Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1918-08-14
ALASKA LURE FOR
THE HOME SEEKER
FARMER HAS COME IN WAKE or
GOLD HUNTER TO DEVELOP
IT'S RESOURCES.
Territory Is Showing It's Possibilities
as Land OF Agriculture.

es GaiN " ~ iNN'NA -
In 1867, William II. Seward insisted
that the United States government
buy Alaska The price PAID was SI.-
100000. People scofted aud rallied and
jerred at Stewards Ice box"
Last year the territory exported
her purchase price in gold alone, SIX
times her purchase price in copper.
three times her purchase price IN fish.
Her total commerce for the year ap-
preached Sl20,000,000.
And still Alaska is a land OF thrills.
She has scarcely stepped across the
threshold of the vast prosperity that
Will be hers. The half billion OF dol
lars she has given these United States
during the close of the last half cen.
fury will be doubled many times be
fore the century is closed.
An invincible frontier spirit ford
ed the mighty Mississippi. oyercame
obstructing mountain barriers and
penetrated TO the broad Pacific. That
inyincible frontier spirit was the spir'
it OF the pioneer American. and il Is
with us still The plains OF Kansas
and the placers of California played
their part in the steady westward
march of American civilization. Then
came the rush to the klondike. That
brought the first great throng OF
Alaska pioneers. Many of them
struck pay and returned to the states.
More of them have struck something
better and richer than pay; they have
struck homes. The far famed lure OF
the north has canght them, and they
can wish for no better.
Montana was a famous mining
country and a great cattle region. SO
was Arizona. Now they are farming
both states with rich results. The rush
to California in 40 was for gold Since
then California has become one of the
great agricultural states of the Union.
And now they tell us that the
farming area alone Of Alaska is as
large as the combined total area OF
Pennsylvania, Maryland. Delaware,
New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachu-
sets, Vermont and New Hampshire.
We are told that Matanuska potatoes
weigh a pound and half. we are
shown turnips and rutabagas that
weigh from twelve and fourteen
por 8 apiece. We are fed lettuce
and strawberries that might have
been grown in Virginia.
/ Is this Stewards Ice Box" sew.
ards Folly" Stewards Artic Polar
Bear Reserve2' Alaska is no longer
formidable wilderness. Thoughtful
men and women realize that though
1t is cold in winter, it is warm in
summer. Reports of actual weather
conditions show that it was milder at
Seward this winter than it was at
New York or at Boston.
We cannot speak of Alaska as a
whole any more than We can speak
of the Pacific slope as a whole. II
Is just as misleading to speak OF
the Mantanuska valley and Point Bar
row in the same breath as it Is tC
infer that pomegranates will mature
in Vancouver just because that island
happens to be circled by the same
sea that laps the beach of coronado.
A map of Alaska superimposeC
upon chart Of the United States
shows spread of territory extending
from the Atlantic ocean at Charles
ton to the Pacific at Los Angeles
from Canada at Lake Superior to III,
state Of Sonora. Her $50. 400 sQuar,
miles comprise domain one-fifth al
large as the United States, and quit,
as varied, both in climate and In re
sources
Why, then did Alaska lie so lon,
undiscovered" Lack of concret
knowledge and prejudice born of ie
norance have retarded the develop
ment of the territory UP to a very re
cent date.
Government surveys have disclose,
vast riches, the government railroa
is fast opening the country. Her Goa
is declared to equal the worlds best
her soil is fertile and her people In
dustrous.
What better foundation could
candidate for statehood have in it
race for future prosperity.
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SPAIN FINDS FUELS