HYDER ~ FIRST ALASKA TOWN THAT CAN BE REACHED BY THE PACIFIC - YUKON - ALASKA HIGHWAY
SPECIALIZING IN
MINING NEWS OF THE
PORTLAND CANAL
DISTRICT
V
HYDER WEEKLY HERALD
. 1
SUBSCRIPTIONS
$3.00 PER YEAR
IN ADVANCE
V.
VOL. 8 NO. 1
HYDER, ALASKA, October 17, 1931
BY THE YEAR, $3.00
EXCHANGE LOSSES
DRAW ATTENTION
Hope for early relief from
the exhoribitant rates of ex
change on Canadian currency
are indicated in Washington
press reports jStating that Sec
retary of Commerce Lamont
and Assistant Secretary Klein
are giving the exchange sit
uation close attention.
“Steps should be taken as
promptly as possible,” Dr.
Klein said in an interview this
week, “ to rectify a condition
that is not wholly warranted
by the economic relations of
the two countries.
“In the conditions that have
arisen since Great Britain sus
pended the gold standard,
some expansion of discount
was bound to occur,” Dr.
Klein continued, “'•but this in
crease has gone beyond the
legitimate bounds.”
Secretary Lamont is also
said to realize that American
trade, not Canadian trade, is
and will be the victim of the
high exchange rates now pre
* vailing and has received pro
tests not only from the border
areas, whose trade, like that
of Hyder, was first affected,
but from many other quarters
where business with Canada
has been severely hurt.
“I know that these develop
ments have been drawn to the
attention of the federal re
serve banks,” Dr. Klein said.
“I am inclined to think that
some action might have been
taken earlier had it not been
that in this country we have
been so occupied with presi
dent Hoover’s reconstructive
measures related to our domes
tic problems.
“I am in no doubt, however,”
he continued, “that as soon as
these are in hand any propos
als made to correct the Can
adian exchange position will
find here a sympathetic at
titude both in governmental
and banking agencies.”
•o
Community Club Banquet
Over 100 persons participat
ed in the Premier Community
Club dinner and entertainment
held at Premier Saturday
night. The primary motive of
the entertainment was the pre
sentation of the season’s tro
phies for athletic sports. The
trophies included quite a num
ber of silver cups, among them
being the Hiam baseball and
the H. A. Guess tennis cup.
Adresses were delivered by
Mr. D. L. Pitt, Premier man
ager, D. L. Coulter, Commun
ity Club president and Wm.
Asseltine, mill superintendent.
The dinner, consisting of 6
courses, with turkey as the
piece de resistance, was fol
lowed by a “talkie” display
and a most enjoyable dance
which lasted >until 2:30 a. m
Sunday morning.
--o
Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Essel
mont, of Stewart, became the
proud parents of a 7 Vi pounc
daughter early Thursday
morning.
1 Chamber of Commerce
Elects New Officers
The newly elected Board
of Directors of the Hyder
Chamber of Commerce met in
! an executive session in the
Ideal Cafe building Friday
j afternoon and elected the fol
i lowing new officers to conduct
the business of the Chamber
during the coming year.
President, Chas. F. Sandford ;
1 vice-president, N. M. Traversy;
| Henry R. Cross, secretary;
j directors, J. A. Hall, Ernest
j Love, Holger Johnson, E. D.
| Iladdon.
Mr. Sandford, the new ex
ecutive head, succeeded Mr.
I Haddon, who directed the af
j fairs of the Chamber as pres
ident of the board during the
past two years and established
a splendid record for admin
istrative ability and efficiency.
During his administration, the
membership of the Chamber
; was practically doubled. In ad
dition Mr. Haddon also instill
j ed a splendid spirit of cooper
ation among the members that
has rendered the activities of
the organization doubly effect
ive. As a result, his voluntary
retirement from leadership is
universally'regretted by mem
bers of the Chamber.
Mr. Traversy, the new vice
president, succeeded Mr. F. R.
Reic-henbach in that office, af
ter serving during the past
year as a member of the board.
The re-election of Mr. Cross
as secretary was to have been
anticipated, as he has served
in that capacity with the high
est efficiency during the past
two years.
Directors J. A. Hall and Hol
ger Johnson, also succeeded
themselves as members of the
board. The remaining director,
Mr. Ernest Love, is the only
! new member, of the director
j ate. He is a resident of Stew
art, B. C., and prominent in
the affairs of that community,
hence his election is not only
! a fine expression of interna
tional accord but will also tend
toward closer cooperation be
tween Hyder and her Canad
! lan neighbor.
One of the first efforts of
lhe new board of directors will
! be to induce the earliest pos
1 sible action on the Salmon Riv
er flood control project as a
means of relieving the local
unemployment situation. _ The
United States Engineering
Board report on the project is
| now in the hands of the War
j Department at Washington
| for approval by the depart
i ment and will probably be laid
before Congress during the
. coming session.
-Q
As indicated by the volume
and issue numbers at the heau
of Page 1, with the present is
sue, the Hyder Weekly Herald
enters upon the eighth year of
its existence as a purveyor of
news in this district. The first
issue of the Herald, which
succeded the ‘‘Hyder Alaska
Miner,” made its appearance
ion September 8, 1924, and has
appeared regularly each week
since that time except during
the months of October and
November, 1928, when sick
1 ness resulted in a temporary
! suspension.
BUCK DISCUSSES
THEBIGHIGHWm
Hon. George Black, speakei
of the Canadian House of Com
mons, was elected chairman of
the joint Canadian-American
Alaska Highway Committee at
the first formal meeting held
in Victoria a few days ago, ac
cording to press reports from
; the British Columbia capital.
Following a meeting of the
committee, Speaker Black de
dared that the engineering
j feasibility of a road to Alaska
j has been completely dcmoi^
strated by data already gath
j ered and indicated that while
i no decision on this point had
been reached, a route leaving
the British Columbia highway
system in the vicinity of Hazel
!ton and running straight north
to the Yukon boundary was
| favored.
“A road already running
across the Yukon could be re
paired and used for a trunk
highway at a cost of some $5,
000,000, it was estimated,” the
Speaker said.
“This road, if built,” he em
phasized, “would be built as
a special scheme and would
not be allowed to interfere in
any way with the general road
program of British Columbia.
Nor will it be allowed to em
barass the treasury of the
province. ~
“The road would benefit ev
ery part of the province by
drawing thousands of tourists
across ports of entry from Vic
toria to the Alberta frontier,
would lead to settlement, at
tract capital to our resources
and open up a territory highly
mineralized and offering the
best game hunting in Ameri
ca,” he declared.
“To the south of us are 120,
000,000 people with 80 per
cent of the automobiles in the
world,” he continued. “The
opening of this road would
bring them north.” The Speak
er added that “this road will
be built sometime, but just
when it is impossible now to
predict.”
■a
Nations Fighting To
Regain Stability
Fighting to place their
! countries on a more stable ec
| onomic basis, governments are
adopting expedients, in some
! cases of outstanding import
; ance. Some of the chief for
; eign developments of the day
! are:
1. Brazil has declared a mora
i torium on all payments, do
mestic and foreign, for 6(J
\ days.
2. Peru, Chile, Colombia, Ec
uador and Bolivia seek a bank
ing agreement with the U. S.
federal reserve system.
3. Austria orders surrender o1
all foreign bills and forbids
private trading in foreign cur
rency.
4. Argentina has taken direct
control of all foreign exchangt
negotiations.
5. Bank of France raises its
discount rate to 2 Yi per cent
Premier Laval of France
E
CHAS. O'NEIL VICTIM
OF HEART FAILUR
The funeral of Charles O’
Neil, widely known and highly
esteemed local resident, was
held in Stewart Tuesday, with
services at the United Church
conducted by Rev. Evan Baker.
One of the largest funerary
gatherings ever seen in the dis
trict attended the services and
masses of floral offerings at
tested the regard in which the
deceased was held. Interment
was in the Stewart cemetary.
Mr. O’Neil passed away sud
denly in his sleep some time
after 3 a. m. last Saturday
morning but his demise did
not become known until about
3 p. m. Saturday afternoon.
Before retiring to his room
at the Reid Hotel in Hyder,
B. C., late Saturday evening,
Mr. O’Neil complained of not
feeling well, but indicated that
he was suffering from indigest
ion. This, however, appears to
have been a subterfuge on his
part, as he informed Oscar
Larson, who was with him for
some time after he retired,
that he had suffered from
heart trouble for a consider
able time but did not care to
have it known. Mr. Larson
and John Ketrich visited with
him until about 3 a. m. but
owing to Mr. O’Neil’s attitude
and his refusal to call a physic
ian, did not consider his con
dition serious. Doubtless for
the same reason, no anxiety
was felt by his friends when
he did not appear Saturday
morning and it was not until
about 3 p. m. in the afternoon
that Mr. Larson decided to see
how he was. On reaching the
room, he was shocked to find
Mr. O’Neill dead and lying in
a position indicating that he
had passed away peacefully
during his sleep.
Deceased was aged 54 years
and is survived by two sisters
who reside in Bayfield, Wis
| consin.
Mr. O’Neil was a miner by
trade and was employed at the
[Indian mine in the upper Sal
mon district for an extended
] period during the earlier years
!of the camp. He was also em
{ployed by the Consolidated
Mining and Smelting Co. at
Tide Lake a yrear or so ago. He
was an ardent sports follower
and was especially interested
in baseball, on which he was
much of an authority, as well
as a popular umpire of local
baseball games. Blessed with a
genial and kindly disposition
and a great liking for children,
he w-as greatly beloved by
most of the little folks in the
community and never tired of
! catering to their amusement.
1 The district possessed no more
honorable or likeable charact
er than Charlie O’Neil and his
I untimely demise is universally
j regretted.
will visit Washington later to
confer with President Hoover.
In other words, the controllers
of the world’s gold supply will
discuss the world position to
day.
Say* Meziadin Country *
Is Economic Asset
• That the opening up of the
Meziadin Lake and upper Nags
River section by highway
would represent an important
economic gain to the Portland
Canal district, regardless of
whether the district would be
connected with the projected
Pacific-Yukon-Alaska High
way or not, is the view express
ed in the following article by
Mr. Ernest Blue, Hyder attor
ney, after extensive survey and
investigation of that section
during the past month. Mr.
Blue’s deductions were made
ion the spot as a result of his
personal findings relative to
possible highway connections,
as well as the agricultural,
mineral producing and other
| characteristics of the district,
| and may be considered an
j authoritative exposition of the
l facts, as well as the most in
! formative statement regarding
I that little known and under
j stood section that has so far
I appeared. He says:
j “In the discussion of any
| project, its present and future
economic value should be giv
[ en first consideration. Any
form of personal interest or
desire should also be elimin
ated or else reduced to a min
imum.
For several years it has been
the writer’s lot to represent
the Hyder Chamber of Com
merce as chairman of its high
way, trails, and transportation
committees and it has been the
policy of such committees,
when matters of proposed pro
jects were referred to them, to
ascertain as far as possible the
feasibility, practicability and
economic value from every
possible viewpoint of the pro
ject proposed.
When the Pacific-Yukon
Alaska Highway was propos
ed, it was at once observed
that if such a highway could
be built its value to Stewart
and Hyder would be inestim
able. With this idea in view,
the Stewart Board of Trade
organized a Highway Commit
tee and entered upon an ex
tensive educational campaign.
An invitation was extended to
the Hyder Chamber of Com
merce to join this work and the
task was referred to the high
way committee of the latter
body. Immediately these col
laborating highway committ
ees set to work, they found
authentic and dependable in
i formation as to the actual road
i construction conditions very
' scarce or unobtainable.
It was with this situation in
| view that the writer made a
! trip into the Nass river valley,
'and, at the request of the com
i mittee and the local business
I men with whom I have discuss
\ ed the matter, I offer herewith
j to those interested my obser
i vations and conclusions.
i
| There is now in the Stewart
: and Hyder districts in excess
j of 50 miles of splendid gov
' ernment-built highway, every
mile of which traverses coun
try of unparalleled scenic
beauty and untold mineral
wealth. Less than 100 miles
soqth is the northerly limits of
Continued on Page Four
ALASKA EXPORTS
TAKE BIG SLUMP
That Alaska is now com
mencing to feel the more ser
ious effects of the world bus
iness decline is indicated by a
decrease of $3,314,121 in the
value of Alaska exports, ex
clusive of gold and silver, dur
ing the month of September.
Shipments of mei’chandise to
the States during the month
were valued at $9,753,495, as
compared to $13,067,616 for
September, 1930. Precious
metal production also showed
a marked decline during the
period, the total value of gold
shipments being $856,483. Sil
ver shipments totaled $12,960.
This was $136,889 behind
shipments of the same metals
in September, 1930.
The largest drop in any
commodity developed in can
ned salmon, shipments last
month being more than two
million dollars behing those of
the same month last year.
According to the monthly re
port of Customs Collector J. C.
McBride, the value of all fish
j and fish products exported
was $9,104,255. Furs and fur
skins totaled $25,281; Copper
and lead shipments, 352,545;
miscellaneous exports, $36,
487.
Combined with gold and ■
silver, the total of all export
ed commodities amounted to
$10,622,941.
Following is the full list of
exports and values:
Animals .. 337
Curios . 706
Fish: fresh and frozen
(except shell-fish)
Halibut . 60,092
Salmon . 21,729
All other . 316
Canned: (except
shell-fish)
Salmon . 8,706,850
Cured or preserved:
(except shell-fish)
Cod . 79
Herring . 44,962
Salmon . 100,884
Shell-fish:
Clams . 6,378
Crabs . 6,530
Shrimps . 21,523
Other fish products:
Meal . 51,382
Oil . 83,525
Furs and fur-skins:
Seal skins. 802
Silver or black fox 500
Red fox . 1,040
White fox . 1,580
Mink . 295
Muskrat . 15,534
Beaver . 180
All other . 1,945
Manufactured furs.. 3,385
Ore, matte, regulus:
Copper . 341,055
Lead . 11,490
Reindeer meat . 12,335
Stone, marble, etc... 9,435
Trophies, Specimens 1,335
All other articles.... 12,982
Total value of pro
ducts of Alaska . 9,519,191
Products of the Unit
ed States returned.. 233,554
Total value of for
eign products. 750
Total value shipments
of merchandise .... $9,753,495