BAXTER’S
All Magazines
Ail Newspapers
All The Time!
Pioneer Sheet
Metal Works
YUKON STOVES
— AND —
HEATERS
Corner Fifth and C Sts.
Anchorage - - Alaska
JUSt TO REMIND YOU
.. * ■ of
Union Pacific System
through Cars
between SEATTLE and Chicago
Kansas City. Denver
San Francisco. Los Aneeles
D tract Contractions for all
nMnta East via the Famous
COLUMBIA RIVER ROUTE.
Trains protected all the way
—all the time—by Automatic
Electric “Safety” Signals.
H. L. HUDSON. A. G. F. & P. A.
SEATTLE
the Fairbanks!
4th and D *
S MEN’S CLOTHIERS IS
ROY FAIRBANKS, Prop.
UNION CIGAR STORE as
4th Ave. Bet. C and B Sts.
Choice line of Cigars and
Tobaccos,
S Confectionery and
Soft Drinks. 33
^ Meet Your Friends at the
H UNION CIGAR STORE
1 GUS STIPOVICH and
OTTO GUSTOSON, Props.
TAXIS
MESSENGERS, TRANSFER
PHONE 89R.
CITY AUTO SERVICE.
Office: Next to Labor Temple
FOR SALE
Crescent Hotel, cor. Fourth
and C. Also 24x130 feet adjoin
ing hotel. See owners, F. W.
Redwood & Co.
Ranch eggs at the Mint. 574
A. G. Gould, who conducted a bar
ber shap at Valdez and Seward, and
also has a penchant for staking min
ing claims, has again taken unto him
self a wife, in the person of Mrs. Ade
laide Wood, of Chehalis, Wash. Gould
oiwns the O. K. barber shop at Ray
mond.
Stop at Peterson's Hotel.
899
(From the Alaska Railroad Record)
ANCHORAGE HARBOR NAVIGABLE.
The private-owned launch Etta left the Anchorage
dock Sunday afternoon for Hope, and the launch Peggy
left for Kenai shortly after. These are the first boats to
leave Anchorage harbor this year. The ice in the bay is
so well scattered that Small boats can be navigated with
safety.
Nenana anticipates a busy summer along its water
front with the arrival of freight for the construction work
at the northern terminus of the route. Cargoes of ma
terial and supplies will be shipped to Nenana over three
routes: up the Yukon river from St. Michael; down the
river from White Horse; and via the upper Tanana river
from Fairbanks.
The total disbursements of the office at Anchorage for
the period February 22 to February 28 wTere. $16,830.45.
The payment of salaries and wages amounted to $1851.48;
for local purchases $1874.60; to contractors $12,639.38;
other expenditures $360.64; dock claims $104.35.
BUREAU OF MINES.
Extract From Report of 1916.
The Bureau of Mines was established by an act of Con
gress (36 Stat., 369), amended February 25, 1913 (37
Stat., 681), in recognition of the need of a Federal bureau
that should seek to prevent accidents and bring about safer
and more healthful conditions among workers in the min
eral industries and to lessen waste and increase efficiency
in the development and utilization of the Nation’s mineral
resources. In its efforts for these ends the bureau seeks
the cooperation of all persons interested, and it welcomes
the assistance of workmen’s organizations, of technical so
cieties, and of State officials and State governments.
The Bureau of Mines is investigating the causes and
prevention of accidents in mines, quarries, and metallurgi
cal plants and endeavoring to safeguard the lives of those
who work there; is testing and analyzing coals and other
mineral fuels belonging to or for the use of the Govern
ment, with a view to increasing efficiency in their utiliza
tion; and is making investigations that look to the elimi
nation of waste in the mining, metallurgical, and miscel
laneous mineral industries.
As a result of the work of the Bureau of Mines and the
efforts of State officials, mining companies, and miners,
accidents in the United States are decreasing, though the
death rate is still far larger than it should be. During
the calendar year 1915 the fatalities in coal mines were
188 less than during 1914 and 419 less than in 1913. In
1915 the number of men killed was the lowest in the past
eight years, and the death rate per 1000 men employed,
2.95, was the lowest in the past 16 years. This improve
ment is most encouraging.
With the crews of its mine rescue cars and stations,
the bureau is rendering aid at mine disasters, is training
miners in first-aid methods and the use of rescue equip
ment, and conducting field contests, which sustain and
stimulate the interest of miners in this work. Since the
beginning of this work by the Government some 40,000
miners have been trained by the bureau, and as one re
sult of the work more than 1000 men have been rescued
from mines after explosions or other disasters. In the fis
cal year 1915 nearly 8500 miners were trained and more
than 43,000 attended the lectures and demonstrations.
During the year engineers of the bureau investigated
89 accidents of'various kinds. In these accidents, which
killed 285 men, 75 men were rescued through the efforts
of miners, company officials, State mine inspectors, and
company rescue crews.
Investigations relating to sanitation and health condi
tions in mines and mining communities are yielding note
worthy results. The investigation, made in cooperation
with the Bureau of the Public Health Service, at zinc and
lead mines in Missouri showed the importance of siliceous
dust in mine air as a cause of miners’ consumption, and
caused active measures for abating dust and improving
sanitary conditions to be taken by State and local author
ities, mining companies, and miners. A similar investiga
tion is now being made in the mines at Butte, Mont. An
investigation of hookworm disease at California mines, in
cooperation with the California Public Health Service, re
vealed the wide prevalence of the disease and led to the
starting of an energetic campaign for its elimination.
Health conditions at blast furnaces and steel plants have
been investigated, and the results are being published.
During the year the bureau continued studies of the ex
plosibility of different coal dusts and the use of rock dust
in mines to limit or prevent explosions, with the result
that important advances in the application of preventive
methods were made. Particular attention was given to
the improvement of coal-mining methods in mines on the
segregated Indian lands in Oklahoma and to the enforce
ment of orders issued by the Secretary of the Interior in
regard to the use of explosives in those mines.
Examinations and tests of mining explosives in order
to increase safety and efficiency in use are important feat
ures of the bureau’s efforts to prevent coal-mine explo
sions and safeguard miners. During the fiscal year 2071
explosives were examined. Nearly 22,000,000 pounds of
explosives approved by the bureau as permissible for use
in gaseous or dusty coal mines were used in the calendar
year 1915, as compared with 2,000,000 pounds in 1908, the
year in which Government tests of mining explosives be
gan. The use of these permissible explosives in gaseous
mines is required by the laws of several coal-mining States.
As a result of the bureau’s investigations, approved
electrical switches and motors and approved lamps for
miners, the use of which will greatly lessen the danger of
mine explosions, are now being manufactured; also sev
eral States have enacted stricter laws regarding the use
of electricity in mines.
In its efforts to increase efficiency in the use of min
eral fuels the bureau is studying the properties of these
fuels and the methods of burning them in furnaces and gas
producers. Also it is collecting, analyzing, and testing
samples of coal purchased under specifications for Gov
ernment use. In the fiscal year 1916 the aggregate cost
of the coal represented by these samples was $7,800,000.
During the year the bureau continued to assist, in the ca
pacity of a consulting fuel engineer, various departments
and establishments of the Government in solving prob
lems relating to the purchase of fuel and the efficient
use of fuel for heating or power. The results of the bu
reau’s investigations are being embodied in reports that
are meeting a widespread demand for authoritative in
formation on the utilization of fuel.
The mineral technology investigations of the Bureau
of Mines cover the minor metals, the rare and the preci
ous metals, the metalloids and the nonmetals, brass and
other nonferrous alloys, abrasives, cement, mineral prod
ucts used as building materials, and many different min
erals used in the arts.
In the United States 75,000 persons annually die of can
cer. Through the radium investigations of the bureau, in
cooperation with the National Radium Institute, two great
hospitals obtained during the year a goodly supply of ra
dium for the treatment of that disease. Low-grade ra
dium-bearing ore, heretofore wasted, was concentrated
successfully in a mill especially designed for the purpose.
This concentrate, as well as high-grade carnotite ore, is
being treated at the Bureau of Mines plant at Denver,
which is now producing radium at the rate of five grams
a year. The cost of production since operations began
in June, 1914, has been less than $40,000 a gram, asi com
pared with a market price of $100,000 to $120,000 a gram.
This radium is not sold but is to be used in the treatment
of cancer.
Incidental to the production of radium at the Denver
plant many tons of iron vanadate that can be used in the
manufacture of high-grade vanadium steel, and many
tons of uranium oxide, used in coloring glass and making
tool steel, have been produced. For an expenditure of less
than $35,000 the Bureau of Mines will receive as its share
of the results of the cooperative agreement at least $100,
000 worth of radium.
In normal times the metal losses in brass melting in
the United States annually amounted to $3,000,000, and
during the past year of high prices and large production
have probably been nearer $10,000,000. As a result of its in
vestigations of these losses the Bureau of Mines has de
vised an improved electric melting furnace which will be
thoroughly tested on a commercial scale during the com
ing year. Also, because of the excessive loss of metal,
sometimes running as high as 40 per cent, in melting scrap
aluminum, the bureau has investigated methods of melting
aluminum chips and is publishing the results.
In its clay-industry investigations the bureau has stud
ied methods of so treating the secondary kaolins found in
almost unlimited quantites in the Coastal Plain region of
Georgia and the Carolinas as to render them applicable
to the production of white wares. The results have dem
onstrated that these kaolins can be cheaply purified and
that the purified metal is superior to the best English china
clay for making china, white crockery ware, and white
tile.
Through its petroleum division the Bureau of Mines is
investigating problems of technology, engineering and
chemistry in the production and utilization of oil and gas.
The petroleum-technology investigations deal chiefly with
practicable methods of eliminating waste in drilling wells
and of recovering a larger proportion of the oil or gas
stored in the productive sands; the engineering-technol
ogy investigations deal with storage, the prevention of
losses from fires, and the manufacture of gasoline from
natural gas; and the chemical-technology investigations
deal with the mechanical development of the Rittman pro
cess for manufacturing gasoline toluene, and benzene, and
the improvement of methods for analyzing and testing pe
troleum and petroleum products.
Operators in different fields have been shown the need
of properly protecting oil and gas sands from infiltrating
water and of sealing wells so as to confine the natural gas
securely until such time as it is utilized. Also, the bureau
demonstrated the advantages of using mud fluid in drill
ing wells. Operators in Kansas and in the Blackwell field
of Oklahoma are successfully using methods the bureau
advocates. In the Blackwell field the operators should re
cover at least 80 per cent of the gas in the gas sands,
whereas in older fields the recovery has been less than
10 per cent. A conservative estimate of the gas that will
be saved through the use of approved methods in the
Blackwell field is $20,000,000.
The bureau is cooperating with the Bureau of Indian
Affairs in the supervision of oil and gas operations on
Indian lands.
Mechanical details ot the Kittman process for making
gasoline, benzene, and tuluene were perfected during the
year and the process was shown to be successful on a
commercial scale. Tests have indicated how cheaply gaso
line can be made from stove distillate.
Various gasolines sold in this country in 1915 were
tested to determine their value as motor fuel. Other in
vestigations included the production of gasoline from nat
ural gas and the examination and analysis of petroleum.
fn addition to the chemical investigations already
mentioned, the bureau studied the composition and prop
erties of mine gas and natural gas. The investigations
included an absorption method of extracting gasoline
from natural gas which, if generally applied, will make
possible the recovery of 100,000,000 gallons of gasoline
from natural gas each year; the errors that may arise in
commercial methods of measuring natural gas at high
pressure; the perfecting of a gas detector for use in mines
and other places; methods of gas analysis; the chlorination
of natural gas with a view to making tetrachloride, chlor
oform, and other valuable products; and the fusibility of
coal ash as related to the formation of clinker in fuel beds.
Special investigations that were described in reports
published during the year or are still in progress include
placer-mining methods, especially the use of gold dredges;
iron-ore mining and iron making in the United States; util
ization of low-grade fuel; gas-producer practice; and fac
tors controlling the use and the market prices of fuel.
Additional funds are needed to carry on certain min
ing investigations that demand attention. Some of these
investigations are as follows:
Ventilation of metal mines, a complex problem, some
phases of which are still unsolved even by operators of
large mines, should receive detailed study. The health of
a large number of metal miners is being impaired by the
character of the air that they breathe in deep or remote
Workings.
Subsidence, earth pressures, and roof supports in mines
are of so much importance in both coal mining and metal
mining, as well as in various engineering enterprises, that
investigations should be made to include the testing of
roof supports and the compressibility of rock and ore.
Because of the complexity of the problem an engineer
skilled in the application of higher mathematics should be
engaged to work with other investigators.
Explosives intended for use in metal mines and quar
ries should be tested in order to determine the conditions
under which they can be used with least clanger to the
health and safety of miners. Buildings should be provided
at the bureau’s experimental mine for carrying on this
work.
I he driving of tunnels under bodies ot water the sink
ing of shafts through water-bearing strata, and the spe
cial methods to be used are problems of much importance.
Serious accidents in driving tunnels for water supply or
for transportation purposes at different cities emphasize
the need of thorough investigation of these problems.
Adequate funds for conducting investigations relating
to petroleum and natural gas are urgently needed. In the
calendar year 1915 more than 281,000,000 barrels of pe
troleum, valued at $180,000,000 was produced in the United
States, more than 65 per cent of the total output of the
world. However, the petroleum resources of this country
are not unlimited, and the demand for gasoline and other
products is bound to increase. It is estimated that, at
even the present rate of construction, the underground
supply of oil will last only 27 years. Hence, methods by
which the available supply of oil and gas may be recov
ered and utilized with greater efficiency should receive
thorough study.
Already the benefits of methods of drilling wells so as
, to prevent underground waste have been demonstrated in
the Oklahoma fields, where the Department of the Interior,
working with State officials, has shown how the produc
tion of natural gas can be stabilized by practical methods
of confining the gas within its original reservoir until
market conditions justify production. It is estimated that
formerly less than 10 per cent of the available gas was
utilized, whereas by proper development of the gas field
it is safe to estimate than 80 per cent of the gas may
be recovered.
The proportion of recoverable oil left in the oil sands
by present methods of production is estimated at 50 per
cent. Work is needed to determine how a larger percent
age can be recovered profitably.
The cracking of oils and the production of gasoline
and other valuable products from crude oil and the heavier
distillates call for further study. For this investigation
a single-tube Rittman plant capable of treating oil in
commercial quantities should be built, as experience has
demonstrated the difficulty of developing improvements of
the Rittman process when the bureau has to depend for
results on the commercial refiners who are using it.
The value of the coal annually purchased by the Gov
ernment amounts to between $7,000,000 and $8,000,000.
Sometimes this fuel is selected and used in a satisfactory
manner, but frequently in ways that are inefficient and
wasteful. To assure the highest efficiency and economy in
the utilization of fuels and of fuel-burning equipment,
the Government plants throughout *the United States
should be investigated in order to determine what grade
of fuel is best adapted to each plant, what improvements
in plant equipment are practicable, and how the fuel can
be burned to best advantage. The results attained through
investigations conducted at some of the Government plants
at the request of the Department concerned indicate the
magnitude of the economies that might be realized by hav
ing the purchase and utilization of fuel for the entire Gov
ernment service under expert supervision. On a basis of
fuel purchases of $7,600,000 a year a saving of 6 per cent,
a conservative estimate, would amount annually to $375,
000. Obviously the investigation of the Government plants
should be made by disinterested experts trained in fuel
engineering.
^Q.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.oAQ.Q..O-O^Q-Q.Q.Q.Q.Q.o.o.o.o.Qaq.o.q.qToTo"'qtq'q"q"qtqtqTqToTqTooooooq
RECREATION
Bowling Alleys and Pool Parlors
YOUNG VIKING R. HEGSTROM
0
Next to Harmony Theatre.
•tSGXd&d®&d&^^
PLUMBING AND HEATING
Full Line of Plumbing Supplies, Pipes and Fittings.
__ PROMPT ATTENTION TO ALL ORDERS.
T. W. KENNEDY,
E St. Bet. 3rd and 4th. Next to Hotel Anchorage
qx£o;o:o:o:o:q
1 City Drug Store 1
THE REXALL STORE.
Dr. K. A. KYVIG, Owner.
5th and C
The Best and Purest Drugs and the Most Reasonable in
the City.
Victor Phonographs $15.00, $25.00, $50.00.
On Time Payments.
»
PIONEER HOTEL
KNIK, ALASKA
DOGS FOR SALE : : GOOD DOG STABLES
Plenty Dog Feed on Hand for Interior Travelers.
Dried Salmon, Tallow and Cracklins.
P. M. MAYHILL, Prop.
Origin of Postage Stamp.
France, the mother of so many
things which contribute to modern
progress, fairly may be credited with
the first suggestion of the postage
I stamp in use today. For it was 1653,
l during the joint regency of Anne of
Austria and Mazarin, that the latter,
made desperate by constant thefts of
valuable packages in the hands of
messengers hit upon the device of a ,
sealed envelope bearing the govern
ment stamp, the carriage of which,
prepaid by the sender, was protected •
by special guard of courtiers.
Quickly the use of sealed and
guarded envelopes, at first designed j
for the exclusive service of the nobili
ty, spread to the wealthy middle class.!
Stamped postal letter paper was;
used in 1818 by the government of
Sardina, this being succeeded in 1820
by envelopes bearing the government
seal. Ten years passed before Charles
Whiting, a London publisher, began to
experiment with stamped wrappers
for newspapers.
And from this suggestion Sir How
land Hill, creator of the penny post, |
derived his idea of the modern postage '
stamp, of which he is justly regarded '■
as the originator; although for some
years previously James Chalmers, the
famous printer of Edinburgh had
experimentally a stamp printed with
ordinary type and rendered adhesive
by the use of gum.
Hill, realizing the value of Chalm
ers’ invention, brought, the adhesive
stamp under the notice of a commis
sion which was then debating the in
troduction of the penny post. Hill’s
advocacy of the Chalmers stamp led
to the usual protracted series of in
quiries by successive commissions, and
it was not'until 1839 that parliament
passed an act authorizing the treasury
to fix rates of postage on letters and
regulate the mode of their collection.
Tasty, appetizing lunches at the
North Pole Bakery. 567
Phone 43-Y for car, day or night.
Wood and coal a specialty. Universal
Taxi and Transfer. 126
___
Daily War Bulletins at Peterson’s.
Diamonds,watches, gold nugget jew
elry. Walter A Lord, near Harmony
theatre. 433
Kachemak bay, in the Cook Inlet
country, is reported to have experi
enced an unusually mild winter so far
this season. Very little snow has fal
len and the cattle have done well with
out feeding.
The Arrah Wanna
Gold Mining Co.
Is Now Located in Its New Offices
ROOM 2, MASONIC BUILDING
And Offers to the People of Anchorage, and Vicinity
| 25,000 Shares of Stock
AT
| 25 cents Per Share
| FOR THE NEXT THIRTY DAYS.
Mi We Solicit Investigation. Also will be pleased to furnish
any information you may wish to know about
the Willow Creek District. Office Hours: Ten
LA. M. to Ten P. M.