MINING AND SCIENTIFIC PRESS
OF SAN FRANCISCO REVIEWS
DEVELOPMENT.
TO HAVE ELECTRIC DREDGE,
Act'canta Are Given in Detail of Op- j
( rations on Alain Stream and Also j
r.i Work Done on Some of Promis-j
inj: Tributaries. I
Development in the Cache creek
mining district, north of Anchorage,
t i:i.s the subject of an interesting ar
ticle in the Mining and Scientific
Press, of San Francisco. The article !
is accompanied by a map of the Cook j
inlet country and of the neighboring
mining district. The publication says: j
‘■The Cache Creek Dredging com pa-j
r.y. of which Bulkcley Wells is presi
dent, operated from May to Septem
ber most satisfactorily. The season
was cut short by floods about Septem
ber S. This marked the highest water
in the district for eighteen years.
Thirtv new buckets were taken up the
Susdna river this year. The govern
ment through the Alaskan Engineer
ing commission, offered great assist
ance to these placer operators by op
i- •; tors by allowing them use of boats
:r d crews to pull their freight up the
r;\to McDougal. This company
it- about twelve miles of the low
m ‘retches of Cache creek from the
' . ■ he Creek Mining company. This
t : * averages <>00 feet in width. It
:s a depth of about seven feet of
! av-1 and a grade of l’_> per cent.
, : T-cubic foot steam-driven dredge,
which was installed at the mouth of
Cm creek, has worked its way al
i f.-T cut of the large boulders that
w- •••> so troublesome at first. At the
tim*' ri starting work last spring the
groan • was found, to b- frozen almost
■ ■• ree feet deep, which was unusual,
n.s o dinar!:y it freeze - only about six
to emat inches.
Altitude I - 2,000 Feet.
' he altitude of these properties i -
a’->- .. 2.000 feet and if th * snow falls
i d; in the fall before the ground
fir*? and covers the ground like a
h'.ar.ket, the gravel can then be mined
the following spring without tiuiw
ii • ■ y steam points. During the sea
s -n f 11)17 it was practically impos
siuie to secure any quantity of good
la'nm', although the men were paid $4
per day and board, amounting to So
f<■■ common labor.
abundance of work all through
Alaska and the states, and partieular
, -no excessve wager paid in the base
i. ;.T mines, have made it difficult to
me men for work in isolated camps
ko tae Cache creek district. The
• <• i were restless/ quitting without
n- and it required two weeks to
e the trip to Anchorage to secure
sub rules for those who had gone.
opera;in:* utner I roperty.
Cache* Creek Dredging com
pa: y is also operating properties six
ty miles overland from McDougal. 1
t at-he creek is a tributary of the lvah
iit a i ver, which flows into the
' * and thence into the Susitna;!
the Susitna flowing into Cook’s inlet.
flh:S district is about 40 miles south j
i rom Mt. McKinley. Tho government
is huihhng a wagon load from Tal- i
k* etna, a station on the new railroad,
into the district, and it is hoped that |
it will also erect a telephone line, I
which will mean a great deal to the'
operators in securing men j^d filling
emergencies. The construction of this j
new wagon-road should effect a great j
saving for all the mines of the Cache
creek wistritc, as at present supplies i
have to he transferred to small ves
sels, thence into boats, and then land
ed and hauled into the mines.
"The Cache creek company plans to
electrify the dredge next year, good
for six months of the year, installing
a hydro-electric plant on Cache creek.
Coal Near Dredge.
“Up to this time, the dredge has
been operated by steam generated by
coal, which is mined from a five-foot
bed of lignite outcropping about a
quarter of a mile below the dredge.
It has been necessary to employ ten
men in the coal mine to get out the
supply and ten men to handle coal be
i
tween the mine and the dredge. The
coal seams have a dip of only 18 de
grees and form part of the bedrock,
together with sandstone and shale.
It is believed by local miners that
there is an enrichment of the placer
over these coal croppings. Small
quantities of schcelite and platinum
occur in the gravels of this section,
and the United States geological sur
vey is endeavoring to assist in every
way in the development of these rare
minerals.
“T. D. Harris, manager for the
Marysville Dredging company of Cali
fornia. with which the Cache Creek
Dredging company is affiliated, has
been lookit g over the plans for elec
trical installation. One of the great
advantages of electrification is that
the dredge will draw only three feet
with electric motors, whereas with
steam boilers it drew four feet.
Great Saving in Labor.
“It wil also elfect a great saving
in labor. The plan is to dam the tail
ings in the fall of each year, closely
behind the dredge and entirely across
the river bottom, so high that the
dam will hold the water for a con- j
siderable distance ahead of the dredge j
and thus prevent the gravel from |
freezing. At the approach of summer
the water from the bond will he liber- j
a ted. and the gravel, having been pro
tected. will require no thawing.
“The Thunder Creek Mining Co., on !
which M. A. Ellis of Seattle is t he |
principal owner, operated two hydrau
lic plants on Thunder creek and one
on Windy creek. Doth of these creeks
are tributary to Cache creek. The
season was good with the exception
I
of the troubled period of the flood ear
ly in the fall, when pipe lines and
dit lies were washed out.
“On the upper reaches of Thunder
creek, Mr. Ellis has uncovered a large
quantity of angular quartz, broken up
and mixed with rounded pebbles. This
condition on bedrock' has been found
to exist for 11,000 feet up and down
the stream and extends from one rim-.
*• >• k to the other, 600 feet across. The
owner i-: puzzled by this peculiar con
dition, and so far, has not been able
> find a satisfactory e.xpi nation. (It
• nay be glacial drift.—Editor) He is
opening up the deposit on one rim by
trenching and by an adit. TJie angu
lar quartz contains particles of free
gold and occasionally a piece of quartz
will be cracked in two parts held to
gether by free gold. Mr. Ellis hopes
to uncover the vein that is the source
of this gold and then to sink on it.
However, it is possible that the stream
has eroded its bed down to a quartz
vein that dips at nearly the same
angle as the bed of the stream, so that
the vein-quartz may spread over the
Employed Twenty Men.
“Th^ company employed about
twenty men. In 11H8 the placer mines
of Alaska will have to operate under
the eight-hoar law. as the quartz
mines do now. It is feared that this
nay cause the abandonment of many
small properties, particularly in out
lying districts where labor is sacrce,
at best, and where the margin of pro
■ it is already small.
“The Anna Bubb Mining company,
for which Louis Bubb, of Susitna, is !
general manager, operated four hy
draulic giants on Dollar creek, which
is another tributary of Cache creek.
At this property, as on Thunder |
(reek, the lower forty feet of a 105
foot gravel bank was found to be
formed principally of angular quartz.
1’he quartz here differs, however, in
that it carries little, if any gold, while
the Thunder creek quartz is highly
mineralized. Floods spoiled an extra
ordinarily good season at this prop- ,
erty. The face of the gravel bank,!
which is worked for 100 feet high,
caved, covering part of the clean-up
and some of the equipment of the
company.
Hope to Extend Ditch.
“Next year the owners hope to ex
tend their ditch to Dutch creek, about
eight miles, on the opposite side of
the watershed, whence they expect to
secure a greater and more constant
supply of water. All the mining op
erations are conducted at the head of
Dollar creek, the tailings being dump
ed into Lower Dollar creek. This is
not in accordance with the best pra
tice, as the gravel at the lower end of
Dollar creek has not yet been mined
and the virgin ground there is being
covered with worthless tailing. It is,
however, the only feasible way to op
erate this creek until dredges can be
set to work on the lower reanches of
Dollar creek. The company employed
twelve men during the season. It is
probable that the placer miners of this
district will ask $5 per day and board
next season. The law provides that
no miner shall work more than eight
hours during any twenty-four, even
though paid for such additional work.”
HUMBOLT ABORIGINES IN CALI
FORNIA ARE THREATENED
WITH EXTINCTION.
WHOLE FAMILIES WIPED OUT.
Reservation Doctor Has 150 Children
Under Observation and of These
More Than Three Per Cent Show
Symptoms of Consumption.
EUREKA, Cal., Jan. 2S.—Tubercu
losis is therateneing the early extinc
tion of the Humboldt Indian despite
the efforts of the reservation physi
cians to overcome the ravages of the
disease, according to Dr. Otto H. Ros
enkrauz, head of the medical depart
ment of the Hoopa Indian reservation
of the Klamath river.
“During the eighteen months that <
have been on the reservation,” savs
Dr. Rosenkrauz, “there have been
thirty-seven births and thirty-six
deaths. Over one half of the deaths
were due to tuberculosis. The Indians
there are highly susceptible to tu
berculosis as well as trachoma, the
dreaded eye disease.
“The living conditions of the In
dians outside of the reservation an;!
the general environment have much
to do with tire spread of these ma
ladies. It has been observed repeated
ly that where a member of an Indian
family has died of tuberculosis it
only a matter of a few years before
the entire family has been wiped out
by the disease.
“I have now 150 Indian school chil
dren under observation. Over three
per cent have already developed
symtoms of active tuberculosis.”
Dr. Rosenkrauz's observations are
borne out by records from other sec
tions of the county. In Eel river val
ley where the Indians congregate in
huts along the river, making a pre
carious living by fishing and occas
ional farm labor, tuberculosis takes its
annual toll.
PATRICK McKENXA, OF ESKA.
COMES TO TOWN AM) LEAVES
S200 W I T H C O U R T .
Patrick McKenna the owner of a
roadhouse at Eska creek was arrested
yesterday afternoon in Anchorage by
Deputy Marshal A. F. Hoffman, of
Matanuska on the charge of gambling.
The prisoner was accused of conduct
ing a gambling game in his roadhouse
at Eska creek and peaclecr guilty be
fore United States Commissioner Leo
pold David and^was fined $200 and
costs.
McKenna paid the fine. He caught
the train this morning for his home.
Charles R. ,Harrison was arrested
while working on a tie contract near
Chickaloon by Deputy Marshal Hoff
man charged with being a slacker and
was brought here on yesterday’s train.
Harrison is now confined in the An
chorage jail awaiting a hearing be
fore Commissioner David.
GEN. LEONARD WOOD
SLIGHTLY WOUNDED
PARIS, France., Jan. 29.—General
Leonard. Wood, who is in France on a
military mission, was slightly wound
ed in the arm today by an accidental
explosion.
COUNCIL FOR NATIONAL DE
FENSE SUGGESTS PROCEED
INGS BEFORE GOVERNOR.
DATE FIXED FOR FEBRUARY 5.
Consideration Will be Suspension of
Law As Far as Affecting Lumber,
Logging, Railways, Steamships and
Mining.
JUNEAU, Jan. 25.—At the sugges
tion of the council for the national de
fense, public hearings on petitions fo;
| the suspension of the Alaska eight
hour law, in so far as it affects lum
i
her and logging industries; steamship
and railway transportation lines, and
the operation of mines will be held at
I the office of Governor J. F. A. Strong
at Juneau, beginning at 11 o’clock!
Tuesday, February 5.
Persons or companies desiring to
be heard either for or against the pe- j
titions should be present at the hear- j
ing or arrange for the appearance of j
their authorized representatives.
DAXILO V UCETICH TELLS OF
CONDITIONS AT ESKA AND
CHICKALOON DISTRICTS.
PROGRESS IS SATISFACTORY. |
—
Living conditions at the Eska creek 1
' oal mines aie surprisingly good, in!
the opinion of Danilo Vucetich, man
ager of the foreign exchange depart- i
, ment of the Bank of Anchorage, who i
returned yesterday from a brief visit
to Eska and Chickaloon districts.
'i'lie wheatless and meatless days, ,;
continued Mr. Vucetich, are strictly j!
observed in the government camp at j
E^ka creek and at the privately own- i
ed camps at Chickaloon.
During his three days’ stay at Eska j
creek Mr. Vucetich had a splendid op
portunity to sample the food served
to the offiicals and the employes at
the mines and he states that the men
are taking a great interest in the mat
ter of food conservation.
Mines Show l:p Well.
rl he mines are showing up in fine
fashion. A cleaning plant has been
erected at Eska creek and will be in
operation in the very near future.
The cleaning plant will separate the
fine from the lump coal and will re- :
move all dirt, rock and bone.
At Chickaloon, Mr. Vucetich found
the conditions very similar to the ones
existing at Eska creek. The progress
made by the Chickaloon Mining com- *
pane »s entirely satisfactory to offici- ■
als of the company and work is going (
ahead as rapidly as men and material j
become available. {
W. I\ Gompertz, the general man- <
ager of the Chickaloon company, re- j
ported to Mr. Vucetich the holding of (
a patriotic meeting at the mining com- j
pane’s offices at which the American i
flag was raised and national songs !
sung by the employes of the mine.
Dr. If. Stoughton, in charge of the :
sanitary conditions of the Eska creek !
mine and in charge of the work there 1
by the Red Cross, turned over to Mr.
Vucetich the sum of $253.50 as the ;
contribution of the residents of Eska | *
creek to the Red cross fund. The town j {
is comprised of about eight families {
and 123 mine employes.
i irje »£»*-% *% yX
i
s
WE! OFFER
Liberty Bonds
(Yield 4 Per Cent)
War Savings Certificates
(Yield 1 Cent Per Mo.)
[ War Savings Stamps
(Non-Interest-Bearing)
I
Bank of Alaska
i
hm*
inriiwiWfipriMawiHwiiwBiKBaBB»aiBifiiiftiiiiiiiiwi«ii mi.mi—
1 American Savings Bank & Trust Co.i
AMERICAN BANK BUILDING
Second Avenue at Madison Street, Seattle, Wash.
CAPITAL AND
RESOURCES . ...
SURPLUS
$ 700,000.00
. 3,500,000.00
Protection to depositors 15G per cent, the highest of any Seattle A;
bank as decided in a recent publicity contest entitled “Can You Tell •>
How Strong a Bank Is.”
We know your needs and can serve you. -5
Send us your savings by mail. V
We Pay 4 Per Cent Compounded Semi-Annually -
Signature card and pass book will be mailed upon request. Write (®)
^ J. A. Murray—Chairman ot Board. B. B. Luten—Sec. and Trust Officer
•j .1. P. Gleason—President. John I\. Bush—Cashier
•i George B. Baker—Vice-President. A. T. Drew—Assistant Cashier.
D
iSPECTOEMK
If you want a thoroughly
reliable test of your ore
send samples to
Assays on
Gold and Silver $1.50
Copper . 1.50
Lead . 1.00
FALKENBERG & LAUCKS
ASSAY ESS
95YeslerWay .... Seattle, Wash.
Get the Best Price by Shipping Your
Furs to the EASTERN MARKET.
Furs Bought Outright, or Sold on
Consignment.
FURS
REMITTANCE EY MONEY ORDER. EXPRESS ORDER OR CHEQUE
Hoerner, Williams & Co.
REG.
FUR MERCHANTS
NEW YORK, N. Y.129 West 29th Street
REFERENCE—BANK OF ANCHORAGE.
gXS€X5)®®0®®$®<*X^SX«>®(*X»X^^
5®(s
NORTH POLE
BAKERY *
AND COFFEE HOUSE
4th Ace., Bet. C and D.'
Furrer and Taxidermist
W. D. WANDLING
Fifth St., Bet. C and D
Anchorage.
Write us for Information
Utt Sitka Hot Springs
These springs are five in
number and one of the old land
marks of Alaska. The Russians
had a hospital there in 1841.
where they sent patients with
j diseases of the skin and consti
tutional blood disorders.
The temperature averages
145 degrees Fahrenheit at the
| Spring. The baths are effica
cious for rheumatism, stomach
and liver troubles, kidney and
bladder diseases, and for consti
tutional disorders.
These springs are in charge
of Dr. F. L. Goddard. The
terms “for room, board, and
baths, $2 a day and up. Cabins,
$7.50 per month and up, includ
ing furnishings, except bed
ding. ADDRESS
F. L. GODDARD, M. D.,
SANITARIUM, : ALASKA