The weekly Alaska citizen., 1919-01-27


 country, and theirs will be the rich rekard.
 WHERE CAN YOU FIND BETTER?
 The Alps of Europe have long been the rendezvous of tourists and mountain lovers Their precipitous heights have lured the hardy climbers. Their beauty has attracted all peo- pie who love nature and enjoy superb seen cry. Romance has played no small part in bringing the multitudes to the Alpine co,,n- tries, for the quaintness of the native cos tune, the charm of the mountain habitations, and the lure of the mountains themselves have played upon the imagination until the region has become one of fascination.
 For years Americans have steadily visit ed the Alps, carrying with them millions of dollars. Did they get their moneys worth :? They have seen those hills called the Alps They have paid exorbitant prices to the willy European shop and hotel keepers, who eve now are planning on letting America pay the burden which war has thrust upon them, with even more exorbitant prices. They have been carried cross the Atlantic by European ship companies, notably German. And what have they really seen, compared with that which exists i'll the world-and that at our very doors? The famous Alps pale into insignif- canoe when compared with Alaskan lnoun- tains. The far-famed Matterhorn and Mont Blanc are mere hills when compared with the sturdy giants of the North. The facts are astonishing.
 The effect of water foreground and dis tant mountains in the background is without rival along the British Columbia and Alaskan coasts, eliminating in the St. Elias range-the Alps of Alaska, which rise directly from sea level to heights far above the highest of the European Alps. There are thousands of miles of coast line which outrank the Euro pean resorts of similar nature. Perhaps this scenery at home has been too accessible and too easy to reach, and people desire the pos sbity of a hard climb that they may see what others cannot. Let such ambitious ones turn to the Alaskan range, with the Mt Mckinley group. There they may be in their clement literally on the roof of the continent. - With Mt. Mckinley, in all its grandeur, the cu- may attempt the highest climb above snow can be compared with it are the totally in accessible Andes and Himalayas, with their great peaks, yet even they can offer nothing in comparison with the 13,OO0 foot climb above the snow line of Mt. Mckinley. So far as the European Alps are concerned, they are out of consideration, the climb above snow line alone on Mckinley being almost equal in altitude to the total height of the highest of these mountains.
 Mt. Mckinley, the most imposing moun- tain of the world, must be seen to be appre- ciated. It is one huge mound of granite, SO symboical and characteristic of American sturdiness, that it should be the Mecca of all American travellers, and should come last as we'll as first in following the slogan, "See America fvst' ..'
 It is time that Alaskans awoke to the possibilities of their empire. The completion of the railroad opens it to the world. The Fjords of Norway are surpassed in the inland pas sage. The greatest mountain climbs are made readily possible for the busy man of the eastern United States For those who are at tracted by the romantic nature of a co,ln- try, what is there that can beat the gold fields, the scenes of the historic stampedes, the mid night sun, and the wonderful salmon runs? :? The secret of the European success has been advertising together with all possible com forts for the travellers. Now that Alaska's wonders are becoming accessible her scenic resources must be capitalized, and above all else, the world musht be told of them, and else, the world must be told of them--that finitely superior to anything that has been offered heretofore.
 It has been well known to certain wise