HYDER - FIRST ALASKA TOWN THAT CAN BE REACHED BY THE PACIFIC - YUKON - ALASKA HIGHWAY
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SPECIALIZING IN
MINING NEWS OF THE
PORTLAND CANAL
DISTRICT
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HYDER WEEKLY HERALD
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SUBSCRIPTIONS
*3.00 PER YEAR
IN ADVANCE
J
VOLUME NO. 8, NO. 33.
IIYDER, ALASKA, SATURDAY, MAY 28, 1932.
BY THE YEAR $3.00
SILVER CONFERENCE
OUTLOOK IMPROVED
Close on the heels of the
announcement of Senator Wes
ley L. Jones that he is satisfied
the president will invite an in
ternational conference on sil
ver, comes word from Wash
ington that Chairman Andi ew
L. Somers of the House Coin
age Committee predicted after
a conference with Hoover that
“We’ll be able to work a com
promise plan to help silver and
stabilize exchange. ”
Both Somers and Represent
ative Perkins, ranking repub
lican on the Coinage Commit
tee, talked with the president
on the silver question. Perkins
said afterwai'd that he discuss
ed the resolution the Commit
tee has prepared suggesting an
international conference o n
monetary bases.
Somers indicated, however,
that while the president is not
willing to accept an outright
direction to call a conference,
he would agree to a compnom
ise proposal including “ some
thing specific.” By “something
specific,” the president evi
dently means a concrete plan
for remonetization based upon
proposals likely to be accept
able to the foreign powers.
This is in line with his intimat
ion to Senator Jones that Con
gress should present him with
a concrete proposal for remon
etization of the white metal.
Later Washington reports
said that “with a tacit under
standing that the president
would undertake to carry out
its provisions,” the House Coin
age Committee approved a res
olution asking Hoover to call
a n international conference
“on monetary exchanges and
silver.”
o
Eagle and Seal Bounty
Funds Are Exhausted
Funds for the payment of
Territorial bounties on hair
seals and eagles are totally ex
hausted and no more bounties
can be paid by the Territory
until more funds are appropri
ated for the purpose by the
Alaska Legislature, it was an
nounced a few days ago by W.
G. Smith, Territorial Treasur
er.
This does not mean that no
more seal and eagle bounties
will be allowed, as Mr. Smith
said claims for such bouun
ties will be received and listed
by hds office as usual, but will
be held until funds are provid
ed by the Legislature next
spring. Warrants will then be
mailed to claimants.
T he last Legislature appro
priated $17,500 for hair seal
bounties and $5,000 for eagles.
At the rate of $2 for seals and
$1. for eagles, bounties have
been paid so far on 8,750 hair
seals and 5,000 eagles.
A balance of the $40,000 ap
propriated for the payment of
I
Bill Suspending Annual
Claim Assessment Work
Passed By Lower House
The Swing Bill, providing for
! the suspension of annual ass
essment work on mining claims
in 1932, passed the House of
Representatives a few days ago
and is now awaiting action by
the Senate, according to press
reports.
Representative Evans of Mon
tana, explaining the measure,
said:
“Due to circumstances over
which they have no control
and for which they were in no
wise to blame, thousands of
small mine claimants through
out the west are today in dan
ger of losing their property be
cause they are unable to se
cure the money with which to
do the required improvement
work. Forfeiture of rights for
non-performance of required
expenditures will take effect
July 1, 1932, unless Congress
grants relief.”
-o
Bimetallism
The following short editorial,
taken from the London Satur
day Review, indicates that not
only in this country but in Eng
land as well are thinking peop
le favoring the. remonetization
of silver as the only means to
bolster up the gold standard, a I
failure in Great Britain and tot- j
tering in this country. The last}
sentence is particularly con
vincing, especially when pro
posals are rife in our congress
to inflate the currency by simp-1
ly printing huge issues of paper
money. Silver is preferable j
and its remonetization is the j
only solution.
“The arguments put forward
by Sir Robert Horne at the
Royal Empire society in favor
of bimetallism appear to be
convincing. The wcrid is suf
fering frcm an actual shortage
of gold, and that shortage is,
of course, aggravated by the
fact that the bulk of the avail
able gold is now concentrated,
and indeed hoarded, in two
countries, which no longer use 1
it as a commodity. Since no
considerable additions have,
been made to the gold stocks j
of the world in recent years,
the gold standard has broken j
down both from physical and
artificial causes, and an altern
ative currency is plainly nec
essary. It is hardly necessary 1
to argue the point that silver is 1
preferable to papedr.”—Wall-!
ace (Idaho) Press-Times.
-o
EMPIRE DAY CELEBRATION |
Stewart celebrated Empire Day with ,
much enthusiasm last Tuesday. Tim j
program included a parade, crowning j
of a May Queen in the person of little I
Miss Shirley Young, a May pole dance, I
sports program, soft ball game ami an
address by E. T. Applewhaite. The I
festivities were concluded with a
I dance in North Star Hall that was at
I tended by many from both sides of
the boundary line.
wolf and coyote bounties still
; remains in the Treasury and is
I believed to be sufficient to
] meet demands until the next
I legislative session.
R, R. BOOST SCHEME
BEHIND HUM
That the proposal to transfer
the road construction activities
of the Alaska Road Commiss
ion to the Interior Department
is really the basis of a cun
ning little scheme to make a
toll road of the Richardson
Highway with the object of
boosting the revenues of the
Alaska Railroad, which have
fallen off sadly as a result of
the high rates instituted a year
or so ago, is clearly indicated
in the following letter from the
Secretary of the Interior to the
chairman of the House Com
mittee on Territories approving
the proposed transfer. The let
ter reads as follows:
5
“I believe this action advis
able if we hope to succeed in
our efforts to place the Alaska
Railroad on a self-sustaining
basis. Of equal importance is
the effective control which
Congress would have in consid
ering the budgets for the main
transportation systems in the
Territory The railroad, river,
and highway systems would be
under one head and expendi
tures could be properly corre
lated. The Secretary of Wai4
is agreeable to this action and
[ enclose a copy of his letter to
me of April 4.
“The Richardson Highway
was built from Federal fundi
and parallels the Alaska Rail
road into the interior of Alas
ka. The rates on the Railroad
were increased something more
than a year ago and since then
competition has developed by
:he establishment ot trucking
services over the highway
which has already reduced the
railroad revenue.
“It is not proposed to fix ex
cessive tolls over the highway,
but some tolls are necessary to
provide proper regulation.
“No administartive curtail
ment of the road building pro
gram for Alaska is expected to
result from this transfer. I rec
ommend the enactment of this
legislation.”
It is also interesting to learn
that the bill providing for the
transfer of the Commission
activities was introduced by
that same Senator Howell, of
Nebraska, who was primarily
responsible for the high rail
road traffic rates, which ap
pear to be fast putting the road
out of business and may ulti
mately result in its abandon
ment if continued. Hosvell
is now, to all appearances,
seeking to destroy all possible
competition through havingthe
Richardson Highway convert
ed into a toll road and abolish
nig the highly beneficial and
almost Territory - wide road
and trail activities of the Alas
ka Road Commission.
How well his scheme is suc
ceeding is disclosed by the
above letter and by reports
from Washington stating that
on May 5 the Senate Committ
VOLUNTEERS OPEN
SALMON HIGHWAY
Completing a task which
many wiseacres declared could
not be accomplished in one day
by such methods, fifty-three
business men of Hyder and
Stewart and a delegation from
Premier, opened the Salmon
River highway between Hyder
and Premier last Sunday and
the first automobile to come
down from the mine this year
reached Hyder Sunday even
ing.
Assisted by the Bureau of
Public Roads grader and
caterpillar tractors, the crowd
of volunteer snow shovelers
attacked with vim and vigor
the several b i g snowslides
which blockaded the road and
opened a passage within eight
hours; despite the fact that at
one point on the highway a
half mile or so in length, the
snow was fully eight feet deep.
The Hyder and Stewart dele
gations were composed mainly j
of members of t b e Hyder I
Chamber o f Commerce and
Stewart Board of Trade, while
the Premier crew was made up
of members of the mine office
forces.
The Premier company pro
vided a splendid hot lunch for
the workers at the Nine<-mile
camp, thereby making an im-;
portant contribution toward
the task of relieving the snow
bound camp of the undesirable
isolation caused by the block
ade of the highway.
Those contributing to thej
labor of opening the road dis- j
played a splendid public spirit i
and are well entitled to gener-j
ous congratulations for their I
commendable efforts.
MOOSE PARK CLEANUP JUNE 1
Members of the Moose lodge and
others interested in the upkeep of the
splendid recreation place established
by the Moose at Moose Park are plan
ning a big cleanup bee next Wednes
day to place the park in shape for the
summer. In addition to cleaning up
the grounds, it is planned to clean out
the swimming pool and construct a
new dressing room for ladies; the old
one having been demolished by the
heavy snow last winter.
As a great deal of work must be
done, all who can are urged to lend
their assistance and bring along a
tool of some kind, such as a shovel, j
rake, axe, hammer or mattock. Cars 1
will leave for the park at 9;.>0 Wed- !
nesday morning. Luncheon will be
served to the workers under the di
rection of past dictator Howard Camp
bell. who is famed as a “big feed" ex
pert, assisted by P. S. Jack and Sam
Potts, both expert “bull cooks.”
ee on Commerce, of which
Howell is a senior member, fav
orably recommended his bill
without holding a public hear
ing on the measure, which is
now on the Senate calendar
for action by the upper house.
The House Committee on
Territories plans to hold a j
public hearing on the measure i
and consider the protests of the !
Alaska Chamber of Commerce
and others. Various individu
als and organizations, includ
ing the Hyder Chamber of
Commerce, have already wired
protests to Delegate Wicker
sham.
The B. C. Silver
Premier Deadlock
Commenting on the B. C .
Silver - Premier situation. The
Mining World and Engineer
ing Record, of London, remarks
as follows:
“To an unprejudiced mind it
would seem that the long
drawn out battle between Se
lukwe and the Premier Co. is
definitely turning in favor of
the British interests. As our
readers are aware, the bone of
contention is fully the B. C.
Silver Mines, a property con
trolled by Selukwe to the ex
tent of 60 p e r cent., but of
which Premier owns a minor
ity vote of 38 per cent. No res
olution can be passed by either
side, as the articles of associat
ion of the B. C. Silver Co . re
quire an 80 per cent, vote to
carry any proposals altering
the status of that company.
Hence the present deadlock.
The Premier mine may be able
to produce for some time yet;
the B. C. Silver has ore estb
mated to have a value of from
$6,000,000 to $10,000,000.
Premier has the mill tramway,
and all necessary plant to deal
with the remainder of its own
ore, and the whole of the B. C
Silver ore. Why then, . this
deadlock?
“The reason for the dead
lock, is the difference in view
point between the two parties.
Premier wishes to do a deal on
the basis of pui’chasing ore.
Selukwe wishes to do a deal on
a fifty-fifty basis. Premier ha?
made similar deals to the form
er proposals with the Prosper
ity, Porter Idaho and the Sil
verado, and unfortunately the
results obtained by the share
holders of those companies has
peen pracucauy mi.
“ In view of these circum
stances, would it not be better
to adopt the suggestion of Mr.
Cromwell Hockley, who is
held in high esteem in City
circles, and who received the
unanimous vote of the share
holders, notwithstanding the
ten years’ delay. This sug
gestion was that the Premier
should value its mill, tramway
and plant, the Selukwe Co.
value its interest, including ad
vances of nearly £200,000 to
develop the property. Each
party could then take shares
in any new company. Addition
al working capital could be
supplied jointly, and the new
undertaking should soon be in
a position to yield good profits
to all concerned. The Premier
Co. is not asked to give up any
thing; rather it would receive
immediate benefits, and the
management could still be
under the control of the pre
sent able engineers. In war,
time is always a doubtful neut
ral, and in the present instance
neither side is gaining by the
delay, and the sooner the two
parties get round a conference
table the better for the share
holders of both undertakings.”
SHOWS INCREASE
A gain of nearly $60,000 in
Alaska exports in April, a s
compared to March, is shown
in the monthly customs report
of Alaska merchandise ship
ments to the United States. The
gain was due principally to in
crease in canned salmon and
copper exports, with substan
tial increases i n the volume
and value of fur shipments.
Including exports of gold and
silver valued respectively at
$356,600 for gold, $2,186 for
silver, the total of all exports
for the month was $845,882, a
gain of $114,432 over March.
The full list of exports follows:
Animals.$ 400
Curios . 200
Fish :- Fresh and froz
en (except shell-fish)
Halibut . 139,944
Salmon. 86,388
All other. 103
Canned (except shell
fish) -
Salmon . 121,095
Cured or preserved
(except shell-fish) -
Cod . 156
Herring. 12
Salmon. 818
Shell-fish:
Clams. 19,255
Crabs. 9,736
Shi’imps . 619
All other fish products 1,474
Furs and fur-skins:
Blue fox. 2, :
Silver or black fox .. 2,17o
Red fox. 9,658
White fox. 170
Mink . 6,048
Muskrat . 311
Beaver . 10,540
All other . 154
Ore, matte, regulus:
uopper. 4,4 il
Lead . 6,107
Trophies, specimens .. 168
Wood, timber, lumber 2,847
All other articles. 696
Total value products
of Alaska . 432,661
Products of United
States returned . 54,395
Total value shipments
of merchandise . ?487,056
Gold . 356,640
Silver . 2,186
-o
Stewart News Has Birthday
With its Friday issue, the
Stewart News entered upon the
14 year of its existence as Stew
art’s home-twon news dispens
er and booster of the local re
sources. Fourteen years is a
long time for a country news
paper to survive the exegencies
of mining camp existence and
our contemporary is entitled to
congratulations. The journal
has performed splendid service
for its community and the dist
rict as a whole and is well en
titled to a larger reward than
mere congratulation over its
survival.