Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1903-10-24
ALAsKAS BIG GROWTH
Rapid Development of Our
Northwestern Territory.
SOON TO BE CROSSED By RAILWAYS

|
Mineral, Agricultural and Forest
Wealth to BE observation-disclosures
] Fisheries Rich Beyond Calculation.
| Alaska being u topic of the hour,
now that the boundary decision has
been given in favor of the United
States there is timely interest in the
story told by William II. Stewart in
the current Worlds Work of its Won
derfully rapid development. The whole
vast stretch of the far northwest, Ca
madam as well as American, is now
repeating the wonderful story of Cali
| fornia's magical growth.
Within a year or two Alaska will be
traversed by railroads almost from end
to end. Nome, the western terminus
of the railroad system of northwestern
Alaska, is already city of $4,000 pop
ulation. The railroad tracks that run
to Nome are farthest north of all the
world. They are almost within the
arctic circle. Nome has good hotels,
daily papers, banks, electric lights, tele-
graphs and teIephones-in short, COM
plete outfit of civilization. 1t is con-
nected by cable with ST. Michaers and
by telegraph with Dawson and Skag-
| uay.
When the railroads now building and
projected are completed it will only
need q short northern spur from Rus
sia's great Siberian railroad to give all
rail communication from New York to
Paris. Meantime Dawson is the city
to which all railroad building leads.
Dawson has 1900 population, and its
municipal equipment includes all mod
ern improvements. Its assessment for
taxation is over 81, 100000. 1t is now
installing a $5,000,000 water supply
plant.
The Yukon river is open to naviga-
ton from May to October, and forty
stern wheel steamboats, ply between
Dawson and st. Michael's, covering the
1000 miles in about ten days.
Primarily the railroads so far have
been built to tap the enormous min
eral wealth of Alaska and the Cana
dian Yukon. But. contrary to old no.
tons, there is immense agricultural
and forest wealth to be developed in
the Hudson bay, north Saskatchewan
and Peace river districts. Nearly a
thousand miles north of the boundary
between Alaska and the Canadian
northwest, in the valley of the Peace
river, wheat. barley and oats are grown
in quantities limited only by the num-
| Der of farmers. The most northerly
roller process flour mill on the CONT
nent has just been built at NermilliOn.
The wheat which took the first prize
at the Centennial exhibition of 1876 at
Philadelphia came from the Peace riv-
er country, which is estimated TO con-
tain more than 100000 acres of good
grain growing soil.
The postal service of this empire in
embryo is wonder. Mail steamers
leave the Pacific coast daily, bringing
bags from Sltka, Skaguay, Nome and
other points by all manner of means
wagons, dog sleds, etc. Russian rein
deer carry the sacks over frozen lakes
and snow covered hills with remark
able rapidity. The highest salaried
postal official in the world serves in
Alaska. He is paid $4,000 a year for
carrying the mail fortnightly to Fort
Yukon, providing his own dogs and
sleds for the purpose. Alaska has now
| upward of 100 post offices, and mails
are collected and delivered regularly
beyond the arctic circle.
The fisheries of Alaska are rich be-
yond calculation. Its cod banks are be-
lieved to equal in wealth those of New
foundland. More than half OF our en-
tire salmon product is Alaskan, and
last year it was worth $4,000 ex-
actly what we paid Russia for the
whole territory.
The winters of Alaska are less rig
orous than those of wyoming or Mon
tana, and horses and cattle are worked
there without fear of being frozen.
The cold is intense, but there are no
ring sea all the hardy vegetables are
out Alaska and the Canadian Yukon,
south of the arctic circle.
AS a measure of Alaska's growth it
is noted that her total foreign trade,
all she bought and all she sold,' in
1892 was less than $4,000 in value,
while for the fiscal year ended June
80 last it reached total of $50, 000,0 900.
American and British settlers are
pushing steadily north into this great
territory in about equal numbers, and
Mr.. Stewart says that the entire
Canadian northwest is already more
American than British in its admins
trative system
President Roosevelt, speaking at Seat
tie in May last, predicted that men
now living would see Alaska one of
the greatest and most populous states
of the entire Union" 1t may be that
it viii become too great and populous
for one state or even for two. It's
area is larger than that of eighteen of
the present states of the Union, in
Guiding New York, Pennsylvania, Yir-
ginia, Indiana, Louisiana and Maine.
To use another comparison, Alaska in
cludes more territory than the British
isles France, Germany. Portugal and
Belgium all put together. The future
of such an imperial domain must be
great indeed.