Thirty thousand salmon, fresh from the water. These were all caught in a fishtrap. Within twelve
hours they will be cleaned, packed, cocked and ready for the market. To see these fish taken from
the trap is a sight to behold.
FOX FARMING
In the city of Ketchikan there are
two sawmills which provide lumber
not only for local consumption, one
of which started the export trade,
but they also furnish boxes for the
salmon canneries and for the fresh
fish shippers of the whole district.
There has been much talk during
recent years of the development ot
pulp and paper manufacturing plants
in Southeastern Alaska. While only
one pulp mill has actually been start
ed in the Tongass National Forest,
several applications for permits to
develop powersites which, the appli
cants say, are for pulp and paper
mills, are now before the federal
government. There is no question
that the Tongass National Forest
furnishes a field for these, with its
vast areas and ready accessibility to
transportation, all being located right
on the water’s edge where steamers
of any draught may navigate. In
this connection, it is worthy of note
that Revillagigedo island, on which
Ketchikan is located, offers approxi
mately 100,000 horsepower in its un
developed watersites. These, no
doubt, will one day, and not in the
distant future, be utilized. It has
even been said on competent authori
ty that it would not be a difficult
engineering problem to harness at
least half of these powersites for use
in a central location, if at any time
it should be deemed advisable to build
one large plant.
With the lumber export business
and the pulp and paper industry in
mind, it is certain that the forests
will ultimately furnish mateerial for
employment for thousands and an
opportunity for capital. It is offi
cially estimated by the foresters that
Alaska can produce two million tons
of paper annually and for all time,
with proper reforesting.
FOX FARMS
Blue fox farming is the infant in
dustry of Southeastern Alaska. It
has made rapid strides during the
past year until there are a dozen
large farms within a radius of
forty miles of Ketchikan. These
farms are located on islands, each
farmer securing from the govern
ment a lease on the whole island.
These islands average several square
miles in size and are so surrounded
by water that the foxes are fenced
in naturally.
The blue foxes increase and multi
ply rapidly, a pair producing from
five to thirteen pups.
MINING—TIMBER
The Ketchikan district, in a mining
way is not as active now as it has
been in some year of the past, owing’
to the increased cost of commodities
and labor. The area, however, is
highly mineralized with copper, gold,
silver, iron and other metals and it
will be but a question of time until
the properties are opened up. There
are several properties in operation
now and some others in the course
of development, and practically all
of these are being worked by resi
dents of the district and not by out
side capital, whereby it is shown
that the home folks have confidence
in the outlook.
The Portland Canal district, which
is immediately contiguous to Ketchi
kan ,is drawing the attention of the
whole mining world. It is there that
the great Premier Mine, but 60 miles
from Ketchikan as the crow flies, is
located. It is a gold and silver pro
position. This property, bought three
years ago for a nominal sum, has
already paid three and one-quarter
millions in dividends and it is said
that they have many times that
amount in sight. In addition to that
property there are others in the
same section which are in such a
state of development that they will
be producing’ on a large scale in the
near future, it is believed.
Ketchikan is the very heart of
the great Tongass National Forest
which covers approximately 15,000,
000 acres. This is heavily forested
with spruce, hemlock and cedar. This
is being marketed and has been for
many years for home consumption.
The summer of 1922 marked a new
epoch in the industry, however, when
for the first time a cargo of several
million feet were shipped to Austral
ia. This was the beginning of an
export business which will, it is
indicated, increase materially in the
next few years as the buyers are
now negotiating for a considerable
amount of lumber for export.
t- ^
THE LINEN SHOP
MRS. L. REINKE, Prop.
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