HYDER - FIRST ALASKA TOWN THAT CAN BE REACHED BY PAC1FIC-YUKON-ALASKA HIGHWAY
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VOLUME 11, NUMBER 3.
RYDER, ALASKA, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1934.
SINGLE COPIES 10 CENTS
NOME FIRE WAS ONE
OF WORST DISASTERS
IN ALASKA’S HISTORY
Detailed reports of the great
conflagration at Nome last
Monday indicate that it was
one of 'the greatest fire disas
ters in the history of Alaska
and involved a property loss of
close to two million dollars.
Virtually the entire business
district, as well as a large port
ion of the residential section
was wiped out. Only two
buildings remain in the busi
ness area, all others being en
tirely obliterated.
The conflagration swept a
path 10 blocks long and three
blocks wide through the heart
of the city, which is located in
a narrow strip along the shore
of Bering Sea. Briefly summ
arized, .he story of the disas
ter is as follows, according to
the reports:
Fire believed caused by
sparks from adjoining building
falling on roof of large Golden
Gate Hotel in most thickly con
jested section of the camp,
most the entire length of the
after starting, fire raced al
most teh entire length of the
city before a 22-mile wind. All
efforts to halt flames unavail
ing and dynamite ineffective,
as fire speedily leaped gaps.
Every grocery store and mer
cantile establishment was de
stroyed and in many ca es only
a small part of their contents
were saved. Two Eskimo,
trapped by the rushing flames,
lost their lives.
Every man, woman and child
in the city able to do so aided
in fighting the conflagration
and saving moveable property.
Overcome by strain and the
terrific heat, many men and
women collapsed and were
carried from the fire zone.
The fire, starting about 10:30
Monday morning, raged all
day and far into the night. The
electric light plant was de
stroyed and the city wag in to
tal darkness except for the lur
id glare of flames. Drink
crazed Eskimo looted and pil
fered among the ruins as dark
ness obscured the desolate
scene and many were arrested
and locked in outlying shacks,
as the jails were destroyed.
More than 400 people, par
ticularly women and children,
were given shelter in outlying
shacks and buildings and re
ceived food at a community
kitchen. Only a small supply
of food was saved, but reindeer
meat is available in ample
quantities and Coast Guard
cutters with large food sup
plies were hurried tO' the scene
by wireless orders. Steamers
heavily laden with supplies are
also enroute from Seattle. The
Cantu Development Closed
Down For This Year.
The Con-'olidated Mining &
Smelting Company suspended
its diamond drilling activities
■on the Cantu group last Satur
day, owing to the increasingly
cold weather and the immi
nence o,f the snowy period at
high elevations. The drill was
brought down IVJonday and the
last of the crew came into town
Tuesday.
Owing to customary reti- j
cence regarding affairs of the j
company,’ no definite infor- ;
mation could be obtained re-j
garding the results of the drill- i
ing operations or the outlook i
for resumption of activities!
next spring.
As the relatively s m a 1 1 j
amount of work done during j
the short period cf operation!
could hardly be expected to de
termine the mineral potential
ities of the property, it is be
lieved that the company is
hardly likely to relenquish its
efforts to locate the downward
extensions of the large surface
lead which formed the object
ive of this season’s work.
Mehlfeld Leaves For South
George Mehlfeld left Mon-;
day fcr his home in Seattle af
ter a busy sea-ion on the Star
Gold group on Marmot river,
in which he is associated with
J. K. Green and others.
Red Cross is also rushing sup
plies from other Alaska towns
and from the States.
With winter only about six
weeks away and virtually no
lumber available, until boats
can arrive from Seattle, the re
building of the city this fall is
virtually impossible and many
may have to leave to avoid se
vere suffering.
Only two buildings stand in
the business district; the feder
al building and Miners and
Merchants Bank. One small
hotel and Lomen Commercial
Co. buildings were also left
standing. Drug stores, news
paper office, saloons, pool
halls, garages, most of the
warehouses, the jail, postoft
ice and virtually all other
large structures were razed.
Bering Sea, in front of the
city was described as “black
with debris” from the flaming
town. The radio station on
the outskirts of the town was
saved but the city heating and
water plant, the fire hall, mu
nicipal building and every bus
iness house from the Linco'ln |
Hotel for 7 blocks westward j
to Snake river was leveled with |
two exceptions and all res'.den-j
ces on First, Second and Third j
Avenues were destroyed.
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REP. GREEN ASSURED OF
REELECTION TO HOUSE
A solid Democratic delegat
from this division in the lower
house of the Territorial legis
lature and a Territory-wide en
dorsement of Democratic pol
icies is indicated in the latest
returns from the recent gener
al election.
Practically complete returns
for the First division indicate
that only one non-Democratic
candidate has any prospect of
election in the division. This
is Henry Roden, independent
candidate for the senate, who
has a -mall but decidedly im
portant lead over Allen Shav
tuck, the Democratic nominee.
In the race for Representa
tive J. K. Green, local Demop
eratic candidate and member
of the last legislature, i
among the four leading con
tenders and nearly 400 vote.
ahead of the nearest Republi
can candidate, H. G. McCain.
Mr. Green had 1902 votes, Mr.
McCain 1504. As only two or j
three small precincts are still j
unreported the election of Mr. i
Green is certain.
r\. u. U1 lYtJICIliKai!
is leading the list of successful
candidates with 2,161 vote:. A.
P. Walker of Craig is in sec
ond place with 2,086 and F. J.
Baronovich of Ketchikan is in
third position with 1927 votes,
25 ahead of Mr. Green.
The standing of the remain
ing candidates in the legislative
division is a« follows:
McCain, Rep., 1504; Shepard,
Rep., 1406; Foster, Rep., 927;
Paul, Rep., 870; McCall, Ind.,
485; Ellefson, Ind., 455.
In the eenate race Roden,
ind., is leading Shattuck. Dem.,
with 1845 tg 1832. 01 on,
Dem., is leading the three-cor
nered contest for treasurer cf
Alaska with 1,406 votes. W. G.
Smith, Ind., is second with
1436, and Chase, Rep., lags far
behind with 774.
Delegate A. J. Dimond had i
received a territorial vote of
3,244 in far from complete re
turns. Mr. Dimond’s vote as
well as those *of the candidates
for treasurer, will be material
ly increased by the time all the
votes are in.
New Barber Shop Opens
C. B. Clark, widely experi j
enced tonsorialist, ha.s estab-1
lished a new haircutting and1
shaving shop in the Bungalow!
Hotel lobby, much to the grat- j
ification of local people who j
have lately been compelled to
go to Stewart for such servipes. j
Col. Sturdevant Named To
Receive River Funds
Lieutenant Colonel C. L.
Sturdevant, district engineer
for the northwestern division
of the War Department Engin
eers office, stationed at Seat
tle, has been named to receive
the $7,000 appropriation made
by the Territorial legislature
for the Salmon River flood pro
tection project, for wihch a
federal allotment of $46,000
was announced last week.
The announcement of Col.
Sturdevant’s appointment was
received in response to a tele
gram sent to Public Works Ad
ministrator Iekes by Represent
ative J. K. Green and other cit
izens urging the immediate
designation of someone to re
ceive the Territorial appropri
ation. Prompt action in this
direction was deemed advis
able to remove a prospect of
the funds reverting to the Ter
ritory, as would be the case if
no application for their dis
bursement was made before
the close of the present bienni
um, to which the appropriation
was limited.
Rep. Green also communicat
ed with the Territorial Treas
urer requesting 'that a check
be drawn covering the appro
priation as soon a? a receiver
was officially designated. If
this i? done the appropriation
will be saved, regardless of
whether any work is done on
the project this year.
Up to the present no word
has been received as to when ,
the work will be started or the
methods to be employed in
carrying it on.
An amusing feature of the
exchange of messages is that .
the telegram received by
Rep. Green was addressed to
“Hon. Robt. A. Green, Repre- (
sentative in Congress,” which
indicates a departmental con
fusion of personalities that
may account for 'the very
prompt designation of Col.
Sturdevant as receiver fo'r the
Territorial funds, as it happens
that Rep'. Robt. A. Green is a
prominent member of the Flor
ida delegation in the lower
branch of Congress.
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Roosevelt Syndicate Starts
Development Program 1
The Roosevelt Syndicate, sue- i
cesser of the Roosevelt Mining 1
Company, has started develop- i
ment activities on the Roose- 1
velt group on the north fori: of '
Bitter creek in the Stewart j
area and plans to carry on fs i
long ai weather conditions per- <
mit; with winter operations a i
possible eventuality. * 1
The group, situated about 5 ]
ARMY RADIOPHONE
SYSTEM DESIGNED TO
COVER TERRITORY
The radio-telephone system
now being established through
out Alaska by the federal gov
ernment was recently extended
to Nome and now reaches vir
tually from one end of the
Territory to the other, accord
ing to a recent announcement.
Radiophone stations are now
operating at Ketchikan, Jun
eau, Anchorage, Fairbanks
and Nome. These installations
constitute a system of central
or “hub” stations which will
communicate with smaller gov
ernment or independent radio
phone stations that may be set
op at outlying points in the
Territory. Each of the hub
stations is equipped with a
500-watt plant capable of
transmitting conversation over
hundreds of miles of distance,
as evidenced by a recent ex
change of messages between
\Tome and Anchorage direct.
A major radiophone set is
in Seattle and is expected to
oe maintained eventually as a
oart of the Alaska radiophone
Under the present system
the smaller outlyting str/.ions
will serve as feeders for the
mb stations. A number of the
!maller stations have already
oeen installed and others are
ieing opened at various points.
The Northern Commercial
Company has taken over some
i a 1 f dozen former Signal
Horps stations in interior Alas
ka and is operating them on a
commercial basis. Quite a
:umber of independent radio
ohone stations were operated
his summer by fishing comp
mies at their canneries in the
Bristol Bay and Aleutian ar
*as. Stations are being estab
ished at St. Michael and Poor
tian, and another is soon to be
nstalled at Uiamna. Comm
inication is already estab
ished between Anchorage and
VIcGrath, and also with Mc
Bee station in the Rainy Pass
country.
Various other small outlying
•enters are planning to install
)lants and eventually there
hould be a large network of
;uch stations connecting with
he five main centers.
nile; up the creek, consists of
ive crown-granted claims and
contains two known vein sys
ems carrying gold and copper
•alues from which shipments
ire said to have been made in
earlier years. The group is
>ne of the oldest mineral locat
ors in the district, having been
irst taken up bythe late 1). J.
lainey in 1898.