The Cordova daily times., 1923-04-14
Copper Tints A Series Of Cordoua Sketches
 BY KATHERINE WILSON
BY WAY OF HISTORY
BY KATHERINE WILSON

 ital and headed by George Cheever Hazee there had come to Alaska reconnaissance party whose purpose to find feasible railway route from tdewater to Eagle the Yukon. This party made two surveys one up the Copper River Valley the other from Valdez by way of the military trail the range. Joining at what is now Willow Creek these two routes became identical and continued north to the Panama through the richest mineral belt of the Territory.
 Because of the obviously great engineering diff culties involved by way of the Copper River Valley the Valdez trail determined to be the most prac- ticable route and recommended when the two surveys sent east to be recorded at Washington The survey of the Valdez route accordingly filed with the proper Department, but through some mad vertence the Copper River survey not lnstead 1t was tucked into pigeonhole of official desk in New York and promptly forgotten-an rsght which was later to cost the builders little matter of quarter of million dollars!
 Construction work started from Valdez under the direction of Mr. Hazeet and proceeding accord ing to schedule when, morning. Daniel Guggenhelm submitted to the interview already mentioned and Tn his enthusiasm announced the beginning of railway project designed to open up to development the varied resources of interior Alaska.
 That interview read with keen interest by certain intrepid Irishmen, Michael J. Heney, who had been the contracting constructor for the White Pass & Yukon Railway, the only other railway line penetrating the North.
 One night that Winter, while operations halted and operators Outsde there landed at Valdez from small and nconspcuous boat half dozen figures. Three of these white men, the others Indians The former were Michael J. Heney, contractor, J. H. McPherson engineer, and Jack Dalton, famous Alaskan sourdough, packer and musher The party lost time lotering about Valdez, but their presence all but unnoted disappeared up the military road and the range.
 Some weeks later Heney presented himself at the Guggenheim headquarters in New York; demanded a hearng and declaring that the route by way of Valdez gross error, exhibited duly recorded survey of the Copper River route made by himself and compan ions, who had out that way from the Interior. This had been unprecedented and hazardous ex- poit survey down the river in Winter being project fraught with all but insurmountabe difficulties That the survey less sketchy excused by the fact of those difficulties Consideration of the route proposed by Heney given special impetus just then by of the discoveries of coal deposits in the Boring River regon only sixty miles away, which had but recently aroused widespread in teres Operations copper properties of the Interior already under way That railway designed to tap the mineral district would enjoy great advantages through being contiguous to coal deposits obvious At any rate result of Heneys representations a council of the powers called and despite the emphasis of the first surveyors that the Copper River route not the most practicable, it decided to send out an engineer further to investigate.
 This engineer, M. K. Rodgers, made casual survey of the Valdez and Copper River routes respectively, and then proceeded to Katalla in the coal district Rodgers report to New York enthusiastically in favor of this point basis from which to build the road. His report accordingly adopted the Valdez route abandoned and million dollars was appropriated for the Kataa project.
 Meanwhile, M. J. Heney had begun on his own re- sponsibty, with the aid of additional capital, to build railway from what is Cordova. If this enterprise was largely pretense, designed for later disposal at good figure the plan wisely conceived Attempts at construction at Kaalla by the New York interests proved disastrous. Built wild and protected coast, open to the full sweep of terrible Winter with the first big storm of the year the wharf and artificial breakwater, which essential the scheme and which had been partially constructed that season, completely swept awaya possibility foreseen by all familiar with the conditions A wire to New York apprisng headquarters of this fact erated the protest against continuing the project from this point. The produced another conference of the powers But out of that discussion came one de- cision as expressed finally in the utmatum of the late