Evening Star Newspaper, January 5, 1930, Page 85

would increase the concentration to a total of 75,000 horsepower. Through co-operative studies by the Geo- logical Survey, the Federal Power Commission, the Naval Air Service and the Department of Agriculture in conjunction with the United States Forest Service and aided by the Alaskan Road Commission, affording an outstanding instance of co-operation between various Gov- ernment bureaus, valuable waterpower data have been secured for the benefit of Govern- ment-controlled pulpwood lease holders. The outstanding characteristics of the water powers of the region are described by the For- est Service as follows: *“High-head develop- ments, short conduits, small drainage basins with heavy run-cff, good water-storage facili- ties, accessibility of the projects to navigable waters and the opportunity to locate industrial plants either directly at the power house sites or within very short power-transmission dis- tances. “The typical water-power site has a high *“hanging” lake located a short distance inland from tidewater., This can be made to serve as a storage reservoir by the usz of a dam across the lake outlet, by a tunnel to tap the lake below its present water surface, or by a combination of these two methods. Many of the lakes have elevations exceeding 500 feet. Conduits to connect the lakes with power houses at tidewater will range from cne-fourth mile to three miles 1n fength and in most cases will be less than one and one-half miles long. “The run-off per square mile of drainage basin is very high because of heavy precipita- tion in this region. The normal period of low stream flow occurs in Winter, when the precipi- tation on the high watersheds is largely held in suspensicn in the torm of snow, so that exten- sive water storage for Winter use is necessary to obtain the high, regulated flow throughout the year which is essential for a pulp and paper plant. All of the sites considered suitable tor pulp and paper projects have lake storage and the possibility for such regulation of the flow. Many cf the power streams are fod by per- petual snowfields, which sustain the water flow materially during any prolonged dry periods in Summer.” The Federal Water Power Commission exer- cises supervision over the development and use of power sites in Alaska, and provides, under Federal act, a form of license calling for a nominal rental fee per horsepower developed and covering a period not in excess of 590 years. THE mention of th: name Alaska brings to mind a cold region where the Winters are long ang ice and snow prevail, but such is not the case in the southeastern section. Thare are no dog teams, no Eskimos, no walrusses and no fields of ice where the pulp mills will locate. The mean temperature for the Winter raonths at the various towns in this region range from 29.5 degrees to 35 degrees, according to a bulle- tin of the Department of Agriculture. Th= Jan- uary mean for Sitka is 5 degrees higher than that of Boston, Mass., and only 1.2 degrees lower than that of Washington, D. C. Zero temperatures occur infrequently, the official weather records for 30 years at Juneau, located in the northern part of the region, showing a total of only 55 days cn which the tempera- ture fell to zero or lower. The lowest recorded temperature there during this same period was 15 degrees below zero, approximately the same as has twice been recorded in Washing- ton. The mean Summer temperature is between 50 and 55 degrees, which is much cooler than at Atlantic seabcard points. The precipitation is extremely heavy, the yearly mean for various places being: Juneau, 81 inches; Sitka, 83 inches; Ketchikan, 159 inches. There is no pronounced dry season as in the Pacific Coast States, but the rainfall in Fall, the wettest season, is from two to three times that of an equal period in May, June and July, the driest months., Snow does nct accumulate to grzat depths at sea level, because much of the Winter precipitation there is in the form of rain. The towns are practically free of snow the greater part of the Winter. Laying stress on these ideal climatic condi- tions. the United States Forest Service points out that there are no climatic factors which prevent or seriously hinder the operation of newsprint mills throughout the year. The main seaways and most of the small inlets are free of ice throughout the Winter, so that water transportation is possible at all times. The logzing seascn is usually considered as covering eight months, April 1 to December 1, but Win- ter logging is practicable in many localities. Also a very low forest-fire risk is afforded in this region through the heavy rainfall and high relative humidity of the average Summer, A FURTHER important advantage to the es- tablishment of the newsprint industry in this section which the Forest Service points out are the excellent transportation facilities. The Alaska Steamship Co. and the Pacific Steam- ship Co. provide year-round transportation be- tween Seattle and all ports in Southeastern Alaska, operating combined passenger and freight vessels, as well as many strictly cargo carriers. The Canadian Pacific and Canadian National Railroads cperate four to six vessels from Vancouver, British Columbia, in the pas- senger trade of this region during the Summer months and one boat in Winter. The average interval between arrivals from the south of passenger vessels at Southeastern Alaska ports is one day frcm June to September and three days during the remainder of the year. ‘The network of protected sea channels ih this region is admirably suited to the use of small motor-driven boats. The various centers of population are connected by ccmmon-carrier boats of this type, and all industrial enterprises make use of motor-driven workboats., As this network of sea channels extends south to Puget Sound, small tugs with barges and flat scows are used extensively to transp-rt products to and from Seattle. The Forest Service calls attcntion to an ex- ecellent opportunity to operate a railroad-car THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, Scene over Burroughs Bay, Alaska, depicting timberlands and water-power sources valuable to the pulp inductry. D. C. JANUARY §, Air phote made by the United States naval aerial Alaskan mapping expedition. ferry or barge service between Alaskan ports and Prince Rupert, British Columbia, a western terminus of the Canadian National Railroad, and to ship Alaska pulp and paper by this short route to the Middlewestern States. The pulp and paper markets of the Orient and Australia are as readily accessible to Alaska as to the Pacific Coast Stat>s and Brit- ish Columbia. Those of the Gulf States and other sections of the Atlantic seaboard can be reached by water shipments through the Pana- ma Canal, Approximate distances from Ketchikan, the mcst southerly Alaska port, to important points are as follows: Minneapolis, via Prince Rupert, B. C.. and Canadian National Chicago, via Prince Rupert, B. C., and Canadian National Railroad 2,700 miles Scattle 660 miles San Francisco . 1,300 miles Colon 4,638 miles New Orleans, via Panama....6,084 miles Savannah, via Panama ......6,497 miles New York, via Panama.. 6,663 miles Honolulu 2,450 miles Yokohama ... 3,911 miles New Zealand 6,550 miles Sydney, Australia 6,850 miles “THE consumption (cf newsprint) in the United States is constantly growing,” states the Department of Agriculture in a bul- létin cn the pulp-timber resources of Southeast- ern Alaska. “To meet the increased demand and A map of Southeastern Alaska showing the future location of the first two newsprint mills at Juneau and Ketchikan (indicated by circles). to offset production lcsses due to timber de- pletion around old plants, the industry has reached farther and farther afield from the great consuming center represented by the East- ern United States, The virgin forests capable of supplying the spruce, hemlock and true firs co essential for the mechanical and sulphite pulp used in newsprint have long since been followed across the border into Eastern Canada, and this migration has now reached the stage where the greater part of the newsprint re- quirem:nts of the United States are supplied by Canadian mills. “This expansion of the industry into the re- gion next in accessibility to the large markets though on foreign soil was a logical develop- ment. But the projects of outstanding maerit in Eastern Canada have now largely been taken up. Those remaining apparently possess no ad- vantages for supplying paper to the Eastern markets that cannot be offset by other advan- tages enjoyed by plants operating in Alaska and shipping on a relatively cheap per ton-mile rate by vessel through the Panama Canal.” How vast the news paper industry has be- come in the United States and how steady its growth in the last few years is indicated by the following figures: The average daily circulation of morning and evening papers is now 37,966,756 copies, and the Sunday circulation is 25,469,037. This repre- sents a gain in the last six years of 49.3 per cent in the morning paper field, 30.3 per cent in evening paper circulation and 33.2 per cent in Sunday circulation. As these gains continue and as the demands for newsprint, which is now being used in in- creasing amounts for other purposes, such as catalogues, telephone directories, railway guides, school tablets, scratch pads, handbills, wrapping ‘paper, etc., will be greater from year to year, new sources of supply must be developed to maintain normal prices in view of future needs. Imprisoned by Snow Crust. SNOWS followed by a heavy crust such as visited Washington during Christmas week make plenty of fun for the youngsters, but they play havo¢ with the grouse or parte ridge, as it is called in the Northeastern sec- tion of the country. During heavy snows the partridge beds down in the snow for warmth and allows the de- scending blanket of white to cover it com- pletely. When the birds are buried beneath the flakes the severe weather does them no harm, for they are snug and warm. When a rain follows, however, with immediate freez- ing, the crust formed over the snow is too strong for them to break through and many perish. A series of such snows during the course of a Winter will so deplete the grouse in a given section that, the following Fall, hunters find the birds few and far between. It takes sev- eral seasons for them again to appear in any quantity, for the natural enemies of the grouse, the fox, the owl and other predatory birds and animals, along with the hunter, ac- ccunt for a large portion of each season's hatch. e Disrowr_y of Razorite. NOW and then the old expression, “There’s nothing new under the sun,” takes one on the chin. Consider the case of razorite, a new mineral, found 600 to 800 feet underground in the Mojave Desert in California. This min- eral, a borate, was recently discovered and in such quantity that its commercial exploitation has been found profitable. So far, its use has been largely limited $o manufacture of some kinds of glass and for glazing sanitary ware. Chemists are study.eg it to find new uses for it. v