Seward
The Cnlezvay City of Interior .ILi>ka Since 1903.
• ■
5 6 dp o//
Record
Seward's AU-JJ callin' Pori is Alaska's Greale l Asset.
lol. VII. No. 79
SEWARD
, ALASKA,
TUESDAY, APRIL 3, 1951
Price 10 cents
(Breakwater Improv
ots PI
Modification of breakwaters
at Seward and construction of
breakwaters at Valdez is recom
mended in a favorable report
by District and Division offices
of the Corps of Engineers in the
interest of navigation in the two
harbors, according to Brig. Gen
eral O. E. Walsh. North Pacific
Division Engineer.
The report, covering the Cop
per River Basin and adjacent
coastal waters, was authorized
by the Flood Control Act of
1948 which called for compre
hensive investigations regarding
the advisability of federal im
provement of harbors and rivers
of Alaska in the interest of nav
igation, flood control, hydro
Boy Scout Council
Re-elects Directors
As a result of the four sections
of the Annual Meeting of the
Alaska Council, territorial boy
scout organization, officers and
board of directors for 1951-52
were elected, according to an
nouncement tli is week by scout
executive Maurice Powers, who
serves ae recording secretary for
the group.
Among those re-elected to
serve another term in their pre
sent positions was Elwyn Swet
xnann of Seward.
The executive board group de
termines council-wide policy and
sets objectives and standards
for the entire program through
out Alaska. They also determine
all expenditures for the organi
zation.
Work Under Way On
New Highway
Contractors hard at work on
the Seward-Anehorage highway
have men and equipment along
much of the way who are doing
their jobs the best they can
despite the fact that the road
is still open to general traffic,
according to Highway Patrol
Bran George Puckett. He urges
that all motorists on the road
proceed with caution, care and
courtesy.
Reckless imd speeding drivers
endanger the lives and equip
ment of the workers, as well as
their own and Mr. Puckett urged
that all persons using the road
be careful.
FORMER SEWARD WOMAN
LEAVES LARGE ESTATE
Mrs. Elizabeth Hamilton Graff
left an estate of SI 47.087, ac
cording to the records of the
clerk of King County, which
were published in a Seattle
paper.
Mrs. Graff, who with her late
husband operated the electrical
plant here for many years, died
at her Seattle home recently.
Heirs are her son, John Hamil
ton Graff, and a daughter, Mrs.
Elizabeth Knight of Seattle.
Another moose was killed by
a train on March 28th at Port
age. The disposition of the meat
was to the Seward Sanatorium.
electric power and related water
uses.
The reporting officers said
the present report followed
live public hearings held in Cor
dova, Valdez and Seward be
tween August 1946 and April of
1950, and includes views expres
sed during discussions at the
hearings. They recommended
the following improvements be
authorized:
(1) Modification of the exist
ing project at Seward by raising
the south breakwater and by
constructing a two-section pile
breakwater on the east side of
the existing b a s i n. partially
closing tlie entrance, at an es
timated first cost to the Corps of
Engineers of 868,200 and an an
nual maintenance cost of SI,075
over that of the existing pro
ject.
(2) Modification of the exist
ing project at Valdez Harbor by
construction of a rock and grav
el breakwater along the south
east side of the existing basin
and a two-section pile break
water on the seaward or south
west side, partially closing the
entrance of the basin, at an es
timated first cost to the Corps
of Engineers of $97,000 and an
annual maintenance cost of Sl,
400 over that of the existing
project.
The improvements are recom
mended subject to the condition
that local interests furnish as
City Council Appoints Future Planning Beard
Chairman; Hears Dog Owners
W. C. Erwin, manager ol iac
Seward branch of tne Standard
Oil Company, accepted the posi
tion of Future Planning Board
chairman which was offered him
by the city council at their reg
ular meeting last night, liis ac
ceptance ui tiie jUj, However,
.. 'w o.i a provisional basis since
he expressed a fear tiiat he
might not be able to help the
city as much as he desired.
liis role will be of advisory
capacity to the council and tie
will also help with much ot the
correspondence on business mat
ters between the city and the
Territorial and Federal govern
ments.
The council expressed grati
fication at his willingness to un
dertake the tedious and time
consuming job.
Much Ado Aboui Dogs
The question of what to do
about dogs running loose in
Seward came to the fore again
when a petition was presented
to the council last night which
requested that the police be re
quired to hold all dogs 24 hours
before destroying them, and also
to notify the owners if the dogs
are licensed.
Several dog owners were pres
ent, including one couple whose
dog had been shot after being
reported as vicious. They indig
nantly denied the charge, but
dj»d admit their dog had not been
confined to its own property as
is required by city ordinance.
Floyd Evans, patrolman in
charge of dog disposal, was
called to the council meeting to
re port onx+iow the dog pick-ups
and disposals are being bandied,
lie premised that no more li
censed dogs would be destroyed
until alter the owners had been
notified unless a definite emer
gency exists and the dog must
be destroyed immediately in or
der to keep it trom inflicting
harm.
Mayor Lanier stated that the
city has on its books four or
five ordinances pertaining to
dogs and that the council would
endeavor to work out a fair and
workable ordinance which will
both curb the menace of dogs in
packs and protect the responsi
ble owners of dogs for which
they care and keep under con
trol.
According to Evans, the po
lice have killed about 50 dogs
so far in this campaign to ex
terminate homeless and vicious
dogs, and have had only two
complaints from owners who
thought their pets had been des
troyed without cause.
JOHN CUNNINGHAM VISITS
"THE OLD HOME TOWN”
John Cunningham, son of Mrs.
Phil Harding of Seward, arrived
in Seward last Thursday for a
visit to the old home town.
John was graduated last year
with an engineering degree from
the Idaho School of Mines and
has been working since then
with a mining company in Wash
ington. He prefers life in Al
aska, however, and states that
he hopes to remain up here.
surances that they will provide
and maintain without cost to the
government adequate mooring
facilities and utilities in accord
ance with plans approved by
the Chief of Engineers. The util
ities would include a public
landing with suitable supply of
facilities, open to all on equal
and reasonable terms.
The reporting officers de
clared that modification of the
existing project at Cordova can
not be justified at the present
time. More effective utilization
of the basin area by rearrange
ment of existing floats and provi
sion of additional ones will pro
vide sufficient moorage space
for pres ni needs, according to
their report.
Seward Residents To
Get BCG Shots
BCG, the tuberculosis shots
which have proved so success
ful wherever given, are to be
given to residents or Seward
tile latter part or April, accord
ing to Airs. EaPreal Bie, Public
Health Aurse. BCG apparently
bestows idle lime immunity to
persons taking it and has been
used regularly for the past two
decades in Europe, particularly
m the Scandinavian countries,
which have thereby reduced
their incidence of tuberculosis
to one-half of one per cent of
the population.
In 1937, according to Mrs.
Bie, BCG was used on control
groups in southeastern Alaska
and the results, as checked over
the past 13 years, have been
favorable.
BCG is administered only by
especially trained teams of med
ical workers. One such team
will be in Seward the latter part
of this month and Mrs. Bie
urges Seward residents to take
advantage of the valuable im
munization shots which will be
administered without charge.
NEIL HANSEN INJURED
Neil Hansen, orakeman for
The Alaska Railroad, suffered a
badly cut knee Sunday after
noon. He slipped on a tie and hit
his leg on the journal box on
the train. The accident happened,
at about Mile 20. Hansen was
brought in to the hospital, where
it was reported that although
the knt'e was badly and pain
fully cut, no broken bones were
suffered.
Defense Contracts Available
Alaska business and industrial
firms desiring to bid on defense
procurement contracts can find
all necessary instructions in a
guide which has just been issued
by the Alaska Development
Board. The folder, copies of
which are available from the
Board’s Juneau office, places
special emphasis on require
ments of the defense agencies
for fishery, forest, fur and min
eral products.
Opportunities for both large
and small Alaska enterprises to
participate in the national de
fense production program are
listed and explained. Smallness
of the company need not bar an
Alaska producer from the pro
gram, the Board stated, since
small operators may bid suc
cessfully on only such quantities
as their productive capacity and
financial resources permit.
The guide lists the names and
addresses of 41 defense purchas
ing agencies and tells how and
what they buy. Included in the
requirements are a wide vari
ety of fishery products, ranging
from canned salmon to fish and
marine mammal oils. Forestry
products range from lumber and
railroad ties to fishing vessels
and small boats. Requirements
of fur products and raw mineral
ores are similarly listed.
Just before press ' time Tu^
duy evening the staff members
at the Record office had a taste
of invasion jitters when the
front door opened, seemingly by
itself, and when the editor went
to s e what the score was he dis
covered two Army rn> n who in
formed him that Seward had
just been “invaded.” However,
the men were U S. Army, and
explained further that the “in
vasion” was a part of “Opera
tion Firestep,” current Armed
Forces maneuvers which started
at Anchorage a few days ago.
Yes, this little seaport city
was invaded silently, but com
pletely, at 1347 Tuesday eve
ning by an aggressor force from
the 4th Infantry and the 82nd
Airborne from Fort Bragg. X.C.
The complete battalion com
prising 897 men was under the
command of Major Kostin of the
4th Infantry.
The men of the “crack" 4th
Infantry are "the be ‘ infantry
regiment in the United States
Army,” according to on? of the
officers who was taking part in
the invasion.
Major Kostin \ isited the Rec
ord office accompanied by
Capt. Burke, Army, and Lt.
Jum miinn, Navy, of Seward's
own occupational force: and a
General Staff officer who ac
companied the invading force
as an observer.
The invaders have the r head
quarters at Campbell Air Strip
near Anchorage. They were to
leave Seward early Wednesday
morning, as silently as they
came.
To Survey Cement
Possibilities
The Interior Department has
informed Delegate Bartlett that
a consultant will soon be em
ployed to survey the possibilities
of establishing a cement manu
facturing industry in Alaska.
•The Department of the In
terior has been interested in
such a development for some
time.” Assistant Secretary of
the Interior Doty stated. “Alas
ka production of cement, it pos
sible on an economical basis,
would contribute to lower con
struction costs in the Territory.
During the past few years both
the Geological Survey and trie
Bureau of Mines have been con
ducting field investigations into
the availability and quality of
local basic required in
the manufacture of ceme,...
These studies will be continued.”
Mr. A. L. Major returned on
Friday of last week after a
three-months trip to the States.
He spent two months in Kansas
City and the rest of the time in
California. Mr. Major reporied
nicer weather in Kansas City
than California, which wasn't
“too bad.” However,'he says he's
happy to be home and back at
work in the barber shop which
he has operated since 1942.
Dr. Thomas F. Keyes, who
has been on the staff at the
Seward Sanatorium for the past
four months, is leaving Thurs
day on the Denali. He is going
to southern California where
he will begin private practice,
specializing in chest surgery.
HIGH SCHOOL
AUDITORIUM
“The Gypsy Rover** Operetta
Presented by Seward High School Chorus
«T2 gw*rmm«i
APRIL 6. 8 P.M.
Admission $1.00