The Cordova daily times., 1920-08-10

on Whats the Matter With Alaskan" Edmund Ellsworth Sumner in the Railway and Marine News writes as follows:
 AS this chapter is being written, the cable carries the news from Alaska that Secretary Payne, of the interior department, and Secretary Daniels, of the navy department, are inspecting the Matanuska coal fields. Incidentally it will be recalled that Secretary Fisher of the interior de- partment, in the summer of 1911, made a trip to the North, at which time he investigated the various coal deposits near the coast and penetrated the interior as far as Fairbanks, this at time prior to the appointment of the first railroad commission by President Taft. Mr. Fisher was ac- companied by large retinue of specialists, so the interior department at the time was fully informed as to the seriousness and extent of the Alaska malady Also incidentally, it might be remarked that Secretary Fisher was not the pioneer to go north as for two decades representa- lives of the government and investi- gators had enjoyed the beautiful sum. mer excursion.
 It is worthy of special note that dur ing the past thirty years none of these investigators have made the trip north during that period from Novem- Der 1st to May 1st, when a large pro- portion of the population comes out side and conditions are quite at var lance with those of the long sunny days of June and July. In the present case, we can picture the reception ac- corded to Secretaries Daniels and Payne and can accurately outline the probable line of discourse at Matan- uska and Anchorage. However, it might be well to state that the coal of Matanuska is the same geological oc- currence as found and reported On by all the other investigators for the last quarter of century. It has been approved for use by the navy, for com- mercial purposes and for steaming purposes, according to such. reports as we have at hand
 However, the government railroad track was laid to Chickaloon Aug ust 25th, 1917, three years ago, and as this coal was exploited as the principle reason for building the rail- road, the secretaries should be in- formed as to why the mine has been worked only in the most limited way and why during the summer seasons of 1918, 1919 and 1920, with the route completed and the world crying for fuel, no practical commercial devel- opment of the coal has taken place 1
 We are told by the engineers in 1 charge that the line from Anchorage to Chickaloon is usual in physical l construction to the average road built | for similar purposes in the United 1 States. We know that there are cars and locomotives on hand for several steamships loaded with Panama equipment have been unloaded at Anchorage, but did the management of the railroad explain to the visitors l why it was that Seward, the official terminus, had not been supplied with a heavy stock of at least 5000 tons for winter use? The management | also might have explained that the snow blows on the Seward division could not work during the great | blocade of the winter of 1918-1919 un- til a shipment of HOO tons of Cana dian coal was loaded at Naniamo and . taken to Seward for that purpose. % It is true that dock and coal chute have been in the course of erection at Anchorage, but were the
  lar works were not started at Seward, the official terminus? The great trouble with the snow during the win ter will normally be encountered on the line between Anchorage and Seward and until snowsheds are fully the line will be blocked as was the case in December, 1918, when 1t was not opened until the spring of 1919. Anchorage, by rail, could SUD- ply coal to points up to the blocade wherever such blocade might occur, but the snow shovels or rotaries with engines, working from the Seward side, would have to be supplied from Seward.