The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1900-01-29
HAD EXPLORING EXPEDITION
Officers Declare Minerals Are Plen-
tiful and That Farming Can
Be Carried On.

Washington, January Sine war "e-
partmeut has made public an important
r.port from Captain w. T. Abcrcromhie'
second infantry. who commanded }he
Conner river exploring expedition IN AiaS-
ka, last season.
The chief topic treated I'm the repor, -
tho LAYING out of the great trans-Ai'i7iNdo
military route from Port valdez. Alaska
to Port Egbert. ON the Yukon me en-
~ god I'M This work the officer was ciatAt1
To- take note of the mineral resources "a
The country and It's ajaptahtiitE Tor d@tl-
culture and stock raising anu the lAe4 .'t'"
food products for man and animal N'P
tain Abercrornbie arrived a. Valdez. the
starting point of the expedition on me
eIst of April. being received by motley
crowd which had just come across me
Valdez glacier from the Copper river fai-
lev. He found that hundreds OF people
were diving Of starvation and scurVN ~
tht Copper river country People al y a.
ueZ were i'm "a most pludble coiiu4'ioi
crowded i'm miserable nuts like sardines IN
a box There Were no facilities Tor oath-
ing: most of the sufferers had scufFF ana
not a few frost bitten hands. faces ana
feet. The tops Of old rubber boots ana
strips of gunnysack made SHOES and Sachs
for many Of them. The stencil was iiiA"l-
cradle ana 10 per cent of the inmates OF
the huts wer mentally deranged- ms E''5
common To those whom the scurFE Ia0A
Griven crazy, also many Aad PEI i7'~' ~
freezing to death.
old railroad ana trail builders We're he
mer selected by Captain Abercromble 10
build "A military road and they started
from Valdez April 29th and proceeded 20
The mouth ct Keystone canon The mar
bor at Nal1ez. owing to the proximity r
tie japanese current, is accessible az fat
seasons of the year % ships 81 amy SIZE
except about one ana a half miles az rs
head. The only feasible sites for a rail-
read terminal = a narrow strip 81 lana
rhree-auarters OF a mile broad extending
up the Lowe river some i've miles and
south of a small stream flowing from
Robe lake. Their IS practically a nominal
grade up the valley. passing through h@2
stone canon, and emerging on Ahe LOOT
ilain of the inner canon basin From mat
I,oinf there. are TWO feasible routes. one
cast of Marshall uaS@ at the elevation OF
ieet and down the Tasuuna u the
Conner river valley; the other turning
north. crossing the mountain range anu
Thompson pass. .. $40 feet hish
Captain AbareromDie believes th'tl me
future tor railroad through TINS seetloH
OF Alaska is very promising. owing 70 me
t,,.s4pc.. If large, zones of heavily mineral
I'D cSpper deposits. the development or
which. he says. undoubtedly VIII Sittu =
local tonnage Of great volume li@ St1.tc9
that the proximity of tIe and bridge tiih-
her and the absence of any great rllsil-
i cerine features viii render railroad CON
eft.uffio ION "A coruuaratiVely easy problem
Edward Gillette. a member OF tie expo
I sirfou contributes an important chahier
TO the report on the Feasibility OF eStdb-
+ fishing a practfcal railroad route up the
T Copper river valley. lie describes IN de-
tail the route from Valdez 70 the Auhon
/ country. celebrating rough outline given
( hv CAPTAIN AbrrcrOmbie ana fixes the
4 uIol,a bic cost at $253l per mile The re-
4 mort refers TO the trade Of Central Alaska
/ as an unknown quantity and treats OF the
I !, o,ieultIlral resources OF the country,
/ showing dat the soil Is productive that
7 vegetables and hay can hc raised, that
there is plenty of timber and tnat har4y
1 Farmers from Norway and Sweden would
+ farm as successfully IN the Copper river
/ valley as in their own country The coun-
try also contains coal of good Quanty anu
( marble of various ColOfS.