Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-05-02
THE ALASKAN 0PP0R.
7UNITY.
II.-MineraI Wealth.
By Frederic J. Haskin.

When 1t is stated that American pros
pectors have washed out Of Alaskan
sands a total Of s160.00o.000 in gold It
begins to look as though Uncle Sam
had used the Judgment of a good Yam
kee land Spectator when he paid Rus
STA s7200.000 for the frozen peninsula
back in 1867. despite the fact that he
was at the time harshly criticised for
ing such waste.
When it is borne in mind that this
placer gold has been found at Juneau.
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 broadcasted throughout Alaska.
When It Is remembered that placer gold
must always have been washed down
from hills above 1t, the conclusion is
unavoidable that the rock ribs Of
Alaska must contain a great abundance
of the generally accepted standard of
value
Running a railroad into Alaska prom
ises to change the method of mining
gold. Instead Of looking for sands
where few men may work few
months each summer with their pans
the prospector Of the future will seek
the mother lode. the rock of the noun
tainside from which the placer gold
came. Having found 1t, he will. be-
cause of the railroad. be able to intro
duce machinery, establish his stamp
mills. sink his shafts. and work peren-
nially IN the bowels Of the earth, de-
spite conditions of temperature and
placer mining the world around has
always been merely the prologue be-
fore the great drama of wrestling
wealth from stone. 80 may II be con-
cluded that the curtain is just going
up on the real performance that is to
use this chaotic end of a continent as
its stage setting.
But the federal government, in push
ing line of railroad from Seward, on
the Pacific. Al
Considers Coal miles due north
More Than Gold. the F1 inssE,or in
thinks rather less Of gold mining than
of some other activities. Probably its
mind Is most concerned about coal.
Certain it Is that the lands which bor-
der on the Pacific ocean have been
strangely without this best of fuels.
Yet there seems no question but that
the crook in the elbow of Alaska con-
tains coal fields that rival those of
Pennsylvania, and may develop into
the greatest in the world These coal
fields. SO placed that they may have an
advantage in freight rates to half the
world, appear to Uncle Sam to be a
more stable asset than are the gold
mines of his big territory
There is the Matanuska coal field, for
instance. which is among the best so
far discovered in Alaska, and which is
to be directly tapped by the govern
ment line of railroad. 1t was here that
preliminary examination by govern
ment biologists brought forth the
statement that seventy square miles in
this district were underlain by coal
Much OF this coal is anthracite, the
only fuel OF its quality on the Pacific
coast Bituminous is equally abundant
Both are SO located that their mining
would be the simplest of operations.
The government has. as a matter of
fact, been more interested in btu
minous than anthracite, because 1t has
wanted to develop a Pacific coast sup
ply of good steaming coal for it's bat
tleships. In accordance with this de-
sire, II has made tests of the Alaskan
Goals. and reports that they are equal
in quality to the best from Pennsyl-
yania or West Virginia.
There are on the Pacific coast a
mum Der of Goals that may be used for
ordinary pur-
Fuel Transported poses. but
From Coast to Ceast. winch do not