The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-07-17
TRIP ID ALASKA
 FULL 0F INTEREST CheaIander Travelled 50Q' Miles, Mostly by Stage REQUIRED THREE MONTH Trip Was Taken In the Interest of the Lewis and Clark ExposltIon-cheaI-
 ander Talks Enthuslastl-
 cally of Alaska.
REQUIRED THREE MONTH
BY W. E. BRINpLEY.

Alaskan exhibit, Is back in Portland. The journey which MT. Chealander took which required three montns, probably was the longest ever made by traveller in Alaska. Starting from Skaguay, which has been MT. Chealander's home for the past eight years, the commissioner visited White Horse, Dawson. Circle, Fairbanks, Rampant, St. Michael and Nome besides a number of small camps.
 Owing to the fact that the shipping season from Alaska does not open until June 1t was impossible for the people Of that country to get their exhibits install ed by the opening day. said MT. Chealander. "but one case of exhibits, from Nome. is here now, and the others Will arrive very shortly. Alaska will surprise people aj the showing she will make. Eevery To- cality will show its mineral wealth, anG a remarkably fine collection of nuggets IS assured; and there will be more surprising things than gold from Alaska. I was un- able. In my flying trip, to more than start the preparations for exhibits from many places, and so I cannot say definitely what all will show. I can say this though -the people are enthusiastic apout the fair, and the miners left their diggings to help get together things to display at the exposition. A good many of them will come down to see the show
 In the Nome chest Mir Cheslander brought with him, perhaps the most in- teresting thing is the ivory obtained from whales and walruses, which has a market value of dollar pound. There are some speciments of ivory which came rom pre- historic animals and are presumed to be about coco years old. This ivory is found on many creeks, in many cases partly buried in the frozen earth. and comes sometimes In pieces ten or twelve feet long. The ancient story is found all the way from Dawson to Nome In some cases 1t is partially decomposed, put Tn general 1t is hard and firm. and is nearly as valuable as the new ivory.
 Skaguay has en route a remarkable col. lection of vegetables and wild flowers of the kind which most people are not &C., customed to associate with Alaska. Ram part, one of the newer camps, where hydraulic mining is being carried on most successfully, has shipped one of the finest collections of minerals. From Tanana wil, come an unusually interesting timber ex hibit. Panama has almost unlimited tim Der resources which yet are undevel- oped. Important among these Is a prolific bloWtH ol WODueTIullN me DlTCn, WnlCE grows In that far northern land to dia. meter of from twelve to eighteen inches, and Is of perfect grain.
 MT. Chealander. like almost every Alas kan, Is an enthusiastic believer in the future of Uncle Sams norrnern posses sions, and predicts that the present white population of some 50ooo or 6O,OOO will be increased to 250,00o within the next ten years. In support of his assertion that Alaska 0OntafpG tad f,t- wealth, MT. Chealander tells tale which he says is vouched for by several men who he knows personally The story was related to MT. Chealander by a man whc keeps a waywside hotel or road house at the head of Coal Creek. It appears that last fall a herd of caribou and moose passed the road house on their way to the Yukon river. The herd did not pass in one day, nor in two or three days In fact. 1t was fourteen days in passing the road house
 The number of animals that passed in procession was estimated at between 3O. 000 and 50.000 The inen who saw the big parade, according to MT. Chealander, kill cd on one hunting expedition 130 caribou, three moose. fourteen mountain sheep and one bear. Moose and caribou hides are worth in the raw state s15 to $2O A remarkably fine mounted moose is on exhibition of the territorial wing of the United States government building.
 MT. Chealander predicts great things for Koyukuk. a new camp. Koyulkuk Is situated about 600 miles from the mouth of the Yukon river, and some $50 miles up Koyuluk river. The chief difficulty which hitherto has stood in the way of the development of the Koyukuk region was the scarcity of provisions. Miners who have managed to solve this problem, however, have found plenty of pay dirt and make good money in Koyukuk. and big rush to the region is expected
 Portraits of Joe Juneau and Richard Harris, who discovered gold In Alaska, are hung in the Alaska section of the. government building at the Portland fair and have attracted considerable inter- est. The exhibit of products of the far north. while as yet only slightly supple mented by displays from individual To- calities, is an unusually interesting one There are educational displays. with por- traits of teachers and students. and pie lures of school buildings, which tend to dispel the impression that Alaska Is en- tirely wild and rough The fur industry ic illustrated by some remarkably fine belts. and there are samples of some marble which one day will be a principal product of the land of gold.
 Case after case of and nuggets convince the visitor that regarding the mineral wealth of Alaska the half even yet has not been told. while the large variety of ores. including copper, tin. zinc and iron, impresses one with the yer satility of the mineral resources. There are also a number of glass jars fl with crude oil. which tell of another great possibility as yet but meagrely investi- gated.
 Of peculiar interest also are the In dian basketry work and the various cook ing utensils and weapons. There are num- erous photographs of Indians which show 1T, an interesting way their manner of life. Outside of the building a number of totem poles are planted upright in the earth These are plainly visible from the mainland. across the waters of Guilds lake. for the government build ings are located on a peninsula which juts out into the lake from the shore op- posite the main part of the fair grounds Near the totem poles an immense canoe, made by hollowing out log six feet thick evidences the manner of water transportation adopted by the Indians of tLe far north.
 MT. Cheaiander is an enthusiastic mem- Der of the Arctic Brotherhood, an organ ization of some 1510 members in Alaska, and about E0c0 in all. which Is doing much for the furtherance of the northern country. The most prominent and in- fiuential men in Alaska belong to the brotherhood which is a fraternal order without the insurance feature. Mir. Chea1- ander tells some interesting stories of how the order on various occasions or Ranized relief trains and carried succor 1 to brothers lost in the snow. The Arctic 1,~ott,orl,ood fs vorkfy7O ha rd poxv fo ao-