Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-10-01

D
through Fairbanks running around the
world. il would cross tho Seward Pc.
ninsula about 100 miles or moro north
OF Nome. would go through Bcrinr
Strait and cut Siberia almost in half.
Thence II would 20 on through Russia
800 miles north OF pctrorrud. and
through Norway and Sweden at about
the same distance north OF CHRISTIANS
and stockholm. 1t would run through
the center of Iceland and cross Green
land several hundred miles north of its
southern boundary. 1t would go through
the upper part of Hudson BAY. and
over the widest part of tho Dominion
OF Canada. crossing the international
boundary not far from where il is cut
by the Yukon.
! have come TO Fairbanks via tho Yu-
kon. There are three routes by which
the town Is reached from the outside.
The first involves a thousand miles by
ocean steamer from Seattle to Siagway.
ITO miles By rail over tn. White Pass
70 the head OF the navigation of tho
Yukon at White Horse. ana from there
just about 1900 miles down that river
ana up the Tanana TO Fairbanks An
other route is from Seattle 10 Nome and
81. Michael. at the mouth OF the Yukon.
across the Pacific Ocean and Bcrinc
sea. This is 200 miles long and ono
mas TO travel LOO miles more up the
Yukon River before he gets here Tho
hrst trip takes ten or twelve DAYS, tho
second with the stoppages necessary
from Two weeks to month. and both
Fiust pc made In the summer when
navigation Is open The third route is
by ship from PudEet Sound TO Valdez
or Cordova. on Prince William Sound.
aha thence here across country by doc,
slcn or by automobile Tho last route
is the shorter. but much moro oxncn-
siNe. When the railroad is finished III,
TRIP TO Fairbanks will he made in four
or hNe days and tho cost will be rrc,t
~ reduced. The town Will then he
one OF the traffic points on the mon
OF the world.
JUNCTION Of RAILWAY
AND RIVER NAVIGATInS
FAIRBANKS is at the junction OF the
railway ana river NAVIGATION Of mo
territory. This docs not mean that the
town lies on the Yukon Alaska &c 3,
iand or great rivers. and tho Yukon
mas many large navigable tributaries
one OF these Is tho Tanana, - stream
more than GOO miles long II is ~, :,
branch of the Tanana tina, Fairhanlts
is located. ana that within $50 miles
OF where 1t flows into the Yukon n
TOOK me two days TO come M the
Iannna River from Fort Ciibhon to
rairhanks' The stream is wide ali the
way, ana It's current is such tina, il
tears the trees from The banks and
makes long windrowS Of timber ON
the edge of the water. The Tanana is
navigahie for some distance above
Fairbanks and its valley has millions
OF acres of agricultural land II is in
thlS valley that Fairbanks lies
Ihe place is also in the heart Of
large areas of Gold-bcaring gravel!
me country about is Gulleycd by
creeks. from which more than $4,000
ooo worth OF gold has been taken and
where they are now washing ont ST
100000 to $5,000,O0O Il year The gold
all comes from gravel and earth that
mas been frozen for thousands of years
and it has to be thawcd and dug IN to
get out the metal This requires fuel
which will be brought in by the rail.
road at such a cost that the output Of
the mines can be greatly increased
The railroad. now building, will tap
coal heids near Fairbanks. and the
cheap fuel Will make q revolution I'm
mining, both placer and quartz. or
these | shall write in detail in the flu
turc.
Let me give YOU some pictures of the
Fairbanks of to-day. You know that
II is to he the terminus of the new
railroad, and You may have had dreams
rs TO what II looks like. Whatever
they are, they cannot represent the
reality. Fairbanks is like nothing in
the heavens above, in the earth beneath
or i'm the waters under the earth 1t
might be worShipcd without breaking
the first commandment. II has a mu-
nicipal entity OF it's own, and. "a de-
lightful individuality. 1t is a com
bination of the picturesque and the
plain. Of the shabby and the sumptuous,
of the old and the new, and In all 1t
is different.
Take look at the main business
street. 1t Is 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-
zontally to make them look taller.
The skyline is jagged saw. The
stores are wholesale and retail. They
have plate-s lass windows and the as
sortment within them is OF every de-
scription. They carry stocks s large
as similar establishments of several
times the size in the states. Fair
banks is the trading center of interior
Alaska and goods from here go to the
mining camps Of the Tanana. the Yu-
| kon. the Koyukuk and the 1nnoka
Ktvers. on the last OF which is the
| ditarod gold camp The town has large
warehouses; OF galvanized iron and
| some of it's wholesale firms do a busi-
less that runs into the millions. 1t
mas machine shops and Sawmill. 1t