Importance Of
Aleutian Chair
• (continued from page 1)
paratively short.
: Should Develop
•No such transoceanic bridge o
potential island bases exists any
where else in the world, arid tin
development of their military
possibilities may well make then
oar most useful all-round de
tensive positions in the northen:
Pacific, for they are located ei
ther across, or on the flank of;
tbe most direct routes front
northern Asia toward our west
coast, Alaska, and the Hawaiian
Islands. Moreover, the need for
defense of the Aleutians them
selves, and their very real value
for offensive action, must not be
over looked. All Eurasia is in fer
ment, and its restless nations are
g&zing enviously toward the
Americas across both the Atlan
tic and the Pacific. During the
past year (1&40) our press has re
ported that Russian is fortifying
the Komandorsky Island, which
stretch out from Kamchatka to
ward the Aleutians, and has es
tablished submarine bases and
flying fields there; and Pravada,
the Moscow Government-con
trolled organ, is quoted as saying
that Ruasiaus wants Alaska back
.vgain. The press also quotes Ta
kahashi, an admiral lately com
manding the Japanese fleet, as
declaring that his country’s “new
Order for Asia” extends to the
one hundred and eightieth de
gree of longitude, Apparently,
therefore, Russia dreams of re
possessing all of the Aleutians,
and Japan seizing at least the
Rat and Near Islands.
Meantime, many Americans
have come to think that since
1823, when President Monroe an
nounced his famous doctrine, our
defensive needs and those of fel
low democracies grouped around
us have expanded so that a pres
ent declaration of our position
might be something like this:
No European or Asiatic power
can be permitted to extend its
dominion or acquire fresh terri
tory west of the thirtieth degree
of west longtitude, or east or
south of the line Attu (Aluetians)
—North West Cape (Ausralia).
The zone so delinated is barred
to outside interference or intru
sion.
Location And Climate
' The Aleutians cross the North
Pacific from 163 west longitude
,to 172 east longitude in about the
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latitude of Ireland, 51 degrees to
55 degrees north. If the outline
l of Attu, the extreme western is
land of the chain be slid along
its degree of latitude until it is
superimposed upon England half
way between the English east
' and west coasts, it will embrace
. the town of Sheffield, 200 miles
, south of Firth of Forth and 400
miles south of Scapa Flow, the
principal British fleet bases dur
. ing the World War. If on a globe
one end of a piece of string is
placed on Tokyo and the string
held taut while the other end
is brought down on Seattle
the string will cross the curving
line of the Aleutians twice; in
other words, the shortest route
between the two cities runs
through those islands. Attu is
900 miles from continental
Alaska and 2,500 miles from the
State of Washington, so that an
expedition proceeding fiom
northern Asia would be inter
cepted by forces based on Attu
while still far from our coasts.
A description of the climatic
and living conditions at Dutch
Harbor, Unalaska is contained in
the article on Life in the Aleu
tian Islands (United States Na
val Institute Proceedings, July,
1937, pp. 1001-1008), the author
mi
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stating, among other tilings, that
in a normal year the temperature
varies between 10 and 70 degrees
Fahrenheit. The climate of the
Aleutians is oceanic, with moder
ate and fairly uniform tempera
tures, frequent fogs and high
humidity. The main temperature
at Dutch Harbor during the mid
winter month is given as 32.0 and
that during the mid-summer
month as 54.8. A comparison of
the monthly pilot charts of the
No'th Pacific (Unimak-Avacha)
for a year with the monthly pilot
charts of the more familiar
North Atlantic (Lands End-Hal
ifax) for the same year showed
icebergs in the Atlantic in 5
months and none in the Pacific,
more days with fog in the Atlan
tic than in the Pacific in each of
8 months from October to May,
a higher percentage of time with
gales in the Atlantic in every
month except September and No
vember, and a higher percentage
of hours with calms and light
airs in the Pacific in every month
except February, in which month
the percentage in the two oceans
was the same.
Harbors And Distances
cALWAYS
USE
’S
(ill
For General Taxi Service
or
Shopping Trips
1941 DeSoto Sedans
Johnny Ressler
Owner
NOTICE
PINCH G HAGEN
JEWELERS
OPEN FOR
BU$INE$$
Next door to their former location
in the Bettinger Building
At this time (Decern l>er, 1940)
no charts exist of the great ma
jority of Aleutian indentations,
and many of those that do exist
cannot be trusted. For instance,
Coast and Geodetic Survey Chart
8102 of the western Aleutians in
dicates 11 harbors, bays, or in
lets in Attu. of which 4 have
names, yet only one, Chichagof
Harbor, is charted, and the ic
formation given on the Chicagc
chart is “from a survey by th
United States Navy in 1855,
Now the Aleutians, in that «
spect like our entire west coa<
and the whole of Japan, are kx
ated in the Circum Pacific Eaitl
(continued on page 8)
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TO MEMBERS OF
ORGANIZED
LABOR
Your attention is called to the fact
that at a regular meeting of the Ko
diak Central Labor Council a resolu
tion was duly passed authorizing the
publication of this notice to the effect
that one Ray Trotochau, of Kodiak,
Alaska, who owns and operates that
taxi known as “Ray’s Cab” has been
placed on union labor’s unfair list.
You are advised and warned that
having due notice of the above you
will govern your actions accordingly.
SIGNED,
Talmage L. Smith
Secretary, Kodiak Central
Labor Council