Seward daily gateway., 1932-07-26
OPERATIONS IN THE
 CH|CKA[OON AREA bE:
 STARTED IN SPRING
FINANCIER SPENT WEEKS All CAMP; APPARENTLY WELL
 SATISFIED

 forward this fall we intend to pre- pare the plant for early operation next spring." stated Capt. Ivan L. Peterson, head of the oil drilling company at Chickaloon, who lett Seward a few days ago enroute to his San Francisco home and ottlce. Later, he goes to New York.
 During the past several weeks the damage to the boiler and pow CT house, caused by the exceedingly heavy snowfall of last winter and which caused the roofs to collapse, were repaired and rebuilt and are now better than ever. It is a cer- tainty a repetion will not occur. All of the machinery was thoroughly overhauled including the electric equipment, pumping station and other auxiliaries.
 The hole is in perfect condition, Captain Peterson said, and is free of all obstruction. It is caSed down to the bottom with the heaviest of material and lifted sufficiently to insure free movement of casing when ready to renew operations.
 The hole is down 1,500 feet and the present formation is limestone and oil shale Visible indications of oil appear in the bailer when it is hauled up and high pressure gas also appears in the bailer. This Is highly inflamable giving reaSona- ble assurance i've will encounter oil in the next 500 to 1000 feet of drilling and, perhaps, sooner"
 Our geographical situation is most favorable the well being less than cne and one-quarter of a mile from the Alaska Railroad, which runs to Seward which has an open harbor the year round.
 Seward is 1900 miles nearer the Orient than any other oil shipping port on the Pacific Coast If nec- essary the oil could be piped to the railroad by gravitatiOn and, at a small expense, since the distance is so short.
 Alaska consumes, according to the Department of Commerce re- ports, approximately S1,800,000 of oil annually The United States ships to the Orient about S28,000,- 900 in oils annually. The difference in freight costs, from Seward to the Far East, gives Alaska an immense advantage over California.
 We have been pioneering with out any other guide but our own knowledge. Therefor we have been proceeding slowly, principally be- cause Wer are a long distance from our source of supply, which is Los Angeles. However, a second hole could be produced for about one half the cost and also could be put down in one or two seasons. If op- erating full force and under favor able conditions, drilling could be continued the year round
 ''The drilling log records the fact we have gone thru 13 veins of high made coal, the veins varying in size from one foot to five feet in thickness. The structure is similar to Pennsylvania and West Virginia oil fields where oil was found un- deriving the coal strata The qual- ity of the oil, if we get it, will un- questionably be of 3 very high grade parafine base, similar to that produced at Katalla and which is conceded to be almost pure in it's native state"
 During the past season, Captain Peterson said, one of the large financiers of California, a man heavily interested and a director T one of the major oil companies the United States, also interested n a great shipping concern, was visitor at the Chickaloon oil camp for three weeks where he fished and hunted. Following his exami- nation of the showing and pro- gress he expressed himself as ap- parently we'll satisfied with devel- opments.
 Aside from exuding confidence as to the ultimate success of his bringing in oil, Captain Peterson
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