HYDER - FIRST ALASKA TOWN THAT CAN BE REACHED BY THE PACIFIC - YUKON - ALASKA HIGHWAY
SPECIALIZING IN
MINING NEWS OF THE
PORTLAND CANAL
DISTRICT
V.
HYDER WEEKLY HERALD
'—..—<
SUBSCRIPTIONS *"
83.00 PER YEAR
IN ADVANCE
> — /
VOLUME 8, NUMBER 49
HYDER, ALASKA, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1932.
BY THE YEAR $3.00
A: .(.DIAMOND INJURED
III PLANE ACCIDENT
Struck by the whirling pro
pellor of an airplane at Flat
while pieparing to embark for
Fairbanks on the evening of
September 9. Territorial Sena
tor A. J. Diamond was serious
ly injured and was rushed by
plane to the Fairbanks hospit
al for treatment, according to
reports from Fairbanks.
Senator Diamond was visit
,'ng Flat in the interest of his
candidacy for the office of
Alaska Delegate to Congress
on the democratic ticket. The
reports so far received fail to
give clear details of the acci
dent but state that he was
struck by the whirling blade
which tore through one shoul
der to the bone and knocked
him unconscious into the Idit
aiod River. He was rescued
from the water by friends who
had accompanied him to the j
plane. First aid was adminis-i
teied by a trained nurse at
Flat, after which he was i
placed on board the plane and
taken to Fairbanks. Hospital
attaches said later that it
would be several days before
it would be possible to deter
mine whether he would be
able to resume his campaign
without prolonged delay.
The democratic nominee had
covered most of the Third di
vision in his campaign and
was concluding his tour of the |
Fourth, after which he was j
planning to visit the Nome ,
section.
While serious, his injuries j
are apparently not of a charac
ter to cause permanent injur
ies.
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Searching For Lost Woman:
Possible Foul Flay Victim
The United States Marshal’ll
office in Juneau, acting at the j
request of the U. S. Consul at,
Prince Rupert, is seeking in-j
formation regarding the where
abouts of Jean Baird or Mrs.
A. F. Moreno, daughter cf a
Portland realtor, who disap
peared some time after Decem
ber 8, 1931, after leaving
Prince Rupert for Alaska in
company with one A. F. Mor
eno and a man named J. J.
McIntyre.
From information received
later through Moreno it ap- j
pears the woman accompan
ied him to some place on the
Alaska coast, the location of
which he did not divulge, and
where he claimed the woman
was drowned. According to
Moreno, the Baird woman
went out in a rowboat with a
girl companion. The boat
struck a rock and overturned.
The Baird woman drowned irh-;
mediately, but her companion
clung to the rock and was;
saved. Moreno gave no dates i
or other information as to
when or where the accident
I MacKay Prospecting
Party Back From Unuk
Back from a four week pros
pecting trip in the little known
i region surrounding the head
waters of the Unuk River, the
MacKay party, composed of
j T. B. MacKay, William Prout
j and Harry Melville, prominent
: Premier residents, arrived in
Stewart Wednesday afternoon
i on a Canadian Airways plane
j piloted by E. P. Well's,
i The party was taken into the
I Unuk district by Pilot Wells
! August 14- and operated dur
ing the succeeding interval
I from a camp established on
| what is known as MacKay
Lake, named after Mr. Mac
Kay and situated about 75
miles northwest of Hyder and
a short distance east of the
Alaska-B. C. boundary.
The airplane, a powerful
super-Fokker, arrived at Stew
ait from interior B. C. Sunday
and left for MacKay Lake af
ter a brief lay-over. Going in
to the lake flying conditions
were excellent but the pre
vailing fine weather was suc
ceeded by two days of rain and
dense fog which prevented
the plane’s return until about
three p. m. Wednesday.
Members of the party char
acterized the Unuk section as
an excellent field for prospect
ing but vouchsafed no infor
mation regarding their find
ings.
■o
Memorial Services For
Auto Tragedy Victims
Lack of space last week pre-'
vented mention of impressive
memorial services held the
preceding Sunday at Premier
as an expression of sorrow and
regret for the untimely and
tragic fate of Mr. and Mrs.
George Naysmith and William
Mowatt, Premier residents,
who were the unfortunate vie-1
time of the sad automobile fa-!
tality on the Hyder-Stewaii!
road on the night of August j
27.
The services were held in the
mine recreation hall, which j
was handsomely decorated i
with flowers, and were con- {
ducted by Rev. G. H. Moody, j
The program included a ser-'
mon by Dr. Moody, an address!
by Mr. D. L. Pitt, manager of
die Premier company, a vocal
-olo by Mr. William Carver)
and hymns by the assemblage, j
Mrs. Keyes of Premier provid- j
ed the musical accompani- j
ments.
Mr. Pitt in his address ex
pressed in feeling manner the !
deep sorrow of the entire com-'
munity over the shocking ac-;
cident and the universal sym-1
pathy for the bereaved surviv- j
ors and rejatives.
occurred. From the evasive j
character of his information it j
is believed more than likely j
that the woman was the victim ;
of foul play. J
I
IRK 01* MARIETTA
GROUP IS RESUMED
j L. C. Thornton and Hans
Bunzol left yesterday for the
head of Texas Creek to resume
; development activities on the
Marietta group, in which Mr.
Thornton, who is one of the
original locators, is associated
j with California interests.
I Development operations on
the group are of a most unique
type, owing to a large portion
of the ground being covered
by a blanket of glacial ice,
necessitating the driving of ice
tunnels to uncover buried min
eral leads known to exist on
the property and running un
der the overlapping ice. Free
gold float assaying into thous
ands of dollars found at inter
vals below and under the glac
ier is believed to come from
these ice covered leads and
provides incentive for the pe
culiar type of prospecting;
| which probably has no count
erpart anywhere in the world.
Mr. Thornton and his associ
ates have carried on their odd
i venture for several years and
I have driven an extensive ser
|ies of drifts and tunnels under
the great ice cap, employing
an oil-burning thawing device
devised by Mr. Thornton which
melts a passage through the
ice on bedrock in effective
manner and costs very little to
operate as compared to hand
drifting.
Mr. Thornton’s program for
the coming season includes the
running of a new tunnel, which
is designed to traverse an
hitheito unprospected area in
which he hopes to encountei
the source of the phenomenally
lieh float. Operations will be
carried on as long as supply
conditions permit.
Seattle Chamber Commerce
To Continue Alaska Bureau
That published reports to the j
effect that the Seattle Cham-!
ber of Commerce has abolished
its Alaska department are in
error and there is no intention
of abandoning the Chamber’s '
former activities on behalf of
Alaska, is the substance of a
communication from Christy
Thomas, general manager, re
ceived by the Hyder Chamber
of Commerce this week.
Mr. Thomas states in his let- j
ter that the reported changes
involving the retiiement of C.
D. Garfield as manager of the
long maintained Alaska de
partment constituted nothing
more than a mere change in
personnel to permit of more
economical operation. The
Alaska Committee, he says, i
will continue to cooperate with
and on behalf of Alaska as1
heretofore.
A wash-out on the Salmon I
highway at 11-Mile is report-!
ed. Water was also reported j
over the road 2|/o miles north
of town Friday evening.
iMEGER PARTY TO
EXPLOIT NEW FIELD
Confident that the placer
possibilities of the Bell-Irving
River district will repay ex
perienced mining efforts and
yield at least wages for men
who understand that charac
ter of mining, Paul Meger and
several associates will spend
the coming winter in that reg
ion.
Mr. Meger, accompanied by
Peter Morrison and others,
spent close to two months in
the Bell-Irving district last
spring and their decision to re
turn for the winter is the re
sult of their findings during
that period. They returned
during the latter days of last
month and have since been en
gaged in preparing for the
present expedition and in as
sembling their outfit, which in
cludes several tons of provis
ions and other supplies.
The winter party will in
clude, in addition to Messrs.
Meger and Morrison, Charles
Beale, of Stewart, and David
Gun-a-noot,. a Ilazelton Indian
who is thoroughly acquainted
with the Bowser Lake and Bell
Irving district. The party will
establish their camp on the
west side of the Bell-Irving
about four miles above the lit
tle canyon. During their ear
lier visit, Messrs Meger and
Morrison cut a horse pack
trail from Bowser Lake to the
point where their camp will be
located, thereby greatly facili
tating the transportation of
their supplies. Leaving this
week, the party expects to be
about two weeks in reaching
their destination.
Mr. Meger, who is widely ex
perienced in placer mining in
Alaska and teh Yukon, was not
inclined to state definitely his
findings last spring, but indi
cated that the Bell-Irving reg
ion is one that presents few
possibilities for those who are
not fully experienced in placer
mining. Both mining and trav
eling conditions are difficult,
and supplies are costly by the
ame they are landed. Mr. Meg
er estimated that their provis
ions would be worth close to a
dollar a pound at their camp.
Blanton Buys Blue Fox Cafe
Reports from Ketchikan last
week announced the recent
purchase by Walter C. Blan
ton from L. S. Ferris the lease
and all equipment of the Blue
Fox Cafe, Ketchikan’s leading
dining place and one of the
most widely known eating es
tablishments in the North.
Mr. and Mrs. Blanton and Miss
Evalyn Blanton left Hyder last
February to take charge of the
Blue Fox and have been oper
ating it since February 17 last.
In the final deal referred to
Mr. Blanton bought the entire
equipment, good will and
lease.
War Dept. Engineer Expected
Lieutenant Colonel C. L.
Sturdevant, District Engineer
for the Seattle Rivers and
Harbors district, is expected to
arrive in Hyder at any hour as
a result of telegraphic advices
received by J. K. Green, local
democratic nominee for the
Territorial legislature, from J.
J. Connors, Democratic Terri
torial Committeeman.
Col. Sturdevant’s visit is be
lieved to be connected with the
local flood control project rec
ommended to Congress last
spring by the Secretary of War
after extensive surveys by the
U. S. Engineers’ office in Jun
j eau, but for which no congress
ional appropriation has yet
been authorized.
Whether or not Col. Sturde
vant’s visit portends any early
activity on the river project or
other local work is entirely un
known to anyone in Hvder at
this time, reports to the con
trary notwithstanding.
From press advices received
by the Herald this week it it
understood that Col. Sturde
vant is making his first visit to
the Territory since Alaska was
placed under the jurisdiction
of the Seattle office and is on
a tour of inspection which in
oludes existing rivers and har
bors projects and fish trap
structures, and ,is making a
study of conditions generally
in the Alaska field. He visit
ed the Cordova and Seward
districts before coming to
Southeastern Alaska a week
or so ago, and will have cov
ered most if not all of this
district by the time he arrives
hei'e. He was accompanied on
his tour by James G. Truitt,
the engineer who made the lo
cal flood control surveys, who
will presumably accompany
him here.
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Dunwell Ore Shipment
Leaves For South
Close to fourteen tons oi
hit'll grade ore extracted by
Win. Younkin and Owney Me
Fadden from the Sunbeam
vein on the Dunwell property
under a lease, left last week
for the south on the ore ear
lier Griffco.
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Coast Bank Deposits
Shew Marked Increase
Bank deposits an the larger
Pacific Coast cities showed
a marked increase in August,
according to San Francisco re
ports. The gain for the month
is placed at $16,000,000, with a
total of $1,444,0000,000 in
both time and demand depos-]
its, compared to $1,438,000,
000 in July'.
-o
Copper Market Picking Up
An increasing upward ten
dency in the copper market
brought the price of copper up
to 6 1-4 cents a pound on Sept
ember 7. This was the high
est price recorded since early
this year and culminated a
steady upward swing during
the past six weeks.
MUST EXPORTS
HIGHEST OF TEAR
With merchandise exports
valued at $10,369,841, in ad
dition to gold and silver ship
ments totaling $970,328, ex
ports of Alaska products to the
United States in August at
tained a total value of $11,
340,169 and were the largest
)f the present year.
As summarized in the
nonthly statement of Customs
Collector J. C. McBride, ex
| oorts of fish and fish products
nade up the hulk of the ex
port values with a total of $9,
199,906, to which canned sal
non alone contributed over
nine and one-half million dol
lars.. Furs and fur-skins were
valued at $47,432; copper and
,ead at $86,400, and miscellan
eous products at $47,850.
Stone and marble were the
most important items in the
latter group, contributing $32,
242 of the total. The full item
ized list follows:
Animals . $
Curios .
Fish:
Fresh and frozen,
except shell-fish.
Halibut .
Salmon .
300
302
5,338
28,735
Canned, except
shell-fish:
Salmon . 9,519,774
Cui’ed or preserved,
except shell-fish:
Cod . 759
Herring . 159,080
Salmon . 85,072
Shell-fish:
Clams . 30,017
Crabs . 9,170
Shrimps . 7,791
Other fish products:
Meal . 69,952
Oil . 81,700
All other fish and
fish products: .... 2,503
Furs and fur-skins:
Seal skins . 385
Blue fox . 1,000
Silver or black fox 100
Red fox . 1,262
White fox . 4,895
Mink . 1,192
Muskrat . 4,928
Beaver . 3,140
All others . 1,278
Manufactured furs 400
Oil (whale) . 28,852
Ore, mattee, regulus:
Copper . 80,237
Lead . 6,163
Stone, marble . 32,242
Trophies, specimens 225
All other articles .. 15,384
Total value of prod
ucts of Alaska .... $10,182,203
Products of United
States returned .. 186,665
Total value for
eign products .... 973
Total value shipments /""
of merchandise .... $10,369,841
Gold . r 955,359
Silver . 14,969
Total value of all
exports . $11,340,169