The Washington herald., 1914-03-29

fornia and Colorado; more FISH tnan can
be found In all the rest Of American
waters and more agricultural lands tnAn
have Norway, Sweden and Finland.
snow VIII Not Bother the Road.
The American people as whole may
be ignorant respecting Alaska NO sucn
charge. however, can be brought against
the Alaskan Syndicate. The climate mas
not kept the syndicate out Of the coun-
try. Persons approaching our Southern
coast in ships see glaciers In the as
tance. They imagine, therefore, that the
interior must be q pin cushion OF glaciers
clear up to the Arctic Ocean. As mat
ter of fact all Of our glaciers are along
the Southern seaboard and are caused oy
moisture arising from the Pacific and
falling on the slopes of the mountain
side.
"Our coastal mountains divide the
country into two climatic regions. There
Is q great deal of rain and snow on the
side toward the shore Of the Pacific. The
climate back Of the mountains. beyond
the glaciers. is dry and cold in winter
and hot in summer. I am thus particu-
lar in speaking of our climate because
many persons believe that once the gov
ernment railroad is built it cannot be
operated but for a short period each year.
Trains. however, will be run every
day In the year. Winter stages carry
passengers from Valdez, a port on our
Southern coast, to Fairbanks, more than
400 miles northward. For nine years in
succession these stages never missed
scheduled trip. There are harbors in
Alaska, washed by the warm japanese
current. in which ice never forms, no
matter how cold it may be in North Da-
kota. Northern New York. Montana, Can
ada or the interior of Alaska.
Mines forty-ffve miles ffom Fairbanks
are worked twelve months in the year.
Nine automobiles go daily to the mines
throughout the winter. More than 200
species OF birds live in Alaska. taking
one month with another. Prairie chickens.
owls. ravens, hawks and Canadian jays
are to be seen In winter, and geese.
ducks, robins, swallows and humming
birds come to US from the South when
the snow melts and the ice goes out of
the rivers.
"Our farmers grow wheat. barley, oats.
rye, potatoes. berries, all kinds Of vege-
tables and the finest celery in the world.
Kalamazoo included. They begin plant
ing the latter part Of May. The crops
grow and ripen during June, July. August.
and September. There are five months
of navigation on the rivers of interior
Alaska. There is a fixed day. May 10.
when the ice breaks up. We set a day
but. of course. nature often interferes
with our calendar. The ice may begin
moving out on May or May T. On
October 10 the rivers are closed for the
winter.
A mighty system of Rivers.
Also would like to say a few words
about our interior rivers, seven in num-
ber. now navigated by large packet
steamers. The government railroad is to
connect them, you understand, with the
Southern coast. The Yukon. let me tell
my fellow countrymen, discharges one
third more water than does the Missis-
sippi From St Michael, its mouth. in
Bering Sea to White Horse. in Canada,
Is 2.l64 miles. This great stretch Of the
Yukon is always navigated in season
from the railroad will reach the
Yukon a month before the ice breaks up
at St Michael and before ships from