FIGURES SOIfltTIfflES FIB
although the Chamber of Commerce attempt
to secure additional mail service for the
city of Soldovia apparently has failed,
there is still much that can be done before
the matter shduld bo closed and filed awa#
as finished.
./Ifhe official/"no” of the Post Office ap
pears to have been recorded on the' basis of
lricorftpl-oto and misinterpreted information.
It*s simply another case of paper-true facts
which would appear in a different light if
postal heads 'might be persuaded to make an
on-the-spot investigation.
Three factors were inst'rumanfcal In the
Post Office decision. First, postal Reports
of the Seldovia office, which include com
plete poundage .figures of both incoming-;and
outgoing mail-, were"cons idered. What* these
reports fall /t.o reflect is that ther& is a
backlog ' of third and fourth class matter,
including the citysupply of magazines and
nowspapars, which has been arriving.only
sporadically, or*_ln many cases not at^all,
in tha last few months. If Seldovia*.were
receiving all the mail, it should receive,
•those poundage figures/ would present a new
picture to reviewing., authorities. ^nd it
appears more than ‘ log ip-al to believe that a
more frequent service . might very well make
it possible to prevent a backlog of this ma
terial. -
r r p • •
Second, postal authorities looked to Sol*
dovia*s population figures before turning
down the city*s request for increased mail
service. Again what those-figures fall to
reveal is that, this c.ity4s population is
fluid, with-summer totals rising to almost
double that of the year-round-residents. And
the summer season, when canneries are operac
ting , is the time when the need for' increas
ed mail service is most evident here, Thgn,
too, Seldoviafs former population figures
are now thought to be far behind the- offi
cial 400 mark attributed to the city at the
last census-taking-*
Finally, - postal authorities* w^re told
that Seldovia is in th^ process of construe
. * ■
ting an airfield, arid
that no added postal
service should be
considered until the
completion of that
field would make it
possible for .sched
uled . landings^ here#
While that fact is
essentially true, if
post office field
personnel were dis
posed to make a sur*
vey trip to Seldovia,
it would take but a
moment or two' to
learn that the Seldo
via airport is still
vary much a project
of the future#
, Seldovtans would
be' quick to point out
that no new construc
tion has been under
taken at the field
.since last year, and
that with Federal
funds tied up, for
the present at least,
no further construc
tion is likely in the
very near future* ^nd
even the most optim
istic of us * havo
hardly hoped for
scheduled landings on
the finished port for
several years yet*
Wo donf t doubt
that the figures pro*
s.ented to postal
authorities in Wash
ington by field rep
resentatives in Al
aska, wore as accur
ate. as any black and
white summing up of a
situation could bo*
(Cont. next page)