The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1903-11-14

has just Settieu II, aid the strip
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 it 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. if is a
| country capable of great DEVELOPMENT
| in other ways, and the Waterways
| which lead up to it. now practically
| all under our control, are the most
1 beautiful in the world. From Seattle
to Juneau is about thousand miles,
and the entire trip by steamer is along
these inland waterways. The route
| lies around and between islands.
| through labyrinth of channels some
of which are scarcely a quarter of a
mile wide yet so deep that no ship
| can anchor in them. A vessel can
! Craze the cliffs at either side and vet
| have under her keel waters of won
| derful clearness and half a hundred
fathoms 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 fiords approach them in beau
ty, but are far behind them in sublime
grandeur.
An Exciting Trip.
The memory of a trip on the former
United States cutter Corwin through
these narrows and the thrills which [
received there are yet fresh in my
memory. Il is unwise to attempt the
entrance to this passage with the tide
running full either with or against you
If it 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
tide, but it 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 a crew of loggers at work
in the magnificent primeva1 forest, get
ting out fir logs that were five and
six feet in diameter. The month was
May and the waters were full of ducks
The loggers told us that deer and wild
game of all kinds abounded in the
woods, and we could well believe it,
for nowhere is a wilder or more I'M
trodden forest. Shortly before the time
for the tide to turn the steamers prov
was set toward the cavernous pass,
and we approached it under full head
of 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
swirling currents began to play with
the steamer as a child might play
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 vas reached where
it was necessary to send her into mid
stream. Here the rush of waters
caught her. spun her upon her keel
and sent her whirling down stream
again, baff1ed. On either side terrify-
ing eddies appeared, holes in the wa
ter like those which an oar blade
leaves, only a thousand times as large.
from the slanting deck one look down
these water holes to a seemingly I'M
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 boys
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
ouickening 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 d few
seconds, ana by watching the echoes
knew which shore was the nearer and
shaped his course accordingly. 1t was
an exciting trip, and no one cared to
sleep that night Il 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
passed, the fog lifted and the morn
ing found us still in the middle of
the widening channel. We had made
the pass in safety and all bets were
off
Alaskan waters begin at Dixon's en-
trance, when half the trip from Sc
attic has been covered. Here. in lati-
tude 54:40 north, you find the Port
terway of much magnifcence, running
forty miles inland through timber-clad
that rise abruptly. 1t has
a splendid depth of water. and as the
commission has DECIDED that this be-
longs TO Canada, it will give her an
ample channel to the Pacific for the
trade which will in future years come
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
find the same marvellous scenery in de-
scription 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 cliffs
In cascades that sprinkle rainbow spray
upon the passing steamer. On the left
are islands in a chain 300 miles long
and over 1000 in number Some of
them are as large as the state of Mas
and most of them practi-
cally UNEMPLOYED by the white man. |
That they are rich in mineral wealth |
IS already proved by the miners who !
have touched here ard there on their |
shores. I have tramped for a. day in |
The fascinating Businesses of one of the |
SIil llnct Of iI,nlll 1