- . ■ 1"'
SPECIALIZING IN
MINING NEWS OF THE
PORTLAND CANAL
DISTRICT
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HYDER WEEKLY HERALD
DEVOTED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF ALASKA AND THE PORTLAND CANAL MIMNG DISTRICT.
SUBSCRIPTIONS
83.00 PER YEAR
IN ADVANCE
VOL 7, NO. 21
HYDER, ALASKA, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28,1931.
PRICE TEN CENTS
BILL FOB SURVEY OF
SALMON RIVER PASSED
Tlu* lonp anticipated govern
ment survey of Salmon Rivei
for flood protective purposes
will probably be made during
the coming summer as a result
of the recent passage by the
United States Senate of House
Resolution 12121, authorizing
the proposed survey and pro
viding an appropriation of
?800 for carrying on the work
involved.
As the measure had already
passed the House of Represen
tatives, ratification by the Sen
ate has now brought the survej '
proposal to the point where |
only the presidential signature !
is required to make it effective
and this will probably not be
withheld, if not already ap
pended.
ucctMii u icicneu iu i:
an outgrowth of the Recom
mendations for a preliminary
examination of Salmon Rivei
with a view to the control of
its recurrent floods made ii
April, 1930, by the Board ol
Engineers for Rivers and Har
bors. This report, as previous
ly detailed in these columns
included elaborate plans fo?
the construction of flood con
trol works along the lower re
gions of Salmon River adjacem
to Hyder at an estimated cost
of $80,000, of which $72,000
would be contributed by the
federal government and $8,
000 by local or territorial in
terests.
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P. O. Department Considering
Alaska Air Mail Systerr
—
A 900-mile belt in interioi j
Alaska with shelter and supply j
stations at 30-mile intervals, h |
Postmaster General Brown’; i
idea of an air mail delivery
system for the Territory', ac- j
cording to Washington, D. C
press reports.
The Postmaster General said
this plan will do in 48 hour- i
what dbg teams take six weeks j
or more to do. He also pointed
out that because Alaska is now j
growing, speedier mail deliv
ery' is desirable.
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Highway Commission
To Meet In Spring
That the International High
way Commission to consider
the Pacific - Yukon - Alaska
Highway project will begin its
investigations in the Spring,
was announced recently by
Premier Tolmie of British Col
umbia.
The work of the Commission
will be to determine the prac
ticability of the big highway
proposal and ascertain all es
sential facts, and its determin
ations will not be binding on
either Canada or the United
States.
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School Nomination
Meeting Tonight
A public meeting will be
held in the Chamber of Com
merce hall at 8:00 P. M. this
evening for the purpose of
nominating candidates for
school directors for the com
ing school year. Two school
board vacancies are to be filled
at the election to be held
March 14. ^ _ ,
Seattle Weekly Gives
District Fine Boost
A splendid boost for Hyder,
Stewart and the Portland Can
al district was given by the
Alaska newspaper of Seattle
in its issue of February 20, in
the form of a full page display
advertisement under the cap
tion: “We Are Building the
Portland Canal District.’’
The advertisement is embel
lished by a large photogravure
howing the head of Portland
Canal, the Salmon and Bear
River valleys and the loca
tions of Hyder, Stewart, and
the international boundary
line.
The photogravure was made
from one of the splendid pan
oramic views of II. A. Ives, lo
:al photographer, which was
reproduced by special permis
ion to the Hyder Chamber
rf Commerce by Mr. Ives, who
The subject matter of the
ad is made up of descriptive
articles supplied by the Hyder
Chamber of Commerce for Hy
Jer, and by the Stewart Board
jf Trade for Stewart, flanked
by lists of the various business
establishments of both towns.
The slogan “Booster for the
Yukon-Pacific International
Highway,” is prominently fea
tured, and the ad also bears1
orominently the suggestion:
“Why Not Visit This Section
During the 1931 Vacation Sea
son.”
The advertisement was pub
lished without charge as a
part of a splendid campaign
)f advertising for Alaska being
onducted by the Alaska
Weekly, which should result
n much benefit to the Ter
ritory.
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Canadians Form
Highway Caravan
Representatives of the Brit
:sh Columbia government
headed by Lieut, governor
Randolf Bruce recently formed
a second Pacific-Yukon-Alaska
Highway caravan which jour
neyed to Olympia, Washing
ton, in the interest of the pro
poser International Highway
project. The caravan was re
ceived by Governor Roland
Hartley and a big reunion
took place.
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Telephone Co. Elects Official
J. A. Hall of Hyder, was
elected president of the Port
land Canal Telephone and Tel
egraph Company, Ltd., at the
annual meeting held in Stew
art last Saturday. Other of
ficers and directors elected
weie Ernest Love, vice pres
ident and managing director;
E. D. Haddon, secretary; di
rectors, W. R. Love Prince
I Rupert; Mary A. Love, Stew
art; E. L. Dale, Hyder.
j-o
O. F. Hill Confirmed
As Postmaster
Postmaster O. F. Hill has
received official notice from
the Postoffce Department of
the confirmation of his receni
nomination by President TIoov
jer as postmaster of Hyder.
Mr. Hill has held the posi
tion continuously for the pasl
I ten years, a tenure of offict
i excelled by no more than three
i or four postmasters in the Ter
ritory.
——-O
Louis Gorman returned Mon
day from a visit in the south.
MINER KILLED IN
PECULIAR ACCIDENT
Ernest Bernado, a miner em
ployed by the Premier Gold
Mining Company on the Por- j
ter Idaho, was struck by
a slide of loose rock while at
work in an ore stope Tuesday
morning and received injuries
i from which he died a few min
utes later.
Testimony given at a Cor- i
oner's inquest held in Stewart j
Thursday evening disclosed J
that the accident was a most
peculiar one. Bernardo, who
was working alone on a plat
form. his partner being occu
pied at some other work in the
drift below1 the platform, ap
pears to have been struck by
a slide of fine rock so small
in quantity that it would
scarcely nave caused serious
injury by itself. None of the
rock fragments were large and
the distance traversed in thei;
fall from near the face of the
stope was only a few feet. The
slide, however, appears to
have caught him leaning over
or off balance in some menner,
causing his head to be slam
med forcibly against a nearby
timber. The impact broke his
jaw and shattered his skull
and these were the only injur-;
ies found upon his body.
His partner heard the bump
of his body against thp timber [
but did not realize that any- j
thing serious had happened i
until on going to investigate he
found the unfortunate Bernar
do prostrate, with blood run
ning from his ears and draw
ing his last breaths.
The cause of the rock fall
is unknown. The stope had
just been cleaned out a short
while before and was appar- j
ently in a safe condition foi J
work.
The Coroner’s jury rendered
a verdict of unavoidable ac
cident.
The deceased was aged about
36 years and was an exper
ienced and effecient miner. He
was a man of pleasant person
ality and enjoyed the highest
| regard of all who knew him.
The deceased was a native
: of Italy and came to the dis
trict five or six years ago. He'
is survived by a male relative |
! who lives in Italy, but whose!
true relationship is unknown.
Bernardo was a member of the I
local Moose lodge, under the !
auspices of which the funeral
was held in Stewart Friday
afternoon, with Rev. Cross,
chaplain of the lodge, conduct
ing the beautiful ritualistic
ceremonies of the order. The
remains of the unfortunate
miner were laid at rest in the
Stewart cemetary.
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Breaks Leg Cutting Piles
J. Bozak, Stewart resident,
sustained a fractured leg
while cutting down piles on the
old Stewart dock approach, a
short distance north of the
\ dock.
; Bozak. Who is engaged in
the cleaning and pressing busi
, ness, was chopping down one
■ of the piles, when it broke off
| suddenly and struck him in
, falling.
He was taken to the hos
. pital where the injured limb
was set by Dr. Whillans.
i
DEVELOPMENTS IN
SILVER SITUATION
Recent outstanding develop
ments in connection with the
silver situation include the pas
sage of a resolution by the
United States Senate calling
upon President Hoover to con
fer with other governments of
the world with a view to halt
ing the debasement of silver
coin and the dumping of sil
ver bullion on world markets.
The move was taken, accord
ing to press reports, in an ef
fort to improve Chinese cur
rency conditions by halting the
continuous downward trend of
silver bullion values.
The Senate action was fol
lowed one day after by the
first sharp increase in the price
of bar silver in recent months.
me price advancing one cent I
to 27'4 cents per ounce. Sil-1
ver also advanced in London !
a quarter pence to 12 7-16 [
pence per ounce.
International silver price i
tixing was urged by Francis!
II. Brownell, chairman of the I
American Smelting and Refin- j
ing Company in a public state- j
ment in which he said one of
the easiest steps that could
be taken toward curing the
nirrent industrial depression
would be an informal agree
ment for the stabilization of
*lly • CHI V CX otuL >lt>iv>t!v/oy
Brownell asserted, would im
piove trade with nearly hali’
the human race, and would j
have a far-reaching beneficial ;
effect upon the general world j
situation.
India’s action in freely sel
ling silver, in the transition
from the silver standard to I
the gold standard was blamed j
by Mr. Brownell for the low !
price levels of the white met- j
al recently.
An analysis of the silver mar-!
ket by Sharps and Wilkins,!
leading London silver dealers, i
supports Mr. Brownell’s view j
that the silver situation is;
chiefly due to India’s action
and the uncertainty of India’s
next move.
A decrease of 33 1-3 per
cent of the ratio of gold base
currency now in general use
thioughout the world and the
greater use of silver as a med
ium of exchange were advo
cated by Arthur Meighan, for
mer prime minister of Canada
at a New York banquet.
The responsibility of taking
the initiative in a general
movement to reduce the gold
ratio rests on the United States,
he said, because it is the lead
ing industrial nation of the
world today.
Unless we obtain more gold
we must reduce the ratio in
order to prevent a shortage of
currency,” Mr. Meighan said,
adding: “Letting the value of
silver deteriorate as we have,
has harmed the buying power
:of the Orient, that of 600,000,
000 people,, and that in turn
has harmed us. Rational steps
also must be taken to obtain
! a reasonable ratio of silver to
gold.”
A resolution recently adopt
ed by the Pacific Northwest
Economic Silver conference
urging that an international
monetary conference should be
'summoned soon to stabilize
| silver currency was approved
j by the council of the Vancouv
1 Chamber cf Commerce
Dinner Wednesday
The second monthly dinner
meeting of the Hyder Chamber
of Commerce will be held at
the Silver Grill Restaurant'
next Wednesday evening, com
mencing at G:30 I\ M. The
meeting will include consider
ation of the business affairs of
the Chamber, as well as of the
more delectable matters in
volved in a good dinner.
The success of the first din
ner meeting, held at the Idea! '
Cafe last month, indicates that
the forthcoming session will
prove equally attractive and j
yield a large attendance oi
members and visitors.
Remember the time; next
Wednesday, 6:150 P. M., at the
Silver Grill.
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House Refuses Salary
Raise Fcr Gov. Park?
A proposal to raise the sal
ary of Governor George A. :
Parks, of Alaska, from $7.
000 to $10,000 per year, was
defeated in the House of Rep !
resentatives by a vote of 167 j
to 163, it was reported in pres
dispatches from the nation's
capitol.
Opposition to the proposed
increase was led by Rep. J. E.
Rankin, of Mississippi, who i
contended that the governors
of many states more populous !
Ihnn Aln«kn l-pppivod laca cal. j
ary than the territorial execu
tive.
Delegate Dan Sutherland
was reported to have attacked
the Governor during the do- j
bate. After declaring that he j
did not want to be in a pos
ition of “opposing increased
compensation for anybody,”
the delegate said, “but for the
Governor we have, $5,000 is
enough. A salary of $10,000.
in my opinion, would inject
courage into our spineless gov
ernor.” The delegate said fur
ther that Governor Parks is |
“Afraid to raise his voice,” be
cause of the “domination o!
the Justice and Commerce de
partments.”
White Reappointed
U. S. Marshal
The confirmation of Albert:
White as United States Marsh
al for the First Judicial Div
ision of Alaska was announced
late last week in Washington.
D. C. press dispatches.
Mr. White the present Lin
cunibent, was nominated by
President Hoover for the posi
tion on February 2 but con
firmation was delayed, owing,
it is said, to strenuous efforts
to supplant him both be
fore and after his nomination
Marshal White, who was a
resident of Alaska for many
years before becoming a fed
eral office holder in the Ter
ritory, was prominent in the
affairs of Valdez, where he
was a member of the city coun
cil in 1913-14 and president
of the Chamber of Commerce.
| c-r board of trade a few days
ago. The resolution will be for
; warded to the Canadian cham
/
; ber of commerce.
! It also calls on the Pacific
coast states and Brisish Colum
bia to urge on the United
States and Canada the neces
sity for such a conference.
NEW COMPANY OFFERS
BI-WEEKLY SERVICE
The inauguration on March
2 of a new direct transporta
tion service between Seattle
and Hyder was announced this
week in telegrams from the
Wills Transportation Com
pany, of Seattle,
received by the Herald and
several other business estab
lishments with requests that
they be posted.
The messages state that the
Wills Transportation Co. mot
orship Zapora will sail from
Pier 7, Seattle, at midnight
March 2 inaugurating a year
around direct service from
Seattle to Hyder every fifteen
days.
lhe general merchandise
freight rate,, the messages say,
will be $8 per ton and all
other commodity rates will be
in accordance with previous
current tariffs. The messages
conclude with a request for
patronage of the new service.
In an effort to ascertain ad
ditional facts concerning the
proposed service, and also the
standing and reliability of the
Wills Transportation Com
pany, the Herald wired the
company for information rel
itive to the cargo passenger
and cold storage capacity, of
:he Zapora, the time required
?-1.1. __1 i . _i- . n. __
age from Seattle to Hvder,
and what guarantees of de
pendability and reliability
could be offered. The follow
ng reply was received today:
Zaporas capacity five hun
dred tons, sixteen first class
passenger accomodations, no
cold storage but forty tons
cool room. Seattle Hyder dir
ect in seventy two hours. We
feel that Hyder is entitled to
continuous direct service from
-eattle and wish to make it our
first port of call in future.
Wills Navigation Co.
D. L. Pitt Named
Mining Assn. Head
Dale L. Pitt, general mana
ger of the Premier Gold Min
ing Company, was honored in
signal manner by election to
the presidency of the Mining
Association of British Colum
bia at the recent annual meet
ing of the Association in Vic
toria. Mr. Pitt succeeded Col.
C. W. Villiers, managing dir
ector of the Canadian Colliers,
Ltd.
Charles Bocking of the Gran
by Company, and T. W. Bin
gay, of the Consolidated Min
ing and Smelting Co., were
elected vice presidents. Discus
sion of the silver situation was
the main subject of discourse
at the meeting and recommen
dations were made that the
provincial government lend its
aid in devising means for
stabilizing the price of that
metal.
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Detailed reports of the pro
ceedings at the meetings of the
Veterans of Hyder and of the
local post of the American
Legion, held Tuesday evening,
were received too late for pub
lication and will be given next
Week.
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Wm. Grey, proprietor of the
Hyder Lumber Company, re
turned Thursday from a short
vacation in the States.