UJflKE UP, LITTLE TOUJfl
It’s time for Alaska’s little towns to
wake up from their long, long sleep, look
about them, and get to work on their contri
bution to the Territory’s trade with the
Outside•
The handwriting on the wall is getting
uncomfortably large. It appears at this
writing that we are very likely to lose our
steamship service with the states ;on the
first of next month. One of the biggest
complaints of the operators, and undoubtedly
a justified one, is that the lack of back
haul to the states makes the cost of opera
tion prohibitive.
Right now, Portland’s business men are
interested in developing a shipping trade to
Alaska, and are investigating its possibili
ties. First interest of the Portland ship
pers is that same backhaul.
And -right there is where the little towns
come in. For if we can’t dig up enough man
ufactured products and Alaskan ' goods in
quantity amounts (and who says we can’t? We
haven’t tried yet) we can put together the
exportable products of dozens of little in
dependent companies. Added all together,
maybe that will make a backhaul worth count
ing on. One Portland man hopes to come into
the Territory with a power barge line, and
it does seem as though this particular area
of Alaska, in which he is most interested,
ought to be able to dig up enough exportable
merchandise to assure us that line.
As far as Seldovia goes, you who have li
ved here for many, many years have a better
understanding of what that backhaul ought to
be than any newcomer can have.
But, just for a beginning list, what
about the shellfish canned by a local can
nery? What about the chrome ore of the Red
Mountain mine? • What about the pumice of
Augustine Island that goes into plaster
board? 1r:hat about Homer coal? Why not the
Alaskan wild berry products that a Homer
couple have been canning for sale? And are
n’t there stil-l furs trapped in this area
that have to £0 to the .states for process
ing?
You go on with the list from there.
The
Letter Box 4‘
Dear 3ditor:
Through the kind
ness of my aunt, Mrs.
H. S. Young, I am re
ceiving copies of The i
Frontiersman regular
ly. f
I want to compli
ment you on the pap
er, and. tell you that
I read every word of
every copy with great *
interest•
While it is many ti
years since I visited
your beautiful little
city, I find many
names mentioned which
are familiar to me.
It is indeed interes
ting to know what is
happening in the
’’north.M
My.- very best
wishes for your con
tinued success. May
all good things come
to the people of Sel
dovia.
Yours, truly,
Ileen Y. Bradley
HOMEIl COLO STORAGE
TO OPEN AGAIN
HOMER--The Homer
Cold Storage Co,,
which has been closed
for some time, will ^
reopen with a comp
lete line of assorted
meats upon the arri
val of the Denali, it fe
was reported in last *
week*s Homesteader,