East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1911-01-19
ALASKA'S GREAT
COAL PROBLEM.
LOCAL NEED SAID TO Be ACUTE


the Copper River and Northwestern
Railroad, Throws Light Upon an Alb
surd situation-Payins $14 a Ton
For Coal Whom II Can 30 Mined In
the Territory For $3.50.
Because Alaskans cannot mine any
OF their own excellent coal by reason
CT the conservation order of President
Roosevelt they are being forced to
mape heavy drafts on the timber re-
serve. according to e. c. Hawkins.
engineer In charge Of the new Copper
River and Northwestern railroad. who
has just reached New York to make
his annual report to the company.
Mr.. Hawkins is the engineer who
built the remarkable White Pass and
Yukon road. an achievement second
only to the one he has now half finish
ed for the Morgan-Guggenheim syndi.
cate. He has some most interesting
things TO say about the conditions in
the nortbland that have recently been
attracting public attention.
'"The local need for our own coal is
acute" said Mr.. Hawkins. I'VE feel
It especially In our road construction,
but every one else feels 1t too. Peo
pie must keep warm in Alaska. as
elsewhere. and It needs much fuel to
do 1t In winter. We pay $14 ton for
British Columbia soft coal to use on
the railroad, and 1t certainly costs the
small consumer no less. Even this
has been unobtainable at times, and
we recently faced the necessity Of
putting large force to work cutting
timber for frewood to be used in keep
ing our FIVE caisson and pier pumps
going and running the work engines.
At that we found II at 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 inexhaustible
store Of coal within few miles Of
our tracks we should be getting 1t for
about $50 a ton instead Of $14. Ger
tainiy without adequate iGcc.. supply
the opening Of Alaska with railroads
Is going to be very slow. 1t cannot be
otherwise. And transportation devel-
opment is the greatest need Of that
wonderfully rich territory.
The New Copper Region.
Nevertheless, the Copper River and
Northwestern is being forced ahead as
rapidly as possible. By the LIST Of
next July It 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 ac-
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 large and continuous pro-
duction Of wealth for generations not
In one spot, but over large area.
'The road is now carried to the
mouth of the Tiekel river. 102 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.
''It has been necessary at this point
to build a 1,GOO foot bridge Of un-
precedented strength and construction
to resist the Ice flows. Just above the
bridge is a 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 afioat 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.
REINFORCED by heavy steel rails set up
right foot apart in the concrete. The
piers are further protected by the
heaviest kind Of concrete and steel
guards, also sunk to bedrock, and are
set where there are bars In the river
that defect the biggest Of the bergs.
They are ninety feet through from end
to end.
Bridge Building In Alaska.
"The steel superstructure Of the
bridge we hope to have in place early
next fall, by which time the line will
be well on It's way eastward up the
Chitina to the copper mines. This Is
to be the first branch Of the road COM
pleted, and 1t SHOULD be open from the
eastern to the southern terminus about
one year from now.
Another branch beginning at Mile
8S Of the main line on the Copper riv-
or and running about forty-eight miles
to the Berlng river coal fields Is sur
veyed, and good deal Of the roadbed
IA built. This branch could be built
In n short time and the Alaskan coal
made available for our Alaskan road
and the people Of the territory without
further delay.
Beyond the end Of the present
,onotb of track ot Tiekel the line runs