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.

i

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 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.