SEWARD’S
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THE ONLY NEWSPAPER IN THE WORLD THAT GIVES A HOOT ABOUT SEWARD. ALASKA
Vol. VII, No. 58
SEWARD, ALASKA, FRIDAY, JAN. 19, 1951
Price 10 cents
General Kepner’s Answer To
Council’s Security Memorial
The following letter, dated
January 6, 1951, was received
last week by the City Clerk from
Headquarters Alaskan Command
Office of the Commandcr-in
Chief, Fort Richardson, Alaska:
“I have your letter of 19 De
cember 1950 inclosing a copy of
the Memorial of the Common
Council of the City of Seward
which urges that all important
facilities in the Seward area be
placed immediately under strict
military security control and
that certain specific security
measures be adopted.
“The Memorial has been given
careful consideration and I want
you to know that I agree with
the Common Council in the vital
importance of the Port of Sew
ard to the defense of Alaska.
However, under present condi
tions it does not fall within my
authority to exercise military
control over the facilities re
ferred to. Responsibility for se
curity measures of the type sug
gested by you presently rests
with the civil authorities.
"On the other hand, I can as
sure you that in the event of
hostilities the protection of the
Port of Seward against enemy
action is an important responsi
bility of my command and such
security measures as may be re
quired will be placed in effect.
“I request that you express to
the Common Council of the City
of Seward my appreciation for
the concern and interest in our
defense problems which they
have expressed in their Memori
al and for their continued sup
port of the military forces in
Alaska.
“Sincerely yours,
W. E. KEPNER
Lieutenant General, USAF
Commander-in-Chief”
CITY CAB ACQUIRES
AMBULANCE
An ambulance arrived in Sew
ard this week, for the City Cab
Company Bob Lewis announced
several days ago that he was
making arrangements to put an
ambulance at the service of Sew
ard and Kenai Peninsula resi
dents.
The new public service is
ecjuipped with two stretchers,
>one on wheels, and a first aid kit
will be Scept at all times in the
vehicle. The ambulance will be
on call 2A hours a day for any
part of the Peninsula.
Rev. J. Melton Thomas, presi
dent of Fairbanks Ministerial
Association and pastor of the
Fairbanks Church of the Naza
rene, who this week is con
ducting a series of sermons on
Christ for this Crisis at the
Dockside Union Hall.
Community Library
Plans Extension
Seward Community Library
begins its 26th year of service to
the public with the announce
ment of new officers, and a pro
gram of expansion.
Officers elected to carry the
program through 1951 are Mrs.
Viola T. Swetmann, president;
Mrs. Elsie Whitmore, vice-presi
dent; Mrs. Emma Jones, secre
tary-treasurer.
Members of the Library Board
are Mrs. Arreta llowell, Mrs.
Hazel Erwin, Mrs. Grace Cam
pen, and Mrs. Bessie Malloy.
Mrs. Sybil Reed is librarian.
The Board submits the finan
cial report for the year, showing
the organization to be self sup
porting. Crowded conditions
have made it necessary to en
large the library to accommodate
the new books being added all
the time, and a new heating sys
tem win be needed.
The Bank of Seward, owner
of the building in which the li
brary is situated, has generously
offered to add the new room
without cost to the library, pro
viding that the Board will do
the painting and decorating.
“You will note,” the report
states, “that we only pay $21
per month rent, which includes
light and heat. We do hope that
all our patrons whose dues cards
have expired or anyone else in
terested ;n having a good library
in our town will renew’ subscrip
tion cards, so it will not be
necessary to make a drive for
extra funds. If every adult in
town would take a year’s mem
| bership at $2.00 each, and every
1 school child a one dollar mem
bership, we would have plenty
of funds to do the necessary
work. Every woman on this
Board has given generously of
her time to help maintain the
library. Will you help to con
tinue this good work?”
The new room will be a chil
dren's room, with more atten
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MISS TERRILL JOINS
JESSE LEE STAFF
Miss Virginia Terrill, who was
formerly employed in the Ad
jutant’s office, Alaska Engineer
Depot, Fort Richardson, has
joined the staff of Jesse Lee
Home.
She wiM take over “Mrs.
Wright’s b&ys” as housemother
Mrs. Wrigixt is leaving on the
Baranof Feb. 1 for her home
in California.-Miss Terrill spent
the war years, from 1944 no
1948, in Honolulu, before com
ing to Alaska.
HEW RESIDENT NAMED JOE
Seward has a new resident
whose name is Joe. He has prob
ably more visitors than any
other resident in towv, whether
he is named Joe or something
else.
He lives in the living room at
the home of the Carl Thomas
children. He eats vegetables,
either raw or cooked, aigd any
kind of fruit, and drinks water
from a glass.
Joe i? a little monkey, brought
to Seward on a ship. He is the
only specimen of his kind in
town. The Thomas home is a
very popular place these days,
with every boy and girl in school
anxious to make the acquaint
ance of Joe.
Mr. and Mrs. Elwyn Swetmann
left on the SS Baranof Thursday
night for their vacation in a
warmer climate.
Busy Year for Kenai
Division, Chugach
National Forest
The year 1950 saw many
worthwhile accomplishments on
' the Kenai Division of the Chu
' gach National Forest, R. A.
Schwartz, supervisor, reported
i recently.
Several new roads were con
structed in the vicinity of Coop
er Landing. A short access road
at Cooper Creek has opened up
; a scenic timber spot which will
be developed for public recrea
tion use. Sanitary and picnic
facilities will be installed this
coming season and in 19o2. The
East Quartz Creek road was ex
tended along the shore of Kenai
Lake to provide access to sum
mer home lots. These two roads
were constructed by Stewart &
Muir Excavating Co., Seward.
M. P. Munter Company complet
ed the new Snug Harbor Road
extending east from the Kenai
River bridge to a point beyond
Chugach Lodge. This road al
lows access to summer homes,
homesites and homesteads pre
viously reached by trail and
boat.
, A forest service trail crew
' under Ralph Ft. Harris, Cooper
Landing, constructed a 12x14
shelter cabin at Lower Russian
Lake. This cabin is provided
, with four bunks and a Yukon
stove and is open the year
around for the general public.
Campers will find this shelter
located between the Russian
Lakes Trail and the lower lake,
five miles from the highway at
Schooner Bend.
i A new group of 23 summer
home lots at East Quartz Creek
was opened in August. Several
of these lots remain open for ap
plication at the present time. The
addition of new homesite and
summer home lots depends
mainly upon the final location
of the new highway construction
and upon special access roads
to be built by the Forest Service.
It is expected that the demand
for summer homes will greatly
increase when the highway is
open to Anchorage.
An entry on the debit side of
the ledger is the fire loss sus
tained here fast year. A total of
35 fires was suppressed by For
est Service fire crews. An un
precedented late season stretched
into October, when two large
iires svw^pt isolated areas with
in the National Forest.
Fifteen hundred acres at Swan
Lake were destroyed while a
simultaneous fire :at Big Indian
River on the Chiekaloon Flats
blackened 1,000 ;acres. Fortun
ately no valuable improvements
or commercial timber were de
stroyed. Although the origin of
the fire has not yet been def
initely established, they are
thought to have been started by
hunters.
R. A. Schwartz, present super
visor, succeeded Max V. Reger
on September 5 Schwartz was.
ranger at Craig, Alaska, on
Prince of Wales Island, prior to
assignment here He is a forestry
graduate of University of Min
nesota and a World War II Army
pilot. Reger has entered private
forestry in North Carolina,
where he is associated with the
Champion Fibre & Paper Co.
REGISTRATION BOOK OPEN
AT CITY HALL
The Registration Book for
duly qualified voters of the
City of Seward is open for regis
tration in the office of the City
Hall between the hours of 10:00
a.m. and 3:00 p.m., Monday
through Friday. Saturday hours
are 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. i
Registration will oe for any
municipal election held during
the calendar year, 1951.
—Sierid Stearns, City Clerk
Seward Chamber of Commerce
Receives Gift From ARR Exec.
SHS Sensors "Sneak"
To Hub City
j The annual “Senior Sneak,”
I which is a time honored event
of the senior high school year,
began here Thursday when six
senior girls and tw’o boys, ac
companied by their advisor and
chaperone, Mrs. Grace Campen,
stole quietly (?) but triumphantly
I down to the depot at 1:45 p.m.
i with the intention of joining the
Sea Hawks in Anchorage and
! Palmer for the conference bas
ketball games.
! Alter many days of excited
i preparation, and last minute
! loose ends to be caught up, the
; group gathered, loaded down
j with luggage, and bundles of
; fried chicken, sandwiches, cook
' ies, pickles, and so forth, they
| found to their dismay that the
1 train was late. It did not get
i away until after five o'clock, in
! fact, and their secret was out. A
j jubilant crowd of juniors ap
peared at the train to offer fare
well gilts of suckers.
Mrs. Campen, Dick Deigh,
Jack Rafter, and six girls, Helen
Varnell, Margaret Lindsey, Phyl
lis Dangler, Phyllis Baker, Mari
lyn Ratchford, and Beverly
Abrahamsen, made up the senigr
group which will join the Sea
Hawks who are seniors in Pal
mer. They will be able to see
both of the games, and planned
to “practice cheers” on the train
trip to Anchorage.
Regarding the proposed prac
tice, one junior remarked, “Well,
I haven’t seen anything of them
today, so either the passengers
and trainmen managed to shut
them up in the baggage car,
throw them off the train or gag
them till they got to Anchorage.”
Senior boys on the basketball
team, which left here Tuesday
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METHODIST MEN TO SHOW
WOMEN HOW TO COOK
The men of the Methodist
Church will prepare the Family
-Night Dinner to be served to
jlhe church membership and
. their friends Saturday night,
j Jan. 20 (tomorrow) in the dining
hall at £;30 p.m.
I The gentlemen will concen
i trate chi an extra special dish
which, .it is said, would tickle
and tantalize the palate of the
most exacting gourmet.
Anyone who wants such non
essentials as pickles and olives
* is inv.ited to bring his own.
j For some unexplained reason,
- everyone must bring his own
1 dish :and spoon. Rev. Irwin say
that if you use a knife and
fork, bring them too. The ladies
suspect that the fellows are just
trying to get out of washing
, the .dishes, and have the idea
that if the customers bring their
own dishes, they will take them
home to be washed. That sounds
like a good idea, at that.
In addition to the dinner, the
gentlemen have arranged a spe
cial entertainment for the eve
ning.
“This is a fellowship dinner,
not a money making affair,”
Rev. Irwin stated. However, to
help defray the cost of the main
dish, a free will offering will
be taken at the door.
Saturday night, 6:30, Metho
dist Church.
OES BAKE SALE
The Eastern Star will hold a
bake sale on the afternoon of
February 10, place to be an
nounced Inter.
Col. J. P. Johnson, general
manager of The Alaska Railroad,
while in Seward Thursday, pre
sented Mr. Clarence Keating,
president Seward Chamber of
Commerce, with a reader’s stand
and lamp. A brass plate bears
the inscription, “Presented to
Seward, Alaska Chamber of
Commerce by The Alaska Rail
road."
The stand, 27 inches high,
with a fluorescent lamp at the
top, is made of walnut. It was
. the last item turned out by the
—i mm
Col. J. P. Johnson, ARR
1 carpenter shop before the great
fire of Jan. 15. It was made
especially for the Seward C of C.
, In making the presentation,
Col. Johnson said that he had
heard there was an election
down here, and that there was
a new president, so he brought
this down to get them off to a
good start.
» Mr. Keating accepted the gift,
thanking Col. Johnson and the
! ARR very kindly for the won
1 derful gesture, and on behalf
of the citizens of Seward and
the Chamber of Commerce, as
sured him that Seward would
cooperate in every way possible
with his problems during the
crucial months ahead.
The stand is at the Seaport
Record office at present, where
it can be viewed. Later it will
be on display in a downtown
window.
Col. and Mrs. Johnson met
with members of the Chamber
of Commerce and City Council
during the late afternoon. They
came down from Anchorage on
the boat train. Mrs. Johnson
left on the Baranof for a visit
Outside. The Colonel returned
to Anchorage today.
Accompanying Col. and Mrs..
Johnson at the meeting were.
Mr. and Mrs. John Johnson of
Northern Stevedoring Co., and
Tom Jones. Among local people
present were Leon Urbach
W. C. Erwin, Oscar Dahl, Deck
Brown, H. Werner, John P
Smith, Hal Gilfilen, Clarence
Keating, and Councilmen A G
McRae and Charles Cole.
The discussion was on labor
1 and transportation problems of
the approaching season.
FUNERAL NOTICE
* " s * vices for E mer
Hardesty. who passed away
January 16. will be held al 2
p.m., Sunday. January 21. in
Ihe Masonic Hall. I
Seward Lodge No. 1773
®*®>*®* Elks will conduct ihe
service. Interment will be in
Ihe Elks Rest of Seward
. ry.