El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-10-07

-AIRBANKS. Alaska. oct THE
trade of interior Alsaka will be
i - greatly increased by the new rail-
road That road viii have its terminus
al Fairbanks. and from here goods viii
be sent out on the navigable rivers over
routes covering thousands Of miles
They will 90 on the Tanana river 10
the Yukon. and by that stream all the
way to the Canadian boundary and the
ocean They Will 90 up the tributaries
o. the Yukon. including the POrcupine,
which can be Travelled for 500 miles, the
Koyukuk. which has rich deposits OF
low-Erade gold. and the Innoko. where
are the IditarOd and other gold camps
For a time some OF the exports Will be
by way Of the Innoke TO the upper Kus-
kOkwim region. although this viii in
volve overland transportation
Stampedes to New Camps Frequent
Fairbanks itself Is the chief gold
mining center Of the interior OF the ter
ritory. From its creeks have been taken
already more than $50, 600. 600 in gold
dust and nuggets, and stampedes to
new camps occur every few weeks. One
Of last year was TO the Tolovana river
and today there is a great deal Of ac-
tivity along the Kanushna river and
the creeks leading into il That river
has its source in Mount Mckinley. the
country about which is highly miner
allied. containing anthony and other
metals in addition to gold.
Alaska Trade Is Valuable.
Few people realize the great extent
and possibility OF our Alaskan trade
The commerce Of this territory last
year was more than $4,000, 600 II ex-
ceeded our total commerce with China
by more than $1,000, 900 and was one
fifth as large as our total trade with
al south America The great part Of
this was exports; but the imports
amounted TO over S2e 600 600 and in
was greater than that of any other
country OF the world The per capfta
commerce was about $500. with a bal
ance Of trade in favor Of each white
man OF over $500 Including the In
dams and EskImos- the per capita com
merce was 500, while that of Great
Britain was only S1@3. This means that
the trade Of Alaska was. on the aver
age. Tor every man. woman and child.
mere than SIX ;iues as great as that
Tor every man. woman and child in
Great Britain
II this is so when the land is wild
waste so covered with moss and other
teSetaIlon that TO- one acre in a hun
ured or II has yet been prospected. and
Wnen not one acre in q thousand has
yet been brought into cultivation. what
may we not expect of the country with
me railroad and other developments Of
me Iulure-
l. "a Good business Proposition
Indeed. Alaska is one Of the hest
business propositions under Uncle SANS
tlaS- Considering the amount of money
Invested and the hands employed. We
nave nothing that produces such vasf
returns The country has less than
10000 people. and Of these perhaps 40
coo are whites. This includes men.
women and children. so that the work
lng force is comparatively small. New
ertheless, the product in 1914 sold for
$4,000 Oou, OF which more than SIS. 900
Ou0 came out Of the mines and more
than S22.O00,000 from fisheries and furs-
During that year the gold Weld was
almost Sl6.o00.000. while that of Cali
fornia, whose population is 81 times as
great was only a little over s2I. 600. 600
The value OF the Alaska fishery prod
ucts was more than S2l. 900. 600. while
that of the state of Washington brought
IN over SS,000.00O The copper OUTPUT
IN 1914 was less than $4,000. 600, but
that was enormously increased last
year and viii be doubled and trebIed
IN the years 10 come.
Cost less Than Two Ceuts IN Acre.
40 the whole territory. by and