Iditarod pioneer., 1919-10-04

Hot Springs are within the 6O-mle radius, which means" they may we'll be counted portion. of the Fair
 banks camp. The entire Tanana val ley has d population of $500, which means it is one of the most active cen ters in the North. and one of the most i progressive in the entire Yukon basin.
 "Nenana, winch does not appear among the gold producers, is the gov ernment railway town only 40 miles
 north of Fairbanks. The work on the
 railway to connect Fairbanks and Ne
 mana has been progressing steadily all season, and will be completed bv the end of November. this year, when the two towns will have steady rail com munication. The roadway is built for standard gauge road, and ties pro- vided for that width, rbut for the pres ent the line is to,be made narrow gauye and so arranged that the rails can be spread to standard measurement when required.
 : Tt possibly may be a couple of years before the railway ts connect Fairbanks aud Nenana with the Alaskan coast
 will be completed, depending, of course, largely on the appropriation which Congress will allow each season. Autos now run out the BIO miles from Fair
 banks to Chlt,na, the interior terminus of the Copper River. & North " estern railway, which connects on the coast end at Cordova. The autos have been making he trip over the road steadily during the good weather this summer in two and half to three days. The wagon road to Valdez is 60 miles longer and quite mountainous, SD is not used so much as the Chitina route. A good many tourists have been travelins the auto route from Fairbanks to the coast this summer. After the railway i, completed from .Nrnana to the coast, look for heavy tourist traffic down the Yukon annually and out over that railway. It will make wonderful | trip with DO repetition of scenery, and many new phases. Now is the time for the North to begin to exploit bis great circle route, and keep the busi- ness coming by way of; Dawson.
 The Koyuhuk camp did not develop the big proposition which some thought earlier in the season would be proved on the RattIes river. IL is to be re- gret'ed the thing did not grove out as big as sons autlclp pal ed. but continued prospecting may yet prove there is q rich pavsLreah in the country, and mean the opening of d very active Camp.
 In the ldltarod camp the chief out tl's al work this season comprise the small Riley dredge on Otter, aud the small Beaton & Donneiiey dredye on the same stream; Walsh and Ford, open-cutting or Flat creek; and the Upgrade association, who are using the scraper system. The big Yukon Gold dredge, on Flat, is shut down, and the future intentions respecting it are un. known.
 "At Marshall the situation is quiet this season. The same nay be said n respect to Ruby. In the Circle district the Berry dredge and some other oper- ators are continuing operations and makiug good show lngS.
 ''Tom Aitken. the veteran Klondike operator is carrying on big operations ln the K uskok1lm and the kantishna, and Is one of the live-wire miners ot the cuuntry. He has dredge produce ing steadily on Candle creek, l6 miles from the Iakotna river, at the head oi the huskok~lm, where Mrs. Aitken, formery y Miss McHenry of Da wson, has rendered great assistance as local man. ager. Last spring she mushed in over the trall from the coast to Candle and got the ere wa together, and started the dredge while Tom attended 10 some of his business on the coast. Tom is claSsed as a millionaire, and the firm ot
 Altken X Aitken, as it is styled, seems prosperlng Tn every respect.
 The latest Ai,ken exploit is to open two silver properties. Tom calculates on getting LOGO tons of silver-lead ore this winter on Nixon Fork. about SC m les above Tako,na. He will have to make haul of l2 miles over the snow to the river. He has ordered 20, ,OOO sacks through us for the ore. and they are being delivered this season up the kuskok vim river by Captaln Wallace LangleY's steamer Tana