WHERE. RAILS AND RIVERS MEET
THE NENANA DAILY NEWS
VOL. II.
MEMBER OF ASSOCIATED PRESS
NENANA, ALASKA, TUESDAY, JANUARY 13, 1920.
NO. 240
REPORT SAYS TRANSPORTATION NEEDED
KEARNS THINKS ST A TES WILL LOSE BIG CONTEST
VON BRINCKEN GETS BACK TOO LATE; SPOUSE IS SAFE
TOO LATE TO GET
why to return
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 13.—Al
exander von Brincken, former at
tache of the German consulate in
this city, who was released from the
federal penitentiary at McNeils is
land several days ago, arrived here
on the same day that his former
wife announced her engagement to
Lieut. L. K Swenson of the United
States navy- It had been von
Brincken’s intention to hunt up the
V lady w-ith a view to bringing about
a reconciliation, being unaware of
the bestowal of her affections upon
another man.
Von Brincken announces that it
is his intention to fight deportation
to the last ditch, and it is under
stood that he already has employed
the best attorneys obtainable for
that purpose.
r
GRAND RAPIDS. Jan. 13.—The
indictments which were returned by
the grand jury, charging Senator
Newberry with fraud in connection
with his election as a member of
Congress, have been upheld by the
federal court, before which the in
dictments were leviewed.
OLD BRITISH ESTATES
ARE OFFERED FOR SALE
LONDON.—Several fine old es
tates possessing interesting histor
ical associations will come on the
market soon. The most notable of
the new lot announced for sale is
1 Dalswinton, in Dumfrieshire, Scot
land, which at one time formed a
part of the lands held by John
(“The Red”> Comyn, a competitor
of Robert Bruce for the throne of
Scotland.
Comyn’s castle stood on or near
the site of the present mansion
house. After his death the castle
was destroyed, with the exception
of a portion which still remains.
The estate came into the possession
of the late William Macalpine Ler.g
exactly a hundred years ago. Leng’s
trustees are selling it.
Killeen castle and the lands at
tached, the property of the Earl of
Fingall, whose family have been in
1 undisputed possession of this County
Meath estate for centuries past, is
also to be offered for sale.
The Earl of Plymouth has dis
posed of a large portion of the
Hewell estate in Worcestershire.
Mr. and Mrs. Lipman Simson and
children returned to Xenana today
from Fairbanks, where they made
a several-day visit.
Father Monroe, who came to Xe
nana last Friday to conduct services
in the local Catholic church, return
ed to his headquarters in Fairbanks
this afternoon.
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY REPORT
POINTS OUT ALASKAN NEEDS
i
1 The annual report on mineral
resources and production in Alaska
for 1919 is now in preparation un
1 der the direction of Alfred H.
1 Brooks, of the United States Geo
1 logical Survey, Department of the
Interior. Some of the important
features of the report relating to
mining development during the year
are abstracted in the following state-;
i menu Complete statistics of the:
! mineral production of Alaska cannot
be collected within less than three
or four months after the close of
the year, but meanwhile it appears.
! advisable to gi\e prompt publication
i to preliminary estimates, which are
: believed to be within five percent of
the actual figures.
General Statement.
The winning of some $20,000'
worth of gold from placer mines
near Juneau in 1880 marked the
’beginning of the great mining in-.
. dustry of Alaska, the value of whose
jtotal product up to the close of 1919
; is $437,400,000. Alaska’s developed
■mineral deposits are chiefly gold
and copper. Hence, her mining in
dustry in 1919 was subject to the
■same depression that affected gold
and copper mining throughout the
world. This fact explains in large
measure why the value of Alaska’s]
mineral output in 1919 is only
about $18,850,000, while that of
1918 was $28,254,000.
Alaska s mineral output in 1919
is the smallest made in any year
‘since 1910, and its value is less than
half that of the output in 1910
'$48,600,000). The abnormal pro
iduction in 1916, chiefly that of three
large mines, was due to the high
■price of copper during the war,
which srreatlv stimulated copper
.
mining. With the fall in price of
copper the Alaska copper industry
reverted to more normal pre-war
conditions. Meanwhile the world
wide depression in gold mining eor.
1 sequent upon high operating costs
brought on by the war has seriously
crippled the other important Alaska
mining industry’. As a consequence,
the value of the annual output of
. gold from Alaska declined from
' $16,700,000 in 1916 to $9,000,000
in 1919. The Alaska gold-mining
industry is particularly sensitive to
present conditions because many of
the enterprises were not on a very’
sound economic basis. Gold produc
tion has been kept up for many
years by the exploitation of bonanza
placers rather than by the s.vstemat
• ic development of large deposits of
lower grade. The mining of placer
1 gold has been carried on as a gam
ble rather than as a business ven
ture. As the purchasing power of
their product was reduced many
gold-mining operators have been at
tracted to other fields, such as oil
j drilling in the States, in which the
; chances of large speculative profits
■ were greater than in placer mining,
i It is especially unfortunate that
the only large gold-mining ' ventures
in Alaska were lode mines near Ju
neau, where the margin of profit
was so small that the increased cost
ol operations due to the war have
imperiled th^ success of the under
takings. '
The outlook for gold mining in
Alaska under present economic con
ditions is not hopeful, yet the con
tinued success of certain large ven
tures, like dredging, shows that it is
by no means hopeless. Such opera
tions and the mining of bonanza de
posits will continue. Alaska still
contains large reserves of gold-bear
ing gravels that can be mined pro
fitably when transportation condi
tions are improved. No one can
foretell whether any more bonanza
camps will be found, and therefore
the only certain future lies in the
development of deposits of lower
grade. Therefore the most import
ant event of the year for the future
of mining in \laska was the con
tinuation of the work on the Gov
ernment railroad and the assurance
by eongresional action of the money
needed to complete the line. It is
now certain that in three years
there will be a standard-gauge rail
way connecting tidewater on the Pa
cific with Fairbanks and navigable
waters on the Yukon. To give its
full benefit to the mining industry,
however, the Alaska railroad must
be connected with mining centers
by good wagon roads.
Except for the railroad construc
tion during the year, the transporta
tion conditions in Alaska have been
worse in 1919 than in any previous
year. The coastal steamboat servic-1
has been unable to meet the de
mand for freight and passenger
transportation, and the river steam
er service on the Yukon and its
tributaries has been worse than
ever. These conditions have tended
to discourage those who were plan
ning new ventures.
Approximate Value of Alaska a Min
eral Products in 1919.
Gold . 8 9,000,000
Copper 8,500,000
Silver . 050,000
Coal . 350,000
Lead . 100,000
Tin . 50.000
Platin, palladium, quick
silver, petroleum, mar
ble. and gypsum_ 200,000
Total .118,850,000
Placer Mining.
During 39 years of mining Alaska
has produced gold to the value of
$311,000,000, and $218,000,000 yof
this amount is to be credited to
her placer mines. For reasons al
ready discussed there was less placer
mining in 1919 than in 1918, and
the outlook for a revival of the in
dustry as a whole under present
economic conditions is not hopeful.
A most unfortunate effect of the
decline in gold, especially in placer
mining, is the discouragement of
the prospector. Though many pros
pectors devote their attention to
the search for copper and other
minerals, they as a class are held
to their vocation by the hope of
finding rich placers which they can
develop by individual effort. The
loss of 900 men to the placer-mining)
industry means the loss of an equal *
number of at least potential pros- j
pectors. 'Many prospectors have <
beer drawn away from Alaska by
the high wages and good business ,
opportunities which war conditions!
have created in the States. It is,:
indeed, no longer necessary to go j
to Alaska to obtain high wages. As
a consequence, probably half, pos-!
jsibly there-quarters of the pre-war
Alaska prospectors have sought oth-;
er fields.
Gold dredging continues to hold
an important place in Alaska place£
mining. In 1919 there were 28
i dredges in operation for the whole
! or part of the season, and they pro
jduced gold to the value of about
■ $ 1,100,000, compared with an out
; put of $1,425,000 worth of gold by
28 dredges in 1918. Two of these
dredges were operated in 1919 in
ithe Fairbanks district, two in the
i
Iditarod district, one in the Birch
i Creek district of the Yukon basin,
one in the Georgetown district of
the Kuskokwim basin, and the rest
on Seward peninsula. One of the
Fairbanks dredges and the Kusko
kwim dredge were first operated in
j 1919 and had successful seasons,
(showing that dredging can be pro
j Stable even under present adverse
! conditions. This fact and the suc
j cessful dredging in Seward penin
isula during the last 15 years proves
jthat this type of mining has an im
: portant future in Alaska. In nearly
; every placer-mining district of Al
aska there are large areas under
i lain by auriferous gravels which
justify exhaustive prospecting for
the purpose of finding dredging
■ ground. The successful use of cold
• water thawing in connection with
.dredging enterprises should give a
further stimulus to this form of
mining.
The Yukon placer camps are the
most isolated of the important Alas
ka mining districts, and are there
fore the places where the cost of
mining is highest, so that they are
; the most sensitive to present eeo
:nomic conditions. This fact is re
\ fleeted in the comparison of their
gold output for 1919 and 1918,
‘made in the subjoined table. Fortu
nately the loss at the Yukon camps
was in part offset by a somewhat
greater production of gold at the
placer mines on Seward peninsula.
Estimated Value of Placer Gold Out
l
put of Yukon Districts,
1918-1919.
1918 1919
Fairbanks $ 800,000 $ 770,000
Iditarod 1,240,000 725,000
Tolovana 875,000 525,000
Ruby . 400,000 150,000
Circle 175,000 115,000
Hot Springs.. 150,000 105,000
Koyukuk . 150,000 105,000!
Marshall . 105,000 100,000
Innoko . 120,000 60,000
Fortymile 75,000 40,000
All others 129,000 140,0001
$4,264,000 $2,830,000,
The placer gold output of the
Fairbanks district was produced by
about 36 summer mines employing
360 men, and about 20 winter
mines, employing 80 men. Drift j
mining is on the wane at Fair- j
banks, for in 1918 there were over'
40 deep mines and in 1919 there'
were only 28. As only the deep 1
mines can be operated in the win
ter, this condition has resulted in
a great curtailment of winter op
erations and has made the labor
problem more serious, for it is im
possible to have a permanent min
ing population where employment is
assured only for the summer. The
larger part of the known deep de
posits of rich ground at Fairbanks
has been worked out, and it will
probably be impossible, under the
present cost of operation, to revive
this form of mining on a large,
scale. The conditions here, how
ever, are improved now that the
camp can be assured of fuel at rea
sonable cost from the Xenana coal
field. The best immediate prospect
for the revival of placer mining at
Fairbanks is that of exploiting the
large reserves of auriferous gravel
that can be mined by dredges and
steam scrapers. This gravel will be
mined by the use of Nenana coal
after the general conditions are im
proved by the establishment of di
rect rail connection with the coast.
Gold Lode Mining.
Eighteen gola-lode mines were op
erated in Alaska in 1919 and pro
duced gold worth about $4,100,000.
Twenty-five mines were operated in
1918 and produced gold worth $J,
473,000. The increase in 1919 cam<
from the three mines at Juneau, but
does not assure the continued pros
perity of the lode-mining industry,
for these mines at Juneau are work
ing on too small a margin between
the vahie of gold recovered and the
cost of operation to make it certain
that they will be able to pay the
continued increasing expense of min
ing. The only other large gold
lode mine in Alaska is in the Sitka
district, where operations in 1919
were, so far as known, on about
the same scale as in 1918.
The most important event of the
year bearing on lode mining in
Alaska was the development of
some large ore bodies in the Stew'art
River basin of Portland canal, which
marks the Southeastern boundary of
the Territory. So far as known,
the only properties developed suffi
ciently to prove the value of these
bodies are on the Canadian side of
the international boundary, but close
to it. The same geologic conditions
occur on the Alaska side of the
boundary, where metalliferous lodes
have long been known to occur and
where many claims have been stak
ed. The natural seaboard outlet
for the Canadian as well as the
American properties in the Stewart
River basin is the town of Hyder,
on the Alaska side of Portland canal.
The lodes of this district, so far as
Continued on Page Three)
LOS ANGELES, Jan 13.—Man
agef Jack Kearns, who is represent
ing Champion Jack Dempsey in the
negotiations with Manager de«
Camps, for the Dempsey-Carpentier
championship ring battle, expresses
the belief today that the big hou'
will Like place in Europe. He say
that he sees little chance of the
fight going to Tia Juana as pro
posed by Promoter Coffroth.
Kearns says that there appears
to be only one objection to Tia
Juana, but that one is enough to
discourage the promotion of such a
contest at the Mexican resort. This
objection is a lack of transportation
facilities between San Diego and
Tia Juana, those available at pres
ent being insufficient to accommo
date such a crowd as will attend
the event.
WASHINGTON, I). C.. Jan. 13.
President Wilson and Secretary >f
the Treasury Carter Glass were i ■
conference at the Whit. House yes
ter lay afternoon, the cabinet offii • •
havin'.; been sum coned fc>\ the Pre
Heat to discuss the appointment of
h:> successor. : uch an appointment
having been made necessary by the
appointment of Glass to the senate.
It is understood that K. C. I.ef
finpv.'ell, who now holds the position
of assistant secretary, is favored
for the place.
GERMAN OPERA SEATS
ADVANCING IN PRICE
BERLIN. Prices for theater and
opera seats are >oaring to the skies
in Germany. It has just been an
nounced that it will be necessary to
charge 60 marks for ari orchestra
seat and 100 marks for a box seat
at the first performance of Pfitz
ner’s “Palestrina,” which is soon to
be given. Before the war there was
much criticism because MO marks
was the charge for a seat at the
opera when Caruso sang.
When Frau Fritzi Massary’s op
eretta “Sybill” was produced for the
first time recently, speculators ad
vanced the price of seats to 120
and 150 marks.
The audience included “illicit
trailers,” whose wives and daughter •,
glittered with diamonds.
Kenana—The Gateway to McKinley
Watloaal Park.
m
TEMPERATURE *
As reported by the government *
observation station, Nenana *t
- M
Tuesday, January 13. **
Maximum 21 below •*
Minimum .53 below *
«e