'News of oAmericas Last Frontier’
$0L 7 NO. 28
KODIAK, ALASKA SEPTEMBER 13, 1947
PRICE 10 CENTS
Lib rary-Mu seiun
Juneau, Alaska
Statehood
Discussed
Practically unanimous in the
gjtoeacy of statehood for Alas
4a, several Kodiak residents ap
peared before the Congressional
Ctomittee on Statehood which
afeted Kodiak last week. The
p£lic hearing, lasting nearly 3
lavs, was held at the Kodiak
Qmmunity Center with forty
fss local residents in attend
Two members of the City
Qnaeil, A. A. Owen and Jack
■bckel, were the first to testify.
Hey pointed out that if Alaska
attains statehood the territory
atfl be able to defray a part of
the extra cost of government by
having authority to tax outside
capital which is now benefiting
hem Alaska resources while loo
al government has little to say
dhont its operations. Mr. Owen
abo pointed out that, so far as
Kadiak is concerned, there has
hren a minimum of labor capital
dhputeB in this area and that
the local longshoremen have
■aver refused to unload a gener
I cargo ship at this port. His ex
ptutation of local labor-employ
V relations brought praise from
Chairman Crawford and other
j members of the Congressional
gmnp
Mayor l ee Bettinger repealed
1 the arguments for statehood
that gained wide recognition
when be appeared before a sim
rfar bearing in Washington
An alternate proposal that all
cf Alaska but the Second Judic
ial Division embrecing the far
north where the majority of resi
dents appear to be against state
hood, be made a state was ad
vanced by Mr. Karl Brunstad
Other witnesses included Leo
Sears, T aim age Smith, H. F
McDonald and Robdtt Burgess>
president of the N.O B. Civilian
Ch»b whose protest against
vaasportation difficulties and
Might rates brought forth a
hearty statement of auproval
from Chairman Crawford.
The last witness was Marshal
Paul Herring whose description
«f bis “chicken co p jail” was so
mtriguing that after the hearing
1b» committee immediately in
spected the local bastile
That evening the visitors were
hcaored guests at a public din-i
aar held at tbe VFW club where
Mo were served
Delegate Bartlett introduced
tbe guests who responded, and
chairman of the committee Fred
Ckawford gave a resume of some
M tbe aspects of statehood.
If Congress were to approve
statehood at the next session, he
pc«ted out, it would still be at
Mat 4 years before any of the
benefits of statehood came to the
ana.
Wine Stolen
From Store
For the 3rd time Cappy Brodt
korb’s liquor store, located next
to the post office, was broken in
to Thursday night. As on the
other two occasions the thief
bioke a window, this time on the
side, and took about 3 bottles of
wine, but 4 cases of wine were
knocked over and broken bottles
flooded the floor. About $60 in
cash was untouched m the store.
Center Program
Changes Made
Several important changes in
the Kodiak Community Center
program, designed to serve local
residents during the fall and win
ter month, were announced this
week by Director Ken Wade
The weekly Old Time Dance
Night at the Center will be shift
ed from Wednesday to Saturday
beginning next week. This change
is made to acomuiodate students1
and parents of school children
who find it difficult to attend
dance programs in mid-week.
Members of volleyball squad
will meet on Monday evening—
instead of Tuesday and will leave
for their tilt with the NOB squad
at 7:30 pm instead of 8 as here
tofore.
Bingo rapidly becoming a major
attraction at the Center, will be
shifted to Wednesday nights in-»
stead of Thursday and will be
moved ahead to eight o'clock so
tljat the program can be ended
by 10.
Basketball takes the spotlight
on Thuisday nights, hereafter,
with both the town and school
squads leaving for NOB at i pm
under the leade.ship of Coach
Tom Utterback.
In the afternoons an organized
play period will be held for grade
school children each Monday
afternoon at 4. Dancing for
younger girls (under 11) will be
held Wednesday afternoons, the
advanced junior dance group
meets Thursday afiernoon and
a new junior h gh (7th, 8th, 9tht
grade) dance group will be held
on Fridays at 4.
Expansion of the craftwork
piogram at the Center also is
planned for the near future by
Di.ector Aileen Wade. As soon ^
as a new supply of materials can
be obtained the craftwork pro
gram—now badly overcrowded
—will take over the entire Cent
building, with the exception of
the library, each Monday night.
Mrs. Edna Kraft left Friday
with her grandson Jackie Mann
and will take the latter to his
paients in South Carolina. She
said she might drive across the
States as she has a car in Seattle>
but that she would have to try
out the traffic 6rst.
Clean Up
Date Set
Clean up! Paint up! And
spruce up!
Those are the watchwords of
Kodiak Clean-up campaign, set
for the week of September 21 to
26, it was announced today by
the Civic Improvement Com
mittee of the Chamber of Com
merce.
Dr. A. Holmes Johnson, chair
man, announced at the chamber
meeting Thursday that while
spring would be the natural
time for the cleaning that the
oommittee felt it was so direljr
needed as to warrant a campaign
at this time.
Tourists and strangers, he
pointed out, come to town every
week and trash piles and un
sightly premises hit them in the
eye.
City Ordinance No. 30, he
sa d, will be used in any extreme
cases where cooperation is not
given.
The ordinance provides: “Any
person respoDS ble for the depos
it of refuse, rubbish, garbage. . •
61th of any kind in streets, al
leys or on any premises in his
possession or control. . .may be
noti6ed in writing and given a
period of 5 days to correct con
ditions.”
In event of failure to do so
the ordinance provides that upon
conviction the person may be
deemed guilty of a misdemeauoi
and fined not more than $50
Plans for the drive were woik
ed out with the city officials aud
the city will collect all rubbish
piled near roadways for clean-up i
purposes during the week of the
drive. ,
Aimed at particularly in the
drive are accumulations on many
premises of scrap lumber and old
piles of boards and discarded
objects gradually allowed to »c
cumulate.
Another suggestion of the com
miftee that can still be carried
cut at this time of year is paint
ing of buildings, outbuildings,
fences and particularly oil stor
age facilities. Unsightly exposed
oil drums are detrimental to the
appearance of many properties,
the committee po nted out.
Postpones Journey
Mayor Le« Bettinger planned
to leave yesterday for Seattle
and Anchorage on a business trip,
but postponed it to be here this
weekend when a group of Union
Oil company officials is expected
to ar. ive in a private plane
The officials had sent w >rd
they would arrive Wednesday
but had not shown up late yes
terday. They are to confer about
space at the city dock.
Queen Cecilia
Postpones Trip
Cecilia King, Kcdiak’s Queen
for 1947, cancelled her reserva
tions on Notbern Airlines yester
day, on what was to be her first
trip to the States, after her sis
ter, Evelyn (Mrs. Coy Rumple)
was taken to the hospital.
QueeB Cecilia said yesterday
that she won’t leave now until
about the first of Oetober.
Council Holds
4 Meetings
The city council met in reg
ular session Monday and held 3
special meetings Thursday to
take care of various matters re
quiring attention.
On Monday a letter was read
from the Federal Works Agency,
requesting that the city make
another offer for the water and
sewer systems and the council
decided to offer $25,000 for both
systems.
An amendment to Ordinance
101 had its second reading and
was passed. The amendment
now requires fireproof construc
tion only in the mam fire zone,
»ad applies to structures more
than 50 per cent damaged.
Mayor Lee Bettinger reported
that Wallace George, of the Jun
eau Cold Storage company, had
written that the corporation for
a proposed Kodiak cold storage
plant will soon be formed and an
offer will be presented to thej
citv for consideration !
Heutal of a 20-room .imit at.
the city dock to 1. L. Pe.ining
tou lor quariers and lodging
house was approved.
Councilman J. W. Patterson
submitted his resignation be
cause of lack of necessary time
to devote to the council. The
council decided to postpone ap
pointment of a successor until j
after the annexation election
with the possibility of appoint
ing someone from that area if it j
becomes part of the eity. Mayorj
Bettinger said he would like to
obtain expressions on such a
choice from the residents of the
area if such action is taken
Building permits were acted
upon a9 follow-:
Richard Stockwell, ran ove
building and use 3 skid shacks,
to rebuild on Pot 1 i Block 1
approved
Chris Mattsen, bedroom ad
dition Lot 22 Block 1, approved
J*. G Martz, build porch on
residence, approved
Clifford Mowry, enclose entry
& add siding to dwelling, ap
proved
Goldie Kvas, remodel apart
ment at Tony’s place, approved
Standard Oil company, full
basement on residence, approved
(continued on page 41
Fund Lack
Delays Jail
Kodiak’s proposed new jail
for which the city has provided
i site will be delayed an indefin
ite period until more funds are
available, according to word re
ceived this week by the city
from A. E. Sanderson, Acting
Deputy Commissioner of the
Public Building Administration
of the Federal Works Agency
The agency said the only bid
received was from the De l ong
Engineering and Construction
company of Seattle, in the
amount of $135,048, which ex
ceeded funds available by
$*3,000.
The agency said it had made
efforts to find additional funds
without success and that “it is
hoped to construct a complete
jail building when sufficient
funds are obtained.” There was
no indication when that will be.
Recordings at the U. S. Com
missioner’s office include the
following:
Charles Johnson to Chailee
Knauber, lot and skid shacks,
Mission Road
Irene Nieminen to Richard A
Virginia Stockwell, portion of
Lot 11 Block 1
Norma Hedahl to William
Zelma Stone, residence Lot 6
Block 3 Leite addition (
W. G. Leininger to V. G»
Ellis, 1 ot 20 Block 2 Leite ad
dition
The Kodiak Guden Club will
meet next Wednesday at the
home of Mrs. Marcus Meyc.
Cribbage enthusiasts of Kod
iak and vicinity, after a couple
of months rest, will resume their
championship compet'tion at the
Community Center next Tues
day evening.
The play is open to all and
starts at 8:1b p.m. Defending
champion ie Mrs. Marian Sout
ner.
Kodiak Food Cost
Statistics Given
Juneau (JP)—Alaska food pric
es average from one-third to
one half higher than in the Un
ited States, the territorial de
partment of labor said today.
A survey of prices in seven
Alaska cities and comparison
with the average in 49 United
States cities, a epikesman earn
showed / laska cities were this
much higher:
Ketchikan, 32 percent; An
chorage and Kodiak, each 42
percent; and Fairbanks, 51 pe:
cent.