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"'News of oAmencas Last Frontier’
KODIAK, ALASKA
JUNE 20, 1953
PRICE 10 CENTS
VOL 13 NO 15
Carpenters Walk Off
New School Project
Carpenters and laborers I
walked off the job at the new !
school Thursday morning over
a disagreement over wages.
The contract for the construc
tion of the school is held b y
Sam Bergesen, Tacoma Con
tractor.
Members of Carpenters Lo
cal 216" claim that according
to an agreement between A
laska General Contractors and
the Alaska Council of Car
penters that a pay increase
in wage rates became effec
tive January l, 1953.
The local is asking for retro
active pay to January 1, in the
amount of 22| cents per hour.
The present wage local car
penters receive is $3.34 per
hour. According to the car
penters they are entitled to
$3.56 1-2 per hour.
In a letter to Ben I. Per
kins on June 9, Bergesen is
reported to have said that he
is not a member of the Alaska
General Contractors but ac
tively a member of the Ta
coma Chapter. He said that he
was agreeable to paying the
present rates ($3.56 1-2) be
ginning with the day he re
ceived the agreement which
was on May 2C, 1953.
A letter from Elvin E. Fos
ter of Carpenter’s Local 2162
to Bergesen said that unless a
satisfactory agreement is
reached between the contrac
tor and the Kodiak local the
carpenters will not be per
mitted to work on the school
project.
Bergesen was due to arrive
in Kodiak from Tacoma yes
terday to discuss the matter.
Sid Old iiancn
May Be Sold
Two stateside cattle ran
chers were reported negotiat
ing for purchase of the Sid
Old ranch on the east side of
Kodiak Island.
The land involved is situated
on Narrow Cape. It is one of
the finest ranches on the is
land. Old is one of the terri
tory’s pioneer cattlemen and
has been here since 1921.
Officials of Culver Realty of
Anchorage said that Joe Beaty
of Casper, Wyoming and Art
Eukauf of Terry, Montana,
have been negotiating for the
purchase of the 23,230 acres
of federal land now leased by
Old. The two have not applied
for a transfer of the lease.
If the transaction is com
pleted it will be one of the
largest real estate deals in A
Iaska in recent years.
Louis Page Dies
On Popoff Island
Louis “Shorty” Page of
Popoff Island died June 12 at
his home. News of his death
was not reported here until
Sunday.
U. S. Commissioner A. M.
Vokacek, U. S. Deputy Mar
shall Clarence Dizney and
others went co the Island Mon
day to conduct an investiga
tion.
William Falconer rowed a
boat from Popoff Island, lo
cated on the east side of Near
Island, to notify the commis
sioner. The job took him seve
ral hours.
Page apparently died be
tween the hours of 4 am and
7 am. Around 4 am he called
Falconer, who was living in
the cabin with him, and asked
for a drink of water and a
cigarette. Falconer returned
to bed and arose at 7 to pre
pare breakfast. When he went
to call Page he found him
dead.
Louis Joseph Dieudonne
Page was born in Lewiston,
Maine on May 24, 1883. His
parents were both born in
Canada. He came to Alaska
several years ago and lived
at Dillingham where he was a
member of the Pioneers of A
laska. Igloo No. 28.
He is survived by four chil
dren, three girls and a boy,
who live in the eastern states.
Continued on page 4
{fVhn Drowns
After Fall
From Boat
A report of the drowning of
Doime S Maki from the su
perintendent of the Island
; Seafood Cannery was received
I yesterday by the MIRROR.
I Pete Deveau, superinten
dent of the floating cannery
; which is on the barge Val
! kyra, said the man tried to
'jump from the boat Mecca to
the boat Tanner. He slipped,
apparently struck his head,
came up once and then went
down and was not seen again.
■ One of the boats was being
towed by the Valkyra and the
other was running free.
A search was started im
mediately for Maki. The acci
: dent occured around 5 am on
iJune 13. Three persons saw
Maki make the fatal leap. A
Coast Guard PBY was sent
from Kodiak to assist in the
search.
i An early story (page 3)
reaching the MIRROR indi
cated it was two hours before
i the search could be made.
. This report was incorrect. The
early story was printed Thurs
day night before Deveau’s re
|port reached the MIRROR.
Halibut Fishing
Closes July 7
All halibut fishing in areas
‘ 3A and 1A will close at rrid
I night on July 7, Roy Lindsley,
j FWS representative, an
nounced this week. He re
ceived the notice of closure
from the International Fish
eries Commission in Seattle.
Kodiak Island is in area 3A.
Voters Will Decide On
School Tax Tuesday
Accident Fatal
To Seattle Man
A Seattle fisherman died as
the result of an accident on I
the city dock yesterday mor
ning.
John Nels Nelson was pro
nounced dead by Dr. A.
Holmes Johnson on his arrival
at Griffin Memorial Hospital.
A taxi cab driven by Albert
Riley backed over Nelson near
' the ramp leading to the city
float.
j Riley told Acting Chief of
I Police Tony Reed that when
he got in his cab to back up
that he did not see anyone
near it.
| The accident occured around
111:30 am. Ovid “Mac” Mc
Kinley, who lives in one of the
houses near the dock, saw the
accident occur.
An Inquest was held yester
day before U.S. Commissioner
A. M. Vokacek. An attempt
wiH be made to locate relatives
of Nelson in Seattle.
Donnelleys Here
For Summer
Mr. and Mrs. Harry Don
nelley arrived here Wednes
day by plane to spend the
summer. Donnelley is senior
partner of Donnelley and
Acheson.
The Kodiak Telephone Com
j pany painted their building
i this week.
Kodiak School Board President Gives Views
On Tuesday’s Sales Fax Election
Dr. A. Holmes Johnson,
president of the Kodiak Inde
pendent School District Board,
has written the MIRROR his
views on Tuesday’s school tax
election.
The following was received
in the form of a letter to the i
editor:
I noticed, in your last Mir-j
ror, quite a to-do regarding
the Sales Tax that the Board
of the Kodiak Independent;
School District is putting be-:
fore the public for their an-!
proval or disapnroval.
We, as a Bjard, felt that;
the voters should be given an ]
opportunity to say whether
they felt that an ex
tra two cents paid on a dollar’s
worth of merchandise, or two
dollars on Gne hundred dollars
worth of purchases, was
worthwhile in order to have a
place of wholesome exercise
and recreation for ®ur youth
such as a swimming pool
would provide, and also a
place where adults could learn
to swim and enjoy practice
during evening hours at a
nominal sum. A number of
lives would have been saved
in the last few years if those
drowned had known how to
swim. As for landscaping the
school grounds and providing
playingfields thereon--I am
sure that everyone would wish
this to be done.
Personally, I do not like
Sale Taxes and have consis
tently voted against them
throughout my vating life. I
have considered their nuisance
value too great for their
worth. I would vote against
this proposed tax except that
(1) it is for a definite (and
worthwhile) purpose and (2)
it will automatically stop as
soon as that purpose is attain
ed--somewhere around two
years, it is estimated.
It might be pointed out that
there are not, and will not ne,
government funds for either
of these projects and the
Board felt that, as they were
worthwhile, the voters should
be given an opportunity to
have them if they wished, and
at once. This proposition has
nothing to do with “roads,1
sidewalks and other things”
and its defeat would not give
us these other things which, I
heartily agree, we need badly.
A. Holmes Johnson, M.D.
President, K.I.S. D.
P.S. One thing at least has
been accomplished. We have
finally seen H. F. MacDonald
and the City Council in agree
! ment.
The voters of the Kodiak .
Independent School District
will decide Tuesday if they
wish to tax themselves for the.
next two years to provide ad
ditional facilities for the new
school.
The election will be held
from 8 am to 8 pm with the
main building of the school as
the polling place. Judges and
clerks for the election are Mrs.
Jack Hinckel, Mrs. Henry
Haag and Mrs. Homer Light
foet.
Fifty-five percent of these
voting in the election must
favor the tax for its passage.
Those qualified to vote must be
residents of the Kodiak Inde
pendent Schoul District for 30
days preceding the election;
bona-fide residents of the ter
ritory for one year; citizens of
the United States and 21 years
of age or over.
Territorial law provides for
such a tax if favored by the
citizens and indicates what
goods and services are tax
able.
Fire Destroys
Whittier Docks
Whittier (iP)—A devastat
ing fire closed the key Alaska
port of Whittier Thursday
with an estimated loss of
$10,000,000. Eighteen persons
were injured. The main 1,260
foot dock, three 800 foot
warehouses filled with vast
quantities of supplies were
destroyed.
A Military Board has been
named to determine the cause
of the fire. Arrangements are
being made to send ships with
military cargo to Seward with
a possible fewr going to
Anchorage to unload.
In less than four hours the
flames spread from a ware
house, where the fire is belie
ved to have started, to the
docks. The railroad facilities
on the dock were also lost.
lone Norton left Tuesday
for the states on PNA.
Queen Contest
Standings
Marie Anderson 102,300
Carolyn Gallagher 73,400
Virginia Foster 31,000
Cherie Stover 27,100
Arlene Herring 25,590
Sally Heitman 15,100
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