknek) said Thursday
he will introduce legislation de
signed to protect Alaska’s indepen
dent commercial salmon fishermen
during low-cycle years.
The bill, which has the backing
of Sen. B. J. Logan (D-Cordova),
chairman of the Senate Resources
Committee, will be drafted so as to
conform with the privileges and
immunities clause of the United
States constitution.
In brief, the bill would permit
the Fish and Game Department to
limit fishing in specific areas to
bonafide commercial fishermen un
der a quota system when forecast
is for a poor run; it would estab
lish a new class of fishermen
known as bonafide commercial
fishermen. The bill would establish
the run average for given areas,
then would establish a cost of liv
ing index for areas, and upon that
would establish at current fish
price what would be considered a
cost of living quota.
“For example,” Hammond stated,
“We might determine that 3,000
salmon would provide an individ
ual fisherman with adequate in
come for a year. Bonafide fisher
men, during short years, would
have the right to fishing priority
rights in an area short of salmon
until 75 per cent of bonafide fish
ermen have caught 3,000 fish. Bona
fide fishermen could keep fishing
if they caught 3,000.”
Bonifide fishermen would be
those who depend for at least 75
per cent of their income on Alas
kan fishery or make less than
$5,000.
The Hammond bill will provide
for non-resident commercial fish
ermen license of $600, and a resi
dent commercial fishermen license
of $200, providing resident bonafide
fishermen could purchase a license
for $10 and non-resident bonafide
commercial fishermen could pur
chase a license for $30.
Two other bills dealing with the
problem have been introduced in
the Legislature, one in the Senate
by Logan, and another in the
House, by Hammond.
Both bills, Hammond said, have
been questioned on a constitutional
basis.
The fishing bill he and Ham
mond have introduced, Logan said,
are designed to “relieve economic
pressure on the smaller fishing
centers in years of bad runs and
also to provide conservation meth
ods.”
Staff Photo
The following morning the CG
cutter Bittersweet anchored out,
lines were passed between it and
the Hekla and at high tide an at
tempt was made to float the ten
der which failed.
Another attempt is being made
today. Russ Wright’s cat was used
to reposition the boat, and she is
expected to float without trouble.
Another boat also tied up at the
dock made it safely into the small
boat harbor. A third boat, the
Parks XI, broke away from its
mooring at Alaska Packers and
drifted out to sea. Up to press time,
it had not been located. The boat
had just been overhauled.
A fourth boat didn’t fare even
that well. This was the Hilder
which sank at the Alaska Packers
dock. The boat is owned by R. D.
Van Buren. A salvage crew, headed
by Fred Brechen, worked on the
Hilder Thursday night.
Reports have come in that two
other boats met with disaster dur
ing the blow. One, the Western,
skippered by Dave Murphy, is re
ported lost. Coast Guard planes
have been searching for it, but to
date have not located any signs of
the three men aboard or the boat.
It was last seen at Jap Bay. The
Kruprianof, owned by George
Strong, anchored to a buoy at Port
Wakefield, sank in about seven
fathoms of water, pulling the buoy
down with it. A salvage crew head
ed by Bill Damery and including
two skindivers, McLinn and Guy
Powell,expect to attempt to locate
it this afternoon.
Wind damage in Kodiak was neg
ligible. The Kodiak Electric Asso
ciation crew fought power outages
most of the night. Ole Johnson,
manager of KEA, reported 15
power outages in the vicinity of
D & A and Alaska Packers in a
five-hour period. Main trouble was
caused by salt spray. The high
winds did some damage atop Pillar
Mountain at the White Alice instal
lation.
Two large windows at the Kodiak
Motors blew in Thursday morning.
Flying glass damaged a brand new
Falcon in the showroom.
C. of C. Considers
Pending Bills
A special meeting held, of the
Chamber of Commerce, Thursday
noon at the Island Fountain dis
cussed and acted on legislation now
before the State Legislature. Is
sues acted on were mainly educa
tional features in pending borough
legislation.
The Chamber’s Legislative Com
mittee reported that following a
study of HB 17 and HB 41, they
could find very littel to which they
could object. Ivor Schott, Superin
tendent of Schools, stated that his
impression from reading the bills
was that any borough could set up
its own system. The Chamber voted
to approve Sec. 8 of HB 41, in pref
erence to provisions in HB 17.
House Bills 101 and 102 came
in for discussion. The former deals
with loans to be made by the De
partment of Revenue from General
Funds to the Commissioner of Vet
erans Affairs at a rate of 2Vz per
cent. HB 102 relates to the Teach
ers Retirement System, and author
izes the Commissioner of Revenue
to invest surplus funds in this fund
in bonds and interest bearing ob
ligations of the U. S. or state there
of; or FHA first lien real estate
mortgages; or corporation bonds,
preferred and common stocks. Mr.
Schott objected to the third clause
and did not think moneys put into
the retirement system should be
expended on stocks and bonds. The
(Continued on page 4)
School Teachers
Anchorage Bound
Teachers from the various
schools in Kodiak leave for Anchor
age by charter planes, Wednesday,
March 8 for a convention in that
city. They will return on March 11
or 12.
Two planes have been chartered.
These will leave at 5 p. m. Wednes
day. A few seats are available to
anyone wishing to accompany the
teachers to Anchorage. Fare will
be about $32 round-trip. For infor
mation or reservations, call Mr.
Saxton at 486—2481.
George Kappos
Dies In Seattle
Word has been received this
week that George Kappos, well
known restuarant man here and a
resident of Kodiak for some time,
died in a hospital in Seattle, Mon
day at 1 p. m.
George Kappos had been ill since
early last year, and entered the
Virginia Mason Clinic last summer
for an operation. He showed signs
of recovering, and was transferred
to the Veterans hospital in that
city. His death occurred in the Fir
land Sanitarium.
The deceased was well-known
here. He was an active member of
both the Elks Club and the Rotary
Club. He received an honorary
membership in the latter club last
year. He was initiated into the Elks
October 28, 1949. He was born in
Koupakion, Greece, on April 23,
1896.
Kappos owned and operated the
Belmont Cafe for more than fif
teen years.
No announcement of funeral ar
rangements have been received
here. It is expected burial will take
place in Seattle. There are no
known relatives.
Halibut Fishermen
May Go On Strike
VANCOUVER, B. C. (/P) —
United Fishermen and Allied
Workers Union said that serious
consideration is being given to con
ducting a coastwide strike ballot
among Alaska, British Columbia
and Washington State fishermen.
The vote would be taken in an
effort to force payment of higher
prices for halibut landed at West
Coast ports. The Union statement
said that fishing companies in Van
couver wont heed the minimum
price scale drafted at the fisher
men’s conference held in Prince
Rupert February 6-12.
The fishermen requested land
ing prices of halibut at 27 cents
a pound in Seattle; 25 cents a
pound in Vancouver; 24 cents in
Prince Rupert; 23 cents in Ketchi
kan; 20-22 cents in more distant
Alaska ports.
Along The Waterfront
With the big blow Tuesday night
crippling waterfront activities, can
nery operations were somewhat
slowed, but on the whole little
costly damage was caused by it in
comparison to former years.
Bob Springhill of King Crab, Inc.
reports the cannery is back in full
running tempo after a couple of
days curtailment due to the storm.
No appreciable damage was sus
tained at the cannery during the
blow.
The crab tender ELDORADO is
due in with a load and another
tender is on its way which will
keep the crew busy for a while.
Bob reports the cannery put
through an impressive 1,600,000
pounds of crab during February,
which was double that of last year,
besides about 600,000 pounds of
shrimp in the same period.
About 150,000 pounds of shrimp
are going out on the m/v TATA
LINA this voyage, together with
i
a large shipment of canned crab.
£
Del Valentine of APA returned
from his trip to the South 48 on
Sunday. He recruited clam diggers
from Gray’s Harbor for the clam
operation at Swisshak. He says ar
rangements are now about com
plete for the clam season.
APA canned Thursday, but op
erations were curtailed by the
storm.
£
At Kodiak King Crab, Emil Nor
ton reports the cannery has been
operating at full tilt despite the
storm. Their scow came in just be
fore the storm with about 12,000
crab, which kept them running
steady during that time. He esti
mates the cannery processed about
40,000 pounds for the week.
None of the company’s boats suf
fered any damage.
£
(Continued on Page 9)