The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-12-02

-LEE 0tAdc-On AouLA u nave I~1&D al
easy task for any steamer, however
large, 10 grapple for broken cable in
, 600 faChOms.
Alaska generally seems subarcric.and
the erroneous impression is conveyed
hat a cable VIA Alaska mus. lie very
far north. IN reality. all Of il lies south
0t the latitude Of Aberdeen. Scotland.
Il runs n0rthWaTd To Sitka (57 degrees
north aItudel. thence southwest ward
IN an air line 10 the north islands Of
Japan. At SIka II 5 but 500 miles
north Of the Atlantic cables landing on
ireland. Magnetic disturbance can he
but inappreciably greater than in the
Atlantic cables, and apprehension on
this score may be safely dismissed.
There are no data by which accurate
ly to estimate the probable amount of
paying business on any cable line. but
an estimate can be made OF the fixed
charges had from these the volume Of
business at a given tariff be stated.
necessary to make the enterprise a
paying one The British commission
has made such estimates for the ALI
British cable. and these give a basis
for equally valuable guesSes for the
Alaskan Coast cable. For convenience
III comparison these estimates are tab
uIated together
British Cab'e-First cost, $4,000
900: Int. 5 per cent, Sinking fund ,
per cent, $500, 600: Maintenance. $3.50
600: Operation. $4,000; Total, 81, 260,-
900; No. Of words to earn this at Toe
a word. 1,680,000.
Alaskan Coast Cable-First cost, g.
100000; Int. per cent, Sinking fund,
3 per cent, s240,00O; Maintenance.
2 I +of
s424,000: No, Of words to earn this at
75c word, 565, 800
There remains one more route 10
consider, namely:
THE OVERLAND ROUTE, VIA THE
YUKON RIVER
As is we'll known: the Western Uni
on Telegraph Company attempted to
explore an overland route to Asia and
thence en to Europe (befOre the At
lantic cables were a success, and when
it was still feared that so long a cable
could not be successfully Operated). 1t
is said that several million dollars
were spent in this attempt. Telegraph
Creek, on the Stikeen River, in British
Columbia, a place that acquired some
prominence last year as q possible
starting point for an all Canadian
overland route to the KlOndike, is in
its name Renaissance. At that time
San Francisco was the nearest tele-
graph point on the Pacific coast, and
nearly all the way to Boring Straits,
distance of 1000 miles, was an I'M
explored wilderness. All this has been
changed. The Yukon valley is now
we'll known and travelled summer and
winter from Boring Sea to SkagWay.
n IF oil ho iyriI do
between the Pacific and the head waters
of the Yukon, a telegraph line has been
built, and was in operation last win
ter. A railroad runs over this pass,
and the telegraph line has been cOntin-
ued we'll down towards Dawson. The
Canadian Government has undertaken
to put in the line between British Co
lumbia and the Yukon valley, and thus
Dawson will be connected by wire with
the civilized world.A line of less than a
less severe in climate and in snowfall
than the upper Yukon, would connect
Dawson with s.. Michaels, the port at
the mouth of the Yukon. Thence by a
series of short cables, e1Uher via the
American islands, st. Lawrence, st.
Mathew and Attu, or from headland to
headIand on the Asiatic coast, the
boundary could be
reached.
One thousand miles of land line and
two Thousand miles of short cables
would connect Dawson with the Rus
sian or Japanese lines, but the objeC-
tions to this project are many. Owing
to the high latitude a long land line is |
very liable to magnetic disturbance, |
in winter; it is also liable |
10 braak-QOWns from Storm and snow,
when might interrupt communication
f." severa. days at time. | have seen
hOar-fr0st form rope six and eight |
riches in diameter on the line noruh |
Of Sk2gWay, and break it down repeat |
aQly. There might be even more |
.rCuble with the cables. Be~ing Sea is |
very shallow, its shores are ploughed |
by fields of floating ice, which might |
rake up the shore ends OF the cables, |
and repairs, in case Of break, would |
De impossible, eXcepC in summer time. |
Which of these four routes shall be
unfortunately, shall two
lr more lines be attempted at once?
A great commercial enterprise is in
with narrow nationalism
i the western coast of North America
S to reap the Asiatic harvest, ready |
or The gathering, direct Pacific ca
de must ,e laid to Asia, as business
:annot successfully be transacted eth
II via London or via Australia. IF the
United States and Canada are consci-
JUS Of tAer imperial position between
he two great oceans Of the world, be-
veen the great marts eastward and
westward, they will not long permit
Eis last ocean to remain unspanned.
Here is great world market at their
Western door, opening hungry mouth
or food and clamoring for manufac-
ures, both Of which North America SO
bundantly and splendidly produces.
n spite Of their misunderstanding over
he Alaskan frontier, Canada and the
Tnited States should join hands in lay
ng the shortest and best cable to the
rienta world, forcing European mes
ages and European trade to come !
heir way through the San Juan de
uca STRAITS, with its cluster Of Amer