"News of ^Americas Last Frontier’
VOL 11 NO EO
KODIAK, ALASKA
FEBRUARY 23. 1952
PRICE 10 ©ENTS
Baby Dies
FromSmoke
Smoke from a smouldering
mattress caused the death of
the two and a half month old
son of Mr. and Mrs. Billy Jo
Weist last Sunday night a
six-man coroners jury de
cided Wednesday.
Testimony from several
witnesses at the inquest in
dicated that the baby died
between 7 and 9 pm from
smoke from a burning mat
tress caused by a dropped
cigarette by Weist.
Weist was apparently lying
alongside the baby, while his
wife was at the movies, smok
ing, when he dozed off and
dropped the cigarette.
When Mrs. Weist retnrned
she found the house filed with
smoke from the smouldering
mattress and her baby dead of
aspnyxiation.
Her screams brought the
neighbors who pulled Weist
unconscious from the bed.
Mrs. Polly Healy, registered
nurse, was summoned from a
nearby apartment to examine'
the baby. The baby was dead
when she arrived, Mrs. Healy
said.
Statehood Bill
Before Senate
Washington (A5)—Backers
of the Aiaska statehood bill
took the Senate floor with no
opposition Thursday, Senator
O’Mahoney (D-Wyo.) read a
letter from acting secretary of
defense William C. Foster
who said Alaska Defense is
mandatory and that defense
would strengthened by state
hood. ,
Senator Magnuson ID
Wash.) charged that “legis
lative deep-freeze” has held
up statehood. He argued that
Alaska would have been a
state a quarter of a century
ago but for government con
trol of its resources.
Council Awards
Contract For Repairs
Shupu, Chase and Tolbert
were low bidders on the city
dock project which calls for
the driving of 20 piling front
ing the city dock and ware
house number 4.
The council awarded the
contract to the company dur
ing a special meeting Wednes
day night. The company bid
$3,937 on the job.
W. E. “Red” Thompson,
Union Oil Company represen
tative, arrived in town on
Monday’s plane.
Health Center
Hours Given
Office hours for the Public
Health Nurse at the Kodiak
Health Center were announced
this week by Miss Virginia G.
McMullen, newly arrived
here.
Monday through Friday the
office hours are 8:30 to 9:30 am
and 4 to 5 pm. Saturdays, the
hours are 9 am to noon.
“Well Child Conferences”!
will be held each Friday after
noon between 1 and 4 pm,
Miss McMullen said. The con
ferences with the nurse are
by appointment only. To
make an appointment dial
pnone number 3644 during
office hours.
According tp the Children’s
Bureau the function of the
“Well Child Conference” is
to “keep the well child well
and to promote his best pos
sible state of health”.
Parents of infants and pre
school children are invited to
attend, Miss McMullen said, i
Services include weighing,
measuring and discussing the
child’s growth and develop
ment. There is no charge for
his service.
Kodiak King Crab
On Eastern Market
Kodiak King Crab is now on
the market in Washington,
D. C., Joseph T. Flakne,
chief, Alaska Division, U. S.
Dept, of the Interior, recently
wrote to A. A. Owen, Jr.,
Anchorage resident.
Owen sent Flakne’s letter
to the Mirror this week.
“I thought you might be as
interested and pleased as we
are to know that at long last
a high grade Alaska product
is being placed on the market
here,” Flakne wrote. “1 pur
chased some of this crab meat
and found it very high
quality, attractively and well
packaged.”
He added that he hoped
more Alaska products would
be hitting the markets
throughout the world.
Baby Boy Born
To Smiths
Pfc. and Mrs. Peter G.
Smith are the parents of a
baby son born Thursday at the
Naval Station dispensary.
Pfc. Smith is now stationed
in Oceanside, Calif., with his
Marine Corps company. Mrs.
Smith, the former Bea Malu
tin, will join her husband in
California around the first of
April.
The baby weighed six
pounds, five ounces.
Kodiak Teams
In Semi Final*
The Kodiak and the Naval
Station high school basketball
teams are scheduled to meet
tonight in the semi-finals
event in the Class B division
of the Western Alaska Basket
ball tournament at Fair
banks.
The Kodiak team advanced
to the second round by de
feating Cordova high school
Wednesday afternoon by the
score of 53 to 43. The team
drew a second round bye.
In the Cordova game Billy
Frost scored 15 points and Al
fred Anderson tallied 16. Dick
Skinner got 13 and Gene
Sundberg 9.
The Naval Station team de
feated Valdez 42 to 39 Thurs
day night. Fletcher netted 16
points and Cruise 12.
The Nome and Wasilla
teams have been eliminated
from the tournament.
Prior to the local team leav
I ing for Fairbanks, Lt. Frank
Brink, Public Information Of
ficer for the 17th Naval Dis
trict, briefed the tam on
comfortable dress for sub
zero weather,
The Kodiak school group
traveled to Fairbanks with the
Naval Station group.
High Wages Paid
SecretAirbaseMen
Washington (-4?) — Senate
investigators have found that
mechanics have been drawing
wages at the rate of $17,000 a
year on a highly secret air
base project near the north
pole.
Regular laborers are earning
$13,000 annually, Counsel
Downey Rice for the Senate
watchdog committee said the
workmen are paid while en
route north by ship which
spent 42 days inching through
the ice.
Only guarded reference was
made to the secret project at
a subcommittee hearing which
was probing charges of man
power and money waste.
Exposure Victim
Funeral Delayed
Funeral services for Mrs.
Katherine Nevers Marchetti
are pending until the arrival
of a sister from Ketchikan.
Mrs. Marchetti froze to
death last week on Afognak
Island following the abandon
ing of the fishing boat Kerry
by its crew of four.
Ed Nevers, skipper of the
vessel, Bill Niemela and Nels,
Lanz are still in Griffin Mem
orial Bospital receiving treat
ment for frost bitten feet. |
Local Cannery To Can
Only Clams This Year
Late Bulletins
By Associated Press
Pusan, Korea— One Ameri
can and 69 Korea civilians
were killed in a Communist
led riot at Kjoe Island stock
age. Authorities said 1,500
Korean inmates of the com
pound attached U. S. security
troops with steel pickets,
wooden clubs and barbed
wire.
The remaining 3,500 in
mates did not participate in
the riot. No prisioners of
war were involved.
' Meanwhile, a report from
Seoul indicated that only
small scale action marked the
Korean warfare. Helicopters
dodged Communist fire, to
rescue a trapped Allied patrol
from a snowy eastern battle
front.
U. S. Army headquarters
said Allied artillery silenced
an intense stream of Com
munist small arms and mortar
fire which had pinned the pa
trol to the ground for more
than three hours.
At Munsan the Unitdd Na
tions command again rejected
a Communist proposal that
Russia be named as a ‘ ‘neut
ral” inspector of the Korean
armistice talks.
Hinckel Appointed
Firestone A$:ent
Jack Hinckel has been
named Kodiak distributor for
the Firestone Tire and Rubber
Company, it was announced
Thursday.
G. H. Matthews, represen
tative of the company with
headquarters in Seattle was
in town this week and made
the appointment.
Firestone products will be
offered for sale as soon as a
shipment of materials and
supplies are received, Hinckel
said.
Hinckel is manager of Ko
diak Oil Sales which distri
butes Union Oil Company
products.
Guessing Game
Tickets Arrive
Tickets for the “annual big
Alaskan guessing game” ar
rived in Kodiak this week.
Alaskans “guess” each year
when the ice at Nenana goes
, out. Postal Regulations pro
| hi bit the Mirror from printing
j details of the widely known
yearly event. Donnelley and
Acheson have a supply of the
“guessing” cards.
The local cannery will not
can salmon this season, Orin
Kuhnley, superintendent, an
nounced last Saturday.
Parks Cannery at Uyak Bay
will can fish for Halferty Can
neries, Inc. for the Kodiak Is
land area.
However, the local plant
will can clams, Kuhnley said.
Kuhnley said several can
neries are consolidating their
operations this season because
of high costs and the reduc
tion in the length of the fish
ing season.
He is inspecting the plant
and will be here for three or
four days. He plans to return
to Kodiak around April 1, to
prepare for the season’s can
ning.
The local cannery was for
merly operated under the
name of Whiz-Halferty, Inc.
Last fall Halferty purchased
the Whiz interest.
There wni be no change in
the personnel of the local
plant, Kuhnley said.
The company’s decision to
consolidate and use the cann
ing facilities at Parks Can
nary will result in a consider
able reduction in salaries for
members of the United Can
j nery Workers of Kodiak.
Members of the union ob
tain seasonal employment
during the salmon season
which pays an average of
$62C per season to a worker.
Approximately 40 workers
are employed at the local can
nery for the full season and
many more on a part-time
basis during the season.
P. J. Kerrigan, business
agent for the union, said clos
ing of the cannery this year
would mean approximately
$150,000 less revenue for
businesses in town. He pointed
to the number of fishing boats
f who purchase their supplies
locally when they leave for
the season’s fishing.
Navy Flies Couple
To Hospital
A two-engine Navy plane
landed on the beach of Chiri
kof Island Thursday and eva
cuated Mr. and Mrs. Len All
mon both suffering from
facial burns received when a
kerosene refrigerator ex
ploded.
The couple were taken to
Griffin Memorial Hospital after
landing at the Kodiak Naval
Station.
' The Navy R4D was piloted
by former Pacific Northern
Airline flier Lt. Max Roush
man.