"News of cAmerica’s Last Frontier”
Ik_
'S)L. 5 NO. 29
KODIAK, ALASKA — SEPTEMBER 15, 1945
PRICE 10 CENTS
tors E. Jones, Of Attu, Tells Experiences;
V A. Bryan, Ex-Jap Prisoner, Visits Here
G. Douses
toat Fire
• The alertness of local mem
rs of the Coast Guard in dis
cing and extinguishing a fire
| the galley of the Portlock,
libut boat out of Seattle,! ues
y night at 10:22, prevented
,at could have been a serious
3 as the boat was moored near
; Standard Oil float of the Er
ne dock.
The fire was discovered by B.
■ming, MOM.M. 2.c, when he
ird moaning coming from the
’sle of the vessel and went to
'estigate. Seeing fire coming
m a hatchway he ran to get
5 Standard Oil company hose
t being unable to find it called
Nicholls from the Coast
ard office and also called the
racks for assistance.
%icholls, B. M. 2-c, pulled the
->k of the Portlock out of his
“ik in the foc’sle. Meanwhile,
Fee other coast guardsmen ar
id on the scene. D.Reed,Cox
lin, manning the hose from
Standard Oil dock, extin
shed the blaze inside where
reported the entire area a
ind the stove was ablaze. The
ve had evidently become o
. heated, it was reported.
The cook, Fred Hovick, was
en to the hospital, where he
i treated for slight burns on
h hands.
. telephone operator turned
the alarm to the Marshal’s
:e and the city trucks Te
nded to the siren but were
needed.
tie Of Milk
ider Scrutiny
J&ys and means to enforce
„ prohibiting of sale of milk
n dairies not meeting the
idards of the Territorial
»rd of Health were discussed
l he city council Monday even
following the discussion, Dr.
^Holmes Johnson reported he
lid obtain further information
such sale of milk from the
Titorial Board.
Jr. Johnson reported that he
3 suggested to local cafe own
! that dogs be kept from rest
•ants, and Councilman Martz
!gested that if necessary the
incil should enact an or
lance prohibiting dogs from
<ing placed.
Attu Teacher
Beaten By Japs
Fairfield, Calif. (Special to the
M'rror by Associated Press)—A
gallant, gray-haired schoolteach
er, the only American woman
captured by the Japanese on the
American continent, stepped
from an Army transport Diane
here Wednesday after a flight
from Japan.
She is Mrs. Etta E. Jones, 65,
whose husband Charles was kill
ed by the Japs on Attu, where
both were captured eaily in 1942.
Very frail,Mrs.Jones told with
calmness and dignity of having
been kicked and slugged by the
Japs and of spending 3 years hid
den from the world in a Nippon
prison yet she could still speak
with kindness of the children of
Japan and of the “poor people.”
Her husband, 62, was employ
ed as weather observer and radio
man on Attu and she was attach
ed to the Indian service to teach
the native children. They were
the only white people on the is
land when the Japs came 2000
strong in June, 1942.
Mrs. Jone-i recalled, “I was
beaten with the butt end of a ri
fle and was struck across the
back by a Japanese soldier act
ing as interpreter. He knocked
me down, stepped on me and
then kicked me in the stomach.
Then I saw them hit my Husband
and knock him down.”
They were then thrown in sep
arate buildings and the next day
the natives told her her husband
had been killed by the Japs and
that they, the natives, had buri
ed him. She nevei learned any
other details.
Within a few days she was tak
en on a transport to Yokohama
and escorted to the Bund hotel.
There, she said, whether because
the enemy’s guards respected her
age or for whatever reason, she
received remarkably fine treat
ment. She was treated like a
guest for the next 3 years, with
good quarters, good food and the
help of servants occasionally.
Sometimes she could even walk
the streets of Yokohoma accom
panied by a guard. She was in
communicado, however, and was
never allowed to contact the Red
Cross or any relatives in the
States.
A month after her arrival she
was joined by 18 Australian
nurses captured in New Guinea.
She saiu she saw two of them
slapped and knocked down.Later
the women were transferred to
(continued on page 9)
Inquest Unnecessary
For ‘Live* Subject
First reports received here this
week that stated Bill Flory, local
fisherman, was presumed drown
ed, were erroneous, it was later
learned.
Flory was en route to Seattle
on the “Fidelity” after a season’s
employment at Port Williams
and turned up missing for two
days.
When the boat pulled in at
Ketchikan for the inquest it is
reported that when crew mem
bers returned with officials to
the boat Flory was safe on deck.
It is said Flory had spent two
days undetected in the boat’s
bait hold.
Local Man
Dies At Sea
Eddie Bent, 43, died on the
fishing boat “Salmon Bank” en
route to Seattle 4 days out of
Kodiak, according to a wire re
ceived here last Friday. The
boat, owned by Earle But
ler, was piloted by Carl Lager
burg.
The wire stated that Mr. Bent
died suddenly, presumably from
a stroke, and that he was buried
at sea.
The deceased is survived by
his divorced wife, Frieda Bent,
(nee Metrokin) who arrived in
Kodiak Wednesday after a sea
son’s employment as cook for
the Alaska Packer’s at Karluk,
and by seven children, including
Edna Bent, who worked this
summer at Bristol Bay and is
now in Anchorage.
Mr. Bent was well-known in
this community, as well as at
Naknek, where he spent several
years. As a child he was raised
as one of the wards of the Bapt
ist Mission when it was located
on Woody island. Before going
fishing this summer he was em
ployed on a boat at a local Army
dock.
Alaska Land Held
For ‘Atom’ Needs
Washington (-£*)—Sale or oth
er disposal of all public lands
containing deposits of radioactive
mineral substances has been
banned by executive order of the
President. The order included I
land in Alaska.
Whitehouse sources said it was
related to development of the
atomic energy program.
Ernie Bryan’s
Brother From P. I.
Life on the Bryan homestead
out Mission road is in welcome
contrast to almost 3 years spent
in Japanese prison camps for
Arthur A. Bryan, 70, who arriv
ed here on the Lakina this week
to visit his brother, Ernie Bryan,
of this city.
Arthur Bryan came here from
Seattle where he arrived May 8
after his repatriation from the
Philippines and where he visited
his other brother, Hugh. His stay
heie is indefinite, as he is await
ing word that will allow him to
return to his plantation and wife
and child on Mindanao in the
Philippines.
it was on tms ruu-acre cocua
nut plantation, located 60 miles
from the nearest town of Zam
boanga, where Mr. Bryan was
when the Japs arrived in July,
1942.
He and two other white men
(1 died later in a Manila hospit
al) were taken prisoners but the
Japs did not take his wife, Elena,
who is Spanish, or their daugh
ter, Mary Arlene, who is now 7
years old.
During the next three years
Mr. Bryan was transferred from
camp to camp—2 on Davao,
then to Bilibid, Santa Tomas
and Los Banos.
He and the other civilian pris
oners were not maltreated by
the Jap captors in contrast to
treatment accorded military
prisoners, he said. They weie not
beaten but he saw some lose
their lives in attempts to escape.
At one camp he was in a for
mer dance hall that had a huge
sign, ‘ Happy Life Blues" and
this be described ae the best of
the places he was in. There they
were allowed to go swimming 3
times a week, and in groups with
a guard were also allowed to go
out and gather fruit. They ate
well enough to keep up their
weight until the transfer to Los
Banos, about 30 miles from
Manila, in a former agricultural
station and school, where Mr.
Bryan said he went from 158 to
121 pounds in less than 2
months. They found seeds and
planted gardens to augment their
starvation rations.
£j It was here Mr. Bryan, in a
group of 2140 prisoners, was lib
erated. He said they learned aft
erward that the rescue was made
on the very day all the prisoners
were to have been killed. A spy
learned of the planned killing
(continued on page 4)
Alaska At
Crossroads
Alaska is now at the crossroads?
—it will either stay as before the
war or move ahead, Foster M o
[Govern, vice president of the
I National Bank of Commerce,
Seattle, cuest speaker at the
Chamber of Commerce luncheoB
Thursday, told the members.
I Mr. McGovern, who speni
over 17 years in professional
chamber of commerce work
Seattle, arrived here Wednesday
on his first trip to Kodiak with,
high praise for the scenery ir>
i this area, which he described ass
the most beautiful he had seen*
in Alaska.
Describing his viewpoint as
that of an outsider investigating
conditions m the Territory, be
said it appeared to him that min
ing would be resumed on a sub
stantial basis, that agriculture
would not be developed to the
extent people think, and that the
tourist business will be one ol'
the largest Alaskan post war
developments.
He said there is a tremendous*
desire in people in the Stales to*
come to Alaska, and that this*'
time the people who come wifr
have money to spend.
The problem of Kodiak, Mr.
McGovern contended, is exactly
the same as that of Anchorage,.
Fairbanks, or any other Alaska
city, in regards to planning for
such tourist business by making
surveys of attractions and ac
comodations, and in preparing
for new residents.
Many of the civilian and con
tractor employes and service jper
sonnel who have learned to Me
Alaska will be back to stay, jke
pointed out. In Seattle a sur>ey
of workers in war industries
there showed that 79 per ecne
wanted to stay after the war,
and one and one half per «e»t
wanted to come to Alaska,
Describing the Seattle ebftm
ber as always being vitally inter
ested in the welfare of Alaska,.
Mr. McGovern closed with a
suggestion that the local cham
ber call even more often tbuD in
the past for aid and assistance'
from the Seattle group.
Gordon Jenkins and Jack Coi -
fey, of the Kadiak Fisheries
company at Port Bailey, left by
plane this week for Seattle.
Clark Andresen, Anchors^
salesman, was in town this w««Vv
calling on customers.