The Cordova daily times., 1915-12-16


 A. Strong has just been released for publication. It contains 116 pages, and treats on every part of Alaska. Under the caption, What of Alias ka's Future" he says:
 Prom what has been written above 1t may be thought by some that Alaska is a Tand flowing with milk and honey like the promised land of the ancient Israelites. It is a greatly superior land, in point of fact. to the one of ancient times, but the milk must be sought out, and the honey carefully gathered. It is but truism to say that Alaska and its resources have been consistently and insistently misrepresented since It's purchase from Russia. It has taken many years of patient effort to convince people elsewhere that Alas ka is really a land of promise. In the early days of the territory the few people who visited it as tourists gained their impressions of the coun- try from the deck of a steamship, and wrote and talked accordingly. They were looking for the grotesque and bizarre, for glaciers and ice bergs, polar bears and totem poles, and the fur-clad Eskimo, hence their motifs covered these and little more The immense latent riches of the country were overshadowed or lost sight of in their zeal to find those things of which they in turn had read tions of the time. But a change has taken place. Alaska, as 1t is, is be- coming better known with the pass ing of each year. People of other lands are coming to see 1t for them selves. Many of these are not skirt ing merely the southern coast, but are visiting every other section.
 Tourist travel to Alaska the past summer was the greatest by far in its history. This was in part due, no doubt, to the war In Europe, which impelled many people to visit other lands and safer places. The scenic beauty of Alaska Is unsurpassed. It's mountain ranges are the most mag nificent on the continent It's bays, fiords, inlets and harbors are com. parable at least with those of Nor way. The mighty Yukon and other rivers of the interior afford 5000 miles of inland navigation. From the deck of a river steamer, valley and plain and towering mountain peaks, seen in the distance in the long per spective of waxing and waning lights and shades of the summer day, are delight to the eye. The country abounds with lakes, set like jewels in the midst of mountains, affording the finest fishing, while deer, cari- bou, mountain sheep, goats, moose, waterfowl and shore birds furnish game for the sportsman with a mini mum amount of effort. Alaska has all the natural attractions to make 1t an ideal summer resort and a sana- torium for thousands of people of the United States. The summer months in most sections are balmy, the air being pure, clear and healthful.
 From a mere material standpoint Alaska's natural resources have told and are telling their own story. It is not alone a land of gold, for 1t has many kinds of precious metals and other minerals. Its production of silver is not unimportant item. It's copper production is steadily forging to tine front, and the output Of this metal alone during the present cal endar year will probably reach in value $2O,O0O.O0O. It has unlimited quantities of>coal, as yet undeveloped, but with the probability that it will soon be producing high grade steam ing and coking coals unequalIed in quality by any on the Pacific Slope of the continent. It has extensive areas of agricultural land, as evil denced by the prosperous ranches of the Panama valley and other parts of the territory. Cattle have been raised in Southwestern Alaska ever since the days of Russian occupation. It has been estimated that Alaska | has 30.000 s0uare miles of agricul-