El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-09-30

-ARBANkS- AldShd- SEPT "v-
Fairbanks is the Chicago Of Alas
i ka. the future metropolis in the
heart of the territory. II is TO be the
terminus Of Uncle Sans new railway,
The point where the river and rail navi-
-ation will center and join The town
might be called the hub Of Alaska i
- almost equidistant between Bering
SEA and the international boundary,
and very nearly half way between the
Pacific and the Arctic oceans il hes
well ND on the globe and its Latitude
is SIS degrees north
II YOU should draw a line through
Fairbanks running around the Worid, Il
would cross the Seward peninsula
about 100 miles or more north OF Nome
would 20 through Bering STRAIT ana
cut Siberia almost in half Lhehce u
would 20 on through Russia Sue inlles
north of PetrOgrad. and through NoI-
way and Sweden at about the same
distance north of Chr-stlanla anu
Stockholm. Il would ruu through the
center OF Iceland and cross Greenland
several hundred miles north or us
southern boundary. 1t would 20 through
the upper part Of Hudsons bay, ana
over the widest part Of the dominion
Of Canada. crossing the internal loii4l
boundary not far from where II IS clt
by the Yukon
Three Routes for Reaching Town
There are three routes by winch the
town is reached from the OUTSIDE Inc
first involves 1900 miles by ocean
steamer from Seattle 10 SkaSWaY- 1lV
niles by rail over the White pass 10
the head Of the navigation OF the u
kon at White Horse. and from there
lust about 1909 miles down mat river
and Up the Tanana TO taiTbanhs- An
other route is from Seattle to Nome and
81 Michael at the mouth OF the Yukon
across the Pacific ocean and Boring
sea This is 2700 miles long and one
has to travel 100 miles more up the
Yukon river before he gets here.
The first trip takes ten or u days.
TIE second with the stoppages neces-
Sarv from two weeks 10 a month and
both must be made IN the summer.
y hen navigation IS open The third
route is by ship from Puget sound to
Valdez or CordOYa- on Prince William
sound. and thence here across country
" dog sled or by automobile The last
route is fhe shorter. but much more eX-
rensive When the railroad is finished
the trip 10 Fairbanks viii be made in
four or five DAYS. and the cost viii be
greatly reduced The town viii then
be one of the traffic points on the map
Ct the world.
At Junction Of Railroad and River.
Fairbanks is at the junction OF the
railway and river navigation of the ,
territory. This does not mean that the Z
town lies on the Yukon Alaska Is a I
land Of great rivers, and the Yukon /
has many large navigable tributaries
one Of these is the Tanana. q stream I
more than 500 miles long tt is on a
branch OF the Tanaua that Fairbanks /
is located. and that within 2SO miles I
Of where il flows into the Yukon
It took me two days TO come I'D the ]
Tsuana river from Fort Gibbon to 4
Fairbanks. The stream IS wide all the I
wav and its current Is such that IL
tears the trees from the banks and
ma kes long WindroWs Of timber on the
edge Of the water. The Tanana is navi- I
gable for some distance above Fair
banks. and its valley has millions OF ,
acres OF agricultural land Il is in this
valley that Fairbanks lies
In the Gold Country
The place Is also In the heart of large
areas or goid-ieaFius z-rs--eI- -rh~ coufl-
try about is Eu1eyed by creeks. from s
T-hich more than $4,000 ooo worth OF
gold has been taken. and where they
are now washing out $4,000, goo OF So
000. 600 a year The gold all comes
from gravel and earth that has been
frozen for thousands Of years. and IL
has to be thawed and dug up 10 get
out the metal This requires fuel
which viii he brought in by the rail
read at such d cost that the output OF I
the mines can be greatly increased
The railroad now building. viii tap
coal fields near Fairbanks. and the
a
mining. both placer and quartz. OF ]
these L shall write in detail in the I
future
How the Town Appears.
Let me give you some pictures OF the
Fairbanks Of today You know that II
Is 10 be the terminus OF the new rail-
road and you may have had dreams as 4
TO what il looks ike Whatever they
are they cannot represent the reality
Fairbanks is like nothing in the heav- i
on q 10 VII hon
the waters under the earth II might I
be worshiped without king the first
commandment It has municipal en-
dIviduality- II is a combination of the
By and the sumptuous- Of the old and &
the new. and in an il is different
Take a look AT the main business
street Il IS a wide dirt road with
plank sidewalks. from which rise frame +
buildings Of one and two stories The
front walls OF the stores extend high
above the roofs and are cut off hori-
zcntally 70 make them look taller The
sky line is a jagged saw. The stores
are wholesale and retail They lave
plate glass windows and the assortment
within them is of every description. I
They carry stocks as large as similar !
establishments Of several times the size /
in The states
Fairbanks is the trading center Of in
terror Alaska and goods from here 20 !
10 the mining camps OF the Tanana
the Yukon. the koyukuk and the IN I
noka rivers. on the last Of which is the I