ALASKA MIZZLE
(Continued from Pa>re Four)
with a number of farmers on this
subject, and the idea has been
commended as the solution to the
problem. Each said that if they
could sell one particular product,
at a fixed price, it would remove
all worry and uncertainty, and
enable them to be successful. A
1: rmer is a great experimentalist
end would expand into other pro
ducts, planting- only so much of the
.staple as to insure a good living,
1 his providing diversified crops.
In selecting the income product
it would be well to choose one that
tan be stored indefinitely without
deterioration, so that canning or
refining could be done when most
convenient—the idea is to have a
winter industry to provide labor
v hen it is most needed. The tech
. ;cal operation of the project
ouki be under the Alaska Agri
cultural College.
GOVERNMENT EXPERIMENTAL
FARMS
For 20 or 30 years the Govern
ment has maintained experiental
farms in this part of Alaska, with
the avowed purpose of demonstrat
ing the productivity of Alaska soil
and climate. They were original
ly established as an aid to land
settlement- Every year bulletins
were issued and distributed free. A
great deal of money has been ex
pended on them, but SO FAR AS
PRACTICAL BENEFIT IS CON
CERNED. THERE SEEMS TO BE
NONE WHY? One reason I be
g.'ve was the diversity of activity.
It would have been better to have
concentrated on a FEW STAPLE
PLANTS, and demonstrated the
BUSINESS POSSIBILITIES of
them. Both the activities and the
financial support of the Govern
ment farms still in operation,
should be placed wholly under the
upervision of the Alaska Agricul
tural College.
LAND CLEARING
Tile biggest inducement to farming
next to an assured market, is
clearing the land ready for the
plow. I suggest that within a cer
tain distance from the railroad or
auto road feeders, that the Terri
tory and railroad combine to clear
A. or B, quality tracts of land upon
application of anyone who will put
:■ crop in. The cost of such clear
ing to be a lien against the land,
but on such easy terms of payment
that any farmer would be willing
to assume. The land clearing ma
chinery could be assembled in the
railroad machine shops during
winter months.
FREE HAULAGE OF ALASKA
PRODUCTS
Thruout this railroad’s history at
least three-fourths of the south
bound freight cars are empty. The
additional cost of haulage, if some
of these cars were full, would be
slight, due to short trains and
the large locomotives used. There
fore I beiieve it would have been a
wise practice in the past, produc
tive of great results, if products
had been hauled free of charge
when they were to be shipped to
other than railroad towns
to build up external trade
along the coast, or with the states,
it would be necessarg to give every
inducement possible. Free haulage
or at bare cost, should be given to
all farm products, whether fresh
or canned; to reindeer meat, to
coal, to wood products, and to ores
needing smelting. Modern business
practice sets it's seal of approval
n free distribution of samples of
a commodity to create a demand
for it. The inter-town rate on pro
duce grown in Alaska should be
lowered to a point where such com
modity would be as cheap, at least
as that exported from the states.
TAX UNCULTIVATED, CLEARED,
LAND
A great deal of valuable agricul
tural land is owned by people who !
do not care, and do not intend, to
cultivate it. It is held just for
speculation- To prevent that and
on courage it’s use, all acreage once
r cultivated should be HEAVILY
TAXED each year they are unused.
Tax also, all A and B grade un
cleared land if within 10 miles of a
town and more than 10 acres in the
piece. The tax to be rated on the
grade of the land. I believe this
provision very important.
COAL
The original promotion of the
railroad was on the plan of hauling
coal to Seward for shipfent by boat.
Twenty-seven years effort by the
different managers of the railroad
has resulted in the shipment of
'only a few hundred tons to places
outside of the railroad belt. The
high cost of mining, transporta
tion, loading on ship, are deterring
reasons. It would have been a good
investment to HAUL AND LG AD
THE COAL FREE, ON BOARD SHIP
SEWARD, or at most the actual
cost. If the price of “efficiency ’
equipment, like the recently pur
chased snow plow, had been used
to build a small coal oum%~ u* here,
to make loading aboard boat easy,
it would have been a thousand
times better spent to encou 'age
resource development. The answei
given by each succeeding manage
ment to the request for bunkeis,
has been that the bunkers would
be built when there was a demand
shown for Alaska coal in coast
towns. In other words, built up
the coal business and then we’ll re
duce freight rates and build the
bunkers. This is directly contrary
to modern business practice. If
they had been built, and a cost
transportation rate given, there is
no question but mar a uuuuw»n&
coal business would be esablished,
at least along the Alaskan coast,
stopping the present large impor
tation of the foreign product
reindeer and muskoxen
I The most valuable result from a
single effort ever shown in Alaska
is the reindeer industry. The Con
gressional appropriation to bring
the original herd of reindeer here
has brought great wealth to the
Territory, and now the present ap
propriation for muskoxen may be
just as valuable in the future- I
would suggest also a trial of the
Laplander’s hardy milk goats. All
of such endeavor to be under the
supervision of the college.
PROSPECTOR
Prospecting has declined in Al
aska for years. Many reasons
might be given. I believe a valua
ble help, and stimulant, to hard
rock prospecting and development,
would be to provide cheap trans
portation of ore, both to, and on
the railroad. To find the mineral
leads is much easier than to deter
mine their value and quantity.
There are hundrerds of out-crop
pings known to prospectors, any
one of which might prove a valua
ble property, but because of the
expense of development work noth
ing is done with them. I suggest
that the Territory and railroad
combine to furnish transportation
of ore from the prospect to either
terminal of the railroad in this
manner: The prospector to take
out ore, sack it, and clear a tractor
! nnt.b from the ore to establish
ed trail, or road, then to present
his assay certificate and applica
tion for transportation to the pro
per person in charge of this de
partment. To insure develop
ment the haulage should be done
ONLY when the ore was taken
(from either a shaft or drift, and
not from float or surface stripping.
During the following winter the
department would get, and deliver
lit to the terminal, charging a fixed
rate per ton, to be paid only from
content of the ore, or to be a lien
against the prospect. Haulage not
to be undertaken if cost would be
out of proportion to value of ore,
determined from the assays. Road
Commission tractors and trailers
could be used for this work,
I suggest the Alaska College be
| given sufficient money to build a
small commercial stamp mill, to
handle ore from prospects- The
College Assay department is al
ready giving valuable help to the
prospector.
MAP OF RESOURCES
An aid in establishing new in
I dutries would be a resource map
of the country within, say 25 miles, ■
of the rails, distributed at cost. The;
investigation for data, and the pre-!
paration of the map, to be under !
the supervision of the Alaska Col- 1
lege, using funds provided jointly
by the railroad and the Territory-1
This map should be issued each i
year showing additional finds, and
giving more definite information.
It could be issued as a supplement
to the College paper. The map
!data need be only approximate at
| first; exactness would come from
[year to year. The map to include
soil, timber, minerals, clays, limes,
'coal, sands, moss, berries, and also;
temperature, rainfall, and water |
[power data.
I
NATIONALITIES
Despite the general belief, Scan- ]
idanavians do NOT take to farming!
[in Alaska. There is no one nation- i
ality showing a preferance tor any i
pursuit up here except fishing, and
that is almost wholly in Scandana- :
vian hands. To try to get any par
ticular race to follow a certain pur
suit will be unsuccessful, for this
country does not; foster coloniza
tion. The moment farming is put
;on a profitable basis 'by providing
a market), Alaskans of all nation
alities will take to the soil. At
present I believe the most promis
ing class to be the rapidly growing
mixed-blood young people who do
not find living in the states attiac- |
tive.
UJ VUitc
Right here it is in oraei
an opinion as to the value of pieo
ent school courses for mixed-blood
'children. These people are the
most permanent residents of Alas
ka, and as such their school stud
ies should be selected so as to give
them special training in making a
living from the raw resources of
the country. To mine, to farm, to :
fish, to use forest products, .should j
be ’ their future plan- I believe |
three-fourths of the present edu
cation given them is a waste of j
time and money; they are taught ,
loo many refinements, and trained j
to be dissatisfied with the simple j
life. The manual training courses
of expert plumbing, cabinet mak
ing, fancy cooking, algebra, ancient j
history, dead languages, oratory,,
piano playing, etc., do not fit the
natives, or mixed-blood, to develop
natural resources of their home
land- Some of these institutions i
and schools are training theii
pupils in soft living, where comfort
and luxuries are the first considei- ,
ation.
LABOR
The practice of hiring boys > in j
their teens in men’s jobs, by the
railroad, and other Government 1
departments, should be discourag
ed. Many nr n scnooi biuuenw ■
who come from well-to-do homes
are given good positions by Gov
ernment employers during the
three months school vacation. I
know of many instances where the
family income is wholly sufficient
to keep the boy in school without
additional income from their labor
—there is no objection to the boys
doing some kind of work, but pre- j
ference should be given to men sup- |
porting families, or who need the
work to make a living.
I suggest as a discouragement to
winter migration THAT A BONUS
OF FIFTY CENTS, OR A DOLLAR,
PER DAY BE PAID TO THE LAB
ORER WINTERING IN ALASKA.
A certificate for the amount to be
given him at the end of his labor. j
It would be convertible into cash in
April of the following year, when
presented with the endorsement of
some public official as to winter
resirence.
All railroad repair work, recon
struction work, and newr work, that
is not necessary for immediate use
should be done during the winter j
erv « fn nrnvirie work for
the many men who are usually idle
'during the winter; prospectors,
cannery workers, farmers ,and
road employees. The proposed fac
tory, or cannery, should also be
; constructed for winter use if possi
ble.
COLD STORAGE PLANT
The idea of establishing a large
cold storage plant here to take care
jof reindeer meat is certainly con
structive, and if built will encour
\m ~ -a
i
i
1
A
THE ALASKA RAILROAD /
Sept. 2, 1930.
Effectice this date our pas
-senger train service will
be cut to one round trip
per week leaving Seward
on each Saturday arriving
Fairbanks Sunday. Leaving
Fairbanks Thursday arriv
ing Seward Friday.
age the grazing of animals along
the railroad. I suggest that the
plans embrace the handling of fish,
berries, and any other fresh food
products or the railroad nelt that
need cold storage.
Such a plaint would not be self
supporting for several years if it’s
use were confined to shipments on
the railroad. But it WOULD be a
paying investment on its comple
tion if halibut was handled as
other plants do. To engage in local
business would not harm private
establishments as they could not
handle the fish brought in here if
accomodation was sure, and prices
reasonable- So soon as the rail
road business was sufficient to pay
operating expenses, dealing in hal
ibut could be discontinued.
APPROPRIATIONS
As elsewhere, the cry for steady
and greater expenditures of Gov
ernment money will be heard at
every point in Alaska, especially
people living off this railroad, but
IT IS FOLLY to continue to POUR
MONEY INTO A PROJECT THAT
! HAS FAILED TO ACCOMPLISH
| IT’S OBJECT IN 15 YEARS, UN
LESS THAT PROJECT IS COM
PLETELY ALTERED IN CHARAC
TER AND POLICIES.
It is foolish to keep on spending
money year after year to operate
this railroad IN THE SAME OLD
!WAY, but to just shut it down,
!without trying alternatives in op
eration, or providing a highway to
Stake its place, WOULD BE A CAL
(I'lease turn to Page Seven)
Fresh Haas canwy. SCHALLER
£R’S ALASKA SHOP.
COOPER’S HAVE 100 BOXES
OF CANNING PEACHES AND
ARE SELLING THEM CHEAP.
tt :: j: tt tt 7% iTiTFITn is a n it t:
n WALL PAPER -
Aron Ericson “
,tt Painter and Decorator 55
VAN GILDER HOTEL
Hot and Cold Water in Every Room
Steam Heat
J. S. BADGER Prop.
AVhen other Stores
have closed for the night
IONG after other stores have closed their doors for
the night or the holiday, you often c " at your
Neighborhoe- J Drug Store for s erne article ci •' :h you
are in neec. Sometimes you go for little service, vhich
you perhaps accept as a matter of course, and at v wing
intervals you go there to have your Doctor's pr . scrip
tion tilled in time of sickness.
You would miss the Neighborhood Drug Store more
than you realize if some day you found its doors closed,
some night its friendly lights out—and particularly in
some emergency if you had to travel a long distance to
have your prescription filled.
To ward off such a possibility von must give your
Neighborhood Druggist m oof than transient support.
Keenly affected by tendencies in modern business, often
most unfair to him, he cannot except in rare instances
maintain his pharmacy on professional services alone.
He must sell merchandise, too—of standard make and
reasonably priced to give him a fair profit. If you keep
him in mind for your every-day needs, you'11 find him
when you most need his professional services.
— MERCK
For Prescriptions — Physicians pre
scribe and Druggists dispense the pu re
products of Merck’s laboratories.
For Your Medicine Cabinet —Se
lect Merck’s pure products as your
Doctor and Druggist do.
#
i Seward Drug Co.
NO UNCERTA1NITY
¥on know what it is worth at any moment, for ;ts value
never decreases. You know how much interest it v Jujjig
you. And you know you will get your money back in full and
on time when you deposit at the
Bank of Seward
Four per cent interest paid on all Savings Accounts