SPECIALIZING IN
MINING NEWS OF TftE
PORTLAND CANAL
DISTRICT
*
✓
DEVOTED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF ALASKA AND THE PORTLAND CANAL MINING DISTRICT.
--
SUBSCRIPTIONS
$6.00 PER YEAR
IN ADVANCE
V,
VOL 6, NO. 22
HYDER, ALASKA, SATURDAY, MARCH 8,1930.
PRICE TEN CENTS
HIGHWAY HILL IS
PASSED BY HOUSE
The great project for an in
ternational highway between
the United States and Alaska
through British Columbia was
advanced another stage with
ihe passage by the House of
Representatives of the Suther
land bill providing for a spec
ial commission to study the
proposed construction. As in
troduced, the measure carried
$25,000 for the purpose but
this was reduced to $10,000 by
the house, according to Wash
ington news reports.
The bill authorizes the pres
ident to appoint three special
commissioners to cooperate
with a Canadian commission
to determine whether the pro
posed highway is economically
practicable. The results of the
study are to be reported to
Congress.
The bill is now before the
Senate for final action.
o
GOOD RESULTS ON
PREMIER BORDER
Encouraging results are re
ported from the diamond drill
ing campaign now in progress
on the Northern Light group ot'
the Premier Border Gold Min
ing Company, adjoining the
the famous Premier mine.
Values disclosed by the drill
cores recently are said to have
ranged from $3,16 to over $56
in from one to five foot sect
ions.
The drilling is to be continued
with a view to thoroughly ex
ploring the porphyry areas ad
jacent to the head of the main
tunnel.
SCHOOL ELECTION
IN PROGRESS TODAY
The annual school election,
held for the purpose of select
ing one new member for the lo
cal board, is in progress today,
with Chamber of Commerce
Hall as the polling place and
H. A. Ives, Thomas Kelly and
Louis Watkins officiating as
election judges.
Candidates for the position
are D. J. Mulcare and Mrs.
Harold Johnson, who were
nominated at a meeting held in
the school house last Saturday
evening. Mrs. Donald E. Mar
tin and Mrs. E. D. Haddon
were also nominated at that
time but decided to withdraw
from the contest, leaving Mrs.
Johnson and Mr. Mulcare the
only contenders. The new mem
ber will succeed T. H. Evans,
present treasurer, who has
been a member of the board
practically since the school was
started..
-o
The Hyder Chamber of Com
merce met in regular session in
Chamber of Commerce Haft
Tuesday evening but the meet
ing developed no business of
general interest.
t
GEORGIA RIVER GOLD
PROSPECTS PROMISING
Development activities during !
the past year on the Georgia
River properties of the Georgia j
j Itiver Gold Mines gave satis- j
! factory results, while work in
| January of the present year
j developed more encouraging
I results, according to a recent
authoritative statment in the
south.
I More favorable ground was j
j encountered on January 4th, j
j when the course of the vein
! changed to the east. On Janu
j ary 6th a foot of ore was struck
which assayed $2.80 gold;
$12.60 copper, a total of $15.
40. The vein contracted later,
only to again widen out to 4 1-2
feet. Some ore from the latter
portion of the lead ran over
$43.00 per ton, the statement
asserts. This was practically all
gold. The average, however,
was slightly over $11 per ton.
As reported earlier in these
columns, it is now fairly defi
I nitely established that this vein I
1 has no connection with the im- j
| portant Southwest vein. It is!
j probably the downward exten
j sion of a vein which outcrops in j
| Cobbet Creek between the Bul
lion and Southwest veins and
' to which no importance was at- j
tached. Further work is being
done to determine the propor-!
1 tions of this vein, the encount- i
: ering of which was entirely un
| expected.
Summarizing the situation,
the statement says that while
it cannot be said as yet that a •
commercial ore body has been
established in the No. 3 level,
! the outcome is encouraging, 1
I and undoubtedly, the ore al
i ready uncovered will yield a 1
; considerable tonnage, and in 1
view of what has occurred at: 1
this stage of its progress, very :
important results may be ex-;'
pected when the main object
ive of the development plan
now in effect is reached; that -
is, the underground explorat
ion of the area in the vicinity
of the intersection of the South
west, Bullion, and the Main <
veins. Unusual weather condit- ,
ions forced a curtailment of op- j j
eiations earlier in the winter. ,
Ice on the trail and other dif- ,
ficulties incident to weather j
conditions made transportat-1 <
ion difficulty and the trans- <
portation of supplies impossi- ,
ble. Work in the meantime has i
been done by hand.
11
STEWART RESIDENT
PASSES AWAY
George A. Fraser, prominent
resident of Stewart and a pion-1 ‘
eer business man of the dist-1)
rict, reached the end of life’s |
way in Victoria last Sunday, |
according to advices received j ‘
in Stewart. Death culminated
a long perjod of illness result- j
ing from diabetes and occurred i,
while Mr. Frazier was asleep, j
Mr. Fraser was aged 63 years.1 (
He was engaged in the drug' ^
business in the district since ,
1919, coming here from Victor- ,
ia, where‘he was in business
for many years. He was at one )
time prominent in politics and (
was a member from Grand
Forks in the first McBride gov- j
ernment. 1
REPORT ASSERTS
OUTLOOK GOOD
Four feet of good ore across
the face of the tunnel and val
ues at depth much greater than
near the surface, are the out
standing statements of the an
nual report of the United Em
pire company, as presented to
the directors by managing di
rector Wm. Dann, covering the
work done on the United Em
pire property during 1929.
When work ceased last year
there was four feet of good are
across the face of the tunnel,
the report says. At this point
the vein is six feet wide. Sam
ples taken by several engin
eers, including two government
engineers, across from 24 to 27
inches of the vein gave returns
mining up to 207 ounces to the
ton in gold and silver, in ad
dition to lead and zinc, the re
port states.
Extension of the present drift
for 150 feet, Mr. Dann stated,
should bring the workings un
der the spectacular high grade
iroppings. After driving the
additional distance, the high
frade could, in his opinion, be
nined at a comparatively low
lost. With this work done the
ace of the tunnel would be
ibout 160 feet below the sur
face. To date values at depth
lave been much greater than
hose near the surface, and it
s believed by engineers that
his will continue to be the case
n this ore shoot.
The financial condition of the
company was reported as fav
>rable and activities will be
•ontinued during the coming
eason, according to the offic
als.
-o
VLASKA JUNEAU
HAS BANNER YEAR
Showing a total production of
‘3,500,000 in round figures,
he Alaska Juneau Gold Min
ng Company in 1929 experi
■ncod the most remarkable
•eai in its notable history. The
H'odoction was approximately
!300,000 more than that of 18
>8. The net profit before de
>reciation was $1,100,000, or
ilmost $200,000 larger than in
928, when the net was $920,
>00.
The Juneau mine’s output
or the year was virtually as
arge as that of all the other
fold mines, including lode,
daeer and dredging operat
ons, in the entire territory. The \
otal production for the year of
ill gold mines was slightly in
:xcess of $7,000,000. The ton
iage trammed and that milled
vas slightly larger than in 19
!8. There was trammed out of
he mine last year 3,840,000
ons as compared to 3,700,000
ons for the preceding year.
)f this quantity 2,000,000 tons
vas milled, some 200,000 tons
r.ore than in 1928. The force
naintained during the year av
iraged 665 men per day. The
jayroll, including bonus paid
or this force, carried an ex
senditure of $1,350,000, or
i
FIRST DimK
SHOWS SMALL GUN
IN POPULATION
Preliminary returns of the
3 930 census issued by the gov
ernor disclose that Hyder is the
seventeenth town among the
forty-one communities of the
First Division in "point of popu
lation. Juneau ranks first on
ihe list with a population of
1,015, Ketchikan is in second
place with 3,780 residents;
Petersburg is third with 1,217,
and Sitka is in fourth place
with 1,053. Juneau also poss
ess the largest population of
any town in the territory. As
the returns from the Second,
Third and Fourth divisions are
not in, the populations of Nome
and Fairbanks are not deter
mined, but it is conceded that
the capital city is the largest in
the Territory, with Ketchikan
and Fairbanks in second and
third place. Juneau gained
958 in the ten years since the
1920 census, despite heavy
losses following the closing
down of her mines some years
ago. Ketchikan gained 1,322
in the past decade.
Six of the seven recording
districts in this division show a
gain in population, the Sitka
district alone showing a loss
[since the 1920 census. The re
duction. for the Sitka district
was 365, and 172 for the town
of Sitka. Chichagof, with a
population of 172 in 1920,
lost 103. A few other smaller
places also lost in population.
The net gain for the First Di
\ision was 1,736.
hyde'r lumber mill
MAKES EARLY START
The Hyder Lumber Company
saw mill resumed its lumber
producing activities Tuesday
morning after the usual winter
shut-down. The resumption
of operations occurred three
weeks earlier than last year in
response to an excellent spring
lumber demand, especially
from the Stewart district.
The company officials are
looking forward to a more tl\an
normally active season of lum
ber production.
-o-—
Of interest to radio fans is
a recent announcement in the
East that hum, considered a
necessary evil in radio receiv
ers operated by house current,
has been taken out of the radio
tube. This bugaboo has been
conquered in the laboratory
through the development of a
new tube, the announcementj
said.
about $100,000 more than in |
1928. The local expenditures!
of the company were the larg- j
est since it was placed on an
operating basis, aggregating
$1,900,000, including payroll
expenditures, which ..formed
the largest portion, the remain
der went for powder, lumber,
supplies of various kinds,
transportation, etc.
IHOVLAND GIVES
PORTLAND CANAL
FINE BOQS1
Declaring a conviction thai
the „ Portland Canal couhtrj
will ^become a great mining
center, John Hovland, pioneei
mining man and president ol
the Unicorn Mines company,
gave the camp a splendid boost
in an interesting paper on lo
oal mining development read
by him before the Seattle Min
ing Club February 8.
Mr. Hovland, as reported by
the “Alaska Weekly,” gave a
general outline of practically
all the more important local
development activities, in ad
dition to a brief history of the
district from the time of the
discovery of the mineral depos
its. in 1898 down to and includ
ing the discovery of the great
Premier mine, of which he was
one of the first explorers, and
also outlined the general geo
logical conditions in their relat
ion to the ore occurrences. The
paper also referred to the lead
ing properties in the Bear, Sal
mon and Texas creek areasand
described their location.
In conclusion he said with ref
erence to the possibilities of the
district:
“It is true that it has been
very slow and expensive to de
velop, but that condition
should now be overcome owing
to the knowledge we have
gained from the development
of the Premier mine and the
adjoining property, the B. C.
Silver. From an investment
standpoint, it seems to me that
a person will get a better run
for his money in an old and es
tablished district where he
would have to face all the dif
ficulties involved in developing
a mine in a new district.”
-o
SAYS ALASKA MINING
SHOWING GAIN
Alaska mining is showing a
gain, according to B. D. Stew
art, supervising mining engin
eer and federal mine inspector
for Alaska. In a recent state
ment, Mr Stewart said more
prospectors were in the field in
1929 than for the last 20 years
he had been in the territory.
Mr. Stewart regards both the
Alaska and Talkeetna mount
ain ranges as very likely pros
pecting areas for the future.
About the most important
thing to encourage prospecting,
as he sees it, is the extension of
trails so that access may be had
to new country. Building of
trails, he believes, is of more
importance than customs mills
or sampling works.
---o
Dave. Allan, well known old
timer and former proprietor of
the Silver Grill, returned last
Sunday from a vacation of sev
eral months in the south.
-o
E. D. Haddon,, manager of
the Bank of Hydei*, left Thurs
day on a business trip to Seat
tle.
INDIANS LOSE IN
EFFORT TO SUE U.S.
Efforts of the Tlingit and
Haida Indiana of southeastern
Alaska to institute suits against
the United States for alleged
alienation of hunting, fishing,
trapping, timber and land
nghts, the latter embracing
large areas of improved water
front land, were given a sharp
set-back in the House of Rep
resentatives a few days ago
when the house committee on
claims killed the bill intro
duced recently by delegate
Sutherland permitting them to
ue the federal government for
j he loss of the alleged rights,
! which they contended were
granted the tribes by the Rus- >
sians piior to the acquisition
of Alaska by the United States.
The measure is said to have
been introduced by the dele
j gate at the instance of Judge
James Wickersham, present
candidate for nomination for
delegate to Congress, who,
with William L. Paul, was em
ployed by representatives of
j the Indian tribes to prosecute
j the suits.
The measure was introduced
| last month and was promptly
referred to the claims committ
ee. It would have opened the
way for a wide field of actions
against the government, as it
authorized the tribes to sue
either jointly or separtely in
one or more actions at any time
within five years from its pass
age and approval and set aside
practically all limitations tend
ing to hinder or prevent such
I actions.
o
MORE NOMINATIONS
AT NEXT PRIMARY
An increase in the number of
candidates for elective offices
be nominated at the primary
election April 29, is a notice
able feature of the official
notices of the election posted
ibis week by the U.S. Commiss
'.oner.
In previous primary elections
the list included only eight
nominations for each political
party, namely one for delegate
to Congress, one for territorial
senator, four for representa
tives to the Alaska legislature
and two for divisional road
commissioners.
Additions made by the 1929
legislature to the number of
elective offices in the Territory
have now increased the num
ber of party candidates to be
selected to eleven. As a result,
the list now includes nominat
ions for the following:
Delegate to Congress
Commissioner of Education.
Territorial Highway Engineer
Territorial Auditor
One divisional senator
Four members of legislature
Two divisional road commiss
ioners.
Under the order of election
made by the U. S. Commission
er, the entire Hyder recording
district is made one voting pre
cinct for the purposes of the
primary. The polling place will
be Chamber of Commerce
Hall.