AN ALL
ALASKA
NEWSPAPER
HYDER WEEKLY HERALD
DEVOTED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF ALASKA AND THE PORTLAND CANAL MINING DISTRICT.
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VOL 1, NO. 5
HYDER, ALASKA, MONDAY, OCTOBER 6,1924
FIFTY OEMS Al'CliH
NEAR DISASTER AT THE
RIVERSIDE MINE
A chapter of heroism as
splendid as was ever blazoned
on the annals of men resulted
in the death of Wilfred Sher
burne Atkins at the Riverside
mine at 7 Mile Sunday after
noon. The fatality occurred
when Atkins and three othei*
men employed at the mine
became victims of noxious
powder gas while attempting
to rescue two other men lying
unconscious in lower levels as
a result of inhaling the dead
ly fumes.
According to the story un
folded at the Coroner’s in
quest held at the mine Sunday
evening, Chas. Watson, Fred
Ukovich and Todor Vuicich,
imbued with a desire to see if
ore had been struck in one of
the lower workings, ventured
into the mine without waiting
for the pumps to clear away
the gas resulting from a round
of shots fired about 2:30 a.m.
by the night shift,- before sus
pending work for the day.
Owing to. some defect, the
pumps were closed down for
repairs a few minutes after
the night' shift retired and
were not ready for operation
until shortly before 11 a. m.
There was no one in the mine
during the interval. A few
minutes after the pumps were
started, the three men, anxious
to see if the ore had been
struck in a cross cut, descend
ed to the 220 foot level to
where the compressor is loc
ated, turned on the air and
were about to proceed to the
440 foot level, when they be
came aware of the poisonous
fumes. Watson and Vuicich de
cided to go no farther.but Uk
ovich continued on to the face.
Therehe commenced to feel the
, effects of the deadly gas and
hastened back to his compan
ions, to find them both suffer
ing from the gas and prepar
ing to beat a retreat to the sur
face. Staggering blindly along,
the two continued on their
way to the surface until Wat
son and Ukovich were over
come and fell in their tracks.
vuvicicn manageu to reacn
the surface but in such dazed
condition that he failed to
give the alarm and proceed
ed down the dump to the
river flat several hundred feet
below, where he wandered
about for some time. His em
ergence from the mine was
noticed by Blacksmith Olson
and Atkins, his assistant. They
decided something must be
wrong and gave the alarm.
Foreman Hardy Haughn and
others, bent only on rescuing
the men in the mine hastened
below before others arrived
and found the bodies of Wat
son and Ukovich. In the mean
time, Olson, Ole Twedt and
Dick Willis followed them,
but Olson, not being used to
underground work and powd
er fumes was compelled to re
turn to the surface. Twedt
and Willis went on and found
Haughn and Atkins trying to
get the unconscious form of
Ukovich into the skip. Willis
and Twedt assisted them but
before getting the men into
the skip, Twedt’s lamp came
loose from his cap, fell and
apparently set fire to Watson’s
clothing. The three rescuers
were apparently too dazed to
notice the mishap until Wat
son was severely burned on
the back and the drift was
full of smoke. After much ex
ertion the two men were final
ly placed in the skip. Atkins
was by this time nearly all in
and Haughn said he could riot
stand it much longer. After
the skip was finally sent up
ward, Haughn' and 'Bwedt
managed to reach the surface
but were almost prostrated
shortly after striking the
Continued Page 2
FIRE PROTECTION
DANCE A SUCCESS
; The big Fire Protection Bene
fit dance held Saturday even
ing in Pioneer Hall under the
auspices of the Hyder Chamb
jer of Copmerce was one of the
jmost enjoyable entertainments
held here for a long time and
netted something over $200.
The full returns had not been
tabulated up to the time of go
!ing to press; bat members of
the committee in charge state
that the receipts will exceed
$200 and may reach as high as
$225. The big hall was crowd
ed to capacity during the en
tire evening and between the
splendid music dispensed by
by Messrs Ridley, Durand and
Cullen and the fun provided by
Wm. Tooth with his inimitable
auctioneering activities in sell
ing the fine array of cakes do
nated by the ladies of Hyder,
the crowd did not lack amuse
ment and appeared to enjoy
i itself every moment.
As everything from the use of
! the hall to supper supplies and
advertising was donated, prac
tically the entire proceeds of
entertainment can be devoted
to the purchase of the much
needed fire fighting equip
ment.
The response of the public
was spontaneous and generous
and the committee in charge
is highly gratified at the re
sults of their efforts. The sum
provided will enable the com
mittee to make a fair start at
securing the equipment need
ed to make the town as safe
from fire as possible. In the
view of the committee about
I ? 500 will be needed to secure
an adequate supply of exting
uishers to cover the town. It
is probable that another en
tertainment will be given at a
later period to supply the rest
of the funds needed,
i Following is the list of those
who by donations or irtdivid
! ual efforts helped to make the
benefit the splendid success
it was.
! Those donating cakes, sand
wiches and other supplies
were:
1 Cakes—
* Mesdames; Edgar Prov
: inse, Philip Backus, Edward
Haddon, J. A. Hall, L.,Bigham,
Robert Stewart^ L.Legfee, Pearl
Glantz, Wm. Gray, Jas. Ly
ons, Walter Barron, J. D Little
page, Wm. Bunting, Jack
Peters, H.H. Howard, Walter
I Blanton, T. H. Evans, W. R.
I Me Donnell, Jno. Hovland, H.
Tanner, T. W. McDonald, Joe
Green, Jno. Campibell M. R.
Jamieson. Misses Muriel For
■ sythe and Esther Traversy.
Sandwiches;—
| Mesdames; Merl F. Thomas,
Frank Berry, L. Lemper, Al
bert Mayer, Geo. Mehlfeld,
Theodore Hatton, H. Haughn,j
;Mahood-, Ives, J. Gillis, Bayn
ton, Stark, Lindgaard, ,E- E.
Dale, Miss Marion Hunt and
David Allen.
; Miscellaneous—
Mrs. Wm. Sullivan, sugar;
Miss Coombs, sugar; Harry !
Lyons, pickles; Max Behrmann
!coffee; Miss M. Hunt, cake
plates; Frank Reichenback,
milk; Oren F. Hill, boric acid;
Hyder Herald, tickets and
hand bills.
In addition to the above,
Oren F. Hill, of the Hyder
Drug Co., donated $10 in
cash; the Pioneers of Alaska
and Frank Nagle, gave the
use of the hall free of charge,
and Edgar Provinse and Yael
Rozenstain are to take care of
the music.
Others whose services con
tributed to the success of
the entertainment were Earl
Hinckley, Mrs. Walter Barron
and Miss Muriel Forsythe.
Piloted by Mr. Hinckley in
I his car; Mrs. Barron and Miss
Forsythe made a ticket sell
Continued Page 2
DALY ALASKA TO
INSTALL MACHINERY
Wm. Sloan, manager of the
Daly-Alaska, scene of the
latest big mining development
in Portland Canal district, was
a south bound passenger on
the Cardena, bound for the
States to purchase more ma
chinery for the Daly-Alaska
mine.
The exact character of the
new equipment has not been
fully decided but it will be of
a size and capacity to push
development work on the
massive ore body recently en
countered in the long tunnel
started last year under the
direction of Mr. Sloan.
As soon as the new machin
ery is installed the present
mine force will be increased
to a full crew.
Mr. Sloan, to whom is due
the full credit for the recent
remarkable discovery on the
famous old property, report
ed during the past week a
great increase in the gold
values as the ore body is pene
trated. Samples of the ore
taken from the mine in recent
days continue to show large
quantities of native silver and
argentite.
Mr. Sloan expects to be gone
about two weeks ftnd will
visit both Seattle jmd Van
couver.
MINING NOTES
A large group of claims sit
uated along the western slope
of Bear River valley in the
vicinity of the Prince John
properties has been bonded
by A. B. Trites, Vancouver
mining man, according to ad
vices fron^ Stewart last week.
Mr. Trites has let a contract
for 500 feet of tunnel work,
which is expected to tap what
is said, to be a wide vein of
silver-lead ore carrying large
values and traceable on the
surface for a considerable
distance. The projected tun
nel is planned to strike the
ore body at a depth of approx
imately 700 feet, 5Vm. Dann, j
Prank Riva ana James Dou
ville are the principal owners
in the property, which is said
to include 18 claims. The price
paid could not be ascertained
but is reported to run into ex- J
tensive figures. A. St. Claire
Brindle, a Vancouver mining
engineer will have charge of
operations.
Owney McFadden has taken '
a contract to freight supplies!
to the Independence.
—
Ore ;shipments from the I
Porter-Idaho are averaging j
around 3 ton a day from the
mine to the beach. The new j
camp building is practically
completed and will house a
crew of ten
Pending repairs to the road,
Bryson & Harner are packing
the ore to the Wire Gold cab
in, about V2 mile from the
beach. A crew of 8 or 9 men
is employed on the road,
which is being corduroyed
from the beach up.
The American Mining r.nd
Milling Co., of which Silas
P. Silverman is local represent
ative, is preparing to drive a.
1,400 foot tunnel in its Fish
Creek properties.
Dominick Burvacqua arrived
in town Saturday from his En
gineer Group on the East side
of Ferguson Glacier, where
he has been doing open cut
ting on a promising looking
lead.
W. E. Dunkle, and Pat Daly
visited the East and West
property on Glacier Creek
last week, in addition to other
properties in that locality. Mr.
Dunkle left on the Cardena
after giving the district the
“onceover.”
Ray Snyder came down from
Mineral Hill Thursday and re
ported that Dan Woodmore
and himself are continuing
work on their tunnel on the
96 claim. The cross cut is in
29 feet and is expected to
reach the ore within 5 or 6
feet. Mr. Snyder reports that
Oscar Larsen and Jack Web£
ter are working on a good
looking showing on the south
end of Mineral Hill.
W. R. Harner, who has taken
a 60 day option on the Fraser
Group on Marmot River is
preparing to ship 9 tons of
high grade ore from that
property to the Selby smelter
at San Francisco. As in the
case of the Porter-Idaho, the
ore cannot be properly treat
ed at Tacoma, owing to the
heavy lead content. An 86 foot
tunnel is also being driven to
tap the lead at greater depth.
J. Frederick Cronholm has
closed down the Cronholm
Bartholf properties near Sal
mon Glacier, after a summer
of extensive prospecting in
which much development
work was done on the high
grade ore bodies found a year
ago.
Malcom Smith came in Sat
urday from Texas Creek,
where, assisted by E. L. Casey,
he has been doing assessment
work and general prospect
ing on the Bonanza Group
of Ferguson, Rozenstain and
Smith.
Messrs. Smith and s Casey
have also finished this year’s
assessment work on the Sum
mit, Lake, Harding and Mount
ain Girl Group, owned by
.themselves, in the same local
ity. Both groups are well sit
uated and have some fine
looking surface showings.
Dan McVey is prospecting on
what appears to be a valuable
copper proposition on Texas
Creek, about 8 miles above the
cable crossing on the upper
side Of the creek. Dave start
ed a tunnel recently but is
now open cutting on a fine
surface showing in which
chalcopyrite is the predom
inating mineral element, al
though assays show fair values
in silver and gold.
From Stewart come rumors
of a strike of rich ore on the j
North & South Line proper-'
ties in the Bear River section
during the past few days.
Nothing authoritive could be
learned before going to press.
According to the report the
ore was encountered in drift
ing on a fine looking vein re
cently cross cut at 76 feet by j
a 110 foot tunnel started some
time ago. The property is
splendidly situated close to
the Dunwell and is under
bond to the North and South
Syndicate, of which .Gustave
Seiffert and Jack Pederson
are the guiding spirits.
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CANDIDATE WALKER
ADDRESSES VOTERS j
The first political meeting
of the present campaign took
place Thursday evening when
Norman R. Walker, candidate
for senatorial honors, address
ed a good sized gathering iH
Pioneer Hall. Owing to ex
ijremely short notice, t?he
crowd was not as large as !
might have been expected at i
the initial appearance of a |
legislative candidate so wide
ly known and popular as Mr.
Walker, but it made up in en
thusiasm for all it lacked in
numbers.
Merl F. Thomas acted as
chairman and opened the
meeting by introducing Capt.
F. Dorin, of the Salvation
Army, who stated that he
was here in connection with
the annual drive for sub
scriptions. Capt. Dorin gave
a brief history of the Salvat
ion Army and its work and
announced that a committee ;
of local people had volunteer
ed to assist him in his labors.
At the conclusion of Capt.
Dorm's remarks, Rev. Theo
dore Hatton, newly arrived*
pastor of Hyder M. E. Church,
was introduced to the audi
ence and declared himself
to be in full sympathy with
the Salvation Army movement
He said he was desirous of
giving them all the help he
could. Dr. Hatton closed an
intefreiTting talk by announc
ing himself to be deeply in*
terested in the welfare of
Hyder and its citizens and de
clared it to be his interttion to
work for the best interests of
the community in every way
possible); therefore, he aq|id,
the community should heln
him by attending church and |
giving him its moral support j
in his new service.
Chairman Thomas next in
troduced Mr. Walker, whose
first remark was an apology
for not having announced in
his meeting circulars that
Capt. Dorin would be present
in the interests of the Salvat
ino Army. He had not known
it at the time of having them
printed, he said
He told the audience he was
in the race for the Senator
ship because he wanted to see
laws enacted that would fost
er and encourage the develop
ment of the Territory’s re
sources and because he want- i
ed to see Alaska ruled by
Alaskans. Every cent he had
in the world was invested in
Ketchikan. The fisheries werr •
everything to the people of i
that section at present, he said,
but in time the fish would
give out and for the protect
ion of their interests they
must look to the development
of other resources for prosper
ity in the future. As mining
was the industry next in im
portance to the fisheries, min
ing development must be
their aim. Mr. Walker said,
if elected he intended to pro
mote mining through the
building of trails for the
miner and prospector.
The speaker next referred
to the taxation of fisheries
and declared the opinion that
taxing the fish traps out of
existence meant placing coh
trol of the fisheries in the
hands of the big canners. It
would also, in time prove de
cided detriment to the seiners.
What Hyder needed he
knew and, the world, espec
ially the mining world well
knew. The people of this dis
trict, he said, have asked for ;
little—roads, trails, and a jetty :
to .protect themselves against :j
the river. They have asked ,
modestly, he declared, but .
have received nothing.
Mr. Walker said he had se-'
lected Hyder to make the
opening speech of his cam
paign. This district is one of :
the most promising mining
fields in Alaska. He said that
development had not been
going on quite as well a*
it should, because of lack of
assistance, financial and gov
ernmental, but if elected he
.would, among the first th'njs
he did as a legislator, see that
Hyder was given some assist
ance for its prospectors and
protection against the en
croachments of the river.
Mr. Walker also paid his op
ponent, Mr. Hunt, a few po.it
ical compliments, declaring
him to be, among other things,
the man" who introduced but
one bill in the legislature, and
that providing that if a man
voted for a certain political
party in the primary electior.3
one year, he must thereafter
vote for the sathc party con
tinuously. He said Mr. Hunt
was’a conscientious, upright
man, bull insisted emphat
ically that he was not a legis
lator. Mr. Hunt’s success in
the primaries was due, he
said, to the support of Will
iam Paul, of Ketchikan, whom,
he said, he did not consider a
dangerous man, but one of
education, ability and intelli
gence. Mr. Paul’s asiS Wanee
was indicated, Mr. Walker
said, by the small vote Mr.
Hunt received in white sect
ions as against a vote of about
75 to‘ 1 iri the Indian settle
Relative to the much dis
cussed literacy question, Mr.
Walker said he did not be
lieve a man should be refused
the vote solely because he
was illiterate; and certVirl/
not a citizen of the country
who wae a worker and pro
ducer. He believed, however,
that illiteracy was somethin ;
the country should correct as
speedily as possible.
In the intervals between the
various speeches, C. M. Rid
ley and Victor Durand re
galed the crowd with several
of their usual high class piano
and violin selections.
Robert W. Martin, head of
the Victoria Mines, Limited;
made the second payment on
the Star and Dandy group Fri
day, according to advices from
Stewart. The property wao
bonded to Martin’s com^a-tj
by Heine Horstman, of Ste-.v
art, some time ago. The gro ip
is in a splendid location, lying
on the north side of and adjoin
ing' the Dunwell. ConsiderabI
developmnt work has be a
done on a series, of fine surface
showings. Work on the Dim
well has also revealed th"i 1 >
vein on the latter property is
running north, hence u ap
pears that the same rich ore
body may be encountered on
the Star and Dandy.
A tunnel wa3 started on tli
property during the: sum:iu.
in addition to a large amoun
of surface work, and a fine
camp has been erected.
Mr. Martin is at present in the
south but is expected to re
turn on the next boat to resuiu
operations for the winter.
Rev. Chas. Theodore Hatton,
the new pastor of fiyder M. E.
Church, delivered the first
sermon of his new pastora e
Sunday evening. The sermon
was interesting and -impressive
and evoked much comment
itory comment from those in
attendance.
Before coming to Hyder, Dr.
Hatton was engaged for some
pears in missionary work at
;he Colville Indian reservation
n Washington and is a mine of
nteresting information con
cerning the aborigines. He is
a native of Illinois and matric
i la ted at McKendree College
n that state.
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