The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-01-31
WIRES TO ALASKA
PROBABILITY THAT THE OLD CAR
IBOO LINE WILL BE COM
PLETED,
AND THEREIN is A ROMANCE.
HOW KLONDIKE GOLD MIGHT
HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED
LONG AGO.
PART OF THE LINE YET EXISTS.
Poles and Wires for Nearly 900
Miles Still In Working
Order.
PART OF THE LINE YET EXISTS

SEATTLE, Wash, Jan. 30.-During
! the Cariboo gold-mining excitement, in
! June, 1895, press dispatches from OF
! taWa contained the information that
! the Canadian Pacific Railway company
contemplated reoccupying the old tele-
| graph line running up into the mining
camps of the Cariboo country in Brit
| ish Columbia. The line was construct
! ed thirty-five years ago, but long since
has been abandoned. Now that gold
| has been found on the Klondike talk
! of reoperating this old line and extend
! ing it to the new gold fields has been
renewed. The proposition recalls a
mass of facts connected with the early
! history of this Northwest country that
| TO the present generation reads like a
romance.
Thirtyfve years ago the people of
the world were talking about this
abandoned telegraph line just as fer
vently as they have been talking about
the Klondike gold discoveries. Its con-
structiOn was an essential part Of a
scheme to encircle the earth by wire,
| leading from New York to ST. Peters
| burg by way of Seattle and Bering
sea, but the project was abandoned in
| the spring of 1866, when the transat-
lantic cable proved a success. The
cable connecting the old and new
worlds by wire was only 5000 miles in
| length while the overland project, by
way of Seattle and Boring sea, con-
templated the building of q 600 miles
of telegraph lines.
EXTENSION COSTING 81, 900, 900.
| 1t will be recalled by those acquaint-
ed with the history of the enterprise
on this coast that the telegraph line
was extended more than 900 miles
northeast of New Westminster, into
the heart of previously unexplored
country. The preliminary surveys, the
exploration parties and the actual con-
struction of this line alone cost up
ward of 81, O00, 900, all of which was
| lost when the operation of the Atlantic
| cable was begun. During all these in
| tervening years, however, the poles
| and wires for these 900 miles have
stood, and examinations made three
years ago resulted In the discovery
| that much of the wire is still stretched
and can be put into working order
without very great outlay Of capital.
| The great cost of this work was in
! creased by the ample provision for the
| future which the company made in the
shape of supplies sent into the coun-
| try.
| While this is of great local interest,
| because of it's proximity to the sound
and to Seattle, the company made just
as extensive preparation on Boring sea,
| in Northern Alaska, and In Siberia. 1t
was the scheme to span Bering straits
| by means of a cable, the distance be-
| ing short and the plan practicable. The
overland telegraph lines was to extend
! to Cape Prince of Wales on this side
! of the sea, and, crossing the straits,
! connect the Siberian shore at Plover
bay. From Plover bay, inland, there
| are now about $50 miles of poles erect
| ed, with wires stretched, reaching
! across the snowy land. From Port
i Clarence, south of Cape Prince of
| Wales and extending about 200 miles
| southwark, are 300 miles more of poles
and wire, utterly useless for CONNER
/ cial purposes. The line was so we'll
constructed, however, that it is believ-
| ed to be in good condition, even now.
RUSSIAN EXTENSION IS PROJECT
ED.
In 1855 the first attempt was made
to lay the first transatlantic cable, but
| ii was a failure. Electrical engineers
announced that it was impossible to
| transmit a message for 5000 miles I'M
| der water. For ten years the matter
was unsettled, and the Western Union
! Telegraph company's Russian extension
was organized, being a separate com
pany, but having the same stockholders
| as had the parent company. Millions
| of dollars were spent in securing salts
| factory routes and in sending out eX
ploration parties. Finally the great
| work was undertaken On gigantic
! scale. Early in the spring OF 1866 word
was flashed over the world that the sec
| Ond Atlantic cable was complete sue
cess, and at the same time the Russian
| extension was abandoned. AS an illus
| tration of the great loss suffered 1t IS
| sufficient to mention that on this extern
| sion of this old-time telegraph line the
| cost of transportation of materials and
| supplies of all kinds was 81 pound.
| The materials were abandoned and the
| supplies were sold to the Hudson Bay
| trappers for l cent a pound.
MIGHT HAVE DISCOVERED THE
KLONDIKE.
| It is of interest to note that the
prices paid for ordinary articles of ne
| ctssity at that time were about the
| same as those now demanded from the
miners at Dawson City. 1t is also IN
| teresting to note that the proposed line
would have passed very near the pres
! ent town site of Dawson. If the line
had been extended as far as the Klon-
| dixie then an unknown stream and hav-
| ing no place on the map, it is very like
| ly that in sinking holes for the tele-
| graph poles the rich deposits Of placer
| gold would then have been discovered.
Seattle and the Puget sound region
were closely identified with the great
| proposition during the period of con-
struction on this division. and there
are men in this city who were then in
! the employ of the companies interested.
| J. NJ. Lyon, ex-postmaster of Seattle,
was then an operator in the employ OF
| the California State Telegraph COM
pany, afterward absorbed by the West
ern Union, and he was sent by the
company to New Westminster, where
he was manager of the local office. An
| other well-known Seattle man who was