ALASKA. 



19 



charge of the preparation of "suitable and at- 

 tractive specimens, endeavoring to get such as 

 will show the quality of our coals, ores, and 

 minerals, and prepare such geological maps 

 and sections as will indicate the position and 

 extent of the same, the region and localities of 

 our timber, productions, manufactures, etc., 

 and have them carefully boxed and labeled, 

 and forwarded to Philadelphia." The Facul- 

 ties of the State University and Agricultural 

 and Mechanical College were requested to lend 

 their aid, and the Judges of Probate and Com- 

 missioners of Roads and Revenue in each coun- 

 ty were appointed executive committees to aid 

 in carrying out the work of the commissioners. 

 ALASKA. " A Report upon the Condition 

 of Affairs in the Territory of Alaska, by Henry 

 W. Elliott, Special Agent of the Treasury De- 

 partment," gives a very different picture of 

 the character and resources of that acquisition, 

 although its agricultural statements are dis- 

 puted by Colonel S. F. Tappan. Regarding the 

 productiveness of the soil, and its availabilty 

 for agricultural purposes, he says : " There are 

 more acres of better land lying now as a wilder- 

 ness and jungle in sight of the mountain-tops 

 of the Alleghanies from the car- window of the 

 Pennsylvania road than can be found in all 

 Alaska." It is subject to frosts as late as June 

 10th and as early as August 20th even in the 

 southern districts, and nothing which the gar- 

 dener plants will ripen. For the most unsat- 

 isfactory and unprofitable agriculture which is 

 possible in some spots, " there is not one acre 

 of tillable land to every ten thousand of the 

 objectionable character throughout the larger 

 portion" of this southern area, and "certainly 

 not more than one acre to a thousand in the 

 best regions." Cattle cannot find food in win- 

 ter, and the making of hay is " simply impos- 

 sible The country will not, in its whole 



extent, allow the successful growth and ripen- 

 ing of a sigle crop of corn, wheat, or potatoes," 

 and "the most needful of domestic animals 

 cannot be kept by poor people." Of the cli- 

 mate the report says that on the Sitkan or 

 southern division of the coast the winter is 

 " never anything but wet and chilly," unfavor- 

 able for the production of ice and subject to 

 high winds and drizzling rains. In the inte- 

 rior the winters are extremely cold, and the 

 vast rolling plains and rounded mountain-tops 

 are covered with a dense jungle of spruce, fir, 

 and cedar, so thick, dark, and damp, as to be 

 nearly impenetrable. The next division to 

 the north, reaching to Prince William's Sound, 

 presents 300 miles of bold sea-front with 

 scarcely an island or a rock, and has belts of 

 spruce in the lowlands by the sea, while the 

 interior is mountainous and bare, abounding 

 in glaciers. It is a desolate region, poor in 

 game and fish, and avoided by the Indians. 

 The peninsula and Khodiak District is described 

 as the most valuable portion of the territory, 

 growing the best garden vegetables, and hav- 

 ing some valuable timber of spruce and fir. 



Within a limited area grass grows luxuriantly, 

 but cannot be cured for hay. There are many 

 winters in which cattle might be kept there 

 in small numbers. The greater part of this 

 district, however, is broken and barren, and 

 subject to foggy and dark weather which 

 renders agriculture impossible even in the 

 arable patches of land. North of this is the 

 Yukon District extending to the arctic re- 

 gions, " an immense area of desolate sameness, 

 almost unknown, and likely to be so for an 

 indefinite time." The summers there are 

 short, but warm and pleasant, while the win- 

 ters are "long and bitterly cold and inclem- 

 ent." The Ounalashka District, embracing the 

 Aleutian Islands, is a " great chain of rugged 

 islands, enveloped the greater part of the year 

 in fogs and" swept over by frequent gales." 

 The summers are "mild, foggy, and humid;" 

 the winters damp, with a temperature aver- 

 aging 30 above zero, but often dropping to 3. 

 " Rain falls at all times and with all winds. 

 .... Snow begins to fall in September (and 

 even in August), and does not cease earlier 

 than May." The cloudiness of the district is 

 remarkable, and there are not " a dozen cloud- 

 less days in the whole year," while winds 

 prevail almost constantly. Of the whole Ter- 

 ritory the report says: "It would seem un- 

 deniable that, owing to the unfavorable cli- 

 matic conditions which prevail on the coast 

 and in the interior, the gloomy fogs and damp- 

 ness of the former, and the intense protracted 

 severity of the winters, characteristic of the 

 latter, unfit the Territory for the support of 

 any considerable civilization." The mineral 

 wealth of Alaska is represented as wholly im- 

 aginary or yet to be discovered. Nothing is 

 said of the existence of whales near the coasts, 

 but the walrus are declared to be " so shy and 

 timid that they have deserted the other isl- 

 ands, as they were populated by man," and 

 have retreated to Walrus Island, a remote 

 place seldom visited. They are also declared 

 to be of little commercial importance, the ivory 

 being of poor quality, the oil of a low grade, 

 and the hide valueless. The fur-product is 

 valuable, coming chiefly from the seal and sea- 

 otter. The sea islands are leased to a com- 

 pany which is restricted to the killing of 100,- 

 000 seals a year, and it is thought that with 

 this destruction the number will be kept up. 

 The whole number of breeding seals that visit 

 the islands, and their young, is estimated at 

 4,700,000. The inhabitants of the Territory, 

 both the Christianized Aleuts and the savage 

 Indians, are represented as having deteriorated 

 since the acquisition of these possessions by 

 the United States. They are practically ex- 

 empt from all restraint, and have sunk into 

 drunkenness and sloth. Whiskey is freely im- 

 ported, and the natives brew a strong beer 

 from sugar, dried apples, and other ingredients. 

 The number of inhabitants is estimated at 

 5,000 Aleuts and 18,000 to 20,000 Indians, 

 the latter having no settled abodes, but wan- 



