SUNDAY, JANUARY 24, 1943
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN, LAWRENCE, KANSAS
PAGE FIVE
Geologist Visits Alaska Road Is Benefited
BY GERALD DICK
The war in general and the Alaskan highway in particular are proving to be of great benefit to Alaska, said Thomas Payne, who recently returned from a stay of three months in Alaska and is at present on the campus working for the state geological survey.
While he was in Alaska, I investigation work for the United States Geological Survey. He worked in placer tin deposits in central Alaska, and, in addition to tin, he found a great deal of gold. Mr. Payne, who received his bachelor of arts and masters degrees from the University of Rochester and his doctor of philosophy degree from the University of Chicago, plans to return to Alaska in June to continue his work. He is now working on the McLouth oil field report for the state survey.
Moist Vegetation A Handicap
"The natives are well aware of the fact that the war is giving Alaska a great boost, and they welcome the construction of the highway as a great connecting link between them and the United States," Payne said.
The native prospectors, sometimes called "sourdoughs," are cooperating with this country in its search for tin. Mr. Payne related. Whereas they used to wash the gold out and throw the tin ore away, they now save the tin ore, of which there are substantial deposits in central Alaska.
The worst part of life in Alaska, according to Payne, is the presence of insects. The mosquitoes are so dense in the summer that it is necessary to wear a head-net from June to September. These pests usually vanish in late September, he remarked, but gnats and other insects take up the work where the mosquitoes left it.
Another difficulty encountered on his trip was the moist, murky mass of vegetation which forms a covering for much of the land in Alaska, along the Yukon river, and renders
Mr. Payne did strategic mineral
walking nearly impossible. One day he walked 20 miles over this type of terrain.
Indians Live On Salmon and Whisky Mr. Payne's company on the trip consisted of a recorder, a student at the University of Washington; a camp hand, a student at the University of Alaska; and a cook from California. In order to reach the interior, he and his company had to travel by means of airplane, river steamer, a small boat equipped with an outboard motor, a narrow guage railway, and a foot. All Alaskan river steamers are wood-burners, the geologist stated, and professional woodchoppers are employed to keep the steamers supplied with fuel.
The liquor business is one of the most lucrative businesses in Alaska, he said. The Indians there, who are a shiftless, happy-go-lucky lot, practically live on salmon and whisky. Almost all the liquor sold in Alaska is imported from the United States.
Alaskan black bears have the habit of breaking into the cabins and tents of campers. Payne found that the only way to keep them out of his tent was to hang a five-gallon gasoline can in the doorway. When the bear bumps against the can, the thunderous noise scares him away.
Women have invaded the portals of the US Coast Guard Academy at New Lincoln, Conn., for the first time in history. The first 13 of 8,000 SPARS to be trained as officers and seamen of the Coast Guard have started classes under Rear Admiral James P. Pine, superintendent.
No Recreation From WPA Funds
The League of Women Voters, which worked in collaboration with the City Recreation committee to furnish dances for the Navy units on the campus, met Friday afternoon to discuss the recreation problem as it is since the mass resignation of the City Recreation committee.
Mayor C. B. Russell created the recreation committee in the spring of 1941 to furnish a year-around city recreation program financed by WPA funds. These funds will not be available after Jan. 25 and no other federal funds may be obtained to aid the program, because the city council refused to apply for them on the ground that the activities could be continued on a volunteer basis.
"The William Savage Johnson Memorial Fund," amounting to $3000 will be used for the purchase of books for the English department, as stipulated in the will of the late William Savage Johnson, former professor of English. These books will be chosen by the chairman of the English department.
The weekly service men's dance was held last night, but no more have been planned. The dances have been attended by sailors from the University's naval units and junior hostesses including both University women and Lawrence residents.
Johnson's Will Provides for Memorial Fund
Professor Johnson has been a member of the English faculty for 34 years, coming to the University from the Yale faculty in 1908. In 1924, he was appointed chairman of the department of English, which position he held for six years. He died Dec. 15 at Lawrence Memorial hospital after a seven-week illness.
Michigan Women Learn To Make Military Maps
(ACP)—Military map making will be taught to qualified senior women at the University of Michigan in a special course being offered at the request of the army map service, it is announced by Prof. R. H. Sherlock, co-ordinator for the engineering, science and management war training program.
During the special course, which will start Feb. 8, the women students will be given instruction in making bombing target maps for use by the air forces. Those who successfully complete the course and receive a degree by June, 1943, will qualify under federal civil service as engineering aids at $1,800 a year. Positions will be available either in Washington, D. C., or other army mapping offices throughout the country.
No college credit will be given for the technical instruction in planimetric and topographic mapping, map drafting, projections, aeronautical charts, map reproduction, photo mapping in two dimensions and checking and evaluation. The lectures and laboratory work will total at least 60 hours. However, the students may elect for credit such related courses as mathematics, geography, surveying and geology.
Trinity College, Hartford, Comm., is debating a proposal to admit women for the first time to counteract the drain on the student body growing out of selective service. A poll taken by the Trinity "Triped" college weekly reveals that undergraduate and instructors are almost evenly divided on the idea.
For Quality Clothing at SURPRISING REDUCTIONS
Obers Pre-Inventory CLEARANCE!
SUITS and STUDENT SUITS OBERCOATS SHIRTS AND NECKWEAR
BOYS DEPARTMENT SALE Second Floor
- Entire Stock Not Included -
MEN WANTED FOR Glee Club
Tryouts at 7:30 Tuesday Night in Room 132, Frank Strong to Fill Vacancies in All Sections
University Credit Given for This Activity
NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY
"If you like to sing, join the Glee Club"