"News of oAmericci’s Last Frontier’
VOL 12 NO 22
KODIAK, ALASKA AUGUST 2, 1952
PRICE 10 GENTS
Local Cannery Operation
Underway Yesterday
The local Halferty Can
neries Inc., cannery was
placed in operation yesterday
by Orin kuhnley, superinten
dent, as the run of salmon in
creased around Kodiak Island.
A crew of local cannery
workers and Filipino workers
from outside began canning
fish with the blowing of the
cannery whistle. Earlier, it
was announced that the local
cannery would not operate
this year. However, the plant
was set up to operate on 24
hours notice.
Machinists had the plant
ready for canning operations
within 24 hours after Kuhnley
gave the go-ahead order.
Frank McConaghy, Hal
ferty representative, was in
town the past week to check
on the cannery. In May he
told the Chamber of Commerce
the plant would operate if the
run of salmon proved to be
good.
Earlier in the year it was
announced that the cannery
would not operate because of
the shortened fishing season
and rising costs. Halferty
Canneries has been consolidat
ing its operations with Parks
Cannery so far this year.
Oil Fire Sweeps
Ketchikan Dock
Ketchikan (A*) — A fast
spreading fire destroyed a pier
and warehouses of the Stan
dard Oil Company of Califor
nia Wednesday wPh a loss
estimated at nearly $420,000.
Firemen saved large oil
storage tanks near the water
front terminal and controlled
the blaze shortly before noon.
Around a million gallons of
petroleum products were de
stroyed.
The blaze started around
9:30 am from an unexplained
cause. It swept quickly
through the long pier and des
troyed two warehouses, the
company’s office, and em
ployees house and three small
storage tanks on the water
front.
Coast Guard fire boats
fought the blaze as it whipped
along the oil-soaked pier
Drums of lubricating oil and
other petroleum products blew
up as the warehouses burned.
It was not reported if fire
men or any of the oil com
pany’s personnel were injur-1
ed.
Milton Pagano, with the
army at Fairbanks, is on fur
lough visiting his mother,
Mrs. August Heitman.
Boat Capsizes;
Skipper Drowns
Navy deep sea divers flew to
Cold Bay yesterday to aid in
salvaging the fishing vessel
Afinity which capsized last
week drowning the skipper.
The three divers secured
lines to the craft, sunk in 18
feet of water, enabling the
motor vessel Pavlof to haul
the Afinity alongside the
nearby Thornbrough Air
Force Base dock crane. It was
impossible to tell if the body
of Robert Gould, Jr., was
still trapped in the wheel
house as efforts to lift the
Afinity clear of the water
progressed.
The 38-year old man disap
peared beneath the boat last
week as he and Luke Glas,
both of King Cove, were
bringing the Afinity into
Cold Bay with a broken rud
der, The Afininy was tied
alongside the tender Karluk.
Suddenly the line snapped
with the roll of heavy seas
and the Afinity sank almost
instantly. Glas barely cleared
the wheel house.
Iver Jenkins, the Karluk’s
skipper, called another Pacific
American Fisheries boat, the
Pavloff, down from King Cove
to aid in the salvage. They la
ter called for Navy divers.
Helping raise the Afinity
were the father and brother of
the drowned man, Robert
Gould, Sr., and Harry Gould,
also of King Cove'
Local Man Sentenced
To Year In Jail
William Hand was sentenced
to spend a year in the U. S.
Federal Jail when he was
found guilty of larceny and,
intent to defraud on three
charges yesterday.
He received a three months
sentence on one charge, three
months on another and six
months on the third. He was
found guilty of issuing checks
to Clark’s Garage, The Town
Club and Kodiak Airways
while not having a bank ac
count, Chief of Police Ovid
McKinley said yesterday fol
lowing the trial.
U. S. Commissioner A. M.
Vokacek heard the case. The
complaint was signed by Mc
Kinley.
Mrs. Dick Nixon plans to
leave Tuesday for Hollywood,
Calif., where the Nixons will
make their home. Nixon will
join her in the fall.
Plane Crashes
On Afognak Lake
A 65 hp Taylorcraft piloted
by Charles Hamilton crashed
at the end of a small lake on
Afognak Island Saturday. Det
rick Cooter, Alaska Depart
ment of Fisheries engineer,
was a passenger aboard the
plane. The two men were not
injured and both walked away
from the plane.
The lake where the plane
crashed is about 15 miles from
the Paul’s Basin project for
which Cooter is engineer.
Following the crash Hamil
ton walked from the scene of
the crash to the project site.
He was flown to Kodiak in a
Gruman widgeon owned by
Bob Hall.
Hamilton made a trial take
off and landed prior to the
crash. His report of the acci
dent stated: “. . . takeoff was
normal and I took the plane
up to 25 or 30 feet without
encountering turbulence or
down drafts. I landed, taxied
back to takeoff position once
more. . . tookoff again. . .
reached 40 to 50 foot altitude
in spite of all effort began to
loose altitude.”
He went on to describe his
predicament. . . ‘‘we had
progressed too far down the
lake to make a landing. . I
saw there was no chance to
clear the trees. . to have at
tempted a turn would have
been suicide, so I had no
choice but to continue on the
same heading.”
JJamilton showed good pilot
judgement. He cut the switch
just before striking the trees.
The plane dropped nose first
for a distance of approxi
mately 20 feet. Both men
climbed out uninjured.
Wizard Sinks
Near Humpback Rock
The ill-fated 65 foot halibut
schooner Wizard sank in 75
fathoms of water cff Hump
back Rock, near the entrance
to Woman’s Bay last Friday
as it was being towed by a
Navy tug.
The Wizard went aground
June 30, on a reef at Narrow
Cape. Rescue efforts by the
Navy Tug Mahopac resulted
in that vessel also going a
ground.
The Mahopac was pulled
from the beach and taken to'j
dry dock at Kodiak Naval
Station. Later, another Navy
tug floated the Wizard from!
the reef and was towing it to 1
the base when it took on more
water and sank.
The Wizard was registered
i in Seattle.
Ford Rolls Over Cliff;
New Police Car Hit
I
Masonic Lodge
Constituted
Kodiak Lodge No. 295, F &
AM, was officially constituted
July 25, at the Kodiak Ma
sonic Temple on Mill Bay
Road. L. W. Sims. Grand
Master of the Washington F &
AM, flew here from Seattle to
open the special communica
tion of the Grand Lodge of
Washington.
Grand Master Sims was as
sisted by Grand Secretary
John L. Preissner of Seattle,
Senior Warden A. W. Bailey
of the Anchorage Lodge, and
Dr. A. Holmes Johnson, past
master of St. Helens Lodge
No. 32, St Helens, Oregon.
After constituting the lodge,
Grand Master Sims installed
John W. Rhoades as Master
of Kodiak Lodge No. 295.
Other elective officers in
stalled were harry A. Jackson
as Senior Warden, Charles
Glass as Junior Warden and
John W. Gerhart as Treasurer.
John W. Rollins, Secretary,
was unable to attend and will
be installed late* by the
Master of the Kodiak Lodge.
The ceremony was the cul
mination of over four years’
effort by Masons of the com
munity and sojourning mili
tary personnel who have par
ticipated while in the area.
During the past years the
Masons met as a Masonic Club
and built the temple on Mill
Bay Road.
In January the organiza
tion, under the direction of
Fred Crouch, secured a dis
pensation to form a lodge in
Kodiak. The lodge worked
under dispensation from Janu
ary until May, when the Grand
Lodge of Washington awarded
a perpetual charter to the
iocal group.
Mayor Did Not Use
City Funds Says Clerk
No City of Kodiak funds
were expended on Mayor Lee
Bettinger’s recent seven
month trip to Washington, the
city council heard Monday
night.
Bettinger raised the ques
tion of the financing of the
trip himself Monday night at
the council meeting.
He told the council that he
wished to establish in the re
cords the fact that the city
gave him no money nor in any
way appropriated anything to
the financing of his trip.
Bettinger said that com
ments circulating “occasional
ly in the city’’ prompted his
bringing up the matter.
A 1946 Ford sedan crashed
into the City Police prowl car
Thursday night, shot off the
road, rolled to the bottom of
the cliff and smashed into a
warehouse at the city dock.
Lt. Daniel Farrell of Kodiak
Naval Station, driver of the
car, was knocked unconscious,
a passenger, identified by
police as Johnson, an enlisted
man, did not have any visible
injuries.
Farrell was rijshed to Grif
fin Memorial Hospital for
treatment and later transfer
red to the Navy hospital at the
Naval Station.
Chief of Police Ovid McKin
ley, driver of the Dolice car,
Patrolman Cliff Mowry, Lee
Forrester, Navy shore patrol
man and Tom Baumgartner,
USMC, were riding in the
police car when the accident
occured.
The police car was driving
on Sheliki f Highway toward
the Marine gate when it pas
sed Farrell’s Ford parked on
the side of the road near the
road to the city dock.
According to police the
lights were out on the Ford.
The police car pulled to the
side of the road to go back
and investigate. Suddenly the
Ford came up the road, with
out lights, and hit the prowl
car and veered to the left and
went over the bank.
Damage to the police car
was estimated at $250. The
Ford is believed to be a total
loss.
U.S.C.G. Helps
Injured Womai
Mrs, Frank E. Driscoll, Jr.,
of Ivanoff Bay, was flown to
Griffin Memorial Hospital
Tuesday in a D. S. Coast
Guard PBY for medical at
tention.
The 640 miles flight was
made after it was reported
Mrs. Driscoll was suffering
from lye poisoning. Capt. A.
J. Walters, 17th Naval Dis
trict Medical Officer, made the
trip.
Driscoll and their two chil
dren made the return flight
with the Coast Guard crew.
The PBY was piloted by Lt.
jg. M. H. Handley and Lt.
Leroy Flatt. Crewmen aboard
were L. W. Rapson, W. A.
Clubb, R. W. Patterson,
Richard Fisher.
The Kodiak Bear III will go
into drydock at the naval
station next week, Charles
Madsen, owner, said yester
day.