El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-05-13

E, baggage has been carried on sleds anC
drawn by dogs. They have travelled tt
the head waters of one stream or river
then crossed to the headwaters of an
, other and down that. until they have
explored altogether many Thousand
square miles. 1t is from talks with DIR
: Brooks that | am able TO give much
, of the information contained in this
letter.
Alaska From an AeropIane.
In the first place let us take a flying
, machine view of Alaska, l have gone
over the maps with the biologists, and
the country is like nothing have ever
imagined. We shall suppose that We
have taken one of Orvile Wright's aero
planes and have sailed across it from
the Pacific ocean to the Arctic. and from
British Columbia to Siberia in Russia.
What big land it Isl Beginning at the
southeast on the Pacific, where the land
joins British Columbia, and flying
straight north, we go almost as far as
from New York TO Cincinnati before we
reach the coast of the Attic ocean, and
from the same point, flying westward,
we should 90 700 miles before arriving
at Bering sea. Rough yspeaking, Alaska
! would make square with more than
! 700 miles on each side, and still leave
| enough land over TO form Two states the
size Of New York
area of Germany, France AMI the Spanish
peninsula. and If 1t were lifted up and
| dropped down on the United States
proper it would cover all of the states
which border the Atlantic from Maine
down TO Florida.
DIR. Brooks tells me that Alaska has
] IN general about the same features as
the western half of the United States
/ 1t is composed of three or four great
regions. There are two ranges of noun
I talns uphOlding a high plateau between
them. with wide stretch of Arctic plain
at the north. The southern mountains
correspond to the Sierra Nevada and
other ranges, which bound the western
side of the Rocky mountain plateau
North of them is a region OF plains cor
responding to that plateau, and on the
other side is a great range of mountains
which CORRESPOND to the Rockies. with
/ plains beyond ike the great plains far
Their south. The latter are the tundras
/ OF the Arctic slope They are covered
with a thick growth Of moss, which ends
at the sea and which for many miles in
land is bedded on perpetual ice.
The mountains are wooded. Those at
the south have vegetation as dense as
the lungles of tropical countries. and the
whole southern slope has a rainfall which
IN places aggregate more than 100 inches
per year. Across the mountains we find
an arid region where the rainfall is
scanty. 1t is not as dry as the great
plains OF the Rocky mountain plateau,
but so dry that the vegetation IS scrllbbY
and the big trees disappear. 1t is through
this region that flow the chief rivers
which are fed by the SHOWS of the
mountains. The Yukon, which runs for
1900 miles from the Canadian boundary
to Bering sea, is the largest, and the
kusko kwim, which flows through the
same plateau farther south, comes next.
The plateau where it joins British Coz
altitude of the Allegheny mountains,
and it slopes from there north TO the sea.
The Mighty Coal Beds.
OF this rough territory DR.. Brooks tells
me that only about one-fifth of the
whole has been geologically explored
The biologists have gone over the most
accessible and most desirable parts of it
and have tradnped across the other por-
tons, making explorations here and
there, so that In general they know
about what the country contains and
have specific knowledge of at least one
fifth of 1t.
A great part OF our conversation today
related to the coal fields, which are now
attracting so much attention in the
minds of the people DR.. Brooks says
there is coal all over Alaska. and that
the beds are OF such enormous extent
that they probably contain hundreds of
billions of tons, and there is DO doubt
that they contain at the least 15,000,-
100000. This can be estimated by the
fields which have been more or less care
fully tested, but it is safe to say that
at the minimum estimate the coal
amounts to $50 100000 tons, and
that it may be many times that amount.
The coal resources are far in excess of
those of the Appalachians, although a
greater part of the coal is of far lower
grade
Would Supply the World for $50 Years.
One hundred and fifty billion tons!
The figures are large and the mind can
not comprehend them. All the coal
mines of the world are now producing
Just one billion tons per annum, and at
this rate If this coal were accessible it
would supply the whole world for $50 |
years and probably leave much to spare. |
If the coal amounts to only fifteen
billions it would heat and move the !
world for 10 years, and if We had it on
shipboard OF IN the markets it would |
make us rich beyond the dreams OF
avarice | have seen the value estimated |
an billions of dollars. It would be worth |
that if it could be dumped down a few !
tons at a time in the chief markets OF |
the world but as it lies now the state |
ment makes one think of the words of !
the Japanese schoolboy: ut is to
laugh" Of the fifteen billion tons which /
are the minimum figures of the geolo-
gists' estimates, about four and one-half |
billions are on the Arctic slope, where
it is locked in ice for most of the year. |
1t is beyond ranges of mountains, which |
could hardly be crossed, and on seas from ]
where the coal could not be carried to /
any market on earth. Another four
billions or more lie in the interior of !
Alaska, in the plateau region of which |
have written, and it is safe to say that |
it viii never be worth anything except |
for local consumption. The greater part |
of the balance, comprising more than six |
billion tons by conservative estimate, is |
in southeastern Alaska, near the Pacific |
coast. These last beds are live work |
ing quantity, and they will some day
have a great part in the industry and |
and wealth of the world