Straub and Towner Build Small,
Portable-Type Dredge at Buster
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no. lb
By Sen. Howard Lyng
In 1946 following the war, two
young fellows, Elmer Straub and
Earl Towner who wanted ‘t‘o go
mining,” acquired 12 mining
claims located on Buster Creek,
10 miles back of town. Buster was ;
one of Nome’s earlier better1
known mining creeks—the days
of the pick and shovel, — and a
tributary of Nome River, coming
in from the north side directly op
posite Dexter Creek on the south.
The boys exercised excellent
judgement in their choice of lo
cation, for a 9V£ mile road wound
its way from town up through the
foothills and down into Dexter
basin where Nome’s summer col
ony maintained its numerous cot
tages—and, of course, there was
some gold, too.
Nome River is wide, shallow,
and fordable by truck at this par
ticular place, and the boys have
to date built four miles of gravel
led road along Buster Creek, lead
ing toward Lillian Creek, which
is tributary to Buster at Claim
No. 9, and which creek is also
owned by Straub and Towner.
The first few years of their suc
cessful operations were carried on
through ground sluicing and. bull
dozer methods, but in 1949 the
partners conceived the idea of
building their own small dredge,
and this is a description of the
machine they put together and the
materials with which it was ac
complished.
This portable type dredge,
which can be moved from creek
to creek with a minimum of cost,
time, and labor, floats on 140
heavy gasoline drums, standing
on end. They are held in place
by 2x12 planks around the dredge
—“wing boards.” These are held
by %" iron bolts, criss-crossing
through sides and ends. Four
12x12 timbers, rest on the barrels,
braced with 2x12 planking spiked
on as flooring.
The digging ladder is approxi
mately 27 feet long with 32 steel
buckets of 1 cubic foot capacity,
and average 45 buckets per min
ute, which is the dredge’s capa
city. The first buckets they used
were Line Belt excavator type
but were much too soft for this
kind of digging. The present buck
et line was ordered from Allison
Steel Co., of Phoenix, Ariz., in
stalled following arrival June’s j
first boat, and has worked with
great satisfaction. The maximum
digging depth is 10V£ to 11 feet
under water, and as currently
powered, handles 500 to 600 yards
a shift.
This novel and successful con
traption is a flume type dredge
with 30 feet of 24 inch sluice
boxes, and has one digging spud
just off center, so as to spread
tailings more easily. Water is sup
plied by a 3,500-gal.-per-min.
pump, powering off the dredge’s
engine. All controls are conveni
ently located in the winchroom,
which permits one man to oper
ate the dredge—an important op
erational factor. So is the average
amount of diesel fuel oil used—
one 53-gal. drum per 35 hours
of digging.
All parts are standard, to be
more easily replaced when neces
sary. Ford, Chevrolet, Dodge,
International TD-14, Caterpillar,
LincBelt and Fremont Speeder
parts, together with others, are
to be found somewhere incor
ported in the dredge. It also has
light and power—lights for night
operation, and power for electric
motors for the stern winches.
The owners stated this dredge
is made and designed for those
small creeks too deep and flat
for ’dozer mining, and too small
for a big dredge to get into. It
draws 32 inches of water when
digging.
Straub and Towner believe the
experimental phase of their small
dredge has been completed, and
that it is an unqualified success
in the field. It goes beyond that—
for it demonstrates what two
young men can accomplish thru
ambition, energy, ingenuity and a
lot of hard work. They look for
ward to many years of profitable
mining on Buster and Lillian
Creeks, and to the installation of
similar small dredges in other
areas.
SCORCHY SMITH
PATSY
HP "*<**»+**•'— I
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I'LL SAY IT AGAIN/
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Strained Relations Mark
Sheriff’s Job Changeover
On New Year’s Eve
ATHENS, Texas., UP)—The in
coming sheriff took over and the
out-going sheriff stepped down
New Year’s Eve. Both agree today
things were strained.
“He hit me once and I hit him
once,” said retiring Sheriff Jess
Sweeten.
“I knocked him down and he
pulled one of his 45s. One of my
deputies took it away from him,”
said new Sheriff J. W. Brownlow.
The two agree it happened in
front of the jail a few minutes be
fore Brownlow was to take over
at midnight New Year’s Eve.
Brownlow said he went down
to the jail that night to take over
and that Sweeten called him “a
sorry -.
Brownlow was a deputy for
Sweeten 4 Vz years, resigned last
April and ran for Sheriff himself.
Sweeten did not seek reelection.
ASTRONOMY NOTES
By OLAF HALVERSON
Looking ahead into the New
Year one may wonder which plan
et will be visible longest during
the coming winter months. The
planet Jupiter will hold pre-emi
mence during the clear winter
months.
Jupiter, our largest planet, can
be seen in the eastern sky in the
evening just below the twin stars
of Castor and Pollux. In the morn
ing, due to the rotation of the
earth upon its exis, the same
planet is seen in the western sky.
It is very easy to find Jupiter
this year because there are two
pointers, Castor and Pollux, that
point downward to Jupiter. The
tandem arrangement uf the two
stars and Jupiter is strikingly
noticeable.
A year from now, Jupilei will
have moved 30 degrees to the left
of its present position and will be
close to the most recently discov
ered planet called Pluto.
1955 Traffic Fatality
KETCHIKAN, Robert Har
ris, about 50, was injured fatally
in a New Year’s Day traffic acci
dent. Harris died in a hospital
after an automobile driven by his
brother, John, left the highway
six miles north of Ketchikan.
Nome Directory
NOME ROTARY CLUB
Ben Young, Pres.
Joe Kroninger, Secy.
Thursday Luncheon
Northwestern Alaska
Chamber of Comerce
Meets Every Tuesday Noon
BOYD HARWOOD, President
ALASKA CHAPTER NO. 1
Order of Eastern Star
Meets the 3rd Monday of each month.
Beverly Morgan
Worthy Matron
Helen Dunbar
Secretary
LESLIE A. STEVENS
PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT
486 First Ave. West. Nome. Alaska
10 to 12 aan. 1 io 5 pan.
Phone Main 82 — P.O. Box 288
ANVIL LODGE
No. 140
Charles F. Lewis, W.M.
Norvln W. Lewis. Secy.
Meets 1st and 3rt* Thursday each month.