The Nenana daily news. (Nenana, Alaska) 1918-1921, 1918-12-19
WAR TIME ROAD
TO Be USED TO
DEVELOP LANDS

UNI ANNCLEO, ASH w ASH
ington's "trackless Olympics" as the
towering Olympic mountains in the
far northwestern tip of the United
States are sometimes called, were
penetrated last summer by huge
crews of soldiers and civilians, hast
lily laying a government railroad and
preparing to get out spruce for
airplanes.
Blasting aside rocks almost noun
famous in size and cutting their
way into apparently primeval forests
of fir, hemlock and spruce, the crews
under general charge of Major Mott
SAWYER, U. S. A, hewed railroad
right of way thirty-six miles long,
laid rails along twenty-five of the
miles and were almost ready to make
their first shipment of spruce over
the line when the armistice terms
were signed.
Men and money were thrown into
the work by the government in order
to get to what is said to be one
of the finest bodies of standing
timber on the continent. 1t has been
estimated that in the area blocked
out by army engineers there are
S0o,0OO.OO0 feet of spruce, prob
ably the largest single tract of spruce
anywhere in the world.
Unofficial estimates place the
amount of money spent by the gov
eminent on the work at between
four and five million dollars. When
the task was at its height about
5000 men were employed, most of
them soldiers of the spruce produc-
ton division of the Signal Corps.
Unprecedented progress was made
by the railroad builders. At first
the crews progressed about 5000
feet day. Later the crews made
over two miles day. Rail LAYING
gangs followed the pioneers and,
IN places, steel was down on the
graded right Of way almost before
the timber cutters were out of the
path. Many difficulties were met.
On one mile of river canyon more
than 10000 cubic feet of solid rock
had to be blown out of the way.
Brigadier General Brice P. Disoue
whose headquarters are in Portland.
Ore. and who had charge of the
army's task in the Pacific North
west of getting out timber. spent a
great deal of the time at the big
JOB near here. A new railroad town
and one of the many towering noun
talns along the line have been named
DlsGue, after the officer.
The main line of the road starts
about two miles west Of joyce
which is west of here The road
runs in general westerly direction
of terminus at Lake Pleasant Tho
line is all standard guage. One
hundred and fifty miles of logging
roads were planned to radiate from
the Lake Pleasant terminus. The
blsque end is connected with the
Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul
railway.
Now that airplane spruce is no
longer needed by the armies over
seas, the road may be completed and
used to open up not only the great
timber tracts but also rich and
extensive agricultural section. The
country has possibilities along dairy
ing and farming lines. There are
very few of the rich valleys in the
Olympics being cultivated. Plans
call for the movement of 100000
feet of logs day over the road
when it was running full blast.
No definite announcement has
been made regarding the future of
the road. Possibly some of the big
transcontinental roads may take it !
over. Late dispatches said the gov
eminent probably would complete it. /