The Nome nugget., 1938-01-31


 with an annual service to onnect with the Juneau-Fairbanks deliv cry, which is expected to com mence weekly schedules in Feb ruary. Approval of the branch or side route to serve Anchorage, Seward, Valdez and Cordova would also provide a valuable service to these cities which they do not now have during any part of the year And as the Dele gate incidentally pointed out, the postal revenues derived from these three services would not only pay reasonable part of their own costs, but would un- doubtedly go far in providing financial justification to the Post Office Department for the Juneau Fairbanks route.
 To show that the appropriations asked for theoe services were earned by the Territory and were something Alaska is justly entitl- ed to, the Delegate said in clos ing his testimony.
 T have ba2n very much inter- ested in the developments in China. We talk about maintain ing the open door in China. Ap- parently We are going to expend good many million dollars to maintain the open door thyare. AS matter of fact, the amount of trade between the United States and Alaska in 1886 amounted to 116 million dollars, whereas the trade with China during the same time amounted to 120 million dol lars, approximately.
 When you consider the large amount being spent by the Unit ed States to maintain our trade with China, say that the spend- ing of forty or fifty thousand dol lars in Alaska to help build up our industries is well justified"
 When the connecting services described above are supplement- ing the delivery on the Juneau- Fairbanks route, the establish ment of the service south to Puget Sound will be fully justi- fled in the opinion of the Dele gate. The attitude of the Post Office Deparment is probably re- flected in a statement made by Second Assistant Postmaster Gen eral Harllee Branch, who, when questioned earlier in the year said:
 After making a personal in- spection from the ground, came to the conclusion that to run im- mediately line from Fairbanks, We will say, into the United Sta tes, was almost too big jump. We believe that we should take it in two jumps-first, come down to Juneau and meet the ships there, and advance the mail, pas sengers and express 3 days. In the case of Fairbanks and the territory north and northwest of there it would be advanced five days, because you have 3-day journey from Juneau by ship t2 Seward, and a 2-day journey from Seward up to Fairbanks by railroad"
 Improvement in equipment and facilities has been so great durina the past several years that tech nical and climatic obstacles that would previously have made the schedules be.We-n Juneau and ln-betWean points to Puget Sound uncertain and ineffiient have been overcome, as evidenced by the fact that the San Francisco to Honolulu service has more than year of operation to it's credit on 2,4OO mile flight, with a re- cord of 96 per cent of previously announced schedules. Commer- cial airlineS of Germany, France, and England have also maintain ed good schedules on routes over the Mediterranean and South At lantic for a number of years The experimental stage in over-water flights is definitely past, and with the establishment of suitable ter minal facilities and radio direc- ton finding beam and other equ- ipment along the route, there is