Windsor’s Old Home Near Ruin
FORT BELVEDERE, former home of the Duke of Windsor
By TOM OCHILTREE
LONDON — Weeds choke the
once carefully tended tennis
courts and tattered blinds hang
at some of the windows of Fort
Belvedere, the Duke of Windsor’s
old home.
Rusting cannon on the battle
ment add a somber touch. For
this turreted house in Surrey is
going to seed. It is empty and
dark. There is no caretaker, no
guards, no official lodgekeeper.
Plaster is falling, panelling decay
ing.
This was the Duke’s favorite
residence during the 11 months of
his reign as King Edward VIII.
It was here for the sake of Wallis
Warfield Simpson that the Duke
made his abdication broadcast on
Dec. 11, 1936.
me sue originally was an ar
tillery emplacement, established
in 1750. The duke planned many
improvements when he made it
his home and lavished particular
care on the acres of gardens and
grounds now going wild.
Mr. and Mrs. John Bowden now
live in the lodge at 'the fort but
they are not responsible for the
property.
“I don't know what’s'to be done
with the Fort,” he told a reporter
and then terminated the conver
sation.
People living in the area said
some work was done on the place
during the summer, but then was
stopped just as suddenly as it had
been started.
There were reports, then that
the house might be used for visit
ing royalty or might have been
considered as a weekend home
for Queen Elizabeth II. There has
been no official announcement of
any such plans, however.
j
M I
'-I
Legislature Hears Need
For Law To Allow
Person to Bequeath Eyes*
By JIM HUTCHESON
JUNEAU, (£1—A joint session
of the Senate and House was held
Friday in the Alaska legislature
I to hear an Anchorage doctor de
scribe the need for a law to allow
a person to bequeath an eye for
medical use after his death.
Dr. Milo Fritz, Anchorage eye
specialist, s- id there was a fre-1
quent need for transplanting part j
| of an eye in children’s cases to'
prevent later defective vision or
blindness.
He said relatives of persons who
have died often object or were i
unavailable for permission to use j
the eyes of dead persons, and |
that the eye to be transplanted j
could be used only if removed one |
hour after death and used for the !
beneficiary within two days.
The Kiwanis Club of Anchorage j
is sponsoring the movement.
Sen. Paul Robinson <R-Anchor
age* introduced a measure such
as Dr. Fritz suggested during the |
first week of the session.
Dr. Fritz said the territory no'w
has three eye surgeons who can
perform the eye transplanting op
eration. He added that of the 65
persons now getting blind aid
from the territory, 33 had eye ail
! ments which could be corrected
by the tye transplanting opera
| tion.
Both House and Senate marked
| time Saturday while delegations
i from each chamber made their
j biennial visit to- the Pioneers’
* Home at Sitka.
; Legal Blanks al The Nome Nuggel
-I
Seattle Jaycees Invite
Alaska Mayors to “Mush”
At Viaduct Opening
JUNEAU — There is a possible
Opportunity for some Alaskan
mayor to prove he’s a real sour
dough. The Seattle Junior Cham
ber of Commerce has dreamed up
a mayors’ dog mushing race as
part of the festivities celebrating
the opening of the Seattle Alaska
Way Viaduct in late March.
The doggy challenge, as yet
only an idea, was contained in a
letter to the Alaska Visitors Asso
ciation from Seattle’s Junior
Chamber of Commerce who are
sponsoring the dedication.
“I realize this is only tentative,”
said Jim Chadwick of the Alaska
Visitors Association, “but I’m
ready to put my money, win,
place and show on the canine
capers of our Alaska mayors.”
“We are calling for volunteers
from Alaskan mayors,” Chadwick
continued, “and we will draw a
name out of a hat for the honor
of defending Alaska in this epic
contest.”
“It’s too bad we didn’t know
about this sooner or we could
have had a “His Honor” elimin
tion contest at one of Alaska’s
winter civic celebrations, such as
Juneau’s Winter Carnival, the
Anchorage Fur Rendezvous or
the Fairbanks Ice Carnival,” said
Chadwick.
“The Seattle Junior Chamber
may be only in the thinking
stage,” commented Chadwick,
“but we will put our man into
training as soon as we get defin
ite word. We might be tempted to
put up a side bet of two' wheel
dogs to one. Our mayors can
“gee,” “haw” and “mush” with
the best of them. We have some
pretty doggy mayors up here,”
Chadwick concluded.
The first Rotary Club was set
up in Chicago in 1905.
Loss of Chartered Liberty Ships To Alaska Trade
Will Mean Increased Freight Rates To Territory
SEATTLE — The loss of five
Liberty ships to the Alaska trade
with possible additional vessel
losses hinges on hearings before
the Federal Martime Board in
Washington this week, D. E. Skin
ner, vice president and general
manager of the Alaska Steamship
Company said here last week be
fore leaving for the capitol to
attend the hearings.
The first round in the contest,
designed to eliminate from the
Alaska trade, government char
tered vessels under a policy de
veloped to aid the Territory, was
lost to Alaska on Nov. 20. At that
time the Committee for the Pro
motion of Tramp Shipping, and
Ocean Tow, Inc., obtained from
the Maritime Board a decision to
cancel the charters of Alaska
Steamship Co. Liberties “George
D. Prentice” and “John M. Quick”
and three Coastwise Line Liber
ties. A technicality in the law
which requires that a current
need must exist for such charters
was involved. Since the matter
came up for hearing during the
off-season, the vessels concerned
were inactive and consequently
their charters were ordered can
celled. No consideration was given
to the tremendous seasonal varia
tions in the trade and the fact
that only a fraction of the essen
tial peak season tonnage is re
quired to handle off-season traf
fic.
Under government charter ar
rangements, Alaska Steamship
Co..pays $4,500 a month hire for
a Liberty whether or not the ves
sel earns that much, and up to
$8,000 a month, if earned. These
vessels are off-hire when not in
service. “On the other hand, the
lowest private charter offer re
ceived for a Liberty,” Skinner
said, “was a straight, $9,000 a
month for a minimum period of
one year. Thus for a normal Al
aska trade operating season of
eight months, the minimum char-,
ter hire on a privately owned Lib
erty would be $108,000 as against'
$36,000 for a government-owned'
Liberty.
n was iuriner pointed out tnat
about $50,000 has been spent on
each Liberty to make it suitable
for the Alaska trade, and that
there are no other suitably equip
ped privately owned Liberties
available that could be obtained
for the trade.
The loss of these vessels and
the favorable features of governr
ment charter would mean a great
increase in operating costs, and,
consequently, in freight rates to
| the Territory.
: "4-on" Duplicate Receipt Books
at the Nugget
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