FUR-SEAL SERVICE. 77 



island on th(» wiroloss vessel Nero. Previous to the arrival, the 

 natives, under Mr. Judge's direction, had dug out one-third of the 

 trench line, but as tlie loose sand through which the trench was 

 cut was constantly failing in, it was not deemed advisable to cut 

 deeper than 2 feet until the pipe was ready to be laid. 



On the Homer two 20,000-gallon redwood tanks (each 12 by 18 

 feet) were brought up to be installed on the flagstaff hill as a village 

 reservoir. As the Navy representatives had no bricks with which 

 to line a new wall, one of these tanks was set up on the site selected 

 for a new well, the bottom removed, and the sides sunk to a depth 

 of 8i feet. To replace that used for the well, an additional tank 

 was brought up on the second trip of the Homer. 



.Uthough with many difficulties, the work of running the pipe 

 line from the wireless station to the top of the village hill and the 

 erection and housing of the two tanks went on steadily, the natives 

 doing all the work except the pipe fitting. 



The tanks on the hill were sunk to a depth of 5^ feet and erected 

 on a heavy foundation of redwood siUs and joists. Over them a 

 building 45 by 25 feet, and 8 feet high, with a three-fourths pitch 

 roof, w^as erected. Of this the sides were made of 1 by 12-foot 

 lumber, laid diagonally, to be faced with turf. The roof was shingled. 



The trench was filled in whenever men to do the work were avail- 

 able. The sides of the tank at the new well, which projected 3^ feet 

 from the ground, were faced with 2 feet of sod, a cover laid over the 

 whole, and that turfed over. 



TMien, however, the reservoir tanks and the pipe line were com- 

 pleted and the pump was started, the stream thrown into the tanks 

 was found to be quite small and came "wdth no force whatever. The 

 pipe, of l|-inch diameter, is too small, offering more resistance to 

 the flow than the pump is able to overcome. After working about 

 one hour and pumping water equivalent to about 2 inches in one tank, 

 the pump was wrecked, and it was necessary to request the Navy 

 officer in charge of the radio plants to have spare parts supplied. 

 These were to be brought from Nome on the revenue cutter Bear, 

 which had not arrived at the time of writing this report, and it is 

 therefore not known whether the pump was of service durmg the 

 winter. 



WORK ON RADIO STATION. 



From July 1 to August 1 the time of all the men was occupied 

 with two teams in hauling gravel for use in constructing concrete 

 anchors for the guys on the two masts, excepting such little inter- 

 ruption as was caused by taking seals, etc. This gravel first had to be 

 scratched from between the rocks at the East Landing beach, put into 

 sacks, and carried on the men's backs for over 100 yards, to be placed 



