Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-09-24
'"oplc came to visi, the springs. It.

people came to visit the springs II.
replied:
Yes, We have u hotel there tina, a,.
commodities thirty. aud the people
come I'm from Nome and all parts Of the
Seward Peninsula. our hes, season 20
in the winter. The people come on
sleds drawn by dogs. and YOU c:,n
sometimes see ~ many as 100 dog.
there at time. II usually tgl>,s
two days to make the trip In the win.
ter, but it can be done in one ,iay In
the summer by going over the railway
track with the pupmobilc. !, car drawn
by dogs. which takes you within six
niiea Of the springs. You see. the wa.
tcrs there are OF various kinds. and
they are good for different diseases
We have springs that seem to he
sure cure for rheumatism. we have
one. known as the Iron Spring. whose
waters seem 10 contain little else. ANA
in the main spring we have Il comb
nation Of iron. sulphur lithia and mag.
ncSia that is especially valuable.
Riding back to the river on the hay
wagon. l sat beside Tom Davis. a farm
cr who does teaminr from here To the
mines. He tells me the hay they arc
now unloading from our ship is worth
500 ton at the river and $40 Il ton
when it gets to the mines I remark
ed that the price seemed an extrava-
CANT one. Said MIR. Davis:
1T is not high for Alaska. | nave
known hay selling as high $500 :,
ton. or at 80 cents per pound, That
was in the klondike when the gold cX-
citcmcnt was raging. ! have sold hay
here for 80 cents "A pound. and weighed
the hay out on the grocery scales
The latter price was received FOR .0uu
pounds only. got it at Gold Run
where peddled the hay out to pack.
ers and the men who had saddle
horses"
AS we bounced up and down over tho
corduroy logs. | asked Tom Davis how
the road was built and kept in order
He replied that it was a community
affair. tho government and the people
clubbing together aud paying tho cost;
lie said that the road was worked al
together by the local community until
two years ago, and that every one was.
,hcn subject to one days work on tho
road. or to pay poll tax OF So. Think
OF q country where the hands on the
road are valued at IS Il day! That is
the current wages in this part of the
lanana Valley. Men are paid 81 ::
o"' al" po"ru' or ~ day when they
find themselves The men who arc
unloading the hay from the steamer
are getting 81 per hour
RIVER LOOKS LIKE
LARGE ISLAND SEA
rode all day long on the Tanapa
itirer in coming from Fort C;ibbon /,
'hc b'kcr hot Springs. The Tauaua
flows into the Yukon at Fort ,;ibbou
coastal range. and goes for 600 n,iIcs
before it loses itself in The yut,ou
ihe river has Il greater volume than
mat of the Potomac; and whore il
JOINS the Yukon il is like an inland
sea II has many islands. some of
which arc f"rcstcd with spruce ANA
o'rch mat rise straight and tail he
NINA inc willows bordering the shore
NJ little distance the willows ln,L
iikc hedge and YOU seem To soc :.
h"atinE forest Enclosed by - groom
renee fifteen or twenty feet hirh.
The river is sluggish and il carrie.
u"Wh vast deal of silt Tho water
* as thick as bean soup, ana ;, rIas.
~ H. allowed to settle, will soon hide
we oo''oh OF The tumhlcr. There arc
frequent Sandbars. aud YOU mass is
lands in every stage of formation from,
'iad patches washed by tho waves
Now and then the river has ,I,,tir.
islands. and great beds of rrccn v;,h
brushes aud trees lIpon thcm n,o,,
uoWh the stream. In places the river
- from hNc To ten miles in width II
Is SWALLOW, and II is always buiIdin-
up ana tearing down the VALLEY tbroI,h
which il flows
AS YOU ride along in the steamer
you can see the banks crumbliny Tho
water melts the icy strata under m,
SOIL ana trees bushes and the earth !,
wnich they are growing fall down into
we current under your eyes The river
BANKS are lined with trees stiu Hyi,.
"h" still green. which have fallen This
way INTO the current. At times tb.
water so melts the frozen strata that
caves arc formed under the mattcd
moss and where there is an on,n
"Hr' "'.d no trees this green mar fan.
eo"n INTO the stream hanging from,
above as though il were !, great -rcrn
carpet laid from the bed of the river
up TO the shore.
am surprised at the vegetation tb,.
covers this part OF Alaska. All along
the Yukon and Tanana are treas nr
'a'riy good size. There arc spruce ana
other evergrecns thirty or forty feet
tail' and some OF them are one or
TWO rect in thickness. The bushes grow
Tar mp the sides or the mountains; and
inc rand seems rich in the valleys
~ inc wood camps, where the trc,s
nave nceh cut away TO furnish fuel for
the steamers. there are great beds of
p'nk firc-weed rising out of high grass
There are wild flowers cvcrvwbcrn
and the scenery seems anything but
mat OF this cold icy land of the north.
AS YOU go up the river you may. here
and there. see them clearing the land
me pioneers are chopping little farms
out of the woods. They first cut the
trees and year later pun the stumps
OUT pN the roots. The ice is so close,
10 the surface that the roots cannot go
down. After clearing they plant little
patches Of vegetables or fields of oats
may nome or the farms Is large. and