Housing Is Key To Better Health,
Higher Standard of Living In Arctic
^ r
(Continued from Friday's Nuggei) j
By FRANCES P. WALKER
Housing Member, The Advisory
Committee on Economic Develop- 1
ment to The Governor of Alaska
National’s “Do-it-Yourself with
a Friend” vacation cottage, fully
insulated to Arctic requirements,
including storm windows and in
sulated exterior door, may be erec
ted in just four hours. This is im
portant, since much of the Arc
tic is supplied by one ship a year
that arrives in late August or early
September, depending upon the
ice pack of the Arctic Ocean. Win
ter is so close at hand that under
normal construction methods build
ing could not begin until the fol
lowing summer.
Tourists visiting the Arctic are
appalled at the shacky appearance
of the villages, disappointed at not
finding igloos. As a matter of fact,
there never were any igloos in
Arctic Alaska, just windbreak shel
ters of ice and snow for trappers
and travelers on the trail. Above
the timber line, every scrap of
lumber that is used in the Arctic
must be shipped in. Hence, the Es
kimos have built their homes of
packing boxes and scrap lumber
since early exploration and the
Gold Rush of ’98 brought civiliza
tion to their door. Remnants of
early whaling ships, crushed in the
ice, have been salvaged for home
construction.
It has long been recognized in
Alaska that housing is a key prob
lem in improving both the health
and the standard of living of the
Alaska Eskimo and Indian. In
1956, the Arctic Health Research
Center of the Department of
Health, Education and Welfare
in Anchorage undertook a limited
housing study, erecting four houses
in widely varied areas.
A few months ago, the Alaska
State Housing Authority was
awarded a $179,082 grant from the
Housing and Home Finance Agen
cy for the design and development
of low-cost housing for the Alas
kan Eskimos and Indians. The
Bureau of Indian Affairs and the
Public Housing Administration will
co-operate.
Under this demonstration, a
total of 29 houses will lx? built
in three different geographical
areas where there is a vast dif
ference in climate and the avail
ability of native materials. The
largest of the three-part project
will be at the new village on the
Lower Yukon known as Grayling,
where 27 prefabricated houses
W
7
AT THE
Board of Trade
DRAFT
5(# a Glass
WESTERN MUSIC
NIGHTLY
will be built. One house will be
built in the Southeastern coastal
area and a single house in the
cold, tundra country of the remote
Arctic. Native labor will be used.
Meanwhile, Builder Jim Price,
who uses millions of board feet
of Alaskan lumber in the manu
facture of National’s 25,000 houses
per year, has done his “school
work” too, in the field of Arctic
research. Working closely with the
Federal Housing Administration
and the Department of Defense,
National Homes last winter built
for the sum of One Dollar a pro
totype of the Department of De
fense’s new fold-out, movable
house which was tested for minus
65 degrees F. weather in the Cli
matic Test Hangar at Eglin Air
Force Base, Fla. It came through
with flying colors. Using tech
niques developed by National for
this test home, Price announced
that National’s youngest stable
mate, the pre-wired, pre-plumbed,
with heating system installed
“Mechanical Core” house is now
ready for the Moderate Income
field in those areas where codes
and labor will permit. This, he
felt, would be well suited to re
quirements of Rural Alaska. It
carries an erection time of one
day.
(To Be Continued)
BURBANK, Calif, iiH — Honey
mooning today are an Arizona
i cattle rancher and the 19-year-old
■ daughter of comedian Phil Harris
t and his wife, actress Alice Faye.
‘ A private family wedding was
i performed Saturday at American
i Lutheran Church for Phyllis Har
f ris and Myron R. Beck, 29, Glen
i dale, Ariz. It was Beck’s second
1 marriage and Miss Harris’ first.
5
s
t
l
l
t
l
STRAUB
Service Center
Radio & TV
Appliance Repair
House Rentals
Phone 2260
Alaska Steamship Co.
Announces 3 Promotions
SEATTLE Sept. 18 (special) —
Three Alaska Steamship Com
! panv operating department ap
| pointments, effective September
19, were announced today by Cap
tain H. R. Sterner, operating man
ager.
D. J. Jones, port steward, be
comes assistant operating mana
ger, and is succeeded by the as
sistant port steward, T. H. Craig.
At the same time, L. C. Wesson, in
dustrial relations representative,
becomes the Alaska Line indus
trial relations manager.
Wesson attended Pacific Luther
an University and after an exten
sive transportation career in 1945
he joined Alaska Steam as general
agency cashier and accountant in
the line’s San Francisco office.
He became chief clerk in the op
erating department in 1946 and
industrial relations representative
in 1955.
Jones sailed with the Ameria
France Line, American Export and
Black Diamond Lines before join
ing Alaska Steam as storekeeper in
1940. He sailed as chief steward
for the company beginning in 1942,
became assistant port steward in
1945 and port steward in 1949.
Craig served Pacific Steamship
Company and Northland Transpor
tation Company a total of 25 years
before joining Alaska steam as a
storekeeper in January, 1949. He
became assistant port steward a
few months later.
“To me — old age is always 15
years older than I am!’’ — Bernard
Baruch.
DO IT ALL
WITH ONE CALL
☆
Modern Laundry
&
Dry Cleaners
☆
Complete Dry Cleaning
&
Laundry Service
☆
FOR PICK-UP
Dial 2491
Jim & Ruth McLean
Proprietors
In and Out
With Alaska Airlines
To Anchorage — R. Boucher, W.
Crawford, T. Johnson, L. Vantine,
B. Beach, R Wilkinson, A. Ander
son, H. Jack, R. Arnold, M. Ma
guire, S. McNabb, P. Doyle, J.
Godwin, T. Giachetto, T. Bischel,
J. Hadary, Mr. and Mrs. Schuster,
V. Charles, G. Lienard, M. Linck.
J. Marshall, L. Cundiff, G. Nail,
A. Klingelholts, T. Landavazo, K.
Becker, C. Topkok, C. Robinson,
P. Olsteins, W. Brookins.
To Kotzebue — M. McMasters, J.
Crew, H. Little, P. Tiulana, C.
Tiulana, J. Bradley, E. Hansen.
To Unalakleel — R. Sebals, F.
Boyd, W Lalone, T. Young, R.
Roberts.
To Nome — Mr. and Mrs. V. Gil
more, M. Ford, H. Roloff, B. Phil
lips, R. Giersdorf, R. Chernich,
C. Chernich, F Whaley, W. Brown,
Mr. and Mrs. D. Webb, M. Bur
nett, B. Kremer, A. Kosinski, B.
Quinn, G. Naugle, F. Downey, J.
Barnhart, H. Robinson, J. Dodson,
K. Kennedy, L. Griffith, J. Sulli
van, P. Friend, M. Miller, Mr. and
Mrs. Lippencott, Mr. and Mrs. Os
trander, Mrs. Rose Bronson, Mr.
F. Worgum, C. Allen, T. Bischel,
J. Breene, J. Cajalone, H Camp
bell, J. Hadary, E. Johnson, A.
Okleasik, D. Pietro, F. Stracher.
r1 ..
Where's The Fire? . . .
LANSING, Mich GP — Lansing
Fire Chief Mark Keenoy was wait
ing for a ride to his office when
he noticed a smoke stain along the
side of his garage Friday.
“We’ve got a fire!” he ex
claimed. He was right.
The blaze apparently put itself
out for lack of oxygen after de
stroying Keenoy’s auto.
Asked what caused the fire, Kee
noy replied: "Well, I smoke but
| seldom use the ashtray.”
CRANBROOK, England GP —
Classes began in earnest last week
for Britain’s Princess Anne at
her first away-from-home school.
Heretofore the 13-year-old Prin
I cess has had private tutors at
Buckingham Palace.
Queen Elizabeth II escorted her
daughter to the fashionable Be
neden School of 30 girls here
Friday. Anne wore the school uni
form. a blue suit with a hat bear
ing an orange band.
Fuel requirements of existing jet
airplanes pale in comparison to
the anticipated consumption of the
supersonic transports of the 1970s.
Today’s long - range jets consume
about 18,000 gallons of fuel each
i eight-hour day. Jets of the future
I are exected to bum some 14,000
gallons in a single hour.
1
WE ARE PROUD TO
SUPPLY BREAD & PASTRIES TO
INALAKLEETS NEW
N. C. COMPANY
S T 0 R E
j
----- ☆ —
North Star Bakery
— WE CONGRATULATE —
NORTHERN COMMERCIAL CO.
On Tlioir Now
UNALAKLEET STORE
WE ARE PROUD TO HAVE BEEN THE BUILDERS!
NORTHERN SPECIALTIES
FAIRBANKS
NOME