HYDER - FIRST ALASKA TOWN THAT CAN BE REACHED BY THE PACIFIC - YUKON - ALASKA HIGHWAY
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SPECIALIZING IN
MINING NEWS OF THE
PORTLAND CANAL
DISTRICT
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$3.00 PER YEAR
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VOLUME 8, NUMBER 48.
HYDER, ALASKA, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 19.12.
BY THE YEAR $3.00
MUST RAISE PRICES
OR REPUDIATE DEBTS
SAKS CHURCHILL
That deflation and the in
crease in the price of gold are
bringing about a condition
wherein world-wide repudiat
ion of debts, both public and
private, is inevitable, was the
leeent declaration of Winston
Churchill, noted British states
man and former chancellor of
the exchequer.
At present prices debtors, in
dividuals and nations alike,
cannot pay their debts, he said.
Churchill expressed the view
that the governments of the
United States and Great Brit
nia ought, through their ag
ents-the Federal Reserve Bank
and the Bank of England— to
come to a definite conclusion
that commodities must be re
valuated up to a 1927 or 1928
level, and that thereafter suf
ficient currency must be avail
able to provide a steady meas
ure for prices.
o
Bank Dividend Over $15,000
With the completion of the |
first dividend payment of 50
percent authorized by the Dist-1
rict Court, the Bank of Hyder!
will have returned to its de-1
positors $15,489.75 under the!
order signed by Judge Justin j
W. Harding, according to Jun- j
eau reports. In addition, Re
ceiver E. D. Haddon was also \
directed to pay one preferred \
claim to the Ilyder Postmaster'
for $181.51.
In addition to these disburse
ments, bonds worth $15,000
deposited with the Territory
of Alaska as security for de
posits of Territorial funds,
were sold recently for a suffic
ient amount to reduce to $l,-j
237.35 the claim of the Terri
tory. Fifty per cent of this i
balance is covered by the divi
dend ordered paid to creditors.
A statement rendered the
court by Receiver Haddon of
the assets still to be realized
upon is said in the reports to
consist largely of loans to rep
utable business firms and in
dividuals and indicates that
the creditors will be paid in
full when the bank’s affairs
are finally settled.
New Stewart Official Arrives
Mr. Dodd, former govern
ment agent at Telegraph
Creek, who will succeed J. P.
Scarlett as government agent
in Stewart, arrived on the
Prince Rupert Thursday, ac
companied by Mrs. Dodd.
Mr. Dodd was succeeded at
Telegraph Creek by Mr. Gar
rett, who is known locally, ow
ing to his having relieved Mr.
Scarlett in the Stewart office
for a short time several years
ago.
j World Gold Output Shows
Marked Increase in 1931
The increased hunt for gold
during the past year was re
flected in an estimated increase
of more than a million ounces
of the metal in 1931, as com
pared to 1930, according to
authoritative reports.
Total world output for the
| year is placed at 21,334,787
fine ounces, as compared with
120,200,000 in 1930. Transvaal,
I South Africa, led production
j with an output of 10,877,777
■ fine ounces, Canada was sec
j ond with 2,365,881 ounces, and
| United States was third with
12,214,165 ounces. Rhodesia’s
[production was 541,447 oune
l es and that of Western Austal
ia 510,570 ounces.
Gold production in British
Columbia increased 24.6 per
cent in the first si*x months of
1932, as compared with the
same period in 1931, with a to
tal of 91,000 ounces, as com
pared with 73,000 ounces in
the first half of 1931.
-A_
Brown Bear Sanctuary
Movement Subsides
That there has been a let-up
in the efforts of John M. Holz
worthy and other eastern con-1
servationists to create a brown
bear sanctuary on Admiralty
and Chichagof Islands and
there is now no danger that
their proposal will be put into
effect by the federal authori
ties, is the substance of a state
ment made to the Juneau Em
pire a few days ago by Paul G.
Redington, chief of the United
States Biological Survey.
Mr. Redington, who is now
visiting the Territory, stated
that most of the conservation
ists who supported the move
ment initiated by Holzworthy
have become convinced that it
is unnecessary and are satis
fied that the Alaska Game
Commission and Biological
Survey are handling the brown
bear resources of the Territory
in a manner to effectively pro
tect them from destruction.
■O'
Premier Doing Flood
Prevention Work on River
During the past few days
the Premier Gold Mining
Company has had a number of;
men engaged in installing a
series of brush and timber jet
ties to protect the tram towers
located on the river flats in the
vicinity of Fish Creek from
the encroachments of Salmon
River. The jetties extend from
near the point where the old
Salmon River road touches
the present highway.
The company is also said to
be employing four or five lo- j
cal men at repairing the tram I
towers at various points on the I
Alaska side of the boundary.
-o
The Misses Catherine and
Sarah Finlayson returned Mon
day evening from a visit ip
Prince Rupert.
BELIEVES SILVER
AID COMIND SOON
Monetization of silver will
gain ground rapidly if the
forthcoming international sil
ver and economic conference
takes action, and the recovery
of silver and betterment of the
entire mining industry is inevi
table, was the declaration of
J. F. Gallbreath, Washington,
D. C., secretary of the Ameri
can Mining Congress, in a re
cent press statement.
Silver should be used as gold
is used, as the supporting re
serve for paper currency, at
its current market value, Mr.
Gallbreath said.
This may be the work of
years, he continued, but the
monetization of silver will gain
ground rapidly if the internat
ional silver conference takes
action. This conference, called
by Great Britain and in which
the United States is authorized
to participate, can discuss but
one thing—silver as money. If
not, why hold the conference?
he said.
“Silver is not a sectional
problem; it is a world prob
I lem, the world’s greatest prob
lem, because silver is sound
money,” Mr. Gallbreath said in
describing money as “a meas- j
ure of value,” with its purpose ;
“to facilitate exchange, to rep
resent accumulations, to stab
ilize thought as to the value of
things—a tangible and inter
changeable measure of the val
ue of things. Use silver to the
extent of its gold market price
in placing actual money value
behind currency and eventual- i
ly gold and silver must reach
a natural parity of 14 to 1 to
create a metallic reserve for
the business of the world of
two-tenths instead of the pres
ent one-tenth of the non-metal
lic standard base. The history
of the world shows gold at one
billion ounces to 14 billion
ounces of silver,” Mr. Gall
breath said.
•o.
Returns From Hike
To Telegraph Creek
Joe O’Rourke, Stewart resi
dent, who spent the past year
at Telegraph Creek, after hik
ing there from Hazelton, re- j
turned to Stewart last week on
the Catala.
Mr. O’Rourke covered the
355 miles of trail between Haz
elton and Telegraph in 22
days walking time, although
his entire elapsed time was 32
days, due to laying over for
periods of five days at Echo
Lake and the Iskut. Going
was tough all the way, mud in |
the center of the trail being j
from ankle to knee deep, com
pelling him to keep to the edge
most of the way.
-o
The steamer Prince George
has been tied up for the wint
er at Prince Rupert.
ALASKA MAY SEEK
FEDERAL AID FUNDS
According to understanding
prevalent in Ketchikan, con
firmed by additional word
i from the national capital, Gov
ernor George A. Parks is con
sidering asking for some part
o-f the $300,000,000 federal re
lief funds to take care of Alas
kan unemployed this winter,
says the Ketchikan Chronicle.
There is some dispute among
local observers, first as to the
necessity of any such loan and,
second, to the possibility of the
governor’s making the loan
without legislative approval,
inasmuch as a special provis
ion hinging on Alaskan credit
was made in the relief bill as
adopted by congress and ap
proved by the president.
Primary need for consider
ation of any application is
suitable proof that territorial,
municipal and private funds
are so exhausted as to make
federal aid absolutely necess
ary.
Territorial funds, according
t o undestanding here, are
about exhausted. They can
not be replenished before the
next meeting of the legislat
ure, which convenes next
spring. Relief of those in iso
lated sections of the Territory
probably is the most import
ant of all considerations, al- j
though so far as known here
no survey has been made to
determine the status of these
districts or the amount of help
that may be necessary to sus
tain them during the next
year.
.n.
Alaska Publicity Still Needed
The abysmal ignorance con
cerning Alaska that prevails
among supposedly enlightened
business houses in the States
is glowingly examplified in
the following reply from The
Kolynos Company, of New
Haven, Connecticut, to a re
quest for information concern
ing one of their products made
by a local resident . It says:
Dear Sir:
The foreign busi
ness of the A. S. Boyle Comp
any is supervised by this de
partment, so your recent in
quiry regarding Plastic Wood
has been refererd to us.
“We would like to take care
of your request, but as ar
rangements have already been
made with
Nobel Chemical Finishes, Ltd.
Slough, Bucks, England,
to handle entirely the Plastic
Wood business in your count
ry, we regret that it is imposs
ible for us to take any action
on your inquiry.
“Thanking you for having
written in, we remain
Yours Very Truly,
The Kolynos Company.”
Jim MacDonald Hits Air
Trail For Liard District
James F. MacDonald, form
er local restaurant operator
and widely known oldtimer of
the North, has forsaken the
clatter of dishes, pots and pans
and orders for “ham-an’ ” for
the more rugged life of the
trail and the lure of virgin
gold, according to a letter
from him received this week
by E. D. Haddon, receiver of
the Bank of Hyder.
This time, however, Jim, who
passed over most of the old
northern trails on “Shanks’
pony” during his long careet
as a prospector, is not doing
his stuff entirely to the tune
of “Tramp, tramp, tramp, the
Boys are Marching,” as in the
good old days of ’99. In setting j
out on his new quest for the
golden fleece in the Liard Riv
er district, Jim hit the air trail
route. According to his 1 ot
ter, Jim, who at last accounts
was running a restaurant in
Juneau, left the capital city
for Atlin June 20th and pro
ceeded from that point to hi;
destination in the Liard by air
plane, accompanied by an old
partner of his earlier prospect
ing days. The letter fails to
state just where he is located
'in the wide-flung Liard dist
rict or who the partner is. He
said, however, that they are
well financed and equipped
for their venture.
Explaining his abandonment
of the grub-serving business in
Juneau, Jim wrote that he
found that he had too many
old friends there from Hyder
who needed a meal ticket and
he was unable to play the good
Samaritan to all of them and
meet the costs of doing busi
ness, so decided to listen to the
call of the wild once more.
During his stay in Atlin, Jim
reports encountering John
“Scotty” Thompson, who left
here last March for that sect
ion and who sent regards to
local friends, to which Jim ap
pended his own.
Whatever his faults may be,
and they are mighty few, Jim
MacDonald belongs to that
old-\time breed of north-men
who are ever ready to help a
friend, who never count the
beans and always keep the
latch-string on the outside of
the door, and all who know
him for the kind and generous
soul that he is will wish him all
possible good luck in his ven
ture.
-g
Prospecting On American Cr.
Mathew Little, E. M. and D.
D. Kimball, representatives of
the Excelsior Prospecting
Syndicate, Ltd., are engaged in
surface prospecting on the
Syndicate holdings, compris
ing 32 claims on American
Creek in the Bear River sect
ion.
-o
Eddie Smith of Premier was
a passenger to Rupert on the
Catala Monday evening.
SILVER Mill FOR
PIRLEV DELEGATE
That a silver rehabilitation
proponent will be named as
one of the United States dele
gation to the world economic
conference was the assurance
given recently to Senator Reed
Smoot by President Hoover,
according to an anouncement
by the Utah senator.
The president also gave as
surances that the silver quest
on will be discussed at the
conference.
The president was quoted by
Smoot as saying that he pre
ferred that the silver delegate
1 should be a real representative
jf the silver mining interests
and from the western part of
the United States.
■u
Sunday School Picnic
Is Highly Successful
The Labor Day picnic of the
combined Sunday Schools of
the Stewart United Church and
Hyder Methodist Episcopal
Church at the Dunwell mine
was one of the most enjoyable
outdoor events of the summer
season and was attended by
more than sixty persons.
Thirty-four of the youngsters,
accompanied by their parents
and church helpers to the num
ber of twenty-seven, met at
the United Church in Stewart
and were taken to the Dun
well, where Mr. W. Noble
placed himself and the Dun
well grounds at their disposal
and apparently enjoyed him
self fully as much as the child
ren. Games were played and
a splendid luncheon was
served by the ladies of the W.
A. Rev. F. Bushfield, minis
ter for both churches and the
only “international” Protes
tant minister on the U. S.-Can
adian border as far as known,
delivered a short discourse in
which he welcomed the picnic
ers and expressed pleasure at
the large attendance, in addit
ion to intimating that he will
deliver a special Labor Day
address in the Stewart church
next Sunday.
Transportation was kindly
provided by Messrs. Holger
Johnson, Ernest Blue, E. D
Haddon and Rev. Bushfield, of
Hyder, and Messrs. Campbell
and Duke and F. Reich, of
Stewart.
-o
Epidemic Killing Off
Northern Children
Reports from Anchorage last
week said that an epidemic of
whooping cough or a similar
malady had caused the death
within two weeks of twenty
children in the Kuskokwim
valley and numerous others
were reported seriously ill.