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dark. This has made it very difficult to handle traffic during the summer months and as the communication is limited to the period of darkness, it has frequently happened that more business has been offered than could be despatched during one night. For this reason, the Govern- ment has been desirous of installing equipment, capable of handling traffic between North Head and Alaska, during all seasons, day and night. With this object in view, the Navy has ordered a thirty kw. arc set to be installed in the present Cordova (Cape Whiteshed) sta- tion, to test with North Head. By em- ploying continuous waves of great length, generated by this set, it is very probable that the desired daylight com- munication will be established. A much larger station will also be erected near Cordova, at Mile 13 on the Copper River and Northwestern Railroad. Here will be installed a one hundred kw. arc set, which will insure continuous communi- cation between Alaska and the United States, and may make direct communi- cation with Arlington (Va.) possible.
The adoption of the arc type trans- mitter, by the Navy, marks a long-fore- seen step in advance, and the results of the tests to be conducted by the Navy will be watched with interest by the en- gineering profession. If the operation of the continuous wave transmitters proves satisfactory between the United States and Alaska, where the conditions are unusually trying, it is not improbable that they will be installed throughout the Navy service.
The Signal Corps, of the United States Army, operates a chain of sta- tions throughout the interior of Alaska, with stations on the coast at Nome, St. Michael, Kotlik, Petersburg and W'ran- gell. These stations serve districts where the maintenance if not the con- struction of a landline would be a very difficult matter. The Signal Corps sta- tions work in conjunction with the United States-Alaska cable system, and the interior land telegraph system, both of which are owned by the Signal Corps. In the interior many points have radio stations as the only means of communi- cation, because the extremely heavy snow fall prohibits the use of telegraph lines. Between Nome and St. ]\Iichael,
��Popular Science Monthly
a distance of about 120 miles, it was found, after many futile attempts, im- possible to keep a cable intact, during the winter months, on account of the heavy ice floes, which carried the cable away. Accordingly radio stations were erected at these points, and all cable or telegraph traffic for Nome is now sent by radio from St. Michael. A some- what similar condition exists between \\'rangell and Petersburg, in Southeast- ern Alaska, but in this case it is the tides in W'rangell Narrows, rather than ice floes, which make the maintaining of a cable difficult.
With few exceptions, the Signal Corps stations in Alaska are of one uni- form type. The regulation equipment consists of a single 200-foot steel tower, from which is supported a 12-wire um- brella antenna, and a ten kw. Telefunken set. Receiving equipments include both Telefunken and I-P-76 Tuners. Alost of the stations have counterpoises.
Another group of radio stations in Alaska, is the group of salmon cannery stations. The majority of salmon can- neries are located at points distant from the cable or telegraph lines, and for their own convenience, the owners have in- stalled, or leased, small sets. These sta- tions w'ork with Government or Com- mercial stations, and afford a means of communication with the outside world. These sets, at small expense, handle business between the canneries and the home offices of the packing companies, in the United States, that would other- wise have to go by the slower mail. These stations are in operation during the canning season only, which lasts from about May to September, and are some ten or fifteen in number.
In times past, when the Seattle-Alaska cable has broken, the radio stations of the Government, in conjunction with the commercial stations of Alaska have sat- isfactorily handled the heavy traffic al- though these station then had low- powered sets, and were able to hold communication at night only. With the completion of the improvements and new installations now planned for, however, the radio system of Alaska will be capa- ble of giving uninterrupted service be- tween the United States and most of the important points of Alaska.
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