42o THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



Anthracite Coal Company, the Alaska Anthracite Coal Company, the 

 McKenzie Anthracite Coal Company, the Carhon Mountain Anthra- 

 cite Coal Company and the Alaska Hard Anthracite Coal Company. 

 Almost all the field was located prior to November, 1906, at which 

 time these coal lands were withdrawn from entry by the government. 



According to law each entry of 160 acres must have been made by 

 an individual, or at most 640 acres by four individuals, and in the in- 

 terests of the entrymen. By an act of 1906 entries made in good faith 

 under the previous law were allowed to be consolidated into single 

 holdings not exceeding 2,560 acres of contiguous land. Many of the 

 claimants have done a considerable amount of development work, have 

 had their lands surveyed, have paid in ten dollars an acre to the gov- 

 ernment, which is the requirement by law, and are now awaiting their 

 patents. 



The chief literature which has appeared on the Bering Biver field 

 has been published in Bulletins of the United States Geological Sur- 

 vey. A complete list of the articles which have been written by mem- 

 bers of the Survey and others may be found in the bibliography of 

 Bulletin No. 442 of the Survey, by Dr. A. H. Brooks. Of all the pub- 

 lished reports, that by Dr. G. C. Martin, in Bulletin No. 335, entitled 

 " Geology and Mineral Resources of the Controller Bay Region," is the 

 most exhaustive. Accompanying this report are very satisfactory geo- 

 logic and topographic maps. In an article by George W. Evans, in 

 the March, 1910, issue of Mines and Minerals, and also in an article 

 by L. W. Storms in Engineering and Mining Journal, Vol. 90, p. 273, 

 may be found maps showing the surveyed railway lines and the names 

 and locations of the groups of claims which have been applied for in 

 this field. A good Coast and Geodetic Survey chart of Controller Bay 

 and adjacent parts of the coast is chart No. 8513. 



The Geography of the Region 



The topography of the area embraced by the known coal outcrops 

 is rugged for a region of moderate relief. The elevations vary from a 

 few feet above sea level at Bering Lake to somewhat more than 4,000 

 feet at the northeastern end of the field. The general trend of the 

 ridges and mountains is northeast and southwest. A striking physio- 

 graphic feature is the presence of broad valleys filled with alluvium and 

 now occupied by comparatively small streams, except in times of flood. 

 The numerous small valleys are V-shaped, often canyon like; the slopes 

 from the divides are usually steep and broken by many gulches. 



The largest stream is Bering River, which takes its rise in the lakes 

 at the margin of Bering glacier. Its chief tributaries receive their 

 waters from the abundant rainfall, and from the melting snows of 

 Martin River glacier and its lobes. The tributary, Canyon Creek, 



