Cod Schooner Is
After Record
—X—
Although the fishing banks ir.
Bering Sea have been lashed by
continuous southwest gales all
through July, the Seattle four
masted cod-fishing schooner
Christenson stands an excellent
chance of breaking the Ameri
can record for largest catch.
This was revealed in a radio
message received recently by
Capt. J. E. Shields, owner, from
Capt. John Grotle, master of the
vessel.
According to this report, the
fishermen, despite the handicap
of heavy seas, has 253,000 cod
fish or approximately 500 tons
stowed in the hold. With the
earlier catch and the July fish,
they are now within seventy-five
tons of the record made by the
"Wawona of Anacortes which
delivered 275 tons at San Fran
cisco in 1915.
With a month or possibly more
to go, according to the weather,
the forty-three members of the
crew will beat the Wawona’s
mark if skill and endurance can
do it, Shields says.
The fleet is small this year,
according to Shields, only the
Sophie and the three-master
Wawona, commanded by Capt.
Charles Foss, being out from
Puget Sound and the three
masted Louise and four-masted
William H. Smith from San
Francisco.
The vessels will return in late
September, and for their efforts
these toilers of the sea will be
paid off at the rate of about
$600 per man above expenses.
-x
To avoid trouble and insure
safety breathe through your nose
It keeps the mouth shut.,
Territorial Government
-V
While every resident of Alaska
i-3 committed to the principle of
full Territorial government --
that is with counties, townships,
etc., — the question naturally
creeps in what material effect
the change might have upon the
economic condition of the Ter
ritory.
There are two angles of the
situation demanding considera
tion. One is emancipation from
longrange government and the
other is the introduction of more
government with its attendant
expense of operation. On the
question of functioning it is de
batable if full county govern
ment could excell bureaucratic
government as it relates to
purely intimate personal inter
ests such as affect the average
citizens in his daily activities.
It would appear more logical
to direct energies to develop
ment programs which would
thru natural process create rev
enues commensurate with the
demands of more extended local
governmental activities. Each
county would of necessity de
mand a set of commissioners.
These must be paid. They would
require justices of the peace or
magistrates which now function
as United States Commissioners,
together with police powers
vested in a sheriff, constables,
etc.
Without the relaxation of
conservation and the restoration
of natural resources to the Ter
ritory, to be sold to capital, no
change in government would ef
fect the remedy sought.
History of the West and Ca
nada is replete with organized
movements seeking to attract
capital, yet there is not one such
organization in the Territory.
Scan the minutes of the Cham
tiers of Commerce, including that
of the ALL-Alaska Chamber, and
one will find 80 per cent of its
contents devoted to protest a
gainst changes of shifts in pure
ly political affairs. They will
find no concerted movement
looking to listing the undevelop
ed resources near by, no in
structive literature or compila
tions which have not been pro
duced by various newspapers
whose main support has come
from absentee of industries,
such as fisheries, steamship
companies, etc., and firms selling
goods to Alaska.
Those who would launch ac
tivities face deprecating de
pression by a too large number
of those whose support should
be inspirational rather than
coerced.
To the disinterested observer,
as has been shown by expres
sions from many visitors, Alaska
appears to be more interested in
political or governmental sub
jects than it is in creating a
population of sufficient dimen
sions to afford the cost of full
responsibility.
That this aspect is not lost on
Washington has been disclosed
on many occasions when Cabin
et members and presidents have
expressed the suggestion that
"the people of the United States
look to Alaskans to begin devel
opment on their own.”
One of the most refreshing
outcomes of the present financial
and political crisis is the action
of Ketchikan in launching just
such a movement as the one
under discussion. When fishing
fell off the "Salmon Capital”
cast about for another resource
to keep its population active.
They organized prospecting
companies, like those being
formed outside and led by the
Pacific Steamship Co. It may