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fmrnm" 0' to ALASKA'S BABY METROPOLIS. Cordova to Be Gateway For New Rush This Year. ROAD TO COPPER FIELDS. Rails of the Copper River and North* western Will Be Laid to the Mouth of the Chitina by July, When Im mensely Rich Mineral Area Will Be AccessibleA Dramatic Chapter In Railroad Construction. By CARLYLE ELLIS. On its second birthday the Copper River and Northwestern railroad, of which Cordova, Alaska, is the termi nus, finds itself stretched 100 miles in land np the Copper river. By next July, it is now practically assured, the road will have reached the mouth of the Chitina river, where it branches, heading for the Kennicott copper mines, fifty-eight miles to the east ward. The road's arrival at the Chitina means that the great Kotsina-Chitina copper region is finally made easily available for mining and prospecting This will be an event of considerable importance in Alaskan history. Ex cepting its two great coal fields, this is the richest known mineral field in the territory. Its area is very large, and the opportunities for prospectors and small operators there are almost unlimited. It is absolutely safe to ex pect spectacular developments at once. In all of this Cordova is destined to play a conspicuous part, and the sixteen-month-old baby metropolis is preparing for it with quite amazing energy. With the Copper River rail road being driven inland by the power ful Morgan-Guggenheim syndicate to tap the coal and copper fields and the vast golden interior, Cordova becomes inevitably the Alaskan gateway par excellence, and for such a future she was chosen. The essentials for an Alaskan gate way are a harbor, a town site, a rail road route and proved resources to jun the road to. Cordova has all four, each of more or less excellence, and her railroad has now passed the hundredth mile. The combination is a richly promising one. Road to Copper, Coal and Gold. The harbor, though not large, is ex cellent and susceptible of unlimited de velopment, while immediately avail able for ordinary tonnage without dredging. The town site is a tundra covered, rocky and irregular hillside, offering most unpromising material, but which has yielded astonishingly well to vigorous treatment. The rail road route, while containing some of the worst obstacles to construction ever encountered, is rapidly pushing forward despite these difficulties and reaching out to the copper region and the coal fields of Bering river as well as those vast interior regions, the riches of which apart from placer gold are still but guessed at. Almost every foot of Cordova's streets had either to be blasted out ot solid rock, cut out of four feet or more of mushy tundra or built over the tundra The main streets, in places cut through thirty feet of hill, in otb eis had to be built up as much. The cross streets climb a steep irregular rock bill Over all there was heavy timber. It is typical ot Alaska and the Alas kans who ha^e built and are making Cordova that these difficulties should have been so lightly regarded and so valiantly met In her first year of life the baby to^\n has been making such improvements as usually begin to be planned when a city has reached the 50,000 mark and feels the weight ot wealth. She is still swaddling clothes, ragged, unkempt, unfinished but lustj with youth. The rapidity of her growth is amazing In the year she has boused a thousand souls, built churches, schools, clubs, warehouses and shops that would be ci editable in a large citj She has fitted herself with electric Iiht, watei --uupi sewers and a telephone system aud developed a complete municipal organ ization. She has also attracted to her self two newspapers, each of which receives a daily cable service from the outside, giving the cream of the world's news, and special sen ice from each of the Alaskan cities connected by wire or irelessSeward, Wildes, Fairbanks. Juneau. Skagway. Ketchi kan, St Michael's and Nome Region of Opportunities. These are some of Cordo\a's external indications of Mtality. Even more significant is the spirit of her people, the dauntless ad\ enture loving, chance taking spirit of the foreloper. They are opportunists all and wide eyed to the opportunity at their door As I have said, Cordova's reason for being is the Copper River and North western railroad Without the rail road or the hope of it she would quickly cease to exist. Her neighbor, Katalla-on-the-Sea. which blossomed when two railroads made a false start from there, still lives, though iu great ly reduced circumstances, in the hope of their return. Meanwhile the millions from oelow are pouring through Cordova in sup plies and materials and cash for the forcing through of the railroad to the famous Bonanza mine and neighbor ing properties in the region around the head of the Chitina river. The build ing of this road is one of the most daring railroad enterprises since the Kocky mountains were first penetrat- fflfo ed. The Copper river valley, np which the road must run, %i notorious for its violent winter windstorms, its shifting, uncertain, silt falls racing, vagabond streams deep snow rocky, slide scoured canyons and advancing glaciers. The river itself, the only large stream emptying from the Alas kan interior to the southward, is a turbulent, silt laden, ice bearing tor rent in which no man can swim twen ty strokes. At one place it runs be tween great living glaciers that dis charge millions of tons of ice into its current each day of the summer months, and here the railroad must run too. Scenery Will Become World Famous. The scenery is of unique grandeur, but these scenic features, so soon to become world famous, have represent ed to the engineers problems of unex ampled complexity. Many of these problems were repeatedly declared to be impossible of solution even under the most favorable conditions of weather and with unlimited time. Two years ago next month the first lot of material and supplies arrived in Cordova. Since then construction has been pushed forward with almost un believable momentum. In these two years a permanent road of a high standard has been completed to the mouth of the Tiekel river, 102 miles from Cordova. Three great steel bridges have been set over the swift flowing Copper river, and a fourth across a great ice scoured channel be low the berg lake of Miles glacier is far advanced and will be one of the engineering wonders of the world. Long stretches of tunnel and rock cut and piling have been finished and a fleet of river steamers built and placed in commission. At Cordova end, where there were no problems of importance, much mon ey has been spent in preparing for the handling of a heavy train service to and from the mines. The iron in the blood of the men who are building this road shows apparent ly in the blood of Cordova, for also there has been fighting to do. "Made" towns like this one do not grow of their own volition in a single year. It takes organization, confidence and much toil where one's home must, as here, actually be carved from the eter nal hills. PULP WOOD IN ALASKA. Transportation Facilities, Only Needed to Open Up Enormous Forests. Another valuable item has been add ed to Alaska's growing list of undevel oped resources. Recent expert exami nation of the timber in the Sushitna basin has confirmed the belief that it is pulp wood of a high quality. The timber is poplar, cottonwood and spruce, but little of which is of com mercial value for lumber. The land on which this growth stands includes the 3,500,000 or more acres estimated as grazing and farming land and on which homesteading recently began. This area, distributed among the vari ous valleys of the basin, is for the most part covered with a luxuriant growth of wild redtop grass, with little underbrush and only a moderate stand of timber. It is obvious that with a reasonably convenient market for pulp wood and water transportation, of which there is much, the cost of clear ing these lands might be greatly re duced if not made a profit by the sale of the timber as a byproduct. On Kenai peninsula, along the line of the seventy mile Alaska Central rail road, alone there are many thousands of acres of available pulp wood, and this will be increased with almost every mile of the road's extension to ward the Matanuska coal fields. The value of this supply of pulp wood in American territory and the practicabil ity of utilizing it was first pointed out by Levi Chubbuck of the department of agriculture, who visited the region last summer. Still more recently Sena tor George J. Baird of Canada went in to the Matanuska coal fields and was greatly impressed by the vast area of pulp woods as well as the splendid grazing lands they stood on. He pre dicts the rapid settlement of this re gion by farmers and cattlemen. TONS OF ALASKA COPPER. Report of Geologist Brooks Shows Enormous Yield This Year. "The season of mining in Alaska has been a prosperous one," says Alfred H. Brooks, geologist in charge of the Alaska work of the United States geo logical survey, who has just returned to Washington fi'om his annual "swing around the circle" in the far north west. "While dry weather and other unfavorable conditions have curtailed the placer gold production at Nome, most of the other camps have either maintained or increased their output. "Figures of gold output are not yet available, but it seems probable that the production for 1909 will be be tween nineteen and twenty million dollars. The low price of copper has not encouraged mining of that metal, but about half a dozen properties ship ped ore during 1909. It appears proba ble that the Alaska copper output for the year will exceed 4.000.000 pounds One Light In Two Thousand Miles. For the first time the great southern coast of Alaska, more than 2,000 miles long, has this winter a lighthouse. Though one of the most dangerous and stormy coasts in the world and diffi cult of navigation, even in summer, this area has been wholly neglected until now. The first light is on Cape Hinchinbrook, at one of the entrances to Prince William sound. There are many other places where lights and fog signals are almost as urgently needed, notably Cape St. Elias, where steamers are often held up for days because of fogs and a long, hidden reef. Other lights are, however, to be added next year HOW LONG IS DAY?. Some of the World's Inhabitants Eat 315 Meals During One. If we should meet a man arid he should casually remark that he ate 315 meals yesterday we would doubt less be somewhat astonished at his ap petite. Likewise we would feel sorry for the man who said that, having foolishly eaten three eggs with bacon for breakfast, he had no appetite for his Christmas Sinner. But maybe the first man was from Spitzbergen. where they have a day three and a half months in length, whereas the poor chap who missed the Christmas feast lived in Finland, at Torena, where Christmas day is something less than three hours long. On the whole, it would be rather wise if one should undertake to do certain work, to receive so much per day in payment, to understand just where the work is to be done, else one might have to labor eighteen and a half hours at Stockholm, if it happen ed to be the longest day of the year, or all the time from May 21 to July 22 if at Wardbury, in Norway, in St Petersburg the longest day is nineteen hours and the shortest five hours. At Torena, Finland, there is a twenty-two hour day. At London and Bremen the longest day is sixteen and a half hours, while at Hamburg and Dantzig there are seventeen hours in the long est day. In Washington the longest day is about fifteen hours.Exchange HIS CONUNDRUM. Propounded In Prose, It Was Answered In Rhyme. In the olden time before the war, the days so famous for generous hos pitality in the south, a brilliant party was assembled at dinner in a beau tiful country homestead. Across the table wit flashed back and forth, and the guests began to vie with one an other in proposing conundrums. Mr. Alexander H. Stephens offered one which puzzled the whole company, "What is it that we eat at breakfast and drink at dinner?" For some time no answer came, and the bright eyes of the southern orator began to sparkle with triumph, when Colonel Johnson, taking up the "Com monplace Book" of the hostess, which lay conveniently by, wrote impromptu upon the flyleaf the following answer: What is eaten for breakfast and drunken for dinner? Is it coffee or eggs or butter or meats' Sure double the stomach of obdurate sin ner Who eats what he drinks and drinks what he eats. But let us consider. 'Tis surely not but ter Nor coffee nor meats, whether broiled or roast, Nor boiled eggs nor poached nor fried in a batter. It must, then, be bread. Ah, yeswhen 'tis toast! Atlanta Constitution Blackburn's Eloquence. The story is told of Senator Proctor of Vermont in reminiscences by Vice President Stevenson that when Invited to go out of the senate chamber just before the day's session began he re plied: "Excuse me. 1 am paired with Blackburn on prayers." When the Rev. Dr. Butler retired from the chaplaincy of the senate Blackburn's speech surpassed all others for ardor and felicity of expression. "The coun terpart of the scene that followed his closing words had never been wit nessed in legislative assembly All were in tears. It was even said that venerable senators who had never shed a tear since the ratification of the treaty of Ghent actually sobbed aloud and refused to be comforted. At length, amid silence that could be felt, an adjournment was effected, and the senators passed out to their homes. As he passed the chair Senator Vest in an undertone remarked to the vice presi dent, 'Joe never saw him.' "Wash ington Herald. A Pot Walloper. The parliamentary register for 1896 showed that there was then only one pot walloper in all England. One see ing the term for the first time might easily imagine that a pot walloper was a species of ichthyosaurus or some oth er reptile of a past age. It will be dis covered upon inquiry, however, that the term "pot walloper" is literally one who boils a pot and was applied to vot ers in certain boroughs of England where before the passage of the re form bill of 1832 the qualifications for suffrage was to have boiled (walloped) his own pot in the parish for six months.London Notes and Queries. Wonderful Musical Memory. Sir John Stainer had a wonderful musical memory. It was put to the test once at the Crystal palace when he had to play the organ in the 'Mes siah" and a folio copy, on which alone he could see the score, was not forth coming. The conductor was in despair. Sir John cut the knot by a wonderful tour de force, playing the part fault lessly right through and entirely from memory, probably the only time the "Messiah" has been so rendered.Lon don Standard. Numismatics. Nephew (just returned from abroad) -This franc piece, aunt. I got in Paris. Aunt Hepsy1 wish, nephew, you'd fetched home one of them Latin quar ters they talk so much aboutLouis ville Courier-Journal A Braggart. "Pa, what is a braggart?" "He's a man, my son. who is'not afraid to express his real opinion of himself."Boston Transcript The great question is not so much what money you have in your pocket as what you will buv with it.Rnskin. rBmcJBTOJT TTNIONpTHUBSSAYrDECBMBEHSO^W3? mm $& BASHFUL STANLEY, is Response to a Speech of Eulogy' at I i a Banquet. William H. Rideing tells in Mc- Clure's Magazine of a dinner of the Papyrus club in Boston at which Hen ry M. Stanley, the explorer, was the guest of honor: "Whether he (Stanley) sat or stood. be fidgeted and answered in monosyl lablesnot because he was unamiable r unappreciative, but because hethis man of iron. God's instrument, whose word in the field brooked no contradic tion or evasion, he who defied obsta cles and danger and pierced the heart of darknesswas bashful even in the company of fellow craftsmen "His embarrassment grew wben aft er dinner the chairman eulogized him to the audience. He squirmed and averted his face as cheer after cheer confirmed the speaker's rhetorical ebul lience of praise. 'Gentlemen, 1 intro duce to you Mr. Stanley, who,' etc. The hero stood up slowly, painfully, reluctantly, and, with a gesture of dep recation, fumbled in first one and then another of his pockets without finding what he sought. "It was supposed that he was look ing for his notes, and more applause took the edge off the delay. His mouth twitched without speech for another awkward minute before, with a more erect bearing, he produced the object of his search and put it on his head It was not paper, but a rag of a cap, and with that on he faced the com pany as one who by the act had done all that could be expected of him and made further acknowledgment of the honors he had received superfluous. It was a cap that Livingstone had worn and that Livingstone had given him." ISLAND COMES AND GOES. Rises In August and Disappears Regu larly In February. One of Michigan's unsolved myste ries is the island that every summer comes to the surface of Lake Orion and every winter goes back again to the depths from whence it arose. Its periods of appearance and dis appearance are nearly regular. It comes to the surface about the middle of August and goes down again about Feb. 15. What causes it to act thus strangely is a conundrum that none has been able to solve, but to keep it above water or compel it to remain in the depths have been alike without re sults. On one occasion a number of farm ers and teamsters resolved to put the island out of moving business. In their efforts to do so they hauled many loads of stone and deposited them on it during the early part of winter, be lieving that when it went down in February it would go down for good, weighted as it was with the stones. But the following August saw it bob up serenely from belowminus its load of stones. At another time an effort was made to keep it on the surface, and it was chained to the surrounding country with heavy log chains. When its time for departure came it departed, and the log chains departed with it. The log chains were never recovered. The island is composed of soft mud and rushes, and there are some skep tical souls who attribute its formation and appearance and disappearance to the gathering of vegetation in one spot by the currents of the lake and its sub sequent decay.Boston Herald "Window Leaves." In South Africa Dr. R. Marloth dis covered sis species of plants possess ing what are styled "window leaves." They are all stemless succulents, and the egg shaped leaves are imbedded in the ground, only the apexes re maining visible. This visible part of the leaves is flat or convex on the sur face and colorless, so that the light can penetrate it and reach the interior of the leaf below, which is green on the inside. With the exception of the blunt apex, no part of the leaf is permeable to the light being surround ed by the soil in which it is buried. The first of these plants discovered is a species of bulbine.London Graphic The Manly Man. "After you've been two weeks in the house with one of these terrible hand men that ask their wives to be sure to wipe between the tines of the forks and that know just how much raising bread ought to have and, how to hang out a wash so each piece will get the best sun it's a real joy to get back to the ordinary kind of man. Yes, 'tis so!" Mrs. Gregg finished with much emphasis. "I want a man who should have sense about the things he's meant to have sense about, but when it comes to keeping house I like him real helpless, the way the Lord planned to have him!"Youth's Com panion. A Costly Funeral. The most costly state funeral which has ever taken place was perhaps that of Alexander the Great. A round mil lion was spent in lqying Alexander to bis rest. The body was placed in a coffin of gold filled with costly aro matics, and a diadem was placed on the head. The funeral car was embel lished with ornaments of pure gold, and its weight was so great that it took eighty-four mules more than a year to convey it from Babylon to Syria. The Main Thing. Chief of DetectivesNow give us a description of your missing cashier. How tall was he? Business Man1 don't know how tall he was. What worries me is that he was $10,000 short. Joys are our wings, sorrows are ou spurs Richter to HIT!$&M&$k Zelayaism and After.", In his ultimatum to Zelaya's repre sentative in Washington Secretary Knox brandished a club. The world will be likely to know soon, if not al ready convinced, that a club will be needed to bring the land over which Zelaya has reigned within the zone of civilization. The force may be moral or may have to be, physical and could come from native statesmen or some outside hand. Such flagrant misrule as has been reported from Nicaragua is not calculated to prepare a nation to do its own cleaning up. The people of Nicaragua have never been zealous for civic progress as oth er nations understand the term. Poli tics is the daily occupation of the men, young and old, but sordid greed for of fice and spoil is back of all the activi ties. Nothing better could be expected from the example of a Zelaya. The Cubans took due notice of our big stick without ever feeling the weight of it. Perhaps the Nicaraguans will be the better for a wholesome sense of fear. It is doubtless correct to say that Al bert I. of Belgium will be king of a re publican monarchy or of a monarchical republic. That is the status to which many of the monarchies of Europe have come and to which they are all rapidly coming. With the combination of the Belgian parliament, press, people and king committed to the reformation of the Kongo the world will await the inau guration of the new order there with confidence. The best thing that can be said of the moral character of Leopold, Arte mus Ward has already said about that of Brigham Young. Mr. Ward treated it as a conundrum and "gave it up." Even though Peary did stop fourteen miles short of the pole, he got near enough to look it over and shout "Howdy" across the icy waste. No argument is necessary to prove that the price of Christmas keeps pace with the general advance. It doesn't really matter much where Zelaya goes so long as he takes his style of government with him. This is the season of the Christmas shopping afterthoughtoften more im portant than the original idea. Cook can hardly be blamed for a lit tle hesitancy in opening Copenhagen's Christmas package. Foreign Capital In America. The late king of Belgium held stocks of railways in this country. King Ed ward recently made a good turn in speculative stocks here These in stances of royalty investing capital in America are not exceptional. It is said that about 6,000,000,000 in foreign money has been brought to this coun try for investment during the last fifty years. The inflow of capital from abroad began with the financing of our new railroads. The financing of American enterprises from this source will prob ably continue for a long time, although the relative amount may diminish. Our national wealth is now fixed at about $107,000,000,000 and will doubt less increase. The amount of foreign money at work here is too small to be of influence except as it contributes to greater productivity in certain fields and adds to our own wealth. The for eign investor gets the dividends, but the advantages of substantial develop ment remain here The passing of the old king of Bel gium adds still another to the list of amiable young kings on European thrones, of whom Alfonso of Spain and Manuel of Portugal are examples These youthful monarchs have an op portunity to secure their hold on their kingdoms by a wise and temperate ad ministration of their high office. But it will be the part of prudence for them to dwell lightly on "divine right" as the authority for their rule It is not an improbable outcome of the campaign forced upon England by the dispute over the Liberal budget that the stubborn house of lords may be reduced to the status of a chamber representing the peerage instead of a chamber in which every peer has a right to A-ote, as at present. It would be the most fortunate thing for unhappy Nicaragua if she could in this crisis develop a leader approxi mating the unbending personality of Diaz of Mexico. Quite diplomatic in the "safe and sane Fourth" people to observe the policy of silence around Christmastide. So far the conservation of resources people haven't clamped the lid on the slaughter of Christmas trees very hard. Those who say that there is no Santa Claus will now have to be good for a long while It is well to get that "Follies of 1910" hat on straight the very first time. i Sw? mwmw&wffiL, COLOSSUS OF RHODES. One of the Ancient Seven Wonders of 's the World. The ancients succeeded in making that alloy of copper which is known as bronze. Among the seven wonders of the world was the famous statue, wholly made of bronze, historically known as the Colossus of Rhodes. It represented Phoebus, the national dei ty of the Rhodians. It was begun by Chares, a pupil of Lysippus, the sculp tor, and was completed by Laches 288 B. C. The popular belief is that it stood astride the harbor of Rhodes, that it was 105 feet high and that ships could easily sail between its legs. Pliny said that few men could clasp its thumb. It was cast on metal plates, afterward joined together, and this process occupied twelve years. In the interior was a spiral staircase reach ing into its head, and in a great mirror suspended to its neck were reflected the coast of Syria and the ships sailing to Egypt. After it had stood for sixty-four years this colossus was overthrown by an earthquake, and its remains lay on the shore for 923 yearsthat is, until A. D. 672when they were sold by the Saracens to a dealer. The original cost was 300 talentsabout $6,000,000 and it is not too much to say that a similar image might be constructed now in one-fourth of the time and at one-third of the original cost. Rhodes, by the way, must have had colossus on the brain, for Pliny relates that the port was adorned with 1,000 colossal statues of the sun. Alone In Saw Mill at Night unmindful of dampness, drafts, storms or cold, W. J. Atkins worked as night watchman at Banner Springs, Tenn. Such exposure gave him a severe cold that settled on his lungs. At last he had to give up work. He tried many remedies'but all failed till he used Dr. King's New Discovery "After using one bottle" he writes, "I went back to work^as well as ever." Severe colds, stubborn coughs, inflamed throats and sore lungs, hemorrhages, croup and whooping cough get quick relief and prompt cure from this glorious medicine. 50c and $1.00. Trial bottle free, guaranteed by C. A. Jack. Making it Kiam. The following simple and explicit di rections are posted up in a hotel on the Nordfjoid: "The fire escape! Directions for use. The one end of the rope is to be fixed at the hook in the window frame, the other is to turn out of the window. The plaited snotter, which is fixed at the log of wood, is to be put under your arms, whereupon you may safely let yourself slide down. You may regulate the hur ry by keeping the rope under the log. If more persons are to be saved yon have to pull up the contrary end of the rope, fix this at the book and go on so till nobody is left."London Punch. Rich Men's Gifts Are Poor beside this: "I want to go on record as saying that I regard Electrie Bitters as one of the greatest gifts that God has made to woman, writes Mrs. O. Rhinevault of Vestal Center, N. Y., "I can never forget what it has done for me." This glorious medi cine gives a woman buoyant spirits, vigor of body and jubilant health, lb quickly cures nervousness, sleep lessness, melancholy, headache, backache, fainting and dizzy spells: soun builds up the weak, ailing and sickly. Try them. 50c at C. A. Jack's. The Higher Criticism. The ClergymanBut, my friend, why make use of such abominable oaths? The MotorcyclistAbominable! Do you know any better ones?Harper's Weekly. The desire of appearing clever often prevents one becoming go.Rochefou cauld. Hexamethylenetetramine. The above is the name of a German chemical, which is one of the many valuable ingredients of Foley's Kidney Remedy. Hexamethylenete tramine is recognized by'medical text books and authorities as a uric acid solvent and antiseptic for the urine. Take Foley's Kidney Remedy as soon as you notice any irregularities and avoid a serious malady. Sold by all druggists. Straightforward. HeYou mustn't believe every beg gar who comes to your door. She But this was no common beggar. He was a sea captain who had lost every thing in a shipwreck. HeHow do you know he was? SheHe told a straightforward story about how his ship went to pieces on the coast of Switzerland. Scrub yourself daily, you are not clean inside. This means clean stomach, bowels, blood, liver, clean, healthy tissue in every organ. Moral: Take Holilster's Rocky Mountain Tea, a thorough cleanser. Try it tonight. C. A. Jack. Proposals for County Printing. Sealed proposals will be received by the board of county commissioners of Mille Lacs county, Minn., at the office of the county auditor of said county, up to 1 o'clock p. m. on Wednesday, January 5th, 1910, for the official county printing of Mille Lacs county, Minn., for the year 1910. The board reserves the right to reject any or all, bids received. Board of County Commissioners, Mille Lacs County Minn. ^V mL~*kmmW3Mm$U^K% .vTr^F-f *c 1