Valdez daily prospector., 1914-04-07
PORTLAND WANTS ALASKA BUSINESS Major Morrow Tells the People of the Rose City That Alaska Has
 Great Future.

| III NlC iSouC ol -NpANh A', oi 'ii>'
 Portland Journal, the following arti- cle is printed showing that some of
 the business interest of the Rose City are awakening to the chances of
 commercial expansion in Alaska: One of the most important meet ! ings from trade expansion view point ever held in the city was that
 called by the chamber of commerce last night to celebrate the signing of l the Alaska railroad bill and to con- ! slider the possibilities of the Portland l Alaska steamship line.
 Major J. J. Morrow, government en- gineer, showed what revolutioniZing influence a thousand miles of govern
 ment built railroad will have on the
 fortunes of Alaska.
 1 Norman F. Titus, manager of the
 Pacific Steamhip company, amazed 1 the business men present with his l showing of the business that is open ing before the Portland-Alaska line. and his fact based prediction of what the trade may mean to Portland up
 on the building of the railroad and
 the real opening of the country. At the close of the meeting which was held in the assembly room of ! the Commercial club, A. H. Devers, the chairman, said that bond of $50 900 had been reuired by the own CTS of the Wand, Stetson and Qui-
 nault, vessels chartered by the Port land company, that it was proposed to divide the amount between 100 men, making the individual liability $100 for each of the three vessels, that less than half the number desired had
 been secured, and that it would be very satisfactory if the. entire mum Der could be completed from among the business men at the meeting. Bare Half Dozen Respond. Half d dozen responded to the in vitation; the remainder rose and with one accord went out, saying that the talks had been very interesting. Those who have not, when given opportunity, subscribed to the cap ital stock or the bonds, have had be
 fore them the fact that in their lack | of action and interest they serve Seat tie and align themselves with Seattle interests.
 l Mir Titus said the outlook for the ] success of the line is almost start lingly good Alaska business inter ests are anxious to trade with us. Hold cargoes are very fairly well as
 sured.
 Hold cargoes will pay the expen-' ses deck loads will make the pro. fits." said he, adding:
 "If the numbering interests here get
 into the game and try to sell as much
 as possible of the 6O.000,0o0 feet that
 will be shipped into Alaska this year;
 if the Portland merchants will send their representatives into the terri tory to get orders; ii the canneries and fisheries support us as we feel
 sure they will, the success of the
 Alaska line is guaranteed.
 '. Portland Business is Listed. Listing the business in sight, MT.
 Titus said that the American Can
 company, of Portland. will send over
 1000 tons of cans, tin plate and ends
 by the Portland line, and that 6,20S 1 tons of this amount had already been
 ordered out. Every mail brings new
 reuests for shipments of cans. This
 means freight both ways. for the
 cans shipped in are shipped out fill
 ed with salson.
 Morrow's Remarks Highly Interest l ing.
 As it is possible Major Morrow
 may be the engineer. chosen to build
 the governments railroad into Alas
 ka his remarks were cause of great
 interest. This line, he pointed out. ! would avoid the heaviest grades, be
 in reach of coal fields, which. is very
 important. and be about as short as any. line that could be built from an
 ice- free, harbor to the. interior ;.
 Alaska compares with Norway and lSweden in size and. agriculturally.. is
 superior mineraAogically, but contains
 only a small percentage of the pop, < Fulasion.. of these'. two countries, 4.s:
 .,:"People have e.saayer awakened to a
 1salization of what Alaska means, "
 said Major Morrow. He spoke of the
 difficulty in transportation as one of
 the chief reasonsr why the. people do ]:..;".:::. 2: ]: l,.c.~-:. ii ~ ",'-.