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Published every Saturday at Kodiak, Alaska
Yearly Subscription Rate $5.00
Entered in the Postoffiee at Kodiak, Alaska as Second
Class matter under act of Congress of March 3, 1878
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 republica
Pon of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in
this paper and also the local news published herein.
The New And The Old
tne newly elected City,Council
assumed management of the City’s
affairs Monday night. They plung
ed immediately into one of the
knotty problems confronting Ko
diak—what action to take as re
gards the unfinished Cold Storage
plant.
It must be stated their approach
to a notation of the problem was
commendable. It -was-evident they
didn’t wish to hasten into an ac
tion without a study of its back
- ound. Further they gave some
ju&iit to the protection of the
) xal stockholders in the Company^
Proceeding along tb -se lines, there
is no doubt they will arrive at a
solution favorable to all concerned.
1 Members of the old City.Council,
who turned over their duties to
the newly elected members, walk
ed away from their de^ks after
serving the City for. the past two
years. They have served us well.
No City Council in the past has
worked harder for the betterment
of the comunity than they. Wheth
er or not you agree with some of
their policies, that fact stands out.
When they took over two years
ago, they no doubt had high hopes
of solving probelms of bringing
better roads, increased sewer and
water facilities, an airport, and
other improvements for Kodiak
The job will always be unfinished.
As the population increases, new
areas annexed, the problem of
bringing increased services to the
community, these must always he
faced. The tax dollar must he
spread thinner and thinner.
Finances, of course, is the big
handicap. Other communities have
the same problem. A city without
financial difficulties is rare indeed
Kodiak’s difficulties along this line
is unique in many respects. With
a population far in excess of its t»x
paying residents, it must still main
tain facilities equal to a much
larger city. With much of its land
intaxable, in restricted deed prop
erty, it must still provide and
maintain access roads, sewer and
vater.
The problem of water loomed
jig this past winter. We have a
’eeling it is going to loom just as
jig this winter and spring. Though
;he reservoir capacity has been
increased, it must be borne in
roind, there will be increased
isage. The Aleutian Homes pro
|ect has a waiting list of prospec
tive tenants. With houses filled in
:hat area, the increase of water
usage will be terrific. On the
Jther hand, a freeze-up there
Jgain this year, and a repetition of
the manner of combating it, as
last year, by the simple process of
letting the water run, and you
have a situation that can be disas
trous.
Other than finding a solution to
the water problem, the Cold Stor
age situation, the Municipal Air
port issue, a new access road by
passing the slide area, dust con
trol, and its corollary better roads,
and more access roads to property
in various sections of the City, the
problem of expanding better ser
vices to the annexed area, '.oning,
to mention only a few—other than
that the City Council doesn’t have
a thing to do.
Councilmen, will you squeeze in
one more chore—the numbering
of streets and houses in Kodiak.
Probably one of the reasons we
feel so keenly about it is the diffi
culty we have of telling our news
boys where to deliver-the Mirror,
when a customer inquires to have
it delivered regularly.
With these thoughts we leavt
you, gentlemen, having full confi
dence in your ability to approach
these many problems and issues
and come up with a solution o
some of them. Remember, yoi
have only a year in which to set ;
record of accomplishment.
Good luck in your endeavors!
Ta\e Heed Where You Shoot!
Police Chief Vickery requests
that the shooting of rats at the
City dump be discontinued.
This request is the result of sev
eral near shooting accidents it
the dump. The promiscuous shoot
ing of guns, and careless handling
of firearms, has caused bullets to
ricochet. Several people living in
the area have had close calls
Some rat hunters were observed
to jump out of cars on approach
ing the dump, and start firing.
These beach-head tactics can re
sult in a fatal accident.
We do not feel that the practice
o f shooting at the dump should be
completely discontinued, but rath
er limited. Shooting can do a tre
mendous amount of good in keep
mg down the rat population. I
should, we think, however, hi
limited to small calibre pistols, re
volvers and short arm rifles.
Rather than laying down a lav
to have the practice discontinued
which has been done several time
before, it would seem to us th
thing to do is to treat some of th'
edible garbage with an effectiv
rat exterminator, thereby possilil;
eliminating many of the rats. I;
one stroke, you have cut down th
rat population, elimated the game
and the targets, and thereby rt
moved the problem of the 2nd is
criminate hunter, who would hav'
to seek elsewhere for game t
shoot at.
The decision of the new Council
to have persons to be heard from
•to indicate prior io the meeting,
the desire to do so, is a good
one.
It may save the Council som
time that can be devoted 10 othe
matters. i
Who Maintains
Officials Ask
Naval Station officials are alarm
ed by the vote a week ago to ex
clude the slide area from the City
limits. This was learned at the
Chamber of Commerce meeting
Thursday, wlffen t'ie President,
Jack Hinckel, gave a report on his
conversation with Station olficers.
They fear the road nay not be
kept open. The Chamber concurr
ed to write the District Engineer’s
office requesting co-operation in
getting the Bureau of Public Uoads
to maintain the strip.
Dr. Bob Johnson reported the
AVA drive is to begin. They seek
matching funds from the territori
al government, but will solicit
from businnesses in the various
cities-in Alaska. AVA, Dr. Johnson
said, estimated tourists brought
$15,000,000 into the Territory this
year.
Dr. Johnson thought Kodiak
should receive more publicity. He
requested that anyone having
black and white scenic of historic
shots of the Kodiak area, loan the
negatives for publicity purposes
He also requested the loan of a
woodburning set, which will be
used for burning historic stta
markers, which are no v being
completed.
Lt. Helen Upson and Jim Bright
man were present at the meeting.
Man Returns To
Fire-Gutted Home
The sad homecoming of finding
his home gutted by fire was the
experience of Rasmus Urdahl, who
returned from a trip to the land,
of his birth, September 28. He will,
however, rebuild.
Urdahl left here June 12. He
traveled by PNA to Seattle where
he boarded a Northwest Airlines
plane for New York. He then flew
by Scandanavian Airlines to Oslo,
Norway. He reported his trip was
excellent all the way, witii good
weather and good service on the
Airlines.
He visited relatives in Oslo and
Bergen, where he was born. He
has a brother and two sisters in
Norway, as well as nephews and
neices. He reports Norway to be
excellent condition economically.
The people are busy, considerable
building is going on. There is a
housing shortage there, with i>ne
homes going up everywhere.
People dress well, and eat well.
They still continue the practice of
eating five meals a day, he said.
He found this a little difficult.
The country is now importing
labor, he stated, as there is a short
age, particularly of farmers. Tsc.
way has enacted a socialized ioim
of hospitalization and medical
care, he stated. The ne v system,
which went into effect June 2, is
working very well.
This was Urdahl’s first trip since
1920, when he last visited the land
of his birth. He has been fifty
years in the United States thirty
of which Tie has spent in Alaska.
He came to Kodiak from Cordova
16 years ago.
Rasmus' principal loss in the
fire was old books and priceless
keepsakes which of course are ir
replacable. He will, however, re
build. Material is already on the
way, and he hopes soon to move
back into his home on Mission
Road.
Traffic Violators
Top Offenders
Seventy-nine traffic tickets were
issued by the Police Department
during the month of September,
according to the police report just
issued Drunks were the next most
troublesome to the Department,
with 24 arrested.
A total of thirty-nine offenders
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for one minor violation or another,
such as drunk and disorderly con
duct, vagrancy, trespassing liquor
law violators, etc., were brought
in. Other activities included inves
tigations with no arrests, warn
ings, ambulance calls, fire calls,
etc. Vehicle accidents total eight
CITY COUNCIL BRIEFS
(Continued from Page 1)
mediate steps t > take possession,
as all previous negotiations have
failed to get results. Nelson point
ed out that the City could not give
tulle to the Company until recent
ly, as we did not own it. This must
be taken into consideration.
Deveau’s motion followed the
discussion. Brightroan and several
other Couunlmen felt they wished
to study the background arid fam
iliarize themselves with previous
negotiations before deciding on a
course of action. Johnson stated it
was not the intention of the prev
ious Council to penalize the local
stockholders. A meeting of the
Council and stockholders is slated
for a future date.
A contract for re-roofing the
City Hall was awarded Jim Healey.
Galvanized corrugated iron will be
used.
The Council then took up the
question of time of future meet
ings. Motion carried that meetings
start at 7 p. m. and end as near 11
p. m. as possible. Council decided
that persons to be heard in future
council meetings phone in their
request to the City Manager by 12
noon on the day of meeting. Other
wise they will not appear on the
agenda for that meeting.
A recessed meeting of the Coun
cil was held Wednesday. Robert
Coffman, representative from the
Bureau of Land Management and
Eugene Wiles from the Depart
ment of the Interior were present.
Certain tracts of land in the City
limits were discussed.
i Offer You A Bargain In Banks
Never could you get a bear for as little money
as you can get:
Thrifty McBear
My sponsor has just received by air freight a
shipment of specially made Savings Banks for
this bank only. They are strong, handsome
bronze metal banks the exact replica of a Ko
diak bear and named after me.
It is an excellent souvenir and cai
used as a paper weight or book ends
also be
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