The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, March 31, 1940, Page 19

Plan COMMISSION DIGGINGINTO ROAD FACTS Two Routes to Alaska Un- der Consideration by U. S. and Canada By THOMAS RIGGS, Member Alaskan-International Highway Commission There is a dynamic little member of Congress from the State of Wash- ington named Warren G. Magnuson. Unlike most Congressmen he has lots of brown hair. From beneath all this well kept hair a pair of keen blue eyes look out from a clear healthy complexion. His shoulders are broad, his waistline is well under his chest. He walks with a little swagger. His pants have a knife-like crease. Magnuson is chairman of our Commission and sold on the proposition 100 percent. Then there is Ernest H. Gruen- ing. You will hear a lot more of him in the next two years. He is your Governor and unless I miss my bet he is going to make a swell one even if he has to hustle to keep up with the record of his predecessor. There are Donald McDonald of Fair- banks who is the father of the pro- ject, J. W. Carey, able engineer of Seattle and myself Commission To “Die” This Commission dies a natural death on May 31, 1940, The law says that we are then to die, but there seems little doubt but that Con- gress and the President will raise us from the dead and make our life more lasting. I am asked by the Daily Alaska Empire to write an article on the highway. -Now in our early days we agreed that the Chairman should be our one fountainhead for public- ity. I called up his office just now. He was in a committee meeting. He is alw busy at something. By the way, Tony Dimond is not the only member of Congress who works. 1 contacted Mary and Mary says, says she, “I know the Congressman will be glad to have you do some of the work. He is tired of being the only one to plan and think about this highway and it is time that youse guys did something be- sides wear your medals and do nothing.” Those are not her exact N | ? | { ! i ROAD TO ; STATES ! words but the meaning is there Now, medals are all the members of | this Commission get except about| one-half of their travel expenses. | Ten Year Effort To get back to the highway terest in the proposal goes back to 1930 when by Act of Congress the President was “authorized to des- ignate three special Commissioners to cooperate with representatives of the Dominion of Canada in a study of a highway to connect the northwestern part of the United States with British Columbia, Yu- kon Territory, and Alaska, with a | view to ascertaining whether such a highway is feasible and econo- | mically practicable.” Ten thousand ‘dollars was apprporiated to carry | out the purpose of the act. The | Commissioners appointed for the| | United States were Herbert H.| | Rice of Detroit, Chairman, Ern | W. Sawyer, Assistant to the Secr tary of the Interior, and Major| Malcolm Elliot, Corps of Engineers,| U. 8. Army. | The Canadian Commission con- sisted of the Honorable George Black of the Yukon Territory, former Speaker of the House of Commo J. M. Wardle, Chief Engineer, Can- adian Department of Public Works, and C. P. Napier, Assistant Chief Engineer. As a result of the inves- tigations made by the Commissions it was decided that the project was feasible from an engineering and constructional standpoint but that more information must be procured before the undertaking could be considered economically sound. $14,000,000 Estimate As a result of preliminary air and | ground reconnaisances certain high- | ly speculative estimates were printed. However, the report made the most | of the very meagre information at| hand. Estimates based on a 16-foot | road over the uncompleted part from Hazelton, B. C, to Fairbanks, | | Alaska, came to about $14,000,000 of | | which $12,000,000 would have to be | expended in British Columbia and Yukon Territory and $2,000,000 in Alaska, A ALASKA HERRING OPERATORS APEX FISH CO. ARENTSON & CO. ATLAS PACK CORP. BUCHAN & HEINAN CHATHAM STS. FISH CO. W. J. IMLACH CO. BLUE FOX BAY PACKING CO. NORTHWESTERN HERRING CO. OCEANIC FISH CO., INC. PERFECTION FISH CO. SAN JUAN FISH CO. SHEPHARD PT. PKG. CO. SOUTHWESTERN HERRING, INC. STORFOLD & GRONDAHL In-| THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE, SUNDAY, MARCH 3 1, 1940. ' Nowhere Else in the World Could Such a Picture be Taken PROGRESS AND DEVELOPMENT EDITION For International Highway Making Progress tractive to tourists; it will be possi- | ble to connect Alaskan Coastal towns | with the highway whereas to make _ |the connections from the other Beautiful Mendenhall Glacier near Juneau forms a back- drop for this Alaska dairying scene. Some of the finest With the submission of the re-| port in May 1933, the subject r tired into a legislative pigeonhole until scared out by Delegate Dimond in 1938. The idea was viewed most sympathetically by the President and the Congress. In compliance with the act the President appoint- ed the aforementioned Commission to serve without pay. Later in the year a Canadian Commission was appointed consisting of the Honor- able Charles Stewart, former Min- ister of the Interior, Chairman Brigadier-General T. L. Tremblay Arthur Dixon, J. M. Wardle and J W. Spencer By this time modest funds had been made available to both Com- missions for absolutely necessary expenses, Pattullo Enthusiastic In August 1938 Chairman Mag- nuson, Cary and McDonald went to Victoria for a conference with Prime Minister T. D. Pattullo of British Columbia who is enthusiasti- cally committed to the highway con- struction. . . . the most abundant fish Here are sevenimportant facts about Herring every Alaskan should know. Canadian Commission along the route. On July 24, 1939, the two Com- missions met in Victoria for the first joint meeting. All membes were present except Commissioner Riggs who was in the middle of the forests of Maine. The American members “were practically on the way before he received word of the proposed trip. After the meeting the American Commission chartered planes and flew over the proposed routes. Again Commissioner Riggs missed a swell trip Hazelton or Prince George will be the point of beginning of the high- way depending upon what route may be selected. Ottawa hieeting On January 24 of this year, the second joint meeting was held in Ottawa. And at this point I want to go on record as stating that a finer set of men never existed than the Canadian Commissioners. At the first session, the matter of | Dawson. In June 1939 a portion of the routes was thoroughly discussed. | Fairbanks over the hills as de-|more scenic and hence more at- dairy herds anywhere are furnishing Grade A milk for tables in the Territory. flew from{There are three possible routes; “A" | scribed above. Hazelton to Dawson and interviewed “B,” and “C.” “C” route was elim-| this route is fairly complete and | those interested in the various towns | inated. “A” Route starts at Hazel- | ton and goes by the Stikine River | and the Klappan River past the foot of Lake Teslin, along Lake Atlin | to Whitehorse, Y. T. From Whi',e-l horse it can follow practically along the old White Pass winter trail into Dawson and from thence over the | ridges between the Tanana and For- ty Mile drainages connecting with the Richardson Highway at the Con- fluence of the Delta and the Tan-| ana. | Two Routes An alternate route from White- horse is via Kluane Lake to the White River crossing at the lower canyon, into the headwaters of the| Tanana and down that river to Fair- banks. Route ‘B” commences at Prince George and runs well to the west of Route “A" through the Rocky Moun- tain Trench to the Pelly River, down the Pelly to Pelly Crossing where it joins the old winter mail route to| Then from Dawson to l. Herring is the most prolific fish in Alaskan waters. ing, mines, and furs. 2‘ The Herring industry ranks fourth in the ter- ritory of Alaska—exceeded only by salmon fish- 3' On the combined production of oil and meal, the territory of Alaska received $44,850.00 in rev- enue from direct taxes in 1939. This is exclusive of all other taxes, as school tax, fishing licenses, and seine taxes. 4. The investment in plants, exclusive of boats in the territory amounts to over $1,000,000. Reconnalssance over seems to be the first choice of the Canadian Commissioners. There are other routes and variations of each route but discussion revolved chief- ly around the two routes sketchily described The reasons of preference for the “B” route are stated as being: shorter route to be traversed by new construction, lower construction costs, less formidable summits be crossed, better snow conditions. A reason brought forward as against the alternate route from White- | horse to Fairbanks via Lake Klu-| ane is that to reach Dawson the road would have to cross the in- ternaticnal boundary twice, once near the White River and again in| the Forty Mile country. In other words Dawson would be on a branch | valid objec- | road. all tions. Americans Like Atlin Route On the other hand the American Commissioners expressed a prefer- ence for the “A” Route. It is much These are 5' Herring meal because of its high protein con- tent is an important component of feeds for stogk and pouliry. 6' The production of Herring meal in Alaska in the 1939 season amounted to 16,623 tons. All of this Herring meal went into the feed market for | route would be extremely difficult. From Whitehorse the American Commissioners prefer the Lake Klu- ane route for the glory of its scen- ery, for its hunting and fishing, but chiefly because it will open up the upper Tanana and the Forty Mile district now so woefully lacking in roads to the promising placer dis- tricts. The engineers of the two Commissions want more definite in- formation regarding both routes be- fore finally committing themselves. The Canadians are no: hiae-oound regarding a choice of routes and ex- pect to complete better reconnais- |sance during the coming working season, They wish to meet the de- |sires of their colleagues as far as possible. Either route will open up a great deal of the practically un- explored northern British Columbia. It is agreed by all that there is con- siderable investigation to be done. Much of the meteorological informa- tion is mere hearsay. The residents along “A” say the snow and storms on “B” are terrible. On “B” they say there is practically no snow and that the open season is longer. Well, you and I know the old-timer. Delay Inevitable It is a great disappointment to some of the Commission members that the road cannot be started im- | mediately. This would hardly be | possible. There are locations to be | surveyed through the, mountain passes, big holes to be bridged, con- struction costs to be weighed, weath- | er conditions noted—a thousand and | one matters to be carefully consid- | ered, as many costly mistakes as | possible to be avoided. It is agreed | that there should be a number of iair landing fields all along the highway. In this way commercial and military needs would be helped. For military uses the road serves no purpose except as a guide to air traffic. It would be for the tourist, | the sportsman, and the settler. For to| the tourist there must be road hous- | es and supply stations. There must | be shelter cabins on the passes for the suddenly stormbound. | Land-Water Circuit The existing transportation com- panies should be benefitted for there will be increased one-way traffic during the four or five months of favorable weather. The tourist will go over the entire route as far as Valdez and then take the steamer to Seattle. Many wi'l embark at | Whitehorse for a river ride to Daw- son. Of the tourists, some will stick in the country. The Canadian Commission is em- powered only to report on various routes. I am not sure that they may recommend a route, but it is hoped by us that the same commis-~ sioners may be given jncreased powers covering not only the loca- tion of the road but the intricate matter of finance which so far has only been briefly touched upon. Washington Interested In Washington I find no opposi- tion to the scheme. I heard mem- bers of Congress from Florida tell Chairman Magnuson that they were heartily in favor of the road. Now Florida could hardly be benefitted. At a luncheon I sat next to Secre- tary of Agriculture Wallace. When he heard that I am a member of this Commission be brightened up and is enthusiastic for a road not only to Alaska but for a road from Alaska to the Argentine. Magnuson talks it and dreams it. Governor Gruening switches the conversation to the road whenever possible. Mc- Donald thinks of nothing else. Un- fortunately I have not been in di- rect touch with Mr. Cary but from his writings I know that he is deeply interested. As any engineer he is careful to want more particulars. Some day the road will be built. Canada is a belligerent nation and the war may delay her participation. The United States is concerned over expenditures. Here too may be a cause for hesitancy. There is no royal road to progress. The original estimates of costs of $14,000,000 will have to be re- vised. Instead of a 16-foot road bed, only a 24-foot road will now satisfy. The guesses at bridges seem rather low. Yes, it will cost more than $14,000,000. 1200 Miles To Go The aistance by land from Se- attle to Fairbanks is roughly 2300 miles. Some 1100 miles of road have been constructed. This leaves about 1200 miles still in the nude to be all dolled up. It will take a lot of dressing. I do not want to wind up this more or less incoherent article with- out addressing my appreciation to Dr. Philip 8. Smith of the Geologi- |cal Survey and his able assistants, to our own Ike Taylor who carries a lot of gray matter under his hat, and to those daring motorcyclists, Slim Willlams and John Logan, who rode, carried or cussed their gaso- line horses all the way from Fair- banks to Hagelton. - The Pacific Ocean was formerly known as the South Sea, the name given to it by Balboa when he dis- covered it in 1513. potin i e Wy Petersburg owns its water works and hydroelectric plant, valued at approximately $171,000. dairy and poultry-uses. 70 The production of Herring oil in Alaska in the 1939 season amounted to 4,775,000 gallons. « * AdJ-of the oil went into the manufacture of soap, linoleum, and paint. PACIFIC * HERRING * PACKERS °* ASSOCIATION ——SEATTLE S