The Alaska daily empire. [volume], January 01, 1915, DEVELOPMENT NUMBER, 1915, SECOND SECTION, Page 14, Image 14

About The Alaska daily empire. [volume] (Juneau, Alaska) 1912-1926

Image provided by: Alaska State Library Historical Collections

                
Speel River Project .'-^#SS|
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UI' TO the present. Alaska has bwn
known in the commercial world
only for its fish, fur and miner j
als. To these the future will add inauy :
commodities hut none will be of great-!
cr economic importance that the pro-!
ducts from the electrical furnaces
heated by the glacier fed cataracts
of the South Alaska toast. There is j
a limit to the workable auriferous
deposits, and the termination of the
supply of coal and oil already looms
up like a menace to many minds.]
but while the moisture of the air
continues to seek the earth and water
its level, the mountain streams of A1-,
aska will turn the wheels of industry
and draw from the air the all import
ant nitrogen and place it in the mar-j
kets of the world.
Norwav has lead in the utilization!
of water powers for electro chemical I
industries But we have a new Nor- ]
way on the Alaska coast with al
most equal water powers and with
a more exclusive market and better
prices for electric chemical products.
The "Spool River lToject" is the
first to enter this field in Alaska
This company holds a permit from
the Forestry Department for the pow
ers at Spool Itivcr. within thirty-five
miles of Juneau, capable of a devel
opment of 100,000 horse power con
tinuously throughout the year at a
lower cost than anywhere else except
in Norway.
Mr. K. IV Kennedy, for many years
assistant superintendent of the Tread
well Mines, and a very competent
judge on the subject, has estimated
that the cost of generating power at
Spool River, allowing in per cent, for
interest and depreciation, will be ap
proximately IS.no per horse power
year. When it is remembered that
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the cost o( power for electro cheni |
ual purposes at Niagara is $15.00 per
horse power year and at Keokuk. Iowa
I23.0O. it will be realised what advtau
tages Speel River presents at the very
outset. Hut in addition the various
raw materials, such as lime, barytes,
gypsum, salt, copper, iron, sulphur,
etc.. advantages if not essential are
more directly at hand. I.ime rock of
excellent quality abounds in the
neighboring mountains and the iron
sulphides now washed in to the ocean ;
as waste by the Treadwell. CJastlneau
and other local mines, yield readily to
the treatment in electrical furnaces,
and are converted into sulphur for
our plup mills, iron for our foun
dries. while front some of the concen
trates zinc and lead would be recov
ered as by-products. And even if the
local consumption, which demands
enormous quantities of cyanide for
'the treatment of gold ores, and nitric
I acid for the manufacture of explos
ives, be not taken into consideration,
and the ports of the Pacific Coast
States be looked forward to as the
| only available markets, there is no
competing manufacturer of conse
quence, nearer than Kurope, and as
the transportation of Southbound
freight would not be over $2.00 per
ton. the opportunity for safe ami prof
itable investment in this enterprise
would seem assured.
With the filing of the papers of
incorporation of the Spool lliver Pro
ject in San Francisco, on the lltli of
March, this project, with which ev
eryone in Southeastern Alaska is fa
miliar, has taken definite shape. The
purpose of this company is to suppl>
power to industrial companies such
as now are operating on a large scali
i from the waters powers of Norway.
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To those among us who are watch
ing the growth of this country with
interest, and are following the devel
opment of its industries and its re
sources. the advent of this corpora
tion is of particular interest and sig
nificance. meaning, as it does, the
beginning of a number of new indus
tries which will employ hundreds of
men, furnishing thousands of tons of
manufactured products for export,
aipl help to lift Alaska up in the list '
of manufacturing commonwealths of
the Union. s
The scope of this project includes
the manufacture of such commodities
as carbide, carborundum, nitrate fer- i |
tilizer and wood pulp; and the numer- .
oils by-products, the market for which (
on the coast of both North and South f
America, is now active and growing,
and up to the present time has been ]
supplied only by Norway, Sweden, (
and tiermany. j
Air Nitrates >
It is believed that the Alaska coast
offers the same advantages as Norway
for the establishment of electro chem
ical industries, with the exception of
the tost of labor, which is $3 to $4 '
i per day. However, in the manufac
ture of air nitrates, the chief item is
the power; a furnace consuming sev-!
! oral thousand horse powe-. requiring
j nly part of the time one attendant.
The chief problem in the manufac
ture of air nitrates is not the produc
! lion of pure nitrogen but the produc
tion of nitrogen compounds such as
' nitrid acid, sodium nitrate, calcium
i nitrate and ammonia.
1
| One horse power a year will produce
half a ton of nitric acid by either
the l'auling or Hirkoland & Kyde elec
tric furnaces. This acid would have
i market value of 3 cents per pound. I
Cyanide.
Among the supplies of greatest in
;erest to the gold mines of the west
ire cyanide and powder. At the pres
ent time cyanide can be imported
from London and sold in Seattle or.
Juneau for the same price as our
lome products, which has to be ob
ained from New York, The demand
'or cyanide will increase as the price
s lowered. For instance, if the Tread
sell company were to cyanide its tall- [
ngs the cost of cyanide at its pres
ent rate would be $164,000 yearly. This
zyanide would be manufactured in Al
aska for half of the above cost. With
the price of cyanide reduced, treat
ment of low grade ores becomes more
profitable.
Wood Pulp
Five thousand horse power of elec- j
trie energy could be commercially4,
utilized by the establishment of a
wood pulp industry. Such a plant re- ]
quires large quantities of clear water, i
which is here available, free from
damage suits for stream pollution.
For such an industry Alaska offers
abundant timber, with adjoining wa
ter powers and sulphur deposits.
Kelp
Investigations conducted during the
summer of 1913 by the U. S. Bureau t
of Soils, looking to the possibility of' *
the utilization of the kelp of the Pa-! I
cific ocean as an economic source of j <
potash and other products, establish- |l
es the fact that the giant kelp beds j'
of Alaska waters, known as nereocys- j'
tis, is as available a source of potash 1 >
salts as that of the more southern wa-|*
ters. Ashes of samples taken from ?
Southeastern Alaska waters contained 1
from 20 to 25 per cent. K20 and over 1
50 per cent, of their weight soluble
salt. This kelp could be economical- J
ly dried by the waste heat from elec- *
trie furnaces. 1
It is but little known, but the an- 1
nual tonnage of carbide and fertiliz- '
er consumed on the Pacific coast runs 1
into many thousands of tons, and none
of it is manufactured in this western :
country. There are a few plants in
the Eastern States, but not nearly
enough to appreciably influence the
world demand. So this great country
| would be helpless should our source
' of supply become involved in the
! great struggle now going on. From
: this point of view, it would seem the
patriotic duty to make ourselves in
dependent as far as possible; and in
the opinion of many experts, this can
be accomplished nowhere in the coun
try better than In Southeastern Al
aska.
It is the purpose of the Speel River
Project to supply cheap electric pow
er for industrial and manufacturing j
purposes at Speel River. By cheap \
j power is meant not alone power for j
i the driving of the wheels of industry,
J but power so cheap that it will dis
j place coal and fuel oil. The time is
j not far distant when this power will'
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be used for cooking our meals and >
! for the heating of our offices and
i homes.
For the people of Juneau it may be |
interesting to know that electricity |
at $5.00 per 11. P. year is less than
one-tenth of one cent, per kilowatt
hour; and while for municipal purpos
es it would not be possible to distri
bute electricity at such low figures,
one cent per kilowatt hour would
yield a fair profit to the company.
It means that the power now be Ins o<
arnessed at Speel River but 35 at
tiles distant from Juneau, will give at
> this section of Alaska a world-wide D
eputation for cheap electric power, w
heap power will attract manufactur- fl
ig Industries just as cheap agrtcul- s<
iiral land attracts farmers. tl
Then think also of the possibility ,?
f our progressive Capitol building *
lazing nightly in the glory of an illu- ff
llnatlon not excelled by the Panama -
Exposition. and the wheels of many
nines close by. developed and unde
e loped. turned by the mighty power
if Speel River, which in this day is
>nly a short thirty-five miles away.
Water powers are a local resource
or the reason that their output has to
>e utilized in the vicinity of the pow
?r sites, and. furthermore, except for
he production of hydrogen, oxygen
ind nitrogen, which are formed by
he electrical energy working upon
iither air or water, the greatest;
tiled for the use of electric energy is
n electric furnaces, where it is used
lot only for the production of pig
iron, and high grade steel alloys, but
ilso aluminum, carbide, carborundum,
ind many other mineral combinations
requiring the high heat of the electric
Furnace for their formation.
n?piu progress is oeing maae ai ?an ?
Prancisco, with the specifications for
the first unit of 10,000 H. P.. which, -
it is hoped, will be Installed and run
ning before January 1st, 1916. The <
company has completed what might '
be called its final recognizance sur- '
veys, and is finally checking the re- <
suits before proceeding with the nec- <
essary construction outfit and equip- 1
ment, and the letting of orders for ma- i
chinery. Several chemical engineers '
of prominence are gathering data and !
completing the design for the carbide
and nitrate plants.
It is believed the location and na- 1
tural resources of Southeastern Alas
ka are such as to invite development
for electro chemical and industrial
purposes, and that, given proper gov
ernmental support. Southeastern Al
aska will be converted into thriving
industrial communities, as valuable
to her as either her gold mines or her
fisheries.
1
H. J. Raymond
Head of the H. J. Raymond Co.
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For a thoroughly up-to-date grocery
and delicatessen II. J. Raymond's
store stands in the front rank in Ju
neau. One can purchase there ever>
thing for the table, and purchase it
from a stock that is always clean and
I always fresh. The minute one enters
I the store he has an inward feeling ol
I satisfaction. A cheerful clerk, claa
in the whitest of aprons, is ready to
serve, with smiling alacrity. If one
happens to desire some particular
?mmodlty at the moment out ot
ock, H. J. Raymond's clerks will
Iways procure it and send It out.
ellverles are made promptly, made
hen they are promised, and made in
rst class condition. Torn bags and
:>iled packages are not found among
le goods delivered by this store. A
urge variety of fancy staples is al
rays on hand and every tatae can be
ratified.
Equal Id popularity with the grocery
lep&rtment is the haberdashery, which
is managed by Mr. D. H. Delselle, and
which occupies one section of the
store building, but is separated from
the grocery department by full
height partitions extending from the
rear of the store to within ten feet
of the windows at front. This de
partment carries a stock of general
wearing apparel for men which ranks
the store among the first haberdash
eries in the city.
Mr. llaymond has been in Alaska
eighteen years and has been in his
present association for five years.
Previous to undertaking the manage
ment of the store Mr. Raymond's in
terests were concerned with the bro
kerage business in connection with
fishing and mining. The store at
present draws trade from customers
150 miles distant, and is the oldest
store in Juneau, though it has passed
through several ownerships.
Before becoming interested as the
head of the 11. J. Raymond Company,
Mr. Raymond was ope of Alaska's
most popular commercial travelers
and merchant brokers. He knows ev
erybody and everybody knows him,
and all like him. He has served on
the Juneau city council, is progress
ive. He is married and owns a hand
some home in Juneau.
The Empire guarantees Its adver
tisers the largest circulation of any
daily paper published in Alaska.
An "ad" in The Empire reaches ev
erybody.
SPEEL RIVER PROJECT?CRATER LAKE AND OUTLET
Elevation above Sea Level 1012 ft. Distance from Tidewater, 5000 ft.
Average Yearly Flow, 299 cu. ft. per second.
TEASE LAKE, ALASKA
Part of Speel River Project for Developing One Hundred Thousand Horse
Power at an Estimated Cost of Approximately $5.00
Per Horse Power Per Year
SPEEL RIVER PROJECT?LOOKING UP LONG LAKE
Elevation above Sea Level, 803 feet. Distance from Tidewater 10,000 ft. *
Average Yearly Flow, 746 cu. ft. per second.
H. J. RAYMOND
SAFETY! SERVICE! STRENGTH!
????BIMB S8^??a?w :
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Large Resources
Experienced Management
Strong Directorate
|~ DEPOSITORY OF THE UNITED STATES
tj Exceptional facilities to those desiring the
advantages of a progressive institution which
offers every accomodation permitted by
prudent banking
CI Make th is Strong, Progressive Bank Your I
Business Friend. We Want Your Account.
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The First National Bank !
I =] JUNEAU, ALASKA 7 I =} i j
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MBMBBR AMERICAN BANKERS ASSOCIATION I f
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I CAPITAL 150,000 SURPLUS AND PROFITS S50,000 DEPOSITS &600,000
I T. F. KENNEDY, President JOHN RECK, Vice President HAROLD H. POST, Cashier M I R. H. STEVENS, Ass't Cashier J
B . '? 1??L-L-Li?1??l_i__? ?_ ' > ' ?f'i't'l'i , ?'} j