The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, March 31, 1940, Page 1

PROGRESS AND DEVELOPMENT EDITION PROGRESS AND DEVEL NEW AIRLINE FROM STATES STARTS SOON Pan American Airways fo Inaugurate Flights on Route May 15 SEATTLE-JUNEAU SERVICE IMMINENT .« New Link Bmgs Alaska Within Few Hours of Rest of Nation Regular passenger and mail ser- vice by air over a Seattle-to-Ju- neau route, long anticipated by the people of Alaska, will begin about May 15. Following hearings held a month ago before the Civil Aeronautics Authority in Washington, the an- | nouncement of plans for an early | inauguration of the service was made by Harold M. Bixby, Vice- President of Pan American Airways, which firm will operate over the route. Bixby said service would be be- gun May 15 on.a weekly basis. La- ter it is planned to send big ships flying over the new airway at more frequent intervals, with daily service the eventual goal. Flying Boats Twenty-passenger flying boats will be used on the run. The type of plane selected by Pan American for (Continued to Page Two) PICTURES | ON THIS PAGE Top—Gastineau Channel, Ju- neau and Mount Juneau from Douglas (photo by Trevor Da- vis.) Left—Stacker end of the big Chatanika dredge of the United States Smelting, Refining and Mining Company (photo by Territorial Department of Mines.) Right—Brailing a fish trap in Southeast Alaska. Bottom—Tourists arriving at Juneau on the 8. 8. Aleutian of the Alaska Steamship Company (photo by Lu Liston.) | SEE—————_—————- PMENT EDITION ALASKA MINES CONTINUE HIGH LEVE The minerals produced from Al- aska in 1989 had an estimated value of $24,888,000, according to a pre- liminary statement of the Geological Burvey, United States Department of the Interior. This amount brings the total value of the mineral out- put of Alaska since 1880 to more than $800,000,000. Although the year 1939 set few new records of production, the results as a whole are good and encourage belief in the continuing high rate of output of minerals from the Ter- ritory. As compared with 1938, there seems to have been a decrease in 1939 of approximately $3,700,000 in the value of the total production of minerals. The record for 1938, how- ever, was exceedingly high, having been surpassed in only three years during the entire period that min- ing has been in progress in Alaska. Furthermore, none of the great-cop- per mines, which in 1938 produced copper to the value of nearly $3,000,- 000, were in operation. (Continued to Page Two) “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” JUNEAU, ALASKA, SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 1940. E (ing the year just\ended. PRODUCTION Record Alaska Tourist Season Is Envisioned With the expectation of a banner tourist season, the people of Al- aska are preparing to welcome a record number of visitors in 1940. Due to the war in Europe, trav- elers will see America this year. Many of them will see Alaska, where the finest scenery in the world and a steamer trip on sheltered seas are twin attractions. A two-day trip from Seattle brings the tourist to Ketchikan, a three- day trip to Junesu and a six-day trip to Seward, the gateway to all of Interior Alaska. Frequent Sailings Convenient schedules have been arranged by the five steamship lines serving the Territory, with sailings (Continued to Page Two) ALASKA KEY T0 DEFENSE /. OF AMERICK Nation Awakens fo Vélue of Army, Navy Works AIR STATIONS BEING BUILT IN NORTHLAND Delegate Dimond Advo- cates Alaskan “Pearl Harbor,” Aleutians By ANTHONY J. DIMOND Delegate to Congress ‘The drawing of Alaska within the scope of the plans for national de- fense is one of the most outstanding | hanks. In m; s 3 y judgment, these are developments of the Territory dur-|pyt the beginning of much larger installations that will finally be set At last the stategic position of |yp in Alaska to aid in national de- Alaska is being recognized, Navallf:nse_ G air stations are under construction| One wonds i ks at Sitka and Kodiak, and an Army | _ EnsELy. defengive wor air station is being built at Fair- (Continued to Page 'l'hreelr THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE FIRST SECTION —PAGES 1 TO 4 ALASKABUYS RECORD TOTAL DURING 1939 SALMON PACK IS MORE - THANS5,000,000 CASES 1 The year 1939 saw the smallest pack of canned salmon in Alaska since the off-cycle year 1935. Last summer the total pack in the Ter- ritory was 5242211 cases with an estimated value of $35,110,000. This production is a reduction. of 1,540,000 cases from the preceding season, and a decline of 1,412,000 cases from the previous odd num- bered year. While this drastic reduction in the size of the total pack was the outstanding fact of the 1939 salmon season, plete story of the year by any means. The 1939 season was almost as notable for the unusual character of the runs as for the short pack. In several main production areas, the runs were disappointingly small, Other districts enjoyed good rums,i and some varieties were above nor-! mal.in. districts where they do not| normally appear in quantity. ! The reduction in the size of thel pack resulted in a disastrous year | for many of the packing firms, The shortage in fish brought about | A decided increase in the per case cost of the pack. The labor agree-' ments for the 1939 season in gen-/ eral added to the cost of fishing and packing. In addition, the pro- longed labor negotiations held back preparations for the season, and in some cases were responsible for re- stricting production. (Continued to Page Two) it does not tell the cem-|™ Imports $44,414,093 - To- tal Commerce Drops, Customs Shows $62,932,951 WORTH SHIPPED OUTSIDE Trade Beh;(_a;n Territory and Stafes Prospers Duririg__l939 Alaska in 1939 imported an all- time record amount of goods from the United States and foreign ports, according to the annual re- port of Collector of Customs James J. Connors. The inbound commerse total ef $44,414,093 exceeded the previous year by $1,562,627 and 1937, the pre- vious high, by $1,330,095. Alaska’s shipments to the world in 1939, while below those of 1938, bettered any year previous to 1936. The export total was $62,934981. In 1938 it was $78,260,812. The total inbound and outbound commerce of Alaska for the year 1939 amounted to $107,347,04¢. Com- pared with like figures for 1938 of $121,112,278 there was a decrease in commerce of $13,765,23¢ last year. . The balance of trade in faver Alaska amounted to $18,518,858 im 1939, as compared with $35,400,548 for 1938. 2 Total declared value of all fish (Continued to Page Two) [ EXTRA COPIES AVAILABLE Extra coples of this special 1040 Progress and Development edition of the Daily Alaska Em- pire may be obtained at The Empire office. 8 Telling the story of Alaska's growth in picture and story; a copy of the newspaper would be appreciated by many of your friends in the Territory or the States. Price of the-edition, wrapped and ready for mailing, is 25 cents per copy. e SSym——