The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1914-03-26

tains so to 200 miles wide which
stretch mostly along shore. Then
there are the glaciers. For a railway
to be even in the neighborhood Of a
glacier is perilous.
There are only two practical routes
for the proposed railway 70 the inter =
ior One is from Cordova by the Cop
per River valley, where the Morgan
Guggenheim company has constructed
1875 miles of that 1876 miles of that at
present no white man can legally own
reindeer They were imported to
help the natives One Of the several
mistakes Of the government in Alaska
was this prohibition against reindeer
owning by white men. Reindeer could
be made to increase enormously They
would in themselves relieve the trans
port problem. Their rides would be a
source Of wealth. and they would be
of UNREASONABLE aid in reducing liv-
ing costs by creating a local meat sup
ply. If the government We're really
disnterestedly seeking to help Alaska
Il should open to white settlers this
source Of wealth and local RELIEF from
leng distance freight charges.
People Before Railroads.
"Also it should open up the coal de-
D sits Instead Of talk about 1t. I'hest
ar tlings Of mare pressing nee -ss'ty
than q railroad to no population A;as-
IA ceds changed avs mere thar rSii-
roads OF prime impHftance would be
a raa zation of Score orv Lanes pro
posal for the government control and
conservation of natural resources.
'fhere seems TO be a feeling that we
win come to governments ownership
yet we have not so far developed any
substitute for private industrial and
traffic cement. Perhaps a leas-
ing system would be the suitable ad
way to their copper mines at an ex-
pense Of 800 100000. The other way
is by the route from Seward which Is
preempted by the Alaska Central rail-
road, the securities of which are held
by Canadian banks, and which has
ceased operating after laying 65 miles
or so of track. Dogs are used to drag
the mails over it and locomotives are
rusting.
Put the Horse Before the Cart.
"The government when 1t starts its
suggested railway from the coast must
buy one or the other of these compan-
les. should say. Yet, Professor
Lawrence Martins idea of a two-mile
mountain tunneled road from Prince
William sound to Turnagain Arm
would avoid the necessity for acquir-
ing the Canadian owned Alaska Cen
trail railroad from Seward to Turn
again Arm. The cost of such IL miles
of railway including the cost of tun-
neing the mountains and evading the
glacier complications is placed at 81
100000, whereas the Alaska Central's
So miles of line cost about $4,000 900
That general route via Turnagain Arm
and up the Susitna valley to Fairbanks
and the Copper River route on which
there are for a quarter of the dis
lance to Fairbanks the Morgan Gug
genheim rails, are the only feasible
rail routes. OF the two the Copper
River route Is the better Once Fair
banks is connected, there is the great
system of navigable rivers, the Yukon
which traverses the land east to west
and its tributaries, for extension serv
ice.
ALASKA is said to have more coal
than Pennsylvania, West Virginia and
Ohio, more copper than Michigan and
Arizona, more gold than California and
Colorado, more tin than Wales and
more FISH than all other American wa
tiers combined. Certainly grants Of
rights to such lands and waters should
not be given as inducement to private
railway building as was done in the
west. NY point is that If the lands
riches We're unlocked to the people,
people would flock in and railways
would follow the people, Just as other
convenences would"