Arizona silver belt., 1897-08-05
ALASKA.

States purchased the territory rom Russia for consideration of $7, 200, 900 in gold. It was by many considered poor investment, and W. H. Seward, then secretary of state, and Senator Charles Sumner, under whose strong | influence the purchase was made, were subjected to keen ridicule, and the great hyperborean province was faceti- ously dubbed "Uncle Sam's Ice Box"
 The territory has an area of 53l, 1000 square miles, and tho island of Attu, the most westerly point of the United States possession, is 2943 miles west of San Francisco, which is, therefore, al. most midway between the western point of the Aleutian Islands and the coast of Maine, 2900 miles east of San Francisco. Since the American domain extends over 196 degrees, or more than half way round the earth, the sun in summer is always shining on the United States somewhere. Asa writer has we'll expressed it; "When the June twilight settles down over the gray-green wastes of Boring sea, and the weary Aleut fisherman pulls his canoe toward the shore, the morning light is already streaming far out over Maine, and the axes of the lumbermen are arousing the echoes of the Penob scot forests"
 Alaska was profitless land for Rus sia, and no doubt Czar Paul congrat- ulated himself on having driven sharp bargain. It was not many years, how ever, until the enormous value of the fisheries began to be appreciated. and which have returned many times the price of purchase, the fur seals being by far the most important of it's many resources, although the whale, salmon and herring fisheries and the fur yield other than seal is of considerable value.
 The Pribiloff isles, where formerly 4,000, 900 seals congregated every summer, is by far the most important sealing station in the world. The de- struction of fnr seals by poachers of late years has impaired the value of the fisheries and by reason of the seiz- ure of Canadian sealing vessels by American revenue cutters grave diff entities arose between the United States and Great Britain in 1889, which were after time adjusted and convention was entered into under which both countries agreed to patrol the waters of Boring Sea for the purpose of protect ing the seal fisheries. The controversy has recently been renewed owing to the alleged failure on the part of Great Britain to perform her part of the con tract.
 | Gold mining has been carried on for ] Alaska and in the Ynkon basin. Gov ernor StonemaD, of California, pre- dicted the gold mines of Alaska would produce enough treasure to pay the national debt. Rich deposits were dis covered at Silver Bay, near Sitka, in 1877. Gold was also discovered on Admiralty and Unga islands, and else where. In 1880 Joseph Juneau found quantities of placer gold in the noun tain girt Silver Bow Basin. The quartz lodges of Sheep's creek have produced considerable gold, but the most famous mine of that region is the Treadwell, on Douglas island, which recently de- clared its 33d dividend, and has pad a total of S3, 250, 900 to share holders. It is in the valley of the Yukon and it's numerous tributaries where tho great wealth of gold lies, and which almost rival the golden sands of the mythical Pactolus river.
 Dr. Monroe Atkinson, of Meadville, Pa., for many years surgeon in the United States army, was the first white man to penetrate the great Yukon val ley and discover its golden treasures. He was an indefaticable prospector and traversed the continent in quest of the precious metals from Alaska and the British possessions far into Mexico. The doctor was for long time resi- dent of Gila county, Arizona, and died few years ago at the Soldiers Home, Los Angeles county, Cal.
 The Yukon is the Golconda to which the eyes of the adventurous all over the land arc turned, and to which thons- ands arc now pressing forward in the hope of winning fortune, undismayed by the rigors of the climate and the hardships which must be undergone to reach the northern Fl Dorado.
 Dawson City is situated at tho mouth of the Klondyke river, in the North west Territory, and about 50 or 60 miles from tho eastern boundary line of Alaska. The town is named after Dr. G. M. Dawson, who led the Can adian surveying party in tho reconnois-