The Seward gateway., 1922-08-25
LARGE ATTENDANCE
 AT CHAMBER OF
 COMMERCE LUNCHEON
LUNCHEON IN HONOR OF GENER- .~ AL WILDS p. RICHARDSON AND
 TosHlTo sAToW, CONSUL

The banquet room of the Seward Grill was filled to overflowing today with members of the Seward Chamber of Commerce at a luncheon in honor of General Wilds P. Richardson and Vice Consul Satow, of Japan.
 Following the lunch MT. H. E. Will son, president of the Chamber of Commerce, called upon General Rich ardson for an expression of his idea his present trip through the Territory No man in Washington or Alaska was more familiar with the. needs of the Territory before the war than General Richardson, and his present trip is to acquaint himself with any changed conditions since his sojourn m tne army throughout the war.
 General Richardson expressed him self as greatly surprised at the optin- istic feeling which he had found in A aska generally and in this rairoao belt particularly. He stated that h. found a feeling at Fairbanks that would indicate bright future for the Interior. Nearly a thousand acres of land are now under cultivation tend ing to create a permanent population The development of the Interior ter minus of the railroad seems to lndl- cate very bright future for Seward and other towns along hte railroad is the opinion of General Richardson.
 In speaking of the transportation needs of the Territory with which Gen eral Richardson is very familiar by reason of his years of service in Alas ka as chairman of the Board of Aiaskf Road Commissioners the General saiG: Tn my present position at Washington I shall continue to do all in my power to secure better roads for Alaska and lots of them 1 know the difficulties and cost of road construction in Al aska and we shall continue to do all in our power to give Alaska the roads which she needs so badly for the Ge- velopment of the Territory.
 "As regards the highway from Val deg to Fairbanks some people have suggested that it should be abandoned. I feel, moreover, that this road is one of the best feeders to the Alaska Rail road.
 Although it cannot be considered tonnage route it will be a great asset to the country as an additional inter est to tourists In addition to serving as a route for tourist travel the Val dez-Fairbanks Road will be of mater ial benefit in the development of the upper Tanana Valley to the Divide and from the coast to the Interior"
 General Richardson stated that he had appeared before committee al Washington in support of an appropria ton for the control of Lowell Creek at Seward. He cited the control of the glacier stream at Valdez as a preced- ent and promised the people of Sew ard that they could depend upon his support at Washington in securing re- lief from the danger of Lowell Creek by securing federal appropriation for it's control
 Following General Richardson, Vice Consul Toshito Satow was called upon for a few remarks MT Satow, who is stationed at Seattle explained that he was being sent by his government to secure first hand information upon the economic conditions of Alaska and the possibilities of trade between this Ter ritory and Japan.
 MT. Satow pointed out that the new age in the world history is the age of the Pacific and in his opinion Alaska was destined to play an important part by reason of her great natural re- sources. He prophysied that someday and perhaps in the not very Tar dis tant future that steamers would be ply ing between Seward and Yokohama in international commerce.