Evening star., 1916-09-24
Copyrighted. 1915. by Frank G. carpenter.)

Copyrighted, 1915. by Frank G. Carpenter.)
BAKER HOT SPRINGS. Tanana River.
81 POT springs in Alaska! Boiling
lEi water bubbling out of the beds
IC III of glaciers. Steam rising from
the earth on the edge of pre-
historic ice several hundred feet deep!
Scalding baths in natural water almost
on the edge of the north pole, These
are some of the wonders of our great
territory whose shores are washed by
the Arctic ocean and Bering sea.
l have heard of hot springs ever
since / came to Alaska. They are to
be found from the islands at the south
eastern part of the territory to the
very shores of the Arctic. Fifty miles
north of Ketchikan, the first port at
which the steamers stop, are the Belle
Island hot springs, where the water
is 164 degrees Fahrenheit, or hot enough
to cook eggs. A little farther north are
the Sitka hot springs. which are l56
degrees above zero, and, on Ch1cha-
gof island, between Sitka and Juneau,
are the Tenakee hot springs, where the
postmaster is building cottages and
trying to make the place a summer and
winter resort. The Tenakee springs
are in a natural forest, and the forestry
service is putting in boardwalks and
other improvements.
~.
The Sitka hot springs are sixteen
miles south of Sitka. They are now
building hotel there and a score or
so of cottages have been already erect
ed. The water contains sulphur and
is good for drinking and bathing. 1t
Is especially fitted to cure rheuma-
tism and will, it is said, drive alcohol
out of the system and give one dis
taste for drink. The Belle Island hot
springs also are winter resort.
AS / travelled north through the is
lands of southeastern Alaska 1 met
Mr.. J. F. Waring, one of the geological
survey experts. who has come north
this summer to Investigate some of
has already visited many and is now
testing these here on the Tanana river.
We have together explored the Baker
hot springs, of which / write at length
further on.
Mr. Waring tells me that the geo.
logical survey has discovered many hot
springs in different parts of Alaska
There is one northwest of Belle Island,
known as the Bailey hot springs. The
water there is close to boiling, and
one of the springs is an incipient
geyser, which spurts to q height of
fifty inches or more. Its temperature
is 191 degrees Fahrenheit. On the east
side of Baranof Island is Warm Springs
considering laying out a town with the
idea that 1T may be resort. They
have surveyed the land about. the
springs and are putting in cottages and
springs belong to the forest reserve.
There are nine of them flowing out of
the side of a hill almost on the edge of
the sea. The water is now piped into
wooden lighthouses In which there are
bathtubs of wood In the same region
there are other springs not far from
Fish bay which may also be developed.
A little north of Cape Edward, on
Hoona warm springs, which are right
on the sea, only ten or fifteen feet
from high tide; and there are other
springs on the islands close to the
ocean do not know that you can
catch fish in the ocean and by giving
a twist OF your line drop them into
the springs to be cooked: but the
springs are so close to the water that
1t would seem to be possible. There
are fish everywhere about the warm
springs of the islands. and fine crabs
and clans where the fresh waters flow
into Tenakee inlet. About all of these
including bear, black and brown, which
one is not prohibited from killing.
Coming north to the Yukon, there
are springs here and there scattered
along 1t: There is one about thirty
five miles west Of Circle. whore the
prospectors and miners sometimes go.
and there are hot springs on the
chena river. sixty-hve miles out from
Fairbanks. There are hot springs on
the Seward peninsula. not far from
Nome. and there are other hot springs
that have been reported but have not
yet been Investigated by the geolo-
gists.
1--WE raise potatoes. rutabasas. beets.