LU_
PROGRESS 01' TERRITORY, AS
SHOWN IN REPORT OF GOV.
PARKS TO INTERIOR DEPT.
(Continued from Page 1.)
and eighty-six persons were employed
in the commercial fisheries in 1928,
an increase of 2,214 over the previous
year. Of these, 17,326 were whiles.
5,614 were natives, and the rest Fiii
„ pinos, Japanese, Chinese, Mexicans,
and Negroes, in the order named.
lhe vaiue of the canned salmon iu
1928 represents about 96 per cent of
the total value of the industry; 24,428
persons were employed to can 6,083,
9. 3 cases, va.ued at $45,383,885. One
hundred and fifty-three canneries
canneries were operated, as com
pared with 145 in 1927.
The. production of. mild-cured sal
mon, while considerably less than in
1927, was not below the average for
the past several years. Twenty
plants were operated and employed
1,970 persons to pack 4,193 tierces of
kings, 1,650 tierces of cohoes, and 7
tierces of. chums, a total of 5,850
tiv.rees, varned at $1,101,871. Efforts
ttx utilize.the by-products of the can
ning industry have been successful,
and during the season 1,421,644
pounds of fertilizer, valued at $44,
109, and 43,390 gallons of oil, valued
at $16,420, were derived from this
source.
The total production of the herring
industry was somewhat greater than
in 1927. An important feature was
the discovery qf. large schools of her
ring in the vicinity of Dutch Harbor.
Sixty-five, -plants, employing 1,1992
persons, produced 16,056,595 pounds
of. Scotch-cured herriog, 20,044,164
pounds of meal, 2,543,600 gallons of
oil, and. 6.553,206 pounds of bait, val
ued at $3,098,457, in 1928.
The halibut industry suffered a de
cline, in pi^cescand in the quantity of
fish caught in 1928. One thousand
.wo hundred forty-oone persons were
employed un -this industry, and they
caught 31,567,01)0 pounds, valued at
$3,094,000, as compared with 34,491,
283 pounds, valued at $3,805,088, in
1927- The.proble mof preserving the
haiibut fisheries has occupied the at
tention of the International Halibut.
Commissioruior several years and as
a result of their investigations it is
apparent -that, the . fishing grounds
bordering Canada and Alaska have
been seriously depleted. If these
fisheries are to be rehabilitated, it is
probable that.fishing will have to be
reatri..ted for aperiod of years. The
output from the cod fisheries declined
about 501 per. cent under last year be
cause none of the large plants were
operated. There was ..a sharp decline
in the whaling industry, both inuthe
number of people, employed and the
value of the catch. Two. hundred and
thirtty persons captured 402_ whales,
which, yielded^ 730,650 . gallons of 1 ail,
valued at $343,786; 93,750 .gallons of
sperm oil, valued at $36,748; and
1,326c tons of .fertilizer, valued at
$73,740, or a total of $454,274, as
compared with $622,412 in 1927.
Scaling. .
The census of the seal herd on the
Fribilof Islands is computed in Au
gust each year, and the Bureau of
Fisheries estimates the increase for
1928 to. be 62,643, or .7.1* per centt.
The total number of seals of all ages
and classes in the nerd on August 10,
1928, is given 817,513. In 1911, when
the government assumed contro of
the herds, there wee about 132,000
seals of all classes on the islands, and
the results that have been achieved
in building up the herds to more than
six times the original herd ih 18 years
is a striking example of what may be
accomplished by proper methdds of
control and wise utilization' of the
surplus.
While the herds have been increas
ing they have been made to -produce
many thousands of sealskins for the
market, and each year the number of
marketable skins increases. . Ohly
bachelor seals are taken faf their
skins. The seal industtry will con
tinue to b ea source of revenue, and
thtere ip nq. I ringer danger *>f the ex
termination of the herds so long as
j they are maintained under the super
| vision of the Government.
Thirty-one thousand and n.nety
; nine sealsains were taken from the
i 1 ribi.oof islands heds uuring the ca
enuar year i028. This is an ...c. ..a^e
of 6,io7, or 24.2 per cent, over the
catch fo 1927. During the year 28,
929 sK.ns were so.d at public auction
and at private sales authorized by the
Secretary of Commerce for a total of
$895,383.40. in 1827 20,315 skins were
sold for a gross price of $,io,lel.
the revenue derived from the Pnbi
lof Is ands is augmented by the trap
; ping ofw hite anu blue foxes, which
are fed with the by-products of the
sealing industry. During the trap
ping season 1028-29 bA blue and 9
I white fox skins were taken and pre
j pared for market. October 15, i. 29,
278 blues and 15 whi.es, taken fran
i the previous season, were sold at pub
lic auction for $21,290.
Mining'.
In 1928 the total value of all min
eral productts is reported to be $14,
j 128,000. This is $176,000 under 1927 j
valuation. The decline is due wholly'
| to the decrease in the quantitty and
value of copper that that was mined.
Although the total mineral produc-;
tion is less than for 1927, it is sig
' nificant^that the gold production in
creased very materially. The mining
1 -ndustr yhas been stimulated during
the past year by new developments
rvnd by assistance- given prospectors;
\ hence it is almost, certain that the
! production from the mines will show
J an increase next year.
I l-'or -many years the p; oduction <f
I gold froom placer mines exceeded
| that of the lodes, but in recent years
there has been a gradual change in
the situation ,and last year the pro
duction from the lodes exceeded that
| derived from the placers. The total
i gold production froom all sources in
1928.1 is-estimated to be $6,775,000, as
, cqmpared with $5,927,000 in 1927.
Copper-bearing rocks are distrib
] uted throughoout the Territory, but
j commercial-ore bodies are mined in
; only two loocalities.Kennecott, in the
! Copper river district, and on La
1 touche island. The productioon from
■ these mines shows a sharp decline. In
| 1927 the value of the copper was es
j timaede to be $7,250,000, while in
I 1928 it decreased to $6,1100,000. There
has been a steady decline in the pro
. due tion of cropper each venr since j
1923, and further decrease is inevit
! able unless new ore bodies are dis
j covered.
Ij Approximately 75 per cent of the
| silver produced in the Temtory is re
covered from the copper oes, hence
the decline u. copj.c production is ac
companied !>y a decrease in the out ■
put "if - Iver. fi.e value of rne silver
recovered is estimated to be $27,000*
as compared with $356,000 in 1927.
An incease is note din the produc
tion of lead, marble, limestone, tin,
and platinum. During the year a new
industry was initiated on Dali island,
situated about 50 miles west of Ket
j chikan. The Pacific Coast Cement
1 Company openeed a quarry for the
production of limestone to supply a
cement plant located near Steattle.
! This quarry has a capacity of several
thousand tons per day and' no doubt
will continue in operation for many
years. Alaska contains large quanti
ties of suitable limestoone and large
ly increased productioon may be ex
pected.
The coal mines in the Territory
produced 125.289 tons, valued at
$624,000. This is 20 per cent greater
than last year, and exceeds the pro
duction of any previous year. Prac
tically all of the coal is produced in
two districts, both- tributary to the
Alaska Railroad. The Matanuska
Field near Anchorage and the Healy
River area near Fairbanks suppliy
their respective districts.
Petroleum was produced in on’y
one district in the Territory. A num
ber of shallow wells near Katalla in
the vicinity of Bering River produce
a small quantity of paraffin-base oil.
This is refined locally and the various
distillates are sold in local markets.
Transportation.
1 he report of tne general manager 1
of the Alaska ua.irouu discloses tnat
there was a decrease in the revenues j
derived from transportation of |
freight and passengers. Tne revenues
from tne river tioaus that are oper
ated in conjunction with the ranoad
mcreaseu aoout 3 per cent, the rev
enue uenvea from ad sources, iriciud-|
ing non-operating lncoome, was $1,
Zou.odd.u i, ana the totai uetieit, ail
expenses except charges to capital
account, was $950,711.14. Shipments
oi coai increased lb per cent, out trus
was not*sufficient to overcome the de
cline in sinpments of macmnery and
construction supplies to the fair
banks Axpioratioon Company. In the
interest oi colonization amrig the rail
road a traveling representative was
appointed, and he has been visiting
farming communities in varous sec-*
tioris or uie West for the purpose ot
furnisnnig information to individuals
ana prospective settlers, ft is ex
pected t hat through his etforts the
populatioon along the railroad Will be
increased.
Lumbering.
The natioonai forests of Alaska
embrace an area of approximately |
21,000,000 acres and contain the |
greater part of the commercial tim- i
ber in the Territory. These, forests
are administered by the u rnted States i
forest Service, Department of Agri-!
culture, and the*r value to Alaska
and the Nation may b e appreciated
when it is understood that they com
prise 13 per cent of the total forest
reserves of the United States and
contain about 85,000,000,000 board
feet of timber, investigations by the i
forest Service indicate that the for-1
•lists will yield 1,000,000,000 board
feet each year in perpetuity and that!
the present yearly cut is 56,000,00(1,;
or 5.6 per cent of what can be taken I
withoout danger of depleting the
supply.
Much of the timber, especially in
the Tongass forest, is valuable chief-j
ly for the manufacture of pulp and!
paper. Large areas have been award- t
ed under c< attracts to paper-manu-j
facturingcompames and the prelimi- j
r.ary plans for construction of the j
necessary plants' have been com- j
pleted. f is known that there are
more than 550,000 horsepower as yeD
undeveloped in the regions tributary,
to the forests. The.utilization of this ,
power and the timber resources will
place the manufacturing of pulp and
; paper in the list of Alaska’s major
institutions.
(Continued. Next Issue.)*
Greatly improved air. transporta
tion facilities wilL be offered to the ;
the. peoplecof Juneau and other South.
eastern Alaska communities soon, ac-i
cording to Magor G .G. Frame, divi- j
sion manager of the Alaska- . ashing
ton Airways. A direct Seattle-Ju
neau service, opeating twice a week,
at least one plane stationed at Juneau
throoughoout the year, a training
school, planes at Ketchikan and
Wrangel, and nation-wide publicity
for Alaska, are some of the things ,
planned by the. company.
TABLE OF DISTANCES BE- j
TWEEN NENANA AND FLAT
Miles:
Nenana . 00 j
Tavern Roadhouse . 17%'
Knight’s Roadhouse . 23%
Nineteen-Mile Roadhouse . 58 ..'
Diamond Roadhouse .. 76 j
Roosevelt . 89
Lake Minchumina. 115
Trappers’ Cabin .— 132
Lone Star Roadhouse . 156
Telida Roadhouse.. 169%
Slow Fork Roadhouse . 187 i
East Fork Roadhouse .> 206
Berry’s Landing Roadhouse. 227%
Big River Roadhouse.241
McGrath . 263
Takotna . 280
Bill Goss’ Roadhouse . 291
Ophir .300
McCafferty . 306
Brown Creek shelter cabin.818
Fritz shelter cabin . 333
First Chance shelter cabin . 34ft
Schermeyer R. H. 360
Iditarod ._... 376
Flat . 384
Bonanzza - sheler cabin* 12 miles
Crooked Creek shelter cabin, 19
miles from Bonanza.
trom. Flab,
Babeesch Moosehide Mitts and Boots
Furs Bought and Sold Clothing
All Kinds of Nice Fresh Groceries and Fruits
| Canned Goods of All Kinds Beds and Bedding
I A. R. Eldrkfge - McGrath
ROADHOUSE
Best of Meals and Rooms
Where Everythin* Is Homelike end
Where You Are Cordially Welcomed
GOOD DOG HOUSES BATHS
Ivar Chilstrom - Prop.
Rough and. Dressed Lum
ber of All Kinds
INNOKft LUMBER CO.
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