The Alaska citizen., 1916-05-29

Engineering commission, comes her" for the purpose of surveying the lots on the townsite at Nenana. J. Frank Warner has been designated for the work and, according to word received at the local land office, he is now enroute north Whether or not MT Warner will approve the survey Of the lots already made at Nenana is matter of conjecture The survey of the lots was made last fall by w II. Thorne 4S0 of them, from the waterfront back to F" street. being laid out.
 IL is understood that the survey last fall was made with the idea Of placing some of the lots on sale this spring shortly after the off cials ot the engineering commission arrived here from the Outside. l.; is stated. however, that there can be no sale of the lots until their sur vey is approved by MT Warner. And it is also stated that there Is little possibility of a sale before next fail, although that matter rests entirely with the officials in charge. according to statements contained in Alaska Railroad Townsite Regn- lations," herewith printed.
 TOWNSHIPS.
 George 4. Parks mineral surveyor of the land office, who was at All chorage during most of the sales Of lots and who surveyed and laid out the townsite at Seward, best de scribes the manner in which the government is handling it's business relative to toWnsites, And it is sup posed that the townsite business at Nenana will be handled along tie same lines, as far as the govern ment is concerned
 The plan of the government, ac- cording to Mir. Parks, is to appoint townsite manager, who is in ab- So!ute control He is usually a land office man; one who fully un- derstands the requirements of such work He is assisted by townsite engineer and a health officer, the duties of the two latter being chief, ly to look after the sanitary and building regulations. The health off cer al Anchorage is the resident physician of the engineering con mission, and 1t is therefore supposed that such an officer will be appoint ed at Nenana.
 When a townsite is laid out the government makes certain reserya- tions for federal and municipal pur- poses A block is reserved for mu- nicipal buildings; another for fed cral building, to house the jail, post office, courthouse, etc. Three blocks are reserved for a city park, while a reservation is also made for a baseball and recreation park. reservation of one block for ceme tery is also made on the outskirts of where it is intended that the mu- nicipality shall end.
 It is the policy of the govern ment not to sell the waterfront lots in the new townsites. The lots are rented to responsible par ties, however, at very nominal rent als, the person renting lot being compelled to show just what kind of business he intends to conduct and also being compelled to put up certain kinds of buildings.
 All of the lots are appraised be- fore the sale takes place, and in announcing them for sale the auc, tOneer names the appraised valua- tiOn. Prior to that time they have been plated and during the sale this plat is Introduced, enabling the wouldbe purchaser to know the locality of the lot he is buying
 At Anchorage, according to MT Parks, the lots were appraised from $50 to $500 Some of them sold for as high as $1,150, while others brought no more than the appraised valuation.
 As fast as the lots are settled up the government builds sidewalks and lays watermains and sewers. Not indiscriminately, however. the general plan being to wait until tie majority of the residents on the various streets petition tor the i'm provements All of the improve ments are assessed against the property, the purchasers of the lots being allowed to pay for them ln the same manner they pay for their lots.
 The sanitary regulations which prevail at Anchorage are the strict est imaginable All outhouses must be at certain distances from dwell ings. and must be securely screened in And the owners of lots are compelled to remove all accumulat ed refuse. Nor can it be placed i'll the streets, the idea of the govern ment being to have it carted away by the residents themselves. To this end a proper place is reserved TOT a garbage dump some distance