Iditarod pioneer., 1915-08-07
ard Matches 5. 1 SALE
GEORGE (. HAZELET'S VIEWS
 OF ANCHORAGE SITUATION
Alaska Times. Cordova. July 3

Alaska Times, Cordova July 3 1 George c. Hazelet returned yesterday 1 from a weeks visit to Anchorage, observing the conditions there and moving around the country somewhat. A representative of the 1 Times interviewed MT. Hazelet to secure his 1 impressions of the new town, and MT. Haze 1 let talked freely about the railroad work there and the possibilities of the country, He said:
 T went to Anchorage to investigate con ditions in the town for my own satsfac ton and to size up the business at first ihand 1 found the largest tent town 1 ever saw-from 1000 to 250O people are fed, housed and their wants in a way, taken care of in tents, all located on the govern ment railway terminal ground.
 "There are from twenty five to thirty res taurants and as many lodging houses, rang ing from Sx1O to 16x24 feet. There are from twelve to fifteen places where groceries are sold, running from peanut stands with sugar coffee and the staples, up to fair stocks of groceries, including fresh Vege- tables and fruits, and more are comlng III with each boat. There are two or three places where mems furnishing goods are sold in conjunction with hardware, etc, and as many dry goods and ladies' furnishings places The town has fifteen or twenty bar Der shops, and one bath tent, SIX laundrles, two watch and clock repalr shops, three tn shops five transfer outhts two drug stores, enc sawmil one picture show, one news paper, several lawyers, no saloons but plenty of booze, ten cigar stores, with several real estate and brokerage firms. Numerous other small businesses are represented.
 There are GOO to 700 men out of work. The railway officials tell me they employ i .OOO men in all capacities The work Is strung along twenty miles from Anchorage towards the MatanusEa river, let out in sta ion work The right-of-way is cleared beyond that for some distance. Common labor is 3712 cents an hour, eight hours work, with shut down on Sundays. Car penters receive from 20 to 60 cents per hour
 ''It is said to be the intention of the gov crnment to dredge out dock site and put 1 in a concrete dock, with lock- This is nee rgsary because of the extreme tide of 42.6 feet, the second highest in the world, and i the ice conditions that prevail during the winter
 Agents of the government are adVertlS- ing that Anchorage is to be the ocean ter minus, that coal bunkers will be erected and q naval base established. It IS evident that it is their intention to make it an open port the year around if possible. However, this is not believed to be possible by men who are familiar with conditions. talked with A number of men, some of whom have lived at Cook inlet for the past twenty live yeara, o1I # ,,bCr,, baN-a ono tpy DD1tN that section. and they are unanimous in the Opln, lion that it cannot be done. They explain that immense ice gorges pile up clear across the inlet in any ordinary winter, and move back and forth with the tide, sometimes for 4 distance of sixty miles. The inlet as whole does not freeze over, hence 1t Is not a question for an ice-breaker, but the Ice ana snow freeze in masses ten to fifteen feet thick, and move back and forth from five 10 eleven miles per hour, owing to the stage of the tide.
 Nv observations were that boats were required to wait for the tide to go in any direction from Anchorage In fact the book says that sea-going vessels should not at tempt to go in over the bar between Fire island and Mckenzie point at less than half tide. To <go to Knk arm from Anchorage one must wait until the tide is flooding, and to get out of the arm must wait until 1t ebbs. The same applies to Turnagaln arm. Leaving Anchorage from Turnagaln arm, one must go out on the ebb tide and lie back of Fire island until the tide turns, and go up the arm with the flood ana re verse the thing to get back.
 It is said that 300 homesteadS have been taken up from Anchorage up the Mata- nuska. and in and around knik An eX- animation of the ground at Anchorage knik Hope and Sunrise showed deposit of light alluvial soil from six inches to one foot in depth, underlaid with gravel The soil appears very productive for vege- tables, but in dry weather It Is so light It blows away very rapidly, similar to the soil in all sections of Alaska, so far as my observations have extended.
 Dissatisfaction on all sides is rife at An chorage. This however, is common to all big new enterprises. There seem to be several bones of contention between the peo' ole and the government othclalS, such as low wages short hours, employment ot for egners. discrimination agalnst Amencans etc. The principal objection offered, how ever, seems to be against the method ol handling the tOwnsite. The tact that any one individual may purchase all of the lots, or as many as he likes, and that these may be transferred to other parties, opens good way for speculation and pooling, and pre- vents the man of small means from getting a foothold in the town. Nothing is dis cussed so much these days in Anchorage as the townsite problem. I quote what you hear on the street anywhere:
 "'Here is a mass of 2,000 people squatted on the government terminals, from which they must soon move, many of them with just enough money to build a small build ing and start their business, forced to bid against some fellow from the States who has plenty of money and desires to specu- late. This is un-American, and directly op- posed to the avowed policy of the admins tration Why is it done?
 q was told that petition signed by 2,0O0 had been sent to President Wilson on June 27, protesting against the disposition of the