The Seward gateway daily edition, and the Alaska weekly post., 1919-07-18

may be mentioned that wartime strcnuOSiticS have in both cases conSid- crably reduced measurements. The col oncl bears another resemblance to the former President, too, in his expansive suitability and infectious good ma ture: wherefore. naturally the two men are excellent friends. Apropos or which hut that comes later.
 The most acrid critic of our war administration would have to admit that it was a stroke. of genius that selected Colonel Dick for the Mur- mansk job. If there'S'anything that he doesn't know about winds. weather waters. and ways in and adjacent to the arctic circle. then nobody else knows it. He iS a West Pointer of the famous class of 1884. West Poms classes should always be referred to in that Way; each class knows itself at "thc famous. and nobody else can dcny.\Twcnty odd years ago. as frs. lieutenant in the Eighth Infantry he was sent to Alaska, where he built Fort William II. Seward, and then was placed on the Alaska Roads Commits sion so named in hopor of the fat that there were no roads in Alaska.
 Since that time the colonel'S bust. ness has been to survey and build roads and trails everywhere. with no money in particular to pay the bills; and between times to do tho collar-an ! -clbow with Congressional committee in the effort to make them believ that Alaska deserves an occasional ap propriation. At one time or another he has had to fight almost everybody in the Territory and at Washington tn get chance to do the big work he ha' accomplished for Alaska. He has been accused variouSly of stealing most ot the Territory, sometimes for his own ptlSOliJl 'VNIhNSS'' tNllu dN 'Nl'lS i'i whatever financial interest chanced aC the moment to be the most cffectivl local bogy; but through all of it no body ever caught the colonel vita Alaska concealed about him. He, has spent these long years plugging along doing things for the benefit of other people; helping them toward realiz- ing his and their claim that Alaska is going to be great country in few more decades.
 When the world war gathered Am erica into its vortex, Colonel Richard son was comfortably attending to his Alaska roads and trails. Being not on ly West Pointer but q former in Structor in tactics at the Academy h" was promptly wanted to help lick cookies into soldiers; and to that end he was assigned to one of the big camps.
 New duties. new difficulties. He must ride horse, and hadn't done it in years. He hunted around found a horse big and Strong cnough' and then set about to draw a saddle. There was none big enough; the government nev- CT had them of his size and the biggest one that could be provided was utter ly useless to him.
 Then. a. bright idea occurred to the colonel. He remembered that his old friend; ,cx-PreSident Taft, owned saddle, made to order, that was won der of capaciousness and comfort. Mn. Taft would certainly loan 1t for so pa triotic service, and the colonel promptly wired. asking him the loan. r.- The notion somehow struck the ex- Presidents funny-bone. He ewired Col onel Dick all about it He had dili- gently hunted everywhere on the place for that oversized saddle. It wasn't in his chiffonier. nor in the bureau-draw- CTS. Hadn't examined all the closets vet, but it didn't seem to be there. Pretty hard luck, but he was afraid he would never find it; if he did, he'd slap special-delivery stamp on it and send it along.
 On receipt of which Colonel Dies Sorrowfully went out and spent T months wages for tailormade sad dle big enough to hold him.