Seward Weekly Gateway
VJ. SEWARD. ALASKA. SATURDAY. AUGUST 4.1906.
VOL. II, N<>- ________ —l
takTout gold
WITH ARASTRA
Skeen and Lechner Work kails
Creek Ore Profitably by
Crude Process.
QUARTZ CAMP LOOKS WELL
Owners of Other Claims Intend To
Begin Development Opera
tions This Fall.
Arastra. A circular mill for grind
ing quart/, by trituration between
stones attached loosely to cross
arms. (Spanish.)
This definition of a primitive Mexi
can device for extracting gold or
silver from quart/ is found in tht
glossary of Morrison’s Mining Rights.
An ocular demonstration of the pio
eess may be seen by riding to mile 2b
in one of the palace cars of the Alaska
Central railroad and mushing five
miles up a steep trail to the Falls
creek mine discovered a year ago by
John Lechner and Frank P. Skeen.
This crude mill is grinding out about
$100 a week in gold for the owners. At
present they are working the dump
left by the winter and spring opera
tions.
Hv this simple process Skeen and
Lechner are adding proof to the gen- j
crul belief that in the hills adjoining
Falls creek lie extensive deposits of
gold-bearing quart/, largely of high
grade. Shipments of nearly 40 tons
of ore from the Betty claim to the
Tacoma smelter last winter averaged
nearly !*40 a ton. Assay- of selected
fragments have run as high as $lod0 a
ton. „ _ .
Just a Big Tub
The arastra is a big round tub.
about ten feet in diameter, with a
rock bottom. ln>ide a wooden wheel
revolves by water power and attached
to two diameter timbers are heavy
stones which drag the bottom in differ
ent paths as the wheel revolves and
grind the quartz into pulp, allowing
tha gold to settle at the bottom l he
propelling power of the wheel is ot>
tained by turning a stream of water
through a pipe into cups on the out
side of the wheel.
From time to time the ground rock
is shoveled out >o that a clean-up is
necessary only at periods of several
weeks. The quartz is crushed into
gravel before it i> placed in the tank.
As the ore is -oft. free-milling quartz
although carrying some tellurium, it
is easily crushed, ami it i- the confi
dent belief of all the men interested in
Falls creek property that deposits
large enough to require a -tamp mill
will soon be uncovered.
Find Good Ledge
In the Hetty claim, which was the
original discovery, and in which a tun
nel ha» been driven about KM) feet, the '
ledge ha> varied from eight inches to
four feet in width ant: .he ore has >>» * n
of almost uniform value when taken
out in large quantity, with some pieces
which gave extraordinary assays. The
only thing which prevents it from be-;
ing a mine today is the smallness ot ,
the vein.
That the ledge is a true fissure vein [
and that large ore bodies will be found j
farther in the hill is the opinion of
Theo. Allen. Thomas M. Lane and
other mining experts. It is their j
opinion also that better results might i
be obtained by developing elsewhere. 1
The whole region is located and other
property will be developed soon. The j
Skeen and Lechner property is bonded
and development work w ill continue
on it. On the opposite side of the
creek bed is a string of claims owned
by Cameron, O’Reilly, Youngs and
McClure, who have enlisted eastern
capital and a corporation has been
formed which-will begin development
this fall.
New Gold Saver
The Bander device for saving placer
gold or rusty gold, by means of an at
tachment to the ordinary sluice box,
will shortly be installed on the Port
land bench. The device consists of a
system of riffles, placed on burlap, and
set in below the sluice, about twelve
feet from the lower end. It is opera
ted bv a water pressure, which agi
tates the sand and forces the gold into j
and under the burlap. Satisfactory
tests have been made in California,
Oregon and Idaho. In 1.700 pounds of
tailings of pulverized quartz tin ore
from Cape York the device extracted
45 pounds of tin.—Nome Nugget.
TO CONCENTRATE
I RAILROAD WORK
Construction Will Be Confined
to Within a Few Miles
of End of Track.
WILL BE DONE BY CONTRACT
Men Moved from Turnagain Arm
Camps Near Tunnels and Martin
Welch To Take Charge
It has been decided that hereafter all
j construction work on the Alaska Cen
tral shall be concentrated within a few
miles of the end of the track. Pur
suant to this order the work in the
Welch camps on Turnagain Arm has
been shut down and the men trans
ferred to the camps between 49 and 55.
As soon as details can be arranged it
is expected that Martin Welch will
take charge of all construction work
under a contract to build to the Mata*
nuska coal fields, 185 miles from
Seward. It has not been determined
yet whether he will complete the tun
nel work or begin just beyond it, on
mile 54. In either case he will have
complete charge and will keep the
work within a few miles of the end of
the rails in order that all material and
supplies may be transported to the
front at minimum cost.
This announcement was given out
officially bv General Manager Poland
j this week, the policy having been
settled previously. Accordingly all
the men who can be used to advantage
will be employed on the grading from
the end of the track to the tunnels on
mile 53. Full shifts are working in the
tunnels and the boring of the last of
| them will undoubtedly be complete be
fore some of the heavy rock work
around “the loop” can be finished.
RECEIVER TAKES
CHARGE IN ZION
l. S. Court Names Officers To
Control All Property Inter
ests of the Church.
--
By Cablo to Tbe Dally Gateway.
Chicago. July 28— Judge Landis in
the IT. S. court today made an order
appointing John I lately receiver ot all
thf property of Zion t ity. 1 he court
also ordered an election to be held in
Zion September 18 to decide by j>opu
lar vote of the Zionists whether Dowie
; or Voliva shall be general overseer.
Deacon Lewis of the Church of Zion
>aid when the orders were made: "If
. the c.' eree of Judge Landis is allowed
| r,i -car 1 Zion is uprooted. Members of
a church theocracy cannot elect a head
of the church under civil laws." The
Dowie faction will probably appeal
i from both orders.
Ell A. GAGE ENDS
DEBAUCH BY SUICIDE
Well-known Alaskan, Son of Ex
Secretary of Treasury, Kills
Himself in Seattle.
By Cable to Tbe Dally Gateway.
Seattle. Aug. 3 Eli A. Gage, son of
Lyman J. Gage, former secretary of
the treasury and one of the most noted
financiers of the country, committed
suicide last night in the Touraine ho
tel by shooting himself through the
left side as he stood before a mirror in
his room. The bullet penetrated the
heart and death must have been in
stantaneous. He had been on a two
weeks' debauch.
Gage was formerly connected with
I the Northern Commercial Company in
! the north, and had been the promoter
! of many Klondike and Alaska corpora
tions. He was a periodical drunkard.
He came here two weeks ago from
; Chicago and registered under the
name of Gorst at the Touraine, a third
class hotel, and immediately began
drinking hard. A wire came from
Chicago Monday requesting that de
tect ives be employed to make a search
for him. He learned of this fact and
becoming stricken with remorse ended
his life.
The total coal production of Euro
pean Russia in 1904 was 19,857,000
I tons.
GRAND DUKE TO DE
MILITARY DICTATOR
Czar Rejects Plan of Premier Stolypin To
Have Mixed Cabinet and Retires to Tsar
skoe-Selo—Revolutionary Committee
Expects To Order General Strike
Sunday or Monday.
- ■ —
By Cable to The Daily Gateway.
St. Petersburg, Aug. 3—'The czar re- j
jeets Premier Stolypin’s nominations
for a cabinet of men from different
factions and will appoint Grand Duke
Nicholas military dictator of Russia.
Martial law at Cronstadt was declared
today. The czar has tied to his palace
at Tsarskoe-Selo, which is guarded by
several lines of soldiers.
The failure of the revolt at Svea
borg is declared by the revolutionary
committee to have been due to making
a premature attack before plans were
fully prepared. They affirm that the
victory of the government will be
short-lived. The captured mutineers
are sullen.
The revolutionarv committee say
that the C ronstadt garrison will revolt
at a minute’s notice whenever called
out. The party is waiting to mature
its preparations fully in order to avoid
disastrous results from such precipi
tate action as was taken at Sveaborg.
It is understood that a general strike
all over the empire has been practi
cally >ettled for next Sunday or Mon
day.
The cruiser Asia, with Admiral
Birilew. minister of marine, on board,
is pursuing the mutineers, who are
headed toward Sveaborg with the
ships which were captured by the
rebels in the revolt.
Martial law was declared today at
Basin, the headquarters of the mining
and smelting industry of Northern
Russia, where revolutionary sentiment
is strong and an outbreak is expected
at any time.
Plan to Establish Republic
Kharkov, Russia, July 28— Revolu
tionists here have decided to establish
a republic early in the fall. They are
organizing military forces to be pre
pared for armed defense against the
troops of the czar.
Peasantry Drive Out Troops
St. Petersburg, July 30 Serious dis
turbances at Preskurov led to the dis
patch of dragoons there to suppress the
outbreak and arrest the agitators but
the troops were driven out of town by
the armed peasantry who rallied in
large numbers. The peasants are
building barricades around the town
to withstand a siege and say they will
defy attempts at arrest.
Revolutionists marched through the
town of Ismail carrying banners with
the device "Down with the czar!"
They engaged in a tight with Cossacks
and many were killed.
It is reported that more than half j
the towns of Southeastern Russia arc J
organizing rebellion and that the revo
lution which is said to have been
scheduled to start there is already
under way.
Near Czenstochow train robbers last
night secured $120,000 of government
funds. It is believed that the robbers
were revolutionists and that the money
was seized for revolutionary purposes.
Censor Suppresses News
It is impossible to send out details of
the revolt. The dispatches are thrown
into the waste basket by the censor.
Nothing is allowed to be printed or to
be sent out over foreign wires so far as
the government is able to prevent it.
A mob of revolutionists took posses
sion of a printing office and at the
point of guns compelled the printing
of 15,000 copies of the address of par
liament to the people. This was un-1
known to the government until the
printed copies were in circulation.
It is reported today that a serious
outbreak has taken place among the
troops at Shusha, resulting in much
bloodshed, but the censor allowed no
definite information to be given out.
Battalion Revolts
Poltava, July 30—The first battalion
of a Savasti regiment revolted today,
captured siege guns and marched to
the prison to release political prison
ers. The remainder of the garrison
was called out and fired upou the muti
neers with machine guns, killing hun
dreds. The mutiny was temporarily
quelled but the revolutionaris say it
will be started again.
Sentence Mutineers
Sevastopol. July 30—The court mar
tial which tried participants in the
i mutiny of the Black Sea Beet last No*
! vember reported today, sentencing one
prisoner to death, four to life terms of
penal servitude and thirty to terms of
! various lengths of penal servitude,
j Fifty others are given sentences of ira
prison ment.
Seaman KolT. a leader in the revolt
] and one of the most noted of Russian
revolutionists, escaped from prison
here a, few days ago, aided by the
soldiers on guard. Revolutionists
cheered frantically when the news be
came public. _
Print Hanifesto Secretly
St. Petersburg, July 31—The mani
festo adopted by the douma at Viborg
has been secretly printed by wholesale
and is being distributed in every part
of the empire. It declares that the
grand dukes, courtiers and wealthy
land owners who surround the czar
are responsible for blasting the plans
for the relief of the people which at
one time were well under way and had
the sanction of the czar. The address
concludes.
“Down with the present government
and the czar! Long live the free Rus
sian people!’’
To Arrest flembers
The public prosecutor has ordered
warrants to issue for the arrest of all
the members of parliament who signed
the address, charging them with trea
son by attempting to overthrow the
existing government. The accused
are scattering and hiding in this city
and outlying provinces.
A second manifesto was issued today
by revolutionists which declares that
rivers of blood are.about to How in the
country in order to establish popular
freedom. It urges the people to rally
to the support of their deposed repre
sentatives.
Blood Runs in Shusha
Tiflis, July .'11- Tartars on one side |
and Armenians and Russian troops oti j
the other have been engaged five days
| in a bloody conflict at Shusha and the j
j city has been destroyed by lire. The
j Tartars are striving to overwhelm the j
Armenians and Russians. Fighting]
] has extended to many other cities and j
j a dozen are burning. The area of j
I lighting ground is constantly widening,
j The Mohammedans announce their de
] termination to drive all Christians out
j oi the Trans-Caucasus.
Revolutionists Take Sveaborg
Helsingfors. Finland, August 1—The
j fortress of Sveaborg is completely in
the hands of the revolutionists this
morning, the outcome of a terrific bat
tle between the loyal array and navy
and the revolutionists,
i Hundreds of mutineers, revolution
ists and loyal troops were killed. The
rebels by gaining this strong and well
equipped fortress, are now in posses
sion of every kind of armament, with
ample ammunition. Nine loyal war
vessels lying in the harbor bombarded
the fortress after the revolutionists
gained possession, but were driven to
sea by a fierce fire from the heavy
fortress guns. The mutineers includ
ed all the infantry and artillery troops
at the fortress except four companies,
which remained loyal.
Loyal Officers Shot
The rebels held a court martial to
try the loyal officers of the fort and
all have been condemned to be shot.
Col. MatarotT, commander at Sveaborg,
was seriously wounded by a bayonet in
the fight which occurred. He pleaded
to be sent to a hospital; instead, the
rebels tied a heavy stone around his
neck and threw him into the sea to
meet a watery grave.
The uprising at Sveaborg is but the
beginning of a gigantic military con
continued on page 4)
TANANA TRAIL
FROM SEWARD
When Railway Extends a Little
Farther It Will Offer Easy
Winter Route.
WORE THAN HALF ON RIVERS
Natural Road When Snow Is on Will
Divert Fairbanks Traffic
to This Port.
When the Alaska Central reaches
Campbell Point, 105 miles from Sew
ard, this town will have a better road
to the Tanana than the government
trail from Valdez. From the end of the
track it will be shorter than the Valdez
trail and it will be smooth and much of
it level, with easy grades the remainder
of the way, so that better time can be
made and heavier loads carried over
it than over the Valdez trail, which
has been constructed*at great cost to
the government.
The potential Seward trail can be
traversed when the snow is on with
scarcely any expense to put it n con
dition. The trail will lead more than
half the way over snow-cover d river
ice as smooth as a boulevard, and the
remainder of the distance will be in
an open, flat country, except through
Broad pass, which has an easy ascent
both ways on a grade so light that the
railroad will traverse on an almost
straight line. From Seward to the
Tanana river by railroad and trail the
distance will be about 423 miles.
The Vaidez trail is computed to be
390 miles long, according to a table of
figures showing distances from road
house to roadhouse, which was pub
lished by the Alaska papers last win
ter. This trail is hilly and the gullies
get so full of “chuckholes” after a few
(Continued on page 2)
RETURNS AFTER
FURTY YEARS
—
Georgian Comes Home To find
His Bride the Widow of
Another Wan.
—
2y Cable to Tbe Dally Gateway.
Atlanta, Ga., July 30—Anderson
Pittman returned today after an ab
I sence of more than 40 years and found
; that the young bride he left is now the
; widow of another man. His wife
' heard that he had been killed in the
I Confederate army and she married
another shortly after the war. Pltt
i man states that at the close of the war
as he was on his way home he met and
{quarreled with a Confederate officer,
1 whom he killed. lie was tried for
I murder and sentenced to prison for life
1 but was pardoned a few days ago.
When arrested Pittman gave an
assumed name in order to avoid dis
grace to his family. Under that name
he was convicted and served his long
term in prison. He escaped identifi
cation and was given up by all his
relatives and friends as dead.
DEMOCRATS HAVE ROW
IN STATE CONVENTION
Unterriffied of North Dakota Enjoy
Lively Scrap but Get Through
With Business.
By Cable to The Daily Gateway.
Minot, N. D., Aug. 3—In the Demo
cratic state convention here Siver
Serumgard, a candidate for the guber
natorial nomination, charged Ger
maine Brinjolfsen with spiriting away
George Wilkinson, who was prepared
to deny the charge publicly made that
the national committee sold the Demo
cratic presidential nomination to
Parker in 1904. Senator Crafts and
Brinjolfsen had a list light on the floor
of the convention because of the
charge.
The convention nominated John
Burke for governor, indorsed Bryan
for president in 1908, declared for the
direct primary, a state railroad com
mission and referendum legislation.
A German expedition has been
organized for exploring the Pilco
mago, a tributary of the Paraguay
river, writh the object of establishing
a convenient route to Bolivia.
JOHNSON CREEK
TRAIL IN FAVOR
I __
Surveyors Lind Road oi: South
Side of Turnagain Ann
Too Expensive.
INVOLVES MUCH ROCK WORK
Reel and Odale Say Present Rome
from Sunrise to Railroad Is
Most feasible.
That the most practicable route fur
a trail from Hope and Sunrise to ti •
Alaska Central railroad is the presci
Johnson creek trail to mile is tl >
conclusion of W. H. Heel and J. J.
Odale, who were employed hv Genera/
Manager Poland of the Alaska Central
to investigate the proposed rout*- along
the south side of Turnagain Arm. At •
ter going over both routes carefully
they agreed that the Johnson creek
trail would be far cheaper, although
twelve miles longer.
Contrary to previous ideas, obtain* <
chiefly from looking at the shot ' lir.u
of the Arm from the water. R*> 1 and
Odale found that heavy rock woi k
would be necessary much of the way.
Accordingly a report will he made,
recommending the improvement of tl •
Johnson creek trail, with some sliglr
changes in the route. From Hope
will be 40 miles and from Sunrise
miles to mile .'{*> on the railroad.
Work Already Done
Messrs. Reel and Odale were < k
□ated by Mr. Poland to study tr
routes at the request of Maj. Richard
son, chairman of the Alaska road c*>i •
mission, who was here recently an
promised to expend hereafter the pi -
portion of the license fees collected in
Seward, Sunrise and Hope belon
ing to the Alaska road fund upon a
trail which will give the latter two a
good roadway to the railroad, and cor.
sequently easy communication with
Seward. Mr. Heel is an Alaska c*
.tral engineer and Mr. Odale is u
mining man familiar with the Ini*
region and with mountain road mak
ing. Mr. Reel is now on the Johnson
creek trail taking elevations and mak
ing estimates of necessary work. Mr.
Odale is in Seward and has written
his report, in which he says in part:
•*1 lind after looking over the coun
try thoroughly that the proposed beach
trail from Hope to the head of Turn
again Arm is not practical for either u
pack trail or wagon road, on account
of the many snow slides in deep gorges
that would destroy costly bridges: also
much heavy rock work and other
obstacles.
Study Trail Routes
“After finishing this work, I looked
over the route known as the Johnson
creek trail, between Hope and mile
on the Alaska Central Railway Part,
of this trail is already constructed.
Between Hope and Sunrise, a distance
of nine miles, considerable work has
l>een done by the people of those two
towns, and from Sunrise to the Lynx
creek mines, a distance of sixtec
miles, there is a good, wide pack trail
and sled road completed, which could
he made into a wagon road very easily.
From Lynx creek to the railroad, :
distance of nearly lifteen miles, acros
the Johnson creek pass, there L no
very difficult work. The only heavy
work on this route is along Bench
creek, where there is about a mile of
rockwork, and a bridge would bo re
quired across Groundhog creek 40 feet
high and 00 feet long. This would be
the only large bridge necessary on the
whole route.
“The average snow fall on the sum
mit is six to eight feet, hut taking
everything into consideration I think
this is far the best route, though it is
about twelve miles longer than the
proposed beach trail.”
Box of Gold Recovered
Fairbanks,—The Fort Gibbon box o‘
gold, which was stolen from the
steamer Ida May, was found today in
the woods on the outskirts of town by
the Northern Commercial Company’s
agent, W. C. Rodman. The box was
uninjured and none of the $10,000 was
missing. Superintendent Charles, of
the express company, had offered a
$500 reward for the recovery of the
gold on his arrival at Gibbon. Several
men are under suspicion, but no arrests
have been made.
The Northern Commercial Com
pany’s tug Alaska was burned at An
dreafski.