DEVELOPMENT OF PULPWOOD RESOURCES. 13 



The timber would be thoroughly soaked when delivered at the 

 mills, but this would be of no disadvantage for ground wood pulp 

 making except that logs left too long in salt-water storage would 

 accumulate barnacles which it would be necessary to remove in clean- 

 ing the logs. In fresh-water storage these barnacles would doubt- 

 less drop off. It is probable that at a number of mill sites fresh- 

 water storage would be obtainable. Soaked wood, although less de- 

 sirable than fairly dry wood for sulphite pulp making, offers no 

 great difficulty in this respect. A large number of American sul- 

 phite mills use wood coming directly from the water, and others 

 have installed special chip driers. For making soda and sulphate 

 pulp it is of much more importance that the wood be dry. 



LABOR. 



The local labor supply is adaptable to all kinds of work. Laborers 

 are usually attracted from the woods to the canning industr}^, or 

 to mining, or to the aquatic fur industry, depending on the wages 

 paid and the conditions of employment. An assured supply of 

 skilled labor would be available after a number of mills were estab- 

 lished in the region, but there would, of course, always be competi- 

 tion from the other industries named. 



It should be noted that there has been an exodus of white popula- 

 tion from Alaska with the decline of the mining industry. It is esti- 

 mated that not more than half of the 1910 population of 65,000 

 remains. However, the tendency to emigrate was checked in 1919, for 

 during that year more people entered Alaska than departed from the 

 Territory. 



The Alaskan Engineering Commission, which is engaged in build- 

 ing a railroad from Seward to Fairbanks, imports its labor and 

 maintains a crew of 3,000 to 4,000 men. This railroad will be com- 

 pleted in 1922, and competition for labor from this source will be 

 eliminated. 



It is of interest to note that laborers in Alaska are accustomed to 

 work on a piece basis rather than on a time basis, and this would 

 probably influence the employment of labor for logging operations. 

 It might be desirable to consider contracting the labor for the cut- 

 ting and delivery of pulpwood. 



Many of the pulpwood operations in Alaska would not be located 

 at or near towns already established. In order permanently to 

 hold men in responsible positions under such circumstances, and 

 to reduce the labor turnover to a minimum it would doubtless be 

 necessary for the prospective operator to construct dwellings and 

 to consider the extent to which he might provide such conveniences 

 as stores and amusements to serve as inducements in securing and 



