FOURTH YEAR.
CHITINA, ALASKA. TUESDAY, JANUARY 6, 1914
NUMBER 12
Late Telegraph News
NEW YORK, Jan. 3—Wall Street was given a thrill this
afternoon when it became known that Morgan & C o., had
announced their intention of withdrawing from many of the
big corporations in which they were interested. The Morgan
& Co. announcement was immediately followed by another
from George F. Baker that his firm would follow the same
plan and would withdraw from all interlocking directorates.
Trading immediately came to a standstill on the market
and for a time it looked as though a panic would ensue. The
closing hour, however, came too quick before the feeling could
spread and operations were shut off for the day.
Brokers declare that the announcement of the financiers
will result in the stocks of the corporations in which they were
interested taking a tumble. They assert that the name of
Morgan & Co. was the only asset which caused the stocks of
many of the corporations to be sought by investors and that
there is scarcely a corporation with a big capitalization doing
business in the Eastern states which will not be affected by
the change. Stockholders in the corporations from which the
big financiers are withdrawing will begin to unload.
CHICAGO, Jan. 3.—The information from New York that
Morgan & Co. and several other banking and financial houses
were to withdraw from corporations in which they had inter
locking directorates proved a surprise to the members of the
Board of Trade here. It is believed their plan will be followed
bv financiers throughout the country and that it will result in
widespread confusion. It is even hinted that the threatened
panic over the administration’s money trust investigation and
the currency measure is getting under way. The opening of
the board on Monday, it is predicted, will witness a rash to
tinload stocks in the corporations which it is believed will be
discarded by the financiers.
NEW YORK, Jan. 3.—^6eorge F. Baker has announced
that there is no occasion for uneasiness on the part of the
stockholders in the corporations from which his firm will with
draw from the directorates. The plan has been under consid
eration for some time and will not go into effect until such
times as the annual election of officers of the various corpora
tions are held.
-o—o—o
TACOMA, Jan. 5.—The smelter has been closed here on
account of the employes having gone on strike when their
demands for an increase in wages were denied. Owing to the
rumor that the works were in danger of being dynamited by
the strikers one hundred union men, fully armed, are protect
ing the smelter works and refuse to permit any persons unless
they are officers of the company to enter
Two hundred strikers, most of whom openly display arms,
are picketing the smelter works and should any attempt to
replace them be made it is feared that bloodshed will follow.
Extra police have been sworn in and are patrolling the streets
leading to the smelter on the opposite side of the streets to the
strikers.
The officers of the company state that no difficulty will
be experienced in securing men to take the places of the
strikers. They assert that the smelter will be working full
blast before the end of the week. The union leaders, however,
profess to believe that no men can be found to take their
places. Every branch of the industry is tied up. The union
leaders state that should the company refuse to accede to their
demands miners in the districts from which the ores are
brought will be called upon to engage in a sympathetic strike
to help them win their demands.
o—o—o
WASHINGTON, D. C., .Jan. 2—The senators and congress
men from all parts of the country and the public generally are
to be given an opportunity of judging of the agricultural and
mineral resources of Alaska free of charge. J. L. McPherson,
lepresenting the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, has arrived
with 53 cases of Alaskan products which are being placed on
display in the Senate office building. The products are from
all parts of the territory and will be of interest to agricul
turalists and mining men especially.
This is one of the educational works which the Washington
city chamber proposes to establish for the benefit of the terri
tory. It is also proposed to issue an Alaskan digest in
connection with the National Press club where Washington
correspondents from every part of the world may get actual
facts concerning the territory and its resources.
The exhibit is being placed in position today and shows
grain and vegetables which have ripened under the constant
sunshine of the Arctic as well as the southern parts of the
territory. Many of the exhibits were raised by private parties
while others are the products of the government experimental
farms. Specimens of gold-bearing quartz from dozens of
camps extending from the Arctic to Southeastern Alaska and
far out on the Aleutian islands toward Japan are shown as well
as rich copper ore and nuggets from the interior and coast
sections.
Many prominent Alaskans in the city are aiding Mr.
McPherson in placing the exhibits and are giving information
to the news-hungry correspondents while the Senate and
House are taking their vacation.
BAKER, Ore., Jan. 5.—The fight to keep the saloons'at
Copperfield closed is waxing warm with Governor West still
in control of the situation. The attorneys for the saloon men
carried their case into court and were granted an injunction
to restrain the militia from keeping the saloons closed. The
papers were served on Colonel Lawson, in command of the
militia, but he refused to comply with the order of the
court until he had communicated with the governor.
SALEM, Ore., Jan. 5.—Governor West has telegraphed
Colonel Lawson to pay no attention to any injunctions which
may be issued by the courts at Copperfield. His instructions
were: “You are in command of the troops there and will be
held responsible for the enforcement of the law. Pay no atten
tion to any injunctions or other orders unless authorized
by me.”
SALEM, Ore., Jan. 5.—Gvernor West has sent a message
to Sheriff Band, at Copperfield, stating that any attempt to set
aside the authority of Colonel Lawson will be met with armed
resistance. His message to the sheriff reads: “Colonel Lawson
lias been instructed to engage in battle any force organized to
recover possession of the civil government of the town of
Copperfield. ’ ’
BAKER, Ore., Jan. 5.—The telegraph and telephone lines
leading to Copperfield have gone out of commission. It is
reported that Colonel Lawson ordered the instruments to be
torn out in order to prevent any communication reaching him
until the difficulty is settled.
BAKER, Ore., Jan. 5.—It is reported here that Sheriff
Rand is organizing a force to carry out the order of the court
at Copperfield restraining the militia from keeping the saloons
of the town closed. Great excitement prevails throughout the
district and hundreds are being attracted to the center of
disturbance in the hopes of witnessing a pitched battle
between the troops and Sheriff Rand’s force.
Geological Survey Report on
Chisana and Copper River
“Mining in Alaska in 1913,” by
Alfred H. Brooks, shows that the
mineral output of the territory has
decreased more than $3,500,000 as
compared with 1912. The decrease
in the gold output is attributed to
a general work;ng out of the rich
.placer camps such as Fairbanks
and Nome; the high cost of trans
portation preventing the low-grade
gravels from being worked and the
lode mining not yet having reached
the stage where it will bring up the
| average. The copper output was
'also below that of 1912 which was
I due to the Kennecott-Bonanza mine
! being closed down for a time on ac
count of accidents.
The report has the following to
| say concerning the mining districts
tributary to Cordova:
Chisana District
In May, 1913, William E. James
and Peter Nelson found good placers
on a small stream called by them
Little Eldorado and which flows
into Bonanza, tributary to Chatenda,
or Johnson Creek. Johnson Creek
is an easterly fork of the Upper
Chisana River, locally called the
Shushanna River. During the sum
mer mining was done on the dis
covery and on some other claims in
the neighborhood. The value of the
total output from the district is vari
ously estimated between $4 0,000
and $70,000. Gold has also been
found on several tributaries of
Chapolda or Wilson Creek, which
lies across the divide north of
Johnson Creek and flows westward
into the Chisana.
The information at hand indicates
that the discoveries thus far made
occur in an area about 5 to 8 miles
square and that the prospected
gravels are shallow. Some bench
gravels have been found which are
said to be auriferous. Most of the
claims thus far opened up are above
timber line, and a scarcity of water
at these high altitudes reported. The
deeper gravels at lower altitudes,
while known to be locally aurifer
ous, have not been prospected. The
; shallow gravels thaw during sum
mer, but the deep and bench gravels
are said to be permanently frozen.
The bed rock of the district is
shale and slate with some intrusives.
It has long been known that this
region was mineralized (see Bulletin
U. S. Geological Survey 417), and
both copper and gold-bearing lodes
have been more or less discovered
in this geneYal region. The shallow
gravels are without doubt of post
glacial age, but some of the deeper
and bench gravels may be older. It
appears that the best hope for ex
tensive gravel deposits lies in the
finding of pre-glacial gravels. The
northern limit of glaciation lies
about 20 miles north of this district,
near where the Chisana emerges
from the mountains.
The southern boundary of an area
of schists and intrusive granits lies
about 50 miles north of Johnson
Creek. These rocks are known to
be locally mineralized and are of the
same types as those found in most
of the Yukon camps. There has been
but little prospecting in this region,
largely because of its inaccessibility.
It is certainly worthy of careful at
tention on the part of the pros
pector.
Copper River Basin
There was no great activity in the
Kotsina-Chitina copper belt during
1913. The Kennecott-Bonanza con
tinues to be the only productive
mine and its operation was much
hampered by the destruction of
tramway and compressor plant by a
snow slide and fire. Considerable
work was also done on the nearby
Jumbo claim, and a tramway is in
course of erection on the Mother
Lode property. A wagon road has
been built from the lower end of this
tram to the railroad. Some work
was also done on the Dan Creek
property, near the eastern end of
the copper belt.
There was comparatively little
mining at the western end of the
field. Developments are repotted on
the Hubbard & Elliot property on
Nugget Creek, and on the Berg
claim, the latter located on the east
side of the KuskuVina River. Some
work was also done by Great North
ern Development Co., which shipped
some ore from its property during
the winter of 1912-13.
A small vein of quartz and calcite
carrying high gold values was found
in the Kotsina region. As near as
determined, this vein is located
above timber line, some four miles
north of Strelna Station and on the
south slope of the ridge separating
Elliott Creek from the Kotsina
river. This discovery is not on
Elliott Creek, as has been reported.
Two hydraulic mines and several
plants were operated in the Nizina
district during 1913. The hydraulic
plant on Dan Creek, destroyed by a
freshet in 1912 was rebuilt.
OF COU 10
“Cordova, the finest harbor in Alaska,” is the caption of
a full page of cuts showing scenes of Cordova harbor, Cordova
and points of interest along the railroad in a recent issue of
Leslie’s Weekly.
There is also an excellent article from the pen of Edward
Allen Forbes, the well known magazine writer who was a
member of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce party which
made the trip through Alaska last summer. “How Canada
Would Develop Alaska” tells some truths which hit Uncle
Sam pretty hard for the manner in which he has been neglect
ing this territory. Mr. Forbes was one of the few writers who
kept their eyes open and were able to get in-touch with the
people and conditions in the north.
His contrast between Alaska and British Columbia is not
flattering to the officials at Washington. He says, “after
traveling through British Columbia and the Yukon Territory,
the sensitive American can feel the difference the moment he
steps across our own border, however reluctant he may be
to admit it.”
Mr. Forbes figures that lack of national pride and
enthusiasm is resp'"",f ‘LV for conditio*_Alaska as no other
nation has done a finer job than the United States in her other
outlying possessions. He says: “When you walk along the
beautiful streets of Honolulu you stick out your chest, look
around for an audience and say ‘this is the American way of
doing things.’ When you cross the old Bridge of Spain and
land in the business center of Manila, again your vest becomes
too tight for you. If you cross Porto Rico in either direction,
you make yourself a bore to your fellow-traveller by insisting
upon telling him what this island looked like when Miles
landed at Guanica 15 years ago. But when you land in Alaska
in the company of a few foreigners, you keep discreetly silent
about the American way of doing things. Year chest becomes
concave instead of^cohvex.” ’
Mr. Forbes isiifophetic of the future of Cordova once the
national pride is aroused and legislation favorable to the
development of the territory is enacted. Having travelled over
the world and being a keen observer he knows that when the
ores from the mines of the intei’ior and the coal from the
Bering River coal fields meet at tidewater here, great reduc
tion works will spring up and that fleets of vessels will find
safe anchorage at “Cordova, the finest harbor in Alaska.”
WASHINGTON, D. C., Jan. 2.—The annual report of
Alfred H. Brooks, geologist in charge of the division of
Alaskan mineral resources, has been handed to the department.
The report shows that the total value of the mineral output for
the territory last year amounted to $18,900,000.
Mr. Brooks calls attention to the big decline in the produc
tion of gold from the placers of the territory. He says this is
due largely to interference on the part of the government
which has kept the coal lands tied up and prevented cheaper
fuel being obtained. He recommends that the system of taxing
railroads in Alaska $100 per mile be abolished. That is one
of the causes which has led to the lack of development and the
consequent shrinking of the gold and other metal production.
The report says the construction of railroads in the terri
ory to hasten its development is of the utmost importance.
Second only to constructing trunk lines to the interior the gov
ernment should make more liberal appropriations for the
purpose of constructing a system of wagon roads to act as
feeders for the railroad by furnishing tonnage. He believes
there are many mines which would soon become producers if
given assistance by the government through the construction
of wagon roads over which the miners could transport then
ores during the interval while the properties were being
developed to a point where the construction of a branch rail
road would be warranted. These wagon roads could be con
structed under the supervision of government engineers and in
the event of the camps developing and a railroad becoming a
necessity much of the labor and cost would not be lost but
| would facilitate the construction of the railroad.
Mr. Brooks is also of the opinion that the forest reserves
in Alaska should be curtailed. They have served to retard
development of the mineral resources by adding extra cost to
rhe operations of those who are trying to open the mineral
wealth of the territory to the world.
The development of the coal resources of Alaska has been
held back on account of the lack of legislation permitting the
exploitation of the known extensive and valuable fields. In
1912 the commercial product of coal in Alaska amounted to
only 855 tons. In addition 900 tons were mined under the
direction of the Bureau of Mines for testing by the United
States navy. The imports of coal into Alaska amount to about
100,000 tons annually, but most of the transportation and
manufacturing industries of the territory now depend on Cali
fornia oil for their fuel. New coal fields in Alaska have been
reported to the department but government experts have not
as yet had time to pass upon them. Samples of the coal found
on a tributary of the Kuskokwim river shows it is of a high
grade bituminous nature. The other field is north of the
Yukon river and is lignite.
While the report shows a falling off of the mineral
production of the territory it is of an optimistic nature showing
that the area of placer gold, gold-bearing ledges, copper
deposits, coal fields and other minerals are constantly being
added and only await favorable legislation and assistance from
the federal government before they will add their wealth to
that of the nation.