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vice-president and general manager.
To Mr. Hawkins was given practi
cally absolute authority on matters of
construction, that involved the ex
penditures of many millions of dol
lars. He has had the absolute con
fidence of the financiers who are
building the road. They early real
ized his wonderful genius as an engi
neer and railroad builder, and he has
always been regarded by them as a
man of sound Judgment, unswerv
ing integrity, and of exceptional en
ergy.
To Mr. Hawkins, more than any
one man, is due the credit for the
accomplishment of one of the great
est engineering feats and best pieces
of pioneer construction ever attempt
ed in the United States. After his
preliminary plans were complete
there was necessity for the almost
continuous exercise of his fertile
brain to meet and dispose of the
many complex and unusual questions
that were arising in all quarters. His
mental and physical strength were at
times tried to their utmost. But hit
courage never failed, and today h<
can look upon the accomplishment
of a gigantic work with the conscious
ness that his duties were not onl>
well performed, but that the results
merit him the highest possible credit
and honor.
Through his kindly consideration
for all employes Mr. Hawkins won
their confidence and regard to such
an extent as is seldom enjoyed by a
head otiicial. And in return the loy
alty and energy they displayed re
dounded to the advancement of the
work and to the credit of all con
cerned. During the past three years
Mr. Hawkins has had valued assist
ance and co-operation from all of
the employes, and particularly the
following head officials:
Alfred Williams, assistant engi
neer; C. E. Harrison and L. J. Cas
well, division engineers; G. H. Spang
ler, special engineer; A. C. O’Neel,
bridge engineer; J. W. Covert and
H. A. Brown, assistant bridge engi
neers; S. Corser, chief draftsman;
Fred W. Hawkins, Philip Caleb Cor
ser, L. M. Price, Henry Deyo, T. W.
Secrest, E. C. Eby, Daniel Boyle, Ho
mer McHadley, C. E. Wingate, J. C.
Scurry, S. A. Walker, S. E. Sellows,
C. J. McCain, T. C. Brill, B. Dreiten
stein, W. J. Ford, W. A. Richelsen,
resident engineers; W. S. McCune,
chief timekeeper.
In the operation of the Copper
River & Northwestern Railway the
resident officials are E. C. Hawkins,
chief engineer; J. R. Van Cleve, di
vision superintendent and master me
chanic; R. J. Barry, general freight
and passenger agent; W. J. ford, au
ditor; I. W. Young, storekeeper; L.
Wernicke, division engineer.
The general officers at the New
York and Seattle offices are as fol
lows:
s. W. Eccles, president, New York;
F. W. Hills, comptroller, New York;
J. H. Young, vice-president, Seattle;
C. J. Jones, traffic manager, Seattle;
E. S. Pegram, treasurer, New York;
D. H. Jarvis, assistant treasurer, Se
attle; W. E. Bennett, secretary. New
York; W. H. Bogle, attorney, Seat
tle; J. K. MacGowan, purchasing ag
ent, New York; W. B. Sprague, as
sistant purchasing agent, Seattle;
Kenneth Kerr, industrial agent, Seat
tle.
M. J. Heney, Contractor,
The contract for the grading, track
laying and trestle work of the rail
road was awarded to M. J. Heney,
who had been the contractor for the
White Pass & Yukon railroad. Mr.
Heney at once proceeded to effect an
organization that was characteristic
for its loyalty, strength and effi
ciency. He surrounded himself, as
heads of the different departments,
with men of experience and excep
tional ability, who soon justified his
wisdom by proving themselves able
and faithful, remaining loyal unto
the end.
Mr. Heney was in the wreck of the
steamer Ohio in August, 1909, but
later proceeded to Cordova and di
rected and labored with his old-time
energy, until he left for the states
on December 6, 1909. He proceeded
to New York, but soon returned to
California, where his weakened con
dition developed into pneumonia and
heart trouble, from which he died
October 11, 1910. The thousands of
men who were in his employ grieved
and mourned over his death with
such deep feeling and sincerity as
is seldom witnessed in this genera
tion. But to all M. J. Heney was a
friend, and not a taskmaster. He
was loved and respected by all his
men and the public generally.
As during his previous contract
Mr. Heney had as his first lieuten
ant Samuel Murchison. He has
much of the same force and many
of the characteristics of his chief.
When the absence and illness of Mr.
Heney required that he assume full
responsibility, Mr. Murchison never
faltered, but took hold and labored
with a fidelity and energy that en
deared him to his chief and won him
the favor of all the employes. Since
the death of Mr. Heney the work has
been under the absolute direction of
Mr. Murchison, and he has made for
himself such a record as will forever
establish him as one of the foremost
and successful railroad builders of
the country. He has a splendid
knowledge of men, and his kindly
and courteous treatment of his em
ployes resulted in securing their con
fidence and loyalty to a marked de
gree and with such results as is only
achieved by men of giant force aud
great consideration.
The personnel of M. J. Heney, con
tractor, is composed as follows: Gen
eral superintendent, Samuel Murchi
son; superintendent of bridges and
buildings, P. J. O’Brien; superintend
ent of transportation, W. C. Robin
son; superintendent of motive pow
;r, H. R. Simpson; superintendent of
track, A. L. McCoy; general foreman,
Daniel Hedican; chief surgeon, Dr.
F. B. Whiting; chief storekeeper,
Archie Shiels; assistant storekeeper,
Thos. Fitch.
i lie neiicy cuuipauj uaa wuniuci
able work still to perform before
turning over to the Katalla Company
the remaining section from Chitina
to Kennicott. Filling in ties, com
pleting trestles, ballasting, and some
general work will keep the present
employes busy until the 15th of Ap
ril. On that day Mr. Murchison will
turn over the last section of the
railroad to General Manager Haw
kins, and from that time on all nec
essary ballasting and additional im
provements on the railroad will oe
performed by the Katalla Company.
The work of the Heney company
has been energetically and skillfully
performed. Some delay was occa
sioned by reason of discovered ice
seams and slides in heavy rock work.
This delayed the building of the Kus
kulana bridge until an extreme bitter
season, and naturally resulted in nec
essary delay in the completion of
the work. Otherwise it was up to
schedule and such delay as there was
is attributed entirely to the ele
ments.
The Bonanza Mine.
The direct reason for the construc
tion of the Copper River & North
western Railway was to reach the
mining property of the Kennecott
Mines Company, which had been ac
quired by the Alaska Syndicate for
a consideration of $3,000,000. This
property now consists of thirty-two
lode claims and eighteen placer
claims, embracing a total acreage of
3,240 acres. Practically the only de
velopment was on the Bonanza group,
which had $6,000,000 of rich copper
ore in sight. But it was apparent
from the start that the Syndicate
would not be justified in building a
standardized modern railway to car
ry the tonnage of their own property.
They realized the prospective devel
opment of many greater producers
on claims close to the railroad and
so decided to build a substantial and
permanent road, in the belief that
development would give ample ton
nage.
The Bonanza mine Is located upon
a high ridge between Kennecott gla
cier and McCarthy creek. It is six
miles above the foot of the glacier
and three miles from the town of
Kennecott, where the concentrator
and ore bins are located. The mine
is 1,500 feet above the timber line,
at an elevation of about 4,500 feet,
with a good trail leading to it. The
ore is practically pure chalcocite or
copper glance, and is stained upon
the surface by copper carbonates.
Comparatively little work haB as yet
been done in the development of the
mine. There are about 1,000 feet
of tunneling and 160 feet of raise.
Possibly 2,000 tons of ore has been
taken out, most of which will run
65 per cent, and some higher, in cop
per.
The ore is conveyed by a three mile
tram to the concentrator and ore
binB. Ore is now being sacked, pre
paratory to shipment over the rail
road U) Cordova, from whence it will
be taken to the Tacoma smelter. It
is expected that the ore will run over
$200 per ton and that 1,500 tons
will net $300,000. When the smel
ter return is announced within twc
or three weeks, it is believed that
the high value of the ore, and in
such great quantities, will startle the
mining world. And it certainly will
prove a stimulus to prospectors and
those who are at present interested
in the Kotsina-Chitina copper belt tc
exert greater effort in the discover;
of valuable properties and the de
velopment of those already acquired.
Last year the Kennecott Mines
Company took in over the trail the
machinery for a sawmill. After that
was established sufficient lumber was
cut to supply the 200,000 feet neces
sary for the erection of a large con
centrator building 44 feet wide of six
stories of benches ranging from 16 to
22 feet. Other construction consists
of tram terminals, transfer bunkers,
ore chutes and 3 ■ 5 feet of snow
sheds between the mine and ore bins.
The sawmill also furnished the
umber for a two-story addition to the
main office or headquarters, a new
cottage, another bunkhouse, with
sleeping, reading, sitting and bath
rooms for twenty men, and a ware
house. In addition to the erection
of buildings around the Bonanza
property, a dam is being constructed
across National creek near the end
of the tramway for the purpose of
furnishing a sufficient head of water
to operate the machinery for the
crushers and concentrators, as well
as furnishing power for the electric
and steam plants to be installed.
The general manager of the Ken
necott Mines Company is Stephen
Burch. The superintendent is E. B.
Emory, who formerly worked for the
Guggenheims in Mexico.
Kotsina-Chitina Copper Belt.
When the charge is so flagrantly
made that the Alaska Syndicate has
practically all the copper in the in
terior of Alaska, it may be interest
ing to know that their four groups of
forty claims are a very small part
of the 200 groups of 4,000 copper and
gold claims that have been located
by other individuals and companies.
These locations have been made in
the Kotsina-Chitina copper belt. This
is a tract of mountainous country,
east of the Copper River and embrac
ing the watersheds of the Kotsina,
Kuskulana, Gilhena, Strelna, Lakina,
Nizina, Kennecott, Chitistone and
Chitlna Rivers, with their tributary
streams, notabley, Nugget, Elliott,
Dan, Chititu, Young, Glacier creeks.
One of the biggest companies oper
ating in this part of Alaska is the
Great Northern Development Com
pany. E. F. Gray is one of the own
ers and also general manager. Asso
ciated with him are Phillips, Dodge
& Co., of New York, part of the
Amalgamated copper combination.
This company has already expended
J800.000 in development work and
improvements, employing 140 men
last season on two properties located
at Copper Mountain and on the Kot
sina. Several thousand feet of tun
nel has been driven and large bodies
of ore uncovered. This year work
on a larger scale will go on and a
branch line of the railroad will like
ly be built 12 miles up the Strelna
to the property.
Three or four miles distant, near
the Kuskulana Glacier, are the Dill
man properties, worked by the Alas
ka United Copper Exploration Com
pany. Considerable work has been
done on the Finch group and the
tunnels show rich bodies of glance
and bornite. A crew of men this
season expect to open up the prop
erty so as to make it an early ship
per. Assays show from 30 to 45
per cent copper. This company is
also working the Westover group on
the mountain side above Dan creek.
As the work progresses values hold
good, and the lead of bornite ore
retains Its width of 16 feet. Assess
ment work la being done on other
properties.
The Callfomla-Alaska Development
Company, composed of Capt. A. E.
Lathrop and San Franelsco parties,
will work their Kotsina properties
this season on a larger scale than
ever. Others Operating on the Kot
sina are the Hubbard and Elliott, the
McCarthy company, and the Guillan
eau Mining Co. The Cushman prop
erties on the upper Strelna, the Deyo
and Price group and others, will be
worked. The Mother Lode Mining
Co., beyond Kennecott, and the Mil'
lard company, which owns the Niko
lai mine, propose to work on a'larger
scale than ever, as" does also the
Blackburn Mines Co.
The Dan Creek Mining Company Is
operating extensively on Dan creek.
The filrch brothers and Jim Galen
have taken In considerable hydraulic
machinery to work their placer
ground. Geo. Max Esterley has tak
en in machinery and expects to take
out several hundred thousand dollars
in placer gold from Dan and Chltitu
creeks. The Kernan company will
also operate on Dan creek.
Scores of . other operators will as
sist this year in disproving the theory
that the Guggenheims have gobbled
up all the valuable copper and gold
properties In this district.
Rates on Ore.
While the rates on the transporta
tion of ore have not been officially
announced by the railroad company,
yet, it comes from a reliable source
that the maximum rate per ton will
be $20, with the minimum running
down to about $5 per ton. The price
will be graduated in accordance with
the value of the ore, as is the cus
tom of all railroads in mining coun
tries. Usually ten per cent of the
value is charged." Most of the ore
in the Copper River country will run •
from $50 to $250 per ton in copper,
and the freight rate as quoted will
be more than satisfactory to them.
As one operator declared, he expected
to and would be perfectly willing to
pay 20 per cent of the smelter re
turns.
Some Interesting Facts.
About fifteen per cent of the rail
road is composed of bridges and
trestles.
The railroad is on a water grade
from Cordova to Chitina. On the
Chitina branch to the end of the line
except two pusher grades, the max
imum is 1.15 per iOO feet.
Joe Redmond, chief blacksmith for
the contractor, fashioned the copper
spike that was driven at the end -of
the road by General Manager Haw
kins, of the Katalla Company, and
General Superintendent Samuel Mur
chison, of the contracting company.
It was cut from a solid piece of na
tive copper, taken from the bed of
Chittitu creek,- a stream near the
Bonanza mine. The spike was after
ward drawn and will be properly in
scribed and sent by Mr. Hawkins to
the head office m New- York, as the
first return received from an invest
ment of over forty million dollars.
Mr. Redmond also presented Mr.
Hawkins as a personal memento, a
copper horseshoe with nails project
ing to be used for penholders, and
a pick and shovel acting as a back
holder.
One of the hardest worked and
most conscientious officials in the
service of the Copper River & North
western Railway is J. R. Van Cleve,
superintendent and master mechanic.
His ability and energy are towers of
strength in the operating of the new
railroad. ,
A half million tons of steel rails
have been laid since January 7.
When the Katalla branch line is
constructed from mile 39, the dis
tance from the coal mines to Cordova
will be 93 miles.
Any timber cut by the railroad up
to mile 89 had to be paid for, as it
was within the government reserve.
Practically the only available timber
in the entire reserve is near mile 13,
where there is fine native spruce,
which was largely used for ties and
piling. With this exception a select
ed quality of Puget Sound Douglas
Hr was used for all timber work.
Three and one-third cents for each
tie cut was paid to the government.
When the railroad reached mile
54 a steamboat landing was estab
lished and until the end of last sea
son three steamers, the Tonsina,
Chitina and Nizina, were used to
transport freight and supplies for the
railroad up the river. The cost was
$1.07 per ton per mile. The cost
of building these steamers was $215,
000.
During the summer of 1909 the
ferryboat Gulkana was used to trans
fer supplies from the railroad at
camp 49 across the Copper River to
connect with the rails. Until the
Miles Glaeier bridge was completed
last summer, the supplies were tak
en across on-scows, drawn by cables
and donkey engines.
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I. J: ST. CLAIR T. W. CLONINGER,
j Proprietors
THE WORKINGMAN’S RESORT
LOG CABIN BAR
WINES, LIQUORS,
AND CIGARS
Solo, Pool and Billiard Tables. Comfortable Chairs
and Reading Room up stairs.
5 •
Restaurant and Assay Officejin Connection
CORDOVA S BIG STORE
I S. BLUM & CO.’S
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WE SOLICIT YOUR OFFERS
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► We Carry a Large Stock of —
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General Merchandise
; Of Every Description
* Having been in the outfitting business for many years, we are
particularly well equipped to furnnish your outfit, whether large
^ of small.
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"e have reduced the price of hay & oats t $50 per ton (In ton lots)
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; Prompt Attention to Mail Orders
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< ► We Will Save You Money Cordova, Alaska.
l"H"M 111 iHfliH♦ 1111II Hi>
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Just Open
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; Special Line of OLD CROW and other Standard Brands
; of Whiskies. Double Stamp Goods, Bottled in Bond are
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; found here. Special Wines a i Liquors for Family use.
; Our prices are the lowest a id goods the best in town.
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WE INVITE YOUR PATRONAGE.
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! Watch this space for futrre announcements.
McCUTCHEON GRIFFITHS, Props.
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Pete’s Lodging
House
AND
SECOND HAND STORRB
CHITINA HEIGHTS
Bonks 25c; Beds 60c.
PETER CORDES. Prop.
RED CROSS DRUG CO.
MRS. G|M. KING
Drugs, Stationery, Fruit
Tobaccos, etc.
Mil* 133
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SAVOY
| RESTAURANT j
Opposite Chi tin* Trading Co. ;
) The Only First-Class Cafe in !
Chitina
Am erican and European Plan 1
■ Dinner 75 c up i
A la Carte all day
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Cater to special dinner parties. 1
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