Seward Weekly Gateway
VOI .111. NO. 7. ' ~ SEWARD. ALASKA. SATURDAY. OC’TOKKH Li. I9IM.1
- M 3000
MEN IN SPRING
Mai. Ballaine Announces That
President Frost Mas Made
Extensile Plans.
WILL KEEP GOING THIS WINTER
Intention Is To toy Rails Beyond
Knik by Ind of \e\t Tear and
liet Tanana Trade.
By Cable to Tlie Daily Gateway.
SonttV. » vt. h> .lohu K. Hallaine
. . ' V\Kli ' ■ ' „ ■
where !i ; - 'i ee'; n ; 'ice with l'ivs
wav. Ht report- th at Fr«»t i- rota*
olefine arrany ment- to increase the
construction S'orct-s oi Up railroad to
3Uoo men a: rl»> opeulm.' of spring. It..
is the intent Ion ' * construct from !-•>
to 1*>" mile- next year, which will
place ti e t.Tinian- in the heart of the
Su> ■ valley l*\ the etat of l‘-*0>.
It i» planned to take from 10.000 to
■J0.0**> -el a*s into tie Su-itna valley
to ho -’* ;n. the ae'i cultural lands
th* re - - m as tin ra iroad reaches
Knik arm. and to handle all the Fair
' bank- winter freight. Maj.• Hallaine
state- a;-> that President Frost has
wired instructions to Treasurer
Stewart. • in act am genera! manager
of the road, to keep the present force
of men at work through tin* winter.
Maw Hallaine says President Fro-t
authorized him to state that the Alas
ka Central will-pend $k*f>.000 upon an
exhibit at the Alaska-Vukon-Pacitic j
opposition in liH'7.
DR. FREDERICA. COOK
ARRIVES IN SEWARD
Man Who Scaled .Mt. McKinley Over
Long Slope of Ice and Snow
Now on Way Outside.
Dr. Frederic A. Cook, the man who
ascended Mt. McKinley last month and
stood on its topmost pinnacle. 20,400
feet above sea level, in a temperature
of lt> degrees below zero, arrived in |
Seward Sunday on the steamer
Dora. He will >ail for the outside
-tomorrow on the Bertha with the re
mainder of his party, who are await
ing the steamer in Seldovia.
Dr. t ook, as already told, reached
the top of the mountain, the highest
in North America. September 15, ae- j
companied by Edward Barrill. The
ascent was made from the northeast
side, instead of the southeast. a-> was
surmised when the news first came.
He and his companions went up the
Tokositna river to the head of one of
its branches, where the\ found a huge
glacier. Proceeding directly acres- it
they found a long -lope, which proved
to be free from precipitous declivities.
It was covered with deep ice and snow
Put Dr. Cook says no unusual obstacles
to mountain climbing in frigid regions
were encountered.
So far as Dr. Cook could observe
from occasional projections of rock
which were too sharp for snow to cling
to the mountain seemed to be almost
wholly composed of pink granite.*
Some observations of the altitude were j
taken, and these with triangulations j
made previously by the topographer of
the expedition. Mr. Porter, indicate
that the hight calculated by govern
ment topographers and railroad engi
neers. 20,300 ~Yeet. is very accurate,
although Mr. Porter's calculations
may finally put it at 20.400. The east
erly pinnacle, which Dr. Cook climbed,
is 200 or 300 feet higher than the west- j
erly one.
LIKES COOK INLET COAL
W. W. Atwood, Government Geolo
gist, Hakes Favorable Report
Cook inlet coal will receive a favora
ble report from \V. W. Atwood, a gov
ernment geologist working under the ;
Alaska bureau of Alfred II. Brooks, |
who returned from the Inlet on the
Bertha and went on through to Seat
tle. He had just spent a month around
Kaehemak bay and Tyonok, following
an examination of the Kayak coal'
fields, and stated in Seward that he
found the Inlet coal of very good quali
ty, particularly that at Port Graham
Prof. Atwood is connected with the
geological department of the univer
sity of Chicago and also with the
Brooks Alaska survey, spending about
half of each year with each work.
The man who did not have a large
shipment of goods on the Oregon is a
rarity now.—Valdez Prospector.
NEW RESERVOIR
NOW COMPLETE
Water From Fresh Source Will
Be Turned Into City Mains
Next Week.
W'ui t will ho turned into the eitv
mains from the new reservoir on tin*
Brow noil homestead tomorrow. This
wilier > from a constantly livimrsprin"
and is of the purest quality. The re
st . is at at an elevation of T»0 feet
and the water is carried to the town
site through a ld-inch pipe. The lino
i> calculated to nave a pressure of ldd
pounds.
The distributing mains through the
city a■ d-inch ami 1-inch, the larger
ones I •.•ini: on the principal streets.
The total length of mains in the city
now is nearly h 1,000 feet. The hi" pipe
Mum the reservoir reaches from the
reservoir nearly lddo feet to the town
site at the corner of Madison street, at
the toot of the hill.
The reservoir is 10x24 feet and s feet
ddep. Its capacity i> Id,000 "ad-ms.
It was finished this week and is now
full of water. The mains are all laid.
The new reservoir and piping have
been put in at "real expense by the
> ward Water ,v Power Company in
order *o "ive the city the best possible
water supply. With the pressure now
guaranteed a much larger town than
Seward is now can be supplied, and an
ample stream for tire ti"htin<r pur
poses s assured at all times. Water
for the generation of power will also
be furnished.
The reservoir built up Lowell creek
canyon last year did not prove satis
factory as the pressure is sometimes
too low and in very wet times the
water is not quite clear. The new
reservoir will remove l»oth of these
drawbacks.
EXCELSIOR OUT
OF COMMISSION
Sprung a Leak as Result of
Rough Trip from North-—
Tug Equator Coming.
By Cable to Tbo Dally Gateway.
Seattle. Oct. s The steamer Excel
sior sprung a leak a> a result of her
rough trip down from the north and
will go out of commission.
The Northwestern Steamship Com
pany has chartered the tug Equator
ti> carry the Seward-Valdez mail, in
lieu of the Santa Ana and Excelsior, j
and sht* left this morning, via the out- j
side route. The Equator has no freight j
or passengers.
When tht- Nome Meet is released |
the steamers Saratoga and Northwest
ern will join the Santa Clara on the
Seat11 e-Seward-Vaide/, route.
President liosene of the Northwest
ern Steamship Company has gone east
to secure more steamers for the Alaska
t rade.
Santa Ana Off the Beach
Seattle, Oct. 8 -Steamer Santa Ana
has been pulled off the beach at Clal
lam bay and is expected here today.
Rich Gold Specimens
J. G. Marx brought with him from
the Shumagin group of islands to the
westward, the richest specimens of
sylvanite ore and quartz ever found in
this or any other part of Alaska. The
quart/, is sugar-grained, live-looking, i
impregnated with gold plainly dis
cernible to the naked eye. The gold
ore in the sylvanite form is even rich
er than the gold quart/., and when
treated with acids the specimens look
like nuggets of gold,
George Dutton Goes Outside
George W. Dutton, who is develop
ing copper property at Iliamna, came
to Seward on the Dora with fifteen
men and eight horses, bound for the
outside. He transferred both men and
stock to the Santa Clara here. He left
three men and two horses at the mine
and expects to return in December for
the winter.
Messrs. Sargent and Gerdine, topo
graphers of the geological survey
north of Knik arm this summer, with
their party of ten went through on the
Santa Clara, and were joined here by
the geologists, Messrs. Knopf and
Paige, who had been in Seward about
ten days.
TYONOK GETS
! WINTER MAIL
Contract Let to Anton Eide to
Carry in January, February
and March.
FIXES LIMIT AT 100 POUNDS
Chief Clerk Fames Finally Secures
Service for Interior Points
Durinq Close of Inlet.
Mail will lie carried from Seward to
Knik and Tyonok by Anton Kide in
the months of January, February and
March. l!K)7. The weight limit is 100
pounds. Mr. Kide will receive £1100
for the three trips.
An effort was made last year by
Alvah Karnes, chief clerk of the rail
way mail service for Southern Alaska,
to obtain a monthly mail service from
Seward to Knik and Tyonok. but it
failed because tIn* government would
not accept the bids ottered.
This service will give the people of
the camps alnne ('oojc inlet a mail ser
vice which will he of great advantage
to them, limited as it may seem. Here
tofore in the winter these people have
sometimes been cut oft' from all com
munication with the'outside world for
several months. Last winter they
were a little more fortunate because of
the frequent, though irregular travel
between Seward and the Yentna dis
trict. Prospectors carried letters but
the letters were often carried a long
time before they were delivered.
The route necessarily traveled by
the mail carrier from Seward to
Tyonok is by way of Susitna Station.
Below the Station the river is danger;
ous to cross and the ground on both
sides is swampy and treacherous. A
request has been made of Mr. Karnes
that he take up with the postal depart
ment tile importance of erent.im? •» i>rw.t
office at Susitna Station, for the con
venience of the miners in the Yentna
district. A large number of them will
winter on the creeks, or at the Station.
Before next summer a post office,
perhaps several, will have to be estal)
lished up in the Yentna district, but
during the present winter Susitna
Station will he the most convenient
place for the miners to get their mail.
The overhaul service does not begin
until January because many lakes and
streams that have to be crossed on ice
are not certain to be frozen as early as
December 1.
RECEIVER GETS
HEALY COMPANY
Affairs of Kuskokwim Venture
Badly Tangled and Taken
Into Court.
By Cable to The Daily Gateway.
Seattle, Oct. 8—The Central Alaska
Company, organized by Capt. John J.
Healy to explore the , Kuskokwim and
establish trading posts along its
course, went into the hands of a re
ceiver last week. Hugo Beyer was
appointed receiver but Healy objected
and had Beyer ousted. It. A. Wright
was then appointed with instructions
to close out the company. At last re
port the company had only sixty tons
of provisions in the district and its
employes have been hampered by a
shortage of food all summer.
The stockholders charge that Healy
spent too much money on himself. It
was on the petition of men who put up
most of the money that the receiver
ship was granted and Healy ousted
from all control. Today he sued the
company for $19,000 damages. The
most valuable asset of the company is
the steamer Nunivak, now in the Kus
kokwim river, which will be sold.
NORTHWESTERN STEAMER
TO BE CALLED SEWARD
The Seattle Times says:
The new steamer to be built by the
Moran Company for the Northwestern
Steamship Company is to be called the
Seward, after the town of Seward, on
the southwestern coast of Alaska and
the sea terminus of the Alaska Central
railroad. The keel of the new ship is
soon to be laid and the vessel will be
ready for the northern trade next
year.
GETS GOLD ON
TONSINA CREEK
Alfred Lowell Sluices $10.23 in
Eleven Hours Shoveling*
by Himself.
CLAIMS JUST ABOVE FALLS
Will Build Winn Dam and Prepare
to Work the Property by
Systematic Method.
Kleven hours shoveling In Alfred
, Lowell on his placer ground on Ton
! sina creek live miles from Seward,
produced in gold. Mr. Lowell
| was simply doing assessment work on
j two claims which he located on the
i creek two years ago. lie put in sluice
boxes and then shoveled a day to see
what would happen.
The claims are a short distance
above the falls of Tonsina creek, which
are a mile and a half from the
bay. The creek is very short above
the falls. Ilotli ground and creek
were partially frozen, the ground
about six inches deep.
Mr. Lowell is so well pleased with
the result of hi> shoveling experiment
that lie will go hack to the property
and work as long as hi* can. He will
put in a wing dam and prepare to
work the ground on a larger scale.
TWO CONVICTS
MAKE ESCAPE
r
/ ~
Thornton and Hendrickson Cut
Through Stateroom Wall of
Yukon Steamer.
By Cable to The Dally Gateway.
Dawson, Y.T., Oct. 10—Thornton and
Hendrickson, desperadoes and hold-ups
under sentence to prison, escaped from
the Yukon river steamer Lavelle
Young last Saturday near Eagle, as
they were being taken out to serve
their penitentiary terms, by cutting
the wall of their stateroom and jump
ing overboard.
Today all wires are down beyond
Eagle and it is believed that they have
been cut by the fleeing convicts, who
are supposed to be traveling westward.
Several posses are scouring the coun
try in search of the men.
fugitive Convicts Recaptured
Dawson, Get. 12 Hendrickson and
Thornton, the convicts who escaped
from custody on the river steamer La
velle Young last Saturday, were capt
ured today near Eagle. They had
been wandering through the woods
several days without food and submit
ted when covered with guns.
freight for interior
PILES UP AT TYONOK
Such Quantities of Miners’ Supplies
Sent in that Part Will Fail to
(let in this Fall.
Kahiltna, Sept. 21—Correspondence
of the Gateway—It is reported here by
Mr. Wolsey of the launch Bat that con
siderable freight is likely to be left at
Tyonok because of his inability to carry
it in before the close of navigation on
the river. Large quantities of miners’
supplies are coming in from the out
side on the late steamers and the Bat
is the only boat on the river now.
A light frost was visible here the
morning of September 15, the first of
the season. It has been very dry and
pleasant for several weeks and the
Yentna is running low.
A. Wanberg and four other men
came up on the last trip of the Bat
with a year’s outfit. They imme
diately built a cache and began whip
sawing lumber for a boat to go up th^
river. They are going above the
rapids to work until the freeze-up and
will then come back here and wait for
the snow, after which they will go up
near the mountains.
Gallagher’s roadhouse is now open
for business. It is well supplied with
provisions, and has ample accommoda
tions for man and beast. He has also
arranged to have ten tons of miners’
supplies in stock when navigation
closes on the river, which will be
about the middle of October.
Copper ore from Beatson’s Latouche
mine averages 11 per cent.
BRING $20,000
IN GOLD DUST
Steamer Dora Carries to Seward
First Far^e Lxliibit From
Kahiltna Creeks.
The steamer Dora brought to Seward
'about $20,000 in gold du-t from the
creeks of the upper Kahiltna. A*
' nearly as can be learned this belongs
to three men ami is less than half the
! total production of the group of creeks
'which produced something this year.
! The owners of the dust deny that they
: brought out so large an amount but a
I man on board the Dora saw between
• $10,000 and $20.(too in Purser Spring
i stun’s safe. He was not told to whom
I it belonged but so far a* can be learn*
led the only men who has any dust on
J the Dora were L H. Herndon, If.
i Jacobs and William Morris.
“Doc." Herndon says the three
; brought out only $11,000 and that was
{their entire production for the season
| but other men say they exhibited '11.
1 non at Susitna Station and they wen*
i known to have several thousand dol
bars besides. The yield of the claims
worked by Herndon. Jacobs and Mor
rison Nugget creek is estimated by
j comparison of information received
I from various sources at $21,000. Mr.
; Jacobs told nil acquaintance yesterday
that they put in only about sixty days
of actual productive work.
Mr. Herndon is very conservative in
hi-, statements. Hi* puts the total out
put of the district at $25,000. Ashe
admits only $11,000 for Nugget that
would leave $14,<H)0 for other Kahiltna
creeks. Mr. Herndon deprecates any
attempt to “boom" the district and
says he sees little to induce the pros
pector to go in there. He says bed
rock is shallow and has been struck
wherever actual raining work lias been
done.
T. J. Jeter says several miners fig
ured the creeks at $.45,000 before he
it,it. mis uoes nut mciuuo Liuk.<
creek. Other miners who spent the
summer in the district stick to the
previous estimate of $50,000. Not more
than half of this will come to Seward
as Frank Churchill is buying large
amounts at Susitna Station.
CHARGE CABLE
OFFICE LEAKS
Valdez Men Say Their Messages
Are on the Street Before
They Get Them.
By Cable to The Daily Gateway.
Seattle, Oct. 11—Numerous heavy
mining operators, steamship company
representatives, railroad contractors
and business men arriving here from
Valdez charge a leak in the cable serv
ice at that port. They assert that
the contents of private messages are
known on the street before the mes
sages are delivered to the addressees.
Complaints have lieen sent direct to
Washington and informal complaints
have been filed with Col. Glassford,
which he says he forwarded to
Washington several weeks ago. The
men making the complaints say that
private information contained in the
messages is given to outside parties
resulting in the destruction of nego
tiations for property sales. Other
complaints are made.
Story Reaches Capital
Washington, D. C., Oct. 11—Informal
complaints of leaks in the Valdez ca
ble cfllce have been coming here. The
department has been waiting for the
tiling of direct charges before ordering
an investigation.
Photographs Nugget Gold .
•‘.Doc” Herndon consented before he
left town on the Bertha to have sam
ples of gold from Nugget gulch photo
graphed, and several pictures w’ere
taken by Robert Evans. A poke con
taining $3600 was emptied into a gold
pan and $200 in nuggets piled on top of
the heap for one picture, which looks
good to sore eyes. Another photo
graph was taken of the gold extract
from three of.the best pans taken out
on the Herndon and Jacobs claims.
These contained $53.75, $47.50 and $18
respectively. Each is shown in a
separate pan. A large numbor of fine
nuggets are included in the production
of Nugget gulch, the biggest contain
ing $21.
•
YENTNA OUTPUT
TOTALS $50,000
Earlier Estimates Corroborate'
by I.ate Arrivals From
Gold District.
INFORMATION HARD TO REACIi
Results of Season's Work Obtained
by Compilation of Reports
by Reliable Men.
Later reports from ' n K• ol '
ereeks confirm the m*tima’" wndt !:
been mad» for several monM > • ; a -<• .
son's out pu’ of >oii,POO. vit i • •
turns are inohtuinahh’ ;nr .-«■
many mim i > who took o ; an i; •.
dred dollars each have not <■ n
ther than .Susitnu Station. • ■ th
liave invested their grubsta;- o m •
out fits.
The amount wliieb till tie- si.,
pokes total can only in* appi - m
1 >ut all tlr- well-informed mim -
t he region who are candid mmugi
talk say that the aggregate for r •
producing creeks will not fa; ! . -hut
of sop.ooo and may have L < n fully
that. Lake creek i- e>timut< o at frou.
j .*.*>000 to >7000. so that the total of tie
Vent mi district undoubtedly exceed
>.'>0.01111. Small quantities ha < !>< *
I taken out tiiso the Skwentna ereeks
George Kberhardt went tbr<* igh
the Bertha this week with a fa po
which he declined to exhibit, but !
land his partner. Anderson, are er<
ited with several thousand dollar
Anderson is not coming out. Kl>< i
hardt displayed the (|ueer reluctance
about talking shown by some other mm.
who have done well in the district, but
finally admitted that the general e>t
mate of the output is about tin* tmil
thing. He was one of the first men in
the district, having spent tie* l!*0.j smi
| sinn nn /• roul/ u*Viai*a th,, ♦ *
discoveries were made, taking out a
grubstake then. He worked mostly
on Bird creek, a tributary of Peters,
this year.
Another through passenger on th •
Bertha was M. Schautl'en, who had
been working the Millar bar claim on
Lake creek. He had a poke weighed
by Harry Ellsworth which contained
$1300. Other men who came in on the
boat say he had about $2000 altogether.
Several of the men who were the
most fortunate in the season's work
have exhibited reluctance in giving
information which has aroused criti
cism. It is felt by people who live here
that the public at large is entitled to
accurate information regarding tin
district and that the best way to obtain
a truthful statement of the situation A
for those who know most about it o
tell what they know.
The statements which have been
published in the Gateway have been
secured by a good deal of unnecessary
labor, a few facts being picked up
from each of many sources. The
authority for all of these statements
has always been given and as the gen
eral results tally closely it is believed
by well-informed men in Seward that
the published estimates of the yield
are very accurate.
PIONEER MINER TO LEAVE
VV. C. Girdwood, Discoverer of Crow
Creek Placers, Going Outside.
Girdwood. Oct. 2—Correspondence of
the Gateway— William C. Girdwood
will leave for the states on the Bertha
after a visit of one month to his Crow
creek property. Mr. Girdwood, for
whom the new town at mile 75 on the
Alaska Central is 'named, was one of
the early prospectors in the Cook in
let country.
In the spring of 1895 Mr. Girdwocd
began prospecting upper Crow creek
and soon foresaw the value of the
property. Andrew Williamson, Lid
burn Arthur, Oliver Skoyen and
William Kllis were with Mr. Girdwood
when the original locations were made.
Since that time Mr. Girdwood has
spent three years on the claims. He
is a civil and mining engineer, and has
done extensive prospecting in Nome
and the Tanana. During his absence
from Crow creek the property has
been in control of his brother, James
Girdwood of New York.
*>
H. H. Hicks and Mrs. Hicks came
up on the Bertha and will sail for
Iliamna on the first boat that goes to
that port. Mr. Hicks is interested in
copper there.