.. ' ■" ——
AN ALL
ALASKA
NEWSPAPER
V,
DEVOTED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OP ALASKA AND THE PORTLAND CANAL MIN ING DISTRICT.
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V
VOL 4, NO. 43
BYDER, ALASKA, SATURDAY, JULY 14, 1928.
PRICE TEN CENTS
FINE COPPER PROSPECT
ON TEXAS CREEK
A copper deposit of large ex
tent and marked promise has
been located by Angus Ken
nedy near the head of the west
fork of Texas Creek, accord
ing to arrivals from that sect
ion.
The ore is of the azurite type
and is said to display hand
some samples of that beautiful
blue mineral. The vein, which
has been traced for a consid
erable distance, is reported to
range up to 9 feet in width.
The discovery is said to be
located on the north side of
Texas valley close to Chicka
min glacier.
-—0
RED REEF LOOKS GOOD
Interesting reports of devel
opment progress are coming
from the Red Reef property,
situated on the west slope ol
Mt. Rainey, below the Silver
ado and almost directly acros:
Portland Canal from Hyder
A cross cut tunnel started re
cently on the property is saic
to have encountered a seven
foot vein of ore, two feet ol
which carry up to $16 in gold
in addition to good silver and
lead values. The remainder ol
the vein is reported to be ol
milling grade.
-o
TEXAS FLOAT ASSAYS BIC
Assays of the rich float founc
recently on the Marietta
group on the west fork of Tex
as Creek have disclosed tha'
the ore, although to all ap
pearances containing only nat
ive silver in large quantites
actually carries gold values fa
exceeding the value of the sil
ver content.
A sample assayd shortly aft
er the discovery was announc
ed in these columns last week
is said to have disclosed val
ues in excess of $1100 per ton
$800 being in gold. The silver
content approximated 600 oz
Although a number of pros
pectors are said to have beer
searching for the source of th(
rich ore since its discovery, ttu
parent lode is still undiscover
ed, according to the latest re
ports.
o
RICH VEIN ON
MOUNTAIN BOT
Stewart is agog with excite
ment over the recent discov
ery of a big vein of high-gradf
silver ore on the Mountair
Boy group on American Creek
in the upper Bear River sect
ion controlled by the Pat Daly
Mining and Development Co.,
of Montreal.
The ore is said to give assay
returns running into the thous
ands of ounces, while an av
erage sample made up of some
of the poorest looking rock ir
the vein is reliably reported
to have given returns of 270(
ounces in silver, in addition t(
6 per cent copper. The vein it
said to range between 6 and 7
feet in width and has been
traced for 500 feet.
The company plans to start
shipping the ore at once.
-o
Chas. D. Garfield and A. W.
Carlson lef* for the south Mon
day.
- -o
F. C. Outland, managing di
rector of the Outland Silver
Bar Mining Co., was an arriv
al from Seattle Saturday.
ALASKA BUREAU
PROFFERS LOCAL
CO-OPERATION
Cooperation of the Alaska
Department of the powerful
Seattle Chamber of Commerce
in the furtherance of local de
velopment was tendered by
Chas. D. Garfield, manager, of
the Hyder Chamber of Com
merce at a special meeting of
that body held Saturday ev
ening in the Chamber of Com
merce hall.
The Alaska department was
formed for the purpose of as
sisting the development and
jpbuilding of Alaska, Mr. Gar
field said, and is desirous of
cooperating with the citizens
and business organizations of
.he Territory in all matters
affecting the territorial wel
fare and progress.
Mr. Garfield also gave an in
teresting resume of his recent
visit to other sections of Alas
ca during the past two months
ind asserted that evidences of
ncreasing prosperity were via
ble throughout the greater
cart of the area covered by
lis trip, which extended as
ar north as Fairbanks.
At the conclusion of Mr. Gar
ield’s remarks Ernest Blue
•ailed attention to difficult
onditions resulting from de
iciencies and burdensome in
libitions created by the Ter
ritorial Workmen’s Compen
ation law and urged the sup
)ort of the Alaska Bureau in
efforts to be inaugurated by
he local Chamber of Com
nerce looking to its amend
nent. As an explanation of the
aw would require a large
.mount of space, publication
if details of Mr. Blue’s argu
nent against it, will be reserv
d for a later issue. Arthur
Aoa and John Hovland also
ipoke on the same subject,
jointing out difficulties creat
'd by the enactment.
Mr. A. W. Carlson, of the
J. S. Internal Revenue service,
dso addressed the meeting,
tnd gave an interesting insight
nto the work of his depart
.nent.
PREMIER DIVIDENDS
NEARLY 12y2 MILLIONS
With the second quarterly
myment of $300,000 on July 3
o stockholders of record on
Tune 15, the Premier Gold
Mining Co. brought the total
lividends paid to stockholders
luring the seven years the
‘amous Premier mine has been
n operation to $12,450,497.
The distribution was made on
he basis of 6 cents per share
>n the 5 million shares of capi
al stock and represented a
•eduction of but 2 cents per
ihare in the quarterly divi
lend rate of the past four or
ive years, although the com
pany is expending huge sums
n connection with the devel
>pment of the Porter-Idaho
ind Prosperity properties in
the Marmot River section.
-o
, Harry Townsend, well known
mining geologist and engineer,
left Wednesday after a short
visit in the district.
-o
Outgoing pasengers on the
Fairbanks Wednesday includ
ed W. E. Moultray, Nick Chria
tomos, Hans Knutsen, Harry
Townsend, Chas. Coulter and
Wm. Knickerbocker.
OFFICIALS MUM
REGARDING BIG
MISSOURI OUTLOOK
The recent visit of S. G.
Blaylock and W. M. Archi
bald, respectively manager
and field superintendent of the
Consolidated M. & S. Co. and
Capt. Duncan McVichie, man
ager of the Big Missouri Min
ing Company, has not, so far
as can be learned, yielded the
slightest intimation regarding
the intentions of the Consoli
dated company respecting its
tenure of the Big Missouri
property. As a result of the
official reticence, the question
of whether the final payment
of $100,000 will be made by
Consolidated on July 21, is
still the dominant theme of
discussion in mining circles.
Reports from the south indi
cate a prospect that definite
information regarding the
Consolidated attitude may be
forthcoming before the pay
ment is due, owing to a stipu
lation in the bonding agree
ment requireing that notice of
intention shall be given 10
days before the due date. If
this is correct, it is probable
that the answer to the puzz
ling question may develop
within a day or two at this
end, as the Consolidated is not
likely to continue its local ac
tivities after giving notice of
an intention to relinquish the
property. On the other hand,
if the company intends to pro
ceed, work will probably con
tinue.
Southern mining journals al
so indicate that other interests
are anxious to take over the
bond if Consolidated retires
and funds to meet the final
payment are said to be on de
posit in a Tacoma bank.
-O
CONSOLIDATED TAKES UP
BIG MISSOURI BOND
Information received from
Vancouver today carries the
welcome news that Vancouver
papers of Friday evening pub
lished official announcements
that the Consolidated M. & S.
Co. has definitely taken over
the Big Missouri ground.
Noel M. Traversy has pur
chased the Keith building on
Main Street and will remove
it to a new location, one door
west of his cigar store, where
it will be subjected to consid
erable alteration and improve
ment preparatory to being oc
cupied by the Ideal Cafe.
The building which formerly
occupied the lot, was purchas
ed by Mr. Traversy recently
and has been moved to a new
site adjoining the former Trav
ersy paint shop, east of the
Northern Pool Hall.
-O
Rev. S. V. Warren, whose
horticultural efforts last year
evoked much local interest,
again demonstrated the po
tato-growing possibilities oi
this locality by harvesting a
crop of fine new potatoes on
July 4, the date on which he
gathered the first tubers
1 of the season last year. One
of the larger specimens oi
the new crop measured 4 V4
inches in circumference.
It is probable that much oi
Dr. Warren’s success in raising
early potatoes is due to his
method of planting the seed
with sprouts protruding fronr
the ground. As a result, the
vines develop very rapidly and
potatoes of edible size appeal
in about six weeks.
MINING IN ALASKA IN 1927
$5,927,000
7,250,000
356.000
548.000
84,400
127.000
Mines in Alaska produced
$14,404,000 worth of minerals
in 1927, as against $17,657,
800 in 1926, according to an
advance memorandum issued
by the Geological Survey. The
total value of the mineral out
put of the Territory since 1880
is placed at $585,374,000.
1927
Gold
Copper
Silver
Coal
Tin
Lead
Miscellaneous min
eral products 162,000
Total 14,404,000
The most notable decrease
was in the quantity and value
of copper produced, but there
was also a considerable de
crease in the gold output and
in certain of the substances,
notably platinum metals, that
have been included in the
table as miscellaneous mineral
products. The decrease in
quantity of silver produced
reflects in large measure the
decrease in copper mining, as
much of the silver is recovered
from that source. That there
was not an even greater de
crease is due, the report says,
to the increased production if
silver from the silver-lead ores,
especially those of the Hyder
district of southeastern Alas
ka. There was increased pro
duction of coal, lead and tin
in 1927; in fact, the quantity
of lead was the greatest that
has ever been produced in any
one year; and the quantity of1
<foal was exceeded in only one
year since mining began in
the Territory and then by not
more than 15,000 tons.
The Department believes the
decrease in production of min
erals from Alaska, is attrib
utable not to permanent wan
ing of the mining industry but
to a number of causes, some
of which were purely local,
others regional, and still others
widespread, affecting not only
Alaska but the United States
as well. One of the widespread
causes was the low price at
which metals sold during
1927. This not only had the
effect of cutting down the val
ue of the product sold but al
so had an even greater effect
in curbing production. Obvi
ously, during a period of low
prices it is only the part of
wise management to reduce
the output and await more
favorable markets. This con
dition was especially reflect
ed in the output of copper
during the year.
The decrease in the gold out
put is, according to this an
nouncement, of course, not at
tributable to this cause. In
stead, it was due solely to a
decrease in production from
gold placers, for the amount
of gold recovered from the
lodes increased somewhat.
The explanation of the de
crease in placer-gold product
ion lies largely in the adverse
climatic conditions at almost
all the placer camps through
out the Territory during the
season. The winter of 1926-27
had a very light snowfall, so
that the run-off from the snow
when it melted furnished un
usually little water. Coupled
with this, the early part of
the open season was unusually
dry, so that at many camps
water for mining was not
available until August. By
that time many operators had
NEW GEORGIA
RIVER SYNDICATE
The Pedro-Georgia River Syn
dicate has been organized or
the unit basis to exploit a
group of promising mineral
holdings in the Georgia Rivet
section.
The organizers of the syndi
cate include Paul Meger, Gil
bert Berg, Nick Nicholas and
Mike Korris, all well known
local people. The unit capital
ization is 15,000 units of a
par value of $10.00 each.
The syndicate property, is
known as the Pedro Group,
and includes a total of 16
claims located about 6 miles
from the mouth of Georgia
River. Work done in earliet
years has revealed a number
of highly promising showings
carrying excellent values, ac
cording to assay 'returns.
Samples have ranged up
$151.85, made up .76 oz. gold,
154.24 oz. silver, 16.4 per cent
lead and 5.30 copper. The
work so far done indicates
that the deposits are of con
siderable extent. This fact,
combined with the excellent
values contained in the ore,
make the property a decided
ly promising one.
-o
The Norco was scheduled to
leave Seattle enroute to Hyder
yesterday and should arrive
here by Tuesday.
become discouraged and clos
ed up their plants for the seas
on. Even at the large camps
the shortage of water forced
curtailment of work, so that
some of them were operating
at only half their normal rate.
In many of the districts the
season opened so late that
seasonal frost lasted even un
til August. To round out the
tale of difficulties, winter set
in unusually early in many lo
calities and further curtailed
the amount of mining that
could be done.
About equal amounts of gold
were derived from lodes and
from placers. The bulk of the
lode gold still continues to
come from mines in southeast
ern Alaska, and they are in
creasing rather than diminish
ing their output. In addition,
these mines are already yield
ing large quantites of silver
and lead, and plans are under
way for recovering zinc from
the ores of the largest mine.
The placer gold was produced
from a number of camps wide
ly distributed throughout the
Territory. About 58 per cent
of the gold recovered from
placer deposits was mined by
means of dredges. Twenty
eight dredges operated in dif
ferent parts of Alaska, and
though mining of this type is
generally less affected by cli
matic conditions, even the
largest dredge operators were
so hampeerd in 1927 that they
reported a marked falling off
in production. Only one new
dredge—that of the American
Creek Dredging Company in
the Hot Springs district of the
Yukon-was built and began
mining during the year. The
large dredging enterprise in
the Fairbanks district reached
such a stage that late in the
year the material for the first
two of the fleet of dredges
that are to be built was deliv
ered, and the dredges were sev
up during the winter of 1927
28.
JUNE EXPORTS
SHOW INCREASE
OVER LAST YEAR
The steady and long contin
ued slump in Alaska’s month
ly exports was checked last
month, when shipments of
products exceeded those of
June 1927, by $156,335, ac
cording to the monthly state
ment of Customs Collector J.
C. McBride. Increases in fish
and copper shipments were
the leading factors in the in
crease. Commodities exported
and their values were as fol
lows:
Animals.$ 100
Curios. 1,376
Fish:
Fresh and frozen
(except shell-fish)
Halibut. 64,523
Salmon. 90,187
All other. 1,051
Canned (except
shell-fish) -
Salmon...... 625,753
Cured or preserved
except shell-fish)
Cod. 1,786
Herring. 11,746
Salmon. 232,514
Shell-fish
Clams....... 53,777
Crabs.. 6,660
Shrimps. 21,891
Other fish products
Meal. 4,696
Oil. 3,780
Furs and fur-skins
Seal skins. 6,215
Blue fox. 3,625
Silver or black fox.... 1,000
Red fox. 8,413
Mink. 13,282
Muskrat. 10,616
Beaver. 91,739
All other... 21,348
Manufactured furs.... 4,225
Oil: Whale. 20,000
Ore, matte and reg
ulus
Copper. 705,482
Lead.,. 11,473
Trophies, speci
mens, etc. 1,035
All other articles.... 1,653
Total value of pro
iucts of Alaska.2,019,946
Products of the Unit
3tates returned. 120,000
Total value of for
eign products. 10,725
Total value of ship
ments of merchan
dise.
-o
2,151,270
Convicted on a charge of ma
'icious destruction of property
n the U. S. Commissioner’s
murt Wednedsay, Mrs. Lena
Sill was sentenced by Judge
W. C. Arnold, to serve four
months in the federal jail at
Juneau.
Mrs. Hill, who is an old-timer
and known throughout a large
part of the Northland as
“Mother” Hill, was arrested
Tuesday afternoon on com
plaint of Felix Seppi, propri
etor of the Salmon River Stage
Line, after she had smashed
the windshield and some of
the windows in one of his
automobiles and also broken
a window in his residence.
Mrs. Hill’s attack is said to
have been due to a griev
ance over an alleged failure
by Seppi to deliver some of
her effects. The defendant’s
animosity, however, was ap
parently not confined solely to
Seppi, as she is said by the of
ficials to have also threatened
to “start at the piling and
clean up the town.”