$edp Off
Seward
The Gateway City of Interior Alaska Since 1903.
Record
Sena id’s AIJ-Jleather Tort is Alaska’s Greatest Asset.
Vol. VII, No. !)4
SEWARD, ALASKA, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 1951
Price 10 cents
The Story of
SEWARD
STORY OF SEWARD IV
In last week’s column we told
something about the formation
of the Alaska Central Railroad
Company, and the landing of
survey parties from the North
and South of the proposed route
from Resurrection Bay to the
Interior of Alaska.
W. H. Whittlesey, chief clerk
and attorney for the Railroad
promoters, tells., of landing from
the steamer Bertha in small
boats, at a point near the pres
ent Seward dock. They found
a few cabins, one belonging to
Mr. Shackleford of California
(possibly the same Shackleford
who was attorney for the Tread
well mines in Juneau, and later
very active in Alaska politics)
wTho had already constructed a
wagon road to Kenai Lake for
the purpose of transporting large
iron pipes for a hydraulic gold
operation on Cooper Creek. The
other cabin belonged to the
Lowell family—Mrs. William
Lowell and her children.
Two camps were established
by this survey party: one in the
vicinity of the present Railroad
street and First Avenue; the
other at the mouth of Resurrec
tion River, at the head of the
Bay, near the present airport.
The first job was to establish
a base line for future townsite
platting, since the promoters of
the Alaska Central meant to
derive all possible revenue from
the sale of lots at the Southern
terminus, to aid in the financing
of railroad construction. Unfor
tunately, the only box missing
groni the gear checked off the
Steamer Bertha, was the most
important one—the case contain
ing surveyor’s rods and chains
and other instruments. Whittle
sey decided to improvise, and
produced from his personal ef
fects a tailor’s tape measure of
cloth. Haywire was cut from
bales of hay and straw, and six
foot links were made, joined into
a makeshift chain 100 feet long,
more or less. Using this chain,
a two-mile base line was meas
ured off, along what is now First
Avenue. Whittlesey claimed that
later surveys with the most ac
curate instruments showed a
difference of only two inches,
but information supplied today
by Harry Southard indicates that
the “base line” was not nearly
so accurate; that differences be
tween original plats and modern
surveys have been found that
amount to as much as 60 feet in
some places, and 30 feet in
others.
The Lowell family claimed a
homestead of 160 acres. This
claim was recognized as just by
the Alaska Central Railroad
Company, and the Lowell home
stead was surveyed, stakes were
set, and notices posted in Mrs.
Lowell's name, by the survey
party. The Railroad Company
then leased this same property
for ten years, at $50 per year,
with an option to purchase the
tract for $2000, except ten acres
on the waterfront which was
their homesite.
All of these events took place,
according to records, in the sum
mer of 1902, prior to the arriv
al of the first party of perma
nent settlers. The only inhabi
tants were the Lowells, since
the survey parties broke camp
and moved on before the coming
of winter, leaving only some
horses to be cared for by the
Lowell family.
(Next week: How the Ballaine
brothers obtained additional
rights to Resurrection Bay land,
leading to the ownership of the
main Seward townsite.)
Airport Construction Is Definite
Maritime Commission
Suspends Rate Boosts
By Alaska Steam
Rate increases sought by the
Alaska Steamship Company, to
have become effective June 1.
have been suspended by the Fed
eral Maritime Board, subject to
public hearing, according to
word from Washington and the
Governor’s office.
The increased rates scheduled
to go into effect on dates vary
ing from May 21 to June 1,
would have affected all parts of
Alaska and such commodities as
ore and concentrates, fisheries
products and livestock. Passen
ger rates to both Southeastern
and Southwestern Alaska also
would have gone up.
A general rate increase was
scheduled in addition for South
east Alaska on all commodities.
A vigorous fight was put up
by Governor Gruening when the
company filed application with
the Maritime Board for the in
crease. “Announced by the com
pany as a 20 per cent increase,’’
the Governor stated, “analysis
of the tariff filed with the Fed
eral Maritime Board showed the
increase to range from 20 to
33 and one-third per cent on
groceries and from 19 to 24 per
cent on general merchandise."
The Board, in its order, held
that “The rates and far, s may
be unjust or unreasonable to the
detriment of the shipping pub
lic. in violation of the Shipping
Act, 1910, and the Intercoastal
Shipping Act, 1933, as amended;
and the Board is of the opinion
that the effective dates of the
schedules should be suspended
pending a hearing as to the law
fulness of the rates and fares.”
While no date has been set
as vet for the hearing, the Board
deferred effectiveness of six
tariffs containing the increases
until September 21, unless
otherwise ordered by the Board.
Yesterday's Holiday
Air Misleading
Bright rod poppies distributed
by the American Legion Auxili
ary and their assistants Thurs
day, and the closed stor s, gave
the city something of a holiday
air to the m a n y uniformed
guests who arrived on the after
noon train for the Seward Rec
reation Center.
Within an hour of their arriv
al. soldiers in groups and singly
were wandering about the str ets
in all parts of town, “looking
the place over.” This was the
first group of 75 to visit the Rec
reation Center this season.
Although it might have look
ed like a holiday to strangers,
plenty of work was in progress.
Docks, railroad, cement and cold
storage plants were working
full blast, and road construction
work moves at a rapid pace.
Seward can always take time
out for a few hours fishing, but
the work goes on.
CIVIL DEFENSE GROUP
MET THURSDAY
Col. Clarence Johnson, direc
tor Seward Civil Defense Board,
met with his staff in the fire hall
Tuesday night. Because of sev
eral other meetings in progress
at that time, the Board was de
layed an hour.
Col. Johnson asked all section
heads to draw up detailed plans
and submit them at the next
meeting, which will be announc
ed.
Governor Fights
Cost of Living
Following last weeks action
by the House of Representatives
in discontinuing payment of the
25 per cent cost of living allow
ance to Department of Agricul
ture employes recruited in Al
aska, Governor Ernest Omen
ing has sent a detailed protest
to each of the 21 members of
the United States Senate Appro
priations Committee. Highlights
of the protest were:
The allowance, in the case of
agriculture, dates from k)24.
Cost of living surveys demon
strate its justification, the latest
showing Fairbanks to be 47
per cent and Anchorage 40 per
cent above Seattle costs. Dis
continuance of the allowance to
employees hired locally would
promote a colon?.ism and a caste
system by establishing a higher
paid class recruited from the
“Motherland 4o work with a
lower paid, presumably inferior,
class of resident Alaskans.
The proposal would deny the
capacity of Alaskans to govern
themselves, by providing greater
pay for imported officials. It
would be inefficient in favoring
locally uninformed employ es
over resident employees. Direct
increased costs would result
from outside recruitment, travel
costs being met by the govern
ment from point of hire to job
location. A greater turnover
rate, and longer training peri
ods would add to such costs.
Finally, the proposal under
mines national policy which
aims toward permanent settle
ment of Alaska. It would mean
the domination of federal agen
cies by transient workers hav
ing roots and basic interests
elsewhere.
The Senate Appropriations
Committee was urged to block
the proposal not only as it
affected the Department of Ag
riculture but in its application
to any other federal agency in
Alaska, since those opposing the
allowance are seemingly attack
ing it in every appropriation
bill.
The Governor pointed out
that the matter is of general
interest to the business com
munity since federal employees
are so widely distributed that
their loss of buying p o \v e r
would be felt throughout Alas
ka.
In the Anchorage area, for
example, the Railroad had last
fiscal y ar. an average year
a round total of 1400 employees,
the CAA 663, Road Commission
200, and civilian employees of
the military totalled 3200. All
of these programs are directly
related to defense.
In the Fairbanks area there
was an average of two thousand
year round federal employees
during the period, most of them
railroad and military employees.
The average total for the
Juneau area was approximately
600. Most of these people re
ceived the cost of living allow
ance.
The annual federal payroll
for the Anchorage area during
fiscal 1950, exclusive of military
personnel but including seasonal
and wage board employees, to
talled $31,321,669. Were this
payroll cut back by the amount
of the cost of living allowance
—probably as much as five mil
lion dollars—all business would
suffer sharply reduced volume
as lowered federal salaries were
stretched to meet rising costs.
The danger of Alaska’s econ
(Turn to Page 3)
Fresh Fruits and
Vegetables Under
Price Control
Fresh fruits and vegetables
are now under price control in
Alaska if they are shipped in
from outside, *he Territorial
Office of Price Stabilization
said this week.
The territorial office made the
announcement to amplify and
explain further to Alaska gro
cers and others affected by the
changes in Regulation 9 which
were made known in Washing
ton early last week. Regulation
9 is the price-control regulation
for retailers and applies to all
the territories and possessions
of the United States.
The change in the territorial
regulation came after r ports
were received in Washington
that wider margins were being
taken on some items previously
exempt. Although most fruits
and vegetables are not pegged
in the states until th y reach
parity, Alaska handlers can 'in
no case take more than Ihe same
dollar-and-cent-prof it on these
products than they took in the
base period, December 19-Janu
ary 25.
Several other items of lesser
import are covered in the
amendment, which went into
effect May 17. Some of these
items are seeds, hay and fish
oil. With fresh fruits and vege
tables, they had previously been
exe mpt.
A report that stores doing less
than $100,000 a year business
would be exempt from ceiling
price regulations was labeled in
accurate today by Fred G. Han
ford, Territorial Director of the
Office of Price Stabilization.
Hanford said the rumor ap
parently started through a mis
construed release from Wash
ington D. C. early last week. He
said the territorial office check
ed carefully with Washington
O. P. S. officials and found no
basis for any such exemption.
Hanford further reminded that
all retail businesses should have
their base period r cords com
pleted in accordance with Reg
ulation 9.
ARK Tram Schedule
Changes Monday
A change in the Seward
Anchorage train schedule is to
start on Monday, according to
The Alaska Railroad.
A train will leave Anchorage
at 9 a.m. for Seward and will
make a round trip each Monday
through June 11. It is scheduled
out of Seward for Anchorage
at 3 p.m.
Und r the new schedule, the
railroad annuls the Scward
Anchorage train normally sched
uled on Tuesday. The new run
will carry troops to the Seward
military recreational leave post
and return men whose passes
have terminated.
FINED FOR SPEEDING
H. H. Malcolm, Seward divi
sional manager of Matanuska
Valley Lines and vice-president
of Alaska Bus Transportation
Association, was recently fined
for exceeding the speed limit
within the thirty-five mile zone
on the Seward-Moose Pass high
way.
The first inspection of Feder
al Housing Authority buildings
was made in Seward last Friday
by Mr. Woods, Washington, D.C.
and Mr. Sutter of the Juneau
office.
The Territorial Department of
Aviation has arrived at an agree
able price for the Dufresne prop
erty, and the engineering and
construction of the Seward Mu
nicipal Airport will proceed as
promptly as possible. This infor
mation was contained in a tele
gram to Councilwoman Kirk
patrick from Tony Schwamrn,
Director of Aviation, today.
Considerable discouragement
had been felt with Dufresne,
whose house and 30 acres re
mained to be obtained for the
runway. Dispute over the orig
inal appraisal, made locally, and
Dufresne’^ demand, promised to
be a stumbling block in the pro
cedure.
Mr. Schwamrn ordered a sec
ond appraisal by disinterested
parties, in a sincere effort to
reach an equitable price for the
property. Terms of the final
agreement are not known here
today, but the city is jubilant
over the assurance that the final
obstruction has been removed
and actual construction is to be
gin at last.
W.S.C.S Officers
Installed Nay 24
Rev. Paul Irwin installed the
new officers of WSC3 at the
Thursday evening meeting, held
in the home of Mrs. I. L. Met
calf.
Mrs. Troy Bogard took office
for the second term as president
of the organization, as the unan
imous choice of the group. Other
officers installed were Mrs. Guy
Kearns, vice president; Mrs.
Gentry Shuster, secretary; Miss
Delia Gabriel, treasurer; Mrs.
I. L. Metcalf, secretary of publi
cations; Mrs. Nell Schnoeker,
secretary of spiritual life; Mrs.
Tom Howell secretary of eh”?
dren’s work; Mrs. Paul Nelson,
Mrs. Norman Wengert and Mrs.
Victor Mahan, secretaries of
youth and student work.
Gifts were exchanged after a
short business meeting, with de
votions led by Mrs. Russel Nor
ton.
Mrs. Jacobson, mother of Mrs.
Melvin Deck, was guest of the
evening. The annual Mother and
Daughter Banquet was held un
der the auspices of the WSCS
last Friday evening in the Meth
odist Church social hall. This is
always one of the outstanding
events of the club year.
Tables seating approximately
250 guests, were tastefully dec
orated in spring colors, with
amusing miniature hats as fa
vors. The dinner was served by
Boy Scouts in uniform.
A musical program was ar
ranged to include a quarter-harp,
violin, flute and piano combi
nation. Little JoAnn Jeffrey por
trayed a bunny in a clever little
song, accompanied by her moth
er. Vocal and piano numbers
rounded out the program.
The oldest and youngest moth
ers were introduced and were
presented gifts by the president
of the society. Group singing
was led by Mrs. Lyman Graves.
GUS MANTHEY PUBLICLY *
THANKS "HONEST PERSON"
Mr. and Mrs. Gus Manthey,
one of Seward’s Oldtimer fam
ilies, left town yesterday on the
Baranof for a few months in the
States.
Before leaving, Mr. Manthey
asked us to offer his thanks to
the unknown person, who, upon
finding the wallet belonging to
his family, dropped it into the
postoffice for delivery. ‘‘Every
thing was intact, even the $1.81
it had contained.”