GEORGE BALDWIN’S DESCRIPTION
OF BIG OIL FIELDS OF SOUTHWEST
I LETTER TO CORDOVA CITIZEN
George C. Baldwin, a former well-1
known Alaskan who has many friends
in Cordova, has spent the past three
months in the oil fields of Texas and
Oklahoma and the prospective oil
fields in New Mexico. He writes the
following interesting letter to our
townsman, George C. Hazelet, from
Oklahoma City:
“The money that has been made in
the last two years in the Texas fields,
particularly, is positively staggering,
and the development work that has
been done and is now being done has
to be seen first hand to have its mag
nitude appreciated. Bast week I made
an automobile trip of four hundred
miles through ten counties in the
northern part of the Texas field, and
■was hardly out of sight of an oil rig
at any time, and in places literally
hundreds could be counted in sight
from one point. It makes me sick to
think of how the oil development of
Alaska has been held up by these
fool laws. The oil development of
Texas has been greatly benefited by
the fact that the land of Texas is
practically all held in fee by private
owners. What little remaining public
land there is is managed by the state
and not by the federal government.
Just now this section (Oklahoma and
Kansas) is suffering from the effects
of a coal shortage, caused by the
strike of the coal miners, and I take
particular delight in telling these peo
ple that it serves them just right;
that I am heartily glad of it; and re
mind them of the fact that two of the
most malignant opponents of the de
velopment of Alaska’s coal resources
along rational lines were sent to con
gress from this section, namely, Scott
Ferris, a Democrat from Oklaho na,
and Victor Murdock, a renegade fnm
Kansas.
“Quite a number of Alaskans are
in and around Wichita Falls, among
them Frank Manley, John B. McGinn,
linnfxr Rilfixr ‘Rorl* "Mole* Smith TVTnr
phy, who used to work for Ed Wood
at Valdez. Jim Milsap, Billy Leake,
Bill Irving, and quite a number of
others from the Fairbanks country
whom you probably do not know.
“To come back again to the subject
of Alaska's laws regarding coal and
oil development bill, the oil leasing
bill passed by the senate, or rather
passed by the house and now in the
senate, and which will probably be
passed, as you know, does not apply
to Alaska. However, it is just as well
that it does not. for the bill is utterly
unworkable and has in it all the
faults, defects and vicious provisions
that the Alaska coal leasing bill, and
in fact all government leasing bills,
have. If you will carefully read the
bill you will see that it was intended
to cure the evils of the past; that is
to say, calculated to clear up the titles
in dispute between the government
and private claimants, and all provi
sions for the future were traded off
by those interested in passing the bill
to get concessions regarding the clear
ing up of these titles. The bill is ut
terly unworkable, and no progress will
be made under it. One provision
alone, and. by the way, that is common
to all government leasing bills, is that
providing that assignments of leases
must be made only with the consent
of the secretary of the Interior. This
provision, it seems to me, can in no
way benefit the public, and certainly
tends toward restricting development.
When one sees in the oil fields how
leases are traded around, bought and
leases are traded around, bought and
sold, with the same ease and facility
attendithegnf etaoin shdrlu etaoinn
attending the transfer of blocks* of
^ --
Which
Direction?
In morals, are you nearer your ideal
than a year ago? Some people float
with the moral current or follow the
crowd, seldom making an effort to
heed their conscience. Give your con
science a chance In 1920! Follow
your best impulses and attend church
for at least six months and see if you
don’t get a new grip on the worth
while things of life. Begin now and
attend the homelike church, the
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
“The Church with a Message”
11 a. m. 8 p. m.
stock on the exchange, you can imag
ine what a deadening effect on busi
ness would be a provision requiring
the unwinding of a lot of government
red tape on each transaction. I see
that Dr. Brooks has given as his opin
ion that for the immediate future the
prosperity of Alaska depends more
upon the development of its oil re
sources rather than the coal. I sup
pose he has good reasons on which
his opinion is based. That being the
case, it certainly stands the Alaska
people in hand to see if something can
not be done regarding a sensible law.
“Here no one thinks of starting into
a wildcat territory to spend money in
development without securing leases
on at the very least 10,000 acres, and
from that up to 100,000 acres or more,
and by wildcat territory I mean coun
try that geologically is favorable but
remote from profitably producing
wells. Taking that as a basis, all of
Alaska except the Katalla fields is
wildcat territory, and even then pros
pectors figure they are takjng a big
enough change with their money, with
these large areas to start with.
“I expect to remain down Tiere for
some time. Haven’t done very much,
but am getting acquainted and learn
ing a little about the oil business. The
town of Wichita Falls, where I have
been for the last two months, is a city
of 50,000 people. Just think—nearly
three times as many in that one town
as there are white people in all
Alaska! It is certainly a booming
place. Two years ago or less it had
about 17,000 people. The amount of
building going on there, and of a sub
stantial character, is astonishing.
Buildings that would be a credit to
any city are going up by the dozens.
Four national banks and one private
bank, with deposits of about forty mil
lions dollars, show how substantial the
town is. Out in the camps around the
oil wells the people'live in tents, shan
ties, shacks and wigwams, about like
the Copper River natives used to.
Sales of leases, with a million dollars
involved, are made every few days,
and attract little attention. Old man
Wagoner, who was a large land owner
and rich cattleman before the oil
boom, was sinking a well to get water
for his stock—struck oil at a depth
of 385 feet. A few months ago New
York interests offered him fifty mil
lion dollars for his holdings, which he
refused, saying he would not know
what to do with that much money,
and he did know what to do with his
property. I firmly believe that with
the proper laws Alaska’s oil resources
could be developed and make our coun
try relatively as prosperous as this
one is at present.”
Read the Daily Times for tne latest
and most reliable world news.
LEGAL ADVERTISEMENTS
SUMMONS
No. C-170
In the District Court for the Territory
of Alaska, Third Division.—Auralee
P. Pritchard, plaintiff, vs. Carl A.
Pritchard, defendant.
The President of the United States
of America, greeting to the above
named defendant:
You are hereby required to appear
in the district court for the territory
of Alaska, Third division, within thirty
days after the completion of the pub
lication of this summons, to wit,
within thirty days after the 23d day
of January, 1920, to answer the com
plaint of the above-named plaintiff in
the above-entitled action, wherein
said plaintiff prays that she be given
an absolute decree of divorce from
you forever dissolving the bonds of
matrimony heretofore existing be
tween you and said plaintiff.
And unless you so appear and an
swer, the plaintiff will take judgment
against you for want thereof and will
apply to the court for the relief de
manded in her said complaint as here
inabove set out.
The date of the order for service
by publication herein is December 8,
1919, and such order was duly made
and entered and filed herein on said
date.
The date of the first publication of
this summons is December 9, 1919,
and the date of its last publication is
January 22, 1920.
Witness: The Honorable CHARLES
E. BUNNELL, Judge of the said
Court, and the seal of said Court,
on this 8th day of December, 1919.
(Seal) ARTHUR LANG,
Clerk of the District Court for
the Territory of Alaska,
Third Division.
By JOHN B. MILLER, Deputy.
R. H. L. Noakes, Attorney for
Plaintiff.
First publication, Dec. 9, 1919.
Last publication, Jan. 6, 1920.
Beautiful
Hair
can be made more so by the constant use of our
hair tonics, scalp cleansers and other aids to
hair growth and beauty. By their regular use
fine hair is made finer and all hair is much im
proved. You’ll find in our toilet help depart
ment every requisite for proper hair care.
NORTHERN DRUG CO.
“THE DRUG STORE OF ALASKA"
“SERVICE" Is our motto
|||lIl[IllllMlfflilillillillMllllM..
THE TWO THINGS 1
NECESSARY I
l fi
to possess a Bank Account are:
First, the Desire or Inclination. Every one jj
1 has a wish for money. That is human na- [j
| ture, for it takes money to possess the com- m
| forts and necessities of life.
Second, One Dollar or more. Afterwards U
m . m
fj the size of your bank account rests with you. j|
1 Bank of Alaska f
[ CAPITAL $170,000.00 i**lMit>l&' H
l Branches at Skagway, Wrangell and Anchorage g
lALm TRANSFER COMPANY
TRANSFER AND STORAGE
GOAL AND WOOD
AUTO SERVICE
DAY OR NIGHT
Office, Northern Hotel Bldg. Phone 85
ARE YOU GOING OUT THIS FALL?
Visit San Francisco and Stop with
MarkfC. Thompson
at his new hotel in the heart of the city between
Powell and Mason Streets.
The Dale-Tallac Hotel
140 ELLIS STREET
| Special Rates and Headquarters for Alaskans.
r CITY BAKERY LUNCH ROOM
Special Carefully-Prepared Lunch served from 11:30 a. m. Our Fine
French Rolls with every meal
Big Variety of Pastries and Cakes, Always Fresh
Sanitary Machinery of Lf>t«'«* Model. Patent Brick Oven. Best Ma
terials used hy Expert V i * producing our Famous Cream Loaf
Best in Town
Frenck Bread Rye Bread
! Alaska
Steamship Company
Regular Sailings Between Seattle,
Ketchikan, Juneau, Cordova, Valdez,
Ellamar, Liscum, Latouche, Seward
FROM SEATTLE— SAILS SOUTH
DEC. 20. ALASKA DEC. 28
DEC. 30. NORTHWESTERN JAN. 8
JAN. 10. ALASKA JAN. 18
JAN. 20 .. ALAMEDA JAN. 23
JAN. 30. ALASKA FEB. 8
Frequent sailings of freighters carrying explosives.
This schedule subject to change without notice.
F. B. TRACY, Agent
5
U - ■ ^PACIFIC STEAMSHIP COMPANY^ -J
Alaska—Washington—California ALA8KA ROUTE 1
8afety Courtesy Service 8peed J
OFFICE EMPRESS BUILDING I
WEST BOUND SOUTH BOUND
LEAVE CORDOVA LEAVE CORDOVA
JAN. 2. WATSON .JAN. 7
Three Sailings per Week from Seattle for San Francisco, Los An
geles and 8an Diego. For further Information call
L. A. COUNTS, AGENT Res. I>athrop Apts.
Phones: Office 223, Residence 2 23—2 rings. ..
Copper River and J
Northwestern Ry,
Trains leave Cordova for Chitina Monday and Thursday.
Trains leave Chitina for Kennecott Tuesday and Friday.
Trains leave Kennecott for Chitina Sunday and Thursday.
Trains leave Chitina for Cordova Tuesday and Friday.
Dining Car in Connection with all Regular
Passenger Trains between Cordova and Chitina.
Freight received and delivered at Cordova
Wharf from 9 a. m. to 5 p m., except Sundays.
Tickets on sale at Second Street Depot office
one hour before departure of trains.
CALEB CORSER Superintendent
D. L. LEATON, Ticket Agent
r THE NORTHERN CLUB
FRED HAEF, PROP.
POOL, CARDS, TOBACCO
Soft Drinks of All Kinds
The Popular Corner
PHONE 47 CORDOVA, ALASKA
JUST RECEIVED, A LINE OF |
MASTER-MADE 1
DRESS SHOES
FOR MEN. CALL AND GET THE PRICES AT
THE BARGAIN STORE
JOHN RawsON
Sixty Steam-Heated Rooms, Electric-Lighted
Hot and Cold Water in Every Room
With or Without Bath
i
Cordova House
DOOLEY & GREENIG
Headquarters for Railroad and Mining Men
Satisfaction Guaranteed :: Rates Reasonable