RAILWAY ROUTES. 
By Alfred H. Brooks. 
INTRODUCTION. 
The past decade has witnessed tremendous strides in the commercial advancement, of 
Alaska, but the development of means of transportation has not kept pace with the demands 
of the mining interests. Though the coastal transportation system is greatly improved over 
what it was a few years ago, and many steamers ply on the waterways of the Yukon basin, 
these do not adequately meet the requirements of the many inland mining districts. The 
improved steamboat service and the few miles of railway in operation only serve to empha- 
size the necessity of a complete revolution of the entire transportation system for a full 
development of the resources of the Territory. Under the present conditions freight for the 
Yukon camps must be transshipped several times, and its transportation from the coast 
inland can take place only during the summer months. Nor is this all, for after the freight 
lias been carried as near to its destination as possible by steamer it must then usually await 
the winter snows before it is sledded for 20 to 100 miles to the placer mine. In the Copper 
River region the conditions are still worse, for there all freight has to be sledded inland from 
the Pacific coast for a distance of 200 to 250 miles, at a cost of 15 to 25 cents a pound. In 
summer emergency supplies are brought into this district on pack horses, at a cost of 50 
cents to $1 a pound. In southeastern Alaska and on Prince William Sound mining is prac- 
tically confined to the actual shore line. The few properties which lie away from the coast 
have been developed by wagon roads or tramways, usually not many miles in length. In 
Seward Peninsula the transportation problem is less acute than in the Yukon basin, for dur- 
ing a dry season much of its surface can be traversed in wagons. Moreover, a number of 
short railways have been built which have materially aided the mining development. 
The pioneer prospector on the Yukon, equipped with his shovel, pick, gold pan, whipsaw, 
and ax, transported by raft or canoe along the water courses and on his own back foroverland 
journeys, carried on his mining ventures without the aid of any transportation system 
except that of his initiation. With such simple tools many millions of dollars have been 
won from the gravels, and even to-day there are a number of placer districts whose yield is 
largely dependent on almost the same primitive methods. The enormous increase in the 
placer-gold output of the last two years must, however, be credited to the improvement of 
methods by the introduction of machinery. These improvements have been brought about 
in spite of the enormous transportation charges, to which must be added the cost of unavoid- 
able delays. These expenses represent a direct tax on the mining industry, and make it now 
impossible to exploit many placers which could be made to yield a handsome profit if they 
were made more accessible by the construction of railways supplemented by wagon roads. 
This is still more striking in the case of lode and coal mining, for this industry must await 
railway construction unless the deposits are on navigable waters. 
It is only within a few years that the mineral resources of Alaska have become sufficiently 
well known to attract capital, and there is still much conservatism regarding the possi- 
bilities 'of this field for investment. Though there is abundant opportunity for the indi- 
vidual prospector of small resources, but of determination and experience, yet the time is 
ripe for larger ventures which can be handled only by considerable investments. This fact 
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