The Alaska citizen., April 10, 1911, Image 4

About The Alaska citizen. (Fairbanks, Alaska) 1910-1917

Image provided by: Alaska State Library Historical Collections

                
The Alaska Citizen
rt iu.ism I* WI KKLY BY
C1T1ZKN PRIMING COMPANY
RIVERSIDE BLOCK.
FAIRBANKS
J H CiSiET G L BELLOWS J J. F,LB!»
j HARMON CASKEY. MANAGER
ttt< r, Maj
14. ID 1 at the* pustoflire at Fair
. ...i under the Act of
Mart h 3. 1M9.
SUBSCRIPTION PRICE
* • Y«r ar. !• ! i \ * t • 1 .$ 10 OC
. • ,M. v . I. littr- •. 1 00
Ivy «: 1' Li in i . ... .MONDAY
Phone 262 Phone
FIFTY DOLLARS REWARD.
A rv ir.| i.f \'ill be paid
t > tin i . i.-i.ir» .f tliis pa
li r l i n.l .1 in.t iun »liii h w ill
ii id it. ;.i . m b ;ion of any
iling of The
L; ...on iio... the ri 'idom es of
.-.1; in eTs.
THE OUTLOOK.
; i.a ,\ :■ < .irs i f its more
f uit i xisteri' < Fairbanks lias
. . : It< . .1 • I. • tall sotb.ut ks to put
.out t business.
F. r iin.i'i I.- i’s i iti/tins ure not of
k.t. i . a - i.. ilti il. ami then
jit r<t...iin to <nj j the fruits of
tin pioneers of
■ • F i- devoutly to lie
1 dd'imir.-. have by this
. <■■!.'. it.• ed themselves that it is ;
: \. r:. • ir m hih to "hang on."
f r h in .. a si time coming, and
it's on the run.
J t.i ti things wore looking
in -i. st tor • In (amp, iti it""'., cami I
•la ilia I; was pretty bad but tilt
• i, erpiisi inherent in Northerners
k "hi ’ing out of the <a
i lry an 1 a 1 tutor ami better Fair !
banks n i:Iti 1 d hat winter then
»a an it meBsO amount ‘f work
ki i a all of he creek•
and a on million outi at was ill sight i
dl i'ii eatii" the ~'rk, s This cut
down work and it. uim s all around'
an 1 mail) went broke. With matters
a ijii.-'i d fi.r u rk on a large scale
t -■ : Dame Na
■me t uli a hand and there "as a
'.unity of wa'ir. Stampedes, all
hen : .. nted to a gteat ex
' .'. ffi ; o ... !:• ■ Uii labor mar
■ • i ■ ; 1. ipplii 1 and leash fire,
il. -Ton ■! thou amis of cords of
o’d. With i tit'ir. adjusting them
■ : ■. ■ • happening
(■ hi Wa.diingt n-Alaska bank
ifiliir.' and the crippling of the H wn
financially.
Utr. " 1111 ill I- rxi ijition nt [ lie
laa. all l ilu-se "m purges” have
been ovinniiie. anil U:e lank smash
• vi n ii t - ;.■bmk -i> bad as at
tir~’ Tin re's tn ' ■ a dividend paid
tie!:.;, and I'.i-n-- ! . ipt- fir anothei
in tile i:i ar f-.’ ire.
Aial 'l.e ;:v 1 oks rosier than
r e-.. r did before, so far as tin
permanency f the camp is concern
ed. With three dredges practically
certain to be at work next summer
on i’edro. Twin and Fairbanks creeks
a i,i v. er:, in pin er mining will havi
ii :.s . urate! in-re Nearly all
of the old pn--Im er.- will so- n be in
print of icing "worked over” witl
the m sr modern machinery, am’
skilled miner- are of the opinion j
they will yield under 'his treatment '■
i ent fully as much as they have
di-tie to the pick and shovel. In
o'her v. i'ds they believe that in
tile very ground that has produced
more than fifty million dollars then
is lully a much yet to be recovered
by he more < iiieietit meth ds.
The coming of the dredges has j
lengthened the lives of these creeks
as producers by many years. Be
fore operations on these will cease
there will be new creeks brought
in as producers, as there has been
every year in the history of the
camp. This year we have Fish and
Eva i reeks, with excellent prospects
on some cf the others, and it is
not sc-ri usly believed by anyone
that all the rich streams even in the
immediate neighborhood have been
discovered. It took five years to
discover one of the very best creeks
in the district, in spite of the fact 1
that it lay right at cur doors, and
when it is considered that a prospec
tor can go for hundreds of miles up
one side of the Tatiana valley and
the same distance down the other
side, and lie in the gold country all
the way. the idea that all of the
rich creeks have been discovered
seems absurd.
Along with the dredging will prob
ably be commenced, on a much larg
er scale, the hydraulic mining of
hundreds of miles of gold bearing
gravels. The vast fields of aurifer
ous gravels along the foot of the
slopes of the Alaska range have
been traced for nearly one hundred
miles. In places they are more than
20 miles wide, and their thickness,
yvliile yet undemonstrated, is known
to be enormous. Development of
these has already been commenced
and it is certain that if success at
tends the Berry & Hamil undertaking
there will be thousands of men em
ployed by the large companies sure
to be attracted.
Considering the small amount of
capital that has been expended in the
quartz operatiens the showing is a
marvelous one, and there appears no
doubt that in a very few years the
industry will have attained large
proportions.
It has been thi universal rule all
over the world that quartz mines
have lien developed in districts
where plaeer mines are found, and
it there were no quartz mines de
vi loped in the Tanana it would be a
remarkable e\. option to tlie rest <f
the world The discovery of the
urea' number of veins, vvhhh are un
.hmbtedly true fissure veins, leads
•o the belief ihat this exception will
never he no'ed and gives promise
tha' quartz mining will follow on the
heels .f plater mining and will in
•ime employ mure men and produce
far more gold than the placer mines
With the shove ing already made there
is hardly room to doubt this, hut
it must be remembered tha; the
■uartz industry is still in its infancy
and the same uncertainty prevailed
in their beginning as to the fu
■r.re of all the big quartz camps
tha’ have been discovered
The Devel pnunt company will
-i ti le wo-king on a property that
■ i v e • r excellent promise ci a big
return on thp Investment. Should
it he demonstrated, as it is confi
dently believed it will he. that the
vein on the R.-P ground continues
• > a considerable depth, still car
rying sufficient gold content, there
will no h nger tie any room for doubt
is regards quartz. The property is
located in the midst of a number of
other claims all of which have
made excellent showings, and these
would he developed on a large scale
just as son as the R.-P. property
was shown to carry values at depth
Taken by and large the outlcok
appears to he better than ever be
fore in tin history of the camp, and
from now on Fairbanks may he ox
•ice ted to commence its evolution
from tlie status of a mining camp to
hat of a city.
A CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.
Down on the < as! Valdez, Seward]
uid (' rdova are assiduously adver- ;
ising their geological and other at- t
rtu tions and it is expected there
will be ti large increase in the popu
hit ion of each town this summer.
The work of advertising is in mos
ases being conducted thr ugh cham
bers of commerce, and it is being
well done because the citizens have
uken a keen interest in it. reaiiz
ing that their own ultimate good is
oneerned.
A few years ago Fairbanks had a
liamher of commerce and while it
was in existence it accomplished ;>
tertain amount of good. It never
f mined a very lusty growth, hew
•ver. and it died a natural death, in
luted by a lac k of nourishment dur
ing the past two years. ITifortunate
'y it 1ms gone cut of existence at the
time it is most needed.
There are many matters coming
up for consideration from time to
time which emphasize the need of
itch a body, and because there is n"
such organization here excellent op
i enmities to benefit the country
are allowed to escape. There is
here a peculiar necessity for a eham
ier of commerce which does not ex
ist to the same extent in other cities.
Most cf tlie matters of interest to
he town, insofar as its sources of
"evenue are concerned, originate out
side the city limits and are beyond
'tie jurisdiction of the city council
lie only administrative body we
tavc; and consequently, unless some
irganizatbn is formed on the spur
if tiie moment, such as the develop
m nt company, to attend to them
hey are entirely overlooked
Fairbanks can support a very much
larger population, of the right kind,
than it lias at the present time.
There is room in the hills for a
small army of prospectors, both
placer and quartz, and men who are
nullified by experience for such work
should be informed of their oppor
tunity. But the field for the laboring
man is limited, and any chamber of
commerce that tries to induce more
men to come than can find employ
ment is engaged in a work that can
only bring discredit on itself and
n the town. The camp wants the
biggest population it can employ, and
no more.
rrivate citizens are continually im
portuned by people who are think
i«S of coming North for information
regarding the camp. Some of these
nquiries come, also, from concerns
hat have money to invest providing
he field is promising. These com
munications are entitled to more
consideration than they receive, ant!
if a good, live chamber of commerce
were in existence they would be
properly attended to. While our
quartz properties have not yet at
tained the stage of development re
quisite to make them alluring prep
ositions to the big companies, it
can truthfully be said they are much
further ahead than could be expect
,d when the manner of their devel
ipment is taken into consideration;
and there is little doubt suffieien'
capital could be interested to ac
complish their thorough testing if
they were better advertised.
With this summer Fairbanks can
be said to be fairly started on its
new mining era, with a certainty
ahead that the camp is to be per
manent. Many matters will come
up that will need the attention of
such a body as a chamber of com
merce, and much time will be gained
if such an organization is immedi
ately brought into being. Extreme
care should, however, be taken In the
selection of its executive board, only
these being elected who are pre
pared to devote, unhesitatingly, a
portion of their time to the objects
of the organization. No figureheads
are wanted on the board, nor men
who consent to a< t < lily for the
prestige arrrtting to them therefrom
There are plenty of progressive an 1
aggressite business men fr m whom
•o select a good strong board and such
a chamber of commerce would be a
credit to the town and would help
mucu in its business uplift.
THE DIVIDEND,
There could be no better news for
he camp than that announced Sat
urdav to the effect that the receivers
f the Washingt n Alaska bank would
pay another dividend of 162n per
ient. today For this payment be
sides relieving a very considerable
amount of real distress, will be the
means of encouraging many i f those |
w ho had been inclined to believe i
the affairs of the bank were so I
hopelessly muddled that there was
no hope of ever getting back any
portion of the deposits.
A study of the statements issued
by the receivers last week will show j
hat an titer $169,000 is expected to
be realized by October 1 from the
outstanding loans and overdrafts of
the bank, and the collection of this
would mean the ability on the part j
of the receivers to declare another
dividend of 1623 per cent. If it is;
decided to issue scrip to the ex- j
•ent of 15 per cent, in anticipation of
this October dividend the situation
will he very materially bettered and |
he money stringency much relieved.
In addition to this $169,000 thert
is. of course, that other asset of
the bank, the Gold liar stock. While J
it is problematical as yet what will
>e received f r this stock it is cer
tain that the Dexter-Horton people '
will overlook no opportunity of get
ing a purchaser for it at a good j
figure. This so that their over
draft will be paid the quicker. He
sides this there is another $321,000
f outstanding loans on which there
| is certain to be a very considerable
! amount realized. So that, in reality,
I the outlook is not so bad as many
I have schooled themselves to believe
uid there is a substantial possibility
hat there will be 75 cents paid on
he dollar even if Barnette fails en
tirely. to come to the rescue and
his securities turn out to be value
less.
In the meantime, to those who will
not be satisfied until the captain or
others who are to blame are in
durance vile, the national bank exam
iner is recommended. If the cour:
is solicited to ask the department
of justice to send in such an official
there is no doubt that the history
f the bank would be laid bare in a
very short time. If any criminal
blame attaches to anyone that blame
j would be correctly placed. There is
j no hope of any local man arriving
j at such results, and all talk of local
accountants to examine the books is
so much waste of time. The na
tional bank examiner is versed in
banking jurisprudence, and in tracing
a transaction from its inception to
its completion knows exactly where
and when, if ever, the parties to the
deal stepped over the line which
divides a legal banking transaction
from an Illegal one. He would have
no affiliations with any of these
interested and could be trusted to
render an unbiased report. On the
strength of that report those who are
responsible for the wrecking of the
bank would be made to answer for
heir infraction of the law.
MINE INSPECTION.
Last June two bills which af
fected Alaska were passed by the
congress of the United States. One
I
of them provided for the erection of
detention hospitals at Nome and
Fairbanks and the other for the ap
pointment of two mining inspectors.
Our governor has discovered tha‘
the benefits accruing from these bills
are not for Alaskans just yet, and
he has conjured up extraordinary
reasons to fit each case.
When he found, six months after
the passage of the bill, and the fact
had been called to his attention that
such a bill had been passed, that
here was no appropriation made
for a site for the hospital here, he
refused to allow the donation of a
-ite because, he said, he did not be
lieve such a course would be war
ranted. This, in the face of the fact
hat every site on which a govern
ment building stands in Fairbanks
has been donated. Neglecting to take
steps to remedy the defect, the mat
ter is still in abeyance.
At the session before last an amend
ment was made to the Sundry Civil
Appropriation bill which provided for
the appointment of two mining in
spectors for Alaska at a salary of
$2,000 a year. The matter ad ap
parently escaped the attention of the
governor until it was brought tc
his notice in January last by James
P. Collins, of this camp. In reply
to a letter written by this gentleman
Governor Clark wrote as follows on
March C:
“I have received your letter of the
29th of January, making inquiry as
■o the mine inspection law. An
amendment was passed to the Sun
dry Civil Appropriation bill in the
spring of last year extending the
oal mine inspection law of the
southwestern territories to the lerri
tory of Alaska, with the provision
that the inspection should apply to
precious metal mines as well as coal
mines. It has now been found that
the salaries provided in the old law
are altogether too small to enable
the administration to secure suitable
inspectors in Alaska, and the matter
was brought to the attention of con
gress again at the late session. I
have not yet hem advised whether
anything was done about It."
As the mine inspector's duties
would lie such ns would occupy only
a part of his time it is certainly con
ceivable 'hat a competent man could
he obtained, even in the interior,
t undertake the work at a salary of
$2.noo a year, but it is not on record
that anyone in Fairbanks has ever
been informed that such a position
was to be had for the asking
In view of the fact that there has
been constant conflict between the
delegates sent from Alaska and the
governors of Alaska, many will en
tertain the belief that Governor
Clark is not anxious to see Alaska
benefit by such laws as are originat
ed by any other than himself
THE ELECTION.
The result cf last Tuesday’s elec
ion should be eminently satisfactory,
for there is now practically assured
a careful and economical adminis
tration of the city’s affairs for the
next 12 months There is no reason
to expect that the course of retrench
ment mapped cut bv the late coun
il will he departed from, and it Is
therefore most probable the tax levy
next fall will not be more than half
of that of 1910, unless some extraor
dinary appropriations have to be
made.
The majority of the men elected
■ire business men who are well ac
quainted with lecal affairs and they
can be trusted to look after the city's
business as carefully as if it were
•heir own affairs they were attend
ing to. With the city in debt only
to the extent of less than $6,000. and
with more than four times that
amount owing for delinquent taxes.,
here is good reason to hope that
next fall will see all of the old
burden of debt removed and the
city once more able to pay Its way.
HARMON IS WITH US.
As will be seen from a letter print
ed on another page from Governor
Judson Harmon, of Ohio, this poten
tial presidential p ssibility Is right
in line with the people of Alaska in
their demand for home rule. It Is
good to kn-~w this, hut Governor Har
mon's statement was to be expected
as he is a man who strictly ad
heres to the platform of his party,
and the Democratic prt nuneiamento
issued at the Denver convention in
July, 19ns, admitted of no miscon
struction in regard to the treatment
it demanded for the territory.
This promise from the party should
he. in itself, sufficient to induce Alas
kans to vote the Democratic ticket
next year, f .r it must be apparent to
even the dullest by this time that
there is nothing to •'hope from a Re
publican administration.
imi.-jA_a
WHY NOT BE OPTIMISTIC?
Xew pay on Eva creek.
Xew pay on Fish creek.
Xew pay on Ester creek.
Xew pay on Coldstream.
Xiggerhead and A'abatna associa
tions.
Two dredges for Fairbanks creek.
Dredge for Twin creek.
Mill ordered for Rhoads mine,
others in prospect.
Mill run of 90 tons of ore $14,000.
Development company getting to
work.
Fifty or more excellent quartz
prospects.
Every one cf tlie old creeks still
producing.
Bank dividend payable today.
Good council pledged to economy.
And the town practically out of
debt.
THE MATTER OF POPULATION.
According to the annual report of i
Collector of Customs J. R. Willis.
21,800 people came to Alaska last |
year and 24,000 left the territory.
This would seem to be a net gain
in immigration of 800 for the year,
but the actual gain was probably
less. It is not a flattering showing,
but it is a striking commentary upon
existing conditions.
If Alaskans were permitted to de
velop their own resources without
being handicapped in so many ways;
if their laws were less archaic, and
suited to conditions; if they were
permitted to govern themselves un
der a reasonable form of heme rule,
unhampered by Washington ignor
ance and bureaucratic red-tape and
general incompetency, we believe the
population would increase by leaps
and bounds—even the number of na
tive sons and daughters would be
largely augmented, for then there
would be some inducement fer men
to establish their homes and set up
•heir lares and penates. But left
to the mercies of a congress which
FLYGAR GLADJTO BE BACK
John Flygar, formerly of Clearly, !
returned from the Iditarod on Thurs
day, having mushed the entire dis
tance in 18 days. John has seen a
good deal of the Iditarod and Kus
krkwim country since he left here
and he has no inclination to go
back.
Viewpoint of Office Boy.
"Is the editor in?” asked the man
with tne unbarbered hair and shiny
ccat, as he fished a roll of paper
from his pocket.
“No,” replied the office boy. “He
has just gone out.”
“This is the third time I have
called to see him," growled the call
er. “and each time you have told
me that he has just gone out. What’s
ho explanation?"
“I don’t know,” answered the o
b., “but I guess he must have been
bt rn under a lucky star.” — Chicago
News.
NOTICE
Sealed bids wi'.’. be received for
75 cords of 16-foot dry wood, de
livered on the B.-P. claim of Chat
ham creek. For particulars see Sec
retary Whiteley, of the Fairbanks
Quartz Development Co., Second and
NOTICE!
The Fairbanks Quartz Development Company will receive bids
for sinking of 200 feet of shafting, as per plans and specifications
on file at the office of the secretary, W. F. Whtely, corner Second
and Turner.
Copies of the specifications can be obtained upon request.
Bids will be received until noon, April 25.
FAIRBANKS QUARTZ DEVELOPMENT COMPANY.
By W. F. Whitely, Secretary...
knows little about the country, anti I
an administration that cares less,
what else t an lie expected but a slow
increase, or even a dwindling of the
population, with each recurring de
cade?
Alaska now ranks fourth in the
production of gold -she used to be
third — and. if given equal rights
and privileges as are enjoyed by
the other units of the I'niorr, would
soon take first place, because of the
abundance and variety of her nat
ural resources.—Iditarod Nugget
TWO YEARS 01 INSERVATION
Work of the Geological Survey on
Public Coal and Other Lands.
The following articles is taken \
front the United States geologi
cal survey press bullitin No. 430, not
from the Fairbanks Times, which ,
ran it as an "original editorial" on 1
Saturday last but did not exercise
the common honesty of giving credit
for it.
"Over seventy million acres ofjoal ,
land in the west is still owned by
Uncle Sam. The coal content of this
land is eronous; it can be figured
only in hundreds of bi.lions of tons, j
Some tracts are of immense value,
containing beds of coal of the highest
grade, 30. 40, 50 and 80 feet or more
in thickness. Thhe old way was to
sell the coal land, regardless of
value, at the absurd figure of $10 ,
an acre if it was more than 15 miles
from a railroad or at $20 if within
limit. The present way is to meas- <
lire the coal in an acre and sell
the land at a price determined by its j
content of coal As a result coal
land has been priced as high as
$400 an acre and one tract at even
$600 an acre. Since March 4. 1909,
the Geological Survey has classified
by 40-acre tracts 8,527,166 acres of
the government coal lands, at a total
valuation of $560,815,081. Including
the work done under the last admin- j
istration a total of 13.480,538 acres
has now been classified as coal land
at a valuation of $637,619,418. At
the $10 to $20 minimum rate these
lands would have a valuation of
$218,z8J,942. so that the work done
has resulted in a gain to the gov :
ernment of nearly $420,000,000. It
may be noted that the proceeds of ■
coal-land sales are all deposited to '
the credit of the “reclamation fund"
—the fund that pays for the recon
struction of the government’s vast
water-storage projects.
Government Appraisal is Accepted.
"The work involved in the classifi
cation and valuation of the nation’s
coal fields is immense and the scheme j
under which it has been worked j
out is remarkably accurate and sci
entific. The best evidence of its ac
curacy is the ready acceptance of the (
estimates and valuations by purchas
ers rf coal lands and the fact that the
Geological Survey is constantly re
ceiving applications and petitions for
the classification of coal lands."
CHENA ELECTS ITS COUNCIL
A good Democratic council was.
elected in Chena last Tuesday to at- ■
tend to the affairs of Milltown for
the ensuing 12 months. A consid- j
erable amount of interest was taken
in the election, 51 votes in all being
cast. A1 Birnbaum, the present
mayor, and Frank H. Griffin headed
the ticket with 38 votes each. The
full vote was as follows:
Alexander Birnbaum . 38
Frank H. Griffin . 3s
H. O. Belden . 33
I*. C. Gallaher . . 33
Martin Harrais .31 I
Charles Christenson .. 2S
W. J. Fitzpatrick .. ... 26
Charles Fischer . ■. 20
Wayne Dolan . 19
C. O. Tackleson ... ..... . 18J
James Oldfield . 17
TO BUY GOODS FOR PEOPLES
Theodore Johnson left on the
stage on Thursday to purchase this
year’s supply of goods for E. R
Peoples. He intends to go as far
as New York in the East, and as
his business will also take him to ,
Chicago, San Francisco and other
of the big marts it is likely it will
be well toward the end of the sum-j
liter before he is back again.
FREE $2-00|
WITH every purchase of a box of the dainty HAR
MONY (Alma-Zada) FACE POWDER dur
ing this blaster Week, we will give away ABSO
LUTELY FREE $2.00 bottle (I oz.) of any of the follow
ing Intense Perfumes:
INTENSE PEAU D’ESPAGNE
STEPHANOTIS
FIELIOTROPE
SANDER WOOD
LILLY OF THE VALLEY
WHITE ROSE
This offer is limited and closes Saturday. Better make your
wife, sister or sweetheart happy by selecting this dainty Easter
offering.
I box Alma-Zada Face Powder $2.00
I oz. Intense Perfume .... 2.00
For $2.00 this week only
THE
REXALL
STORES
Red Gross Drug Store
The Owl Drug Store
PRESCRIP
TION
DRUCCISTs
Copyright
1010. by
L. ADLER.
BR03. ft CO.
A Surprise
to Good.
Dressers
Our spring styles in Adler-Roch
"ster A- Stein-Bloch made cloth
ing are proving a surprise to many
who regard themselves as experts
in men's fashions. They have
never believed it possible that mer
chant tailor style, tit and wear
eou'd be had in ready-made cloth
ing. After an examination of our
garments, they acknowledge that
it is time to change opinions.
We nave no desire to influence
you against your own interests.
It would be no object f- r us to
endeavor to divert your trade to
our store, unless we were abs> -
lutely certain that we could make
the change agreeable and profit
able to you. j
M. A. PIINSKA,
Successor to Sargent & Pinska. §j
Windows,
Doors,
Wall Paper
Paints, Oils
and Glass
TAKES OVERJE. A. T. OFFICE
H. A. Shook, the agent for the !
Merchants' Yukon line, has taken
over the old offices of the X. A. T.
& T. company and will be located
in Fairbanks during the summer..
W. II. Link, who has been agent
for the X. A. T. & T. company for
the last few years will remain for
the greater part of the summer set
tling up the business for his com
pany. which has now gone out of
the steamboat business and will con
line itself to merchandising.
'the Merchants’ Yukon line is a
branch of the Shubach & Hamilton
company of Seattle, and Mr. Shook,
the new agent, has been with the
company for the past five years, be
ing stationed at Xcme. St. Michael
and Outside points. He was in
Fairbanks on business two years
ago.
Xew Shipment Over-the-Ice Eggs
at Peoples. *
W, G. ATKINSON
Ha* reopened the
..Sheet Metal Works..
Second Ave., opp. Cold Storage
Am prepared to figure on any
and all kinds of work In my line.
One of the Good Things that
CAPTAIN BARNETTE
overlooked and did not grab, but left
behind him, was the barrels of
11-YEAR OLD
OVERHOLT RYE
at the
Globe Bar “vxr
IT IS STILL THERE