Seward
The Gateway City of Interior Alaska Since 1903.
Record
Seward*s A ll-fFeather Port is AlaskJs Greatest Asset.
THE ONLY NEWSPAPER IN THE WORLD THAT GIVES A HOOT ABOUT SEWARD. ALASKA
SEWARD, ALASKA, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1953
Price 10 Cents
Vol. IX, No. 32
C. of C. Hears National
Guard Speaker
With the recruiting of nine
more men to the local unit of
Alaska National Guard, an arm
ory would be a possibility. This
statement was made before the
Chamber of Commerce Tuesday
by Lt. Ralph Fuske, ANG. A
complete unit consists of two of
ficers and 25 men. Fuske stated,
and the local unit has one officer
and 16 men at present. He asked
the mayor to declare National
Guard Week in Seward and to
support the recruiting program
here. Lt. Fuske was guest
speaker at the Chamber of Com
merce meeting.
Other business accomplished
was appointment of a Board of
Directors. Nine business men
were appointed to constitute the
board, which will draw up in
corporation papers, constitution
and by-laws for the organization.
The nine board members include
the regularly elected officers of
the organization.
Tommy Bie, president, also
appointed a committee to study
and organize-a Port Commission
Accident Victims
Improving
In Seward Hospital
Dudley Reynolds, his daugh
ter, Cora Sue, and Carol Knight,
who were all painfully injured
in an automobile accident at"
Mile 20 last Sunday, are slowly
improving in Seward General
Hospital.
The party came to Seward
Saturday for the Rendezvous
Dog Mushers visit and remained
for the basketball game that
night. They were returning to
Anchorage Sunday when their
car was involved in a head-on
collision with a car approaching
from Anchorage. Driver and pas
sengers of the second car were
three Air Force personnel from
Elmendorf Air Force Base and
the wife of one of the men. They
were brought to the Seward hos
pital for treatment and care and
Wednesday were taken to the
hospital at Elmendorf.
Both cars were badly damaged
by the collision. Some of the in
jured were brought into town
by Jim Lawson, manager of radio
station KIBH, in his car. Others
were brought in a car by some
one whose identity could not be
learned;
B&PW Sponsoring
Friday Night Show
The Seward Business & Pro
fessional Women’s Club met
Tuesday night for dinner at The
Diner .This group is sponsoring
the March of Dimes drive in
Seward which will end Monday,
February 9, with collection of
the iron lung contribution boxes
about town.
Hetty Lindberg, finance chair
man of the fund drive, reported
a total of over $800 to date in
- contributions.
As a club contribution, the
B&PW are giving a dance and
floor show at the Nobby ton-ight
(Friday). The floor show cast
has been purposely kept secret
for greater entertainment of
guests.
All facilities of the Nobby are
donated by its operators, Cora
and Harold Jacobs. Tickets will
be sold at the door by club mem
bers, who will also act as
hostesses for the eveni-.g.
The floor show will include
exhibition dancing, waltz con-,
test, and costume dances. It will
be given twice during the eve
ning.
for Seward. Another committee
appointed was the Tourist and
Convention Committee.
At present, Lie commented,
every visiting group requiring
entertainment or housing, such
as last week’s dog mushers’ visit,
lias looked to him for assistance.
Tnis should not fall upon the
saoulders of one or two men so
he appointed a committee to take
over in the future.
In compliance with a request
from local pilots, the Chamber
•of Commerce decided to write to
Tony Schwamm, Director Avia
tion Department, who is present
ly in auneau. The letter requests
that Seward be included in the
“fast report" • system, recently
pur into effect in Palmer. This
direct phone line will permit a
pilot to file a flight plan in Sew
ard and receive immediate in
formation as to field conditions
along his route.
. The Chamber also pledged
support to Chief of Police Kirk
pauick in his plan for a volun
teer ambulance corps.
Aii-Sters Mae? Tonight
l:i Benefit Game
Two special basketball games
have been arranged by Howard
Smith, coach of the Seward Bas
ketball League. Arrangements
s Have been made to bring in the
Whittier All-Star team for two
games in Seward with the local
All-Stars.
These teams have met before
and put up a very interesting
and rugged battle.
Two games will be played.
Saturday at 9 p.m. and Sunday
at 8 p.m. in the Civic Center.
School children are selling tick
ets, which will be good for either
of the games. All proceeds are
for the Seward March of Dimes
fund drive.
Robert Rutledge Dies
In Anchorage
Word was received today (Fri
day) of the death of Robert Rut
ledge, age 36, in Anchorage.
Death came as result of a heart
attack suffered during a hgckey
game last Sunday. Funeral serv
ices were held Wednesday from
All Saints Episcopal Church in
the Hub City.
Mr. Rutledge is survived by
his wife, Jorcne Smith Rutledge,
and two children, Fauna and
Lee.
Mrs. Rutledge is the daughter
of liarry . Smith, formerly of
Seward, and has many friends
and some relatives here.
The family requested that no
flowers be sent. Expressions of
sympathy may be made, how
ever, by a contribution for a me
morial, which may be sent to
Father Albert Sayers at 521 F
Street, Anchorage.
BAYVIEW SCHOOL ELECTION
TO BE HELD IN APRIL
Election on the annexation of
BayView School has been set for
April 21 by the City Council.
Annexation of this building so
late in the year will not permit
of its use for this semester, but
will give ample time for the re
modeling and furnishing which is
necessary.
Blackboards and desks are al
ready arriving for the building,
having been ordered last year.
There is some carpentry work
aside from the equipment instal
lation to be done before the
building is put to use. This build
ing will house three of the
classes now outside the present
school building.
Volunteer Ambulance
Corps Being Formed
To date 17 men have volun
teered to form a group to oper
ate and maintain a volunteer am
bulance service in Seward.
The police department ambu
lance has been placed at their
disposal until such time as they,
can buy a better vehicle. Jim
Kirkpatrick “not as police chief,
but as a citizen of Seward," has
been contacting all service or
ganizations in town for support
in the volunteer project.
The present vehicle,, an ambu
lance purchased by the Police
Department after #ie Police
man’s Ball last year, is old and
in very poor condition. It is fully
equipped, however, and has
made many mercy runs during
the past year.
Most calls for ambulance serv
ice come from outside the
city. During January the ma
chine made seven runs. There
has been a charge of SI.00 per
mile for the service, but many
times the charge has gone un
paid for various reasons.
If the volunteer unit is backed
financially and morally by town
service groups, it must be a suc
cess. This plan has functioned
well in other communities, and
can do it here. More wiil be
heard about the association as its
organization progresses.
Reporter's Notebook
Mr. Albert Hansen and his
sister, Harriet Hansen, and Miss
Betty Pettet, all from Anchor
age, visited Rev. B ’.I. Carpenter
here this week. They came in a
truck and brought the piano pur
chased last week for the new
Seward Baptist Church.
Ruth Cooper was in Anchor
age this week for a Conference
with Mrs. Elizabeth Fritz, presi
dent of the Alaska Nurses’ As
sociation. Mrs. Cooper was on
business for the local group
which is District 2.
We hear that Mrs. Marvin
Viale planned to do some shop
ping in the Hub City this week.
If she didn't take the three little
girls, Daddy Marvin had his
hands full for a few hours.
Dr. Francis Phillips left for
New York this week. He will at
tend a conference there on reha
bilitation work for the tubercu
losis patient.
Mr. John Rosness celebrated
his 70th birthday February 4,
with a family dinner.
Fred Kielcheski had a birth
day February 4 also, but is not
telling how old he is. We know
orm. thing, however, Fred isn’t
too old to be on the ball 24 hours
a day at the fire station. Every
body feels safer knowing that
Fred is on the job.
Mr. and Mrs. Jack Barrett of
Anchorage were aboard the spe
cial train when it pulled in last
Saturday. They were guests of
the Charles Adkins and Jack
Werner families. Everybody had
a big dinner at Gabe’s before the
Barrets returned to the train.
We understand that the Gate
way Swingers have been prac
ticing hard this last few days for
their first public appearance
Friday night. They will dance in
the March of Dimes show at the
Nqbby. They are good, too!
Incidentally—the Sea Hawks
lost to the Malemutes Thursday
night by a score of 42-25. The
game was not broadcast, but
Coach Dalberg wired the score
to Seward.
March 2 was set as the date for
a public hearing on the petition
of Alaska Telephone Corporation
for a raise in telephone rates in
Seward. The hearing will be held
in the council room at 8 p.m. on
that date.
Opinion is rife in the city as to
the right of any company in
promising a raise in salary for
its employees being made con
tingent upon a general rate raise
for utility users.
The question will be threshed
out at the hearing, at which time
the Council will presumably
have a copy of the auditor’s re
port on company expenditures.
Mrs. Vida Drown, speaking in
behalf of the company and oper
ators' salary hike, states that
there has been no raise in rates
in Seward for the past 15 years;.
that certain lines (6- and 8-party
lines! are still operating at $2.50
per month, and that Seward has
the lowest telephone rates in
Alaska.
When the franchise was grant
ed ATC in 1!)50, a verbal agree
ment was made that there v/ould
be no rate increase until service
was improved, and it was the in
tention of the company at that
time to decrease the number of
phones on large party lines, thus
giving better service and cause
for a rate increase.
"The company would like^
nothing better than to have its
franchise voided,” Mayor Painter
stated. “They would then con
tinue to operate without any
method of control by the city.”
Inquiries are being made of
the Federal Communications
Commission concerning the obli
gations of a licensed communica
tion utility to furnish adequate
utility regardless of internal em
ployment problems. This was
brought up by the st. tement of
Mrs. Drown that operators would
again stop work and leave the
city without telephone service in
event that a public hearing
would force the council to deny
a general rate raise, thus voiding
the raise clause in the operators’
contract.
CITY COUNCIL NcWb
Besides mo action taxen on me
school and telephone problems,
the much harrassed City Council
took up several other matters at
the regular meeting February 2.
A note in the amount of $5500,
which was due February 3, was
re-negotiated with the bank at
six per cent interest for 60 days.
Until sale of the water bonds is
made and money received from
that source, the city was unable
to meet the note, it was stated.
Application was signed for the
paving project and a resolution
passed to accompany the applica
tion. Surveying and engineering
remains to be done before the ap
plication can be accomplished,
but paving does seem to be a
possibility within the next two
years.
In reply to an inquiry from the
council, Mrs. Jean Thorn Petro
vich denied any discount for
cash on the original $80,000 pur
chase contract of the water fa
cilities.
Police Chief Kirkpatrick re
quested permission of the coun
cil to dispose of the police de
partment ambulance to a group
of citizens who would agree to
conduct an ambulance service in
tne afea.
$200 Taken From
School Office
Some time between 5 p.m.
Wednesday evening and 7 a.m.
Thursday morning, the superin
tendent’s office at the high school
was broken into. The steel filing
cabinet was forced open and
money taken from the cash box.
Exact amount taken is not
known except that it was be
tween S150 and $200.
Upon entering the office on
Thursday morning, Supt. Carl
son discovered the loss and noti
fied the police department. When
the police arrived the broken
filing cabinet was being repaised
and any finger prints which may
have been left on the drawer
were obliterated.
Any number of people have ac
cess to the office during the day,
and know where the cash is kept.
An investigation is being made in
the school and police expect to
locate the thief.
The money taken was student
body funds, class funds, and
cafeteria collections.
purchased by proceeds from the
Policeman's Ball in 1952, and
cost the city nothing, it is still
city property,” Kirxpatrick stat
ed, “ana 1 now ask your permis
sion to dispose of the am
bulance.”
More calls are made outside
the city than within its limits.
The vehicle is included in the
city’s fleet insurance policy,
which is void in case the vehicle
leaves the limits of the city. For
this reason, and because of the
bad condition of the car, it is ncr
longer advisable to operate it as
a city service.
The council agreed to disposal
of the machine at $1.00 a year ta
a responsible group.
A letter was rcia from t>on
Wilson, director APW, stating
that with the defeat of the hos
pital bond election, the proposi
tion was being dropped. But that
if at any time, it should be taken
up again and pass in another
election, the application could be
renewed.
In a post script to the letter,
Mr. Wilson stated that he had
requested Washington to transfer
the school project to the hospital
priority.
Cvuncii Hears P-TA
And School B^ard
Petitions sviondcty
A resolution from the Parent
Teachers Association was read at
the council meeting Monday
night. The resolution, as printed
in last week's Record, requested
that the new high school project
be given the priority place on
the APW construction agenda in
place of the hospital project
which was defeated in election.
A letter from the School Board
pointed out that the board has
advisory capacity only and that
the authority to make applica
tion to APW and to construct
buildings lies solely with the
City Council. It made- a request
similar to that of the P-TA, with
an added plea to the council to
take immediate steps for an ap
plication for additional funds to
complete the project. *
The council authorized the
cfty clerk to advise Delegate
Bartlett of the situation and re
quest his assistance in the trans
fer of project priorities.