Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1916-04-23

W it, through which Uncle
CO Sam is now building the
3NjGaIM first section Of the railroad
from Seward to Fairbanks.
IN writing at Sunrise, on the northern
] of the peninsula, on the shores OF Turn
/ in Arm | am within few miles OF the
! Of the Alaska Northern railway, which
Gle Sam bought of the builders, and, as
crow flies within twenty or thirty miles
anchorage, the present headquarters OF
railroad construction. | have come here
! IN Seward across country, 'as described
bly last letter, and am now waiting tor A
tor-boat 81 some kind to take me out OF
|rnagan Arm to Anchorage. In my
! els | have already seen something of the
|lai peninsula. and | have learned more
'cerning it from the government en-
[eers and scientists who have been max
topo graphic maps and investigating its
| S and other resources.
The department oil agriculture has Just
'lpleted a soil survey Of the country Two
Its experts. Mr. Hugh H. Bennett and
|bmas ID. Rice. have recently travelled
| it 10 estimate its farming possibilities,
their work will be accessible to the pub
Through the department at Washington
Ey have explored the whole peninsula,
have investigated also the Matanuska
Susitna valleys, all of which are to be
he'd to settlers by the new railroad. The
rts of the geological survey. have com
"a book Of over 200 pages on the
al resources OF the peninsula, and the
: nment is doing all it can to inform the
bile as to the actual conditions here. The
hits Of its work are valuable, and anyone
Getting to go to Alaska should study
Rsubiect through Uncle Sans recent re-
n ches. | would say also that no one
suld 60 without thoroughly understand
j the conditions, and that the "want-to-
#rich-quck" man should stay away. The
Eelopment OF the country will be neces-
by slow, and the making OF money and
4 building up of home in the wilds will
longtime proposition.
md now let us take look at the first
htry to be opened by the government
koad 1t will be the Kenai peninsula and
4 Matanuska and Susitna valleys Just
Eth of it. Within a year from now there
h be regular trains running across the
binsula from Seward to Anchorage, and
road should be completed from the latter
En up the Matanuska valley TO the coal
Ids. The distance from Seward to An
&age is less than one hundred miles, and
TRACKS of the Alaska Northern railroad
lady reach more than three-fourths OF
way. They go almost directly north
' from Seward on Resurrection bay,
Using many beautiful valleys, to Turn
in Arm The distance is seventy-one
IS and the twenty-odd miles from there
knik Arm or Anchorage can easily be
Btructed So far the government has
practically nothing to repair the tracks
] he Alaska Northern and to put it into
dition But there is gasoline car which
northward from Seward daily for
ance of forty-five miles, and this is be-
foperated for the government. The rates
Passage are about cents a mile, and
hits are correspondingly high.
large number of homesteads have al
y been taken UP along the line of the
pad, although no cultivation or clearing
by great extent has been done North
from Anchorage in the Matanuska and
ma valleys, homesteads are now being
up and about two hundred farms have
b been registered along Knik Arm.
are several thousand people living at
bragg, several hundred at Knik, and
are preparing to cut farms out of the
of the Matanuska valley and along
lisitna. Many are planning to get farms
the coal lands.
H. Ka.a. .o.,:....f. IL ii. -.