Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1906-05-17
A~LAsKA-slBERIA RAILROAD.
Difficulties In the Way of a Boring
Strait Line Are Nu-
merous.

|
The scheme of a railroad from the
United States to Russia by way of Ber-
Ing straits is to the fore again in
Paris, St Petersburg and elsewhere,
and we are told that the car, Count
Witte and others have been enlisted
in the project" says the New York
Tribune. The present argument is
that such a road would greatly
strengthen the friendly relations be-
tween America and Russia and make
America Russia's ally in the far east.
1t may be said frankly that America
is moi seeking alliances" in that sense
in which this one appears to be meant.
So lar as the increase of intimate rela-
tons with Russia-as also with every
well-disposed nation-is concerned,
that is commendable and desirable, so
much SO, indeed, that we must hope
it depends upon something less vision
airy than this Alaskan-Siberian rail-
road scheme. For as visionary and
mistaken in an extreme degree we
muSJ reSdru IL.
Let us assume that the construc-
ton of such a road is possible. 1t
must still be borne in mind that 1t
would not directly connect the United
States with Russia, for the reason
that Alaska is not contiguous to the
United States. Hence the American
terminus of the road would be Access
sible from the United States only by
a long voyage on the high seas or
along the waters of an alien coast, or
by land travel across more than 500
miles Of British territory either OF
which courses would be quite fatal to
Baron Loicq de Loubel's iridescent
dream of through trains from New
York to st. Petersburg over a purely
American and Russian railroad. This
break of more than 500 miles in the
continuity of the line is something
which neither engineering enterprise
nor diplomatic ingenuity can over
come.
Moreover, the distance to be trav'
ersed in Alaska from Point Tongass tt
Cape Prince of Wales, is about 1,50t
miles, the greater part of which Il
through a country entirely untitled fol
civilized h~abitation; nearly every mile
is through a country probably the
most difficult in the world to build
railroad, and not one-ffth, if ever
one-tenth, of it is through a country
that would ever afford a profitable
local traffic. Practically the same Ii
to be said of the 1000 miles in Siberi;
from East cape of Albasin, on thu
Stanovol mountains. In brief, Their
would be $500 miles of railroad
through the most barren and inhos
pitable regions ON the globe, compares
with which the worst country trav
ersed by the Siberian railroad is
Garden of Eden. And then at the enc
of that there would be nearly thu
whole of the Siberian railroad to b.
traversed before Europe was reached
and, in the other direction, 500 mile
of sea voyage before the United State
was reached.
Forty years ago the Western Uniol
Telegraph company started to build al
overland telegraph line from tn,
United States to Europe by this yer.
Alaska-Siberian route. 1t spent a vas
sum of money in the enterprise, an
then abandoned it in favor of a trans
atlantic cable, and the only good tina
came of the ill-starred venture wa
perhaps to expedite the sale of Alask
to the United States, and certainly t
set George KEENAN, to investigating tn
Siberian convict system. If the tele
graph company preferred a transat
lantic route of only $500 miles to al
overland route Of 10000 miles, we ar
inclined to think SO travellers in 10
would prefer getting to Europe by
weeks trip across the ocean rattle
than by a three weeks trip by RAJ
chiefly through sub-arctic deserts.