*' " ■ —.1 ..*
AN ALL
ALASKA
NEWSPAPER
VOL 3, NO. 19
HYDER WEEKLY HERALD
DEVOTED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF ALASKA AND THE PORTLAND CANAL MINING DISTRICT
SUBSCRIPTIONS
$5.00 PER HEAR
IN ADVANCE
HYDER, ALASKA, MONDAY, JANUARY 3,1927
FIFTY CENTS A KU.T1
PREMIER BONDS MORE
MARMOT PROPERTIES
Further increasing its recent-;
ly acquired inte-eets in the!
Marmot River section, the.
Premier Gold Ml .mg C>.. op-|
erator of the famous Premie)
mine, has bonded a major in
terest in ten additional claims
adjoining the Portei* Idaho
property according • to an
nouncements made late Iasi1
week by members of the own- ;
ing group.
The properties embraced in
the deal include the Prosperi
ty group, owned by the Jan
cowski brothers, and Messrs. ]
Eli Watland, G. D. Davis and
Geo. Mehlfeld, and three ad
ditional claims owned by
Messrs. Geo. Brown, of Van- |
couver, and Owney McFadden
and Eli Watland of Stewari.
Under the terms of the bond-,
ing agreement the Premier .
company acquires a fifty twc '
per cent interest in the various
properties, for which it has
agreed to pay $125,000 in foui
payments. The total purchase
price is to be paid within a
period of three years. The
initial payment of $20,000 was
made to the owning interests
last Friday.
The Premier company now
controls a total of 15 proper
ties bordering upon or close- *
lv adjacent to the noted Porter
Idaho group. It is reliably re
ported that the Premier com
pany has also made unsuccess
ful overtures looking to the
purchase of the latter proper
ty, which owing to recent
spectacular production of hign
grade, has attained, a lo
cal prominence second only to
that of the great Premier it
self.
The Prosperity group, which
comprises the chief unit of the
Premier holdings, achieved
marked prominence late last
fall by shipping to the Trail
smelter 632 sacks of ore which
yielded returns of 36,499.46,
or slightly less than $225 per j
ton. The ore in question war
extracted in a few weeks
time by hand methods anu
under great difficulties from
one claim of the group which i
lie3 partially between two
claims of the Porter Idaho
group and carries extensions
of the remarkably rich ore
bodies found on the latter
property.
The deal is not only partic
ularly advantageous to the
Marmot section but is also rt
markable in the degree that
the initial payment is consid
erably larger than is usual in
the case of slightly developed
properties.
-o
Owney McFadden, w’ho wras
planning to take charge of a
renewed development program
on the Titan property about
this time, has encountered mis
fortune in the shape of an in
fected hand and is now in the
Stewart hospital undergoing
treatment. As a result the Ti
tan plan has been called oti,
for the present at least.
-o
The Border Queen arrived
early Tuesday morning.
RIVERSIDE DEVELOPMENT
BUILDING UP FINE
ORE RESERVE
Development work at the
Riverside mine under the win-1
ter program is continuing to
yield most gratifying results
and a sufficient tonnage of
commercial ore has alreauy
been blocked out to keep the
mill running four months on
three-shift basis, according to
officials of the Riverside Min
ing and Milling Co.
Under the development plan
worked out by managing en
gineer R. G. Mellon the ore
is being blocked out in 100 foot
blocks, each block averaging
approvimately 3000 tons. Op
erations at present are direct
ed principally to extending the
325 foot level (the Lindebot0
tunnel) and driving the No. 7
raise between that level ana
No. 4 tunnel on the 425 foot
level in which a fine vein of
high grade ore was recently
encountered. The raise is nov
up a distance of 45 feet anu
has about 50 feet to go before
connecting with the upper tun
ael which is in a distance ot
110 feet from the portal anu
in 6 feet of ore, which came
i fine vein of high grade. Lev
aj 325 has been extended 4b
feet beyond the old Lindeborg
tunnel workings and follow.
a vein of good ore about 13
inches wide, which is stead
ly increasing in width. Four
and a half feet of good ort
has also been encountered in
he No. 7 raise. The face of
he No. 4 level is now approxi
mately 120 feet from the line
>f the Premier tram On con*
oletion of the No. 7 raise it is
he intention to again raise
an the No. 4 tunnel and the
ur.nel will be driven still
farther into the hill to further
explore the fine ore body ex
;endinfe eastward from the
present point of contact. A
crew of twenty men is employ
ed. Company officials stale
that Mr. Mellin is considering
the renewal of milling oper
ations as soon as a six months
supply of ore has been block
ed out.
Being situated almost in town,
the success so far achieved on
the Riverside under the win
ter development plan laid oui
by Mr. Mellin is a matter of
general satisfaction to Hvder
citizens, who look upon the
mine as more or less of a com
munity activity.
-o
Grant Mahood returned on
the Cardena in connection
with his activities on the Ex
tenuate property.
-o
Jas. McKay, well known old
timer of the camp and original
locator of the Lakeview, rn
turned from the south Iasi
week.
-o
Jim Kaufman, Premier tram
employee, left for the south
Monday.
-o
Hugh B. McGuire, pioneer
mining man, was an arrival
from the south last week.
TRAVELING CONDITIONS
BAD ON SALMON
Traveling conditions in the
upper Salmon valley were rt
ported unusually bad during
the past week as a result 01
the recent heavy rains anu
snow. Flood conditions pro.
vailed in the vicinity of Seven- |
Mile and freighters report thar j
the water reached the back of
their horses at points in that
i locality. On other sections 01
the Salmon River road hours
of hard traveling were re
quired to cover comparative^
ohort distaces, while in several
instances the trip from Pre
mier necessitated from seven
j to eight hours of hard travel
| ing.
-c-2
: George Bunn, owner of the
Engineer group and widely
| known old timer of this sect
ion and Interior Alaska, paia
! the office a visit last week, ana
i in addition to expressing his |
desire to help the good cause
; by taking out a year’s sub
: scription, also informed us that
his recent indisposition was
1 due to a severe straining of the
ligaments of his left shoulder
while digging out a quantity of
mine timbers on his Engineei
roup in the Marmot. The
timbers were cut last fall but
were buried so deeply under
the snow that their extraction :
was difficult and he apparent
ly wrenched his shoulder ar
the task, in which he was a» j
; sisted by Homer Ficklin. A
slight hurt speedily develop
i ed into intense suffering ana
laid him up entirely in a few
days. He was much bettei,
however, by the time the res ;
cue party consisting of Eli.
Watland, A1 Sweeney, Marmot
Kelley, “240”, and Iiomei
Ficklin arrived. Owing to the
deep snow, the rescuers were
i all day making the trip up to
the Engineer, even tho trail
was broken a good part of trie
way by a number of horses
| belonginig to Jack Rennie. Mr.
Bunn states that die party de
serves much credit for then
kindly effort as the trip was
nut only difficult but danger
oils owing to snow slides. On
returning down the hill it was
; found that a big slide had bm
ied a large portion of the trail i
at ter the party passed on then
way up.
As soon as his shoulder is in
I shape again Mr. Bunn plans to
return and continue work oi,
a new tunnel he is driving u>
rut a fine vein of silver-leaa
copper ore. The vein is one 01
! several very promising leads;
found on the property, which
i adjoins the Washington group,
. on Marmot Glacier.
I Clay Porter, head of the Port- j
i er Idaho company, returned
| Thursday from a visit in the
j States.
- -o
| R. G Mellin, mananging en
| gineer of the Riverside mine,
i arrived from the south Thurs
I day to inspect the results of
; recent d^ '^lopment operat
j ions.
NEW YEAR MASQUE
FINE SUCCESS
The masquerade dance given
New Year eve in Pioneer Hail
under the direction of Mr. ana
Mrs. O. F. Hill proved to do
one of the most interesting
events of the winter season
and attracted a large gathei
ing. Hyder has seldom seen
a more varied array of co»
tumes and characters than ap
peared in the motley throng,
swaying to the excellent music
provided by the Victor Durand
orchestra. Fine ladies, gay
gallants, darkies, clowns, cow
boys, prospectors, Chinamen,
baby dolls, and a host of othei
popular conceptions were
•epresented, in addition to a
number of decidedly novei
characters. In fact there as
such an unusually wide diver
sity of costumes that the
judges, Messrs. J. A. Han,
Dan Patterson and Sydney An
erson, found it by no means
an easy task to select the
prize winners from the fan
tastic and colorful array.
Their awards, however, were
well chosen and were as fol
lows :
Best sustained lady character :
Mrs. Edgar Provinse as “Miss j
Coontown Flapperette 01
1927.” The prize was a hand-j
some painted bed lamp, donat
ed by the Hyder Drug Co.
Most original lady character:
Mrs. Thomas Barton, who ap
peared in the unique and fa
miliar character of the Oia
Dutch Cleanser woman, who
“chases dirt.” The prize -foi
this was a fine electric iron,
donatd by the Hyder Mercan
tile Co.
The prize tor the most coin
ical lady character, a harm,
some beaded handbag, donai
ed by Edgar Provinse, was
awarded to Mrs. Robert Nak
ki, whose unique costume was
intended to represent Alaska
spruce and cedar.'
Ernest Blue, representing as
hardy a buccaneer as eve*
wrought deeds of terror on
the Spanish Main, was chosen
as the best sustained gentle
man character and was given a
roll-up set of military brushes,
donated by the Bank of Hyder.
The award for the most orig
inal gentleman character, a,
scarf pin, made of Premier
high grade ore sumiunded by i
nuggets, was annexed by Alex, j
N. McDonald, who appeared 1
as a cowboy. The fine prize
was donated by the Mugger
Shoppe.
Ralph Young, dressed as an :
immigrant, easily captured the j
prize for the most comic
gentleman character. This was
a fine leather set, comprising
a bill fold and cigarette cast
, and was donated by the Gola
| en Gate Hotel,
j A specal prize, consisting of
a collar case of soft leather,
was given to Dan Canavau,
who gave a most faithful
characterization of a pros
pector.
Additonal donations included
i 2 table lamps, a hand painted
lamp shade and a leather writ
ing set, by the Hyder Drug
Co; a half ton of coal by the
Hyder Fuel Co.; a large box of
M' rF.T ‘V ODUCT ON
IN ALASKA IN 1923.
The Department of the In
terior announces, through ad
vance statement’. piepared b
the Alaskan branch of the Ge
ological Survey, that mines in
Alaska produced minerals to
he value of $17,490,000 in
1926, as against $18,220, 692
in 1925. The total value of
mineral output of Alaska since
t330 is over $570,000,000. The
! figures for 1926, which are es
j timates and consequently sub
| ject to revision, are taken
1 from the Geological Survey’s
annual report on the mineral
resources of Alaska, now in
preparation. The source of
this mineral wealth is approxi
S mately as follows:
Gold—1925: $6,360,281;
1926; $6,620,000.
Copper—1925: $10.361,336; j
1926; $9,500,000.
; Silver—1925; $482,495; 19
j 36; $420,000.
Coal—1925: $404,617; 1926; I
j $400,000.
Other minerals (lead, petro
leum, marble, tin, platinum,'
etc.)—1925: $611,963; 1926;
$550,000.
Total, 1925: $18,220,692.
Total 1926; $17,490,000.
Genera! Conditions
Although, as shown by the
preceding table, the Geologi
cal Survey estimates that the
value of Alaska’s mineral pro- i
duction was not so great in
1926 as in 1925, the decrease
in value by no means indicates
a decrease in mining activity
or even an equivalent de
crease in quantity of certain oi
the metals produced. Consid
erably more than half of the ,
decrease in value is directly at
tributable to the lower price
of the product, which of
course was a condition in no
way confined to the mining in
dustry in Alaska. For example,
in 1926 the average price of
silver was 7 cents an ounce j
less than in 1925, the price of;
copper was about four-tenths;
! fancy* chac-davea by Walter j
| Blanton; a bon of cigars by!
: the Malamute Cigar Store; ;•!
: named picture by H. A. Ives,
a case of oranges, 2 pounds of
coffee and 6 cans of milic by
the Hyder Grocery; 3 pounds
>f rorfee by Dr. J. R. Ken
r.edy; printing by the Hyder
Weekly Herald.
The ta'-.ty luncheon of home
made cake and sandwiches
, was provided by the ladies of
j the community and the Pio
I neers of Alaska gave the use
j of their fine hall. The net pro
oeds of the dance have not
| been definitely determined as
i vet but are expected to ap
proximate $100, and will be
turned into the Chamber of
' Commerce Street Light funo,
in the interest of which the
masquerade was held. The
half ton of coal donated by
' the Hyder Fuel Copany will be
raffled at 25 cts. per ticket
j and the proceeds will also Dt
| added to the fund for main
taining the street lights.
Mr. and Mrs. Hill are de
sirous of extending then
thanks to all who assisted in
making the dance a success.
if a cent a pour..'! le ;s r*r,d
the price of coal lead and pal
ladium was also les3. The
value of the yearly mine a’
production of Alaska, b v
; is evei more significant
than appears at first glance,
because the ratio between this
value and the estimated pop
ulation of the Territory is
, about ten times the similar
| ratio for the rest of the Unit
j ed States. In other words, the
productivity of mines plays a
much more vital part in the
economics of the average
Alaskan than in that of the
average resident of the State!*.
Even the current reduced an
nual value of the mineral pro
duction from Alaska is practic
ally 2 times the price origin
ally paid for the entire Terri
tory.
Viewed broadly,1 the mining
conditions through the Terri
tory are encouraging, not qnly
for the continuation of pro
duction at the present rate but
for a gradual increase.
There are still large areas in
Alaska that have not been ade
quately prospected, and many
promising properties are now
lying idle because of lack of
capital for the necessary
equipment. The shortage of
enterprising prospectors is a
serious drawback that has re
sulted because wages for com
parable work are actually
lower in Alaska than in
the States, though expenses
are higher.* As a consequence
Alaska does not attract or
hold the the class of prospect
ors it formerly did. The need
of capital also grows more
pressing as more extensive
equipment becomes essential,
but capital will not be attract
ed to Alaska unless the returns
on the investment are likely
to be higher than in the States,
for the greater distance of
many parts of Alaska makes
investments there less alluring.
Gold Placers
In spite of ihe fact that In
many parts of Alaska placer
mining was badly hampered
by the shortage of rain during
ihe first half of the open sea
son of 1926, the production of
placer gold showed a marked
increase. The most noteworthy
increases were reported from
Seward Peninsula, Fairbanks
district, and the districts in the
upper part of the Yukon basin.
The increase in placer pro
tection is attributable princi
pally to the increased product
ion by the dredges. About 60
per cent of the placer gold
j produced was won by this
method. According to pre
liminary estimates the 29
dredges in operation produced
«r0ld fit ^*^.£00 •
000, which is somewhat more
than $500,000 in excess of the
amount that was recovered by
this means in 1925, Among the
new' dredges built and operat
ed during the year, the Nome
Creek dredge, in the Fan
banks district, was the largest.
Several dredges, completea
; late in the preceding year,
did not begin to be really pro
ductive until 1926. Few pro
jects for building new dredges
1 took definite shape during the
Continued on Page 3.