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Dec. 24 33
t*
Only newspaper in the
world that gives a hoot
about Seward, Alaska.
Vol. X. No. 26
SEWARD, ALASKA, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1953
Price 10 Cents
Revue Brings Back
Forgotten Items Of
Past Year
This paper's resume last year
of the news stories highlighting
the year 1352 met with so much
approval from our readers that
the story of the year now coming
to its close will be given this
week and next.
WEEK OF JANUARY 2. 1953
The first diesel engine inaug
urating the new diesel service
between Anchorage and Seward
arrived at 9 a.m. January 2. An
chorage civic and military dig
nitaries were passengers and
were entertained here during the
day.
Andy Novak, the oil man, ran
out of oil on New Year's Day
and suffered like everybody else
until his home tanks were filled
again.
Jim Kirkpatrick was named
chief of police by unanimous
vote of the city council in spe
cial session.
JANUARY 9
Seward postoffice reached 1st
class status for first time.
Tom Hie, Russell Painter and
Jack Werner lQft to attend the
all Alaska Chamber of Com
merce and conference of mayors
in Juneau.
Marvin Viale and Pat Wil
liams were elected to head Re
publican party as precinct
committeeman and committee
woman.
Mrs. Ellen Cameron killed in
automobile accident on Soper's
Hill near Cooper Landing. Fun
eral services were held in Ma
sonic Temple by officers and
members of Seward Chapter No.
10, Order of Eastern Star, of
which Mrs. Cameron was a
member.
Edward Donald Hous'e born
January 7; was the 1000th baby
born in Seward General Hospit
al since the hospital began oper
ation in 1930.
JANUARY 16
Firemen report a total of
S2775 was received at the annual
New Year's Eve dance. This was
the largest amount ever taken
in at a Firemen’s dance.
Telephone company employ
ees announce strike to begin at
8 a.m. January 16. Operators
are asking for raise in pay and
better working conditions.
JANUARY 23
In a special election held Jan.
20, Seward voters passed bond
issues for construction of a high
school building and street pav
ing, but turned down bonds for
a new hospital.
No improvement in telephone
situation.
Rev. B. I. Carpenter arrived
to organize a Baptist congrega
tion and build a church in Sew
ard. Mr. Carpenter comes from
Ketchikan.
First new diesel engines ac
tually began service, arriving
for special ceremony Saturday.
Town invited to attend and see
for themselves.
JANUARY 30
Telephone employees got con
ditional pay boost. The raise
was conditional upon the city
council being willing to grant
the company 100 per cent raise
in telephone rates in the city.
105 mile wind topples chim
neys and St. Peter's Church
steeple. Glare ice underfoot
made walking in the wind diffi
cult, if not impossible. One man
seen blown off his feet and
across street at Third and
Adams.
FEBRUARY 6
Dudley Reynolds, his daugh
ter Carol Sue, and Carol Knight,
all of Anchorage, severely in
jured in automobile accident on
highway. Improving in Seward
Hospital.
Seward Volunteer Ambulance
Corps being formed. Jim Kirk
patrick, police chief, appealed
to organizations and townspeople
■‘not as police chief, but as a
citizen of Seward" to aid in
forming a volunteer group to
take over the police department
ambulance and operate it as a
mercy service, with first aid
trained volunteers.
FEBRUARY 13
Seahawks win one, lose one
in basketball series with Palmer.
B&PW Club, which sponsored
March of Dimes campaign, re
ports that Seward has gone 100
per cent this year for the polio
fund drive.
George James, former Sew
ardite, died in Phoenix, Ariz.,
Feb. 11, to be buried here.
Flamingo cocktail bar open
ed. Ultramodern decorations.
Earthquake of moderate in
tensity at 4:40 p.m., Feb. 11,
thought by some to have some
connection with Katmai erup
tions.
FEBRUARY 20
John Whitehead, section fore
man at Grandview, died of mon
oxide poisoning when he fell
into a pit next the exhaust of
the diesel power house at the
ARR section house. He was
brought to Seward, but pro
nounced dead upon arrival.
A snowslide 600 feet long and
20 feet deep just north of Gird
wcod stopped all traffic on both
railroad and highway. Seahawks
and cheer leaders were held up
in Anchorage waiting for the
slide to be cleared.
FEBRUARY 27
Ambulance Corps starts train
ing in first aid under direction
of J. Kirkpatrick, certified Red
Cross instructor.
Dick Thomas, doing business
as Bay City Motors, has taken
over Pat Fricde’s garage and
business. He will continue as
dealer for Chrysler, Plymouth
and Dodge cars and trucks.
Seward. Nebraska announces
plans to play basketball here up
on invitation of Chamber of
Commerce.
MARCH 3
Public hearing at city council
on telephone rate hike. People
oppose granting of increase on
grounds the company has not
kept its promise of better serv
ice.
Chamber of Commerce plans
(Turn to Page 4)
Air Raid Siren Not
Clear In North End
Several people have reported
that the test of the new air raid
siren which was held Sunday
at 9 p.m. was barely audible.
These people all live in the north
end of the city. Although some
heard the siren, they stated that
if it was sounded in the night
when they were asleep, it would
not awaken them to danger.
DON WILSON TRANSFERRED
TO OREGON
Local Railway Express agent
Don S. Wilson was transferred
to The Dalles, Oregon. Mr. Wil
son will be replaced by Sidney
Silvester of Vancouver, B.C. un
til about the first of February
when Mr. C. M. Benson, former
ly of Portland, Oregon and An
chorage will be the permanent
Seward agent.
Mr. Wilson has served as ex
press agent here since May, 1946
and states that he sincerely re
grets leaving many good friends
and neighbors. He served two
years on the City Council dur
ing that time and has been ac
tive in the Masonic Order for
several years.
Mr .and Mrs. Wilson left Tues
day for their new home. They
said that there will always be a
welcome at the Wilson home in
The Dalles for any Sewardite
traveling that way.
To Circulate Petitions
For Paving Project
The first step in gaining ap
proval of Seward's application
to Alaska Public Works for the
street paving program is to se
cure a petition from property
owners. ,
Petitions will soon be in cir
culation for signature of owners
along the blocks first proposed
for paving. A 51 per cent agree
ment is necessary to pass the
petition.
MINSTREL SHOW "GOOD"
BUT UNSUCCESSFUL
FINANCIALLY
The minstrel show put on here
by members of Anchorage VFW
for the Seward Post American
Legion child welfare benefit was
said to have been a very good
show.
Just enough jokes about Sew
ard and Seward people were in
cluded to give spice to the show
without causing any ill feeling.
“It was a clean show and well
done” seems to be the general
description here.
Financially, however, the
show was not successful. Coming
as^it did during a month when
so many other fund raising cam
paigns were in process, the out
of-town performance did not
draw as large a crowd as was
hoped for.
BAUMGARTNER AND McRAE
IN BUILDING SUPPLIES
Bob Baumgartner and Scotty
McRae are now doing business
under the name of Seward
Builders Supply. They purchas
ed Paulsteiner's.
Mr. Paulsteiner will continue
to furnish bottled gas, ranges
and water heaters from the same
headquarters.
JR. CLASS PARTY "SWELL"
Tuesday night the Junior
Class was host to the rest of the
High School at their annual
Christmas party.
“It was a swell party,” accord
ing to the young people. Bunny
hop and other dances wore them
out by the time the party was
over, and so many were there
that ice cream, cake and punch
ran out before the kids’ energy
did.
Chaperones for the evening
were Mr. and Mrs. Woody Ma
hurin and Mrs. Bertha Lewis.
The admission charge of 50
cents was given by the class to
Alaska Crippled Children's fund.
Seward Poet's Corner
Several readers have asked
for a Poet’s Corner in which to
publish the work of Seward
writers.
Beginning with the first issue
in 1954 (next week) we will pub
lish poetry written by local
poets whenever it is submitted.
Poems must be signed by the
author, and in the Record Office,
by 5 p.m. every Wednesday. The
mailing address is P.O. Box 204.
To those who have asked, and
to those who have not but who
would like to have their poetry
published, we say bring it in
and we will use it as space per
mits.
Moose Take Seahawks
In Series At Palmer
By Coach Dalberg
The Seward High School Sea
hawks journeyed to Palmer last
weekend and lost both the Fri
day and Saturday night games to
the Palmer Moose.
Although not playing the
same caliber of ball they dis
played against Fairbanks, their
ball handling and floor play not
nearly so sharp, the Seahawks
played hard and Palmer won
both games only in the last min
ute.
In the game Friday night,
Which Palmer won 45-39, it was
a case of just not being able to
hit the basket. Even then the
game was close right up to the
last minute when Palmer forged
ahead when the Seahawks tried
vainly to get the ball. Don Ing
alls, missing only a very few
shots, led Palmer with 18 points.
Peter Wagner had 14 points to
lead the Seward scoring.
Saturday night's game at the
end of the first half seemed to
be the Seahawks' game. The first
quarter ended 12-11 with Pal
mer leading. Then Seward went
to work and looked like they
did against Fairbanks, moving
the ball faster and driving in
for better shots, to lead 30-23
at half-time. In the third quar
ter, however, the Seahawks
again lost their drive and were
able to score only 4 points but
were still leading 34-33 at the
end of the third quarter. Kenny
Bahr went out on fouls in the
third quarter, followed by Dave
Hughes about midway in the
fourth quarter. Even at that
with about one minute to go the
score was tied 46-46. Then a ser
ies of fouls called on Seward
gave Palmer six consecutive
foul shots without the ball leav
ing the Palmer end of the floor.
The Palmer players would make
the first shot and miss the sec
ond and Palmer would get the
ball and be fouled again. Palmer
made three of the foul shots
good and-.two baskets in the
last minute to win 53-46. Again
Don Ingalls led Palmer with 21
points. Gene Boe led the Seward
scoring with 14 points.
Although Seward lost both
games, it gave the boys a chance
to gam some wonderful experi
ence and considering that they
were playing on the Palmer
floor, which is perhaps the hard
est floor in the league on which
to play, they did quite well.
The boys still feel that Fair
banks is the team to beat and
feel that they can beat Palmer
here at Seward.
The next conference games
wilt be with Anchorage in An
cnorage on January 8ib and 9th.
Following that tne Sealiawks
will play Cordova in a pair of
non-comerence games at Seward
on January loth and 16th.
E.S.C. FINDS FIFTEEN
mAUD CASES
In a continuing eilort to con
trol lrauduient practices oi
claimants urawing unemploy
ment insurance benefits me Em
ployment. Security Commission,
iruud control unit during the
period November 16 to Decem
ber a hailed niteen persons into
Commissioners Courts througn
out Alaska. All cases involved
persons drawing unemployment
insurance benefits while work
ing. Convictions on 43 counts re
sulted in sentences totalling 795
nays, all suspended on condition
that restitution of the $1521
fraudulently received be made
to the Employment Security
Commission twilhin 90 days in
most cases).
One case resulted in a $50
fine.
Most of these people were
found drawing unemployment
insurance while fishing commer
cially during the last fishing sea
son. In every instance each per
son was disqualified for further
benefits for a period of 26
weeks.
ALEUTIAN GOES BACK TO
ALASKA TRADE
The steamer Aleutian will
carry tourists to Alaska again,
next year, D. E. Skinner, presi
dent of the Alaska Steamship
Company, has made clear.
“Now that we have assurance
that this vessel is going to be
redelivered to us toy the Hawa
iian-Pacific Line," Skinner said,
“we are revising our schedules
for next summer to include her.”
The Aleutian together with
The Alaska Line steamers Al
aska, Baranof and Denali will
provide two sailings each week
during the summer months. Fur
ther details of the schedule willi
be announced in the near future.
Special Kiddies' Show
Next Thursday
A special movie matinee will
be given at the Liberty Theatre
for all the children in town—
FREE—beginning at 2 p.m. Dec.
31.
“Alexander Graham Bell” and
three cartoons will keep the kids
amused all afternoon. The show
is sponsored by three local firms,
Seward Plumbing & Heating,
Friberg Electric and James Con
struction Company.
Do You Have A Good
Picture Of Town?
The sfory of Seward is now
being prepared for publication
in a big book to be published by
the Chamber of Commerce of
the Northwest States and Alas
ka. Northern Stevedoring &
Handling Corporation has sub
sidized two pages for Seward.
At least four good photo
graphs of Seward are needed
for the story. Those to be found
in stores are either old or have
been used several times before.
Anyone who has a good picture
in black and white, taken around
Seward, particularly a good one
of Mt. Marathon, Fourth Ave
nue, or a birds-eye view taken
either from the bay or the moun
tain, and who is willing to allow
use of the picture, is asked to get
it to Mildred Kirkpatrick, Rec
ord Office, before December 30.
ALASKA STEAM TO CARRY
EIGHT LOCOMOTIVES
IN ONE HAUL
The largest movement of lo
comotives ever to sail for Alas
ka on one vessel is going to be
handled by the Alaska Steam
ship Company motorship Gads
den scheduled to sail from Seat
tle around the middle of Jan
uary.
Eight new locomotives are in
cluded: two for the U.S. Air
Force and six for The Alaska
Railroad. They will be discharg
ed from the Gadsden at Seward
and Whittier.
“Since the destruction of the
Whittier stiff leg by fire last
spring, there is no heavy lift
equipment in Alaska suited for
handling these locomotives,”
D. E. Skinner, president of the
Alaska Steamship Company,
pointed out, "and we have there
fore chartered the Gadsden for
one trip from the American
Eastern Corporation of New
York to handle these and seven
locomotives from Alaska to Se
attle for The Alaska Railroad.”
Together valued at over
$1,000,000 the new Alaska Rail
road locomotives are of 1500
horsepower each and average
115 tons in weight. They were
built by the Electro-Motive Di
vision of General Motors Corp.,
LaGrange, Illinois. Three are
for either passenger or freight
trains: the other three are pri
marily for freight. The Air Force
locomotives are of 85 tons each
and were built in Erie. Pennsyl
vania.
The Gadsden, a converted Cl
MAV-1 is equipped especially
for handling heavy rolling
equipment with a special heavy
lift boom and tracks in its hold
for carrying engines. This ves
sel. heretofore, has been em
ployed to transport locomotives
from the United States to Arabia
and for a time was in Alaska
service of Ocean Van Lines be
fore that company withdrew
from the trade.
MUIR TO OPEN NEW
BUSINESS
Another new business will
open in Seward on New Year’s
Day. William (Bill) Muir plans
to open the doors of Modern
Motors as a garage, service sta
tion, and parts business.
The enterprise will occupy the
new building just completed at
Second and Jefferson where the
Muirs also have their home. Mr.
Muir has been in the heavy
equipment and earth moving
business for several years, but
this is a new venture for him.
MUSIC IN THE
CHRISTMAS TREE
A new thing was added this
year—music in the community
Christmas tree. The tree stand
ing in front of the city hall has
a speaker concealed within its
branches and many lights. Last
Saturday people wondered
where the carols were coming
from, and it was not until one
passed the tree itself that the
source became evident.
On Wednesday night at 7:30
a transcription of the school’s
Christmas program was given
from the tree. Joe Sibrowski had
recorded the musical program
for this purpose.
Reporter's
Notebook
Mr. and Mrs. Phil Harding
left Wednesday for Anchorage
where they will spend Christmas
with their daughter, Jerry Rich
ardson, and the grandchildren.
Mr. and Mrs. Tom Osbo will
spend Christmas with their
grandchildren in Anchorage.
Paul McMullen arrived this
week from Whitman College to
spend the holidays with his
mother.
Mr. and Mrs. Charles E.
Behlke are expected from Fair
banks to spend Christmas with
Mrs. Behike’s mother, Mrs. Ray
James, and her brother, Paul.
Mrs. Behlke is the former Jane
McMullen.
Other Seward young people
are here from college for the
holidays. Among them are Gail
Jacobs and Billy Anrig.
Mr. and Mrs. Pedro Denton
and baby Stephen got in this
week from College, Alaska, to
spend the holidays with their
parents. Mrs. Denton is the for
mer Helen Varnell.
Firemen responded to two fire
calls last Saturday night. The
first was at the Plantation where
the furnace had exploded. Only
damage caused was by smoke
and soot. While firemen were
still at the fire hall another call
came in. No general alarm was
sounded, however, but those still
at the station responded. It was
in the same area, being a trailer
back of the Plantation. This was
the same trailer that had a fire
in the leanto last week. This
time the trailer house itself was
seriously damaged by the blaze
thought to have been caused by
faulty wiring.
Mrs. Cal. Brosius was listed
as a passenger on the Baranof
this week. She has been Outside
for the past several months.
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Elhard
plan a vacation trip Outside, to
leave after the holidays.
Mr. Howard McLaughlin of
Clam Gulch is a patient in Sew
ard General Hospital. He was
brought in with a broken leg
last week, but is doing well, ac
cording to report.
After having spent several
weeks in a hospital. Mrs. Wayne
Blue is greatly improved and
aible to return to her home in
Estacada, Oregon, according to
word received here by her son,
Walter Blue.
JESSE LEE CHILDREN IN
ANCHORAGE FOR
CHRISTMAS
Thirty children, accompanied
by three house mothers, left on
the train Thursday morning for
Anchorage where they will
spend Christmas with families of
the Methodist Church there.
Some of the children had the
same trip last year, but it will
be new experience to many of
them. They will be given the
pleasures of a family Christmas
in a private home, and will be
returned to Seward on Wednes
day of next week.
Christmas at the Home will be
a big and exciting affair, with a
slumber party scheduled for
some of the older girls.
Alaska-Nebraska
Fund Progress
By Chas. Malin
It may be colder outside but
our thermometer is continuing to
climb. It now stands at $1250.
This week we received $14.00
from the Seward Nurses’ Asso
ciation Christmas party. Kenai
Lumber sent us a check for $50
and Jack Werner turned in
$137.50 profit from his Christ
mas food basket. The final fig
ure on the eighth grade work
day was $69.20, so you see it
has been a busy week.
The Liberty Theatre has a
benefit movie called “Encore”
by W. Somerset Maugham to be
shown on the 24th of December
in the evening. There will be
two shows, at 7:00 and 9:00 p.m.
All proceeds go to the trip.
Don’t forget the two days and
evening of bowling, December
29ih and 30th at Dreamland
Bowl. There will be $120 worth
of prizes, so get your tickets
right away.
The movies of the Nebraska
Fellows’ trip up here as well as
their Pioneer Day Celebration
and the championship football
playoff this Fall on which Sew
ard won will be available for
showing to organizations the last
two weeks in January. These are
sound motion pictures.
The Art Students of the High
School will decorate the window
in Seward Hardware sometime
this coming week with the priz
es that the Queen will receive.
During the month of January we
will give you a chance to vote
for the Queen with every dol
lar's worth of merchandise that
you purchase in Seward. So look
around and see which one of the
school girls you want for Queen
and then plan to do your buying
right here in town. Don't forget
to look for the window display
in Seward Hardware.
The Major Sheffield Show on
February 6th still has room for
some more contestants. Let’s get
our applications in to Bob so
that he can arrange a real show
for that night.
There is still room for others
to make the trip with us. Don’t
delay too long in informing the
committee about the fact that
you are going or we may have
to disappoint you. We leave here
May 30th. Flying from Anchor
age that night, the return trip
will be the night of June 3, 1954.
LEGION EMBARRASSED
WITH CAR AWARD
Embarrassed members of the
American Legion Child Welfare
Committee are explaining this
week just how the Welfare Fund
itself was awarded the Willys
car which was given last week.
It seems that members of the
committee were forbidden to
take tickets in their own name
in the benefit program for which
the car was to be award'd.
Wishing to boost the program
however, members and others
instead of using their own names
simply wrote in “Child Welfare
Fund ' when purchasing t:ckcts.
It was one of these which was
chosen blindly to receive the
award.
Now the committee still has
cither a car or its equivalent on
its hands.