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VOL. 16 NO. 39
KODIAK, ALASKA, SEPTEMBER 29, 1956
PRICE 10 CENTS
Mayor’s Office
Uncontested
Write-ins Loom
Nine candidates have filed for
the six City Council seats, in the
Municipal election to be held next
Tuesday. No candidate has filed
for the office of Mayor.
It is rumored around town that
many write-in candidates for the
office of Mayor are being propos
ed. Several groups are seeking to
back their own candidates. The
present Mayor, Leon Johnson, has
been proposed. If he consents, his
backers contend, he is almost cer
tain to be elected.
Merrill Coon, Standard Oil Com
pany agent here, has been ap
proached and has consented to
serve if elected by write-in. He is a
long-time resident and has work
ed for civic improvements, main
ly the Small Boat Harbor.
The nine men. who seek to ad
minister the affairs of the City for
the coming year, are as follows.
Jim Brightman, George H. Cor
nelius, Peter M. Deveau, Charles
H. Edris, DeWitt W. Fields, Irvin
O. Gilbreath, Timothy P. Gilmore,
George J. Sonntag and Bob I„.
Spencer.
Only one candidiate is up for re
election. Pete Deveau has served
on the Council for the past two
years. He has been an ardent ad
vocate of the Sales-Tax—and, of
course, improved roads and the
small boat harbor. He is cam
paigning on the slogan, “Let’s not
scuttle the Sales Tax.” He is Gen
eral Manager of the Island Sea
foods, whose principal occupation
is the canning of King crab.
James Brightman is a newcomer
to local politics, but not a novice in
municipal government. He served
on the Council at Sitka for two
years, and the Council at Pelican,
Alaska. He has spent 42 years in
the territory, two and one-half of
which has been spent in Kodiak.
Most of the time he has lived in
Southeastern Alaska. He Is a part
ner in the Kodiak Outfitters. He
originally came here from South
eastern, and was manager of the
hardware department of Krafts
store. A little over a year ago he
and Emil Knudsen assumed con
trol of the Outfitters.
George H. Cornelius, too, is a
newcomer in the fieid of local
politics. He was formerly a Chief
in the Navy, was discharged here,
and went to work in the Supply
department on the Naval Station.
He is President of the Kodiak Ex
ploration Company, a company
seeking to develop the mineral re
sources of Kodiak Island. George
is a member of the Kodiak Island
Toastmasters Club. He is presently
working for PNA as their Base
agent.
Irvin -Gilbreath, another cand
date, has been in Kodiak since
1951. He is presently employed as
a warehouseman at D and A. Gil
breath came originally from Ala
bama. Irvin has been in Alaska
previous to coming berg. In l$4l
be joined the Army and was sta
tioned at Fairbanks and Anchor
age. Following the war, he spent
four years in the States and at
tended Seattle Pacific College.
This is his first venture into poli
tics. Hist slogan, “An open mind—
no prior commitments.”
George J. Sonntag has been a
familiar figure in Kodiak. He is
attempting to enter the local po
litical scene for the first time. He
has been in the territory 8% years,
8 of which he spent in Kodiak. He
has been active in civic affairs,
He has been Civil Defense Direc
tor for 3% years. He has served
on the Health and Welfare Coun
cil for 2 years. He has been a con
tinuous member of the USO Oper
ating Committee since February.
1952. He was Chairman of the V.
F. W. Committee when that group
sponsored the purchase of the Am
bulance for the City of Kodiak. He
is a past commander of Katmai
Post 7056, of the VWF and pres
ent Service Officer. He is a mem
ber of B.P.O.E. Kodiak Lodge No.
1772. He states he has the inter
est of Kodiak at heart, and will
strive for the betterment of the
City at large.
Timothy P. Gilmore, also a can
didate, is well-known in Kodiak.
He has never run for any public
office here, although he has been
a resident of Kodiak for many
years. He was born in Ketchikan,
and lived in Southeastern for
many years, and received his edu
cation there. He spent some time
in Santa Monica, California, and
was manager of the Tommy Dorsey
Casino Gardens.. He was manager
of the Montmartre Inn in 1944. He
is Steward of the Elks Club here.
He first came here on a trip in
1923, lived here from 1940 to 1944.
He returned again in 1951. He is
an advocate of better streets and
boat facilities for Kodiak.
Charles (Chuck) Edris, sole
owner of the Kodiak Bottling
Works, is entering the race with
out any previous experience in
municipal affairs. He says he is
willing to learn, and is keeping
an open mind on the Sales Tax
issue and other problems of the
City. Chuck’s former place of resi
dence before coming to Alaska
was Orlando, Florida. He was in
the milk business there, before go
ing to Anchorage. He lived in the
Mainland City for three years, anjl
was connected with the Alaska
uairy. c*dris came to Kodiak in
January of 1955. He and Ed Prest
egaard purchased the Kodiak Bot
tling Works. He has managed it
since then, and just recently be
came sole owner.
DeWitt Fields, who also is a
“first time” candidate for any of
fice, has lived in Kodiak and the
territory for the past eight years.
He came here originally to work
on the staff of the Baptist Mission,
where he remained for three
years. Previous to that he was an
Inspector for the North American
and the Consolidated Aircraft com
panies in California. He was with
the International Harvester Com
pany for two years, in their office
in Los Angeles. He has operated
a shoe repair shop here the past
(Continued on Page 12)
Democrats
Visit Here
A record delegation of Demo
cratic candidates came to Kodiak
this week by chartered plani from
Anchorage. Lead by Del. E. L.
(Bob) Bartlett, the group arrived
Wednesday morning, and held a
a meeting at the Elks Club at 10
p. m„ when all the visiting candi
dates spoke.
Previous to the meeting, dinner
was served the delegation at the
Montmartre Inn.
Two U. S. Senate candidates, Er
nest Gruening and William Egan,
were in the .party, and gave short
speeches at the rally.
John Gibbons, in a preliminary
speech, introduced Delegate Bart
lett. He outlined some of the
needs of this community, and
sought the support of the candi
dates who are elected, in solving
some of the problems here.
Bob Bartlett introduced the fif
teen candidates running for terri
torial offices and the U. S. Senate,
who were in the party. Several
candidate’s wives accompanied
their husbands and were introduc
ed by Bartlett
Bartlett, in his opening remarks,
challenged any member of the Re
publican party to name any pro
ject for the good of the territory
that originated with that party.
He stated that if elected again, he
will go on working for the good of
the territory in Congress.
Ernest Gruening, former Gov
ernor ,of Alaska, in a short ad
dress, reviewed the present ad
ministrations policies and actions.
He was particularly bitter against
the President, who he said, show
ed a lack of knowledge of Alaska;
its geography and its needs. He
cited quotations from a speech of
General Eisenhower, previous to
becoming President, in which he
advocated Statehood for both Alas
ka and Hawaii. Since then, he con
tended, the administration has
fought the issue. Gruening, an ac
tive supporter of Statehood, stated
the ignorance of Government of
ficials, and people in the United
States, about Alaska is appalling.
Turning to the territorial scene
Gruening stated the last legisla
ture showed a regard for the ser
vices to meet the public’s needs.
Gruening seeks a six year term
as U. S. Senator under .the Ten
nessee Plan. In closing he paid
high'tribute to Delegate Bartlett.
He scoffed at the charge by the op
position party that Bartlett is a
“do nothing” delegate. “There is
no one,” hie $aid, “in the Senate
or Congress, who works as hard as
our Delegate from Alaska.” He
said he had gained this knowledge
from persona) experience. He said
the delegate is well-liked in the
territory, and if he were not, he
would he useless in Washington.
William Egan, candidate for the
U. S. Senate, received a standing
ovation from the audience, when
he was introduced. Born in Alas
ka, he has served in both the
Territorial House of Representa
tives and the Senate. He was presi
dent of the Constitutional Conven
tion.
“We are on the threshold ot
(Continued to page 14)
Appointment
Bs Announced
Roy Lindsley has been appoint
ed head of the Western Alaska
Fishery management, in a reorgan
ization of the Alaska Commercial
fisheries administration of the
Fish and Wildlife Service.
Lindsley, who has been the fish
eries agent here for the past sev
eral years, will move to Anchor
age. He will have jurisdiction of
the whole area in Western Alaska.
The Fisheries hearings ate, sched
uled for Kodiak next Saturday,
October 6. Lindsley expects to
have data on the proposed changes
for circulation prior to the meet
ing.
Clay Scudder of Ketchikan was
appointed to a similar position in
Southeastern Alaska.
Chamber Visited
By Candidates
An overflow crowd attended the
Chamber of Commerce meeting
Thursday with fifty-six people in
attendance. Visiting Democratic
candidates and their wives ac
counted for the large number.
Mayor Leon Johnson reported to
the Chamber that a stop-gap meas
ure has been completed on the
water supply for the winter. The
City reservoir has been raised 21i>
feet temporarily. This allows an
additional capacity of 10.000,000
gallons. He cautioned everyone,
however, to be conservative in the
use of water.
Johnson further stated that the
power line to the White Alice pro
ject is nearly completed. He said
the people on the D & A water
system should expect the water to
be roiled up for perhaps another
week, due to digging being done
on the power system. He asked
them to be patient.
Harold Galliett, surveyor mak
ing soundings for the small boat
harbor, spoke to the group. He said
his firm, Affiliated Alaskan Archi
tects of Anchorage, had been re
tained by the U. S. District En
gineers to do the work because of
lack of personnel in the Engineer
ing office. He said the survey and
soundings should be complete
within a week.
Merrill Coon reporteo that Har
old Moats of the Army Engineers
has informed him that an egineer
wdll soon be here to begin probing
work on the harbor. He will also
investigate the possibility of the
new Base-town road.
Some of the visiting candidates
spoke briefly. William Egan stated
the problems here are similar to
those of all Alaskan towns, es
pecially those on the coast.
Elks CP Dance
Set For Oct. 13
The annual Cerebral Palsy dance
is scheduled for Saturday, Octo
ber 13, at the Elks Club, it was
anounced by Bill Lavine, Enter
tainment chairman.
This dance is open to Elks and
their families, and Emblem mem
bers and their escorts. A floor
show is planned.
Along The
Waterfront
The City Dock has perhaps been
the busiest place in town this week.
The Palisana, sistership replacing
the Lucidor, docked Wednesday
with a little under 1200 tons erf
freight. About 400 tons of outgo
ing freight was loaded aboard.
The Beluga pulled alongside and
loaded over 900 cases of salmon,
which represented the fall pack
from Larsen's Bay.
In the midst of all this activity,
a semi-tractor and trailer from
the Naval Station came on to the
dock, and .the rear wheels of the
trailer went through the dock
plonking at the east approach.-A
crane from the Naval Station was
brought in and pulled it out.
The Expansion came in from the
Westward on its way to Seward.
Cliff Machado, crew member
aboard, who was associate editor
of the Mailboat Monitor, has left
the ship and is last reported in
Hawaii. Dick Whittaker, former
editor of the Kodiak Islander, is
now purser aboard, and is also
editing the Monitor.
The only activity at Alvine &
Gibsons is the short crew working
on the Marmott. Ollie Sanford is
still home with a bad case of the
mumps, which has laid him low
for the past several weeks.
The Cordova Salvor was ir. pick
ing up a load for Sitkinak. John
Malutin is now the skipper aboard.
The Torgensvald, a Bureau of Fish
eries boat passed through on her
return trip to the States after her
survey operations to the West and
North. The Dulcina tied up at the
Standard Oil dock. She was on her
way Westward. A tanker is expect
ed in October 4. George Magnusen
reports many boats in from Ouzin
kie getting in their winter fuel.
The Tonsina is expected in Tues
day at the Naval Base. The ship is
on her way to Nome—the last trip
of the season.
Frank McConaghy sa^s Kalfer
(Continued on Page 12)
Alvines Purchase
Gibson’s Interest
Stanley and Madelyn Aivine an
nounce this week the pu chase of
Gavin L. Gibson’s interest in 4h#
business of Aivine & Gibson, mar
ine repair.
The business was started eight
k<years ago on Tagura Road where
Kodiak Airways is now located.
Later the site where th< oid co-op
dock was located was purchased
and a new shop was built, with an
apartment and office space on the
street level.
The yard has a floating drydoch,
and last year a new electric verti
cal boat lift was added, enabling
boats up to 30 ton to he hauled
out and brought into t’.e shop for
repairs.
In addition to repair facilities,
the firm sells and service:; Merc
ury outboard motors, Chrysler and
Gray marine engines, Onan elec
tric plants, Fremont marine bat
teries, Reinnel) boats and various
other marine items.
Mr. and Mrs. Gibson were form
er residents of Kodiak but are now
residing in Lakeside, California.