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JN ADVANCE
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VOL 7, NO. 17
HYDER, ALASKA, SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 1931
PRICE TEN CENTS
Senator Pit Lilian, chairman
of the Senate subcommittee
engaged in studying the si 1 vet
decline, blamed the fall of si!
ver prices on what he said wa
Great Britain’s policy of dump
ing Indian silver on the world
niaiket, in a press announce
ment a few days ago.
The recent sudden fall in
silver, the Nevada senator-said,
was due to selling of silver by
speculators in China, but they
sold because they knew there
was no hope for silver until
the British government for
India would announce a sus
pension of the policy of selling
its hundreds of millions of sil
ver coins as bullion.
Senator Pittman said he saw
nothing antagonastic toward
his committee’s program in the
recent statement of Finance
Minister, T. V. Soong of China
that China was unwilling to ac
cept a silver loan and that i
was an attempt of America;
silver interests to dump then
surplus in China.
Senator Pittman said the
mateiial statement was thai
what China was mostly inter
cried in was action that would
stop the steady drop in silver
and restore its purchasing
power.
“I thoroughly agree with
him,” said the Nevada sena
tor. “As long as the threat un
der the British policy in India
exists speculators in China and
everywhere will continue t<
short the market and sell sil
ver, adding to the depression."
“China,” he continued,
“wouldn’t want to borrow at
30 cents an ounce, then have
the price drop to 15. The
causes which work to bring
about the price decline must
be removed. Then the other
nations must negotiate with
Chine to finance her.
Pittman explained that th>
report of his investigating
committee would recommend
negotiations to suspend the
British policy in England, sec
ond, a silver loan to China
and third, as a long range
program, an international con
ference to study the future of
silver as money and its ex
change values.
- --n
Stewo.s i Holds Civic Election
With five candidates in the
field, Stewart held Thursday
its first annual election of Vil
lage Commissioners under the
Village Incorporation Act.
The list of candidates induct
ed the three retiring commiss
ioners, Messrs. II. P. Gibson
W. L. Newell andW. R. Tooth
in addition to two new seeker
for civic honors, Sam Des
champs and H. C. Bennett.
The results of the battle of
ballots, in which only property
holders were eligible to cast a
vote, were as follows:
The senate has confirmed the
nomination of Lynn Smith to be
U. S. Marshall of the Fourth
Sam Dcichamps
H. P. Gibson
W. R. Tooth
W. L. Newell
H. C. Bennett
71
53
S3
51
33
I ‘ruggests Exploration Co.
For Alaska Mines
i Dean Paity of the Alaska
College and School of Mines,
advocated before the Seattle
Mining Club recently, that an
| exploration company, under
rfund business management,
; investigate small mining prop
erties in Alaska and develop
the best.
Dean Patty raid the company
' would be able to offer safety
I in profits to investors above
j the u ual line of investments.
1 He raid .bankers realized more
| gold bullion Was neede to sup
j port the • inverted pyramid of
[ the business structure of the
1 nation and because of this
1 gold mining in Alaska was
1 'bowing a revival.
W. T. Perkins, President of
i the Seattle Mining Club, jsug
1 ge ted a small group of men of
wealth organize and handle
1 preliminary exploration then
ask the public’s assistance
when the most promising pvop
I ci ties were selected.
n
Chamber Cf Commerce
Dinner Meeting Wednesday
t Members of ihe Hyder Cham
' ber of Commerce are looking !
forward with much interest to ;
! the first of the series of dinner |
; meetings decided upon by the
new board of directors, which
| is to be held next Wednesday. I
The meeting will be held at i
Uhe Ideal Cafe, commencing at !
i f>:'30 P. M. It will include both j
S the dinner and the regular:
. monthly business session of the ]
1 Chamber, and will be open to 1
all who wish to attend. The.
j usual nominal charge will pre- i
. * i i
j vail. j
it is the hope of the board
af directors that the dinner ■
meetings can be held- once a
month or possibly oftener;
piimarily as a means of bring-j
ing the members into closer1
association and understanding
of theChamber’s activities and [
aims, but also with the object!
| of adding interesting diver
ion to the usual dry business!
. routine of the monthly sessions. I
World’; Richest Hiil
Underlying the city of Butte
and vicinity from an area three
miles long and one mile wide, :
in a network of veins which:
have been explored to a depth
of some 3000 feet with no signs
i ofv“petering out,” 100,000,000
: Lons of ore have been mined, I
j trammed, hoisted to the sur-!
Lace, and hauled in railroad
I cars to local smelting plants i
where 10,000,000,000 lbs. of
j copper, 2,000,000,000 lbs. of
sine, 350,000,000 ounces of j
'silver and 1,600,000 ounces of j
gold have been extracted and
shipped to seaboard markets.:
This tonnage of ore is equiv-;
' alent to a solid rock 35 feet '
high and a mile square. The
copper would form a cap over
this area 9 inches thick, the
zinc a cap 2 inches thick. The
silver dollars which might
have been coined from this
production, if laid on a surface
with their edges in contact,
would cover 160 acres, and the
gold would plate an area of 5
acres, at a pennyweight to the
square inch (20 pennyweight
in an ounce).
B.C.POWER COMPANA
PILES APPLICATION
Application to construct a
dam, reservoir and hydro
electric plant on Davis River,
to cost 3,000,000, has been
tiled with the Federal Power
Commission by the Common
wealth Mining and Exploration
Company of Seattle, according
to Washington press reports.
The plant is stated in the
application to have an initial
production of 25,000 horse
power and an ultimate capac
ity of 50,000 horsepower.
As is generally known, the
Commonwealth Mining and
Exploration Company is the
owner of practically the entire
area on Davis River in which
the power site is located, al
though the development pro
ject is being undertaken by the
Portland Canal Power Com
pany, of which Mr. Willis T.
Batcheller is the guiding spirit,
and also has been backing to
some extent of the Westing
house electrical corporation,
the latter company having
financed the initial develop
ment activities, such as the
preliminary survey work, to
the extent of more than $60,
000.
■o
Approximately 2,100 Cars
Owned In The Territory
There is approximately one
automobile vehicle in Alaska
for every 29 persons, accord
ing to recent figures, These
disclose that Juneau leads the
list of car ownership with a
total of 537 registered autos, j
of which 391 are pleasure cars
and 42 for hire vehicles. The :
remainder are tiucks. As no
territorial license is required
for trucks, no record of the
actual number in the Territory
is available.
Ketchikan is credited with
470 cars, including 310 pleas
ure, 28 for-hire and 76 trucks.
Fairbanks has 320 pleasure
and 59 for hire cars, but no
figures for trucks are avail
able. Anchorage is in fourth
position with 166 pleasure and
29 for-hire cars, while other
towns are credited as follows,
trucks not being included in {
the registration.
Cordova 91, Chitina and Mc
Carthy 42, Haines 40, Valdez
37, Nome 37, Skagway 36, |
Wrangell 23, Petersburg 21, j
Matanuska and Wasilla 20, |
Hyder 17, Sitka 17. The total!
number of registered vehicles
is 1962, with probably more |
than a hundred trucks unac
counted for in addition, mak
ing an approximate total of
2100 cars of all kinds.
-o
Territorial Relief Funds
Are Exausted
As a result of the exhaustion
of the last legislature appro
priations of $15,000, no further
relief of destitution can be ex-1
tended by the Territory from
its regular funds for that pur
pose until the Legislature
meets in March, it was an
nounced recently by Govern
or George A. Parks. The fund
for the current biennium is
now entirely exhausted and
cannot be replenished except
COIL PRODUCTION
SHOWS INCREASE
Production of coal from
Alaska mines in 1930 is esti
mated to have been 116,000
tons, or somewhat move than
1929 and within a few thou
sand tons of the high record of
all time established in 1928.
As usual practically all of the
output came from the Matan
j uska and Ilealy River fields.
The principal producing mines
were those of the Alaska Mat
ami ska Coal Co., the Evan
Jones Coal Co. in the Matnn
uska field, and the Suntrana j
mine of the Healy River Coal !
Corporation in the Healy River j
Held During the year extreme '
high water and floods in Sep
tember seriously damaged the!
plant of the Healy River Coal
Corporation and washed out!
long stretches of the spur track
that connects the mine with
the main track of the Alaska
Railroad.
The contract for most of the j
coal used by the Alaska Rail
road during the year was held
by the Alaska Matanuska Coal 1
Co., and consequently that
company’s mine was operated
to about the capacity of its
equipment, but the contract for !
1931 was awarded to the Evan
Jones Coal Co., and during j
December increased activities]
were in progress at that com
pany’s mine to furnish a larg-;
er output.
---n-- I
Transplanted E ! k
Herd Doing Well |
The herd of eight elk from
the Olympic Peninsula of
Washington, placed on Kodiak
Island in 1928 by the Alaska
Game Commission as a part of I
the Territory’s game stocking
experimental program has add-!
ed five to its number, accord-:
ing to official reports received
at the headquarters of the
Commission, says the Juneau
Empire.
The herd was kept at Kodiak
for a few months and later
moved to Afognak Island. It
has thrived and all of the origi-:
nal herd is still alive.
One of the cows, a short time
before calving, swam almost a
mile to Whale Island where1
the calf was born.
The original herd of elk to be
brought to the Territory was
put on Kruzof Island several
years ago. While a few animals j
are reported to be in that area, |
come of the stock swam the i
narrows between there and
Paitofshikof Island and thence j
to Baranof Island and have |
been reported a short distance !
from Tenakee. Nothing defi- i
nite is known regarding the j
number of animals and their!
range.
-:-o
W. M. Aichibald, Mines
manager for the Gohsolidated
Mining and Smelting Co., was!
an arrival Monday evening.
by direct legislature approp
priation. j
This does not necessarily j
mean that no official relief
can be had for the next two j
months as the federal courts i
in each division have a small:
fund which may be used for
urgent cases.
Peak:
'Alaska has Many
2 - Mile
A list of mountain peaks in
Alaska issued by the U. S
Geological Survey disclose.'
| that there are 55 known and
named peaks* possessing an
altitude of 10,000 feet or over.
It is probable that there arc
more of these lofty eminences,
the height of which has not
been determined as there are
several mountainous areas in
the Territory as yet vertually
unexplored.
Of the 55 mountains listed,
only 16 are less than 11,000
feet height. The loftiest peak
;s Mt. McKinley, with a heigh!
of 20,300 feet. The next high
est are Mt. Logan, 19,850 feet;
St. Elias, 18,008 feet, and Mt.
Foraker, 17,000 feet. After
these towering giaiTts, come
three massive peaks of mor*
than 10,000 feet. Bona, 16,
420; Sanford, 16,208, and
Blackburn, 16,140 feet, re
spectively. Next come three or
more than 15,000, Vancouver,
15,700; Quincy Adame, 15.
360, and Fairweather, 15,300
feet.
In addition there arc si;
peaks betfer-than 14,000 feet
high, the loftiest being Mt.
Hunter, 14,960 feet, and five
of 13,000 feet or more, with
Mt. Cook, 13,760 feet, head
ing the list. Ten known peaks
are more than 12,000 feet, the
loftiest being The Hump, 12,
900 feet, and there are also
eight whose peaks tower above
11,000 feet. Tire loftiest of
these is Mt. Hayden, which
rises to a height of 11,920 feet,
R e n e h a n S&arch
Continues Fruitless
More than two weeks of j
-e arching by airplanes and |
boats has failed to reveal fur- i
■her sign of wreckage or bod
ies from the plane of Pilot j
Robin Rcnehan, which is pre
sumed to have crashed into the ;
sea and sunk off Annette Is
land on the evening of Oct
ober 28 last, while enroutc j
north to join in the search for
E. J. A. Burke, and party in
;hc Atlin district.
Rough weather din the coast
is said to have greatly ham
pered the efforts of searchers j
engaged in investigating oil
^pots on the sea from the air
by Pilot Anscel Eckrnan off
he Annette Island shore.
It was agreed early this week !
hat if no further clues were
found after a couple-of days;
more of hunting, the search
would be abandoned. Mrs.
Renehan. who spent last week
n Ketchikan, lias reluctantly
conceded the death of her hus
oand and returned to her
nomc in Vancouver.
-o
Gams Warden Visits
Frank Dufresne, Came War
den for the. First Judicial
Division under the Alaska
dame Commission was a visit
3r in camp Wednesday and
Thursday in connection with
ho duties of his position.
Mr. Dufresne, in addition to
reing an excellent game of
:icer, is also a successful writ
er of short stories, dealing
principally with out-door life.
fiRGES CHANGE IN
PROPOSED ORIENT
AIR MAIL ROUTE
I Efforts are being made by
Premier S. F. Tolmie to have
the proposed international air
mail route from the United
States via Winnipeg and West
ern Canada to Alaska and
eventually to Russia and the
Orient laid through British
Columbia instead of, as sug
i gested, to the mouth of the
Mackenzie River and along the
l northern fringe of the conti
nent to Alaska, according to
Victoria press reports.
Premier Tolmie has opened
negotiations with Ottawa and
Washington recommended
that the air route cross from
Edmonton to British Columbia
along the route of Prince
George - Hazelton road or
northwest from Prince George
[ lo Telegraph Creek and thence
| to Atlin and Dawson whence
the route would be to Alaskan
centers.
The Premier says that not
only would it be possible for
pontoon-equipped machines
to land along the route but' no
great difficulty would be ex
perienced in the development
of landing fields.
u
Stewart Hospital Board
Makes Fine Record
An excellent record for eco
nomical management and op
eration by the Hospital board
in 1930 was disclosed in the
financial report of the Stewart
General Hospital Association
presented at the annual meet
ing in Stewart a few days ago.
A resume of the report pub
lished by the Stewart News
dates that the board finished
the year with -a balance on
hand of over $200, after start
ing the annual period with a
deficit of over $400.
The patient day cost during
the year disclosed a marked
reduction from $8.63 for the
year 1929 to $5.44 for 1930
This, the News states, is ac
counted for to some extent by
an increased number of pa
tients in 1930, as compared to
1929, but also reflects a great
deal of credit on the matron
and staff for economical Op
eration.
Messrs. E. T. Applewhaite,
and G. P. Heinekey succeeded
retiring members R. E. Haack
and W. S. Orr on the board and
Oren F. Hill succeeded E. D.
Haddon as the representative
from Hyder. Other members of
the present board are O. J.
Hutchings, J.-H. Wilson and
W. D. Smith.
Included among severa votes
of thanks passed by the board
was one to Mr. Hill and the
people of Hyder for their as
sistance during the year.
-o
Stewart Resident Passes
Bernhart (“Barney”) Roden
bcrg, well known resident of
Stewart, died suddenly last
week and was buried January
22 in the Stewart cemetary.
Deceased was a miner by occu
pation and aged about 55
years .Death came during sleep
and was due to natural causes.