1 " ■>
AN ALL
ALASKA
NEWSPAPER
DEVOTED TO THE DEVELO PMENT OF ALASKA AND THE PORTLAND CANAL MINING DISTRICT.
SUBSCRIPTIONS
$5.00 PER YEAR
IN ADVANCE
VOL 3, NO. 51
HYDER, ALASKA, SATURDAY, AUGUST 13,1927
FIFTY CENTS A MONTH
1000 OZ. SILVER ORE
ON TIDE LAKE GROUP
Rich silver bearing ore, as
saying up to 1000 ounces to
the ton in that metal, in ad
dition to an appreciable gold
content, has been uncovered
on the Silverton Group in the
Tide Lake section by Harry
Boer and A. J. Jackson, own
ers of the property. Native sil
ver is discernible in large
flakes in samples shown by
Boer and Jackson following
their return from the proper
ty this week. One sample com
posed of shattered fragments
of quartz, is so bound together
by threads of silver that the
several parts of the specimen
may be moved freely without
separating from the rest. This
ore, although spectacular, does
not carry values equal to those
found in a strong shoot of sil
ver sulphide ore which forms
a part of the 2l/t foot vein
from which the samples were
obtained. Assays of the * sul
phide have given returns run
ning from 435 to 1000 ounces,
according to the owners. Sev
eral open cuts up to 5 feet ir.
depth indicate that the vein
is a solid body and has every
appearance of being a fissure
vein. The vein runs through
a quartz porphyry formation
which parallels a schist bell
or dyke. The vein striker
northwest-southeast, and fun:
directly up the hill from the
point of discovery. So far the
length of the lead has not beer,
determined.
The group comprises three
claims, located by Boer some
years ago, and is situated or
west side of Tide Lake, aboui
500 feet above the lake and
at about 2500 above sea lev
el. The property is easily ac
cessible and mining condition:
are favorable, with timber and
water close by. The owner:
state that they have found
outcrops of several leads but
have made no attempts at ex
ploring them up to this time
Ore from the outcrops of one
vein which was recently dis
covered assayed $150 in golt
and silver.
F. J. Crossland, widely knowi
Canadian mining engineer, ai
rived from Vancouver Mondaj
to examine and report on th<
results of development work
done on the Woodbine proper
ty.
-o
BIG RAILROADERS
INTERESTED IN
LOCAL PROPERTY
P. Bonner, prominent mining
engineer has been engagec
during the past week on an ex
amination of the Mineral Hill
Group, situated in the upper
Salmon basin and adjoining
the eastern boundary of the
Big Missouri. Mr. Bonner is
representing Foley, Welsh and
Stewart, internationally known
railroad contractors, and sev
additional parties who are in
terested in the property.
-G
The Prince Rupert base ball
team arrived today to play a
series of two games with the
Stewart and Hyder ball teams.
The first game was scheduled
to take place in Stewart this
afternoon and the second
will come off Sunday at the
Hyder ball park.
Ball Club officials say the
Ketchikan team may come ov
er to play Hyder on Labor Day.
IMPORTANT DEVELOP
MENT FOR INDIAN MINE
The reopening of the wide
ly known Indian mine on a
commercial basis and the poss
ible development of a new pro
cess of ore treatment which
may revolutionize mining con
ditions in this district, are pre
saged in a circular letter to
shareholders issued recently
by the Board of Directors of
the Indian Mines Corporation,
Ltd.
The communication reads as
follows:
To the Shareholders:
After a long delay, your Di
rectors have been able to make
the following arrangements
which they trust may be to
the advantage of the share
holders.
The owners of a special pro
cess for the treatment of zinc
lead ores, carrying gold and
silver such as contained in the
Indian Mine, have decided,
after a preliminary test of the
are in the laboratories in New
York, that they can treat it
economically.
As a result, they have offer
ed to establish at the mine, at
.heir own 'expense, a small
plant and demonstrate to our
satisfaction that they can treat
his ore on a commercial basis
ind at much lower cost than
he present smelter charge
ind also with a large saving
n transporation charges.
If they can establish their
ibility to do this, they are pre
oared to erect, at their own
expense, a plant capable of
treating about 100 tons per
lay, provided, however, that
.he Company simultaneously
nstalls a crusher plant for the
ourpose of crushing the ore.
In consideration of this ar
angement your directors have
igreed to give these parties
in option on the remainder of
he unsold Treasury shares at
graded prices extending over
i period of months, the lowest
mice being considerably over i
;he present market price and
with raised prices for each
ilock.
All expenses m connection
vith the re-examination of
he mine, revaluation and
reatment of the ores for test
ng purposes will be borne by
he owners of the extraction
irocess.
The Indian, located a short
istance north of the Premier
nine, is among the best known
md most promising propei-ties
n the Portland Canal district.
Development work carried on
luring several years has re
/ealed a wide extent of ore
esources of commrecial value
ind the property may be con
sidered a proven mine in ev
ery sense. Unfortunately, how
ever, owing to the refractory i
character of the ores, com
bined with other difficulties
)f a financial nature, • operat
ions have been suspended for
some time. During the succeed*
ing interval the Premier Gold
Mining Co. is said to have
' nade unsuccessful effoi'ts to
secure the property, after sub
jecting it to an extensive samp
ling. This fact alone provides
assurance that the Indian is a
; property of considerbale mer
it and promise. Although the
reopening of the mine is a
1 matter of considerable import
ance locally, of even greater
moment is the announcement
contained in the circular, that
the owners of a special pro
Continued on Page 4.
PEACE SETTLERS INCLINE
TO STEWART ROUTE
FOR OUTLET
That the direct railway route
from the Peace River country
to Stewart is not only greatly
favored by the residents of
that section but also appears
the most practical of the sug
gested routes for a railway
outlet for the Peace River dis
trict, is disclosed in no uncer
tain manner by H. G. Long in
a series of illuminating articles
on the possibilities of the
Peace country published in
the Lithbridge, (Alberta) Her
ald.
Mr. Long, the author of the
series, recently toured 'the
Peace River country in com
pany with a party composed
of members of the Alberta
legislature, which covered
some 2200 miles of territory.
Mr. Long is not, himself, a pro
ponent of the Peace River—
Stewart route, or any other
route. He is in every way an !
unbiased and unprejudiced
reviewer of the various rail
road proposals and draws his
conclusions solely from the
arguments presented. In view
of his statements relative to
the Stewart route, with such
a preponderance of evidence
in its favor, is decidedly sig
nificant. He says:
“A Pacific Coast railway out
let: That’s the dream of the
settlers in the Peace River
country.
“Give us a railway outlet to an
all-year port on the Pacific,
and we will be able to devel
op our great potentialities to
the full,” they tell you. “We
will be just as close to port as
any part of Alberta, and our
grain will reach the world’s
markets just as cheaply,
whereas now we are farther
est away and pay the highest
railway rates. Wre must have a
western outlet.”
What is the western outlet to
take;
The devolpment of the north
country demands it, and the
volume of grain will soon be
so large that there will be no
excuse for the present back
haul via Edmonton. How will
the connection be made?
There have been many pro
posals advanced for giving the
Peace River area a railway to
the Pacific. One of the most
talked of is the so-called Brule
cut-off, connecting with the
Canadian National main line
at Brule, west of Edson. An
other propsal is a road thru
Pine Pass, while another is
for a road through Monkman
Pass. It has been suggested
that Alberta and Bi’itish Col
umbia get together and con
nect up the E. D. and B. C.
with the Pacific Great Eastern.
The two provinces are respect
ively the owners of the two
roads. Still another proposal
made is that instead of con
necting up with any existing
road in British Columbia, the
people of the Peace River
country should have an out
let of their own which would
open up Pouce River block in
British Columbia, and follow
on down to the sea at Stewart
on the Portland Canal, which
forms the boundary between
British Columbia and Alaska.
There may be other proposals
beside these. * * * * ‘Railway
engineers representative of
j both railways reported to the
! railway committee of- the
House of Commons last session
on five different railway
BRIEF MINING NOTES
Underground development has
been resumed on the Big Mis
souri, with a small crew em
ployed, according to reports
from the upper valley. Dia
drilling operations are continu
ing.
-o-:
Additional loads of high
grade ore came down from
the B. C. Silver during the
week. It is understood that a
considerable quantity will bt
shipped to the smelter.
-o
A carload of high grade ore
from the Porter Idaho is going
south weekly enroute to the
Trail smelter. The third car
load of the present season will
leave on the Prince Charles
Tuesday. Several additional
carloads are also on the beach
at the mouth of the Marmot
River awaiting shipment.
routes from the Peace to the
Pacific, and the high cost of
construction was the most out
standing feature of all the pro
posals.
The trouble with most of the
outlets suggested whereby the
Peace River would be linked
to the Canadian National main
line is that, without opening
up any producing farming
country of consequence, the
roads would run in such a di
rection that there would be
more or less back haul. The
big country still to be opened
in the Peace is to the north
and west of existing E. D. and
B. C. branches. The proposed
connections with the C. N. R.
would be to the south and
west. The C. N. main line,
from any likely point of con
nection, bends away to the
northwest on its way to Prince
Rupert on the Pacific. Thus
grain would have to be haul
ed away south and then back
norm.
The scheme about which I
heard most while in the Peace
country was for a railway from
Spirit River, on the south
branch of the E. D. and B. C.,
along the Peace River and on
to port at Stewart, B. C., on
the Portland Canal. It is claim
ed for this route that the grade
is practically a water grade
all the way and that it will
open up a country rich in agri
culture,' timber and minerals,
it will also open up a new
country, and while it would ap
pear to parallel the C. N. R.
main line to a certain extent,
its advocates declare that it
will be far enough north not
to interfere with the C. N., at
the same time opening up a
part of the Peace River area
in both Alberta and British
Columbia, capable of immense
agricultural development. This
line would be about 450 miles
long from the Spirit River to
Stewart, and it is claimed that
it could be built for less than
any of the cut-offs to the C. N.
main line. I do not know
whether this is true, but it was
strongly represented to me
that this is the case.
Advocates of the Spirit River
Stewart route say that in the
vicinity of Hudson’s Hope. * *
* * * * there can be develop
ed comparatively cheaply 1,
000,000 or more hydro power
in the 12-mile canyon through
which the river (Peace) runs;
that there are in that general
region large deposits of splen
did coal; ****** "deposits
of iron ore of vast dimensions;
Continued on Page 4.
DUNWELL TAKES
SUDDEN SLUMP
A sudden drop in Dunwell
shares on the Vancouver stock
exchange created something
of a sensation in local mining
circles during the past week.
During the course of the slump
quotations dropped rapidly
from $1.20 to 85 cents per
share. Brief recoveries later
brought the market up to $1.04
with some sales at that figure.
This was but momentary, how
ever, and the market closed
Friday with quotations at .85
bid, .90 asked.
Advices from several south
ern sources ascribe the drop
to various causes. One report
stated that the delay in hold
ing the annual meeting was
some what to blame; another
that i* was due to a report
from Victoria that milling op
erations were to be suspended
at an early date owing to lack
of ore reserves. Still another
attributes the slump to uncert
ainty created by the annual
statement and report of the
directors for the year ending
April 30th. The report in
question shows the operating
report for March and April,
the period in which the mill
was being tuned up and pro
duction far below the stand
ard maintained during later
months.
Still later reports assert that
information brought out at the
annual meeting, held in Vic
toria Friday, indicates very
unstable conditions at the
mine, with no definite assur
ances as to the duration ot
milling operations. Whether
or not the latter report is bas
ed on fact or is merely specu
lative, cannot be determined
at this time.
Participants in the recent ex
cursion of the Hyder Base Ball
Club to Ketchikan are unani
mous in reporting a most en
joyable visit to the southern
Alaska metropolis, although
the pleasure of the occasion
was somewhat marred by the
serious injury of Fred Kenny,
Hyder outfielder, in a collision
with Bernie McDonald, and by
failure of the local ball team
to annex either of the two
games played with the Ketch
ikan team.
Ketchikan won the first gamt
Saturday by a score of 18 to
8, in a 6-inning game, • after
the locals had more than held
their own to the last part of
the fourth inning. With the
locals holding a two-run lead
a Ketchikan batting rally net
ted eight runs off a veritable
flock of singles. In the follow
ing inning ,with Bruce replac
ing McNeill on the mound,
Ketchikan again went on a
hitting spree and added an ad
ditional six'runs off five hits u>
their score.
The accident occurred in the
fifth frame, when Kenny ana
McDonald collided violently
while trying to bag Koski’s
fly .The impact knocked both
unconscious. Kenny was so se
verely injured about the face
that he was taken to the hos
pital.
The locals fared much better
in the second game Sunday
afternoon. With Beshaw pitch
ing, Hyder held the Ketchi
kanites to a score of 6 to 5 and
apparently would have won
the game but for a couple of
errors at critical moments.
The bulk of the excursionists
returned on the A. B. Carpen
ter Monday, while a number
SALMON DECREASE
LOWERS EXPORTS
FOR JULY
A heavy decrease in the value
of Alaska exports in July as
compared to the same month
last year, is the marked feat
ure of the report of Collector
of Customs J. C. McBride, cov
ering shipments of merchan
dise from Alaska to the Unit
ed States during the past
month.
Decreases in fish and copper
ore shipments amounting to
$2,125,435 bring the total ex
ports last month to $4,367,855,
as compared to $6,666,858 In
July 1926. The lateness of the
salmon run is largely respons
ible for the decrease in fish
shipments, canned salmon
shipments alone showing a
loss of $1,738,079. Following
is a complete statement of
values.
Animals.$
Curios.
Fish:
Fresh & frozen
(except shell-fish)
Halibut.
Salmon.
All other.
Canned (except
shell-fish)
Salmon.
Cured or preserved
(except shell)
Cod.
Herring.
Salmon.
Shell-fish
Clams...
Crabs.
Shrimps.
Other Fish Products
156
748
95,300
47,488
60S
1,664,102
2,388
131,156
634,648
61,440
2,700
12,927
iucai... iuo.uoo
Oil. 323,165
All other Fish and
Fish Products. 441
Furs and Fur-skins:
Blue Fox.31,950
Silver or Black
Fox. 415
Red Fox. 26,356
White Fox. 1,349
Mink.' 33,458
Mflfekrat. 28,310
\11 other. 256,724
Manufactured furs.. 2,573
Oil: Whale. 37,446
Ore, matte and reg
ulus:
Copper. 782,898
Lead. 17,488
Tin Ore and con
centrates. 344
Reindeer Meat. 15,260
Stone, including
marble. 25,074
Trophies, speci
mens, etc. 500
Wood: Timber and
lumber. 26,482
All other articles.... 6,114
Total value of pro
ducts of Alaska. 4,367,855
Products of United
States returned. 172,193
Total value of for
eign products. 1,375
Total value of ship
ments of merchan
dise. 4,541,423
Items included in
“All Other Articles”
1515 lbs. Wool. $ 455.00
194 tons coal. 1850.00
6350 lbs. Reindeer
hides. 990.00
61 ton whale meal.... 1103.00
1 Painting. 150.00
131 hairseal skins. 400.00
56 ton whale ferti
lizer. 1130.00
1800 lbs. Whalebone.... 36.00
made the return trip via Ru
pert. Several who lingered in
Ketahikan returned on tft*
Taku II Wednesday.