"News oj oAmencas Last Frontier”
fOL 7 NO. 14
KODIAK, ALASKA MAY 31, 1947
PRICE 10 CENTS j
One Dead, One Rescued In Midnight Fire
i
Court Will
Leave Sun.
Judge Anthony Dimond and
frr members of the floating
port party arrived here Tuesday
pthe Coast Guard Cutter Was-!
okosetts, and with a day off yes- j
•day for Memorial day, will,
•U final sessions today, andj
in will leave Sunday on its
■stward jaunt.
Thursday was taken up with
hr La Follette-Chase & Tolbert
b«il suit, with divorces and citi
nships being the other main
hisiness of the docket.
Tbe jury in the La Follette
action found for th; defendant,
bat "believed the defendant
ruihy of contributory negligence
ud recommended that in the
future use of public highways be
safeguarded by safety measures ”
The suit was filed by Jake and
Katherine La Follette, operator
ad owner of a taxi that on Oct.
2iwas driven by Norman Spen
winto a truck thav had previ
ously struck a Chase & Tolbert
taetor pulling a quon-et hut on
a base highway.
Tbe action sought SI200 for
he ear and $1000 for loss of in
come due to the accident. Talm
•e Smith represented the plain
tiff and John C. Hughes, on his
fct case since passing his bar
examinations, represented the
defendants.
Tbe juiy consisted of Leif
Norman, foreman; Ann Cichoski,
(Jas. B Johnson, Leo Sears,
Fred Mahle, Grace Kerr, A. J.
Cichoski, Ruby Whittington
Lenore Melin, Lee Caddell, Eu
nice Ne-eth and H. L. Heglin.
Divorces granted include: Earl
R. lams from Rachel lams; Ef
Se E. Stepetin from Miehaei
Stepetin; Agnes Frump from Eu
|ene Frump, with custody of a
daughter and $5u monthly sup
port for the child awarded the
plaintiff; Jennie Mendell from
Onrl Mendell; and Ann Cooper
bom Eugene Cooper.
Gtiaenships papers were grant
ed to Arthur Haakanson, ot Ou
*akie. born in Denmark; and
Gestav Gudmonsen, of Kodiak,
korn in Norway.
Judge Dimond issued an order
to permit John Hughes to prac
tice, prior to receiving his oral
lamination today.
Mayor Lee Bettinger left yes*
•wday on a 10 day business trip
toat will take him to Seattle and
Francisco
Jack Allman, former Kodiak
•wident, arrived y* sterday front
Fairbanks and will be here a few
fcyson business.
Novikoff Held
After Hearing
A. D. Novikoff, charged with
murder in a complaint signed by
Gene Norris, FBI, was held to
answer to the district court with
out bail by U. S. Commissioner
G. W Bubendorf after a hearing
Monday in the local justice
eourt.
Marshall Herring said be ob
tained a signed confession from
Novikoff, who told him an argu
ment started when Mrs. Nelson
hit Novikoff in the nose. He said
her action made Mr. Nelson
angry and that he started for his
wife, but Novikoff interceded.
The two men grappled, Novikoff
said, and next he knew he saw
his pistol from the bedroom wall
in Nelson’s hand, and two shots
were fired, one wounding him in
the leg
He said he got his tifle from
the warehouse and went to shoot
Nelson through a window, but
that Mrs Nelson jumped in the
way and was killed instautly He
said he sh t again, killing Nel
son.
Leaving a note on the table
for the marshal, Novikoff later
took his wife and child and went
to the Lloyd Swan home on Har
vester island, and it was there
Marshall Herring found h m.
Denali Due Today
Arrival time of the Denali,
due today, is expected from the
vessel this morning. It is calling
at Ouz nkie on the way to Kod
iak
Food Sale
Today At Cub
The American LegioD Auxili
ary is giving a food sale today,
Saturday, May 31, at the Cub.
Offered for sale, beginnmg at
12 noon, will be maBy appetizing
■lumbers, such as luscious home
made cakes, flaky crusted pi«s,
cookies that ‘ will melt in your
mouth”, oven fresh rolls, salads,
baked beans, and many other
uuresistible diet temptatious.
The money raised will help
send a delegate from Kodiak to
the Department American Legion
and Auxiliary Convention at An
chorage, June 30 through July 3.
Burial Today
Burial services will be held
today at the Mountain View
cemetery for Gregory Don Stau
ber, infant son of Mr. and Mrs.
Jerome Stauber. The infant was
born May 13 at the GM hospital
and died May 29 at the base.
Customer With Gun
Provides Scare
Mrs. S'grid Wodlinger received
one of the scares of her life at
Wodlinger’s drug store this week
when a tipsy customer, a civilian
employe at the base, flashed a
gun on her while she was alone
with him in the drug store.
The customer, who poliee said
had been drinking, asked her to
t go in the back of the store to
1 talk with him. When she refused
he reached inside his coat and
pulled out a revolver.
Mrs. Wodlinger told him to
put it away or he might get in
troub e. When he didn’t and said
nothing Mrs Wodlinger decided
it was time to leave She ran out
I the store and got il D. Russell,
i of the Men s store next door,
, and Russell went back and took
| the gun away from the man
| Police picked him up and
; booked him on a disorderly
j charge. In court he was given a
j $50 fine and a 30-day suspended
j sentence.
i The gun was not loaded but
i Mrs. Wodlinger didn’t know it
' at the time.
KEA Lays
PowerPlans
Following the arrival Tuesday
i of Herbert G. Bryan, REA Alas
ka repiesentative, the KEA
board met Wednesday evening
and will meet again tonight for
discussion of plans for utilizing
the recent $310,000 grant from
| the REA. The loan runs 35 jears
at an interest rate of 2 per cent,
j Mr. Bryan is setting up an
•' engineering and construction
1 schedule for improvements to
' the present system, which in
cludes replacing old poles and
lines and installation of new die
1 sel units.
The city is now using the peaa
load of the plant, and an increas
ied output from o9o kilowatts to
■ bet ween 10,000 and 13,000.
It has not yet been decided
whether t > let private contracts
or construct through a force ac
count, Mr. Bryan said.
The REA has granted loans t«
1 Juneau, Homer and Fairbanks
for new installations, none of
them as large as the Kodiak
grant, Mr. Bryan said.
On Thursday evening members
of the board and officials gave
Mr. Bryan a welcoming dinner
at the VFW club
Clareuce Rhinehart and his
wife who have been employed at
the Victory cafe, plan to take
over C/huck A Lill s on a lease
•basis
Reports On
City Dock
The city dock has a cash re
serve of $4600, Mayor Lee Bet
tinger reported at the council
meeting Monday.
Mr. Beltinger said that in view
of adverse conditions of opera
tion and a tariff lower than the
on* in effect when the city took
the dock over, he felt the record
of operation is a good one.
Members of the school board
met on the matter of a school
budget, set at over $26,000 and
after much discussion a com
promised was reached where the
city approved a budget of i
$23,750, which included some1
funds left over fiom last year.
Appointments ana salaries
j were set, with some increases al
lowed ; approved were Henry
’Gonzales, utility supeivisor at
$150; George Magnusen, fire
chief, $50; Henry Gonzales, chief
| of police, $350; Paul Fretzs,
! wharfinger, $300, and as assessor
| at $3 an hour; G. W. Bubendorf,:
city magistrate, $50, plus $1.50
; per case; Dr. A. Holmes Johnson,
city health officer, no salary;
Myrna Perkins, city cleik, $350.
Mayor Bettinger asked that it
be made a matter of record thst
his trip to Washington was at no
expense to the city and his ap
pearance at the statehood hear
ings was as a private citizen.
A request for leave of absence
by Councilman A A. Gwen to
Aug. 20 was postponed to the
next meeting.
A request by Councilman
Owen to reconsider approval of
his permit to build a warehouse
on the beach was denied
j At the end of the meeting
1 Harry Cbnstopherson submit ted
his resignation, giving no reason,
and no action was taken on it.
1 However, later in the week May
j or Bettinger announced the ap
pointment of J. W. Patterson,
service station operatoi, to fill
the vacancy.
Flies Plane Here
Eugene Harding arrived here
yesterday, flying his Republic
SeaBee, accompanied by his sis
ter, Mrs. Eunice West,, and Mrs
L. Philipbs, both of Portland.
He flew the plene f>om Port
land, leaving a week ago Wed
nesday, stopping off for a visit
in British Columbia They left
Cordova yesterday morning
stopped at Anchorage to gas up
and got here before 5 yesterday.
He said the weather was perfect
0n the whole trip.
One Navy man is dead and ,
another bed a close escape from j
death in a fire early Thursday !
morning In a rented dwelling lo- j
sated at the end of Alder laDe ]
below Knudsen apartments.
The dead man is Shief Phar- •
maciet’s Mate W. L. Wilson, j
The other man is Chief Pharma- /
cist's Mate Kenneth B. MtllnaD, <
who had just rented the house, .
the former Bill Lewis residence, j
from Stan Austermao, present «
owner. Mellman had moved be- j
longings in the house in prepara- .
for the arrival of hie wife.
An official naval board of in- •
quiry is investigating the cireurn .
stances of the fire but no official j
release could be obtained from <
the Navy on the tragedy.
The fire alarm was sounded at ,
12:06 am by a man who saw the j
fire from the Idle Hour Bar al- ;
though a resident near the build
ing had run to the fireball to
turn in the alarm several min
utes earlier but did not know of
the alarm box in the fire station.
By the time of ihe alarm
which was answered by both
(continued on page 7,
VFW Sponsors
Marbles Event
Marbles chanmions of Kodiak,
girls and boys will be crowned
in a tournament at (he Commu
nity Center next Saturday, Juno
7, under the sponsorship of thi.
Kodiak post of the Veteran-. of
Foreign Wars. Medals and piize
will be awarded i he winners in
various classes
The tourney is part of the
national competition sponsored
by the VFW and the Kodiak buy
winner in the grade school divis
ion will be eligible to represent
this district in the Territorial
finals. It is expected one Alaska
boy will be pie ent at the nat
ional event at Boy’s Town, Neb
in June.
Rules and entry blanks are
available at the center NOR
youngsters arc cordially invited
to participate.
Action on building permit*
was taken this week by the eoun
cil as follows:
J. J. Springhil', remodel bar
ber shop, add room, $800.
Granted.
Jorgeu Fredrickson, garage*,
storeroom and apartment Block
8 Lot 1, $3000. Tabled.
C. E Bryan, move skid shack
to Bryan property. Approved.
Walter Muller, build morgue.
Tract C., U. S. Survey 441,
$2500. Referred to committee.
Morris Burnham, addition to
greenhouse, $350 Approved.