IR.'.,.Ri:S3 0!’ TERRITORY, AS
SHOW N IS REPORT OF GOV.
1‘AKJvS TO INTERIOR DEPT.
(Continued from Last Issue.)
Roads.
The Territory co-operates with the
Federal Government in the construc
tion of roads and trails. The Alaska
Koad ornrnission, War Department, is
responsible for the constructin f j
roads and trails outside of the na
tional forest areas, and the Bureau of
Public Loads is charged with similar
w irk in the forest reserves. In the
fci.ennium 1927-28 the Territory ap
propriated $500,365.41 for roads,1
trails ana aviation fields, and the
eoost of administration to the Terri- j
tory wa: 1.5 per cent of this amount.:
This cleariy shows the benefits of
the co-opei-ative arrangements. In !
1928 the new construction consisted
of 45 miles of road, 48 1-2 miles of
sled road, 104 miles of trail, 440
Lnear feet of bridges, 10 airplane j
landing fields, and 23 shelter cabins. I
During the same period 27 3-4 miles j
o froa dwere reconstructed, 65 miles j
of road, were surfaced, 2 3-4 miles of j
tramway constructed, and 1,271 1-4 j
nines of road, 84 1-4 miles of tram- |
way, 742.1-2. miles of sled road,
4,3591-4 miles of permanent trail,
314 miles of temporary trail, 736
miles of telephone line, 27 airplane
landing fields, and 26 shelter cabins
were maintained. The total expendi
tures in 1928 for all activities was
«,448,163.91.
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Since March 1, 1927, all roads |
within national forests have been j
constructed and maintained by the!
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Bureau, of. Public Hoads. The funds I
expenriad by this organization are
provided for by the Federal highway \
act amt Territorial allotments. The j
total , amount expended for roads in
and adjacent to the national forests
is S4itilhs9S9, and of this sum $325,
593 has been contributed by the Ter- j
ritoriah road board.
Two hundred and four and five
tenths miles of highway have been
constructed, and in 1928 an addi
tional! 17.3 miles were under con-1
struction. A total of $573,869.13 was |
expended d uring the year, and of
this about $40,000 was derived from
Territorial allotments. The develops
ment that has taken place along the
highways affords ample justification
for thmsexpenditures that have been
■made by this organization. A com
prehensive- program has heen pre
pared, and it is believed that the
needs of each community have been
antieiDspbed...
Bureau of Mines.
The United States Bureau of Mines
maintains a if ully equipped mine-res
cue car -on the Alaska Railroad, and
throughoout the year a representative
of the bureau visits the larger mining
camps :.in the Territory, giving in
structions to miners and subordnate
mine officials in mine safety service
and miner-rescue m ethods. Inc co
operation with the Alaska Agricul
tural \< 'ftMege and School of Mines,
the Bureau of Mines conducts a lar
bora tar js- in the College at Fairbanks
where prospectors and miners may
have samples assayed at cost and
and qu»Utatiye determinations made
free of .charge.
Care of Insane.
The legally adjudged insane from
the Territory have been cared for
under contract at Morningside Hos
pital, near Portland, Oregon, for
25 1-2 years. During this period 1,253
patients have been admitted to the
institution, and there are 241 now
confined for treatment. The present
contract expires this year and a new
one has been made for the next five
years. During the next period it is;
expected t hatt plans will be perfect
ed whereby an institution will be pro
vided in Alaska. Arrangements have
been made for a doctor employed by
the Government to be stationed' at
the institution in Portland, and he
will. have authority to examine the
patients and represent the Interior
Department. This is a decided im
provement over the practice that has
»justed i: the past and should be of
advantage to the institution and to
the patientns.
Aviation.
Commercial aviation inn Alaska be
gan aboout seven years ago when the
first conttract for carrying United
States mail between Fairbanks and
McGrath was awarded in Fairbanks.
SSince that date rapid progress has
been made in this method of trans-.
portation. The Territorial govern
ment expends annually 30 per cent of
the road appropriation for the con
struction of landing fields, and there
are at the present time 67 fields situ-!
ated ,n strategic places in the interior
ofthe Territory. The economic value
of this method of transportatioon and'
the resulting benefits in the develop-:
meat of the Territory can not be ,
jver-estirnated. The feasibility and
practicability of Hying at all seasons j
of the year has been demon- rated |
ucyond question. Practically all of!
the pioneer wqrk in aviation in Alas
ka has been done by prvate interests.,
The Territory occupies a strategic po- i
sition on the proposed air routies
from Europe and Asia, and the Fed-;
eral Government should provide an
airport for the use of the Army and
Navy.
Education.
The school sf Alaska are support- j
ed bf th eFederal Gvernment by di- j
rect apprpriatin and by the Terri
torial government from Territorial;
repenues. For the biennium 1929-30
the Legislature appropriated $1,074,
3o0 for .no maintenance of Territorial
schools ana the Alaska Agricultural
College and School of Mines. The
schools are classified in three divi-;
sions, namely, namely, s. ools in in- j
corporated cities and incorporated
school districts, schools outside of iri
ccrpoorated cities but in established
school airtricts, ana special or co-op
erative schools which are maintained
in communities where the number of
children of school age does not meet
toe territorial requirement for the
creation of a r egular school district,
t.iese schools are supplemented by:
schools maintained under direction of
the governor out of Federal funds
i derived from taxes and other soources :
in Alaska. In the interest of efficient
administration these last mentioned
schools are placed in charye of the j
commissioner of education of the
Territory. During the last year 15 j
high schools and 89 elementary
! schools were maintained; 235 teachers
j were employed for 5,032. pupils, at a
! cost of $541,772.09.
The federal Government, through
the Office of Education, with head*
quarters at Seattle, supervises the
education, medical relief, industrial
traininy, and relief of destitution
among the natives in Alaska. Dur
j ing the year 97 schools .with an en
! rollment of 3,882 pupils, employed
i 177 teachers. Medical relief was ren
| dered in several hospitals, by nurses
at many stations, and along the Yu
i kon river by a floating hospital. In
addition to the hospitals conducted, by
the bureau, contractst were made
with many privately-owned hospitals
and sanitariums in Alaska and! Se
attle. Three industrial schools were
maintained, and in each the. program,
for training was improved. The float
ing hospital on the Yukon river
serves a most useful purpose* but the
present boat and. equipment aa:e not
adequate for the service; A new boat
should, be provided. The tuberucular
hospital at Tanana. is too, small and
should be enlarged. The present in
| stitution has demonstrated that a
I majority of the cases can be cured,
■ and a similar hospital should be
placed in Southeastern Alaska.
Communication.
There are two systems of com
munication inn the Territory, one in
l charge of the Signal Corps of the
United States Army and one under
•control,of the Navy. The system op
erated by the Signal Corps serves
nearly every section of the Territory,
but /there are many small villages
that are without communication.
Some plan should be devised to pro
vide these communities with a con—
1 nection to the net now maintained.
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This question has been taken up with
the chief signal officer and som eof |
the commercial companies in the hope
that an efficient, easily-operated r:i-!
diotelegiaph can be devised which1
will be available at a reasonable cost, j
i he stations, live nu number, op, r-1
aled by the Navy Department, aie
ava.labie for coommercial business,!
ariu to some extent duplicate the Mg- i
na1 Corps service. From a commer
cial standpoint these systems could
be combined and no doubt operated
by the Signal Corps at much iess
cost.
f or manv years recommendations
have been made with a view i i c.m
r.olidaiir.g the law-enforcement agen
cies in Alaska. Exhaustive reports
have been submitted, but no action
has been taken. It seems unneces
sary to repeat all eff the statements
that have been made, but there can
be no question that there should be a
consolidation at least of thoose agen
cies enforcing the prohibition and
other criminal laws.
Legal Investigations.
Under existing conditions the,
United States marshal must tele-,
graph to Washington for authority to
spend iifunds if he desires to under-!
take an investigation oi a.ease which
involves vravei or toner expenditures, j
In many instances this delay resuits
in a..ure of the investigation* This
condition could be remedied if the L)e- !
partmeni of Justice would authorize
the marshal in eaeu u.vision to incur
an expense of not to^ exceed S2oJ
withoift authority from the Attorney ;
General.
Reindeer Industry,..
'the reindeer industry was under1
the supervision of ,..e Office of Edu
cation up to an dinciuding November!
1, 111211, when by order of tne Seere-1
tary oi the Interior, dated October 3,;
i‘J21), the general supervision thereto, j
was transferred to the Governor of
Alaska. This shoould resul in a more!
efficient administration of this phase!
of the work. Under existing laws
the owners of reindeer are entitled to 1
lease grazing areas, and the native!
owners should be ailpted definite!
areas as rapidly as possible. A part!
of the. funds that are appropriated |
each year are alloted for the relief of •
destitution among the natives, but the
available funds are not at all com
mensurate with the absolute needs,
and the amounts should be increased.1
The last Legislature adopted a
resolution favoring the construction
of an international highway that will
connect Alaska and the United
i States. Much of this proposed high
way is in British Columbia and Yu
kon Territory. Joint action by the
two governments is necessary before
the preliminary steps can be taken..
The highway, would be of great bene -
fit to Alaska and Canada. Since the
i project is international in its. scope,
1 probably t will be necessary: for the
United StSates and Canada to ap
point a joint commission and give
them authority t<j. conduct, the pre
liminary negotiations.
(Continued Next Issue.)
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TABLE OF DISTANCES BE
TWEEN NENANA AND FLAT
Miles
Nenana . 00
Tavern Roadhouse . 17% '
Knight’s Roadhouse . 23 % :
Nineteen-Mile Roadhouse ...
! Diamond Roadhouse .»
I Roosevelt ...
I Lake Minchumina.
! Trappers’ Cabin .
| Lone Star Roadhouse .
! Telida Roadhouse .
Slow Fork Roadhouse .
East Fork Roadhouse .
Berry’s Landing Roadhouse
Big River Roadhouse .
McGrath ..
Takotna .v.
Bill Goss’ Roadhouse
Ophir .
McCafferty .
Brown Creek shelter cabin .
Fritz shelter cabin
First Chance shelter cabin
Schermeyer R. H.
Iditarod .
Flat .
58 ..
.. 76
. 89
115
132
150
169%
187
206
227%
241
263
280
291
300
306
318
333
346
360
376
384
Bonanzza sheler cabin, 12 miles
Crooked Creek shelter cabin, 19
miles from Bonanza.
f»;(m .JFiwu.
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Babeesch Moosehide Mitt* and Boots
Furs Bought and Sold Clothing
All Kinds of Nice Fresh Groceries and Fruits
Canned Goods of. All Kinds Beds and Bedding
A. R. Eldridge - McGrath
TAfCOINA ROADHOUSE
Best of Meals and Rooms
Whsre Everything* 2s BsselAu aiui
Where You Are Certfialty Welcomed
GOOD DOG HOUSES
BATHS
Iyar Chilstrom
Prop.
Rotign and Dressed Lum
ber of All Kinds
INNOKO LUMBER CO.
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How About
Try
Kusko
Times
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