Show roalin around with the NEA one in a series of articles by albert IV epperson iho aha with virginia and shirley are currently with the national editorial Edi toral association party in convention in the pacific northwest with a post convention trip to alaska tuesday june i we were joined in seattle this morning by faye IVI williams IIams who had made the trip i from salt lake via air arriving at 7 a m tuesday morning was devoted to co convention activities including ad idree drees 5 by frank tremaine chief i 1 of the united press war de desk sk at tokyo since t the he outbreak of the war in korea george weber adu vur ver agency executive and reed harris deputy general man inan kager ager of the international informs tion and educational exchange pro glam giam of the U S state depart I 1 other convention speakers were dr george taylor chairman of the far eastern I 1 department of the university of washington and i senator cane of washington who 4 gave up a job on gen eisenhowe ers staff to become a parachute colonel and jump with his men during world war II if following adjournment of the convention on tuesday our parta came aboard the S S aleutian craft of the alaska steamship co for the beginning of our longa long a lt waited cruise our departure was at S p m pacific daylight time which is the amae as our mountain time and just prior to departure paper str streamers Lamens were handed out and the going away was a gala affair our cabin is on the starboard right side of the ship and has a connecting bath bunk beds similar to pullman cars are comfortable and do we sleep with avith the slight roll roil of the ship and the lapping of the waves acting as an aid to i and food theres none j better its served american style and you can have anything you want and all you want with service par excellence the group aboard is divided into two sittings in the dining salon with the first sitting I 1 getting their meals at 7 12 and 5 w and the second sitting being served at and 7 we are assigned and have the same waiter during the he entire cruise ai the aleutian has a displacement of tons is feet in length and is 50 0 feet in breadth accommodations are for SOS first class pas pa en engelis geis s decks make up the ship which though one of the older craft is very comfortable the dining salon is located on C deck the lower of the three and a i number of lounges are located at various places on the ship the upper or boat deck has facilities for ship games such as shuffle board and the deck steward keeps busy entertaining the passengers particularly ticul arly the young folks folkson on orl board no dinner was served aboard ship the evening we sailed but at 10 p ni a snack a regular feature each evening was served in the dining salon all morning wednesday june 6 Vanco vancouver uvel vei island remained on our left as we steamed northward with the mainland to our right As we entered seymour narrows between vancouver and quadra u a a island our ship was halted halte f from n I 1 9 to 11 a in awaiting high tide in order that we may proceed through this tricky channel then on up the inland passage through queen charlotte strait and touching queen charlotte sound where we encountered our first olen open sea of the voyage with squeamish landlubbers land lubbers noticing a touch of sea sickness we were soon back in protected waters behind princess royal island through greenville channel at pitt island and at 1 p ni thursday june 7 T we were at prince rupert B C with but a short distance to the international boundary Tia velling on the steamer aleutian on this cruise are arc a group of nurses and a physician from the king county central blood bank of seattle and a representative from american red cross pacific area headquarters who will debark at ketchikan juneau and seward to collect blood for the armed forces from residents lesi dents of alaska cities this is the first opportunity in the territory of alaska for donors to participate in the nationwide program of blood collections for the military this is also the first so called amphibious blood collection tour in the red cross campaign to procure blood for the military an estimated 1500 pints of blood is expected on the tour in five days collections transportation of equipment supplies and staff is provided by the alaska steamship company from seattle eattle 9 to seward and return and the alaska railroad from seward to anchorage blood collected in alaska will be flown immediately to seattle for delivery to the armed forces to be continued |