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AN ALU
ALASKA
N EWSPAPER
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HYDER WEEKLY HERALD
DEVOTED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OP ALASKA AND THE PORTLAND CANAL MINING DISTRICT.
r'... 1 1 ' «
SUBSCRIPTIONS
$9.00 PER YEAR
IN ADVANCE
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VOL 5, NO. 23
OTHER, ALASKA, SATURDAY, MARCH 16,1929.
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PUCE TEN GENTS
R, R, CHARTER BILL
MAKES PROGRESS
IN PARLIAMENT
The charter application bill
of the Canadian Northeastern
Railway, authorizing an ex
tension of the present line
running north from Stewart
across Northern British Colum
bia to Fort Grahame, with
branch lines running down the
Nass River and northward to
the B. C.-Yukon border, has
passed its second reading in
the provincial parliament at
Victoria, according to a tele
gram received in Stewart
Thursday evening.
Despite some opposition to the
bill by parliamentary mem
bers representing opposing
railroad interests, the outlook
for ultimate passage is looked
upon as very favorable.
-o
NEW POWER MANAGER
IMPROVING SERVICE
W. D. Smith, local manager
of the Northern British Colum
bia Power Company, subsidi
ary of the Power Corporation
of Canada, which recently took
over the local power and light
facilities of the International
Electric Co.„ Ltd., has been en
gaged during the past week in
making a general survey of
the system and has already
managed to bring about some
much needed improvement in
the light service; although
much remains to be done to
place the system on a thor
oughly efficient basis. This
will be accomplished as speed
ily as conditions will permit
and an increaisngly improved
service is promised for the
future.
> The company-is also contem
plating construction of a large
plant of approximately 4000
horsepower on American Ck.,
although the project is not as
sured at this time.
NEW BOAT SCHEDULE
The spring sailing schedule of
the C. N. R. steamers will go
into effect locally a week from
next Thursday, March 28th,
according to recent announce
ments. The change will involve
two local sailings weekly, with
the Prince Rupert alternating
with the Prince George or
Sundays and Thursdays. Both
vessels will arrive from the
south by way of Anyox a1
about the usual hour, 7 a. m.:
and will leave at 11 a. m.
-o
J. H. Nesbitt, well knowr
Stewart resident, returned Iasi
week from an extended staj
at the Bell Island Hot Springs
near Ketchikan.
--o
J. R. ‘Turner, E. M., formei
manager of the Duthie Mine
arrived last week to examim
the Rufus-Argenta property
near the head of Bear River
which was recently taken ov
er by the Duthie interests.
. -o
The Hyder Lumber Compan;
sawmill will resume activitie
next week, it was announce!
Friday by company officials.
GOV, PARKS URGES
SPLENDID PROGRAM
FOR LEGISLATURE
The ninth biennial session of
the Alaska Legislature con
vened in Juneau March 4th
for a 60-day term.
Will A. Steel, senior senator
of the First Division, was elect
ed president of the senate,
Cash Cole, secretary and Har
old Stabler clerk. Senator Steel
was opposed by Senator John
W. Dunn, who lost by a vote
of 5 to 3.
R. C. Rothenburg, Fairbanks,
was unanimously elected as
Speaker of the House of Repre
sentatives. R. C. Harley, Jun
eau attorney was chosen as
chief clerk, with Lawrence
Kerr, of Ketchikan as assist
ant.
Among the recommendations
made by Governor George A.
Parks in his biennial massage
at the joint session were the
following:
Adoption of a public institut
ion building program covering
5 or 10 years; creation of the
office of Territorial Auditor,
to be filled by popular vote;
ieduction of taxes; encourage
ment of foreign capital for in
dustrial development; training
of personnel for predatory ani
mal control forces; establish
ment of a bureau of animal
husbandry; revision of laws
relating to relief of destitution,
pensions, Pioneer’s Home, re
lief of indigents, medical and
dental boards; continuation of
Territorial aid to prospectors;
adequate appropriations for
roads and trails; promotion of
aerial transportation and con
struction of airplane landing
fields, improvement of school
facilities; enactment of an ef
fective Territorial budget law
and establishment of a fund
■ for publicity purposes.
1
.n.
DAY LETTER TELEGRAPH
SERVICE FOR ALASKA
Day letter telegraph service,
| in vogue throughout the States
for a long period, has been tv
I tended to Alaska by the gov
eminent cable and telegraph
j system, it was announced «,!•>
week by E. L. Dale, manager
; :>f the Hyder Radio & Tele
; phone Company.
The new service became ef
fective March 10th on the
Alaska government system
and will permit the sending of
)f letter telegrams containing
1 maximum of 50 words in the
; laytime at the> regular West
rn Union and Postal tele
graph rates, one and one-hall
; dmes the usual night letter
rates. The service will be avail
ible to and from all points in
, Alaska and will be highly ben
aficial, particularly in the
■ transaction o f business be
! tween Alaska and the States,
- by providing a more nominal
>! rate for lengthy day messages.
The new service also includes
an Alaska rate on cable night
j messages to Europe of 14 cents
r a word, with a $5 minimum
3 charge. Cable night letter ser
1 j vice is available at present to
j Great Britain and Ireland at a
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
GIVES PROMINENCE
TO HYOERIDISTRICT
The Hyder mining district
and its mineral development
possibilities is given a promi
nent place in last U. S. Geo
logical Survey bulletin" No.
810-A, covering the annual re
port of the Survey on the min
eral industry of Alaska in
1927.
The bulletin, published dur
ing the present year, refers to
the district in one instance as
“The principal region that is
now producing ore valuable
largely for its silver,” in ad
dition to giving it prominent
mention for gold, lead and
copper production. Included
among the several references
to the distritt are the follow-^
ing:
“Shipments of several hun
dred tons of concentrates have'
been made to the Selby smelt
er in San Francisco and gold
is also recovered in the com
pany’s mill near the mine.”
The mine referred to is the
Riverside, which was operating
during the period covered by
the bulletin.
“Many smaller companies and
prospectors were active in
scouting and development
work in the district.” the bulle
tin continues, “and several
small test shipments of ore,
from the district have been
sent to smelters in the States.
Many of these have shown
encouraging results, and there
is every reason to believe that
this district will continue to
show an increasing production
of minerals.”
At another point the bulletin
states:
“In many of the veins in the
Hyder district silver minerals
are found, and in some of the
smaller veins in adjacent parts
of British Columbia these min
erals form important constitu
ents of the ore. No startling
new developments in this reg
ion have been reported during
the year, but the general im
pression gained is that prog
ress is being made in its de
velopment and that sincere
and earnest efforts are being
made to prospect it adequate
ly. This must necessarily take
time, much effort, and consid
erable capital, but the geologic
conditions are favorable, and
the proved occurences of ore
on both sides of the internat
inal boundary support the be
lief that other profitable ore
bodies exist in the region.”
-—o- •
A compressor and other mine
machinery arrived last week
for the Mountain Bay proper
ty, near the head of American
Creek in the upper Bear River
section.
-•
The motorship Norco arrived
from Seattle via Ketchikan
shortly before 3 o'clock this
; afternoon.
rate of 8 cents a word from Se
attle, with a minimum charge
of $2. Such messages must be
in plain language of the coun
try of their origin.
LOCAL MINING NOTES
R. G. Mellin.E.M., well known
mining engineer, arrived from
Vancouver last week to make
to make preliminary preparat
ions for the installation of
power and mine equipment at
the Georgia River Gold Mines
camp at Georgia River as soon
as conditions are favorable.
The new plant as planned
will be something of an inno
vation in this district, as it will
include two power units and
two compressors.
Jack Rennie, Marmot packer,
whose freighting exploits com
prise some of the most inter
esting episodes in the history
of the district, was engaged
during the week in transport
ing 20 tons .of oil and other
supplies to the Marmot Gold
property, near the head of
Magee Pass, a feat made pos
sible only by the unusual ab
sence of snow in the higher al
titudes this winter.
Reports from the Big Missouri
indicate that the main cross
cut is now in around 2500
feet and is proving up an ore
body of tremendous extent.
The tunnel is said to sample
well from the point where the
high grade zone was first en
countered at 1700 feet from
the portal clear to the present
face, although values are said
to vary greatly.
Development activities on the
Porter-Idaho property were
suspended last week by the
Premier Gold Mining Co., the
bulk of the crew coming down
Saturday evening. Work is
continuing on the adjoining
Prosperity group, where it is
said enough ore has been de
veloped to more than offset
the cost of the big tram sys
tem and considerable high
grade has been sacked in
readiness for shipment as soon
as the tram is completed.
Although various rumors are
being circulated regarding the
cause of the shut-down on
Porter-Idaho, the company has
not issued any statement
throwing light on the situation.
Members of the crew say the
long tunnel was in around 1400
feet when work was stopped
but had encountered no com
mercial ore as far as known.
Work on properties of the
Premier Border Gold Mining
Company were closed down
Tuesday on telegraphic orders
from Ernest S. Parker, presi
dent of the company. The
message gave no hint of the
reason of the suspension, al
though intimating a possibility
of operations being renewed
in the statement that work
: was to be discontinued “until
I further orders.,,
I In view of recent announce
| ments by company representa
tives that commercial ore hac
been located on the property
by diamond drilling and th<
later resumption of under
ground activities, the shutdowi
appears due to some unexpect
ed development in very recen
days.
MED Ml 11
lUSKl COMMERCE
DURINGPKT YEAR
The records of the commerce
of Alaska for 1928 show a
marked improvement in most
of the commodities produced
and shipped from the district
over like shipments in 1927, ac
cording to the annual com
merce statement of Collector
of Customs J. C. McBride.
The total value of Alaskan
exports for the year was $74,
849,918, and represents an in
crease of $17,288,271 over
1927. Shipments to Alaska
last year amounted to $32,636,
833. This represents a decrease
of $3,739,637 from shipments
made in 1927. The balance of
trade remained in favor of the
Territory and aggregated $24,
213,085.
Following is the list of export
ed commodities and their val
ues:
FISH:
Fresh & Frozen
Halibut..... $
Salmon.
All other.
Canned:
Salmon.
Cured or Preserved:
Cod..
Hterring.
Salmon.
All other..
Shellfish
Clams..
Crabs.
Shrimps.
Other fish products
Fertilizer.
Meal.
Oil.
All other Fish &
Fish Products.
1,686,401
733,463
62,997
45,548,683
79,031
1,674,244
1,180,336
1,415
104,916
58,777
196,164
5,508
664,296
1,073,454
10,987
TOTAL FISH
Whale oil.
Animals.
Curios....
Furs and Fur Skins
Seal.
Blue Fox.
Silver or Black....
Red Fox.
White Fox.
Mink.
Muskrat.—
Beaver.
All Other.
Manufactured
furs.
Ore, Mptte & Reg
ulus
Copper...-..
Lead.
Tin Ore & Con
centrates.,.
Reindeer Meat.
Stone, including
marble.
Trophies, Speci
mens, etc.
Wood, Timber &
Lumber.
All Other Articles..
53,070,672
253,799
52,410
21,243
631,141
611,364
102,885
935,614
203,331
490,050
249,984
759,822
663,643
16,735
6,781,655
130.321
42,595
153,723
123,224
12,691
68,400
130,168
Total Value of Pro
ducts of Alaska....65,505,470
Products of United
States returned.... 1,949,862
Total Value of For
eign Products. 131,874
Total Value of Ship
ments of Mer
chandise. 67,587,20':
Domestic Gold. 6,351,204
BUDDIKGTO* REPORT
01HVDER DISTRICT
IS HOT VET READY
The latest Geological Survey
bulletin on the Alaska mineral
industry discloses that the re
port of Prof. A. F. Buddington
on the geology of the Hyder
district and embodying the re
sults of his last visit to this
section in 1925, has not been
published and is still in course
of preparation, despite the con
siderable time elapsing since
Prof. Buddington’s investigat
ion was completed.
The announcement is con
tained in the U. S. Geological
Survey Bulletin 810-A, titled
“Mineral Industry of Alaska in
1927“ and issued during the
present year. According to this
bulletin Prof. Buddington’s
forthcoming report will be
titled “Geology of Hyder and
Vicinity,” and will also con
tain the results of the Geologi
cal Survey reconnaisance of
Chickamin River district. The
latter appendage will prob
ably contain the results of the
investigations made along the
Chickamin by Mr. W. B. Jew
ell, who assisted Prof. Bud
dington in his local work. The
bulletin will be Number 807 in
the Geological Survey series on
Alaska.
The Buddington report is
looked forward to with keen
interest by many local miners
and prospectors, most of whom
have been greatly puzzled by
its failure to appear. Prof.
Buddington stated in a com
munication to the Herald in
1927 that he had fully com
pleted his work on the report,
but added that the bulletin
might not appear for some
time, as the map making de
partment of the Survey bureau
was then considerably behind
in its work.
•o
LOCAL “BIDDY" LAYS
OVERSIZE EGG
An egg weighing four ounces
even and measuring 6 Vi inches
in circumference around its
narrowest width was produced
in Hyder a day or two ago
by a hen of the Rock Island
Red variety belonging Attor
ney Ernest Blue. In addition to
its unusually wide diameter,
the egg also possessed a linear
circumference of 7% inches
and resembled a large duck
egg rather than a product of
the chicken tribe.
Mr. Blue, who is something of
a poultry fancier and has de
veloped a number of unusually
large and fine birds by select
ive breeding methods, stater
that the egg was the first to
be laid by the hen, which is it
self of unusually large size.
-—o
A breakdown of the Ana
cortes and other difficulties de
layed the arrival of the Ketch
ikan mail boat until early this
morning.
Domestic Silver. 282,045
Foreign Gold &
Silver. 6,878
Grand Total.$74,227,334