The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1904-08-03
ALAsKA'5 DEVELOPMENT.
Measure of Her Possibilities Unrealized-
The City of Seward.

1t is not easy to keep with Alaska.
1t is a country of surprises. and the
measure of her possibilities is by no
means yet taken. We are informed,
says the Boston Transcript, that that
vast and still comparatively unknown
region is this spring experiencing the
greatest boom in its history. 1t is said
that every steamer available for the
Pacific coast is pressed into service
for the Alaska trade and every vessel
carries every passenger and every
pound Of freight for which she can find
room" The objective point to which
the crowds are hurrying Is not one of
the destinations with whose names we
have become familiar through the ad.
ventures of northern argonauts, but a
new place named Seward. which takes
us back to the negotiations. so crit.
iclsed at the time but which have add.
ed a new empire to the old one. Very
few in the East have heard much about
Seward for the reason that it has been
in recognized existence only about a
year.
1t Is not alone the old lure of gold
that is drawing people in that direc-
ton the present season. There are also
immense copper veins and tin mines.
besides oil wells and the Standard
Oil Company has already driven
stake in that region. Moreover, Sew.
ard Is expected to be the entrepOt for
great agricultural section. In the
valley of the Sushitna River there IL
fertile soil enough to support an agri.
cultural population of a million. The
climate is described as similar to that
of New York State, high mountains
surrounding 1t on three sides and shut.
ting out the cold winds from the north,
while the southern side is washed by
the warm Japan current. The harbor
Is free of ice the year round. while
magnificent forests tempt the lumber
Ing industry to extensive operations.
People talk of Seward as the com.
Ing metropolis of Alaska. 1t certainly
has the harbor to warrant such distinc.
tion. 1t is located on Resurrection
Bay, which Is a mile wide at the en-.
trance and extends eighteen miles in.
land, being four miles wide at the
upper extremity, with a depth varying
from 200 10 1000 feet. 1t has been
made by the building of the Alaska
Central Railroad, now well on toward
completion. y year ago there was only
a wilderness there. To-day there are
300 houses. with restaurants, hotels,
and a theatre, and new buildings are
in process of construction as fast as
men to build them can be secured, and
still the demand far exceeds the sup
ply. Already it Is called a city, and
near 1t is a large waterfall, which 1t
Is proposed to utilized not only for pow.
er for lighting and transportation, but
for a water supply as well.
Not only Is the new railway max
Ing Seward. but 1t is powerful force
for the development of the whole ter
ritory. When completed 1t will take
passengers from Seattle to Fairbanks,
the heart of the interior gold fields,
In five days, for $i45. Hitherto tho
same journey has taken from twen-
ty-eight TO thirty-three days at a cost
Of $685. to $500. or course, this saw
Ing of time and expense with the con.
stantly unfolding new attractions at
the other end OF the trip will wonder.
fully stimulate migration to the new
territory. At the present rate of de.
velopment there will probably be an.
other worlds fair, in sixty years or 50,
perhaps In Seward. to celebrate the
centenary of the purchase of Alaska
by the man for whom the metropolis
was named, a transaction only second
In national Importance to the Louis.
lana Purchase.