Northwest History. Alaska, United States.

• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1937
• Subjects: Alaska; cable repair; Alaska Communication System; Col. George E. Kumpe; undersea cables; Ketchikan; Seattle; Seward; shortwave radio; Dellwood; Northwest; Pacific > History > 20th century; Pacific
• Online Access: http://content.libraries.wsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/clipping/id/92150

Alaska Cable Repair Delayed. ALASKA CABLE REPAIRE DELAYED Because of insufficient funds, the broken, undersea cables of the Alaska Communication System will not be repaired immediately, Col. George E. Kumpe, officer-in-charge of the system, announced yesterday. The cable is broken between Ketchikan and Seattle and between Ketchikan and Seward. All messages between Alaska and Seattle are communicated by shortwave radio. Used for more than a score of years as the only direct method of connecting Alaska with the world, the cable system was outmoded by the short-wave radio. In recent years the cable had been used only for daily test calls and at infrequent intervals, when static distorted short-wave messages. The cable ship Dellwood, used to repair breaks in the undersea line, was sold by the government, thus leaving the communication system without equipment for fixing the breaks.