The Cordova daily times., 1918-04-02
.ALASKA'S POSSIBILITIES
 AS SEEN BY TRAVELLERS
Continued from Page Two)

NOOutlnuGu rom rage IW0l
 finished, will have cost the govern ment something like $5O,O00, ,O0O About half the line between Seward and Fairbanks is now finished, ap- proximately $25,OOO,OOO having al- ready been spent on the project. The balance of the one thousand miles will consist of feeder lines into the new country abutting on the railroad.
 The road is being worked in several sections, or divisions, about 5000 men having been employed during the sum mer. While was in the north instruc- tions were received by the officials of the road from Secretary Lane to rush the construction from Seward to the Matanuska coalfields, the govern- ment having appropriated 5000 ,000 for this purpose. The Matanuska coalfields are the richest in the world. not excepting the rich mines in Vir- ginia and Kentucky. They comprise ninety square miles of territory. bear ing fourteen-foot vein of the highest grade of coking coal--the only coal, excepting that of Virginia, that is fit for the use of our navy. It is esti- mated thaA oOaI nar hn r,0ro oa n-a au.-z ferred to San Francisco or Los An geles at a cost of S4 a ton, and 1t should retail as low as $6 a ton, about $9 cheaper than the present price of coal in Los Angeles. In ny opinion, this means the solution of the coal question. both for war and for com estic ana industrial uses.
 heard a great deal of talk about the Kennecott copeY mine, which last year produced the biggest per cent of the $34,080,000 output of Alaska's cop per production. It is interesting to remember that last years copper pro. duction doubled in value the entire production of gold for the year. When one considers that Alaska has pro- duced in exess of $500,000,0OO since it was purchased and that the whole ter rttory was bought for $7,200,OO0, one must admit that the purchase of that territory was about the best bargain Uncle Sam ever made.
 I visited Juneau, too, and spent pleasant evening with Governor Strong, whose general appearance and activities do not belle his name, for he is splendid representative of both the hardihood and culture typical of Alaska. At Juneau are the two largest gold mines in the world, these being the Alaska Juneau and the Alaska Gastineau, each plant handling about 5000 tons of ore a day. The Juneau mines produced $62,OOO,OOO worth of ore before the ocean broke through into the workings, ruining two-thirds of the property, the remaining third now being shut off from the rest of the property by a concrete dam.
 The fisheries proved great revela- tion to MT. Feitshans, who says that the Alaskan waters between Ketchi- kan and Seward are capable of produc- ing as large a quantity of herring every year as was imported from Swe- den before the war. Large fortunes are also being made in the salmon fisheries, of which labor reaps it's share. Packers, who received from S3 to $4 case before the war, are now being paid $9. The halibut industry he found also to be developing rapidly, and many cold-storage plants are being erected. Of the reindeer industry which was another revelation, he says:
 Another surprise that was in store for me was the information ' received concerning the caribou, or domesti- cated reindeer For many years the government has protected the native Indians and Eskimos in this business, and they have had complete control of the reindeer industry, but now the reservations are removed and the in- dustry is open to all who care to in- vest their time and money in it. At present there are about 10000 reindeer