FIFTH YEAR
CHITINA, ALASKA, TUESDAY, JUNE 15, 1915.
NUMBER 34
WORK ON THE BREKNER
At about Mile SO on the C. R. &
N. W. Railway the Bremner River
runs into the Copper River, and
since the early days, long before the
building of the railway, prospectors
have been looking for placer gold
on the Bremner and Little Bremner
rivers. They have been successful
to a limited degree. But the wan
dering of prospectors has resulted
in the discovery of considerable gold
quartz in that locality. At various
other localities off from the railway
both gold and copper has been dis
covered and many locations made.
Ip a recent report by Fred H. Mof
fit, of the IT. S. geological survey,
the following reference, is made to
that locality:
“Claims have been staked on a
number of quartz veins on the lower
part of Bremner River and on the
Little Bre,inner. Most of these veins
are small, but a number reach a
thickness of several feet and can be
traced for some considerable dis
tance on the surface. The, larger
veins show a- slight mineralization
and are reported to have yielded
small amounts of gold when assayed.
No development work has bee,n done
on them.
“Several properties between
Chitina and Tiekel were visited by
me.mbers of the survey party, but
time to visit all of them was lack
ing. Near the railroad, at Mile 109,
an adit 40 feet long had been driven
to crosscut a vein of quartz that ap
peared in the schist on the surface
above. The. vein, which is four feet
thick, strikes N. 10 degrees E., and
dips slightly to the east, carries gold
and a small amount of galena. A
short distance to the south is
another property on which assess
ment work has been done, and which
is reported to carry gold in varying
amounts up to $45 a ton.
“The property of the Standard
Mines Co., is on the ridge near the
head of Eagle Creek, over 4,000 feet
above the Copper. A shallow verti
cal shaft was sunk on a quartz vein
in schist. The vein, which strikes
north and dips slightly east, is about
13 inches thick at the surface but
is a little larger below. It carries
visible free gold associated with
pyrite and galena. Assays of $60
to the ton have been obtained, as
well as much higher values from
picked specimens. Nearby proper
ties show the same sort of surface
croppings, but carry a little chalco
pyrite in addition to the sulphides.
“Other gold-bearing veins nearer
the coast on Copper River and in the
mountains between Copper River
and the Military Road have had con
siderable work done on them but
have not developed into mines.
“During the summer of 1911 a
considerable number of men were
engaged in prospecting on the west
side of Copper River between the
Chitina and the coast. Gold-bearing
quartz float v/as found at various
places and many small gold-bearing
veins were discovered. A few of the
veins give basis for mining projects
but have not yet been opened up
sufficiently to prove their value, al
though more or less work has been
don° on them.
“A number of copper claims have
been staked in the mountains be
tween Canyon Creek and Chitina
River and at the head of Canyon
Cre.ek. One of them, the Blakney
property, near Taral, is patented.
On three or four others consider
able work has been done, but on the
remainder operations have been re
stricted to the assessment work
necessary to hold the property.”
SOIL-PRODUCTS EXPOSITION
DENVER, Colo.—The. war is not
interfering with arrangements for
the International Soil-Products Ex
position and the International Dry
Farming Congress to be held in this
city from September 27 to October
9 inclusive. From present plans it
appears that the local Exposition
will vie with the fairs in California,
at least in agricultural Interest. The
United States government will have
the most comprehensive display of
♦its agricultural work that it has ever
made at any exposition. Several of
the neutral nations have indicated
their intention of being represented
and the Farming Congress officials
have sent representatives to the bel
ligerents to obtain exhibits.
WAR MAP OF EUROPE, SHOWING STRENGTH OF ARMIES
The fighting strength of the principal European nations in time of war totals nearly 2u,UOO.<JOO on one side, favoring Servia, is the triple entente, con
sisting of England, Russia and France, and on the other side, supporting Austria, is the triple alliance—namely, Germany, Italy and Austria itself.
I
In the interior country there has
been much agitation over the ways
and means of securing a road from
Fairbanks to the no.w mining camp
of Tolovana, John Zug, superintend
ent for the Alaska Road Commis
sion, has just made the trip into the
new camp. Upon his return to Fair
banks he stated that the results of
the development work which will be
done in the next month in the Tolo
vana district will decide as to the
advisability of the construction of a
summer trail to the newest placer
camp in Alaska. In any event, ac
cording to Mr. Zug, the' road will net I
be constructed this summer as there I
will be very little road commission
money available for such work.
Deputy United States Mineral
Surveyor Ge.orge Parks, of the
Alaskan field force attached to the
Fairbanks district, recently arrived
from a two weeks’ trip into the Tolc
vana country. During his trip ne
investigated conditions thoroughly
and paid some attention to the wood
and timbe.r supply, which demanded
immediate attention from the land
office.
He found that the heavy supply of
saw timber lies on the Tolovana
river down as far as the mouth of
the south fork, but that there is
plenty of saw timbe.r and wood on
the upper Tolovana and its tribu
taries to satisfy the needs of the
camp this year at least. Also he
found that there was considerable
good timber and wood over on the.
Mike Hess side of the divide, easily
accsessible.
Over on Livengood Creek every
body is busy prospecting. Parks
says that the. camp is no place for
labor to go to, for practically all of
the work is being done by the pros
pectors and claim owners them
selves. There are no idle men. The
woods are full of miners, which is
one. of the healthy signs. He and
deputy Miller came to the conclu
sion after looking over the camp
that there were fully 250 people in
there, scattered over a very large
country. At Discovery, Livengood,
there is quite a town springing up
around Lankey’s roadhouse and
store. More people are living close
by this settlement than any other.
Lake City is another town, and here
the U. S. deputy marshal has estab
lished his headquarters.
Down the Tolovana at the mouth
of the west fork, near the he,ad of
river navigation apparently, another
town is being promoted to be known
as Coleman City.
J. L. McPherson, secretary of the
Seattle Chamber of Commerce, plans
to bring together most of the party
that toured Alaska during the. sum
mer of 1913 under the auspices of
the Chamber. tl was termed the
“Development of Alaska” touring
party and the reunion will be he.ld
at Seattle on Saturday, July 10. Seth
Mann, of San Francisco, the Presi
dent’s personal representative on the
notable, 8,000-mile trip through the
Northland, warmly commended the
plan for a reunion and readily ac
cepted an invitation to be present.
Henry C. House and family, now of
Pasadena; P. A. Waller and family,
of Kewaunee,, 111., and other mem
bers of the touring party from a dis
tance are expected to be here. In
connection with the reunion it is
proposed to form a * Midnight Sun
Club” to perpetuate the memory of
a week on the Lower Yukon when
the days were 24 hours long. It is
contemplated to have an all-dav
trip on a Sound steamer to Hood’s
Canal, with a banquet, probably, at
Union.
SEATTLE, May 31.—Last night
the, steamer Alameda sailed north
on schedule time with a. large num
ber of laborers for the railroad
terminus towns. Foj- Anchorage,
there were nine cabin and 53 second
class passenge.rs; for Seward, 40
cabin and 35 second-class; for Val
dez and Ellamar 4 cabin for each
place. The passengers for Cordova
were: L. B. Jaris, A. J. Hienneh, D.
Blankfleld. Mrs. A. Dork, R. J.
DeLeo, Walte.r Adams, Frank Scott
and 5 second-class.
i uci c u«s uccu uuuoiuci auic uia
cussion and difference of opinion as
to the fees that U. S. Commissioners
should charge for certain filings.
And this has prompted Attorney
General Gregory to issue a circular
to the various officials in this ter
ritory in which he says:
“Under date of January 5, 1915,
the comptroller of the treasury ren
dered two decisions upon requests
made by the department as to
whether United States Commission
ers in Alaska shall charge the fees
prescribed by territorial statute or
those fixed by regulation of the de
partment, where the territorial fees
are different from those fixed by
regulation for the same service.
“In these decisions the comptrol
ler holds that where a federal
statute fixes a fee for a service to
be rendered by a United States Com
missioner in Alaska, such fee is ap
plicable to the exclusion of any dif
ferent and inconsistent fee which
the territorial legislature may have
prescribed for the same service.”
There has been litigation for some
time past over some property in the
neighborhood of Valdez that is valu
able for its water rights. The land
office at Juneau has just rendered a
decision in the matter that results
in the forfeiture of the “Ida May"
lcde claim and placer claims known
as the "Hucklebe.rry” and “Solomon
Falls” which were located by Ida F.
M. lies. Failure to comply with the
governmental regulations concerning
development work and to establish
proof of the. presence of mineral, is
announced as the cause of the action
taken. The case has recently been
investigated by the Juneau land
office at the. request of the General
Land Office at Washington, and the
charges made by the, government
sustained.
This forfeiture will directly affect
the Alaska Water, Light and Tele.
phone Company of Valdez, which
owns and operates a plant on the
ground in question. This plant is
the supply for the city of Valdez,
and under the ruling the company
will have no valid title, to the site
they now occupy.
The Katalla Company, a subsid
iary part of the Copper River &
Northwestern Railway Company, has
just received title to 22 acres of
land adjoining the town of Cordova
on the north. The area adjoins the
Comet and Juneau fraction lode
claims owned by Jack Dalton and
A1 Lowe. ,The final certificate was j
issued last Thursday by Register
Walker and Receiver Boyle, of the
Juneau land office and is designated
as U. S. survey No. 829. This is the
termination of former litigation be.
tween the Katalla Company and Dal
ton and Lowe.' During the progress
of this case, the decision of which
has settled the question of the right
of possession of this particular prop
erty and of the lode claims, several
much-discussed matters incident to
Alaska land law have been deter
mined. Among the points on which
this decision has a dire.ct bearing and
which have been settled for the
future by virtue of this decision are
the question of the land claimed by
squatter, and also that of the. rights
of possessory claimants to tidelands.
Alaska has contributed some little
amount exceeding a million and a
half dollars for the betterment «>f
roads and trails in the north. This
is in addition to the sums appropri
ated by Congress. The facts were
brought out be.fore a roads discus
sion at Juneau at a meeting of a
legislative committee. A letter
written by Capt. Glen E. Edgerton,
a member of the Alaska Road Com
mission, and under whose direction
the money was expended, gives the
following informatoin:
“The exact amount from the tax
fund expended on roads other than
‘military and post roads’ in each of
the, divisions is given below. The
figures are to the end of the last
fiscal year.
“In addition to the above, all of
the special appropriations and a
small part of the tax fund have
been expended on the. routes con
sidered as ‘military and post roads'
within the meaning of those words
as used in. the appropriating acts:
These roads include the road from
Fort W. H. Seward to the. Canadian
boundary, the trunk line from Val
dez and Chitina to Nome and St.
Michael through Fairbanks and Fort
Gibbon, as well as the Seward
Iditarcd trail, which was especially
named in the appropriation with
which it was constructed.
“The total amounts by divisions
would be difficult to determine
exactly as the routes are not con
terminous with the judicial divi
sions. The proportions of the sev
eral divisions would be as follows:
1st Division .$160,000
2nd Division . 22,000
3rd Division .. .. 805,000
4th Division . 661,000
Total .$1,648,000
“These last amounts are approxi
mately divided, the total expendi
ture being $1,648,300.28.
“All of the above figures include
the proportionate share of all over
head expenses. These expenses haje
varied from 8 to 9 per cent k
The editor of the Daily Alaskan
will be an outgoing passenger on the
steamer Mariposa, sailing south from
Cordova on Thursday. He, will ue
gone a couple of months and will
combine pleasure with business.
After four or five days at his Seattle
office he will go on business to Van
couver, Wash., and Portland. At the
latter city he will board the. train for
the three hour run to the coast and
at Flavel will become a passenger on
the big steamship North Pacific that
makes the run to San Francisco in
26 hours, arriving there on June 21.
After attending to some business
matters there he will leave in time
to keep an appointment at Los
Angele.s on the 26th, remaining over
until the 29th to attend the three
day session of the Thirtieth annual
convention of the National Editorial
Association. Of this organization he
was four times elected treasurer and
was a member of the executive com
mittee for 12 years. After that a
pleasure trip to the. exposition at
San Diego, leaving after July Fourth
for a week looking over the exposi
tion at San Francisco, and during
that time attending the World’s
Press Congress. The first of these,
was held at St. Louis in 1904, and
was attended by the editor of this
paper. After San Francisco then
either a business trip to Chicago or
a return to Seattle, to participate in
the excitement and pleasures inci
dent to Mystic Shrine week of
July 12. ■ i (
REVENUE FOR RUSH
The recent Territorial Legislature
passed an act to establish a system
of taxation to create revenue to run
the territory for future years, and
amending the act passed at the First
Legislature. The new revenue bill
was approved on April 29, and as U
contained an emergency clause it be
came. effective immediately. • The
pertinent provisions of the act
follow:
That any person, firm or corpora
tion prosecuting or attempting to
prosecute any of the following lines
of business in the Territory v,f
Alaska shall apply for and obtain a
license and pay for said license for
the respective lines of business as
follows:
Attorneys, doctors and dentists,
$10.
Automobiles, $5.
Bakeries, $15.
Electric light and power plants
selling light and power to the pub
lic, one half of 1 pe.r cent of the
gross receipts in excess of $2,500.
Employment agencies, operating
for hire and colletting a fee from
employees, $500 per annum.
Fisheries, salmon canneries, 4
cents per case on King and Reds or
Sockeye; 2 cents per case on Medium
Reds; 1 cent per case on all others.
Salteries, 2 Vfe cents per hundred
pounds on all fish salted or mild
cured, except herring.
Fish traps, fixed or floating. $100
per annum. So called dummy
traps included.
Gill nets, $1 per 100 fathoms or
fraction thereof.
Cold storage fish plants, doing a
business of $100,000 per annum or
more $500 per annum: $75,000 to
$100,000, $375; $50,000 to $75,
000, $250; $25,000 to $50,000,
$125; $10,000 to $25,000, $50;
$4,000 to $10,000, $25. Under
$x.000, $10. The “annual business”
under this section shall be con
sidered the amount paid per annum
for the product.
Laundries doing a business of
over $5,000 per annum, $25 per
annum.
Meat markets, doing a business of
not less than $10,000 nor more thin
$25,000 per annum, $10 per
annum; $25,000 to $50,000, $30;
$50,000 to $75,000, $100; $75,000
to $200,000, $250; over $200,000
per annum, $500 per annum. That
every separate meat market or
establishment shall be considered a
separate business.
Mining, one per cent of the. net
income in excess of $5,000. 3y
‘ net income” is meant the cash
value of the output of the mine less
operating expenses, repairs and bet
terments actually done. By “min
ing” is meant any operation by which
valuable metals, ores, minerals or
marketable stone is extracted from
the earth.
Pubilc scavengers, $50.00.
Ships and shipping, freight and
transportation, ocean and coast wise
vessels doing business for hire ply
ing in Alaska waters, registered in
Alaska and not registered e.lsewhere
in the United States and not paying
a tax or license elsewhere, and
freight and passenger lines propelled
"by mechanical power registered in
the territory of Alaska and not pay
ing a license or tax elsewhere in the
United States and river and lake
steamers and barges as well as trans
portation lines doing business wholly
within the territory of Alaska, $1
per ton on net tonnage, custom house
measurement of such vessel.
Telephone companies, one-half of
1 per cent of gross receipts in excess
of $1,500.
Water works, se.lling water or
power to the public, one-half of 1
per cent of gross receipts in excess
of $2,500.
Public messengers, $25.
LOS ANGELES, Cal.—Not only
may Los Angeles girls learn to cook
and sew in the public schools, but
they may become students of baby
culture with real live, gurgling,
wriggling babies to practice on. A
course in the care and nursing of
infants has been added as a perma
nent feature of the curriculum of
the Polytechnic Evening High School
and the first class, numbering 35
pupils, includes a dozen young
mothers, and prospective brides as
well as younger girls.