The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1907-04-04
TRAVELLING IN alaska
Winter Only Time When Trails
Are in Shape for Prospector.
MULES NOT A SUCCESS


tation. In Gold Fields-Mail Hauled
by uos Teams-No Wheeled Vehi.
efes Used.
Here in the home country where
every one Is now and then whiried
along In a luxurious railroad train
and. arriving at his destination, is be-
steged by hacks and cabs and baggage
wagons Of infinite variety and num-
ber. with street cars passing by and
broad level streets stretching before
him, IT is quite impossible to any one
who has not been there to realize the
conditions under which transportation
Is accomplished in far of Alaska,
where from the middle of October
to late in May the country is frozen
solid writes Captain George s.
Gibbs Of the Signal Corps, United
States, Army, In the National Geo
graphic Magazine.
The Signal Corps is given the pioneer
work Of stringing telegraph lines
and Of keeping the gold country of
the Far North in communication with
the outside world. Uncle Sans men
90 forward with the first parties of
prospectors, explore the trails and
when a new town is started they are
at the front long enough before the
next government force. the mail Car.
riers arrives. Paid only the wages OF
the army, these men brave all the
hardships of the north with no hope
Of making strike in the mines.
Dependent on transportation for its
very existence as habitation and
equally dependent upon transporta.
ton to give value to its furs and ores.
The Alaskan pioneer speaks OF his
country as INSIDE" every place else
rs outside" The implied barrier is
significant, and it exists in fact, for
the country is walled in for eign,
months of the year and not too easily
accessible the rest OF the year. or
course, the ports of Juneau, Skaguay
Vsldes and others on the southwest
coast are open the year round but
neither freight nor passengers are car
ried to and from the interior during
the long winter. small amount OF
mail is carried by means of dog teams
in relays and at cost of the great
est hardships to both men and beasts,
and each year few adventurous
and hardy travellers beat the season
few weeks by making the trip on
foot with the lightest possible packs.
$50 great is the transformation
from an ice-bound. snow-covered.
wind-swept wilderness to land COW
cred with luxurious vegetation and
traversed by streams of navigable
water that the two streams. summer
and winter, suggest a convenient di.
yisDau of the methods of transporta-
tlou. There are few railroads; with
one exception short lines which are in
use the year round, but the only rail-
road which at this time Is a factor in
reaching Alaska with supplies is the
hne, a little over a hundred miles In
length, which connects Skaguay on
the coast with the head of navigation
of the Yukon, and this is useful OILY
during the short time when the river
is open
'Thn use Of wheeled vehicles need
not be considered, for their use is con-
fined to the towns. The present Alas
ka road commission is doing effective
work in laying out and building roads,
but these highways for years to come
must be OF the most primitive kind,
At only for dog sleds in winter and
vacR trains in the summer.
"All bases OF supplies must be
stocked between July Is and October
/. The hundreds of tons OF supplies
are carried to these bases by boats,
steru-wheeled steamers like those
rivers which tow barges of supplies
just as coal Is towed from Pittsburg
These boats draw about 18 inches OF
water and have been built In the
Uuited States and either shipped In
sections or steaming from Seattle
anfer convoy OF ocean steamers.
When the cold weather comes they
are hauled into some sheltered creek
and beached high enough to be safe
from the ice when it breaks in the
spring.
A few years ago different breeds Of
dogs were used in different sections,
hat increased travel has brought into
service all the dogs to be had in the
country and hundreds in addition that
have been brought from the outside,
The native malamutes, huskies and
dogs from the Mackenzie and Feel
rivers are more hardy and last longer
In service than outside dogs. New
foundlands, Saint Bernards, settlers
and shepherd dogs are superior in in-
teliigence, but they are lacking in
endurance. require more careful feed
ing and their feet are easily FROST
bitten, which renders them useless for
the time being"