The Nome nugget., 1923-02-17
\. ". CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ACTIVITIES BRING CONCRETE RESULTS FOR ROME.
 COAL THE VITAL ISSUE.

Monday evening at 6;3O o'clock
 the annual dinner and election of
 officers of the Northwestern Cham
 Der of Commerce was held at the
 Bahlke Restaurant with over 40 en-
 thnsiastic participants.
 The meeting and dinner was
 presided over by President Ralph
 Lomen, who introduced the various speakers and outlined the program for the evening.
 After the excellent dinner was enjoyed the members settled back to enjoy their after dinner cigars and listened to the report of Secre- tary A. Polet and the speeches | made by the various individuals re- presentatives of the industries and activities of Nome and Seward Pen 1 ins sula.
 The burning question of the | evening--.the question that has been
 and is now the main question Of | progress in Seward Peninsula.-. the COAL SITUATION. was dwelt rpon by various speakers, Two solutions. were presented - one by c. A. Adams and the other by K. Tuessant MT Tuessant read | a paper on the development of the Nenana coal fields and the govern ! ment's plan to place boats and barges on the Yukon as auxillaries tC the government railroad. These 1 boats and barges win this summer ply along the Yukon river, bringing coal and other freight to St Michael al a greatly reduced cost of trans portation. With Nome but one hundred and ten miles distant from St. Michael it is deemed the oppor- tune time to induce the govern-
 ment to extend it's shipping activi- ties to this port via St. Michael. Sea going barges and tugs can no
 doubt be obtained thru government activity and enable this community of Nome to obtain a supply of first
 class coal at a price that will en- able prospecting and mining to pro-
 ceed at rate impossible hereto fore
 G. A. Adams stated that he was advised thru a letter to Marshal Griffith from James H. Mcguire of ! Kotzebue as to obtaining sufficient quantities of coal for Nome from the coal fields of Wainwright. Following is the letter: Kotzebue, Alaska. Jan. 6. 1923
 Mir. M. W. GRIFFITH.
 U. s. Marshal, Nome, Alaska. Replying to your letter of Novem-
 ber 2S last with inquiry concerning deposits of available coal along the Arctic Coast, beg to advise that
 the Bureau of Education has fos
 several years past used Wainwright,
 Alaska coal, at a number of stations
 along the coast with considerable satisfaction.
 Last fall we had a small shipment from Wainwright delivered to Moor vik, on the Kobuk River for use in the hospital furnace and range and for use in the teachers residence. I quite recently observed the eflic- iency of this service and found the coal quite satisfactory.
 Last winter on my northern tra- vel placed an order for 100 tons of Wainwright coal for delivery at
 Barrow. This coal was delivered late in the fall and is now befns used at the Barrow school. which
 institution has consumed Vain wright coal for many years. 1, Concerning the source of the Wainwright supply, can say rom ,personal knowledge that there Is an immense deposit focal all along the Northern coast which same appears on the surface in many places. The location of the Wain- wright supply is on . lagoon or m- let about 1e miles from the village.