QQeflectintjr Hte olfini ef Q&/aAk<& oMat {Mdtofic ffoland.
Published every Saturday at Kodiak, Alaska
Yearly Subscription Rate $5.00
Entered in the Postoffice at Kodiak, Alaska as Second
Class matter under act of Congress of March 3, 187P
THE ISLAND PUBLISHING COMPANY
Sig J. Digree, Editor and Publisher
Betha Digree, Associate Editor
MEMBER OF ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use or republics
tion of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in
this paper and also the local news published herein.
A Significant Step
ine opening or £ffce.y“JYJjite
^lice” network this week, with
the estahtrSHih^ Sr telephone ser
vice overthefirst l«it r$igni
•icant step in the future, of Alas
ka. - ■jajr dp *■*%
"\'»e ^ha| AWcir. iietworH will
serve the Air ’Porte; permitting
combat center* of ttw Alaskan Air
f;Qihmah<f to be in continuous con
*0t with Alaskan radar outposts.
' ® Distant Early Warning fane
!“■ • points. It will also serve
—y and Navjr ih^allafions, the
Civil Aeronautics Administration
-tad other governmental agencies.
''White Alice" will also make avail
able to the Alaska Communica
tions System circuit facilities for
commercial use. ■ * ' ‘
The significance to Alaska of a
system of communication such as
this in time of war, is very appar
ent. The sypstem employs two
types of radio rhlay to briffg? /d
Jiska’s lonely distances. Radio re
iay was used because of the diffi
culty of building and maintaining
wire circuits across the many
fhiles of almost inaccessible re
gions, and the servicing of them
faring extreme weather condi
tions. Interference • from atmos
pheric and meteorological condi
tions have been i piinimized.
In most areas an almostnew
system of ultra high frequency
radio is used. Its technical name
is “forward propagation tropos
pheric scatter.” This ts the type of
over-the-horizon ijadio which uses
huge 100-ton sedop-shaped anten
nas. They resemble outdoor movie
screens and are jsixty feet high.
Transmitting and receiving an
tennas are aimed at the horizon
in direct line with each other.
The $100 millioA s'peht, the hard
ships endured, the live# id$—all
will pay off—-but from '■'a military
sense it will be paid back alm^t
overnight, in the event of an at
tack.
According to O. W. Kammerer,
Manager of the "Wine Alice" pro
ject, in a speech Thursday, the
term “White Alice” has no particu
lar significance, but it means dif
ferent things to different people.
To the siting and path testing
crews it meant loneliness while on
remote mountain tops; to the en
gineers it means the design of a
system to do the job; to the con
struction men, a constant battle
against terrain and weather; to the
men charged with installing th%
complex electronic equipment, it
meant interpreting thousands of
blueprints, etc.; to some, procur
ing and shipping tons of supplies;
to the families of the thirteen men
who lost their lives in its building,
it means heartbreak; and to the
Air Force and to other users in
the territory, “White Alice” means
the ultimate in a modern, reliable
communications system in an area
where such a system has long bean
sorely needed.
This sums up its significance to
Alaska,, and the people of Alas
ka—the permanent residents and
those interested in Alaska’s devel
opment. It will undoubtedly prove
a significant factor in that devel
opment.
Anothep > “Scrap 0'f Paper ’
"Biggest stake in the diplomatic
poker gante cufr^ntly being play
ed over the Suez Canal is, oil,"
nays The Oil and Gas Journal. The
results of closing this vital water
way to international traffic are; of
course, far reaching. As regards
oil, this commodity would have to
t*e carried around the iCape of
Good Hope or through greatly; in
creased capacity pipelines ; tiiat
would have to be builti botwdeh
the Middle East and ihe Mediter
ranean. In either case the cost
both ir money, and even in the
more essential coin of time, would
be enormous. The effect on the in
dustry of England and much of
Western Europe could be catas
trophic.
• In a discussion at Toastmasters
Tuesday night, the question was
asked: “Was England justified in
taking the action she did in the
Suez question?” The answer can
very well be summed «p in the
last sentence of the above para
graph. When the economy of a
country is being effected to the
point of “catastropWy,” action is
called for.
Going beyond oil, the implica
tions of Nasser’s action ace omi
nous in the extreme. The New
York Times came straight to the
principle as stake in these words:
“If, at any time and under any
conditions, a man or a nation can
simply throw away their committ
ments, the whole basis for normal
living is undermined if not de
stroyed .... It isn’t a question of
how much money General Nasser
can take out of the canal or even
of whether he can operate it at
all. It is a question of whether in
ternational agreements such as
that respecting the Suez are moral
ly binding or scraps of paper to be
torn up at the whim of the dicta
tor. This is a matter of the utmost
concern not merely for Britain,
France and Egypt, but for ail of
us.”
Naturally, Britain and France
would not countenance Nasser’s
action. The hope, as President
Eisenhower has said, is that this
matter of vast gravity can yet be
settled without recourse to force
of arms.
Group Discusses
Far East Problem
The Far East situation was the
subject of discussion at the Kodiak
Island Toastmaster’s Club Tues
day. Jules Radinsky as Topic Mas
ter voiced several questions which
in turn were answered by the var
ious members in one hiinute
speeches.
Five minute speeches were de
livered by Carl Huer, who spoke
on “Coming Home.” Sid Wallace
who recently joined, delivered his
first speech, which was entitled
"My First Thirty Years.” The sub
ject “One of Kodiak’s Problems,"
was handled by Jess Ballard. Its
theme was the need for better
transportation to and from Ko
diak. George Cornelius read from
manuscript “The Story of Moses
and the Sheperd.” Sig Digree was
Toastmaster for the evening.
An innovation was introduced by
the Chief/^Valuator of'tiie eve
ning, Paul Bond. He set up a panel
of judges, who each commented
on the speaker, rather than-assign
ing one critic to each speaker.
This proved very popular among
the group.
ROTARY HOST TO TEACHERS
. •! >>r rued from oage 1)
and Joihn Springhill; Marion
Lynch, School nurse and Pat
Lynch. Other teachers present, to
gether with their husbands were
Cecil sind Ruth Belcher, Irma Bo
balka, Robert and Marianne Boko.
Virginia and Florian Briner, Dera
and Kart Brunstad, Lois and Mor
ris Burnham, Blanche and Am
brose Clegg, Marian Collani, Ber
tha and William Hamann, Melanie
and Vern Draper, Ida and Joseph
Holewinski, Ruthanne Hayes, Pa
tricia and Jack Howard, Rita Hunt
er, Patrick Kennedy, Betty Lind
gren, Betty and Jack Metzgar,
Gertie Otness, Patricia and Ed
Prestagaard, Helen Pruessing,
Edith and A1 Rooney, Mr. and
Mrs. Curtis Saxton, Helen Se
leeu, Dr, Victor Strash, Mildred
and Leon Tanner, Vida and
Charles Truitt, Mr. and Mrs.
George Wick, Emma and James
Zeiba, Louise Walker and Ruth
and Henry Breckberg.
A box of candy was given to
teachers with various marks of dis
tinction, such as the teacher hav
ing the most children in her class,
teacher who taught in the farth
est away city prior to coming to
Kodiak, teacher who has taught
the longest, the oldest teacher, the
youngest teacher.
Here There Everywhere
(Continued from page 2)
The editor of the Petersburg
Press in his Waterfront column
has this to say: “Report from end
of old road that piling holding
floats there are about gone . . . .
better be good for four mart
years .new highway engi
neer may not take kindly to
Petersburg after last election.”
Petersburg didn’t favor the gentle
man in the terriorial elections.
Bouquet: To all those who con
tributed time and labor to the
completion of the new public li
rary. A fine community effort—
worthwhile, needful and beneficial.
The “White Alice” network
opening is perhaps the most signi
ficant event of the week—especial
ly for Alaska. This system, though
primarily for military purposes,
has a civilian use that is signifi
cant in the future development of
the territory and the future state
of Alaska—the improvement of
communications in this vast land.
A few statistics: The “White
Alice” network is the biggest over
the-horizon communications sys
tejn ftW ljuilt. Thereare 33 trans
mitting and receiving sites. It cov
ers 3,100 route miles, with a total
telephone circuit miles of 170,000
and a total telegraph circuit miles
of 50,000. Greatest distance span
ned by radio path between anten
nas, 170 miles. Peak number of
workers, 3,500. Cost: over
$100,000,000.
* * * * *
Juneau is celebrating its 75th
year as a City. The Juneau Em
pire local daily there, has issued
a 52 page special edition commem
orating the event. Many facts and
figures are presented on the far
southeastern City. A product of
the early gold-rush days, Juneau
was first called Rockwell and later
Harrisburg, but was changed to
Juneau in 1881, in honor of the
elder of the two discoverers. of
the district. In 1883 it was the
mining center of Alaska. Though
mining in Alaska is considered.
*a “sick”" Industry today, annual
production of minerals is said to
total more than $20 million.
Juneau was made the capital of
the territory in 1900. The gross
government payroll of Federal
^Territorial and local governments
totals $8,420,792 annually. Popula
tion in Juneau is estimated at
6,500 with a total of 11000 in the
area.
Alaskan Flag Is
Presented Admiral
An Alaskan flag was presented
Rear Adm. Ira Hobbs, Cotnman-*
dant of the 17th Naval District,
Tuesday morning, in a short cere
mony held in his office. The flag
was presented by the City of Ko
diak.
Mayor Johnson, City Manager
r
Charles Truitt and Ben Bensoij,
represented the City. Ben Benso.i,
designer of the flag, made the pre
sentation of the autographed flag.
Several members of the Admi
ral's staff were present..
Historical Group
To Meet Dec. 5
The Kodiak and Aleutian Is
land Historical Society will meet
on Wednesday, December 5 in the
downtown school building. The
meeting will begin at 8 p.m. All
those interested in the work of
the Society are cordially invited.
There will be a meeting of the
Board of Trustees Monday eve
ning, December 3 at the residence
of Dr. A. Holmes Johnson.
GRIFFIN MEMORIAL NOTES
Admitted to Griffin Memorial
Hospital this week were Mrs.
Leota Holroyd of Woody Island,
George Ante, Mrs. Louise Turner,
Mrs. William Stone, Mrs. Ruth
Brechan and Bobby Carter.
Discharged were Mrs. Frances
iani and infant, Mrs. Grice Willis,
MTs. Aanaatasia Brodtfcorb,- El
mer Ahdrewi Mrs. Ruth Brechan.
Ephram Shuravoloc, Bobby Carter
and. Mrs. Louise Turner. ’
births Jr
John Walton, weighing 7 ths. 15
ozs., was born on November 24 to
Ruth and Clarence Fry.
JOBS OFFERED
Employment is offered in sc/ei
al positions at Kodiak and Adas
by the Civil Service Commission.
Among the jobs listed is that of
carpenter. One is required in each
place. Other jobs listed are those
of automotive equipment operator,
engineman (hoisting and portable)
and shipwright.
SECOND ANNUAL DECORATED HOMES CONTEST
Kodiak, Alaska
1,would, like to register,jny home in the
Decorated Homes Contest
(Please print or type your name here)
(Address, where display will be found)
• jv
i ...
■ i_______
(Your signature)
THRIFTY
YOUR VALUABLES
including valuable
. paper 3 f.nt
other important articles of valui
deserve protection.
SAFE DEPOSIT BOXES
available in various sizes at a rate
as low as less than 2 cents per day
“No matter what happens
there is always someone who