, 1892-05-16
ABOUT ALASKA.
Dr.. Newell Recounts His Visit to
the Northern Territory.
The Resources of the Country and
the monopoly of the Eur Trade.
The Timber of but Little Ac-

The Resources of the Country and
the monopoly OF the Fur Trade.
The Timber of but Little Ac-
count and the Mines a Myth.
Doctor, you were in Alaska for the
United States government Do you think
the purchase of that country was judic-
ious proceeding, asked q TRIBUNE reporter
of DR.. VIM. a. Newell.
No sir, was the reply. have traversed
all ofthe maritime portion of Alaska, ex-
cept the Aleutian Islands. ! sat by courtesy
for four days in a convention of three hun
dred American citizens who had convened
to consider their governmental relations,
participated in their deliberations CON
versed with each one Of them, obtaining
all the information they could impart, and
spent month in personal observation from
a point two hundred miles above Sitka,
southwark. The extent Of the territory ID
stupendous. Six hundred thousand square
miles, equal to all that portion of the
United States lying eastward from the
Mississippi river, excepting the Gulf states.
Sixty thousand square miles of inland seas,
with twenty-five thousand miles of shore
line exclusive of ocean frontage, all lying
above 81, 40 and 70 degrees Of latitude. The
main land is by far the largest portion,
stretching from British Columbia north
ward, to the Polar sea, and eastward to the
British possessions. The country has a
varied, wooded, mountainous, broken and
rocky surface, much of it moist and includ-
ing immense morrasses of peat meadow,
covered a foot deep with MOSES all inter
spersed with lagoons and dead lakes. The
remaining portion is sea of snow
productive and barren, The Yukon river
extends two thousand five hundred miles
eastward has five mouths, and is seventy
miles wide at its outlet into the Behring
sea. The scenery is of the grandest char
acter and dehes description increasingly ex-
tent and magnlfcence, as you travel
toward the Arctic seas, The population is
10000 Eskimo, Aleuts, Russians and In
dlans, with less than 500 American citizens.
Its resources are immense forests of Alaska
cedar, immense whale and salmon fisher
les, fur bearing animals, valuable for skins
and furs, reindeer, elk, deer, musk OK, bear,
white, black, cinnamon and grizzly wolves,
foxes, black, silver and red; mink beaver,
marten, ermine, otter, seal, muskrat and
hare. OF the thousand Aleutlan islands,
the islands of st. John and st. Paul furnish
nearly all the fine fur skins sold in the
markets Of the world. Coal exists in abun-
dance. The mines of precious metals are q
myth and do not. and probably never will,
yield profitable returns. inspected the
best at Juneau and found it to be an abor-
ton. The cedar groWs upon high mount
ain tops and steep mountain Sides The
trees are OF small diameter; the WOOD is
soft and not fit for ships or ordinary build
ing purposes, but is we'll adapted to com
mon paneling, ordinary cabinet ware, fur
niture, and possibly for lead pencils, but it
will cost more to prepare for market and
expectation than it will be worth at the
journeys end. The skins of the inland an
imals are seized by the Hudson Bay COM
pany at their trading posts, Harrisburg,
Sitka and Wrangel, finding lodgment at
their warehouses at Victoria, B. c., to be
forwarded to eastern and European mark
cts, via the Canadian Pacific railroad. OF
what benefit is that industry or treasure to
the American people? The seal fisheries
Of the Aleutian islands, and their
proceeds inure exclusively to the
interest and profit of the Alaska
Fur company, a close corporation of small
membership, located in California, which
controls all legislation to their corporate in
terest. This government paid seven and
one-half millions of dollars for that terri
tory, the only return being $240,000 annu.
ally for that unspeakably valuable fran
chise. All the Behring straits imbroglio
which has vexed the country is really in
the interest of this San Francisco monop,
oily. The chief use Of Alaska, as managed,
is to benefit fur companies, afford easy op
portunities for smuggling opium and Chi
nese through British Columbia across oul
borders and the manufacture and sale oil
vile intoxicants to the Indians and Aleuts
With no naval force in our waters nor al
hand, we could not hold that possession
one day if assailed by the most insignificant
naval power in the world, and, indeed, the
cities of the Sound could be laid waste il
an hour by hostile fleet, however incon
Gi1nra hIa