SEWARD
The Gateway City of Interior Alaska Since 1903.
Seaport
Record
Seward’s All-lVeather Port is Alaska’s Greatest Asset.
THE ONLY NEWSPAPER IN THE WORLD THAT GIVES A HOOT ABOUT SEWARD. ALASKA
VIII. No. 28
SEWARD, ALASKA, FRIDAY, SEPT. 7, 1951
Price 10 cents
e Story of
Reds Launch New Drive
f
XVII
IE EARLY SEWARD
INESS ENTERPRISES
eviously announced as deal
with the further growth of
ird's public utilities, this
t's column will instead
r a few facts about some
eward’s early private busi
firms, from the founding
le town to the suspension
ork on the railroad,
iving sketched a few nigh
in early episodes of tnis
s, it now ssems wise to
backward again and fill in
Is as far as possible, for the
ral period 1904-1908. before
ning involved in the com
storv of the fight against
?rvation policies. It was the
nrvation policy of the Na
1 administration in Wash
n, D.C., you will remem
that led to the failure of
Alaska Northern Railroad,
o a long period of business
ation for Seward. More on
ater. of course.
iar. we nave memionea
a few Seward business
established in the early
Among them were Brown
Hawkins; the Brownell
fare Store: Kimball’s Gen
>tore: Lilly Gordon s fore
;r of the Alaska Shop, the
>ame of wh>cv> we do not
|: the Alaska Transfer: Sew
^ight and Power Company;
Hardware: Mr Frank Bal
> Water Works: and the
jal newspaper, the Gate
Ipublished by the Ballair.es.
]an effort to supply addi
names of Seward’s ori
| businessmen and their es
urient s. we have begun a
of deeds of town lots, as
| in 1905 and 1906. Again,
linder is necessary at this
that the actual date of
rty transfer may have
[considerably earlier than
ling date.
to be added to our list
Ismesses. should by all
be Frank Ballaine’s Real
business, which was cer
booming during this
More than two-thirds of
loperty transfers recorded
}ales of lots by Frank Bal
|to hundreds of different
In some cases the price
|s recorded, but generally
ice is concealed by the use
legal phrase “for one
and other valuable con
tions.” Roughly speaking,
|cre sold for from $500 to
but the picture is com
|d by the fact that Frank
le also gave away many
|le lots for community
is. As an example, on
of October. 1905, a lot
lansferrod to “Rev. P. T.
for the sum of one dollar,
as the lot on which St.
Episcopal Church now
and the party of the
part was Peter Trimble
Bishop of Alaska,
significant transfer was
"rank Ballaine to the
|>f Seward, dated Oct. 16,
Another transfer was
Ito Thomas Carstens in
lnd deeded by him to the
|s Packing Company a
reeks later. Apparently
was the site of one of
m’s two butcher shops.
Iher meat establishment
jiened across the street,
Frye-Bruhn Company,
4th Avenue between
Jton and Adams.
Irently the first drug
las the A. B. Drug Com
l(Turn to Page 4)
Red Mem!! E'ecfcd
1st Vice President
Alaska Department
Orrin A. Merrill, Commander
Seward Post No. 5, American
Legion, was elected 1st vice
Commander of the Alaska De
partment in (he convention here
Monday.
Other officers elected to the
Department command were
John Van Horn of Sitka. Com
mander; Richard Hardcastle,
Ketchikan, 2nd vice; Forbes
Baker, Fairbanks, Sgt. at Arms;
Henry Tighe. Adak, Historian;
Wm. H. Sanders, Anchorage and
Seward, Judge Advocate; Gar
man Shutt, Sitka, and Wm. Lid
dle, Juneau. Dep't. Executive
Committeemen: Russell Clithero,
Sitka. Executive Committeeman
replacing Frank Nash of Fair
banks who vacated the office
Approximately 15'J delegates
attended the convention. In ad
dition the local Legion members
and military personnel in the
area brought the tutai number
of visitors to about 300 for the
Labor Day week end.
Tne USS Tillimook, under the
command of LCDR Van Horn,
was a visitor for the three days
as well as the Coast Guard ship
Sedge.
The heaviest ra ns cf the sea
son curtailed most of the out
side activities planned for the
convention guests.
Auxiliary Officers
Dept. Auxiliary officers elect
ed were president. Edith Davis,
Anchorage: 1st vice president,
Esther Clithero, Sitka- 2nd vice
president, Bertha Baker, Fair
banks; Historian, Vera Parkin
son, Seward.
Henrietta Schaub cf Ketchi
kan was elided chaplain: San
dra Zenger, Juneau, Sgt. at
Arms: Thelma McKinney, An
chorage. secretary-treasurer. Ex
ecutive comm tteewomen Ethel
Olson and Nora Campbell are
both from Anchorage.
M7. McKINLEY PARK AGAIN
ARMY WINTER REC CENTER
Elrr.endcrf Air Tc~ze Ease—
(AMNS)— Air Force, Army and
Navy personnel on duty in the
Alaskan theater will again have
an opportunity to vacation at
Mt. McKinley Hotel in Mt. Mc
Kinley National Park, according
to a recent edition of the Sour
dough Sentinel. Sixty double
rooms will be available tc serv
ice personnel and their depend
ents from October 1, 1951 thru
May 31, 1952.
Service personnel may wear
civilian clothing when traveling
to and from the Center and at
the Center. Meals at the hotel
for personnel on separate rations
will be 60 cents each. Rooms
will cost S2.00 a night.
FILING DATE FOR CITY
OFFICES SEPT. 25
Deadline for filing of candi
dates for city offices is 3 p.m.
September 25. All candidates
must have petitions in the office
of the city clerk by that time.
Seward voters will elect 1
member to the Utility Board
for a 5-year term; 1 to the
School Board, 3-year term: 3
councilmcn, 2-year term: and a
mayor, also a 2-year term of
office.
Petitions are now available
from the city clerk. They must
be signed by at least 25 quali
fied electors of the City of
Seward.
Mhsing C-47 Located
On High Is’and
ANCHORAGE V) — An Air
Force C"-47 transport plane which
vanished last Saturday in West
ern Alaska was reported yester
day to have crashed and burned
on a mountain on High island in
Bristol Bay.
Elmendorf Air Force Base of
ficials said a flying boat with a
rescue and medical team has
been sent to investigate.
The plane, with at least four
men aboard, disappeared Satur
day while flying 175 miles from
Nakntk to Platinum, on Good
news Bay.
High Island, one of the Walrus
Island group, lies about midway
along the route, 20 miles south
of the village of Togiak, on the
mainland.
The two-engine transport con
tacted Bethel Saturday asking
permission to fly on instruments
at 7,000 feet. When the Bethel
radio tried to contact the plane
two minutes later there was no
answer.
The missing C-47 was from
the 5039th Base Flight Squadron
at Elmendorf.
Military Fersonnel
Killed !r Crash
Were Newiyweds
ANCHORAGE V — An Air
Force captain and his Air Force
nurse, also a captain, who had
only been together in all about
two weeks since th y were
married last Jan. 9, died to
gether.
The Air Force identified them
lest night as the military per
sonnel killed with three others
Tuesday in the crash here of a
twin-engine Christensen A i r
Service plan" in the back yard
of a suburban Rogers Park
home.
They were ,Capt. Donald V.
Drake, about 30, on leave from
the B-47 Training School of the
3535 th Eorrmardment Training
Group at Mather Air Force Base,
Calif., and Capt. Clara Mary
Sullivan Drake. 23. Air Force
nurse of the 39th Medical Group
at Elmer.dorf Air Force Base
here.
Their varied military duties
kept them separated most of
their brief married life. They
had headed for Seward for a
vacation trip.
One of the plane’s engines
appeared to catch fire just after
the tak off. The plane angled
down between two houses, one
occupied by a mother and baby,
then crashed in the back yard
of a third home.
The pilot and four passengers
perished.
TERRITORIAL TREASURY
GETTING LOW
JUNEAU 4*—Territorial Trea
surer Henry Roden reports a
shrinkage at the till.
He said the total cash dropped
$701,000 in August, leaving
$'’20,427.74 on hand as of Aug.
31.
The non-resident fish tax ac
counted for $350,000 of the drop.
The money is frozen until an
appeal to the Supreme Court by
the Territory is heard. The Ninth
Court of Anneals overruled Dis
trict Judge George Folta, declar
ing the $50 tax illegal because it
is interference with Interstate
Commerce.
DID YOU REGISTER?
Signing of Japanese
Treaty is
Expected Saturday
SAN FRANCISCO UP) — The
three-power Communist bloc to
day got its last sceduled chance
to stall or discredit the Japanese
peace conference.
Actually, it wasn't much of a
chance. There was general
speculation that the delegates
of Russia, Poland and Czecho
slovakia would stage a walkout
after Poland s Stefan Wierblow
ski speaks his peace late today.
Barring last minute delays,
the treaty will be signed tomor
row by probably 48 nations—but
not by the Reds. It seemed doubt
ful they will even make an ap
pearance at the ceremony.
Indonesia decided reluctantly
at the eleventh hour today to
sign. This made the final lineup
48 countries for the treaty and
only Russia’s three-nation bloc
against.
Schuman also proposed a
treaty of mutual assistance bind
ing all countries “concerned by
the remaining threats-’ in the
Far East.
Speaking in Cleveland, Gen.
Douglas MacArthur said the
treaty “while far from flawless,
embodies much of human justice
and enlightenment.” The former
occupation commander in Japan
was not invited to the confer
ence, but his work in preparing
Japan for the treaty has been
widely acknowledged.
U S. Ambassador John Foster
Dulles said in a radio interview:
“I assume that Russia will walk
cut of the conference.
•'I doubt that they will sign
the treaty, and they won't want
to be spectators to the signing.”
• as
Kenai
Deputy U.S. Marshal Allan.
Petersen made a flying trip to
Cold Bay on August 30 to pick
up a prison :r. Mike George
Smiloff of Sand Point. Smiloff
was bound over to the Grand
Jury by U.S. Commissioner
Katherine Garlow of Sand Point.
He was charged with assault
with a dangerous weapon. He
is being held in the custody of
the Kenai marshal pending fur
ther instructions from the U.S.
Marshal's office in Anchorage.
Betty and Bill Dodson, popu
lar teachers last year in the
Kenai school, who returned to
their home in Terra Haute, In
diana, intending to remain there,
are back in the Territory. The
call of the north could not be
resisted when the offer of posi
tions in the Ouzinkie Territorial
School presented itself only a
week ago. The Dodsons stopped
at Kenai for a brief visit with
friends on their way to Ouzinkie
via Kodiak.
ARMY TRIES NEW
FOOT POWDER
ETmer.dcrf Air Force Base,
(AMN3) — According to the Air
Force Times a new type of foot
powder for Arctic use has been
developed by the Army medical
service. The powder reduces
perspiration, a major polar
menace. It will be packaged in
seven envelopes, each for a day’s
suoply, all in a heat-sealed,
cellulose kit, representing a
week's supply for each man.
U.S. EIGHTH ARMY HEAD
QUARTERS. KOREA UR —
Allied troops drove Chinese
Communists off two hills today
on the Western Front where
Reds earlier encircled two Unit
ed Nations outposts.
Both surrounded units fought
free. One immediately counter
attacked.
A front line dispatch reported
two companies of Reds fled
from a hill without firing a shot
aft°r the Allies blasted them
with tank and field artillery.
The recaptured knoll is north
west of Yonchon, which is seven
miles north of the 38th Parallel.
Farther north U N. infantry
men won a second hill after
three hours of close-in fighting.
Reds fought and attacked all
along the western half of the
front in actions that had the
earmarks of a prelude to a new
offensive.
Communist strikes at patrols
indicated they wanted to move
into the wide belt of no-man's
land which has separated oppos
ing forces in the west for
months.
James Only Bidder
On Dam Project
JUNEAU m — Two Seattle
firms submitted the only bids
yesterday for construction of
coal-handling facilities at Fair
banks.
S. 3. Mullen was low bidder
at $524,500. nearly three times
the engineers' estimate of $180,
000. The Butler Construction
and Engineering Company offer
ed to do the job for S707.052.
Included in the Fairbanks pro
ject is construction of a 600-foot
conveyor and steel bridge across
the Chena River.
Ray F. James of Seward and
Palmer was the only bidder on
construction of a gravity dam
and wood pipe water facilities
at Seldovia. James' bid totaled
S82.052.50. The engineers' esti
mate was $67,000.
The Alaska Public Work bids
were opened here.
Alaska Newspapers
Sold as Curios
SEATTLE (If) — Shades of the
gold rush days!
Alaska newspapers sold hero
today—at one dollar per copy.
A department store (Freder
ick & Nelson) advertised them.
The advertisement said they
were “rescued from the remains
of an Alaskan ghost-town” and
chronicled “the lives and times
of the Klondike gold rush era.
before World War I.”
The department store sairl
most of the collection \yas ob
tained from Dawson, Y. T.
NO CITY PAPERS LOST
IN PLANE CRASH
The city clerk stated today
that absolutely no city papers
were lost in the plane crash
Monday in which O. M. Beaver,
city auditor, lost his life.
Mr. Beaver had been working
on the city budget for 1952. He
had already prepared notes
from papers and information in
the city hall here and was re
turning to Seward Monday night
to present the completed budget
to the city council. Nothing was
removed from the city office
in the preparation.