."
AN ALL
ALASKA
NEWSPAPER
...
HYDER WEEKLY HERALD
DEVOTED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF ALASKA AND THE PORTLAND CANAL MINING DISTRICT.
/
SUBSCRIPTIONS
$5.00 PER YEAR
IN ADVANCE
VOL 4, NO. 41
HYDER, ALASKA, SATURDAY, JUNE 30, 1928.
PRICE TEH CENTS I
FIRE RAZES CAMP’S
MAIN BUSINESS SECTION
The most costly and widely
destructive conflagration in
the history of the Portland
Canal mining district wiped
out the greater part of Hy
der’s main business district
Thursday afternoon. In addit
ion to sweeping away a major
portion of the town’s most
important business establish
ments, with a direct property
loss approximating $125,000,
the flames also spread to the
dense timber lining the mount
ain slopes north of town, cre
ating a forest fire that for a
time threatened destruction to
the numerous residences in
the forest townsite and en
dangered the famous 13-milt
aerial tram system of the Pre
mier Gold Mining Company
But for prompt action or
the part of numerous volun
teer fire fighters from Hyde;
and Stewart, combined wit!
the efforts of crews sent ou
by the Premier Company anc
U. S. Forestry Department, r
is very probable that the con
flagration would have in
volved practically the entire
Hyder townsite, as well a:
Hyder, B. C.
oianuig auuut xs.ou p. in
from undetermined causes un
der the rear end of the two
story Provinse general mer
chandise store and hotel, the
flames spread with terrific
speed to the adjoining Sulli
van residence, then swep
with eve* increasing fury t<
the Lawrence building, occu
pied by the Hyder Dye Work,
and located on the east side
of the Provinse building. Fron
this point the fire leaped tc
the Hill garage and warehouse
in the rear of the Hyder Druf
Co. store, also containing the
postoffice. Scarcely 20 min
utes had elapsed from the
time the blaze was first dis
covered before the drug store
and post office was ablaze
from end to end. By this time
the red wave of destructior
had involved the entire block
of buildings, including the
Hyder Garage and service
station on the west side of the
Provinse building, and wae
lapping at the two-story
structures across the street
occupied by the Ideal Cafe
P. Burns Co. meat market and
U. S. Marshal’s office.
The absence of adequate
water supply or fire fighting
equipment was made painful
ly apparent by the destruct
ion of the last mentioned
buildings. Despite the terrific
heat, from the blazing infernc
across the way, it is probable
that the structures on the
north side of the street could
have been saved had even a
moderate water supply been
available.
The fire had gained sue!
headway in the Provinse build
ing when discovered by Max
Behrmann, proprietor of the
Ideal Cafe, that hand fire
fighting equipment made no
impression whatever. B. B.
Smith, W. R. McDonnell, Wm.
Bunting and Mr. Behrmann
rushed to the rear of the
Provinse store after Behr
mann had seen smoke issuing
from under the building and
raised the alarm. Nothing bul
smoke could be seen from out
side the building and a board
was hastily pried from the
floor of the covered porch al
the end of the structure. The
opening revealed a blazint
WORK STARTS ON
ENGINEER GROUP
Active development work
started last week on the En
gineer Group of the Marmot
Engineer Mine Syndicate on
the south fork of Marmot Riv
er.
Operations are directed to
the extension of a 15-foot tun
ael on the silver-lead vein,
which carries excellent values.
Following the installation of
the compresor plant, on which
work is progressing, the syndi
cate plans to start develop
ment work on the copper lead,
situated about 1000 feet be-,
ow the silver-lead vein.
area 20 square feet or more
n extent. Several hand fire
extinguishers were turned on
he flames with no perceptible
;ffect and a stream of water
10m a garden hose proved
equally ineffective. Eyewit
lesses believe that nothing
hort of a powerful 3-inch
tream could have quenched
he fire at this stage, as all
he visible area under the
loor was ablaze. Scarcely five
ninutes more elapsed before
he flames were pouring from
! nder the floor on both sides
>f the big building and the
vork of destruction was fully
.nder way.
By this time the interior of
tore was so hot that it was
impossible to save more than
v few cases of the large mer
handise stock, the .workers
n most cases being unable to
nake three of four trips bo
ore the store was filled with
moke and flame. Beyond a
mall quantity of oil and gaso
ine and a few cases of canned
oods, the cash register and a
ew other articles, the entire
ontents of the store were
onsumed.
In the meantime Mr Pro
inse, Holger Johnson, E. L.
)ale and others had hastily
:one through the hotel rooms
>n the upper floor, salvaging
vhat appeaerd to be the
nost valuable articles, before
he flames drove them out.
By 1:30 p. m. the buildings
>n the north side of the street
vere also wrapped in flame,
nd the Bank of Hyder build
ng, on the east side of Kan
as street and fully 75 feet
rom the Hyder Drug Co.
tore was smoking from the
ntense heat. The Rozenstain
tore on the north side of In
emational Ave. and about j
50 feet from the drug store;
orner was also showing the
ffects of the intense heat
vaves. Fire appeared on the
corched side of the bank
milding several times but was
:ept in check by a hose at
ached to Mrs. Campbell’s
ire-pump until the blazing
vails of the drug store fell in,
vith a resultant diminuation
)f the terrific heat. The bank
iad been stripped of most of
ts contents during the earlier
tages of the fire and damage
vas confined principally to
leakages caused by the hur
ried exit. Observers are
agreed that had the bank
building been involved in the
: destruction, nothing short of a
1 miracle could have saved the
; many fine buildings extending
■ along International Ave as far
I as the international boundary
! line at Second Ave. Many are
t of the opinion that the close
! proximitiy of the forest would
' also have resulted in in ft for
STEWART PREPARING
FOR BIG TIME
Stewart residents are making
preparations for a gala cele
bration of Dominion Day, July
1. As that date falls on Sun
day this year, the celebration
will take place Monday July
2, although a special baseball
game between the Hyder and
Stewart teams for a cash prize
of $50 will be played on the
Stewart grounds tomorrow.
The Monday festivities in
clude a big parade, a large
program of field sports, horse
racing and wrestling and bas
ket ball contests between lad
ie’s and men’s teams. The pro
gram will close with an exhi
bition by the Prince Rupert
drill team at 7 p. m. in Stew
art Opera House, followed by
a dance.
est fire of wide dimensions
and the almost inevitable de
struction of Hyder B. C. In
such event it is not beyond the
bonds of possibility that Stew-<
art, B. C., two miles from Hy
der, might have been seriously
endangered if not destroyed.
Flames also appeared on the
roof of the Rozenstain store
during the height of the con
flagration but the building
was saved by a volunteer,
bucket brigade which labored
heroically in the fearful heat
to keep the walls wet until
the falling of the drug stord
i-uins and a slight change
| in the wind abated the dan
ger.
In the meantime dense show
ers of sparks had ignited the
roof of the Fisher dwelling,
approximately 500 feet be
yond the fire area and blazing
debris started dozens of brush
fires along the adjacent hill
side. The big hall of the Pio
neers of Alaska, the Hovland
residence and other structures
in the neighborhood of the
Fisher house were also del
uged with sparks but were
undamaged. The Fisher dwell
ing was saved by prompt act
ion and dozens of volunteers
with shovels hastened to check
the impending forest fire. The
Forestry department also is
sued a call for 20 volunteer
fire fighters and Premier
Gold Mining Company crews,
under the personal direction
of general manager Dale L.
Pitt performed heroic service
in keeping the forest fires un
der control and preserving
;the Premier ore tram. Salt
water sent up the tram in ore
buckets from the dock proved
a most effective aid in saving
the wooden tram towers from
destruction. Two of the towers
are said to have been on fire,
but no more than slight dam
age was done.
Owing to the almost unbe
lievably rapid spread of the
fire no more than a small part
of the contents of any of the
burned buildings were saved.
Twenty minutes after the
flames first appeared, even
the builidngs on the north side
of the street, including Mrs.
Campbell’s cottage near the
rear end of the Marshal’s of
fice, were untenable. Save in
two or three instances occu
pants of the burned structures
saved only a few articles and
a majority lost all personal
effects. Several had only the
clothes they wore at the time.
Postmaster O. F. Hill and his
assistant, Mrs. D. J. Mulcare,
succeeded in saving the
WATSON IN NEW
MINING DEAL
J. B. Watson, president of
the Woodbine Gold Minin#
Co. Ltd., in association with a
group of Vancouver people,
has purchased the Granite
Poorman mine near Nelson, B.
C. The property was formerly
a rich producer but has been
idle for some time owing to
the influx of too much water
to handle by the methods em
ployed.
It is the intention of Mr. Wat
son and his associates to drive
a low-level tunnel which will
drain the mine and give access
to the lower extension of the
rich ore bodies, estimated to
contain several million dollars
worth of ore.
stamps and other valuables
contained in the postoffice,
and a small portion of the
drug store stock was also res
cued. In attempting to salvage
some clothing in the living
quarters on the upper floor,
Mr. Hill found himself cut off
from the stairway by flames
and was compelled to jump to
the street, the fall resulting
in two fractured ribs. Aside
from this unfortunate mishap
there were few casualities.
Marshal D. E. Martin suffered
a painful burn on the side of
his head and several others
also received minor burns.
Gus Erickson, E. L. Dale and
Joe Jackson narrowly escaped
iff jury as a result of the ex
plosion of a stick of dynamite
placed under the sidewalk by
the Bank of Hyder in an ef
fort to keep the fire from
spreading. Although the ex
plosion occurred annual uhuci
their feet and blew a large
hole in the sidewalk, the three
men providentially escaped
with no worse damage than a
shaking up and bruises.
The direct loss occasioned by
the near calamitous fire will
approximate $140,000, accord
ing to conservative estimates.
Edgar Provinse with a loss of
close to $55,000 leads the list,
with scarcely a third covered
by insurance. Mr. and Mrs.
Provinse and Mrs. Green,
mother of Mrs. Provinse, also
lost practically all personal
effects, including jewelry.
The loss of the Hyder Drug
Co. will exceed $25,000 in
stock, fixtures and buildings.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Hill, the
owners, also lost most of their
clothing. The loss is partially
covered by insurance. Other
losses were approximately as
follows:
Ideal Cafe and rooming
house, $15,000, no insurance.
P. Burns & Co. meat market
and cold storage plant, $15,
000, fully insured.
Lawrence building and con
tents $2,600
Mrs. Wm. Sullivan cottage
and contents $1,500
T. W. McDonald residence,
occupied by U. S. Marshal’s
office, building and contents
and garage, $4,000
Hyder Garage and service
station, W. R. McDonnell and
C. B. Hager, $500, uninsured.
Campbell cottage and con
tents, $1,000.
Mr. and Mrs. A. H. Benken
dorf, clothing, and jeweliy
$1,000.
International Electric Co.
transformers, poles, wiring
i etc. $1000.
Damages sustained by Banl
Continued on Page 5.
!
FIRE DISASTER
TO CURTAIL
4TH CELEBRATION
The disastrous fire in the up
per business section Thursday
will cause a marked curtail
ment of the Independence Day
celebration next Wednesday,
according to announcements
made by the official celebrat
ion committee following a
meeting in the Chamber of
Commerce Hall Friday even
ing.
The conflagration was not
only a staggering blow to the
business life of the town
but has cast a pall of sadness
over the entire community.
Practically everyone in Hyder
is of the view that a celebrat
ion of the proportions origin
ally planned would be sadly
out of place under present
conditions, when many of our
leading citizens are scarcely
recovered from the shock of
seeing the fruits of long
years of endeavor swept
away in a few minutes of ter
rifying destruction. Further
more, it has been found that
the circumstances of certain of
j the fire sufferers are such as
warrant the extension of com
munity assistance in order
that further suffering may be
averted.
xii view ui tuc suuauuu utc
celebration committee decided
to call off the parade and al
so to curtail part of the sports
included in the celebration
program as originally planned.
The children’s games will be
held at the ball park, starting
at 2 p. m. and will be follow
ed by the base ball game be
tween Hyder and Stewart.
This will constitute the sum
total of the outdoor observ
ances and will be followed by
the dance in Pioneer Hall,
commencing at 9:30 p. m.
After extended discussion the
committee decided to devote
$250 of the celebration fund
to relieving distress occasion
ed by the fire.
As the contemplated diver
sion of funds would consume
a large portion of the prize
money allotted for the chil
dren’s sports, the deficiency
has been made up by donat
ions by kindly citizens, who
wished to see the children
have the fullest possible meas
ure of enjoyment on the Nat
ion's birthday. Yael Rozen
stain led the list of contribut
ors with $50, the Bank of Hy
der and Frank Reichenbach,
proprietor of the Hyder Gro
cery, contributed 25 each; U.
S. Comm'^sioner W. C. Arnold
added $10 and S. P. Fitzger
ald $5, making a total of $115.
- o
A small crew is engaged on
the George Copper property
getting things in shape for a
resumption of the diamond
drilling activities inaugurated
by the Consolidated Mining
& Smelting Company last
year.
-o
Reports from Stewart an
nounce that work has started
on the United Empire proper
ty, controlled by the United
Empire Mining Company and
located adjoining the Bay
view, a short distance west oi
Stewart.
Activities are under the di
rection of Wm. Dann, well
known Stewart resident. F. J
: Crossland is consulting engi
STARK INVENTION
CREATES FAVORABLE
IIMPRESSION OUTSIDE
That the gravity airplane
stabilizer device of Edward
Stark, local mechanic, is a
meritorious and highly prom
ising invention for airplane
control in the view of outsid
ers who are interested in aviat
ion matters is indicated by
Mr. Stark in a letter received
by last outside mail.
Mr. Stark states in the com
munication that in Vancouver
he met a number of men who
are interested in aviation and
new inventions and received
much praise and encourage
ment from them.
Following an examination of
the working model and blue
prints, Major McLaren, of the
Western Canada Airways com
plimented Mr. Stark for his
efforts, in addition to inform
ing the inventor that he would
unhesitatingly recommend the
stabilizing device for a tryout.
Major Montague Moore, an
other prominent Vancouver
man who is a personal friend
of Henry Ford, also offered to
give Mr. Stark a letter of rec
ommendation to the famous
auto and airplane magnate,
upon Mapor McLaren’s recom
mendation. Splendid encour
agement was also received in
Seattle from people interest
ed in airplane matters. Mr.
Stark states he was visited by
the patent attorney of the
Boehing Airplane Co. of Se
attle and after an examinat
ion of the device the attorney
was so much impressed by its
possibilities he offered to
boost it. Mr. Stark had been
unable to discuss the invention
with the Boehing people up to
the time of writing, owing to
the head of the firm being ab
sent in the East. As a result of
the encouragement received,
Mr. Stark says he feels more
confident than ever that the
invention has merit and value.
Patent claims for the stabi
lizer have now been allowed
in Canada, France and Great
Britain and confirmation in
the United States is expected
at an early date.
-O
Development activities are
under way on the Red Hill
Mining Co. properties near
tance west of Stewart, under
the direction of John Haahti,
manager.
The company plans to sub
ject the property to a thor
ough surface prospecting, pre
paratory to launching a dia
mond drilling program.
-—o
The Norco arrived from Se
attle via Ketchikan Wednes
day afternoon with a number
of local passengers and 97
tons of cargo, including sev
eral trucks for the Seims &
Carlson road operations on
Texas Creek, and four private
cars.
—-o
Constable Potterton and a
small army of witnesses left
Stewart for Prince Rupert last
week to appear at the trial of
Henry Rivard, Stewart resi
dent, who was accused of the
shooting of William Ritchie
during a drunken brawl in
Stewart New Year’s day.
Constable Raybone has taken
Constable Potterton’s place
during the latter’s absence.
Reports received in Stewart
Thursday announced the ac
quital of Rivard by a trial jury
after a half hour deliberation.