Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-10-10
ALASKA BOUNDARY LINE
Work on the Yukon to Deter
mine 1t Exactly.
HARDsHIPs MET ALONG THE COAST

How 81 Party of Surveyors Narrowly
Escaped Death From Big Noun
tain Slide That Smashed Their
CanOe-Lucky Escape From Huge
ROck-Value of Indians to Surveyors
By the flashing of telegraphic sig
nails from Fort Egbert, Alaska, and
from Vancouver, Canada, the exact
boundary line between the United
States and Canada at the Yukon river
has recently been determined, says a
Washington correspondent of the New
York Tribune. y shaft Of granite will
be reared at the point agreed upon 10y
the observers, and with this as basis
the long boundary stretch on the Hist
meridian in the wild and upeXplored
country from the arctic ocean south
ward to the st. Elias mountains will
be marked out at some future time.
The signalling at the boundary line
was done within the last few days and
has been reported To the United States
coast and geodetic survey in Washing
ton by Professor Edwin Smith, the
American agent designated by the joint
boundary commission 10 represent the
United States. Fort Egbert and Van
couver were selected as the two points
from which TO send the messages be
cause their longitude is known accu-
rately and Fort Egbert is the nearest
telegraph station to the Yukon boun-
Diary line, which is about six miles
distant A telegraph wire was run TO
the approximate boundary station and
an agent stationed there. The three
commissioners waited until there was
clear weather at all three stations.
The problem involved was to deter
mine the exact point at which the
Hist meridian crosses the Yukon. and
the scientific method of doing this is
to estimate the precise time at which
a certain star crosses the meridian.
On the night agreed upon the observer
at Vancouver flashed To the man wait
ing on the boundary line the time nj
which he observed the star, and the
agent at Fort Egbert did likewise. The
boundary line man therefore got mes
sageS from both sides and WAS able 10
use these as the basis of calculation,
allowing time for the transmission Of
the messages. The signals were re
peated for several nights for greater
accuracy When the figures are COM
pleted officially the result will be an
nounced by the joint commission.
Thrilling adventures are being eX-
perienced by the surveyors engaged
in marking the boundary line on the
coast of the gulf of Alaska, about
200 miles above Sitka, according to
reports to the coast and geodetic sur
vey. Frederick Morse. chief Of the
party at Yakutat, has Informed the
survey that three of the four subpar-
ties under his charge will finish their
work by the end of this month, but
that the party working in the Alsel
valley is experiencing unusual diff
culties and the men are often in peril
of their lives. They are making an
effort to get TO the SUBMITS of the
peaks between the Alsek valley and
the fat country west of the river TO
complete their surveys. The only
method of reaching this country is by
water from the coast, through the
canyon of the Alsek valley. Mr..
Morse reports that in July a party, led
by Mr.. Blackwelder, started through
the canyon and had got past the worst
place when suddenly half 4 mountain
slid down upon them and their canoe
was smashed. the party narrowly es-
Gaping with their lives. With their
provisions all gone, they had a hard
time getting back to the coast.
Another attempt was made in August
when Mr.. Rrabazon and six men started
through the canyon in canoe. Mr..
BrabaZon. attempting to dodge the
sliding hill which had given his pred
ecessor so much trouble, risked pad
ding his canoe into close proximity to
two discharging glaciers on the OPP I
posite bank. He had passed the gla-
ciers safely when current seized the
canoe and drifted it directly under the
sliding hill, where it lodged. While the
men were attempting to free the boat
a rock weighing several tons came
laundering down toward them Luck
lily for the men the rock, when only a
few feet above, met an obstruction
and split in two so that the fragments
fell on either side of the boat.
The surveyors are trusting to get
through eventually with the aid of
Indians, who are familiar with the
operations of the glaciers and can tell
when they are likely to be dangerous