Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-04-11
ALASKAN RAILWAY
ROUTE SELECTED
Extends From Seward, on Resur-
rection Bay, to Fairbanks, on
Tanana River.
DISTANCE OF All MILES
Estimated Cost of System $685.
8O0,000-W. c. Edes in Charge
of Construction.

ard-Fairbanks route has been selected
FOR the government railway I'm Alaska,
Secretary Lane announced late to-day.
The property of the Alaska Northern
Railway Company from Seward over
the first stage OF the journey has been
| purchased for s1,15o,oOO.
The government system. the state
ment adds, Will include a thirty eight
| mile branch to tap the Matanuska
coal fields. W. c. Edes is designated
as chairman of the Alaskan Engineer
ing Commission. which will build the
road by the Presidents order. The
! estimated cost of the entire system Is
| given at s2s.Soo.ooo. Congress pro-
vided not to exceed s35.oo0,0Oo.
Secretary Lane said construction
| work would begin at once and that
| probabl forty miles Of the extension
of the Alaska Northern from Ship
Creek would be completed this year
/ Construction Will be carried on under
contract. individual contractors build
! ing separate sections.
! In one of the orders signed by the
! President, the Alaskan commission
was instructed to guard particularly
/ the health OF the men at work, and to
adopt a system Of compensation for
accidents similar to that in force on
the Panama Canal.
! STANDARD GAUGE ROAD
TO BE CONSTRUCTED
The Interior Department In a state
ment said, in part:
The route adopted is known as the
Susitna route, and extends from Sew
ard, on Resurrection Bay, to Fair
banks. on the Tanana River, distance
OF Al miles. This route includes the
existing Alaskan Northern Railroad
which runs from Seward through the
Kenai Peninsula. for distance Of
seventy-one miles, to Turnagain Arm.
| IT is TO be a standard gauge road.
The Alaska Northern has been pur-
! chased for price less than it's physi-
| cal valuation, as estimated by the
Alaskan Engineering Commission, and
by the engineers Of the Interstate
| Commerce Commission.
The President has made an order
! directing that the work be carried on by
the Alaskan Engineering Commission
The members of the commission. which
consists Of William c. Edes. chairman
Lieutenant Frederic Mears, late super
| intendent of the Panama Railway, and
Thomas Riggs. Jr., are directed to pro-
| ceed to Alaska at once. The chair
man Is TO make his headquarters at
Seward Lieutenant Mears Is already
| on his way TO Alaska. Chairman Edes
and Mr.. Riggs will soon follow.
The first work will be the building
| of A wharf at Ship Creek and the
dredging of n more adequate channel
| From this point the railroad will be
constructed northward to the Mata-
nuska field. The proba bility is that
not more than forty miles of road can
be constructed this year, owing TO the
fact that our appropriation is but
| 1000 000
| WORK DOES NOT JUSTIFY
RUSH TO ALASKA
Secretary Lanes statement. in part.
| says
II have received word of a threat
| ened stampede 10 Alaska this season.
| The work 10 be undertaken by the
| government does not Justify any such
! rush. I desire 10 advise those con-
templat!ng going TO Alaska that there
! is little opportunity for employment
in that country at this time.
The route adopted by the President
Will open up territory not now
served by any railroad line and two of
the great coal fields in Alaska, one the
Matanuska field. which contains high
grade bituminous coal. acceptable to
the navy, ad the second. the Nenana
coal field. Near the Tanana River.
which is great body of high-grade
Ignite. and will serve the interior of
| Alaska"
President Wilson's decision on the
route of the proposed government rail-
way through Alaska puts in motion the
most extensive governmental railway
project since the linking OF the East
and the Pacific Coast by the trans
continental railway system. Like the
| latter, the new project has the two
fold aim of opening the way for
pioneers and settlers in this new and
almost unknown region OF vast virgin
resources. and at the same time pro-
viding an outlet for these resources
to reach the seaboard and the trade
routes to the Pacific States and the
| Orient.
MANY NEW PROBLEMS
ARISE FOR SOLUTION
The new project has the added prob
lem of climatic conditions in this far
northern region, its short seasons, and
| a country of mountains and glaciers
quite different from the plains across
which most of the transcontinental
route stretched. Already. however,
| the development Of Ala ska has dis
| PEELED much of the popular idea Of a
region OF snow and ice, and has dis
closed rich and fertile agricultural sec
tions in addition to the boundless re-
sources of coal. copper and other min
erals and fur-bearing animals. Thus
far private enterprise has devised the
only means for penetrating this little
known region. but now, for the frat
time. the government takes In hand
the building and operation OF a rail-
way 1000 miles long. running through
| the heart Of the country.
| President Wilson has before him an
enormous amount Of data on Alaska
to aid in his decision as to which of