Evening star., 1916-05-07

,co,,-,-hted 1915. by Frank C. Carpenter)
ANCHORAGE. Alaska.
HAVE lust returned from a ride
III along the line of Uncle Sans rail-
way. The new construction be-
q gins here at the mouth of Ship
creek. where ocean steamers land their
supplies in the summer, and the road
he'd has been graded for about forty
miles. Twenty miles of track have
been already laid. and everything
is in preparation for rapid work as
soon as Congress passes the bill sup
plying the money. The work has neen
go pushed that by last November the
engineers had done what II was sup
posed would require the whole winter
They have made careful surveys OF the
route from here to Fairbanks, and nave
covered the branch line which goes
from Matanuska Junction to the Chick
aloon coal fields. They have gone over
the Alaska Northern railway, whlch
Uncle Sam bought last year at cost OF
s115O 600. and have put thirty-hVe
miles of that road in running condI-
S..u. They have laid out the extension
~ the Alaska Northern TO Anchorage,
ard in short. have now planned the
whole ra aiIway. They have made care
fuI estimates Of the cost of everything
connected with II. and have constructed
contour maps showing the couhtfE on
.be scale of one inch TO the mile lhey
know lust what they have to expect.
and from now on the road can be push
Id as rapidly as Congress VIII FURNISH
She money
The act providing for government rail-
roads IN Alaska was passed March Il.
1914 II authorized the operation and
building Of railroads here to an extent
not 70 exceed GOO miles and at cost
Of not more than $a5.goo, GOO 1t was on
this authorization that the President
bought the Alaska Northern railway and
decided 10 extend it 10 Fairbanks. as
lance Of az miles. at cost of some
thing Ike -. bGG 900 But Congress Will
. have 10 appropriate the money as needed
and the progress Of the work is depend
ont up1u the Two houses at Washington.
In 1914 the appropriations amounted to
about 81 r-lp- 600 Something like 81 000.
0o0 was appropriated last year and the
engineers have asked for SO. .0OV, 600 to be
spent in 1916. II that Is granted the
road TO the Matauuska coal fields can
lie completed and the lower portion OF
the extension to FaIrba nks put into
operation this YEAR. The road can also
fe built from the <.naua coal fields to
the Fairba gks gold mines. giving that
rich territory the cheap fuel IT SO greatly
needs
tn. total length Of the govern ineut
raAwg. vHl be under 500 miles, and
the engineers tell me II can be con-
strtIctcd at an average cost Of about
so 0pG per mile Iu some places the
cost will run to Sqh, 900 per mile, but IN
others II will be 10000 or under. The
ROAD will cost about the same as the
western end Of the Grand Trunk Pacific
railway and IL viii be more expensive
than the Northern Pacific or the Puget
sound division Of the Chicago. hilwa ukee
aud 50. Paul. The track is to be of the
standard gauge, with rails OF seventy
pounds to the yard. II will be substan-
TALLY built and Of the most modern con-
striictiOH-
! like the way our government eng
ueers are handling their job. There Is
no red tape here at Anchorage and 50
far fuss and feathers" are absent The
three engineer comm issioners are AZ
plain as pipe stems, aud they tramp
about with the men and go over the job
"u foot aud on horseback. \eVerthe-
less william e. Edes. the chairman al
the COMM sion, has bulk some of the
great roads Of the west. Lieut., Fred
erick Mears was superintendent of the
railway at Panama, and Thomas Riggs
jr., was at the time of his selection
chief Of the boundary survey. They are
all men of practical experience and are
especially htted for life and work or
the frontier.
] have already written of the head