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(ALASKA
(NEWSPAPER
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SUBSCRIPTIONS
$5.00 PER YEAR
IN ADVANCE
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VOL 5, NO. 15
HYPER, ALASKA, SATURDAY, JANUARY 19,1928.
PRICE TEN CENTS
TEXAS ROAD SURVEY
FUNDS ARE ALLOTTED
An allotment of $1,600 for
completing the location survey
of the projected Texas Creek
Highway has been made by
the U. S. Forest Service, ac
cording to announcement*
made last week by the Forestry
Service headquarters in Jun
eau.
The apportionment of fund*
for the survey was made in
conection with the allotment
of $11,600 by the Forest Ser
vice for supplementing th<
regular Forest Road fund and
has been approved by the Sec
retary of Agriculture. Ter
thousand dollars of the appro
priation is to be used for emer
gency road work on the Fores'
Service road system and wil
be devoted to repairing dam
age created by the Resurrect
ion River flood last summe>
and also by a slide on th(
Moose Pass Highway. The re
mainder will be used on the lo
cal project in surveying a route
for the further extension o
the uncompleted Texas Creel
Highway, from the vicinity o
Ibex Creek to the head of Tex
as Creek valley.
■o
LOCAL MINING
COMPANIES LISTEt
An alphabetically arranget
list of the active and semi-ac
tive mining companies ant
mining syndicates possessing
property interests in the Port
land Canal district is presentee
on page three of the present i»
sue. In so far as can be deter
mined, the list in question rep
resents the first attempt so fai
made to compile a complete
roster of the nearly 100 comp
anies at present identified with
local mining development.
Owing to the large number |
of concerns involved it hat
been difficult to secure accu-,
rate information regarding the
capitalization of a number ol
companies, while in a few in
stances even the correct name
of certain organizations could
not be obtained in time for in
clusion in the present list. As a
result they have been tempor
arily ommitted from the list
and will be added thereto as
soon as the desired informat
ion is available.
Appreciating the possibility
that an accurate index of local
mining organizations will be
useful to those interested in
the district, the publishers are
endeavoring to locate for pub
lication the office address of
all companies represented. It
is also planned to include later
the number of claims included
in the various company hold
ings, in addition to a more ac
curate description of their lo
cation.
The publishers wish to make
the list as comprehensive and
accurate as possible and will
welcome correction of any er
rors which may appear, as
well as any information which
will tend to increase its use
fulness as a directory of local
mining enterprises.
-o
O. F. Hill left for Vancouver
Thursday.
WATER HANDICAPS
a C, SILVER IRK
The presence of considerable
water in the lower levels of
the B. C. Silver greatly handi
capped the work of sinking
the abaft between the No. 4
level and the projected fifth
: level and has resulted in con
siderable delay in the progress
of development, according to
recent reports from that prop
erty.
Although considerable water
was encountered on the fourth
level, situated 360 feet below
the main or No. 3 tunnel, with
which it is connected by No. 2
3haft, drainage was obtained
hrough the adjacent Premier
workings and operations pro
ceeded with little difficulty
until the No. 2 shaft was sunk
below the 4th level, prepara
tory to opening the 5th level,
L05 feet below and at the same
horizon as the Premier No. 4
level.
The problem of handling the
water is said to be a difficult
me and can be successfully ac
-omplished without pumping
>nly by providing drainage
hrough the lower workings of
he Premier.
V
SAYS SCHOOL REFUND
ACT UNSATISFACTORY
The present basis of Territor
ial support of public schools
cannot be considered satisfact
)ry, in the* opinion of Lester DT
Henderson, Territorial Com
missioner of Education. Under
the law passed by the Legis
lature two years ago, the Ter
ritorial refund to schools of
incorporated towns may not
exceed a sum equal to 85 per
cent of expenses for the school
year 1926-27. In a recent state
ment on Alaska school condit
ions Mr. Henderson pointed
out that so long as a particular
city school system remains
static the arrangement is satis
factory. But, if expansion is
taking place, the burden falls
more heavily on the communi
ty as its school system con
tinues to grow.
Cordova and Petersburg af
ford examples of the manner
in which the law works. Since
the school year 1926-27 the
Cordova school system has ex
perienced no special growth
necessitating employment of
additional teachers or other
increases of expense, conse
quently the city receives ap
proximately 85 per cent Terri
torial support.
Petersburg, on the other
hand, has been forced to em
ploy two additional teachers
I to keep pace with increased
enrollment, with the result that
the additional expense must
be carried almost entirely by
the municipality, thereby re
ducing materially the per cent
of Territorial support and actu
ally penalizing the community
1 on account of the natural
growth and expansion of its
school system.
-o
Miss Irma Irskine, R. N. ar
rived from Prince Rupert Mon
day to attend Mr. and Mrs.
' Bert Smith, of Premier, who
i are ill with the influenza.
PREMIER COMPLETES
MARMOT R, POWER
INSTALLATION
The new electrical power
plant of the Premier Gold Min
ing Co., at the mouth of Mar
mot River was completed last
week and is now in steady dp
eration.
The plant is composed of 4
360 horsepower Fairbanks
Morse full diesel engine of the
latest and most efficient type,
connected to a 300 k. v. a. gen
erator and is capable of pro
ducing 6900 volts of electricity.
The power is used at present
in the company operations on
the Silverado property, with
which tHe Marmot plant is con
nected by a 3 mile transmis
sion line.
During the coming spring the
plant will also be hooked up
with the Prosperity and Porter
Idaho camps on the north fork
of Marmot River and will sup
ply light and power for the
large operations contemplated
by the Premier Company on
those properties.
The work of installing the
new generating plant was done
by Louis Johnson, company
electrician, assisted by a corps
of helpers.
Five men, including three op
erators, a cook and a helper
wil be employed at the camff
during the winter season.
Parties who^ recently visited
the* Marmot report that the
camp constructed by the com
pany during the past season is
excelled by none in the district
aside from the big camp at
Premier and includes every
character of facility for the
care and comfort of the large
crew of men who will be em
ployed there in the future. All
buildings are steam heated
from a central heating plant.
The crew quarters are fitted
with hot and cold showers
and are furnished in excellent
manner throughout.
R. W. J. REED RETURNS
R. W. J. Reed, genial repre
sentative of the U. S. Customs
Servics and deputy collector at
Nome during the summer seas
on, was an arrival in Hyder
Thursday. As on the occasion
of his earlier visits to this camp
Mr. Reed is here to relieve Col.
E. R. Stivers, local deputy col
lector of customs, who will
leave shortly on a brief visit
in Juneau.
Mrs. Reed, who accompanied
Mr. Reed on his last visit, is
now in North Dakota, where
she has been ill for some time
with the influenza, but is now
much improved.
- -o
M. M. O’Brien of the Consoli
dated M. and S. forces was an
arrival from the south Mon
day in connection with the
company activities on the Big
Misouri. Mr. O’Brien was ac
companied by Mrs. O’Brien
and their child.
-o
Mrs. T. Grosbush returned
Thursday from a trip to the
south.
LARGS GAIN IN
ALASKA EXPORTS
IN DECEMBER
Exceeding by large figures
export totals for • December
1926 and 1927, Alaska pro
ducts, exclusive of gold and
silver, shipped to the States
last month attained a total
value of $2,076,940, according
to the monthly summary of
Collector of Customs J. C. Mc
Bride. The report shows a gain
of $844,900 over December
1927 and $280,641 over De
cember 1926.
Gold shipments in the same
period amounting to $465,292
and silver to the amount of
$23, 656, bring the total ex
port values for the month to
$2,565,888.
Copper occupies first place in
the list of exported commodi
ties with $591,545, as com
pared with $467,717 in Decem
ber 1927. Canned salmon
ranked second with a value of
$488,676, beating similar ship
ments in December 1927 by
$485,531. Halibut shipments
attained third place with
$379,180 against $303,266 for
the previous December. Her
ring shipments also developed
a marked gain, totaling $737,
188, more than doiikfcfr the fig
ures for DecemberfSfav.
The full list of exported com
modftites and their values fol
lows:
Blue foxes.
Other animals.
Curios.
Fish:
Fresh and frozen (ex
cept shell-fish)
Halibut.
Salmon.
All other.
Canned (except
shell-fish) -
Salmon.
200
1,675
520
379,180
115,923
7,732
488,676
Cured or preserved .
(except shell-fish)
Cod. 371
Herring. 237,188
15,358
1,415
5,780
17,028
10,259
820
52
Salmon.
All other.
Shell-fish
Crabs.
Shrimps.
Other fish products
Meal.
Oil.
All other fish
and fish products.
Furs and fur-skins
Blue fox.
! Silver or black fox.
Red fox.
White fox.
Mink.
Muskrat.
Beaver.
All other.
Manufactured furs....
Oil: Whale.
Ore, matte, and reg
ulus
Copper. 591,545
9,770
1,735
6,680
50
4,645
600
300
9,466
1,000
29,258
Lead.
Stone, including
marble.
Trophies, speci- .
mens ,etc.
Wood: Timber and
lumber.
All other articles.....
9,734
40,739
5,266
7,132
3,550
Total value of pro
ducts of Alaska. 2,003,642
UM-JHII YIELD
HR THREE MILLION
Production of the Alaska
Juneau mine during 1928 was
$3,200,000, according to pre
liminary estimates by the man
agement. Gross profits, before
deduction of depreciation and
depletion charges, totaled ap
proximately $920,000, accord
ing to the same authority.
The importance of the Alas
ka-Juneau in the present gold
production of Alaska is indi
cated by the announcement
[ that its output for the year
actually exceeded the com
bined gold output of all other
! Alaska mines, quartz, placers
and dredges.
This fact is clearly estab
lished by comparison of the
Alaska-Juneau output with the
total Territorial gold output as
shown by the U. S. Customs
records of gold shipped to the
States during 1928. The latter
disclose aggregate gold exports
totaling $6,351,204. Of this
amount the Alaska-Juneau
produced $3,200,000, or slight
ly over fifty per cent.
Ore mined and trammed dur
ing the year totaled 3,700,000
tons, as sompared to 4,263,000
tons in 1927. The percentage
of ore milled this year was also
lower than in 1927, a total of
1,800,000 tons being milled
last year, as against 1,841,00
tons in 1927. The ore mined
was of higher grade, however,
with the result that last year’s
production exceeded that of
1927 by $820,000. .
The great importance of the
mine to the Juneau district is
indicated by the announcement
that the company expenditures
during the year totaled $1,
700,000, of which $1,250,000
was paid as wages. The re
mainder was expended in the
local purchase of powder, lum
ber and other commodities.
i
n
D. J. Mulcare, local immigrat
ion inspector, returned Mon
day from a vacation trip in the
States.
Mrs. Mulcare, who recently
underwent a minor operation
in the hospital at Butte, Mon
tana, will not return until the
later part of January.
-o
H. L. Coleman, representa
tive of the Style Shop of Ketch
ikan, was a visitor in camp ;
during the stay of the Fair-1
banks Wednesday.
■o
Casey Williams, brother of
EM. Williams, well known ship
ping man, was a visitor in Hy
der Wednesday.
Products of the Unit
ed States returned.... 72,833
Total value of for
eign products. 465
Total value of ship
ments of merchan
idise. 2,076,940
Items included in
“All Other Articles”
Whale fertilizer 2,748
“ meal 502
Hairseal skins 300
Gold $465,292
Silver $23,656
SENATE CONFIRMS
HARDING NOMINATION
The nomination by President
Coolidge of Justin W. Harding,
U. S. district attorney, for
judge of the district court for
the First Judicial Division of
Alaska, has been confirmed by
the Senate, according to a tele
gram from U. S. Marshal Al
bert White received by deputy
U. S. Marshal Donald E. Mar
tin.
The Senate endorsement of
Mr. Harding was given on
January 15, according to the
message.
As judicial administration
has been practically at a stand
still in the district court since
the death of Judge T. M. Reed,
early last year, Judge Harding
will probably take over the
office immediately, although
the message makes no mention
of his intentions.
O
POSTAL OFFICIALS
OPPOSE FAIRBANKS
ICE-BREAK-UP POOL
Reports from the interior in
dicate that the famous Nenana
Sweepstakes ice pool may
shortly become a thing of the
past, as a result of opposition
by postal officials.
It has long been recognized
by the committees in charge
of the popular sporting event
that the use of mails in con
nection with the classic might
make postal interference pos
sible and it has been the prac
tice to transact business thru
the express company rather
than the postoffice. It is said,
however, that not withstand
ing these precautions, the post
al authorities have declared
war on the derby and are re
ported to have threatened an
appeal to the department of
justice to aid them in sup
pressing it.
As a result of this opposition,
it is said that the Nenana resi
dents are undecided what to
’ do about it. There is consid
erable expense involved in get
] ting the contest under way
and there would be no pros
pect for reimbursement if the
postal authorities halted it,
before the guessing started.
It has been suggested by en
thusiasts that if serious oppo
sition develops, each town
along the railroad, can hold
its own guessing contest on
the breakup event.
-o
NEW CURRENCY
THIS YEAR
The governors of the Federal
Reserve Banks have decided to
issue the new, smaller-sized
currency in all denominations
from $1 to $20 shortly after
next July, according to recent
announcements.
The new bills will be issued
simultaneously in all parts of
the country and will measure
6 15-16 inches in length and
2 11-16 inches in width, ap
proximately an inch shorter
and a half inch narrower than
the present dollar bills.