V > i * * i >■>*
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The Mining News
: J ___
VOL. I. KETCHIKAN, ALASKA, KRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 1907. 1 N0. 2
fr . ^
ANDREW CHILBERG, Pres. J. R. HECKMAN, Vice Pres.
MINERS & MERCHANTS BANK
Of Ketchikan, Alaska
Transacts a General Banking Business
The easiest way to establish your credit in a community is
to open an account with your home Bank.
Small accounts are welcome
M. A. Mitchell - - = Cashier
vL- ' ..—=#
Many Lives Saved
By buying Drugs
at the Neatest Drug Store in Alaska
The Revilla Drug Co.
| J. R. HECKMAN & CO. 1
a Have just
I Received the Agency |
I for i
Hanan & Sons fine dress ftp
shoes ©
Burr & Packard Patent X
Leather Shoes for men
warrented not to crack ©
We have the only Q&
Cravenette g
Hat g
for men sheds water. ©
We have it in .bofli the
| .stiff and soft styles, in
black and in colors.
There is no" difference in
its appearance from any
high grade Hat, Price
$4.00. Just the thing for
* Alaska.
0 They Are Absolutely Waterproof
© The Department Store
1 Ketchikan - - Ala
000000000000®©©©©®©
Rates; $1.00 to $3.00 Electric Lighted
Room with Bath Steam heated
Hotel Stedman
European
Ketchikan
JOHN W. STEDMAN
Proprietor Alaska
[. .1
J. £\ Smith & Son
Ketcli’kan • • Alaska
We are
Headquarters for
Fresh Fruits, Candies,
Cigars and Tobaccos
We also carry a
complete line of
Stationery Pens, Ink
Pencils and Tablets
agents for
SEATTLE DAILY
STAR
1 and see us
SHOWS BIG GAIN
Annual Report of the Collector
Of Customs-Statistics
Of Alaska’s Trade
The Mining News is under deep and
lasting obligations to Hon. Clarence
L. Hobart, Collector of Customs for
Alaska, for a copy of his annual re
port to the department, showing, in
detail, the total amount of merchan
dise shipped to Alaska, and the pro
ducts of Alaska shipped out, for the
several calendar years of 1903, 1904,
1905 and 1900, compiled from the man
ifests of all ships plying to and from
Alaska. We regret very much thnt
our facilities are not such as to enable
us to print the report in full, and that
we have been compelled to curtail
some of the tables by omitting detail
ed statements of shipments to the
many different points of consignment,
and in some cases of totals for the
years 1903-4. The parts of the report
we have been able to handle will,
however, enable the reader to fully
comprehend the full measure of the
information the report sets forth.
Mr. Hobart, in his circular letter,
accompanying the report says:
Following will be found a statement
of the total amount of merchandise
shipped to Alaska, and the products
of Alaska shipped out, compiled from
the manifests of all ships plying to
and from Alaska. The Customs Reg
ulations recpiire that a copy of every
ship's manifest so entering or clearing
shall be filed in this office, and from
these has been obtained much authen
tic information regarding Alaska’s
business. Numerous inquiries from
the public for information and data
which these manifests show brought
about the compiling of such informa
tion in the form of an annual report
for those interested. The first report
was issued in 1903, and comparisons
for the past four years are given.
Totals for each place of consignment
of incoming freight are given, sub
divided to show : coal, lumber, hard
ware, provisions, liquors, and all
other commodities.
All figures are values in dollars, for
the calendar year 1900.
An increase is noted in the total
domestic shipments inward over last
year of more than twenty-four per
cent., and in gold production over
fifty-two per . cent. Totai ousihess
more than doubled in four years.
For convenience the district was
divided into four sections:—South
eastern Alaska, from southern bound
ary as far west as Sitka: Southern
Alaska, west of Sitka to and including
Unalaska; Rering Sea and Arctic
Ocean, all ports on Rering Sea, except
St. Michael: Yukon River, including
St. Michael and all interior places.
Each section shows a great increase,
Eering Sea coast and the interior
leading, however. The towns show
ing greatest growth are Nome, Fair
banks, Valdez and Ketchikan. The
report also shows duties collected and
other customs data.
Clarence L. Hobart,
Collector of Customs.
This table shows the total value of
shipments of Alaskan products to the
United States for the years 1905 and
1900, respectively:
1905 1900
Copper ore, matte.. .003,500 1,785,010
Fish
Fresh, other than
salmon.189,050 230,005
Cured, other than
salmon.428,348 19ft,157
Salmon, canned. .0,730,093 8,449,300
All other salmon... .205,038 273,750
Fish guano.904 32,015
Fish oil..4,099 32,408
Furs.480,805 044,930
Gypsum. 17,400
Tin ore, concentrates.. .480 22,125
Whaleltone.189,048 307.852
Other merchandise. .398,023 500,941
Gold.12,131,003 18,471,451
Total.21,427,003 31,039,082
Exports.134,103 495,310
Grand total.. .21,501,700 31,534,392
The following is a statement of
domestic and foreign merchandise
received during the same years:
1905 1900
Domestic mdse. .14,7012,52 18,308,145
Foreign mdse.... 1,382,428 1,557,797
Total.10,143,080 19,925,942
The following comparative state
ment of the values of domestic merch
andise shipped to the principal places
in Southeastern Alaska, 1905-00:
1905 1900
Douglas.201,758 258,825
Haines.178,375 200,991
Juneau.711,248 053,287
Ketchikan.409,905 724,370
Loring.74,235 71,413
Pyramid Harbor. 50,807
Skagway.555,544 557,200
Sitka.99,300 125,504
Treadwell.740,822 712,790
Wrangel.137,022 174,457
All othre placps...,.. ,819,715 801,433
Total.4,048,034 4,451,203
Comparative statement of shipments
from the United States to principal
places in Southern Alaska;
- •
*
1905 1900
Catalla. 11,748 42,032
Cordova.T.’.... 368 239,992
Cliignik..W-<T\253 167,727
Ellamar.57.719 98,745
' Ft. Liscum.76,524 60,016
Karluk.115,221 137,191
Kodiak.<15,817 54,703
Latouche.. -16.017 46,854
Orca.,...(.40,357 111,084
Seldovia.87,921 56,709
Seward....994,623 800,918
Uyak.114,483 50,501
Valdez.435,145 863,392
Yakutat. .. .57,038 43,660
All other places.616,224 432,329
Total..^2,759,476 3,205,913
Comparative statement of principal
places, Bering Sea'and Arctic Ocean;
1905 1906
Bristol Bay.Jt, 191,348 1,290,751
Council.56,952 189,376
Dicksen.42,937 200,744
Golovin.582,10 108,487
Kewalik..***21,490 151,558
Nome.2,922,082 3,740,188
Solomon.153.530 56,158
Teller.104,306 £15,003
All other places.130,470 182,020
Total.4.681,331 6,051,185
Comparative statement of principal
places on Yukon river, including St.
Michael:
1905 1906
Chena.219,699 468,479
Circle City.51,495 49,357
Fairbanks.1,569,613 2,128,392
Fort Egbert....'..38,740 50,937
Rampart.127,053 41,259
St. Michael.1,025,011 1,676,577
Tanana.77,943 143,567
All other places.162,857 101,276
Total..1,272,411 4,659,844
Comparative statements of value of
merchandise receipts by districts:
Southeastern Alaska.$4,451,203
Southern Alaska ..3,205,913
Bering Sea., etc.6,051,185
Yukon River points....4,659,844
Total.$183,6814,54
Receipts by -sub-ports, calendar
years 1904-05-06:
1904 1905 1906
Nome. 10,505 10,462 28,059
Eagle. 62,203 39,244 24,759
Ketchikan.10.307 9,373 21,258
Juneau..'5.7^211 12,338 16,382
Skagway."477 8.78! 9,325
Forty Mile.f.,.lO- r*‘.-.2,98(1
Sitka. ..'..-V44 2,V!00T 2,418
St. Michael.005 2,439 2,012
Unalaska........ 7?,'319 4,5<>5 '*-l,'069
Valdez. 681 945 1,640
Wrangel. 1,284 1,064 1,22!)
Kodiak.481 204 167
Seward. 21}:
Total.138,027 95,967 112,111.
Cost to collect $1.$0,638
From the following figures it will
be observed that during the year past
the Custom House at Ketchikan ent
ered and cleared 412 more vessels than
all the rest of the ports of Alaska
combined:
In In
Domestic Foreign
trade trade Total
Ketchikan.521 462 983
Wrangel.6 20 26
Juneau.91 11 102
Skagway.4 10 14
Seward.13 0 13
St. Michael.37 4 41
Nome.110 65 175
Unalaska. 14 8 22
Kodiak.4 0 4
Valdez.61 2 03
Sitka.1 0 1
Eagle.0 110 110
Total.862 092 1554
The reader should recollect that the
figures given in the foregoing tables,
except as shown otherwise on their
face, represent values in dollars. It
will he seen that imports and exports
for 1905 amounted to $37,705,386, as
compared with $51,460,334 in 1906—an
increase of $13,754,948, or an increase
of 38 per cent last year as compared
with 1905.
Ketchikan stands at the head of all
places of consignment in the south
eastern section, lending Juneau by
$71,083, and showing an increase of
$254,465 over the preceding year. This
increase fairly indicates the industrial
and commercial growth of the town,
with every indication pointing to a
still more substantial progress during
the present and future years.
It will also be observed that in the
matter of customs collections, which
amounted last year to $112,111, Ketch
ikan ranks third with $21,258 collected
at a cost of $.263 per dollar. In the
matter of entrances and clearances,
Ketchikan stands at the head with a
record of 412 more vessels entered and
cleared than all the rest of the ports
combined—083 out of a total of 1554.
As compared with the port of Juneau,
the preponderance in favor of Ketch
ikan is nearly ten to one, though ex
penses of the Juneau office was nearly
three times that of the latter, and to
collect one dollar nearly four times as
much.
Altogether, the showing is an ex
ceedingly gratifying one, especially to
the people’ of Ketchikan, which may
now justly lay claim to being the
leading port of what the collector
designates as southern Alaska, not
only in the number of vessels entered
and cleared, but in the volume ol
I business transacted a$ well,
RICHARD III LOST
Alaskan, Short of Coal, Is Forced
To Abandon the Vessel in
Clarence Straits
The barge Bichard III left here
Wednesday afternoon in tow of the
steamer Alaskan bound for Niblack,
where her master expected to take on
a cargo of copper ore. While cross
ing Clarence Strait, heavy weather
was encountered, retarding the pro
gress of the vessels, so that the Alas
kan becoming short of fuel, it was
deemed advisable to drop the Richard
at the e*. ranee of Ingraham bay,
which was done, and the Alaskan
proceeded to Niblack for the purpose
of securing a sufficient supply of fuel
to enable her to return to her tow and
take her into Niblack Anchorage.
The ice in Niblack, however, render
ed it impossible to approach nearer
than a mile to the landing, but the
Alaskan succeeded by most strenuous
endeavor of her officers and crew,
assisted by those of the Richard, who
had been taken on board, in getting
over the ice enough coal to enable h-r
to return to the place where she had
left her tow. Reaching that point
this (Friday) morning, the Richard
was no where to be seen, and after
cruising several hours in search for
her, the Alaskan, having no more
coal than necessary to enable her to
reach her home port, headed for
Ketchikan, where she arrived about
4:30 iq the afternoon.
The' tug Pilot, belonging to the
same owners, came into port about the
same time as the Alaskan and pro
ceeded immediately in search for the
lost barge, she having been sent here
for the double purpose of bringing the
Potter up and towing the Richard
down.
- ' '
NOT SO BAD AFTER ALL
The officers of the revenue cutter
Rush rei>ort finding the condition at
Vakataga not nearly so bad as report
ed by cablegram. They found but one
m£h ill, and provisions on hand suffic
ient to last the camp for two weeks or
longer. The Rush gave them supplies
sufficient to last the camp till the 1st
ferwUjch^&'mitc-i ^epjr
fulty paid m gold djust.. All the same
it might have proved a very serious
loattoJi.had supplies not beenjtaken to ■
them by the Rnsh in response to the
call for relief.
Word received from Seattle by the
manager of the Citizens Light, Water
and Power company is to the effect
that the repairs on the damaged dyn
amo are under way, and it will be fin
ished in time to be shipped on the
steamer due to arrive here Monday,
Feb. 4. In that event we should have
lights once more on the 5th—a con
summation most devoutly to lw wished
and prayed for.
CURRENT NEWS
Iowa—Jonathan P. Dolliver, his own
successor.
New Hampshire—Henry E. Burn
ham, his own successor.
Maine—Wm. P. Frye, for the sixth
consecutive six years, and of course
his own successor.
Nebraska—Norris Brown to succeed
Joseph H. Millard. This appears to
be a case of “twice 0 is 0.”
Most of the state legislatures have
performed the function of choosing
United States senators, as follows:
Massachusetts—Murray Crane, at
present serving the unexpired term of
the late Senator Hoar, to be his own
successor.
Texas—JosephW.Bailey, re-elected,
notwithstanding the charges made
against him, and which threatened
his otticial extinction.
Idaho—Wm. F. Borah, republican,
to succeed Fred T. Dultois. No loss,
if indeed not a distinctive gain to the
Senate in character and ability.
Delaware—F. A. Richardson as suc
cessor to Frank Allee. Delaware is
to be congratulated in that its legis
lature did not set up another Allee in
the person of the unspeakable Ad
dicks.
A collision between a passenger and
freight train on the Big Four line at
Fowler, Indiana, on the ltlth Inst.,
caused the death of fifteen persons,
and severe, if not fatal injury to a
number of others.
The volcano of Maura Loa, Island of
Hawaii, is again in active eruption
and devastating the country for miles
around. At last accounts the flow of
lava was half a mile wide, and still
moving at the rate of thirty feet an
hour.
Montana—Joseph M. Dixon to suc
ceed Wm. A. Clark, who held the
place by right of purchase in the open
legislative market. The new senator
must be little better than a double
row of ciphers, if his selection is not
a gain to the “house of lords.’’
Michigan—William Alden Smith,
to succeed Russell A. Alger, who
never had any business to be a Sena
tor, and has been a distinct failure as
governor, Secretary of war and in the
Senate, and the election of Smith Is a
decided gain to the state and the sen
v
ate.
The House of Lords, otherwise the
U. S. Senate, has voted to investigate
President Roosevelt’s action in dis
missing from the military service,
without honor, the battalion of
“coons” who shot up the town of
Brownsville, Texas, to the discomfort
and danger of its people.
The Secretary of the Interior, by
direction of the President, has modi
fied the order withdrawing all the
public coal lands in the Pacific States
and Alaska from entry, so as to per
mit all persons who have, in good
faith, filed on such lands, to make
entry thereof and perfect titles.
Richard A. Ballinger, former mayor
of Seattle, has been nominated by the
president to be Commissioner of the
General Land Office, to succeed ’ V.
A. Richards, who will retire Mnr-b
4. Judge Ballinger has accepted he
appointment, though reluctantly, ind
at considerable pecuniary sacriree.
The appointment is one eminently fit
to have been made. - -1.
The city of Kingston, .Tati
almost completely destroyed b
quake and lire on the 14th ins- T
tended with a loss of life vat 1
estimated at from 500 to 5000, with
injury to as many more persons, and
involving a property loss of many mil
lions. The entire business section of
the city, a place of 50,000 people, was
completely demolished, principally as
a result of the fire which started im
mediately after the quake. No injury
was inflicted upon any other part of
the island, though the first reports
were to the effect that the entire isl
and had been devastated. Jamaica
belongs to Great Britain, and has a
superficial area of 4,207 square miles,
and a population of 050,000, only 20,
000 of whom are whites.
NOTES
Martin Bugge, the owner of several
locations at Helm Bay, is giving evi
dence of the honesty of his conviction
that he has something more than ord
inarily valuable in the mineral way.
He continues the work of development
steadily and persistently and reports
coming from others than himself are
to the effect that his labors are likely
soon to meet with a golden reward.
He will deserve the best to be found
in these scraggy-breasted mountains
of ours.
' ~$K1^ * .TTflfefirffirjT
work lib, m ineral locations, i-i |
which he hope*- .to find a bonanza, and
not without hope and indication that
it is likely to be something more than
“good.”"
The Dunton hoys are doing develop
ment work on their locations near
Hollis.
It is announced that work is soon to
be commenced on the construction of
a railway from Haines to Rainy Hol
low, at which latter place are located
some very promising copper-gold loca
tions recently taken over under bond
by a London syndicate, after careful
expert examination. Haines is the
natural shipping point for the Rainy
Hollow district, a part, if not the
whole of which lies just across the line
in Yukon Territory, and should the
properties develop as anticipated,
Haines will speedily become one of
the best towns in the whole of south
eastern Alaska.
A Washington dispatch says that
Hon. Thos. Gale has been given a seat
on the floor of the House of Repre
sentatives, and that thus Alaska has
two delegates instead of one. Guess
that correspondent is mistaken, and
that Mr. Gale has merely been accord
ed the “privileges of the floor,” the
same as is given ex-members and
members-elect to the house, and gov
ernors of states and territories. That,
however, will be a distinct advantage
to him in the work he has to do for
Alaska.
The Whitehorse Star confidently
predicts that the year 1!M)7 will devel
op great things for the Southern sec
tion of the Yukon territory, by way
of bringing it into prominence as the
greatest quartz-mining field of the
North, and incidentally increasing the
population. Of course the Star means
the word North, with a big N, as
applicable to that part of it lying
north of Southeastern Alaska exclu
sively.
A GARB.
The undersigned pupils, of the
higher grades of the Ketchikan Public
schools, are very sorry to see the cen
sure published against Prof. Bertram
G. Mitchell, by the Daily Miner, and
resent it as an insult to ourselves—as
he is highly respected by us all. He
is a gentleman and hard worker in
school. We have never had a better
teacher, nor one who has taken more
interest in our education and refined
entertainment. This is done without
the knowledge or consent of Prof.
Mitchell. It is a great pleasure to us
to obey him.
Alice McArthur, Kathleen Rounse
fell, Buelah Majory, Sidney Clark,
Willis Connell, Norton McClellan,
Laurence Hart, Roy Copeland, Lloyd
Reynolds, Ted Booth, Clark Water
house, Zoe Copeland, Lillian Majory,
Frances Morgan, John P. Campbell,
Henry Pankratz, Frances Preston,
Helen Whitfield, Gertrude Dart, Bes
sie Svmonds, Donald Symonds, Elaine
Hunt'
THE MINES
Alaska Industrial Company
The Gold Standard
The Cymru
While there is apprehension of en
forced idleness at the mines of this
district because of the coal famine,
mining operations are still being act
ively prosecuted at most of those that
have reached the productive stage.
But it is, nevertheless, a fact that at
least some of them are not only threat
ened with a shortage of fuel, which
will compel a temporary shut down,
but are even now seriously hampered
by the lack of the transportation nec
essary to clear the bins and stopes of
the product already mined .and await
ing shipment, and from this handicap
there is little prospect for relief ,• in
■ the Immediate fiitve. The
, JAL CO.'
RELIAP5 producing mine, '
rancf'"* p can S0CU1'e transP°rta'
1 dlldtts tram being in successful
working order, and its bins tilled with
high grade ore from tho Jumbo mine,
with enough more broken and lying
in the stopes to refill them as soon as
emptied. The bins, as at present con
stituted, hold 1,500 tons, but are so
built that their present capacity can
easily and readily be doubled. The
manager is waiting patiently for the
transportation promised him, and is
in daily expectation of the arrival of
the first boat, which will probably be
the Ilenriette, to take the first cargo
to the smelter at Crofton B. C. This
company is fortunate in having the
services of a general manager, Mr.
Chas. A. Sulzer, who gives his undi
vided time and attention to the man
agement of its allairs. He is one of
the few young men who, without pre
vious mine education or experience,
has succeeded in mastering the details
incident to mining operations and in
bringing to a successful issue tho de
velopment of a great property. The
company has every reason to be pleas
ed with tho outcome due to his studi
ous and careful in. uagement.
THE GOLD W: VNDARD.
Concerning which .‘H- has bee'
sai«V. UeretVJ for sev ' C - u:
work’sinking an-i drifting 5t its prop
erty on Helm Bay, with results of an
ahi/igother satisfactory character.
T v - ' fork was commenced on tho 3rd
of Duty lust, and continued until the
cXose of the year, during which time
tlAj main shaft was sunk to a depth of
15o\ feet and 2(H) feet of underground
work accomplished in connection
therewith), together with 300 feet of
drift on other locations belonging’ to
the company. The first and second
class ores taken fro n the main shaft
and drifts vv^is sent tc the smelter and
the balance milled, w’fJi an average
yield of $18 per ton.
The company, of which C. L. Parker
is president, Thos. Appleton, secre
tary and treasurer and T. F. .Johnson,
superintendent, is the owner of seven
teen contiguous locations, the one
upon which the main workings are
situate, being only about 3000 feet dis
tant from the beach of a safe and
commodious harbor. It also has a
five-stamp mill on the property. The
150-foot shaft and the drifts are in tho
lead, which carries a width of from
one to four feet, with an unusually
rich pay streak which appears to be
altogether continuous. Ore from thu
outcrop of this lead yielded returns of
■$2li8 to the ton, while that taken from
the 110-foot level gave returns of $500,
while the second class from same level
yielded $275 per ton. About 1500 tons
of first and second class ore, together
with the leaner rock were taken out
in sinking and drifting, all but 400
tons of which was shipped to the
smelter or milled on the ground. A
resumption of operations in this mine
at an early day is confidently ex
pected.
CYMRU
At the Cymru from which no ship
ments have boon made since the shut
ting down of the Coppermount smelter
operations are being continued,
though at considerable disadvantage.
The bins and stopes are full of ore,
and the management is waiting pa
tiently for transportation, which it is
advised will soon be forthcoming. It
is not known as yet to the local man
agement to what smelter the next and
subsequent shipments will be con
signed. __
The tug Pilot arrived in port this
Friday afternoon, having the barge
John C. Potter in tow, destined for
Niblack, where she goes for a cargo
of copper ore. She is now out in
search for the Richard III, the loss of
which is elsewhere recorded.
The Philippine Islands are to have
at least a semblance of popular home
government. By authority of an act
of Congress, an election at which
members of a home legislature are to
he chosen has been fixed for the 30th
of July next. Wonder how that legis
lature, the proceedings of which will
be in the Spanish language, or else
will be all Greek to perhaps a major
ity of its members, will compare with
one that might, with authority emi
nating from the same source, be
ehosen by the people of Alaska.