#i'ntarJi Daily (Batiuuay
MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOLUME XXVIII. NUMBER 173.
SEWARD, ALASKA,
TUESDAY, JULY 26, 1932.
PRICE TEN CENTS
OPERATIONS IN THE
CHICKALOON AREA BE j
MED IN SPRING!
FINANCIER SPENT WEEKS AT
CAMP; APPARENTY WELL
SATISFIED
“We expect to have sufficient
funds in the near future and if
drilling operations are now carried
forward this fall, we intend to pre
pare the plant for early operation
next spring,” stated Capt. Ivan L.
Peterson, head of the oil drilling
company at Chickaloon, who left
Seward a few days ago enroute to
his San Francisco home and office.
Later, he goes to New York.
During the past several weeks
the damage to the boiler and pow- j
er house, caused by the exceedingly j
heavy snowfall of last winter and
which caused the roofs to collapse,
were repaired and rebuilt and are
now better than ever. It is a cer- |
tainty a repetion will not occur. All
of the machinery was thoroughly
overhauled including the electric
equipment, pumping station and
other auxiliaries.
The hole is in perfect condition,
Captain Peterson said, and is free
of all obstruction. It is cased down
to the bottom with the heaviest of
material and lifted sufficiently to
insure free movement of casing
when ready to renew’operations.
The hole is down 1.500 feet and
the present formation is limestone
and oil shale. Visible indications of
oil appear in the bailer when it is
hauled up and high pressure gas
also appears in the boiler. This is
highly inflamable giving reasona
ble assurance “we will encounter
oil in the next 500 to 1.000 feet of
drilling and, perhaps, sooner ”
“Our geographical situation is
most favosable the well being less
than cne and one-quarter of a
mile from the Alaska Railroad,
which runs to Seward which has
an open harbor the year round.
“Seward is 1.800 miles nearer the
Orient than any other oil shipping
port on the Pacific Coast. If nec
essary the oil could be piped to the
railroad by gravitation and. at a
small expense, since the distance
is so short.
“Alaska consumes, according t o
the Department of Commerce re
ports. approximately SI.800,000 of
oil annually. The United States
ships to the Orient about S28.000.
000 in oils annually. The difference
in freight costs, from Seward to the
Far East, gives Alaska an immense
advantage over California.
"We have been pioneering with
out any other guide but our own
knowledge. Therefor we have been
proceeding slowly, principally be
cause wer are a long distance from
our source of supply, which is Los
Angeles. However, a second hole
could be produced for about one
half the cost and also could be put
down in one or two seasons. If op
erating full force and under favor
able conditions, drilling could be
continued the year round.
“The drilling log records the fact
we have gone thru 13 veins cf high
made coal, the veins varying in
size from one foot to five feet in
thickness. The structure is similar
to Pennsylvania and West Virginia
oil fields where oil was found un
derlying the coal strata. The qual
ity of the oil, if we get it, will un
questionably be of a very high
grade parafine base, similar to
that produced at Katalla and which
is conceded to be almost pure in its
native state.”
During the past season, Captain
Peterson said, one of the large
financiers of California, a man
heavily interested and a director
n one of the major oil companies
n the United States, also interested
n a great shipping concern, was
. visitor at the Chickaloon oil camp
for three weeks where he fished
and hunted. Following his exami
nation of the showing and pro
gress he expressed himself as ap
parently well satisfied with devel
opments.
Aside from exuding confidence
as to the ultimate success of his
bringing in oil, Captain Peterson
(Pfeaaa turn to Paso Poor)
EMPIRE BUILDERS
OF THE NORTH
With a view of recognizing
those men who are contributing
their money and energies to the
development of Western Alaska
this edition is dedicated to Cap
tain Ivan L. Peterson of Bur
lingame, Calif., in compliment
to his work of pioneering the
Chickalocoi oil field. Captain
Peterson’s progress to date is
show*n in other columns.
UIC1 BUSINESS
CONTINUES TO M
UNDATED, July 26, (IP)— A bright
spot continued to appear in the
business of the country.
From all fronts came reports of
new contracts, mill and factories
resuming operations with the re
sult employment to many men.
Besides this there was a decided
advance in the securities market
with the net losses in many in
stances, out of many, reporting net
profits instead of net losses.
EXPORTS OF U.S. till
Xi COIL IS HIED
OTTAWA, Canada, July 26, (/Pi
Threats to the trade of U. S. oil
and coal interests in the British
Empire arose today in the parlys
of the British Empire conference.
In referring to the “unfair trade
practices” the committee on trade
within the comonw'ealth heard of
inferential references to the al
leged price cutting by American
oil companies.
A threat to U. S. coal came in
the declaration from the Canadian
delegation placing anthracite coal
on the long list of items from which
the conference might select articles
for British preference. This would
hit the present sale of U. S. anthra
cite in Canada by opening a mar
ket to Welsh miners.
The discussion included wheat,
meat lumber, fish and fruits.
HOOVER BLAMED FOB
WASHINGTON. D. C.. July 28, —
Senator Hiram Johnson of Califor
nia, on Monday, placed upon Pres
: ident Hoover the responsibility for
the European move seeking debt
cancellation.
Senator Johnson stated that the
President planned to shift the en
tire burden of debt payment upon
the shoulders of the American tax
payer by cancellation of the huge
sums of money which the Europ
ean nations owe to the United
States.
It is understood that Johnson will
; announce further details as to the
debt cancellation situation in his
anti-Hoover election campaign.
FEAR HITLER
BERLIN", July 26, —The German
; Reichwer troops, full strength, as
j allowed by the Versailles treaty, will
\ be hurled against Adolph Hitler
( and his storm troops in the event
| that Hitler tries to march upon
. Berlin and seize control, it was an
| nounced in government headquar
! ters Monday.
- —
PROGRAM WONT HURT
OTTAWA, Canada, July 26, —
j Further evidences were disclosed
I at the Ottawa economic conference
j of British empires that a policy
j that would be non-injurious to U.
! S- exporters will in all liklihood be
; adopted. It was feared for some
time that export business would be
hard hit as a result of this meet
ing but this fear is now being mod
erated.
---
REPORTS ARE DENIED
LONDON, July 26, —Reports pub
lished in a newspaper here that
Italy was secretly constructing 14
modern battleships was being vig
orously denied by Italian officials.
i
THE SPIRIT THAT WINS
* Last week Captain Ivan L. Peterson, directing
! the drilling of the Paterson oil well at Chickaloon,
! sailed for San Francisco after spending part of the
! summer at the well. On his arrival Captain Peter
! son had found his buildings caved by snow and un
j fit for habitation. Thus the time he had hoped to de
* vote to drilling was consumed in rebuilding the
■ quarters.
« Captain Peterson expects to return before many
I weeks prepared to resume drilling, when he will pos
* sibly finish the well which will tell him if he has oil
! or not. Whatever the result, this portion of Alaska
! is indebted to Captain Peterson for his courage and
® energy in an effort to prove what many believe—
J that there is oil in this portion of Alaska only need
J ing research with the drill.
® With his own money and that of his associates,
I many of whom are prominent in national affairs,
i he has plugged away steadily, encountering and
■ overcoming every obstacle found in a pioneer well,
! including loss of tools, gas-pressure caving, and un
■ known formation. Despite these handicaps he has
B sent the bore down a distance of 1600 feet, cased off
5 the gas pressure which reached 2200 pounds to the
S square inch and threatened to lose the well, recov
! ered tools imprisoned by the cave, cemented the hole,
j! drilled thru and has the well in shape for further
j! progress. Starting with a Star rig it was soon found
[•! that more sturdy and complete equipment was de
* manded. He therefore brought in the first standard
* rig introduced in Western Alaska and now has an
! j equipment capable of testing any field he chooses.
* Should Captain Peterson bring in even a pump
II ing well it would be the most important event in re
!■ cent Alaskan history and bring untold prosperity
11 to this portion of the Territory.
i Like the pioneers who first braved the big wild
| erness, Captain Peterson has the adventure's com
j plex. As an old sea captain, he was among the first
S to enter the lower Yukon with a ship laden until
■ decks were awash. He was among the argonauts of
! Nome, and thus is perfectly at home in the North
! land. While few know it he has pioneered waters
! where even now only the most intrepid dare venture.
! In this work he left his mark upon Alaska and ap
! pears destined to enlarge it by giving us an oil well.
* Alaska needs more Captain Ivan L. Petersons—
| these men of vision and energy who do not write de
| feat in their log.
j In his pioneering in the oil fields Captain Peter
| son has the admiration and confidence of every pro
| gressive man all of whom would join with him in the
elation of writing success after his efforts.
BASEBALL RESULTS
Monday's Games
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Phillies 8, New York 7.
The Detroit and St. Louis game
j had to be called after the fourth
inning on account of rain.
There were no National or Pa
1 cific Coast League games.
EXPANDING CURRENCY
WASHINGTON, D. C., July 26, —
Eight banks were authorized by the
Comptroller of Currency, on Mon
day, to issue $4,000,000 in new cur
rency as provided for in the Glass
currency expansion rider which was
attached to the Home Loan Bank
bill when that measure became law
' recently.
COMMITS SUICIDE
SEATTLE, July 26, —A. Robert
Morton, former vice president of
the National Bank of Commerce in
Seattle, committed suicide Monday
by shooting himself through the
temple. He had brooded over fin
ances, failing health and his wife’s
divorce.
REACH CANADIAN LAND
COPENHAGEN, July 26, —An un
confirmed dispatch here states that
Capt. Wolfgang Gronau, German
aviator, who is flying from Germ
any to Montreal, Canada over a
route which has taken him to Ice
land and Greenland, *said that he
had successfully completed a 700-!
mile flight from Greenland to aj
point in Northern Canada, reach- •
ing there Monday night. The re
port said that Gronau would com
plete the rest of his hop to Mon
treal today.
SEATTLE MAN MISSING
SEATTLE. July 26? —A searching
party from Shelton, Monday even
ing, was searching the nearby hills
for Robert Kilgore, 65 year-old
Seattle man, who has been missing
for four days.
GOOD GRAIN OUTLOOK
SPOKANE, Wash., July 26, —
A. D. Adams, general manager oi
the North Pacific Grain Growers
said that a ready market would
be found for wheat growlers of the
North Pacific this year as ,a big
exporting company has announced
plans for the purchase of a huge
quantity of wheat as soon as i’t is
available.
SUITS ARE SETTLED
CLEVELAND, July 26, (^—Dam
age suits in the Cleveland clinic
disaster, one of the worst in this
country’s history, were settled for
$167,000. The clinic was operated
by the famous Dr. George Oriole
and was struck by fire May 19, 192S
when 125 persons were stricken fat
ally by deadly poisonous gases, or
burned.
MORE MEN AT WORK
CHICAGO, July 26, —The Illi
nois State HighVay department an
nounces that well over 8,000 men
are at work on roads throughout
the state this year. This is a num
ber greatly in excess of the labor
ers on the roads last year.
TEMPERATURE EXTREMES
SEATTLE, Wash., July 26, —
Temperature extremes recorded for
Monday were; Seattle 69-56, Chica
go 92-68, Denver 84-60, Los Angelei
82-60, New Orleans 92-80, New York
84-62, Portland 72-60, San Fran
cisco 66-52, Spokane 82-66, Juneau
48 minimum, Ketchikan 62-50.
MELLON RESIGNING
SUES LONDON HEfllLD
LONDON, July 26, —The report
that Ambassador Andrew Mellon
was to resign soon was being de
nied here Monday by American of
ficials who claim that they would
know if such a move was contem
plated. Washington also denies the
report.
The Daily Herald of London was
authority for the statement that
Mellon was going to resign. It said
that the aged statesman and fin
ancier of America was resigning
so that a younger man could be
put in his place to carry on the U.
S. part in the world war debt neg
| otiations.
I ORDER EVICT VETERANS
I FROM GROUNDS DELAYED
WASHINGTON, July 26, —The
commissioners of the District of
Columbia ordered indefinite post
ponement of their previous order
for the police to evict veterans of
the bonus army from government
buildings and property.
The new order of the commis
I sioners represented a tempdrary
I victory for the veterans in their
• plan to stay in Washington, for
! their bonus fight. The veterans
; had begun a course of passive re
| sistance to the evacuation order
, and have been told to make the
; police evict them bodily.
I
TEXAS VOTERS FAVOR
EARLY RESUBMISSION
DALLAS, Texas, July 25, —A n
early count Saturday of the tax
returns in the Texas election show
. ed that out of almost 200,000 votes,
seven out of 10 votes were in favor
of resubmission of the 18th amend
, ment.
The votes for Governor shows
! that candidate Ferguson and Gov.
Ross Sterling, running for reelect
icn. are running neck and neck and
it was declared that a runoff elec
i ticn might prove necessary.
MAURICE CHEVALIER’S
| WIFE STILL LOVES HIM
—
PARIS, July 26. —Yvonne Valle,
: wife of Maurice Chevalier, famous i
I singer, still loves her husband.
Chevalier is suing her for di
vorce and cites incompatibility as
the reason.
Miss Valle said, yesterday at her
summer home near this city, that
she would go on a long sea voyage
in an attempt to forget Chevalier
and everything.
I I
BURIED 21 YEARS, FAT
NEW YORK, July 26, —The best
way of adding weight to turtles ap
i pears to be to imprison them in a
j foot of space beneath a slabstone
i for 21 years. A turtle weighing
five pounds was accidently buried
when a sidewalk was laid in front
of a midtown hotel in 1911. When
a laborer pullel up the flagstones
to replace them with a cement
walk he found the snapping turtle
weighed 14 pounds, despite lack of
exercise.
ACTOR BANKRUPT
LOS ANGELES, July 26, —Joseph
Schildkraut, motion picture actor
declared he was bankrupt in a pe
tition on United States District
Court.
MS DISCOVERER IN PORT
The MS Discoverer, Capt. Heiniej
Berger, arrived in port at noon to
day from Iliamna, Cook Inlet and
Anchorage, bringing passengers
and mail. Captain Berger expected
to get away on the return voyage
at 8 o'clock this evening. Engineer
Jack Wilkenson was suddenly tak
en ill enroute and at Seldovia first
aid was given him and where his
case was diagnosed as gall stones.
Dr. A. D. Haverstock, of the Sew
ard General Hospital, attended the
sick man immediately upon arrival.
LOG REVEALS EXCELLENT OP
PORTUNITY TO STRIKE
OIL SOON
According to the log of the Pe
terson Oil Association well, being
drilled at Chickaloon, the drill is
rapidly approaching the second oil
horizon, lying in the Lower Creta
ceous.
The drill entered the first oil
shale at 1368 feet, passing thru 42
feet of this material. At 1417 feet
was encountered a heavy flow of
gas, which served to confirm the
nature of the shale reposing upon
black sand, which in turn was re
placed by gray shale for eight feet,
when the drill cut three feet of
gray limestone, reposing upon a
bed of 30 feet of medium gray sand
stone, impregnated with lime. At
42 feet additional depth the drill
entered fine-grained gray sand
stone, containing much calcareous
or lime matter.
It was at this point drilling was
suspended last season.
Thus the structure penetrated is
conformable, as yet showing no
i evidence of intense folding, as
would have been the case if the
first fossilized shale, cut at 1300
feet, were encountered again at a
lower horizon.
In the absence of a full strata
graphic column in this field show
ing the structure from the quarten
'ary to the Palezoic, only approxi
j mations may be made as to the
■ thickness and conformity of the
I various ages and divisions. But
| gauged by the log already obtain
j ed by Captain Peterson, he has
| ample room for exploration before
; he would be compelled to abandon
i the bore
There is no evidence that he has
passed thru the second oil horizon,
but on the contrary indications are
that he is approaching it. Should
he fail to secure oil at this horizon
he still has the Messozic, with the
Jurassic and Triassic to penetrate
before arriving at the Carbonifer
ous.
He expects to encounter alter
nate beds of shale, sandstone and
limestone for some distance, and
the first oil horizon lies below him,
after he has passed the second,
which he appears now to be ap
proaching.
A recent expert from California
was well pleased with the log and
predicts that the well will prove
of great importance in determining
the possibilities of the Susitna Val
ley as an oil field.
One of the main handicaps to
the geologist is the lack of com
parative strata upon which to com
pute the approximations in the
Chickaloon fields. All that is avail
able is the Kenai, which was drill
ed by the Standard Oil Company
at Cold Bay. This structure extends
up the east shore line of Cook In
let and passes along the foothills
of the Chugach range to where it
has been picked up further up the
Susitna Valley. Its thickness is
computed from a few feet to 2200
feet as shown further south. It was
the assumption of the late Dr. Al
fred Brooks that underlying this
was an older structure which might
contain oil.
Captain Peterson is not consid
ering the Kenai in view of the fact
that he has passed thru 34 feet of
various coal seams and is now far
below the coal horizon, where he
found his greatest flow of gas.
Thus only the drill can tell the
story, and the log thus far shows
that Captain Peterson has an ex
cellent opportunity to strike oil
FORTUNE SHRINKS
NEW YORK, July 26, —The per
sonal fortune of President Hoover,
which in 1928 was said to total
over $4,000,000, has shrunk to a
figure around $700,000, it was re
vealed here by the Magazine For
tune. The shrinkage is said to
have been due to the President’s
interest in an investment company
whose former assets are now de
clared to be mostly liabilities.