148 REPORT OF ALASKA INVESTIGATIONS. 



shape of equally cheap freight rates will have to be granted by American interests. For example, can 

 anyone conceive of the Canadian Government allowing a Montreal concern to establish itself at Seattle, 

 send its Canadian boats and Canadian fishermen up into Canadian waters to fish, and come back to Seattle 

 to pack their fish and then ship them over an American railroad to an eastern point in Canada ? That is 

 just what is going to be done with regard to American boats and fishing industry, if we do not take some 

 action at once. 



COAL AND SUPPLY BASE. 



The question is often asked, Where do Government vessels get their coal and other supplies ? At the 

 present time Unalaska is the base at which revenue cutters and other Government vessels buy a large 

 amount of their coal and other supplies. At this place the Government has paid thousands of dollars to 

 a private company for coal transported from Australia, besides incurring other expenses in paying for 

 privileges received. The price of coal this year was $i 2.75 a ton. It is also necessary for all vessels to dock 

 at a private wharf and accept all courtesies in connection therewith. In addition, the harbor is very bad, 

 and the only means of getting in to this wharf is by a very narrow and crooked channel, which is more or 

 less hazardous to a vessel of any size. However, some favorable point in the Aleutian Peninsula is the 

 natural base of supply and is the place for a coming town, for, because of the isolation of this region and 

 its close proximity to the Pribilof Islands, it necessarily becomes a point of interest and value to Govern- 

 ment vessels and commercial ships. 



Close to Unalaska, in fact almost in sight, is Dutch Harbor, the old home and village of the North 

 American Commercial Co., where now the Government wireless station is located. At the present time 

 this place is practically abandoned. It seems highly advisable that the Government should negotiate at 

 an early date for the purchase of the North American Commercial Co.'s buildings, which are in a fair state 

 of preservation. The harbor is excellent, far better and safer for large vessels desiring to dock there than 

 at Unalaska. There is an abundance of excellent water, which Unalaska lacks. There are also good 

 buildings for living quarters for various Government officials. The headquarters of the Bering Sea fleet 

 of the United States Revenue-Cutter Service is at Unalaska and a number of the officers are stationed 

 there a part of the year. The living quarters afforded them are greatly crowded, and at the same time rent 

 is paid that is hardly justifiable from an economic standpoint. It would therefore be well if the head- 

 quarters of these officers could be transferred to Government buildings at Dutch Harbor. The proposal 

 to furnish suitable quarters to the men and their families who are isolated in this western country is war- 

 ranted and proper. The idea of making Dutch Harbor an ideal Government village is one that should 

 be encouraged, and the opportunity for doing so now presents itself as it may not again for some time 

 to come. 



The thousands of tons of coal used by the Government vessels that now enter Unalaska, if trans- 

 ported by Government vessels or colliers and furnished from Government bins at Dutch Harbor, would 

 cost from $6 to $7 a ton instead of nearly twice as much. Such a move as suggested would be economical, 

 and the Government would soon be repaid for the initial expense incurred. 



The opening of the Alaska coal mines will mean a great saving to the United States Government. 



GOVERNMENT WHARF. 



Another matter that was brought to my attention was the absence of a Government wharf at Wrangell. 

 When a Government boat arrives there for coal or other supplies, it must go to a private dock and obligate 

 itself to the extent of buying its coal and perhaps other supplies that are sold at too high a price. I am 

 safe in saying that if the Government had its own wharf, which is perfectly feasible, and marine railways 

 or a small dry dock for repairing smaller vessels, a great deal of money could be saved in the course of 

 a year, in addition to a saving of about $4 a ton on coal purchased. 



WIRELESS STATION AT UNGA. 



One of the greatest needs in Alaska came to my attention at Unga village, on Unga Island, the largest 

 of the Shumagin Group. This prosperous little village is the headquarters and home of most of the men 

 engaged in the fast-growing codfish industry. It is the home of a United States commissioner and a 

 deputy marshal, and the jail for the third judicial district of Alaska is located there. The almost complete 



