Kodiak Mirror

New Phone Directories Monday; Striking Cover Makes Book Unique

By Sig Digree

A strikingly different cover will greet phone users when they receive the new Kodiak Telephone Company directories, which will be issued beginning next Monday.

The book was printed locally. The cover was designed by Paul Bond, well-known Kodiak and Alaskan artist. He has grouped the four most famous inhabitants to be found on the island and the adjacent sea, with a life-like replica of each. In the top left-hand corner is the Kodiak bear, in all his ferocious mien, as if to proclaim his mastery of the island.

Opposite him is the salmon, complete with a crown, symbolic as still wielding a royal prerogative in the affairs of the community and master of Kodiak's economy.

In the lower left-hand corner is the giant crab, who also wears a king's crown. He is challenger to the crown of genus Salmo, and has in the past few years brought a fairly stabilized economy to the Kodiak area. He is Mr. King Crab himself, who was feted recently in Kodiak's first King Crab Festival.

Whether or not the position of the genus Salmo in the overall drawing is indicative of his importance in the eyes of the artist is not known. Fishermen, too, and biologists might have a word to say as to the species indicated.

Though he wears a crown, clearly denoting him as "king," he is not of course meant to be a true king--a species all its own and not found in great quantities in the waters adjacent to the town of Kodiak.

He is rather an Oncorhynchus nerka, commonly called a sockeye or red, or an Oncorhynchus keta, or chum; but more than likely he is an Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, the true name for the species commonly referred to as pink salmon.

The latter are found in larger quantities than any other and are

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NEW TELEPHONE DIRECTORY
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the mainstay of the fishermen each year.

The two combined - the genus Salmo and the Paralithodes camtschatica, or king crab, each affect the destiny of the Island of Kodiak and its people and are recognized herewith everytime the user picks up the phone book.

Another industry here is represented on the cover. In the remaining corner is a drawing of a steer. No one can gainsay the beneficial effects of cattle raising on the island's economy. Some may quarrel (particularly cattlemen) to the particular species represented here. Whether a Shorthorn, a Hereford, an Angus or the more recent Santa Gertrudes, all of which are raised here, appears on the cover, is a small matter indeed. Grouping of the four inhabitants on the cover will serve as a daily reminder of the importance of each - and the diversified activities of the island.

Paul Bond has since left the vicinity, having left here earlier this month for Colorado Springs, where he affiliated with the new Air Force Academy being built there.

The balance of the book is, of course, made up of the names of residents, some prominent, some not, and lists them from A (Robert Acheson) to Z (Martin Zuckerman). Gordon Jensen, manager of the Kodiak Telephone Company, urges all subscribers to pick up their directories beginning Monday due to changes in listings. Subscribers are asked to bring in their old phone books.