The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-11-08
Our neW ,Elaska

The Region Awarded Us By the Com
mission.
n HE Alaskan boundary commission
has just settled it, aud the sTir
Of Alaskan territory that the
Canadians were so eager to get belongs
to the United States for all time.
Whatever we think Of their anger at
losing IL, we cannot blame them for
wishing II their own, for it contains
gold, probably much gold, vast tracts
OF timber and valuable furs and fish,
cries, says Winthrop Packard in the
Boston Transcript. Moreover, it is a
country capable Of great development
10 other ways, and the waterways
winch lead up TO il, now practically
an under our control are the most
beautiful in the world. From Seattle
10 Juneau is about a thousand miles.
ana the entire trip by steamer is along
these inland waterways. The route
hes around and between islands.
through a labyrinth Of channels some
OF which are scarcely a quarter of a
mile wide, yet so deep that no shin
can anchor i'm them. A vessel can
Craze the cliffs at either side and yet
have under her keel waters Of Won
derfm ciearness and half a hundred
tathoms deep. Right from the water
spring the mountains a thousand to
eight thousand feet high. while behind
them, inland and seward. on the
larger islands. are peaks that top the
timber line and lift crowns white with
perpetual SHOWS. Some of the Nor
Wegian fjOrds approach them in beau
~, but are FAR behind them in sublime
grandeur.
An Exciting Trip.
United states cutter Corwin through
these narrows and the thrills which L
received there are yet fresh in my
memory. IL is Unwise to attempt the
entrance 70 this passage with the tide
running full either with or against YOU.
If IL is with you the chances Of being
slammed against the cliffs of the crag-
gy entrance and rolled under are very
great You must go through with the
ude, but 1t is best to make the en-
trance at slack water. The COrwin
coming up from the south, made the
spot an hour or two before the turn
OF the tide and anchored in a cOnven-
lent bay on the Vancouver side Here
we FOUND crew Of lOggers at work
In the magnificent primevaI forest. get
InS out mr. logs that were I'VE and
SIX Ieet In diameter. The month was
May and the waters were full of duclcs
game of all kinds abounded in the
woods. and we could well believe it.
Tor nowhere Is "a wilder or more un-
Jrodden forest. Shortly before the time
Tor the tide to turn the steamers Drov
was set toward the cavernous pass,
and we approached It under full head
or steam. The tide had been running
against US and should now rest for a
moment and then turn with US.
The Swirling Currents.
But in our care not to be too late
we were just a little ahead Of time.
and as we approached the pass the
swtrling currents began to play with
the steamer as a child might pIav
with toy boat. In spite Of the pow
erful engines and the efforts of two
men at the wheel, it was impossible
TO keep her head straight. She waved
TO and fro. yet crept up by taking ad-
vantage of the back water near the
shore till the point was reached where
IL was necessary to send her into mid
stream. Here the rush of waters
caught her, spun her upon her keel
and sent her WhiTling down stream
again. bamed On either side terrifv-
ing eddies appeared, holes In the wa
ter like those which an oar blade
leaves, only thousand times as large.
The force careened her wildly. and
from the slanting deck one look down
these water holes to a seemingly un-
known depth. and It took a stout heart
not TO fear that the vessel herself
might be dragged under the whirlpools.
Three times we breasted this silent.
mighty. Whirling force. and each time
the ship was spun about like a bows
top. Then, little later, we tried again,
and passed up through placid waters.
The tide was at the turn and the COM
motion was quelled for a brief space. /
The Marrow Canyons.
Then we went on for hours through
this winding, narrow canyon, with the
Quickening tide chasing us ahead at
torpedObOat speed. The sun sank and
night came on. thick with fog. You
could not tie up TO the sheer cliffs;
you could not anchor. There was
nothing TO do but speed on. The chan
mel widened somewhat and all land
marks vanished in the gray OF the
mist. Then it was that the wise cap
tain felt his way by a trick well known |
to the Alaskan pilot. He kept the whis-
tie sounding at intervals of a few
seconds, and by watching the echoes
knew which shore was the nearer and 3
shaped his course accordingly. 1t was
an exciting trip, and no one cared to |
sleep that night 1t was too fasci- |
mating TO listen to the echoes and bet /
even money which shore we were to /
be smashed up on. Yet the night I
passed, the fog lifted and the morn /
ing found us still in the middle OF
the widening channel. We had made I
the pass IN safety and all bets were |
off,
Alaskan waters begin at Dixon's en- I
trance. when half the trip from Sc 4
attic has been covered. Here, in lati- /
tude 54,40 north, you find the Port 4
land canal, so-called, in reality a wa \
terway Of much magnificence, running
forty miles inland through timber-clad /
mountains that rise abruptly. 1t has
a splendid depth OF water. and. as the
commission has decided that this be- /
longs 20 Canada, It viii give her an
ample channel to the Pacific for the
trade which viii in future years come 4
TO Port Simpson, at its head, the ter
minus Of the projected Grand Trunk
Canadian Pacific railway.
Marvellous Scenery.
As you go north from this place YOU
enter between the Alexander islands
and the main land. Everywhere YOU
Ind the same marvellous scenery in de-
5cription OF which volumes have been
written that can yet not do Justice TO
the reality. The mighty hills on either
side are Scared by frequent paths of
avalanches, and the melting SHOWS Of
the white peaks tumble from the cIins
In cascades that sprinkle rainbow spray
upon the passing steamer. On the left
are islands I'm a chain 800 miles Ionp
and over 1000 IN number. Some OF
them are qs lqrun ag tho efo 70 ~ AZ I