A Canadian Plan For Training
Prospectors And Miners Which
Alaska Would Do Well To Adopt
[ ■ ■ --
I
Territory of Alaska
Department of Mines
Juneau, Alaska, April 7, 1939
The Editor
The Nome Nugget
Nome, Alaska.
Dear Sir:
Enclosed herewith is an article
copied from a magazine, THE
PROSPECTOR, that may be of
interest to you and your readers.
The article describes a plan that
has been adopted by the Provin
cial Government of British Col
umbia for the training of needy
youths as prospectors and min
ers. In the recent report of the
Commissioner of Mines to the
Gov. of Alaska reference was
tmade to this plan and the sug
gestion was offered that it
would be one worthy of consid
eration by the Territorial Leg
islature.
It is suggested that you give
this article whatever publicity
you deem it merits and which
your facilities afford.
Yours very truly,
B. D. Stewart
Commissioner of Mines
The following article has been
copied from the April, 1939. is
sue of the magazine THE PROS
PECTOR (Vol. 1, No. 3), which
is published at Vancouver, B. C.
"Department of Mines Three
year Plan Starts in May
Progressive Scheme seeks Co
operation of Province's Mining
Industry.
By Dr. John F. Walker,
Provincial Deputy Minister
of Mines
The pan for 1939, now under
consideration, is to use the Em
ory Creek camp as a preliminary
traning base, where two months
instruction similar to that car
ried on in previous years, will be
given.
It is hoped to open the camp or.
the first of May with about 75
men, including a number who re
ceived preliminary training in
previous years. After a refresher
course of one month (which will
also include intensive study of
minerals and rocks) fifty trainees
will be selected for the advanced
course of four months, to be
spent in actual prospecting. The
fifty trainees selected will be
broken up into five groups with
an Instructor at the head of each
group. It must be remembered
that at the time they start on
this work ,they will have had a
fair to good grounding in the
practical side of their work in
so far as cooking, .sharpening
steel, and methods of surface
working are concerned. The 4
months of prospecting will in
clude intensive study of rocks
and minerals, both in camp and
the field. The trainees will
systematically cover selected
areas under the guidance of their
Instructor who, at the commence
ment of work, will take his
whole group over the area, in
structing them in tihe methods of
systematic traversing and search
ing for out-crops, the examina
tion and identification of the rock
formations found, and methods
of recording their observations.
After this preliminary exam
ination of the rock formations of
the area, the men wull go out in
pairs each day and systematic
ally cover a specified part of it.
The Instructor will accompany
a pair of men each day. Two men
will look after the camp and the
cooking, while 'the others pros
1 pect. Rotation of work will: pro
vide every man with experience
in looking after the camp, as wei’.l
as in prospecting, and will place
him under the personal super
visor! of the Instructor for part
of the time. In the event that
any thing of interest is discover
ed during the day’s work, line In
structor will then take the whole
party to that point of Interest so
that all may study it under his
' supervision
The 5 parties in the field will
| all be under the supervision of a
l thoroughly trained geologist and
the Instructors for each party of
i ten will be young geologists who
I have had at least two years of
1 postgraduate study, in addition
! to their course in mining engin
j eering, as well as several years
; experience in the field The ob
ject of this training is to drill
j the trainees in mineralogy and
geology and give them a back
ground which, if they prove to
be the right type of men, will af
ter a few years’ experience, make
them first-class prospectors
Commencing the first of June,
the base camp will be operated
'for four months as a preliminary
1 training ground, whereby 150
j young men will receive 2 months
j training along the lines previous
ly outl ined for the former opera
tion -of this camp
It is proposed to continue the
scheme for the next three years,
and next year the 50 men sent
I out on detailed prospecting will
'likely be chosen from the 150
) men to receive preliminary train
mg this year.
The whole scheme depends to
I a great extent on the coopera
I tion of the mining industry.
I There is no use training a young
j man to be a prospector unless he
j receives sufficient encouragement
I and support to make him one.
| The mining industry, or people
directly interested in mining, are
the only ones who can give him
that encouragement and support
once the Government has given
him the necessary preliminary
| training. It is believed that the
mining industry will support this
plan to the extent of employing
! at least 25 of those who go thru
the second stage of training, dur
ing the winter months and will
release them during the summer
months so that they can go pros
pecting. Employment during the
winter months should provide
them with a grubstake to carry
them through the following sum
mer. Any ararngements the train
ees wish to make with mining
companies or syndicates, apart
from the employment outlined,
will be their concern, but it is
hoped that those interested in
mining in the Province will get
behind them in s-ome way, either
by providing employment during J
the closed season for prospecting
or grubstaking them and paying
them a wage during the open sea
son sufficient to keep them dur
ing the closed season.
This may be a timely place to
point out that mines are not dis
covered overnight but that in a
country such as this where many
parts have been well prospected,
new discoveries are (likely to be
the result of painstaking work,
and if a prospector supported by
the mining industry, makes but
one worthwhile discovery in 10
years, it will more than repay
his efforts and the financial sup
port provided by his backers. For
the successful revival of prospect
ing, we must look forward to
steady work by the prospector
for years to come and must not
be discouraged if out of the work
of 25 trainees we do not make
more tihan one discovery a year.
One real mine found in ten years
| by 25 men would more than re
I pay the industry for the expense
I of supporting them.”
Have The Nome Nugget sent to
I your mining claim.
NOTICE OF
FINAL SETTLEMENT
!
In the Probate Court for the
I Koyuk Precinct, Territory of Al
aska, Second DivLsion, before Ar
thur VV. Johnson, U. S. Commis
sioner and Ex-Officio Probate
Judge.
In the Matter of the Estate of
W. H. VOLLINTINE, Deceased.
Notice Ls hereby given, that a
hearing has been set for June 15,
1939, at 2 o’clock p.m. of said day
on the Final Account of Joel
Vollintine, Administrator of the
Estate of W. H. Vollintine, de
ceased, at the office of United
States Commissioner at Haycock
in the Koyuk Precinct, Territory
of Alaska and at said hearing the
court will also enter a decree as
to who the heirs at law and dis
tributees are.
Exceptions, if any thereto
should he filed in writing in saiil
cause on or before said date
JOEL VOLLINTINE
Administrator of the
Estate of \V II Voll
intine, deceased.
J SHE KNOWS WHAT SHE WANTS — this agile Tamara Toumanova, a dancing star j
\ in Broadway’s "Stars In Your Eyes." Says Tamara: "I want to be simple, slncer*, kind and nice.” 1
Court Notes
PETIT JURY IN SESSION
When the District Court foT
the Second Division was conven
ed at 11 o’clock this morning in
the new Federal building, Judge
J. H. S. Morison, presiding, and
District Attorney Chas. J. Clas
bv examining petit jurors, as to
their qualifications, it was decid
ed to draw an additional number
of names from the jury box in
order to fill the panel, which was
done, returnable at 2 p.m. today.
Court again took up at 2 ^.m.
and the following persons were
sworn in as a Petit Jury:
Peter X. Peterson
Mrs. Herbert James
Joe F. Ost
Leonard Smith
Frank Ryan
M rs. H. C. Longley
Vincent Widney
Geo. P. Madsen
Fred W. Yenney
Verna Mickelson
Nathan Ost
Albin Poison
Grant Nelson
John Boyd
George Hopwell
Harry Hepworth
Flora Cleveland
R. D. Jackson
Ronald L. Gililis
A1 Gawn
Mrs. Ralph Kitzmiller
Mrs. Harry Nelson
Mrs. J. A. Overbaugh
Tolbert Scott
Shortly after the petit jury
was sworn in, the trial of Silas
Kamalook, charged with attempt
ed burglarly, was begun by the
selection of a jury, which is as
follows: Mrs. Ralph Kitzmiller,
R. D. Jackson, Leonard Smth.
Mrs. Harry Nelson, John Boyd,
Peter X. Peterson, R. L. Gillis,
A'bin Poison, Mrs. J. A. Over
baugh, Geo. Hopewell, Rev. Vin
cent Widney, Grant Nelson. The
ease went to the jury at about
4 p.m. and at about 4:40 return
ed a verdict of not guilty.
Petit jury panel has been ex
cused until June 15th.
The Objection
Young Lady—“I have brought
back those stockings I had from
you yesterday. They are too fast
for me.”
Shopkeeper—“To fast? What
do you mean?”
“When I walk they .run.”
“SO U R f) O U G H ”
STATIONERY
That unique and humorous
and typical Alaskan stationery—
"Sourdough Roadhouse Letter
heads and Envelopes”, have been
brought strictly uptodate, and are
now available at the Nugget oth
ce.
Save $2 by paying in advance
for your subscription.
I
George Comely
Burned to Death
This Morning
About 2:45 this morning the
Nome (ire department responded
to a fire alarm to a cabin' at the
east end of town. A man entered
the fire department and called
the night man to the door to see
what made the sky so red about
half a mile distant. It was read
ily determined it was a fire, the
siren was blown and the depart
ment made the run with the
“cat” and winter equipment.
The fire which evidently had
been burning long before anyone
noticed it, was burned to the
ground and its sole occupant
George Comely, burned to death.
His cabin is located a short dis
tance behind the Standard Oil
Warehouses back from the street
at the rim of the tundra.
Due to the extreme blizzards
and high snow banks, the de
partment was considerably delay,
ed in reaching the scene of the |
fire. The cabin is said to have
been practically consumed when
the alarm was given. Mr. Com
i
I ely’s charred remains were re -
moved from the embers.
George Comely, aged about 8-),
[ a sourdough prospector, mire:',
and cook by profession, came to
Nome in the eait y days, during
the last several years he was a
familiar character along the
water front, where each year he
would set up a few boxes and
shovel ruby sand from the beach,
cleaninp up a few extra dollars
each summer. He was a membe:
of the Pioneers of Alaska, kind
and charitable to others. His sad
ending will be regretted by his
numerous friends.
A Nice Decoy
“Jim,” said the taxi-driver's
friend “there’s a purse lying in
the bottom of your car.”
“Hush!” said Jim. “I put it in
there ar.d left the dooT open. You
have no idea how many people
will jump in for a short ride
when they see it.”
Its Always Tomorrow
"There goes McTavish the phil
anthropist.”
“Really?”
“Yes; he owns a string of bheat
ers and on the box office of each
one is a sign which reads "Free
Tickets Tomorrow.’ ”
*
)
, . 1
TAILORED TRAINMEN John Canswell (left), fire
man, and Fred O. Bishop, engineer, who'll pilot Britain's err .£
train, Coronation Scot, on its U. S. tour, set a sartorial pace for ;
Anerican trainmen as they watched train unload at Baltimore, ,
THREE HELD IN AUTO TRAILER BIGAMY ACCUSATIONS
Walter V. Thurman, 2!>. Long Beach, Calif., city tennis champion, was held on suspicion of big
amy by Long Beach police after Police Lt. C. Goutliro said he found him ..occupying an auto
trailer with the two girls, Truman is shown with the young women: Ruth Louden Thtuman, 18,
(left), and Agnes Thrush Thurman, 23. Police said Thurman married Ruth at Santa Ana, and
i Agnes in San Francisco. %