THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by the
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
NOME, ALASKA
Telephone 443 - 2381 $1.50 PER MONTH
P. O. Box 610 $16.00 A YEAR
E. P. BOUCHER ... Managing Editor
CUNTON GRAY .. Production Manager
Entered as second class matter October 14, 1043, at the
post office at Nome, Alaska, under Act of March X. 1870.
V,*'
Wheels of Progress . . .
THE OUTGOING PRESIDENT of the Chamber of
the Chamber of Commerce is fairly new to the
community, but ever since his arrival has taken an
active interest in civic affairs, giving both time and
talent, without complaint, to the economic problems
of Northwestern Alaska and the possible solutions.
He has not only done the tasks assigned to him
in the several organizations to which he is a part, 'but
on his own initiative has gone ahead with new, ori
ginal) and progressive ideas to expand and create
more interest in promoting development in North
western Alaska.
We need mane young men to follow the example
of Don Hoover and keep the wheels of progress turn
ing in this tundra land1 until it produces an economy
equal to that of the Scandinavian countries, which
have the same problems, same climate, but have ad
vanced faster than Alaska because of the need to feed
its millions.
Every businessman should be a part of the Cham
ber of Commerce to help cut the high cost of living.
Water power helped solve the problem in power and
heating in other northern countries. It. can do the same
here. Feasibility Studies will determine what other
industries can be started, but it takes many people to
- Share in the planning to promote these studies or little
1 can be accomplished.
r
Structural Fantasia Takes Shape in Seattle
. . . The Imaginary World of Century 21
By Sieve Lowell
SEATTLE UP> — A structural
fantasia is taking shape in this
far northwest corner of the na
tion.
It’s a mark of the skill of the
craftsman of today and a promise
of the good things man can pro
duce in the future.
The people of this gateway city
to the North Pacific stand by
fascinated, watching the Seattle
World’s Fair materialize in im
aginative patterns of stone and
steel.
Next April hundreds of thou
sands of strangers will join them
to ride to this land-of-things-to
come in a train of the future, see
what the people of other lands
hope to be doing in dustry, agri
culture, art and many other fields
in the next century — only 38
years away — wander through
the halls of the Science Pavilion,
wander through an imaginary
world of Century 21 and eat in
a restaurant slowly revolving 600
feet above the city streets.
Some Foreign Exhibits
Some of the foreign exhibits
will be housed in two buildings
with roofs shaped like clusters
of morning glories turned toward
the sky. On the other side of the
grounds, beyond a fountain like
none other, is the United States
Science Pavilion, a group of six
glistening buildings around a
court where five Gothic arches
tower 100 feet high. They are
meant to express the theme of j
the pavilion and its exhibits —
man’s constant reaching for bet
ter things.
This group belongs to the fed
eral government, like a national
monument or park. Congress
picked up the $9 million construe- j
tion tab.
Back to that fountain: It was
designed by two young Tokyo
men, Hideki Shimizu and Kazu
yuki Matsushita, in an interna
tional contest.
The spray of water above a
100-foot-wide ceramic basin can
be kept constantly changing —
forming a myriad of water
“sculptures.”
The shape of the water streams,
which will arch up 100 feet, is
controlled by an electronic tape
in a chamber under the foun
tain. lighting changes with each
new outline.
Monorail to Carry Visitors
The king-sized construction jobs
on the fairgrounds and nearby
were the Monorail, built to carry
visitors from the center of town
to the fair; the Coliseum, which
shelters the theme exhibit and the
impressive Space Needle restau
rant high above the city.
The Monorail system is being
built by Alweg International of
Sweden for $4.2 million. The coma
pany believes the cost is worth
while because of the advertising
value. People from all over the
world will have a chance to see if;
-. - - ' - f’
.
Building the elevated track was
a job for Paul Bunyan. Two thick
concrete rails, one for each of the
two four-car electric trains,
stretch from the modernistic depot
downtown 1.2 miles to the fair
grounds.
The pair of rails is supported 24
feet in the air over the center of
the street by 80 concrete columns,
each weighing 50 tons. The rail
beams, about five feet thick and
a yard wide, span the distance
between columns. Some are 90
feet long and weigh 62 tons.
The train body reaches down on
either side, firmly clutching the
rails. Rubber wheels role in the
grooves in the sides of the con
crete beams.
You’ll pay a round-trip fare of
75 cents for you and your wife
and 50 cents for each of the kids
for the 95-second run between
city and fair ground*.
$3 Million Coliseum
The $3 million Coliseum, which
will house the theme exhibit, has
a roof which is the first of its
kind. There is a graceful frame
work of concrete and steel soar
ing to a central peak 11 stories
high.
To support the roof miles of
steel cable were laced from truss
to truss above the floor forming
a network with eight-foot squares
between cables. On that net are
fastened 3,700 aluminum sheets,
two panels to each square.
It was a risky job working on
that steel spider web. Like tight
rope walkers, the crew moved
around the wide-spaced mesh
placing strings of planks a foot
wide to work from while they
clamped the cables together and
installed the panels.
The design leaves the interior
clear of any obstructions — it’s
350 feet across each way — big
enough for two football fields.
This giant field house is to be
come the property of Seattle after
the fair.
''.
Spectacular Space Needle
The piece de-resistance of the
fair grounds is the spectacular
Space Needle. Sweeping up toward
the sky, three pairs of steel legs
tower over the city. They con
verge about two-thirds of the
way up and then flare out again
as they keep on rising, so the
—— --—— --i.
tower is shaped like a sheaf of
grain.
On the top is an object which
looks like the singing top skids
used to spin. From the 40-foot
gas torch atop that it’s a drop of
about 600 feet to the ground,
making this $3.5 million spire the
tallest structure west of the Mis
sissippi River.
Inside the red-and-gold atop
is a glass-enclosed observation
platform, and, under it, will be a
restaurant and cocktail lounge.
Here the hungry visitor may
dine while he and 249 other cus
tomers ride around a complete
circle. The restaurant is 94 feet
across, and the dining area is a
14-foot-wide outside ring mount
ed on a turntable which makes a
complete swing each hour. So per
fectly balanced is the great wheel
that a motor of only one horse
power can turn it.
Brand New Experience
Much of the job of putting this
spectacular tower together was
a brand new experience for every
one involved.
The idea came from hotelman
Edward Carlson, an official of the
fair. He saw a lofty tower restau
rant in Stuttgart and decided
something like that would be a
big attraction for the Seattle ex
position.
The biggest problem was how
to lift the heavy chunks of metal
to greater and greater heights as
the tower grew. Cranes aren’t
built 600 feet high.
Paul Collop, construction super
intendent for Pacific Car and
•Foundry Co., dreamed up a mov
able derrick. It climbed up the
inside the steel core of the needle
as the structure grew higher,
hoisting itself up another notch on
a pulley hung from each new
section.
The needle job was a sidewalk
superintendents delight. Collop
told of a woman who watched
until quitting time one day. Then
she asked what time the crew
would be on the job the next
morning.
When the men got to work at
5 a.m. the next day, there she
was.
“When women kiss, it always
reminds me of prize fighters
shaking hands.” —H. L. Mencken
11
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