"News of oAmencas Last Frontier’
VOL 13 NO 24
KODIAK, ALASKA AUGUST 22, 1953
PRICE 10 CENTS
Kodiak public schools will
open on Sept. 8, Superinten
dent Ivor Schott announced
yesterday.
Kinderg arten and Grades
through sixth will be held in
the new school on ACS hill,
and grades seven through
twelve will be held in the old
building downtown.
For the first time in several
years, kindergarten classes
have been scheduled, Schott
said.
Mrs. Schott will teach the
kindergarten classes, which
will probably be divided into
two sessions, morning and af
ternoon.
Definite decisions on kinder
garten, enrolment and other
matters will be made at a
seoool board meeting Tuesday
evening.
As yet, no furniture or
classroom equipment has ar
rived for the new school build
ing, and unless it comes by
Sept. 8, scart of classes schdd -
uled for that building, will
have to be postponed, Schott
said.
S'nce water and sewer lines
to the school are not yet com
plete, temporary arrange-1
I ments for plumbing and sani
tary facilities are being made
he added.
Schott will have his office in
the new school building. Don
Morgan, who has been named
j high school principal and will
arrive here shortly, will have
his headquarters in the down
town building.
Two more teachers are
needed for this school year,
j Schott said. Mrs. Henry
) Neseth, who was to teach
j fourth grade, is going outside
! for special medical attention,
j A teacher to replace her, and
j one for the second grade, are
| needed.
‘‘Little Man” statehood pe
titions in Kodiak garnered a
total of 375 signatures, the
Chamber of Commerce reveal
ed yesterday.
The petitions were left in lo
cal stores and other public
i places during the early part
of the week.
In scroll form, they have
| been sent to Anchorage to be
j presented to the senate com
j mittee which will visit there
| Monday for a statehood hear
' ing. The committee will not
visit Kodiak.
TWO BERRY-PICKERS LOSE WAY,
SPEND NIGHT ON LONG ISLAND
Two Kodiak women . who
went berry picking on Long
Island Sunday ended up'
spending the night huddled a
round a campfire eating more
berries than they ever hope
to see again.
Mrs. Bob MacDonald and
Mrs. Ed Short, two of a large
party of berry-pickers, strayed
away from the rest of the
group around 3 o’clock, Sun.
day, and it wasn’t until 5 am
the following morning that
they were found.
“We started picking berries
and wandering through the
woods around 3 o’clock, “Mrs.
McDonald said. After a while
the two realized they had lost
their sense of direction but
they kept trying to find their
way back to the campsite.
Each point they went a
round, they thought, would
lead them back to the cove
where Malcolm McDonald’s
boat Popeye was anchored,
but they only got farther away
from the spot they were look
ing for.
“When it got too dark to
walk any more, we went down
to the beach and built a fire,”
Mrs. McDonald said. “We had
walked aboct five miles, and
were pretty wet. Every time
we got tired we sat down and
when we sat down it was
pretty wet. Fortunately we
had enough cigarettes but al
most ran out of matches. And
we kept eating berries. Were
we ever hungry?”
The two women weren’t
missed by the others until din
ner time and after calling for
them, the men in the group
decided they were lost, and
started out after them, search
ing until almost dark.
Finally, Malcolm McDonald
brought the other women and
children home and rounded up
a group ®f men for a search
party. Through the night,
fifteen men combed the island
in groups of three.
At five in the morning, Ole
Johnson and Alf Madsen
found the pair, Johnson afoot
through the woods, and Mad
sen on a boat, which had
sighted the fire.
‘‘I was never so glad to hear
anyone as I was to hear Ole’s
voice through the woods,”
Mrs. McDonald said.
The women had walked all
the way around Long Island,
they found, and had tramped
about five miles through the
woods.
Parrm Heads
Health Survey
A study of the health and
welfare problems of Kodiak
was made this week by a four
man team headed by the for
mer Surgeon General of the
U. S. Public Health Service.
Dr. Thomas Parran, now
dean of the University of
Pittsburg Graduate School of
Public Health, heads the i
group which is making thei
survey for the department of |
the interior.
“We find the health pro-1
blems of Alaska interesting!
and challenging,', Dr. Parran i
said Thursday. “We are con-j
cerned with the overall prob-i
lems of the territory, but we
will talk with the proper au
thorities in Juneau abcut any
acute situations in any parti-1
cular cities or towns, which |
| we find.”
I Dr. Parran and his team,
came here after conducting!
their survey in Fairbanks,
F. Yukon, Pt. Barrow, Kot
zebue, Nome, and Bethel, and
smaller villages.
“The greatest problem in,
Alaska is one of distance and;
climate,” Dr. Parran said “So
many villages are remote
from modern medicine. We
are trying to determine
how it is possible to
bring modern health services
to these people.”
With Dr. Parran are Dr.
James Crabtree, public health
practices professor at the
graduate school of public
health of the University of
Pittsburg; Dr. Antonio Cioc
co, head of the department of1
bio-statistic, and Walter Me-1
Nerney, instructor in hospital
administration, department of
public health practice.
The men arrived in Kodiak
Tuesday and were to leave
yesterday.
During their time here, the
men talked with Olive Wal
ker, public health nurse, act
ing mayor Jack Hinckel, city
clerk Bob Hedloff, U.S. Com
missioner A. M. Vokacek, Dr.
A. Holmes Johnson, Sister
Dorothy, Sister Superior at
Griffin Memorial Hospital, and
others interested in local
health and welfare problems.
A more intensive survey
utilizing other specialists will
be conducted next summer,
Dr. Parran said. The survey
is designed to learn more a
bout the health status of Alas
ka’s native population, and to
develop immediate and long
rar,;„. for improved
h services for the native
and non-native population.
Several Bag Trophies
As Deer Season Opens
The nrst tvodiak island deer;
hunt was off with many loud
bangs Thursday as over 100
hunters checked through the
back gate at Kodiak Naval
Station,
At noon yesterday 18 bucks
had been reported to the Fish
and Wildlife Service agents at
the check in station at the rear
gate.
W. R. McLinn of Kodiak re
ported the first deer Thursday
morning to the FWS agent at
the gate. However, McLinn
said he shot his buck around
9 am. Several hunters in the
Ka'sin Bay area had their deer
down earlier.
Paul R. Chapados and Rus
sell Hoffman were checking
the hunters in at the gate on
Thursday and Friday.
Mr. and Mrs. McLinn hunt j
ed in the Broad Point area be-i
tween Middle and Kalsin Bays
“The number of hunters was
large. They dotted the hills all
around the area,” McLinn
said.
He reported that, “every j
muscle ached after packing j
out that buck,” I wouldn’t
want to do it again. McLinn
had a two point buck.
Charles Howe3, William
Clubb, Mel Crawford hunted
in the Kalsin Bay area. Howes
shot a four point buck around
6:30 am. The three nimrods
were several miles in from
the beach and spent practically1
the whole day getting the deer
back to their car.
Other hunters were expected
to check in with the FWS in
town late today and tomorrow.
The hunt will end tomorrow
evening.
Dave Henley, Norman Sut
liff and Joe Zentner each shot
a deer early on opening day,
it was reported locally. Seve
ral other hunters were also
succca ful.
Rent Contol
To End Here
The Kodiak Defense Rental
Area will be decontrolled to
day. The announcement was
made this week by Glenwood
Sherrard, director, defense
rental areas division.
Earlier, it was announced
that Fairbanks and Kodiak
would continue rent controls.
In a letter to H. E. Spencer,
Kodiak chairman, rent ad
visory board, Sherrard said
that the impossibility of ad
ministering the Kodiak area
without a field staff was one
os the reasons for decontroll
ing here. Fairbanks rent con
trols also end today
Mrs. John Cushing of the
Kodiak Telephone Co., and
two children will return from
Sitka on the Denali on Aug.
31.
WRIGHTS’ FANCY FREE SAILS ON
CRUISE TO SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA
A five-year dream is coming
true this weekend for Mr. and
Mrs. Wilbur Wright, who are
setting out in their cruiser,
Fancy Free, for Southeastern!
Alaska. ]
They plan fo be away from '■
Kodiak for a year if possible,
‘as long as funds hold out”, j
they said this week. ‘‘We’lll
cruise when we can and work
when we have to,” Wright
said.
Depending on the weather,
the couple were to leave yes
terday or today.
The Fancy Free completed a
ten day cruise around Kodiak
and Afognak islands Wednes- j
day, and came into its moor,
age at the city dock float to
get ready for the long-awaited
cruise. I
!
Five years ago, Mr. and
Mrs. Wright purchased a navy
surplus picket boat, and with
blueprints drawn up by a na
val architect converted it into
a cruiser and home afloat,
under which designation it is
now registered.
Mr. and Mrs. Wright, did all
the work on the boat, and
have made comp ct, attractive
and efficient living and sailing
quarters on her.
They plan to sail from here
to Afognak, then across to the
Barren Islands, and Seldovia.
From there they will cruise to
Seward. Cordova, Cape St.
Ellis, Yakutat, Sitka and
Ketchikan. “We will probably
spend the winter around
Ketchikan,” Wright said. He
formerly lived there.
In February, the Fancy
Free had her first shakedown
cruise in open water away
from Kodiak. Both Mr. and
Mrs. Wright skipper the boat,,
and Mrs Wright has taken*
her out alone around the har
bor and channel several times.
During their five years here,.
Wright has worked for ship
repair at the base, Drake Pu
get Sour.d and Halferty Can
neries. Mrs. Wright was en
ploved at the Fish and Wild
life office for some time.