The following interesting article in
"The Duthie Booster,” published by
employes at one of the big ship build
ing plants on the Pacific coast, is
from the pen of Miss Adele Moody,
librarian, Alaska Bureau, Seattle
Chamber of Commerce:
Alaska—Seward’s Polar Bear Gar
den! If those scoffers of Secretary
Seward's day could, Rip Van Winkle
like, return to earth today, how
amazed they would be, and perhaps
think themselves still dreaming if con.
fronted with the figures of Alaska’s
food production alone. We doubt that
even Secretary Seward, far-seeing man
that he was. could have imagined
Alaska shipping fish to supply coun
tries across the Atlantic and vegeta
bles in successful competition with
those of Puget sound, to say nothing
of killing Santa Claus’ reindeer for
meat.
Take the one item of fish alone.
Multiply the price paid to Russia by
a little over thirty-nine, and you then
have the total production of fish and
by-products since the year 1887, to
and including the season just closed,
or a total of about $282,198,702. Na
ture, always willing to do her share,
has seemed to respond to the world
need at this time for food, for the
unprecedented pack of salmon in
Southeastern Alaska waters this past,
season will probably bring the total
of fish products for 1917 to between
forty and fifty million dollars, exceed
ing in value the combined output of
British Columbia, Washington, Oregon
and California. No other country in,
the world contains fish-feeding grounds
equal in extent to those of our northern
territory.
In 1916 the total investment in the.
Alaska fisheries amounted to $39,569,-j
612, approximately 88 per cent of
which was in the salmon industry.
This past season about thirty new
canneries have been added, making a
total of about 130. One cannery in
the Icy and Chatham straits districts
packed more than 160,000 cases, and
a single-line plant put up 63,000 cases,
which, for the size of the plant, is a
world’s record. Owners of gas boats
earned from $2,000 to $5,000 for their!
two and a half months’ work. Fisher-j
men not owning boats cleared fromj
$400 to $1,500 per man during the
same period.
The natives have reaped a “Klon
dike,” as evidenced by high, white
topped shoes and silk and satin party
gowns. The present fad of the Ketchi
kan natives (Indians, not Eskimos) is
taxi-riding at $3 per hour. To bid
good-by to a friend departing on one
of the boats, an entire family of na-|
tives rode down to the dock, alighted
and seriously shook hands with him,'
wished him a bon voyage, re-entem
their auto, and the head of the family
airily waved to the chauffeur. “Home
James." With this prosperity havi
also come a liberal patronage of the
bootblack and a demand for silk host
and expensive face powder for Miladj
Thlinket.
Alaska’s halibut ranks next in im
portance to that of salmon, and, unlikt
the latter, the fishing is prosecuted
throughout the year, supplying both
•Puget sound and the Eastern markets
the entire year with fresh fish. Tht
banks extend over the southeaf err
and southern coast of Alaska as fat
west as Kodiak island. Notwithstand
ing the lessened catch in 1916—11.
495,557 pounds, or approximately
3,922,282 pounds less than in 1915, the
total value of this industry m 1916
exceeded that of the previous year bj
$101,548. It is estimated that Alaskan
waters furnish about 50 per cent ol
the halibut of the entire Pacific coasl
catch.
A new high record for one day’s
earnings in halibut fishing has beer
made by the American schooner Di
rector, out of Prince Rupert. Aftei
an eight-day trip this past Septembei
she sold her catch for $2,139. Aftei
deducting expenses and the share ol
the vessel, which was $435.60, eact
of the four men in the crew received
$438.60, making a fraction over $43.57
per day.
During the past year there has beer
established at Seward a cold storage
plant made necessary by the large
yield at Portlock bank, less than 200
miles from that point. Each year the
fishing vessels are going farther afield
to make their catches, so that it would
seem to be a wise move to establish
additional cold storage facilities along
the south coast and nearer the banks.
Apropos the cold-storage question, a
point worthy of consideration by our
people is the fact that American ves
sels, fishing in American waters, land
ed at Prince Rupert 12,215,895 pounds
of fresh halibut in 1916, against 7,128,
500 pounds in 1915, making an increase
of six million pounds landed at that
port more than in 1915. A comparison
for several years back of 1915 would
be even more startling. A good part
of this business would undoubtedly
have been handled through Alaskan
ports if steps had been taken to pre
vent the diversion of this business to
British Columbia; and not only is
Alaska the loser, but Puget Sound
ports as well.
It is predicted that the Alaska her
ring industry may yet rival the salmon
trade. The great plants of the Alaska
Herring and Sardine Company at Lit
tle Port Walter, and the Alaska Pacific
Herring Company at Big Port Walter,
are suggestive of the possibilities of
this industry. These companies have
been putting up nearly 600 cases of
canned kippered and spiced herring
and several hundred barrels of salted
herring daily, yet both companies are
adding to their capacity. These two
companies now employ about 450 men
and women, many of them experts
from Scotland.
Herring furnishes the backbone of
the fishing industry in Norway, Scot
land and other North soa countries.'
and the Alaska herring are better for
- all purposes except sardines than the
! North sea products. This past summer
the United States bureau of fisheries
sent experts to Alaska to instruct can
ners in the proper preparation of the
fish for market, and has also issued in
structions In printed form. The pres
ent English embargo prohibits Scotch
j cured herring from reaching this coun
try. New York alone used 10,000 bar
rels of such fish a week. As all of the
herring now being put up in this style,
does not amount to more than a few i
weeks’ supply at the most, the conclu
sions are obvious.
Considering the almost prohibitive
price of shoes made wholly of leather,
the announcement that great progress
has been made in the utilization of
shark hides in the manufacture of
'leather comes as most welcome news.
Even the heretofore despised sharks
seem to be coming into their own, for
j aside from the value of the sides,
which during the year 1916 had a
value of $4,000, the livers yielded 2,700
gallons of oil at a value of $1,350. It
is hoped that in the near future the
carcasses, which are now wasted, will
(be converted into fertilizer.
I To keep the down-Easters in Seattle
and Alaska from getting too homesick,
|the packers have devised a method of
canning cod. shipping 700 cases lust
(year. This is in addition to the usual
salting, etc. Altogether the cod in
! dustry for 1916 is valued at $518,797,
Alaska possesses practically un
I touched resources in custacean or
I shellfish products. Proof of the great
clam resources is seen in results ob
jtained from recent developments of
the beds near the mouth of the Cop
per river by packers located at Cor-]
dova. A recent shipment from there
to Seattle comprised 4,000 cases, the
, largest single order of canned clams
! ever received at Puget sound ports.
The clam-canning plant of the Pioneer
'Packing Company at Cordova this past
| year put up a pack or 57,000 cases,
which is the world’s record for any
'clam-canning plant. Even the tiniest
|of them all, the shrimp, is beginning to
receive attention. Shrimps in brine,
dried, canned meat, and shells for fer
tilizer, to the value of $5,750, in 1916,
j have brought to Petersburg and vicin
ity a new industry. Nor is this all.
The latest prediction is that scallops
will be a new addition to Alaska’s
great fish supply.
“How will you have your (whale)
steak sir?” is a question likely to be
asked patrons of restaurants before
long. The whalers in Alaska are ap
pealing to the authorities to aid them
in introducing whale meat. They state
that millions of pounds of it go to
waste every year, and if there were a
market for it, it would help along the
meat supply and prove to be a cheap,
nutritious diet as well.
The Japanese have been using whale
meat for a thousand years, and they
like it. The Eskimos eat it to some
extent, but prefer the fat or blubber,
the very part of the animal we would
not care for, but at present the whal
ers, after obtaining from it the bone
and oil, turn the carcass adrift. The
whale is a mammal, not a fish, and in
no sense a scavenger, its food being
clean and wholesome. The flesh re
sembles beef, a little darker red and
not tough. It is rather highly flavored,
but since we have acquired a taste for
“terrapin” and turtle, to say nothing
of the groundhog and 'possum, that
should be a point in its favor. More
over, man has acquired a taste for
tobacco, and there is no other animal
on earth that likes it.
kwtwuivy Ul UlO ict/ipco 1U1 ua pi a
tion appearing lately in the Seattle
papers remind one considerably of the
story of flintstone soup of civil war
fame. Mr. Consumer’s only fear is
that once he has acquired a taste for
'this meat the trusts will boost the
price.
-«
ANITA STEWART IN
“THE SUSPECT” TONIGHT
At the Empress theater tonight
Anita Stewart in one of the most in
teresting plays shown on the screen
this season, “The Suspect,” in six acts.
It is a story of Russia during the
time that the Nihilists and the Grand
Dukes and Princes were involved in
intricate plots and intrigues. The
play exposes the corrupt condition of
the Russian government czaristic days
and vividly illustrates the far reach
ing ramifications of the “cause” to
accomplish the overthrow of the cruel
: and selfish hirelings of the monarch.
1 The Hearst-Pathe News features
are also shown and as usual are ex
tremely interesting.
-♦-,
Eat at least one wheatless meal
a day.
-♦
Practice the gospel of the clean
plate.
Conserve food, especially beef,
sugar, fats and waste.
COAL MINES OPENED
NEAR RAILROAD LINE
Two coal veins are being opened up
along the main line of the government
railroad in (he vicinity of Houston,
Mile 174, according to the Alaska Rail
road Record Shipments are being
made from both deposits, and develop
ment work is being advanced rapidly.1
One of the veins is about one mile:
northwest of the crossing of the Little j
Susitna river. The operators, Joseph
Jandos and George Athans, both of]
Anchorage, have driven a tunnel fifty
five feet long into the coal measures,
exposing a Vein si* feet thick at a
distance of fifty feet from the tunnel’s
mouth, and an exposure of eight feet
of coal at the face of the workings.
The product is in the nature of lignite.
The United States land office at Ju
neau on December 12 granted a permit
to Joseph Jandos to mine the coal, “
which is Included within a ten-acre “
tract described as the northwest quar
ter of the southwest quarter, section
21, township 18 north, range 3 west,
S. M.
The operators have secured 500 feet
of rail and laid a track in the tunnel.
Two push cars are used in transferring
the coal from the mine to the rail
road cars. A temporary loading plat
form 15 by 15 feet has been erected on
Houston siding. Six men are em
ployed on the property at present, and
it is expected to increase the number
to ten when the development work
permits. One car of coal containing
thirty tons has been shipped to An
chorage, and an output of about one
car daily is expected soon.
Parties formerly interested in this
coal prospect mined twenty tons of
coal from it, which they shipped to
the Anchorage market in the latter
part of 1917. The coal bed was dis- _
covered last summer by contractors
engaged in stripping and clearing right
of way for the railway.
The other discovery of coal near
the main line of the railroad waB made
recently by John Lofstrom and Eser
Wikholm of Anchorage, and is situated
about a quarter of a mile from the
workings of Jandos and Athans. It is
believed the coal measure is an ex
tension of the latters’ vein.
Four men are employed in develop
ment work, and about sixty tons o(
coal have been shipped to Anchorage
to date. The coal is hauled by sled
from the mine to the railroad, a dis
tance of about a quarter of a mile.
It is planned to increase the force to
six in the'immediate future, when the
output will be correspondingly aug
mented.
Messrs. Lofstrom and Wikholm have “
accomplished about fifty feet of open
cut work and fifty-se#en feet of tunnel
eight feet square. Two drifts have
been driven, one for a distance of £
twenty-one feet and the other for
thirty feet, and work has been started
on a third drift. :j:
-»—
PRINCESS JEANNE
Little Princess Jeanne, youngest *
member of the Italian royal family,
photographed while on a visit to
wounded soldiers recently, returned
from the Italian battlefront. The
princess is one of the most popular
members of the king’s family, espe
cially with the Italian public. She is
Idolized by the soldiery.
-♦
Use less wheat and meat. Buy local
foodB. Serve just enough. Use what
Is left.
\© ALASKA
\ J STEAMSHIP CO.
This company reserve* the right to change schedule of steamers
without notice.
LEAVES SEATTLE LEAVES CORDOVA
January 24 Alaska January 31
February 1 Victoria February 8
1' ebruary 8 No rthwestern February 15
The freighters Cordova, Latouche, Juneau, Valdez
and Ketchikan also make regular trips.
Tickets on sale at up town office Alaska Steamship Bldg. Bag
gage or freight will not be received at the dock later than one hour
before sailing time.
F. B. TRACY, General Agent; S. R. HEDGES, Agent.
■steamship co AJVq
—Next Steamer—
S. S. ADMIRAL EVANS
Sails from Seattle Feb. 5th—Due Cordova Westbound Feb. 11_Sails
from Cordova for Seattle via inside passage Feb. 19.
CALIFORNIA ROUTE
Special Ocean Excursions from Seattle to Sunny California. $35 to
San Francisco and return, final limit of sale February 28th. $50 to
Los Angeles and return. $54 to San Diego and return. Three sail
ings a week from Seattle to California points. Arrange your winter
outing through your local agent.
FOR FULL PARTICULARS APPLY
W. A. NOURSE, Agent. Empress Building.
DELIVERY OF COAL
On account of eight hour law, coal orders must be re
ceived before 1 p. m. to insure delivery same day. No
coal delivered after 5 pm.
ALASKA TRANSFER
COMPANY
Office—Northern Hotel Building. Phone 85. I
NORTHERN MEAT MARKET I
Wholesale and Retail Dealer* in £
FRESH BEEF, PORK, VEAL, MUTTON AND PRO $
VISIONS
, Particular Attention and Prompt Service Given u orders frem
Mining Camps, Roadhouses and Interior Point* 1 *
HALIBUT and Other Fresh Fish of all Kinds Will be £
Kept in Stock When Available.
SMITH & GLASBRENNEB, Prop*. |
X-XyVyX-y-yyy.y.y.^^
Sixty Steam Heated Rooms Eletric Lighted
Hot and Cold Water in Every Room
With or Without Bath.
Cordova House
DOOLEY AND GREENIG
Headquarters for Railroad and Mining Men
Satisfaction Guranteed
Rates Reasonable
Foos Gas Engines |
4 to 500 Horse Power
General Electric Motors |
Roebling Tramways
Pelton Water Wheels
Chicago Oil Engines and Compressors
Harmon Machinery Co.Inc I
Oxy-Acetylene Welding and Cutting
CORDOVA, ALASKA
ijl!lll!iini!ii!ll!ll!llliil]lil!!lil!lll ..
m 1
g =
s
7_ §1=
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£== 55
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