Valdez News
VOL. 1. NO. 16
VALDEZ. ALASKA. FRIDAY. JUNE 30. 1950
PRICE 10c
Truck Link Suqqested Between Valdez-Dawson
Father Succumbs
While Visiting Here
With Son’s Family
Edward J. LaFreniere of Seat
tle, Wash., was the victim of a
heart attack on the morning of
June 26. Mr. LaFreniere had ar
rived in Valdez only the Thui's
day before, for a planned six
weeks’ visit with his son and
daughter-in-law, Mr. and Mrs.
William LaFreniere.
The visitor complained of in
digestion during the evening of
the twenty-fifth, but his illness
v^as not thought to be serious.
He died about 12:15 on the morn
ing of the twenty-sixth. He was
a native of Michigan, and was
67 years old at the time of his
death.
A Rosary was repeated for the
deceased by Father Melbourne of
Cordova, on the evening of the
twenty-sixth. The body will be
removed to Seattle for burial. j
Mr. Melbourne is survived by
his wife, by Mr. and Mrs. Wil
liam LaFreniere of Valdez, a
daughter, Mrs. Grace Hillage, and
grandchildren Lorena and Jerry,
of Seattle.
4 The immediate family accom
panied the body on Wednesday’s
southbound boat.
NANCY McCLINTIC
GOES FISHING
The Arnold Persingers and the
Dale McClintics enjoyed a two
day fishing vacation at Tonsina
recently. The only fishing luck
was that of young Nancy Mc
Clintic—she embarrassed her eld
ers with a catch of 15 good-sized
trout.
MRS. SELBY DIES
Mrs. Alice Selby, widow of the
late Hal Selby, Valdez publisher,
r$ied on June 16. She succumbed
to a heart attack in Bellingham,
Wash. Mrs. Selby is survived by
a son who makes his home in
Juneau.
GOES TO SEWARD
Miss Betty Alexander left for
Seward on the Aleutian last
Thursday. She plans an indefinite
stay there.
SCHOOL BOARD CALLS FOR BIDS
TO LAY NEW TILE FLOOR IN GYM
The skating floor for the Valdez
school gymnasium arrived last
week. The Valdez school board
is now receiving bids for laying
the tempered hardwood tile. Ma
terial will be supplied to the suc
cessful bidder. Payment will be
made by the board when Valdez
receives its share of territorial
tobacco tax funds.
Specifications of the floor-lay
ing contract include these points:
l...Tiles must be dampened on
the back and laid back to back
for 24 hours, before installing.
* ? 2. A nail must be placed in
the corner of each tile.
Board Accepts
French Resignation
A spokesman for the Valdez
school board this week an
nounced that the resignation
of Harold K. French, superin
tendent of Valdez Public
Schools, had been accepted.
The resignation was tendered
on April 12 of this year.
The school board look ac
tion on the resignation at a
special meeting called at three
o'clock on June 24.
IKE HOBSON
DINES AND DANCES
ON 81 si BIRTHDAY
Ike Hobson, one of the longest
long-time residents of Valdez,
celebrated his eighty-first birth
day here on June 18. Mr. Hob
son enjoyed a birthday dinner
and an evening of dancing at the
Club Valdez. During the course
of the evening, all of his friends
came in to wish him many happy
returns of the day.
Mr. Hobson has worked for
the Alaska Road Commission in
the Valdez area for many years.
He is still working, and is as ac
tive as a man 20 years his junior.
The Valdez News would like to
take this opportunity to extend
best wishes to Mr. Hobson, and
to wish him many more happy
birthdays.
WILL LIVE IN VALDEZ
Seven-year-old Peter Germain
of International Falls, Minn., is
now making his home in Valdez
with the Jack Thatcher family.
He flew here from Minneapolis
last week. Peter’s father is an
employe of the Alaska Road Com
mission, and is working out on
the Trail.
Blakesleys Entertain
Guests From Anchorage
Mr. and Mrs. Fleury Parrin of
Anchorage are the Valdez guests
of Mr. and Mrs. William Blakes
ley. Mrs. Blakesley is Mr. Parrin’s
sister.
3. Tiles must be glued lo the |
floor with mastic and joints j
staggered.
4. The work must be com
pleted within seven days after
the bid is let.
There are approximately 3,960
square feet of floor in the gym,
which must be covered. There
are 330 pieces of tile to be laid,
three feet by four feet by a quar
ter inch in size.
R. J. Teeter is sanding the reg
ular floor in the gymnasium, in
preparation for the laying of the
new tile covering.
30,000 TONS OF FREIGHT MOVED
THROUGH VALDEZ LAST WINTER
Approximately 30,000 tons of
freight were moved over Thomp
son’s Pass from Valdez last win
ter, Col. John R. Noyes reported
recently, in a study made on the
winter’s operation.
Colonel Noyes’ report delved
thoroughly into last winter’s
maintenance operation at the
Pass, where work was done by the
crews of Alaska Freight Lines,
Inc. From his study, the head of
the Alaska Road Commission
made these observations:
It is practical to maintain the
pass road and keep the highway
open on a year-round basis.
Most of the equipment used for
winter maintenance by the ARC
can be utilized, although rotary
snowplows are considered more
efficient, and at least one more
should be purchased for Pass
maintenance.
Aleutian Brings
Biggest Passenger List
Of Current Season
Tuesday’s docking of the Aleu
tian brought the year’s biggest
influx of tourists to Valdez. The
ship’s passenger list was reported
to be the largest of the present
season.
Sixty-three passengers disem
barked at Valdez, but only a few
of them expected to remain here.
Most of the visitors were tourists
who planned to take a bus to
Fairbanks and then travel to the
Railbelt area by way of the Alas
ka Railroad.
Between 80 and 90 tons of car
go and four automobiles also were
unloaded ^rom the Aleutian.
Tuesday was beautifully clear
and tourists admired the grandeur
of the mountains and the glacier,
which were plainly visible from
the dock of the Aleutian.
Washington Entertainer
Pounds the Ivories
At Valdez' Canteen Bar
Mrs. Myrtle Walhood of Ken
newick, Wash., is now playing
the piano nightly at the Canteen
Bar. Mrs. Walhood is a veteran
night club entertainer, and has
played in night spots along the
west coast, in Montana and in
Colorado.
The Walhoods expect to make
their home in Valdez for some
time to come. They drove north
over the Alaska Highway.
LEGION ADJUTANT
VISITS VALDEZ
Mrs. Ethel “Tex” Lindley of
Anchorage and Mrs. Dorothy
Davis of Kodiak visited in Val
dez on the weekend of June 10.
Mrs. Lindley renewed many old
friendships while here. The pur
pose of her trip was to conduct
American Legion business in Val
dey. Mrs. Lindley is department
adjutant for the Legion.
Shelter cabins, originally con
structed for summer maintenance
crews, were inadequate and
should be replaced with warmer
structures. Although last winter
was comparatively mild, work
crews encountered temperatures
of 60 below zero in December
and January.
Most severe test of the winter’s
operation was a snowstorm in
December which blocked 16 miles
of road with drifts. It took just
14 hours to clear the road.
The most troublesome condition
met on the road occurred beyond
the Pass, where “glaciers” formed
over the highway.
Road crews found plowing
could be done more efficiently at
night, under the headlights of
the plows, than during the grey
daylight hours.
ExCordova Merchants
Vacation on Highways
John and Bill Ekemo and Peter
Lovseth of Cordova were recent
Valdez visitors. The trio, formerly
owners of the People’s Market at
Cordova, has sold the busi
ness. They came here by boat to
take delivery of a new car from
agent Guy Stith.
The men initiated their auto
mobile with a drive to Anchor
age and Fairbanks. Their plans
for the future are indefinite, but
they expect to establish a new
business again, as soon as they
can find one which meets their
needs.
Big Timber Postmistress
Is Hospitalized Here
With Broken Foot Bone
Georgia “Swanny” Swan, post
mistress at Big Timber, was hos
pitalized in Valdez by a recent
accident. Mrs. Sv.an injured her
ankle, when she stepped on a
stone as she entered an automo
bile.
She said she suffered slight
pain when she turned the ankle,
but thought nothing of the in
jury. She walked about during
the evening without serious dis
comfort, but during the night
her foot became painful and very
swollen and discolored.
She sought first aid from Rev.
Vince Joy at Glenn Allen the
following morning. Reverend Joy
felt the injury needed to be x
rayed and flew her from Glen
Allen to Valdez. Upon her arrival
here, Mrs. Swan’s injury was ex
amined and she was found to
have broken a bone on the out
side of her foot.
Dr. Kenneth Ham hospitalized
the postmistress for treatment to
reduce the swelling, and then put
a cast on her foot. Mrs. Swan is
now ruefully facing the fact that
her future dancing activities will
be curtailed for some time, much
to her dissatisfaction, for she says
she “loves to dance.”
CANADIAN ASKS
LOCAL OPINION
ON PRACTICALITY
A new truck route from Val
dez to Dawson, Yukon Territory,
is being considered by nine offi
cials in the Canadian province.
In a letter addressed to the Val
dez Chamber of Commerce, H.
W. Firth, secretai’y-manager of
the Dawson branch of the British
Columbia-Yukon Chamber of
Mines, advances the idea and asks
for comments from the Valdez
body on the merits and possibil
ities of the proposed route.
Mr. Firth stated the plan would
have many advantages for mines,
particularly those located in the
Mayo mining district. The route,
which would lead from Valdez
on the Richardson to the Tok
cut-off, thence down the cut-off
to Tok, down the Alaska High
way to Boundary and on to the
Yukon’s Sixty Mile district and
into Dawson, would require some
additional road building. The
present highway from Boundary
to Dawson is only a summer
route.
However the suggested route
would be considerably shorter
than a proposed highway from
Dawson to Whitehorse, now un
der consideration. It would have
the advantage of ending at tide
water. The proposed Dawson
Whitehorse highway would ne
cessitate unloading trucks at
Whitehorse and reloading cargo
on the White Pass and Yukon
Railway for trans-shipment to
bkagway.
Mr. Firth suggests that the
elimination of the latter haul
would be of great interest to the
United Keno Hill Mines, Ltd.,
large shippers of silver-lead ore.
Trucks would be loaded at the
mine and dispatched to tidewater
at Valdez without unloading. O'*
the back haul, they could brin ,
fuel and supplies for the mines.
The Canadian sees only two
(Continued on Back Page)
DOCK CANNERY
TO OPEN SOON
The cannery located on the Val
dez dock will operate this season,
manager Jim Dolan announced
this week. George Bresseau of
Seattle will manage the plant for
the summer’s operation. The sea
son opens July 20.
Mr. Bresseau is now in Valdez,
where he is overhauling cannery
machinery.
The cannery will employ about
30 persons this summer. Mr. Bres
seau is now taking applications
for available jobs. The run condi
tions may change the number of
employes the manager estimates
is needed.
The plant will handle pink
salmon principally. They will can
in one pound tails.
It had been reported earlier in
Valdez that the cannery would
not open for this fishing season.