V0L 1Q VALDE*, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY,. DECEMBER 10,. 1913. NO. 54.
ARIZONA GREAT
COPPER STATE
Has Output of Million Pounds a Day
—Much Gold and Silver in
Copper Ore.
Arizona ranks first among the states
in the production of eopper, and cop
per mining is by far the mainstay of
the mining industry of the state, ac
cording to E. W. Parker, of the Un
ited States Geological Survey. The
recoverable copper content of the ores
produced in Arizona in 1912 was 365,
038,469 pounds, a million pounds a
day. The value of this product was
$60,231,377. In 1911 the recoverable
copper content of the ores produced
in Arizona was 306,141,538 pounds,
valued at $38,267,692. The increase
in 1912 was 58,89 7,111 pounds, or 19.2
per cent, in quantity, and $21,963,685,
or 57.4 per cent in value. The total
value of the mineral products of the
state in 1911 was $44,503,873; in 1912 j
it was $67,497,838, an increase of ov- j
er 50 per cent. The large increase
in the production of copper was due
, principally to the development of
steam-shovel operations on the low
grade schists and porphyry (concen
trating) ores of the Ray district, in
Pinal county, and the Miami dist
inct, in Gila county.
Second among the mineral products
of Arizona is gold, in which the state
ranks seventh. The only other im
portant mineral product is silver, in
which Arizona ranks sixth in produc- J
tion. The three metals, copper, gold j
and silver, constitute nearly 98 per
rent of the total production of the
state. The gold production in 1912 i
was 181,997 fine ounces, valued at
$3,762,210, and the fine silver produc- !
tion was 3,490,387 ounces, valued at
$2,146,588. Nearly one-third of the ;
gold output is obtained in the reduc- I
tion of copper ores, and most of the j
silver also comes from copper ores.
Arizona produces also considerable
(juantities of lead and zinc, the form
er amounting in 1912 to 3,403 short
tons, valued at $306,290, and the latter
to 4,379 short tons, valued at $604,- !
319. The total volue of the metallic j
contents of the ores produced in |
Arizona in 1912 was $67,060,350, or j
more than 99 per cent of the total !
mineral production of the state.
Gold Dredging in Alaska.
Thirty-eight gold dredges were op
erated in 1 Alaska in 1912, compared
with 27 in 1911, according to the j
United States Geological Survey. In ;
addition to these, a dozen or more i
were in various stages of construe- !
tion. It is estimated that these
dredges handled between 3,200,000 and '
3,600,000 cubic, yards of material, re
< overingg old to the value of about
'-'2,200,000. ;
GOOD IRK AT
THE POSTOFFICE
Heavy Mail is Sorted in Twelve
Hours—Local Office Effi
ciently Handled.
Postmaster J. D. Jefferson and
hi:; clerks are proud of the record
they made yesterday in sorting the
heavy mail which arrived on the
steamer Northwestern.
Postmaster Jefferson, N. E. Ohlsron
and Miss Carlson commenced work at
3:30 a. m. yesterday and finished rort
oing the thirteen days mail by 3:30
p. m.
It is optional with the postmaster
to wsU until regular office flours to
commence the work, and after hav- ,
ing worked eight hours then to quit ;
or do as was done yesterday—work ,
half the night and all day.
The local postoffice is probably the
most efficiently handled of any in .
Alaska.
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FAIRBANKS MAIL CONTRACTS HELD UP;
DEPARTMENT MAY ASK FOR NEW BIDS
Northern Commercial Company Refuses to Keep Equipment Ready In Event of
Blockade On Cordova Road When Mail Must Be Sent Via Valdez—
Assert Cost Is Prohibitive—Valdez Route Quickest.
Word has been received in Valdez |
that the government will re-advertise j
for bids for the delivery of mail from I
the coast to Fairbanks and other in- j
terior points. It is stated that the I
Norhern Commercial company, the -
present contractors, have refused to
offer a bid und r the present condi
tions, which provide rhat in the event
of the Copper River & Northwes'ern
railroad being blocked the mail must
be sent via Valdez. The officials i
claim that the regulations require that !
the contractor must maintain two !
equipments to carry the mail, one ,
from Valdez, for use when the wind j
and snow and weather conditions
shall have made it impossible to op
erate the Cordova road, and the other
for use from Valdez. e
This, it is claimed, is too expensive
and the attorneys of the Northern
Commercial and the lobbyists employ
ed by the company are working with
the postal department at Washington
to allow for a bid only from Chitina,
thus placing all responsibility for the
non-delivery of mail at the Chitina
end of the railroad upon the govern
ment.
The contracts were c lied for last
summer and it was expected that they
•\< uld be announced a month ago, and
since that time much speculation has
:etn indulged in by those interested
m t why the contracts were not let.
Information received on the last boat
would indicate that the N. C. com
pany have no intention of carrying
the mail from Valdez if it is at all
possible to get out of it.
While the mail was delivered to j
Fairbanks via Valdez the longest any
mail was en route after leaving the
coast was nine days and a few hours,
while, many and long delays have oc
curred each year via the Cordova
route because of the numerous block
ades on the railroad. Every year
since the road has been in operation
the storms which sweep down the
Copper river have stalled the mail,
until the protests of last year were
heeded and in the contract for the
delivery of mail the coming four years
the department insisted that when
mail cannot be sent via Cordova it
must go via Valdez.
The people of Fairbanks not con
trolled by the N. C. company have
insisted upon a quick delivery of mail
and are expected to protest against
any attempt on the part of the interior
trust to bottle up the mail for the
sake of securing dividends for stock
holders of the Northern Commercial
company.
Information has come from Chitina
that Supt. Rockafellow has received
orders from Volney Richmond, man
ager of the N. C. company, not to
spend one cent on betterments of the
equipment and stock until the pres
' ent controversy is settled.
It is very doubtful if the depart
ment will recede from the stand they
fiave taken, as they have been sub
jected to much well merited criticism
for permitting the mail to be diverted
via Cordova, and they will no doubt
re-advertise the service and eliminate
the Cordova route altogether.
By dividing the contract so that the
route would be from Valdez to Pax
sons and from Fairbanks to Paxsons,
the department would get lots of bids
from competent contractors for both
routes, and a great saving would be
made in the cost, as the monopoly
of the Northern Commercial company
would be broken.
The bond could be safely reduced ;
to a sum of say $20,000, which would
be plenty large enough to keep out
straw bidders.
Postmaster General Burleson an
nounced through the press the other
day that he intended to put the Post
office department on a business ba
sis and here will be a good place to
begin with the Alaska service.
When interviewed by a represen
tative of the Prospector, Postmaster
Jefferson stated that no word had been
received with regard to the many
other contracts centering in and
about Valdez in which this commun
ity is interested.
GOOD OLD WORLD
SAYS NOME PIPER
People Generous to Citizens of the
Northern City When Storm
Wrecked the Town.
Nome is today having an example
of the goodfellowship of the world .n
which we live, says the Nugget. Nome
needed help and sent up a cry to her
brothers outside. The response was
prompt and has been generous. No
body stopped to investigate, nobody
waited to prove that what we said
about our need was true. Nobody
stopped to inquire how much. We
just sent word to our brothers that
we needed help and our brothers went
down into their pockets and sent the
help along.
It would not be at all surprising
if a good many of the people who
have contributed to our relief funds
had never heard of Nome before the
disaster came upon us. It would not
be at all surprising if a great many
of the people who have contributed
and are still contributing to our help
ever stopped to thing where Nome
was or what had. happened to her.
They simply know that some where
were fellow men and women in dis
tress. That was enough and the hand
went into tlfe pocket and Nome’s
needs were met.
Where is the misanthrop who can
wallow in the fallacy that the world
is all wrong? Where is the blighted
soul that can find nothing better to
do than grumble at things as they
are? Surely not in Nome. We have
had a too instant and spontaneous re
sponse to our cry for help to ever
doubt again the bigness of the aver
age human heart. We, if any peo
ple, should believe in human nature
as generally a pretty fine line of goods.
There isn’t any shoddy in the kind
of man who hears that somewnere
.on the outskirts a brother has fallen
and needs help and without waiting
for details, without, stopping to in
quire how much is he hurt, goes down
in'o his pocket and gives what he
can afford to send assistance to the
stricken one.
There are some people who try to
make out of misfortune, there are
some people who, because they need .
a dollar will ask for five, and some j
of these will not be satisfied when
I
I
they get the five but will grumble be
cause it is not ten. There are not
many of that kind and fortunately
Nome is blest in having mighty few
of them.
We have been treated very gen
erously by our brothers and we are
thankful to them and because they
are our brothers we will do the same
for them if ever t' ey need help.
When we find the world filled up
with the kind of people who have,
without s question, come so gener
ously to the help of Nome, who can
doubt that it is a pretty good old
world?
We are not speaking of the pro
fessional politician, like the honor
able chairman of the Appropriation
committee of the House of Represen
tatives. But of just plain people who
fortunately make up most of thee
world and who do not count on what
capital, political or otherwise, they
can make out of doing a kindly and
charitable deed to a brother.
Gold Placers in Alaska.
Since mining began in Alaska in
1880 the gold placers of the territory
have yielded 7,488,491 fine ounces ot
gold, valued at $154,800,875. These
mines have also produced 1,652,016
fine ounces of silver, with a commer
cial value of $960,743, according to
A. H. Brooks, of the United States
Geological Survey.
The gold placer mines of Alaska
are estimated to have produced in
1912 gold to the value of $11,990,000.
Railroad development is the thing
that is most needed, and it is not to
be expected that under present indus
trial conditions there will be any sta
bility of placer gold output in the
territory. So long as the high cost
of transportation prevails, the pro
duction of placer gold must depend on
the exploitation of bonanza deposits,
for these alone can be expected to
yield profitable returns.
Boa Constrictor Picked as Banana.
BELLEVILLE. 111.—When Irving
Veigel, a clerk In Max Zimmerman's
grocery store, received an order for
a dozen bananas today he went to \
new bunch to pick them out. He
noticed that his hand touched some
thing cold very time he picked a
banana .from t e bunch, but it was
not until he was reaching for the
twelfth that a head shot forth and at
tempted to strike him.
The boss was summoned and to
gether they carried the bunch into
the back yard, where a 40-inch boa
constrictor was discovered colled
around the stem. The reptile was
killed. Irving says :tuat some other
clerks will pick the bananas beret,
after.
ENGULFED TO NECK IN A
WAVE OF MODESTY
ST. LOUIS.—Little old St. Louis
today is engulfed to the neck in a
wave of modesty. Ordered to display
no paintings, pictures or statues in
the nude, prompters and managers of
cafes and restaurants have dressed
them, and weird sights meet the eye
of the patrons of these places.
In one down-town cafe Venus wears
a pair of Diaphanous trouserettes, and
the Lady with the Goose is garbed
in a slit skirt, the slit extending per
ilously close to the lady’s neck. In
another cafe, where the proprietor
boasted a really handsome group de
picting Pan piping to a bevy of “al
together” woodland nymphs, Pan has
been made to don a specially made
pair of overalls and the girls are
dressed up in pajamas, nighties and
Mother ubbards. "The Sleeping Beau
ty,” who has for years reposefully
slumbered on a slab in another cafe
unclothed, now wears a made-to-order
policeman’s uniform. The proprietor
said he could think of no more fit
ting garb for a sleeping figure.
Still another cafe manager in whose
place was a bronze figure taken from
the now famous “September Morn,”
has dressed tne figure up in a short
white linen garment that comes in
pairs. A statue of Bachan, the origin
of which was refused by the Puri
tanically inclined of Boston and now
disports herself in the Metropolitan of
New York, now wears a complete mo
toring outfit, including goggles and
veil. The infant she holds in her
arms wears that one garment which
has come to be a necessity in baby
hood.
Council Meeting Tonight.
A meeting of the town council will
be hell this evening at 7:30 to con
sider city lighting contracts. All per
sons interested and citizens general
ly are requested to attend.
E. E. RITCHIE, Mayor.
Leslie’s Weekly of the issue of No
vember 20th has several large photo
graphs of Valdez and Fort Liscum re
produced and printed upon the reverse
side of the cover page. The soldiers
at Fort Liscum aye shown in an am
bulance drill in’ the winter. Valdez
is shown in summer and winter garb
and a picture of a pack train on^fi
Valdez-Fairbanks government road.
Two views of Seward are also shown.
The steamer Cordova was at Had
ley Dec.' '8th loading 250,000 feet of
lumber. While in Prince 'William
Sound the captain reported eevere
storms. The steamer took 2,300 tons
of ..copper, ore-* from Sound pointy .to
Tacoma.
FREIGHTER LEAVES
FOR THE INTERIOR
W. A. Black, Nome Transportation
Man, Starts for Chitina With
Bobs and Double-enders.
\V, A. Black, the freighter, left Val
dez this morning with ten head of
stock for tne interior. Mr. Black will
go direct to Chitina fiom here. He
has six bob sleds and a dozen sets
of double-enders. The bobs will be
taken in light and the feed and sup
plies for the outfit will be hauled on
the smaller sleds, as the road ha>
never been broken this winter for bob
sleds. The trail over the summit has
been broken by the McIntosh teams,
which are returning to the coast after
delivering supplies to a number of
roadhouses and also having taken a
number of small prospecting outfits to
Tazlina, from A'here they will be tak
en to the Nelchina by the mushers !
with dog teams.
The Black stock will be used in j
freighting from Chitina to the Chisana [
and also from Valdez to the Nelchina
and Chisana. i
I
Body Petrifies in Nine Years.
BALTIMORE.—When the body of
Patrick Dugan wa-i exhumed for re
interment in another cemetery, it was I
found to have become petrified. Its
weight was estimated at more than
600 pounds. The face and hands were
a light gray, while the < lothes, which
also were petrified, were several
shades darker. Dugan was buried
nine years ago.
Announcement.
The City Ex r ss have arranged to
run a slide at the Orpheum Theater
giving all the lat st news of the
boats, thus keeping the people posted
regarding marine movements.
Louie Larson, the prospector, re
turned to Valdez yesterday from his
property on Knights island suffering
With a boll, which has opened on his
hand. The member was giving, him >
much pain and reqiflred immediate ,
medical attention, therefore Louie and ,
Eli, his brother, returned to town at- j
ter having done part of the annual I
assessment work. They have con
tracted to have the balance of the
work done immediately.
MINER FALLS IN
BOILING WATER
Dies Two Hours Later From Effects
of Scalding—Doctor Too Late
to Relieve Pain.
FAIRBANKS. Nov. 24—Shortly be
fore quitting time Saturday afternoon,
Thomas Overland, an operator on No.
8 below Fairbanks creek, fell off a
platform, while working in a shaft,
into a hole containing boiling water
and died from his injuries about two
hours later. Dr. C. E. Danforth, who
was summoned soon after the accident
happened, arrived about a half hour
after the man's death and expressed
the opinion that the injured man had
died of heart failure, brought on by
the sudden shock, and after making
an investigation stated that he did not
think an inquest would be necessary.
Overland and a partner, John Pet
ersen. were sinking a shaft on the
property on which they had a lay and
were thawing the bottom of the hole
by flooding it with boiling water which
was heated by steam. The unfortun
ate man was working on a. platform
a short distance above the bottom of
the shaft and in some unaccountable
manner was knocked into the boil
ing water which was about 8 or 10
inches deep. It is thought, however,
that the accident was caused by some
falling dirt.
! He was soon taken out of the boil
J ing water and after being assisted out
I of the shaft the injured man was able
j to walk to the home of William Ger
! bracht on the upper end of the claim,
; where he was given assistance until
i the arrival of a doctor. It was found
| that he had fallen face downward ik
: the hot water and received sever*
, burns about the face, arms and legs.
; He must have swallowed some of the
; hot water as the inside of his mouth
appeared to have been burned and he
I was unable to talk distinctly. After
: he had received treatment he walked
! back to his own cabin and walked
; about the cabin just a short time be
I fore he died. Those who were with
! him at the time of death stated that
| he died quietly and suddenly,
l Overland was 27 years old and a
j native of Norway. He came to Arner
| ica when he became of age and ar
i rived in the Fairbanks district about
j three years ago, since which time he
j has been working on Fairbanks creek.
! A short time ago he took a lay on 8
| below and was sinking a shaft for the
j purpose of taking out a w'inter dump
at the time death overtook him. A
brother who resided in this district
a few years ago now resides in Mon
tana and has been communicated
with regarding the death. The body
] of the deceased man was brought to
| Fairbanks yesterday and unless in
I structions are received to the con
l trary, will be given interment in the
\ local cemetery.
WIRELESS RATES
IRE REDUCED
_
Marconi Telegraph Company Make a
Big Cut in Rates From Ship
to Land Stations.
The Marconi Wireless Telegraph
Company of America, operating the
wireless on all steamers in connec
tion with the land stations maintain
ed by the company, have announced
a cut in rates.
A message of ten words can now
be sent from any of the steamers to
the shore station at Seattle for 70
cents, where it formerly cost $2.20
| a message. This, however, applies
only to messages sent from the ship
direct to the shore station of the
company and if relayed via the gov
[nrifmertt stations or land lines extra
charges are made.
John Gross is in town today.
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