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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (May 14, 1916)
THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, POKTLAM), MAY 14. 1916. r THE GREAT RIVAL. OFCJ cyv (- LjIZ OHyo ROUTE TP THE INTERIOR.. OF ALASKA BY fJfANX G.CARPENrEft. 4 - firs' " --r?srr'irj'- 'irTf?' w"1' """"V " it I CORDOVA. Alaska. I have crossed Prince William Sound from Sew ard to Cordova. Seward Is the terminus of Uncle Sam's railway to Fairbanks and Cordova Is the terminus cf the Copper River Railway, which was built by the Morgan-Guggenheim syndicate to open up their great cop per mines which are at Kennlcott. about 200 miles in the Interior. The two ports lie almost opposite each oth er at the western and eastern ends of the great bay known as Prince 'William Sound. Their distance apart is the width of the bay. which Is 200 miles. Both ports have excellent harbors free from Ice all the year round. Both are close to valuable coal fields, and each forms a natural gateway for a railroad to the Interior of the country. The railroad commission appointed by President Taft to plan out the best lines of transportation for the devel opment of Alaska chose Cordova and the Copper River road for extension to Fairbanks in preference to Seward and the Alaska Northern, but It advised that a second road be built from Sew . ard around Cook Inlet and across to the Yukon by way of the Iditarod gold re gion. It also proposed a branch line to the Matanuska coal fields. The present administration has decided that the Seward-Falrbanks line Is the better, and the road along that route Is now being built. It is not Improbable that the Copper River road may be extended at some time In the future. During my stay In Cordova I have taken a trip over this railroad. Its technical name is the Copper River & Northwestern Railway. The cars go smoothly. The passenger coaches are like those of the states. Is oak and the seats are unholstered In wicker. The road is well built and well ballasted. It has the standard guage track, with- 70-pound rails simi lar to those on the new Government railway. The road crosses the moun tains by easy grades, -having a maxi mum of not over eight-tenths or nine tenths per cent, ana it Is so made that a train load of about 700 tons can be carried each way over It. The construe, tion of the road began in 1906, and was completed in 1911. Its cost, it Is said, is somewhere between $15,000,000 and 120.000,000. and some of Its building shows great skill and scientific en gineering. There are 196 miles of road now In operation, and upon this there are daily freight trains on the Kennl cott branch, and three trains a week between Cordova and Clutina, the sta CD J . s . - o - ---' i,t.i.t '. ' - r f". " ' nr!''- I r' It J :- load copper ore. The ore care were automatically dumped and the bags of copper, each holding about a half bushel, were shot from the cars right Into the hold of the steamer. The loading went on for almost a day, and during that time we took in a cargo valued at about $800,000. be built. The cost of this the Taft Commission estimated at something like 114,00,000. The Copper River road, I am told here, was offered to the Gov ernment at its physical valuation, or at its cost to the owners, which was some thing like $15,000,000. making a total for the through line of 129.000,000. The l ir: Tii fn f . f-wniuM" ifm wfT i.ftTTii n'hv 'i-'ir-ni urMMA-Viin-l .mi 1 ifli jf'ltM lift Among the arguments advanced in extension of the road would have passed favor of the Government buying the through the rich farming lands of the Tanana Valley, and the mineral regions developed thereby would have been greater, it is said, than those reached by the extension of the Alaska North ern Railway. The Copper River route to Fairbanks would have been 18 miles shorter than the road now being con structed, and It would have had the ad vantage of a terminus 200 miles nearer for skating and sleighing. some fishing done at that time through holes In the ice. Leaving the lake we passed through a dense forest of spruce, some of the trees of which were two feet in di ameter. We then wound our way over the Copper River delta, crossing stream after stream, which come from -he great glaciers of the Interior. The flats extend for a distance of 16 miles east and west, a wide expanse of green, level land, half swamps, with water here and Seattle. As it is now. the Steamers there nhnwlnir out of ha etumi Th.r pounds of copper a year at a cost of going to Seward call at Cordova on the are ducks and geese on the ponds. They less than 5 cents a pound The road is way. ny up and away as the train comes. now bringing down from the Kennicott Wo could often see walls of green ice mines 200 carloads of such ore per The Copper River & Northwestern rrnm th train Th riari... rar-ViH Their finish month, and Its yearly revenue from that Railway is one of the picturesque routes the clouds that dark, rainy day. There source is something like J2.000.000. The of the worid. It ls tho only railroad was a dense forest between us and ore U charged freight according to its tnA, r..t . ... . . . them. The ,c. eemed to be looklna: at magnificent glaciers and allows you to examine these greatest wonders of na ture while the train stops. Within an hour of our arrival at Cordova a.n ex cursion train started out from the wharf, and the tourists on board were i nere is Copper River & Northwestern Railroad was that the traffic already developed would have made the railroad a live working proposition from the very start. The route taps the Wrangell range, the richest known mineral sec tion of Alaska. This range has gold, copper and silver. It has the richest copper mines of the world, and some which are now producing 60.000,000 value, and that now coming down av erages over 70 per cent pure copper and pays at the rate of $1000 a carload. Some of the lower grade ores pay only $7 to $8 a ton. Another argument made for the Cop- us over the trees. per River railroad was its accessibility carried a distance of about 50 miles up to the Bering River coal field, which only 32 miles from the present tracks and about 75 miles from Cordova. This is the coal that was So widely discussed when Glfford Plnchot and others made their great campaign for conservation. It ls of excellent char acter, and It could be brought here to Cordova for smelting and reducing the the Copper River Valley to the Miles and Chllds glaciers, two mighty rivers of ice that stand almost facing each other on opposite sides of the track. Leaving Cordova the road winds around the hills high over the water. It hangs to rocky cliffs, which are covered with a dense vegetation. A little later It enters the mouth of the Copper River Valley and skirts Eyak ores. There are at present being mined apout prince w miam bound and In the Lake, which fills a depression scooiW tion from where it was proposed to ex- munta'ns nearby ores amounting to out by some prehistoric glacier. The ou.uuu ions per montn. jiucn oi mis lake is star shaDed and la almost en tirely shut in by high, wooded moun tains, which rise abruptly from tho water's edge. The road goes for four miles along the winding shores of Stasres of tide. The Mrs hrlnc th.ir urcaaeu anu new mineral regions cuum be opened up. At the same time, the coal from the Bering River field would tend the road on to Fairbanks. The company has office buildings and machine and car shops here at goes over the railway to Cordova, and it all has to be transported from here Cordova. It has also built a large ocean to the BmeIters at Tacoma, 1200 miles wharf accessible to steamers at all away- "With, smelters at Cordova, the cosi or reauction wouia De greatly ae- freight right to the steamers, and are unloaded with the minimum of han dling. There are ample warehouses and facilities for furnishing the steamers havo a local market, and both the coal with fresh water and fuel oil. There Is an automobile service between the wharf and the town, which is about three-quarters of a mile away. As soon as our ship came to anchor, the and the ore would furnish a steady and valuable traffic to the railway. The Copper River & Northwestern road now reaches the town of Chitina, and the extension from there to Fair- hatches were raised and we began to banks would require 313 miles more to this lake, and then crosses the Eyak River, which carries the glacial waters of the lake out to the sea. It ls by this river that the boats from Cordova go into and out from the lake, and during the Summer months the stream is gay with canoes, rowboats and power crafts of every description. The lake teems with fish and It has excel lent trout. During the Winter It ls sometimes frozen over, and is then used We rode by several fox farms, com posed of cages of wire netting, with red and black foxes within; and further on at one side we saw the graves of some miners who tried in vain to get through by this way to the Klondike in the gold rush of 1898. Some parts of the flats are flooded by the ocean at high tide. There are many bridges. At Mile 16 the bridges seem to go from Island to Island. We are crossing the mouths of the stream. As we left Round Island we passed through snowsheds on the flats. It ls an unusual thing to build snowsheds on the IrveL A little further on we crossed Long Island, and at Mile 34 came to the Hot Cake Channel bridge. It Is so called because a party of en gineers were shut up there during the railway .construction and for weeks had nothing to eat but hot cakes. They called the place Hot Cake Channel, and so it ls known to this day. The road goes over flats like these all the way to the foot of the moun tains. It winds about through the delta, crossing the channels. The en gineers had to wade through the mud to lay out the route, and It was hard to find a solid roadbed. At Mile 29 we were dnly 32 miles from the Bering River coalfield, and 20 miles further on came to the narrow passage through (f f .- . sr- v."'?. . . - -- ; . ... ! 's . i -..,.. v .-- v - --:,- ' . f . i - - -" (i. I, i f j - - . iV1-5 r n on its way up the moun- ttzes- (53cr&r &rc?$r3 Which Cos f, 500,000.' &?iyesj-i zTpc CZhz'czT&' ancZ ZVctj Cs cri e-vr. which the road runs between the Miles crosses the Miles Glacier bridge, which and Chllds glaciers. Here the road coi-t more than 81.500.oOO to build, and then goes tains. Think of riding on a railroad for two hours or more with glaciers in sight almost all the way. The Copper River Valley Is a great glacial garden. Just east of Eyak Lake Is Scott Glacier, which ls a mile wide and six miles In length. It Is only seven miles from the track, but ls of so little account that It ls seldom placed on the map. Sheri dan Glacier ls about IS miles from Cor dova and within two miles of the rail way. This glacier rises In snow fields about a mile above sea level and ends In a great bulb-shaped tongue which la only four miles In length and three miles In width. The terminus Is a mighty pear of ice 150 feet above sea, level. A little east of Sheridan Glacier is Sherman Glacier, which flows south westward for a length of over seven miles and not far from the railway is Pickett Glacier, an Ice tongue more than four miles In length. And then there are Saddlebag Glacier, which is south of Pickett, and Goodwin Glacier, which expands Into a bulb of two or three miles in width where It enters the valley. The McPherson Glacier, which can also be seen from the rail road, ls seven miles long, while Good win has a greater length by three miles or more. " The two mightiest glaciers of the Copper River Valley are the Miles and the Chllds. Chllds Glacier Is within a quarter of a mile or so of the track, and Miles Glacier is in plain sight as you sit in the cars facing the Chllds Glacier bridge. Of these two the Miles Glacier is by far the larger. It rises In the snowflelds of the mountains and it Is probably ii miles long. Where It enters the Copper River Valley It spreads out In a great bulb, which at the end Is six and ' one-half miles across. It Is about 12 H miles around the whole front. The waters of the glacier flow Into the Copper River, but there is also a lake in front of It which ls about two miles In width and four miles in length. Our train stopped on a switch near (Concluded on Pace A. MOTHERS1 DAY AND FRECKLES HOW MUCH ARE WHITE CARVATIOXSP HE ASKED WITH PRIDE A.VD SOME HESITATION. FRECKLES stood on the corner try ing to sell evening papers to the throng of passersby as they left the station. "Here ye are all the news! Buy the night extra paper." he shouted, thrust ing a paper toward a woman who was talking to a little girl at her side. "Give me your best evening peper." the said, handing him a five-cent piece 'and keep the change." "Gee! ain't she a fine lady!" ex claimed Freckles, looking after her. "She was a regular beaut with her carnation I say. Tom," he said, turn ing to his pal who kept him company during his dull business moments, "why have so many women white flow ers on today? I never saw so many white carnations In one day!" "You axe a fine one to be shAutlna- the news when you don't know what is in your own paper. Suppose you read this." and Tom pointed to an arti cle on the first page of the paper. "I gave my mother one this morning." Freckles had never had much school ing, so he read half aloud and very slowly to where Tom pointed, but he read well enough to know by the time he had finished that that very day the second Sunday In May was "Moth ers' day," and that every child should pay his respects to his mother by pre senting her with a white carnation. Furthermore, he read, that the day should be marked by a special love service to the mother in the home. Freckles thought of his sick mother awaiting his return in their poor little home. H.s knew that their supper de pended on his earnings, and uncon sciously his hand went into his ragged coat pocket, and his finger ran through the pennies. His paper sold for three cents and he made a cent for every copy he sold. Tom was watching his friend and knew the struggle going on in Freckles' little brain. "How many did you sell?" he asked. "Fifteen," replied Freckles, "but that lady gave me a nickel I say,. Tom, how much are white carnations?" "Why, that makes 17 cents all your own you are a real millionaire. Freckles; go on buy your Ma a flower," said Tom, poking him in the ribs. Freckles' eyes filled with tears. "I would." he said, "If the money was mine to do with what I wanted, but mother's sick, and hasn't been able to work for days. She needs good food, and I counted on buying her some meat for supper. D'yer think I could.get a carnation for two cents?" "Two nothings," answer Tom con temptuously, "but I'll lend you a dime. It will cost every bit of that." "Mother wouldn't like me to borrow Mister, want yer baggage carried?" cried Freckles, interrupting his talk with Tom and running alongside a man with a suitcase who was leaving the station. "All right, son; follow me to the res taurant and let me have a paper." In a few moments Freckles rejoined Tom on the corner. "He was a regular gent. Look!" and Freckles displayed a new silver dime. "Now I can get mother a white flower. So long,' Tom; I'm going home after I leave these papers at the office," and with a smile he was off. Fifteen minutes later he entered a florist's shop. "How much are white carnations?" he asked with pride and some hesitation, for this was his first floral purchase, and he was buying a boutonniere for his "best girl." "Boy. I'll give you a pretty one for nothing and throw a handful of other flowers into the bargain. If you'll sweep up the place for me. This has been one busy day. and my boy went home at noon. Will you?" "Betcher life." cried Freckles, pulling off his threadbare coat and grabbing the floor brush. "Fine little fellow." thought the flor ist, "better than Karl. Besides. Karl was only a temporary arrangement." Aloud he said, "Would you like a steady. Job here as errand boy?" Freckles' face showed the answer. "I'll give you four dollars a week, and extra on Sundays when I need you." "Thank yer, sir. Mother needn't work so hard ever again. I'll try to please yer. When shall I start?" "Report at 8 Monday morning. Here are your flowers. You may go now. Give your girl my regards," said the florist, laughing. "What's up?" he asked, seeing Freckles hesitate. "There ain't a white carnation In the bunch, and I want one to give mother. She's the best mother ever a feller had. and" "You're a fine little man. Here's a carnation her her, and tell her you earned It honestly. Now you can give these others to your girl." "Mother is my best and only girl, and she loves flowers. Thank you, sir. I'll be here on Monday." Freckles now called the second Sun day in May his "lucky day." although his mother insists that It ls "Mothers' day." and in her heart she thanks the good lady Anna Jarvis for instituting that one day in the year on which moth ers are publicly honored. That day was the beginning ot Freckles' good fortune. He did bis duty toward the florist, and before long he was raised from errand boy to assistant, with the hope that in years after his name might appear over the shop. His mother superintends his home, but It Is now a more pretentious one, and In the best room a white carnation graces the table from one year's end to another. "Every day la "Mothers' day for me," said Mr. James Logan (alias Freckles), putting his arms around his mother and kissing her. and mother returned his embrace, smiling contentedly. A Born Nurse lng her ninetieth birthday. Her monu ment ls the record of her noble life. Certainly Frank. From the Kansas City Star. A rector In South London was visit ing one of his poorer parishioners, an old woman, afflicted with1 deafness. She expressed her great regret at not being able to hear his sermons. De siring to be sympathetic and to say something consoling, he replied, with unnecessary self-aepreclatlon, "You don't miss much." "So they tell me," was the disconcert ing reply. THE VIOLET. I picked a fresh blue violet. That by the morning dew was wet; I pulled the crisp leaves all apart And looked down deep into its heart; I opened all Its petals wide. And saw a little seed inside. Its hidden secret then I knew From suca a seed the violet grew. FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE. born May 12. 1820. Next Friday Is the birthday anni versary of Florence Nightingale. This lady had the distinction of being the first 'Red Cross nurse. In fact she called the organization Into existence. Florence Nightingale was born In sunny Florence, - Italy, and was named after that beautiful spot, where flow ers hold full sway. When a wee child she showed her fondness, not only for flowers and plants, but for everything In nature. When a young girl she lived in a town in England, and she had a little corner of the garden for her special care. Her father said of her, "She is a born gardener," and he encouraged her to care for wild flow ers as well as the cultivated ones. "Florence ls a born nurse," said Mr. Nightingale . to his wife one day. "I found her yesterday caring for a poor little robin that had broken Its wing, add then she built the bird a nest. I dare say she Intends to feed it until It can hunt Its own food again." Whenever she found any animal or bird that was hurt, or any creature that was suffering she nursed It, and by and by her father gave her a corner In the green-bouse for hospital pur poses, and he called her "the little sister of mercy." From dumb animals she became In terested in humans who were suffer ing, and soon the neighborhood began to know her as the "cheer-bringer to the sick." She was as sunny in dis position as the lovely land In which she was born, and her gifts of flowers to the stricken ones were as regular as her visits. When Florence grew to young lady hood she went to Kaiserswerth on the Rhine. In Germany, to study nursing at a school that had Just been formed. After a time England went to war with Russia and Florence went to the Cri mea to nurse the soldiers of her dear England back to life and health. She took a band of women with her and there, as in her home town, she became the Idol of the people. King Edward singled her out as the one woman to receive the Order of Merit, and the people of London gave her the freedom of the city. Her story ls one of the most beautiful, for she led an unselfish, useful, heroic life. She died In August of 110. after celebrat- Feasible. The class was being Instructed on the "circulation of the blood." The teacher said, during the course of in struction: "If I stand on my head, the blood will ran down Into my head. Do you understand?" "Yes." replied the class. "Then," continued the teacher, "why is It that the blood don't run Into nr feet when I stsnd upon them?" There was a pause for a few seconds, when one of the pupils said: "I guess It's because your feet ain't empty." Worth Seeing;. Anyway. Stanford Chaparral. Her "You 'ought to have seen Mabel run the quarter-mile." It "What did she do It In?" Her "I don't know what you call the darned things." SJHJ OUR PUZZLE CORNER DINNER PlIZLE, trzrrfZZZrA X i."0 y Bess and Bob went to dine at their grandma's. Four things which they had for dinner are represented lh this p icture. MOTHER'S DAY PIZILE. I am composed of two words of five and ten letters each. 1. My 11. 13, 14 ls a measure of weight. 2. My 1. 12. 9 is to gain In a eon test. 3. My 2. 6. 7, S. 4 ls an organ of the body. 4. My 3. 15. 10. 7. S ls a boy's name. My whole ls something emblematic of Mother's day. HIDDEN PARTS OF A TREE. The queer names of Mr. Smith's boys were Imro, Otto and Jaspexv The General fought the battle, after which he retired from the Army. The costumer loaned him hat. wig. sword and boots. The colt could trot. run. kick and neigh. The horse attached to the cab ran. chased by the crowd. Answers. Dinner puzzle Rice, bread, butter, milk. Mothers' day puzzle White Carna tions. I. ton; 2, win; 3. heart; 4. Isaac. Hidden parts of a tree Root. leaf, twig, trunk, franca-