SEWARD’S
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Seward Seaport Record
THE ONLY NEWSPAPER IN THE WORLD THAT GIVES A HOOT ABOUT SEWARD. ALASKA
Vol VII, No GO
SEWARD,
ALASKA, FRIDAY, JAN. 26, 1651
Price 10 cents
Utility Board Contrasts For Big
Cooler-Bessemer generator
Jack Jordan, general mana
ger, Seward Electric System,
met with the City Council in
special session Thursday after
noon to present the decision of
the Utility Board on the pur
chase of a generating diesel en
gine for the power plant. *,
After long study and negotla
tion with various companies, the
Board finally decided upon the
*30() kw Cooper-Bessemer 4 cycle
full diesel engine as the best
choice. ;
The engine, weighing 130,000
pounds, will be shipped to Seat
tle, at the f.o.b. factory cost of
$103,830. This is initial cost
only. Freight, insurance and han
dling are added. It will also be
necessary to erect a building to
house the plant.
The Cooper - Bessemer was
chosen in preference to Fair-1
banks-Morse and others under
consideration for several reasons,
Jordan stated, one reason being
economy of operation. Financial
arrangements were also consid
ered.
Delivery is promised in six
months, or when priority due to
war conditions will allow. Mr.
Jordan said that if the unit can
be in operation by September
he will be more than happy, but
he seriously doubts that it cam
be ready that soon.
The Council rcc^te-d the pro
posal of the ’Julity Board for
the purchase.
Engebreth Presides
Over Senate j
Gunnard M Engebreth (H.).
was elected president of the Ter
ritorial. Senate Thursday after a
lor>g ^nd bitter battle for that
por*fUon between Democrats Me
^JVdcbecn and Lyng, and him
"self
The Senate is evenly ’divided
between the two parties, and the
election was the first of many
battles to come
The House got under way
a delay with the introduc
vy \ientivivin, both sponsored
Scavenius, Ancnoi*.0~^ rack
crats.
1U11 1.1
ties for discrimination in job
employment because of race or
creed. The other echoes the
dream of Paul Herring, late U.S.
Marshal of the Third Division.
Scavenius and Kay proposed a
Territorial Police Department,
which would take the Highway
Patrol out of the hands of the
Highway Department and put it
under the control of the attor
ney general.
Marshal Herring’s dream went
further than this. He proposed
one law enforcement agency for
the entire Territory, eliminating
even the municipal police force.
He made his suggestion before
the League of Alaska Cities con
ference in August.
Governor Ernest Gruening, in
his address to the assembly on
Thursday, called for a united ef
fort of the Legislature toward
maintaining the tax schedules j
formerly set up, to “prove,” he !
said, “that we are capable of
self-government.”
His address was rebroadcast
for Seward listeners during the
evening by station KIBH. (
MV Garland To Carry
Westward Mall
The motor vessel Garland oi'
the Berger Transportation Com
pany, is in port today. She will
carry the mail to the Westward,
as in former times. Capt. Elmer
Dow is the new skipper.
The lonS interruption in mail
and freight deliveries to the
island# has caused great incon
venience to the people living
there. Since the Pomare was
taken off the run because of
mechanical and contract diffi
culties, mail has been infrequent,
and depended almost entirely
upon air transportation. Some
mail and freight has been car-,
ried by the occasional Standard
Oil Company tankers as a cour-;
tosy, but there has been no reg
ular delivery for many months, j
Residents to the Westward,
when stopping over in Seward'
last year, paid high tribute to
the Garland and her skipper for j
the fine and dependable service J
she gave. Many vacationers also
missed the little ship last sum
mer. as the trip to the Westward
islands is very popular with peo
ple in this area. They are
to see her return to duty.
News * . .
rl*ie scheduling of sovtral
Alaska Steamship Company
freighters to sail from Seattle
during me period January
through February 16 was an
nounced this week by H. N.
Peterson, general traffic man
ager of the company.
Whittier, Seward and Valdez
in Southwestern Alaska, are the
ports of call of the steamer Na
tl ill a sailing January 27 and
again on February 15, and the
motorship Susitna, February 8.
The motorship Coastal Ram
bier is scheduled to sail Febru
ary 1 for Sitka Seward, Valdez,
Cordova and Yakutat.
| In addition to these freighters,
during the same period four pas
sengor vessels are scheduled to
sail to points in Southeastern
and Southwestern Alaska with
natures from Seattle each
—1 n m.
WIFE OF NAV x___
ARRIVES ON DENALI
! Mrs. W. L. Keene, wife of Lt.
| Commander W. L! Keene, USN,
arrived on the Denali Thursday
to make her home here while
■ the commander is stationed in
Seward.
Tliis is Mrs. Keene’s first trip
to Alaska.
ALASKA'S CONSTRUCTION
DESCRIBED IN MAGAZINE
Alaska’s booming construction
industry, for many years the No.
1 employer in the North, is de
scribed in an illustrated article
appearing in the January issue
of Western Construction, trade
publication edited in San Fran
cisco. The article was written by
Ralph Browne, Assistant Gener
al Manager of the Alaska De
velopment Board.
John Strickland and Harry
Jenkins, both of whom were in
jured in the New Year's Day
airplane crash, are reported as
improving by hospital attaid
ants.
!
Good Da!! Game Is
Predicted For
Saturday Night
The Fairbanks-Seward basket
ball game Saturday night, and
the second round on Monday
night should be good, according
to all predictions.
The new court in the Civic
Center is in top-notch condition,
and bleachers to scat 300 spec
tators will give everybody a
seat on the sidelines so that all
plays can be easily watched.
Coach Dalberg is hoping for
a good crowd at these games, as
this is the only way that Seward
can mriTce up for the expenses of
the trips to other schools. The
gate receipts remain in the home
town.
Perry Stockton and Stan Nie
germann are slated to referee
the games. They are both quick
and well versed in the rules of
high school basketball, so there
can be no complaints of poor or
partial officiating, such as the
boys brought back from their
latest trip.
This is the first chance Sew
~i'd!tcs have had this year to
show their approval and support
the home team. A real turn out
will go far in the all-important
morale of the players.
POSTMASTER AND FAMILY
RETURN FROM STATES
Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Larsen
and children returned Monday
from their vacation Outside.
They attended the Postmas
ters' Convention in St. Louis in
October. Mr. Larsen said that
there were 4000 postmasters at
j the convention from all parts
| of the United States, but he and
Clarence Hollingsworth, post
master at College, Alaska, were
the only Territorial men there.
Hawaii and Puerto Rico were
1 not represented. The two Alas
kans tried to get fur caps to pro
claim their State along with the
other states present, but could
not get them m time.
A now money order system is
to he inaugurated July 1, Mr
| Larsen said, that will greatly
■ simplify the handling of money
• through the postofficc.
! He also met the Postmaster
General, and invited him to visit
Seward, reminding him that only
one other Postmaster General
1 has ever visited Alaska, that be
l irig James Farley. Iiis invitation
J was accepted.
me Karsens spt-nt
pJ1S1 New Years m Hot Springs
' ,V: '•« *1 Larsen s family
nuy visited in Nasnv j.^o, jt»m.
f ulsa, Okia, and in Kansas City
where liny met Mr. Ctias Lech
ni r, aiso on ins way aoioe. Mr
Li ciiner stayed in Seattle, how
ever, to make the rest of tin
trip early in February. He plan
illeu to slop over in Ketchikan u
visit Mrs. Lechner’s sister.
'I hey saw severed Sevvarditei
in Seattle, Mr. Larsen stated
Barton Stanton and Richare
Prosser went with him to tin
Marine Hospital to visit Burdet
Blue, Walter Blue’s brother. Mr
Blue expects to bo dischargee
from tiie hospital in the spring
They met Mrs. Martine Johan
sen, who told them that she i:
coming back to Seward to live
Raymond Seferovich and family
will also be on their way bad
soon, after a motor trip down the
coast and into Old Mexico. An
other thing he heard while ir
Seattle, was that Capt Reuben
Jacobsen, former skipper oi the
mailboat Garland, is now com
manding a vessel engaged in .the
evacuation of Korea.
Governor Ignis Federal Aid in
Territorial Civil Defense Work
Bishop Gordon To
Visa* Sf. Peter's
Bishop Wm. J. Gordon, head
of the Episcopal Church in Alas
ka, is to visit Seward this week
end. He pilots his own plane,
but it is thought here that Rev.
Gordon will arrive by train be
cause of weather conditions.
He will be honored by the
Women’s Auxiliary at a tea to
be held in the home of Mr. and
, Mrs. W. C. Erwin Saturday aft
ernoon.
The bishop will hold confirm
ation services for a class which
has been preparing, at the regu
lar 11:00 a.m. worship service
Sunday morning at the Episco
pal Church. He will also con
firm a class at the Seward Sana
torium in the afternoon.
Sunday evening at six o'clock
the parish dinner and annual
meeting will be held in the Par
ish Sal!.
Bishop Gordon will be enter
tained by Father and Mrs. Rus
sell Clapp at the rectory during
his stay in Seward.
GARBAGE TRUCK SAVED
FROM FIRE
The city dump truck, carrying
garbage and trash, narrowly es
caped serious damage or loss
; yesterday when it caught fire
from the burning dump. The
: workmen were dumping a load
when the roar wheels slipped
: and the truck could not pull it
I self away from the fire.
An oil truck hitched to the
front of the dump truck failed
to pull it to safety so firemen on
the scene kept the fire down un
til Mr. Van Guilder arrived with
the city grader which snaked the
truck away from the fire,
i The alarm, sounded at 10
1 minutes to noon, confused resi
dents for a short time until more
than two blasts were heard.
■ which is the noon signal from
the fire hall.
SEWARD LIONS TO ATTEND
HOMER PRESENTATION
The Lions Club of Seward
will drive to Homer Saturday
to attend the meeting there a'
’ which The Homer Lions Clul
• will be invested with a charter.
As many members as possible
’ are ataed to go. There will be
’ a cavalcade of cars. Those with
out transportation can contac
' 1 other members before Saturday
;i
BETA SIGMA PHI TO TAKE
ART EXHIBIT TO SAN
>1
i Members of Iota Chapter
> Beta Sigma Phi. will take an ar
. exhibit to the* patients at Sew
i ard Sanatorium Saturday.
Twenty pictures, all originals
t have been loaned by Sewarc
. residents for the exhibit, includ
l ing several Sidney Laurence
. paintings.
i OPEN FOR BIDS
Bids will be received by the
Bureau of Public Roads in Ju
neau on Feb. 8 for constructior
' of the third section of the new
highway from Seward to Mile
58. This project extends from
Mile 33 near the inlet to Trail
Lake to Mile 50. The remaining
work between Mile 18 and Mile
33 is expected to be advertised
during February.
Governor Gruening, in his ad
dress 1 o the Legislature Thurs
day called for a separate Terri
torial organization for Civil De
fense. He recommended a Fed
eral Regional Director with a
salaried executive and assistant,
to give full time to the direction
of civil defense in Alaska.
Col. Joseph Alexander, Ad
jutant for National Guard and
serving as Chief of Civil Defense
in Alaska, being an Army man,
is subject to transfer, and the
Territory can lose his services at
any time. He represented the
Governor at the Northwestern
Civil Defense Conference in Sep
tember, at which the problem
was discussed and a loose organ
ization of Montana, other North
western States, Alberta and
British Columbia in Canada, and
Alaska was formed. This does
not seem to be broad enough to
cover the situation in Alaska,
however, according to the Gov
ernor. and he feels that the Ter
ritory should have its own de
fense setup with some means of
financing it.
The Civil Defense Administra
tion recently set up by Congres
sional action, and the financial
assistance to be given through
that administration, will work
on a state level, and the position
of Alaska as to the administra
tion has not been made clear. He
asked that the Legislature sup
port him in his request for a
Federal Regional Director for
the civil defense of Alaska.
I Governor Gruening also asked
I the legislative body to consider
! the advisability of revamping
and streamlining the form of
government, removing the gov
ernor from several board chair
manships, leaving him more
j time for administrative matters.
He suggested the Hoover Plan,
as submitted for Federal Gov
I eminent improvements, as a
| pattern.
Aviation Safety
Discussions
D. V4. Crsizer
for
! The Office of Aviaiion Safely
An important contributing fac
tor toward safety in aviation is
, the spreading of knowledge and
the swapping of ideas and ex
. periences. Safety means accident
. prevention.
We propose, through a series
of Aviation Safety Discussions,
to bring to your attention in
brief manner, the experiences of
others. These experiences may
result in lessons learned from
their mishaps, or they may re
• fleet preventive measures thru
plain “know-how” of people who
■ have had special problems to
solve.
Aviation Safety Agents are in
I a strategic position to collect
and pass on the combined experi
? ences of pilots all over Alaska,
Most accidents fall into well
known patterns. For instance,
early Alaskan pilots knew more
■ than twenty years ago of the
dangers of taking an airplane off
with frost on the wings, yet last
j winter accidents due to frost or
snow on the wings occurred to
light, medium weight and heavy
type airplanes, in Alaska. The
pilots involved ranged in experi
1 ence from Private Pilot to Air
line Transport Pilot.
| (Turn to Page 4)
BASKETBALL!
FAIRBANKS HIGH vs SEWARD SEA HAWKS
Two Games — Jan. 27 and 29 — 8 P.M.
CIVIC CENTER (Plenty of Seats!)
Adults $1.00 School $.50