Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1916-10-01
THE CHICAGO OF ALASKA
STRANGE FEATURES OF CHIEF TRADING CENTER INTERIOR ALASKA

out bank notes at another Every bank
buys gold, and all have their assaying and
melting establishments, where the metal IS
tested and made into bricks to be shipped
outside. The town has plenty of lawyers
and good physicians and dentists
The traffic is interesting. The crowds on
the streets are a mixture They include
men and women as well dressed as those of
any city east OF the Alleghenies, and miners
clad in blue jeans or khaki Well BACKED
shoes go along side by side with rough boots
that lace almost to the knees, and on their
heels tramp white rubber boots that reach
to the hips. There are crowds of men in
their shirt sleeves on the street corners.
They wear soft hats or sombreros. There
are very few plugs.
Now turn your eyes to the roadways
See those great drays hauling hay and oats
to the steamers. Each has load worth
two or three hundred dollars, for hay brings
$500 ton and other feed is proportionatey
high See the automobiles of various makes
and the motor trucks carrying heavy articles
of one kind or another There are scores of
motor vehicles away up here in this heart of
Alaska, and jitney BUSES go regularly each
day to the gold-bearing creeks There is an
overland stage that makes the trip from
Fairbanks to Chitina, the terminus of the
Copper river railroad. By it one can motor
more than 800 miles through the wilds, and
=, r,I 10
the sea- In the winter there are many dog
sleds with long teams of dogs, and there are
sleds drawn by horses that take the place of
the automobiles in making the trip out of
the country.
Fairbanks has several good hotels am
stopping with Tony Nordale, on Front
street, where have sitting room and bed
room at about So per day. | get my meals
at restaurant kept by young lady, whose
rosy cheeks and tow hair have caused her to
be nick-named by the miners "The Little
Pink Swede." Her charge is from so cents
to Is cents meal and the food is delicious.
Like many of the restaurants, hers has pet
brown bear accompaniment. 1t is cub
fastened to chain outside the front door.
1t will do tricks for you if you give it sugar
humps or sweet cakes.
had my hair cut today. 1t cost me rs
cents, and the shave which followed ran the
bill to one dollar, AS left the barber shop
l stepped into the chair of bootblack out
side, and the shine cost me a quarter. The
day was hot and when, in the parlance OF
the camp a miner asked me if | would
wash my neck" knew what he meant and
said yes. He treated me to glass Of lem
onade at a cost of Is cents. A little farther
on a newsboy offered me the Alaska Citizen,
for which | handed a quarter, the regular
price for the paper. The money here is the
same as in the Klondke There is no coin
of less than Is cents in circulation, and'a
quarter here means about the same as a
nickel at home.
Fairbanks is governed by mayor and a
town council. 1t has much civic spirit.
There are mems clubs and women's clubs
and fraternal orders, such as the Odd Eel
lows and Masons the Arctic Brotherhood,
the Pioneers and others. The town has
three or four newspapers, including two
dailies and the Alaska Citizen, which is pub
lished on Mondays. 1t has good public
Schools and Catholic, Presbyterian, Episco-
pal, Methodist and Christian Science
churches. It has public library, pictu
rescue structure built OF logs, which is fairly
well equipped with books and periodicals,
and two modern hospitals. 1t has good
fire department, telephone system and an