SEWARD
The Cmteivay (City of Interior Jlaska Since 1903.
Record
Seward's All-}l eather Port is Alaska's Greatest Asset.
THE ONLY NEWSPAPER IN THE WORLD THAT GIVES A HOOT ABOUT SEWARD, ALASKA
Vol. IX, No. 8
SEWARD, ALASKA, FRIDAY, AUGUST 22, 1952
Price 10 Cents
REA Proposes Power Line
Seward To Cooper Landing
Earl J. Smith, Loan Specialist
for REA (Rural Electrification
Administration) spoke to a group
of property owners from along
the highway Tuesday night in
the city council chambers. Mr.
Smith came to Seward in re
sponse to numerous requests
from this group for REA service
along the highway.
It is possible. Mr. Smith told
the group, to form a cooperative
such as that operating in Homer
and northward along the Penin
sula. To get tiie project under
way. a committee was formed
from among property owners be
tween Seward and Mile o. These
i\>mmitlee workers will take ap
plications from prospe ctive users
m the following manner:
Those living or owning prop
trie. not serviced by the1 city
system, between Gabe's and Mile
4. contact Mrs. Mary Ann Bal
mat; Nash Road district, see Earl
Moore. Mrs. R. A. Gillespie, who
lives on Clear Creek at Mile 4 on
the highway, will take care of
applications trom Mile 4 to Mile
It s not necessary te> live on.
the highway, neither is it neces
sary to have a house already
ouilt on rural lots in order to
participate in this effort to ob
tain electric power. The owners
of property on which there is
any prospect of future building
will find that availability of
power will increase property
values immeasurably. These are
the people REA wishes to meet
and talk with in order to deter
mine the need and possible fu
ture need for electricity.
S •urce of power has not at
this time entered into the pic
ture. It might be possible to form
an alliance with the Seward
Uklities Board, or the associa
tion might find it more feasible
4o investigate' hydro power with
the Bureau of Reclamation.
■ Whatever source is ultimately
decided upon will depend largely
or almost entirely upon the num
ber of users at present and in the
rear future. The two pertinent
questions to be answered are
' Do people live there?" and "Do
they want electric service?"
Detailed information can be
had from any of the three per
sons mentioned above.
Mr. Smith met with residents
of Moose Pass in that village
Thursday evening. A committee
was: formed there to take appli
cations toward joining a cooper
ative to cover the entire district
from Seward to Cooper Landing
•or beyond.
Russell Lamereaux. the Estes
Brothers and Howard Brooks,
all of Moose Pass, will make
contacts or take applications for
that area. Persons living in Sew
ard but having property on the
highway or vicinity can contact
any of these committeemen.
NOTEBOOK . . .
Patsy Woods is back in town
after being Outside since early
last winter at school.
Miss Helen Case, teacher at
Seward Sanatorium, returned
Saturday. She attended summer
school at t lie University ol'
Alaska.
Coast Guard officers complet
ed registration of workmen for
Port Security Cards this week.
Cards can still be obtained at a
later date by those who failed
for any reason to get them this
time.
First Graders Errors
August 20 aftd 29
Enrollment of children enter
ing the first grade will take
place on Thursday, August 2!>.
and Friday, August 29. at the of
fice of the Superintendent of
Schools. The office will be open
from 9 to 12 a.m.. and from 1 to
4 pan. for that purpose.
A child must be six years of
age on or before November 1.
1952. to be eligible to start
school this year. Parents are re
quested to bring some document
verifying the child's age when
ent oiling the child. This docu
ment may be a birth certificate,
a notarized statement verifying
the chilli's age or a baptismal
certificate, if the date of birth is
given theron.
Parents are also requested to
have beginners gi ten a physical
checkup by one of the physicians
in Seward before school opens.
A deposit of one dollar fifty
cents f$1.50i for books and other
equipment is required of all pu
pils at the Seward Elementary
School. If they wish, parents
may pay this fee when they on
roll their children. If more con
venient. tiie lee may be paid
when the children begin school
next week.
It is desired to have this pre
liminary enrollment as complete
as possible. Any parents who
cannot enroll their child in per
son is asked to call the scnool
(Adams I2tb and give the child's
name and date of birth.
OPENING OF SCHOOL
The Seward Public Schools
will begin thi' 1;>.;2 l:)o2 sen ol
year on September 2. with pupils
reporting at 10:20 u.m. pupils
in grades two through eight, and
students in the high school will
enroll at that lime. There will
■be no intcrnuoli >. ssou on liie
opening nay.
This year, book deposits for
irigii senool studenis will Ire
raised l> two dollars fitty cents
(S2.n0). In the grades, book cie
posits of one dollar iiiiy cents
l&l.oO) u dl be required as has
been toe practice m past years.
BAY FISHING THRILLS
VlSirOrl lliOsl U i’AH
That there are l'ish in Alaskan
waters and that they can be
caught was proven to his great
satisfaction by Mr. John Roush
of Ogden, Utah, Wednesday
when he caught a 12-pound sil
ver salmon from the breakwater
at the small boat harbor.
Mr. and Mrs. Roush are visit
ing their daughter, Mrs. Law
rence Whitmore. This is their
second visit to Seward. The first
time he was here three years
ago. Mr. Roush had trouble mak
ing his friends, particular^ A1
Warden, sports editor of the Og
den Standard Examiner, believe
that he had been a successful
fisherman. We assure the folks
back home that all is as our vis
itor claims—even going so far as
to say that the biggest one got
away.
The Roushes arrived in Sew
ard by ship August 1 1 and will
fly out on the 27th, which gives
them plenty of time to catch a
whale if they want it.
Utilities Board Takes
Over Management
Of City Water System
An amendment to sections 13
and 14 in Ordinance 202. con
cerning the management and op
oration of Public Utility System,
was passed in special session of
the City Council, Wednesday,
Aug. 1!)!
The amendment places man
agement of the water distribu
tion system with the Utilities
Board. Section 13 provides that
the Board shall appoint man
agers whoso terms shall not i \
ceod five years and whose sal
arks shall be* fixed by the
Board. Such managers shall be
subject to removal at any time
by a majority vote of the Board.
Section 14 provides that the
managers, subject to regulations
•of liie Board shall be responsible
for the management, operation
and maintenance of all utilities
under jurisdiction of the Board.
They fmanageisi shall select all
subordinate employees and be
responsible for their services,
and set the rate of pay for such
subordinates, subject to ap
proval by the Beard. The mana
gers w 11 maintain all employ
ment records, enforce payment
of ail accounts owed for services
rendered and submit a monthly
report to the Board.
They are responsible for col
lection of all utility bills and for
all supplies, materials and equip
merit. All disbursements are to
be by the managers upon vouch
ers cy-signed b\ the chairman of
tlie Board and the managers.
the ordinance amendment
was passed and approved August
20 No announceme it has been
made to date of an appointment
fa tlie position of manager for
the water departm at.
in;
Was
time
c- impie
5.0(M). foot
UUTCaSvd
GOOD WEATI: Efl AID TO
CONST R UCTI0 N \ V O R K
Tin* good W( .0'.. • of: t'. ■ pa.
\yc:"k 1)v 1 s L, a . 01 to vvor.
on the .-. wer sw-nm aad lit
airport.
Work on 1 ■ n• << w r 1
startl'd July 1!. a• 1 1 at
is m aring 23 per e at
lion. Buis cal a. d it r 4
of lino which will bo
by a p pm x tin till .y a idiiional
loot lor the half blocks between
tin alleys of Third. Fourth and
Fifth Avcnu s whc-ii wore no;
included in the original estimate.
Work on the airport has been
delayed by rain and subsurface
conditions which the contractor
did not expect to find. It is pro
gressing satisfactorily now. how
ever. and should be ready for use
bv the middle of October, ac
cording to advices from the An
chorage office.
FATHER ED TURNER
LEAVES ST. PETER'S
Sunday, August 24. will Ire the
last service conducted by Father
Edward Turner at St. Peters
Episcopal Church this summer.
There will be only one service
Sunday—Holy Communion at 5)
a.m. Sunday School will convene
as usual at 10:45.
Father Turner is a local boy
who served the local church aft
er being ordained. Three years
ago he transferred to New York
City, and has been to the Orient
for several months as a military
chaplain as well. He returned to
Seward for the summer, partly
in the nature of a vacation home
as well as on church affairs. Hi'
is returning to New York.
Rates By 25 Percent
Inspection Scheduled
For Fire Escapes
By order of the City Council,
Fire Chief Fred Kiolcheski is to
make inspection of buildings for
fire escapes.
According to ordinance, all
rooming houses, hotels a n d
apartment buildings of two
stories or more must install steel
fire escapes equipped with ap
proach landings. The disastrous
Pioneer Hotel fire in Fairbanks
brought to light the fact that
there are still a few public
buildings in Seward still not
properly equipped to prevent
loss of life in case of fire.
Registration . . .
It is necessary for all electors
to have n gistered at the City
Hall within the callcndor year
of l!)f)2 in order to vote in the
October municipal election.
The registration book is open
week days between the hours of
10 A.1VI. and 3 P.M. Saturdays
from lu A M. to 12 noon.
Officers to be elected this year
are 3 councilmen, 1 member to
the School E iird and 1 to the
Utilities Board.
Councilmen whose terms arc
ended in October are Charles
Cole. A G. McRae and Russell
Painter. Painter was appointed
to fill the unexpired term of
Lawrence Whitmore upon the
latter's resignation
bus Johnson who was no
pointed by the Mayor and Coun
cil to fill the vacancy left by tin
resignation of K.Dnlc Greene
will fill the office' until it expires
in LOT .Mayor Eugene N.Lanier
also t.:;s another y< ;.r to s- r\
11TJ NICIP AI ELLs- TIC V
DAT.. C.JTCLLx: 7
ci.il
.1
Th
1 lech ms n S war being set b;
< ); :: ;anee a- t ■ lirs Tin sc! p
i’i( »i lober. and .n ' City of Sr :
iving elected t ise the fall
ti-de. tin 1952 city <,■)■•ction will
h Id i in sc! y. October 7 m
tiie City Hail building.
T 1 become eligible to vote in
t!a city election this fall, one
must have reached his 21st birth
day. lived in the Territory a
period of 12 consecutive months
and in the city for the 30 days
preceding the election. He must
also be a citizen of the United
States.
LOCAL TALENT CONCERT
SCHEDULED FOR AUG. 28
The Concert Committee of
Seward is presenting a local tal
ent concert Thursday evening,
August 23. at 8 p.m. in the Sew
ard Memorial Church.
Funds from this concert will
be used to pay the balance still
due on the concert grand piano.
The program will include lo
cal numbers as well as selections
on the violin, cello, harp, piano,
and organ.
Many people of Seward may
be interested to know that Mr.
and Mrs. Claude Berg, former
residents of Seward, are back
and will participate in the pro
gram.
Admission is SI.00 for adults
and fifty cents for school chil
dren. Tickets may be purchased
at the door.
In order to finance the city
for the next year, the City Coun
cil found it necesary to raise the
mill rate on personal and real
property taxes 2a per cent. This
means a rate of 25 mills on per
sonal property and 15 mills on,
real property. Former rates were
20 and 12.
This will increase the total as
sessed valuation of Seward to
approximately SO.509.208, which
is a major point when making
application for Federal financing
funds.
Toe increase will raise the
total estimated revenue to S156,
200. Total appropriations for the
1952 53 city budget amount to
SI43.800. leaving a surplus of
S7.900 for the year.
Personal and real property
taxes become delinquent Oct. I.
The new tax rate seems high,
and in fact it is high, but it is
still less than that paid in most
Alaskan cites. Anchorage, Kodi
ak and some other cities tax
rates increased this year from
25 to 30 per cent, the logic being
that we cannot develop and have
permanent improvements with
out paying for them.
In addition to the cost of ma
terials. one of the* highest con
tributing causes for expensive
municipal administration in Al
aska is the high cost of labor and
competition in the labor market.
BIDS LET FOR u_ACK TOP
TO MILE 58
Bids were opened Friday iv
Juneau for blacktopping of ihe
Seward-Anehorage highway as
far a Mile 58.
■ i i ; - ' •: d — : : - '■
paving was offered by Baoler
Bros, & Co;;c is Construe.
Companj of Portland. The bict
oi si.883.340 was accepted,
l.a.vd i reach. Bureau of Pub
. i
stated that’there will be no pav
f e ted tins fall, it is pos
' : ■ (i.vm-r. tliat some base
coins surfacing may be started
C A L T v O t NIA E I. K S V IS IT
HLK.o BEFORE EMBARKING
Ai ito members of Califor
r.: . E!!;s Ledges stopped at the
-••ward Elks Club far a short
visit Tbur- 'a\ night. They were
e route back to California after
their annual cruise.
They took the train trip to
Anchorage1 after arriving here
on the SS Aleutian, then visited
here on their way back to the
ship.
.-\lt hough mast of the touring
Elks registered from Sacramen
to. several were from Willows
and Bedding, Calif.
DR. FRANK MARESH
VISITING HERE
Dr. Frank Maresh. who was a
member of the Seward Sanatori
um staff in 1949, is here for a
few days visiting and renewing
acquaintances. He drove down
from Anchorage Thursday and
as Dr Phillips, and Dr. Chao of
the Sanatorium, and Dr. Deisher
wish to attend the annual meet
ing ol tile Alaska Medical As
sociation in Anchorage, Dr.
Maresh is pinch-hitting at the
Sanatorium until they return.
Dr Maresh made many friends
here in 1949 who are always
pleased to see him—and receive
hi.- very interesting Christmas
letter each year.
Summer Concert - TSasr/saSay Aug. ZB
Local Talent, Sponsored by Seward Concert Committee
at
1
IIS
<£&• & J
&
EWARD MEMORSAL CHURCH
Adm.: $1.00