The Seward gateway., 1922-03-16
WONDROUS FACTS ABOUT
 ALASKA.
By P. A. Thelin

II A country of constant surprise ant fwonder-you who have always though of Alaska as bleak and ice clad anC but the home of seals and the produc CT of gold under the cruelest hardships
 listen! Its harbors on the Pacific Coast are free from ice the year round it's climate is nearly as varied as Cali tornla-Sitka has more equable eli mate than Washington, D. C., it's low est temperature being 316 above zero, with a mean August temperature of y degrees above zero, against that of San Francisco of 58. At Prince Will nam Sound, Alaska, the average win ter temperature is 30 degrees above zero, which is the average of New York and Boston. Ice is never found in the harbors whereas New York and Boston are frequently tied up with ice; there are no wind storms, the snow that falls in winter never drifts and only in the Interior of Alaska are the winters severe. Even as far north as St. Michael, north of the Boring Sea the August temperature averages 58 degrees above zero, with a mean win ter temperature in February of 2.3 de- grees above zero
 One may travel two thousand onu hundred miles up the Yukon river and md neither ice or snow, but every where a luxuriant plant life-birds. 1 flowers, and small animals, such as one would find along the upper Missis- sippi
 What is the size of Alaska? How few have any conception. It is larger than the combined areas of Belgium, Holland Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, England, Ireland, Scotland and the former German Empire. It has 35,000 miles of coast line, four times that of the United States or equal to the distance around the world Alaska covers exactly the same paral- lels of latitude that the above named countries cover and is influenced by the Japanese current.
 Anything that can be grown in Ohio can be grown in the great tracts of Alaska. The broad river valleys, GOV aring one-third of the country, have nc chill nights in summer, and crops therefore grow faster and make up foI the shorter summer. There are thirty million acres of fine wood pulp tim. Der, destined to furnish the future pa per supply of our country and most o this timber lies on the coastal side with easy water transportation. AlthC we know of gold in Alaska, how littl, we realize that there lies more gol( han in California and Colorado; mor' ! copper than in Montana and Arizona 1 more coal than in Pennsylvania Ohi and West Virginia. It is probably tn most heavily mineralized country il the world with only the surface bein u scratched here and there. Its wonder ,1 full fisheries are faintly familiar t III some. There are verified records C dt over six million seal skins being take le from two small islands about fourtee n miles long. The recorded figures prol h. ably do not cover one-quarter of tn off actual killing. No great national as
 set was ever so ruthlessly squandere,
 similar to New England-a wonderfl
 combination of sea, land, forest, lak h. mountain and glacier It is the mo-
 wonderful and luxuriant flower land
 Ill America. A profusion of den.
 growth of grasses and wild flowers a daisies, violets, for-get-me-nots al
 columbine. Besides all this it is u
 richest country in the world for wi
 animals and furs, having with lit
 exploitation producer furs to the c
 tent of several billions of dollars.
 Alaska the little known hol
 forth richer promise than any oth
 section on tn eface of the globe, co
 sidering that the American flag fiji 1a over it. With greater government i v terest, which only comes from demal
 of the people, this store house of t ,rt world stands ready with open arms
 give bountifully.
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