SEWARD GATEWAY
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;,lL n X(, SEWARD, AIjASKA; SATI'KPAV, SKI'TF.MHKK a;. 11105._Wliui.K NUMBER >
ACTIVE TIMES AHEAD
TOR CENTRAL ALASKA.
ventral Alaska will In* doiiijr tliinp*
t . \i summer. It w i:l Continue »** do
• kuos fruni that tint* on. In other
words, the part of Alaska hitherto the
m.wt isolated because e- the peculiar
ditlieultv of in.irress and egress, hut
known for years tom utain the greatest
varietv of minerals in i tf-fe quantities;
w ill then have its impairs by railroad
connee’ion w ith tide water at S» ward.
Preparations are now at work to
handle the stream of prospectors hx- •
parted to jviur into Centra! Alaska next
war as never before. Aside from the
industrial bureau established by the
Alaska Central KailwaV Compute at
Seattle, all of the lartfe steamship:
companies enira/ed in tie* A <a:
trade are preparing to train an eat ay
• w»t r ; ee t he Sea t S .* art* .
ft,.; h tie Caeitle Co <s t .nip:any and
the Alaska Com me re Company plan
to place fast sdeamer* uvct i.»*{ween
Seattle and Seward, makinir no other
The Cateway is able to announce on
authority that at !« ast t w o com an Minus
« uniers of 2,noo . icity and ac
<*o;nn e. :u 1 ns for -*oo oass* timers each
will he added to the Svattle-S.-wai’d
run hv the outside route not later than
May 1. next year. b> sides the
v. -uearners now regularly etm'aifed
1 i; . id • route. 'Idles, r W steamers
.—e s.-hed ; to rover the 12-‘U miles
to S wa al in four nights
I
am! Urn • via;
Ti.e ueeonmustations and shot*-* nod
lln;* afforded 1*\ the improvi >1 hunt
- r\ie.- w ill alone offer strong induce 1
i : •!;!«. to hninigration, hut the vast ex
t»*iit of unprospeeted country through
the Kcnai peninsular and the valleys'of
th • Susitm. Matanuska, Knik. Yentna.
t hulitna :tml Talkeetna, till known to
carry minerals in i {eh quantities; are,
now attracting attention on the outside
ubote anv other part of Alaska.
AH of thoSe valleys will be accessible
every day In the year for the tirst time
as soon ;ts the rails of the Alaska
Central railway round Klwood point.
11td miles north of Seward; The rail*
w.tv company prd|K>$os to have trains
at 1 . >t to the head of Knik
,\ | pi, and possil>!\ beyond, hv next fall,
tCat thoiisamls who go in next
> iiiier and make miner;!I and hotne
- >d i -a; ion* will not be under tht
i ci s- \ of coining out before the
winter s fre /e-up, as heretofore, hat
w ill have their provisions and mining
equipment laid down at any point along
the line. The work of developement|
will then go forward without intorup
tion.
Another phase in the evolution t>f
things brought about by the direct boat
service between Seattle and Seward
will be to make Seward the head
quarters for all of the coasting trade
ns far west as Dutch Harbor, und as
far east as Kayak. Seward's position
as the commercial, linanci si and manu
facturing metropolis of Central and
Southern Alaska is at this early stage
fast guinir.g recognition.
Jdr.es 0. Bu/urj Arrive*
>. 1 .uz mi..» pi > minei.f mining
man of Seattle, who is inu res! d ;U
Litoueh*- ami at Port Pick, arrived m
the liertlu. He will go tm :t <«nce to
Port Pick to remain : some time
ookirm after his copper op 11 m tlmiv.
He has a force of men at Woi < .v.th
» achimry.
t'.e ' ge Mover cam* in ..from '•mus,
.» ..»p .: t!«t is s(T|\ 1 i ■_ at • M c
* N .«• v. Mr. Moyer isi>u ip sc .:«•
v’t-r iroporties at S .ris. .
steal m&i
By Cable to the Daily Catca/av
Seattle. Sept. 22 —Knglne*rs fu; thej
‘ Northern Pacific and Hr* at Northern
i tilroad companies have begun survey
eg for a new railroad line down the
n«a*th bank of the Columbia river from
Ken wick to Vancouver, and from there
across the river to Portland. It is
stated on authority that work will be
gin upon the lineassoor ;o It is located
and the right of way seemed, and that
construction will b* rushed with al*
possible speed.
This is part of the tight between Hill
I :snd Harriman for northwestern busi
( j • ss. It is well understood that Harri
Iimin has been planning extensions of
In ion Pacific and Oregon Short Line
l tracks through Washington and Idaho;
*aml that an early move would be to!
build down the nort.i bank of the
Column a in order td control that ter
ritory and make it tributary to a line
which he is credited with irithnding td
build to Puget Sound. Preliminary
surveys have already been made by
i Harriman.
At Kougarok this fall L. R. Hare
v li begin driving a tunnel 761 feet
’ >et through s did quartz in order to
* sn the course of the Kougnrok river.
T n accomplishing this unusual feat qv
«r three and a half miles of river will
' • • drained and a water pressure of 2P*
*et will be secured at the lower end
i |: the tunnel.
j \ The Seward Tin Mining Company.
f*hich i> imposed of well known citi
i us of Nome, owns numerous claims
i. the York country. This company
ilipped out 400 [Hiunds of tin ore to the
I rtland exposition. one voecc w«.:gh
W 276 pounds. *
J. f. O'Brirn in from Sunrise
.i. T. O'Brien came in from Sunrise
!a*t night, ami is taxing at the Mc
X< ilex until the Bertha returns, when
he will go to Seattle. Mr. O’Brien
came upon the Bertha earix in August
to investigate some placer claims on
Turnagain Arm. He will be back
again next year.
Heavy order* !>>r **,«t.-lard *teel rails
have been plat* . with the *teel mills
t»y ra:liifad companies within the past
le v weeks.
join m 13 mm
V1dn> Prospectors Going to Scene of
r.cw Gold Strike.
A large number of prospectors have
gone up the Y.*ntna river from around
Sum* *e and Hope, a* well a* *evera
i: an Seward. Other*are preparing to
go later in the fall. Many of them
1 prefer to xvait for the *no" as packing
Vill he easier that way. and men can*
! not get in noxv in time to do much
i work before winter;
The Yentna *trike is alwuit 1»*<> miles
dwxve Susitna station, which is twenty ^
! miles from the mouth of ttie Susitna j
river. Men going in go up the Susitna
and Vent ha river in small boats. A
man on the Sus’itna has a small launch,
j on which he can haul seven or eight
i tons of freight, and he is said to have
;>een dding a thriving business for some
time. A fhajority of the men going in
have theft* own boa*s.
A man just flbwn frbm the inlet says
that many men haCe gone from there
up to the Yentna stblftb with insufHc
ent supplies of provisions. It is known
that several have gohe from Seward
illy supplied. Thi? is' Srtid by those ac
(ptaihted vHth the situation to he Jtl:
! must tantamount to sPicldb. Thfc’ man
mentioned Said today:
**I am sati*fied that the Yentnit
*trike is a good one and that the dis,J
trict is likely *o prove a great camp,
but men ought to understand the win
ter hardships of a new camp. 3 he j
risk* are filways greater than in an
old camp.’ when* there i* plebtx'* of grub
and a man ban always live. IP a new 1
;camp evert the foiv-r’lghted ones only
take enough for themselves because of
the difficulty of packing.
**lf the Yentv* camp is'an extensive
one, as all account* indicate; there will ’
lie plenty of PpiKirtunity for prospect
or* in theiV next spring. 'l’he time go
will be just before the Break-up in the1
hutb’r part of the wiraCr.”
HEAVY BUSINESS
ON CABLE LINE
Alaska Wires Overburdened vvith
Messages and Operators Work
ing long Hours
By Cable to the Daily Gateway
Seattle. S.-pt. 20 The government
cable to Alaska is doing an extruordi
n;iry business'. During the past twenty
four hours more t hail a.ooo messages
have been tiled for transmission at all
points, ineluding tin 'and lines. The
other forces at the n'lat stations have
Keen working night and day.
Much of the increase is due to the
development of the Tanana country.
Merchants there tire ordering the
largest sticks ever ordered in any one
season for tiny ptlrt of Alaska, to he
rushed in for winter use. The new
Kantishna district helps materially to
swell the demand for supplies going to
ilie Tanana and incidentally the cable
business.
The extension of the cable to Sew
ard litis added greatly to tile business
on the line up the coast beyond Sitka.
The Seward oilier has done a heavy
business from the s’art.
At tie' present time the Alaska cable
is worked to the limit. Congress will
be asked at the forthcoming session to
make an appropriation for tin* installa
tion of the duplex system, by which
tile cable can transmit twice the vol
ume of messages it now carries.
Rails will Reach that Point in a
Da) or two and Grading
Proceeds Rapidly.
Track-laying on tin* Alaska Central
has e \ j i ..reeding steadily all "• ek.
The rails are now laid nearly toShallow
creek, about 35 miles out. and the
work will continue until mile 40 i->
reached. Some grading work S'1
necessary on the next live miles and
several weeks "ill he required to linish
it. That "ill he the limit of track
laying this fall because heavy rock
work lies between mile 45 and the
tunnels.
Rock work is the rule, irt fact, for
tin* next sixty miles hr pond 45. At
least 1,000 men will he steadily em
ployed on those sixty miles, including
the tunnels on mile 52. and a larger
number if they can he secured. It is
expected to complete the grading of
the sixty miles, including the tunnel
boring, by early summer so that the
track can be laid there with a rush.
Beyond mile 105 to Knik Arm the
grading is mostly easy. The latter
point is 125 miles from Seward. .1. B.
Cameron, engineer of construction,
stated a few days ago that track ought
to he laid to Knik Arm within one year,
and very likely it might be done
sooner.
The actual work of boring the ttfri
nels will begin within a week or two.
The machinery is expected on the
Dirigo, which is nearly due in Seward.
As soon as the machinery can be taken
up and installed the work will cbm-1
tuence with a large force of men.
Makes Niagara Look Small
The most sublime cataract in the !
world was discovered last year on the !
Ignaza river, which partly separates j
Brazil and Argentina, it far surpasses!
Niagara and Zambesi Falls, ft is in
the midst of an almost impenetrable
forest. 1,000 miles by boat from the
nearest village or settlement. The
precipice over which the river plunges
is 210 feet high, that of Niagara being
107 feet. The cataract is 12,122 feet
wide, and it is estimated that 140,000,
ooo tons of water plunge o\Tr it per
hour, or abotff tv?ice as much as
Niagara.
-• . I
The citrus crop of Southern Cali
fornia this year promises to he a
record breaker.
! 1
BIG COPPER STRIKE
News of u rich copper strike fifty miles north of Knik rein-lied Seward t<
I day in a letter from I’hil Hickey, who has several parties mtt prospecting h
the Knik :tnd Talkeetna mountains. Mr. Hickey is associated with J. D. Car
! n il of Seattle and other capitalists. One of their parties lias la-eii prospect in-.
all summer in the country north of Knik Arm. trying to locate the origin •>!
verv high grade copper lloat louud in several of the streams thereabout.
The letter from Mr. Hickey announcing the strike is to a business associate
ill Seward. The details of the strike and tin exact location of the vein arc urn
given. The letter simply states that it is fifty miles north of Knik.
The chief importance of the strike is its confirmation of the theory held b
I many prospectors that a copper licit extends norihtfilrd frdm ha louche aim
Seward through the Kenal peninsula, the Knik mountain?, tin* Talkeetna
mountains and the Alaskan range, fbr a distance of Several hundred miles.
Copper lloat of a high grade has fbr several years been found in many o'
| the streams of that territory. When the lloat Has been traced to it* source,
the ore bodies have in every base developed into rich mint >. The I .a Tour •
mini-, forty miles bast of Seward, is said to babe 10,000,000 tons of ore in sight,
some of it running it-* high as *28 per cent copper. The average of it - ore ship
pfd to the Tacoma -’tm-lter; including much of the country rock, t uns !)..* i>- ,
cent, y ielding a net profit of $20 per ton.
This summer two copper ledges have been discovered on the eastern sid<
uf Resurrection bay: one near the entrance anti the of her direct !y oppo
| Seward. Tests have proven them to he essentially tin-same grade of copper : -
t he La Touche.
The striking of the ore body at the Ready Hullion mine, fifty miles north
1 of Seward, six weeks ago. waS an Important step in further establishing the cn
i tent and direction of the ore belt: I tie Heady Hullion on- assays as high a
28 per cent and the average of the tbur foot vein seems’ to hold up to about IT
; per cent.
The Ready Hullion ore. the orb from tic- t<vo veins discovered on Resur
rection bay and the La Touche ore are >o mueh alike in all essentials that only
j an expert eottld detect the ditTercnoe, if any exists.
The float found for the last three years in the streams north of Knik Arm
; is identically the same as the float which led to the discoveries ol tin* La
Touche, the Resurrection properties and the Ready Hullion. It is tlu refor -
accepted bv copper prospectors now in Seward that toe new stride ninth ■
Knik is of tlie same <|uality as the others. It is the higiiest grade of silicon. -
ore known.
Only last week copper float was found in a creek near mile H by grader
on tin Alaska Central. A score or more nf m-os|>oeto.v nm- -.w - 'irelilng m
' tin- outcropping from which the float came. Copper lloat has also been tom:
during the summer in several streai/i- flowing into tin- nor h -idc (|f I urn.igat
Arm. J
Kxperienced copper prospectors familiar with the whole field express the b •
lief that within a few years Seward will he the center of the richest and nio-t
extensive copper mining and smelting industry in either hemisphere, lie
abundance of siliceous ores in dose proximity to the high grade coking c >
of the Matamiska valley, with the Alaska Central Railway traversing the co;
and i upper bells and connecting them with tide water, produces a combination
of favorable circumstances unknown to any other copper district.
Later information about the copper strike north of Knik Arm places it (> i
the north branch of Ka-liwitney river, a few miles aho>othe crossing of that
stream by the Alaska Central survey. The high grade ot the ore and the im
■ portance of the strike are fully confirmed.
srmm bertha in
Brings General Cargo and Thirty
Passengers
Steamer Bertha, Captain Knudsen.
arrived in port at 3 o'clock a. m. Thurs
day with thirty passengers and about
HOP tons of general freight, partly for
Seward and tin* remainder for Sel
dovia to be transhipped for Turn
again Arm for railroad uses*. Her
cargo included the heavy lumber for
the sewn*. It required all day to
discharge her Seward freight and she
did not sfiil westward until evening.
This is the Bertha’s first trip to
Seward since early in August. She;
Changed runs last month with the
Portland in order to become the
regular mail steamer of the Alaska i
Commercial Company which is
Scheduled to sail from Seattle j
the 10th of each month. She left \
Seattle a day late. September 11. and
came through in a few hours over nine
days, although she came bv way of j
Sitka and stopped at every landing on'
the inside passage which has a post
| office. Since the Bertha was over
hauled early in the sufnm*»r she has
been the fastest boat on the inside [
passage to Seward aird she has officer*;
; and a crew who know' how to discharge
■ freight rapidly.
The Bertha sailed west Thursday
evening at (1:45 for SeldoOifi! end Kodi
ak island. She has edns’iderifble cargo
to discharge at Selddvqi. Nearly all of,
it for the railroad ift ri urriagain Arm.
She will be back about Monday morn- l
ing. __
The schooner Silver Wave, which
was wrecked several years ago at
Point Hope, was purchased by several
northern whalers, who have succeeded j
in getting her afloat. She was over,
hauled by the revenue cutter Bear and
1 was given a permit until she could re-,
turn to Nome and be entered at the
custom house. She is engaged in coast
I trading in the Arctic.
EIGHTEEN MILES
By Gable to the Daily Gateway
Portland, Ore.. Sept. 22—Prof. Bald
win's airship carried a message todax
from the exposition grounds to Van
couver Barracks, a distance of nine
miles, and returned safely, making tin
round trip in forty minutes.
The journey was made without mi—
hap and-both departure and return
were witnessed by immense crowd-..
The progress of the ship was watched
by many persons with field glass*-,
ro m high buildings, who agree that
her course was remarkably true.
THINK THEY KNOW SMITH
Inlet Miners Beleive Drowned
Man was at Sunrise.
The bel-ilf is general ground the up
per inlet region that Fred Smith, who
Was ttrowneu from a raft In the Matu
nuskfl river irt the latter pttrt of Aug
ust,- was “Sunrise” Fred Smith, who
prospected in that locality several year^
!<gt>, leaving there in 1902. The des
cription of the man gifen by T. 1*.
Murdock, who was with him on the
raft, is said to be an excellent descrip
tion of the man known at Sunrise.
Murdock says that Smith told him lie
was well acquainted with the entire
region* having spent some time there.
George W. Palmer, postmaster at
Knik, and for many years a post trad
er there, writes to the Gateway that
it is his opinion that Murdock,s drown
ed companion was the Fred Smith who
worked a claim on Lynx creek near
Sunrise, several years ago.
Felix Pedro, the discoverer of Pedro
creek, the first of the Tanana creek>
upon which pay dirt was found, left
for his old Lome in Italy recently to
get married there.