Alaska Mineral Production Last Year
Slumped $2 Mi Million From ’54 Value
(From “Mineral Industry Sur
veys,” U.S. Department of the
Interior, Bureau of Mines.)
Preliminary figures indicated
that the total value of the 1955
mineral production in Alaska was
$2!/fe million less than the 1954
value. The figures are based on
receipts of minerals at mints and
smelters and on estimates of pro
duction from individuals and
companies.
The output of three commodi
ties, gold, coal, and sand and
gravel, accounted for 89 percent
of the total value of the mineral
production. As in 1953 and 1954,
the value of the gold output was
greater than that of any other
commodity produced in Alaska.
Coal was second; sand and gravel
third; and platinum-group metals
fourth.
Although the total value of the
output of chromite, tin and mer
cury was only 3 percent of the
total value of mineral production
in Alaska in 1955, it is worthy of
note that chromite production
was more than doubled. Tin pro
duction was halved, and mercury
production was practically noth
ing in comparison with 1954.
Government Aid
Through the Defense Minerals
Exploration Administration, the
government continued to aid in
the financing of' the exploration
and search for strategic and criti
cal minerals in Alaska in 1955.
From the beginning of the pro
gram in 1951 to the end of 1955,
contracts for $1,655,793 were
authorized for projects in Alaska.
The contracts were authorized
for exploration work at 18 loca
tions for a variety of minerals—
2 for antimony, 2 for copper, 4
for mercury, 1 for nickel-copper,
1 lor placer platinum-group met
als, 3 for placer tin, 1 for lode tin,
3 for tungsten, and 1 for tungsten
lead zinc.
Contracts authorized in 1955
included one for exploration work
at Lost River lode tin mine where
EMEA projects had been con
ducted in years before 1955.
Gold Down Slightly
Gold production, based on 11
months’ receipts at mints and
smelters and an estimate for De
cember, decreased only slightly
from the 1954 output. The value
of the gold accounted for 36 per
cent of the total value of the min
eral production in Alaska in 1955.
Almost all the gold came from
placer mines.
The U.S. Smelting, Refining &
Mining Co., with its Fairbanks
unit of 6 dredges and Nome unit
of 2 dredges, was the largest
single producer of gold in Alaska
in 1955.
woman Pioneer of
CALIFORNIA DIES AT 99
SAN FRANCISCO, UP—Mrs.
Carrie M. Linders, who crossed
the Isthmus of Panama on a mule
while coming to California 99
years ago. died Saturday after a
long illness. She was 101.
P I () N E E R
WATER CO.
You Will Know
What Good Water Is
When You Try
BOURBON
SPRINGS
WATER
Call Black 24
»
Aviation Industry
Threatened by
Female ‘Invasion’
The male animal is fighting a
losing battle, if he wishes to stave
off a female invasion—in aviation,
that is, for the day has arrived
when women are achieving prac
tical equality with men in this
field.
Planes, official publication of
tfie Aircraft Industries Assn., re
ports that it all started on Aug.
11, 1906, the fateful day when
Mrs. C. J. S. Miller became the
first woman in the United States
to fly. Now there are more than
164,000 women engaged in some
phase of the aviation industry in
I the United States. About 122,000
of these women are engaged in
the actual manufacture of air
craft and another 20,000 are em
ployed by the scheduled airlines.
Some of the other “ominous”
statistics are: 11,564 active li
censed women pilots, of which 14
hold helicopter ratings; 14,138
lady members of the Civil Air
Patrol, and nearly 10,000 girls
serving in military aviation.
Delegates Debate
How to Nominate
In Tennessee Plan
FAIRBANKS, (^—Concerning
the me'hod of nomination of the
three congressional representa
tives under the Tennessee Plan,
there was feverish debate at the
Constitutional Convention Sun
day.
There was a series of speeches
in which staunch supporters of
the primary system declared they
were—in this case only—in favor
of nomination by party conven
tion Some of the speakers and
their views:
B. D. Stewart. Sitka: “The filing
date is so early it wouldn’t give
the kind of men we want . . . With
the public eye on the party con
ventions, they wouldn’t dare se
lect candidates of poor quality.”
James Hurley. Palmer: “I never
dreamed the day would come
when I would stand up and op
pose primaries. But in this case,
the party convention is the only
practical way. I’m yielding to
what I am not entirely prould of
to get the job done. The political
parties will have a chance to
prove their worth.”
Kalherine Nordale, Juneau: “I’m
convinced there is absolutely no j
way of getting the ballots out in j
time it we use the primaries. The
whole thing would be so disorder
ly and ineffective a* to destroy
the whole (Tennessee) Plan.”
Rev. R. Rolland Armstrong, Ju
neau, said he trusted the people
: of Alaska would understand the
I circumstances and judge the con
| mention’s decisions in light of
| them.
Major opposition to striking the
: provision •for primaries came from
Mildred Hermann, Jx’.r.eau, and
Rev. Maynard Londborg, Unala
kleet. The party convention sys
; tern when not backed by primar
ies tends to be corrupt, they ar
gued. Also there is strong public
j sentiment against nomination by
! convention, said Mrs. Hermann.
*
The first senators and represen
tatives to go to Congress from Al
aska should be chosen by the peo
ple, the Rev. Londborg declared,
i “If we use the party convention
| method the choice would be poli
ticians,” he said, “in the strict
| sense of the word. Instead of grass
I roots it would be brass roots.”
War Still a Threat,
Molotov Tells
Warsaw League
LONDON, l/P>—Soviet Foreign
Minister V. M. Molotov told lead
ers of the Warsaw Military alli
ance Saturday the danger of war
has not receded and said they
must strengthen their war poten
tial.
The Moscow radio broadcast
Molotov’s speech, made before a
meeting of the eight-nation alli
ance in Prague.
The Soviet foreign minister
welcomed the new East German
army into membership in the al
liance as an answer to “the inclu
sion of West Germany in aggres
sive blocs.” He re-emphasized the
Russians never will permit reuni
fication of Germany except on
their own terms. The Warsaw Al
liance was set up after West Ger
many became a member of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organiza
tion (NATO*.
“One cannot regard the danger
of a new war as having receded,”
Molotov said. He blamed this on
“aggressive military blocs and the
revival of German militarism.”
With a slap at a recent state
ment by U.S. Secretary of State
Dulles, he said:
“The people know that our gov
ernments will not start leading
them to the verge of a precipice,
senselessly subjecting their coun
tries to the danger of war.”
Plane Carrying 47 and
$8,400,000 in Diamonds
Forced to Turn Back
LONDON, Iff)—A New York
bound Stratocruiser carrying 47
passengers and a fabulous cargo
of diamonds ran into mechanical
trouble over the Atlantic Satur
day and turned back to London.
The craft landed safely with I
one of its four engines cut off. A '
heavy police detail guarded the
plane while engineers fixed a
propeller. The plane took off
again later.
In the hold of the BOAC plane
was an ordinary registered postal
package carrying rough diamonds
valued at $8,400,000. One was a
426-carat stone which diamond
magnate Sir Ernest Oppenheimer
has called the most magnificent
ever found in South Africa.
The package was mailed to
Harry Winston, Inc., New York.
Spokesman said it was the big
gest single sale of rough diamonds
ever made to one firm.
Agents Dump Big Supply
Of Wine, Whiskey, Beer
—But Don’t Say Where
EUREKA, Calif., UP>—State and
federal agents of the Food and
Drug Administration dumped a
huge supply of wine and whiskey
Saturday, but they aren’t saying
where.
They did away with three truck
loads of beer Thursday and didn’t
inform the thirsty about that
either.
How come? Well, during the
holiday floods a lot of drinkables
were under water. The adminis
tration decided it might have be
come contaminated.
Brewers, vineyards and distill
ers offered to replace the stocks
free. The suspected stuff was
gathered from all.over this area
into a Eureka warehouse to be
destroyed.
ARCTIC SANITARY
SERVICE
PHONE RED 181
iHickel Would
Back Knowland
For President
ANCHORAGE, WV-Republican
National Committeeman Walter J.
Hickel of Anchorage filed his can
didacy for re-election Friday.
Hickel will oppose Territorial
Labor Commissioner Henry Ben
son in the April 24 primary.
In announcing his candidacy,
Hickel said the Republicans of
Alaska are going to place their
support behind Senator William
Knowland of California as the
GOP presidential candidate.
Hickel’s statement followed by
a day a similar announcement by
Byron Gillam of Fairbanks, who
filed as a GOP candidate for del
egate to Congress. Gillam said he
would support Knowland in Al
aska’s presidential primary.
Hickel said:
“It is our sincere desire that
President Eisenhower again head
the Republican ticket. But in the
event he can not or will not head
the ticket, it is our desire to ex
press our preference in the pri
mary election . . .
“Therefore, we filed the name
of William F. Knowland as our
•preferential candidate. We sin
cerely believe he would make a
most sincere and able leader and
would lead us to victory in the
1956 election.
“Senator Knowland has ex
pressed himself most forcefully
in efforts to try to help Alaskans
and the Alaskan situation. . . .”
Mrs. Laura Jones Named)
U. of Alaska Registrar
COLLEGE—Dr. Neil W. Hosley,
University of Alaska dean, has
announced the appointment of
Mrs. Laura E. Jones as university
registrar, effective Feb. 1.
Mrs. Jones served with the Al
aska Native Service for 10 years,
six of them as a teacher, three as
an education supervisor, and one
year as assistant principal of the
iMt. Edgecumbe school. This year
she has been teaching in the Fair
banks schools.
Mrs. Jones is well known cm
campus. She was in charge of the
“Tent City” which housed the
ANS teachers when they attended
for the first time the 1954 Univer
sity of Alaska summer session.
Fine Job Printing at The Nugget
North Star
Tuesday Specials
PUMPERNICKEL BREAD:
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Wednesday Specials
SWEDISH LIMPA
CHOCOLATE BROWNIES
APPLESAUCE AND
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SPECIALLY DECORATED
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