Omaha daily bee., 1916-11-12
Nation Building
Alaskan Railroad
Without Hindrance

ocWdiu, hldskdj NOV wv ilildlil
c. Edes, chairman of the Alaskan En-
gineering commission, who recently
returned from Anchorage, reports ex-
cellent progress on the construction
of the United States railroad.
Fifty-nine miles of track have been
laid from Anchorage. With the sew
enty-one miles of the old Alaskan
Northern railway, that are now in
operation to Kearn Creek, there have
been completed l20 miles of the 40
that will connect Seward and Fair
banks, The track so far laid from
Anchorage consists of six miles south
toward Seward; thirty-eight miles of
main line northward to Fairbanks, and
fifteen miles on the Matanuska branch
into the Matanuska coal fields.
The right-of-way has been cleared
from Potter Creek, on Turnagain
Arm, to Kings River, in the Matan-
uska coal field, distance of seventy
seven miles, and on the main line
from Matanuska to the Little Susitna
river. Raifwill be laid this fall as far
as Kings River, on the Matanuska
branch, distance OF. sixty-two miles
from Anchorage, and TO Wassilla Oh
the main line, approximately fifteen
miles from Matanuska. On the main
line in the Susitna valley, between
Montana Creek and Indian River, a
distance of fifty-five miles, the right
of-way is 70 per cent cleared, and a
number of grading contracts have
been let. Grading Of the right-of-way
will proceed in this section from Tai
keetna to Willow Creek, and north
to Broad Pass. At Willow Creek it
will connect with the work under the
Matanuska district, and at Broad Pass
with the work from the Montana di-
vision.
Rail will be laid in the near future
as far as Potter Creek, which is fifteen
miles southeast of Anchorage OF
Turnagain Arm, and from which
point the rock work on Turnagain
Arm will be attacked during the
winter.
For the week ending September 9,
S,eoo hiSH WSiS SiuPiOJSu Oil Tic All
chorage division, which includes COM
mission employees, stationmen and la
borers, the August payroll being
$25S,33 ,000S
The population of Anchorage, which
is the main construction base OH the
railroad, is between 1000 and 5000.
At Matanpska, the junction of the
Matanuska branch with the main line,
a townsite was recently surveyed by
the government and a town is now
in course of development. There is
also small town at Moose creek,
about fifty miles from Anchorage,
where the first mine on he railroad
is in operation. At Wassilla, the name
of the town where the railroad crosses
Knik-Willow Creek wagon road, sew
eral people are gathering. Wassilla
will be the distributing point for the
freight and supplies for the Willow
Creek mining district. The govern
ment is taking immediate steps to sur
vey small townsites at these places.
The railroad north and south from
Anchorage passes through and de-
nNioPss ldiSC agricultural country.
There are now between 500 and 1000
homesteaders along the line of the
railroad in this section, and the agri-
cultural land is being rapidly de-
veloped. The homesteaders are sup
plying a considerable portion of the
foodstuffs for the railroad EMPLOYEES
and other people in that section of the
country, Recently the Alaskan Engi-
neering commission contracted for
400 tons, or over 10000 bushels of DO
tatoes with the Matanuska farmers.
Products are being hauled by the
farmers to Matanuska and shipped
over the railroad to Anchorage and
other. points along the line. There
is still room for large number of
homesteaders in the vicinity of the
railroad, and the government hopes to
encourage farmers from the states to
come to Alaska and take up home
steads in the territory tributary to the
railroad, in order to develop the agri-
cultural land so that the country may
some day ip- the near future be self
supporting