Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-09-17
.TANANA IN THE HEART
OF W|NTRY ALASKA
Town Has 400 People. Scattered
Along Water Front Tor
Mile.
BETTING ON THE ,cE-HREAN
Pools Organized at Dawson. and
Large Sums Are Lost and Won AT
the Whim OF Jack Frost.
BIZ FRANK G. CARPENTER.


TANANA ALASKA.
am in 'hc very heat II .>lask1.
Tanana claims 10 be the hub OF tn"
Territory. II is a little town lying
on the RICH, bank Of the Yukon. y.is:
about halfway between the Pacific ana
Arctic Oceans, aud halfway down the
Yukon on its course from the inter-
national boundary ~ Eagle :" its
mouth. -Slcrr IL flows out into S"rlnG
Sea not far from -. Michael hay"
come 500 miles down the river from
Canada on MY Way TO this point and
I have SOC miles more I" so before
can set tic little steamer that Viii
take me over Berinr sea TO Nome.
Just opposite where my stcamhoa Is
anchored is the mouth 90 the Tanana
River. II is Wide, sluggish stream.
having a course of something like 80"
miles from the Wranrci Mountains IN
where il n"us INTO the Yukon. II VIII
take me TWO LAYS Of steamiuc I" ="
UP II TO Fairbanks, where the terminus
OF Uncle SAINTS NOW railroad is 10 he.
The people here THINK that TIA" rail
road should bc extended ." Fanara,
They claim mat tn. Tanana River Is
not dcep enough for largo steamers.
and that its saudhars and islands affect
navigation They say that II tn" road
were 50 constructed as to cross the
Yukon at the rapids ahou; thiIty-hNe
miles above here. The cost OF bridging
could then I've run down tho north bank
Of the river 70 Tanana. opening uD a
vast region lying 10 IN" west an"
north OF tho Yukon This region mas
some OF tho richest placer deposits
of Alaska includiu. those Of the koyu-
kuk River where on several occasions
as much rs SlN.GN0 worth Of quartz
gold has been found nj IN" foot "f
shaft eigh, or ten feet in depth. Thc%
assert that such road would ais"
l.
ties OF interior Alaska and would givc
direct access TO the Yukon and its
enormous tributary system.
There is no douh; that Tanana can
offer room for all the population she
may have in the future Tn" corporate
limits a. present are larg" enough 20
give an acre 10 every man, woman and
child and leave some 10 spare. TN"
town has 500 population. and y IS
scattered along the water front Tor
more than milc. ~ tho lower "nd
of il begins the army post az Fort 'iih-
bon. which extends thr"" miles farther,
and which has :, government rcS"rva-
tion of sixty square miles
The town consists Of the post and
two churches. three hotels. six saloons
and sevcarl large mercantile cstah-
nshmcnts 1t has also public school
and a movie show. The hUiliirrs are
of logs and boards, and tho place on
the whole is tho largest aud most PROS
porous of all on the yukon RIVER
proper
RESIDENTS or TANhNi
ENTHI SiAsTtC ALtSktNS
The people OF Thuana are cuthusias-
tic Alaskans They have q chamber
of Commerce. consisting Of boomers
They have camp, of tn" Ar'lc
Brotherhood and local organization
known as the Loyal order Of the Moose.
Talk TO them about their yillag" and
they viii make YOU think II - paradise,
as beautiful as tho Vale of KashmIr
and as salub.ious as Los Angeles !
asked Judge pchn. tn" United States
commissioner. who has hecn here
twelve years. what he thought OF tn.
climate He replied
81 like Il and keep healthy and
happy summer and winter. our sum
mers. which last from May until the
middle of September. az" more delight
States The thermometer ranges from
As 10 81 degrees above zerr, a'i for
the most Of the time ih"r" ia s"uttciy
an hour that you cannot read within
doors From june Is 10 The 10Th ~
July there is no real darkness. even
at midnight
How about yorir winters" ! asked
THE man who went away from mere
and said that We have nine months OF
hard winter and after that thrc.
months of bad s!cighing IS 81 liar our
winter starts in about october J. when
the thermometer drops 30 10 degrees
above zero. AZ that time tn. ground
freezes and remaius solid AL winter
The frost goes. dawn 10 tn" bed Of
glacial ice that Hes uuder a rrra, mar,
OF Alaska. and, as far a wc know.
we live on a solid icc BLOCK for ,.ycn
months of the year Tho glacial lie
does not melt In the suinn"; TIA.
frost gets only through the moss and