576 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



thence follows a route yet to be finally 

 determined to Fairbanks. The Alaska 

 Northern Railroad from Seward through 

 the Kenai Peninsula, 71 miles to the head 

 of Turnagain Arm, is included in the 

 route. 



Of the purchase price of $1,150,000 for 

 this existing road, $504,188.49 was paid 

 August 25, 1915, and the remainder is to 

 be paid July 1, 1916. The price given 

 for this road, about $16,000 a mile, in- 

 cluding its rights of way, water front and 

 docks, office building and yards at Sew- 

 ard and some light equipment, is less than 

 the physical valuation of the property as 

 made by the Engineering Commission. 



PASSENGER SERVICE I2j/£ CENTS PER MILE 



The road is standard gauge, as the en- 

 tire government line is to be. It is well 

 located and fairly well constructed, but 

 in recent years has been neglected and 

 allowed to fall into decay. The engineers 

 estimate that from $700,000 to $800,000 

 will have to be spent eventually to put it 

 into perfect running condition. Owing 

 to the legal delays in securing title to the 

 property, it was too late in the season 

 when the purchase was consummated to 

 make many of the needed repairs and im- 

 provements. The government is running 

 a gasoline motor-car over a part of the 

 line on a regular schedule, giving passen- 

 ger service at 123^ cents a mile and 

 freight service at 1% cents per pound for 

 the 35 miles in operation. 



From Matanuska Junction near the 

 head of Knik Arm, where the main line 

 of the government route crosses the 

 Matanuska River, a side line 38 miles in 

 length is to be built to Chickaloon, in the 

 Matanuska coal fields. The grade from 

 these coal fields to the new government 

 townsite of Anchorage, on Ship Creek, is 

 4/10 of 1 per cent. As the winter cli- 

 mate in this part of Alaska is no more 

 rigid than in Washington or New York, 

 although with a somewhat greater snow- 

 fall, it is anticipated that Matanuska coal 

 will be shipped throughout the entire 

 year to tidewater at the ice-free port of 

 Seward, from which point cheap water 

 transportation will make it easily avail- 

 able at the many cities along the southern 

 shore, and will quickly lead to the estab- 



lishment of smelters for the copper ores 

 of Alaska. 



anchorage's ADVANTAGES 



After careful investigation, Ship Creek, 

 now known as Anchorage, was selected 

 as the base camp for railroad construc- 

 tion. This townsite, 120 miles from 

 Seward, is on Knik Arm of Cook Inlet 

 at the head of navigation for ocean-going 

 steamers. It is within 5 miles of the 

 main line of the railroad with which it 

 has been connected by a branch (see page 

 5/o). 



Although there is some ice in these 

 waters during the winter, its advantages 

 as a base and as a shipping point for sup- 

 plies lies in the fact that it brings water 

 transportation to a more northern point 

 along the railroad and enables distribu- 

 tion of materials from there in both direc- 

 tions along the line, both by rail and 

 water. Supplies to go by water are 

 transhipped to shallow-draft boats and 

 barges for points further south along 

 Turnagain Arm, while in the same man- 

 ner freight and supplies can be borne by 

 water for nearly 100 miles up the Susitna 

 River. 



Anchorage will be an available ship- 

 ping point for the products of the Mata- 

 nuska coal fields and for freight brought 

 from the interior for at least seven or 

 eight months in the year. A townsite has 

 been created here, and where a year ago 

 was only a wilderness is now a town of 

 about 2,000 population. An auction sale 

 of lots by the government resulted in the 

 sale of 749 lots at a total price of $164,- 

 210. Streets are being improved and 

 many permanent buildings are in course 

 of erection (see page 574). 



ECONOMICAL UNLOADING 



The methods employed to safeguard 

 the interests of the government are illus- 

 trated by those adopted for unloading 

 supplies and materials at Anchorage. 

 The extremes of tide here are nearly 40 

 feet, and on the flood and ebb there is a 

 current of from four to six miles an 

 hour. Because of these facts, steamers 

 cannot go to the dock and must be un- 

 loaded with lighters and barges. 



The old method was to bring the 



