HYDER - FIRST ALASKA TOWN THAT CAN BE REACHED BY PACIFK-YUKON-ALASKA HIGHWAY
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VOLUME 9, NUMBER 41.
HYDER, ALASKA, SATURDAY, JULY 22, 1933.
SINGLE COPIES 10 CENTS
TOM. ROBINSON HURT
IN PREMIER MINE BLAST
Thomas Robinson, miner, em
ployed in the Premier mine
and well known in the district,
was severely injured by a blast
while at work in the mine late
Tuesday night.
Caught by a delayed shot on
returning to the stope where
he was working, the unfortu
nate young man was struck by
a fusillade of hurtling rock
fragments and severely bruised
and lacerated on the face am)
head. Particles of the rock
were said to have penetrated
both eyeballs and may cause
the loss of his vision, accord
ing to reports from the mine.
Aside from the wounds on
his head and face he suffered
no serious injuries, his cloth
ing apparently having protect
ed his body from the flying
rock fragments.
Rlobertson was taken to
Prince Rupert Wednesday on
Norman Langford’s fast speed
boat. He was accompanied on
the trip by his brother, Robert,
and Robert Smurthwaite.
•o
Early Results Expected From
Georgia River Drill Work
The diamond drilling prog
gram now under way on the
Georgia River property is be
ing carried on under contract
by the Robinson Diamond Drill
ing Company of Vancouver.
J. C. McCutcheon has been
engaged to carry on the engin
eering work and to coordinate
results of the past work and
the disclosures anticipated
from the diamond drilling
With the large amount of
work already done, it is expect
ed that proving up of addition
al ore bodies will require but a
short time.
.-o
Premier Celebrates
Dominion Day
Premier residents, assisted
by a considerable number from
Hyder and Stewart, celebrated
Canada’s birthday last Satur
day-with an interesting pro
gram iof track and field sports,
followed by a big dance in the
evening. The holding of the
celebration 15 days after Do
minion Day, July 1, is in accord
ance with an established cus
tom adopted to avoid interfer
ence with the celebrations in
Stewart and Hyder on July 1
and 4.
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A party of 35 tourists, van
guard of the summer tourist
pilgrimage to the North, was
on board the C. N. steamer ar
riving at Stewart this morning.
CANADIAN DESTROYERS
TO VISIT DISTRICT
Two Canadian destroyers,
H. M. C. S. Skeena and H. M.
C. S. Vancouver, will pay the
district a four-day visit next
month, arriving August 7 and
departing August 11, accord
ing to advices received in Stew
art this week.
The Skeena, it will be re
called, visited the district for
several days last year, but the
Vancouver is new to local wat
ers. The former vessel carries
a crew of 6 officers and 133 en
listed men, the latter 5 officers
and 96 men.
Preparations for the recept
ion and entertainment iof the
crews are now in progress un
der the direction of a commit
tee headed by H. B. Campbell,
with E. T. Applewhaite as sec
ietary and composed of repre
sentatives of the Stewart Board
of Trade, Hyder Chamber of
Commerce, Canadian Legion
and Moose lodge. N. M. Trav
ersy has been appointed the
Hyder representative.
■O
Delegate Urging Rivers And
Harbors Program For Alaska
Although the office of the
Public Works Administrator is
•aid to be about ready to flash
.he “Go” signal which will in
augurate the administration’s
vast public works plans, Dele
gate Dimond has not been able
•to learn which of the Alaska
projects, if any, are on the ap
proved list of the first group of
oublic works, according to re
ports from the Delegate’s of
fice. This is not because Col.
Donald H. Sawyer, temporary
I administrator of public works,
s loath to give information,
but rather because the whole
set-up is in such a formative
dage that decisions are
changed hourly. Practically ail
the Delegate’s time since Cong
[ cess adjourned has been spent
in protecting the Territory’s in
terests in this respect. He re
cently held a long conference
[ with General Pillsbury, a rank
| ing official in the office of the
i chief of army engineers, and
urged a comprehensive rivers
! and harbors program for Alas
! ka.
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Treasury Balance Shows
Gain Over Last Year
-o
i The balance on hand in the
: Territorial Treasury at the end
j of June was over $60,000
I ahead of the balance on June
30, 1932. Outstanding war
rants amounted to only $48,
567.21, making the net balance
$573,013.01.
GOLD EMBARGO MAY BE
LIFTED FOR MINERS
Reports from Washington
indicate that President Roose
velt is investigating the feasi
bility of modifying the present
embargo on gold shipments to
permit gold miners to sell their
gold in world markets, where
it will bring from $28 to $30
an ounce, instead of the $20.67
per .ounce paid by the United
States Mint.
-e—
Hyderites Forced To
Forego Bakery Bread
Bakery bread and bakery con
fections made of flour are now
unobtainable in Hyder as a re
sult of a peculiar development
in connection with the govern
ment’s new scheme to reim
burse farmers for reducing
their wheat acreage by impos
ing a proseccing tax on flour
and other milled grain prod
ucts.
As there is no bakery in Hy
der, all bread sold here is im
ported from Stewart and is
subject to the flour tax, accord
ing to a ruling of the Internal
Revenue department. This,
however, would not prevent
the imported bakery products
being sold here were it not for
a provision of the regulations
requiring that wheat products,
includ i n g yeast - leavened
bread, imported from foreign
countries must be held at the
| customs house until a sworn
statement of the importer is
filed with the district collector,
which, in the case of Hyder,
means at Tacoma, and cannot
be released by the local cust
oms office until a receipt for
the tax paid is returned by the
district collector. As this pro
cess would require about three
weeks, the ruling amounts to a
virtual embargo on bread from
Canada, as such bread would
be decidely stale before it
could be released by the local
customs office.
As no one here appears to
want to go into the baking bus
iness most of the sourdough
bachelors are now making
their own and incidentally do
ing some cussing about govern
ment regulations.
-o
Connors Now Customs Chief
J. J. Connors, new Democrat
ic appointee, took over the of
fice of Collector of Customs
for the Alaska district July 12,
according to Juneau advice3.
Mr. Connors succeeded J. C.
McBride, who had served for
more than 11 years.
GOVT. RELIEF WORK
TO START NEXT WEEK
Government relief work un
der the unemployment relief
plan of the federal adminis
tration will start here next
week, according to Mr. W. J.
McDonald Forest Supervisor of
the U. S. Forest Service in
Alaska, who arrived here from
Ketchikan Thursday afternoon
on the motorboat Ranger to
establish the camp and inaugu
rate the contemplated road
construction program.
As indicated Iby Mr. McDon
ald- during his previons visit
three weeks ago, the camp will
be established in the Hewitt
residence in the forest town
-ite and the work will be di
rected to constructing an auto
mobile road from the Salmon
river highway t'o Moose Park
by way of the cemetery road.
The road work will probably
start Monday and will probab
ly continue until about the mid
dle of October.
Supplies and equipment for
the camp arrived from Ketchi
kan last Tuesday and the fit
ting up of the camp was start
ed Friday morning under the
supervision of Mr. McDonald.
Twelve or thirteen men Will
compose the initial crew but
the number will be increased
if there is further demand foi
work by local residents, as the
camp is authorized to accept
up to 20 men.
Ben Oien, local resident, has
been made foreman of the crew
and will be in charge of the
camp. He will be assisted by
T. H. Evans, local representa
tive of the Bureau of Public
Roads, who will act in an advis
ory capacity.
The men employed will re
ceive $30 a month, in addition
to board, lodging, necessary
clothing and medical care.
-o
! Forest Road Program
For 1934 Approved
The Forest Highway program
carrying approximately $350,
000 for forest road work in
Alaska, has been approved by
Secretary Wallace of the De
partment of Agriculture, ac
cording to advices received in
Juneau last week.
Other estimates approved by
Wallace include $100,000 for
maintenance of the present
forest highway road system,
$10,000 for various small pro
jects, $6,000 for location sur
veys and $15,000 for monu
mentation surveys.
-o
Mrs. D. L. Pitt and daughter,
Miss Elizabeth Pitt, returned
last Saturday from a visit in
1 the south.
DUNWELL OPERATIONS
APPEAR PROMISING
The mining (operations car
ried on under a leasing system
on the Dunwell property dur
ing the past year have been
reasonably successful on the
whole, although the hand-sort
ing and shipping of crude ore
has been found too wasteful,
according to L. S. Davidson,
local representative of the
Dunwell Mines Company.
The system employed is to
lease sections of the Dunwell
property, a few miles north of
Stewart, to individuals or
small associations of working
miners, There are at present
three such leases in operation,
each working independently
but with the cooperation and
assistance of the Dunwell man
agement, Mr. Davidsion said.
The Dunwell mill is also be
ing placed in condition to han
dle on a customs basis the ores
extracted by the leasees as
:oon as the volume of extract
ion is sufficient. The mill,
erected during the past winter
and spring, is equipped only
for gravity separation at pres
ent but flotation equipment is
being installed. For the pres
ent, however, it has been
thought best to experiment
with the different ores brfo.'u
undertaking active flotation,
Mr. Davidson said.
The leasees are making
shipments at frequent inter
vals and a considerable ton
nage of ore has been sent to
the smelter during the past few
months.
The progress of the new en
terprise i^s being watched with
considerable interest as it may,
if successful, revolutionize the
present mining outlook by
making possible numer o u s
small mining operations in the
district.
Blanton Undergoes Operation
Walter C. Blanton, former
resident of Hyder, now located
in Ketchikan, underwent an
emergency operation in the
Ketchikan hospital last week
as a result of a rupture of his
appendix. He was ropbrted in
a serious condition for several
days following the operation
and was still in a precarious
state at the time of the last re
ports this week.
-o
Right Reverend Bishop Bun
oz, O. M. I., chief prelate of the
Catholic Church in British Col
umbia, arived in Stewart this
morning on a week-end visit,
accompanied by Rev. Father
LeRay, priest in charge of the
Stewart and Prince Rupert
districts.