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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V
VOL 7, NO. 36
HYDER, ALASKA, SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 1931.
PRICE TEN CENTS
ENCOURAGING NEWS
REGARDING SILVER
Proponents of the world
wide movement for the restora
tion of silver as a money met
al received considerable en
couragement during the wee.k
says the May 22 issue of the
Western Mineral Survey.
Some of the encouraging
news follows:
Advices from Tokio to the
New York Times stated that
Japanese government officials
and leading bankeis favor the
calling of a silver conference
by Japan. This development
was considered to be of great
moment since it had been
thought earlier in the week
that Japan was antagonistic to
a conference.
Announcement by Senator
William H. King of Utah after
conference with F. H. Brown
ell and "William Loeb of the
American Smelting and Refin
ing company, and the New
York representative of the
Nanking government of Chine
that silver could be stabilized
at a pi ice of 50 to 60 cents an
ounce, pending an internation
al agreement, if only Great
Britain will join in an under
standing of that kind.
Prediction that silver will be
a vital issue during the next
camoaiern.
“Silver is both an economic
and a political question,” Sen
ator King said this week. “It
is bound to be a factor in the
next campaign. The whole
credit system of the world is
now involved in the movement.
It goes to the basis of trade
and commerce. Stabilization oi
silver would mean for the
United States alone solution of
the unemployment question, in
creased value for farm pro
ducts and materially increased
foreign trade.”
Even so conservative a writ
er as Mark Sullivan observed
this week:
Sympathy for the idea of an
international conference come;
from some of the most power
ful and most concervative fi
nancial circles in the east. It
is equally clear that thought
about silver is increasing
throughout the country as an
incident of the business de
pression. It would not be im
possible for this thought, some
sound, some unsound, to be
come a formidable wave ap
proximating the one which
culminated in the “free silver”
presidential campaign of 18
96.—Wallace Press Times.
o
POWER ENGINEER
COMING TUESDAY
E. R. Wright, resident engineer of
the Portland Canal Power Company,
promoter of the big power develop
ment project on Davis River, is
scheduled to arrive next Tuesday on
the Prince Charles, according to ad
vices received today (Saturday) by
Oren P. Hill.
--—i-o
Senator King Urges Silver Conference
Senator Win. H. King of Utah is
apparently determined to force tlie
silver conference issue on the admin
istration and announced Wednesday
that he intended to call at the State
department and ask that the United
States call an international confer
ence to study the silver question, ac
cording to Washington, D. C. reports.
-o
Dr. J. T. Mandy, resident engineer
tor the Stewart district, left Mon
day evening after n short visit.
ANNUUAL ASSESSMENT
WORK UNDER WAY
Oren F. Hill has sent a crew
of men to do the annual assess
ment work on the Crest group,
above Ten-mile.
Marius Pederson and Albert
Johnson have taken a crew up
I to the Stoner group to start
i work on that property, which
belongs to the widow of the
late Mathew Lodge.
John Hovland and Arthur
i Moa are down from the Uni
I corn mine to commence their
annual assessment work on the
Unicorn group.
All the above properties lie
i on the north-west slope of Sal
mon River valley and the snow
has been exceptionally late in
leaving this summer. After
reaching an altitude of 1800
l feet there is still lots of snow.
1 However with these three
properties and others in the
j valley working the roar of the
! -hooting will be heard all day
| long from now on.
—
Frank Reichenback and J. H.
Hewitt planned to leave this j
j week for Texas Creek to start
| assessment work on the Ibex j
group.
-o
NOT A TRIAL
Considerable misapprehen
sion appears to exist regard
ing the nature and object of,
that process of law known as;
a preliminary hearing or “bind
over” proceeding, one of which 1
involving a well-known local ;
citizen, was held here recent-1
ly. In explanation it may be
■aid first of all that such a pro
ceeding is not a trial in the :
accepted meaning of the term.
The sole object and purpose |
of such examinations is to de
termine first if an infraction of
the law has been committed, j
and secontj, if there is suffic-1
out cause to believe that such
infraction was committed by i
he person accused. No other,
questions are involved in such i
pioceedings.
In the event that the evi- j
i fence discloses sufficient cause
to believe the defendant com-I
mitted the act or acts charged,
the justice or commissioner has
no other option than to hold
him to answer to the district
court. In the usual course of
; proceedure the case is then
taken before the grand jury j
for further investigation of the
evidence and the grand jury
decides whether the accused
shall be held for trial in the
district court or be released.
In the first instance the grand j
j jury returns a “true bill” and
in the second it returns a “not
true bill.” From this it will be
seen that the preliminary ex
amination does not determine
conclusively that a defendant
is guilty of the act charged
against him, but only if there
exist reasonable grounds for
believing that he may be guil
'ty. Neither does the return of
ja true bill by the grand jury
establish conclusively the guilt
; of a person accused. In such
lease the guilt or innocence of
| the accused is determined by
I jury trial in the district court.
-o
Leonard Fisher, who has been at
tending a school of pharmacy in the
south, returned today to spend his
vacation.
VALUE Of ALASKA
TRADE 2 BILLIONS
The value of Alaska trade
and production to the United
States during the past 50 years
was disclosed in illuminating
manner by Alaska delegate to
Congress James Wickersham
in a recent address, in which
the delegate placed the total
trade of the Territory during
that period at more than 2l/>
billion dollars.
“From January 1, 1880, to
December 31, 1930, a period
of fifty years,” the delegate
said, “Alaskans mined and
shipped to the United States
the sum of $628,806,856 in
gold, copper and other miner
als. There are 6000 months in
fifty years—Alaska miners
produced more than $1,000,
000 of gold and copper pet
month during that fifty-year
period. The mineral industry
in Alaska is yet in its infancy
and is constantly growing.
“As great a sum as that half
century output of Alaska min
erals amounts to, the val
ue of Alaska fish ^hip
ped to the United States
in half that period exceeds it.
From 1906 to 1930, both in
cluded, a period of 25 years,
Alaska fisherman caught, pre
pared and shipped to the Unit
ed States markets fish to the
amount of $743,975,738—an
annual production of $30,000,
000. From the reports of the
governor and collector of cus
toms, we are informed that the
total production of Alaska
fish, furs and minerals export
ed to the United States since
1867, amounts to the sum of
$1,762,968,496.
“Not only has Alaska pro
duced and exported that great
wealth to the United States,
and enriched its Pacific coast
cities thereby, but her people
have purchased from the Unit
ed States, principally from
Seattle, Portland and San
Francisco, and imported into
Alaska, from 1867 to date,
more than 906 million dollars’
worth of merchandise.
“Add Alaska’s total produc
tion of wealth to her total pur
chase of merchandise—our to
tal exports to, and our total
imports from the United States
and we have $1,762,968,496,
total exports; or $2,670,842,
437 in total trade. Thus Alas
ka’s trade value with United
States merchants and manu
facturers since 1867 is more
than two and a half billion dol
lars.”
0
PLAN PARK IMPROVEMENTS
The Moose are planning to
further improve the fine bath
ing pool at Moose Park, near
the north encl of town, by in
stalling a flume in such man
ner as to divert the water from
the creek which runs into the
swimming pool and keeps the
water too cold for comfortable
swimming. The flume will be
about 200 feet long and will
carry the creek water to a
point below the dam. This will
permit the water in the pool to
become amply warm for bath
ing.
ROAD CONTRACTS
i
Radical changes in the pres
ent system of handling con
tracts for Territorial road con
j struction work are proposed in
the following petition of the
Hydei Chamber of Commerce
to the Territorial Road Com
mission.
“Believing that the road
building program of the Ter
ritory can be advanced in such
a manner as to contribute to
a more economical result, and
lo the upbuilding of the Ter
ritory, we hereby submit to
| your Honorable body our pe
tition; That, hereafter all road
contracts be arraigned in units
which may be suitable for
mall contractors or workmen
: to bid upon, believing that
•uch a policy will not only re
sult in a substantial saving in
I expense, but will also distri
bute the funds in such a man
ner that will result in a far
greater benefit to the Terri
tory.
“In support of our conten
tion that the above method
would result in a substantial
saving we cite the fact, that
nearly all contracts heretofore
let in the Hyder District have
been performed by sub-con
tractors and at a price so much
below the original bid as to
leave no doubt that if
che contracts had been ar
ranged in units suitable for
mall contractors or workmen,
such bids would have been
made at a price below the
huger contractors bid and the
work would have been per
formed in as satisfactory a
manner as could be required.
“Bids for contracts could be
called for in units and for the
whole contract, and where
the unit bids in the aggregate
did not meet the larger bid or
exceed it, the larger bid could
be accepted, thus protecting
the government fullv.
“We are impelled to ask
your body to give this petition
your earnest consideration, be
cause of the fact that many
of the contracts heretofore
obtained have been sublet to
workmen at rates so low as to
preclude them from even mak
ing expenses on them, and in
many cases workmen have
been imported from the States
thus giving no relief to the un
employment situation through
out the Territory,
“Another method we be
lieve superior to the present
one would be for the govern
ment to perform the work by
days wage. In as much as
either one of these methods
would abolish the present un
desirable condition under
which workers are at the mer
cy of outside contractors, (who
have no other object in view
than a profit to themselves,
and bend every effort to that
motive, regardless of the re
sults to the community in
which they are located) we re
spectfully request that your
body give this proposal care
ful consideration.”
---o
Miss Anna Hackland, of Mrs. Camp
bell’s boarding house staff returned
today from a visit of several months
in the States.
ANYOX BOY SCOUTS
PLAN VISIT HERE
Further indications that the
big international celebration to
be held here ne’xt month is at
tracting wide attention are
provided by telegrams received
during the past few days from
outside sources. One. of these
is from the Boy Scouts of An
yox asking if they can come
here for their annual vacation
during the celebration period.
It is understood that there will
be 30 or 40 of them.
The other message was from
the admiral of the U. S. Pac
ific fleet and asked if good ac
comodations are to be had here !
for wives and relatives of of-;
ticefs of the U. S. S. Detroit
who would like to visit the
district while that vessel, the
first United States battleship
to visit this port, is here.
-o
HOSPITAL IN URGENT NEED
The Stewart General Hospit
al is in urgent need of
financial assistance if it is to
continue in operation and
maintain the splendid record
of service to the community j
I established in earlier years, j
Providentially there has beer '
very little illness lately but
the absence of income from
patients has created a most
serious state of financial
stringency and a drive has
been started to raise funds.
The first effort in this con
nection was the dance on June
3. The first of July has also
been turned over to the hos
pital board and everyone is
urged to give their whole
hearted support toward mak
ing the day a big success.
The hospital unquestionably
is one of the greatest assetsj
the district possesses and it I
would be in the nature of a
calamity if it were forced tc
close, as will surely happen if
the requisite support is not
forthcoming.
The board reports receipt ol
the following donations dur
ing the period since the publi
etion of leturns from the New
Year’s dance and June 11th.
G. W. Smith .§ 15.00
,
Hospital Silver Tea ....
Hyder M. E. Church ..
Dance June 3rd.
Canadian Legion ....
Hyder Friendship Club
Counter boxes .
23.45
20.0C
31.35
145.90
25.00
10.17
. $270.87
Total
Chamber of Commerce
Holds Interesting Meet 1
The monthy dinner meeting
of the Hyder Chamber of Com
merce was held at the Silvei
Grill Wednesday and proved)
a decidedly lively and interest- i
ing session. President E. D.
Haddon presided and some 25
members and guests were pres
ent, including several from
Stewart. Lack of sufficient
space prevents publication of
a full report of the meeting i
and will be presented next j
week.
- -o
Cy Wyckoff, U. S. Forest
ranger for this district, ex-1
pects to come to Hyder in a
few days, according to infor
mation received by Curtis Gar
dner, of the Johnson-Gardner
Company.
ALASKA EXPORTS
SHOW GOOD GAIN
Exports of Alaska merchan
dise ta the United States dur
ing May showed a decided im
provement over those of the
preceeding four months, with
a total value of $1,784,561.
According to the monthly
statements of the U. S. Cus
toms office at Juneau, this
was $1,076,071 more than for
May, 1930, and $937,619
greater than for April this
year. The increase for the
month was due largely to in
creased shipments of canned
salmon, and furs, with blue
fox valued at $147,770 lead
ing the list of furs.
Gold and silver shipments for
the month totaled $653,222, to
which gold contributed $644,
056.
following is the complete
list of exports and their val
ues:
Curios . 50
Animals . $ 150
Fish: fresh and frozen
(except shell-fish)
Halibut. 97,237
Salmon . 48,781
All other . 3,084
Canned: (except
shell-fish)
Salmon . 828,234
Cured or preserved
(except shell-fish)
Cod . 7,514
Herring . 22
Salmon . 61,499
All other . 91
3hell-fish:
Clams . 40,613
Crabs . 6,842
Shrimps . 4,320
Furs and fur-skins
Blue fox . 147,770
Silver or black fox.. 780
Red fox . 12,663
White fox . 2,100
Mink . 6,668
Muskrat . 26,361
All other . 12,996
□re, matte, regulus
Copper. 255,266
Llead . 14,589
Stone, marble, etc. 12,595
Timber and Lumber.. 5,608
All other articles . 25
Total value of products
of Alaska...1,601,131
Products of the Unit
ed States returned .... 183,430
Total value of shipments
of merchandise .... 1,784,561
Gold . 644,056
Silver . 9,166
Grand Total
2,437,783
—-u - ■ -—
Moose Dance Labor Day
The Moose lodge is planning
to hold a public dance on Lab
or Day, September 7th, it was
announced this week.
Funds derived from the en
tertainment are to be devoted
to carrying out a number of
Moose projects of a character
beneficial to the public,
among them the further im
provement of Moose Park and
swimming pool.
-:-o- t
LEAVES FOR GOLD STRIKE
\V. J. Crawford left today enrouto
to a reported rich placer gold strike
in the Nation River District in North
ern B. C. Full details of the alleged
strike are not yet available here. Na
tion River is situated about 100
miles east of Hazelton and about 75
miles southwesterly from Finlay
Forks.