500 TONS
PULVERIZE
RR CENTER
(Continued from Page 1'
name this time." said Staff Sgt.
William M. Korfmehl. Spokane,
Wash., tail gunner on our abortive
flight and veteran of the Euro
pean air war. "But mebbe it's bet
ter to get it over with now instead
of getting pushed around all the
time like we've been doing.”
They know they have the planes
and the experience to master this
kind of war—and they know, too,
what it was like for the Infantry
men on the ground, most of them
untested before two weeks ago, to
be outnumbered and outgunned.
“I sure hope our bombs help,”
Tech. Sgt. Robert Asher told Flint
O. Dupre, a former Dallas news
paperman.
EARLY MORNING
FIRE DESTROYS
THANE SAWMILL
(Continued from Page 1)
the all-electric plant resumed pro
duction in March, sawing both yel
low cedar and spruce. It employed
seven persons and sawed 8,000 board
feet of lumber per day.
“All our future was wrapped up in
that mill,” Martin said.
Future plans of the Alaska Yel
low’ Cedar Company?
“We’re not quitting,” Durocher
said. "We’ll open another mill when
we get things squared away.”
DOUGLAS
NEWS
HERE FROM HAINES
Mrs. Frank Godines arrived here
yesterday from Haines, where she
is spending the summer. She will
attend to business here and return 1
shortly to Haines, where Mr. Go
dines is employed.
SPECIAL ELECTION AUG. 1
At Monday’s meeting of the
Douglas City Council. August 1 was
the date set for a special election
i of piwyiHt.i11 wwfw.—•♦hr tis
sue of $29,500 in City Bonds.
The Bond issue if property own
ers vote in favor, will be the city's
share of the cost of improvements
in sewer, water and streets on
Fifth Street, St. Ann’s Ave. and
Knobb Hill area. An equal amount
will be furnished by the Alaska
Public Works agency which is let
ting out bids for the project by
July 27. The vote will be confined
to property owners only, who were
on the tax rolls last year
The council also read for the
third reading. Ordinance No. 31,
which trades a portion of city prop
erty for a equal portion of the
old Gallwas store lot, in order to
I square up the property -in antici
pation of a new Masonic building
to be erected in the near future.
! No money is involved in the trans
action.
Five city fathers were present:
I Councilmen Wm. Boehl. Charles
1 Whyte, Rex Hermann, M. L. MaT
shall, and Wm. Dore. Mayor Mike
Pusich presided.
NEWS. FROM SCOUTS
In letters home this week, Thom
as Cashen Sr. wrote on July 5
from the Boy Scout Jamboree at
! Valley Forge, that the Scouts had
just listened to Gen. Ike Eisen
hower in a talk, that the Fourth
fireworks display was most beautiful
and that a large Navy blimp was
soaring over the encampment at
the time. He said that there Was
altogether too much heat during
Ask Jor it either way ... both
trade-marks mean the same thing.
i
Refresh...
add zest to the hour
travel refreshed
BOTTLED UNDER AUTHORITY OF THE COCA-COLA COMPANY BY
JUNEAU COLO STORAGE CO.
Q 1950, Tht Coca-Cota Compaof •
the day, but that the nights were
J cool for sleeping.
On July 8 he wrote front the
i Lincoln Hotel in New York, sayiiii;
he and others in the group had
just returned from a ball game in
Yankee Stadium and witnessed the
I Boston Red Sox beat the Yankees
1 to 2, and were anticipating a
j day at Coney Island and the zoo.
The two Boy Scouts from Douglas
1 are Tom Cashen, Jr. and John
; Jensen. Tom Cashen Sr. is assftt
ing in charge of the Alaska group.
DURANCE HOME
William Durance is home this
week after over six months field
duty in westward Alaska with the
Territorial Department of Health
: X-ray Department. Durance will
! have a week's visit with his family
here, then return to his head
quarters base at Anchorage. He
' has been working in areas out of
i Anchorage, with a mobile unit.
RETURNS FROM SEATTLE
Leonard Johnson has returned
from Seattle where he visited his
wife who is receiving medical cafe
there. During his absence, his son
Robert and J. Burns were in charge
of his Douglas Trucking Company
business.
FROM ANCHORAGE
C. E. Walters was home yester
day from a 10 day business trip
to Anchorage. 4
RETURNS FROM SCHOOL
Miss Dorothy Tassell returned
home Monday evening via PAA
from Three Hills, Alberta, where
she has been attending high school
during the past term. She is the
daughter of Joe Tassell.
FIRE MEETING TONIGHT
A regular meeting of the Doug
las Volunteer Fire Department is
scheduled to be held tonight at
8 o'clock at the Fire Hall, according
to announcement by Robert Ander
son, President of the Department.
, PICKETS—PICKETS
For the first time in years, pick
ets are marching in the city of
Douglas.
Pickets arrived this morning from
Juneau, picketing the two con
traction jobs, one the apartment
house on Front Street and the Mike
Pusich home on Fourth Street, both
under construction by Wm. E.
Boehl, contractor. Apparently, the
pickets are in sympathy with the
present laborers strike in Juneau.
Both jobs here are closed down ns
x result.
MAGICIAN'S SHOW
IS RATED TOPLINER
The magic show sponsored by the
Lions club and produced by Mitchell
Cain and magic queen Gladys will
be given for the final time tonight
at the grade school auditorium
starting at 8 o’clock.
It is a good show' and thoroughly
entertaining from start to end ac
cording to Art Hedges and Curtis
Shattuck who were in the audience
last night. There is mystery and
comedy in the various acts, none
before seen in Juneau, in fact it is
the first show of the kind presented
here in recent years.
PLUMBERS VOTE TO
HOLD OUT FOR 50c
HIKE IN FAIRBANKS
—
FAIRBANKS, Alaska, July 13—i/FI
j —The plumbers and steamfitters
j are still deadlocked with Fairbanks
! plumbing contractors.
Their strike, already in effect
I more than a month, was lengthened
' Tuesday night when members voted
to remain on strike for higher
wages. Members said they would
stay on strike for their original de
mands "no matter how long it
takes.”
! They are asking a 50 cents an
I hour pay increase and double time
for overtime. The wage hike would
! give plumbers a wage-of $3.50 an
, hour for straight time and $7 an
hour for all time over 40 hours.
No other craft in this area is re
! ceiving double time pay except on
Sundays and holidays.
, Three offers by the five contrac
tors, including one of $3.30 an hour
1 and another for $3.65 an hour were
handed the union executive board
j Monday night. These offers were
j separately rejected at the union
1 meeting Tuesday night',
i Plumbing work on several large j
j construction projects is being de- i
layed by the strike. These jobs in
! elude the McKinley Manor Apart -
: ment, an addition "to a hospital,
an addition to the Eielson Building
at the University of Alaska, hous
ing projects in town and military
defense projects at Ladd and Eiel
son Air Force bases.
It was estimated today that the
90 plumbers present at the Tues- I
day night meeting have lost $10,800 !
a week while on strike. This figure j
is based on a 40-hour week at the
present rate of $3 an hour. It does j
not include overtime, which prob
ably would have boosted earnings
to more than $12,000.
No meeting has been set for fur- j
ther negotiations between contrac- ]
! tors and the union. The contractors
met again yesterday.
780 Passengers Are
Removed After Liner
Hits Reef in River
I —
QUEBEC. July 13—W—1Tugs and
launches shuttled the St. Lawrence
River early today removing 780
passengers from the 20.000-ton liner
Franconia which rammed into a
shallow reef during the night one
mile out of Quebec.
The veteran Cunard-Donaldson
cruise ship hit the shallows at
Pointe A Taurea, 45 minutes afCel
clearing Quebec port en route to
Liverpool.
NERVOUS
STOMACH
ALLIMIN relieves distressing symptom*
of “nervous stomach” — heaviness after
meals, belching, bloating and colic due to
gas. ALL1MIN has been scientifically tested
by doctors and found highly effective. World
famous — more than a !4 billion gold to date.
fiE Ell'll 1^1 ft* F7.>7ia£l
JUNEAU DRUG CO.
Call 416 when in need of a—
BASEMENT, FIREPLACE or CHIMNEY
Don’t accept inferior work from
unskilled “tradesmen”.
FARL CRASS & SON
GENERA L~CO NT RACTO R S PHONE 357
Glacier Construction Co.
New Building — Remodeling — Cabinet Work
Plastering — Concrete Pouring
Sand and Gravel Hauling
EYES EXAMINED LENSES PRESCRIBED
DR. D. D. MARQUARDT
OPTOMETRIST
Second and Franklin Juneau
PHONE 506 FOR APPOINTMENTS
PILOT MAURICE KING
SENDS GREETINGS HERE
FROM BAFFIN ISLAND
From far-off Baffin Island, some
1700 miles north of Montreal, conTes
news of Maurice King, noted Al
aska bush pilot.
As pilot in charge oi air oper
ations for the Arctic Institute of
North America, he has been biisy
since May 1 establishing bases on
and near the 90-by-40-mile ice
cap centering the island, and ferry
ing supplies from Frobisher, tie
writes that everything is going ex
ceptionally w'ell, saying "I left five
camps—two on the ice cap and
three at the heads of Clyde, Ritchie
and Gibbs Fjords—well supplied to
take care of the expedition until
the middle of August or longer.
Now there is no reason to hurry
back except that they are all very
eager for their mail. The ice prob
ably won’t go out here for two
weeks.
’’Tell Clarence Rhode (who had :
asked about wildlife on Baffin > that
the Canadian Wildlife made a cari
bou count of the entire island,
estimating about 3,500. mostly on
the southern end. Caribou are
very scarce where we are—none of
our bunch has seen more than 16
at a time. Usually it is only three j
or four. There is very little game j
of any kind—a few fox and ptar
migan, and even fewer Arctic hare
and ducks and geese. They expect
to see lots of ducks and geese laCfer |
on,”
Kim:, formerly of Fairbanks and
Kotzebue, now is a resident of
Juneau, and sends greetings to his
friends here. He expects to return
in late September or early Oct
ober, bringing back the Institute’s
Norseman aircraft,
Tire Arctic Institute expedition
next summer will continue scienti
fic work on Seward and Malaspina
Glaciers, where research was done
last slimmer and the year before.
AT JUNEAU HOTEL
James D. Ray of Anchorage is a
guest at the Juneau Hotel.
/
Your Deposits
ARE SAFE
BUY and HOLD UNITED ST ATES
SAVINGS BONDS
__ ^
The ad Am
book m pledged to eunterea
tin operation. The nfety
ad depositees* fsnde ■ one
primary consideration. In
addition, the bank ■ a mem
ber ad Federal Depoait lnone.
Mata Corporation .which h
oases each ad oar depoaiaota
against loss a* • ■«■■■
ad 15,00*.
DEPOSITS
IN THIS BANK
ARE
INSURED
FIRST NATIONAL BANK
of JUNEAU, ALASKA
MEMBER FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION
_ i
Canning and Pickling
Season is here!
Give your pickles and preserves zestful, old
fashioned goodness with Schilling Spices —
the world’s finest. The name Schilling means
the best, a quality famous for 69 years.
• *
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WHOLE SPICES
Only The Alaska Line
Resumed Its Service
. . . WAS THAT "CONSPIRACY"?
The Antitrust suit brought against
the Alaska Steamship Company
charges that we have “conspired” to
effect a virtual monopoly of the
water transportation business in the
Alaska trade.
Here in brief are the facts behind
an incident every Alaskan will re
member because politics were plac
ed ahead of public interest with the
result that all competing carriers
were forced from the trade leaving
The Alaska Line alone in the field.
THE POST-WAR PROBLEM
' During World War II and for the
immediate post-war period, all Ameri
can shipping was requisitioned and
operated for the government under sup
, ervision of the U. S. Maritime Commis
sion. During two post-war years under
government operation, losses in the
Alaska trade were enormous. For 1945
the deficit amounted to $2,500,000 and
for 194-6 approximately $4,000,000.
Previous to return of vessels to pri
vate owners, joint studies of the Con
gress, the Maritime Commission and f
the Alaska Shipping operators showed ,
that an 88% increase in revenue
In December 1948, follow
ing the termination of the
Interim Plan and at the end
of a long and costly Mari
time Strike, Alaska’s ship
ping industry faced an al
most total collapse. Only the
i
Alaska Steamship Company
accepted the responsibility
of serving all Alaska ar.d re
sumed its operations. The
record shows that the cause
of that crisis was politics —
I ' *
not “conspiracy.”
1 ' /
NO PERMANENT
. SOLUTION PREPARED
Despite the complete cooperation of
the Alaska Steamship Company, and
presumably all of the other parties to
the Inferim Plan, in submitting full rec
cords and information, by the spring of
1948 it became apparent that no per
manent legislation would be prepar
ed in time to become effective at the ter
mination of the Interim Plan on June
30,1948.
As a safeguard against complete
chaos in the Alaska Shipping industry,
the Alaska Steamship Company began
a determined effort to have the provi
sions of the Interim Plan extended. We
discovered an amazing and an incred
ible thing—we found that Governor
Ernest Gruening was actively sabotaging
any hope for this urgent extension
through both the Maritime Commission
and the Congress.
After general agreement had been
reached on House Joint Resolution 396,'
which would extend the provisions of tho
Interim Plan, Governor Gruening in-!
stigated a substitute bill (H. J. Res. 401),)
which would have tied Alaska shipping
to the apron strings of the Interior De
would be necessary for the private operators to maintain
service. Of this 88% about 13% represented the cost of marine
insurance, 43% lire charter hire on government vessels required
and the remainder was accounted for in increased cost of labor,'
fuel, repairs, etc. It was agreed by all, however, that this 88%
increase would be a heavy burden for the Alaskan economy to
shoulder.
It was then determined that by the Maritime Commission’s
furnishing the needed cargo ships to service the trade and assuming
the necessary hull insurance risks, the required 88% revenue
increase could be reduced to an increase of approximately
’ 35 %. Accordir^jPy, the carriers in the trade filed their new tariffs
reflecting this increase — which, incidentally, is the last increase
that has been granted despite subsequent events — and the
Maritime Commission made available the necessary vessels at
an annual charter rate of $1.00 per vessel which covered the
remaining amount of needed revenue.
RATE SUBSIDY TO ALASKA
This arrangement was known as the Interim Plan (Public Law
No. 12) and it was fostered with the intent of saving considerable
money for the Alaska people. Simply stated the Interim Plan was
a rate subsidy to the Territory because it eliminated a major
portion of the revenue increase required to continue service. The
carriers received no “cash in hand.” Their ^decreased operating
expenses resulting from the Interim Plan were reflected directly and
proportionately in the tariff schedules.
The agreement went into effect in May, 1947
and was to continue until June 30, 1948. Parti
cipants in the Interim Plan were the Alaska
Steamship Company, Alaska Transportation Com
pany, Northland Transportation Company and the
Santa Ana Steamship Company.
/ At the time of the inception of the Interim Plan it was the
objective of the act to provide a period of time in which an accu
rate study could be made of the costs of operation of the shipping
companies under the agreement. This was to provide a yardstick
for the preparation of permanent legislation. >•""
partment, vesting in that agency final authority in determining
what carriers would be permitted to serve Alaskg and how.
When it became apparent that this bill had no chance of
passing, the Governor withdrew his opposition to the extension
of the Interim Plan and publicly stated he favored it. When the
extension of the Interim Plan was finally passed, the authority to
place it into effect was discretionary and not mandatory. During this
whole period the Governor continued his argument that Alaska
shipping rates were "out of this world’’ and that operators were
getting rich without Government aid.
In the end, the Maritime Commission refused to allow
the new bill to take effect and consequently the Interim Plan
benefits to Alaska Water transportation were terminated on June
30, 1948. The result was that all shipping operators were thrown
entirely upon their own resources.
AND THEN WHAT HAPPENED
y
Almost immediately the Santa Ana Steamship Company re
turned the single vessel it had under charter and declined to con
tinue its service. •
As a direct result of the termination of the agreement, aggra
vated by the three months long shipping strike which followed,
both Alaska Transportation Company and Northland Transporta
tion Company found it impossible to continue. Both of them with
drew from the trade in December 1948.
Even the Seattle/Seward barge line which had been heralded
with such fanfare as the “white hope” of the Alaska trade sus
pended service permanently — although their collapse was not a
result of the termination of the Interim Plan.
! Only the Alaska Steamship Company remained of the five
carriers which had served the trade only six months before.
Was this chaos the result of “conspiracy” and “monopoly” on
the part of the Alaska Steamship Company? i
We contend that it was not “unlawful” or “monopolistic”
for the Alaska Steamship Company alone in that shipping crisis
to set about serving all the Territory of Alaska — without increas- _
ing rates even though we were sustaining an operating deficit.
ALASKA STEAMSHIP COMPANY
i. ' * ~~ "
\ Serving All Alaska
t . '