The Nenana news. (Nenana, Alaska) 1921-1923, 1921-05-03

COMMUNICATION.

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Nenana, April 80, 1921
Editor News:
Now that Colonel Steese is look
ing into the many different routes
to the Kantishna, Tolovana and
other districts, / am sure he would
be more than pleased to hear from
the oldtimers-both miners and
businessmen, who have spent the
prime years of their lives trying to
develop, this interior country. Their
many years of actual, and sometimes
very expensive experiences have
disclosed great many things which
never would have come to light by
mere theory. The railroad will soon
be completed and new epoch will
be started in the history of Interior
Alaska.
One Of two things is going to
happen.
First, the Interior is going to be
brought to the Outside, or, second,
the Outside is going to be brought
to the Interior.
Now this is a very deep question
and has lot of food for deep think
ing. To some it may seem as though
there is not much difference in the
two sentences. But to me there is
as much as night is to day. -
To explain my contention more
thoroughly, will say there never
has been any trouble to get the
gold dust and money out of this
country. The fact is, it has all got
out too easily. Nearly everyone who
made any money here, had no diff
ficulty getting out with it. Millions
of Interior Alaska money have been
invested in the States, and our
Government has been enriched by it,
with very little in return to u.s..
That explains my first sentence
how the Interior has always been
brought to the Outside.
Now then, what is best to do and
what can be done to make the In
terror come back again?
Of course, the gold bonus would
create a stampede Immediately. But
our next best thing, aside from the
railroad, is our contemplated wagon
roads-how and where they will be
built.
If our Government wants to build
up permanent POPULATION in the
Interior of Alaska, and have people
stay here, winter and summer, to
develop the resources, roads must
be provided. And there is no big
ger factor than how and where
these roads are built.
The Fairbanks district today
would have been depopulated if it
had not been for the roads to get
the freight out cheap, and as a re-
creation for the people who have
stayed by the country during the
past four or five trying years.
Now then, what is the true con.
dition here at Nenana? This town
is the best laid-out townsite in In
terror Alaska-laid out by compe-
tent engineers, among them Alfred
H. Brooks, the oldest and best
authority on all Interior districts.
The highest water known here for
the past 80 years would not have
wet the floor Of any business house
here. And the Government buildings,
erected on the lowest sandspit, have
their floors we'll above high water
mark, and when the ground is filled
in, as was the original intention,
there never will be any water near
them at any season of the year.
am making this statement because
some people wilfully and others I'M
knowingly, make the claim that Ne
mana is on low ground. It is not a
fact. The ground here is as high as
any place on the river. The ground
from Nenana to the coast is
gradual rise and is ideal for road
building in all directions. The Geo.
logical surveys show there is
gravel bottom to all the country
surrounding Nenana, making it
simple matter to ballast roads. There
never has been any water over the
Government railroad from Nenana
south, and high ground can be
found to both the Kantishna and
Wood river districts from Nenana.
now want to get back to the
subject-What is best to build up
the Interior? It can all be answer
ed in a nut shell. s.a
Bring the Outside to the Interior.
This can be done by making two
large supply points in the Interior,
one at Nenana and the other at
Fairbanks.
When merchants of the Interior
can buy by carload lots and have
their goods delivered every two
weeks, winter and summer, at a
low rate of freight, the public will