jKodiak Diary
[com
itinued from Daere 2)
Lck, identical in shape and
j|jr to weapons of South Sea
,jirs. Under Baranof Aleuts
brought here as hunters
did not mix well with the
,e indians.
, jthose early days Yankee
:jfS would sail around the
D outfit at the Hawaiian is
t come north and make a
ifith Baranof, pick up the
lers and boats and take them
I [e coast of California after
altar.
1 [fey would then return to
jak and discharge the hunter
,, give up the share of furs
lie transaction and return a
to the Hawaiian islands,
they would take an addi
cargo of sandalwood and
products and proceed to
, where they would seli
(cargoes These early Yan
Iraders were a large part of
United States merchant mar
lr, Erskine arrived in Kodiak
llie first time the winter of
; on the steamship Dora,
eh could make 5 knots under
a A trip from here to Un
ta and back took a month
ike vessel.
lr. Erskine’s first impression
iodiak was on a February
nmg, warm and balmy, with
ton the upper reaches of the
stains. The first thing he
struck by was the neatness
lie village. Every house was
te and every roof red. The
pie were very attractive and
tely any English was spoken
the streets. The older people
every polite and as a com
ite the village gave the im
sion of a European settle
it.
louses were kept very clean
flowers were noticeable in
windows of the homes Every
orday the banyas (bathhous
would begin smoking and
lies got ready for church
I evening. On the way to
tcb the men would be dressed
their Sunday best and the
“eo invariably wore shawls.
Won labor at that time
landed 20 cents an hour,
Wod native carpenter get
30 cents an hour. Livelihood
limited and annual incuine
?er, but there was not want
tad gardens, and a commun
S&rden was maintained at
Potato Patch, near the Bap
Mission. Men fished during
Pason and others were em
t*d by the Alaska Road com
ta®, some at a few hateb
*i and a few at the Apollo
I) mine at Unga.
Presidents were a very hap
e°ple, enjoying their parties,
-i‘ services, holidays and
**• Dances used to be held
ta old Blodgett residence
1 hhe deputy U S. Marshal’s
with 50 or 60 people
** dancing to their own
1 June 6, 1912, the famed
i'on of Mt. Katmai, on the
'and opposite Kodiak, oc
First intimation at Kod
the eruption was a large
! cloud approaching from
southwest. People began
scurrying abeut collecting first!
samples of the ash that fell as
souvenirs. In a few hours there
were thousands of tons of the ash
all over Kodiak.
As the cloud closed in to the
eastward the dark became im
penetrable. A lantern could not
be seen 10 feet away. This dark
ness continued almost unabated
for 48 hours, and 186 of the in
habitants first sought shelter in
a large log warehouse on Ers
kine’s dock and the rest aboard
the U S. Coast Guard cutter
Manning. Chlorine gas began
forming and birds were dropping
dead so it was decided to evacu
ate everyone. All were put a
board the Manning, and the boat
stopped at Woody island to pick
up the inhabitants and the mem
bers of the Baptist Mission or
phanage, which at that time was1
located there. (One of the officers
aboard the Manning was reading
the Last Days of Pompeii, and
worried greatly about the lava
flow.) The next day it cleared
up. however, and the boat pulled
back into Kodiak to survey the
damage and to decide if it could
be made liveable again. The job
of cleaning up then began. There
was absolutely no water and all
water lines had to be taken up
and empiied of ash. The Man
ning stayed at Erskine’s dock
for 2 months and evaporated
o'ean water for the people to
drink.
There were no direct casualties
of the eruption. One woman, a
consumptive cripple, fell off a [
bank and died. About 6 children j
died later as a result of drinking
water that was not boiled and
strained. The ashes in the water
acted as ground glass and result
ed in fatal inflamation of the
bowels.
The Kodiak Baptist Mission,
large enough to take care of a
bout 100 orphans, had 72 at the
time of the eruption and the sup
erintendent was George Learn (a
street in Kodiax is named for
him). The Mission had its own
gardens, and they too had to dig
from a foot to 14 inches of ashes
off their gardens and grounds.
Kodiak was the scene of an oil
boom in 1921 when wells were
drilled at Pearl creek on Alaska
peninsula, but nothing develop
ed. Again in 1938 fruitless oil
drillings were undertaken at
Jute bay. on the same peninsula.
In 1932 the Navy sent the ship
Gannett, an old mine sweeper, j
later sunk in the Atlantic, to'
Kodiak to undertake a survey
for naval stations in this area.
Kodiak was surveyed and the
work was continued as far as
Attu. In 1936 first definite word j
was received that Kodiak bad
been chosen as the t ite of a large
naval base. Construction was
started on it in 1939. i
An article entitled “Bears
Prowl Kodiak Island” appears
in the current (October) issue of
(continued on page 11)
Souvenirs & Curios
For The Folks At Home
TOTEM IGLOO CURIO
and
GIFT SHOP
The Cub
JOSEPHINE COULSEY & HELEN BUEKERS Owners
CONEY ISLAND HOT D06S
Cooked in Specially Designed Coney Islands Electric Cookers
TRY ONE!
FRESH ROASTED PEANUTS and POPCORN
Candies • Bars of All Kinds - Soft Diiaks
Have a “Coke”=What’s the good word?
VOJ0&S
rnpmS
• • »
a way to get along with folks
Your American soldier carries the keys to comradeship wherever he goes.
Have a “Coke”, says he to the eager youngsters at home, and it’s like saying,
What’s the good word? It’s a phrase that’s understood in New Zealand or Newport,
as well as in your own living room. Coca-Cola stands for the pause
that refreshes,—has become a gesture of good will, saying, Let’s be friends.
aorruo
UNDER AUTHORITY Of THE COCA-COLA COMPANY »Y ,
5f
“Coke” = Coca-Cola
It’s natural for popular names
to acquire friendly abbrevia
tions. That’s why you hear
Coca-Cola called “Coke”.
01*44 Tk« C-C Co.
ANCHORAGE COLD STORAGE CO.