Seward daily gateway., 1925-12-05
4 BRIEF HISTORY OF THE UNITED
 STATES CABLE SYSTEM IN ALASKA

8, 1904. In 1905 Congress appropriat. ed $95 1000 for the extension of the sub. marine cable from Valdez to Seward at the head of Resurrection Bay, the southern terminus of the Alaskan Gen. tral Railway. The work of laying this cable, 193 miles in length, was com menced on July 31, 1905, and was com pleted August 3, 1905.
 Progress in the development of the industries and commerce of Alaska has been reflected in the traffic handled by the cable. The value of the traf- fic handled during the first year of operation amounted to $26,97769, while that handled during the fiscal year 1924 amounted to $4OS,S37.32.
 History of the New Cable.
 It became apparent early in 1921 that, in order to handle the large vol ume of traffic passing over the cable, it would be necessary to replace the original cable, which, on account of it's age and general worn out condition, caused frequent Interruptions to traf- fic and required numerous repairs. The cableship Burnside, which laid the original cable, was likewise worn out, being 40 years old and having been in cable-laying service in the Philippine Islands as we'll as in Alas kan waters since 1900. As a prelimi- nary step toward the replacement of the Alaskan cable, the Signal Corps secured, through Executive order of September 26, 1921, the United States Shipping Board steamship Dellwood, which the Signal Corps converted into a cableship, embodying the latest me- chanical improvements in the cable laying art.
 The Signal Corps represented to Congress at it's sessions the necessity for replacing the worn-out cables with a new and modern system that should meet the growing needs of Alaskan commerce. Traffic pertaining to com- merce has for a long time held first place on the Alaskan cable, which had been originally laid for military pur- poses. These representations at last bore fruit and by the act approved March 2, 1923, Congress appropriated the sum of $75O,OO0 for the replace ment of the worn-out portions of the Alaskan cable, with further provi- sion authorizing the Secretary of War to incur obligations for an additional $75OO0O to be made available in the 1925 appropriations.
 Purchase of the New Cable.
 The Signal Corps began immediate ly the work of preparation necessary for carrying out such a tremendous project. It's provision to secure and have ready modern cableship was to prove the keystone in this enter prise. Specifications were prepared by the Signal Corps engineering staff for purchasing the cable; studies made of the proposed location of the new cable and of the shore situation at Se- attle, Sitka and Valdez. In laying the original cable, the Signal Corps de- parted from the customery cable-en- gineering practice of using gutta7per- cha insulated cable and used rubber in- sulated cable of American manufac- ture. While rubber insulated cable does not have the life of the gutta- percha cable, the excellent results ob- tained by it's use in the Alaskan cable during long years of service, have dem onstrated the practicability of such in- sulation in the event that gutta-percha cable is not obainable. Deep-sea cable must be made on order, as factories do not keep set-up for it's production. The Signal Corps engineering staff found that the item of cost and other advantages favored gutta-percha in- sulated cable and accordingly decided on the use of this type of cable. Ten