"News oj oAmencas Last Frontier”
VOL. 4 NO. 22
KODIAK, AIASKA OCTOBER 7, 1944
PRICE 10 CENTS
Night Club
Is Robbed
The Club Montmartre was
robbed sometime Thursday ev
ening between 7:30 and midnight
by someone who climbed a lad
der to oil tanks in the rear of
the building, broke a pane of
glass in a bathroom window to
reach the latch and then walked
the length of the building to the
office at the end of the hall. Here
they opened the safe door, of
whieh the lock was out of order,
and extracted $251 in bills, tak
ing time to sort out one check
and leave it in the safe.
Then they apparently left the
same way by stepping on the
bathtub and climbing out the
second story window on to the
lean-to roof of the kitchen and
back down the ladder.
All this happened while Frank
and Myrtle Kempton, owners,
were waiting on customers below.
Mrs. Kempton had been in the
office about 7:30 to get change.
Just before midnight she said
her feet hurt her and went up
stairs to change shoes and dis
covered the glass on the bath
room floor. The light had been
left on in the bathroom but the
hall and office were dark. Her
purse on a davenport in an ad
joining room was untouched and
a check in the office disclosed
that over $900 had been over
looked by the culprit.
Open cases of liquors were
stored in the office, and no bot
tles were missing
Deputy U S. Marshal Paul
Herring and Police Chief Jack
Allman were notified yesterday
and made an investigation.
The person first attempted
to pick the putty from the glass
and then had given up and brok
en it to reach the latch. He
also stepped into the bathtub,
either in leaving or entering.
The Montmartre, when oper
ated by Clark Odekirk in Sep
tember, 1942, was the scene of a
robbery attempt when a trunk
upstairs, with $1400 cash m if,
*as discovered missing After
Police were called they found the
trunk and money intact in the
brush below the window.
Two Officials
Visit Local School
James C. Ryan, Territorial
Commissioner of Education, ar
fived in Kodiak yesterday on
"hat, he described as a routine
bip in connection with his duties
as applied to the local school.
Hisstay will be brief, as he ex
pects to leave Monday.
Also making the trip from Ju
neau was Violet 8. Hoar, who as
Health Education Supervisor for
|he Territory has charge of
health programs in schools.
Theater Has Film Fire;
Sargent Residence Hit
The Orpheum theater was hit
by fire just at the beginning of
the first show last night when
film of a Technicolor short sub
ject broke and caught fire inside
the machine. Manager R. R.
Lunday, who was operating, ran
downstairs to notify the audi
ence and then returned to the
booth to fight the blaze with a
hand extinguisher.
The heat of the burning film
was so intense that the reel in
the other machine 4 feet away
also caught, and flames shot up
in the booth and reached as far
as the front window.
The fire was turned in and
both trucks answered the call
and other extinguishers were
rushed to the booth. As the film
burned out all the fire was ex
tinguished without the use of
water. The asbestos lining of the
booth prevnnted more serious
spread of flames.
The audience left by the two
front exits in orderly fashion as
two men stationed themselves at
the doors and told the people to
take their time.
It was too early to determine
the amount of damage up to the
time the Mirror went to press
this morning, but Manager Lun
day said a preliminary survey
indicated the machines were not
so badly damaged as first
thought, and it is hoped to have
them in operation by Sunday.
The machines will have to be
cleaned and tested before their
true condition can be determin
ed, he said.
Insurance is carried on the
equipment but not on the film,
which is expected to be the great
est loss of the fire. Two reels, a
Technicolor short on skiing and
a Three Stooges comedy, were
completely destroyed.
Old Cemetery
Poses Problem
Following granting of a build
ing permit to cover $11,000 con
struction already completed by
Pat Wright on property of bis
located on Shelikof highway, it
transpired that the plot owned
by Wright is listed on the city as
the Simeonoff cemetery. It is
Block 36 and contains 14,093
square feet.
Originally 17 graves were lo
eated in the ancient cemetery, it
is reported, but during widening
of the highway 2 were removed
to another graveyard.
Wright is expected to attend
the council meeting next Mon
day night when an effort will be
made to straighten out the
problem.
A fire which broke out outside
the Fred Sargent residence Tues
day was quickly brought under
control and extinguished with
minor damage to the house,
which was especially fortu
nate considering the high
winds that day that could have
caused serious spreading of a^
blaze of any size.
Smoke and flames at the
northeast corner of the house
were seen first from the Joe
Heitman residence almost a
block away. Joe Heitman and
another man ran to the scene
and attacked the fire with water
soaked sacks. The yard was full
of wooden trash from a reshing
ling job on the roof.
The fire siren sounded at 5:41
pm and in exactly nine minutes
the fire was entirely out. Both
trucks responded to the alarm
and water was drawn from a city
hydrant, at the corner after fire
extinguishers were used first. Be
fore the water reached the scene
the flames went up the outside
wall, under the eaves and burst
forth inside the house. The blaze
inside was quickly put out by
members of the fire department
with an extinguisher.
The fire started in the trash a
longside the house, but the ex
act cause is unknown.
Mr and Mrs. Fred Sargent
are Outside at present on a trip.
Only casualty of the incident
occurred in a minor fashion to
young Alvin Pefrich, Sargent’s
grandson, who was interrupted
in the midst of his bath.
Priest Leaves
To Meet Sisters
Father Edgar Gallant left
yesterday by Alaska Airlines on
his way to Seattle to meet the
Sisters of the Order of Grey
Nuns and to return with them
to Kodiak, where the organiza
tion is assuming control of the
Griffin Memoiial hospital
Following the report last week
on Governor Gruening’s wire
that no definite decision had yet
been made on the transfer, no|
further information has been re-1
ceived by the city council or
hospital board.
Numbers Promised
A committee of C. M. Cole, of
the A, T. Beckett company,
Councilman Stanley Nelson and
City Clerk Catherine Blanken
burg, began yesterday assigning
house numbers to homes and
business establishments in
Kodiak.
First work on the numbering
was started last year but had
^ever been completed.
This Sunday
Historic Day
Sunday, October 8, marks the
150th anniversary of the arrival
in Kodiak of the first mission
aries of the Russian faith, ac
cording to information furnished
by Father Gerasim Schmaltz,
resident of Monk’s Lagoon on
Spruce island, who is visiting
Kodiak at present.
In commemoration of that
historic date, special services
will be included in the Russ
ian Church Services at 10
Sunday morning. Father Ger
asim will officiate, in the absence
of Rev. Gregory Gleboff, who is
on a trip around the island.
it was on uciODer a, 1/94,
Father Gerasim said, that 11
monks arrived at Kodiak to be
gin their work after a trip of
over half a year that took them
across Siberia and by boat from
Kamchatka to this island.
One of that group was the
famed Father Herman and an
other was Father Joseph, both
of whom are now buried at
Monk’s Lagoon.
The monks’ work was the very
foundation of the century and a
half of the Russian Greek
Orthodox rel gion in this terri
tory ar.d North America. All
eleven were from Valaam Mon
astery, located on an island in
Europe’s largest lake, Ladoga,
situated in northwest Russia and
southeast Finland. During the
Bolshevik uprising and regime
the same monastery was the
only one untouched by the Bol
sheviks.
2 Local Men Buy
Belmont Cafe
George Kappos announced to
day that he and Jan Beukers
have purchased the Belmont
cafe from Helen ! aVonne and
will start operating it Monday at
6 am. Kappos will close the
Golden Gate cafe Saturday
night, he said.
Both Kappos and Beukers, in
the order named, formerly owned
the Belmont cafe.
Collector Arrives
A. Verle Collar, deputy col
lector of internal revenue, from
the Anchorage office, arrived
here yesterday to attend to mat
ters in connection with his de
partment. He is staying at the
Sunbeam hotel.
Arriving in Kodiak fromChig
nik via Seattle on the Lakma
were James Skonberg, Axel Carl
son, Daniel Skonberg and Jacob
Osbekoff, ail reporting here for
induction into the Army.
They went from Chignik to
Seattle on a cannery tender.
86-Mile Gust
Is Recorded
Heavy winds that began blow
ing locally Monday night and
continued Tuesday swamped
two boats in local anchorage,
broke windows, and blew over
a number of pipe chimneys be
fore spending themselves Tues
day night.
Official peak velocity for any
one gust was recorded on Tues
day at a maximum velocity of
86 miles per hour, but the over
all average from 6 am to 6 pin
on the same .day was a 31-mi)e
average.
un luesday morning a locni
report was issued to boa' owners
and others affected that a gale
up to 130 miles per hour was ex
pected but a check on the warn
ing disclosed the expected veloc
ity was erroneous
Damage caused by the wind
included a numl er of small win
dows broken, at least one radio
antenna blown down, and num
erous sheet metal chimneys
knocked over. A number of
sheets of metal roofing were
loosened on Erskine’s.
One of the swamped boats was
the N & S, fishing boat owned
by T. T. Jackson, which was
moored at Fishermen’s dock on
the channel. The other was a
yellow Bering sea-type boat, the
Josie, anchored off Marine way.
It is owned by W. F. Cook
During the windstorm Tues
day power was temporar ly off
in one area when a transformer
of the Kodiak Electric associa
tion. near the city fire hall, went
out and had to be replaced;1’ '
Drunk Causes
Trouble In Car
When George Magnusen pick
ed up an inebriate Wednesday
night, who was off a boat, in port,
and decided to take him back lo
his boat, things worked out dif
ferently.
As George drove past the
health center in the poliee ear
the inebriate grabbed the wheel
purposely and stepped on the
gas accidentally. George got the
car stopped against a fence. The
only damage to the cat was a
leaky radiator.
Only damaee to the inebriate
was a *25 fine Thursday.
Thelma Anderson, of Karlub,
underwent a tonsillectomy at
the GM hospital yesterday.
Refuge Men Back
Frank Beals, refuge manager
of the Aleutian Island National
Wildlife ffefuge, arrived m Ko
diak Wednesday from the West
ward. He expects to spend mo*t
of the winter in this viciuity.