English:

Caption on image: Alaska Central Railway

Cartoons and Caricatures of Seattle Citizens (page 12).

Photographs from which these Pen and Ink Sketches were Produced have been furnished principally by James & Bushnell and E.S. Curtis. Engravings by the Art Engraving Company. Published by the Associated Cartoon Service. Artwork by Edwin F. Brotze.

John E. Ballaine (1868-1941) was born in Louis County, Iowa, descended from Norman Huguenots from the Channel Islands. John and his family moved to Walla Walla, Washington when he was 10. He attended Whitman College, but did not graduate, engaging in teaching school for four terms, then working for a daily newspaper for seven years, concluding his newspaper career as a managing editor. He served as secretary for Governor John R. Rogers, as well as adjutant general for Rogers' administration, before joining the army and fighting in the Spanish-American War in the Philippines. Upon discharge from the army he formed the Alaska Central Railway Company in 1902, surveying and building the first twenty miles of the Alaska Central Railway, a 412 mile railway route designated by President Wilson. In 1903, John Ballaine founded the town of Seward, Alaska, which was the Pacific coastal terminus of the Alaska Railroad. He was married to Miss Anna Felch with whom he had three children.