HYDER ~ FIRST ALASKA TOWN THAT CAN BE REACHED BY THE PACIFIC - YUKON - ALASKA HIGHWAY
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SPECIALIZING IN
MINING NEWS OF THE
PORTLAND CANAL
DISTRICT
HYDER WEEKLY HERALD
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SUBSCRIPTIONS
$3.00 PER YEAR
IN ADVANCE
V
VOL 7, NO. 42
HYDER, ALASKA, SATURDAY, JULY 25, 1931.
PRICE TEN CENTS
CELEBRATION PROVES
SPLENDID SUCCESS
Under sunny skies and with
many outside visitors present
from Prince Rupert, Anyox
and Ketchikan, the much an
ticipated Alaska-British Col
umbia International Celebra
tion was held last Saturday,
Sunday and Monday, with Hy
der, Alaska, Premier, B. C.,
and Stewart, B. C., participat
ing-. From start to finish the
big, three-day event was an un
qualified success and won the
fullest commendation of all
who participated.
The celebration started Sat
urday morning with a mile
long parade, which included ?.
battallion of 150 sailors from
the U. S. S. cruiser Detroit,
led by the ship's band, in addit
ion to an elaborate series ol
floats descriptive of the min
ing industry; a contingent ot
Boy Scouts from Anyox; a
large Moose delegation from
Prince Rupert, with their band
Roman chariots with drivers
garbed in the style of Caeser’t
days, and numerous decorated
cars and trucks. After travel’s
ing the main streets of Hydei
the parade proceeded to Stew
art, stopping briefly enroute a
the Cenotaph on the Hyder
Stewart road to pay tribute tc
Stewart members of the Can
adian expeditionary forces
who made the supreme sacri
fice in the Great War. Aftei
passing through Stewart’s prin
cipal thoroughfares, the par
ade disbanded at the ball park, j
where the bulk of the districts \
entire population heard Mr. D
L. Pitt, honorary chairman oi !
the celebration committee,
formally open the celebration
with an address of welcome to
visitors. Mr. Pitt then present
ed to Capt. N. W. Post, com
mander of the U. S. S. Detroit, ;
a golden key, and extended to '
him and his crew the freedom i
of the district’s three communi
ties. In reply Capt. Post deliv
ered a well-termed address in
which he expressed gratificat
ion at being able to participate
in the celebration, which he
characterized as “anothei
manifestation of the spirit o1
fellowship, cooperation and
good will that has always ex
isted between the United
States and Canada.”
This ceremony was followed
by the presentation of prizes
to the best floats and decorat
ed cars in the parade, first
prize going to the Moose float,
second to the Premier mine
tram float and third to Mrs.
W. R. Tooth for her handsome
ly decorated car.
The program of sports and
contests was then inaugurated
with a chariot race between
two powerful four-horse teams
which proved to be one of the
most novel and thrilling events
of the entire program. The con
tending drivers were Henry
Peterson and Charles Biehl,
both of whom displayed splen
did horsemanship in their mad
dash around the field against
time. Biehl was declared win
ner by 2 seconds and received
a large silver trophy as his re
ward. Following the chariot
race came a tug of war in
which the Premier mine team
won an easy victory over a
| Falling Rock Causes Accident
| While proceeding up Salmon
| valley highway late Monday
evening, Fred Soski, taxi driv
er, had the thrilling experience
of seeing a huge rock fall from
the bordering hillside directly
into the path of his car and not
more than 15 or 20 feet away.
Unable to turn aside owing to
the rocky wall on one hand
and a steep declivity on the
other, where a fall meant cer
tain injury or death Fred slam
med on the brakes, and struck
the rock head-on with consid
erable force. In the resulting
crash, Alex Halstead, the car’s
sole passenger, sustained sev
eral cuts and bruises on the
head and face but Soski was
uninjured. The car also escap
ed with but slight damage. But
Fred and Alex are still shiv
ering over the thought of what
might have happened had the
rock fell a few seconds later.
lighter team from the S. S.
Mogul, and packing competit
ons in which expert packers
demonstrated their abilities at
loading and unloading strings
)f 5 pack horses. First prize
was won by John and Charles
Ryan, Big Missouri mine, in 15
minutes 13 seconds. Ernest
Musto and Pete Lowe, Stew
art Cartage Co., were second
n 18 min., 5 seconds; Jack
Grey and Percy Dietrich,
Crawford Transfer Co., were
^hird and J. Morrison and P.
Tirpster, Premier mine, were
fourth.
The rock drilling and mine
mucking contests held in Hyd
ar Saturday afternoon proved
decidedly interesting. The
drilling competition was won
>y C. McKay and H. Boyce of
Premier with a depth of 5 ft |
3% inches in the 10 minutes
)f drilling time. T. Thomas and ‘
E. Cameron, Big Missouri team,
were second with 4 ft. 1114 |
nches and the Anyox team, J.
Boyd and F. Lundstrom were
hird with 3 ft. 9% inches.
Other competitors were E.
Eskola and C. Bystrom, Pros
perity team, and C. McKinnon
and P. Tirpster, porter-Idaho
.earn. The trophy for this con
,est, donated by the Canadian
fngersoll-Rand drill company,
was presented by Miss Eliza
beth Pitt.
B. Arsten won the mucking
contest by shoveling and tram
ming 21-cubic feet of crushed
rock in 5 minutes 40 seconds.
G. Svendal was second in 6
minutes and 2 seconds. The
Tophy, donated by the Canad
ian Industries, Ltd., was pre
sented by Mrs. Bert Smith.
The succeeding boxing and
wrestling contests were held in
Hyder and resulted as follows:
Filipino seaman from U. S. S.
Detroit won over O. Brigden
of Stewart in the second round;
Harry Death of Anyox won a
decision over Seaman Simpson
of the Detroit in 4 rounds; H.
McDairmid of Premier fought
a draw with L. Barday of the
l Detroit. In the wrestling con
test A. Teed of Premier drew
with C. Caren of Anyox in
three ten minute rounds.
In the succeeding baseball
game between the U. S. S. De
troit and Portland Canal, the
former team won handily with
a score of 7 to 3.
Continued on Page 4
SILVER RESTORATION
WORK IS CONTINUING
Despite an apparent lapse in
interest in the silver rehabil
itation question resulting large
ly from public attention being
temporarily diverted to other
issues, numerous men high in
business and political life are
working steadily for silver res
toration, according to press re
| ports.
W. Mont Ferry, president of
I the American Silver Producers’
Association, summarized the
present status of the metal in
a recent statement in which he
said that it is agreed by those
acquainted with the problem
that enormous progress has
been made, in presenting the
universal aspect of the silver
question.
“Statesmen, bankers, manu
factures, laboring men and
! business leaders see now,” he
continued, “that the low price
of silver and the high price of
gold is one of the basis causes
for our present depression.
They see that from 700,000,
000 to 1,000,000,000 people’s
wealth can not be reduced by
at least two-thirds without j
profoundly affecting everyone, |
farmer, laborer, business man,!
as well as miner.”
E. J. Raddatz, president of
the Tintic Standard Mining |
Company, after conferring
with government officials at i
Washington with a Utah del- !
egation, said the question of'
whether silver attains its right-!
ful position as a money metal
depends largely upon the edu-'
cation of the masses as to the
need for its remonetization. j
No matter how much we in
the west believe in the import
ance of silver as a money met
al,” he continued, “we must
convince the rest of the United
States, particularly Washing
ton officials.”
Mr. Raddatz said the atti
tude in officials circles of
Washington seemed to be that
silver was a commodity and
that as a commodity it must
take its chance with potatoes,
wheat and cotton.
George W. Snyder, manager
of U. S. Snyder and Sons, is
reported as expressing the be
lief that before the end of the
next Congress convening in
December, something will be
done to stabilize silver at a
level considerably higher than
that prevailing now.
According to the reports.
Senator King of Utah is work
1 ing on a plan for calling a con
ference of western senators
and business men to talk over
plans for pressing the cam
paign to bring about the call
ing of an international silver
conference. The Utah senator
feels that if the American Fed
| eration of Labor will endorse
the silver conference idea, that
the movement will gain new
impetus.
Senator Oddie of Nevada,
who recently returned from
the Orient, where he went to
gather information on the sil
ver situation in China and
India, is also expected to add
new force to the stabilization
movement.
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Fred Thurman returned to
day frotn a trip to Juneau.
MINERAL OUTPUT
MUCH LOWER-1930
Mines in Alaska in 1930 pro
duced minerals worth $13,
812.000, as against $16,06G,
000 in 1929, according to an
| announcement by the Geolog
ical Survey. The total value of
the mineral output of the Ter
ritory since 1880 is $629,
313.000.
The following table shows in
j summary form the mineral out
put of Alaska for 1930 and for
comparison the production of
the same minerals in 1929.
1930 1929
! Gold . S8.476.000 S7.761.000
Copper .4.244.600 7,130,000
Silver . 157,300 252,000
Coal . 631,000 528,000
Tin, metallic.. 9.300 35,000
Lead . 136,500 166.000
Miscellaneous 157,300 194,000
13.812,000 16.066,000
There was a substantial in
crease in the value of the out
put of gold, and some increase
in coal. The decrease in the
other commodities is interpret
ed as being due not only to the
very low prices that prevailed
for the metals, such as copper,
silver, and lead, but also to the
deterrent effect of low prices
in discouraging the undertak
ing of new enterprises and dis
suading operators from mak
ing even as large an output as
they ordinarily would from
mines already operating.
The world-wide stagnation
of business and the accomp
anying depression seem really
to have been felt less in Alaska
than in most other regions, the
report says. Instead, therefore,
of regarding the foregoing
record as one to cause alarm
for the future of the Alaska
mining industry it seems that
when all things are considered
the record of a 'decrease of
only 15 per cent compares fav
orably with the records from
similar enterprises in the
States. Each year brings more
and more general development
throughout the Territory, and
these improvements in general
conditions are stimulating pros
pectors and others to under
take the development of depos
its that had previously been too
difficult to exploit. Such im
provements are exerting a con
tinuing and growing force, so
that each year Alaska is be
coming less and less an un
known frontier, and the haz
ards of mining under pioneer
conditions are being corres
pondingly reduced.
The output of gold was dis
tributed between lodes and
placers approximately in the
proportion of 43 to 57—$3,
639,000 from lodes and $4,
; 837,000 from placers. More
I than 93 per cent of the output
j came from lodes in southeast
j ern Alaska, where accessibil
i ity to deep-water routes of
I communication and other fav
lorable conditions have permit
ted the successful mining of
! immense tonnages of lowgrade
■ gold ore.
• The output of placer gold
was nearly three-quarters of a
million dollars larger than in
1929. The Yukon Basin con
tributed the greatest amount
and Seward Peninsula came
next. More than 80 per cent of
the total placer production was
mined by dredges, of which
Continued on Page 3.
i
Robber S
S t e w a r
lashes
t Woman
Attacked and slashed in pain
ful manner with a safety raz
or blade by an unknown man,
who also robbed her of some
$50 in money was the harrow
ing experience befalling Miss
Peggy Kelly, a Stewart resi
dent, late Tuesday night.
According to Miss Kelly the
miscreant was apparently Fin
lander or other foreigner. All
efforts to locate him have so
far failed. The cuts inflicted by
the brutal assailant are on the
woman’s head and throat but
are not dangerous, altho one
of them narrowly missed the
jugular vein.
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Hummel Enters Drilling Field
Henry Hummel, well known
miner and diamond drill man,
has imported one of the new
Boyle Bros, portable prospect
ing drills and is preparing to
use the device in local commer
cial drilling.
Mr. Hummel gave two public
demonstrations of the drill
during the past week, and
showed convincingly the re
markable capacities and low
cost of operation of the new
drilling device. In one test the
device drilled 3 feet in one
hour in the hardest kind of
rock and produced a splendid
core nearly 4 feet in length.
Mr. Hummel states that in the
best drilling ground, the drill
is capable of making about 30
feet in a shift. He is prepared
to do commercial drilling any
where in the district at foot
age prices considerably lower
than those usually charged foi
diamond drill work.
I
News Issues Fine
Celebration Number
A splendidly illustrated spec
ial number issued by the Stew
art News last Saturday was
quite the best journalistic ef
fort so far attempted in this
district. The issue comprised
14 pages and included illustra
tions showing many of the min
ing camps and scenic views of
the district, in addition to por
traits of the prominent Canad
ian statesmen and citizens,
and the new Hyder Chamber
of Commerce—Stewart Board
of Trade map of the United
States and Canada, showing
connections from virtually ev
ery important point in both
countries with the proposed.
International Highway branch
to Stewart and Hyder and oth
er Alaska points. Reading mat
ter included statements regard
ing the Celebration by Premier
Tolmie, Prime Minister Ben
nett, Olaf Hanson, M. P. H. F.
Kergin, member of the Provin
cial House, Dale L. Pitt, Prem
ier manager, Alaska delegate
to Congress, James Wicker
sham, E. D. Haddon, president
of the Hyder Chamber of Com
merce and Commissioner H. P.
Gibson; in addition to excellent
articles by Mr. Pitt and Wm.
Asseltyne on Premier mine op
eration, mining articles by Dr.
J. T. Mandy, resident mining
engineer, and W. A. McKen
zie, B. C. minister of mines,
the early history of Stewart by
Wm. Noble, J. W. Stewart and
various others on local sub
jects.
STEWART RESIDENT
DROWNED IN CANAL
William Curtis, Stewart shoe
maker, was drowned in Port
land Canal early Tuesday
morning after falling from the
deck of the gas boat Remo,
while returning to shore from
a visit to the U. S. S. Detroit.
According to H. Wilkinson,
who alone saw the accident,
Curtis had been sitting on the
pilot house of the little vessel
and was advised to come inside
a few minutes after leaving the
warship. He started to make
his way aft along the narrow
ledge beside the pilot house
but apparently slipped and
lost his hold in the darkness
and fell overboard. S. G. Mc
Neil, who was handling the
boat, swung about almost im
mediately on hearing Wilkin
son call “man overboard. The
call was also heard on the
cruiser, and the searchlights
of the warship were at once
brought into play in an effort
to locate the unfortunate man.
Three boats from the cruiser
also took up the search, which
continued nearly an hour with
out success. The accident was
then reported to Constable
Potterton, who at once renew
ed the effort to locate the
missing man. The constable
continued the search through
out the following day, assist
ed by members of the Canad
ian Legion and American Leg
ion who patrolled the tide flats
while Mr. Potterton searched
the canal by boat. A launch
of the Power company also as
sisted in the search. Later ef
forts also failed to reveal any
sign of Curtis’ body.
The deceased was well and
favoralby known and his un
fortunate death is widely re
gretted. He is survived by his
widow, who resides in Stew
art.
Lyons Market Robbed
Bacon, hams and meat val
ued at approximately $20 were
stolen Wednesday night from
the Lyons Meat Market in
Stewart by some unknown pei'
3on who broke open the rear
door. Cash left in the till was
not taken and nothing else was
missing, indicating that the
unknown miscreant desired on
ly food. No clues to his identity
have been found so far.
-O
Large Ketchikan Party
Visited Celebration
Many well known Ketchikan
residents were included among
the large number from outside
points who visited the Alaska
British Columbia Celebration.
The First City visitors includ
ed :
Mr. and Mrs. H. C. Strong,
Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Bryant.
Dr. and Mrs. R. V. Ellis, Miss
Florence Tobin, Mrs. Chas. E.
Smith, Mrs. Frank W. Hynes,
Mrs. J. Cordell, W. K. Spauld
ing, Wm. A. Holzheimer, R. E.
Hardcastle, Clark Black, Al
fred E. Howe, and Mr. Cole
man.
Mr. and Mrs. Bryant were
guests of Mr. and Mrs. A. O.
Moa during their stay: Mr. and
Mrs. Strong and Dr. and Mrs.
Ellis were guests of Mr. and
Mrs. O. F. Hill, and Mrs. Smith
and Mrs. Hynes were the
guests of Chas. F. Sandford.