The daily Nome industrial worker., 1916-08-28
SNAKE RIVER HARBOR.

luscious pork from the congression- al barrels, does the Industrial Worker support the idea of har- bor for the mosquito fleet, but be- cause in the absence of such, the lives of these on board these ships are seriously menaced.
 The men who down to the sea in Nome's mosquito fleet are all hard working folk, not endowed with very much substance. but whose lives are worth a whole lot more than those who have plenty of this worlds goods. And may be 1t is because they are such humble folk, the high poilucal gods pay but little attention to the crying need for some sort of harbor protec- tion.
 The problem of ridding river mouths of bars which menace their navigation is an old and formidable one which has occupied the very best engineering minds in the old world and the new.
 It is not an easy problem, for it is complicated by lot of varying forces and changing conditions which all have to be reckoned with.
 The accepted way has been to construct a jetty which will enable the stream to carry out it's silt be- yond the shallow waters where the back water of tidal current would have but little force to sweep 1t back, but for deep water ships the deepening of the channel has com pelled the resort to artificial means to maintain it at a navigable depths even when such jetties are con- structed.
 Now the Nome harbor problem in this respect is not quite so com plicated. In the first place there is no tide to speak of and in the se- cond place the construction of jetty would deepen automatically channel which would be deep enough always thereafter for motor ships and the smaller craft that seek a refuge in Snake river.
 For the past year or so, Nome trading has fallen off considerably by reason of the price of furs slump ing on account of the war. But with the prospects bright for an early termination of the terrible Gcourge and the satisfactory completion of the negotiations now under way with the Russian ambassador for an ex- tension of the free trade zone south ward from Cape Navarin, the mos quito fleet will be busy enough. Moreover the Arctic trading has just doubled itself within the past year and at least two more motor boats are being arranged for, to take part in that business.
 Attention is also being given to the logical coal supply for Nome: the Cape Lisburne coal fields which are about to be opened up and for obvious reasons which will be open ed up by means of motorships be- tween Cape Lisburne and Nome. All ready that trade has begun, and 1t is a prime essential that Snake river be open as harbor where that coal can be cheaply and read lily discharged by the smaller vessels which will carry it to Nome What "queered" the proposition that Cap tain Ehrenbeck investigated was doubtless the idea that he and others had in mind that what the people of Nome demanded was a gigantic break water which would | enable the freighters and liners to discharge in the roadstead.
 Now how that idea obtained &C., ceptance it is hard to tell The ori- ginal demand that went out from Nome was harbor for the mosquito | fleet and that was the main deside- | ratum. The big ships could take care of themselves and if the big | fees are any warranty, take care of | their profits too at the same time.
 The small motor craft however are different. They are always me naced by the big storms that blow up. They are unable to load or dis charge in any sort of blow. They