The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1914-05-06
WIDE LANE IS
CUT THROUGH
THE WILDERNESS
y viii Mark Boundary Between
Canada and Alaska

suka Alaska. May 6.-searrins
broad line across 500 miles of wilder
90. in the far North, in order that
.sosslons OF the United states
and canada may have distinct sepa-
lon ot every point. will be complet-
,rrtne the coming open season. The
81. has been i'm progress since 1907
nnJe, the direction Of Thomas Riggm
:. ci,ll engineer. representing the
%",,ed states Alaskan Boundary COM
.Issior and r. ID. Craig, representing
.,,niar commission of Canada.
Although the United States and
o..,1o have been neighbors in the far
9Th for over half century, the ex-
=, dividlng line between their possess
- especially, as To the northern
no,tior. was. previous Ia this survey,
'a1odrite and conflicting. Many dis
mics arising. the two governments d.
,,l.d finally. through their commits
lon, that an absolute survey, clearly
.s,oblished and marked for all time,
sbonId he made along the one hundr"
and forty- first meridian. from the Mt.
:, Elias Alps. on the Pacific, To the
,rc,ic ocean, n distance of approx.
mately 500 miles.
The United States surveying party
consisted of from 60 Ia so men eat u
,eoson since the work was undertaken.
chief Engineer Rigs. himself young
college man. selected his aids from
tho hardest lasses--cowboys. forest
rangers. prospectors, timber cruisers
and frontiersmen, with liberal
shrinking cf engineers. New expe-
dtons were organized each spring,
although many of the men who started
Al the beginning have remained in tin"
service up Ia the present time. Ii was
tbe custom, too, To leave few men i'm
tbe north each winter To care Tor
equipment and supplies.
The actual visible results of the six
or seven years of efforts, 20-foot vis-
"A cut. like a gigantic avenue. or lane.
through all timber and brush district,
together with monuments set az in
leryisible points, from three to four
miles apart.
Survey Is Remarkable.
The monuments erected are of two
types. depending upon the importance
Of the locality. At prominent stream
crossings and main points of travel the
ne.marker consists of 5-foot alum
mum bronze shaft, weighing 800
pounds, set in 1000 pounds of concrete.
At less important points the monu-
mtnt Is smaller. being designated as a
cone east of the same metal, and re-
curing only 1900 pounds Of concrete
ir the base. There are approximate
| y 100 of these monuments along the
t0j miles of boundary. The work of
0nying the heavy materials for
Their construction mostly on pack
animals sometimes ON the shoulders
Of the men themselves. was very slow
aud laborous.
This survey is declared by engineers
10 be- the straightest of the world for
he length encOmpassed. In speaking |
of it, one Of the engineers said:
The start was made from one 90
The desolute peaks of the Mt. st. Elias |
Alps on the southern extremity. There |
We laid our course straight. for the
Northern Lights and thereafter swerv
cd not SO much as a hair breadth
peaks, gulches bottomless swamps-
Wherever the needle pointed there we
Went, one day cutting our way through |
bfuSh-taneles. the next building a |
rack across marshes or crawling over
Rocks and through crevasses."