BULLETIN 950, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



From— 



To— 



Distance. 



Sitka. 



San Francisco. 



San Francisco 



New York 



Honolulu 



Sidney 



Wellington 



New York (via Panama) 



New York (via Magellan Strait) . 



Yokohama 



Shanghai 



Manila 



Honolulu 



Panama 



Valparaiso 



Nautical 

 miles. 1 

 1,302 

 6, 564 

 2,386 

 6, 806 

 6,499 

 5,262 

 13, 135 

 4,536 

 5,387 

 6,221 

 2,091 

 3, 245 

 5,135 



1 A nautical mile equals 1.15 statute miles. 



Regular mail service by boat to and from Alaska is maintained 

 throughout the year. The region is served by a military cable to 

 Seattle, available to the public. Wireless stations, both Govern- 

 ment and private, are well distributed along the coast. 



During the last two weeks in April, 1920, the West Coast Lumber- 

 man reported that about 100 cargoes for Alaska were loaded at 

 Portland. Most of these cargoes were destined for the canneries. 

 Several steamship lines ply regularly from Alaska to the "outside." 

 The Pacific Coast Steamship Co. operates four steamships. The 

 Alaska Steamship Co. operates five passenger steamships and nine 

 freight steamers. The Grand Trunk Pacific operates in the Alaskan 

 service two steamers and the Canadian Pacific one. 4 The Union 

 Steamship Co. operates 10 steamers to Alaskan ports. There are a 

 number of other boats operating to Alaska, and at Ketchikan the 

 number of clearances of vessels per year is in the neighborhood 

 of 2,000. 



From the regular ports of call reached by coastwise steamers, 

 fishing boats, and mail boats, the outlying regions are reached only 

 by special trips with gasoline boats. The type of boat used most 

 successfully by the Forest Service is 45 feet long, and should have 

 a crew of two men; but the Service does not have the facilities to 

 take interested parties on investigating trips for timber and power- 

 site locations. There are, however, a limited number of boats for 

 hire at all the principal ports at rates depending on the demand for 

 the service and the character of the trip. 



TOPOGRAPHIC AND OTHER SURFACE FEATURES. 



Burchard (U. S. Geological Survey Bulletin 592, 1914, p. 97), de- 

 scribes the general topographic and surface features as follows : 



The mainland and islands of southeastern Alaska are generally mountainous, 

 and there is little level land either as upland area or along the shores. Along 



4 The Merchant Marine Act of June 15, 1920, makes certain restrictions upon the trans- 

 portation of merchandise, and any one interested in Alaska would do well to familiarize 

 himself with the provisions of this act. 



