HYDER - FIRST ALASKA TOWN THAT CAN BE REACHED BY THE PACIFIC - YDKON - ALASKA HIGHWAY
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SPECIALIZING IN
MINING NEWS OF THE
PORTLAND CANAL
DISTRICT
V
HYDER WEEKLY HERALD
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SUBSCRIPTIONS
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VOL 7, NO. 37
HYDER, ALASKA, SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 1931.
PRICE TEN CENTS
FINE RESULTS
ON THE UNICORN
Results of the most encourag
ing character are marking the
season's development activi
ties on the Unicorn group, ad
joining the Big Missouri, ac
cording to John Hovland,
pioneer mining man and man
aging director of the Unicorn
Mines Company, Ltd.
During a short visit in town
this week Mr. Hovland said
the No. 3 tunnel is going for
ward nicely and is now in be
tween 380 and 385 feet. As
says of the ore encountered
continue to show gold right
along.
The average is low yet, Mr.
Hovland said, but there seems
to be gold all through the
area penetrated and specimen
assays running as high as $28
gold have been obtained. The
face of the tunnel is now ap
proaching the east-west series I
of veins which show gold val
ues on the surface immediate
ly to the west of the No. 3 j
tunnel.
“Free gold has been found
right up to the present face
over the last seventy feet of j
the tunnel,” Mr. Hovland said
“There is not a large quantity,
but specks of free gold can bt j
seen in the rock from almosl
every round of shots. This we ]
consider most encouraging ii.
every way.”
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Airways Plane Visits
An Alaska-Washington Air
ways plane piloted by Lieut
E. A. Meyering, with Frank }
Wadman as mechanic, arrived
from Ketchikan Tuesday !
morning, with H. V. Newell
and Sam Gucker as passen
gers. The plane remained here '
several hours, before return
ing to Ketchikan with the !
same men.
During the stop-over, the i
plane made a visit to the Davis
River power site of the Fort-,
land Canal Power Company
with Edwin R. Wright, engin
eer of the company, and Mr.
II. W. Small, an eastern engin-i
eer who is investigating the j
power development project as j
a representative of the U. S. j
Lee Enginering Corporation of,
New York City. The plane I
flew over the power site and
along Davis River and land- j
ed the two engineers at the J
mouth of Davis River before
returning to Hyder.
Stewart Lady Passes
Mrs. J. Thomas, mother of
J. Thomas and a resident ol'
Stewart for the past four years
or so, passed away suddenly
at her home Tuesday morning
as a result of heart failure.
Deceased was 56 years of age
and had been in ill health for
some time prior to her passing.
In addition to her son, she is
survived by two married
daughters who reside in the |
States. The funeral was held j
Wednesday afternoon, with
Dr. Baker officiating. Inter
ment was in the Stewart cem
etary.
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Marcus Carlson arrived Tues
day with 5 men to take a road
contract.
New Law Campelb
Payment Going Wage
That long needed enactment,
a law compelling employers
on public construction work to
pay the going wage in the dis
trict where the work is done,
was written into the Territor
ial statutes by the last Legis
laure and is now in operation
throughout Alaska. The full
text of the new law follows:
Section 1. That every con
tractor or subcontractor per
j forming work on any public
construction within the Terri
tory of Alaska shall pay not i
i less than the prevailing rate of j
: wages for work of a similar !
i nature in the region in which ^
I the work is done.
Section 2. All sub-contracts
| performed on any public con
! struction shall be, or may be.:
reduced to a basis of day la
! bor for the purpose of deter
; mining whether or not such
subcontractor or contractors
have been paid at not less than
he prevailing scale of wage.
Secion 3. The Territorial
Board of Road Commissioners
for the Territory of Alaska is
hereby given the authority to 1
say what constitutes the pre-1
i vailing wage; determine
I whether or not this law is be-j
ing violated, and, should this)
law be violated, the Attorney
j General shall, when so in
j dructed by the Territorial
! Board of Road Commissioners
; for the Territory of Alaska, j
| fake immediate steps to en
[ force the provisions of this |
Act. I
Section 4. All contractors or
uib-contractors coming under
| the purview of this Act shall,
before the tenth day of each
month, file with the Territor
:al Board of Commissioners, a
chedule for the previous
month, setting forth in detail
the number of men employed,
and wages paid on such work,
and furnish such other infor
mation as the Territorial
Board of Road Commissioners j
i'or the Territory of Alaska
may request.
Section 5. Should any part
of this Act be declared invalid,
it shall not invalidate the re
mainder of the Act.
Section 6. An emergency is
hereby declared, and this Act
shall be in full force and ef
fect immediately upon its pas
sage and approval.
Approved April 29, 1931.
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Nc Funds Available For
Banded Mountain Road
That shortage of funds may
compel a further delay in the
construction of the proposed
pack trail to the Banded
Mountain area at the head of j
Texas creek is the word j
brought from Ketchikan this j
week by J. M. Wyckoff, for- i
est ranger of the Tong ass Na- !
tional Forest.
Funds for forest servicej
! trail work are never too plen
tiful at any time and the ne
cessity for maintaining the ex
! isting trails leaves but little
money for new work, Mr. Wy
i ckoff said. As a result it is
! not believed that the trail can j
| be carried through this sea
i son, although there is a prob
ability that some work can be 1
done toward opening a trail
, which will permit taking pack
] horses up on the glacier.
I
PITTMAN PREDICTS
SILVER MEET SOON
Senator Key Pittman of Ne
vada, foremost champion of
silver rehabilitation, predicted
in a public statement at Shang
hai, China, that there would be
a conference of the world’s
principal nations on silver and
allied questions within the i
next three months, despite a
recent announcement by Sen
ator Reed Smoot of Utah that
certain foreign nations were
opposed to such a project..
Pittman, who is in China to
study the silver question, made
the prediction after a confer- j
ence with Chinese government
officials at Nanking and after
learning of the Smoot pro
nouncement, which was based
on a telegram from president
Hoover reading as follows:
“Informal discussions among
nations, some of whose par j
ticipation is vitally necessary,'
developed the fact that they
do not consider this the prop-:
er time to call an international
conference on silver and would
jppose holding such a confer
ence now.’’
“My guess is,” said Senator
Pittman, “that there will be a
conference of the world’s prin
cipal nations on silver and al
lied questions within three
months.”
The senator said about 40
of the world’s governments
have already indicated they
desire such a conference in an
effort to assist the world’s suf
fering commercial interest.
“Therefore,” he said, “the
conference is assured and the
American government or any
other government, with inter
ests involved, cannot afford to
stay out of the parley when it
convenes. Great Britain and ,
France are probably the prin
cipal objectors for reasons pe
culiar to them, but when the
conference opens, rest assured
that they will be represented.
“The United States senate,
the American national Cham
ber of Commerce and other
commercial interests say Am
erica desires to confer with
other nations for mutual bet
terment.
“The same condition exists
in other nations. Therefore,
President Hoover’s telegram in
no way indicates a change in
our belief that the majority of
governments desire such a con
ference.”
Eastern Engineer
Visits Power Site
Edwin R. Wright, engineer
for the Portland Canal Power
Company, arrived Tuesday
from Seattle .accompanied by
H. W. Small, engineering rep
resentative of the U. S. Lee
Engineering Corporation of
New York City, who is here
to investigate the Portland
Canal Power Company’s big
power development project on
Davis River.
As is usual in such cases, Mr.
Small would make no state
ment regarding his views of
the power development pro
posal other than to say he was
here to investigate its possi
bilities.
Mr. Wright was unable to
give out definite information
DARLING URGES
SILVER PARLEV
It would be a wonderful
thing for the world, a great
advertisement for Canada if
that country would call an in
ternational conference on sta
bilizing silver, declared J. F.
Darling, director of the Mid
land Bank of London, who re
turned to Ottawa a few days
ago after a visit to Washing
ton, D. C.
Mr. Darling’s proposal for a
bi-metal standard would place
silver alongside gold as a
standard of currency, at one
twentieth of the gold value.
United States would send
representatives to Ottawa if a
conference were called, Mr.
Darling declared.
United States has so much
gold she could stabilize silver
without any cooperation from
other nations, Mr. Darling
stated. The only salvation for
the present world depression
was higher prices and Mr.
Darling saw no method for ac
complishing this except by
bringing back the price of sil
ver.
United States gold holdings j
today total four and a half
billions of dollars. Silver’s mar
ket price today is 26 Vi cents
an ounce and gold is about
$20.67 an ounce. Silver is now
in the ratio of about 80 to one
of gold.
Independence Day
Celebration Plani
Plans for the celebration of
Independence Day, July 4th,
were laid at a meeting of cit
izens held in Chamber of Com
merce Hall Tuesday evening
with E. D. Haddon, president
of the Chamber of Commerce,
presiding.
As the big Alaska-British
Columbian international cele
bration will occur in the same
month, it was the general view
that no attempt should be
made to stage an elaborate
celebiation on the Fourth. It
was at length decided to hold
a program of track and field
sports for the children, com
mencing at 10 A. M. The af
ternoon will be devoted to a
baseball game and the evening
will be given over to the dance
of the Pioneers of Alaska.
Chairmaan Iladdon appoint
ed the following committees to
handle the program:
Ball game: Holger Johnson,
H. W. Thomas.
Sports: Tom Moore, Ben
Oien, Henry R. Cross.
Decorations: N. M. Traversy,
A. N. Others.
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A son was bora to the wife
of G. P. Heineky in Stewart
hospital Tuesday.
regarding the contemplations
of his company. Mr. W. T.
Batcheller, president and man
aging director of the company,
is in the East in connection
with the project.
Mr. Wright and Mr. Small
sailed for Seattle today, after
collecting a large amount of
data relative to local condi
tions.
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W. W. Forgey, a friend of
Wm. Tonkin, Jx\, arrived to
day.
Big Celebration Program
Now Shaping Up
Plans for the big internat
ional Alaska-British Colum
bian celebration on July 18.
10 ami 20 are fast taking a
more concrete form under the
direction of the three ener
getic committees from Pre
mier, Hyder and Stewart. The
work of whipping things in
to shape has now become so
complicated that additional
help is needed by the central
committee, who have an
nounced the appointment of
I the following sub-committees:
Decoration: W. D. Smith.
D. J. McLean and G. Hills
for Stewart; Noel Traversy
and W. H. Ryan for Hyder;
George Rose and E. Mustard
for Premier.
Transportation: E. Love and
W. J. Crawford for Stewart,
T. H. Evans and Ben Oien foi
Hyder, J. Drysdale for Pre
mier.
Sports: W. R. Tooth and O
J. Hutchings for Stewart; J. B
Watson and W. Bruce for Pre
mier, W. R. McDonnell for ;
Hyder.
Sales: O. F. Hill.
The committe has also an
nounced the following tenta
tive program for the celebra
tion:
Saturday morning, July 18.
Parade will form up at Hyder
and leave for Stewart at 9 A.
M.: arrive Stewart 10:30 A.
M.
At ball grounds, 10:30 Char
iot race. 11a. m. pack horse
race. 12 to 1:30 p. m. lunch.
Hyder: Machine drilling con
tests, 1:30. Mucking and tram
ming contest, 3 p. m. Boxing
match, 3:30 p. m.
Ball game at Stewart in af- j
ternoon.
Dances at Stewart and Hy
der, 9 p. m.
Sunday 19th: Sight-seeing
all day.
Stewart ball grounds, 2:30|
p. m., band concert.
Ball game at Stewart 3 p.m j
Monday 20th. Sight-seeing i
and dances in the evening at j
Stewart and Hyder.
The assistance of private i
families in the accomodation j
of lady visitors will be much j
appreciated by the committee. !
Anyone desiring to assist in
this way will kindly notify
the general secretary.
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Premier To Pay
Three-Cent Dividend
At a recent directors’ meet
ing in New York it was de
cided that the Premier Gold
Mining Co. will pay a quart
erly dividend of three cents a
share on its capitalization of j
$5,000,0000, according to:
press announcements in the
south. Payment will be made
on July 3 to shareholders of
record on June 11th.
The forthcoming dividend;
will be on the same basis as for j
the two preceeding quarters, •.
the long prevailing former j
rate of six cents per share hav
ing been discontinued after
the September quarter last
year, owing to lower earnings
and the low price of silver.
The payment will bring the
grand total of all dividends
paid by the famous Premier
mine to $15,600,000,
C, SILVER-PREMIER
NEGOTIATIONS TOLD
—
The following comment on
the B. C. Silver—Premier sit
uation is reprinted from a
recent issue of The Mining
World and Engineering Rec
ord, of London, and provider
an interesting insight into the
conditions at present surround
ing the B. C. Silver property.
Interest at the Selukwe meet
ing centered around the dis
j cussion as to the conflict which
i has now continued for nearly
| 10 years over the treatment 0*
J the B. C. Silver ore, more than
| GO per cent, of which contains
! gold values. Pressed as to the
| nature of the negotiations with
1 the Premier Co., Mr. Hockle~
gave certain facts which m..;,
be of interest to our readers.
He said the Premier Co. had
offered to buy the B. C. Sil
ver ore at a fixed price, treat
it, charge expenditure incus
red in mining it, and there
after divide the results in their
proportions between the twro
parties. In the first instance,
they would be prepared to
take 100,000 tons, followed
by another 100,000 tons, and
a further 100,000 tons
at a slightly less price. The
Selukwe board, it has to be re
membered, would thus have
no means of controlling their
ore once it had been taken
away and mixed with other ore
in the Premier mill, conse
quently the proposal was not
acceptable.
To this proposal, however,
the Selukwe directors made a
counter offer, couched in thr
following terms: — Exclude
from a possible deal any item
that you wish, that is to say,
keep your cash until a fixed
date up to which you will mill
your ore, take the proceeds of
it. Then value the remainder
of your assets, your mill, your
tramway, your plants, as a
going concern, your under
ground workings which mich
be used as wayleaves, you
camp, in fact all your assets
and thereafter take shares in
a new B. C. company. The Se
lukwe company, on the other
hand, would value its ore re
serves, the advances made to
the B. C. Silver Co., and then
takes its proportion of shares,
so that each party would have
50 per cent, of the combined
undertaking. Working capital
would be found equally by the
two undertakings. The Seluk
we company was also prepared
to let the entire technical man
agement remain in the hands
of the Premier officials. The
British proposal seems emin
ently fair and reasonable, but
the only answer received from
the Premier president is that
further discussion should be
left in abeyance until the re
maining life of the Premier
can be more accurately ascer
tained.
River Again at Flood Stage
Salmon River was higher
this week than at any time
during the past two years as a
result of the warm weather
and rain. The water invaded
several lowlying portions of
the townsite and was reported
over the road north of town,
but no material damage occur
red as far as could be learned.