The Cordova daily times., 1915-05-07
FAIRBANKS WILL BE INTERIOR
 TERMINAL

In a recent issue of the Seattle Times, J. J. Underwood furnishes the following story on the railroad situa- ton:
 Every position in connection with the Alaska railroad is filled and there are more than 45,OO applicants on the waiting list.
 Alaska is flooded with labor and many will be unable to find employ ment All extra labor needed will be engaged in Alaska.
 As far as possible the timber used Alaskan forests. the commission hay ing been given full authority to use all the timber it may need without paying duty to the forestry bureau.
 The work on the railroad this year will be done on small contracts. No big contracts will be let as the com mission has not sufficient money to pay for them. The bulk of the ap- propriation will not become available before July l.
 Fairbanks will be the interior ter minal of the railroad. The three routes from the Nenana river to the Panama metropolis will be surveyed this summer.
 The railroad rom Snip CreeK to the Matanuska coal fields will not be completed until next year.
 When that section of the road Is completed the commission expects to go on a paying basis Immediately
 Thomas Riggs. T., member of the Alaska Engineering Commission gave out the foregoing crisp paragraphs of information pertaining to the Alaska railroad this morning. MT. Riggs ar rived in Seattle last night from Wash ington, and will leave for the north on May 6. He is accompanied by c. F. Cramer, his private secretary. With A million details to attend to, with thousand people waiting jobs and hundreds of supply houses furnishing bids and offering to furnish bids on various knids of supplies and equip ment, MT. Riggs is extremely busy. He has no time to waste on non-essen- tials.
 You cannot emphasize too strong ly that there is already a large sur plus Of labor in Alaska" he said. And we haven't room for a single man in any position. As far as possible we give all the work to the people all ready in Alaska. They are the peo- pie who have borne the brunt of the battle up there and have made the railroad a necessity.
 Not much construction will be done this year. We haven't got the money to pay for it The road will be completed from Ship Creek to the Matanuska coal fields next year, and we hope 1t will be placed on paying basis immediately. There is no req son why it shouldn't. There Is e. nough freight in coal to make it pay, and we expect to have considerable tonnage from the Broad Pass country as soon as the line is completed fur ther up the Susitna. This, however, is couple of years in the future.
 "All work this year will be done on small contracts. We will cut as much timber as we need from the Alaskan forests
 'T am going into the Fairbanks re- zion to survey the routes from the mouth of the Nenana river to Fair banks. Fairbanks will be the inter for terminal. It is not mentioned in the official announcements of the routes because there are three feas- ible lines from the mouth of the Ne mana.
 "The Nenana coal will be opened for Ioean consumption. It is expected that the regulations under which the Alaska coal fields may be leased will be formulated and adopted within the next thirty days. and the government will be ready to consider leasing lands fo responsible parties. It Is expect ed that the opening and development of the coal fields will be contempora- i neous with the railroad construction. MT. w. c. Edes is chairman of the