an all
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NEWSPAPER
HYDER WEEKLY HERALD
DEVOTED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF ALASKA AND THE PORTLAND CANAL MINING DISTRICT.
SUBSCRIPTIONS
$5.00 PER \EA?
IN ADVANCE
VOL 2, NO. 24
HYDER, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17,1926
fifty cents a ninth
BIG MISSOURI CO.
TO BUILD MILL
DURING SUMMER
Confirming earlier reports
of large scale development
activities contemplated by the
Big Missouri Mining Company,
during the coming open seas
on, authentic advices from the
south this week report that
the company directors have
definitely decided upon the
construction of a big reduction
plant next summer.
According to the information
received by mail, the project
has been definitely decided
upon. The advices state that
the mill will be of 200-tons
daily capacity but give no ad
ditional details.
While the construction of a
concentrating plant of a cap
acity equal to that employed
until recently by the great
Premier mine, would of itself
be a development of great im
portance to the Salmon valley
district, it is defirfitely known
that the Big Missouri Com
pany is contemplating still
greater projects in the event
that the Big Missouri lives up
to present expectations. A
project involving the con
struction of a big smelter and
lead stack is known to have
ben the subject of discussion
by the officials. This will prob
ably be located in the upper
Salmon valley at a point that
is said to have been tentative
ly selected with an eye to the
' mineral productive possibili
ties of the Texas Creek area
as well as the numerous high^
ly potential properties along
the boundary line east of Sal
mon River.
" —u
A one hundred foot extension
of the new tunnel will be run
on the Silverado properties
during the spring. The tunnel
is now in over 170 feet, and
will be continued to cross cut
the high grade vein encounter
ed last season in the old work
ings.
-o
With the advent of freezing
weather during the past three
or four days, road conditions
are vastly improved and
the freighters, whose troubles
have been numerous and ag
gravating during the long
period of soft weather, have
recovered their usual equa
nimity. The snow is practically
gone from the Salmon River
road as far as 7 Mile and the
roadway is like macadam. J.
D. Littlepage made a trip to
the Riverside mine in a Ford
car, Tuesday and reported
fine traveling. Several autos
are out about town and plying
between Hyder and Stewart.
Freighters say the freezup has
made the traveling good for
sleds, wagons or automobiles.
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Two passengers, M. Jones
and Johnny Burndgeon left
on the Wales last week.
BIG HYDER DISTRICT
MERGER PLANNED
A mining merger of vast im
portance to the Hyder district
is involved in negotiations re
cently instituted in the States i
between the Daly Alaska
Mines Co., the Alaska Premier
Mining Company and the Mc
Grew-Femajd Hobo group
owners.
The interests involved con
trol three ofth e largest parti
ally developed groups in the
j Salmon River sction of the
Portland Canal district and
their combination will make i
probably the largest individu- j
al block of mining ground in
j this locality. The three groups
! are contiguous and so favor
ably situated that they may
be exploited to excellent ad
vantage through the Daly
Alaska, probably by exten- j
sions of the present under
ground workings on that not
ed property.
The Alaska Premier prop
erties, now owned by Bern-1
hard Guggenheim, include 26
claims; the Hobo group, own
ed by Wm. McGrew, Edward
Fernald and the Ed. Bronson
estate, comprises 11 claims,!
and the Daly Alaska group,
! controlled by the Daly Alaska
Mines Co, 10 claims. The pro
posed merger would therefore i
include a total of 47 pi-oper-,
, ties.
Late reports from Seattle in-;
dicate that preliminary negoti
ations held there some days
ago resulted in the various in-1
| terests reaching a preliminary !
j basis of agreement, which
! may ultimately result in the
amalgamation of the proper
| ties.
j Local parties who are in a i
position to know the inside
i facts assert that the outlook
for the proposed merger was
very favorable at last ac
; counts.
! A large shipment of new
mine machinery for the B. C.
silver is due to arrive on the
' steamer Griffco.
| The exact character of the (
new equipment cannot be as- i
I certained at this time but will
. include a large capacity com
pressor, pipe, and possibly an
electric engine for hauling ore
trains in the mine.
i A boom of logs containing
I close to a half million feet of
j spruce saw timber arrived
! from Prince of Wales Island
! for the Hyder Lumber Com
' pany Monday night. The huge
| raft was towed from Ketchi
kan by the tug Chief, owned
! by Ernest Steers, who is also
the navigator. Mrs. Steers
wife of the owner is the engi
1 neer of the powerful little
craft and avrs that she not
only likes life on the raging
main, but also her job or run
i ning the gas engine an assen
I ion that is fully sustantiated
by the highly polished and
perfect running state of that
particular piece of motive [
machinery.
NEW OWNERS TO
WORK FISH CREEK
COMPANY GROUND
Definite assurances of an j
early resumption of operations !
on the Fish Creek properties i
of the Fish Creek Mining Com- \
pany are contained in a recent j
announcement of Secretary A. ,
N. Lister, of the American
Mining & Milling Co. to the
stockholders of the British
American Holding and Devel
opment Company, now con
trolled by the American Min
ing and Milling Co. Mr. Lister
says in part:
“You will be interested too,
in learning that the American
Mining and Milling Co. now
have approximately 90 per
cent of the stock of the Fish
Creek Mining Company, as
compared with 63 per cent at
the last annual meeting.1
Further action will be taken
to wind up the affairs of the
Fish Creek Mining Co.
“Your directors have a defi-1
nite assurance that we will j
proceed at once to finish the!
present tunnel successfully,
ample funds will be forthcom
ing for the complete financing,
to a point of operations on a
large scale. ****** \
believe you will agree that
your directors have been busy
and have made progress. We
feel that our organization has
been freed of all undesirable
influences and that we are in
a position to get somewhere j
out of the impasse in which we j
have found ourselves for the :
past two years.”
A two-story frame business
block, capable of housing a
meat market, cold storage and
ice plant, will be erected at
Stewart during the month of i
March by P. Burns & Co.
The lower floor of the struct
ure will be devoted to the
company meat purveying and
ice making activities, the lat
ter for public sale, as well as
refrigerating purposes, and
the upper floor will contain
living quarters for the mana
ger.
-o
i S. A. Plumley, 75, a well
known resident of Ketchikan,
died in the hospital at that
place recently as the result of
a stroke of paralysis. Mr.
Plumley was appointed U. S. j
Commissioner at Craig early in
the term of Judge Reed, and
ramained there until about a
year ago, when he resigned on
account of ill health.
Operation of the Admiralty j
Alaska Gold Mining Com
pany’s 50-ton mill on the mine i
property at Funter Bay, will |
be started in March and con
tinued throughout the season,
according to W. S. Peckovicn,
owner.
: The uncovering of a rich
ledge in the Ohio mine, on the
divide between Spruce Creek
and Little Eldorado Creek, is
reported from the Fairbanks
district.
! POWER CO. WILL GIVE
STREET LIGHT CURRENT
The second phase ot' the
j much discussed street light
I proposal was inaugurated at
! a meeting of the Chamber of j
: Commerce Tuesday evening j
| with the appointment of a
! committee to devise ways and
means for installing and main
taining 25 lights N at points
where they will give the best,
results. The committee is com
; posed of E. D. Haddon, Ren
Oien and Harry Lyon.
The discussion developed i
that the local light company
has agreed to provide current
for the proposed street lights
free of charge, as is done by 1
the International Electric Co. j
in Stewart and Hyder B. C.,
conditional upon the citizens
of Hyder paying for the cost
of installing the lights and al
so for their maintenance after
installation. Estimates of the
cost of installing the 25 lights
presented by Secretary Had
don, disclosed that about $200
will be required for the labor
and materials involved. The
committee will have the task
of raising this amount. -j
■n.
HYDER PUBLIC LIBRARY
Lord’s “Beacon Lights of
History,” one of the most not
able historical works of the
present century, will soon be
added to the list of books in
the Public Library. The work
comprises 15 volumes and is
from the pen of that erudite
scholar, Dr. John Lord. It
deals with the lives of historic
al personages from a novel and
interesting standpoint. It is a
work that should be read by
everyone.
The Beacon Lights were pur
chased with the library funds
by John Hovland, who is lend
ing the library invaluable as
sistance in securing new books
of merit. i
James J. Davis, Secretary of
Labor and founder of Moose
heart, is also sending to the
Library as a donation his two
volume autobiography, known
as “The Iron Puddler.”
In its endeavors to provide a
comprehensive series of his
torical works on Alaska, the
Library Board has been advis
ed by Judge James Wicker
sham who is an authoi-ity on
things Alaskan, that Ban
croft’s “History of Alaska” is
the best one to be had, al
though it was published about .
1886 and does not cover the
past 40 years. To coyer the
latter period Judge Wicker
sham recommends an historic
al work on the Territory by
Jeanette Paddock Nichols,.
published in 1924, also Un
derwood’s “Alaska, an empire
in the making, ”1915, Gen.
Greely’s “Handbook of Alas
ka,” and Higginson’s “Alaska,
the Great Country,” 1923.
Membership in the Library is
steadily growing as the pub
lic become better acquainted
with the splendid advantages
offered by the institution. The
dues are but 25cts. a month,
thus making it possible for ev- j
eryone to join.
OFFICIALS AGAIN
UNDER FIRE
Charging that Federal Judge
Thomas M. Reed and U. S.
District Attorney A. G. Shoup
“as the First District’s only
criminal law enforcers, have
condoned and protected vice,
open ‘red-light‘ districts, wide
spread lawlessness and a
iwholesale narcotic trade,”
Alaska Delegate Dan A. Suth
erland has launched a hitter
fight against the reappintment
of those officials before the
Senate Judiciary Committee,
according to Washington pres:
dispatches.
The delegate also laid be
fore the committee complaint1?
made by John W. Frame and
others against Federal Judge
Ritchie of the Third Division
and other officials of that dis
trict.
The charges presented by the
delegate were substantially
the same as those made by
John W. Frame in his earlier
unsuccessful efforts to unseat
Judge Reed, District Attorney
Shoup and former Governor
Scott C. Bone, all of which
were thoroughly investigated
on several occasions by De
partment of Justice special
agents from Washington.
According to International
News Service reports, the
charges made by Sutherland
against Judge Reed and At
torney Shoup included allegat
ions that those officials enter
ed into a political conspiracy
with former Governor Bone to
prevent the seating of Frame
as Territorial National Com
mitteeman and to secure the
selection of George Sexton,
who the delegate declared had
been “bribed with money”
by Reed and others; that
Judge Reed favors restricted
districts in cities; and that he
had been guilty of legal
irregularities in connection
with court matters. Illicit liq
uor and narcotics.also entered
into the Delegate’s allegations
of what were declared to be ,
“frightful vice conditions” in
this district.
In substantiation of the latter
charges the delegate is report
ed to have declared that Ket
chikan “was the worst spot in
Alaska” and that bootleg and
narcotics there “reach right
into” the business and profes
sional elements of the town.
“The conditions grew so bad,”
he said, “that narcotics were
peddled in the public schools;
high school boyrs were found
diseased, the city attorney war
revealed as the owner of im
moral houses, and the city was
virtually submerged in vice.”
Alaska exchanges received
since the delgate’s charges
were laid before the commit
tee, disclose that they have
aroused considerable resent
ment throughout the district,
and also in the Third Division,
where the charges made
by Frame against Judge Ritch
ie are vigorously denounced.
Cordova press x*eports assert
that statements voiced byr
the delegate before the com
"F.’J’ Pk'FMIER EQUIPMENT
IN OPERATION
Work on the new power
r-lr- i rho Premier mine was
or.nn da few days ago and
now in c; erafon. The new
newer equ pment includes iwo
huge Diesel engines of 860
horsepower each and will in
crease the former power ca
pacity to 1500 horse power.
This is double the amount of
power furnished by the old
plant and will permit of a
wide increase in the volume of
activities both in the mine and
mill.
The capacity of the mill has
also been greatly increased
during the past few months.
The mill is now capable of
handling 400 tons of ore daily,
parctically double the former
capacity.
Some idea of the great vol
ume of activities at the famous
mine are disclosed by the fact
that a mile of underground
work has been done this year,
in addition to an equal amount
of drilling.
Lynn Smith, who recent 1 y re
ceived the appointment of U. S
Marshal for the Fourth Divis
ion, is an old timer in the Ter
ritory, and in the early days
engaged in mining on Big
Minook Creek, Rampart Dis
trict. Three years ago he re
signed from the position of
Deputy U. S. Marshal at Flat
to accept the position of agent
for the Northern Commercial
Company at Ruby. He wa- id j
at one time, engaged in tli >
jewelry business at Ruby. Ore
year of his Alaskan career ho
spent on Cook Inlet. It is stat
ed that he is a brother in law
of Postmaster General New.
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Dredges will be constructed
in the early part of 1927 on the
lower part of Fish Creek and
on Engineer Creek, in the
Fairbanks placer mining dis
trict, according to the present
plans of G. Lionel Whitworth,
who represents English capi
tal. Mr. Whitworth recently
arrived iti Fairbanks from the
States for the purpose of in
specting the properties and
making general arrangements
for furtho developments. With
the construction of the new
dredges all of Fish Creek and
Engineer Creek will be held
and operated by English capi
tal.
mittee, on the strength of as
servations contained in a let
ter to him from D. W. Flanni
gan, Alaska prohibition agent,
will be made the basis of leg
al actions by citizens of that
town, whom Flannigan charg
ed were implicated in a boot
leg ring.
Washington news dispatches
indicate that the Senate Judic
iary sub-committee is prepar
ed to make the charges anent
Alaska conditions the subject
of searching investigations
which will determine once for
all their truth or falsity.