THE KUSKO TIMES
VOL. 1. NO. 23
TAKOTNA, ALASKA. FRIDAY. JULY 9, 1937
PRICE, 25 CENTS
MANY MEN WORKING
IN EOLGER DISTRICT
BY CHRISTIAN BOLGEN.
(Special Correspondentt
Erecting Warehouse—
James Wilson of Folder "has heer
in Ophir for the past 14 days engag
ed in the erection of a warehouse Tor
his partner Eric Hard- The building.
a two-story wood and. corrugated
iron structure, ooms up like a sky
scraper amongst the smaller sur
rounding buildings; which-, is now
about finished. He says-he. is not
quite sure whether he should be clas
sed as a carpenter or a structural
iron worker, on account of the mater
ials used.
Employing 30 Men at Folger—
From Folger is reported that there
is quite a good deal of-mining ac
tivity in that section- The Cripple
Creek Mining Company, employing
about 30 men, are now., operating on.
tbe upper end of the White Mule
Association on Cripple Creek, under
a lease from Hard & W ilson. The
ground is being worked by two bull
dozers and a dragline-scraper using
gravity water as well- as returning
water by pumping*. It is reported
tbat they have a cut containing ap
proximately 350,000. feet of bedrocs
uncovered to pay*, and will probably
be putting bedrock through the box
es by this time. Harold Strandberg
is in charge of the ."work..
Big Cut Stripped Off—
On Colorado Creek, in the Foiger
district, Sid Paulson is working with
a buildo.tr and hydraulic lift. He
has a big cut all stripped off and
ready for putting through the boxes,
employing about teB men ituthe work.
Mrs. Conrad Olson, well known in
Ophir and Takotna, where she resid.
ed for some time, is in charge of
the culinary department of the camp,
which assures of -good-eating.
Unold and Olson Groundsluicing—
On Bear Creek, at its conpunction
with Beaver Creek, tributaries of
Cr.pple Creek, Bob. Arnold and John
Olson are groundsluicing on-ground
belonging to Arnold,-, W.ilson and
Hard. Wilson & Hard have been,
prospecting with a drill ever since
early spring, and Quite satisfactory
results from the drilling is..reported.
Billy. Lodge Besting L'p—
Billy Lodge came up to Ophir from.
Foiger a few days ago. Billy has
been..working for.Sid Baulson on Col-,
orudo Creek since early, this spring,
but as he is somewhat under the
weather with a lame back,, he is tak^
ing a needed rest.
Get Supplies For Store—
Mike Myntii and Rudy Kran&i made
a trip to Takotna with the Myntti
4.ruck Tuesday, bringing over some
neeoed shortages far the Myntti
store.
Move Into New Home—
Mr. and Mrs. Arnuif Rjelde have
now moved into their new home in
Ophir which Arnuii has just com
pleted. Jars. Hjelde has made all the
furniture and'has proved herself to
be a regular Shearton_when it comes
to this nne of work.
Speljack Crew Lays Off—
The crew, on the Speljack. ground
»n Little Creek has. been, laying off
for quite a few days lately on ac
count of a shortage of water
Now Selling Merchandise.—
Mr. and Mrs. O. E- Blindheim has
steady received the . new F ord truck
that was shipped in.dor them, on the
first up-river boat Blindheim went
over to Takotna-a. few. days ago and,
loading the truck— and some other
goods on a small .scow down the riv
er. brought it up. to Takotna. He
drive the truck .over.to Ophir with
a load of fresh .goods. He has since
brought over two jnoie loads, and the
Blindheims are already doing busi
ness sidling .from..their newly arrived
stock.
Everybody Ownes to Town—
Almost everybody, from the creeks
came into town fur the Fourth of
July, There were .about 40 people
sitting down to i* fine chime- served
in the Ophir Roadhouse, which ev
erybody greatly enjoyed.
Meier in Charge of Work—
Frank Meier is now in charge of
th-hydnnlicing_ on the mining, damn
LAEGE WOLF SEES BELOW
TAKOTXA BY LOCAL MEN
Woodrow Vanderpool and Edd>c
.Kcnig spied a. large wolf along one
of the sloughs a few miles below Ta
kotna the other day while freighting
on the river.
This little moose hunting district
has been up to now free and peaceful
with the absence of this killer. If
the wolves are allowed to start run
ning in this district, the days of good
moose hunting are numbered.
Konig is working with Yanderpoo!
bringing freight up the river. They
report the going oa the aver is ex
tremely difficult, the water now be
ing so low that even the kickers are
having a hard tine getting through.
GOODNEWS IS
COMING INTO
ITS OWN,SAID
(By Special Correspondent)
The eyes of the Territory are fo
cused on this area,- jndging the in
numerable reports reaching Plati
num during the past few weeks.
Building and drilling are going on
at a rapid rate as vessels are arriv
ing with mining and building equip
ment from the States- So far there
has been three boats out of Seattle.
Many tractors and drills and lumber
and oil have already arrived.
The foundation is being laid for
N. G. Hanson's large store here. He
will also operate a. cold storage plant.
Ai Berg and Wm. Hurst are doing
a big business. Berg conducts the
first hotel and restaurant to be built
here. Hurst's “Stampede Inn” is the
first short order bouse and lunch
room. “The Alaska Traders” store,
owned by Capt. Pete Wold of the
motorship Fern, is doing a capacity
business. Hurst has moved his bus
iness establishment to “Platinum
Boulevard.” from the former loca
tion at the municipal airfield.
Ihe steamer Tupper went up to
Bethel some time ago with 1700 tons
for that place, and upriver points.
Ihere wc-ne six trucks, three tractors
and cne Byers shovel on board. The
tractors wtre for Srrandberg at Can
' cle. Hard & Uotila at. Takotna, and
Clarence Marsh..at bear. Creek. The
tugboat left here ep.route to Bethel
with a large steel barge to be used
n navigation onuthe Kusknkwim Riv
er this summer.
Ihe Goodnews Mnhng Com pan.
expec ts another dragline, on thee ne;:t
boat from the States. .Billy West
and associates left for the Arolic
country recently with a drilling out
fit. Rasmus Nidsen and Peter Strand
left for points on the Goodnews Riv
er, representing Dave Strandberg.
The latter expects to do some drill
ing up there some time this season.
t.'Hrington, Case and Sam Cotton
left for places on. the Togiak water
shed.
Sam Cotton and the news writer.
Miss Kay Kennedy left camp and
■ didn’t show up for a couple of days,
i On their return, they made up a
i one. dollar “minute pool” in the
“btampede Inn” on the Nenana Ice
Classic. Einer OUen had the lucky
number.
SELLS. HOUSE AXD LOT
TO MRS LEONARD ZAISEK
With the closing of a big real es
tate deal this week. Martin Clancy
sold a ealuable piece of city property
and house to Mrs. Leonard Zaiser.
The property is known as the Oavy
estate, consisting of a snug little two
r'.om cabin with an adjoining wood
■ hed. The place is situated directly
oeoiod the Nugget Roadhouse.
READY TO WORK GROUND
John Rieck left for his property
on Ganes Tuesday morning. John
ays he is going to quit fooling
around this time and get down to the
business of getting on pay. He has
all his sluice boxes on. the ground
and will start setting them up and
iegin operations in earnest this week.
hat he sold this spring to Uotila &
Hard, our lower Qphir Creek. Work
ing with him is Tom Shaver, Tyvo
~o-ander. Dick Culloton and George
hangas who is working on the nigh'.
_ shift,.
ALASKA GAME
REGULATIONS
ARE AMENDED
Amendments to the Regulations re
sting to Game, Land Fur Animals
and Birds in Alaska, recommended
by the Alaska Game Commission at
its annual meeting this spring, have
been approved by the Secretary of
Agriculture, to become effective July
2d, 1037. The new game reguation
circular No. 14, embodying a com
pete text of these changes, will be
available for distribution about July
1. Briefly, these amendments provide
the following changes from the reg
ulations of Tast year:
_.Fur-Bearing Animals:_
Following a closed season on beaver
throughout the Territory this spring,
the new reguations provide an open
season next year in all of Fur Dis
trict 2. Fur District 4, Fur District
5, Fur District 6 (except a portion
of the Tanana River drainage east of
the Richardson Highway and east of
the divide between the Goodpaster
and Shaw and Salcha River (drain
ace), and Fur District 7. Bag limit,
10.
The open season on marten through
out the Territory will be extended
for another year.
Several minor changes have been
effected with regard to dates of open
and closed seasons.
Following an extremely poor catch
of fur on Kenai Peninsula and upon
request of the residents of that area,
the entire peninsula west of the Al
aska Railroad has been closed to the
trapping of mink, marten, land otter,
weasel, foxes, and lynx.
An amendment to Regulation 18
prohibits the placing of fox traps
withon 100 feet of a fox den.
In connection with the proposed ex
perimental fur farm and to assist in
compiling data on the industry, fur
farmers will be required to report an
account of their operations at the
end of each year.
Game Animals:
To enable enforcement of the reg
ulation prohibiting the taking of fe
male animals, an amendment will go
into effect requiring that evidence of
sex of moose, deer, and mountain
sheep must be left attached to the
carcass until dismembered.
Another amendment provides that
any person, other than a licensed
hunter or trapper,, who is in posses
sion of game meat will be required
to produce on demand the license
number and name of the person from
whom such meat was obtained. This
regulation is being placed in effect to
curb the illegal taking and possessing
i of game by non-residents and aliens.
From the date these regulations be
I come effective, the taking of game
rom, on, or across any public high
; way or within 33 feet of the center
’in. cf such highway, will be prohib
wd n the First and Third Judicial
Divisions.
A closed season on moose and deer
i has been estabished from Cape Fair
! weather to ongitude 141. This regu
1 ation was requested in order to pro
I tect the transpanted deer in the vi
j cinity of Yakutat Bay, and to allow
: the moose in that area to be unmol
j ested until suck time as they are suf
• lciently pentiful to warran. an open
j season. The Ward Lake recreational
j area in the vicinity of Ketchikan has
' been closed to all bunting, xs well as
! a one-mile, strip extending from the
; town of Petersburg to Blind Point.
These areas had been previously set
: aside by the Forest Service. Moose
j were also given pro- non in the
j drainages for the Chilkoot and Chil
j kat Rivers in southeastern Alaska.
’ A change in Regulation 6 will pro
hibit the sale of meat within five
miles cf the Alaska Railroad and
Steese Highway from Fairbanks to
and including Chatanfka. For the
first time in many years game meat
was allowed to be served in the Fair
banks area last year, but will new be
prohibited as a result of an almost
unanimous request.
The commission’s Regulation “A”
has been changed to require non-res
ident hunters to obtain the services
of a registered guide in taking black
and palar beare. Because black and
polar bears are classed as fur-bear
i ing animals, they were not formerly
■ governed by the- same revtricticns as
hose applying to game. Likewise,
valves and coyotes may be taken in
the future by any t.tzen without a
license of any kind. Prr>'-ti ally all
other game regulations will remain
unchanged during the e ming year.
MISS RrEBY TO FAIRBANKS
Miss Ellen Riedy left by plane for
Fairbanks this week where she will
remain for a few: days. <m. fwtsTnw
PLATINUM BECOMING
THRIVING COMMUNITY
CLANCY SEES THAT KIDS
HAVE GOOD TIME HERE
Through the efforts of Martin
Clancy, $16.50 was contributed by the
residents of Takotna ae funds for a
Fourth of July celebration for the
kiddies here.
Part of the money went as prizes
for races held by the youngsters.
Only a small number of the children
participated in the races, however, so
the balance of the money was spent
for candy and oranges for the chil
dren.
The races were held up until rather
late in the day awaiting the return
of the Wandering Reporter who wan
dered out to Yankee Creek. Waiting
for a repoiter is as uncertain as the
end of th. world. He returned in time
to hear the results.
FORTY MEN ARE
NOW EMPLOYED
ON ROAD HERE
The Alaska Road Commission is
putting to work every available man
in this district.
There are now 40 men employed
; on the Nixon Forks road. There are
two separate camps, one located two
i miles out from Takotna and the oth
er about four and one-half miles
| down at Shorty Creek. The latter is
the largest camp at present.
A third camp will be established
at Bridge Creek as soon as the right
| of-way is cleared to that point when
caterpillars can go through with camp
equipment and supplies. A bridge
' wii be constructed at this point.
The men are busily engaged slash
! ing right-of-way and corduroying
■ and graveiing will start from this
| end within a short time.
At present the ARC is short of
I road building equipment, but with
! the completion of the new airport at
Bethel, the equipment used there,
most of which was shipped in this
season from the States, will be ship
ped to takotna to be used in the
! construct.on of the Nixon Forks road.
This equipment consists of a three
eighths yard gas shovel, a bulldozer
and trucks. At present, the only
graveling equipment the ARC has
nere is two dump trucks and no way
I to load except by hand.
The funds for the starti- of the
Nixon Forks road are appropriated
.rom the relief funds. Mr. Spaeh
and Mr. Adams request that any old
timer reeding a job in this area to
apply at the office in Takotna and he
will be placed on the payroll. The 40
men already employed take up all the
known _ncmpicyea in this section of
the country, which includes Ophir as
well as Takotna.
W ork will also be started on the
landing field a: McGrath within a
short time. With the start of im
i provement of this fled, a crew of men
will be put to work at that point,
Mr. Spach states.
Mr. Spach expects t,o make a trip
to McGrath within the next few days
; and line out the work planned there.
! He will then go to Bethel and from
there to Flat and back to Takotna.
ALASKAN ARRIVES WITH
FREIGHT LAST SATURDAY
The motorship Alaskan pulled in
| Saturday night with a very much
welcomed load of Fourth of July
cheer. The water was so 1 w that
Capt. Mi'ler was forced to drop the
j barge and also unload part of Hie
i freight on the Alaskan. He arrived
with a very light load and returned
o pick up part of the freight he was
forced to cache along the route.
WILL REPAIR DREDGE
Pat Savage is back from Fat and
' is preparing to start a crew to work
repairing the recently purchased
unt ilu dredge on upper Ganes. He
nd Mro Savage are staying out at
he dred-e.
Mr. Savage plans on overhauling
the dredge and get back into work
Iing rr diti n. He will also do some
drilling and prospecting on the
ground in which the dredge is work
ng. Chas. O’Halioran will work with
Fa-age this symwr. having gone oat
Wednesday morning with Warner Al
ford.
(By Special Correspondenti
Load of Lumber Arrives—
The tugboat Meteor arrived with
a large barge load of lumber from
Seattle. Part of the load was left at
Platinum for the new N. G. Hanson
store and the new Felder-Gaie store.
She then proceeded up the Kusko
kwim River to Bethel where the
barge will be left. From there she
will proceed to the Yukon River to
St Michael where a meat barge will
be taken in tow back to Platinum.
Mr. Stokes was the only passenger.
Freighter Latouche Hue—
The Latouche is expected in any
day with the new dredge for the
Goodnews Mining Company and ex
cess freight which the Tupper
could not handle.
Building Going I p Rapidly—
The new N. G. Hanson building is
beginning to take form under the
able supervision of Joe Woods, car
penter from Anchorage.
Will Enlarge Building—
Bill Hurst is busy digging a new
basement in preparation for a new
addition to the "Stampede Inn.”
The Motorship Bryant returned
from the Arouiic where they had ta
ken a barge load of mining equip
ment.
Reporter Is Visitor—
Kay Kennedy, reporter, is a visitor
in Platinum.
Sasseen Busy Freighting—
Piot Sasseen is at present freight
ing out of Patinum for the Walter
Johnson Co.
Traveling Man Arrives—
Clark Andresen, salesman for Hunt
& Mottet hardware firm of Tacoma,
arr.ved today from Bethel with Pilot
Ralph Savory.
Will Visit Niece in Bethel—
Mrs. Laura Erickson plans to leave
for Bethel where she? will visit with
her niece, Mrs. Oliver Anderson.
First Automobile Arrives—
Platinum now boasts of having its
first automobile since X. G. Hanson’s
new Stutz Eight arrived on the Tup
per recently.
Building New Cabin—
Martin Rosland is building a new
cabin The framework is now tower
ing the skyline of Platinum Boule
vard.
Culver's Family Arrives—
W. G. Culver's family is now with
him at Patinum.
Fourteen White Women Hero—
Platinum and vtclm y now has 14
white women am ng its fast gc w
ing population.
Will L'se Two Mere Barges—
Capt. Pete Wold cf the Motorshlp
Fern is going to go to Kaknek soon
to get two more barges for lighter
ing at Platinum.
MAIL BOAT ARRIVES AT
Of’HIR THE FOURTH OF JULY
The first mail boat of the season
arrived in Ophir the Fourth ox July
It was due the la: jtr part of June
but through the los~ of his lai ge
boat in the break-up this spring, and
the low water at this time, Mr. Simel
was considerably delayed. He was
forced to use poi.ng boats to navigate
the Innoko, and it was only tbrc ;gh
a lot of hard work and grief that we
were favored with the mail at alL
BLINDHE1M BRINGS OPHIR
MEN HERE FOR THE ARC
0. E. Blindheim was in town Tues
day w’th his his new truck, bring
ing several men from Ophir who
were hired this week by the Road
Commission here.
OPHIR LADIES VIS^.
Mrs. Eric Hard and Mr Vi "tor
Hill of Ophir, were visitors in Ta
koUit Tuesday afternoon. M: s 'lla-o
dropped in -at Ite Kusko T rr. r f
-i.r a chat w.th the Eta5 . r. _
reauxihg hot*.