The Chitina leader., 1913-06-03
coal and the getting of an appropri ation for a railroad.

lA'o'' iS 6iSdliy iuteIcStSu. hHoW him we'll and he sent for me and asked me what I knew about condi- tions in Alaska. Unfortunately my knowledge was very limited. I was very much surprised to learn that our members of Congress knew so little of Alaska. Especially is this true among the southern members, although MT. Flood, of Virginia is very we'll posted. Your Chamber may have already taken some ac- tion, as I have not seen paper from the Third district since leaving Ju- neau, but now is good time to keep hammering away"
 Representative Milo Kelly, accom- panied by his wife, was a returning passenger to Knik on last nights steamer. MT. Kelly attended the session of the first Alaska Legisla- ture as member from this division. and later went to Seattle on a bus mess trip. He says that from the information gleaned by him while in the states he believes that Con- gress intends to pass some favorable legislation for Alaska.
 | The Juvenile Bostonians will open in Juneau Monday evening, June 2, with the "Dream Girl" and close Tuesday night, June 3, with the .'Rose of Blandeen.'
 l George E. Baldwin, who is in charge of the opening up of the Mother Lode copper property at Kennicott, contributes the following very interesting article of conditions in the Copper River valley to the Val deg Miner:
 1 "The effect of railroad building to date upon the Chitina River mining region may about be described as | follows:
 s'It has now been about two years since the Copper River & Northwest ern Railway from Cordova to Ken train service which has been more or nicott, distance of 196 miles. was officially declared completed and train service which has been more or less rapular inaup,1ratad
 Those who expected this event to at once produce a great boom in mining and townsite speculation, to- gether with a sudden and enormous increase in population, have been very seriously disappointed. These, however, it may be noted, were most ly newcomers into the territory. The seasoned resident of this territory seasoned residents of this region, who can from personal experience gauge the difference between conditions existing twelve or four teen years ago and those existing to- day, easily note a great change for the better. and behold bright prom ises for still more beneficial changes for the future.
 Had the railway been completed early in 1906, during the world wide boom in copper properties, the iwildest dream of those expecting sudden prosperity would no doubt have been fully realized.
 1 "The progress of the Chitina re- zion since the completion of the rail- way has been, while slow, very sat
 sfactory to those who do not ex- pect too much. The freight and passenger rates charged on the rail- way, while extremely high, as con- pared with the average rates charged by lines in the states, are from one- fifth to one-fifteenth of the cost of travelling by sleds, as was the cus- tom up to two years ago.
 "One operator, who this year brought in the same sized outfit as in 1907, saved nearly $40,000 in freight as compared with the amount expended for freighting six years ago.
 ''From the back pack, to the pack horse, to the wagon in summer, and from the hand sled and dog sled to the double-ender, to the bob sled in winter, supplemented and assisted by the iron horse the year round, has been the slow but steady progress of | transportation during the past four teen years.
 up to the present time no branch lines or feeders have been construct ed, but at least three have been sur veyed, all of which will be con- structed as soon as the properties tributary to them develop sufficient tonnage to justify the expenditure
 ''The best of feeling exists be- tween the railway company and its patrons, the latter realizing the enor- nous difficulties with which the for mer contend in operating a new line through an undeveloped territory, railway operation hitherto unknown to railway managers, and this in the face of ScantY earnings and maapra