The Columbus journal., 1885-01-14
ALASKA.
Growth Of the Lumber md MinInx N.
tel estS There.

SIA0NNN
Growth Of the Lumber md MinlpR N.
teIestS There.
Although this vast territory of Alaska
measures one thousand four hundrcd
miles n way and two thousand two
hundred the other, and its furtlicst
island is as far west of San Francisco
Is that city is west of Bath. in Maine.
few people have any clear idea of the
country and its people. Within the
four hundred miles between its north
ern and southern boundaries there is &
chance for a great range of climate,
and while the northern portion of the
mainland lies within the Arctic circle
and is wrapped in the snow and ice OF
polar regions. Sout!itrl Alaska re-
joices in that its winter is not IS severe
as that of Maryland of Haniuckv. The
isOthermal lees make strange curves
on the Pacific coast, and Influenced by
the warm japan stream of kuro Sine,
a mild temperate climate is given to
the shores and archipelago Of South
western Alaska. As in California,
temperature and climate depend more
upon the distance from the seacOast
than upon distance from the equator,
Sitka summers are quite as windy
and fOggy, but hardly cooler than those
of San Francisco. Sitka itself lies in
the same latitude as Aberdeen. Scot
land, and in all the islands south of it
there is much the same climate, &C.
nD~popiaI h., fhn cn-nnnlin D.oon
current as prevails On the west coast of
Ireland. BY the records of the Russian
observatory maintained here for fifty
years, the thermometer fell to zero
only three times during that period.
The reports of commanders of United
States ships during the past four years
confirm this climatic marvel and show
many other strange things in meteor
ology.
The lumber interests are undeveloped,
but a great industry is in promise for
the future, as all Southeastern Alaska
from Cape Fox to the Kenai peninsula
is clothed with forests denser than any,
thing in Oregon or Washington Ter
ritory. The comparative mild temper
AZURE, the heavy rainfall, and the
| ulOUtlcSS udNS Vi tHC lIA
season force everything to a trop-
ical luxuriance. No forest fires ever
devastate these pine-clad shores
ard islands, and one season suffices to
clothe with living green underground
the sears of land-slides or a%valanches.
| This vast area OffOrest includes little be-
sides coniferm. Much of the pine is as
poor as Oregon pine, which is such bad
| ship timber that vessels built of it can
only be insured as A No. l for three
years. The white spruce, Sitka pine,
which grows to d height of one hun
dred and fifty to II hundred and
| seventy-five feet and is from three to
| six feet in diameter. is the common tree
in all these forests, and Menzies and
| Merton spruce, red and yellow cedar,
pinuS cOntOrta, fir, cottonwood, ash,
| alder, small maple, and small birch are
the other trees most frequently met
with. The red and yellow cedar are
| the most valuable woods, and the lat
ter, more particularly. is the only good
ship building material on the Pacific
| coast. Its value arises chiefly from the
fact that it is impervious to the teredo
or boring worm, which eats up the
pine piles under Puget Sound wharvcs
every two or three years. 1t has a fine
grain and a certain fragrance, and
when made into chests it affords pro-
| lection from moths to anything placed
within. This yellow cedar is rarely
| found south of the Alaska boundary,
| preanoff, kon, and the Prince of Wales
island. 1t was Once urged upon Con-
gress to declare the Prince of Wales
island a Government reservation for
the purpose of preserving this valuable
ship timber and piling for its own use.
but, like all Alaska bills, it was laughed
at and voted down. As the Govern
ment would neither sell nor lease these
timber lands, establish land offices,
make surveys, nor allow settlers tOpre-
empt their acres, there are few saw
mills in the Territory, and their owners
are guilty of taking Government tim
Der and are liable to prosecution if the
new officials. press things to the
finest point. Want of lumber has been
q serious hindrance to settlers, miners
and Owners of cannerieS.
The density of the forest growth, the
tangle of underground, and the thick
carpet of moss that covers every inch
of the ground has made mineral pros
pecting very slow and difficult. The
men who discovered a ledge of quartz
near Sitka worked for ten days to clear
off a small patch of ground over the
Out-croppings, and the n sees
of these dense, tangled forests, the
more one marvels at the extensive min
ing region that has been opened up
near Juneau and across on Doug
lass Island. As they have had neither
land offices, surveyors, O recorders,
the ownership of mining claims has
been rather uncertain. While they
could get no title to their claims, Tor
protection to themselves, mine-owners
have been contented to do only yearly
assessment work, wash or pound out
enough gold to pay expenses, and keep
very still while they held their mines by
sufferance, luck, or shOt-guns only.
The fear of inviting o adventures
to come and jump their claims and in
crease mob rule, has made the miners
very reticent about the value of their
properties, and Boosting in that line is
unknown in the mining camps of the
Archipelago. The first quartz lodges
were found near Sitka in 1871, but bad
management and bad luck have pre-
vented their becoming profitable claims.
A mill was erected on one of the lodges
and was successfully worked for awhile,
but litigation and the vicissitudes of
mining life have kept it at a stand-still
for several years. The great mining re-
gion is at Juneau, one hundred and fifty
miles south of Sitka.-Chicago Times.