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AN ALL
ALASKA
NEWSPAPER
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DEVOTED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OP ALASKA AND THE PORTLAND CANAL MINING DISTRICT.
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SUBSCRIPTIONS
$5.00 PER TEA?
IN ADVANCE
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VOL 2, N0.4
HYDER, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1925
.ylT '•
FIFTY CENTS A KCK1H
ANOTHER SHIPMENT
OF TEXAS ORE
Henry Hummel, original lo
cator of the Texas Creek Com
stock Group and other prop
erties in the Texas Cfeek
section, arrived in town today
from the head of Texas Creek
and reported that Frana
Blasher, George Mross and
himself will ship a ton or so 01
ore from a recently discover
ed lead of high grade found
on , properties located two
weeks ago, along the south
spur of Chickamin Glacier
and about 2 miles from the
head of Texas Creek. Ernest
Bryson left this morning with
a pack train to bring the ship
ment to town and is due u.
arrive here Thursday evening.
That an initial shipment of
valuable ore should be made
from such a remotely situated
property within two weeks
from the time of staking is in
itself a noteworthy event and
well illustrate the productive
possibilities of the Texas are«
if wagon transportation was
provided, as there are a doz
en or more properties in that
locality which could ship
large quantities of ore from
surface operations if presen.,
transportation conditions were
improved by a few miles 01
wagon road. Mr. Hummel stat
ed that several hundred tons
of ore on the properties could
be broken down with little ef
there was a road to the heaa
of Texas Creek.
According to Mr. Hummel,
the ore included in the ship
ment cairies fine values in
gold, silver, lead, copper and
zinc, with the latter forming
one of the most important
mineral elements.
Average samples taken from
the main lead gave assay re
turns of $1.60 gold, $38 silver,
in addition to $33.75 in lead,
$38.50 zinc and $11.50 cop
per, while two other veins in
the same mineralized zone
yielded respective returns of
$1.60 and $32 in gold and
$15.40 and $7.15 in silver in
addition to lead, zinc and cop
per values.
Mr. Hummel said the ore
was simply broken down and
hauled over the east end of
Chickamin glacier on double
enders to where it can be pick
ed up by the pack train.
No difficulties were encount
ered in bringing the ore across
the glacier, across which a
road suitable for trucking
could be made with little ef
fort.
It is the intention of Mr.
Hummel and his partners to
sell the ore if possible to the
Victoria ore purchasing syn
dicate repi'esented by Capt.
Gaul, but if no deal can be
made it will be shipped to the
Trail, B. C. smelter.
■-o
David Graydon, an aged
pioneer, died at the Pioneer’s
Home in Sitka, July 30. Mr.
Graydon was born in Tennes
see in 1855, coming to Alaska
in 1898, and living in many
parts of the Territory. He was
admitted to the Home from
Seldovia.
PUBLIC LIBRARY PROJECT
The Friendship Club of Hy
der M. E. Church is sponsor
a movement looking to the es
tablishment of a public library
! in Hyder. The matter is still in
the embryonic stage and no
definite announcements can be
made at present, although tne
members are very hopeful that
! the project can be brought to
a successful culmination. Per
! sons interested express the
| view that a large number of
books can be secured through
! gifts from libraries and indi
viduals. One such donation of
over 200 books has already
been received from Ketchikan
library and many others can
probably be secured with but
slight cost as many of the
large outside libraries annu
! ally discard large numbers of
! books, most of which are giv
! en to smaller institutions.
The project is a most credit
; able one and the Friendship
1 Club is entitled to all possible
■ support and assistance from
! the public. The possesion of a
! public library would not only
' be of benefit to our citizens
but also an excellent advertise
ment for the town.
Despite the lateness of the
season a number of prospect
ors are still at work in the
Texas Creek basin, according
to arrivals from that section.
his summer labors on his prop
; erties near the end of Chicka
min Glacier and will soon
‘ come into town; Malcolm
Smith is at work on the prom
' ising Lake claim in the same
locality; Ferguson is still peg
ging away on the Park claim,
farther down the valley and
Fred Nothiger is continuing
work on his tunnel near the
westem^border of Casey Glac
ier.
Another week or two will
probably see all work sus
pended for the present season.
-o- |
Louis Levensaler, noted min
ing engineer and represent
ative of the Guggenheim in
terests in Alaska and the
Northwest, has been a visitor
in the camp during the past
two days. Mr. Levensaler ar
rived Tuesday morning from
Anyox and will proceed to j
Ketchikan on the Wales
Thursday.
Mr. Leveinsaler’s visit is o{f
j no special significance, as he
is here only in connection with
his official duties, which take
him over a large part of the
North.
-o
j Wm. Sloan, superintendent of
i the Daly Alaska, and E. B.
Hambleton, director of the
same concern, who have been
in the district for some days
looking after the affairs of the
'company, left for Vancouver
; Sunday. No information could
' be elicited regarding the com
pany’s contemplations for the
I future beyond that the offici
; als are conducting certain ne
gotiations which are expected
I to hasten resumption of ope
rations.
C OF C. GOING AFTER
RIVER PROTECTION
The Chamber of Commerce
met Tuesday and decided to
inaugurate a vigorous cam
paign to collect all available
data bearing on the matter of
securing protection for the
town from the encroachments
of Salmon River and also en
dorsed a proposal to com
an equally vigorous effort to
mence an equally vigorous ef
fort to secure new members
for the organization.
The river protection data se
cured will be compiled in
readiness for a renewal of the
effort begun last year to se
cure Congressional aid in the
construction of wing dams or
jetties to prevent the turbu
lent Salmon from overflowing
its shallow banks and sweep
ing down upon the at present
practically defenceless com
munity. Members of the organ
ization state that every poos
ible effort will be made to im
press Congress with the gfav
| ity of the situation and the ur
! gent need for some kind of
! permanent protection for the
! town before incalcuable dam
; age results. The small wing
; dam installed near the rock
• cut last year has served its
‘ purpose ih splendid manner
! but additional safeguards must
j be provided before the safety
| of the community is assured.
I Col. Jas. G. Steese, head qf
I the Alewhn ■
i and chief of the War Depart
! ment Engineers in Alaska, is
! expected to lend material as
| sistance in placing the matter
before Congress. During his
recent visit to Hyder, Col.
Steese secured about all the
| information bearing on the
I project available at that time
| but has since requested the
i Chamber of Commerce to pro
! vide more complete data for
i use as a basis for recommen
dations by his department.
j The motorship Oregon of the
: Independent Steamship Com
pany, Capt. Johansen, master,
arrived in port from Seattle
early Monday morning with a
large consignment of coal for
the Hyder Fuel Co., in addit
| ion to a quantity of general
I merchandise for various local
consignees.
The total cargo approximat
ed 160 tons.
. o
B. Taylor, the enterprising
i proprietor of the Taylor tail
joring and cleaning establish
! ment, is preparing to install a
; large and up to date line of
r gents furnishings. The stock
! for his new department will
arrive on the next trip of the
! Curacao and will be sold at
! prices within the reach of all.
An announcement of his con
templations will be found in
advertising section.
- -..o--—
The Seward Gateway says
that Ed Vogel, who has a
homestead near Six-mile, has
a mamma bear and two cubs
which are so tame that they
hang around his place most of
the time.
IMPROVED FIRE
SAFEGUARDS PLANNED
A movement for the acquisit
ion of more efficient means of
fire protection through the
purchase of a newly develop
ed type of portable fire engine
j is taking shape in business
j circles and promises to culmi
nate in a vastly increased and
improved system of combat
ting the ever present fire dan
ger.
At present the town possesses
no efficient means of combat
ting . a serious fire, the only
fire fighting apparatus avail
able being the small two
wheeled chemical and a num
ber of hand fire extinguishers
purchased last fall. These are
doubtless adequate for com
' batting incipient fires but
; would be of slight value in
I the event of a big fire.
| The new movement is aimed#
; at overcoming the latter dan
ger, as with the portable
pumping apparatus referred
■ to, water can be pumped
I from any available source
i of supply at high pressure and
I up to 35 gallons per minute.
! The apparatus is operated by
gasoline power and weighs
complete only 70 pounds, so
light that it can be carried by
one man without undue exert
ion. Pumps of this type have
been adopted by the Forest
Service for fighting forest
fires and have been found to
bo of immense service.
-o
John W. Frame, former U. S.
! Commissioner for this pre
| cinct, returned last week af
I ter an extended absence to
look after his local interests,
j Judge Frame spent a large
j part of the past year in Wash
ington D. C., and.other east
j ern centers. He reports no
i change in the situation respect
ing the failure of the Repub
! lican National Committeeman
I for the Territory, to which
: position he was elected by a
large majority in the last gen
: eral election.
“The Matanuska Valley and '
surrounding country is not sur
| passed anywhere as an agrl
| cultural country, and the
whole region is eminently fit
; ted for dairying,” declared C.
C. Georgeson, agronomist In
I charge of the Alaska agricult
■ ural experiment stations. “At
tempts will be made to manu
j facture butter, and perhaps
' cheese, at the Matanuska stat
[ ion next spring,” added Mr.
j Georgeson, and it is quite poss
| ible the experiment station
! and the farmers of the valley
| will be able to co-operate
j along these lines, the farmers
| disposing of their milk to the
station.” Mr. Georgeson said
that as far as lie could learn
while visiting the Matanuska
Valley, the farmers of that
section had a prosperous year.,
o
Gust Thevick, a fisherman,
and for the past twelve years
a resident of Ketchikan, was
recently drowned at Juneau.
PLAN CELEBRATION
OF ALASKA DAY
Plans for the observance of |
Alaska Day, October 18th,
were inaugurated at a joint
meeting of representatives of j
the Chamber of Commerce and
Pioneers of Alaska held in the
Chamber of Commerce hall
Friday evening. As the holiday
falls on Sunday this year, it
was decided to hold the celc- j
bration on the preceding day,
Saturday, October 17th. De
i tails of the contemplations
! have not been fully worked
i out as yet and no more can be
1 said at present than that the j
celebration will take the form
of a carnival dance and supper |
to be held in Pioneer Hall. ;
Committees of the two organi-1
ations are at work on the pro
gram, details of which will be
! announced later.
Drilling operations for oil in
the Matanuska field will start
within a short time on ground
held by permit by Lars Net
land, of Oakland, Calif. The
drilling will be done by the
Peterson Oil Association which
has just received a Star drill-;
ing rig from Akron, Ohio, and
are now engaged in setting it
up. The drill is the same type ,
as is being used by the Associ
ated Oil Company in the Ka::- i
! atak field, and has a capacity
of 3,000 feet. The Peterson Oil
Association is a San Francisco
concern, and is represented io
the field by R. J. Harper, an
engineer formerly in the em
ploy of the Standard Oil Com
pany, who will have charge
of the drilling operations.
The work on the Twelvemile
ditch, says the Fairbanks
News-Miner, to carry water
from the upper Chatanika, to
and through the mines to j
Cleary, with Chatanika the
scene of the largest workings,
will be completed by the
Stines Company within a j
month, and the water which
will wash the gold from the |
gravels at the mines will be
running through the ditches.
Ten miles of fine caterpillar;
road, from Wide Bay to the j
Hubbell Dome have just been j
completed by W. W. French
and a crew -of twelve men, j
who have been working on the
project for sixty days. Mr.
French who recently arrived
in Seward, is authority for the
statement that the Standard
Oil Company, drilling on the
Pearl Creek dome, is down 4,
200 feet and was pulling the
casing in order to release the \
tools, which were stuck in the I
well. The Associated Oil Co.,
is down 2,400 feet.
-o
A letter received in Fair
banks from the Iditarod coun- j
try recently, states exceeding
ly dry weather has ‘seriously i
hampered mining operations1
in that district. Most^ of the
hill operators were compelled j
to lay off their men and the j
water in the river was so law
as to prevent navigation.
PACIFIC S. S. CO. TO
DISCONTINUE SERVICE
Complete suspension of its
steamship service during: the
wintere period and possible
complete discontinuance of fut
ure sailings between Seattle
and Hyder is presaged in a
telegram received last weea
from the Pacific Steamship
Company by the Salmon Riv
er Dock Co., local agents of
that line. «*
The message in question an
nounces that the next sailing
of the Curacao, about Sep
tember 30, will be the last
call to be made by the com
pany vessels at least during
the winter period.
In explanation of the with
drawal the message states that
local cargo offerings during
the past summer have bee'n
materially less than last year
and, with indications of a fur
ther falling off in the volume
of business during the winter
months, the company does not
feel justified in continuing
calls at Hyder during the win
ter, as each call, it is alleged,
will result in a material loss
of revenue. Furthermore, the
message says, Hyder may be
conveniently served via Ketch
ikan at only a slight increase
in freight charges.
In conclusion the company
requests its local representa
tives to explain to shippers its
i-egret that the small amount
i of traffic does not wan ant
continuance of service, and
emphasizes that this is its only
reason for such action.
The withdrawal of the Paci
fic Steamship Company will
leave future direct traffic be
tween Seattle and Hyder to be
handled entirely by the Inde
pendent Steamship Comr>'iv>y,
owner of the motorship, Ore
gon, which, under arrange
ments made with the Hyder
Dock Co., is scheduled to call
at Hyder once a month during
the winter season.
-o
Miss Edythe Davidson, of
Nome, is the first Alaska gin
to graduate at the Mooseheau
school, the enterprise main
tained b.v the Moose lodge for
orphaned children of members
of the order. Miss Davidson
completed her course at
Mooseheart during the spring
and is now attending normal
school. Miss Davidson and her
three sisters were orphaned ai
Nome several years ago, ana
through the endeavors of the
Moose lodge of that place they
were sent to Mooseheart.
-o
A log hotel and resort large
enough to accommodate at
least fifty persons will be
erected at Lawing, according
to Mr. and Mrs. Lawing, own
ers of the popular resort form
erly named Roosevelt, on the
Alaska Railroad at Kenai
Lake. The building will be
two stores in height, with the
floor laid out in the form of
a Maltese cross. Everything
will be modern in every re
spect with running water,
electric lights, steam heat in
each room and baths in con
nection.