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Show PROTECTION FOR I ALASKAGATEWAY , Coast Survey Urge Action for Improvement of 20,000 Miles of Coast Line. WASHINGTON, April 15 Protection Protec-tion for the gateway of Alaska by adequate ade-quate coast and harbor charting wa3 ured in a special bulletin issued today to-day by the Coast and Geodetic surve. v With more than 26.000 miles of detaii- 1 ( ed coast line, Alaska cannot be approached ap-proached without plying the waters that nearly surround it. because gigantic gigan-tic mountain ranges, that may never be surmounted by railroads, bar the path to the east. In fifty years, the coast and geodetic geode-tic survey has bad less than $4,000,000 to spend in Alaskan waters on work "that should invariably precede development devel-opment of a new country." Exports from Alaska through these waterways have amounted to $708,000,000 in fifty years, reaching the greatest annual amount last year when $94. 709. 3 59 worth of goods was sent out of the territory ter-ritory which originally cost the government govern-ment $7,200,000. Imports to Alaska in Bftj ears have amounted to $412,000 -000 showing the vast amount of trade carried on with the territory solely by means of ships. The bulletin said Alaska has many fin- undeveloped harbors, of which little is known. Owing to lack of charts. 224 American vessels havp been lost in Alaskan waters during the last twenty years, carrying to their 'Jv;uhs 2S0 persons. About 70 per cent of the losses were due to strandings which might have been prevented by accurate surveys. "There should be the most serious thought given now to taking care of Alaska's greatest need." the bulletin concludes. "The war should not delay preparation for the work, as immediate imme-diate provision looking to the care of the preliminaries will mean the saving sav-ing possibly of years." M nv r |