Seward daily gateway., 1932-02-20
ALASKA WILL bE
 GENITAL THEATRE:
 OF WAR IN PACIFIC
DEMANDS SHOULD BE MADE TO BUILD NAVAL EASE AT
 SEWARD

Quick response from the States has come from Mayor Don Carlos BroWnells recent article published i in The Gateway in which was set ! forth the helplessneSS of Alaska i'll 1 case of invasion
 Tn addition to appearing in this paper, dispatches on the subject were sent to the Associated Press, the International News a n q the United Press; these dispatches, in turn, were published in leading pa pers throughout America, and un- doubtedly, by this time, in foreign lands.
 From these stories letters are be- ing received by Mayor Brownell, the most enlightening being published herewith:
 l Because of European intrigue and jealousies arising because of our Naval supremacy and a fur ther knowledge that no nation could compete with us because of our wealth and resources, disar mament conference was hinted at and we fell for it. The result was, we scrapped over 100000 tons of ships whereas the others scrapped blueprint navies.
 Tt was suggested that we ought to show additional good faith by not fortifying Alaska, Philippine Islands, Panama Canal and other of our possessions Tn the face of this, such ought to arouse Suspi- cions. However. we complied
 We know that Seward is closer by 1900 miles to the Orient than any other Pacific Coast port and it is only 40 miles away from Siberia via Bering Strait We realize that Russia has not the natural re- sources she thought she had prior to her Five Year Plan and perhaps to achieve this she must look else where. Russia has always regret ted her sale of Alaska because she we'll realizes the great natural re- sources and wealth that Alaska possesses.
 All other nations realize this but ourselves!
 With such facts in mind, I be- lieVe demands should be made that Seward be made a Naval base. Resurrection Bay is 8 landlocked harbor, free from ice always and is large enough to accommodate large portion of our fleet. Suitable sites are on hand for huge docks and marine ways. There is plenty of room for vast tank farms for fuel. Tn dire necessity, Alaska coal can be used because in prior tests Alaska coal passed the stiffest of test by over 400 B. T. us.
 T may have many disagree with me relative to using coal because it is harder to handle and not so efficient as oil I will cite an in stance that occurred several years ago when pulverized coal was used in firing the Shipping Board freighter "." This boat was equipped with three Scotch marine oil burning boilers. Tn a very short space of time and at very little ex- penSe, two of these boilers were ac- commOdated for coal-burning; the third boiler was left as an oil burn CT This vessel left an Atlantic port for Europe working on only two coal-fired boilers. The distance was 4000 miles The ship gained one half knot greater speed and saved $4,000 on fuel for the round trip. It is safe to say that Alaska coal would be expedited very nicely along these lines.
 At the time Brigadier General Mitchell was the head of our air forces he strongly urged that we have a great fleet of airplanes sta toned in Alaska. He, like the late Senator Phelan of California, and many others. understood the peril and wanted us to prepare for such an emergency.
 Tt is not too strong to say that } in the event of war on the Pacific, Alaska would be the central theatre of operations Whether the crisis N ss' XAT@ ea