A VIEW OF THE MAGNIFICENT ARCADE BUILDING, SEWARD
A record hard to beat:
Three fire alarms during the past year
No fire loss or damage sustained
Seward Vol.
Fire Dep’t
Martin Lanning, Chief
Little but efficient
The personnel of the department, including the roll
call and honorary members:
Martin Lanning, Chief ; Mel A. Horner, Assistant Chief ; Gris Manthey,
Captain, Hose Cart ATo. 1; Charles She don, Captain, Hose Cart No. 2 ; William
Neville, Captain, Hook and Ladder Company; Charles Cooper, Capt., Chemi
cal Company; Leon Urbach, Secretary and Treasurer.
HONORARY MEMBERS—H. E. Ellsworth, Joe Hoffman, P. C. McMul
len, Elwyn Swetmann, John Mattich and Aron Erickson.
ROLL CALL—Martin Lanning, A. H. L. Meyer, J. P. Hannon, Harold
Painter, Gus Manthey, Chas. Cooper, Earl Mount, Tom Roberts, Roy Neville,
Wm. Neville, George Guest, Gerald Protzmami, Chas. Sheldon, Alex Bolam,
A. R. Roberts, Leon Urbach, “Scotty” McPherson, Tom Osbo, E. F. Jessen,
Jasper Holman and Mel Horner.
In 1906, the Seward Volunteer Fire Department was organized and on De
cember 31, the first masque ball was held, which, since has been, not only an
annual event, but the biggest affair of its kind during the season. The coming
New Year’s Eve Dance holds every promise of being much larger than any in
former years. Committees were appointed some weeks ago and preparations
are well under way. See you at the Dance!
“MORE PROSPERITY TO YOU”
ARCADE BUILDING ONE OF MOST MODERN
AND COMMODIOUS STRUCTURES EVER
BUILT IN THE TERRITORY
Has Twenty-Four Three and Four-Room Suites, Laundry,
Shower, Vault for Valuables, Billard and Pool Tables
for Tenants, and Independent Lighting Plant
The Arcade Building, erected during the summers of 1924 and 1925, by
H. V. Hoben and A. F. Davis, comprising the well known Alaska Transfer
Company, cost $110,000, and is the last word in tenement architecture. It com
prises 24 suites of three and four rooms, with four office buildings on the
lower floor, and several single rooms on the several floors. The furnishings
are the best to be obtained and comprise a gas range for each apartment, as
well as luxurious carpets and rugs. The basement under the building is full
height and houses the Daily Gateway plant, a stock room, a billiard and pool
hall for the amusement of the tenants, a large vault 16 by 12, with 18-inch
concrete walls designed to keep the silverware and valuables of those occu
pying the premises, a card room for use by the ladies in entertaining guests;
a finely fitted up laundry room with all the latest tubs, washers and drying
racks; a finely appointed bath room with needle and percussion showers, and
the large boiler and generating plant, the building having a 2500 watt gener
ating plant run by water power, a constant pressure of from| 90 to 110 pounds
being maintained.
The first floor facing on tne mam
street, is fitted up with offices occu
pied by the Alaska Transfer Company,
the Alaska Steamship Company and
the Pacific Steamship Company, re
spectively, and one office on Railroad
avenue facing the waterfront.
The whole second floor is de
voted to apartments and is occupied by
a number of prominent families, who
have found that living is cheapened
and made more convenient by the
many innovations introduced by the
builders. The third floor is also occu
pied by several families, who while
living high are in reality lowering ex
penses. The view of the bay and sur
rounding mountains, is magnificent, all
rooms in the building being well light
ed by wells in the walls, and by ven
tilating shafts.
The building is of stucco design,
and as, absolutely fireproof as modem
ingenuity can make it. Eight firestops
were built into the walls, and firehose
hangs conveniently in every hall* with
fire extinguishers at intervals all over
the building. In case any one apart
ment caught fire from any cause, the
flames could be confined to the room
affected, with no damage to any other
part of the building, as large drains
are provided to carry off the water
poured on the flames. The building
has a fine water and sewer system,
and is entered by several stairways.
A glance at the above picture will
uphold our contention that it is the
finest structure in Alaska, and a cred
it to its builders. Cal M. Brasius was
the contractor and Charles Lechner
furnished the boiler and plumbing.
Peter Peterson was carpenter in
charge of the work while Gerhard
Johnson had the contract for the ce
ment and stucco work.
In front of the building is a fine
park, constructed by the proprietors
of the Arcade building at their own
expense, with a large fountain play
ing in the lawn, and rose bushes and
shrubbery in profusion.
The Arcade is but one of the many
fine structures to be found in Seward,
making the town one of the most at
tractive in the Northland.
PETE ANDERSON,
LOCAL RESIDENT
MANY YEARS
KNOWN AS "PISTOL PETE," VET
ERAN ALASKAN STAUNCH
SEWARD BOOSTER
CAME NORTH BACK IN 1882
Owns Choice Homestead Across Res
urrection Bay—Was Former Sea
Otter Hunter.
With the flame of ambition burning
brightly within his breast, there ar
rived in Alaska in 1882, on the fish
ing schooner Aredo, many days out
of San Francisco, a strong and hardy
young man named Pete Anderson,
The young man was destined to be
come one of the best known Alas
kans in Southwestern Alaskaa, for
from that date on, Alaska was his
home port, especially the Seward dis
trict. In some mysterious mannei
a nickname was affixed to Ander
son, which he says, he has never been
able to fathom. If Pete Anderson
sounds commonplace, “Pistol Pete” is
the name to be remembered and un
der that moniker Mr. Anderson is
known far and wide, from the Arc- *
tic slope to the ocean-washed Alas
ka shores of the Pacific.
In those earlier years, Mr. Ander
son came north as a member of a
cod fishing schooner. In the winter
the vessel sailed South but each
spring, until the year 1885, Mr. An
derson was always found on some
schooner northbound. In 1885, he
joined the schooner Alexander in San
Francisco as second mate, and sailed
to Siberia for seal and sea otter
hunting. Upon his return to Alas
ka, southbound, from Siberia, he left
the boat and, with few exceptions
has remained in the Territory perma
nently.
In the winter of 1896 he spent
.trapping in Steppewalker Bay, locat
ed about 60 miles from Unga. The
following years he hunted sea otters
east of Chanerbouro, on Unimak Is
land. In 1890, he erected a fishing
station of his own about one and
one-half miles from Company harbor,
on Sanak Island. Two years later
the entire structure was swept away
in a terrific gale. Mr. Anderson then i
took .up various occupations includ
ing trapping and bear hunting on the
mainland until 1898, when he quit
and took employment with the Apollo
Mine Company at Unga. He re- «
mained there until the following year,
1899, when he went over to Chig
nik Bay and opened up a coal mine.
At about this time under the
Roosevelt administration the lid was
clamped on many things, in
j eluding the coal fields of the Terri
tory. Mr. Anderson wras out of bus
iness and a job again, so decided to
make a trip to Southeastern Alaska
and try his fortunes in other Alaskan
fields. This was in 1901. One year
in the Panhandle district sufficed
so he returned Westward to Valdez
where he remained until the fall of
1903, moving then to Seward where
he secured employment with the
railroad then under construction.
Since that year he has been a
permanent resident of Seward. He
took up a fine homestead many
years ago across the bay from Sew
ard and "when not occupied in fol
lowing the fishing industry, spends *
much of his time on his farm. There
are few Alaskans who know this and
the Westward district better than
Mr. Anderson, who spent so many
years of his interesting career, in
actual contact with the various re
gions.
Dr. C. H. Gilbert, special investiga
tor of the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries
department spent last season at Kar
luk and other Westward districts,
conducting Investigations. Dr. Gil
bert is a member of the faculty of
Stanford University, at Palo Alto, and
is conceded the foremost salmon au
thority in the United States.
The Downey brothers and Tom
Babcock purchased an Ellis Ball mill
last fall, took it down to their Nuka
Bay claim and this winter are pre
paring everything so that in the
spring, actual operations can com
mence.