Evening star., 1917-04-08

a
GIEI7IGIGI9I5ISi9lelSG SG)EIe
wear round and at which the steamers
from Seattle call regularly several
times every week. Moreover, the COP
per River railroad runs IRON 'ne pol'
of Cordova to the town OF thitlha'
which is high up in the coast range
of mountains, and there are regular
stages during the winter when go l"o
or three times week from 'hillild
and Valdez to Fairbanks. Ihe stages
carry the mail. and. according TO a
letter from the Fairbanks Commercial
Club, which lies before me, they couid
carry all the mail If the government
saw fit to pay for the transportation
The people complain that large part
of their newspapers and magazines
which should arrive during the winter
are held over until spring, when they
delivered in bulk. For instance;
the postmaster at Fairbanks received
on one day in June 600 sacks of such
mail, much of which was dated as Tar
back as September. October and No
vember of the previous year. lhlhk OF
getting all your copies of this news
paper published this winter in one big
package in the coming May.
Moreover. the people of Alaska say
that the long winter is their time tor
reading, and they want their neWspa-
pers and magazines delivered as they
come out. They point to the fact that
in Dawson. a smaller town than Fair
banks. situated just as far inland, the
Canadians get all of their mail at all
times and that the difficulty of trans
portation is greater than at Fairbanks.
They might add also the fact that
the Yukon territory of Canada is small
potatoes and few in hill compared
with Uncle Sans rich garden patch
of Alaska This territory did an ex
port and import business last year
which amounted to very near one hun
dred million dollars in value, and its
commerce increased during that year
to the amount of more than twenty-five
million dollars. 1t is one of the best
business propositions under Uncle sam s
flag, and the government should not
regard its mail and telegraph service
similar to that of we'll developed parts
of the United States. Efnclency, ana
not cost, should be the chief factor OF
the equation. and surely the citizens of
the larger towns should nave all thelr
mail weekly, to say the least
X
x +
ON the other hand few people realize
i ''N
"hat an enormous WORN oui soNei
ment has done in Alaska since it took
hold of the territory. Each of the
great departments at Washington has
been working here in one way or an
other, and although, as Secretary Lane
SAYS, a great deal of the work has been
bound up in red tape, and there should
be reorganization of the system and
the appointment perhaps. of develop
ment board, which shall take charge of
and direct it, the results already ac-
complshed have been of great value.
Take the geological survey Its ex-
perts have gone over the greater part
of Alaska, and have made geologic, to-
geographic and photographic studies
which embrace hundreds of thousands
of square miles They have mapped out
the mining districts. and, by writing to
Washington, one can find almost where
the great beds of gold, coal and other
minerals lie and just how to go about
getting them out of the earth. Every
new mining camp is investigated the
year it is discovered and the new possi-
bilities pointed out. There are parties
of geologistS going over new parts Of
the territory each year, and their work
is of incalculable value
The experts of the Department of
Agriculture have prepared the way for
the establishment Of an agricultural
empire in the far north They have
been recently going over parts of the
territory and making soil surveys
They estimate that there are over 6OO,-
900, 900 acres which can be made avail
able for tilling and grazing purposes
This means that there might be 200 900
farms in Alaska of 500 acres each The
same department has established ex-
pertinent farms in different parts of the
country. II has one on the island of
Sitka, in southeastern Alaska, from
which twenty varieties of hardy vege-
tables and flower seeds were distributed
in all parts of the territory. They are
raising fruit trees at Sitka. and some
most delicious small fruits, such as