The Cordova Daily Times
VOLUME TWO. NUMBER 332 CORDOVA, ALASKA, SATURDAY, JANUARY ft, 1916. PRICE TEN CENTS.
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Having acquired various Pacific
coast properties at an approximate
cost of $200,000,000, the Kennecoit
Copper Corporation, is probaly now
the biggest enterprise of the kind in
the world.
The aggregate purchases for 1915 of
the units that form the company
^amounted to $3,250,000. The company
expended $150,000 in salaries in Se
attle and more than $1,000,000 was
paid to its employees in Alaska. Since
last May it has been shipping copper
to the smelter at Tacoma at the rpte
of about $1,500,000 a month.
Because of the recent acquisition of
the Braden copper mines in Chile, the
amount of purchases made in Seat
tle will be greatly increased. As
soon as arrangements can be perfect
ed a line of steamships will run from
Seattle to Antofagasta and other
South American ports, carrying car
goes from the Northwest and bring
ing back ore for reduction at the Ta
coma smelter.
Two new steel freighters, the Ben
nington and Burlington, which will
leave Brooklyn, N. Y., for Seattle
about February 15, will be placed in
this trade for at least part of the
year, and if the South American trade
is sufficient to justify the expenditure,
other ships will be purchased and
placed in commission.
The Kennecott Copper Corporation
now owns the Copper River & North
western railroad, a considerable por
tion of the stock in the Alaska Steam
ship Company, a portion of the Utah
Copper Company and the Bonanza.
Jumbo and Beatson copper properties ^
In Alaska, and the Tacoma smelter Is
owned by one of its allied corpora
tions.
A peculiar phase of the United
States laws enabled the company to
place all of its holdings under one (
head. One law provides that a rail- j
road cannot own a coal mine, and
another provides that a railroad can
not own a steamship, if the vessel is
operated through the Panama Canal;
but neither statute makes any pro
vision against a mining company own
ing both its own railroad and its own
steamships.
Made Railroad Pay.
When the Kenneeott Copper Com
pany began shipping ore from Its
Alaskan mines this summer, it was
paying such heavy freight charges
that the railroad, for the first time in
its history, was able to pay a sub
stantial return on the investment of
$26,020,000 which it cost to construct
it.
As the Kenneeott was the railroad's
principal shipper, It decided to acquire
the road, and the stockholders and
bond holders having the option oi
selling for cash or taking stock tn the
Kenneeott Copper Corporation tn re
turn.
The Braden Copper Company, with
immense properties In Chile, where
approximately $15,000,000 has been
expended, was acquired in the same
manner. The stock in the Alaska
Steamship Company, acquired by the
Kenneeott Copper Corporation, was
owned by the Alaska Syndicate, which
also owned $23,020,000 of the bondf
of the Copper River & Northwestern
Railroad.
Birch’s Initiative.
Stephen Birch, who effected the
giant merger of Pacific Coast inter
ests under the Kennecott Copper Cor
poration, is well known in Alaska and
on the Pacific Coast. He was the
first mining engineer to become con
vinced of the real merits of the Bon
anza and other Alaskan copper mines
which have since proved so produc
tive.
Fabulous stories of the amount of
rich ore in sight at the Bonanza mine,
far up in the mountains at the head
of the Copper river, hn^ been told in
New York and other financial centers,|
but nobody believed them. Alining
engineers treated these stories with
skeptical laughter.
It couldn’t possibly be true. There
never had been such a thing anywhere
in the world. The stories became so
persistent that Birch, not having the
slightest faith in the story of the
! mine's fabulous richness, but secret
i
ly hoping that about 10 per cent of
it was true, decided to go to Alaska.
He found It even a bigger proposition!
than the prospectors had represented
tt to be.
His Word Doubted.
It took Birch some time to convince
himself he was awake, and when he
returned to New York and told about
what he had found, other mining en
gineers began to wonder what brand
he was using. The property was fin-'
ally acquired and developed and later
a railroad was built to It. Its produc
tion for the past three years, and es
pecially this summer, has vindicated'
Birch's judgment.
R. \V. Baxter, representative of the j
transportation division of the enter-j
prise, vice-president and general
manager of the Alaska Steamship
Company and of the Copper River &
Northwestern railroad, who has just
returned from New York, said that
the merging of interests will make no
difference in the operation of the dif
ferent units.
"It will bring all of the business un
der one head,” he said, "but the dif
ferent enterprises will be operated as |
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before. * This is, of course, excepting
:be Braden property in Chile. The
>re from that mine will now come to
Puget Sound and the purchases of
supplies for the mine will be made
here.
Regular Line Posalble,
"If we can develop a sufficient line
of business in coke, lumber and other
goods for South American ports we
will put on a regular line of fast
steam freighters to operate between
Seattle and South American ports.
Just now our fourteen ships are busy
with the Alaska trade.
"The two new vessels, Bennington
and Burlington, will be named the
Juneau and Valdez, and will be placed
in the Alaska business until we can
get things cleaned up a little, and af
terwards In the South American trade.
The ships are now being changed to
oil burners, and I expect they will
leave Brooklyn for Seattle about Feb
ruary 15, with full cargoes for the Pa
cific. If the Panama Canal is not
open by that time they will come
around Cape Horn.”
. PERSIA NAD NO
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WASHINGTON, Jan. 8. — The
state department has accumulated
considerable evidence regarding the
sinking of the British steamer Persia.
From what has already been learned
the President and his advisers feel
practically certain that the ship was
torpedoed by a submarine. State
ments have been received from 21 of
<he survivors of the catastrophe, and
they are all unanimous in asserting
that no warning was given to the
doomed ship. None of those who
have so far furnished evidence on the
matter lias said that they saw the
submarine which sunk the boat, in
fact the statements all agree that
A no Attacking vessel was seen. Advices
w have been received from the Austrian
foreign office at Vienna, to the effect
that the Austrian government has no
information regarding the loss of the
Persia. .
'ENGLAND VOTES
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LONDON, Jail. 8. — The compul
sory enlistment bill passed its first
reading in the House of Commons to
day by a vote of 400 to 105. The de
bate on the bill was spirited, but the
w> big vote in its favor has convinced
the government that It is sure to
pass, and that the cabinet will not
lie reversed thereby, avoiding the ne
cessity of an appeal to the country
and making also unnecessary a gen
eral election. Not all of the labor
members voted against the measure,
even though the. Labor Congress voted
to oppose conscription.
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JUDGE JENNINGS HOLDS THE
ECONOMY RECORD.
JUNEAU, Jan. 7. — The annual re
port of the attorney-general shows
that to Judge Jennings, of the First
division, belongs the honor of having
made the best record for business
and economy during the past year.
The report shows that an enormous
| saving has been made of public funds
while the number of cases coming be
fore the court has increased.
It is rumored that the Alaska
Steamship Company has been offered
liberal terms for a charter of the
freighter Seward by a company oper
ating between* Puget Sound and the
Orient, and that the offer will prob
ably be accepted. There is a tremen
dous shortage of freight carriers on
the Pacific coast, and vessels which
have been idle for years are again
being pressed into service.
Should the Seward be chartered to
the Oriental company she will make |
two trips across the Pacific ayirt the j
steamship Victoria, which has been j
on the Nome run for years, will make
a trip to southwestern Alaska as a
freighter. She will leave Seattle on
January 15, via the outside route, |
coming direct to Cordova.
The Victoria has a large freight j
carrying capacity, and on her return j
trip from the westward will load ore
at Cordova to relieve the congestion
here resulting from the heavy ship
ments from (lie Kennecott Tnine.
being!
TO THE;
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SEATTLE, Jan. 8. — The break in *
the cable has been located in the!
Straits of Fuca, and as the Burnside ^
is drydocked, the government has en
gaged the power barke Wakena to do
the work on the repair of the cable,
which it it expected will be restored
to service early next week.
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WILD MAN IS ROAMING IN THE
ANCHORAGE HILLS.
A demented man. whoso name is
unknown, is now roaming the hills
around Mile Twelve road house out ^
from Anchorage, and Is said to be in .
a very serious condition. He has ap
parently got It into his head that he
was the man responsible for the cap
ture of bootleggers and is laboring.
under the haleciont'on that they s^e,
now after his scalp. Word about the
man has only just reached Anchorage
and an attempt to take him will pro- ,
bably be made al once. <
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Destruction Nome
Threatened by Ice
The city of Nome was threatened
with destruction Tuesday night, when
a terrific storm drove the ice of Ber
ing sea inshore and piled it into moun
tains against the doors of the build
ings of the beach side of front street
In places the ice is piled up for ovei
fifty feet and towers above the build
ings so that one standing on Front
street itself can look over the tops oi
the houses at great glacial peaks ris
ing from within a few feet of the
boarded thoroughfares. The Sesnon
caisson and pier, which have stood
nil the storms of years, were crushed
crumbled and destroyed like an egg
shell. For a time the people believed
that only a few hours more would be
necessary to have the w'hole businesr
part of the city buried under the icc
mountain which rose as the storm
drove it in from the ocean. A howlini
blizzard accompanied the storm and j
made matters look even worse than
they were. As the ice floes came in
the foundations of the buildings
seemed to act as a dam and sea after
sea rushed in to pile berg on berg. In
spite of all this the line of buildings
remained intact except that the backs j
of the houses were walled in with ice.
Above and below the city vast piles
of ice have been heaped to great ele
vations on the tundra. Along Front
street the sea is shut out from view
at Barracks Square and elsewhere by
the great ice mountain ridge. When j
the stupendous piles of Ice are taken |
into account the wonder is that the j
damage was not disastrous. At the j
j mouth of Snake river and along the
Spit vast bergs piled on top of each \
I other present a most extraordinary
! spectacle.
LOCAL JOTTINGS.
'_
Geo. A. Harmon left on the Waif
this morning on a business trip to
Fidalgo bay.
Angus McDonald and H. W. Mack
ntosh came down from C'hitina on
yesterday’s (rain.
District Attorney W. M. Sponee
mme over from Valdez today on offi- j
;ial business.
Mrs. von Gunther and daughter, j
Miss- Lena, of Valdez, are passengers 1
m the Alameda for Tacoma.
The Empress Theatre has installed j
me of the latest and most up-to-date
moving picture machines.
M. Danielson, of Hot Springs, came j
to town on yesterday’s train. He is j
m his way to the States.
Deaconess M. H. Pick and Mrs. M.;
3’Bryan were arrivals from Fairbanks
m yesterday's train, en route to the
3tates.
E. L. Whittemore came over from
3eward on today’s steamer, and will
remnin here until the next sailing
westward.
Word has been received from Ben;
Baglion, who Is now located in Seat-j
tie, that he is the proud father of a
Jouncing baby boy.
Herbert Tozier, former superinten
lent of the Alaska Central railroad at
Seward, is a passenger on the Ala
meda for the States.
The launch Waif arrived from Ka
talla last evening, and left early this
morning for Fldalgo'Bay and Valdez
with a cargo of gasoline.
H. I. Lewis and wife will be outgo
ing passengers on the Alameda to-1
night. They expect to spend a month '
or two with friends in Seattle.
Fred Glasbrenner and wife will,
leave on the next trip south of the
steamer Northwestern on an extend
ed trip of several months to the
States.
The stork visited the home of Mr.
and Mrs. Chas. M. Rosswog yesterday
afternoon. Dr. Chase reports mother
and little daughter as doing nicely.
The steamer Northwestern arrived
from the westward shortly after noon
and will sail for Seattle at 9 o'clock j
this evening, taking 1,000 tons of cop
per ore from here.
W. M. Goodwin, cashier of the
First Bank of Valdez, arrived from
the Glacier City this afternoon to
take Howell Lewis' place in the First
Bank of Cordova during his absence.
John Kacerowski, of Seward, is a i
passenger on the Alameda for the |
States, where he will break into the <
movie business, havlhg been promised i
a tryout by the Universal Film Com- j
pany. ^ <
There is a scarcity of laborers ,
along the line of the Copper River j
& Northwestern railroad and Super i
Intendent Corser telegraphed to Sew- 1
ard for twenty men, w’ho arrived here ,
on today’s steamer. i
J. L. Harper, the directing head in I
the operations of the Lakinav Mines >
Company, which is opening up some I
good copper property near Long Lake,
ls»in town nud will go to the States
on a business trip on the Alameda to- t
night. i
BEEP BILLER
The United Suites marshal's office
at Valdez has received advices from
Seward, stating that ten cases of beer
had been seized by the deputy there.
The shipment was made from Seattle
by the Seattle Brewing & Malting
Company, and was consigned to F. H.
Bechett, one of the whisky peddlers
who was recently convicted at An
chorage on the charge of selling liquor
without a license.
It is believed the goods were part
of the shipment made to Anchorage
late last fall and which failed to
reach their destination, and were un
loaded at Seward.
Action will be taken against the
Seattle Brewing & Malting Company,
as the shipment of liquor waj billed
as meats and groceries, rendering
them subject to prosecution under
Penal Code 240. It is understood tLiat
the brewery company has been fol
lowing this practice for sont' time,
and that the grand jury at the recent
term held in Valdez returned indict
ments against the officers of the
company for having made similar
shipments to Chitina and other inter
or points in the hope of evading the
igilance of the authorities.
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WASHINGTON, .Ian. S. — Advices
rom London received by Secretary
.ansitig state that Rev. Homer R
Salisbury, of Washington, was among
lie passengers of the British line?
’ersia who were lost when the steam
r was torpedoed by an Austrian sub
uurine lust Thursday.
Lieut. Kunzig, who has been re
leved as disbursing officer of the
ilaskn road commission, aecompan
ed by his family, is a passenger on
he Alameda. He is on his way to
'ancouver. Wash., where his company
3 stationed.
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The Blum. O'Neill Company is to
!ay placing a handsome electric sign
n front of their Front Street store.
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RUSSIA iKISS
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LONDON. Jan. $. Press dispatches
from Petrograd report fresh successes
for the Russian troops along the
southern end of the eastern battle
line. The Slavs are penetrating into
Galicia and Bukowina. and are stead
ily forcing the Austrians to retire.
The advance rivals the march of the
Russians last spring, when they al
most broke through the Carpathians.
Important gains are recorded, and a
large number of prisoners are being
taken. Simultaneously with the Rus
sian offensive the Russian prestige
in the Balkans is on the increase, and
1 it is certain that Russian diplomats
Lire exerting great influence on Rou
mania and Greece. The situation has
i^o changed because of the Russian
offensive that the allies now feel that
the Austro-Germans have all they can
attend to to protect their own borders
from the Russians, so that there is
no longer any danger of the Teutons
assisting the Turks in the projected
invasion of Egypt. In fact the mili
tary observers agree that the Egyp
tian project has been entirely aban
doned by the centra! powers.
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SITED AT
24 CENTS
NEW YORK, Jan. 8. — The foreign
demand for copper continues unabated
and has caused the price of the metal
to jump to 24 cents a nou-d nro
ducers assert that there is no sup
ply on hand for immediate delivery,
and the quotations of 24 cents ner
pound is for future deliveries. It is
said that if there is any copper to be
sold for immediate del* e—• "•"t it
would bring an even higher price, as
copper Is expected to go to 30 cents
per pound during the nevt three
months.
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H. ft. Ingram o turn ’ f mn the
westward on the A lame ' i.,
representing several whr'"* '• b- ’ses
In the States, and will letre o' Von
day’s train for Chltinn ! ■» > er
the trail to Fairbanks, a’ ‘ °t «rp ■ 1
the balance of the wint ~ va 'n
I prior.