Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1910-03-11
ALASKA'S GREAT
COAL PROBLEM.
ROoSeveIt'S Conservation Order
Delaying Development.
LOCAL NEED SAID TO &c ACUTE

E. c. Hawkins, Engineer In Charge Of
the Copper River and North~e stern
Railroad, Throws Light Upon an Alb
surd Situation-Paying S14 q Ton
For Coal When Il Can Be Mined In
the Territory For S15o
HecuuSe AiaSkans cannot mine any
or their own excellent coal by reason
OF the conservation ortlrr.of President
Roosevelt they are being forced to
make heavy drafts on the timber re-
serve. according L" l. & Hawkins.
engineer In charge of the new Copper
River and Northwestern railroad. who
has just reached New YnrL to make
his annual reinrt to the co;:iIany.
MIR. Hawkins IL the engineer who
butt the rcIlarkahl. White Pass and
Yukon road an achievement second
only to the one he has now half finish.
cd for the Murgaii-G syudi
cate He has some most Interesting
things To say about the conditions In
the northland that have recentiy been
attracting public attention
1.-The local need for our own coal il
acute" said Mr. Hawkins I'VE feel
1t especially In our road construction.
but every one else feels 1t too. Poo
pie must keep warm In Alaska. as
elsewhere. and II needs much fuel to
do 1t In winter. We pay $l4 ton for
British Columbia soft coal to use on
the railroad. and 1t certainly costs the
small consumer no less Even this
has been understandable ut times. and
we recently faced the necessity OF
putting large force to work cutting
timber for tirewoOd to be used In keep
Ing our five caisson and pier pumps
going and running the work engines.
At that we found II ut times almost
impossible to keep steam In our boil
ers. though the safety Of much con-
struction and even Of lives depended
on 1t. With an almost inexhaustiblc
store OF coal within few miles Of
our tracks we should be getting 1t for
about $l.I0 ton instead Of $l4 Ger
tainly without adequate fuel supply
the opening Of Alaska with railroads
Is going TO he very slow. 1t cannot be
otherwise. And transportation dcvel.
opment Is the greatest need Of that
wonderfully rich territory.
Tho New Copper Region.
Nevertheless. the Copper River and
Northwestern is being forced ahead us
rapidly as possible. By the LIST Of
next July 1t will have reached the
mouth of the Chitina river. 1873 miles
inland. This means that the great
kotsina- Chitina copper region-proba-
bly, the richest In the world. but so far
almost unexplored-will be easily &C.
cessible to miners and prospectors next
summer. an event that Alaska is await
Ing eagerly. This. practically the OPEN
ing OF new region for ingress and
egress. has hitherto been most diff
cult. The development Of this terri
tory means u large and continuous pro-
duction Of wealth for generations not
III one spot. but over large area.
1.-THE road is now carried to tho
iuouth VI Tue 1lchel river, luz miles
from Cordova. our terminus at tIdewa-
ter. In this stretch there Is only one
break-at Mile 40. where the line cross
es the Copper river between the two
active glaciers. Childs and Miles.
1T has been necessary at this point
to build LOGO foot bridge of un-
precedented strength and construction
to resist the ice flows. Just above the
bridge Is lakelike widening of the
river into which the three mile front OF
Childs glacier volleys great bergs all
summer long. In winter this lake Is
frozen several feet deep. At the pres.
ent time we are running trains over
the ice on temporary tracks. SO that
track will be continuous to the end Of
the line until the spring breakup. The
three bridge piers have had severe
test this summer. The ice flow. as can
be imagined, Is tremendous. The river
is deep and swift and the force Of the
big bergs af1Oat on 1t nothing short Of
terrific. To resist this we have sunk
our piers forty to sixty feet to bed
rock. building them Of solid concrete