SEWARD
The Gateway City of Interior Alaska Since 1903.
Se a p o r /
Record
Seward's /Ill-lFeather Port is Alaskds Greatest Asset.
THE ONLY NEWSPAPER IN THE WORLD THAT GIVES A HOOT ABOUT SEWARD, ALASKA
»1. VIII, No. 20
SEWARD, ALASKA, FRIDAY, AUGUST 17, 1951
Price 10 cents
be Story of
;eward
By Jay Sfauier
XV
IWARD'S EARLY SCHOOLS
AND TEACHERS
As the story of this town of
rs grows little by little in
esc weekly columns, a rather
■iking fact keeps coming to
r attention, time and again,
lat circumstance is the almost
mplete absence of printed or
itten source material. Repeat
inquiries have failed to locate
y available newspapers prior
1920. Official and unofficial
irords of the early days of Sew
:1 have somehow been destroy
or lost, or perhaps never pre
'ved at all. The dates on early
eds and homesteads do not
rrespond to the actual time
transfer, but rather to the
te of filing, which in many
»es took place as much as
•ee years after the actual
?nt. Early records of the Sew
1 Volunteer Fire Department,
hough painstakingly kept and
^served for many years, fell
?y to a moment of careless
?s some time ago, when a
wcomer to one of the city
ices cleaned out all the “old
ik“ and burned it. including
the early records of fires
1 also of personnel of the
e Department.
n garnering material on bew
I's early schools and teachers,
same problem faces us again.
>ceedings of early school
irds were sometimes vague as
names and dates, and many
the minutes of school board
etings are missing. Judge
littlesy examined them care
ly in 1920, for an article he
ate in the magazine “Path
:ler,” the May issue of that
ir. For the material below, we
almost entirely indebted to
late Judge Whittlesy, who, it
1 be recalled, was for many
rs City Clerk, also Mayor
1 U. S. Commissioner,
n the year 1903, Miss Louise
rth arrived in Seward to be
ae the city s first school teacn
sent by the Reverend Shel
i Jackson, general agent for
ication for the Territory. As
rly as we can learn, the first
ciol was a 1-room shack which
d to be just north of the
sent Alaska House, on the
where a quonset hut now
ids. Miss Kurth taught the
xe season, the winter of 1903
the spring of 1904. Her ap
itment seems to have been
j of a temporary measure,
salary being paid out of a
rial fund administered by Dr.
<son.
eiore me next scnooi year
ned, the town of Seward or
ized a regular school board,
listing of F. E. Youngs, presi
t; F. G. Hale, treasurer, and
[. Gray, clerk. Under the jur
ation of this board, a school
ius was taken, and it wras
id that there were 53 chil
i of school age to be pro
d for. Next they asked Gov
ir Brady for an allowance of
10 for the coming school
■. The money was promptly
icoming, and with this fund,
employed Miss Mary Gil
ick to teach for six months
salary of S90 per month
len, apparently, classes were
ed to the Methodist Church,
:h at that time was nothing
a large tent. Mr. Buck was
employed as schoolteacher,
the Ballaine Building (what
that was) was purchased
;he sum of $900 for a per
?nt school.
(Turn to Page 4)
Informal Talks Underway
Kenai . . .
A baby brother for Jimmy
Allan Arness arrived at the Sew
ard General Hospital on August
9. He weighed 9'a pounds and
was named Joseph Conrad. His
parents are Mr. and Mrs. Jim
Arness of Kenai. Mrs. Arness and
young son returned to Kenai on
August 14 via Alaska Airlines.
Mr. and Mrs. O. C. Connelly
left for a trip over the Alcan
Highway as far as Edmonton,
Canada. Mr. Connelly has been
employed on the Tally Scow be
longing to Seldovia Packing Co.
and operating in the Upper In
let during the current salmon
fishing season. The Connellys
plan to be back in Kenai in time
for the opening of school—Sept.
4.
Mr. G. R. Scarlett and grand
son Robert Lemmon are leaving
soon for Carmel, California
where Bob will attend high
school this winter. Mr. and Mrs.
Lemmon plan to join them in a
couple of months.
• The Kenai Chapel is holding
their annual Vacation Bible
School during this week. The
adult workers include Mrs. Wal
ter Covich, Mrs. Jan Peterson,
Miss Pauline Smith, of Xinil
chik, and Arlene Rheingans.
Additional visitors who at
tended the Victory Bible Camp
at Lidsx Lake 9U miles north of
Anchorage, include Carol Jones,
Evelyn Baktuit. Mildred Kooiv,
Leona and Charlotte March,
Joyce Wilson and George Hun
ter.
We hope lo see you at the An
nual Tall Feslival—Kenai—
Aug. 24, come for an afternoon
and evening of fun and frolic.
Place—Kenai Civic Center
Lions' Benefit Show
To Feature Styles
Several good acts are promis
ed for the Lions Club Benefit
show at the Nobby next Wednes
day evening.
Norine's will put on a style
show featuring fall and winter
styles as well as a showing of
furs from the Alaska Fur Fac
tory in Anchorage. It will be
modelled by four local ladies,
Hazel Gillies, Agnes Janikula,
Jean Ryan and Patsy Woods,
with Georgia Todd at the piano.
Kay Johnson will give an in
termission number.
Highlight of the evening is ex
pected to be a comedy fashion
dance by the men of the Lions
in costume. This is top secret.
No one is telling what their
show will consist of other than
a dance.
After the show, music and
dancing will continue as usual,
proceeds from the evening being
donated by the Nobby to the
Lions Club Scholarship fund.
HIGHWAY TRAVEL BOOMS
IN TERRITORY
According to reports of the
U. S. Customs Service, which
keeps a check on cars entering
into Alaska at Tok Junction,
there was a total of 1668 cars
carrying 3983 passengers in the
month of June. In addition to
the private cars, 12 busses car
ried 101 passengers.
9488 vehicles had entered A
laska during the fiscal year. June
30, 1950 to June 30, 1951. They
carried a total of 22,545 passen
gers.
Kenai Festival
Set For
Friday, August 24
The Kenai Homemaker’s Club
will sponsor another annual Fes
tival, such as held last year. The
affair will be held in the Civic
Center (the' old school building)
next week. Friday, August 24
during the afternoon and eve
ning.
The Homemaker's Club is in
viting all Peninsula communi
ties to visit with them on that
day, and to enter exhibits in the
fair.
Besides the fun of visiting,
th.re will be games, food and
faneywork stands, home produce
and handcraft exhibits and a
merchants bazaar. Seward and
Anchorage merchants are mak
ing liberal contributions to the
bazaar.
A home produce exhibit is
sponsored by the Kenai Com
munity Library. The ladies are
particularly anxious to have ex
hibits of vegetables, flowers,
potted plants, home canning,
etc., for this booth from every
Kenai Peninsula community.
All contributions from the booth
will be sold and the proceeds
used for the benefit of the li
brary.
Home canned meats, fish and
native fruits are particularly in
teresting on the Peninsula be
cause of the variety of methods
used in the preservation of foods.
As an aid to homesteaders and
the Kenai Festival, Mr. Malcolm,
Matanuska Valley Lines, has
offered to pick up and deliver
produce and exhibits along his
route to the Fair.
White Flag
A white flag displayed on the
mail box or at the roadside, will
be a signal to the bus driver
that there is something or some
body who wishes to go to thf*
Fair. The driver will stop for
items or persons at every flag
point.
The bus line is also giving a
special round trip rate from
Seward to Kenai on the 24th
with stop-over time to attend
the Festival.
Another Plane Missing
In Alaska
ANCHORAGE (AP) — Anoth
er plane was mssing today in
Alaska—the fourth in less than
a month. The wreckage of one,
a Navy patrol bomber with a
crew of 12, has been found.
The latest search was for a
plane flown by veteran bush
pilot Glen Hudson. It failed to
return from a flight Wednes
day night to a lake near Dead
Man Mountain, about 170 miles
northeast of Anchorage.
Three private pilots from Tal
keetna, 100 miles north of An
chorage, and a B-17 from the
10th Air Rescue Squadron toolj;
off yesterday in bad weather to
look for Hudson's plane. It car
ried emergency rations and a
gun.
Charred wreckage of the Ko
diak-based Navy Patrol bomber
was found Wednesday on lonely
Amak Island, off the Alaska Pen
insula about midwTay between
Kodiak and Adak Island in the
Aleutian Chain. The PB4-Y-2
took off last Sunday from its
home field on a routine flight
to Adak. A ground party was
due to reach the shattered bom
ber late yesterday, but has not
reported by radio.
Moose Pass
Among the new folks who
have come to Moose Pass are
Air. and Mrs. Eddie Barnes and
sons, “Skipper” and little Jerry
Wayne. iVIr. and Mrs. Barnes
formerly lived in Seward. Mr.
Barnes is employed by Manson,
Osberg and Halvorson.
Mr. and Mrs. Jim Dyer left
for Outside last week. They
plan to go to Sacramento, Calif
ornia to make their home.
The Moose Pass Rifle and Pis
tol Club met last Wednesday
evening. Final plans for the
dance to be held Saturday, Au
gust 25, were made.
Mr. and Airs. Alerle Reed were
recent visitors to Anchorage.
The Cooper Landing Rifle and
Pistol Club were hosts to the
Aloose Pass Rifle and Pistol
Club Sunday August 12. There
was shooting both in the morn
ing and afternoon. A picnic
lunch was served. Those present
from Aloose Pass were Mr. H.
M. Soper, Air. and Airs. Sher
man Pearson and sons Norman
and Joe, Air. and Airs. Merle
Reed and son Paul, Air. and Airs.
Glenn Aliller, Air. and Airs. Shal
bow and daughter “Skipper”.
The Aloose Pass Club hopes to
complete their range in the near
future so there can be a return
match soon.
Airs. Phil Ames from Anchor
age was a recent visitor of the
R. G. Woods. Roy Woods went
back to Anchorage with his aunt
and will visit with his grand
parents for a few days.
Typhoid immunization
For Children 2 to 5
Mrs. LaPreal Bic, Public
Health Nurse, reminds mothers
aga.n o£ the typhoid immuniza
tion clinic ior pre school chil
dren between the ages of 2 and
5 years. It will start Tuesday,
August 21 from 10 a m. to 4 p.m.
It has been found that this
treatment has a beneficial effect
against certain other gastronom
ic ailments.
Mrs. Bie advises mothers to
boil all water for infants and
small children. Laboratory re
ports on the water samples sent
this week have not been receiv
ed yet. The process requires
three days for completion, so re
ports should be here before Mon
day. It is felt locally however
that the water is not contaminat
ed by the mud, although precau
tionary measures are advised.
House Overrides Veto
On VA Pension Bill
WASHINGTON (AP) — The
House today passed over Presi
dent Truman's veto a bill pro
• viding 3120 monthly pensions
to certain veterans disabled from
causes not connected with their
military service.
It applies only to veterans
whose condition requires that
they have the services of an at
tendant. The present pensions
for these veteranes range from
$60 to $72 monthly.
The roll-call vote was 318 for
passing the bill again and 45
against. This was 76 more than
the two-thirds needed to over
ride a veto.
Senate action is still required
If the Senate repassed the bill,
it becomes law regardless of the
President's objections.
MUNSAN. KOREA (AP) —
A four-man subcommittee tack
led the Korean buffer zone
deadlock today amid official
indications the Communists are
ready to compromise.
The subcommitteemen declin
ed to comment on what happen
ed in their first session—held
in an unusual air of informality
for Korean truce talks.
They scheduled their second
session for 11 a.m. Saturday.
When they adjourned United
Nations and Communist dele
gates posed together for the
first time.
While posing, Maj. Gen.
Henry I. Hodes, one of the U.N.
representatives, put his arm
around North Korean Maj. Gen.
Lee Sang Cho.
The other two delegates—U.S.
Rear Admiral Arleigh Burke
and Chinese Maj. Gen. Hsieh
Fang—also appeared to be in
good spirits.
While they were negotiating
behind closed doors, their dis
cussians were broken at times
by outbursts of laughter.
The informal attitude—a com
plete reversal of the cold mili
tary formality of all full dele
gation meetings—strengthened
an air of hopefulness brought to
Kaesong by a regular broadcast.
The Earl Simonds family and
Jac-K Herzig were guests of Mrs.
Jane Veerhusen and daughter
Sharon at a clamburger dinner.
Wednesday, August 1.
The William Reeders had Mr.
W. E. McLaughlin, Howard Mc
Laughlin, Elmer Wood, and Red
Hammersley over for a big clam
feed Saturday August 4. They
finished off the evening playing
Canasta.
Mr. and Mrs. Lane Van Or
man left last week for their
home in Michigan after spend
ing about a month with his
folks, Mr. and Mrs. Ed Van Or
man. They expressed intentions
of returning on their vacation
next summer.
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Forstner
entertained Mrs. Jane Veerhus
en, Sharon Harmon, Rex Mc
Clure, and Johnny Schaefer at
dinner Thursday, August 9. Mr.
and Mrs. Lee Ricketts stopped in
later in the evening. The Rick
etts have a homestead next to
the Forstners and plan to move
down from Kenai in the near
future.
Mrs. Keith Hallstead with
daughter Kathy of Kenai spent
Saturday afternoon visiting Mrs.
Per E. Osmar. They enjoyed
comparing notes on their new
babies who were born within a
few hours of each other.
Elmer I. Wood entertained the
Bill Reeders, Howard McLaugh
lin and his father, and Red Ham
mersley at dinner Sunday, Aug.
12. Another Canasta game lasted
until the wee hours of the morn
ing. Mr. Wood left Monday to
spend a few days in Seward.
Doctor and Mrs. Charles Orr
of Seward spent the night in the
Osmar “guest house" on their
way to Deep Creek Wednesday.
They stopped in on the return
trip to give away (and show off)
one of their magnificent catch!
Tommy Sweet, Ruth Reeder’s
cousin, is visiting Alaska this
summer. He is currently employ
ed by the Alaska Road Com
mission at Mt. McKinley.