The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1918-01-14
OUR ALASKAN EMPIRE.
Wonderful Progress Made in the Devel
opment Of This Treasure Land

vision. She will soon loom as large as
full-fedged Western state. The de- |
mands of war have wakened to great |
activity some of her branches of metal |
production. Her forests have been sur |
veyed by the government to the extent |
of $4,000 acres for users of wood pulp |
The Pacific region from San Francisco |
to Vancouver is counting eagerly on the
day when coal ships from the great
Matanuska fields will drop down to its
manufacturing centers. Alaska is made
a national storchouse of food of prime
Importance by fisheries alone. She il
the first experimental ground for the
building and operation of an extensive
railway system by the American gov
ernment. How richly it is a land Of
promise is shown by the zeal with which
American interests are developing its
outcropping wealth, as Canadian inter
ests are developing that of the region
just south; and even an official report
like that which Governor Strong has
Just issued on the iftieth year of the
territory cannot but glow as it de
scrlbes the opportunities in these 60O,-
600 square miles and the steps being
taken to meet them.
There is q vague idea that Alaska is
| bursting with unexpected mineral
wealth, and that gold and silver DO not
| figure so prominently in mining activi-
ties as they once did. But Governor
Strong tells US that last year general
| mineral production rose 30 per cent
over that of 1918, reaching a total Of
| sol 100000. which is equivalent to the
mineral production of Colorado in 1912,
while gold and silver production barely
| held their own. The copper output
alone was worth the entire production
OF the previous year, and amounted TO
about three ffths of the total; it Is al
| ready nearly half of the copper output
of Michigan. Lead, tungsten and tin are
coming out in increasing Quantities
| Petroleum has been found in four sep
arate fields in Alaska, only one of
which Is even partially developed,
though all four are along the seaboard
As for coal, the production is vet
| slight and confined to one small corner
of the territory; for COAL like the oil.
IS locked up by the government. Gov
ernor Stror tells us that the railway
construction designed to open up the
coal helds Is progressing satisfactorily.
| The road is being completed from %
miles south OF Anchorage to Chicka-
loon, over 100 miles north, till there
ere now l53 miles built from the heart
of the Matanuska reoion to the coast
| An additional ten miles has been built
towards the Nenana coal field, the II
miles of the Alaska Northern are being
taken over and rehabilitated as part
of the system, and the 40-mile Tanana
railroad Is operated under lease. Gov
ernor Strong pleads for more liberal
law in throwing open natural re
sources:
The coal areas of Alaska are capable
of supplying sufficient coal for all do
nestle and industrial purposes of the
Pacific coast region, and if the oil
lands of the territory could be proper
lv developed they would largely add to
the supply of gasoline What has
been said of the coal and oil lands ap-
plies, but not with the same force, to
the timber and water power. Alaska
possesses a number of the finest water
, powers to be found on the Pacific coast,
, only few of which have ever been
; utilized in any way. There are bill
lions of feet of timber suitable only for
wood pulp.
Agriculture and fishing must do their
, share also in drawing to Alaska tne
: permanent population Governor Strong
: wishes TO see there. The territory is
t far better able than the Scandinavian
peninsula to support a large popula-
tion, he says. As yet, Alaska has but
= little over 10000 whites, but steady
progress is perceptible. "A few years
, ago Alaska had no farming pepula-
ton whatever. Now it is increasing
2 year by year, and there are communi-
! ties entirely devoted 10 agricultural
! pursuits. Potatoes are still the prin-
} cipal crop, but wheat. oats and barley
I can be easily grown, and will surely
/ soon surpaSa the vegetable. Alaskan
rutabagas, strawberries, and reindeer
e meat have a deserved reputation in
/, Washington and Oregon markets Fish
t ing Is now the industry second in i'm
0ortance to mining, and from if last
wear not far from S27 800 900 was OBJ
talned-several times the income OF
Nova Scotia from this source. salmon
: packing, which leads, has perhaps
reached its maximum, short Of dam
aging the fishery reserves; but cod
herring, and halibut fishing are con.
stantly increasing in scope, and other
| fisheries are being opened up. Thus
ciam-canning has recently become i'm
portant. Governor Strong loks forward
to such a large indigenous population
: Of white fishermen as Scotland and
Scandinavian boast. 1t may come soon
er than the large farming population
! for 1t Is not so dependent on added
means of transportation.
One Of the most interesting of Alas
ha 8 infant resources is its tourist in.
dustry, which bids fair to grow after
The war-especially as sportsmen Join
lands with the tourists--to very con
siderable proportions. The inside pas
sage W offers scenery which it is said
is matched only along the lower coast
of Chile and the Norwegian coast, and
which is probably surpassed nowhere
"A wonderfully impressive journey. =
Archdeacon Stuck asserts of it: 1.-THE
5 memory of its placid waterways. the
savage majesty of its towering noun.
: tains, the mystery of its innumerable
j; gloomy inlets, the blue ice of the sinu
!, Gus glaciers, the dense dark luxuriance
Of the velvetv forests will lone
h remain to gladden. the mind S eye. Ii