VOL. 3 NO. 32
KODIAK, ALASKA OCTOBER 9, 1943
T
PRICE 10 CENTS
Well-known
Cordovan
Succumbs
Cordova (Special) — John V.
Lydick. resident of this commun
ity for more than 30 years and
prominent as a civic leader and
lodgeman and known throughout
Alaska, died early Saturday of
heart failure.
He was born at Falls City,
Nebraska on Jan. 16, 1882. The
lure of the West brought him to
the coast in the early part of the
century, where he was first
freight clerk and then a purser
for the Alaska Steamship com
pany. Later he became auditor
for the Copper River and North
western Railway, transport sy
stem for the great Kennecot cop
per mines.
He married Elizabeth Snyder
in 1912 and two sons were born
in Cordova. Philip, a sergeant in
the Armed forces m the Alaska
area was at home on furlough at
the time of his father’s death.
The other son, John V , Jr., wae
formerly Alaska Steamship agent
at Kodiak and worked at the
base here When last, heard of
here he was in Seward.
The deceased was a charter
member and one of the founders
of Cordova’s Elks lodge.
Flag To Be Displayed
Today is Leif Erickson day,
proclaimed by Governor Gruen
ing
Our flag, and the flags of the
Scandinavian nations, are to be
flown today.
Theatre Installs
New Equipment
Motion picture patrons will
enjoy improved screenings of
their favorite motion pictures at
the Orpheum beginning tomor
row when work will be complet
ed on the installation of a new
screen on the stage and of new
complete projection units in the
two projection machines.
The comb nation of the units,
which incorporate many new
mechanical features not found
in the former machines, together
with the new screen, will pro
vide a brighter, steadier, easy
on-the-eyes screen image.
The proscenium arch has also
been enlarged and work has be
gun for installation of the latest
type automatic curtain, which is
being tailor-made in Seattle. The
tracks, drums, motor and wiring
will be put in now so the curtain
may be hung as soon as it ar
rives The work is being done by
Robert 1 unday and James
Martz.
Son Of Former
Resident Missing
Tech. Sergeant Robert I.
Brooks is listed as missing in
action in the European area, ac
cording to word received here
from the Governor’s office at
Juneau.
He is survived by his father,
Cecil Brooks, who is well-known
here, where he operated the Is
land Transfer company before
It was taken over by Bill Lewis.
The father is believed to be in
Seattle. The deceased is a son
by a former marriage.
Celeste Lewis, wife of Bill
Lewis, owner of the Island
Transfer, returned to her home
here this week after an extended
stay in California, where she was
called by the illness and death
of her mother.
Movie Star Expected
Spencer Tracy, the well-known
motion picture actor, is expected
at Fort Greely sometime next
week on an entertainment tour,
according to military authorities.
Definite time of his arrival is
not known.
To Purchase Engine
A special council meeting was
held Wednesday to authorize
purchases being made for the
Volunteer fire department. In*
eluded in the new equipment
will be a new moter for one of
the fire trucks, 600 feet of ad
ditional hose and some clothing
for the firemen
Pete Nesby is being treated at
the Griffin Memorial hospital
for pneumonia. He was taken off
a steamship of which he was a
crew member.
Week’s News Highlights
Mediterranean Front
Reinforced Naz troops coun
terattacked in the Termoli sec
tor on the East coast of Italy in
an effort to clip the possible
budding of an 8th army thrust
on Rome fiom the East. Amer
ican Fifth army, slowed by
floods, concentrated on mopping
up operations north of Naples.
Allied planes raided Bologna,
northern Italian rail center
through which flows Nazi traffic
from the Brenner Pass to
Trieste. A German time bomb,
containing several hundred tons
of high explosives exploded
when the Naples post office
buiiding was reopened to the
public, killing more than a
hundred civilians & soldiers &
injuring scores more. Italian
based Allied planes opened an
onslaught against the Balkans
with an assault on the airfield at
Argos, north of Sparta, Greece,
while North African air forces
battered the Menidi airdrome
north of Athens. Fate of Nazi
forces on Corsica island became
doomed by the fall of Bastia,
German escape port, to Moroc
can Goumiers & French troops.
British subs sank 6 & damaged
2 German vessels in the Med
iterranean sea. Secretary of War
Stimson announced American
losses in the first 4 weeks of the
Italian fighting totaled 8,307. Of
these, 500 are dead, while 5428
are wounded & 2367 are missing.
Russian Front
Red army, pressing a new sur
prise offensive along the entire
front from the Black sea to Len
ingrad, reported expanding 3
bridgeheads in the West
Dnieper river area, particularly
one below Kiev, threatened to
cave in Germany’s Eastern lines.
Front line dispatches of the
army paper Redstar said major
crossing was made on the
Dnieper river south of Cereya
slav, 50 miles below Kiev, which
may prove to be one of the most
decisive operations of the war.
Pacific Front
Australians seized Dampu,
within 50 miles of the Jap ship
ping base at Madang. in an ad
vance up the interior of New
Guinea. Allied forces took con
trol of the Huon peninsula to
outflank neutralized Jap posi
tions between Finschafen, which ]
fell to Allied troops, & Madang |
to the north. Starving ou of
ammunition, Japs abandoned
thair large base at Vila, tied from
the entire southern half of Kol
ombongara island in the Sol
omons & prepared to evacuate
the remainder of the island.
Allied Dianes destroyed 27 Jap
barges <fe ships, downed 12
planes. Tokyo radio announced
that an Allied submarine slipped
through naval defences & sank
a Jap passenger ship in Tsus
hima strait, between Japan &
Korea, with a probable loss of
544 lives.
European Front
Ranging over Southern Ger
many, powerful RAF bomber
fleets pounded 3 important cities,
Stuttgart, Friedrichshafen, and
Munich, while a force of Ger
man bombers hit London and
Southeast England in the sharp
est retaliation bDw for over a
year. Two block-buster assaults
in 24 hours rocked Frankfort,
German industrial city, with
RAF night fliers trailing Amer
ican daylight precision bombers;
72 enemy planes were reported
(continued on page 9)
Draft Groups
Being Checked
A recent order to the local
draft board ordering temporary
cessation of inductions was sent
to all draft boards to enable tbe
boards to revie# reeords to see
that men without dependents
are classified properly.
The step was taken, National
Selective Service headquarters
said, to make certain that every
available non-father is inducted
into militaiy service before
drafting of fathers, if the latter
are called.
World Series
Yankee Stadium, New York—
Oct. 5—In a comedy of error*
and weird defensive play that
resembled sandlot baseball on
occasion the New York Yankees
whipped the St. Louis Cardinals
4 to 2 behind the 7-hit pitching
of Spud Chandler to draw first
blood in the 1943 Series. Attend
ance was 68,676
Cardinals—2 runs, 7 hits. 2
errors; Lamer, Brecheen and W.
Cooper.
Yankees—4 runs, 8 hits, 2 er
rors; Chandler and Dickey.
Oct 6—Burdened by the news
of the sudden death of his fath-i
er, Mort Cooper pitched with
his arm and his heart in a great
competitive exhibition to hurl
the St. Louis Cardinals to a 4 to
3 victory over the New York
Yankees and square the 1943
series at 1 game apiece. Attend
ance was 68,578.
Cardinals—4 runs, 7 hits, 2
errors; M. Cooper and VV
Cooper.
Yankees—3 runs. 6 hits, no
errors; Bonham, Murphy and
Dickey.
Oct. 7—Breaking loose with a
5-run blast in the eighth the
New York Yankees downed the
St. Louis Cardinals 6 to 2 in the
third tilt of the World Series to.
day before an alltime record
series crowd of 69,099 to take a
2 to 1 lead in games.
Cardinals—2 runs, 6 hits, 4
errors; Brazel, Krist, Brecheen
and W. Coope'.
Yankees—6 runs, 8 hits, no
errors; Borowy, Murphy and
Dickey.
Teams were idle Fri. & today
moving to St. Louis for resump
tion of the series.
The remains of Harry John
stead, who died last week of a
heart attack, will be shipped to
his birtholace, Tacoma, for bur
ial, in accordance with the
wishes of relatives, according to
the U. S. Commissioner’s office.
Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Wood
burn are the parents of a baby
girl, born Tuesday at 3:20 am
at the (jriffin Memorial hospital.
17 Escape
Plane Crash
Landing
A giant twin-motored land
plane, a DC3, arriving at Kod
iak from the Westward about 7
Monday evening with 17 per
sons aboard, made a crash land
ing in a storm on the waters of
a land-locked lagoon a few miles
short of the airfield without so
much as a scratch being received
by the ere w or military personnel
aboard.
The plane made the belly
landing with its landing gear re
tracted and came to rest m
shallow water about 100 yards
from shore. Besides damage to
the plane only ‘ casualty” was
wet feet received when all mem
bers aboard waded ashore.
Work Started
On Water Project
Clarence Cole, engineer for
the water system, reports that
work has started on the project,
but that, completion of it is not
expected until next spring.
He said that although a stor
age feature was definitely added
to the foimer plans, that the de
tails of it were not completely
worked out yet. Tentatively the
plan calls for storage of 8 1-2
million gallons, which on a basis
of 150 gallons a day per person,
will supply the town for a 5 to 6
months period. This storage is
especially necessary because of
dry spells in summer aud freeze
up periods in winter.
___
Takes Over Grill
Stan Austerman, owner of the
Cheechako Club, announced this
week the purchase of the Chee
chako Grill, in the same build
ing, from Mrs. Lean Fjeldheim
who has been operating it for
over a year.
The Grill will be closed next
week for alternations and in
stallation of a horseshoe counter.
Chlorine Added
To System
With installation of chlorina
tion equipment this week tests
are being conducted daily to ar
rive at the correct amount of
chlorine to be used The water
may taste strongly of the chlor
ine at first, it is reported, but
when adjusted the chemical
should be “hardly noticeable”.
The watershed is to be marked
with signs and people are asked
to cooperate in preventing con
tamination in the watershed
areas.