A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE UNITED
STATES CABLE SYSTEM IN ALASKA
(Continued from Page 25)
Bethel (radio).
Chilkoot Barracks (telegraph).
Circle (radio).
Copper Center (telegraph).
Cordova (cable)
Craig (radio).
Donnely (telegraph).
Fairbanks (radio and telegraph).
Fort Egbert (radio).
Fort Gibbon (radio).
Fort Yukon (radio).
Fortuna Ledge (radio).
Haggard (telegraph).
Holy Cross (radio).
Hot Springs (radio).
Iditarod (radio).
Juneau (cable and radio).
Ketchikan (cable and radio).
Kotzebue (radio).
Livengood (radio).
McCallum (telegraph).
Nenana (telegraph).
Nome (radio).
Nulato (radio).
Petersburg (cable).
Richardson (telegraph).
Ruby (radio).
'Salcha (telegraph).
Seattle (cable and telegraph).
♦Seward (cable and telegraph).
Skagway (telegraph and cable).
Sitka (radio and telegraph).
St. Michael (radio).
Tacotna (radio).
Teikhell (telegraph).
Valdez (cable, radio, telegraph).
Wiseman (radio).
Wortmans (telegraph).
Wrangell (cable).
Seward has radio maintained by the U. S. Navy Department.
The towns of Seward, Ketchikan,
Valdez, Juneau, Skagway, Nenana, Sit
ka, Fairbanks, and Petersburg are pro
vided with messenger delivery serv
ice by the Signal Corps, such as may
be found in cities and towns of simi
lar size and importance in the United
States.
Tariffs.
The charges for sending and receiv
ing messages over the Alaskan sys
,tem are moderate and compare favor
ably with the charges made for simi
lar services in the United States.
The following table shows the cost
of sending an ordinary 10-word day
message from the principal towns in
Alaska to some of the principal cit
ies of the United States, via the Alas
kan communication system and either
of the large American telegraph com
panies:
To
From
Anchorage
Circle _
Cordova
Fairbanks
Fort Yukon
Juneau
Ketchikan
Nenana
Nome .
Petersburg
Seward
Sitka .
Skagway .....
YTaldez
Seattle
$2.00
2.00
1.50
2.00
2.00
1.00
1.00
2.00
2.80
1.00
1.50
1.00
1.00
1.50
New Philadel
York phia.
$3.20
3.20
2.70
3.20
3.20
2.20
2.20
3.20
4.00
2.20
2.70
2.20
2.20
2.70
$3.30
3.20
2.70
3.20
3.20
2.20
2.20
3.20
4.00
2.20
2.70
2.20
2.20
2.70
San
Fran
cisco
Wash
ington,
D. C.
New
Orleans
Chicago
$2.72
2.72
2.22
2.72
2.72
1.72
1.72
2.72
3.52
1.72
2.22
1.72
1.75
2.22
$3.20
3.20
2.70
3.20
3.20
2.20
2.20
3.20
4.00
2.2D
2.70
2.20
2.20
2.70
$3.20
3.20
2.70
3.20
3.20
2.20
2.20
3.20
4.00
2.20
2.70
2.20
2.20
2.70
$2.90
2.90
2.40
2.90
2.90
1.90
1.90
2.90
3.70
1.90
2.40
1.90
1.90
2.40
The following tables show the cost of sending an ordinary 10-word day
message from a few of the more important towns to other points in Alaska:
From
To
Anchorage
Cordova
Fairbanks
Fort Yukon
Iditarod —
Juneau —
Ketchikan
Nenana
Nome -
Petersburg
Seward
Sitka
Skagway
Valdez -
"Wrangell
Anchor
age
$1.00
1.00
1.50
1.70
1.50
1.50
1.00
1.70
1.50
.50
1.50
1.50
1.00
1.50
Cordova
$1.00
.70
1.00
1.50
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.50
1.00
.50
1.00
1.00
.50
1.00
Fair
banks
~$L00
.70
To
.70
1.50
1.50
.20
.70
1.50
.70
1.50
1.50
.50
1.50
Fort
Yukon
$1.50
1.00
.50
1.00
1.50
1.50
.50
1.00
1.50
1.00
1.50
1.50
.70
1.50
Iditarod
$1.70
1.50
.70
1.00
2T0
2.50
.70
.50
2.50
1.50
2.50
2.50
1.20
2.50
Juneau
$1.50
1.00
1.50
1.50
2.60
To
1.50
2.50
.30
1.00
.40
.30
1.00
.40
To
From
Anchorage
Cordova
Fairbanks
Fort Yukon
Iditarod
Juneau —
Ketchikan
Nenana
Nome ..
Petersburg
Seward .
Sitka _
Skagway „
Valdez _
Wrangell ..
Ketchi
kan
Nena
na
$1.50
1.00
1.50
1.50
2.50
.50
1.50
2.50
.40
1.00
.50
.50
1.00
.30
$1.00
1.00
.20
.50
.70
1.50
1.50
To
1.50
1.00
1.50
1.50
.70
1.50
Nome
$1.70
1.50
.70
1.00
.50
2.50
2.50
.70
2/50
1.50
2.50
2.50
1.20
2.50
Peters
burg
Seward
$1.50
1.00
1.50
1.50
2.50
.30
.40
1.50
2.50
1.00
.40
.40
1.00
.30
$0.50
.50
.70
1.00
1.50
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.50
1.00
LOO
1.00
.50
1.00
Sitka
Skag
way
$1.50
1.00
1.50
1.50
2.50
.40
.50
1.50
2.50
.40
1.00
To
1.00
.40
$1.50
1.00
1.50,
1.50
2.50
.30
.50
1.50
2.50
.40
1.00
.50
loo
.50
Valdez
Wran
gell
$1.00
.50
.50
.70
1.20
1.00
1.00
.70
1.20
1.00
.50
1.00
1.00
L00
$1.50
1.00
1.50
1.50
2.50
.40
.30
1.50
2.50
.30
1.00
.40
.50
1.00
The general offices of the Alaskan Cable System are located in the Ar
cade Building, Seattle, Washington. For further information regarding tar
iffs, etc., may be obtained at any Signal Corps) office in Alaska or at the gen
eral offices of the system in Seattle.
Traffic
The office hours of the local
cable office are from seven A. M.
to nine P. M. except on Sundays and
Holidays which are from eight to ten
A. M. and from five to six P. M.
The new cable recently laid be
tween Ketchikan and Seward was
duplexed in May of this year, mak
ing it possible to send and receive
messages simultaneously. The Op
erator in Charge of the Local Of
fice states this will permit the
handling of business at an aver
age speed of from thirty to thirty
five letters per minute, or approx
imately thirty^ive messages per
hour sent and received. As the
cable between Ketchikan and Se
attle is likewise duplexed this re
sults in the handling of business
with no delay.
Personnel
The personnel of the local of
fice consists of Master Sergeant
Burr M. Snyder, Operator in Chg.,
and the following operators: Sgt.
Richard McNally; Corporals Har
ry L. Rust, Harry W. McLaughlin,
Frank E. Robison; Privates First
Class Gideon Bowley, Geo. Guest,
Louis Tinkler, Frank L. Murphy.
An Aleut barabara is dug three
feet below the surface of the ground
and consists of two rooms.
UNALASKA IS
GREATSEAPORT
TO WESTWARD
CONSIDERABLE ACTIVITY AT FAR
WESTWARD PORT—OCCU
PIES STRATEGIC SITE
Unalaska is to the Westward whal
Tahaiti is to the South Sea Islands
It is practically the headquarters for
the famed North Pacific Patrol ol
U. S. cutters and is the center ol
the trading fleet which operate
around the Aleutian chain of islands
to the Arctic ocean.
Survey boats, engaged in making
maritime charts, are constantly ply
ing in and out of Unalaska. These
craft consist of the geological sur
vey steamers Pioneer, Explorer, Bear
and the Discoverer. Among the trad
ing fleet these vessels are numbered;
schooner Everett Hays, captained by
Mr. Goss; the gas schooner Shu
magin which belongs to U. S. Com
missioner Bolshannin; schooner Em
ma, Captain Schroeder, schooner Hal
leys; auxiliary schooner Daisy be
longing to the Aleutian Livestock
Company, which company operate a
sheep ranch at Chernoffski, Unalaska
island and from which the finest
wool in the world is shipped from.
A quantity of the long fibred wool
from this port was brought to Sew
ard on the steamer Starr last fall,
and reshipped to the States. The
trading fleet is soon to be augment
ed by the schooner Iskum, Captain
Larson. This boat has been operat
ing in the Siberian trade.
Vessels bound from Seattle to the
Orient, following the shortest route
to the Far West, pass within a few
miles of Unalaska and frequently
stop in at the port for fuel. The Al
aska Commercial company has a
coaling station at Dutch Harbor, a
neighbor town to Unalaska. Within
45 miles of the port, on Akutan Is
land, the Northern Pacific Sea Pro
ducts company operate a whaling sta
tion and at Lost Harbor, an equal
distance from Unalaska, are the
huge sulphur mines, at present clos
ed down.
The San Juan Fishing and Pack
ing company’s vessel, San Jose, fish
ed for cod out of Unalaska and ac
cording to reports the season "was
exceptionally good. At McCushion,
near Unalaska, is a floating cannery
which is served by the S.S. Santa
Flavia. The vessels comprising the
Pacific Patrol are the motorship Ei
der, Captain Beck; which operates to
the Pribilofs; the cutters Haida and
Algonquin.
600,000 CASES
SALMON PACKED
IN BRISTOL BAY
FIGURES REVEAL TOTAL PACK
IS SOMEWHAT UNDER THAT
OF LAST SEASON
NO CAUSE FOR ANY ALARM
In 1919 Was Small Pack, Succeeding
Year Showed a Small.
Gain.
The Bristol Bay Salmon pack for
1925 totals approximately 600,000
cases. This is about 28 per cent un
der the pack for 1924 which amounted
to 807,894 cases.
The district last season skewed
a contrast between the two sides.
On the Nushagak side 300,000 cases
were put up, a gain of 25 per cent
over last year, which the loss on the
Kvichak-Naknek-Ugashik side, where
only 300,000 cases were put up, was
about 50 per cent.
The entire pack for the district
including Port Moeller, False Pass
and Herendeen Bay lower on the Al
aska Peninsula, should be around the
•million case mark. This will be some
what less than last season when a
production of 1,230,000 cases was
made. There is no cause for alarm
over the situation as similar fluc
tuations have been experienced by
the canning industry in that region
in past years, it was stated. In 1919
there was a small pack and the 1920
pack was but little better. For the
next three years there was an in
crease. Losses were reported last
year over 1923 and that of the pres
ent season does not surprise fishery
officials who are familiar with the
past history of the district.
Greater Alaska Trade
Accrues Seattle Benefit
The day of the pick and# shovel mi
ner is gone forever in Alaska accord
ing to the new governor, George A.
Parks, who in his inaugural speech
last summer said, “The people of Al
aska want big capital and are will
ing to treat it fairly so that invest
ment will yield an adequate return
and attract other investments.’'
Seattle’s business men and civil
bodies have realized what a great
trade asset is Alaska and have built
up careful business relations by
which the city expects to gain in the
tremendous increases of trade which
the Territory is certain to enjoy.
Mr. and Mrs. W. N. Beach of New
York, were but two of the many
prominent citizens of the United
States to have visited Seward the
past summer. Mr. Beach spent two
months in the Rainy Pass district
hunting big game writh moving pic
ture cameras and guns. Marcus
Daly, nationally known mining man
and capitalist, accompanied the Beach
party on a big game hunt in the In
terior of Alaska last summer. He
visited in Seward in September.
Two moose, four sheep and five
black bear, were the bag of speci
mens of Alaskan wild game animals,
two young men from theEast, Wm.
Osgood Field of Lenox, Mass., and
Harold Coolidge, jr., of Boston, pro
cured during a few weeks’ big game
hunt in the Skilak lake country this
fall. The country lies a short dis
tance from Seward.
A small public camping ground and
park were established by the fores
try department at Lake Kenai, at
the end of the Seward-Kenai High
way, the past summer, and affords
tourists a splendid outing place where
boating and fishing are at a premium.
DEFINING A TOTEM POLE
By KATHERINE KANE.
It Is impossible in a brief treatise
to give an accurate interpretation of
the crude heraldry of a primitive peo
ple without making a study of indi
vidual totems.
Whatever suggestions of idolatory
the uncouth and barbarous appear
ance of the totem may convey, to
the casual observer, it is certain that
such a practice was not thought of
by Haidas. Their recognition of su
pernatural power which is common
to all primitive peoples was not cen
tered in one Divine Deity. These
children of nature developed a ven
eration for birds and animals to
which they ascribed human intelli
gence. The transmigratory idea finds
a place in the vague traditions of a
spiritual power for good or for evil
which changed the form of man to
birds or animals or vice-versa. A
crude idealty led to the association
of each family with some form of
animal life, the recording of which
resulted in the rude carvings called
Totem Poles. As nearly as can be
determined the original purpose in
erecting totems before the houses
was to distinguish each group of
families having the same crest. Take
for example the totem which repre
sents the Eagle. This would be
found all sufficient to indicate the
house of the Eagle Clan, and would
be the home of all those having the
Eagle Crest or emblem of their To
temic system whether visitors or
permanent dwellers.
Dominic Zavaglia spent last sum
mer prospecting in the Nuka Bay
field and though he did not locate
anything worthy of staking proposes
to outfit again and return in the
spring.
“As we see it, the timber in the \
Seward district is a vast resource,
and will assist tremendously in the
development of Alaska,” stated Ro>
Headly, assistant forester of Wash
ington, D. C., during his visit in Se
ward last .Tnlv
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We Hustle!
Always on the job
DAY And NIGHT
We meet every boat and train
Watch out for the Red Auto
Truck or the Red-Nosed Dob
bin hauling a Double Ender.
Baggage Delivered to any
part of the city
CITY EXPRESS
BILLY PATTERSON, Boss
Phone—Adams 77
SEWARD - - - ALASKA
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