The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936, 1897-08-06
POINTERS ON ALASKA.
GEN. DUFFIELD GIVES OUT A
FEW OF THEM.
Small Water Courses Likely to BE Even
Richer than the Klondyke for Scien-
tifc Reasons-Canada's Recent
Encroachments on the Bor-
der of the Territory.
The Alaska Boundary Line.

WASHINGTON. Aug. 2.-Nothing
more can be done toward marking the
boundary line between Alaska and the
British possessions. along the 14lst
meridian until the Senate shall pass
upon the boundary treaty now before
1t. There is, however, no doubt OF
the location of the line along this mer.
idian and most people in the locality
know where it is The demarkation
work was superintendent by General
Duffield, in charge of the coast and
geodetic survey on behalf of the
United States.
General Duffield has spent consider
able time in Alaska. He expresses the
opinion that a railroad can easily be
constructed from Taku inlet to the
Klondyke gold fields and believes the
enterprise we'll worth undertaking.
''The gold" said he in discussing the
question, 'has been ground out of the
quartz by the pressure of the glacier:
which lie and move along the courses
of the streams, exerting tremendous
pressure. This force is present to
more appreciable extent in Alaska
than elsewhere and 1 believe that as a
consequence more placer gold will be
found in that region than in any other
part of the world"
General Duffield thinks the gold
hunters upon the American side have
made the mistake Of prospecting the
large streams instead of the small
ones. "When gold is precipitated, he
said, sit sinks. 1t does not float far
down stream. 1t is, therefore, to be
looked for along the small creeks and
about the head waters of the larger
tributaries of the Yukon. There is no
reason why as rich finds may not be
made on the American side of the line
ns in the Klondyke district" ="
CANADA'S AGGRESSION.
General Duffield says that on all
maps from 1925 to 1884 the Alaska
British Columbia boundary line was
shown as, in general terms, parallel to
the winding Of the coast and thirty
five miles from it. but that in 1884 an
official Canadian map showed a marked
DETECTION on this line at its south end.
Since that time the dispute as to the
true line from Mount st. Elias to the
southeast has continued. By this de-
fection piece of territory about the
size of the state of Connecticut was in
cluded in British possessions. Later
official Canadian maps continue to
make like reflections, with like alb
sorption of American territory until the
very latest map, published at Ottawa
only few days ago, while it runs no
line at all outheast of Alaska, uses
the words "British Columbia" over
portions of the Lynn canal, the north
ermost extension of the Alexander
archipelago, which turns north OF
Juneau and is the land outlet for the
Lynn canal are now administered by
the United States A report of the
United States surveyor employed in
this boundry line, made recently, says:
SIN substance, these determinations
throw the diggins at the mouth of
Forty Mile creek within the ter
ritory of the United States. The
whole valley of the Birch
creek, another most valuable gold
producing part of the country is also
in the United States. Most of the gold
is to the west of the crossing of the
14lst meridian at Forty Mile creek. If
we produce the 141st meridian on a
chart the mouth of Miller's creek,
tributary of Sixty Mile creek and a
valuable gold region, is five miles
west in an air line or seven miles ac
cording to the winding of the stream,
all within the territory of the United
States In substance, the only places
in the Yukon region where gold in
quantities has been found are, there
fore, all to the west Of the boundary
line between Canada and the United
States"