Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1909-06-11

How many of the people who are
planning to visit the Alask =" Ex-
position at Seattle realize ent of
the territoy Of Alaska? lew, il
ma,l be said with perfect Sa-,.. Here
is an impressive fact: The area of Alaska
is one-third greater than that of all the
Atlantic states, from Maine to Florida.
While the northernmost extremity of
Alaska, Point Barrow, is three hundred
miles within the Arctic Circle, the south
ernmoSt extremity, at the entrance to
Portland Canal, is very near the lati-
tude of Hamburg, Germany
These Illuminating comparisons are
made by Gen. \. w. Greedy in very
timely and useful Handbook of Alas
ka,' which has just been issued by the
Scribners. Very properly, it appears, is
the name of the Yukon coupled with that
of Alaska in the title of the Seattle
fair Until within three years Alaska
had no roads, and she has not many now.
The highways of communication are the
rivers. Alaskan waterways nayigable
by steamers approximate a total length
of four thousand miles. nearly two
thirds of this representing the nayigabe
| length Of the Yukon and its tributaries
| The Yukon is one of the great rivers of
the world, having course of fully tf
| teen hundred miles. The cheap and re-
! liable transportation which il affords
/
sibc the exploitation of the mineral re-
| sources of Alaska that has SO far TAX
EN- place. Three thousand miles of rivers
! beyond those accommodating steamers
are nayigable for polling boats. There
| is not in all the Yukon watershed a min
ing camp that is one hundred miles dis
tant from navigable water.
The territory is rich in game, par
ticularly representatives of the deer
| tribe. The Alaskan giant moose is the
largest land animal in America and the
big brother OF all the other deer inhabt-
ants Of tue world. There are seven va
rieties Of bears, some of them large and
fierce.
Alaskan exports since 1905 have year-
~ exceeded $4,000, 900, and Alaskan inn
ports amount TO S1T,000,000 per an
mum, being nearly double those Of the
Philippines.
Alaskan mineral resources, already a
source OF vast riches, are only begin
mug to be exploited. The value of he"
coal mines, il is believed. will exceed that
Of the gold mines for which she has be-
come famous during the past fifteen
years. Although Il cold country, Alaska
is not without agricultural possibilities.
especially in her southern part.
How short-sighted was the opposition
TO the policy Of Secretary Seward when
in 1867 he brought about the purchase
Of Alaska from Russia for the merely
nominal price of S7,2OO,000! Among
those in Congress at the time who
spoke against the purchase was the a+e
Cadwallader G. WashbuTn Of Wiscon-
sin. Like many of his colleagues, Con
gresham Washburn was Of the opinion
that Secretary Seward was giving Rus
STA a bonus for the privilege Of relieving
her of "A dreary waste of snow and polar
bears There have been several times
when ignorance Of geography has led
national Legislators to libel other local.
ties as well as Alaska. Sad tales of the
southern peninsula of Michigan were
current ut the beginning of the
| Nineteenth century. Later the maps
| from which school children were in
structed showed Great American
| Desert where now for tho most part are
grazing lands and acres devoted to corn.
| Even as late as 1853, Minnesota was
maligned in the House Of Representa-
tiyes as q region where the winters were
so long and the summers so short and
cold that it could never yield a living
to men devoted TO the raising Of crops.
1t does not do to believe all the dole
full stories There are very few hope
lessly waste places on the face Of the
| earth