The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-08-18

country Of icebergs and glaciers, and
a source of diplomatic trouble with
England on account of pelagic sealing.
But the people of the country are now
learning something about Alaska.
Why, ever the elite 400 Of New York
society has already decreed that the
fashionable outing for the next sum-
mer season will be an Alaskan trip.
Nick. Twombly, who married a mem
Der of the Vanderbilt family, is the
n who set the pace by taking a small
party of New York society people to
Alaska last month, and now q tripto
Uncle Sans own Land of the Mid
night Sun will be all the rage next
season. Americans, whose hardest
work is spending their money, have
for years been going to the Alps of
Switzerland to see the scenery and the
| glaciers, while, as a matter of fact,
the glaciers and mountain scenery Of
Alaska are surpassed nowhere. The
great Muir glacier of Alaska is sur
passed by none other. People have
been rushing off in the summer in
Norway, and at no spot does the auro-
ra Sun, when the truth is that the
Alaskan fjords are as wild and pictur-
esque as any in Norway, and at no
spot does the aurora borealis present
a more beautiful pyrotechnic display
than at Fort Yukon, which is directly
on the arctic circle in Alaska, and is
the northernmost point inhabited by
white men in Uncle Sans domain.
"Uncle Sam builded better than he
knew when he bought Alaska for
1900, 900 from Russia in 1867. The
commerce of Alaska for that year was
officially reported to be 81, 800, 900.
And now it is $40, 900, 900, and the
gold output may run it up to immense
figures. This country has taken $780,
600 900 worth of seals from Alaska,
and that industry alone has paid for
the country five times over. Another
big industry is the shipment of pre-
served salmon, exported in tins and
barrels, and the ~fsh-canning estab-
lishments are increasing rapidly.
Whale fishing is not to be forgotten,
for a single whale on the coast Of Alas
ka is worth $4,000 to $4,000. We
have been hearing much recently about
the destruction Of forests in this
country, and when Mr.. Francis was
Secretary of the Interior he made a
long report on the subject, [ believe.
1t is estimated that the available tim
Der now standing in the Territory of
Alaska might alone meet the ordinary
demand of this Continent for half o
century. Though the extreme north
ern part of Alaska is treeless, its
southern shores, both Of the islands
and the mainlands, are covered with
a dense forest growth, the Aleutian
group excepted. Yellow cedar trees,
eight feet in diameter, have been cut
in the southeastern portion Of Alaska.
1t must certainly be a cedar Of mag
nifcent proportions out of which the
native Haidas can hew and construct
a canoe seventy feet long, capable of
carrying 100 men. These virgin for
ests, which have never felt the stroke
of a white mans axe, are truly mag
niicent. They present a growth ex-
ceedingly dense and peculiar, the
branches of the tall trees being often
draped with long black and white
moss, dry and fine as hair, which it
resembles. This characteristic is sim
liar to the effect produced by the
| Spanish moss in the thick woods of
Louisiana. The fallen trees and
stumps in these Alaskan forests are
covered with a bright green moss ten
inches in thickness, and in the tangle
of creeping vines are seen the deep
| red clusters of the bunchberry. Good
judges say the timber is as fine in
quality as that of Oregon aud Wash
ington. A large portion Of the Alaska
timber grows at convenient points for
shipment. The white spruce, or Sitka
pine, grows to a height Of from $50 TO
280: feet, and measures from 3 to 6
feet in diameter. The lumber from
Sitka pine resembles the pitch pine Of
the Southern States. Many varieties
of cedar, fir, ash, maple and birch
grow there. The yellow cedar is fine
for ship-building, and is toredo-proof
that is, it is impcrvous to that marine
pest known as the boring worm. The
Alaska cedar is fine for cabinet work
also. There are many fine harbors
along the thousands of miles Of coast
line, where ships could be loaded.
The day is not far distant when the
Alaskan lumber regions will be ia
nous.
"Thc animal life of Alaska is of no
small consequence, of course. The
rivers, %inlcts, bays and lakes teen
with fish. The eastern part Of Beh-
rings Sea is a cod reserve, whose area
within the limits of fifty fathoms of
water is said to be not less than $4,000
miles. So Massachusetts, and New
foundland will have to look we'll to
their laurcls some day. The coast of
Alaska abounds in oysters, clans,
mussels and crabs. The oysters have
a fine flavor and could be made an
article of commerce by proper cultiva-
ton. Bears, wolves, beavers, deer,
fexcs, caribou, martens, mountain
goats, moose and musk oxen arc found
in Alaska. Then the herds of wal
ruscs still furnish ivory. Curiously
enough, no reptile, toad, lizard or
similar animal is to befound anywhere
in Alaska.
"Pcrhaps few persons not in the
trade know that a moro valuable fur
than seal comes from Alaska, and that
is the pclt of the sea otter. It is o
large animal, having fine, close, black
fur, sprinklcd with long, white-tipped
hairs, which add much to it's beauty.
The pelt of the sea otteri used mostly
in trimming, as it is too heavy and too
expensive for making up into entire
garments. A f~ull-grown skin is about