The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-04-08

large wooden building of two stories lt has now 62 inmates, most of them ola miners or prospectors who have had a share in the development of the terri tory.
 Another crying need of Alaska is better mail service during the winter. The larger towns claim that they should have all the mail all the time the year round. At present during the winter, a large part of the second class mail Is not delivered at Fair banks, and a still larger part is not delivered at Nome The citizens or both towns are complaining bitterly and the complaint seems to be espec- tally well founded as to the malls at Fairbanks That town is four or five hundred miles from the ports at Prince William sound which are open all the year round and at which the steamers from Seattle call regularly several times every week. Moreover, the Cop per River railroad runs from the port of Cordova to the town of Chit1na, which is high up in the coast range of mountains and there are regular stages during the winter which go two or three times a week from Cintina and Valdez to Fairbanks. The stages carry the mail and, according to l letter from the Fairbanks Commercial club, which lies before me, they could carry all the mail if the government saw fit to pay for the transportation.
 The people complain that large part of their newspapers and magazines which should arrive during the winter are held over until spring, when they are delivered in bulk For instance, the postmaster at Fairbanks received on one day in June 500 sacks of such mail much of which was dated as far back as September October and No vember of the previous year. Think of getting all your copies of this news paper published this winter in one big package in the coming May!
 Moreover, the people of Alaska say that the long winter is the time for reading, and they want their news papers and magazines delivered as they cor1e out. They point to the fact that in Dawson. a smaller town than Fair banks. situated just as far inland, the Canadians get all their mail at all times. and that the difficulty of trans portation is greater than at Fairbanks They might add also the fact that the Yukon territory of Canada is small potatoes and few in a h,ll compared with Uncle Sam's rich garden patch of Alaska. This territory did an ex- port and import business last year which amounted to very near $100,- uUU,OUU III value. anu US commerce Tn = creased during that year to the amount of more than $25, ,000 Ii is one of the best business propositions under Uncle Sans flag, and the government should not regard it's mail and tele- graph service similar to that of well developed parts of the United States. Efficiency, and not cost. should be the chief factor of the equation, and sure ly the citizens of the larger towns should have all their mail weekly to say the least.
 On the other hand few people realize what an enormous work our government has done in Alaska since it took hold of the territory. Each of the great de- partments at Washington has been work ing here in one way another, and aI- though, as Secretary Lane says. a great deal of the work has been bound up in red tape, and there should be reor- ganiZation of the system and the appoint ment perhaps, of a development board, which shall take charge of and direct it, been of great value. Take the geological survey. Its experts have gone over the greater part of Alaska, and have made geologic, topographic and Photographic studies which embrace hundreds of thou sands of square miles. They have mapped out the mining districts, and, by writing to Washington, one can find almost where the great beds of gold, coal and other minerals lie and just how to go