Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 69, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 March 1915 — BUILDING LINES IN ALASKA [ARTICLE]

BUILDING LINES IN ALASKA

Calls for Engineering 8kil! That Rival* That Displayed by Engineer* of Panama Canal} “When the historian of the ages writes the story of the‘’Panama canal, he will doubtless Include that great work among the wonders of the modern world, but I doubt if the building of the canal is greater than the construction of the Alaskan railroads will be>” said' Col. W. P. Richardson, the "road builder” of Alaska, while on a visit to Washington. "The construction of the Panama canal has been a wonderful work, and the engineers, the sanitary officers, and operators deserve all the credit that can be given them; but after all, the building of thq canal was merely a big engineering construction sanitary undertaking. The men who built the canal knew they had to cut through tons of earth and clean up the country and solve engineering problems as they went along. ' 'A "Up in Alaska it is an entirely different undertaking. The mere building of railroads would not be a difficult task, but the construction of the Alaskan railroads involves not only the surveying of lines, the laying of ties, and the building of roadbeds, but it means the development of an unknown country. Alaska is unknown, except superficially. The building of railroads is a big job, but the construction work is only the beginning, and, in my opinion, when the railroads of Alaska have been completed, under .government supervision, ownership, or otherwise, the historian will write that the job was a big, if not bigger, than the building of the. Panama, canal.”