The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, December 27, 1930, Page 3

O'MALLEY TALKS OVER RADIO ON SEAL AND FISH Commissioner Makes Fine! Address on Alaska’s | Biggest Industry One of the most interesting talks on Alaska of the year was mads earlier this menth by Commission- er Henry O'Malley, of the United| States Bureau of Fisheries, and| broadcast over the Columbia Broad- casting Sstem from station UMAL, | Washington, D. C. It was entitled: “Alaska, Its P Seals and Fisheries.” It not only| depicted the resources themselves,| but recounted some of the Gov- ernment’s problems and the meth- ods used in attacking tr Restormg Seal Herds The Commissioner’s talk in full: A cold December night is hardly follows the time ;to try to boom Alaska,j which in the popular imagination is a land of ice and snow anfl in win- ter what seems cternal darkness. However, as part of my talk will concern itself with fur seals it may not be quite so unseasonable, for that warm soft fur makes any cold seem balmy. ¥ Pribilof Islands Two hundred and fifty miles off the mainland of Alaska in Bering Sea the Pribilef Islands—mere dots on the map as one looks at it But cn this group of rocky, less islands is the breeding ground argest fur-seal herd. this herd was esti- 3,000,000 or more ani- felt that a seal on the back was worth two in the cea that by 1910 the herd had been reduced to about 130,000. Pelagic sealing—which means the promiscuous killing of ceals at sea with the result that the pups left| on shore die of starvation—threat- ened the plete cxtermination of the herd. A realization of this condition led to the adoption of the fur-seal convention of 1911 between the United S Great Britain, Japan, and Russia. By this treaty pelagic sealing was prohibited and| the restoration of the herd en- trusted to the United States. The Secretary of Commerce, through the Bureau of Fisheries, was given the job, and so well has it been done that the herd now numbers more than 1,000,000. And this year over 42,000 males were killed with- out in any way interfering with the proper growth of the herd Pelts Go tc St. Loui The pelts from these seals—which represent about 80 per cent of the world’s production—are shipped from Alaska to St Louis to be dressed and dyed. They are then sold for the Government at n:lbhcl auction and take their place in| the flow of industry all over the world. Any of you who arz fortu-| nate enough to have a sealskin, coat may realize that it has travel- ed a long way from the island in the Bering Sea before it has com: into your possession. The fur is unexcelled for its elegance, durabil- ity, and utility. Even at the risk of having someone guess my real age, T will admit that I can re- call when the possession of a seal~ lie time TONIGHT ONLY WHERE? COLISEUM 7:30—9:30 Vitaphone Acts oo The Potters o—e Pathe News , R skin coat was the mark of real wealth and it was handed dow from generation to generation, being made over and over .until it wa almost a furless pelt. In these d a sealskin coat is not so much a m: of wealth as of good taste and discrimination, and whether it is black or brown, it stamps its owner as knowing what is what. Fur Seal Convention The fur seal convention is unique in the annals of international re- lations in demonstrating the prac- ticability of developing a proper system for the conservation building up of a great natural re- source through international agree- ment. Such a system may well be applied to other fisheries, such as that for whales or some of the shellfish which are now in grave danger of exhaustion because of their unbridled exploitation. In faet, only a few years ago, fishermen of the United States and Canada felt grave concern over the future of our great North Pacific halibut fishery. The annual catch had cxceeded 50,000,000 pounds a year—a level of production main- tained by constant reaching out to new grounds as soon as the older banks became depléted. As a re- sult, the fishery is now prosecuted coastwise along the coasts of Ore- gon, Washington, British Columbia and Alaska for some 1800 miles, and the opportunities for further expansion are limited. On October 21, 1924, Canada and the United States ratified a convention for ernational = cooperative control this fishery. This provided for an International Fisheries Com- mission to study the fishery and meke recommendations to the two governments as to the action neces- sary to save the fishery. Ramifications Are Numcrous If I tried to tell you all the ramifications of scientific research involved I would have to run a Iregular Sunday night serial broad- cast. I can vouch for the fact that some of the research is of most arduous and dangerous kind imaginable. In the winter of 1927 en~ of the fishing sthoon: chart- éred for this work, was hurled on a reef off the Alaska coast and wrecked in the midst of a high sea and in a blinding snowstorm By merest chance the scientists and crew were saved through the prompt and courageous action of the captain and crew of a small seine boat. This was the climax to an exceedingly hard winter's work during which the halibut investiga- ticns had been conducted with great difficulty—virtually between storms. One usually thinks of scien- tists as working long hours in laboratories over dull problems, but our scientists in the fishery lead the exciting and perilous lives of the most salt-bitten old marin-| ers.. As a result of the scientific work of the Ccmmission we hope to evolve a plan which will save the halibut fishery from exhaustion, just as was done with the seals, and to insure you of halibut steaks as well as seal coats in the future Ancther Awaits Ramification There is another convention which now only awaits ratification by the United States to become ef- fective. I refer to the Sockeye Sal- mon Convention which has for its purpose the protection, preserva‘ion and extension of the sockeye sal- mon which breed in the Fraser River system in British Columbia On their way to the spawning grounds in British Columbia these fish pass through Puget Sound which make$ them a United States resource as well as a Canadian. A rock slide in 1913, which prevented the fish from reaching their spawn- ing grounds, nearly wiped out the run of that cycle, and too heavy fishing by Americans and Cana- dians has reduced the Tishery to a dangerously low level. I am hope- ful of prompt ratification of this Convention by the United States which will enable the two countries to take steps to rebuild the fishery to one of primary importance. Rich In Resources Alaska was purchased from Rus- sia in 1867 for $7,200,000. country is rich in natural resources —fisheries, forests, and minerals, and, last but far from least, some of the most marvelous scenery in the world. Alaska’s crop of tour- ists grows every year, and its won- ders are becoming the mecca of more and more of our people. Cer- | | tainly no one can be disappointed in its scenic wonders. But the fish- cries are the most important re- source. Only last year the fishery crop was marketed for seven times the original cost to the United; States of the whole Territory. Under Federal Control Each of the several States regu- lates its own fisheries, but Alaska, being still (in spite of its vastness) |a Territory, has its fisheries under |the care of Uncle Sam—or, to be more explicit, the Becretaryy of Commerce, who controls them threugh the Bureau of Fisheries. As the Alaskan salmon pack alone represents about 65 per cent of the world production, you can see how a failure to conserve this resource would cut off your supply of sal- mon, which, if you read the ad- vertisements as all good Ameri- cans do, you will have been con- vinced furnishes you with many of the elements needed in a well- balanced diet. “Certainly canned calmon is good eating viewed from the consumer standpoint, and equally good viewed from the angle of the busy housekeeper who can wield a can opener with gusto on a day when time would not permit a boiled dinner or an elaborate and| the | | work | This | less transmission a real incentiv By C. E. BUTT! (A. P. Radio Editor) | FIELD | NEW YORK, Dec. '.ZT—M:m'.v‘ most flexible means of communi- | | cation, the wireless telegraph and telephone, now all summed up in| the magic or radi o its big debt to Dr. Lee De-Forest. | It was he who conceived the idea | for a vacuum tube which nearly 30 years ago revolutionized radio. At the time he began his experi-| ments on electronic devices ther | was a radio tube, but | one ultimately develc tube, known as the contained but two elements, (ment or electron emitter, and a ! plate, or collector. It would merely | act as a detector of radio signals | Dr. DeForest, in a sense, added a third element or w which he | called a grid. It not only made the tube a better detector, but made possible its use as a powerful am- plifier as well as making it avail- able for transmission. . The only lemong valv ransmission, are evidenced on every | hand in the radio world and in nu- mercus laboratories today. So important has the vacuum tube become in modern life, that its inventor has been mentioned as a possible winner of the Nobel prize in physies this year. How he made his discoveries is perhaps best told in Dr. DeForest's own words. | “Follow me back to 1920,” he| id. “Evenings found me in a hall | bedroom in Chicago experimenting with a toy called wireless teleg- aohy. “I had a spark coil that gave a wicked, crashing spark. A peculiar thing happened. When I operated | the spark coil, the Welsbach "gas light would dim while the spark was | fon. I not like the| THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE, SATURDAY, DEC. 27 1930 RADIO OWES DEBT \ TO DR. DE FOREST Dr. Lee DeForest, inventor and pioneer, displaying 2 model of onc | of the early type of radio tubes, his development of which gave wire- puzzled Experiments proved that the effect was only the resuit of sound waves. “However, I had become con- vinced that this phenomenon might be employed in the detection of wireless signals. I placed two plat num wires at different points the blue flams of a Bunsen burner. The two wires were con- nected to antenna and ground, head phones and a battery. The arrange- ment worked. But this gas flame was mergly a boratc t-up. After further periments, I decided to enclose my a fila. | heated gas in a glass bulb, using a| filament as a source of heat. Som experimental tubes were made up for me, with carbon filaments and platinum plates. “With antenna connected to.the plate and the ground to the fila- ment, together with telephones and battery connected across plate and filament, I was confronted with the { by-passing of much of the signal | through the telephone and Many of the possibilities it opened ) up including its incorporation in ery circuit, with considerable | telephone work for * cross-coun of efficiency. 3 s a solution, I conceived’ a third elem: At first this took the form of a tinfoil band around {the outside of the bulb, but that (¥ had little influence on the action of the tube. “Next I tried a coiled wire in- side the glass bulb. After various arrangements I decided upon a zigzag length of wire placed direct- ly between the filament and plate. Because of its shape I named it the grid. “Three sets of batteries were re- quired and these I named A, B, and C batteries for want of better terms. “And practical three-electrode 1906.” so I worked out the first vacuum tube. This first tube dates from roast. As Commissioner of Fisher- ies I do not mind confessing that | my own pantry contains many cans, and I for one never roar with rage when canned salmon—either | “au naturel” or dressed up as a souffle or a salad—appears on my table. If we only had television now you could all see that I am a good ad for the nourishing qualities of canned salmon, Faccinating Life History Most of my radio audience may be familiar with the fascinating life history of the Pacific salmon. But for those who are mot I want | to tell how after reaching maturity | in the sea, the adult salmon return | with unerring and uncanny'instinct to the stream of their birth, where they spawn and at once die. Hav- ing handed on thé torch—life is finished. As the spawning season is in the fall and the eggs do nm.I hateh until the following spring,| there is a short period in the life of the salmon family when the parents are dead and the progeny have not yet begun the business of life. No salmon ever saw either of its parents and will nevef see any of its children. They are born or phans and die childless. From this story you will see how easily a run of salmon may be wiped out of a particular stream and how import- ant it is, both from the salmon's standpoint and our own, that a sufficient number of fish escape the fishermen's gear and reach the spawning grounds to perpetuate the race. Some Intererting Experiments esting experiments in tagging sai- mon and thus following the course of the various runs along the Alas- kan coast. It is amazing to dis- cover the vast distances which the fish travel. One tag was returned from British Columbia where it had been taken from a salmoa tagged two years before off the coast of Wash‘mgron. The distance it had traveled is more than 600 miles by direct water route, and undoubtedly the fish - had gone | counting We have made some very inter-| farther than that. Another ‘tagged fish was taken off the coast of Si- beria, where it had traveled from Alaska. In this case the astonish- ing part was the rapidity with which the fish must have traveled, It was tagged in Alaska on July 4, 1928, and on August 18 was tak- en in Siberia. We have also put in weirs in the streams so that we are able to count the fish that ascend to the spawning ground and make sure that a sufficient number do ascend. Scok Future Permanence By making use of the great net- work of scientific facts that we have gathered, we are trying to as- sure the future permanence of Alaska’s fisheries by wise and far- seeing regulations. The regulating of any resource is a trying job and cne bound to make the regulator unpopular with many people, for a time at least. Personally, I owe a deep debt of gratitude to President Hoover, who, when Secretary of Commerce, gave his hea port to this work, and to cessor, Robert P. Lamont, who is just as staunch a supporter of this | valuable conservation work. In fair- |ness to the commercial fishermen, I may add that their coniidence in jand support of our program has steadily increased. And this is cer- tainly much to their credit, for at first they seemed to be in a {position to lose *much in giving lup present certain profits for a rather uncertain gain in the fu- |ture. That is apt to warp one’s vis- ion. But as time has gone on, they have come to see that in this, as lin many other things, a little care |in the present means safeguarding |the future. | I hope that I have been able to |make Alaska sound interesting and ithat you will all look forward to {one day seeing its beauties. In the |meantime you can build up your strength on a diet of salmon and keep out the cold with a sealskin coat. e —— Play 1ngoor Golr av The Alastan 8as | 2—SHOWS 0-9:30 NDAY (14 TN S WILL BE GIVEN HERE BY ELKS [Local Talen}j; Be Obtain-| ed for Cast for Play | | in February | | - Stage entertainment in the na- ture of a musical comedy with| the parts taken by young men and | young women of Juneau, will be| | presented under auspices of the| | Elks' Lodge the first week in| February, accerding to present| plans. The play will be “The Beau-| y Shop,” and it will be directed and the cast of characters trained |by Mr. and Mrs. C. H | “The Beauty Shop,” with local asts, has recently been given in, etchikan and Petersburg under direction of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis, |and it achieved signal successes in |both places. It was presented her under auspices of t Elks by Mr. and Mrs. Lewis seven year: lago, and met with popular favor Fresh and Interesting By the introduction of new songs and new repartee and with the .(‘(,nlumdl renewal of costumes, the piece has been kept fresh and in- teresting. It is sure to attract and Lewis. | |entertain persons who saw it on |its previous presentation here. | M. H. Sides, secretary of the Juneau EIks' lodge, has been in respondence with Mr. Lewis, now n Petersburg, where he just con-| luded an engagement. Arrangements Completed “Arrangements are virtually com- plete for presentation of “The {Beauly Shop,” Mr. Sides said. “The date is not definite but it will prob- ebly fall in the first week in February. Mr, and Mrs. Lewis are expected - here shortly. Until their arrival, of course, nothing can be determined as to the cast of char- acters. When the play was given here before, Harry Sperling was in the leading role and Martin S. Jorgensen was the comedian. They may be induced to participate again.” The expectation is that the Coli- seum theatre will be the place of the play’s presentation. RS S TS S FARM BOARD MONEY AIDS TEXAS POULTRY PRODUCERS | SAN ANTONIA, Tex., Dec. 27.*! The farm board has offered a| loan of $180,000 at 1% per cent in- terest to supplement a loan from, a San Antonio bank by which the cooperative Poultry “Producers’ as-' FRENCH COURSE Lessons given by experlenced French lady. Berlitz method followed, which assures rap- id progress in conversation. Call any time, third floor apartment, San Francisco Bakery Apartments. | T | IMPORTED AND DOMESTIC PERFUMES e g CALIFORNIA GROCERY The Home of Better Groceries WHERE SOUND SOUNDS BEST COLISEUM (VITAPHONE) FLORENZ ZIEGFELD'S YOU CAN'T MISS THIS AND THESE World Sensation™ IONE ACTS The New Show World MONDAY FOX MOVIETONEWS TRAIN HOLDUP SUSPECTS CAUGHT IN NORT: Glorifying the American Girl” Peppy Music Mary Eddie Helen Rudy Famous Good Eaton Cantor Morgan Vallee Beauties Comedy “Ziegfeld’s Own Extravanganza — Revue — Romance The Lavish Girl and Music Show HWEST R. E. Sherwood, on suspicion of complicity in several holdups, including the Nob and the looting of an Everett, Wash., bank. . An unn\ml“ A farmers in south '] 5, of gelling bus ac- sociation of Texas expects to quire a modern receiving plant in poultry San Antonio. dozen eggs The association started about four | of turkeys and chickens is expe years ago with 35 farmers, now has il sted. | -eo - more than 600 members and a €250,000 business. Tt has outgrown | George Logan, Government hunt- | its old quarters. {er in Arizona, has Kkilled 2,300] coyotes, 700 bobeats, 28 wolves and | plant for the new | to 900 |18 mountain lions memberships To help pay it is . offering “shower . Associated Seattle, Wash,, police arrested (left to right) R. W. Carlton, Mrs. Dolly Sherwood and her husband. of mud” 2,000,000 | ported from Edenton, N. C., by the and 2,000,000 pounds|U. S. Weather Bureau. - > el, Cal., train robbery was re- British Columbia has a salmon surplus as a result of the largest run in recent years. Expense of operating the 48 State ‘)(iuvernmeubs is twice that of 1917. PHONES 83 OR 85 AT P at > PICTURE FRAMES IN ALASKA ! ALASKA SCENIC VIEWS TONIGHT [ Play Your First Game of MIDGET GOLF No need to urge those who've played before. Get this pleasure habit! “The Store That, Pleases” THE SANITARY GROCERY ARTISTIC PICTURE FRAMING Ordway’s Photo Shop THE LARGEST ASSORTMENT OF PLAIN AND FANCY _IIII]IIJI!II[IIlllllllll[llIllIIlIII_IllI!ll]IIIIlI!IIIllll}lllrlll'l‘lI![lll!l!!l!lll TONIGHT D e et § i JUNEAU MIDGET GOLF COURSE GOLDSTE BUILDING PHONE 478 T L L L e L