THE NENANA DAILY NEWS
Application made April 1, 1918, at the postoffice at Nenana, Alaska,
for eniry as second class mail matter, under the Act of March 3, 1879
“WHERE RAIL AND RIVER MEET”
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Company, at First and B Streets, Nenana, Alaska.
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STATEMENT ISSUED
BY SECRETARY LANE
ON RAILROAD WORK
Head of Interior Department Informs the Members of
Congress of Progress Made Since Commencement
of Government Enterprise In Alaska. Statement Is
Answer to Wickersham Letter.
Details of work done and ex
penditures made in the constructioi
of the government railroad are con
tained in a statement that was sub'
Lane, secretary of the intETAOIE
mitted to the late Congress by
Franklin K. Lane, secretary of the
interior. While no reference i;
made to the charges of mismanage
ment and extravagance, contained
in the “open” letter of former Dele
gate Wickersham, the statement of
the secretary constitutes a fairly
complete answer to the letter, cov
ering as it does, practically all
questions involved. The statement
is as follow's:
“The Alaskan railroad, which is
under construction from Seward to
Fairbanks, is about two-thirds done.
It has been built without graft;
every dollar has gone into actual
work or material. It has been built
without giving profits to any large
contractors, for it has been con
structed entirely' by’ small contracts
or dayT’s labor. It has been built
without touch of politics; every
man on the road has been chosen
exclusively for ability and expe
rience. (I do not know the politics
of any one of the 7000 men whc
are or have been connected with th«
road, excepting Mr. Riggs, who is
now' governor of Alaska.) It ha
been well and solidly built as a per
manent road, not an exploiting road
It has been built for as little money
as private parties could have buil
it, as all competent independen
engineers who have seen the roat
advise.
“In the summer of 1918 I sen
Mr. Edwin F. Wendt, of the Inter
state Commerce commission , ii
charge of valuation of the rail
roads of the United States fron
Pittsburg to Boston, to make an in
vestigation into the manner in whicl
the Alaskan railroad was construct
ed and its cost. He reported to mi
as follows:
“ ‘In concluding, it is not amis
to again state that after the ful
study which was given to the prop
erty during our trip we are satis
fied that the project is being exe
cuted rapidly and efficiently by mei
of experience and ability. It is be
lieved that it is being handled a
cheaply as private contractors couh
handle it under the circumstances.
“Mr. Wendt had been connected
for 25 years with the Pittsburg an<
Lake Erie road as engineer in chargi
of construction and maintenance
and was designated to make this in
vestigation by me upon the recom
mendation of Mr. Prouty, of th
Interstate Commerce commission.
“Recently I had occasion to cal
in Mr. Wells, chief construction en
gineer of the Southern Railway Co.
w'ho reviewed the cost figures o1
the Alaskan Engineering commis
sion, and he said that he was as
tonished that the work cost so little
that on his own road during thi
past year he had paid more pei
yard for earth and rock work thar
in Alaska during the
■ it had cost
same period.
“The road has not been built as
soon as expected because each year
we have exhausted our appropria
tion before the work contemplated
had been done. We could not say
in October of one year what the
cost of anything a year or more
later would be, and we ran out of
money earlier than anticipated. It
has not been built as cheaply as
expected because it has been built
on a rising market for everything
that went into its construction from
labor, lumber, food supplies, ma
chinery, and steel to rail and ocean
transportation- I believe, however,
it can safely be said that no other
piece of government construction or
private construction done during the
war will show less percentage of in
crease over a cost t.h«t was esti
mated more than four years ago.
“The men have been well housed
and well fed. Their wages have
been good and promptly paid; there
has been but one strike and that
was four years ago and was settled
by department of labor experts fix
ing the scale of wages. The men
have had the benefit of a system
of compensation for damages like
that in the reclamation service and
Panama canal. They have had ex
cellent hospital service, and our
camps and towns have been free
from typhoid fever and malaria.
That the men like the work is testi
fied by the fact that hundreds who
‘came out’ the past two years, at
tracted by the high wages of war
industries, are now anxious to re
turn to Alaska, and for them and
in the interest of the territory, I
think we should have a large enough
appropriation to speedily complete
i the road.
•, "There has been but one set back
i in construction and that was the
• washing out of 12 miles of track
■ along the Nenana river. This is a
; glacial stream which, when the
• snows melt, comes down at times
1 with irresistable force. In this in
stance it abandoned its long ae
• customed way and cut into a new
• bed and through trees that had been
i standing for several generations,
■ tearing out part of the track which
, had been laid. But this damage has
l been repaired and the road relaid
in what is thought to be a safe
l place. Such accidents may be ex
I pected on any road laid through
the Western mountains. There is
not a single railroad from the Cop
per River road in Alaska to the
Southern Pacific in Arizona which
has not been closed for weeks, and
; sometimes months at a time, be
cause of such washouts. Nor is
there a Western railroad which has
not been compelled to relocate
, scores of miles of track.
“The credit for the work done is
to be given to the men and the
Alaskan Engineering commission,
who have charge of construction.
This commission consisted of Mr.
Edes, Lieut. Means, United States
army, and Mr. Riggs. These gentle
men were appointed by the Presi
dent upon my recommendation; Mr
Edes, because of 30 years’ expert
ence in locating and constructing
railroads in the Far West for th<
Santa Fe, Southern Pacific anc
other railroad companies; Lieut
Mears, because of his experienc
as an engineer on the Xortherr
Pacific under Mr. Stevens, anc
later in the construction of the
Panama railroad under Col. Goeth
als; Mr Riggs, because he hac
spent many years in Alaska anc
surveyed the Alaskan-Canadiar
boundary from the sea to the
Arctic ocean, and was familiar wit!
the Alaskan people and condition:
under which work could be done ir
Alaska. Within the past year Lieut
Mears returned to active service
in the army and Mr. Riggs was
appointed governor of Alaska.
“The work of locating and con
strutting the road has been lefi
in their hands entirely. The on!>
instruction which they received
from me was that they should build
the road as if they were working
for a private concern, selecting the
best men for the work, irrespective
' of politics or pressure of any kind
I have not asked them to appoint
one man. As a result we have a
force that has been gathered from
the construction camps of the West
ern railroads, made up of men of
experience and proved capacity.
That they have done their work
efficiently, honestly, and at reason
able cost is my belief.
“The road as projected is to run
from Seward to Fairbanks, a dis
tance of 471 miles. In addition
there is a line to the Matanuska
coal fields (completed) of 38 miles.
“The southern end of the road
is the old Alaska Xorthern. running
for 71 miles north of Seward, which
was bought.
“The northern end of the road
is a part of the old Tanana Valley
road (7 miles) leading directly into
Fairbanks, which was also bought.
(This was part of a line 44% miles
long running out of Fairbanks, but
37 miles of this road is not counted
in any mileage figures here griven.
“Between the 71 miles of the
Alaska Xorthern on the south and
the 7 miles of Tanana Valley road
on the north there was a stretch
of 393 miles to be built through
a waste. Of this there has been
built 206 miles of main line track,
leaving 187 miles of this direct road
from Seward to Fairbanks to be
yet constructed. But of this stretch
48 miles have been cleared and
graded, ready for track, and 30
miles have been cleared.
“In addition, the Matanuska line
running into the Matanuska coal
field, 38 miles, has been completed.
“So that out of the total of road
projected, 509 miles, there has been
fully constructed all but 187 miles.
And of this 78 miles of right-of
way have been either cleared and
graded or cleared.
“There have also been construct
ed 30 miles of yard tracks, switches,
sidings, etc-, not included in the
main line mileage given above.
“A full statement of the road
constructed and purchased is as fol
low's :
Miles of road constructed.244.0
Miles of yard tracks, etc. 30.0
Alaska Northern, purchased ... 70.9
Tanana Valley, purchased . 44.4
Total .389.3
“It is not possible during the con
struction of a railroad to tell what
it costs per mile, because all the
foundation work, the construction
of bases from which to work, the
equipment for construction, and
much of the material is a charge
which must be spread over the entire
completed line. If the cost per
mile is figured when but a few
miles of road have been built, it
might be said to cost a million dol
lars a mile. This road four years
ago could be said to have cost ten
i times as much per mile as it could
be said to cost today. So that as
to an uncompleted road the best
' estimate of cost is one that is ap
proximate.
“The best estimate that can be
i made today as to the newly con
structed road is that it has cost
■between $70,000 and $80,000 per
main-line mile, or between $60,000
and $70,000 per mile of track.
“This cost per mile includes the
building of the most difficult and
expensive stretch of line along the
entire route from Seward to Fair
banks—that running along Turn
again Arm, which is sheer rock and
rising precipitously from the sea
for nearly 30 miles. There art
miles of this road which have cost
$200,000 per mile. Even to blast
a mule trail in one portion of this
route cost $25,000 a mile.
“This cost per mile is increased
by reason of the fact that it in
cludes the expense of 48 miles of
clearing and grading new right-of
way and of 30 miles of additional
clearing and 30 miles of yard
tracks, sidings and switches.
“The basis for the estimated cost
of the main-line mileage above giv
en is a table prepared by Mr.
Wendt, of the Interstate Commerce
Commission, as an expression of the
correct deductions from total ex
penditures that should be made in
arriving at cost exclusive of equip
ment and terminals which are nec
essary to the road as a going con
cern and whose cost should be
spread over the whole road when
completed.
“The new construction exclusive
of sidings, as we have seen, is 244
miles. The total which has been
appropriated for the road is $31,
686,684.32. Of this amount there
was a balance on hand December
31, 1918, of $1,214,407.10, thus
making the amount expended $29,
876,277.17.
“But all of this has not gone
into new construction. Much of it
has gone into the purchase of the
old roads referred to (Alaska
Northern and Tanana Valley» and
their partial rehabilitation, to the
construction of two permanent
towns (Anchorage and Xenana) as
termini, for rolling stock, material,
and supplies on hand, etc.
(To Be Continued.)
I
NICELY HOUSE
With Belmont In Connection
POOL CANDIES CIGARS
AND TOBACCOS
WARM COMFORTABLE ROOMS
PRICES REASONABLE
Rate* By the Week or Month
CARD OF THANKS.
It is my keenest desire to extend
my heartfelt thanks and apprecia
tion to those friends of mine who
have extended their aid and sym
pathy in the bereavement caused
by the death of my dear mother.
WILLIS NICELY.
Department of the Interior
Alaskan Engineering Commission
NOTICE
Passengers leaving on the train
for any point on the line south of
town are required to purchase
tickets before entering the train.
Tickets can be purchased from
the station agent, whose office is
in the employment office, on the
ground floor of the general office
ouilding. Alaskan Engineering com
mission.
Tickets will be on sale at any
time during office hours, and can
be purchased in sufficient time be
fore the departure of the trains.
Regular trains leave the foot of
A street on Wednesdays and Satur
days at 7 a. m.
The regular train formerly leav
ing on Monday has been discon
tinued until further notice.
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