davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-01-02

the same latitude as Edinburgh, the cap- ital of Scotland, and Juneau is, venture, by far the warmer The same is true of Sitka and Copenhagen. The whole Scan dinavian peninsula is within the latitude of Alaska, and some of the Aleutian Is- lands are farther south than Birming- ham, Berlin. Dublin or Warsaw ketchi- can and Moscow are on about the same parellel.
 Alaska is an unknown world as to its mineral resources. Only about one- fourth of the country has been ex- plored by our geologists and not one hundredth of it's has yet been touched by the foot of the prospector Never theless. it's placer miners have already brought in more than s20O, 900, ,Oo0 worth of gold. pr. A. H. Brooks of our geological survey estimates that there are several hundred million dollars worth of gold dust and nuggets still in the gravel of the Seward peninsula Fifty million dollars worth had been taken out of that region up to 1908, and during my stay at Nome I saw them dredging and hydraulicking quantities of gold from the tundra. Enormous dredges are now working at Dawson, and that region is still producing its millions of dollars a year. I spent sometime on the gold dredges there, and shall tell you how they are turn ing over the icy gravel beds of the Klondike to a depth of from 30 to 60 feet
 A great future for Alaska will be found in it's quartz mines. You have all heard of the Treadwell proper ties and of their product of low grade gold. Just opposite them, across the Gastineau channel, other mines are being opened that are already produc- ing millions, and will be producing millions for century to come. The gold regions of Juneau promise to be second only to those of South Africa in their great gold production
 The copper deposits are unknown and unprospected, although some have been opened which are already produc- ing millions of dollars per annum Tn coming back from Alaska I travelled on a steamer which had S6OOO0O worth of copper concentrates in its hold, and the manager of the mine from which they came told me his company would pay $6,000,000 in dividends this year. There are new copper mines on an island not far from Seward, and copper is being mined at a profit on Prince of Wales Island, in southeastern Alaska.
 As to the coal of the territory, the Mantanuska fields are to be opened up
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-01-02

and the mainland of Alaska is less than 40 miles from Siberia at Boring strait The Island of Attu, at the end of the Aleutian chain is not far from Asia From north to south Alaska reaches almost as far as from Canada to Mexico
 This mighty territory is world in the variety of it's lands and waters It is a country of seas, lakes and rivers, and of almost as many islands as the empire o1 Japan It has vast continental main- land, with mountains and valleys, rolling plateaus and great lowland plains. I trav- eled 1000 miles through rocky islands in going from Seattle to Skagway; and later passed through the Aleutian archi- pelago, which extends from the end of the Alaskan peninsula about as far vest ward as the distance from the Atlantic ocean to the Mississippi river. The Island of Kodiak is as big as Porto Rico, and Prince of Wales Island is as large as Connecticut. All of these islands are green from one years end to the other, and some have a vegetation as dense as that of Hawaii.
 
 vessels which are now exploring the waters and dragging the channels for the terrible pinnacle rocks that rip open the hulls of the big ocean steamers. The off cials tell me that the Alaskan coast line, with its windings, is longer than the girth of the world at the equator, and that it IS for the most part uncharted. The de- partment of commerce is building new ships for this work.
 The rivers of Alaska cover all parts of the territory, and their navigable waters reach thousands of miles, I travelled al- most 2O00 miles on the Yukon. That river is the fifth among the great streams of the North American continent, and in the United States it is surpas ssed only by the Mississippi Missouri. The Kuskokwim which lies south of it. has just been opened by the coast survey vessel, and it is found that steamers can travel upon it into the heart of the country as far as from New York to Cleveland.
 I spent two days steamng from the Yukon up the Panama river from Fort Gibbon to Fairbanks. That river flows into the Yukon. It will be cut by the new railroad now building. It has a wide valley as long as from Philadelphia to Pittsburg.
 And then there is the Porcupine. that is a big stream, that flows 800 miles down from the north. Dan Cadzo, who has store on it just beyond the Cam adian boundary, tells me he can go by stream all the way to his station.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-01-02

There are three mountains there of over 10000 feet which have not yet been named. They belong to the Alaskan range, which and has a width here ana there approx lmating so miles. The range has several low passes, and one of these, Broad pass, is only 2700 feet above the sea. It is from six to eight miles in width and it forms an easy way for Uncle Sams new rail- road to get into the great central valley. It is over that pass the survey has been made.
 Extending eastward from the Alaska range, we have the Aleutian mountains, that run hundreds of miles through the Alaskan peninsula, and then, dropping dcwn into the sea, form the A1eutian Islands, extending 1900 miles farther They are volcanic peaks, some of which are 5000 feet high. The volcano of Katmai belongs to that chain.
 North of the great plateau is the Rocky mountain system. This IS not so high as the mountains of the south, but in places the range is 100 miles wide
 We are apt to think Of Alaska and the North Pole as synonymous. They remind US of nothing but glaciers or of noun ta1ns of ice and of perpetual snow. We have read of the terrible cold, where the thermometer falls to 70 degrees below zero; of the reindeer and dog teams flying over the snow and of the Cimmerian darkness of the long winter nights The truth is, Alaska is a world in it's climate, and the nights are so bright that they seem almost day. Only one-fourth of the country lies inside the Arctice circle, and has weather that could be considered as Arctic. Other parts of it are as tenn perate as Tennessee or Kentucky, and southeastern Alaska, a region larger than Maine, has a winter climate milder than that of Washington city. The great Yu- kon valley a land of rolling plains and plateaus. has winters like those of Mon- tana and northern Dakota and the sum- mers of the whole territory are not far different from those of Ohio,- Indiana and Virginia. In midsummer I found the whole land covered with dense vegeta- tion, and it seemed to me that you could drop any part of it down into the main body of the United States and at slight distance away you would not recognize the change.
 There is such crass ignorance concern ing the climate of Alaska that I will say a little more about latitude. Take the city of Seward which is to be the terminus of our new railroad. That town is no farther north than St. Petersburg and it is not half so cold in the winter Juneau, the capital of Alaska, is in about
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-01-02

shoes to which are attached ice skates. It IS said to be healthful sport, and surely 1t is no more harmful than any sport in which booze and other things play a prominent part.
 New York's dramatic critics are well treated by the theatre folk They seem to be thoroughly appreciated. The oth- CT night critic stopped 70 speak to producer who had just opened show that did not seem to go well.
 'l couldn't get around to see the show last night said the D. c. to the producer.
 Thanks" replied the latter
 The lnterborough Rapid Transit com pany, the New York Railways com pany and the Third Avenue Railway company have raised the wages of 15.- 900 car men. That must indicate that the owners are satisfied with the work of their employees, and now we shall not be able to understand a syllable of what they say, nor procure any in- formation at all.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-01-02
NEW WORLD OF ALASKA

Into the lower Yukon empties the In- noka, up which you go to the Iditarod gold region, and from the north comes down the Koyokuk, whose sands are also gold bearing. The latter stream is eco miles long.
 Have you ever heard of the River Ko- bulk? It flows into the Arctic ocean at Kotzebue sound. They are now washing gold from it's sands, and MT. Patterson. who has trading station at it's mouth, showed me the photograph of gold mug get from there almost as big as my fist. The Colville is another great river that drains the far north
 The mainland of Alaska is practically unknown. It consists of a great central valley over 200 miles wide with mighty ranges of mountains on the north and the south These ranges correspond to those which uphold our Rocky mountain plateau, but the central valley is much lower and it slopes gently down toward Bering sea. The fall is less than foot to the mile all the way from the Can adian boundary. The Yukon, which flows through it, is so sluggissh that it builds up great islands and on the Yukon flats, about two days ride from the boundary of Canada, the stream in places is 20 miles wide At the lower end of the val ley and along Boring sea there are coastal plains; and another great plain extends from the Arctic ocean back distance of perhaps 150 miles before the rugged high lands begin.
 And then the mountains of Alaska! Be- fore I investigated the country thought it was almost all mountains, and had no idea that there were millions on millions of acres of lowlands and high rolling plains. There are some places in laska where you can travel for miles without seeing hill
 There are low tracts of vast extent far in the interior. The Yukon flats which l crossed last summer, are in the heart of the country and only 800 feet above the level of the sea-
 Nevertheless, Alaska has the highest mountains on the North American conti- nent. It has some of the greatest glacial fields upon earth, and scores of it's peaks never lose their perpetual snow. McKin- ley, which kisses the sky at over 900 feet, is the tallest mountain north of the Isthmussof Panama, and it will be easy of access to tourists when the new rail road is finished. A little farther east is and about Mount Wrangell, in a territory not three-fourths as big as Massachu- sets, there are 10 snow-clad peaks twice as high as Mount Washington, and two which are higher than Mount Blanc.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-01-02

pickers congregated together under enc management.
 Again I landed on the southern tat mosphere," believing that would be a sumner. but was told that New York atmosphere" and that if I were not getting the kind I wanted I was simp- ly living in the wrong section.
 It's no use When anything gets to be the biggest, or best, on earth. you can't do a thing with it. Many people say that in the matter of technique Caruso is not in the same class that Jean de Reszke was, when at his best But Caruso is the best in the world and has held his high position for a decade or more, as he naturally spends sleepless nights worrying about the superiority of Jeans technique.
 The theatre Francis here, is making good. 1t was at first doubted if the keep it going, but it is now known that many who are not French. but who desire to become more familiar with that language, attend the theatre Fran cais regularly.
 'LAmi Fritz" a 50-year- old comedy, IS being presented there this week and is drawing full houses. The actors speak excellent French-so somebody told us.
 The New York Morning World is waging a war, with printers ink, against the motor car accidents here. It has brought out the startling fact that motor vehicles claim victim on New Yorks streets every 75 minutes of the day and night, and that one out of every 20 dies.
 The passenger cars claim the great, est number of victims, the motor trucks getting second "honors." It is further claimed that drivers seldom arc
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-01-02

by Uncle Sam's new railroad. There is one patch not far from the route which is said to have veins 40 feet thick, and to contain many million tons. Some of our geologists have fig ured the amount of good coal in Alaska at 150,000,000 tons. and others say that the country has enough coal to last the human race more than 100 years at the present rate of consumption.
 Alaska is an unknown world as to its farming resources. I stood on the hills near Fairbanks, and looked over mill lion or so of acres of tillable soil in the Tsnana valley. The whole territory Is said to have 5O,000O00 acres of possible farm lands, and the Aleutian Islands will feed thousands Of cattle. Here and there I visited the homesteaders, and I stopped perimental farms. Upon one of them the grain which stood in the fields reached to the height of my head and I saw them growing oats. barley and hay, and even alfalfa. I saw potato patches that were yielding four tons to the acre, and one potato field which, I was told, had a crop in the ground that will sell for $1O,0U0
 Another surprise was the wild berries that grow all over Alaska, and another the wild flowers that make the sides of the hills and the lower slopes of the mountains blazes of color, I found plenty of grass everywhere and in places the weeds were as high as my head. I saw fat stock on the homesteads of the Panama valley, and visited dairies which were supplying butter and milk to the towns and mining camps nearby. The Aleutian Islands have climate milder than Scot land, and on the Island of Kodiak, which is as big as Porto Rico. they are now raising Galloway cattle and long-wooled sleep.
 Tn connection with the farming of Alas ka. shall describe new industries which I have found starting up here and there over the territory. I shall speak of the fox farms and show how fur-farm- ing will eventually be one of the great sources of our clothing. The climate of Alaska is just right for furs and the hunter and trapper will eventually be displaced by the fur farmer. Fox farms already are springing up here and there along the Yukon and other rivers, and fox skins are shipped from there to the ma arkets of London.
 Another great possibility of the future will be the raising of reindeer for the United States markets. I have visited the reindeer herds and the slaughter houses at Nome, where the deer are even
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-01-02

sent to jail except in default of fines. One driver who had been arrested 39 times finally got 10 days
 If the number of accidents continues at this rate, and the war in Europe ends before many more moons. New York will lose it's recently won supremacy as the largest city in the world. At any rate, it will not have the largest population, though the buildings may not be run down by the autos.
 Any one desiring advices as to an avoidance of being the victim of be- ing one of these numerous accidents, can get it--here it is-buy a car your self, never walk, and if the accidents must continue, be among those who cause them and not aDlong those injured by them.
 The Devils Garden,' a new play just opened at the Harris theatre, brings forth the criticism that Satan is poor gardener, since in his Car den' nothing is raised but birthstone. It is said to be a very unpleasant play. and yet not without effectiveness as Lynn Harding acts it.
 The World of Pleasure continues in favor at the Winter Garden and Hip. Hip Hoorayv' seems good for quite a while at the Hippodrome.
 However. skating and dancing on indoor ice seems to be more popular than any show in the theatre district, and it is getting hold of new devotees every week. There are now more fancy dances on ice skates than one would have thought possible. and the costumes appropriate for such sport are of a character to attract many male admir- CTS.
 If you go home on the subway late at night you win find about every one person in 10 carrying pair of special
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-01-02

By FRANK c. CARPENTER


 Copyright, 1916, by Frank G. Carpenter.) GAYY1HAvE discovered a new world. lWI It is the world of Alaska It belongs, to you and to me, and lsx@Wsgl is a part of Uncle Sans big
 farm. We have had it about 50 years and have never realized the wealth under our feet. The discovery. on my part, reminds me of the Hindu who was devoured with great lust for dia- monds. He lived on small farm upon the plateau of the Decean. He sold his farm that he might hunt for these prec- ious stones He travelled all over the world and spent a lifetime in the search, At last he returned home to learn that the diamond mines of Golconda, the rich est of the then world, had been found on his own little farm. And so, for all most lifetime, I have travelled through foreign lands seeking strange things to write about and I now find the strangest right here in my own country and al most under my feet. ,E went to Alaska last spring, shortly after the breaking up of the ice, and spent the whole summer and fall: there, making photographs and gathering ma terial for series of letters of which this is the beginning. I found the coun- try full of new things, and stories of live human interest came to me at every step. The territory was so different from what I had anticipated, and withal so wild, that it made me feel like a pioneer, and at times I imagined myself a Fernando de Soto or a Columbus, rather than a plain newspaper man, gathering plain notes of travel for the plain people
 have called Alaska world. I won der if you appreciate what a great world it is? The territory contains more than one-sixth of all the land under the Amer lean flag. It has so much that if it were all divided equally among the citizens of the United States there would be IS acres for every family and leave some to spare. Alaska is almost three times as big as Germany, or France, or Austria Hungary or the Spanish peninsula. It is one-third larger than the Atlantic states from Maine to Florida; larger than all of our territory north of Tennessee and east of the Mississippi river If Alaska could be lifted up and dropped down upon the main body of our country, with it's eastern end touching the Atlantic ocean at Savan- nah, the westermost end would be in the Pacific beyond Los Angeles. The terri tory begins not far west of Los Angeles and it extends Uncle Sams dominons almost to Japan. When I was at Nome was 5000 miles west of San Francisco;
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-01-02

H
 Broadway is a continual sur f 1057Rl prise party. No doubt the ma jority of those living elsewhere
 have been bored to the point of nausea by the person who Knows it all'' about this city as a result of one or two visits, during which he rode around town on one of the sightseeing cars, or even had the advantage of friends who undertook to show him "the sights" Nothing could be more inaccurate than the information such person gives out
 There was one man in southern city who acquired the habit of looking at the announcements of shows that came to shat town, and about every one he would say, 'I saw that in New York; At the end of a season we, who knew that he remained in Gotham only a few weeks, proved that during these weeks here he must have seen about 200 shows-or else he must have-but there's no use talk ing about the poor fellow that way
 No, sir if you have not seen Broad way in the last week or so, you are not in position to tell anybody anything accurate about it, for as we began Broadway is a continual surprise party. There are few things along that thor oughfare which have been there through out the years, but the changes are suf- ficient to keep up keen interest even among the regular frequenters.
 From week to week the raging of build ings and the erection of others to take their places goes on. New attractions take the place of the old, aye, and even new houses, in which they appear, and each new departure comes ill the nature of an improvement. New decorations are frequent, and under this head may come the numerous electrical displays which serve the purpose of advertising.
 Broadway has probably never realized just how much of it's fame it owes to electricity--ard this is no ad for the United or Edison company-nor how far-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-01-02

result in all probability, many men are at work this morning-if they have Saturday "jobs'--who might otherwise have declined to retire at such a ridic- ulously early hour.
 And now that it is all over, and the new year is properly started on it's 12 ncnths journey, Broadway will turn off light or so here and there, but you will never be able to notice the difference if you are not regular.
 And there are even many regulars who fail to keep up with the changes. Most of them, however, never lift their gaze higher than is necessary to look into the face of a pretty woman, or. if the regular" be of the other sex, never higher than necessary to appreciate the striking visage of some male being.
 Not long ago I heard one regular" talking to another. Some mention was made of the old Ben Hur chariot race sign which has not been seen on Broadway in years, and one of the con tributors to the dialogue believed that the old sign was still doing business as in former years. You see, there is simply too much here to keep up with everything. and one is almost forced to select that in which Is most deeply interested and endeavor to Keep up with that alone.
 Which reminds me:
 Just learned from special dispatch that at last New York is the largest city in the world
 London had it on us for long time, but now the British lion is not so large as the American eagle, if London and New York be accepted as the repre- sentatives of that beast and bird.
 Londons war losses have had some thing to do with the change, of course and so has New York's growth. It IS also claimed that a mistake was made in estimating London's population ana that there IS no doubt whatever that
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-01-02

now being killed, to be sent in cold stor- age to San Francisco and Seattle The shipping of venison has already begun and the time is not distant when fresh deer meat from Alaska will be sold in all of our cities, just as fresh Alaskan salmon and halibut are sold today.
 But l have written enough to give you peep at the new world which Uncle sam proposes to throw open by railroads It takes notes made on the ground and snapshots out in the open to give living descriptions. These I hope to furnish in my letters to come. They were written Tn Alaska and will be dated and pub Hshed as they came from my pen
The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-01-02
Enraged Buck Fights

From the New York World. 4
 Chippewa Falls, Wis.-Felix Lagard, 10. one of the animal tenders at the FOO in. Irvine park. was seriously injured by a big buck deer which attacked the keor,er when he entered the deer inclosure.
 MT Lagard battled for nearly an honr before help came. The rescuer1. mi Nelson and Ansime Paquette, had no weapon and they grappled with tho er- ragged animal. After a 2O-minute boff3S three other men reached the deer f1s2 closure scaled the fence and the ftvo mer succeeded in throwing the deev cs,,S tying Its feet to it's horns. S
 In trying to free itself tho s4sss.,S < broke its neck and died. Lagarf v,S Sr taken to the hospital. NJ '7-F