Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-11-02
BRIDGING BEHRING.
Governor Gllpin's Scheme for Rail-
road Through Alaska
TO CONNECT ASIA AND AMERICA.
A Tunnel More Feasible Than a Bridge to
Cross the Straits.
THE NORTH AS A FARMING COUNTRY

JUNEAU, ALASKA, November 1.-The
project of Ex-Governor Gilpin, of Colorado,
to build a line of railway through the wilds
of Alaska to Cape Prince Of Wales, to con-
meet with the Russian railway system
through Siberia, thus linking the old and
new worlds with railroad, Is feasible one,
and the future will see it accomplished.
But there is giant obstacle in the way Of
an unbroken line connecting the two worlds,
and that Is Behring Straits. Mr.. Gilpin's
proposition is to bridge these straits, which
is all well enough in theory, but quite
different thing in practice.
At considerable expense the straits can
undoubtedly be bridged, as an island lies
about midway between the Asiatic and
American shores; the distance is not great
and the water is shaliow-the Government
charts showed the greatest depth to be only
80 fathoms. But could bridge be built
high enough to allow towering icebergs to
pass under it, and with strength to with
stand the great ice foes that are yearly
swept down through the straits from the
Arctic Ocean?
ICEBERGs AN OBSTACLE.
The current sweeps through the narrow
straits from one great sea into another very
swift and strong, and great icebergs would
be borne against the bridge, its piers and
sbutments, with force that neither steel
stringers nor mason work could Withstand.
Captain Emery, of the United States ship
Thetis, stated that the only practical means
of crossing these straits at all seasons of the
year is by tunneIing under them.
The character of the coast line.
of Alaska is such that railway
building along 1t would encounter obstacles
almost as great as the ice foes IN Behring
Straits. The mountains are rugged and
PERCEPTIONS in the extreme; they break in
precipice sheer into the sea, and run back to
attitudes of from 600 to nearly 10000 feet,
and the crest of the range is capped with
eternal snow and ice. Every canyon is an
inlet from the sea, which, octopus-like,
seems to cling with mighty arms to the
mountains for support.
These channels are navigsble for the larg-
est ships, and, curious as it may seem, great
steamships
GLIDE UP THESE CANYONS
with barely passage room on either side for
miles, and come to another directly under
the towering ice-capped peaks in the very
heart of the coast range. Where the waters
of the sea end in these canons it comes in
<
angry sea and cracked in every direction.
Through the interior OF Alaska, rather
than along the coast, lies the route for Gov
ernor Gilpin's railroad, across the head
waters of the Stickeen and down the great
valley of the Yukon. In the main this
route would be through rolling country
until the lower reaches of the Yukon were
reached, where the country becomes almost
flat, swampy and frozen. The line would
probably follow the Yukon down as far as
Niclato, where it would leave the stream
and strike nearly due west to Cape Prince
of Wales. The resources Of the country
that the line would pass through have to be
learned and tested, but there is every
promise that it is rich in mineral and coal.
AS A FARMING COUNTRY.
1t is fine grazing country. and from the
rolling hills and prairies thousands of tons
of wild hay could be cut, and although the
summer season is short, stock raising might
be made profitable industry. The Yukon
and its tributaries swarm with salmon of
the finest quality, and railroad would IN
doubtedly open a great salmon fishing in
dustrv As to the country's agricultural
qualifications, this has vet to be proven, al
though at some OF the posts along the river
fine gardens of vegetables have been raised.
Although the season for manufacturing
agricultural products is short in months, ID
is very warm, and no little sunshine. Dur
ing the longest days of the wear, the sun does
not set, and crops would mature rapidly.
Many miners who have spent both winter
and summer in that section saw that vast
country has great future before ii, and
what it needs to open it and offer permanent
and profitable homes to thousands of Amer
ican people, is Governor Gilpin's railroad.