ALASKA'S NEW RAILWAY 



5S9 



would invite slides of a similar nature 

 to those creating serious difficulty at 

 Panama (see page 569). 



To avoid this danger it is proposed to 

 build up the railroad embankment along 

 the side of the river bed, against the 

 cliffs, diverting the course of the stream 

 with wing dams. As the Matanuska is 

 largely fed by glaciers, its flow is at a 

 minimum in winter, and, despite the short 

 hours of daylight, much of the work of 

 grading could be accomplished with 

 fewer obstacles and at lower cost in the 

 winter than in the summer. 



Overland transportation of supplies 

 and equipment, too, can be made more 

 easily and cheaply in. winter. The valleys 

 and bottom-lands of southern Alaska are 

 generally swampy. In summer men and 

 horses sink into the morass at each step, 

 while the difficulties of travel through 

 new country are enhanced by the heavy 

 herbaceous growth, which approximates 

 tropical jungle undergrowth in density. 

 Under these conditions pack-horses are 

 practically the only means of carrying 

 supplies excepting along constructed 

 trails. In the winter, however, roads are 



easily broken in the snow, and transpor- 

 tation of any kind becomes a much sim- 

 pler and cheaper matter. 



EARLY OPEXIXG OF COAL FIELDS DESIRABLE 



Reaching the Matanuska coal fields 

 with a railroad at as early a date as pos- 

 sible will not only encourage quick de- 

 velopment, but also will open up a source 

 of fuel for the use of the Commission in 

 railroad operation and in construction 

 work along the northern part of the line. 

 The Matanuska fields furnish a high 

 grade of bituminous coal which has been 

 found entirely satisfactory for naval use. 

 The coal of the Xenana fields, on the 

 northern part of the railroad, is a high 

 grade of lignite, which is expected to fur- 

 nish cheap and excellent fuel for domes- 

 tic and industrial use in the interior of 

 the country, along the Tanana and the 

 Yukon. 



Xo attempt is being made to add to the 

 cost of the road by elaborate or ornate 

 structures. It is realized that the prime 

 need is for a road that will as quickly as 

 possible lay open the riches of Alaska for 

 use and her lands to settlement. 



THE NATION'S PRIDE* 



By Franklin K. Lane, Secretary of the Interior 



IX" THE development of this conti- 

 nent, the discovery of its resources 

 and their highest utilization, there 

 is a fascination to the American which is 

 superlative. It is indeed our life, and has 

 called out the most sterling qualities in 

 our character. Those foreigners who 

 write of our country often engage in face- 

 tious if not scornful comment upon our 

 bombastic manner of telling the story of 

 our growth and of the things achieved or 

 possessed. They fail unfortunately to 

 see far enough into the secret of our 

 pride. 



To have taken the prize for the largest 



* This article, which gives a wonderfully im- 

 pressive survey of our national resources and 

 opportunities, has been abstracted and espe- 

 cially revised for the National Geographic 

 Magazine by Franklin K. Lane, Secretary of 

 the Interior, from his report to the President 

 for 1915. 



pumpkin at the county fair, or to have 

 milled more ore in a day than any other 

 mine, or to have built the highest dam in 

 the world* — such things are to us adven- 

 tures which make the game of opening a 

 new country worth while. 



* The Arrowrock Dam was completed two 

 years ahead of time and for more than a mil- 

 lion dollars less than the estimated cost. This 

 dam was constructed to supply the lands 

 around Boise, Idaho, with water for irrigation. 

 The dam will bear the following plate : "Ar- 

 rowrock Dam. Maximum height 348.5 ft. 

 Height above river bed 260 ft. Thickness at 

 base 240 ft. Thickness at top 15.5 ft. Length 

 along crest 1,100 ft. Length of spillway 400 

 ft. Concrete in dam 585.200 cu. yds., in spill- 

 way 25.400 cu. yds. Capacity of reservoir 

 244.300 acre feet, 79.642.000.000 gallons. Con- 

 struction authorized in January, 191 1. by R. A. 

 Ballinger. Secretary of the Interior, upon rec- 

 ommendation of F. H. Newell. Director, and 

 A. P. Davis. Chief Engineer of the United 

 States Reclamation Service. Designed and 



