Joint Ballot 134 5 129 Demo. maj....33 96 The State representatives in Congress will be found in the article UNITED STATES, section Congress. ALAITE. See MINERALOGY. ALASKA. A territorial possession of the United States, situated at the northwestern extremity of North America. The total area, according to the revised survey of 1906, is 586,400 square miles. The government of the Territory is as yet unorganized. The population, according to the census of 1910, is 64,356, as compared with 30,507 whites and 29,536 natives in 1900. The Territory is divided into four Judicial divisions: The First Judicial Division, with a population of about 9000; the Second Judicial Division, with Nome as its centre of population, 7000; the Third Judicial Division, with Valdez and Cordova as centres of population, 7000; and the Fourth Judicial Division, with Fairbanks as the centre of population, 10,000. The present and prospective conditions in the Territory are such as to promise a large increase in its population in the next few years. The population is engaged almost entirely in mining, railroad construction and fishing, and occupations incident thereto. A few people are engaged in truck farming, chiefly near the mining camps. AGRICULTURE. The agricultural development of the Territory is as yet inconsiderable, but steady progress was made during the fiscal year 1910. There is no longer any doubt in regard to the agricultural possibilities of Alaska. It has been proved that hardy vegetables and cereals suited to northern latitudes can be grown in Alaska with great success. Important work is being carried on in testing and selecting the varieties best suited to the country, and in developing new varieties which shall be better suited to the climatic conditions than anything now produced. This work has engaged the attention of the Agricultural Experiment Station during 1910. At the Rampart Station grain crops matured and experiments were made in cross-fertilizing for the production of new varieties. At Sitka Station success has been achieved in developing more than a score of varieties of strawberries, which seem to be better adapted to Alaska than any of the known cultivated varieties. Several new homesteads were taken up by settlers during the year, and there is a considerable number of settlers who have lived on their homesteads for more than five years, but have been unable to secure a title to their lands because there was no appropriation of money by Congress to pay the expenses of surveying. At the Kodiak Experiment Station a herd of Galloway cattle is maintained with great success. This breed is well adapted to the country. Cattle of other breeds have also done well on Kodiak Island and in other parts of Alaska for many years. A small flock of hardy sheep was added during the year to the livestock at the Kodiak Station and sheep breeding will henceforth receive attention. MINERALS AND MINING. The total mineral production of Alaska in 1909 was about $20,200,000. The production was almost entirely of gold, the value of which was about $20,463,000, as compared with $19,600,000 in 1908. Of this, the placer production was $16,322,000, the lode production, including gold derived from copper ores, was $4,107,363. The largest output was yielded by the Yukon placers. Practically all the Yukon camps made increased production in 1909, those in the Tanana valley leading, with about $10,150,000. Of this amount the Fairbanks district produced about $9,650,000. All the placer camps were prosperous except those of Seward Peninsula, where the dry weather curtailed the output. A new discovery of gold placers was made on Otter Creek, the northern tributary of the Haiditarod River in the Innoko Valley. Thousands of prospectors and miners flocked to this district from all parts of the Territory, as well as from points outside. A government survey of the district was under way. The total gold production of Alaska at the close of 1909 was $162,686,455, of which $118,219,757 came from placers, and $44,466,698 from lodes. The record of production begins with 1880. Mining of copper was less active in 1909 than in 1908. The output for the former year was valued at $536,211, as compared with $605,267 in 1908. The low market price of copper prevented several mines from resuming operations, but the building of the railway from Cordova to the Chitina region and its prospect of early opening to traffic will cause a large increase in the copper production. The ores of this region are of exceptionally high grade. The total production in pounds in 1909 was 4,124,705. Among other minerals, tin, gypsum and marble were also produced in small quantities. The gold fields of Alaska, largely on account of the place that they occupy in the field of politics, have been much in the public mind in 1909-10. The political aspects will be found under the article PUBLIC LANDS and the article UNITED STATES, paragraph Administration. The principal coal fields of the Territory remained idle during the year 1910 because of the inability of claimants to secure title. The long delay in the issuance of patents to coal lands and the popular clamor against all Alaskan coal claimants has discouraged claimants and investors so that not only was there no industrial advance in the mining of coal, but in some regions there was a decided retrogression. The coal is widely distributed in Alaska, but the only fields which can yield coal for export are those in the Pacific slope province. The coal in these fields includes the lignitic or bituminous coals of southeastern Alaska, Cook Inlet, the Susitna basin and the Alaska Peninsula, as well as the high grade fuels of the Bering River and the Matanuska fields. About 40 per cent. both of the area known to be underlain by coal and of the estimated area of all the coal fields of the Territory, falls in this province. It includes also at least 90 per cent. of the known bituminous and higher grade coals of the Territory. Coal is also found in the central provinces and in northern Alaska, although the extensive deposits in the latter region are too remote to have any present importance and must be regarded simply as a part of the ultimate fuel resources of the world. Two influences have held back the development of the Bering River and Matanuska fields. One has been the advancement made in the California oil districts, and the other the unfortunate conditions existing in regard to the laws under which Alaska coal lands can be taken up. The latter is by far the more serious of these obstacles. According to the estimates of the Geological Survey, the marketable Alaska coals of the Pacific slope amount to fifty or sixty billion tons, worth in the ground about half a cent a ton. TRANSPORTATION. Only one of the railway projects of the Territory made any progress in actual construction during 1910. The outlook for extensive railway building in developing the general resources has not improved since 1909. The Alaska Central Railway, which in 1909 extended its track to miles 75, on the projected route from Resurrection Bay to the Matanuska coal fields and to some favorable points on the Tanana River, was sold under the order of the district court, and is now incorporated as the Alaska Northern Railway. No new construction was done on this line during the year. The construction of the Copper River and Northwestern Railway, which is building a narrow-gauge road through the lower valley of the Copper River into the Chitina region, was continued up to December, 1909, when the weather became too severe. Work was continued in the spring of 1910 and about 101 miles of track have been completed. By September 25, 1910, trains were in operation from Cordova, the tide-water terminal, to Chitina, a distance of 131 miles. The continuation of the present prosperity of the mining industry in Alaska is dependent on the cheapening of operating costs by the improvements in means of transportation. The present industrial advancement of inland Alaska is small as compared with that which will take place when railway communication with the tide water has been established. There are now about 370 miles of railways distributed among nine different systems. The construction of wagon roads and trails progressed steadily during the year. The benefits derived from these methods of transportation have been so generally appreciated that the available funds have been found too small to meet the popular demand for more roads. COMMERCE. The shipments of domestic merchandise from the States to Alaska in the fiscal year 1910 were larger than in any prior year, the increase being due in some measure to activity in railway construction in the Copper River Valley. The commercial movement from Alaska to the States, including gold and silver of domestic production, was larger than in any other year except 1909. The total value of the merchandise shipped from the United States to the Territory in 1910 was $17,972,647, of which hardware and machinery were valued at $5,709,558; provisions, $5,930,196; lumber, $527,053; liquors, $654,821; and coal, $208,359. The value of the merchandise and precious metals shipped from Alaska to the United States in 1910 was $34,628,535, as compared with $34,335,435 in 1909. Of this amount the gold shipped was valued at $18,393,128 and the merchandise, including fish and furs, was valued at $12,349,462. FISHERIES. Next to mining, the fishing industry is the most productive of the Territory. There are employed in this industry about 13,000 persons, of whom about 3000 are natives. The investment, exclusive of cash capital, amounted to about $10,000,000, and the export value of the product to about $12,000,000. The most important of the fisheries is the salmon and the yield of 1910 was highly profitable, owing to the advance in value of all grades of salmon. The total pack of the canneries amounted to about 2,375,000 cases of four dozen 1-lb. cans each. This was valued at $9,434,946. The value of the other fish exported, including halibut, cod and herring was $969,861. Whalebone was exported to the value of $136,520. NATIONAL FORESTS. During 1910 steps were taken toward the further adaptation of the Forest Service administration to local conditions in Alaska. Provision has been made for scaling forest reserve timber at the mill instead of at the place of cutting, thus obviating delays which under the former system were vexatious. The amount of timber cut from the reserves during the fiscal year 1910 was 15,471,000 board feet, which probably represents about half the amount cut in all of Alaska, including wood used as fuel. The receipts of the Forest Service in the Territory were $19,502. FURS. The value of the furs exported during the fiscal year 1910 was $574,764, which was an increase over the value of the product of 1909, which was $537,162. The 61st Congress at its second session passed an important measure relating to the seal fisheries of Alaska. Under this enactment the Secretary of Commerce and Labor has power to authorize the killing of fur seals and the taking of seal skins on the Pribilof Islands in Alaska. New regulations shall be issued by him prescribing the manner in which such killing shall be done and limiting the number of seals to be killed whenever he shall determine that such killing is necessary or desirable, and not inconsistent with the preservation of the seal herd. This act also provides that no person shall kill any otter, mink, marten, sable or fur seal or other fur-bearing animal within the limits of Alaska Territory, or in the waters thereof, under penalty of a fine of not less than $200, nor more than $1000, or imprisonment of not more than six months, or both. The vessels and equipment engaged in violation of this section shall be forfeited. The Secretary of Commerce and Labor has power to authorize the killing of any such fur-bearing animals under such regulations as he shall prescribe. Fur-bearing animals enumerated below may be hunted and killed in the Territory of Alaska, except during the season specified with respect to each of them: Sea otter: The hunting or killing of sea otter is prohibited until November 1, 1920. Beaver: The hunting or killing of beaver is prohibited prior to November 1, 1915. The hunting or killing of land otter, mink, musk-rat, marten, fisher and ermine is prohibited throughout the season from April 1 to October 31 of each year. The hunting and killing of black bear is prohibited throughout the season from April 1 to July 31. The hunting or killing of fox, wildcat or lynx is prohibited throughout the season from April 1 to September 30. Permits or licenses may be issued by the Secretary of Commerce and Labor for the taking of fur-bearing animals for scientific purposes and for shipment to zoological parks. EDUCATION. During the year 1910 steady improvement was made in the public school system of the Territory, in the schools provided both for white children and for native children. White schools supported by local license moneys and taxes are maintained in the incorporated towns as follows: Chena, Cordova, Douglas, Eagle, Fairbanks, Haines, Juneau, Ketchikan, Nome, Petersburg, Skagway, Valdez and Wrangell. Three new white schools were established during the year in settlements other than incorporated |