The Nome nugget., 1904-01-13

will be answered. Address all communications to J. Potter Whttren, care of THE NUCGETD
 Cues. s.-What do you think of the all rail route from Paris to New York by way of Bering strait: that is, can it be accomplished and made to pay?
 INTERESTED PARTY. Ans. At the present time l think it d beautiful pipe.dream which will never come to pas, in our day. One has only to take a map of North Amer ica and Asia, put few hours of good, hard study over the route the railroad would have to pass, and apply his personal knowledge gained from ex- perience in this northern country, plus the cost of railroads which have been built thus far in the northern part of North America, and it will resolve itself into the following: "A pretty good thing on paper but better one to leave alOne.'
 A little study of the proposed route will show the improbability of such a railroad being built or, if built, of being financial success, owing to the vast distance to be covered in making connections with roads now complete which would form part of the all-rail system.
 From Vancouver, the terminal of the Canadian line (and I believe we can consider it as the starting point on the North American side), to 3ering strait is in the neighborhood of 5000 miles along the proposed route, which would have to be graded at cost of not less than S20, GOO per mile. Then Boring strait would involve tunnel of not less than 90 or 60 miles, in order to ob- tain the proper grade. on account of the great depth for permanent tunnel foundation, which would cost not less than s25,OOO,000 This proposed tun- nel, upon careful investigation, may not prove practical on account of find ing no suitable stratum for tunnel op- eration' this country, especially Seward peninsula, being one mass of loose and shaken-up material.
 On the Asiatic side would be another stretch of some 5000 miles of grading before connecting with the present Trans-Siberian system. without any conception of the engineering difficult ties to overcome. and we are safe in saying it will cost at least $2O, 900 per mile.
 From an engineers point of view, the first cost under favorable condi- tions would be in the neighborhood ot Sl5O. GOO. .O00-tO obtain what? A rail- road through a wild and undeveloped country, where climatic conditions are such as to make operating expenses way above the average cost of any other railroad. Where the revenue to be derived must come from passenger and local traffic, it is out of the ques- tion to consider railroad of this mile- age to compete with the trans Pacific steamships in the carriage of freight.
 Money can accomplish almost any thing in the form of railroad building, but to make the road pay after the same is completed is another question. One is safe in saying that such 8 rail- road as the proposed all-rail route from Paris to New York, if completed within the next ten years, would be a losing investment for generation at least. l Ques.-Is there more sunshine at the equator than in any other portion of the world? It being situated half way between the northern and southern limits of the earth's motion round the sun leads one to believe such to be the case. READER.
 Ans.-No. At the equator the sun rises and sets at the entire year, di- viding the night and day into two equal parts, giving the equator six months of sunshine, minus storms and cloudy days. out of each year. The same amount of sunshine is given to all other parts of the globe each year, out the night and day are not divided into