"News oj oAmencas Last Frontier”
r
rOL. 6 NO. 32
KODIAK, ALASKA OCTOBER 5, 1946
PRICE 10 CENTS
New Naval Base Planned In Aleutians
Election
Tuesday
The statehood question and
hoice of candidates hold the
potlight in the general election,
a be held next Tuesday, Oct. 8.
No previous registration is
ecessery and voters are qualified
Hbo have 1 year’s residence in
he Territory and 30 days is the
irectnct. Voters within the city
outs will cast their ballots at
he city hall from 8 am to 7 pm.
Voters outside the city will
ote at the Kodiak Baptist Mis
ot precinct. If a substantial
loijonty of those entitled to vote
H the Mission precinct do not,
lie polling place wiil be aband
oned. In the last election only 6
■ist ballots at the out of town
lolling place.
Residents of military reserva
ons do not necessarily have the
ght to vote. If such a resident
ad residence m Alaska prior to
making b.is home on a military
sservation, he does not lose his
ght to vote, and will cast his
allot at the out of town pre
net. But if his residence, even
rer a year, has been only on a
military reservation, he does not
ave fne necessary qualifications
f a voter. The voting status
as confirmed this week by U.S.
°iiunissioner G. W. Bubendorf
a advice from,the district court.
Alaskans will have their first
Pportunity to record their offic
d sentiments on statehood when
Emfronted with the referendum
! Culinary Contracts
| Not Settled
Billie Loan, secretary cf the
new Culinary union, said late
yesterday that a meeting held
that day on a counter-proposal
made by cafe and fountain oper
ators on proposed wage increases
had been acted upon but no an
nouncement would be made un
til later She said the results of
the meeting would be presented
to the operators this week.
The union is seeking hourly
rates of $1 for waitresses, $1.50
for fountain girls, $2 for dinner
cooks and $1.75 for fry cooks.
Waitresses have been getting
75 cents an hour and cooks $11
to $12 a shift
It is reported the counter-pro-(
posal listed waitresses and fount
ain girls at $1, dinner cooks at
$1 75 and fry cooks at $1 50.
bailor., on which they will indi
cate their choice between “State
hood for Alaska for’’ or “State
hood for Alaska against”. t
A second referendum will give
them the choice to vote for or a
gainst changing the blanket pri
mary bailot system to one in
which all names or candidates
will appear on one ballot in the
primary election, inst ad of on
separate ballots as now provided.
Liquor establishments will be
closed during polling hours. (The
official election notice and list of
candidates appears on page 7.
Paid political announcements ap
pear elsewhere in this issue )
Women After Bailoters
By Gertrude Itaumaker
if a comely business woman
rabs you firmly by the arm
oesday and persuasively says,
Come with me” don’t resist,
*80 though you find her steer
you down a side road. Your
^otle-but-firm guide will be a
k»*»ber of Kodiak’s Business &
Tofessional Women’s club and
will be taking you to the
<*8 at the City Hall to vote in
Territorial election.
Tl»e Business Women have
^ged themselves to be respon
se for 5 other persons voting
this election. Edna Kraft is
^‘rrnan of this community ac
uity and will supply each club
4®*Ober with cards on which to
her voters. The member
!*r»ioK ,n the most names will
iceive a prize from the club,
stressing the importance of
qualified Kodiakian voting
tl»is election club spokesmen
^ pointed out that in the
r*^ Territorial election only
12 votes were cast in the Kodi
::
ak precinct, and in 1944 only
172 votes wete tallied.
As chairman of tne Public Af
fairs committee of the BPW, and
as a long-time resident and bus
iness woman of Kodiak, Mrs.
Kraft was asked by the club to
comment on the need for con
certed community action in this
election. Her comment follows:
“As you travel the Southeast
ern Alaska coast you note the
outstanding buildings, built with
Federal or Territorial money.
Kodiak has made many requests
for such buildings—a high school,
a gymnasium, a Post Office, a
jail, etc.
“Kodiak has the potential
power to make these requests re
cognized—this power has never
been excerised in even moderate
strength—this power is the pub
lic vote.
“It is a common complaint to
lay at the door of public offic als ,
the blame for all shortcomings
of the government. Do not forget
(continued on page 0)
Pearl Harbor (^)—Admiral
John Towers reported Wednes
day that the Navy is planning to
build a new permanent Naval
base in the Aleutians and will
turn Guam into a Pacific outpost
of Pearl Harbor importance.
The commander of the Pacific
Fleet said it would be the Navy’s
policy to concentrate permanent
naval installations in the Aleu
tians, Hawaii and the Marianas
He said the location of the Aleu
tian’s base is undetermined al
though it will probably be some
where in the “center of the pen
insula”.
Admiral Towers said perman
ent facilities for surface vessels
and naval aiibaes would be con
centrated in the places mention
ed, either abandoning or restrict
ing the operation of bases in
other areas.
Most of the interview was re
lated to Guam The Navy has
long hinted Guam was bulking
large in future plans but this is
the first official intimation it will
assume an importance on a par
with Pearl Harbor. Admiral
Towers said the Navy has al
ready begun the upbuilding of
Guam’s permanent installations.
Kodiak—Because of reported
broadcasts to that effect, the
Mirror wired Associated Press
yesterday asking if Kodiak was
named as oueof 3 large bases “of
Pearl Harbor importance”. Ac
cording to the reply the bases re
ferred to were the ones mention
ed above, including the “new,
permanent” base "probably near
the center of the Alaskan penin
sula”.
The local Naval District In
telligence office said yesterday,
that their information was that
the new base would be a supple
ment to the present establish
ment at Kodiak, the latter al
ready of the status of a “prim
ary” base as announced by the
Navy seveial weeks ago.
Volunteer Workers
Wanted at School
A call for volunteer electri
cians, carpenters, plumbers, and
laborers to work on improve
ments at the school was issued
today, with the work-call set for
tomorrow (Sunday). All, includ
ing plumbers, are asked to bring
their own tools.
Workers will be divided into 4
crews to (1) prepare teachers’
restroom. (2) excavate basement
for boiler room. (3) lining up
quonset huts, and (4) work on
lew science room.
The call for volunteers is nec
essary because of limited school
unds and the dire need of get
jug the work done to alleviate
jvercrowded conditions.
Proposed Fish
Changes Heard
One of a series of Alaskan
hearings on proposed fishing reg
ulation changes was held here
Thursday at the Union hall, c n
ducted by Seton Thompson, as
sistant chief, Alaska Fisheries
division of the Fish & Wildlife
(Service.
Steele Culbertson and Pete
Gilmore, Alaska Salmon Indust
ry representatives, were among
the 9 persons present.
Proposed changes in regula
tions include the following:
1 No fishing from Narrow
Cape to Cape Trinity.
I, Arognak island all closed
prior to Sept. 10, except Afognak
and Parano&a bays, open only
from June 1 to June 30
3. All jitney or side rigs must
be not less than 25 ft. long.
4. Any purse seines—minimum
length 125 feet, maximum length
150 feet, minimum depth 7 and
a quarter fathoms.
Local representations included
one on fish trap abolishment by
Karl Brunstaad, and recommend
ations on escapements and sea
sons in the Karluk and Red Riv
er by Alf Madsen.
A final hearing is still to be
held Nov 14 at Seattle, Mr.
j Thompson announced, and writ
ten recommendations from this
area will be considered if receiv
ed by Nov. 15 in the office of
the Director, Fish & Wildlife
service, Chicago.
High praise was given local
New Ship
Strike On
Seattle—A new strike begin
ning Tuesday of longshoremen
and seamen is keeping ships of
the Alaska run at their docks, al
though plans are being made for
food shipments to Nome and the
Bristol bay area before the wint
er freeze-up.
Kodiak—A wire from Gov.
Gruening to Mayor Lee Betting
er, to ascertain amounts of food
supplies here, was answered by
Mayor Bettinger to the effect
that local rationing of staple
items has begun and that a sur
vey showed serious shortages
would develop in 2 weeks.
Kodiak’s last boat arrived Sep
tember 8, with a small cargo.
Deputy U. S Marshal Paul
Herring left Sunday for Anchor
age foi the fall term of the grai d
jury.
He was accompanied by his
niece, Lorna Campbell, who con
tinued on to her home in Van
couver, B. C to v-it her famil\.
She has been living with the
Herrings while employed at the
Island fountain, and expects to
return.
fishermen by Mr. Thompson,
who said that fishermen of the
Kodiak area were more far-sight
ed and very much ahead of fish
ermen in all other districts in
their efforts to control and pre
serve their local fishing resource.
Ash Falls On Kodiak Isle
A film of ashes, presumably
from an active volcano on the
mainland southwest of Kodiak,
fell on the western side of Kodi
ak island during the past week,
it was reported here Sunday on
the return of the Fish & Wildlife
boat Eider from a trip to that
area.
On one day the ashes were so
thick in the air that the skv was
obscured and the sun appeared
as a hazy, red ball. While the
Eider was in part of Uganik bay
the shore a mile away was com
pletely obscured.
The boat itself was covered
with a layer of the ash, estimat
ed at about a sixteenth of an inch
thick. Brush and other growth in
the area was covered with the
ash. Marc Meyer, Fish & Wild
life agent, said the ash gritted in
their teeth as members from the
boat walked about the streams,
and that it had a “peculiar”
odor—definitely not sulphurous
and undefinable.
The a»b deposit was first seer
_
in Terror bay and continued a
long the western coast of the is
land to Uganik bay, which was
as far as the boat went
At the time the sun was ob
scured the wind was blowing
from the southwest, which would
put the source as in the area of
Mageik aud Martin mountains,
both active volcanoes. Reports
said the source appeared to be
farther south than Katrnai
mountain, which in 1912 covered
Kodiak and the surrounding area
with a disastrous spate of a?h
A check with the Navy dis
closed no further information on
the ash. Navy Air Tiaisport pi
lots had not seen the pheoomen
on. The Navy reported that
when a group of submarines vis
ited Kodiak a month ago that
the subs picked up some red ash
in the Dutch Harbor area.
None of the ash was visible at
Kodiak and there were no reports
of any obscurement of the sun in
the area on this side of Ihe is
land.