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VOL IV, NO. XXXVI
HYDER, ALASKA, MONDAY, JANUARY 21,1924
N *
FIFTY CENTS A ECKI3
BIG MISSOURI DEAL
REPORTED GOING AHEAD
A telegram from the Linde
borg brothers during the past!
week announced that the Big
Missouri deal is going forward
in the statement that a pay
ment due on the property has !
been met by the Trites and
Wilson interests, by whom ex
tensive development work was
done last summer.
The payment means a great
deal to the district as it implies
that the bond-holders in
tend to proceed with develop
ment and that they are satis-!
fied that the property is of
sufficient value to warrant
purchase and exploitation.
The property, with the one i
exception of the Premier, is
the most noted in the district i
and has attracted w ide atten-1
tion among mining men for ;
years. It is said to have the
most remarkable surface show
ing- of any property in the dis
trict. A large amount of devel
opment work has been done
by various interests, who have
had it under bond at various
times in the past. Like the Pre
mier, now conceded to be the
most sensational producer on
the continent, the Big Missouri
has been several times con
demned by mining engineers
on limited investigation on the
theory that the formation indi
cated shallow mineralization.
The work done last year by
the present bondholders is said
to have demonstrated conclu
sively that the mineralization
not only has depth but also
possesses immense ore resour
ces of low and medium and
come high grade ore.
ALASKA FDR SEAL
SCANDAL IN PROSPECT
Following a loss to the gov
ernment of between three and
five million dollars on the
Pribloff Island seal contract,
now held by the Fouke Fur
company ,of St Louis, another
great federal scandal is be
lieved imminent if a demand
for an investigation of the fur
trust’s contract with the de
partment of commerce made
recently in Congress by Sen
ator Burton K. Wheeler, ot
Montana, is permitted to pro
ceed to a full conclusion.
Once before the seal contract
developed a national scandal,
involving many in high places,
and including one secretary of
the interior, in whicty it was
show'n that the contract, then
held by a San Francisco fur
firm, was the center of a hot
bed of graft and illegal meth
ods on the part of the contract
ors. According to news from
Washington, the present con
tract, which is alleged to have :
been made secretly,has result
in an estimated loss of from
three to five million dollars.
Senator Wheeler charges
that this secret contract was
drawn by design to refill the
pockets emptied of millions by
the collapse of the fur trust in
1920, as a result of its world
wide speculations, and that it
was drawn with no regard for
the government’s rights.
Although seal skin coats are
selling in New York and other
centers at from $550 to $800,
the government has continued
to lose money on practically
every sale of Pribloff skins, the ;
sale prices being in most in-1
stances lower than the cost of
tanning and dyeing the furs.
Last October the department!
of commerce was compelled to
interfere and withdraw 10,000 j
seal skins from an auction sale !
then in progress. For two thou- j
sand skins bid in before the I
sale was stopped, the bidders j
offered less than the com- J
pany’s charge against the gov
ernment for dyeing and dress
ing the pelts.
Word was received at Sew
ard recently that Frank L. Bal
laine has completed the finan
cing of the proposed pulp and
paper mill to be erected at
that place.
The project contemplates the
erection of a big dam and hyd
ro-electric plant on the Kenai
river, and a transmission line
to the pulp plant at Seward.
Mr. Ballaine is expected to j
leave with engineers to look!
over the project shortly.
Advertise your wants in lie
Miner.
A coroner’s jury impaneled
at Fairbanks recently to inves
tigate the death of Eliza Harry,
a native woman, who was
found dead find frozen on the
trail near Chena, on the Tan
nver, returned a verdict
that Norman Hadley, an old
timer, contributed to the death
of the woman, presumably by
allowing her to become intox
icated in his cabin. The jury
i alleged that Hadley furnished
liquor to the woman and then
drove her out on the trail in
freezing weather.
For Sale and For Rent signs
at the Miner Office.
I
DALY-ALASKA
CONTISTSETTLED
I The legal contest over the
Daly-Alaska property institut
ed by one Chas. P. Caldwell
against Messrs Knipple, Davis
and McGrew, original owners
of the property, and the Daly
Alaska Mining .Company, the
present owners, was terminat
ed in the district court at Ket
chikan last week, when the!
case was dismissed owing to
the nonappearance of the i
plaintiff, Caldwell.
LEAP YEAR DANCE
TO BE CONDUCTED
IN OLD TIME WAY
The Leap Year Dance to be
given at the Ocean View Tues
duy evening is attracting great
interest among the local devot
ees of the godess Terpsichore
and a banner crowd will un
doubtedly be on hand when the
the proceedings start. Man
ager Ridley is reported to
arranged a pleasant surprise I
for those who attend, but noth
ing can be learned regarding
jits character, save that it will !
add a lot of fun to the affair. I
The well balanced program!
comprises a list of twenty dan- j
ces and five extras, insuring
ample dancing opportunities
for the most enthusiastic dan
cers. A nice supper will be ser
ved and a special musical pro- 1
gram has been prepared by
the Ridley orchestra.. Being a
Leap Year dance, the ladies ‘
will be accorded the privileges ;
usually enjoyed by the men i!
and will have to choose their 1
own dance partners as the 1
masculine element is strictly
forbidden to ask the ladies for
dances. i1
Fire, caused by the; explosion
of a tank of gasoline, ignited by
a lighted lantern which had
been placed near it, recently
destroyed the twenty stamp
mill building and ruined a part
of the mill machinery of the
Lucky Shot mine of the Willow
Creek Mines Company, in the
Willow Creek district.
The loss is estimated at $40,
000.
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The barometer used for of- 1
ficial record at the T & T of- 1
fice in Anchorage, recently *
dropped to the lowest point it *
has ever reached since records ^
of atmospheric conditions Imvc 1
been kept by the office, wlien ~
it registered 28.58, according *
to the Anchorage Times. 1
• -:— (
If Business is Dull—Adver- i
Subscribe to your
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home
THROUGH TRAINS
ON ALASKA R.R.
NEXT SUMMER
| Col. Landis, manager of. the
I Alaska Railroad, recently an
nounced a special train service
jfor the coming tourist season,
in which trains will be run
from Seward to Fairbanks in
twenty four hours and without
Jthe usual stop-*over at night.
As a further means of accom
[modating visiting sight-seers
' Col. Landis has also decided to
run a special train at any time
under a guaranteed of one hun
jpnder a guarantee of one hun
Points of interest along the
line are to be featured under
the summer program, so as to
make the trip to the interior
as interesting as possible.
Through trains from Seward
to Fairbanks will stop for an
hour and a half in Anchorage.
it is also announced that ex
tra sleeping cars will be oper
ated on the road during the
coming season. N
Fred Dorey and his speedy
power boat, the Silver Heels,
have been engaged during the
past week helping to repair the
the Dominion telegraph line be
tween Stewart and Maple Bay.
Owing to the line being bunt
along the steep slopes of the
high mountains bordering the
ei,st side of Portland Canal, it
has been kept open only with
the greatest difficulty this win
ter, owing to numerous breaks
resulting from falling trees.
Hpgh McDougall is back from
i visit of several weeks at An- '
fox and is once more “hitting ■
:he pipe”’—water and stove— ;
n addition to various other i
:asks in the tinsmith’s line.
W.H. Benson has sold his es- !
tablishment in Hyder, B. C. to ;
his partner Thomas Collins and 1
expects to spend a vacation on *
the outside, returning later to ‘
Hyder to resume residence!
here. i
Earl Hinkley, local represent- 1
ative of the Immigration Bu
reau, and Attorney Ernest Blue \
are entitled to a vote of thanks t
from the community, oy at least
from that portion of it who 1
journey frequently between ']
the townsite and the piled dis- (
trict. Since the first heavy fall ,
af snow the two gentlemen i
have taken upon themselves j
the by no means unlaborious i
Lask of cleaning the snow from 1
:he long board walk between 1
First and Second Avenue, as
well as at other points in the (
same locality where the huge *
snow-masses made walking (
in many instances both diffi- £
rult and dangerous.. A major- 1
ity of thei property owners in ‘
bhe down-town section per- t
form their full duty in the mat- t
ter of keeping their sidewalks t
BIG TEXAS CREEK
DEAL UNDER WAY
Despite studied efforts to pre
vent the news leaking out, it
became known last week that
the recent visit to flyder of
Dr. C. D. Carter and W. H.
Whorms, a prominent attorney
of Spokane, portends the pos
sible entry into the local min
ing field of the Day Brothers,
noted Idaho mining men, own
ers of the Hercules mine at
Wallace, Idaho, and other val
uable mining properties in var
ious parts of the States.
From the information obtain
able it appears that during his
stay in town, Mr. Whorms con
cluded a deal with Dr. Carter,
James Hewitt, Chas. Carlson,
Pat. Daly and John Niholm for
a bond on the ibex and Home
stake groups on Texas creek,
both of which properties were
staked by Carlson and Hewitt
ased a half interest and, with
Dr. Carter, is said to have made
the initial deal with the Day
people. Complete details of the
transaction are not available,
but it is understood that the
amount involved runs well into
the thousands. The initial pay
ment is said to be due next
month.
The properties embraced in the
deal include a total of eleven
claims Work done lart fall on
the two groups dihclosed ore
bodies of considerable extent,
th*e more prominent of which
carry upward of 100 ounces of
silver and from $2 to $10 in
gold, in addition to fifty per
cent or more of lead. Both, are
■ well located and easily access
ible to transportation. Tho
principal veins are tracable
for several hundred feet on the
surface of both groups and
have an average width of throe
foot or more.
During their stay in IJydor
Attorney Whorms and Mr. Car
te r refused to divulge their
contemplations, stating that no
publicity was desired. Mr.
Whorms •personally advised
t e writer that nothing would
'j i settled until tl*e engineers
s. leered to report upon the
P operties had completed their
wsk and until that time ihe less
said the better. “Until matters
a.e settled,” said Mr. Whorms,
we would prefer to have as
ii tie as possible said, for the
reason that nothing is assured
u nil our engineers report. In
a idition press publicity at this
may result in giving the
C" untry a black eye. The en
g nec-rs we send here may turn
t o proposition down and a-,
t- e firm I represent is one of
u de repute it naturally follows
that in the event of our engin
eers reporting unfavorably af
ter it has been advertised in
b s Dress that we are contem
l-' ifng entering this field, th •
r will be decidedly hanr,
f’ 1 to the district and this wo
v ry much desire to avoid if
p sgible.”
clear for foot traffic and two
or three go beyond their own
premises in the performance of
this much needed service but
in th case of Mr. Blue the ser
vices performed have exte'pd
fer beyond the confines of bis
own property and in areas
where them is no one to look
alter such matters or .the occu
pants of the properties failed
to perform what is obviously a
duty that is enforced by law m
other communities.
With respect to Mr. Hinkley
it may be justly said that he is
aven more deserving of com
mendation for the reason that
he possesses no local property
and his highly beneficial ser
vices are animated by no per
sonal obligation or interest.
The walk , in question is a
much travelled avenue be
tween the upper and lower sec- j
tions of the town, owing to the
deep snow on International
Avenues along the boundary,
and it, too, would be almost im
passable most of the time were
it not for the unrecompensed
labors of Messrs. Blue and
Binkley.
Services of this character are
deserving of the utmost praise
and when we see so many prop
erty owners dilatory in t/his re
jpect we regret that there are
lot more equally public spirit- '<
sd citizens in the community |
to whom the' Miner can ex-!
;end the commendation given '
:o those mentioned.
V fLL INSTALL PRIVATE
COLD STO RAGE PLANT
Waiter Bianton, proprietor of
the popular Silver Grill, is con
templating the installation of
a private cold storage plant ...
h'.s establishment, to insure the
utmost freshness of meats and
other food-stuffs. during the
summer season. A small am
monia plant will provide the
proper degree of cold to keep
things in the best of shape, re
gardless of the prevailing tem
peratures out of doors. Power
for operating the apparatus
will be derived from a Fair
banks-Morse home lighting
plant and engine recently in
tailed by Mr. Blanton, which
not only lights the estntl ;h
ment but also provides fire pro
tection by furnishing power xor
a Typhoon pump, one of the
- test developments in th~ r-><.
c ' small sized pumps," It weighs •
only a few pounds but is never
theless capable of throwing a
powerful stream from two 1
i ch hoses. According to Mr,
Blanton the apparatus w 11
throw a stream of water clear
over the Hydeir Merchan i.i
Company building, the largest
structure in the immediate vi
cinity of the grill, and can
.* iso reach the buildings on ths
opposite side of Main Street,
tuus insuring excellent protect
ion in case of fire. Mr. IjHanton
has the system install such
maimer that one of :ithe> hose
F lugs is used for the Water sup
ply system and the other js
kept in readiness in case of fire.