HYDER - FIRST ALASKA TOWN THAT CAN BE REACHE D BY THE PACIFIC - YUKON - ALASKA HIGHWAY I
* '
SPECIALIZING IN
MINING NEWS OF THE
PORTLAND CANAL
DISTRICT
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HYDER WEEKLY HERALD
»> 11 '
SUBSCRIPTIONS
*3.00 PER YEAR
IN ADVANCE
VOL. 7, NO. 52
HYDER, ALASKA, OCTOBER 10, 1931
BY THE YEAR, $3.00
U, a OFFICIALS
OPPOSE 8IMETALISM
Return of the United States
to bi-metalism as its money
system is opposed by admin
istration officials on the
ground that there seems to be
no occasion for tampering with
the gold standard, according
to Washington, D. C., press
reports.
Gold as basis of monetary
systems throughout the world
was said to provide the most
satisfactory base. Suspension
of the gold standard in Great
Britain and European count
ries was not regarded as re
flecting a permanent policy.
It was said that there had
been little serious agitation for
a return to bi-metalism and
that this came chiefly from
senators representing silver
producing states.
The people of the nation as
a whole decline to accept sil
ver in circulation, it was said,
because of the inconvenience
of carrying silver dollars.
It was pointed out that silver
is quite changeable in value
and that conditions are differ
ent from a year ago when sil
ver mines produced large
quantities of the metal in this
country. At present, it was
said, most of the silver
produced is mined as a by
product of other metals.
■o
Silver To Come Into Its Own
Silver, in the opinion of Sam
uel Guggenheim head of one
of the world’s largest smelting
and refining companies, soon
will “come into its own,” and
already is destined for the
greatest future of all metals.
Returning from Europe this
week, the president of the
American Smelting and Refin
ing Co. urged a conference of
outstanding silver exponents to
hasten the “silver era” as pre
dicted. Every country, he said,
would gain something by the
move, according to press re
ports.
“Silver is necessary, and
most countries, including Great
Britain, are beginning to real
ize its importance in value,”
he said.
Guggenheim said he believ
ed the present would be an
opportune time for a concert
ed effort on the part of world
copper producers to help rem
edy the present situation.
He went on record in favor
of corporations maintaining
dividends as long as possible
without resorting to the bor
rowing of money, “in con
sideration of small stockhold
ers.”
“For no better purpose could
surpluses built up in good
years be used than in main
tainance of dividends,” he
said. “For thereby the good
will and confidence of stock
holders are held.”
-—o
Tom Powers left on an ore
boat to enjoy a vacation of a
month or so in the south where
he will visit various points as
far south as Portland, Ore.
i Deg Poisoner Commits
Dastardly Act
—
One of the most dastardly
| criminal acts ever perpetrated
j in the ditsrict was revealed
Tuesday with the discovery
! that sopie conscienceless mis
creant had strewed small piec
es of poisoned bacon over a
long stretch of one of the dis
trict^ most traveled thorough
fares and along sections where
a number of very small child
ren are customarily given to
using the roadway as a play
ground and would be very apt
to find and possibly eat the
poisoned meat.
This reckless and wholly in
defensible act was discovered
as a result of the death Tues
day morning of the fine young
police dog owned by little Bert
Thomas, son of Hubert Thom
as, proprietor of the Boundary
Gift Shop. The animal, an en
tirely harmless specimen of
I the canine tribe, died sudden
ly after convulsions of a char
acter indicating cyanide pois
| oning.
Investigation by Mr. Thom
; as and others resulted in the
finding of quite a number of
pieces of bacon along Inter
national Avenue in Hyder and
j on its trans-boundary continu
ation, the Ilyder-Stewart road,
as far as the northerly confines
j of Hyder, B. C. Examination of
! the meat fragments revealed
that each of them had been
| partially split and a quantity
, of some whitish substance in
serted in the center. In the ab
sence of means of testing this
substance, its character could
not be determined, but there
apears little reason to doubt
that it is a virulent poison. Mr.
Thomas has retained several
speciments and plans to send
them south for labratory tests.
That the act of the conscien
celess scoundrel was premedi
tated and intended to do the
utmost possible damage to
canines is indicated by the fact
! that pieces of the bacon were
found scattered between a
i point near the Hyder postof
fice to the farther border of
Hyder, B. C., a distance of ap
| proximately one mile.
The discovery of the whole
sale attempt at poisoning has
l ,‘reated intense indignation in
I the community. This feeling is
further heightened by the
criminal disregard of human
| life displayed by the culprit
in leaving the poisoned meat
where it might be-' readily
found and possibly eaten by
tiny children.
1 Mr. Thomas has offered a
reward of $150 for informa
tion leading to the arrest and
conviction of the poisoner and
janyone who can apprehend
the person responsible will
earn not only a substantial
sum but also secure the pun
ishment of an unmitigated
! scoundrel,
i
.
| In accordance with the re
| cently announced changes in
the Seattle-Alaska mail sched
ules, the weekly mail boat
from Ketchikan is due to ar
rive here today. Saturday will
continue to be the day of ar
rival until after March 22.
CHAMBER COMMERCE
ELECTS TRUSTEES
! Trustees for the ensuing year
i were elected by the Hyder
Chamber of Commerce at a
dinner meeting held at the
Silver Grill restaurant Wed
nesday evening. The meeting
was attended by upward of
I twenty members, including
several of the Canadian mem
j bers from Stewart, B. C., who
j display fully as much interest
j in the affairs of the Hyder or
ganization as in that of their
own town. Guests attending
the meeting included Chet
Johnson, representative of the
National Grocery Co., of Se
attle; W. T. Esselmont, P. S.
Jack, and E. T. Applewhaite,
president of the Stewart Board
of Trade, and J. K. Green of
Hyder. President E. I). Had
don presided.
The election of trustees re
sulted in the return of all but
one of the retiring board, Er
nest Love of Stewart being
substituted for Frank Reichen
back. The new trustees thus
include E. D. Haddon, H. R.
Cross, secretary of the old
board, Holger Johnson, Chas.
F. Sandford, N. M. Traversy,
Ernest Love, and J. A. Hall.
In accordance with the
usual practice, the new board
will meet shortly and eject,
from their own number the
various administrative officers.
Included among various mat
ters brought before the meet
ing was a report by Chas. F.
l Sandford of the International
Highway committee to the ef
fect that the committe had
completed the work of distri
buting the Chamber of Com
merce special Highway edition
of the Hyder Weekly Herald,
some 1150 copies having been
mailed to government officials
in Alaska, Canada and the
United States, in addition to
numerous automobile and road
associations, tourist and steam-,
ship agencies. The receipt of
many commendatory letters
and press notices was also re
ported. The publication was
not a financial success, the
speaker said, but enough
would be realized to slightly
more than offset the costs of
j production.
j A communication from The
| Alaska Weekly offering to Hy
! der and Stewart jointly and
without charge a full page in
its forthcoming special edition
boosting Alaska resulted in
the appointment of a commit
tee consisting of S. P. Fitzger
ald and N. M. Traversy to co
operate with that publication
in conjunction with a similar
committee of the Stewart
Board of Trade composed of
H. P. Gibson, H. W. M. Rol
ston and P. S. Jack.
A proposal by the governor
of Alaska to register unem
ployed persons who might
need assistance during the
coming winter resulted in a
decision to do so. It was point
ed out by Secretary, Cross, J.
A. Hall and S. P. Fitzgerald
that an enrollment could be
employed not only in render
ing aid locally but also might
be used in inducing earlier ac
I
FRENCH STATESMAN
JOINS SUER RANKS
The growth of the silver re
vival movement is again shown
by the action of M. Callieux,
famous French statesman in
raising his voice in favor of
restoring the white metal to its
proper place in the world’s
monetary system.
Calliaux, who is rated as one
of the most intelligent of the
very intelligent Frenchmen,
was the man who helped Poin
care in restoring France to a
gold basis, and her present
vast accumulation of gold, now
declares that the present world
depression is caused by “a pe
nury of monetary metals,” and
that “silver, which has been
stupidly demonetized, should
be rehabilitated.”
Arthur Brisbane, famous
publicist and editor, recently
added to his list of utterances
in favor of silver the declar
ation that intelligent men look
ing for improvement in pres
ent conditions will watch Brit
ish conditions, the fall or rise
of the pound, and the increase
in the price of silver, if it does
increase. He adds:
“It should increase, for the
world, including this rich
country, needs more currency.
Two piles of gold, one in Paris,
one in Washington, cannot fi
nance all creation.
“The world needs more real
money for its prosperity, and
being unable to produce
enough gold, it should, under
wise regulations, restore sil
ver’s value.”
--o
M. S. Zapora Due Sunday
The Wills Navigation Co.
motorship Zapora is expected
to arrive here from Seattle to
morow. The vessel was sched
uled to leave the Puget Sound
port Thursday at midnight.
tion on the federal flood pro
tection project, thereby pro
viding work for local labor.
Speakers who addressed the
meeting on various topics in
cluded, Chet. Johnson, Clay
Porter, E. T. Applewhaite,
who invited local attendance
at a supper meeting of the
Stewart Board of Trade to take
place at 7 P. M. October 20,
Holger Johnson, and P. S.
Jack, who told an amusing
story in his inimitable manner
and also twitted the Chamber
of Commerce soft ball team
for their recent enrichment of
the Board of Trade treasury
through losing to that organi
zation’s ball team.
Tommy McKay, of Premier,
B. C., was admitted to me
bership during the session. Mr.
McKay was not present, but
will make his appearance at
the next meeting and has
promised to adress the Cham
ber at that time on a topic of
considerable local interest.
In concluding the session
president Haddon urged that
all local members who could
should attend the Stewart
Board of Trade dinner refer
red to by Mr. Applewhaite.
Says Local Highway
Route Is Feasible
A reconnaisance trip of two
weeks duration in the Meziad
in Lake and Nass River sec
tions, made recently by attor
ney Ernes Blue, has convinced
him that the extension of a
branch of the proposed Pacif
ic - Yukon - Alaska Highway
from Kitmangar to Hyder and
Stewart via the Cranberry and
Nass Rivers, is an entirely prac
tical proposal and can be put
through with no greater dif
ficulty or expense than would
be required in constructing an
equal length of highway over
any of the several proposed
routes to Alaska.
Mr. Blue’s observations and
deductions will be presented
to readers of the Hyder Week
ly Herald next week in a high
ly interesting special article,
which is too long to reproduce
in the present issue.
As the trip was undertaken
by Mr. Blue with the sole ob
ject of learning at first hand
the exact character of the
country through which the
proposed Hyder - Stewart
branch of the great highway
would pass, his article will
provide a clearer understand
ing of the conditions in that
section than has been possible
to attain up to this time, save
by a long and arduous journey.
Watch for it next week.
-o
Alaska Seal Sales
Bring $282,642
The government’s annual sale
at St. Louis of seal skins from
the Alaska seal herds resulted
in sales totaling $282,652, ac
cording to announcements
from Washington, D. C.
Receipts from the auction
brought the total sales of skins
during the past 20 years to a
total of $6,049,542. Pelts tak
en during the last season were
of far better grade than pre
viously, it is said, but prices
were somewhat lower than
formerly.
•u
Delegate Praises
Special Editior
In a letter to the Hyder Her
aid, Alaska delegate to Con
gress, James Wickershan
| pays the following pleasing
| compliment to the recent Pa
j cific-Yukon-Alaska edition o
! this paper as follows:
My dear Mr. Sandford
I have read with much in
jterest your Pacific-Yukon
| Alaska edition of the Hyde
| Weekly Herald, and wish t<
j compliment you on the typo
graphical appearance of th<
i paper and on the nature o
the information matter con
tained therein. With the assist
ance of the Hyder Chamber o
Commerce you have issued j
very creditable publication
| that should be of material ben
j efit to the International High
1 way project and to the Port
land Canal mining district,
wish to extend to you all m;
congratulations — and bes
wishes.
Sincerely Yours,
James Wickersham
ASKS SHARE OF
SEAL REVENUES
Declaring that the present
Territorial revenues are insuf
ficient to meet the necessary
expenses of government, the
Juneau Chamber of Commerce
has adopted a resolution en
dorsing a memorial passed by
the 1931 Alaska Legislature
asking that 50 per cent of the
annual revenue derived by the
federal government from the
Priblof Island seal herds be
remitted to Alaska for the
common school fund.
After pointing out that vir
tually all Territorial revenues
are derived from license fees
and taxes on mines and fish
eries, and that these have
been so reduced during the
past two years that there is
now insufficient income to pay
the operating expense of the
Territorial government, the
resolution avers that the Ter
ritory is annually expending
more than two hundred thous
and dollars for the care and
education of Eskimo and In
dian wards of the government,
which places an excessive
burden upon the Teritory, and
calls upon the federal gov
ernment to pay to the Territory
of Alaska for the benefit of
the common school fund a sum
equal to 50 per cent of annual
revenue from the seal herds,
declaring that some such re
lief and assistance is essential,
as the Territory is faced with a
the Territory is faced with a
deficit and has no power to
incur indebtedness.
Canadian Exchange
Hurts U. S. Trade
That the drop in the value
of the Canadian dollar is
causing a severe hardship to
business in other places than
Hyder, is disclosed in press re
ports stating that the drop is
causing serious losses of Can
adian trade at many points
along the U. S.-Canadian
boundary. One report states
that the situation was bad
enough from the exchange
angle alone but the Canadian
government, to prevent dump
ing of foreign goods on the
Canadian market, has fixed a
tariff on the United States
goods equivalent to the dif
ference in value between the
Canadian and United States
dollars, or 15 U.
The result is, an article
quoted a Canadian customer
at $100 by an United States
j establishment, will yield the
seller only $70, if he acepts
Canadian money, as the rate
of exchange will cut $15 from
his money when he changes it
into United States money, and
then he will have to pay a tar
iff of $10 to get the article
! into Canada. Merchants re
port business with the Canad
ians has dropped to almost
nothing this week.
Charlie O’Neil Dies Suddenly
Charles O’Neil, widely known old
timer. of the district, was found dead
in his bed at the Reid Hotel, Hyder,
B. C., about 3 P. M. this afternoon.
Death was apparently due to heart
failure. Further details next week.