Gold Strike
Excitement Wanes;
Find Little Gold
FAIRBANKS, (JPh-As the first
“gold strike” excitement was sub
siding, some old Alaska hands
threw cold water on gold prospects 1
of the new mining claim area at
Fishwheel.
At the same time, air lines here
said reports of plane loads of gold
rushers flying in from the States
were not substantiated. Pan Amer
ican Airways, Alaska Airlines and
Golden North Airways said there
was no increase in passenger traf
fic from Outside. The report of
several plane loads arriving came
from Washington, D. C., Wednes
day.
One of the bluntest “cold water”
reports came from Tom Wilson, a
steamfitter who returned from the
Yukon River gold rush scene.
“There is no gold in' Fishwheel,”
he said. He said he had talked to
20 men who staked claims but
found no gold.
“It’s a shame to get those poor
devils up there who don’t know
anything about this Arctic wea
weather,” he declared — “poor
cheechakos in plain Stateside
overcoats; no heat, no house; no
food, no nothing but hope that ap
parently has sprung from some
body’s dream.”
Tony Sanich. who founded the
famed Pack Train Restaurant in
Skagway in the 1897 rush and
later made a fortune in the stam
pede to Atl in. B. C., added:
“You don’t find gold worth
stampeding for on the Yukon flats.
I hope it’s true, but I don't think
it can be.”
He suggested “you make your
money in busines, not out on the
creeks.”
Residents of this city, closest to
the Yukon River rush area 160
miles away, were amused at tales
of an influx of prostitutes and
gamblers. Persons returning from
the scene said there was none of
either and the existing conditions
weren’t conducive to them.
The first degree in Divinity at
Harvard was granted in 1692.
IT B R I NG S
RESULTS
Whether spanking is
an effective discipline
for children has been
a subject of debate
among parents and ed
ucators for years. But
there is no question
about the efficacy of
our classified ads.
Nome Nugget
!There's Something
i
Brassy About
Fish wheel Strike
(Continued from Page One)
“and one large and one small nug
get appear to have been pocket or
poke-worn for several months.”
He explained that when trans
ported in water, gold is rounded
off but not polished. Pockets or
pokes wear off the secondary
metal coating on the gold, and
smooth and polish the surface.
Ragle also said two of the
smaller nuggets were from en
tirely different vein sources and
too delicately structured to have
been transported any appreciable
distance by the Yukon River, but
could have been carried by ice.
He said nitric acid dissolved
one of the small, sharp “nuggets”
showing it to be not gold but
brass, which is a combination of
copper and z in c , a man-made
alloy.
“This might have been filings
from the housing of one of the
old stern wheelers,” the professor
said, “though what it is doing on
top of silt is hard to explain.”
Ragle said he found one of the i
particles of brass contained grass :
roots which indicated the filing
had been close to the surface and !
not in its environment very long. !
“Brass, like gold, tends to sink to j
bedrock.” he said.
“The presence of two or more :
different types of gold would be ;
possible, but brass would have to j
have been brought in by human |
beings.
‘ If we accept these nuggets as j
having been transported by the t
Yukon to the position in which
they were found, we must accept
a volume and velocity of water j
which would have been sufficient i
to have flushed silt and gravel
entirely out of the vicinity.
“The density per unit of the
surface of gold is so high that a
current of w^ater sufficiently
strong to move gold will also car
ry gravel many tons heavier than
the metal.
“In other words, it is like ask- 1
ing us to believe that a balloon
and an iron ball would fall I
through the air at the same rate
of speed.”
The professor said that placer
conditions accumulate under cer
tain physical laws which are ob
viously not present in the new !
“Klondike.”
Meanwhile, reports from the :
Territorial department of mines
also take a dim view. B. D. Stew- i
art, commissioner at Juneau, ex
pressed “grave concern over the
unjustified excitement.”
Art Glover, dejrartment repre
sentative at Fairbanks, said of
Fishwheel that “there’s absolutely
no evidence that would permit its
endorsement as the ‘real thing’ or
even as a reasonable gambling
chance.”
He concluded that in his opin
“more money has already been
spent on the affair than will ever
be taken out of all claims com
bined.”
Returning to reporter Datim at
Fishwheel, he wound up his dis
patch:
“Fishwheel awaits the assay re
port with jagged nerves.”
He reported newcomers were
expressing bitter disappointment
with fruitless panning. But he said
Ed Farrell, senior member of the
prospecting fraternity, is still
hopeful.
“I saw one nugget panned with
my own eyes and I know the gold
was there in the muck,” Farrell
said. “It’s this way on every rush.
Cheechakos (tenderfeet) expect
Two Airline Pilots
Find Two Nu^ets
At Fishwheel
_
ANCHORAGE, (JP) — Several1
would-be Anchorage prospectors j
returned Wednesday convinced
that Fishwheel, the booming tent
town up on hte Yukon flats near
the Arctic Circle, is not gold coun
try.
“Amateurs and professiona 1 s
are pretty well convinced, but t
they’re afraid to leave for fear
they’ll miss something,” Bill Lund,
Alaska Airlines pilot, said on his
return from Fishwheel.
Lund, with Robert Stevenson,
Northern Consolidated Airlines i
pilot, went to the Yukon area i
over the week-end and came up j
with two of the few nuggets he
said had been found at the river. j
“We made a hole in the ice on (
the edge of the main stream right
near Discovery” Stevenson said.
“We pushed our axe down into
the muck and dug out some of the
stream bed. It froze right in our
hands.
“I was all set to throw it all
away but Lund kept panning it.
That’s when he found the first
nugget.”
They dug a second hole and
Lund again panned a nugget in ,
>
his first pan.
‘‘But we didn't get a thing in the ;
next 200 or 300 shovels full.” Ste- !
venson said glumly.
He said he pilots showed the
nuggets to a prospector named i
Gaylord.
‘‘Lord, he shouted the news to
everyone in sight. They grabbed
all their tools and lit out in every
direction. Even the old-timers got
excited.”
Asked about the value of the
gold he panned, Lund shrugged.
“It’s worth about 60 cents I
guess. From my experience it
seems the gold is at the grassroots.
It hasn’t traveled far yet. The
nearest hill is over a score of miles
away. It is surface gold, but I
can’t imagine where it came from.
‘‘Everyone is getting colors
(small flashes of gold) such as you
can find anywhere. But I didn’t
see any nuggets besides my own
and Carroll’s.”
Clifton Carrol started the stam
pede when he found nuggets “the j
size of peas” stuck to the muck
on the axle of his fishwheel, after
nuggets to whistle at them from
the gravel. Prospecting is nothing
but hard work.”
Mystery K|>i<1cmic
Claims .‘> ( Jiildrcn
At Dutch Harhor
_ i
JUNEAU, </P) — A mysterious
epidemic has claimed the lives of
three Dutch Harbor children, the
Territorial health department re
ported yesterday.
A radiogram from the U. S.
Commissioner at Dutch Harbor in
formed Dr. James Googe, and
added that others are ill.
It was expected aid would be
dispatched from Anchorage.
JUNEAU, (/P) — An epidemic
that caused the deaths of three
children at Dutch Harbor has
been brough under control, Dr.
Grace Field, acting director of the
Territorial health department, has
been advised today.
Nature of the disease has not
been determined but tests on food
and water from Dutch Harbor are
being made by an army doctor
and Larry Park, a sanitary en
gineer.
which the boomtown has been
named. That was two weeks ago.
C. A. I\ Receives
Two Planes
The Nome and Kotzebue squad
rons of the Civil Air Patrol went
into high this week with the de
livery of their home based aii
craft. Each squadron now has its
own L-5 Stinson.
These ships are army haison
and observation air craft which
have been turned over to the C.
A. P. by the Air Forces Pilo*s
Bob Knight and Reginald Jewel
flew the ships in from Anchorage
bringing Bob Emmons and Thomas
McAllister back from an Orienta
tion meeting at the Wing Head
quarters. Bob Emmons Is now the
Personnel Officer and McAllister
has been assigned the duties of
Operations Officer for the Nome
Squadron.
On Tuesday the ship for the
Kotzebue Squadron was ferried
to its home base by Trygve Jor
gensen and Tex Zeigler.
The Nome Squadron will move
into its new’ headquarters at
Marks Air Force Base this coming
week, where the future meetings
will bo held.
Nugget Ads Bring Quick Results
KoHowe’en
Night
-At
SCOTTY’S
Sat., Oct. 29
Come and Meet
the Witches and Goblins!
Announce Schedule Change
EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY
ON SCHEDULED DOUGLAS FLIGHTS FROM FAIRBANKS
ONE HOUR STOPS AT NOME AND KOTZEBUE
TUESDAY AND FRIDAY EACH WEEK
Local Departure Time - - -
TUESDAY 2:50 P. M.
FRIDAY 12:15 P.M.
Tuesday Flights Return Direct to Fairbanks
Friday Flights to Fairbanks via Kotzebue