Douglas Island news. [volume], November 23, 1898, Image 1

About Douglas Island news. [volume] (Douglas City, Alaska) 1898-1921

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vcu , 0OUGLAS CVVY AND TRKADWKLL, ALASKA. NOVEMBER 23, 1898. NO. 1.
Jl III HI III III >11 III III III Ml Ml Ml r . . ... ?
^ Boo^s, Shoe.% Rubber (.loods Ladles and (lcntiemcn s
5 and OH Clothing Furnishing (ioods.
Frank Bach,
I ; , ,
Dealer in
j GEHEBHL KBMIKE
MINERS' SUPPLIES, ETC.
v\\\w
LIES' CLOAKS IB MPS
LIES' IS
: FRONT STREET, - DOUGLAS CITY, ALASKA.
F. M. JAMES,
GENERAL MERCHANDISE.
WWW
DOUGLAS C ITY, is the place to buy your
Dry Goods and Groceries
that is, if you are in the market for u j?oo?l article.
-W
I am not selling below cost, but selling as low as any
one can and make an honest living.
rimers' Outfits a Specialty.
DOUGLAS CITY, .... ALASKA.
#P. H. FOX,
DEALER IX
REHEBAL MERCHANDISE
x. STAPLt and
FANCY
GROCERIES.
Boots, Shoes, Clothing, Hardware.
Complete Yukon Outfits. '
First-class Bakery in connection with the store.
1 DOUGLAS CITY, ALASKA.
L A
ALASKA MEAT MARKET
I D. SVlcKAY, Proprietor
A full line of Fresh, Salt, and
Smoked Meats constantly on
W* hand. / \ r\
Poultry and Game Huuter Jfloc^c, Douglas City, Alaska,
in Season. /TELEPHONE NO. 8.
'?s \ ( c \
-i V I \
Ill 1 BILL MINES.!
I
A News Man Spends a Few Hours
Sight Seeing. Going Down
the Shaft. The Tunnel.
????
FOREMAN HUNTER AS GUIDE.
Who lias not hoard of the wonderful;
Trcadwell mines? The greatest, mine?
the largest stamp mill in the world.
Ono pf the first things the News man j
thought of after locating at Douglas j
City was a trip to Treadwell, not to go
and look at the buildings and see the !
stamps pound the ore so fine that it j
looks like buckwheat flour, but to go
down into the bowols of old mother j
earth and follow the ore until it passes
through the various stages and becomes;
a thing of real value.
Our wishes were made known to
Foreman Hunter and in part our desire
was realized 011 last Saturduy; leaving ;
a portion of our sight seeing for some
future time. Wo met Mr. Qonter at.
the shaft about ten oclock in the fore- |
. ii 1 _r ii.? 1
i noon ana me engineer ui rue uui?ui
j engines stopped one of the skips and
: wo climbed on. We stood on the edge
! of the box and were let down so easily
I
! and gently that it remiudcd us of a I
; beautiful dream. Wo made our land
! ing on the first level, which is down
i 110 feet below the surface. We were j
; each provided with a candle, for the'
electric light is not in all parts of the
j many tunnels through which we |
passed.
At tho place where we landed are tiu- j
1 merous iron tracks on which the ore is
conveyed on cars to a bin some fifty j
feet in depth and. which holds 200 tons !
of ore. We started out toward tho l
end of the tunnel, which has a high!
ceiling and is wide enough for a team
and wagon to travel on. Along either 1
j side are numerous chutes that are!
; filled with ore, and Manager Hunter,
iuformed us that if tho blasting were J
| stopped, the ore constantly on hand j
would be sufficient to run the mill for
at least three months. Wo soon reach
ed two men who were running a drill
with compressed air. They had a wall
| pretty well peforated. but were still j
i drilling in more holes. Two feet was j
the depth of the holes they made.
.. J
"How much ore will you blow our of i
that place?" asked the scribe,
j "About thirty tons," was the reply, j
"And how far do you go away when ;
the discharge takes place?" asked the j
News man.
"Oh, around the corner a little ways,"
was the reply.
Our judgment was that we would
j prefer to be away a half a mile and we
haven't changed our mind yet on the
| subject.
We followed that tunnel some four i
hundred feet until wo came to a hole
j that Manager Hunter told us was 100
I feet deep. It extended clear across the
tunnel and we had no desire to go any
; further, and Mr. Hunter no doubt
; viewed the situation in the same light:
1 we did, for we turned and cut across \
into another tunnel that is still longer
and where the cross sections are as nu- i
merous. We traveled over 1100 feet j
through the tunnel, and think of it,
from the surface down hundreds ot
feet through solid ore. This vein is
more than 400 feet wide, but just how
far it extends in downward course, no |
one knows, bnt for more than 500 feet:
is known to a certainty.
Six or seven little cars are constantly I
running from the chutes down to where
the ore is hauled up to the crusher,
which we will see later on. The load- j
ing of these cars is done by a man who
raises tho trap door to the mouth of I
tho chute. The cars are at present run
by hand to the place where the ore is ;
dumped into the big bin before men-;
tioned, but the company is arranging
to run these cars by electricity. Here :
the man oowor stops short. From
; there the ore is all handled by ma- i
chinery, and how much do you think
| the stamps will use in a day? 250 tons, i
i Just think of it, 250 tons of ore is;
I 1
J mined, crushed and ground as fine as
: Hour every twenty-four hours.
i We wandered around the caverns for j
some time and returned to the shaft: i
I :
and soon we were up in the hoisting;
engine rooms and from there we climbed >
up flights of stairs until we reached j
the room in which two crushers get in
their awful work. We expected to find
a mill, a great big strong iron mill!
built on the same principle of those
, i i
little domestic machines we grind,
or used to grind coffee in, and we
thought the teeth would be even larg
er than a Tacoma girl's foot, but the
crusher is a most harmless looking ma
chine, and just the opposite of what
we expected to see. In the center of
the room are two concave disks or
hoppers we should probably cell them.
The ore comos down an incline chute
from the hoisting boxes where thoy are
automatically emptied. In the center
of the disk is a round opening some
three feet wide, and in the center of
this opening, a little lower down is a
round cylinder two or three feet long
that revolves and moves laterally at
the same time. The ore falls between
this disk and the basin iu which it is
set and tho disk just crushes it into
small pieces, and when broken to a cer
tain size it drops down into a bin below.
Two men are in tho crusher room to
keep tho large pieces of ore from clog
ging the hopper. The ore as it comes
down the chute is sometimes in large
pieces and those employed at the
crusher are constantly on the watch to
keep out of the course of the heavy
We next go down several flights of
6tairs into the room whero the stamps
are running. Have you ever been in a
stamp mill ? If you haven't, you never
beard any noise. You may think you
havo but my friend you are mistaken.
This mill has 240 stamps, all going at
the same time. Talking in there is
never thought of. Stampmill language
is by means of signs.
We were only too glad when Fore
man Hunter conducted us into a side
room, whero we could think and talk.
It proved to be the office of Mr. Win.
M.Hale, foreman of the stamp mill, who
is a genial, pleasant geutloman. Wo
were also pleased to moet Mr. Nick
King who is employed in the amalga
mating department. Here wo bade
Foreman Hunter goodbye for the duy.
There is much to be seen and a great
deal to be said as we follow the course
of the precious metal at the Tread well
and a future issue will contain more
upon this subject.
Saturday was a cold dreary day and
our stay at the mines was limited.
The new stamp mill which is neariug
completion is larger than the one we
visited and will contain 300stamps, but
we did not go into the building. We
also made no mention of the tunnels
one hundred feet below the one we wore
in, the "glory hole" and the many other
places of interest.
When ono considers the magnitude of
the Treadwell mines, ono naturally
wonders what master mind is superin
tendent of this groat plant and others,
as well as the writer, will be surprised
to know that a young man, less than
forty years of age, has charge of these
works and successfully conducts them
?an enterprise that employs some 700
men?included in which is also ono of
the greatest general stores in Alaska,
and equal to those on the Pacific coast.
The name of this man is J. P. Corbus.
piCWUO UL U1U.
From the crusher room we go just
below, where we see a train of small
cars backing up under the chute that
holds the crushed ore. Thore are five
or six of the cars to which is attached
the cutest little engine you ever saw.
It is a little bit of a thing, not over
three or four feet high, and is minus a
cab and tender. One man runs this
little locomotive. The diminutive size
of the machine makes the man that
runs it look several sizes larger than
the ordinary man, in fact we thought
he must bo betwoon sevou and ten feot
tall. We didn't get the best kind of a
look at him, but we thought he rode
the engine liko the girls did the old
gray mare, when the writer was a boy,
?a-straddlo, but we might have been
mistaken.
When the cars are loaded the litilo
engine pulls them into the mill where
they empty into bins far above the
stamps,into which it is fed automati
cally.
A Good Chicken Story.
A story is going the rounds of the
papers about a man who tried the ex
periment of mixing sawdust with his
chicken feed. The results were so sat
isfactory that he discontinued the uso
of meal altogether and fed his chickens
entirely on sawdust. Soon after adopt
ing the scheme he set a hen with fif
teen eggs. She brought off thirteen
chicks. Twelve of them had wooden
legs and the thirteenth was e wood
pecker.
Subscribe for the News. /
m
11 NEI GOLD FIELDS.
? ? ?
A Trip into the Atlin and Pine
Creek Country, by a Douglas
City Man
? f
MR. P. H. McGUIRE TALKS,
Mr. P. H. McGuire, of Douglas City,
accompanied by a man named G. W.
Mathews, left this city sometimo du
ring the latter part of last February
on a prospecting tour, into the Lake
Teslin country. Before returning, the
party went down the lakes and wore
within thirty miles of Pino Creek
which has since that time become fa
mous as a new mining region. A trail
into these new gold fields has been
I found and improved, by way of Doug
las City and Juneau, and from the fact
that the McGuire party passed over a
greater portion of this new inlet, the
i News man concluded that a few items
1 of interest concerning the trail nnd
country could be gained for our read
| ers by looking up the prospector and
. interviewing him.
"I understand you have once been,
very near the Pine Creek placer miues,"
! said the News mau, "and we would bo
j 1
pleased to have you give the readers of
the News some information concerning
it."
"Yes, Mr. G. W. Mathews and myself
| left this place the latter part of Fobru
, ary of this year. Of course we knew
; nothing concerning the strike at Pine
: Creek and wore simply out prospecting.
We first headed for Lake Teslin, and
the first forty miles is made in a boat,
going down the Gastrinoaux channel
to Bishop's point, thence up the Taku
inlet 28 miles, which lauds us at the
mouth of the Tuku rivor on the ice.
The mouth of this river is about three
| miles wide. We wont up the river to
; tho head waters of the Taku. a distance
of about fifty miles, to the confluence
; of the Inkliu and Knacunaw rivers
: where the Tuku river boffins. We then
; followed up the Knacunaw to the Sil
! ver Salmon which was about twenty-six
1 miles. From the Silver Salmon to
Lake Tesliu is a distance of about 8ix
ty miles and is a low and practically
level country. We each had a four
I dog team and carried in all twenty
eight hundred pounds to tho lake. Tho
i most difficult part of the trail we en
countered thus far was in going around
the Sinwauklin mountains, which took
| two or three days of our time. From
Lake Teslin we returned to the Silver
, Salmon over the samo route wo had
previously traveled. Wo went up tho
Silver Salmon river into the Atliu lake
j country where we were within about
' thirty miles of Pino Creek."
"What can you say as to tho practi
? cability of this routo you traveled over
as a summer routo to Pino Creek ?"
was asked.
"Well, 1 think the route to be practi
cable. The packing part of the routo
? in the summer would bo about fifty
miles. There is plenty of good feed
along tho way and horses aud cattle
could 1x3 used. Tho soil is principally
I of a gravelly nature and very firm. A
survey has recently been made which
j confirms my judgment. For winter
travel it is good, all one could reason
ably ask for."
"How did your prospocting tour pau
out?"
j "Wo found colors on three of the riv
era wo were on and also aovoral crooks,
but did not go to bed rock. I shall re
i turn, however, after tho holidays and
more thoroughly prospect tho stream*,
i I Know the gold is there and expect to
find it. Wo were probably the first per
sons who over prospected on the rivers
I have mentioned."
Mr. McGuire further said that he
thought small river steamers could go
up the Taku river as far as the Inklin
, during tho high water season, and pack
ing can be easily done from there into
the Atlin lake country.
Mr. McGuire has been in Alaska for
tho last two years and at presont is em
ployed at tho Troadwell mines, lie u
a man of intelligence and education,
j a close obsorver and posessed of a good
memory, a good talker and wo boliovo
his description of the route over which
I he traveled is truthful. His appear -
j ance denotes a man of abundance of
| nerve and wo sincerely trust that hie
| second trip up the Taku may prove
' more than successful, yes that he will
Hud more gold t han he and his four
dog team may be able to pull out into
civilization. * \ ?' -