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AN ALL
ALASKA
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DEVOTED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OP ALASKA AND THE PORTLAND CANAL MINING DISTRICT.
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VOL 5, NO. 26
HYDER, ALASKA, SATURDAY, APRIL 6,1929.
PRICE TEN CENTS
RIVER PROTECTION
BILL PASSED Of
LOWED HOUSE
The Winn bill, providing for
a Territorial appropriation of
$7,500 for protecting Ilyder
against the flood encroach
ments of Salmon river, has suc
cessfully withstood its first test
in the Alaska Legislature and
has received the endorsement
of the lower house, according
to a Juneau news dispatch
this week.
The measure is designed tc
afford the town temporary re
lief from the ever present
danger of being overwhelmed
by the turbulent Salmon River
until such time as the federal
government can be induced t(
provide permanent means oJ
protection, which will entail i
considerable expenditure oi
funds.
The Chamber of Commerce
and various citizens have
wired members of the Legislat
ure urging the passage of the
bill in the Senate and it may
also be decided to hold a pub
lic meeting to further empha
size the dire need of the re
lief asked in the measure.
■O'
INDEPENDENT MAIN
TUNNEL CUTS VEIN
Proving to a depth of 600 feet
the big vein of ore forming its
objective, the main tunnel at
the Independence property
has cut the ore body at a point
525 feet from the portal, ac
cording to Jack Fitzgerald,
widely known miner, who is in
charge of the Independence
activities.
The vein at the point of con
tact is apparently of large di
mensions; as indicated by the
fact that it had been penetrat
ed for a distance of 12 feet up
to the time Mr. Fitzgerald
came down, without encount-'
ering the opposite wall.
Mr. Fitzgerald informed the |
Herald that no sampling had
been done but the ore looks
very good, with heavy mineral
ization, and displaying a much
greater copper content, than
has been found nearer the sur
face.
With large backs of excellent
grade milling ore assured by
the strike, the outlook for the
Independence joining the list
of producers is now very
promising.
P. O. OFFICIAL BOOSTS
FOR ALASKA AIR MAIL
Declaring that airplane mail
operation in Alaska and the
adjoining territory belonging
to Canada is just as profitable
as anywhere on the continent.
W. Irving Glover, second as
sistant postmaster general has
asked Congress to appropriate
$10,000 more for this service,
according to Washington, D.
C., press reports.
Glover, in his ctatement to
the committee, said the Alas
ka service should be supple
mented by additional planes.
The airplane pay appropriat
ion for the present year is
$155,000, and Glover is asking
that it be increased to $165,
000 for the fiscal year.
PREMIER REPORT
SHOWS INCREASED
EARNINGS, 1928
Increased earnings and a
marked reduction in product
ion and marketing costs are
shown by the annual report of
the Premier Gold Mining Com
pany for 1928. In addition, the
eport also discloses the high
ly important fact that the as
sured ore reserves are suffici
ent to keep the plant in active
production for nearly three
nore years, at the present rate
)f production; 500 tons per
day. '
Total earnings for the year
eefore deduction of adminis
tration expenses, depreciation
md depletion charges, are
placed by the report at $2,
542, 982, which is said to be
n increase of $141,576 over
rross earnings in 1927. This
excellent increase in earnings
s attributed to an increase of
51,639 tons in ore production
as compared with the preced
ing year, combined with mark
ed reductions in both mining
and milling costs and in spite
of the fact that the ore mined
was approximately $2,50 a ton
lower in gross value than that
mined in 1927.
The indicated reduction in tot
al production and marketing
costs amounted to $1.57 per
ton, while mining costs were
reduced from $3.16 in 1927 to
$2.28 and milling costs were
lowered from $1.40 to $1.18
per ton. Most of the reduction
in costs is attributed by the re
port to the highly efficient
operation of the mine by Mr.
Dale L. Pitt, general manager,
and his staff of assistants.
Total production of the fam-!
ous mine from the commence- |
ment of regular production to
December 31, 1928, nine years
and one month, is placed at
1,345, 600 tons. Total product
ion of metals during the same
period amounted to 930,570
ounces of gold, and 24,106,231
ounces of silver. Total profits
during the production period,
exclusive of depreciation and
ore depletion charges, were
$17,040,957.28.
.ft.
LEAD OUTPUT IN
1928 INCREASES
Countries producing about
90 per cent of the world’s lead
had an output in 1928 of about
1,648,000 short tons, says the
American Bureau of Metal
Statistics. This compares with
1,647,591 short tons in 1927,
or practically the same. Pro
duction of lead of domestic
origin in the United States in
1928 amounted to 651,240
tons against 680,215 tons in i
1927, a decrease of 4.4 per
cent.. Increased production in
1928 occurred in Canada, Ger
many, Poland and Burma.
Peru appears as a new pro
ducer of lead.
-o
Mr. R. W. J. Reed, of the
Customs service, left Wednes
day for Ketchikan, from which
point he will proceed to Jun
eau and later to Nome to re
; sume his duties as deputy col
1 lector for that port.
BOEING AIR SERVICE,
COMING TO ALASKA
Extension of the Boeing air
transportation system to Alas
ka was announced in Seattle
last week and will give Alaska
a new transportation service
to and from the States by the
largest commercial air trans^
port company in the world,
with a daily mileage of from
7.000 to 10,000 miles on the
transcontinental and Pacific
Coast air mail routes.
With the inauguration of the
new service, it will be possible
for a traveler to journey from
Los Angeles, Cal., to Juneau
entirely by air over the Boeing
system.
The Alaska route will follow
the famous Inside Passage
throughout and it is expected
that the flight from Seattle to
Juneau can be made between
dawn and dusk in favorable
weather. The flying boats to
be placed on the route will car
ry six passengers and are the
same type as the one which re
cently flew to Juneau with a
number of passengers, includ
ing the first two women ever
to arrive in Alaska by airplane.
The boats will have a high
speed of 115 miles per hour,
land at 59 miles an hour and
can climb 1,000 feet per min
ute to a maximum altitude of
12.000 feet.
The Boeing system moves Ap
proximately 30 per cent of the
total air mail of the United
States and its planes call daily
at airports in 9 states. The
systems’ Oakland-San Francis
co-Chicago route covers 2,000
miles and its Seattle-Los An
geles route is 1100. The former
is the longest air route with
daily service in the world.
<y
CHAS. FEHRING WINS
SCHOOL BOARD SEAT
Chas. Fehring was elected to
membership on the Hyder
School Board at the annual
election of directors held last
Saturday.
The vote cast was the lightest
that can be recalled, only 43
citizens disclosing their inter
est in school affaire by casting
a vote. Of this number Chas.
Fehring, well known townsite
resident, received a total of 36
votes. Six of the remaining sev
en votes were cast for Edgar
Provinse, who was not an act
ive candidate, and is absent in
the States. The seventh vote
was cast for Harold Johnson,
who, it is understood, was not
a candidate in any sense.
The election was held in
Chamber of Commerce Hall,
with S. V. Warren, Ray Munro
and Thomas Kelley officiating
as judges.
Mr. Fehring will hold office as
director for a period of three
years, with T. H. Evans, treas
urer, and Clyde Hager, secre
tary, as associates for the com
ing year. The election next
year will involve the position
now held by Mr. Evans.
-e
M. R. Greer of Premier re
turned Thursday from a visit
in the south.
BIG MISSOURI REPORT
VERY CONSERVATIVE
Although couched in decided
ly conservative terms, the an
nual report of the Big Missouri
Mining Company for 1928 nev
ertheless betrays a marked
spirit of optimism on the part
of the company manager, Capt.
Duncan MacVichie, regarding
the future of the Big Missouri
property. In addition the re
port also throws considerable
light on the development op
eiations conducted by the Bu
ena Vista Mining Co., partic
‘Ularly with respect to their
true extent and character,
concerning which very little
has been made known locally.
As is generally known, the
bulk of the development activ
ites so far undertaken have
be3n on the Province' claim,
scene of the recent sensation
al free gold discovery. With
reference to this operation the
report says this claim has been
developed by the Province tun
nel, the portal of which is lo
cated on the west side of Silver
Creek on the E Pluribus Unum
claim and had been driven
north 59 degrees west for a
distance of 2330 feet up to the
time of the report, February
19th. The maximum depth be
low the surface obtained- on
the claim was 550 feet. Ore
was encountered at 1675 feet
westerly from the portal of
the tunnel. Drifts driven on
! the ore extend in a general
northerly and southerly direct
ion from the tunnel ,the north
drift was driven to 160 feet,
the south drift to 230 feet. A
cross-cut was also driven from
the north drift 110 feet east,
and a similar cross drift was
also driven 40 feet west from
the south drift. Relative to the
values encountered, the report
says:
“The principle values found
in these drifts and cross-cuts
are in gold with some silver
and in places lead and zinc.
The gold occurs free and is
mostly in white quartz but the
values are erratic and range
from 40 cents to as high as
$2,000 per ton. The writer has
attempted to arrive at an aver
age value of the gold and sil
ver obtained from the exhaust
ive hand sampling made by
the management; however,
due to the extreme variation
j in the values obtained from
| this hand sampling, any at
tempt to arrive at an average
i value of any given tonnage
j would not be reliable. It is the
opinion of engineers in close
touch with the development of
the Big Missouri mine, that
only by sampling in quantities
in mill run can the true value
of the ore be obtained.
However, the hand sampling
of the Province tunnel, togeth
er with information obtained
from eight diamond drill
holes located at different
points in the Province tunnel
ranging from 70 to 1200 feet
in depth, making a total of
4735 feet, would indicate that
there will be a large tonnage
of profitable ore developed on
the Province claim.”
The report also refers to open
cut work done on the surface
GHASTLY TRAGEDY
CREATES HORROR
• / . V
Locked in a cell in the Ket
chikan city jail, George A.
Alexander, brother of C. J.
Alexander, general superinten
dent of the Alaska-Pacific Sal
mon Corporation, was burned
to death ,in a fire which gutted
the jail building and burned
through the roof and floor in
several places on March 27.
Alexander, who was arrested
while in a state of intoxication,
is believed to have himself
started the fire which led to
his destruction. Evidence given
at the inquest disclosed that
Alexander had been searched
by the arresting officers, who,
however, had failed to exam
ine the man’s cap, in which
j matches are thought to have
been concealed.
When discovered, the flames
had gained such headway that
it was impossible to release the
imprisoned man. The deceased
was an old timer of the district,
having been a skipper of can
nery tenders and trollers at
different times, and is survived
by two sons and several broth
ers.
■U‘
MOOSE MEMORIAL
SUNDAY EVENING
The annual Moose Memorial
services in honor of departed
members of the order, will be
held at Pioneer Hall Sunday
evening.
The program will include an
address by Rev. S. V. Warren,
prelate of the lodge, and
beautiful ritualistic ceremoni
als of the order. The services
will be open to the public and
everyone is cordially invited to
attend. The program is sched
uled to start at 7:30 p. m.
in the vicinity of the Province
shaft and covering a consider
able area south and east of
the shaft and also north of
that point, and adds:
“The values obtained in these
openings are gold, silver, lead
and zinc. This is a low grade
ore but if operated on a large
scale might be profitable.”
With reference to work done
on the adjoining E. Pluribus
Unum claim, the report says
development has been carried
on through the Mann tunnel,
the Showem tunnel and the
Dago shaft. Two levels have
been extened from the shaft,
at 60 and 100 feet respectively.
Diamond drill holes have also
been put down to depths rang
ing from 49 to 159 feet, with
a total of 918 feet drilled.
Comment on this development
is in part as follows:
“There is considerable ton
| nage indicated by this develop
ment work. While this ore is
not blocked out to make poss
ible an average estimate of the
tonnage, sufficient develop
ment work has been done to
indicate that a considerable
tonnage will be mined from
the area. The principal values
obtained from this work are in
silver, lead and zinc, with low
values in gold.”
BUDGET ESTIMATES
FOfl NEXT BIENNIUM
OVERTOP REVENUES
Estimates of the cost of run
ning’ the Territorial govern
ment for the 1929-1930 bienni
um total over $2,500,000, and
overtop the estimated territori
al revenues for that period by
nearly a half million dollars,
according to the biennial bud
get presented to the Legislat
ure by the Territorial Treasur
er.
Governmental expenditures
for the two-year period are es
timated in the budget at $2,
504,149.14, while the estimat
ed revenues are placed at $2,
064, 067.50, indicating a poss
ible deficit of $493,081.64. As
the net cash balance on March
1, this year was $918,291.57;
should the legislature pass ap
propriations to fully cover the
budget estimates, the present
treasury surplus will be re
duced to $425,209.93 by the
close of the biennium.
Of the $2,500,000 total it is es
timated that schools alone will
require $1,347,600. The cost
of the public school system is
placed at $945,000, the Alaska
College at $402,000 and the
administration of the Depart
ment of Education at $27,600.
The federal government will
contribute $170,000 to the
Alaska College, leaving $232,
000 as the amount sought from
the Territory. Estimates for
other purposes include the
following:
Social welfare and relief,
$410,300; pensions, $193,800;
Pioneers’ Home, $106,500;
support of dependent children,
$60,000; relief of destitution,
$40,000; rescue and relief of
lost persons, $10,000; con
struction of roads and trails,
$260,000 shelter cabins, $20,
000; wolf, eagle and hair seal
bounties, $77,500; livestock in
spection, $25,000; aid to in
dustrial fairs, $12,000; stock
ing public lands with game and
fur bearers, $10,000; Alaska
Museum $9,500; Territorial
buildings, $10,000; health and
sanitation, $18,100; Primary
elections $11,000. In addition
to these items the budget es
timates the expenses of actual
administration, together with
various minor items at $110,
790.
■0
$2,000,000,000 GOLD
UNDER UNITED STATES
Two billion dollar’s worth of
gold reserve lie beneath the
soil of the United States, G. F.
Loughlin, U. S. geological sur
vey expert, declared recently
at the mining geology session
of the annual meeting of the
American Institute of Mining
and Metallurgical Engineers.
Within the next 20 years, he
estimated, $800,000,000 of this
may be produced. These esti
mates, he said, are incorporat
ed in a report to be ready
April 1, which has been pre
pared jointly by the United
States geological survey and
the United States bureau of
mines* ,i i * i. j