The Nome nugget., 1927-04-23

three seasons Before that there intermittent service.
 SEN FLETCHER Do they busses?
 COL. sTEESE. No, sir They use 7pass enger studebaker They have not reached the bus stage yet
 SEN. FLETCHER Those busses would tear up your roads would they not?
 COL STEEsE. This last year they broached the subject of busses. and told them would not let them on the roads.
 SEN REED. You have authority to stop it. do you?
 COL. sTEEsE. We'll do not know whether have or not but, I have great deal of influence up there.
 SEN. REED. Your roads single car width.
 COL sTEEsE. Yes, sir; but we have turn cuts very frequently and large part Of it, ex- cept in we, weather the can pass almost any where.
 SEN REED. The introduction of busses would make it dangerous:
 COL. sTEEsE. Oh, yes. intend to dis courage that indefinitely.
 SEN JONES' Under the condition of things there it would be impraccable to the large bus'
 COL. STEESE Oh, yes. It would not pay them but it is astonishing how stubborn some peo- pie are We have mining companies who will buy trucks entirely big They will buy all sorts of machinery, entirely unsuited to the conditions but they think they know all about it. lot of them are rustng in the weather They will admit that we are experts until to giving them advice.
 SEN REED. How much of the year is the Richardson Highway passabe?
 COL. sTEEsE We go in there the latter
 
 year We count on coming the first week in Oct ober. One year they Christmas, but that was unusual. year did not get in until the end of June. That unusual. Of course, We do operate all winter around Fairbanks and Chitna with automobiles, but when the mountain pass, that is open for autos until early and it closes early in October. It is about the same season as Yellowstone Park
 SEN. REED For how long is the railroad open?
 COL. sTEEsE. All the year around.
 SEN REED It can keep up the service dur ing the winter?
 COL. sTEEsE Yes They have two heavy divisions where they have rotaries going dur ing the winter North of the Alaska Range the maximum snowfall is only or feet. Valdez has a record of 70 feet. though time So
  the Interior
 the railroad?
 COL. STEESE. The Alaska Railroad? Yes. sir The Copper River and Northwestern is owned by the Kennecott Copper Corporation. They the railroad and of the steamship lines down Seattle. They carry them separate corpora tions
 will glad any questions the members wish ask.
 SEN. JONES. If you could have s1,OOO.OO0 for the fiscal year, what could do with that
 COL. sTEEsE With s1,oOo,ooO would quite maintain the same work we have done for t1e last years the being that since the 1s of July have had to pay the Alaska Railroad freight. That is going cost $6O.00O of this appropriation that you contemplate here. have maintain the Signal Corps te!e- graph line. that been superseded by the radio for commer:.s pur"oces but st,l 70 haze il telephone line
 SEN JONES Is that maintained out of th's appropriation?
 COL sTEEsE It will this year. That was turned in September This last season, due to the unusually favorable weather conditions. got little more work done than I normally would. also had more money than ssO0, ,e0O because the previous fall bad fall and had to close down little bit ahead of time, and won protest with the Comptroller General. whereby did have to pay the Alaska Railroad until this year
 SEN. JONES. If you get s1,Oooooo. tell us briefly what you would do with it.
 COL. sTEEsE If got s1.oooooo, I would