The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1915-05-01
THE HAsKIN LETTER
The Alaskan Opportunity.

q r,redeE.s >. flasakln

When it is stated that American
| prospectorsShave washed out OF Alas
kan sands. total OF 81 So. 700, 900 in
! gold. il begins TO look as though Tn
Gle Sam had used the judgment OF a
good Yankee land Spectator when he
paid Russia $7.200.oo0 for the froz-
en- peninsula back in 1867. despite
the fact that he was al the time
harshly criticised for throwing away
good money in purchasing such a
waste.
| When it is borne In mind that this
!. placer gold has been found at Jun
/ eau, at Seward, at Fairbanks. at
Nome. each Of which points is some
500 miles from any of the others, the
conclusion must be drawn that the
yellow metal is broadcasIed through
out ALASKA. When it is remembered
:kat placer gold must always have
; been washed down from the hills
ADORE IL. the conclusion is unayofda-
Bile that the rock ribs OF Alaska must
contain great abundance of the
generally accepted standard of value.
Running a railroad into Alaska
promises to change the method OF
mining gold Instead OF looking for
sands. where Il few men may work
! a few months each summer with tkeir
pans, the prospector of the future
will seek the mother lode. the rock
of the mountainside from which the
placer gold came. Having found IT,
he win because of the railroad. be
able to introduce machinery. estab-
fish his stamp mills. sink his shafts.
and work perennially in the bowels
of the earth. despite conditions OF
temperat1.re and darkness that may
prevail outside. As placer mining
the world around has always been
merely the prologue before the great
dr,ms of Wrestling wealth from stone,
so may II be concluded that the cur
tain is lust going mp on the real per
formance that is 10 use this chaotic
end of a continent as its stage set
ting
pushing a line of railroad from Sc
ward on the Pacific. IL miles due
north TO Fairbanks, in the interior.
thing rather less of gold mining than
of some other activities. Probably
ire mind Is most concerned about coal.
Certain II is that the lands which Dor
der ON the Pacific ocean have been
strangely without this best of fuels
Vat thor seems No Question but that
the crook in the elbow of Alaska con-
rains coal fields that rival those OF
PeonsvIyania and may develop into
rhe greatest in the world. These coal
aaI5s co nJaced that they NAV have
an advantage in freight rates 10 half
the world anpear 10 Uncle Sam TO be
. moro sfahis asser than are the gold
m;nes IF This bie territory
Tbere is tho Ma4anuska coal field.
which is among the best so far dis
covered in sIaska and which is 10
he fi;rec.1y tanned bv The government
I;r., or ,o;iroad TT vac bore that =,
nreI;m;narv examination nv govern
newt .aoIoeiets broupht foYrh the
statemsnf tbst sev.nty miles in his
Secfion we're underlain by coal. Much
Of rhis coal i anthracite. the only
fnaI Of ire ouaIiry on the Pacific coast.
Bituminous is equally abundant.
Roth are So located that their min
ine would he .he SIMPLEST operations.
The government has. as a matter OF
fact been more Interested in bitumi-
mons man anthracite. because II has
wa,ted 70 oeIeIop Pacific coast
sunnly Of good steaming coal for
its h.ttleshins In accordance with
this dasire = has mad. tests of the
alsstan Goals ana reports that they
are canal in quality 10 the hes: from
PENNSYLVANIA. or West virginia
There are on the Pacific coast.
number CT Goals that may be used
for ordinary nurooses. but which do
NOT come up 10 the requirements OF
Tho nav Vancouver coal is very
GOOD in its way but it is over vola-
ILL., according TO government tests,
and mnch of lis heat-producing abil-
nv therefore, escapes. The navy may
M, ,sa n A. a result. the govern
NOM fransnorts coal from Newport