The Daily Alaska empire., 1936-11-03

person in Juneau for a list of the city's industries, it is probable that very few of them would think to even name one whose products are known from Pt Barrow to Singa- pore.
 It is the canvas-goods plant of L. c. Liston, Sr., himself hardly body knows Lu Liston, because he is in the advertising business, but only a few friends realize that the quiet man occupying the other half of Lu's store is his father.
 l.. c. Liston Sr., has been making leather and canvas goods all his life and when he came to Juneau two years ago he started making 1uffle bags and awnings and any thing else that was wanted. Fin Glly someone wanted a pack board made to his own specifications.
 Wanted a Bigger Board
 'These standardized pack boards that are on the market" said this customer, are all right for some jobs. But I make my living pack ing-up in the Interior And I want heavy duty pack board, one that will not only handle big load, but which can be carried all day with out chafing the back
 So He Sketched One
 MT Liston takes no credit for the subsequent popularity of the pack boards he has manufactured. He makes it plain he had nothing to do with the designing of this board, nor has he any argument with other boards on the market.
 Tn fact he said, "the man who ordered the first one did not make any claim to originality. He said that it was simply composite of all the best boards he knew any thing about"
 Can't Keep Ahead
 But the net result of the build ing of that first blackboard is that for nearly year now MT Liston has been unable to make them fast enough to meet the demand. Once he got ahead little and had twelve of them completed and displayed in his window, and then man came in from somewhere-theyr rarely tell him where-and bought the entire dozen
 MT. Liston said that he knows some of the boards have gone to Nome, some of them have been worn across the boundary into Yu- kon Territory, and one man who used one in the Interior called on him to say he was bound for Singa- pore-and taking the board along. But most of them will not even tell me what direction they are going. Of course lots of these fel- lows are miners and prospectors Time and again they show me tke ore, but do not like to say anything about where they found it. One man just this week showed me sam- ples that he said assayed $500 a ton-that's forty cents a pound
 
 and he plans on packing that ore out to civilization on the pack board
 Sold in Quantities
 Many of the boards are sold to mining or freighting companies.
 They usually buy one board first, said the maker, And then a couple of weeks or a couple of months later come in or send in for eight or ten. They all tell the same story, that they try every pack board they come across, try ing to find one that will accom- plish what they want, and appar- ently this Alaska Pack" as we have named it, does the work"
 The principal difference between the Alaska Pack" and many others that have been used for years is that it is larger. The average board is about "A inches long and 12 to 16 inches wide, and perhaps an inch and half thick. MT. Liston makes some boards of this type, perhaps six or eight ounces lighter than the Alaska model, and used to some ex- tent by sportsmen and occasional packers who figure they will carry the load only a few hours at most.
 30 Inches Long
 In the Alaska board, the length is increased to 30 inches and the side pieces are Is inches apart at the lower end The side boards are three inches wide. Around this frame piece of canvas is wrapped, with lacing on the outside, which permits the canvas to be kept taut. The load is strapped to this out side, and is therefore three inches from the back. Even when the pack is jared, it cannot reach the back. And with the sides IS inches apart, one sideboard goes on each side of the wearer's waist, and there is never anything but the tightly stretched canvas that comes in con- tact with the body.
 An average load carried on these