The Cordova daily times., 1916-07-13
CAR INSPIRATION FOR REVIEW
 .OF ALASKA

At the far end of Pier 9 Seattle headquarters of the Alaska Steamship Company, stood for several weeks dur ing the month modern business car awaiting shipment on one of the freight steamers to Cordova. The ear was painted with the corporate name of the Copper River & Northwestern Railway, and in gold lettering on the side panels is the name Kennecott The car is to be utilized by various officials of the line and of the mining company in Alaska, and to the casual observer the name quite naturally comes from that of the famous copper mine of Alaska, which has suddenly forged to the front as the producer of the highest grade copper in. the world, as well as one of the large producers.
 Leaving Seattle one Sunday morn. ing recently was a party of local peo- pie with some eastern guests who were going to Tacoma on the steam ship Tacoma to enjoy an attractive dinner on the shaded balcony of the Tacoma hotel As the steamship backed out and then made it's turn, passing within fifty feet of the end of the Alaska Steamship pier, the newly painted car attracted considerable at tention and almost immediately the question was asked as to why it was named Kennecott, and what Kennecott meant The answer was made that the car took it's name from the mine. 1 the mine took it's name from the noun 1 tain, glacier and pass and those had received their names by different eX- plorers and geographers in honor of Robert Kennicott. The discrepancy in the spelling is merely one of those errors that once made, cannot well be changed, and while the station of the railroad is spelled with an 'i," the mine was enormously spelled with an "e," and since the property has be- come so important it is doubtful if it will ever be changed.
 One of the. most interesting librar- ies in Seattle is one owned by Mir George W. Soliday, and he being ap- piled to, brought out reference books touching upon the subject at hand. h the investigation it was found thai Robert Kennicott died in Alaska when on a most important mission, and in place of this being a story Of name it leads to one of the most truly in teresting recitals of pioneer indus. trial development of the northern ter ritory.
 Mir Soliday looked up Dall's vol ume on Alaska, and also found very interesting book entitled Tent Life in Siberia" published in 1870 by Put nam & Sons, from the pen of George Kennan The latter work while be- ing a narrative covering the life of a party of engineers in Siberia, yet has a direct bearing upon the life and death of Kennicott, who at the time of his demlse was engaged by the Western Union Telegraph Company in it's projected work of completing a telegraph line through British Colum- bia, Alaska and across Boring strait, through Siberia to all points in Flu rope. It was while on the reconnais- ance work for this company that Ken nicott met his death at Nulato. Quot ing the preface of Trent Life in Si- beria:"
 "The attempt which was made by the Western Uuion Telegraph Com pany, in 1865-6 and ', to build an over land line to Europe via Alaska, Der ings strait and Siberia, was in some respects the most remarkable under taking of the present century. Bold in it's conception and important in theI ends at which it aimed, it attracted at one time the attention of the whole civilized world, and was regarded as the greatest telegraphic enterprise which had ever engaged American capital. Like all unsuccessful ven lures, however, in this progressive age, it has been speedily forgotten. and the brilliant success of the Allan tic cable has driven it entirely out of the public mind. Most readers are fa- miliar with the principal facts in the history of the enterprise, from its or. ganization to it's ultimate abandon ment; but only few, even of it's ori- glnal projectors know anything about the work which it accomplished in British Columbia, Alaska and Siberia