COL. JONES PRESENTS GREAT
WORK ON ALASKA’S WATER
WAYS IN TERRITORY.
MANY THINGS ARE SHOWN.
Resurees of the Territory and the Re
lation of the Territory to the Com
merce of the United Stales Are Fit
tingly Pictured and Explained.
One of the most interesting works
on Alaska that has been given to the
public in a long time, and one of the
most useful, is that issued by Col.
E. Lester Jones, superintendent of the
United States coast and geodetic sur
vey, entitled “Safeguarding the Gate
ways of Alaska: Her Waterways.”
Copies of the book have just reached
Alaska. It is issued by the depart
ment of commerce as “Special Publi
cation No. 50.”
The book is finely illustrated and
contains many maps and charts,
showing the relation of Alaska to the
United States and American com
merce, illustrating the development
and resources of Alaska, the work of
the coast and geodetic survey in Alas
ka. and comparisons of the work done
there and elsewhere, and showing in
graphic manner the great number of
wrecks that have occurred in Alaskan
waters as a result, in large measure,
for lack of proper charting of the wa
ters anti of aids to navigation.
The illustrations include pictures of
practically all the coast towns of
A loel/o innln/l irur cmimvol Turmoil nlin.
tographs, pictures illustrating the
fisheries, mining, lumbering and oth
er resources, pictures of the ships en
gaged in coast and geodetic survey
work.
The maps and charts show clearly
not only the importance of Alaskan
commerce and how little of her wat
ers are properly charted and safe
guarded with aids to navigation, but
the position of Alaska with refer
ence to American commerce on the
Pacific ocean. It is shown that the
shortest distance from any American
port and any oriental port lies through
Alaskan waters.
One of the interesting charts is one
showing that while Alaska has been
A nerican territory for more than
fifty years , on 9 per cent of Alaskan
waters have been dragged and chart
ed, while 64 per cent of the Philip
pines have been charted within 17
years.
Col. Jones, the author of the work,
has been temporarily transferred
from the coast and geodetic survey to
the military branch of the United
States, where he will serve his coun
try during the progress of the war,
as an officer of the army with the
rank of colonel.
Col. Jones is well known in Alaska
as having been connected with the
United States fisheries service for a
while, and during that short time he
prepared a report on the fish and
fisheries of this territory that is
among the best works on that subject.
Concluding Jiis “Safeguard the
Gateways of Alaska,” Col. Jones says:
Alaska’s Greatest Need.
“Most serious thought should be
given now as to taking care of Alas
ka’s greatest need. The war should
not delay proportion for the work
as immediate provision looking to the
care of the preliminaries will mean
the saving possibly of years. If au
thorization can be secured for new
vessels and launches, all plans an
specifications for building them will
be prepared, and when the moment
arrives bids and awards can be han
dled without any delay, and if author
ity is granted for the additional offi
cers needed, then immediate filling of
the new positions will result, and when
the vessels and launches are ready the
trained officers will be ready, too.
Future.
“It is safe to predict, and with
proper emphasis, that Alaska will
reach out in the near future looking
to development along all lines and
through every possible channel. Her
next ten years will most likely place
her far in advance of what the past
50 years have produced and all assist
ance possible should be forthcoming
from the mother country upon whom
the responsibility rests. We should
be well-prepared in every branch of
the home government to facilitate the
commercial government and competi
tion that will surely follow the close
of the war.
“Let it be hoped that the day is
at hand when it will be no longer ne
cessary to discover uncharted pinna
cle rocks by the loss of some vessel
and the custom of commemorating
the loss by naming the hidden rock
after the unfortunate craft will be
impossible in the future.
“The coast and geodetic survey
which in this field should have been
the pioneer, showing the way for com
merce to reach each new enterprise,
has instead been following impotent
ly behind, charting dangers less from
' data obtained by its own surveys than
j from reports of vessels which have
been wrecked on them.
“It is high time that such a state
of affairs be corrected, yet it will now
take years before the surveys can
reach a point where they can even
meet the needs of the present com
merce.”
FOOD MAN WRITES
TO BOYS AND GIRLS
_
Judge Royal A. Gunnison, federal
food administrator for Alaska, writ
ing to the boys and girls of Alaska,
said:
“Do you each want to do a fine
thing? You and I have all read about
the splendid things that great women
and men have done for which we all
love them. Those acts of patriotism
and heroism and self-sacrifice all shine
out of the pages of story and history
■ like bright stars on a cloudless night.
Cut we must remember that these
acts were made possible by long years
of the same kind of thinking and act
ing. All things in this world have a
beginning, and we all have to begin
some time to think about our country
and what each of us has to do to keep
it a country which the other people in
the world love and respect.
‘‘No doubt a great many of you have
already begun to think about that
sort of thing, but if you haven’t, now
is the time to commence, or if you
have, now is the time to think more
about it. Great deeds which help na
tions or great numbers of people are
splendid, but each one of us by mak
ing a beginning in thinking about this
sort of thing, looking for chances to
do something for somebody else, will
develop an ability to do bigger and
bigger things, just as a little kiddie
who starts to run foot races with
other little kiddies in his block, grows
up to be a champion one hundred
yard man, or the girl who sings about)
the house or sketches, better still j
helps mother and father with head j
and hand, becomes able to use voice)
l
and hand and mind, grown proficient
with practice, for the benefit of many.
“Today the world is aflame; men,
women and boys and girls are suffer
ing because of selfishness and arrog
ance, which the word Prussianism de
: scribes. Our dear old country, kind,
brave, generous and efficient Uncle
Sam’s country has much to do and if
we all begin now to help with mind
and hands and feet, we will grow
more proficient. Uncde Sam has prom
ised to supply the food and clothing
needed by our friends, with and for
whom we are fighting in Europe. He
can’t keep his promise unless every
girl and boy, as well as every woman
and man, does her or his part. We
have promised food and clothing as
well as money. If you or I waste
i any of these things, even the least bit
that you or I do not need, we are just
so much of a stumbling block to our
j good old Uncle Sam, and help Frus
j sianism every time we waste any
thing.”
HAW, HAW!
Everybody’s doing it. Mary Rob
erts Rinehart makes Henri ask;
“Why is a dead German like a pig’s
tail?”
And the answer is:
“Because that’s the end of the
swine.”
PROJECT SOON
GREENFIELD UNIT OF SUN RIV
ER PROJECT WILL BE COM
PLETED THIS FALL.
75,000 ACRES TO BE RECLAIMED
Over Three Million Dollars Have Been
Expended in W'ork of Reclamation
—Beneficial Results Have Already
Followed As Result.
GREAT FALLS, Mnt., June 8.—
Unless something unforseen happens
the Greenfields unit of the Sun river
reclamation project will be complet
ed this fall and water probably will
be turned into the main canal next
spring. This will redeem approxi
mately 25,000 acres of semi-arid land,
and add that much to the wheat-pro
ducing lands of the Treasure state.
Practically all this land lies in Te
ton county, and much of it is now
valued at approximately $33 an acre.
The opening of the irrigation canal,
which is about 56 miles long, will in
crease the value of this country con
siderably, judging from the prices at
which property within the Fort Shaw
district is now held. Work on the
Greenfields unit was started about
five years ago under contract. Two
years ago it was taken over by the
government and now is being complet
ed by men in government employ.
Approximately $3,250,000 already
has been spent on the work, and dur
in the coming summer, it is estimated
that $250,000 more will be expended.
The entire project as contemplated,
for which maps and estimates alrea
dy have been prepared, will cost up
wards of $5,000 000 more, and will
reclaim about 75,000 additional acres
of semi-arid lands, and possibly an
additional 58,000 acres, which later
may be included within the develop
ment.
The dam in the Sun river canyon
from which the water is to be drawn,
is located at an elevation of 4.474 feet,
while the fall of the irrigation ditch
some 56 miles east of it is about 600
feet lower.
In winding its way along the edge
of one bench after another, the canal
makes about eight drops, four of
which are entirely covered, and four
are open, and faced with reinforced
concrete four inches thick. The dis
tance from the dam to the first lat
eral to be built is 22 miles, while the
first lateral constructed and which
will be opened next spring is 40 miles
from the dam. About 155 miles of
laterals have been constructed, or will
be completed this summer.
• The engineers estimate that there
have been excavated for the canal? up
wards of 3,000,000 yards of rock and
gravel. It wa snecessary to make one
cut 60 feet through solid rock. One
charge of 16,000 pounds of powder
was set off in this, and the detonation
shook the hillsides for miles around
and was heard in the town of Gilman
27 miles away.
The drops starting from the dam
and following the course of the ditch
as it winds its way along the ends of
the various benches are successively,
36, 50, 119, and 155 feet. The last
carries the canal to and across the Big
Coulee, where it winds along the low
er bench toward the Cascade county
line, and through one of the richest
pieces of soil in this section.
In order to follow the route fixed by
the engineers it was necessary to bore
three tunnels through solid rock. The
first of these, near the dam is 700 feet
long; the next about 1,000 feet long
and the third is 2,300 feet long. These
tunnels are all faced with concrete,
The water enters through a square
opening, which changes to a round
pipe some distance inside the rock.
Appi’oximately four miles of the
ditch are faced with reinforced con
crete to prevent seepage, which would
WILL WIN
the
'WAR.
wash away the canal embankment.
The project contemplates the hauling
of freight along the canal for which a
nominal charge will be made ^o the
users of the wrater. Small barges will
be used for this purpose.
A trip over the country to be bene
fitted by this project last week show
ed that much virgin soil is being
broken this spring, and being sown in
wheat and flax. Many small home
steaders’ houses are going up, and in
several instances farmers have leased
school lands adjoining which they are
breakilng and seeding down.
LONGCHERISHED
BELIEFS DISPROVED
(English Mechanic.)
Dr. E. VV. G. Masterson, address
ing the Royal Geographical Society,
asserted that here was an accumula
tion of indisputable facts showing
that there had been a considerable rise
in the level of the Dead sea in the
nineteenth century—a rise which had
been accompanied—as he firmly be
lived—by a steadily increasing rain
fall.
Travelers had reported a curious
“white line” which was visible at
times running north and south down
the center of the sea, and many specu
lations were made as to its cause, one !
divinity professor even suggesting
that it might represent some existing j
rift in the bottom of the sea. This;
line, said the speaker, was due to an
elongated mass of compacted foam |
which, on account of the dense and
oily character of the Dead sea water,
remained floating on the surface long-:
er than such foam would remain on !
the ocean. During eastwinds it was |
blown steadily across the lake in a
iung intguiar unc.
There was also a peculiar disturb
ance of the water. An American trav
eler had reported that on three suc
cessive nights, when no wind was stir
ring, a heavy breaker came pounding
upon the beach, followed by a succes-!
sion of other waves for about an hour.1
Dr. Masterson reported a similar ex-;
perience and attributed the wave dis- j
turbance to the rapid change of tern-,
perature which sets in shortly after i
sunset.
Ancient writers established a myth j
that the Dead sea was an abode ofj
death that its shores were sterile, j
and that even birds flying over its!
waters were liable to fall dead. All
I
these ideas were now known to be i
the reverse of the truth. It was true
that the waters were so permeated
with salt that no animal or vegetable
life could flourish in the bulk of its
volume, but near the shores, where
streams of brackish water found
their way into the sea, small fish,
crabs and mosquito larvae were found
and he has seen fish in the sea. A
bottle of water taken from the same
spot immediately afterwards was j
proved to contain no less than 33.3!
per cent of solids. In one of the Jer
icho hotels, before the war, there was
a declaration jointly signed the same
year by over a dozen tourists that
they saw fish actively swimming at
the same spot. At many spots along
the shore there are cases in which !
acres of reeds and many trees floui’- |
ished, and at such spots animal life
and bird life was abundant.
LOYAL LEAGUE TO
GET IN AND DRILL
_
Twenty-five members of the Loyal
League met in the Y. M. C. A. rooms
last evening and unanimously elected j
R. D. Chase as captain and drill mat- j
ter. Todd Cunningham presided at the
meeting and Frank Hart acted as sec
retary. The members present signed)
articles of agreement pledging them- j
selves to attend drill practice indefin
itely. The drills will take place on
Monday and Friday evening of each
week on the Commission drill grounds.
In speaking of the league drill plans
Mr. Hart said this mornining that it is
the intention to hold target practice
and also become familiar with field
gun operation in addition to the usual
setting up exercises and drill work.
He further said that the members ex
pressed considearble enthusiasm last
evening and he believed that the
league would eventually develop into
a real military unit.
The suggestion to combine the
league with the Home Guards was re
ceived unfavorably and these two or
ganizations will continue to act inde
pendently for the time being. The or
ganization of local military compan
ies is a nation wide movement and in
recognition of the wish of the admin
istration.
While there has been no particular
anti-administration or pro-German
talk in Anchorage military organiza
tions of this nature are necessary es
pecially at this period of the nation’s
affairs.
They tend to keep down dissention
and adverse criticism and moreover
the moral persuasive powers of mili
tary bodies comand respect. Anchor
age is doubly fortunate in having two
organizations similar in precept; each
working to the common end, viz to
uphold the administration. The peo
ple of Anchorage feel perfectly safe
with these two organizations in their
midst and the country is saved.
FUEL SHORTAGE
EGYPT'S PROBLEM
CAIRO, June 8.—The fuel problem
in Egypt, which, at one time threat
ened to cause the most serious hard
ship to the whole country, has been
largely solved, says the annual report
of the government’s financial adviser.
Sir William Brunyate, by the develop
ment of the Red Sea oil fields and
the adaptation of machinery to pro
duce gas distilled from vegetable ref
use.
The report declared that an “ade
quate supply of oil for all purposes,
should shortly be available. The
Hurghdada oilfield, for example, al
though only discovered in 1914, is
now yielding 15,000 tons a month.
The production of gas from vegeta
ble refuse, which is now being pushed
on a large scale, was due to the re
searches of Dr. J. A. Wells, former
inspector-general of the mines depart
ment of the Egyptian government.
DIVINE SERVICES
NOT SACRED TO HUNS
WASHINGTON, D. C., June 8.—
As a climax to the atrocities in Bel
gium, the German military despots
now have gone so far as to interfere
with the religious liberties of the ci
vilian populations of the occupied ter
ritories.
A letter written to Pope Benedict
by the Bishop of Tournai, made pub
lic here by the Belgian legation, tells j
how Bavarian soldiers summarily
halted religious service throughout
one-third of the bishop’s diocese on
November 14 last year.
“I am fulfilling a painful duty,”
wrote the bishop, “in informing your!
Holiness of the profanations commit
ted in my churches on November 14
last, by the Bavarian army. Through
out the depot zone, that is to say
throughout one-third of my diocese,
the soldiers came to the churches and
convents at 8 in the morning. They
stopped the services, emptied the
churches, and some of them obliged
the priest at the altar to interrupt
holy mass.”
F. A. MARTIN TO
BE GAME WARDEN
Fred A. Martin will be appointed
game warden for the Third Division
of Alaska by Governor Riggs jr., ac
cording to unofficial advices received
by Mr. Martin yesterday from the
governor’s office. Official confirmation
is expected by Mr. Martin within the
next few days.
Mr. Martin is well known through
out the interior of Alaska having
been in business in Fairbanks for
years. He came to Anchorage from
the interior in the spring of 1915 and
has always taken an active part in
local democratic politics. Mr. Martin
succeeds Aaron Ericson who resigned
about two months ago and is pros
pecting in the hills in the Cache creek
district.
Read the classified ads.
CABINET OFFICER ASKS PEOPLE
TO PUT FORTH SPECIAL EF
FORTS THIS YEAR FOR WAR.
DELEGATE SENDS THE WORD.
At the Request of Secretary of Labor
Wilson Sulzer Writes the Newspa
pers to Give Publicity to Matter of
Raising All Food Products Possible
in This Territory.
Secretary of Labor William B.
Wilson, through Delegate Charles A.
Sulzer, has sent an appeal to the peo
ple of Alaska to put forth special ef
forts to increase the food supply of
the United States during the present
year.
The following letter, dated at
Washington, May 13, from Delegate
Sulzer:
“I have been asked by the depart
ment of labor to write a letter to all
Alaskans, urging the people of the
territory to put forth extra efforts,
during the summer of 1918, in in
creasing the production of foodstuffs,
that they may, thereby, assist the
government in winning the war. And,
in compliance with the request, I wish
to ask that you give as much publicity
as possible this appeal, as it is of the
“No state or land under the Stars
and Stripes has come forth more loy
ally than Alaska in the matter of sub
scribing' to the Liberty loans, in fur
nishing volunteers for the army, and
in assisting the Red Cross, and other
war working organizations. Although
far away, Alaska is not so remote
that the administrative heads do not
know of the splendid work that has
been done in the north since the com
mencement of the war. They know
of all the work that has been done,
and it has been very gratifying to me,
as representative of the people of
Alaska, to be able to bring to the at
tention of the administrative heads
the statistics which show how con
clusively Alaskans are backing the
president in the prosecution of the
war, in the determination to make
the world safe for democracy.
“In the past, and especially in 1917,
Alaska’s showing in the production
of food, by its fisheries and farms,
was remarkable. Yet, the govern
ment asks for more. Therefore, let
me appeal, with emphasis, to all the
people of Alaska, to produce as much
foodstuffs as possible during the sea
son of 1918, and to consume only
nome-grown products where possible,
:hat we may be able to save the bread
and other necessities of life for our
soldiers, the soldiers of our allies and
for the poor woman and children of
Belgium and France who have suf
fered so terribly since the awful day
in 1914 when, by the act of a mad
monarch, the world was converted in
to a huge slaughter-house.
“And let me urge the newspapers
of Alaska to keep this matter re
freshed in the minds of the people;
for three things will win the war,—
men, money and food. Alaska has
given liberally of the first two and,
with a little effort, the people of Alas
ka will be able to give more gener
ously of the third than they have
heretofore; thereby showing the
world a record for loyalty that will
be the pride of all future generations
of Alaskans.”
A WARNING.
“Spring’s on her way,”
Said Mr. Buff;
“But have a care,
Don’t take ’em off!”
—(Luke McLuke)
“Spring’s on her way,”
Said Mr. Rocks;
But don’t put on
Those thin silk socks.”
—(Dalton (Ga.) Citizen.)
GOSH!
How his mother must have loved
that child when she named him; Any
way Bermuda Onion is a gardener in
Topsey, Texas.