SEWARD’S
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SEAPORT
Is Alaska’s
Greatest Asset
Alaska Historical Library
and Museum
Seward Seaporf Record
__THE ONLY NEWSPAPER IN THE WORLD THAT GIVES A HOOT ABOUT SEWARD, ALASKA
Vol. VII, No. 61
SEWARD, ALASKA, TUESDAY, JAN. 30, 1951
Price 10 cents
ARR Repairing
Seward Dock,
Warehouses
Repairs now under way at the
Seward dock, and planned ware
house extensions, will provide
adequate waterfront facilities for
unloading two ships simultane
ously. according to Colonel J. P.
Johnson, general manager of
The Alaska Railroad.
The large scale improvement
project, slated to cost slightly
over $100,000, is being complet
ed on the eve of what stands to
be the largest shipping year in
Alaskan history. ■ '
lwo crack Alaska Railroad
bridge and building gangs, No.
5, under Jack Hansen, and No.
7, directed by Cliff McAdams,
are assigned to the project.
The improvements are timed
to step up ‘‘immeasurably all
freight handling at the deep
water port of Seward,” Johnson
declared. The ‘‘gate city” handles
most of the freight for bustling
Anchorage and Fairbanks.
Besides the dock repairs and
the warehouse expansion pro
gram, a 1,000-foot storage spur
is already being installed near
the dock approach. The spur
permits pooling a reserve of
railroad cars to assure that
freight can be kept moving.
A new “wagon” approach to
the main dock, connecting with
Second Avenue, is being con
structed. The newly located ap
proach makes way for extending
two warehouses, located on the
dock, by linking these structures
as one.
Formerly the old wagon ap
proach. which was badly in need
of repair, split the dock ware
house area and restricted avail
able freight storage space.
By moving the approach to
one end of the dock, extensions
can readily be built on the two
edifices. Two extensions, one 50
feet long and the other 71 feet,
are planned for the warehouses.
Upon completion of the addi
tional storage facilities, the rail
road will be able to spot more
cars on the dock and longshore
men can conveniently unload
two berthed ships at one time.
Warehouses will also be lined
and insulated under the renova
tion program. A new oil furnace
system, replacing coal burning
stoves, is to convert the entire
warehouse into a “warm room.”
At present only a small section
of the dock warehouse space is
heated as protection for freight
that might be ruined by the cold.
A truck loading platform, 14
feet wide and 66 feet long, is
planned for the west end of the
dock in the area immediately
adjacent to where the new
wagon approach touches the
wharf.
Bridge and building gangs
have been inching forward on
the project despite bitter, low
temperatures and lashing winds.
Bridge and Building Gang No.
5 is spearheading the dock re
pairs with McAdams and his
B and B No. 7 men handling the
warehouse work.
-.
Seward Local 2304, Carpen
ters and Joiners, have been noti
fied that Anchorage members
have received a raise of 30 cents,
making the wage for carpenters
$3.14. per hour, according to the
local business agent.
170 Local Bowlers
To Participate In First
Alaska Tournament
At least 70 local bowling en
thusiasts have signed entry
blanks for the First All Alaska
Bowling Tournament to be held
during the last week of Anchor
l age’s Fur Rendezvous. The tour
! nament will be a continuous,
I 24 hour grind from Feb. 23
through 25.
A special train has been re
! served as the bowling train to
carry the 40 women and 30 men
I to the Hub City,'and sleeping
' cars will provide quarters for
, the men.
High School Teams
Two teams of high school
boys and girls have also entered
| the tournament. Original plans
did not include the youngsters,
but protests from all sides ended
in a separate. class for high
school bowlers, and schools from
the Territory will be represent
ed at the meet.
| Bill Loflin, president of the
All Alaska Bowling Tournament,
lias been in Seward, talked with
Seward League officers and
helped make arrangements for
the big delegation.
Elks Bowiing Dance
To assist in raising money to
help defray individual expenses,
of the trip, the Seward Elks will i
hold a dance, February 10 at
the Elks Club. All Elks and ’
their friends as well as ail bowl- i
ers. families and friends are in- j
vited to attend the dance. Spc-1
cial eats, for which the Elks |
Club is famous, will be part of j
the evening.
!
ALASKA STEAM FREIGHTER
NAMED "ILIAMNA"
Iliamna is the new name given
the former Edmond Mallet, Lib-!
erty ship recently purchased by
the Alaska Steamship Company
from the Maritime Administra
tion, D. E. Skinner, vice presi
dent and general manager of the
company, announced this week.
The name is that of the largest j
lake in Alaska, about 60 miles j
long and from 15 to 25 miles j
wide, located between Bristol
Bay and Cook Inlet. Native
legend of the region also speaks
of this name.
It is said that Iliamna was a
mythical great blackfish which |
supposedly inhabited the lake j
and bit holes in the “bidarkas'
(boats) of bad natives.
The purchase of this 10,000
ton vessel, formerly chartered
by the company, raises The Alas
ka Line privately-owned fleet to
five freighters and four passen
ger ships. j
Moose Pass News
Square dancing is well under
way at Moose Pass now. Every
Friday night following the mov
ies will be devoted to “swing
your partner, grand right and
left.”
The Moose Pass Sportsman’s
Club had its monthly dance Jan.
20. It was a hard-time dance and
the costumes really showed
thought and ingenuity. There
wore quite a few people from
Cooper Landing and Seward, as
well as the Moose Pass folks.
Mr. Clyde Smith of Seward
called a square dance and it was
a treat for all.
Mr. Carson, Fish & Wildlife
Service representative, held a
meeting at Moose Pass Tuesday
evening, Jan. 23, to discuss fu
ture game laws.
’51 Polio Fund
'Drive Starts
This Week
!
| Because of a misunderstand
ing as to who was to sponsor
i the March of Dimes in Seward
| this year, the campaign is late
getting started. A committee
was appointed last fall, com
prised of Mrs. Victor Mahan,
Mrs. LaPreal Bie and Mrs. Walt
er Blue, to represent the Na
tional Foundation for the pre
vention of Poliomyelitis in Sew
ard. This committee will conduct
the local campaign.
A.message from the committee
reads, “Within the next 24 hours
letters will he in the hands of
all organizations irf town re
March of Dimes.
“If you fail to hear about it,
call any one of the committee
and she will toll you the plan.”
No dance or single big event
is planned for this year. The
plan is to ask for individual
group drives, each organization
raising its contribution in its
own way.
“Seward can feel especially
fortunate to have escaped the
epidemic that swept other Alas
kan cities last fall, but now that
the disease has occurred in the
Territory, no one knows where
or when it may strike again,”
Mrs. Bie said. “By building up a
fund, which is pooled in the
South Central District, money is j
made readily available for emer
gencies.”
“This community has always
responded to the call for funds
in the fight against the most
dreaded killer and crippler. The
committee is confident that the
March of Dimes will be bigger
than ever now,” Airs. Bie stated.:
FELIX TONER TO SURVEY
LOCAL WATER SITUATION
Mr. Felix Toner, engineer, of1
Juneau has been engaged by
tiie city to make a survey of
the existing water situation with
a view to bettering it. either by
purchase or some other means.
Mrs. Jean Thorne, owner of
Seward Water Supply Company,
agreed with the council some
time ago, that if the city would
engage an engineer to investi
gate the system and give an ex
pert opinion on the actual value
of the company’s holdings, she
would negotiate with the council
on a purchase price. On the other
hand, if no agreement could be
reached, she would accept the
cost of the engineer's findings,
and negotiate for private financ
ing for improvement of the
water system.
Mr. Toner has not been avail
able until this time. He has en
gineered tlie water installations
for several Southeastern towns
under Alaska Public Works, and
is familiar with Alaska terrain
and climatic conditions. He will
arrive in Seward before Febru
ary 10 to begin his investigations.
CATHOLIC LADIES'
BAKE SALE
Ladies of Sacred Heart Parish
announce their monthly bake
sale for Saturday, Feb. 3. It
will be held in Werner's Market
beginning at 10:00 o'clock in
the morning.
Seward Trounces
Fairbanks Malemutes
In Two Games
Seward High School hoopsters
trounced Fairbanks in two
games, Saturday and Monday,
i on the new court in the reno
j vated Civic Center. Visitors
stated that this is now the second
1 best gymnasium in Western Al
' aska. Regulation f a n-s h a p e d
i back boards were used for the
first time in Seward. A record
crowd witnessed both games,
with approximately 330 seats
j taken.
j With Dick Deigh, the Sea
j Hawks’ nimble guard, back in
| the game, the boys picked up
. the zest shown in earlier battles,
J and really poured it on in the
last quarter Monday to make 17
1 points in the last few minutes
of play.
Anderson and Lewis scored
high with 15 and 10 points re
spectively, Saturday night, and
Anderson and Deigh each scor
ing 14 points Monday night.
LeFon, Hudson and Tremar
ello scored 9, 6. and 6 for Fair
banks Monday night, and Hud
son and LeFon making 7 and 6
Saturday.
<Turn io Page 3)
EROvVNELL WINS
JUDGMENT
Information received here late
this afternoon made known that
Third District Court has handed
down a judgment in favor of
Don Carlos Brownell in the suit
for libel against H. W. Hunt,;
formerly of Seward.
The judgment requires a'pub-j
lie retraction by Hunt of cer- i
tain statements published by'
him concerning D. C. Brownell. '
PRONOUNCE SEWARD DAIRY ;
BEST KEPT IN ALASKA
Dr. Earl Graves, Territorial
Veterinarian, pronounced Sew
ard Dairy the “best kept dairy”
in Alaska, after his inspection
Tuesday. He gives the periodi-;
cal innoculations of tuberculin
and Bangs Disease serum, as
well as making the regular in
spection.
Seward Dairy has served this
vicinity for 27 years, since it
was established by Henry Leirer,
Sr * It is now operated by Her
man Leirer. son of the founder.
He has 35 cows at present and
four calves.
Milk and cream are supplied
to the entire city by regular
door to door delivery in addition
to that furnished to grocers. The
dairy is one of the few left in
Alaska selling raw milk. Speci
fications for raw milk are higher
than those for pasteurized milk
and rules for cleanliness are
vc ry rigid. The Seward Dairy i~
proud of the commendation re
ceived from Dr. Graves.
JR. WOMEN ENTERTAINED
BY MRS. WHITMORE
Mrs. James Kirkpatrick was
honor guest at a party given at
the home of Mrs. Lawrence Whit
more Monday evening. Other
guests were members of Junior
Women’s Club, who presented
Mrs. Kirkpatrick with dainty
baby dresses for her little daugh
ter Shelly who was born in late
December. It was a surprise for
the mother.
Three tables of canasta furn
ished entertainment for the eve
ning, after which refreshments
were served. Mrs. Kirkpatrick
herself won the prize for high
score.
Visitors Ass’n
To Publicize
Attractions
i
j Plans to publicize Alaska’s
outstanding tourist attractions
and to build up facilities to han
dle an increased tide of travelers
1 in the North advanced last week
with the selection of its first
slate of officers by the newly
organized Alaska Visitors As
sociation.
Robert E., Ellis of Ketchikan
has been elected president: L. A.
Moore of Anchorage, first vice
president; A. L. Kaye of Fair
banks, second vice president;
George Sundborg of Juneau,
secretary; and Phil Johnson of^
Fairbanks, treasurer.
The officers, who are to serve
only until permanent organiza
tion of the association is perfect
ed, were selected by an execu
tive committee of 12 members
who in turn had been chosen at
two well attended public meet
ings at Anchorage and Juneau
several months ago.
“Bob" Ellis, one of Alaska's
famous “bush pilots" turned bus
inessman, is president of Ellis
Airlines. As a commander in the
Navy for five years during
World War II, he was base com
mander at Attu after the recap
ture of that farthest Aleutian
Island from the Japanese. Bob
has also served several terms as
mayor of Ketchikan.
Moore, who formerly was ac
tive in tourist promotion work
and was assistant to the general
manager of The Alaska Railroad,
is now manager of the Alaska
Chapter of the Associated Gen
eral Contractors of America.
Kaye is a Fairbanks merchant
who has long advocated an ex
panded Alaska tourist business.
Sundborg is consultant to the
Alaska Development Board.
Johnson is president of the Bank
of Fairbanks.
Officers of the association, to
gether with a board of directors
to be chosen by them, will hold
a business meeting in Juneau
February 0-8. Ellis will have re
turned by that time from Hono
lulu. where in addition to en
joying a short vacation he is
now studying the Hawaii tourist
industry and conferring with
George T. Armitage, who as spe
cial consultant to the Alaska De
velopment Board, helped stimu
late formation of the new
association.
MRS. METCALF ENTERTAINS
WOMAN'S SOCIETY
The Gertrude Knight Circle of
the Woman's Society of Chris
tian Service were hostesses at a
party given at the home of Mrs.
I L. Metcalf last Thursday eve
ning. Novel entertainment in the
form of a quizz program pre
sented by Miss Goldie Busko,
was enjoyed with prizes being
awarded to Frances Clark, Lois
Norton, Emma Jones and lone
Frances. Thirty-four members
were in attendance. Refresh
ments were served at the close
of the evening.
A short business meeting will
be held at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 2,
in the Methodist Church parlor.
All members are requested to
attend as matters of importance
will be discussed. Devotions will
be under the leadership of Mrs.
Tom Jones.
BASKET
ANCHORAGE HIGH vs. SEY/ARD SEA HAWKS
Two Games—Feb. 3-5,8 p.m.—Prelim. 7 p.m.
CiVIC CENTER (Pieniy of Seats!)
Adults $1,00 School $.50