rrNews oj cAmertcas Last Frontier
rOL. 4 NO. 26
KODIAK, ALASKA NOVEMBER 4, 1944
PRICE 10 CENTS
ight Club
urchased
In one of the largest property
ransactions of recent years the
3lub Montmartre, located on
b£ill Bay road, was purchased
ibis week by James Pierce from
floy F. Snyder, owner of the
Wfecca Bar.
Inventory was completed
iVednesday and the new owner
look over operation of Kodiak’s
argest night club the same eve
ning. The club has been operat
»d by Mr and Mrs. Frank
&.empton, under a lease with an
option to buy which option was
relinquished by them, and they
ill devote their efforts to the
interest of their new Idle Hour
Bar, formerly the Log Waffle
Shop.
Mr. Pierce said he would op
erate the Montmartre with Tim
Gilmore as manager, and will
Elso continue operation of the
hip’s Tavern, which he leased
recently from William A.
Schultz.
The club, a two-story modern
structure with bar, dance floor,
private dining rooms and living
quarters, was opened in Feb
ruary, 1942. Mr. Snyder was the
original builder and the cost of
the structure at the time of its
completion was reported as over
<30,000.
The purchase by Mr. Pierce
included liquor stocks, and the
total price was reported reli
ably to be in the neighborhood
of $45,000.
CPAers Visit
Geraldine Ringstad, of the in
formation department, and Dor
othy Tyner, of the legal depart
ment, both of the Juneau office
of the OPA, arrived in Kodiak
this week to consult with the
local board on business for their
office.
2 Bombs Explode On Jap Battleship
Two bombs explode near the forward turret of the Japanese Battleship Yamato as she fleas
from the U.S Third Fleet through Tablas Straits in the wes ern Visayans Philippine®, in the naval
engagement of (Jet 25 The warship was under full steam when Navy fliers caught her. SEE PAGE 4
Grey Nuns Awarded Hospital Contract;
GM Board Objects To Terms Of Transfer
Election Returns
As an added service for its
readers the Mirror has arranged
for a bulletin board where elec
tion returns will be posted as
furnished by Associated Press
The board will be placed in
the display window of the Kod
iak Mercantile Company on the
main street.
As part of the service the fol
lowing infoimatiou will be re
ceived:
1 Preliminary bulletins until
trend develops.
2. Gains and losses of the
New Deal.
4. All governors elected.
5. Lists of Democratic and
Republican states.
6. Separate stories on key
states and Washington state.
The board will be placed in
the window on Tuesday.
End Of Leyte Campaign Now In Sight;
Super Bombers Carry Record Loads
General MacArthur’s Hdqtrs.
Philippines—The ' end of the
Leyte-Samar campaign is in
«ght” Gen. MacArthur an
nounced yesterday. American
forces completed the juncture at
C&rigara and Jey, towns on the
northwest coast of Leyte & an
other column thrust across the
central Philippines island south
to tighten a gigantic clamp on
Ormoc, last Japanese escape
port.
The Japanese appeared to be
attempting a hasty, bomb-shat
tered withdrawal from Ormoc.
Estimated Nipponese battle cas
ualties exceeded 30,000, includ
ing 12,000 counted dead on
Leyte. Disorganized Japanese
j remnants are being driven to
ward Ormoc from the North,
where Americans control Cari
gara bay. Elements of the 24th
Division & 34th Regiment
marched unopposed into Cari
gara, joining forces with the 1st
dismounted cavalry division.
Japanese had made a surprising
withdrawal from Carigara, last
maneuverable area in strategic
Leyte valley, giving one of sev
eral indications they were a
bandoning defense of Leyte.
Powerful American forces im
mediately struck out in pursuit
of retreating Japs, evidently at
tempting to reach the escape
highway to Ormoc. Ormoc is sur
(continued on page 4}
i
After a further week’s negoti
ations the hospital situation still
lacked complete accord in effect
ing transfer of the institution,
although the Territorial offices
have signed a tentative lease
with the Grey Nuns »f Phila
delphia and word has been re
ceived that the Nuns expect to
be in Kodiak Sunday.
The alternate proposal for
transfer (for complete text see
page 2) provided that the trus
tees wire their recommendation
to Juneau, that the office of
Commissioner of Health and the
Governor’s office would make a
decision, and a majority of the
three decisions would decide the
final action in granting a con
tract now, subject to confirma
tion by the Legislature next
Spring.
Following receipt of the alter
nate proposal another wire was
received by the trustees asking
if the contract with the Catholic
organization met with approval.
In return the local board wired
as follows:
“We prefer awaiting action by
Legislature but will abide by
your decision. Object to last two
lines of Clause 2 and last 6 lines
of Clause 3 of lease. This feature
discussed with Major Lind
quist.”
Next the trustees received
their answer to the above from
Lew Williams, acting governor,
as follows:
‘After your wire to Doctor
Hays of Oct. 31 leaving the
decision to us the Territory has
signed a tentative lease with the
Grey Nuns of Philadelphia for
operation of the Kodiak hospit
al subject to action of the Legis
(continued on page 4)
Clams Prove Nemesis
Conviction on a charge of
stealing clams resulted in a sen
tence of 10 days in jail plus a $25
fine in the city magistrate’s court
this week for John Morrison.
The clams belonged to Mrs.
Pete Magnusen, who had. left
them in a sack near the Holt i es
sence in the Tugura district.
When she retu ned for them they
were gone. Mrs Magnusen made
inquiries in the neighborhood and
found someone who had seen a
man with a sack of olams he said
he had dug himself, although the
man giving the information said
he thought it was odd as the tide
was in Mrs. Magnusen investi
gated further and found Morri
son with the missing mcllusks in
his possession, still in the same
sack.
Indict 2 For
Embezzling
Jacque Pardieu, former acting
postmaster of Kodiak, left by
plane Wednesday for Anchor
age, where he was summoned
after indictment on a charge of
embezzlement. Pardieu, who
was released on bond here after
being bound over to the grand
jury, has been employed at the
Victory cafe.
On arrival in Anchorage Par
dieu pled guilty to the charge
and Judge Hellenthal postponed
sentence until next April 1 at
Pardieu’s request. Pardieu said
he hoped to make full restitution
by then and that some restitu
tion has already been made. He
appeared in court alone to enter
his plea and request delay in
sentencing. He returned to Kod
iak yesterday.
In the indictment he was ac
[ cused of the embezzlement of
$1,100.89, property of the Un
ited States, while acting post
master last May. Two witnesses
appeared before the grand jury
in the charge against Pardieu;
R. R. Bunnell, post office de
partment official, and Mrs.
Kathryn Francis, present acting
postmaster.
At the same time last Satur
day an indictment was returned
accusing Alphonse L. Chouinard,.
former agent for the local Rail -
way Express Agency, of embez
zling $7,165 between June 1 and
Nov. 30 of last year. Chouinard
was also released under bond
here and left recently for the
States, where he was last report
ed employed near Portland.
Witnesses on the indictment
against Chouinard were O. A.
Torgerson, president of the
Bank of Kodiak, deputy U. S
Marshal Paul Herring, T. CL
Dickinson, Railway Express
official, and W. F. Lewis, former
owner of the Island Transfer.
Homes To Be Canvassed Today For
Contributions To National War Relief
Homes of Kodiak will be con
tacted today by upper grade
and high school girls in the drive
for funds for the National War
Fund, which started Wednesday
with a canvass of the business
district.
Lawrence K. Wodlinger, local
drive chairman, said last night
that first reports of downtown
collections have "almost reached
the halfway mark'’.
A special spark to the effort
to reach the total goal of $3000
was given this week when word
was received that Z. J. Loussac,
of Anchorage, and chairman for
Alaska, will be in Kodiak in a
few days to “start the drive”
here. Canvassers started out
with new vigor in an attempt to
get the drive over before his ar
rival.
Everyone is asked to give
only what he oan afford and it is
felt that if all homes will do
their part in helping that the
goal can successfully be ach
ieved.
The National War Fund is
used to supply the money for
the needed work of many agen
cies, most important of whicfr
are the relief societies of varions
war-ravaged countries, the war
prisoners’ aid and the seamen’s
aid. Last year the administra
tion expense in Alaska was less
than 1 per cent, with the rest of
the funds going direct to refief.