The Chitina leader. [volume] (Chitina, Alaska) 1910-1928, 1911-03-18
RAILROAD DEVELOPMENT.

Alaska might well be termed the
greatest bargain that one nation has
ever bought from another. Russia,
when she sold Alaska to the United
States, little thought that she was
selling one of the RICHEST portions
of the earth. If the Russian gov
eminent had ever known what min
eral wealth it contained Alaska
would undoubtedly still be under the
mailed hand of the Romanoffs. A.
H. Brooks, of the U. S. Geological
Survey estimates that there must be
at least $500, 100000 worth of plac-
er gold in Alaska. Mr.. Brooks and
his assistants are very conservative in
their estimates and one might safely
multiply that by a hundred and be
correct.
In lode gold mining, one mine
alone has produced over $50, 900
and it is practically the only deep
gold mine being worked. Other gold
mines are being opened up and in
few years the returns from them
should at least double the present
amount. When one looks at the
mineral wealth of Alaska, it's gold
copper, silver, oil and coal, one can
not begin to form an estimate, of the
wealth of this northern country, tina
but few years ago was considered
a bowling wilderness. A few years
ago copper made many a millionaire
out of poor miners in Montana and
Arizona, and one day Alaska is go
ing to raise another big crop OF
them, and before many years.
The greatest crime against Alask;
and Alaskans is the non-opening III
of her coal fields. Let a passenger
get on a steamer in Seattle coming
to Alaska and usually that steamer
stops at a British Columbia port to
coal if not she is using British Co
lumbia coal that has come in foreign
bottoms to the United States. Alas
ka has untold tons of coal that is
lying idle waiting, waiting until the
government of this great country will
only give the Alaskans what is due
them and open up the coal fields.
The official government figures on
the coal lands of Alaska are very
conservative. The coal areas known
at the present time aggregate 1885,
square miles, about three times that
of Pennsylvania coal bearing area.
The unsurveyed coal bearing lands
are estimated at some $4,000 square
miles. Mr.. Brooks lcwest estimate
of the coal in Alaska is 5,104 50O,-
900 tons. This stupendous total, Mr..
Brooks says, could be multiplied by
ten or a hundred and it would still
these millions of tons are lying idle,
while the coal mine owners in the
states and foreign countries are wax
ing fat at the Alaskan's expense.
On the western coast of the Unit
ed States one can see steamers and
sailing vessels arriving almost every
day from Australia with coal, and il
it pays to ship coal over 10000 miles
from Australia and other places, why
shouldn't it pay to ship coal mat
ter of a thousand miles from Alaska
The United States has naval stations
scattered all along her Western coast
line. and IL ever the country is in
vaded by foreign power, it will be
ten to one on the Western coast. In
defending the coast the governE ent
will need coal and need it badly
and instead of waiting for it to be
shipped from the Eastern coal fields,
why should she not have millions Of
tons of Alaskan coal on hand? 1t
would be safe to say that if any 9TH
er government had the untold wealth
of coal lying under its hands, it
would have been opened up years