New Britain herald., 1916-11-20
PROGRESS IS MADE 0N ALASKAN K. K.
Fiity-Nine Miles of Track Has
 Already Been Laid

Seward, Alaska, NOV. lO.-W1l1am c. Edes, Chairman of the Alaskan En-
 gineering Commission, who recently
 returned from Anchorage, reports
 excellent progress on the construc- tion of the United States railroad.
 Fifty-nine miles of track have been laid from Anchorage. With the sev- enty-one miles of the old Alaska Northern Railway that are now in op- eration to Kearn Creek, there have been completed 130 miles of the 47O that will connect Seward and Fair banks. The track so far laid from An chorage consists of six miles south towrd Seward; thirty-eight miles of main line northward to Fairbanks, and fifteen miles on the Matnuska branch into the Matanuska coal fields.
 The right of way has been cleared from Potter Creek, on Turnagain Arm, to Kings River, in the Matanuska coal field, distance of seventy-seven
 miles, and on the main line from Matanuska to the Little Susitna River. Rail will be laid this fall as far as Kings River, on the Matanuska branch, a distance of sixty-twO miles from Anchorage, and Wassil1a on the main line, approximately fifteen miles from Matanuska On the main line in the Susitna valley, between Mon- tana Creek and Indian River, a dis tance of fifty-fi miles, the right Of way is seventy per cent. cleared ana number of grading contracts have been let Grading of the right of way will proceed in this section from Talkeetna 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 Nenana d1- vision.
 Rail will be laid in the near future as far as Potter Creek, which is fif- teen miles southeast of Anchorage on Turnagain Arm, and from which point the rock work on Turnagain Arm will be attacked during the win ter.
 For the week ending September 9, 3,56S men were employed on the An chorage division, which includes com mission employees, stationmen and laborers, the August payroll being $25S,330, 1000.
 The population of Anchorage, which is the main construction base on the railroad is between 4,0O0 and 5000. At Matanuska, the junction of the Matanuska branch with the main line, a toWnsite was recently surveyed by the government and town is now in course of development. There IS also a small town at Moose Creek, about fifty miles from Anchorage where the first mine on the railroad is in operation. At Wassilla, the name of the town where the railroad crosses the Willow Creek wagon road, several people are gathering. Wass1lla' will be the distributing point TOT freight and supplies for the WILLOW Creek mining district. The govern ment is taking immediate steps to survey small townsites at these places.
 The railroad north and south rom Anchorage passes through ana oe- velops a large agricultural country. rrhere are now between 500 and 1000 hom esteaders along the line or the railroad in this section, and the ag- ric,1ltural land is being rapidly de- veloped. The homesteaders are sup nlting a considerable portion of the foodstuffs for the railroad employees and other people in that section of the country. Recently the Alaskan En- eineering, Commission contracted for 400 tons, or over 3, 900 bushels, or notatoes 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 a large number of home steaders in the vicinity of the railroad, and the government hopes to encour- age farmers from the states to come to Alaska and take up homesteads m the territory tributary to the railroad in order to develop the agricultural lands so that the country may some day in the near future be self-support- ing.