Arizona republican., 1910-03-14
NORTHERN MERCHANT VISITING PHOENIX
Ed Friedman of Fairbanks, Alaska Arrived Here Saturday to See
 His Brother Harry.


 shake hands with his brother Harry.
 whom he had not seen for a long
 time and to compare the Phoenix eli
 mate with 60 degrees below zero. as
 the thermometer registered when he
 left home. He is en route for q gen.
 eral swing around the circle, going
 from here to Dallas. New Orleans.
 Chicago. Minneapolis. Winnipeg and Seattle, in the order named, and then
 back home again. Again illustrating the smallneSs of the world north and
 south, as is so often done east and twest, Alr. Friedman had not been in
 his brothers store five minutes be-
 fore he met man named Walker with whom he was intimately ac-
 quainted in Fairbanks and who left
 there not great while ago.
 | Mir Friedman is interested with another brother, Moses, in clothing
 business in Fairbanks. and seems to
 be a good booster for his country. even if il is a cold one. Although off considerably to one side. he insists
 that it is on the map all right. and a place of considerable importance in that country. It is q city of l.500 to
 2,OO0 inhabitants in the Panama val
 ley of which it is the metrop-
 oils and which valley has population of about 10000. The principal resource of the country.
 at least that now being developed is gold of which Sl2, ,0OO. 900 was sent out
 in 1909. and there is lot of il left
 there yet. The town is not quite so
 lively as it was. that is there is not so much mining in the immediate vii as.
 made nearby at Ideterod which de- ! bends upon Fairbanks for it's supplies | Nearby means q couple Of hundred
 miles down the river. but then q hun-
 dred miles or so is nothing in that
 land of magnificent distances. one
 can make it in the small part of q
 day. or a night. in that country for
 there is only one Of each in year. Mir. Friedman went to Nome in 1901
 coming back to Seattle after four years. and then after a time went
 north again going this time to Fair
 banks. Nome is still a good camp
 but dead compared to the old days. as all placer diggings get lean with ' the flight Of time
 ! Fairbanks is only i50 miles from Valdez which is 1503 miles from Se-
 attle. Most of the merchandise is
 taken in via Nome and the Yukon in the summer time. up the Yukon river | to the north of a tributary 200 miles | from Fairbanks and thence up the smaller river to the Fairbanks wharf at the head of navigation. In the
 winter time the only communication with the outside world is over the Valdez trail 450 miles and it was that route he took coming out The trail was impossible for week on ac- count of snow but the stages finally got into action again and he left January %. arriving in Seattle Feb ruary II. He says he did not mind the trail trip even if it was 50 de- grees below zero. for he had a good footwarmer and plenty Of fur clothes. | The fOotwarmer is a red hot carbon placed in a specially prepared recep- tacle and that in another box in which
 the feet are placed. Then with blan- | kets and clothes the passengers are made jolly warm and comfortable Fairbanks is fine little city he 1 says and the people there do not feel the need of sympathy for their con ditions. usually. unless some disaster l overtakes them, The word city is ] used advisedly for he says it is a city in that it has an electric light plant 1 telephone. steam heating plant. two newspapers and did have three. all equipped with linotypes and modern
 machinery generally. He says that if one could pick himself up and drop down. in Fairbanks ten minutes later, | judging only by the conveniences of | life. clothes and the manner of living generally, he would imagine himself | in a New York community. It is a | little odd for strangers however. who arrive in the summer time. or day time, and never know when to go to bed without looking at their watches. or those who arrive at the hotel in the
 night and have to wait several months i for the sun to come out.
 He says it is a good country for a young and husky person to get a start in. if he behaves himself and improves his opportunities Wages are g. a day and board and good
 meals can be had by anybody for from 75 cents to $l. The earlier set tiers were mostly business men of education and culture who went there to retrieve their fortunes. Recently a great many Russians and Slavonians | have come in. It is a cosmopolitan 1 citizenship and for the most part a desirable one.