God offera to every mind Ita
choice between truth and re
pose. ..Take which you please,
you can never have both.
Emerson
Seward
The Gateway City of Interior Alaska Since 1903.
s e a P 0 r t
Record
Seward’s All-IP eather Port is Alaska’s Greatest Asset.
The Seward Seaport Record
Is independent In every re
spect and none shall ever be
denied the right to use its col
umns for any legal purpose or
expression.
VOL. XI. NO. 18.
SEWARD, ALASKA, FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 1955
PRICE 10 CENTS
LOCAL CHAMBER DIRECTORS
URGE ACTION ON TOURISM
At the Tuesday noon meeting
of the Chamber a capacity crowd
sat down to another of the del
icious meals prepared by the ladies
of the WSCS.
BOARD MEETINGS
Reports on the Board of Birectors
meetings held in the past week
were read to the group.
On Thursday of last week the
Board held a special meeting to
explore tlie problems of stimula
ting tourism in the Seward area.
It was decided as one of the sev
eral things to be done to exploit
the tourist potential that boat ex
cursions should be arranged so
that sightseeing and fishing par
ties could be attracted to this area.
Other Board action included the
plans to make a detailed reply
to the misinformation contained
in the Wyer report recently re
leased by the Army. The report
contains an evaluation of the re
lative merits of the ports of Whit
tier and Seward with regard to
Sea Train operations.
A report was also heard on a
recent suggestion that the Chamber
get a team of Economists from
the University of Washington to
conduct an economic survey of the
Seward area. It was the Board's
report that the University of Al
aska is organizing a similiar team
to work in Alaska as the Washing
ton team could not work outside
their home state.
The newly formed recreation
council, it was suggested by the
Boarc, should be invited to the
next Chamber meeting. Gene
Breitenbach is to be at next Tues
day's meeting.
The Board also had a suggestion
that the Fourth of July celebration
be turned over to a professional
manager.
The need for a program of ed
ucation on the Hydro-electric pro
ject was discussed and it was dec
ided to invite the City Council
and Utility Board to the next
regular Chamber session to dis
cuss the project.
GUESTS
Two guests were present at the
meeting. They were: Mr. Ron
Rhettig of Anchorage, and Mr.
Goreson. who is a new member
representing Local 82 of the Long
shoremen's Union.
Other items taken up at the
Tuesday meeting included a letter
from Delegate E. L. Bartlett ack
nowledging the Chamber's wire re
garding the need for additional
funds to make full use of the Sew
ard San facilities. Bob said he
had asked for further information
and help from the Secretary of the
Interior.
In connection with the Chamber's
concern with building up Tourism
in Seward it was voted to have
the Chamber join the Alaska Vis
itors Association.
CITY MANAGER’S REPORT
The City Manager had several
items to report to the Chamber
among them that a complete re
port on City activities is being
compilec and will be submitted to
the Chamber when completed.
The Chamber had earlier plan
ned a survey of the City Govern
ment to ascertain what gains were
being made under the City Mana
ger form of government. The re
port from the City departments
!
will assist in this effort. It had
been felt that perhaps many cit
izens did not realize the gains
made in the past year.
The progress on the hydro-elec
tric project and bond election was
reported by the City Manager. A
review of this will be found .else
where in tills issue.
The City Manager also had things
to say about the rumor that the
City Council was being pusher, by
1 the Chamber to kick the present
lessons of the San Juan Dock
out and substitute some other in
! dustry.
Mr. O'Hara reported on a rec
ent Council meeting at which it
i had come to the Council’s atten
j tion that a review of the Lease
| had been ordered sometime ago,
! 1953, to see if fuller use of the
dock could not be made and the
Ciyt realize more from the facil
ities.
Since a firm proposal has been
made to make fuller use of the
dock and bring more industry to
Seward the Council had considered
! immediate action to break the
lease and make room for the new
industry, but not to kick out any
one.
O'Hara also reported he had a
: letter from a firm interested in
; locating a birch processing plant
here and that Babler and Rogers
of Portland were interested in
locating a cracking plant in Sew
ard.
The next meeting of the Cham
ber w ill be held in the basement
of the Methodist Church next Tues
day at noon .
| -
Warehouses To Go
To Highest Bidders
Three surplus warehouses on El
| mendorf Air Force Rase will be
i sold to highest bidders by the
I Alaska District Corp of Engineers,
i Rids will be accepted until 1 p.m.
| February 25.
The buildings are of frame mob
j ilization type with heating plants
! to be sold with the buildings. Two
I of the structures are 50’ by ISO';
| one is 50' by 100'. The buyer is
.to remove the buildings from the
site hut is not required to remove
the concrete floors and founda
tions.
Information, bid forms and ap
pointments to inspect the buildings
may be obtained from the eRal
Estate Division, Alaska District
; Corps of Engineers, Anchorage.
Homemakers Meeting
The Marathon Homemakers met
iast week on Thursday evening.
January 20, at the Clearview home
of Mrs. Wilma Tish on Marathon
Drive. Mrs. Retty Casey was the
co-hostess for the evening.
Mrs. Lillian Dangler conducted
a demonstration of how to sew
beads on sweaters. Mrs. Casey
was the winner of the evening's
contest.
The next meeting of the club will
be held at the home of Mrs. Ray
Seferovich on February 3rd.
The demonstration for that even
ing will be given by Mrs. Cecil
Horton. Her subject will be the
proper care and transplanting of
houseplants.
1
TRAVEL THE CONVENIENT WAY
Goudova Ai/iiUteA,
TWICE DAILY AIR SERVICE BETWEEN
SEWARD and ANCHORAGE
Lv. SEWARD .... 9:35 a.m. & 2:35 p.m.
Arr. Anchorage .. 10:15 a.m. & 3:15 p.m.
DAILY EXCEPT SUNDAY
USE THE FAMILY PLAN. EF
FECTIVE FRIDAYS, SATURDAYS,
AND MONDAYS. DAD PAYS FUL,L
FARE — MOM AND THE
CHILDREN PAY HALF FARE
-\
For Information or Reservations, Call Main 99
& Serving the Heartland of Alaska since 1934
i
Scouting Plans
Outlined by Explorers
A full program of excitement
for Explorer Scouts was planned
recently at a meeting held in the
basement of the Episcopal church.
Snowshoe hikes, arctic survival
pack trip and a model plane, boat
and car tournament were among j
the many interesting future pro- j
grams to lie undertaken.
All young model-makers of Sew
i ard. male and female, who are
| students of the Seward public
school are eligible to enter the
model contest. Only those models
I whose construction is begun sub
sequent to the meeting day, Jan
j nary 20, will he eligible. A 15c
j entry fee will be charged.
The best model in each of the I
' three divisions will receive a prize, i
Models, entry fees, and signed
statements t o the effect that
models were begun after January
120 may be turned In to Bruce
I,ewls or Danny Rose on or before
February 28.
Models will be displayed in O’
Briens Gift Shop window after the j
15tli of February. Judging and |
awards will he made after the j
final entry day. February 28.
An arctic survival, snowshop
hike and overnight camping trip
have been scheduled for February
12 and 13.
Square dancing will be an event
of February 25. with the 7th. 8th |
grades and High School students |
invited to participate. A charge j
of 25C per couple will be made :
and all proceeds will he donated !
to the Polio fund. The location
of this dance will be announced
at a later date.
March activities for the explor
ers and their friends will include
a dance and box-social to he held
on March 15th. Admission will be
: a box lunch per couple. All pro
■ ceeds from the sale of the lunches
i at auction will also be given to
the Polio fund. Attendance is
restricted to members of the 7th
and 8th grades and High School
students.
un .Harm la ana -a me r.xpior- |
er Scouts will test their ability
by going on a "Lost Hike”. The
return trip will require the chart
ing of the hike back and use
of the compass to find their way |
i home.
i Vocational talks by Mr. Sword,
j Forest Ranger; Mr. Earl Gregory,
Lawer; Father Russell Clapp, of
I the Episcopal church and Father
'Arnold Custer of the Catholic
j church will he scheduled as they
| can arrange their calendars to
j permit.
I Election of leaders was also held
, at this meeting and those named
| to office included Bruce Lewis,
Crew Leader; Max Campbell, As
sistant Crew leader: and David
| Rose was unanimously chosen to
| retain his office of Secretary-Tre
! asurer.
I Two new scouts were introduced
to the assembly. They were Guy
j Galloway and Richard Lee Sulli
| van. One visitor, Ronnie Norton
! was present and plans to place
i his application within the month.
Receive First Painting
[For Rendezvous Show
! ANCHORAGE, Jan. 28 — Excite
; ment ran high when the Art show
j received its first entry “Night
I Scene", an oil painting by Carol
1 Erwin of Seward. Miss Erwin,
rwho is known as the “Artist of the
I Rain Belt area” has painted over
1500 pictures during her 17 years in
1 Alaska. She has also operated
• road houses and cafes from Nome 1
to Juneau. During the war years
\ she drove a cab.
| Miss Erwin's interest in art start
; ed when she spent two years in
la Texas hospital following an apto
] mobile accident. She exchanged
sketches with a professional illus
trator, who was a patient across
the hall from her. Later, confined
to a wheel chair for two months,
she lived on a farm and painted
domestic animals in the barnyard.
“Nature is the best teacher”, she
says ‘‘so when I came to Alaska
I went into the interior and studied
the mountains, the animals and
the lonely mining towns”.
A self-taught artist, Miss Erwin
has worked in oils, watercolors
and charcoal. She is neither of
the impressionistic nor modern
school, she is primative painter
and there is a certain amount of
depth to her work. Miss Erwin
use bright colors and a great
amout of detail. "It takes three
months to complete a painting”
she confides, "I devote four hours
each morning to painting and us
ually have two or three oils going
at once.” '
Most of Miss Erwin’s paintings
now are of Alaska, featuring rug
ged peaks, lonely mining camps
and usually there is an animal
in the picture.
Summarize Past Year
Health Activities
In response to a request frrm\ |
the Seaport Record the local Pub
lic Health Nurse has compiled a
list of the many actiivities her ,
office conducted during the past j
year. It has been our experience
in the past that few people real
ize the size of the joo 'lone
such public servants as Miss Lotte
Hirscl).
Home visits to TB patients .... 130
TB patients are visited not only
when they are in the infectious
stage, but also at certain intervals
after the disease has been appar
ently arrested (i.e. become non
communicable) to make sure that
no new flare-up of the disease oc
curs. or if this should be the case,
that the necessary treatment can
be commenced at the earliest pos
sible moment.
Office visits by TB patients
or close contacts . 97
Admissions to TB sanatoria
from this area . 6
Chest x-rays authorized at the
expense of the Alaska De
partment of Health . 118
(This does not include the x
rays taken by the mobile unit.)
Tuberculosis conferences at
Seward San attended . 22
Out-patient clinics at Seward
San attended . 23
Patients visited for communi
cable disease (not including
tubreculosis) . 175
The following immunizations and
vaccinations and tests were given:
Smallpox vaccinations . 179
Whooping cough
immunization . 32B
Diptheria immunization . 335
Lockjaw immunization . 485
Typhoid immunizations .1188
Schick tests . 150
Sscick tests . 150
Tuberculin tests . 119 j
Gamma Globulin . 74
Attendance at Immunization
Clinics (held in Seward,
Moose Pass and Hope) .3939
Immunization clinics held for
children are at the Health Center
every Thursday between 1:30 and
4:30 pin. Special clinics (s.a.
those held every spring for typhoid
immunizations of all age groups)
are announced separately. Well
child conferences are held also
Thursday afternoons, in conjunc
tion with the immunization clinics.
Any child, whether or not in need
of shots, may attend these ses
sions for general health supervi
sion. weight checks, advice on
feeding or other problems not re
quiring the attention of a quali
fied physician. If, at the well
child conference, a child is con
sidered to be in need of more ex
pert care, a referral is made to
the family physician or sometimes
to a specialist.
inrants ann prescnooi cnnureu
seen at the Health Center .... 163
Infants and preschool children
seen at home . 52
School children visited in their
home . 16
School children inspected or
examined at school . 211
Conferences with teachers and
other school personnel (in,
eluding personnel at Jesse
Lee Home) . 61
Adults visited for illness not
otherwise specified . 67
Adults seen at Health Center
for illness not otherwise
specified . 22
Maternity patients visited — 31
Visits to homes of children
with crippling conditions
(orthopedic or eye-ear-nose
and throat defects) . 13S
Office visits in relation to
children with crippling de
fects . 76
Crippling defects newly report
ed to Alaskan Department
of Health to request diag
nostic examination, remed
ial surgery or other treat
ments, and follow-up care .... 115
Unproductive home calls — for
any purpose (family moved
or not home) . 38
Conferences in behalf of spec
ific patients (with physi
cians, welfare workers) 112
Conferences on overall pro
gram (with city officials,
representatives of organiza
tions interested in some as
pect of public health) . 35
Talks and lectures given . 14
There are of course many other
time taking activities such as
phone calls, correspondence, rec
ord keeping, etc. which cannot
be classified.
Seahawks’ Schedule
HOME GAMES
Feb. 4 & 6—Anchorage.
GAMES AWAY
Jan. 28 A 29— Palmer.
Feb. 18 A 19—Fairbanks.
I
Seward Area Deemed
Land of Prosperity
Tho way was opened this week
for a land of prosperity to bloom
around Seward as the Council and
Utility Hoard cleared the way to
send the issue to the voters ask
inf? for approval of 3V6 million
dollars in Revenue Bonds to build
the Crecent bake Hydro-electric
project.
Availability of an ample source
of cheap electric power cannot
help but to speed the develope
nient of the Kenai Peninsula.
Though the supply is not great
enough to attract a big industrial
plant it could attract many small
er industries which would tend
to diversify the economy of Sew
ard. Such diversification will take
Seward out of its present condi
tion of boom or bust depending
on what happens to shipping or the
Alaska Railroad.
Voters might well keep in mind
that the Ronds they will vote on
are strictly Revenue Bonds, that
is, a pledge of the revenue of the
system and not a mortgage on pro
perty of the community or of the
Utilities.
Also the amount of Bonds to he
issued will be controlled by the
cost of the project and if less than
3*/6 million dollars is needed to
build the system then the full
amount will not he issued and
thus there will he no interest to
pay on the Bonds which are auth
orized but not issued. The same
applies to the matter of interest
rates on the Bonds. You are be
ing asked to approve Bonds to bear
interest at not to exceed 5 per
cent. This means that the door
is left open to negotiate with the
Bonding companies for a lesser
rate of interest than has been pre
viously paid, also if it went the
other way, the Council could, if
necessary sell the Bonds with a
slightly higher rate of interest.
Though in the next few weeks
the present publisher will be leav- ;
ing Seward we cannot too strongly
urge that you vote Yes for the i
Crescent Lake project and give the |
economy of Seward, the Kenai and
Alaska a big boost and make it
the land of Prosperity which we
envision.
Cooper Landing
Woman Heroine
PITTSBURGH. Penn.. — (up) —
The Carnegie Hero Fund Commis
sion today awarded a bronze medal
to Mrs. Catherine L. Coppock, 31.
Cooper Landing, Alaska, for her
heroic attempts to save a child
from the frozen waters of the
Kenai river .
Mrs. Coppock was one of 14 per
sons so honored for risking her
life to save someone else. Three
of the recipients died in their res
cue attempts.
The Commission's citation said
Mrs. Coppock attempted to save
three-year-old Sherman C. Smith.
Ill, from drowning in the Kenai
river on February 17. 1954. The
boy had wandered onto the river’s
ice with two little girls and was
plunged into the icy waters when
a projection of ice broke beneath
him. He was submerged briefly
and then floated with his face
barely out of the water.
Attracted by screams of the lit
tle girls, Mrs. Coppock descended
a flight of stairs to the Ice and
ran more than 100 yards across
the frozen river to where Sherman
floated unconscious. She plunged,
fully clothed, into the river to save
him.
Mrs. Coppock grasped the boy
and then swam about eight feet
to the edge of the ice. She
pushed Sherman onto the ice. but
thee projections continually broke
under her weight when she at
tempted to crawl out of the water.
Finally she got one leg up on
the ice and dragged herself to
safety. She picked up the child
and ran to the river bank, her
clothing freezing into ice as she
ran.
Another woman met Mrs. Cop
pock on the bank. The two women
rushed Sherman indoors, removed
his frozen clothing, and gave hint
artificial respiration for an ex
tended period.
However, the boy was dead.
Mrs. Coppock recovered from
the shock and exposure she suf
fered during her ordeal.
Recent arrivals at the Seward
General Hospital include Phyllis
Ann Bloom who arrived on Jan
uary 14 to join her parents Mr.
and Mrs. David Bloom.
On the 16th, Jennie Lee Skinner
was born to Mr. and Mrs. E. G.
Skinner of Dutch Harbor.
A son was born to Mr. and Mrs.
James Ostler on January 15 In Or
lando, Florida. His name is Mich
ael James. Mrs. Ostler is the
former Carolyn Mahan, daughter
of Victor Mahan.
KENAI POWER GROUPS DISCUSS
EECTRIC SUPPLY PROBLEMS
In half a dozen meetings held
during the past week and a half
tlie Seward City Council together
with the Utilities Hoard and the
City's engineer on the Crescent
laike Wydre-olectrio power pro
ject, Howard Harstad, delved into
the many problems which confront
the City in trying to finance the
3Vs million dollar project.
On Monday of last week the
Council read the Election Ordin
ance which provides for a spec
ial election to ask voters approval
of revenue bonds to build the pow
ed plant and associated distribu
tion and transmision lines.
The first problem to confront
the Council was that the financial
feasability of the plan was shak
en somewhat by a recent Council
motion taking the City out of the
distributing business in the area
front its present system and the
power plant which would be loc
ated at Upper Trail Lake. This
would cost the City 200 (est.)
customers and though they woulc.
still theoretically be customers,
through the Kenai Lake Electric
Kenai Land Withdraw
Announced by B.L.M.
Seeking to assure the use and
enjoyment of Alaska's rivers, lakes
and scenic areas by the general
public, the bureau of Land Man
agement announced that it has
requested the withdrawal of 226
acres of land located in three
separate areas in the vicinity of
Soldotna and Naptowne on Kenai
Peninsula.
The three areas are situated in
T 5 N„ H. 10 W„ S. M., and
comprise portions of Sections 15,
27, 33, and 34. They are adjacent
to lakes or rivers and afford ad
mirable picnic, camping and gen
erii! recreational possibilities, Har
old T. Jorgenson, Acting Area Ad
ministrator said.
Furthermore, Jorgenson said, that
these three sites are heavily used
by the public at present and in
order that they can be dedicated
to the general public's enjoymeut.
it is essential that these areas be
withdrawn to prevent their becom
ing blocked off by private owner
ship.
The Bureau announced that it
had requested withdrawal of seven
acres of land situated on a penin
sula extending northward into Ber
nice Lake from the section line
running east and west from quar
ter corner common t osurveyed sec
tion 22 and unsurveyed section 15
to M.H.W., T. 7N„ R. 12 W„ S.M.
The proposed withdrawal area
located about 12 miles north of
Kenai, is the only open public
domain with frontage on Bernice
Lake. Withdrawal would assure
public access to and from the lake.
There are several homesteads w ith
frontage on the lake as a means
of access to their property. Fur
thermore, Jorgenson said that this
scenic area would make an ideal
campground and small boat land
ing area for the pubilc.
Washington Letter
1956 FISCAL YEAR BUDGET
Incomplete tabulations reveal
that President Kisenhower is seek
ing $61,487,840 in the 1956 fiscal
year budget for Alaska activities
of various government agencies.
It is expected that in a week
or two the full amount for the
Territory, with the exception of
funds for military public works,
will be known.
The Interior Department's share,
exclusive of funds for the Fish and
Wildlife Service, totals $25,276,979,
with funds sought for the Com
merce Department in the amount
of $22,495,980 second in size. The
Commerce Department figure, how
ever, does not include funds re
quested for the operations of the
Civil Aeronautics Board in the
Territory. The Defense Depart
ment's budget totals $5,384,000 but
this does not include any proposed
requests for military public works,
a program which usually goes to
Congress for authorization many
weeks after the President’s budget
message is submitted. The budget
includes $3,902,200 for Post Office
Department activities in Alaska,
$1,556,901 for the Agriculture De
partment .excluding the program
for the Rural Electrification Ad
ministration and the Soil Conser
vation Service), $1,342,680 for the
Department of Health, Education
and Welfare (exclusive of funds
for the medical care of Alaska’s
native people .the federal respon
sibility for which was transferred
by Congress in 1954 from the Bur
(Turn to Page Three)
Association, they would not be on
a firm basis which the City could
use to borrow against since the
contract between the City and the
REA Co-Op is subject to cancel
ation on short notice.
A meeting was held with the
Kenai Lake group last week on
Thursday and they indicated sub
stantial agreement with the City
to provide ^rvice to the area so
long as no one who had signed up
with the Co-Op would be left out.
Power from the City would, it is
believed, be substantially cheaper
since the Co-Op had a proposed
rate starting at 20<‘ per K\V anc
graduated down to about per
KW as against Seward rate start
ing at about 13%<t per KW and
dropping on a scale to about 3(S
per KW.
Since the I3oard of Directors of
the Co-Op felt that they could not
speak for all and a loan applica
tion is now being processed by the
REA office in Washington nothing
much could he done immediately
by either the Board or the City
which must get voter approval
of its project before it can make a
firm commitment to serve the area.
Acting on a previous expressed
desire of the Homer Electric Ass
ociation to tie into the Seward
hycro-electric generating system,
the Council took its next step by
sending engineer Harstad, Council
man Anthony and Utility Board
Member Merle Trevethan to Hom
er to see what sort of commitment
Homer could make to buy power
from Seward.
The trio brought hack a tenta
tive agreement, any contract would
have to be approved by REA head
quarters in Washington, to build
a transmission line and provide
distribution service, if necessary,
along the way from Soldotna where
the Homer line now ends to Mile
32 where the Seward hydro plant
would be located. This agreement
if financed would take care of all
Kenai Lake potential customers
and likely at a lower rate than had
been previously proposed.
Lead by Utility Board member
Bob Stearns the Mayor. Council
and Utility Board repeatedly de
clared during the discussions that
the City of Seward had no inten
tion of proceeding without the sub
stantial agreement of all concern
ed in the new service areas.
A phone call to Washington head
quarters of REA this week, made
by the manager of the Homer El
ectric Association didn't clear the
problem as quickly as had been
hoped since the Washington office
requested further information be
fore making any approval.
Next step in the long process was
the approval on Monday of the final
reading of Ordinance 253 which
places the decision, of whether or
not to build the Crescent Lake
plant, before the voters. The Or
: dinance is being published in an
I Anchorage newspaper because of
the immanent suspension of the
local paper. The election will be
held February 23.
Cost of the project is estimated
to not exceed 3% million dollars
and will be paid for by revenue
i bonds. Such bonds are paid for
1 solely out of revenue of the sys
tem and do not constitute a lean
upon property of the Utility or
private property. Neither can they
be paid for out of tax money as
General Obligation bonds would be.
i
Parent-T eachers
jTo Meet Monday
I The regular monthly meeting
of the Parent-Teachers Associa
tion will be held next Monday
evening at 7:30 in the High School.
All parents and interested persons
are invited to attend.
The program for the evening
is being planned by the Character
and Spiritual Education Committee
which promises to be a most in
I teresting program.
Refreshments will be served and
a social period will follow the
regular business and program of
the evening.
LISTEN TO . . .
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