THE NENANA DAILY NEWS
Application made April 1, 1918, at the postoffice at Nenana, Alaska,
for en^ry as second class mail matter, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
“WHERE RAIL AND RIVER MEET”
Published Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday by the Nenana Printing
Company, at First and B Streets. Nenana. Alaska.
R. G. Southworth — — — Editor and Manager
Mr*. R. G. Southworth — — — Circulation Manager
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The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for re-Dubli
cation of all news dispatches' credited to it or not otherwise credited in
this paper and also all the local news published herein.
There is much merit in the argu
ments advanced by Mr. Anderson
in favor of a wagon road connect
ing Nenana with the Kantishna.
He has gone deeply into the ques
tion and his conclusions are based
upon a thorough knowledge of con
ditions. The News hopes that every
man, woman and child t in the In
terior will rally to his support, for
the construction of the proposed
road will benefit or injure Interior
Alaska according to the route select
ed. Even the chairman of the
Alaska Road Commission, admits
that.
As The News understands it, the
commission has not definitely decid
ed which of the two routes will be
selected, but there is reason to be
lieve the Lignite route is favored
because it is the shorter of the two
and because a connection with the
railroad at Lignite will eliminate
the necessity of bridging the Ne
nana river—strong arguments, as
viewed by the commission, because
of the saving in cost of construction
at a time when money is hard to
get from Congress. It will have to
be shown by the people of Interior
Alaska 'that the Nenana route has
advantages sufficient to warrant the !
heavier initial cost. And this, we j
believe Mr. Anderson has done, but j
he must have cooperation to make it
stick.
Advertising will do much to at-;
tract people to Interior Alaska but ■
care should be taken to avoid the j
sort of advertising that will bring:
disappointment, along with in
creased population. When strangers1
arrive in the country, we should!
be sure that they will find things j
about as represented. If we are not j
honest in our publicity methods, the
advertising will do us more harm
than good.
In recent weeks, Pacific coast
and Alaska papers have had much
to say about a new strike in the
Fairbanks district and, while we
rejoice in the fact that good pay
has been found on a new creek,
we regret to note that the impres
sion has gone abroad that the dis
covery is of stampede proportions,
with possibilities of a new camp.
We have not seen it mentioned in
any of the papers that there were
oldtimers enough on the ground to
absorb the full length of the pay
streak, however long it might be,
or that most of the ground had
been staked long before the dis
covery was generally known. If
men come to Interior Alaska on
the strength of the published re
ports referred to, they will be dis-:
appointed, probably to the extent
of taking them out of the district
as fast as they came in. And each
such departure will be a knock to
the country.
It might with equal warrant be
heralded broadcast that $5,000 ore l
has been discovered in the Kan
tishna. It is the truth. But what
conditions would stampeders find
were they to respond to such a
call? The ore is there in abundance,
some of it very valuable, but min-1
ing is costly and the district so
isolated that only a small oart of
the ore can be shipped. The dis
trict is rich in possibilities. There is
no question about that. There is
no more promising section in all
of Alaska. But the best kind of
advertising for it is that kind which
rightly informs. That kind of pub-1
licity makes for solid development ■
and lasting prosperity.
First Baseman Kelly must be the
reincarnation of that “Slide, Kelly, j
Slide” fellow.
I
No one will blame war-torn'
France for insisting upon the pay
ment for losses suffered during the
late conflict, but the fact should.
not be lost sight of that the once
powerful and strongly united Ger-1
man government is now but a husk, |
ready to collapse under pressure!
from without and unrest from with
in. Should the present government
fail, the collection of reparations
will be fraught with increased dif
ficulty.
Mrs. Clara Allred, pioneer resi
dent of Nenana, left for the Out
side yesterday. She has disposed of
her Canyon roadhouse, eight miles
south of Healy, to Jack Barker, who
is now in charge of tihe popular es
tablishment. Mrs. Allred is headed I
for Seattle. !
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Nenana, April 30, 1921
Editor News:
Now that Colonel Stecse is look
ing into the many different routes
to the Kantishna, Tolovana and
other districts, I am sure he would
be more than pleased to hear from
the oldtimers—both miners and
businessmen, who have spent the
prime years of their lives trying to
develop this interior country. Their
many years of actual, and sometimes
very expensive experiencees have
disclosed a great many things which
never would have come to light by
mere theory. The railroad will soon
be completed and a new epoch will
be started in the history of Interior
Alaska.
One of two things is going to
happen.
First, the Interior is going to be
brought to the Outside, or, second,
the Outside is going to be brought
to the Interior.
Now this is a very deep question
and has a lot of food" for deep think
ing. To some it may seem as though
there is not much difference in the
two sentences. But to me there is
as much as night is to day.
To explain my contention more
thoroughly, I will say there never
has been any trouble to get the
gold dust and money out of this
country. The fact is, it has all got
out too easily. Nearly everyone who
made any money here, had no dif
ficulty getting out with it. Millions
of Interior Alaska money have been
invested in the States, and our
Government has been enriched by it,
with very little in return to "us..
That explains my first sentence—
how the Interior has always been
brought to the Outside.
Now then, what is best to do and
what can be done to make the In
terior come back again?
Of course, the gold bonus would
create a stampede immediately. But
our next best thing, aside from the
railroad, is our contemplated wagon i
roads—how and where they will be
built.
If our Government wants to build
up a permanent popluation in the
Interior of Alaska, and have people
stay here, winter and summer, to
develop the resources, roads must
be provided. And there is no big
ger factor than how and where
these roads are built.
The Fairbanks district today
would have been depopulated if it
had not been for the roads to get
the freight out cheap, and as a re
creation for the people who have
stayed by the country during the
past four or five trying years.
Now then, what is the true con
dition here at Nenana? This town
is the best laid-out townsite in In
terior Alaska—laid out by compe
tent engineers, among them Alfred
H. Brooks, the oldest and best
authority on all Interior districts.
The highest water known here for
the past 30 years would not have
wet the floor of any business house
here. And the Government buildings,
erected on the lowest sandspit, have
their floors well above high water
mark, and when the ground is filled
in, as was the original intention,
there never will be any water near
them at any season of the year. I
am making this statement because
some people wilfully and others un
knowingly, make the claim that Ne
nana is on low ground. It is not a
fact. The ground here is as high as
any place on the river. The ground
from Nenana to the coast is a
gradual rise and is ideal for road
building in all directions. The Geo
logical surveys show there is a
gravel bottom to all the country
surrounding Nenana, making it a
simple matter to ballast roads. There
never has been any water over the
Government railroad from Nenana
south, and ihigh ground can be
found to both the Kantishna and
Wood river districts from Nenana.
I now want to get back to the
subject—What is best to build up
the Interior? It can all be answer
ed in a nut shell.
Bring the Outside to the Interior.
This can be done by making two
large supply points in the Interior,
one at Nenana and the other at
Fairbanks.
When merchants of the Interior
can buy by carload lots and have
their goods delivered every two
weeks, winter and summer, at a
low rate of freight, the public will
be able to buy very cheaply.
Now, what does it take to make
a large supply point? It takes a
great deal of business, merchandise
of all kinds, machine shops, mills,
boat ways, sleigh and wagon shops
and a large business concern that
can carry machinery, prospecting
boilers and other needed supplies of
all kinds, ready for immediate de
livery.
If you can get this class of people
to establish themselves and put the
necessary capital into business en
terprises, you are then helping to
bring the Outside to the Inside, and
the people will be greatly benefitted
thereby. But no businessman will
establish himself in a community
where the surrounding country will
not show signs of increased business.
Nenana’s future as a commercial
point can be a great help to all In
terior Alaska points. It all depends
upon who establish themselves and
how much money they put into their
respective enterprises. We have the
lowest freight rates and shortest
distances to all Interior points, ami
we should sell at the lowest prices.
All freight to the Interior will come
through Nenana first. And if a good
supply point is established here, you
have the first call on all Interior
business. There is no reason why
the small merchant in outlying dis
tricts could not get nearly’ as good
a deal here as he could by sending
direct to the States.
When it comes to the miner, if a
supply point such as I speak of is
established here, it will be very lit
tle he would ever have to send out
for, except possibly in the case of a
big outfit such as the Guggenheims,
who have a purchasing agent in the
States.
Navigation on the rivers of the
Interior can be said to last only
about three months, yet the boats,
during all the early boom days,
were able to land all the freight
needed for the entire year. So you
can easily figure from that, if the
Government trains run once in two
weeks from the coast, they can easi
ly supply all the freight needed,
unless we get the gold bonus. Of
course, it is different now, during
the period of construction. I am
citing this point to show that any
wagon road built to the railroad,
which might have come to a sup
ply point, is going to cause an end
less expense in loss of time and
money to the traveler and freighter.
Possibly in the spring of the year,
for a month or so, the train might
run a little more often to get down
river freight in. Later on again, it
may run only once a month. That
is an assured fact. Neither Uncle
Sam nor anyone else will run empty
cars at an expense.
Now, in regard to the two pro
posed routes to the Kantishna—the
Lignite and the Nenana Direct.
Which is going to work out the bet
ter in the long run for all con
cerned and which will develop the
country the most for the money
expended? Let’s compare the two.
The Lignite route is 76 miles long.
The Nenana Direct is 95 miles. To
Nenana there is a natural down
grade, about 1 per cent. In order
to put the Lignite route on any
kind of a level grade, it would
lengthen it out about eight or ten
miles, so that the real difference
would be only between ten and 12
miles between the two routes
Now- then, what are the advan
tages and disadvantages of the two
routes? There is only one point in
favor of the Lignite route—-you
might get to the railroad a couple
of hours sooner and it may cost a
little less to build the road.
The Nenana-direct-to Kantishna
route has so many points in its
favor that they- are too numerous
to mention. However, I will mention
some of them.
First—On account of the down-'
hill grade, a much heavier tonnage
can be landed here, employing the
same amount of power. This saving
in power alone will much more than ;
pay for the extra distance hauled.
Second—When you have arrived
at Lignite, or anywhere else on:
the railroad, you are about 400 miles :
or more from the coast and from
50 to 100 miles away from either;
supply point at Nenana or Fair- \
banks. This is the most important |
point regarding the Kantishna routes!
which every miner and merchant1
wiil discover later, if they do not i
see it now. Before finishing this:
letter I will write more fully on
this point. |
Third—The Interior rivers and
waterways are as imnortanr. ns. if
not more important than ihe rail
road If it were not for them, no i
white man would ever have invaded
the Interior. If the quartz and ores !
of the Interior ever amount to any- j
thing, there will surely be a smelt-j
er established here some day, as
this is the best location from all
points—Upper Tanana, Fairbanks,!
Tolovana, Hot Springs, Broad Pass, I
Kantishna, Koyukuk, Kuskokwim,!
Iditarod, and from all other points
it is accessible either by the railroad !
or water transportaion. Also to the |
coal fields.
I'ourth—We are glad to see our
ehecaco friends come into the In
terior and give it the once over!
while the sun shines brightly and.
the Richardson highway is in good
condition. But I know many of the
old pioneers out in the hills who!
still travel from peak to peak to!
keep from getting lost on their wayi
to a supply point. They sort cf feelj
that if a little of that Richardson
highway money was spent to blaze j
out a few trails for them, they
would appreciate it very much. You :
know, the boys who came North in j
|98, in the prime of life, their hair j
is turning silvery gray now and!
their step is not so light as it once i
was. In this country, it is the sur-1
vival of the fittest, and not many
young men have come to Alaska in >
late years.
I will now refer back to a few
more reasons why it is better to!
build a wagon road from the Kan
tishna to Nenana direct than to any'
»ther point on the railroad. In the
first place, no one with capital
i enough could ever be found to put
in a supply store large enough to
do any good at a way station. A
better store and larger business can
be done right in the Kantishna dis
trict. This fact has been proved out
in every mining camp since the
days of ’98 in the Dawson country.
This law holds good on every rail
road. Take the railroad between
i Tacoma and Portland. In the early
years it was hard to find in those
little towns, with thousands in
vested, anything you wanted to
stock up a farm.
This little town of Nenana is
paying taxes on over $800,000 in
property and goods and the invest
ment will total close to a round
million dollars. But if a miner
came to town and wanted a little
prospecting outfit, he could i.ot get
it at the present time, although all
this money has already been in
vested here. He would have to go to
Fairbanks, where men have catered j
to that class of business. The chance ,
is. he could not get the outfit he j
wanted even if he went to Anchor-1
age or Seward. I cite this to show j
that what is needed in the Interior j
is a good supply point where you |
can get the right kind of goods |
and get them quick, before half the
season is over. There will never be
enough work go to the coast to
pay any one to establish sin h a
business there. You will have to
go all the way to Beattie, to some
of the large firms there. And if you
get your outfit back the same sea
son, you will be in luck. The chances
are you will see the bill for it first.
There can be no doubt that if
it ever paid to build the railroad
to Interior Alaska, the town of
Nenana will be a flourishing little
community, and shops of all kinds
will be ostablished hero. All the
freight and passengers for the In
terior, with the exception < f those
consigned to Fairbanks, will got oiT
here. If the wagon road is built
direct from Kantishna to Nenana,
the miner can coma right into a
supply point, just having traveled
ten or 12 miles farther, lie wii! have
a dozen stores to do business in,
with the option of going to Fair
banks or to the coast on the same
train he would have taken at Lig
nite. So there would be no lost time
in either case.
According to Julius Warner, who
has lived a score of years in this
immediate vicinity, there is only
one stream to bridge on the Ne
nana-Toklat route, and that is the
Nenana, right here in town'. At all
the other crossings, the road can
be built on the log jams, which
never are disturbed by high water.
The Nenana bridge should not be re
garded as a serious obstacle. For
more than a dozen years at Fair
banks we had no permanent bridge.
We simply put in a piling bridge
and used a ferry when the bridge
went out, and hundreds of thousands
of tons were handled without any
expense to the Government. The
same thing can be done right here.
At Fairbanks, the main Tanana
river water comes through the
slough during periods of high water
and there is more water there on
such occasions than there is in the
Nenana river. I believe a place
could be found on high ground and'
connecting on one of the little is
lands in the Nenana where a good
bridge could be built that would
never go out, and at small cost.
We all agree that when it comes
to building roads, the miner should
be considered first, as he cannot
move his mine, and he pays the
freight. But at the same time, un
less he can get supplies reasonably
he will be unable to work his mine.
And for the same reason, a business
man will not invest his money un
less there is business enough to pay
him to do so.
Were the wagon road to connect
with the railroad at Lignite, the
man out in the hills would have
to know time tables in order to
avoid delays in making connections,
and in the event of a change in
train schedules, he would not know
about it until he reached the station.
Arriving at the way station, he.
would have to find some one to
look after his dogs or horses until |
his return, and his cash outlay
would start immediately. At the
present time there are many men
at work along the railroad, and the
trains run more often than they
will when the road is completed. It
can easily be seen that trains will
probably not run more often than
once in two weeks later on. In the
mean time, dogs and horses would
eat their heads off at a way station
awaiting the return of their owners.,
not to mention the cost to those
who chanced to miss a train.
The train rules at the present
time require that a shipper have his
goods at the depot before noon on
the day previous to shipping, and
this probably always will be the
case. It can be plainly seen that
when a miner has his goods ready
for shipping, there is nothing for
him to wait for. And he might as
well be on his way. He can be
half way to his destination before
the train gets started.
The teamsters and freighters of
necessity live in town, as they have
to do wood hauling and other work
to keep busy. If a miner on the
creeks has to contract with a team
ster to haul his freight, and there
is no road out of town, it would
cost the freighter more to knock
down his sleighs and ship his team
to a way station than the cost of
hauling his freight to its destination
from town. In the spring of the
year nearly all freighting is done at
night, while the ground is frozen,
so train schedules are out of the
question. That is what the miner is
up against and, after all, it is the
miner who pays the freight.
From Nenana out toward the
Kantishna, there are many fertile
areas, with southern slopes and birch
hills which will make ideal garden
spots. There are many clear water
lakes and fishing streams, with warm
places along the Toklat where the
ducks stay winter and summer. In
fact, through this country, there is
a hunters* paradise, and it also is
WE MAKE A SPECIALTY OF
OUTFITTING
Groceries and Provisions
Clothing, Hardware, Notions
FOWLER & MORRIS~
?®®®®®®0030000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
g NENANA’S BEST APPOINTED HOTEL |
I Cooney Hotel and Annex §
g HOT AND COLD WATER AND BATHS O
■ ROOMS SINGLE OR EN SUITE §
COMFORT AND SERVICE UNEXCELLED §
DOG BARNS 8
^^^^QQQOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOQOOOOOOOOOQOQQOQgiy^^j^
the direct route to the Kuskokwim.
It is the route all travelers have
been following for years.
Realizing the importance of a
direct route to the Kantishna, the
people of Nenana recently went to
considerable expense to' slash a
winter trail from Nenana to the
Toklat and, although it was late in
the season when the work was
done, the trail has already been a
urcat help to the people of the Kan
tishna and next winter this trail
undoubtedly will be the only one
in use by travelers to and from the
Kantishna. A wa^fon road following
the same general direction would
come nearest to solving the problem
of summer transportation. It would
benefit the Kantishna by giving that
district direct connection with a
supply point, it would make more
permanent and helpful the business
enterprises of Interior towns by in
suring: a larger volume of business,
it would by fully as attractive as
a scenic highway as the Lignite
route. And it would bring greater
contentment to the peope of Ne
nana by providing a means of re
creation.
HERMAN ANDERSON
Life Insurance Lengthens life by
lessening worry when seriously ill;
by giving peace of mind during
financial troubles; by discovering
disease. See R. S. McDonald, New
York Life Insurance Company agent
OVER-THE-ICE EGGsT^l.aS a
dozen at Fowler & Morris.
*, «e » * r r, r *f * r r r r r •> * n>
r. k
*- STEAMER SAILINGS *
** (Arrive at Anchorage) P
p k
P P *t P P P p p p p * r k r » » p. k
Alameda. May 10
Northwestern.May 20
Alameda, southbound, calls at
LoTouche, V’aldez, Cordova, Juneau,
Ketchikan. Northwestern, same ports.
Coast Train Schedule
Train leaves Gold Creek for
Anchorage on Sunday and Thurs
day at 1:00 P. M.
Train leaves Deadhorse for An
chorage on Tuesday and Friday.
Train leaves Anchorage for Sew
ard on Wednesday and Saturday at
9:00 A. M.
Train leaves Chickaloon for An
chorage, via Eska on Tuesday,
Thursday and Saturday at 7:30
A. M.
Nenana Train Schedule
Trains leave Nenana for the end
of steel four times a week—on
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and
Saturday.
WANT ADS
FOR SALE CHEAP—Best garden :n
Nenana. Six acres, with four un
der cultivation; well manured,
plowed and ready to plant. Also
2-room house, good cellar, good
water, electric lights. Barn and
shed; three tons hay, ten sacks
of oats; horse and wagon, plow,
harrow, cultivator, shovel plow:
two tons seed potatoes; all kinds
of tools. Must go Outside.
William Smyth
FOR SALE OR RENT—Tlhe Nenana
Rooming House. Good opportunity
for man and wife. For further
particulars, inquire on premises.
The sum of $250 has been posted
at The Portland that a single ticket
will win the big Nenana ice pool.
The pool was divided between two
tickets last year.
a*n»iimmiuumiiiiimt
If Comfort, Economy and the
Environments of Home
Appeal to You,
STOP AT THE
MONTANA
SPECIAL RATES BY WEEK
OR MONTH.
WATCHES
JEWELRY
Watch Repairing
DESIGNING AND NATIVE
JEWELRY A SPECIALTY
WM, TAYLOR
Pioneers of Alaska
Nenana Igloo No. 17
meets at union hall
FIRST AND THIRD MONDAY
AT 8:00 P. M.
t
Visiting Members Always
Welcome.
Frank Rourke Geo. S. Smith
Secretary. President.
Department of the Interior
Alaskan Engineering Commission
NOTICE
Schedule of .trains, subject to
change without notice:
LEAVE NENANA for Healy on
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and
Saturday at 8 a. m.
Returning leaves Healy at 1 p. m. ►
LEAVE FAIRBANKS for Nenana
on Tuesday and Friday at 8 a. m
Returning leaves Nenana at 1:30
p. m.
4
NENANA LODGE No. 1193
L. 0. 0. M.
MEETS AT MOOSE HALL
Fourth and B Streets
SECOND AND FOURTH MONDAY
At 8:00 P. M.
ALEX FOWLER, ALF EKELANU,
Soc rotary Dictator