HASGOODWORD
TO SPEAK FOR
ROAD BUILDERS
Statement of Observing Juneau
Man Which Disqualifies
Him for Membership
in Anvil Chorus
E. S. Hewitt of Juneau, who re
cently spent some time in Cordova,
as well as other towns to the west
ward, has written the following state
ment relative to the Alaska govern
ment road, which is of interest be
cause it is different from other such
statements that have made their way
into print:
“There has been so much unjust
and destructive criticism of the Alas
kan engineering commission and of
the present condition of the govern
ment railroad, by Alaskans as well
as outsiders who really knew com
paratively little of either, that I be
lieve it is up to those of us who
have taken the time and trouble to
gather the real facts and the public
press of Alaska took place these fact
before the public, which is the mo
tive for my bringing to your atten
tion this matter which is of such im
portance to every Alaskans.
When I say that this adverse criti
cism of the Alaskan engineering
commission as a government organ
ization has been due to a lack of
knowledge by the public of the real
facts and has done as much or more
to retard the development of Alaska
and the work of the commission than
any one element, I do not except my
self as an offender. But when I
find myself in the wrong on any sub
ject I am always willing to admit
it and just as ready to help build up
as I was to tear down, and I believe
the efforts of the press to place be
fore the public the real facts will be
appreciated by every loyal Alaskan
as well as the Alakan engineering
commission.
Makes Trip Over Road
“On my trip over southwestern
Alaska I arrived at Sew'ard the day
before the first through train from
that port to Anchorage and availed
myself of the oportunity to go by
rail and secure first handed the facts
as to the true condition of the road.
On completion of my business at
Anchorage, finding there was no boat
out from that port for ten days I
again sought transportation over the
railroad to Seward. The day before
the commission had planned to run
a through train, which was Sunday,
the 10th, an exceptionally heavy rain
which amounted to almost a cloud
burst, covered the track at the head
of Turnagain Arm for a distance of
six miles to a depth of from six
inches to two feet. As some of this
track was newiy ballasted it was im
possible to think of running an en
gine over it. Thus those who felt
the necessity of getting through with
out further delay were obliged to
make the trip on speeders and hand
cars, which a party of three of us
proceeded to do. This gave me an
even better opportunity to see the
road and pass judgment than any
other mode of travel.
Road Equal to the Milwaukee
“I have lived west of the Missis
sippi all my life and traveled be
tween Chicago and the Pacific coast
over every line between the Santa
Fe and C. P. R., including both of
these roads. Also I have ridden over
many of the new branch lines in the
western states. In all my travels I
have never been over a new road
bed that, from every point of en
gineering, was as well constructed as
this road is where completed. From
Mile 70 to Talkeetna the road is
practically complete, as well as from
Seward to Mile 23, and I am sure I
do not over-estimate when I say that
the road bed is equally as good as
that of the Chicago, Milwaukee and
St. Paul at any point west of Min
neapolis and St. Paul. The bridges
are the best I have ever seen for
frame structures. There is, of course,
a great deal of work to be done be
tween the miles of 45 and 70 before
this portion of the road will be in as
good shape as that already completed.
But at the present time there are
over six hundred men working be
tween these two points, and although
it will be a year or more before this
part of the road will be completed,
unless prevented by adverse weather
conditions it appears now that they
will have the track in shape to make
it possible to keep the road open all
winter. The main work to be done
to make this possible is the building
of three snow sheds where^ the road
was blocked last winter by slides
and this work is now under con
struction; the widening and raising
of the six tunnels between 52 and 54,
which work will soon be completed,
and the raising of the track at the
head of Turnagain Arm between
miles of 54 and 70. The bridges on
this stretch of the road have been
raised from four to eight feet above
the old survey and the work of grad
ing the track up to these levels has
already been started.
Heavy Grades Eliminated
There has been much doubt ex
presed as to the practicability of
hauling coal over the grades be
tween Seward and Anchorage.
Anyone who considers his time
worth anything will forget this
feature entirely, as the grade at the
steepest point is but 2.1 per cent,
which is less than the grade over
any road crossing the Rocky and
Sierra Nevada ranges. Switch-backs
are being constructed between 45
and 52 to take care of the traffic dur
ing the filling of some of the high
trestles and the reconstruction of
others, which work in itself will re
quire about a years time.
Criticism Due to Lack of Knowledge
“The criticism heaped upon the
Seward division of the road has un
questionably been done without
knowledge or thought as to true con
ditions. When one stops to consider
that there has been but three mil
lion dollars available for reconstruc
tion of this division, which comprises
the old Alaska Centra] road, the pres
(Continued on Page Five)
LOST
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