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Library Museuia
Juneau, Alaska
"News of oAmertca’s Last Frontier”
VOL. 15 No. 40
KODIAK, ALASKA, December 24, 1955
PRICE 10 GE^S
Barge Seahorse Sinks,
As Homeward Bound
The barge Seahorse, familiar to when it overturned. No traces of
Kodiakans the past several months, another lifeboat, a motorized skiff,
went to a watery grave following was found. This skiff was also a
her dredging operations here, as
she was enroute to Seward with
a load of construction material for
Macri Construction Co.
The barge, a sturdy LCU, was
being towed from Kodiak by the
tug Pawtucket, and had battled
storms of gale proportions for 36
hours. Apparently a sudden heavy
sea turned the ship over, sending
the men aboard into the water.
Many theories have been advanced
as to the actual cause of the sink
ing, but the barge has weathered
many previous storms, some of
them in the Bristol Bay waters,
and is known for its rugged con
struction.
“What happened, happened fast,”
according to the Pawtucket skip
per, Harold Maxwell. "We had
kept in constant radio communica
tion with the Seahorse, until short
ly before, when Peters radioed
he expected the generator to give
out. When that happened, we main
tained communication with each
other about every twenty minutes
by waving a light. This happened
for about two hours when two
lights appeared from the Seahorse,
waving up and down. We turned
the Pawtucket towards the barge.
Before doing that, we had kept her
in our radar screen, but when we
turnedr~were unable to contact
her. Whatever happened, hap
pened that quick.” When the Paw
tucket arrived, which was in a
matter of minutes, no trace could
be found of the barge or the men.
The sinking occurred east of the
tip of the Kenai Peninsula near
Port Dick in the Point Gore tide
rips.
More specifically, the bearing of
the ship was 1:10 degrees from
East Chusach Light, or 10 miles
away. Ironically, the Pawtucket
was within a short distance of a
sheltered bay, to which it was
heading. The mishap occurred
1:30 Sunday morning.
The four men aboard, missing
since the accident, are feared dead.
They are Captain Lou Rexford
Peters, of Kodiak, Rod Kee, an
engineer, of Seattle and two crew
members, William Dalaroff of
Afognak and Tom Brown.
The Seahorse, a motorized barge,
was owned by the Kodiak Aleutian
Salvage Company. It had just com
pleted dredging operations in the
Kodiak channel. Work here was
begun early in June.
Maxwell immediately radioed for
aid. He began a search of the
nearby waters, but no trace was
found,of the missing men. A 21
foot skiff was located about two
miles from the barge’s position
sturdy craft equipped with a Chry
sler crown engine. It was also pro
visioned against mishap.
Coast Guard planes were dis
patched from Kodiak in the search
but no trace could be found of the
four men.
City Channel Dredging
Last Job of Seahorse
The Seahorse was an old LCU,
114 feet in length, of 164 tonnage.
She had 65 tons of dredging cargo
aboard at the time of the sinking.
She was a motorized barge, and
was owned by the Kodiak Aleutian
Salvage Company. Dredging opera
tions had just been completed in
the Kodiak channel, and the ship
was homeward bound. Dredging
operations took the greater part of
the summer. In dredging the chan
nel, considerable rock had to be
blasted out, particularly in the
waters below KEA. 15,000 yards of
rock material was removed from
the channel. It was dredged to a
controlled depth of 23 feet at mean
low low water. Dredging in front
of the D. & A. dock was the most
difficult, where shale was encount
ered with grey wack interspersed.
Following the completion of the
job, which extended from the
black buoy at the entrance of the
channel to the red buoy off the
City dock, two engineers from the
U. S. Army Engineers, swept the
channel, before the job was okey
ed.
The rock lifted from the channel
bottom, was hauled to a position
approximately in front of the Yum
Yum, where it will form the be
ginning of the small boat harbor.
DRIVER IN ACCIDENT
PLEADS NOT GUILTY
George Petershon was brought
before the City Magistrate on a
charge of reckless driving. He
pled not guilty.
Petershon’s car was badly de
molished in an accident which oc
curred last week near the slide
area. The car skidded and over
turned on the icy pavement.
The case was postponed until
Tuesday, December 27.
Carolyn Gallagher returned to
Kodiak from school to be writji her
parents during the holidays.
Carol Tolbert arrived home Sun
day to be with her parents, Jay
and Christine Toblert, during the
holidays.
Death Comes Suddenly
To Mrs. Nina Anderson
Mrs. Nina Anderson died sudden
ly Tuesday at the age of fifty-four,
of internal hemorrages. She had
entered Griffin eMnorial Hospital
just fifteen minutes before her
death.
Mrs. Anderson was born at Afog
nak, and was a widow. She is sur
vived by three daughters and.
four sons. They are: Mrs. Fred De
veau, Mrs. Joe Hester and Miss
Marie Anderson, Patrick, Lawrence
and Julius, Jr., and Nick Anderson.
All reside in Kodiak, except the
latter, who lives at Anchor Point,
Alaska.
Also surviving are four sisters:
Mrs. Jason Kappandze and Betty
Kashaveroff of Cleveland, Ohio;
Mrs. Joe Heitman and Mrs. Charles
Skinner of Kodiak. There are two
brothers, Nick Kashaveroff of Se
attle and Andrew Kashaveroff of
Kodiak. She had fourteen grand
children.
Funeral services were held for
Mrs. Anderson at 2:00 p. m. on
Friday, at the Russian Orthodox
Church.
Two Mon Accused
Post Voluntary Bond
Seattle. (AP)—Two Seattle men
who were indicted early this
month in Brooklyn, N. Y. in con
nection with the sale of Alaska
Telephone Corporation securities,
appeared voluntarily before the U.
S. Commissioner here Wednesday
and posted bond.
Attorney Elton B. Jones and
Albert J. Proctor, president and
general manager of the firm, both
said they were still “in the dark”
about the charges. Bond was set
at $500 each, and assures their ap
pearance in New York when re
quested. There is,a 36 count indict
ment against the accused men.
HOME DECORATIONS
TO BE JUDGED MONDAY
The home decorations contest
sponsored by the Elks and Emblem
Clubs has met with fair response,
and judging will be completed be
tweeen 7 and 9 p. m. Monday, ac
cording to the contest officials.
Entrants in the contest are asked
to have the lights on during the
above hours, so that judging can
be completed at that time.
DRIFTERS HOLD PARTY
Mrs., Ralph Johnson was hostess
to the Driftwood Club Monday
evening when the group held their
annual Christmas party, > i
Gifts were exchanged during the
evenings fun, and the guests enjoy
ed the delicious lunch served by
Mrs. Johnson.
Hinckel Gives Report
On Constitution Making
PRESIDENT APPPOVES AID
TO ALASKAN FISHERMAN
President Eisenhower approved
allocation of $25,000 to Federal
Civil Defense Administration of
relief to Indian and Eskimo com
mercial fishermen in Alaska.
This is the second time in recent
years the Federal Government has
stepped in to help provide disaster
relief to Alaskan commercial fish
ermen when fish became scarce.
Allocation of $20,000 was approved
in November, 1954, when wide
spread malnutrition developed in
a number of localities where fish
ing is the primary source of liveli
hood.
Late Bulletins
By Associated Press
Juneau. (AP)—Insurance Com
missioner Ross Dunffan has tem
porarily suspended the Central
Standard Insurance Co. of Sioux
Falls, S. D., and the Inland Marine
Insurance Co., Boise, Idaho, from
doing further business in Alaska.
A hearing is on order for Jan
uary 16.
United Nations, N. Y. (AP)—A
resolution was formally proposed
by Syria to expel Israel from the U.
N. It was laid before the Security
Council just before the Christmas
x-ecess. No action was taken.
Syria says expulsion is necessary
for an attack made 11 days ago on
Syrian outposts east of the Sea of
Gallilee, and to prevent further
attacks on Arab countries.
Easton, Washington. (AP)—
Hitch-hiking paratrooper, Sgt. John
M. Horan from Maynard, Mess.,
who has been missing for four days
in the Cascades after parachuMng
from a temporarily disabled Air
Force plane, walked into an inn
above Easton, Thursday, unharmed.
Horan’s Japanese-born wife -ar
rived in Seattle on an Army trans
port Tuesday with their three
children. She cried with relief
when told Horan was safe.
Karlsruhe, Germany. (AP)—A
South German radio reports that
West Germany’s former Security
chief, Dr. Otto John, has been
charged with suspected treason.
John returned December 12,
after 16 months in Communist east
Germany. There is no confirma
tion of report from official sources.
Washington. (AP)—The Army,
says six more corporal guided mis
sile battalions will be sent to
Europe in the first four months of
1956.
A first hand account of the work
ings of the Constitutional Conven
tion being held at Fairbanks was
given Chamber of Commerce mem
bers who attended the luncheon
meeting of that body Thursday
noon, by Jack Hinckel, delegate
for Kodiak and the Aleutian chain.
Some interesting highlights were
given by the delegate, who con
ducted a question period following
his talk.
His speech dealt mainly with
the question of legislative appor
tionment. Under the present plan,
not yet in its final stage, there will
be 40 members in the House and
20 Senators. There will be 25 legis
lative districts, with each district
apportioned according to its popu
lation. Under this plan, Kodiak
will have two representatives and
one Senator. The chain will have
a representative and one senator.
The 1950 census figures are used
to determine apportionment by
population, and the apportionment
would change as the population
shifts. Kodiak is not entitled to
two representatives, according to
the 1950 census, but a system tak
ing into account unrepresented
fraction has been deviced, which
gives this district the two. A popu
lation of 2724 is entitled to one
representative. 4375 is the estimat
ed population for 1950. By adding
the total earned by the unrepre
sented fraction the figure of two
representatives is arrived at.
Asked as to the cooperation of
delegates from other districts,
Hinckel stated there is good team
work, and the convention on the
whole is working together effici
ently and harmoniously. He prais
ed the Convention President, Wil
liam Egan, who* he said was doing
an excellent job. He said that de
spite reports in the newspapers,
which TTe said highlighted occa
sional flareups and squabbles that
occurred, the delegates were mak
ing considerable progress.
In his opinion, he said, Juneau
would still remain the capital city
of the new state of Alaska.
The widely publicized “Tennes
see Plan,” he said came in for
considerable discussion. He believ
ed msot delegates favored it. “The
is going to recommend the “Ten
nessee Plan” that would provide
for election of two senators and one
much as to whether it was good or
not, but whether it should be vot
ed on in caucas or brought before
tfie voters in the primaries.”
It is the ordinance and transi
tional measures committee which
is going to recommend the Tennes
see Plan” that would provide for
election of two senators and one
(Continued on Page 20)
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