The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1918-01-24

| that when a profitable crop is raises
II n wher q twenty 70 one chance
comes through.
The reference to Seward has little
| to do with Alaska. Ii Is on the ex-
treme southern coast You viii note
the above clipping states "it is claim
cd, and | could I'LL volume with that
kind Of dope. "lt is claimed" Of near
| III all the towns on the southern Alas
Kan coast that the snowfall is from
20 feet up and that it. has To rain
every day in the summer to melt il
Off. Yet with this almost constant
rainfall there are thousands OF acres
on which the snowfall gains on the
rain, hence the wonderful glaciers
great lakes and rivers Of solid ice,
slowly moving 10 the ocean. The
lower coast may be some country for
turnips, but don't take n chance on
going up there for general farming.
II there is stock raising in Alaska
! would like TO be cited. There is
nothing for cows to eat. They would
starve on tundra and the stuff rein
deer live on. There may be few
cows around the favored section Of
Fairbanks, but in my 2200 miles trip
through the interior Of Alaska never
saw head Of stock.
And with the exception Of this one
favored section, there is NO SOIL in
Alaska, and it will be thousands of
years yet before there will be. A few
inches under the tundra the soil ceas-
es. Even trees cannot subsist Over
the millions of acres of Alaska you
will see forests grown up to scrub di-
mensions and dead. On the entire
length Of the Yukon there is no timber
worth while, for when it reaches a
certain size it dies for want Of root
substance. The famous Alaska spruce
you read about is not in Alaska prop.
er, but far down in the panhandle,
north of Prince Rupert.
If you want to go into the fishing
or fur business, don't lcok for any
thing better than the north land, but
if you want to take lorg chance on
farming or stock raising, take Death
Valley as better chance than Alaska,
for there you will have the satisfac-
ton Of at least keeping warm while
you "go broke"
AS to what the government rail-
road will do for the coal section of
Southern Alaska, it is but matter of
opinion, and my honest opinion--an
opinion founded on all the information
could gather from all sources--is
that it will never be paying invest
ment, and that the government took a
chance that even the Guggenheims
Jared not tackle.
Around Fairbanks and Tenana you
near nothing but the glad music The
Of the railroad is going to
)raing on regular oldfashioned
Seattle real estate boom. The great
oal fields will be developed, thousands
# men will be employed, and as man
old me: "Tenana will skin Dawson
or grow"
"But what is going to be done with
he coal ?" | asked.
"Ship it to Seattle and down the
'acific ocean," was the reply.
"But," ! countered, "great deposits
( coal lie undeveloped in Washington =
oday because it cannot compete with II
heap fir wood, and how are you go ing d
D railroad your coal to Seward, boat U
to Seattle and railroad it down the d
oast, and buck a competition in
and Oregon that state Il
oal deposits can't meet, and how are ir
ou going TO ship it thousands of Il
lilies to California and compete with a
he cheapest fuel oil in the world?" il
And after you have poked a few of ir
lch questions at the enthusiasts it is V
ell to see if your boat is not about G
le-time to move along or lose your ii
opularity. b.
There have been enormous unfor- p'
zen expenses in the construction Of F
lis road; there have been great wash ii
its and other engineering problems
most new to the builders. In two h,
,ars they say the road will be COM ar
eted and ready for service. ] may VI
. a cold water thrower, but | wonder 90
w much Of the year 1t will be in
rvice with the enormous snowfall in =;
is part Of Alaska, and with the ter. -
Die floods in the summer months, my
less is that it will be some job &c =
ep that railroad in operation--ever q
there is a demand for its operation !.
owever, this il but an opinion, one :,
nay have TO renig on. 81
Alaska today is hitting the chutes
le territory Is declining. Half Of the
pulation Of the country has left this ~
ar. In every town, camp and minc ~