PHYSICAL AND LABOR
PROBLEMS ABOUND IN
SPITZBERGEN MINING
LONGYEAR CITY, Spitsbergen,
Aug. 2. (/P)—Mining in Spitsbergen
presents peculiar features that are
not met with anywhere else in the
world.
It. is a long tramp from Longyear
City to the mine entrance across a
boulderstrewn valley between two
snowcovered mountain ranges. In
tlie spring, the slowly melting snow
turns the valley, really a moraine,
into a morass of slush- and mud, with
rapid little watercourses winding
their way towards the jford.
Working gangs are hoisted in open
cable cars SOO feet up at an angle
of some (10 degrees to the main
gallery, which opens out on the
mountainside and looks from below
like an ugly black bear.
From here, galleries run horiizon
tally thru the heart of the moun
fan, with an exit on the other side.
Thus there is a constant supply of
fresh air, and the temperature with
in is constant; about five degrees
of frost all the year around. There
is a marKaDie aDsence oi uusi wimm
is kept down by shoveling in snow
from outside. This snow never
melts, and it helps to keep the air
pure.
Pillars of solid ice, said to be
millions of years old, and many feet
thick, form reliable natural sup
ports for the galleries, which are
reinforced by wooden balks.
The company’s engineers are proud
o: their American electric traction
equipment which conveys the coal
from the bowels of the earth to the
outlet high up on the mountainside,
whence an endless chain of tips car
ries it down to the distant harbor.
Much safer, they say, than the ben
zine cars used in the Swedish mine
on Braganza Bav at the end of the
Bell Sound further south. Not long
ago, a benzine tank exploded there,
fortunately during non-working hours.
No one was killed, but the coal
became ignited and that mine has
been burning for weeks.
“This is really our worst time as
far as labor is concerned,” said
Sigurd Westby, Spitzbergen manager
of the Great Norwegian Coal compa
ny, to an Associated Press corres
pondent discussing ways and means
of recruiting operating staffs, all of
whom have to be imported, since
there are no Spitzbergen “natives”
speaking.
“At this time of the year, when
the first boats begin to arrive from
Norway,” he went on, “many of our
fellows get the homing instinct and
there’s no holding them. They have
to sign a contract for at least one
summer and one winter, but nothing
wil keep them once the ice breaks
up and there is a chance of going
home. Oh yes, many of them come
back after they have spent their
money at Tromso or elsewhere. Min
ers’ wages run to about 30 kroner
per day; they are charged four kro
ner for board and lodging and there
are no opportunities for spending
money here. Amusements in the
way of movies, wireless parties and
social entertainments are provided
for them free in the winter time, so
every man has his little hoard by the
time the sun reappears above the
horizon late in April.”
People who have spent four con
secutive winters iin Sptzbergen are
pretty rare.
Coal is king in Spitzbergen and
everyone talks in terms of coal, which
is no wonder, seeing that the exist
ence of all the thousand odd inhabi
tants of these islands is dependent
upon the production of that commod
ity, since the whaling industry was
ruined many decades ago by reck
less slaughtering methods employ
ed by the hunters.
Of ten mining companies which
own land in the archipelago, the
principal concerns, two Norwegian,
one Swedish, produce over half a
million tons annually, all of which
is used in Norway, Finland and Nor
thern Russia for domestic and in
dustrial purposes.
It was the late John M. Longyear,
of Boston( Mass., who, together with
his friend, Frederick x\.yer, located
some 25 years ago the most promis
ing coal fields in these parts, which
are estimated to contain 500,000,000
tons, or about one-quarter of the to
tal supply supply to exist, as far
as is known, in all Spitzbergen.
Much of the Spitzbergen coal is of
a porous kind, which incidentally is
the reason why a fire which start
ed some three years ago In one of
the local galleries is still burning. It
has been found impossible to ex
clude air wholly from this seam,
and when an Associated Press cor
respondent visited the place recent
ly a thin vapor was seen now and
again to be rising from the smould
ering interior of the mountain. Work
at this particular spot is of course
at a standstill.
Wages of Motion Picture
Directors Vary Widely
HOLLYWOOD, Cal., Aug. 25. (ff)—
An explanation of the wide variance
in amounts of the weekly salaries "tff
motion picture directors was given
here recently at a meeting of film
executives.
The average salary received by the
“top-notch” director approximates
$2,000 weekly. Other directors—many
of them new in the industry—are paid
lesser amounts, ranging as low as
$75 a week.
One producer in speaking on the
question “How much is a director
worth?” said “A director who does
not know every detail of the motion
picture game is expensive at any
price. One who does know is worth
$2,000 a week because he will save
his salary a dozen times in the cost
of production.
“Through the inexperience of a di
rector. studios sometimes are com
pellecl to retake the work of many
weeks. This means that the cost of
keeping the company and the mechan
ical staff on the sets for the extend
ed length of time was greater than
the difference betwreen what the
producer paid his small salaried di
rector and what he would have to
pay a top notcher.”
Copenhagen Buys Statue
Ancient King for $60,000
—
COPENHAGEN, Aug. 24. (£>)—
What is possibly the oldest statue
in the world was recently purchased
by the Copenhagen Museum for $60,
000. The statue was dug up in the
World War during the construction
of fortifications in Mesopotamia and
represents King Gudea, w'ho ruled
in Bagash in southern Mesopotamia
about 3,000 B. C.
The ancient relic was exceptionally
well preserved and was first taken
to England, but the Londou National
Museum is not buying any more an
tiquities at present and the statue
passed to Copenhagen.
for
MARINE SERVICE
Calol Polar Marine Engine Oil
(Trans-Pacific Oceanic Liners)
Calol XXXX Marine Engine Oil
(Steamers in Coastwise Sailings)
Calol Diesel Engine Oil
Calol Diesel Engine Oil Heavy
Calol Ice Machine Oil
Calol Dark Marine Cylinder Oil
Calol Polar Cylinder Oii
Calol Turbine Oil—Heavy
Calol Turbine Oil—Extra Heavy
for
INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT
Calol Cylinders Oils
Calol Valve Oil
Calol H. P. Cylinder Oil
Calol Engine Oil
Calol Dynamo & Motor Oil
Calol Turbine Oil
Calol Turbine Oil—Heavy
Calol Engine Oii
Calol Red Engine Oil
Caio! Heavy Red Engine Oil
Calol Heavy Red Journal Oil
In the making- and use of Calol Brand lu
bricating oils, chance and uncertainty are
eliminated. Years of experience with them
have established these oils in the confi
dence of industry and the marine trade.
That is why a majority of all the vessels
out of United States Pacific Coast ports,
both coastal and trans-Pacinc, as well as
a large majority of the industrial plants,
—factories, canneries., mills, mines, hydro
electric plants, etc.,—in the Western
States, Alaska and the Hawaiian Islands,
use Calol lubricating oils year-in and year
out. And this use has proved beyond
question their uniform reliability and
satisfying efficiency.
Calol lubricating oils are available throughout
Alaska. For information about those which will
best fill your needs, or for details about any
phase of our Alaska service, ask any of our repre
sentatives, or write to our office in the Alaska
Building, Seattle, Washington, or your nearest
Standard Oil Station in Alaska.
There is a Calol lubricating oil scientifically de
termined for every marine and industrial need.
STANDARD OIL COMPANY
(California)
CA10L BRAND OILS
FOR MARINE 6» INDUSTRIAL
SERVICE
Wants Son Buried In
Uniform with Badge
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 24 (/p)—Pa
trolman Wiley E. Smith died yester
day from a bullet wound received Sat
urday, when he was shot through the
lungs in a running fight with bandits
who robbed the Gellman Branch Bank,
taking $19,000 in cash and securities.
Smith’s mother arrived from Miami,
Arizona, a few hours after her son’s
death. She said, “I want Wiley bur
ied in his uniform and wearing his
badge. Ever since he was a little boy
he wanted to be a policeman.”
The Alaska Railroad
TRAINS LEAVE SEWARD
7:30 A. M.
Mon.—Wed.—Fri.
A train leaves Seward at 8:00 a. aj.
Sundays for Anchorage and interme
diate points. Arrives Seward at 2:15
p. m. from Anchorage.
TRAINS ARRIVE SEWARD
7:00 P. M.
T ues.—Thurs.—Sat.
STEAMSHIP STARR
STEAMER STARR SAILS SEPTEMBER 14
San Juan Fishing and Packing Co.
G. C. HENDERSON, Agent
PHONE MADISON m. SEWARD, ALASKA
S. S. ADMIRAL WATSON
Sails from
Seattle—
August 11
Arrives at
Seward—
August 18
South from
Seward—
Aug. 25, 9 p. m.
o. o. HLiiyimML ci v Mino
Aug. 25
Sept. 1
Sept. 8, 9 p.m.
Calling at all regular' Southeastern and South
western Alaska ports including Seldovia and
Kodiak.
WAYNE BLUE, Agent
Telephone Main 81
Res., Madison 40
Pacific Coastwise Service
^ADMIRAL LINE
iH.F. ALEXANDER. PRESIDENT!
ALASKA STEAMSHIP I
COMPANY
Southwestern Alaska Route Schedule
Vessel—
Alaska
Yukon
Northwestern
Alaska
Yukon
Northwestern
CtA,
Scheduled
Lv. Seattle
Aug. 15
Aug. 22
Aug. 29
Sept. 5
Sept. 12
Sept. 19
Scheduled
Ar. Seward
Aug. 22
Aug. 29
Sept. 5
Sept. 12
Sept. 19
Sept. 26
Scheduled Sail
from Seward
Aug. 23
Aag. 30
Sept. 6
Sept. 13
Sept. 19
Sept. 26
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. OV.UCU U1C Will iUcltf-t?
in Southeastern and Southwestern Alaska.
teamers in above schedule will not leave Seward earlier than FOUR
O CLOCK Sunday afternoon, sailing dste.
Steamer Redondo, carrying freight and passengers, connects with
above steamers at Seward, weekly, for Cook iSlet and Kodfak Is
land points, subject to change without notice.
PHnNlcr J- H FLICKINGER, Agent
PHONE MAIN 125 SEWARD, ALASKA
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See the Inti
-VIA
“The Golden Bell
*9
To the end that the countless places of scenic and other inter
ests in the Territory may be thoroughly enjoyed and understand, and
to enable them to acquire first hand and accurate information con
cerning all Alaskan activities and devleopment; travelers to the
Northland are urged to visit
ALASKA'S “GOLDEN HEART"
Interior Alaska and places en route—including Kenai Lake the
Loop District," Spencer and Bartlett Glaciers, Turnagaln Arm’ An
chorage, the JVIatanuska Valley, Curry, Nenana River Canyon, Mt. Mc
Kinley National Park, Nenana, the Tanana Valley ad Fairbanks hold
much of interest to everyone, whether on business or pleasure bent*
and a tour through these regions creates a true conception of the
good things that Alaska has to offer.
For train and automobile schedules, passenger rates and other In
formation, confer with any steamship agent, or
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
The Alaska Railroad
(McKinley Park Route)
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Seward
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Anchorage
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Curry
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Nenana
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Fairbanks z