The Salmon River District is
Marvelously Rich in Minerals
and Hyder is the Gateway in
Consequence of Which Hyder is
the Fastest Growing Town in
the North.
HYDER ALASKA MINER
Published at the Gateway to 4;he Salmon River, Alaska - British Columbia, Mineral Area
This Paper is Out to Publish all
the Mining News. Keep Your
Friends Posted by Sendirg (h<m
the Paper after You Have Read
it. Boost for Hyder all the
Time.
VOL. 1. NO. 13.
HYDER, Alaska, Jan. 23, 1920
FIVE DOLLARS A YEAR
Hyder and
Klondike
Comparison
Reports and requests for informa
tion from all parts of the United States
and even Great Britain indicate that
the public mind i3 comparing the Hy
der mining district with the Klondike,
says the Ketchikan Alaska Chronicle.
Telegraphic reports received yesterday
from Seattle to the Chronicle said that
J.L.McPherson, manager of the Alaska
Bureau of the Seattle Chamber of
Commerce, in his annual report pre
dicted that the Portland Canal country
“would probably equal, if not exceed,
the Klondike.’’
If Mr. McPherson was correctly quot
ed, it is unfortunate, for there is, in
fact, no comparison between the Klon
dike country in its balmiest days and
the Hyder district, as far as shown by
development to this time. There is no
question that the Hyder camp will
make a big showing and eminent engi
neers are quoted as saying one proper
ty alone there will be “the greatest
mine in the world. ” But to compare
it with the Klondike is to give a wrong
imp.ession. The Klondike was a pla
cer proposition, shallow ground for the
most part, while the Hyder camp is a
qr.artz, hard rock country.
to compare tne nyuer district to me
Klondike is iike comparing the pulp
and paper possibilities of the Ketchikan
district to the Dawson mining camp.
The Hyder camp in all probability will
produce more money and continue to
be a well settled community for many
years, permanently, and in the long
run may produce more gold and other
precious metals than did the Klondike,
but it will be by an entirely different
method.
The mining district at the head of
Portland Canal will require years of
serious, scientific prospecting, such as
has been going on there on a few prop
erties for y. ars. And the prospectors
who do that work will be rewarded in
time, some of them, while others will
lose years of endeavor, but they will
never be able to rush in, stake a claim
and leave the same fall with thousands
or hundreds of thousands of dollars as
was done in the Klondike.
Ai the big mine which is expected to
be operated on a large scale during
1920 and later, a number of miners will
be employed, quite a large numbe ■, it
is reported. Many others who own
properties will either do more develop
ment work the coming season than they
have done in years, while other owners
have already or will give options to
others who will do some extensive pros
pecting, all of which will require con
siderable help. Then in town there will
be the business houses, with their em
ployes, to supply this number of men.
Scientific prospectors, men who are
used to going into the hills, to plug
along, month after month, picking
blanks and who often persist in their
hunt until they do find it, will have am
ple opportunity in the mining district
back from Hyder, as they will in the
vicinity of Ketchikan. Experienced
miners will be able to find employment
undoubtedly in the spring and there is
small 1 kelihood that there will be too
great an inrush of these.
But if there is any great inrush from
all over the States, Canada or Great
Britain, as threatened, scores and hun
dreds of them are going to be disap
pointed. They are going to feel that
they have a grievance against the coun
try, even though they do not fit in, ar.d
they are ultimately going to get out,
knocking and spreading misinformation
that will hurt in the long run.
The Hyder country needs no misrep
resentation, if the rej orts of experien
ced engineers and practical mining men
are to be accepted. It will be a great
country and needs no misleading prop
aganda spread regarding it.
All it needs is the truth.
JOHN T. REED
COMMISSIONER
John T.Reed, former deputy clerk of
the court at Juneau, has received and
accepted the appointment as commiss
ioner for llyder and will make his home
here. Mr. Reed is an oldtime Alaskan 1
and has taken more than a passing in
terest in the starting of Alaska’s new- j
est mining camp. Last fall he spent a
week or two here and at that time ex
pressed himself as highly pleased with
the out loos for the upbuilding of a
thriving town and promised his assist
ance in securing such public utilities as
the town must have if it is to be a mo
dern community.
The commissionership carries with it
the position of local magistrate, and
also mining recorder. Within the next
few months there will be numerous lo
cations of mineral claims made on the
Alaskan side of the border, ar.d the
convenience of having a recording office
here will then be thoroughly appreciat
ed.
WHARF AND
WAREHOUSE
F.L.Lake and Jos. Green have pur
chased the property opposite Ne.son
and Heath’s store and formerly owned
by Alex Fraser and will build a float
ing wharf and warehouse in prepara
tion for the spring rush of business
which every week looms up in larger
proportions. I heir motto is “speed
and service,” an I with their swift
launches in operation they have always
lived up to it.
John Fawcett and Sam Thurber, two
prospectors who recently arrived at
Dawson aft* r mushing from Mayo say
the developments in the Mayo country
are continuing successful. It will be
active all winter.
PERSONAL AND PERTINENT.
William Smith arrived this week
from Fairbanks.
There is to be a dance at Stewart on
the night of January 30.
William Thompson, a member of the
Bush crew, has gone to Prince Rupert.
Eddie Kraus has gone to Pasadena,
California for a visit. He expects to
return in the spring.
There was a bet made of $100 on the
17th that 300 people would come in on
the bouts within a month.
James Lee, v ho has been blacksmith
at the Bush, has gone out to Vancou
ver for a rest and to bens.1t h s hi alth
Percy Jenns, assayer at the Forty
Nine, left Thursday for San Francisco
with the expectation of being away
about three weeks.
Tommy King and Martin Kane, old
timers of Hazelton. are putting in the
winter at the Busi and are reported
as liking the camp.
T.B. Waller and J.McLaughlin, real
estate men of Seattle, are recent ar
rivals. They intend going into a sim
ilar lire of business here.
R.W. Andrews, a sourdough prospec
tor who came here early last fall, has
been in Anchorage for several weeks,
but returned to Hyder Wednesday.
The Ketchikan Igloo, Pioneer.s of
Alaska, are preparing to hold a carni
val Feb. 12 and a number of Hyder
sourdoughs are going over to see the
fun.
The safe for the Hyder bank arrived
on the Prince Albert Thursday morning
and has been delivered at the bank by
Reid and Legg. It weighs about 7,000
pounds.
Oren Hill’s stock of drugs for his big
store arrived on the Taku II and next
week the store will be in full swing.
A registered pharmacist will be in
charge.
John Hovlar.d, the assaver, who went
to his home in Everett early last fall,
has returned to Ilyder and brought his
wife and bate, along. This is the first
baby to locate in the town.
Jack Heath has been appointed cen
sus enumerator of Hyder and will soon
be the busiest man in town. He will
have to go some to keep up o his connt
of the new arrivals.
O Ottcrson, an experienced placer
miner and prospe tor who is a pioneer
of northern British Columbia and Alas
ka, arr ved this week fiom the interior
and will camp here awhile.
The Hyder Lumber Company have
received the delayed fittings for their
sawmill machinery and expect to have
the plant in operation next week. They
have a quantity of logs on hand.
An attractive building containing 12
rooms and adjoining Nelson and Heath’s
store has been practically completed
for Mrs. A.S.McFadden and will be
utilized as a rooming house.
The King Edward Hotel Grill in Stew
art is now running on a regular sched
ule with Jack Schwenter as chef and
George Smith in charge of the dinin
room. The cuisine and service cannot
be excelled in the north.
H. A. Allen, former mail carrier or.
the Atlln trail, arrived this week from
the north and brought along his team
of four fine dogs which he ex; ects to
work in this > ection. Mr. Allen i3 a
j sourdough and owns a homestead on the
headwaters of the Taku where he us
ually puts in a part of the winters trap
[ ping and hunting.
Charlie Jackson, who went to Forty -
mile in 1894 and was too busy in that
I camp to go to K'oudike at the time of
the stampede, has cast in his lot with
Hyder. lie knows every roadhouse and
| practically every souidough up morth.
W. it. Reid, manager of the Alaskan
Hotel, is wearing the smile that wont
come off. Sure thing- it’s a hoy, born
in Victoria, and thriving according to
advices received Thursday. Itilly fig
ures on catching the next boat south.
The Taku II came in slightly behind
her regular schedule and experienced
the roughest trip of the winter. Gales
l from the north were encountered and
;t was necessary to chop ice from the
| fore part of the vessel. Six passengers
were brought from Ketchikan.
The Azurite, one of the Granby com
pany’s boats, came up from Swamp
point early in the week and took eleven
minors back to work at that place,
ihey were a part of the old Premier
crew and men who came from Rupert
to work at the Premier hut refused to
do so.
Residents of Stewart are admiring
an exquisite work of art which Jack
Schwenter, chef at the King Edward
Hotel recently presented to Mrs. Roy
Moseley. It is a reproduction, in icing
and pastry, of a three-storied Swiss
chalet, and if a similar piece of work
could be produced anywhere on this
continent, its maker has never come
this far north.
ALASKA MINING BRIEFS
The last mail to arrive at Dawson
from the Mayo district brought thirty
five claim location notifies to fie recor
ded.
President Wood, of the First Nation
al Bank of Fairbanks, says Steel and
Happy creeks are very promising and
may fie counted upon to increase the
Interior gold output i.ext year.
The increase of the quartz gold out
put of the Fairbanks district last y at
was due in iarge measure to the activi
ty on tiie Smith McGlone property,
which added thousands in gold produc
tion.
Lillian, Amy, Olive, Esther and Ruth
creeks are expected to add materially
to the Tolovana camp placer gold pro
duction next year. All of them are
said to offer immense possibilities as
open cut propositions.
With the Mayo mining district com
ing to the front the trail between Daw
son and the mining camp is coming in
for its share of attention A means of
shelter will fie provided for travelers
STEWART - HYOER
STAGE
Stewart
111 a. m.
i 2:30 p. m.
LEAVES
Hyder
12:30 p. m.
3:30 p. m.
who are at the present time sleeping
in the stables whh the horses, some
times in_the stalls a' d others with a
narrow strip of canvas dividing the an
imals from’ the men. When the men
were warm enough the horses were
overheated. Travelers have also been
compelled to cook as well as sleep with
the stock. On one stretch there is no
shelter for 2'J miles and while the tem
perature is from 40 to 60 below it is
not a safe t ip.
Alaska’s mineral output for 1911) as
revealed in the advance figures from
the annual re. ort of Brooks head of the
Geological survey was $18,850,000. Of
this $9,000,000 was gold, $8,500,00 cop
per, $650,000 silver, $350,1 00 coal, $190
000 lead, $50,000 tin, with platinum,
palladium arid quicksilver, and petrol
eum, marble and gypsum valued at
$200,000. The Seward peninsula led in
placer gold production with $1,309,000
Fairbanks being second with $770,000
and Iditarod third with $725,000 and
the Tolovana district with $725,000.
A dozen or fifteen outfits spent much
of the last summer preparing for active
work in the Totalinika district and that
section will be a good producer next
year and for a few succeeding years,
according to President R.C. Wood of the
First National Bank of Fairbanks. The
mining ih that region will all be open
cut work
C. Branstetter, a pioneer miner of the
Salchacket distri t, has been three
years running a bedrock drain in the
form of a tunnel th carry the water off
his property on Caribou creek. The
ground, though wet and spotted, is con
siderid quite rich.
That the Marmot river section will
receive more than mere notice this year
from mine investor- is an assured fact.
Some of th ■ finest ore ever shipped
from the district came from properties
in that section and there was somewhat
of an influx of prospectors there last
season, though too late to thoroughly
cover the field.
Several important dea’s are pending
for Marmot river properties, and one
has just been consummated, the Ster
ling Investment Company of Vancouver
taking over the Grandview group of
four claims, owned by H. C. Magee,
William Fraser, Alex Gi Alien, L. V.
Kelly and J.Cullins. It is understood
that the company plans to do consider
able development work next summer.
The mouth of the Marmot is across
the inlet and abont two miles down
from Hyder.
NEW BOAT FOR
HYDER TRAFFIC
According to advices from Ketchikan
that port and Hyder will 30on be con
nected by a fast, modern passenger
a: d freight boat with a schedule of two
or three trips a week, aocording to the
traffic.
Roy Cole, who has been a resident
of Wrangell and the west coast of
Prince of Wales island for a number of
years, and William Neill, who has had
several years’ experience in operating
gas boats in Alaskan waters, are now
in Seattle fitting up the gas boat Prince
of Wales for the run. The Prince of
Wal sis practically a new boat, having
been operated on the Juneau-Sitka run
for a couple of seasons. The vessel is
licensed to carry 45 passengersjand has
space for 50 tons of freight.
There are at p esent nine radio sta
tions in Alaska, namely St. Paul, St
George, Kodiak, Dutch Harbor, Sitka,
Seward, Cordova, Juneau and Ketchi
kan. The number of men on duty at
all these nations is approximately 100.
The number of men attached to the in
dividual stations ranges from one at
St. George to 30 at Cordova.
The Koskokwim Commercial Compa
ny has closed its stores at Tacotna,
leaving that field to the Northern Com
mercial Company exclusively. M.Hig
gins, fo merly the representative of the
Kuskokwim Commercial Company at
that point, and Mrs. Higgins, have
gone to the States. Mr. Higgins was
engag d last summer in placer mining
with good results. He says the upper
Kuskokwim country is one of the com
ing sections of the Territory.
The outside public* is request
ed not to send postoffice money
orders to this paper as there is
no money order branch in the
iiyder postoffice. Checks look
good when we open our mail but
greenbacks look better. Those
who have already sent money
orders will receive the paper and
we will try to induce the post
office to establish a money order
branch here so that we can cash
in the orders on hand.
STARTING IN TO BUILD UP A NEW CITY