Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 39, Number 96, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 August 1907 — ALASKAN FARMS. [ARTICLE]

ALASKAN FARMS.

Nearly 3,000,000 Acres Soo;% To Be Opened for Setllerip;' 1 At a distance of some 50 miles south of the Arctic Circle 2,980,000 acres of land will be opened for settlement in Alaska on Sept. 30, by a recent order of the Secretary of tha Interior.. This great tract has been held in reserve for a national forest around Norton bay, but the project was abandoned, so many were the demands.for entry on land which bad been found more suitable for settlement. The spring rush for Alaska overwhelmed steamship accommodations and filled up the wharves at Seattle with household freight, but the order of the Secretary is expected to prolong the rush up to the approach of winter. Alaska has been in the throes of a general strike and tieup, but as usual in such cases this feature is wearing itself out. These troubles were caused by the shortage of labor in southeastern Alaska, owing to the activity of railway building and tihe development of new mines, culminating in a general demand for higher wages. Agriculture is proceeding hand in band with the efforts of government experiment stations, which are constantly determining what will groy which heretofore has been exotic to the soil. So far, all the hardier vegetables have been made to thrive, and in the large valleys of the interior experiments are being made, with every prospect of success, to grow hay, grain and stock feed capable of maintaining work animals. The great valley along the. Susitna river in central Alaska, extending north from Cook’s Inlet and Resurrection bay, it is declared has a mild climate all the year, owing to the warm currents of the ocean, and will grow almost anything that is raised in temperate zones. The permanent white population of Alaska is now 33,000, with 6,000 nomads at work here and there. The increase now averages 3,500 souls a year, a figure which the coming opening of lands is expected to These people Shipped to the States last year $29,339,286 worth of gold, silver, copper and merchandise in the form of fish products. Cable, telegraph and mail Connections are being generally extended and already Alaska is ambitious to become a State. Alienists for Mrs. Eddy. Dr. George F. Jelly, the Boston mental specialist, and Dr. G. A. Blumer of Providence were appointed comasters with Judge Aldridh to examine Mrs. Mary Baker G. Eddy, the aged founder and head of the Christian Science church, as to her mental competency to look after her business interests. Judge Aldrich had written Judge Chamberlin that he was averse to taking the sole responsibility in so important a matter. Later Dr. Blumer declined to act and the defendants strongly opposed the appointment of any doctors. Counsel for Mrs. Eddy and her trustees filed exceptions to the appointment of the two directors as comasters because they are non-residents of New Hampshire, and are authorized to render a decision not predicated wholly upon the evidence submitted to them, and also to the Issue framed by the court and the denial by the court of the previous motions by the defendant, all of which are expected to result in carrying the entire case, with all its complications, to the Supreme Court.