The Alaska daily empire., 1916-02-26
GREAT RACE MALlE'' TO THE WEST TOR
 VALUABLE SITE

Sounding like Rex Beach novel or one of Jack London's stories, the tale of race for thousands of miles along the coast of Alaska by rival engin- errs for a cannery site on Boring Seq, was told in the Juneau land office yesterday by F F. Waller one of the contestants.
 The race started in Seattle and took the contestants to Seward on pala- tial steamers, from there to the far westward on small gasoline boats, through the stormiest ocean in the world. through bowling gales and rag ing blIzzards, across miles of snow covered Alaskan wilderness and re- turn, all in the dead of winter
 Many times both parties were in danger of shlpwrecl and were close to death, in fact they had their lives in their hands most Of the time md the slightest fault or breakage in their gas engines would have resulted in their death.
 The race was finished as far as the rival engineers are concerned in Juneau yesterday when the Admiral Farragut landed at the dock.
 F. IT. Waller. one of tho contest. ants in the race stepped ashore here, and while admitting that the other man beat h,m to the ground refuses to admit defeat and the next chapter will be told by the lawyers Of the contesting parties.
 Race la ovsr
 The race started at Seattle late last summer when representatives of ri- val fish companies arrived there and told of having found a cannery site of great value, each one unknown to the other. At once each made prep aratlons to locate and hold the site and engineers were started north. The first step was to file an application for location in the Juneau land office and this was done. At 9 o'clock of the morning of January 12. 1916. the Nelson Lagoon Packing Company, acting through Vim & Burton, filed an application for ground and the prop CT steps towards authorizing @ survey of the land were taken by the land of- flee officials.
 Applications Filed.
 At 10 o'clock of the same day the steamer Jefferson landed here and II. II. Waller. acting for the Henry S. Tibby and associates. filed an appli- cation for the same ground. The de scriptlons of the land in the first ap- plication were very vague and the land officials could not be sure the two parties were applying for the same ground, and owing to the fact that the descriptions of the ground in tho Waller application were very definite. tho survey on this apDllca- tion was also authorized.
 Dora pelays.
 Waller at once left for the Vest ward to connect with the steamer Dora at Seward on bis way to make survey of the property prior to filing his application for patent, as required by law: However, the dramatic part starts. the attorneys for the opposing companies found out that Waller was after the same ground. They got busy on the cable with the result that AL exander Bradford arrived in Juneau within a week and left for the west ward the next day Waller, in the meantime was waiting in Seward for the Dora to leave on her long run to Unga and the westward. She was delayed by heavy storms and Bradford arrived there before she pulled out Bradford was on his way to Kodiak where o gasoline boat was waiting for him and he planned to get a long start down the straits ahead of the Dora. Waller. however, found out that Bradford was on the way before his arrival and immediately got busy trying to hire @ gas boat to take him to Unga. but Bradford's principals had already been working through agents and all available gas boats had been engaged at Q considerable expense. Waller was unable to secure anything TX ano