El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-09-16

IN the Ncrv heart OF Alaska Ia
= mana claims to be the hub OF the
territory. Ii Is a little town lying on
the right bank of the Yukon Just about
half way between the Pacific and Arc
tic oceans. and half way down the Nu-
kou on its course from the information
al boundary at Eagle to its mouth,
.-nere 1t flows out into BehrIng sea not
Jar from st. Michael. ] have come SOO
miles down the river from Canada on
nv wav to this point and l have SUI
miles more to 20 before ! can get the
little steamer that VIII take me over
Boring sea to Nome. Just opposite
where my steamboat Is anchored Is the
mouth OF the 1anana river II IS
wide sluggish stream. having a course
of something ike 600 miles from the
Wrangell mountains to where II flows
into the Yukon. 1t VIII take me two
DAYS OF steaming TO 90 mp 1t TO FAR
banks, where the terminus OF Uncle
Sans new railroad Is TO be-
Want Railroad TO Tanana.
The people mere think that the rail-
road should be extended TO Ianana-
They claim that the Tanana river Is
not deep enough for large steamers, and
that its sand bars and Islands affect
navigation. They saw that II the road
were so constructed as TO cross the
Yukon at the rapids about 50 miles
above here the cost OF bridging
would be extremely low. and the road
could then be run down the north bank
OF the river to Tanana. opening up a
vast region living 10 the west and north
of the Yukon. This region has some
OF the richest placer deposits Of Alaska,
including those of the hOyukuk river,
where on several occasions as much as
$4,000 worth of quErtz gold has been
foundtat the foot OF a shaft eight or
10 feet in depth. They assert that
such a road would also open up the
great farming possibilities OF interior
Alaska and would give direct access to
the Yukon and its enormous tributary
system
Has Room for Population.
There Is no doubt that Tanana can
offer room for all the population she
NAV have in the future The corporate
limits at present are large enough TO
give an acre TO every man, woman and
child and leave some TO spare. The
town has 400 population. and II IS
scattered along the water front Tor
more than a mile At the lower end
of It begins the army post Of Fort Glib
son. which extends three miles farther,
and which has a government reserVa-
tion Of go square miles
The town consists OF the post ana I
the civil community. The latter has I
two churches. three hotels. SIX saloons I
and several large mercantile etsab- 4
lishments. Ii has also public school I!
and a movie SHOW The buildings are
OF logs and boards. and the place on 4
the whole Is the largest and most pros
Derous OF all ON the Yukon river proper 4
No Real Darkness IN Summer.
The people of Tanana are enthusl-
astic Alaskans. They have chamber
OF commerce. consisting Of boomers
They have a camp OF the Arctic
brotherhood and a local organization
known as the LOYAL Order OF the
Moose. Talk TO them about their VII
lace and they viii make YOU think 1t :
a paradise as beautiful as the vale OF
Kashmir and as salubriOus as Los An
eeles. I asked Judge Dehn- the United
States commissioner. VINO has been here
u wears. what he thought OF the eli
mate. He replied:
Il ike il and I keep healthy and Z
happy summer and winter. Our sum-
mers. which last from Nav until the
middle of September. are more delight
ful than those OF any part OF the states
The thermometer ranges from - to 90
degrees above zero. and FOR the most
Of the time there Is scarcely an hour
that You cannot read within doors
From june Is to the 10th OF July
there Is no real darkness. even at mid
night"
Live On Ice Blocks In Winter
"H0w about your winters / asked.
The man who went away from here
and said that we have nine months OF
hard winter and after that three months
Of bad sleighing is a liar. Our winter
starts in about Oct. l. when the Their
drops to Is degrees above zero.