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*£ht Vvttsko {Times
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FRIDAY. AUGUST 6. 1937
MINING ASSOCIATION IDEA TAKING
KOCT IN OTHER PARTS OF THE TERRITORY—
We are pleased to "note that the Alaska Mining As
socirtion, orgar.isod a Tear -weeks ago at Fairbanks, is
nadir, r s fsrrrzble reaction among mining men in other
parts of the Territory;
In another column cf this issue of the Times, there
is an article reyhttad from the Seward Gateway telling
«£ the response given the idea among mining men in that
section, and cf plans htrng under v. ay for a mining or
ganization to be form.sd among the mining men and pros
pectors of the Third Division. It is planned to organize
each cf the four judicial divisions which will become an
integra? part oi a central territorial organization.
The welding of members of the mining fraternity in
Alaska into an organized group, is one of the best things
that has taken place in the North in some years. Prac
tically every other group of citizens engaged in any one
occupation in the Territory is organized and it is only
too bad that the mining men had not organized years
ago. They are bitterly aware now that if such an- organ
ization Rad been functioning during the past few years,
that there would have been but little chance of the no
torious gold tax bill passing at the last session of the Al
aska legislature. But there are many other things direct
ly pertaining to the mining industry that such an organ
ization can db that will prove benefiiciat; and it is up to,
mining men everywhere- to join up and take an active:
part in ttuifflihg up the movement. We expect to have
more information- on the progress and development of"
the association soon and will pass it on. to our readers.
-o
HIGHWAY BRINGING TRADE—
(The Valdez Miner!
It is pleasing to the business houses- of Valdez, arid"
also t© her citizens, to have the Richardson highway
again open for travel to the Interior. The many private
oars and trucks in town, the first few days was evidence
of the great benefits to be derived from having- uur inter
ior friends with us again. It will not he long until some
enterprising freighter constructs a “snowmobile which
can travel the highway at all seasons of the year, and
then you will see the town grow like a weed.
The season is far too short for us on this side of the
“hump.” Open iirJune the highway is officially closed in
October, and it bustles the freighters to get in their
large supplies of gas, oil, provisions and general supplies
for the winter. Many times loads are taken over the
pass and dumped cm the other side, the truck returning
for more goods, lip an endeavor to beat the early snows.
F. cm Chitina <w Tiakrtel, trucking can be carried on all
winter, the snow tJeitig-to© light to bother much.
Hundreds o£ snowmobiles are used in the heavily
covered snow areps-in the States, and'they work to-per
fection. Any F-ad «n he converted by placing skis on;
the front and a drive wheel' and two idlers to- carry the
tread on the beck wheels. We- may yet expect to see
these vehicles used' all winter in this section, despite
prognostication* that “-it can:t he done ”
BRITISH COLUMBIA EXPANDS—
i Berkeley Sal.. Ca*erte>
British Columbia, the mountainous province between
our state of \\ ^ehiibgton anti Alaska, is expanding. It
has arranged to-buy from the Canadian government the
Yukon Territ . a rowed mining region immediately
emst of Alaska*. Tdat will make British Columbia the
second largest; pppvioce in the Domfnion, with: an area
reaching from it* Arctic Sea to Puget Sound, four times
as large as the stale of New York. Its total area will
be nearly 600,00ft-stjuwre miles.
There is uiwijttdy quite a bit of space for Cknadian
he-men to roam around hx> The entire population of the |
Yukon today is satd to be only about 4,000. It is a fine
hunting region wRh plenty of big- game, and its mineral
wealth is hardly touched yet. It is now producing about
*1,000,000 worth of silver a year and twice that much
in gold. There are good coal deposits, along-with the
lead and copper—and they certainly need coal up there.;
Dawson and White Horse, each a metropolis of less,
than 1,000 people, may yet be popular summer resorts.;
And many a nomadic, Yankee wilt be betting in April, oni
the ice going ogt along the upper Yukon.
Americanism: Dodging every tax we can; pretend
ing to be horrified by such immorality ekao. a rich man
guts caught, aj.. Akjro^. BeagpneJpiu wit.
SIXTEEN YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
TiKU FROM THE FILES OF THE KUSKO TIMES) *
The Bank of Anchorage was held
up by a Ions bandit recently and was
relieved of $2,500. according U> recent
reports from there. The two employ
es of the bank, who were on duty at
the tirmi f the robbery, a young lady
and one • i the men clerks, were back
into the vault by the bandit and the
door cl ~-i'd upon them and locked.
The bandit then leiaurely helped him
self to all he cash in sight on the
counters ar made his escape. Both
the Anchor - gt marshals were out of
town at the time of the robbery.
LITTLE CHEEK—(By letter)—“Am
just dropping you a line to let you
know that we are not yet quite dead
over on this side of the hump; on
the contra-;-, we are all very busy
in turning his part of the country
upside down.
“Mike Myntti and John Repo have
12,000 feet of bedrock ready for the
boxes on Do ge Creek.
‘ “John, the rarber, and Jake Suutala
' on Ophir, are just doing a great
stroke of business, with Pete Davey
on the nozaie
“Frank Meier and Mr. Howe, af
ter making v good cleanup from
their winter dump, are making pre
parations to cpencut the benches. Mr.
Howe may lake a run Outside to get
some- chwhako blood in his veins and
let his old-time partner go ahead
with the works.
“Smith, Collins & Hard are cer
tainly changing the topography of
Ophir creek. Everything is going
along fine, and they will soon be
working their new dragline scraper,
which will be quite an improvement
over their old one. They are ground
sluicing a big strip of ground, with
the Judge on the nozzle, and Fritz
Roethlfsbenter as his second on nights
“The Johnson boys are stripping
off a big patch of ground on Ophir
ami will soon be seraping into the
boxes. It is reported that, they had
a pretty lively set-to the other day
with a big bear. Chris Bolgen, upon
entering the cabin, beheld a gTeat.
big grizzly bear—at least, he thought
it looked like one. He did not take |
time for a second look, but beat a
hasty retreat for the nearest pole,
which happened to be close by. While
Chris was up on top of the bird
houses nesting with the swallows,,
catching mosquitoes, his partners
and Hans Hansej» came up for din
ner. Upon hearing from Chris that
the beat was having a regular rough
house, Pi"- J»h*-e >n thought they
could f • • b-tter by making
it a fie. i • u..ig out of the ordin
ary. Axes, p.cks, cross-cut saws and
clubs were piled right handy, while
Alfred Johnson brought up a ginpole
for a ram, and Chris from his aerie,
directed the battle. Too bad that a
good war correspondent was not on
the scene, as I believe that it must
have been some hot fight, for there
were whiskers and quills all over the
premises. But it was worth it all,
for Chris came down from his perch
and, with the best of his culinary
art, he got the boys some of the best
chops and pot roast that they ever
had. Alfred thought it was only a
big porky, but Billy says no. “Yesum
Cristum, I tank I know a bear from
a porcupine.”
John Rieck is crosscutting his
bench claim with water, and is in
hopes of hitting the pay.
Mrs. John Rieck, who was so ser
iously ill last winter, is now feeling
better than ever.
Santa Claus just arrived here on
this last mail and although very
much belated, he cheered up the
three little Rieck girls immensely by
presenting each one with a nice, big
doll.
The Schneirla Bros, and their crew
are doing a land office business and
are moving lots of dirt. Billy- is the
chef, while Ed is looking after things
in the cut. John Kruger :s their
walking delegate and he i* getting
fat on the job, while Del Thompson
and Charlie Isaacson are looking af
ter things nights. The boys are all
looking good and feeling fine and
sassy, and if the chef doesn’t cut
down on all those fancy salads and
puddings there may be some cases
of gout in the camp.”
THEM’S MY RIBS
A teacher was taking her class into
the mysteries of astronomy. "Now,”
she said, “some believe there are fifty
million people on the moon—” a tit
ter of laughter reached her ears
“William, what are you laughing at?”
she asked.
“I was just thinking what a squeeze
it must be up there when there’s only
a quarter moon.”
, Teacher: Give me an example of
.wasted energy.
Student: Telling a hair-raising
Sto^y to a bald-headed man.
Remember the Advertiser*
VANDERPOOL’S
FiEitmaa service
Has Established A Dependable
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TAKOTNA RIVER
Careful attention to all freight
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WOODROW
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WE ARK'LOCAL WSTRJBrTORS FOR Ll'MBKR FROM THE
MILLER SAWMILL
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TAKOTNA, ALASKA
Passenger Service
nUEDBfll OATES. Pr«*.
| TIMELY EDITORIALS
Culied From Our Exchanges
TROPIC VERSUS ARCTIC
ROUND WORLD FLIGHTS—
!
i
(Tha Fairbanks Naw*-Minar)
Attempted round world flights by way of the equa
torial route and the long distance hops over polar re
gions have come into the spotlight last month. Eyes of
the world have been fixed on these flights. Upon their
success or failure hinges much of future concern.
The regrettable failure of the intrepid Amelia Ear
hart on the projected equatorial flight will anything but
encourage future commercial flying on that long and haz
ardous route.
The success of the Russian aviators on their first
non-stop cruise from Moscow to the United States is be
ing followed today by a second attempt. Both these
flights are over a direct course that spans the Arctic re
gion and crosses the North Pole.
While these are summer flights, it is assumed that
similar winter flights will follow, and that eventually,
scheduled services will follow. Be that as it may, the So
viets are demonstrating in a big way that it is possible
to cross from the old world to the new by the top of the
world. They are making the world conscious of the pos
sibilities and the practicability of Arctic flying.
James Mattern is preparing for a similar flight from
California to Moscow, and his efforts further direct at
tention to the northernmost world routes.
Whatever success attends these northern fliers, they
are wiping out a great proportion of the prejudice that
has prevailed against Northland flying.
Fliers attempting southern trans-ocean routes con
tribute to the knowledge and development of conditions
governing air traffic in those zones, which doubtless will
persist in service to that part of the world. But it is
doubtful if the traffic between the old world and the new
and the contribution to constant airplane service in
those areas, with their vast ocean expanses, will ever
measure up to that of the northern zones, with the vast
landed areas they cross.
PLIGHT OF WELL-TO-DO
FAILS TO AROUSE TEARS—
(The Anchorage Daily Time*)'
Trying to get the ordinary person to shed a tear over
the sad fix of the man who has an income of $75,000 a
year is as fruitless a task as trying to weave a rope of
seafoam and sand.
The effort is made just the same, in a recent iasue
i of Harper’s Magazine. An anonymous lady whose hus
band occupies that exalted salary bracket writes eopious
i ly to prove that life is far from a bed of roses. And she
has the figures to prove it.
There are she says, four people in the family—her
j self, her husband, their daughter and her mother. They
occupy a simple 16-room-four-bath house. And do they
j iive riotously on their 75 grand per annum? They do not.
First of -All. Uncle Sam takes away rather better
than $10,000 in income tax. Real estate taxes and inter
ers on the mortgage take another $4,800. Insurance of
all kinds runs to $1,857 a year.
To divers relatives the family gives about $.1,000 a
year; to charities, $5,000; to sundry business clubs, $1,275.
Eighteen hundred is charged off td depreciation.
The lady of the house spends $2,700 for clothes; the
i husband, $410. Hubby's cigars, lunches, railroad fares,
, and incidentals eat up $2,700. The servants' wages run
i up to $3,600 and the year's food bill is $2,811.
Altogether, counting these expenses and various in
' cidentals, it costs this family $56,000 to get through he
1 year, leaving only a scant $19,000 to invest or put in the
bank.
Nevertheless, this is a cold and unfeeling world; and
| in view of the fact that the average American has to
feed, .lothe and house bis family, provi<K- for his old age,
: pay his taxes, and find whatever recreation he can on
substantially iess than this lady spends for her clothing ia
• one year, it. is doubtful that anybody is going to extend
i her much sympathy.
For these upptr-bracket folk, ah hough they may
have their troubles, are at least free from that haunting,
spectral fear that goes with low incone—that feeling of
insecurity, that realization that a bal break in he luck
may mean utter helplessness in the face of disas’er.
ILL-ADVISED LEGISLATION—
(Seward Gait*a >
Announcement that the Kem.ington-Coroet mine in
the Berner’s bay district *v-«ch of Juneau, will curtail
peiations if no* discontinue altogether, comes as an af
-imath to the passage of the gross gold mine tax by the
laic legislature. The Kensington mine has spent $'J00,
■jftO in development.
Like many innovations calling for greater tax bur
dens the legislature was following the lead set by Wash
ington and apparently failed to note the effect this ill
advised legislation would have upon the economic situa
tion in Alaska.
Ev-r> aid should be extended mining in Alaska and
elsewhere. A reasonable net tax is fair but a gross tax
is unreasonable. This is one law which must be remoxed
by the next legislature.
Cowboy: “My pardner and I are making a trip
through the desert next week. He’s taking aong a gal
lon of whiskey for rattlesnake bites.”
Visitor: “And what are you taking along?"
Cowboy: “Two rattlesnakes."
While he is trying to net tax dodgers in thi* country
woudn’t it only be fair for Mr. Roosevelt to put the hwt
on debt-dodgers in Europe?—Detroit Free'Press.