ALASKA 



140 



ALASKA 



Commerce and Communications. Alaska has 

 large natural resources, as indicated in the 

 preceding description, but until recently it has 



THE NEW RAILROAD 



Solid line shows section constructed (1916) 

 from Seward to Turnagain Arm. The dotted 

 line is the route of the road to Fairbanks. 



had scarcely the beginnings of adequate trans- 

 portation facilities. In 1899 and 1900, for 

 example, when the gold. fields along the Tanana 

 were first being worked, it cost one cent per 

 pound per mile to transport supplies from 

 Circle City to the mines. As the distance was 

 125 miles this meant a charge of $2,500 to trans- 

 port one ton. The situation is less desperate 

 now, as several thousand miles of sled and 

 wagon roads have been built in various parts, 

 but the railway mileage in 1914 was only 466. 

 In that year, however, Congress authorized the 

 construction of 1,000 miles of new government- 

 owned railways and the purchase of the exist- 

 ing lines. Surveys were made promptly, and in 

 April, 1915, the new rail route was determined, 

 from Seward, on Resurrection Bay, to Fair- 

 banks. This new government railway includes 

 the former Alaska Northern, which extended 

 northward seventy-one miles from Seward. 

 This is the only railroad owned and operated 

 by the national government, except the Panama 

 Railroad. 



In the past, the rivers have been of great 

 importance, particularly the Yukon and Kus- 

 kokwim. These two, with their tributaries, 

 provide navigable waterways about 5,000 miles 

 long. The rivers are free from ice only for 



two to three months in the year, but this 

 period is long enough for the needs of the 

 valleys. Cordova, Valdez and Seward are con- 

 nected by cable with Seattle, and military tele- 

 graphs run from Valdez to Fairbanks and from 

 Fairbanks down the Yukon to Saint Michael. 

 There are also a number of wireless stations 

 maintained by the government. 



Trade and commerce are confined largely to 

 the exportation of raw products and the im- 

 portation of supplies. Gold and fish are sent 

 chiefly to Seattle, Tacoma and San Francisco, 

 and these ports ship machinery and other man- 

 ufactured goods in return. The exports are 

 worth approximately $45,000,000 to $50,000,000 

 a year, and are about double the imports. 



The People. The total population accord- 

 ing to the census of 1910 was 64,356, which 

 provided an average of but one person to nine 

 square miles. This was an increase of only 764 

 over the population in 1900, but it represents 

 an increase of about 7,000 in the white popula- 

 tion, as the number of natives and Chinese had 

 decreased by more than 6,000. About one-third 

 of the total population is foreign-born or 

 native-born of foreign parents, and a little more 

 than one-half is white. Swedes, Norwegians, 

 Canadians, Germans and Irish are the leading 

 foreign elements, in the order named. Five- 

 sixths of the whites are males, but the propor- 

 tion of women is slowly increasing. 



The natives of Alaska may be divided into 

 four great stocks or groups the Aleuts, Eski- 

 mos, Thlinkits or Tlingits, and Athapascan. 

 The last group, which numbers about 4,000, is 

 one of the North American Indian families. 

 The Aleuts, famous as boatmen and hunters 



HOW FREIGHT IS CARRIED ON TIIK 

 YUKON 



of the sea-otter, live only on the Alaska Penin- 

 sula and the Aleutian Islands. They have 

 slowly decreased in number until only 1,500 



