The San Francisco call., 1909-09-02
COAL CLANS IN ALASKA
WORTH BILLION TO PEOPLE
Land for Which Cunning CHAM Asked Patents is Underaid
With Fuel Superior to Pennsylvania Product

eier pushing its way down AIOHh INC
Chugach mountains
On the marshes and lowlands Vegeta-
tion grows in tropical jungle pro1usion'
for there is a rainfall of 200 inches
each year, or more than falls anywhere
else. There is the long night and the
eternal rainfall. but what would coal
miners care for these? Bering came
here in early days and Puget and Van
couver and all the men who have left
their names in the region, but none OF
them dreamed of the wealth of coal
Traders pitched their tents. sea otters
were speared and traded by the ma
tives and salmon canneries thrived for
a time, but all have given place TO the
coal miner who is rushing into his
peculiar FL Dorado Bering river, a
roaring torrent of but II miles in
length, offers itself as a means Of
transportation, but a mere chute might
deliver the coal of the mines on ship
board.
Carbon mountain is the center of the
anthracite coal region. 1t covers
surface that is equal to 25 square miles
1t is a mountain of this rare hard coal,
untouched and inexhaustible- On its
sides there are three outcroppings that
may be followed entirely around the
mountain. These are at different
heights and the veins are of different
thicknesses at different points. They
range from feet to 80 and average 10
feet in thickness covering this 20
square miles of country. They require
no shafts no tunnels. The miner mas
merely to climb up the mountain slde
and begin shoveling coal into cnute
that will convey it two and hair
miles to the bay
This outcropping is typical of the
whole country. Canyon creek is IN the
vicinity of Carbon mountain Inc
experts came down the creek and 1otted
down the outcroppings on either SIDE.
Here there showed a seam OF feet
width there of Is. here of s feet and
there of 80. The outcroppings seemed
to show that the entire country was
underlaid with coal. 1t was round 10
the very edge of the eternal glacier
which effectually shut off further pros
pecting.
On Clear. creek were found outcrop,
nings of is feet Al feet, 81 feets IL
the canyon without exertion. Monu.
ment mountain. with an elevation Oh
1850 feet, showed outcroppings thal
indicated that its formation might Oe
similar to that of Carbon mountain. A
ridge showed no less than five strata OF
outcropping coal alternating with snare.
Queen creek Leper creek, Nevada
creek and a dozen others showed SIM. m.
lar conditions The ridges thereapout
indicated similar formations. The
whole country was overrun with the
coal 1t was to be had by whoever
might come and for the asking
The strip that is attracting so much
attention is but 3S miles long, sk1rtlnS
the coast back to the glacier. There
are about 43O square miles of it. Out
of this. according to the experts, there
are. aside from the 26.6 square miles
of anthracite, 20.2 square miles or
semibituminous and 21.6 square miles
of unproven territory where the sur
face indications signify coal. 1t is,
however, the most obvious coal neld
in the world. The stuff sticks out or
the ground everywhere. There mas
never been anything to compare with
il in the states; and there the coal de-
posits are the envy of the world.
When prospectors came into Alaska
10 wears ago they were all after gold
But coal on a slOping hillside near
navigable water looked good to- Gun
ningham. He prospected the field and
determined it's possibilities. But one
man can not locate coal field and
patent it, nor can a poor prospector
operate it. Cunningham returned to
Seattle and told his Ell Dorado story
TO kindred spirits and TO men OF means.
He secured expense money and he Sc
cured men to patent claims, 32 OF them,
it is alleged. This happened in 1902.
Attorney General Wickersham says
that holders of claims may pool their
interests under the new law. but they
may not do so If they arrange for the
pool before the law was enacted. The
government believes that it can prove
that there was a pooling of interests
in this case before the men who now
hold claims ever left Seattle If 1T
can establish this as fact the men
now holding claims will be refused
patents. If it can not prove that the
conspiracy was born before the filings
were made Cunningham and his asso-
ciates may patent the whole field and
operate it as they see fit. 1t is big
game to play and these men viii fight
it to finish. Yet the government has
every chance of winning out. Whether
it wins out or not, the marvellous
wealth of the field will be opened to
the world through the advertising it is
getting through the controversy
In the Pacific coast region there is
the greatest field imaginable for just
this sort Nof coal. Alaska alone is i'm
porting 100000 tons of coal annually;
the coastwise steamers are using twice
as much and the naval needs on the
Pacific are an item of no mean impor-
tance. The whole of the Pacific coast
is suffering from a lack of good coal
in sufficient quantities. The great
copper mines of the Alaskan coast will
be supplied with coke, for there smelt-
ing and industry of all sorts will be
given a great impetus in the far north
1t is stated that when the United
States paid $1,000. 900 for the territory
of Alaska the protest was loud and
long against the folly OF it. yet the
product of this one region would tend
iradi,a tk., .is..l.