Kodiak Banking Has Its Differences
By Harvey G. Brown
(The following article is taken
from one written by Mr. Brown,
assistant cashier of the Bank of
Kodiak, that appeared in the
June issue of “Banking’', leading
monthly publication of the Am
erican Bankers Association.)
Prior to the war, Kodiak was
more or less off the beaten path.
At that time it was a small fish
ing village with a population of
500 people, in good part Aleuts,
or an admixture of Aleut and
Russian blood from the days of
Baranof.
In 1939 construction was
started on a naval air station
near the village, which brought
an influx of construction men,
their families, as well as Navy
and Army officers and men.
No banking facilities were
available.
With this in mind 0. A. Tor
gerson came from Cordova,
Alaska, to Kodiak in 1939 to see
if the conditions warranted or
ganizing a bank.
un March 4, :y4U, the Bank of
Kodiak opened for business,
with Mr. Torgerson president
and cashier, and W. J. Erskine
and Ben Kraft, vice-presidents
There was one employee —
"Torgy” himself. He did evey
thing from opening the door in
the morning to finally writing
up the “general” at night. His
lunch was brought to him by
bis wife from their home up
stairs. That was how it all
started.
From that beginning the bank
grew by leaps and bounds to a
high figure of slightly less than
$4 million in total assets in 2
and one half years. It became
necessary to double the size of
the banking quarters and, natur
ally, to employ more people. We
now number 10 and have plenty
ofdutes to keep us out of
mischief.
1 arrived in Kodiak in October
1941 and met my new boss for
the fiist time at the dock. The
bank at that time was growing
by jumps, and there was not
time for formalities. We all
worked practically night and
day. Kodiak was a roaring boom
town, a man was lucky to find a
place to sleep. The numerous
bars weie doing a land office
business.
Kodiak is a warm, not a frig,
id, place. We do not bank in
igloos. I didn’t know what an
Alaskan bank might be like and
l was pleasantly surprised at
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our quarters. They are well plan
ned, more modern than the us
ual run of banks in the smaller
towns in the States. There is a
fireplace in the lobby and on
raw, wet nights ( we bank Sat
urday nights, too ) it provides a
cheerful note. We have good
equipment, but must of neces
sity forego the more complicated
machines, as we have no service
at hand, should they break down.
Our bear collection is some
thing. I’ll bet we have more
bears in our bank than you’ll
find in any other bank in Alaska
and the States. One iB a stuffed
Kodiak cub, posed in a rearing
position in the lobby. He is not
very large, standing six feet.
Sometimes dogs wander in and,
catching sight of the bear, let
out a yelp and wind up growling
on the other side of the lobby.
Our collection includes a Kodiak
hide that came from an animal
shot on Afognak Island, close
by. It is large, measuring nine
feet four inches from nose to
tail and unusual in tnat it is ex
tremely blond for Kodiaks. Also
there is a very fine specimen of
polar bear from near Point Bar
row. We have a grizzly, and a
black. Another Kodiak head and
a wolverine pelt complete the
animal end of the display.
A totem pole stands against
one wall in the lobby. It is very
old, and a fine example of car
ving—a raven totem. We also
display in a show case, among
other things, Attu baskets, wov
en fine as linen by a native wo
man on the island of Attu She
is very old and partly blind.
Since Attu was in the Japs’ pos
session she is either a prisoner,
or dead. With her passes her
find art.
Banking heie is not to be com
pared with the usual procedure
at home. Owing to the extremely
[rapid growth, we found that we
could expect to be understaffed,
and so would have to short cut
many operations to enable us to
care for the volume of work In
addition to the banking hours in
town, we conduct a complete
banking business in the pay
master’s office at the naval air
station one night a week.
For the most part, our custo
mers are easy to get along
with—on the rough and ready
side, perhaps, but not demand
ing, and, in the great majority
of cases, honest as the day is
long I enjoy working with
them. During the past year and
more they have been working
long hours and receive excellent
pay. Some have to be taught the
rudiments of handling a bank
account, but most construction
men are accustomed to making
and spending better than aver
age earnings, so we have not had
many arguments about the fair
ness of our exchange and service
charges, which are in some cases
slightly higher than in the Unit
id States, although reasonable
lonsidering the much higher cost
>f doing business here
Our location so far from Seat
le present problems that in the
J. S. A. are not even thougnt
>f. Suoplies must be estimated
and ordered far in advance, and
in sufficient quantities. Currency
requirements, which mean noth
ing to most small banks, are real
here. We carry anywhere from
three-quarters of a million dol
lars to a million and a quarter
in cash. With our usual business
we also have a great deal of
Army and Navy payroll work,
which requires lots of cash.
During the first part of the
war, blacking out brought some
lawlessness, because the more
doubtful boys saw a chance to
do some robbery on the side. For
quite a time thereafter, Torgy
and others, including the writer,
slept in the bank lobby. We
worked it in weekly shifts.
You might wonder what we
do for relaxation. So far we have
not had much time for that. The
country is really beautiful, and
there are places to hike that aie
worth the effort. Some of us
have climbed some mountains;
there is good duck shooting,
when a fellow can get the time.
Going after bear is something to
look forward to, also. Fishing is
good in the summer. Last sum
mer we went swimming a couple
of times in a beaver lake. We all
like to have bull sessions and oc
casionally play a little poker. I
say a little, and mean little;
some of the more reckless souls
really grit their teeth at poker
up here. Some games run into
five figures, and I don’t mean
cigar coupons.
The Army and Navy have co
operated with us splendidly in
all ways. They are a fine bunch
of officers and men and being in
Alaska is no bed of roses for
them. They are entitled to a lot
of credit for the bang up job
they are doing. It isn’t easy.
Being hero has been a great
experience for us all, and one
that, no matter where we should
find ourselves in later times,
should prepare us to meet al
most, any unusual situation. As
the saying is ‘‘Anything can
happen in Kodiak, and usually
does!”
=*===*<*=
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ANOTHER BIG
DANCE
SATURDAY JULY 3 9:00 PM
at Blinn’s Hall,
Under Auspices of Cooks & Assistants Local 874
Admission Men $1.25
DANCING EVERY SATURDAY NIGHT