TANANA LEADER
Vtl. 1
Published Every Thursday at Tanaka, Alaska.
SAM j; CALLAHAN, EDITOR No. 33
Coo. M. Arbuckle. FJanjgsr
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EDUCATIONAL HELP FOR PROSPECTORS
The prospector’s vocation, aside from being a most fas
cinating one, is as truly scientific in its essential parts as
any other industry which requires the application-of clear
headed reasoning, and the ability to fix the relation between
cause and effect. It is probably a fact that prospectors in
this country are paying more attention to what may bt
termed the technical branch of their business than the gen
eral public is aware of; but still it is difficult to get books,
and out of the question to have them explained by compe
tent teachers. The reports of the United States geological
survey have been a great help along this line. A few have
taken courses in mineralogy from correspondence schools,
and practically all who have followed prospecting for any
number of years are fairly competent to judge from a cur
sory examination whether a given section of country is
likely to be gold bearing or not. Gold being the principal
object of search here, the probable existence of other and
perhaps more valuable minerals is not given consideration
—with the chance, always, that fortune might be passed up
unrecognized. Such considerations as these should stimu
late prospectors to avail themselves of every opportunity to
learn their business thoroughly.
In Colorado the School of Mines at Golden is doing a
work for the prospectors of that state which for a long time
must be left undone here, except in so far as it may be ac
complished by us as individuals. The school will test rare
ores free, and will send samples to prospectors for purposes
of comparison. While the immediate cause of this consid
eration may be chimerical (it is in the hope of a production
■•of radium, of which there is not a pound extant in the
whole world), the stimulating influ ence is bound to result
in great good to the prospectors, and to the country. It
originated in a donation to the school by Tom Walsh, a
prospector, who has made a fortune. Regarding it the
Denver News-Times says:
That this will stimulate search for the rare metals is not open
• to doubt. And the rare metals are worth more than any other
metals, partly because they are rare, partly because some of them
have properties which the world sadly needs. Chiefest of these is
radium. It comes from an ore known as pitchblende. President
;Alderson, of the School of Mines, has told us that indications of
pitchblende are to be found in half the mining districts of Colorado.
With a careful search, there is every probability of uncovering
some very important deposits, and adding a new source of wealth
to the state.
Indeed, any deposit is important when one is dealing with a
material worth several million dollars per pound.
But the financial returns to the state or to the discoverers of a
pitchblende lode is the smallest consequence that such a discovery
could have. Radium is the repository of the most mysterious force
which.science has yet uncovered. It is believed to hold the solu
tion of many problems; certainly it has already been proved capa
ble of doing strange things. Exposed to the action of radium, a
diamond stores up light and afterward gives it off for hours and
hours. Exposed to the action of radium, chemicals behave in
queer, unaccountable fashions. Elements show signs of breaking
up into simpler elements, and there have even been hints from
Paris that radium can be made to oppose its action to the force
which we call gravity.
A substance which on the one hand beckons to Balzac’s “Quest
of the Absolute,” and on the other points to a possible i-ealization
of Stockton’s whimsical “Negative Gravity,” is plainly a substance
to be reckoned with. It has an interest greater even than its price.
The purely mechanical problems of the world are pretty well
solved, for the present, at least. The new age of invention, on
which we seem to be entering, must deal with dynamics and chem
istry, rather than with mechanics: must seek new forces, rather
than the direction of old ones. And of all the keys to dynamic
treasure houses, none holds out such promise as radium. The man
who finds a pitchblende mine in Colorado will not only enrich him
self. He will supply a fund of experimenting material which the
-scientific world sadly needs, and perhaps, in a humble way, he will
help on the solution of problems whose very existence we do not
Remember
The Grand Hotel
WHILE STOPPING IN TANANA
rr-TO-DATE Rcca;s and i:i nks, also good hog houses.
FINE WINES, LIQUORS ANI) CIGARS,
Tool And Billiard Tables In Connection.
Charley Chanquist Prop.
JACK O HARA
JACK HUNNEWELL
The Northern
SULLIVAN CITY
Again at the Old Stand in Our Brand-New Building.
We Carry Only the Best Wines, Honors and dears
know. The philanthropy which has possibilities like this is a
philanthropy with brains.
As the immensity of the fjold-bearing areas on either
side of the Yukon are made known by prospectors and espe
cially by the work of the United States geological survey,
the fallacy of the thought that all the rich placers have
been found is apparent. Without considering quartz as a
possible asset, placers will make this country a great gold
producer for years to come. One phase of the placer indus
try that may be said to just now be beginning to receive
serious consideration is the lo\c-grade propositions, which
bid fair to become the country's most important resource.
Many a prospector is now looking for low-grade ground that
is suitable to work by splashdam or other labor-saving pro
cess. _
At the time the forthcoming census will be taken the
population of Tanana will probably be less than it will ever
be again. Many people will be away prospecting and en
gaged in other pursuits, who, though temporarily away,
will continue to make this their home place. Nowt that the
advisability of incorporating the town has been broached
by some thoughtful persons, it is suggested that if the cen
sus shows sufficient population to allow of such a step the
next thing to be considered will be whether or not men of
sufficient integrity can be secured to conduct the affairs of
a municipality. It ought to be easy to find an affirmative
answer.
All signs point to better times in interior Alaska for
another year. In fact at the present time the amount of
prospecting that is under way and in preparation is remark
able when the dull summer is considered. In most instances
prospectors are even better equipped than heretofore. The
new finds in the Innoko valley have had a stimulating ef
fect that is most opportune, and an optimistic feeling
seems to pervade the workers nearer home.
The cost in time and money and interrupted business
by persons who are called before the district court is the
most disturbing factor in the industrial situation of interior
Alaska. There ought to be sessions of court held at some
central point on the Yukon, like Tanana; and there ought
to be an assistant district attorney and a deputy clerk of
court here all times. Some time, we hope, there will be.
PLUTOCRAT AMD POET
Good old opulent John D.! Ho would look with scorn on
me; I consider I'm in luck, when I have an extra buck; buying
ice or buying coal always keeps me in the hole, and when I’ve
paid tti* rent I am left without a cent. Yet I’m always gay and
snug, happy as a tumblebug, having still the best of times,
grinding out my blame fool rhymes ! Old John D. on t’other
hand, frets away to beat the band; he is burdened with bis care
—though he isn’t with his hail—and his health is going back,
and his liver’s out of whack, and his conscience lias grown
numb, and his wishbone’s out of plumb, and he’s troubling all
the day lest a plunk may get away. Better be a cornfed bard,
writing lyrics by the yard, with an appetite so gay it won’t balk
at prairie hay, than to have a mighty pile, and forget the way
to smile.—Walt Mason.
WHAT A HEW YORKER
HAD TO PROMISE
A woman married a maa in
Montclair, N. Y., recently, and
she thinks she is going to keep ;
him ?fc home. Justice of the
Peace Williams married the
couple. He would not give
names, but gave out the follow
ing document that the man had
to sign before the ceremony was
performed:
‘‘I solemnly promise before the
justice of the peace to give to my
wife my pay envelope, unopened,
every Saturday night; be at
home every night by 9 o’clock
unless my wife is out with me;
never to go to parties without
her, and never to dance with any
body else without her permission.
I promise to be kind always to
her mother; never join any lodge
that does not admit women; never
to smoke more than three cigars
on a week day, and not more than
five on Sunday; never to smoke
cigarettes at all, and never to
use profane language; to beat
carpets every spring without
grumbling; to do up my ownj
laundry package each week;!
never to drink intoxicating liquor
except at the annual spring
house-cleaning, and never to
keep a dog.”
Hot Springs Farm Products
Hot Springs Echo: Exclusive
of the large amount of vegetables
that have been used ou the hotel j
table this summer, the crop this ■
year was as follows; 210 tons of j
potatoes, 25 tons of cabbage, 6 tons
ot beets, 3 tons of celery, 15 tons of
grain bay; also a large amount of
turnips, rutabagas, and both hot
houses full of ripening tomatoes.
©UTSSB5 TRAFFIC
IH BND3AN GIRLS
Lawrence, Kan., Aug. 21.—Four In
dian girls, students at Haskell Insti
tute, yesterday attempted to make
their escape from the institution and
were ready to board a train for Kansas
City when taken in charge by a police
man'. The girls had been promised
work in Kansas City if they would
come there, and their expenses were
being paid by some person unknown
to the authorities at Haskell.
Today it was learned that similar at
tempts of girls in the institution to
escape have been frequent and that a
number have gone to Kansas City,
where all efforts to locate them have
proven fuliie.
J. O. Milligan, disciplinarian at Has
kell, said today that it is the belief at
Haskell that a regular traffic has ex
isted for some time in the girls at
Haskell. He said an investigation in
Kansas City had divulged the fact that
Indian giris were being taken there
from reservations, as well as from the
school here. Superintendent H. B.
Peairs has asked the department of the
interior to send secret service men to
Kansas City to investigate the matter.
Late press dispatches say that
the department of the interior
has ordered an investigation of
the traffic alleged to be carried
on in girls from Haskell Insti
tute. _
A Texas editor refuses to publish
obituary notices of people who, while
living, failed to subscribe for his paper,
and gives this pointed reason: “People
who do not take their home paper are
dead anyway, and their passing away
has no news value.”
TOWER p
HOTEL 0
Tanana’s Newest Resort
Hew
Good;.
The j
Place (
To
Meet
Tour j
Friends
BEST BRANDS OF
I WINES, LIQUORS, CIGARS
I_
Joe Anicich, “Skipper.”
Tom Rockwell, “Schooner Pilot.’’
Pulled Out of Water
The season of navigation was de
clared closed last Friday afternoon, at
least so far as Joe Anicich and the
“Marie Karstina" are concerned. On
that date the little launch was pulled
out of the water.
Job Printing at The Leader office.
Stanley House
HOT SPRIN6S' NEWEST HOTEL
First-Class Restaurant Frank . Steal y, Prop
CHAS. B. ALLEN,
Attorney at Law
Rampakt, Aka.
Legal Papers Carefully Drawn.
Stoddard Kay
THE
NORTHERN.
BEST WINES
LIQUORS AND
CIGARS.
Pool Tables In Connection.
Stoddard Kay .
CAMP GIBBON HO. 35, Arctic Brother
hood, meets every Monday night
in A. B. Hall, corner Second st.
and Campbell ave. at 9 o’clock.
Visiting Arctics cordially invited to at
tend the meetings of the Camp.
Phil Gallaher. Arctic Chief.
J. Russf.i.l Walle, Arctic Rec.
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