Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1933-09-21

'OlC lLAplOIdllOu anu ueNGlOpInGHL
of the Arctic is in it's infancy; few
men, less than a dozen, can testify
to the fact that large fields of wild
cotton thrive in the Arctic We
talk of possible shortage of oil;
there is a vast area of oil land in
the Arctic. The late DR.. Alfred
Brooks, geologst in charge of the
Alaska division, reported in 1924 to
the U. S. government that in his
opinion there was more oil in the
Arctic than in all the rest of the
United States.
At Cape Simpson on Smiths bay
there is 10 and one-half acre
lake and one seven and one-fourth
acre lake of oil, the largest oil
seepage in the world; the depths of
these lakes are unknown, the sew
eral attempts to measure them hav-
ing failed. Mastodon animals have
wandered into these lakes along
with caribou ana other wild life,
and perished, and remains present
a valuable field for research work;
the only drawback to development
is the short season, but this will be
overcome when we need the oil. We
also have extensive coal fields in the
Arctic, extending from 153 degrees
east to 1876 degrees west longitude,
and containing some of the finest
bituminous coal found anywhere in
the world, and containing only two
percent ash.
The Eskimo under ordinary con-
ditions, is no object for pity; the
average catch of fur by the Eskimo
is 60 fox, which bring an average Of
$40 each in trade.
Possibly my readers will be inter
ested in the forest service of Alas
ka. The slopes of the mainland
and adjacent islands of southeastern
Alaska and the Prince William
sound region are covered from the
edge of tidewater to an elevation of
1000 feet, with dense forests of
western hemlock, Sitka spruce and
cedar. The public lands of these
two sections have accordingly been
included very largely in the Nation
al Forest System where they are
managed primarily for their timber
growing value, and on a basis Of
providing an output of timber
products There are two national
forests-The Tongass, in southeast
ern Alaka and the Chugach in the
Prince William sound and Kenai
: peninsula regions, and on Afognak
island.
These forests cover an area of
30. 100000 acres, or about five per
cent of the total area of Alaska
The estimated total timber stand in
the two forests is $4,000, ,00O,0 900
board feet, about IA percent hem
lock; 20 percent Sitka spruce and
the remainder western cedar; of
these the spruce is by far the most
important, and composes the greater
part of sawmill timber being cut for
local use and export; it is used al
most exclusively for airplane con-
struction, and has many other uses
ranging from packing boxes to in
terror finish. The fibre is unequaled
by any other Pacific coast tree, for
the manufacture of wood pulp. The
trees are large and beautiful, fire.
quently attaining a diameter of
from IS inches to three feet. The
cedar is valuable principally for
shingles, telephone poles and spe-
cialized forms of lumber
The timber from these forests
now supports considerable saw
mill industry. The timber but not
the land on which it stands, may be
purchased from the Forest Service
as needed; or as a unit, capable of
supplying a source of cutting for
number of years, can be contracted
for The material is paid for as the
cutting proceeds and on the basis
of the log scale made by the local
rangers; the price being paid for
timber now averages about $1.75
per thousand feet for spruce and
cedar, and about 81 for hemlock.
Here is grand opportunity for you
Morgan county sawmill men. / can
guarantee you will find plenty of
timber available; it will only be
necessary for you to solve the prob
lem of transportation and sale.
Aug. II, at S a. m., we are steam +
ing along in Frederick sound, few
icebergs are sighted; we are advised
that these icebergs float with about ,
one-sixth of the ice showing above
water.
Arrived at Petersburg II a. m.
Fox farming, also milk farming
is carried on in an extensive way
on many of these Alaskan islands;
in some instances an entire island is
leased from the government for
period of years.
At most every stop we have the
opportunity of witnessing the inter
esting operation of canning the sal
mon. we see salmon by the ton.
They arrive at the cannery in boats;
are pitchforked from the boats to
endless chain carriers which take
them through washing process and
into the cannery. Hundreds of
Filipinos, Japs and Indians work in
the canneries; each has some task
to perform as the salmon come to
his table or his machine, by endless
chain carrier, and it is an interest