The Alaska daily empire., 1915-01-01

fectors are so great that it is utterly
impossible at this time to approx
mate their value. The gifts of nature
consist in large part of immense
mineral zones carrying gold and 9TH
err metals, large areas Of valuable
timber, tremendous water power. po-
tentialities, coal lands, waters teeming
with all kinds of food fishes, agricul-
tural lands, an abundant supply of
game, scenic attractions. an equable
climate, and unlimited opportunities
for water transportation. Develop
ment of some of these resources, no
tably the gold mining and salmon fish
ing industries, has made considerable
progress, and is attracting a great
deal of attention.
Within the past two years Juneau
commenced to moderniZc by substi-
tuting enduring concret" for wood
structures in the business section
and many substantial buildings have
been erected. Among the concrete
structures MAJ be ment Toned the big
five-story Goldstein building, the B.
NJ. Behronds Bank BUILDING. Gartinoau
Hotel, Messerschmidt building, five
story lynda building. Post Office, and
Dispatch Building. During the period
mentioned upwards of S1,5OO,OOO was
expended in new building in town. En-
tensive street improvements were al
so made.
The commerce of Juneau shows a
wonderful increase within the past
few years. The imports from the
States for the year 1911 amounted to
$685., 1872, and for the year 1914 reached
a total of $4,017,710. Machinery and
supplies for the big mining develop
ments and building materials for the
town contributed largely to the marked
increase. The waterfront from Juneau
to Thane, a distance of over three
miles, is now punctuated at intervals
with wharves and warehouses where
freight is disposed of by the regular
carriers to this place. Included in
these are the wharves of the Alaska
Juneau Gold Mining Co., the Standard
Oil Co., the C. w. Young Co., the AL
aska Gastineau Mining Co, and the
wharyes at Thane. In town are the
Shattuck pier, the Municipal wharf,
and the Pacific Coast Co.'S. pier. On
an average 90 ocean going vessels ar
rive at the Municipal wharf with car
20 each month and 40 vessels call, in
Gliding those southbound from points
north and west. In addition there are
three regular lines of steamers and
several tramp freighters that call at
the Pacific Coast Company pier.
There are three banks in Juneau,
including the Juneau branch of the
First Territorial Bank of Douglas, and
they have ample facilities for trans
acting a much larger business than
offers; yet the showing made would
be considered very satisfactory by
many cities having a much larger pop
ulation than Juneau. Excluding the
transactions for the Federal govern
ment and the business of the savings
departments, the bank clearings for
Juneau for the year 1914 reached a
total of $26,039, 6S6.49. According to
the latest statements issued, the B.
iM Behrends Bank, the First Terri
torial Bank, and the First National
Rank hold deposits aggregating ST.
GAG 4O5.7S. [They are about 100000
at this date.]
The larger industries on which Ju-
neau depends are at present mining
and fishing. The payrolls for the
Alaska Gastineau and the Alaska Ju-
neau mining companies alone aggre-
gate s25O,000 monthly. Tributary to
Juneau are several smaller mines with
good payrolls. There are no salmon
canneries in Juneau. but halibut
fishers make it their home and ship
! l. 1 n
center for several Of the Southeast
ern Alaska salmon packers. The sal
mon pack of last season for South
eastern Alaska amounted to 1,7Ss,0S1
cases out of a total of 4,0s7.sS2 for
the Territory, or nearly half Of the
entire catch, which was valued at $40,
! 1882. More than half of the South
EASTERN Alaska catch was nacked in