Jessen's weekly., 1956-07-26

 their families have just landed in Fairbanks. the second largest city in Alaska and the Golden Heart of a territory of 586000 square miles.
 Now that we've flown 1,526 miles to get here, where are we?. is the newcomers early--and legitimate question, for this is the land that IS 10 be their home for the next IS months.
 But by the time the group re- turns to their old station at Fort Lewis, Washington, they will know that Fairbanks is progressive. modern city which has come long way since the crude log cab ins and stampede facilities of gold rush days.
 Gold mining and government construction followed by private in- vestments have been largely re- sponsible for Fairbanks growth and prosperity-the era now boasts dpDlOAlIIldtG- ly 35,000-in addition to the excel lent communications and transpor- tation facilities In recent years, the tourist trade has grown rapidly. and may become the Interiors number one industry.
 About the second question new corners ask. when they wake up at two am. and think it's time to get up, is What's with your mixed up days and nights?"
 In June and July, the sun is above the horizon from IS to q hours per day--and it never does get very dark. Conversely. in the winter time 1t never does get very light, with days running anywhere from four to ten hours in length
 Most newcomers to Fairbanks come from places where the sun eonventionally rises in the east and sets in the west And when they get to town just l30 miles south of the Arctic Circle, where the sun rises and sets in the north in summer and rises and sets in the south in winter. they wonder why they lose their sense of direction.
 Now what's all this about 50-be- low weather?" visitors ask. Although the mercury may frequently dip that low during a cold snap. Alas kans point out that the cold here is actually not as objectionable as it is in many of the mid-western states. Wind is almost non-existent the year around. and the cold is so dry that a person may walk down the street with frostbitten nose and be unaware of it. The average minimum temperature for January. the coldest month, is only 12 degrees below zero however. Extremely thick ice fog always ac- companies very low temperatures. a Military newcomers can expect the first snowfall in Fairbanks any time after the first of October Max imum constant snow depth is rare ly over two feet
 The ice breakup on the Panama river attracts the interest of even the oldest sourdough. A tripod on the ice at Nenana is attached to a stop-clock. in order to determine the exact time of the breakup which us- ually occurs in late April or early May. The famous Nenana Ice Clas- sic, the highlight of the breakup season. has followers the world ov- CT.
 Cheechakos and sourdoughs alike are always awed by Fairbanks beautiful Indian summer, period of about one week during which the entire countryside becomes a splotch of brilliant color. Fairbank- sans revel in this brief fall. as it heralds the coming of cold, dark winter.
 The city of Fairbanks is operated by city manager, Matt w Slank- ard, who is employed by six mem- Der city council The council meets each Monday evening at 8 pm. upstairs in the city hall. A current