No Need To Worry About
The Devaluation of Gold
By J. C. Roehm
Associate Engineer
Territorial Dept, of Mines
There appears to be a prevail
ing fear among operators and
owners of gold properties, and
others throughout the Territory
of Alaska regarding the devalua
tion of god. In fact many per
sons have casually expressed
their opinion to the effect that
gold is very apt to become worth
les. This line of thought has
about as much sound basis, and
their argument contain about as
much logic, as several people thru
out the world, who predict by
their own imaginative thought
and reasoning that the end of
the world is in sight.
There are two major problems
regarding gold. The first and
most important is the problem of
finding it in paying quantities.
The second problem is in safe
keeping the gold after it is
found. This later problem is the
one in which the government is
at present gravely concerned.
This is the* problem with which
the government through its ef
forts to solve has brought it be
fore the general public, and from
which the public has developed
1 several imaginative fears. The
Alaskan People have only the
first problem to contend with
and that is to find it, and they
can forget the other problems as
i a whole.
Gold throughout the ages has
aways had a value. Today it has
even a greater value, not only
in more dollars per ounce, but
as the only suitable medium of
international exchange. This lat
er value so far exceeds the old
value as a metal for coins and
to back paper money, that this
later use has ceased to exist. In
the future just what the value
of gold in terms of American dol
lars will be, is uncertain. This
will depend upon government
policies and regulations and our
; position as one of the larger
world powers.
For an enlightening account of
the gold problem, and to ease
i your fear as to the value of gold
i in the future, it is here recom
mended that you read the article
entitled: “Ca^ the Gold Problem
Be Solved?'” appearing in the
July issue of Harpers Magazine.
I
Have The Nome Nugget sent to
! your mining claim.
Written by a prominent, well known Alaska mining engin
eer May 31st, 1940, quote “During the period of 1934 to 1940
Macmillian Lubricating Oils have been used for our diesel
engines gasoline engines and bearing lubrications. In all this
time there has been no stuck piston rings, no deposits of
hard carbon around valves or exhaust ports and no evidence
of gumming or sludging.” Can you afford to delay investigat
ing this wonderful oil? See —
SAM TAGGART
also sold at the STAR MOTOR CO. and NOME MOTOR CO.
I! MINERS & MERCHANTS BANK OF ALASKA j!
J! NOME, ALASKA
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Community Continuously Since 1904 J
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Department of Commerce Weather Bureau
FORECAST, NOME AND VICINITY
Cloudy and warmer tonight and Thursday morning. Occasional
(light rain Thursday afternoon.
Data For 24 Hours Ending 1:00 pm Today
Highest temp — 55 Lowest temp — 51 Precipitation — 0.36
Total precip this month 0.48 Total since Jan. 1, 1940 3.04
Temp. Humidity Wind Weather
12 Midnight —.— ... .. 53 99 E-16 Raining
® e m ........ ........ ........ ........ «. 53 96 SE-16 Raining
1E:30 p m - —... .. 55 90 SE-5 Cloudy
One Year Ago Today
Highest temp — 51 Lowest temp — 43 Precipitation — 0.00
Tomorrow: Sunrise 1:46 a. m. Sunset 10:26 p.m.
I I
AMAZING STRENGTH OF
URANIUM DISCOVERED
BY CHICAGO SCIENTIST
The scientists have produced
: news that make the yellowist of
sensational fiction sound pale
and pallid. It concerned a pinch
of powder known only as “U
235.’’ The total world supply of
U-235, as of today, wouldn’t
make a smudge on your nose.
Yet they were making such
statements as these:
“It may revolutionize the1
I world.”
“It promises to make all oth-1
er sources of power mere child’s 1
toys by comparison.’’
“It may usher in the long
dreamed of age of atomic pow
er.”
Greatest Brains Amazed
The New York Times, query
ing the best scientific brains
available, was unable to find one
that could think of another dis
covery of equal import in mod- j
ern times.
Here are some other state- i
ments about it:
“Five to 10 pounds of U-235
1 would produce as much power as |
25 to 50 million pounds of coal.
“One pound of U-235 would be
equal in power output to five
million pounds of coal or three
million gallons of gasoline.”
“As an explosive, it is believed
that one pound of U-235 would
generate a pressure af about one
million times that produced by
15 million tons of TNT—300 car
; loads of 50 tons each.”
Discovery Begins Here
j The story of U-235, wherever
it ends, starts only five years ago
and starts in the physics labor
j atories of the University of Chic
ago.
Prof. A. J. Dempster was study
l ing uranium, a hard, white met
| al. which is found in pitchblende.
| and carnotite ores. There are de
posits of carnotite in Colorado.
I and there are large pitchblende j
. deposits in the Bear Lake region
j of Canada and the Belgian Con
go. Uranium is “a fairly common
ore,” as the physicists look at it,
, and costs about $2 a pound.
What Dempster established
i was the news that uranium is
| twins. It is a mixture, he found
and is composed of two elements.
[Along with the elements called
i “U-238’ he found a younger bro
| ther he named “U-235.”
Atom Smasher at Work
The next news did not appear
until January of 1939. It came
from Germany where Otto Hahn
working in the Kaiser Wilhelm
Institute, established that when
j uranium is subjected to the atom
j smasher, in line with the long
dream of scientists to release at-'
omic energy, it is U-235 that is |
the agile member of the team
and supplies most of the ener
gy.
The goal is to release the “bind
ing energy” holding the atom to i
gether. The energy liberated in
the Berlin experiment was said
to be two hundred million el-1
ectron volts. It brought scient
ists all over "the world to instant ]
attention and made U-235 the
darling of the laboratories.
There are only a few places in
which such experiments can be J
conducted. Columbia University,!
equipped with a 150-ton atom
smashing machine, is one of
them. But there was no U-235 to
work with.
Isolates Substance
Then a slender young research
worker at the University of Min-i
nesota, Dr. Alfred O. C. Nier, on
ly 27 years old, filled the ga"p. He ‘
isolated what the scientists re
garded as a fine, large amount.1
He produced, in pure form, three
'one-millionths of a gram. You]
could put it in your eye without i
any discomfort, but it may very
easily win him the Noble prize.
Columbia scientists, then sub
jected the U-235 to their atom
smasher. Last week end the news
became puhlic, thanks to an ar
ticle in the Physical Review, that
in the words of a prominent phys
icist, “for the first time at atomic
reaction has been discovered that
can be commercially utilized.”
The potentialities disclosed
take on an air of wild fantasy.
To make U-235 run turbines, it
would be necessary only to put
it in water. The water, according
to the experts then turns to
steam. “It is admirably suited for
power purposes” said one scient-,
ist "because the faster you feed
in the cold water, the faster it
comes out red hot on the other
side.”
One science editor, overwhelm
ed with the possibilities, compar
ed U-235 with the "philosopher’s
stone” sought so many years by
the medieval alchemists.
But while a few ounces of
U-235 might do the world's work
and effect such an industrial re
volution as the invention of the
steam engine brought about, it
remains to produce a ounce of it.
Prof. Dempster said it is still too
early to call in the engineers, al
though the General Electric Com
pany has thrown its best tech
nical brains into it and utility
companies are showing keen in
terest.
Extraction the Next Step
The necessary ore is available
in plentiful amounts. The de
velopment waits, however, on a
method of extraction. The pres
ent cost might be comparable to
that of radium, it was said. On
the other hand, it was pointed
out that not until now have the
scientists had either the incen
tive or the knowledge to go to
work on it. Prof. Nier has produc
ed some U-235. Prof. Dempster
has produced some. The priniep
les of extracting U-235 are estab
lished.
“Now it is up to the technic
ians,” said Prof. S. J. Allison of
the University of Chicago, “to
find out how to extract it in quan
tities.”
As one final whirl on science’s
new merry-go-round, it was said
in New York that the possibili
ties of U-2'5 are so great that
the present researches might
very easily win or lose the Eu
ropean war. What plans develop
sere, it was said, will be report
?d first to the United States gov
ernment.
Lyons & Orton
Attorneys At Lr.w
Rooms 918-921 Alaska Building
Seattle, Washington
fhos. R, Lyons Ira D. Orton
CHILEAN CHILLED IN EIGHT ROLNUS
^ _____ _ _ j>[ ^, ___ .w,--- [ —r tr* — '^y
_____ 3k—
Arturo Godoy, the Chilean chall nger, is shown above in a permanent c cue'i after he was drop
ped for the last time by Champion .foe Louis in the eighth round if their fight in New York. Louis
w'as declared the winner by a te hnical kayo. Referee Billy Cavanaugh is shown as he halted
the bout
OVEN-BAKED TRAINING PLANE
This Associated Press photo shows a two-place military-type training plane, which was baked in
oven, is shown as it made its debut at Burbank, Calif. Officials of the Timm Aircraft Corp., its mak
crs, say every inch, except for the metal equipment is composed of a new aircraft material ob
tained by saturating and binding thin strips of spruce with liquid plastics. The whole is then baked.
The company says the new material is waterproof, oil proof, fire proof and 20 per cent lighter than
present airplane materials. Test pilot Vance Breese in in the cock pit just before its first test hop.
Instruction For Enforcement Of
SCHOOL TAX LAW
Four distinct remedies are pro
vided by Chapter 29 of the Laws
of 1919. -known as the School
Tax Act.
1. Where an individual liable
for the tax refuses or fails for
ten days after demand to pay the
same, he may be prosecuted as
provided in Section 6.
2. Where an employer refuses
or fails after proper demand, to
funish the school tax collector
with a true list of his employees
who are subject to the tax, or
fails to pay the collector the tax
due from the employees, he may
be prosecuted as provided in the
second paragraph of Section 8.
4. Without civil or criminal
prosecution the Commissioner
may issue a warrant to the Mar
shal, directing him to seize the
property of the delinquent and
sell the same in the manner pro
vided by law. Before this is done
a complaint under oath must be
filed, showing the delinquency.
Such warrant may be issued both
against the empoyer and em
ployee, were both in default, as
provided by Section 9.
E. B. O'Connor,
School Tax Collector
Oflicq: Resident across from
Native School. Hours: 5:30 to
7:30 p.m.
Sand and Gravel
General Ilanliti"
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