The Outlook for Coal-Mining in Alaska

LESS than a decade ago the consumption of coal in Alaska was practically limited to the salmon canneries and the few lode-mines and settlements along the Pacific coast of the Ter¬ritory. The sparse population of the interior depended on the forests, that of the shores of Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean on driftwood for fuel. All this has changed. The thousands who have sought and mined gold on the Seward peninsula since 1898 have much impoverished the long-accumulated supply of driftwood, and at the same time the constantly increasing demand for fuel, on the part of the placer-camps and steamers, has resulted in heavy inroads being made on the accessible timber of the Yukon and its tributaries. While on the one hand the immediately available store of wood has decreased, on the other the consumption of fuel because of the rapid expansion of the mining and fishery industries and the attendant growth of population has much increased. Alaska, therefore, offers a constantly growing market for coal and other fuels. As the local coal-production has been insignificant, the demand has been met by importations from Washington, British Columbia, and even from Pennsylvania and Australia. Fuel-Consumption Mr. D. H. Jarvis, Collector for Alaska, has kept systematic records of the trade of the Territory since 1903. The statistics of the coal-importations of the past two years are shown in Table I. If data were available for a longer period of years, the increase of coal-importations would be much more striking.