The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, January 1, 1941, Page 3

e BIG Pictures STARTS TODAY WITH MATINEE .. He was a had man fz11 of Brim- sione...until he met this Sage- brush Siren!! ¢ * eSS v TESSS LTTeY 3 J0Seph Gl f €13 | i DD"" Forap | | 2oNald Megy ] Fuzzy Knigny | A\ 3 ‘;V N N v [ TS SHORTS I Dream of jeunnie with the Dark Brown Eyes News of the great gold rush to Alaska PRODU(TION Ccal Beats Record The quantity of coal produced oy Al 2 mines in 1940 exceeded hat mined during any preceding ear in the entire history of the Territory. The quantity and value of gold, I N ( R EASING | platinum metals, tin, antimony, | quicksilver and coal produced in 1540 excceded that of 1939. Although the value of the silver duced in 1940 appears to hav en. mere than that produced the quantity was less otal Value for Year 1940 Has Estimated Value | sisric accreases were appare i of 527,658,000 | ser, lead, and limerock prod n 1940 as compared with the rec- rd for 1939, but the total value of hese commodities makes up only 1bout one-half of 1 percent of the otal mineral output of the Terri- T o ed (Continued from Page One) t a level that can be maintained bettered under such normal con- ditions as may reasonably be ex- [ ‘OTY: o pected. Geneiral Conditions The value of the output of gold The Alaska mining industry, as from the mines of the Territory in | hown by the foregoing record of 1040 marked an all-time high rec- | roduction, maintained a high rate ord that had not been equaled even | f output. This was not brought through any single favorable bout o-called dur “boom days" RS ST Watch Our Windows FOR DAILY BARGAINS THRIFT CO0-0P Nextlo |mmuniismosss Phone City Hall 767 The Worids Lofgest Food Distributors z z | ! | i } e S GMC TRUCKS Compare Them With All Others! PRICE - APPEARANCE - ECONCMY DURABILITY ‘ CONNORS MOTOR CO. PHONE 411 Put a Covic Diesel in Your Boat If You Want MORE ROOM IN YOUR BOAT More Miles for Your Money A Comfortable, Quiet Ride An Engine that Instantly Starts Assurance of Safe Trips Freedom from Fire Hazards A Broad Range of Smooth Speeds Low Operating and Maintenance Costs Reduced Insurance iates Smokeless, Odorless Exhaust Full Diesel Dependability An Engine that Can Be Easily Hand Cranked LES G. WARNER CO0. CHAR el inj reases were apparent in | MAE WEST 1S STAR OF HIT ~ NOW SHOWING "'My Little Chickadee” on i Screen at Capitol Theafre the c for together ax Apitol T new ersal pi Chickadee.” A rearing comedy front.er days, the film presents Mae ¢ glamorous Chicago night club en- tertainer who comes to the we: of the hard-riding, quick- gentlemen of the wild and woolly community. Fields seen as a traveling medicine jand tricky gambler who falls deep- {1y in love with Mae and struggles mightily to win her favor | Combining hilarious comedy wiill captivates shooting !stirring action, romance and mu- “My Little Chickadee” is said 1 iws celebrated stars the screen opportunities of their ca Supporting Miss West and Fields [are such well-known players Joseph Calleia, Dick Foran., Gene ! Austin with Candy and Coco, Anne | Nagel, Donald Meek, Ruth Don- | nelly, Margaret Hamilten and | George Moran, | I factor or through increased activity affecting a single commodity It true that the greatest ac- !tual increase in the total value of |the output was shown by the gold {mines, but in percentages of in- creased output these lagged behind the predu s of such commodities is |as mercury, antimony, and tin, and' |there was an actual decrease in the loutput of lead, copper and lime- rock. Unit Prices Higher The unit prices for all the com- medities from Alaska mine ept gold, tin, and limerock, averaged what higher in 1940 than in these three commodities appear to have been | | { 11939 the pr es {]!identical during the two years. Ob-| | viously these increases were brought about in the worid market by the |demand for metals for use in the wars that are raging throughout !50 much of the Eastern Hemisphere and for use in the defense meas- ures being taken by many of the countries of the western world. It {has been assumed that all of the Iver that is recovered from Alas- [ka ores qualifies for purchase un- der the Government's special ar- |rangement for purchase of that (metal from dou ic sources, so that its value has been computed at T1.1 cents an ounce rather than at about 40 cents which, was the price for sil- | ver that did not thus qualify Labor Conditions On the whole, labor conditions throughout the Territory were satis- factory and no noteworthy interrup- tions of production due to differ- ences between workers and emplo; ers occurred At times, however | considerable difficulty was encoun- tered at some of the mines in main- {taining full crews of experienced men because of the much higher pay being offered for many of the emergency undertakings that were carried on at some of the air fields and military cantonments under Government pressure. The neces- sarily strong marked seasonal char- acter of employment in‘most Al- aska mines always presents a la- ;|bor problem that is difficult of so- lution, but this problem becomes more serious when there is an in- flux of newcomers who may not fully appreciate the necessity of providing during the open season for their needs in the long closed seasen when opportunities for em- ployment are scarce. Government Aid The growing participation of the Government in fostering mining is apparent in the increasing num- ver of applications that are being made for loans from the Recon- struction Finance Corporation. As such loans are made only after searching investigation by the Gov- srnment as to the merits of the projects, the mere filing of the nec- essary application papers insures careful planning in advance by the owner, constructive technical ad- vice and suggestions by the exam- ining engineers, and continuing su- pervision to safeguard the carrying out of the enterprise. In this way costly mistakes are eliminated and svery reasonable care taken to assure the success of the undertak- 'ng. This is having a salutary ef- fect not only on the specific project out also on educating the general Aublic interested in mining to real- ze that mining ventures are sus- 'eptible of sound engineering and Jusiness analysis rather than de- pendent on mere speculative sur- mises, Gold . The gold produced from Alaska nines in 1940 is estimated to have Jeen worth $25375,000, or nearly 32,100,000 ncre than in 1939. This alue is greater than for any other vear in the entire history of Alaska. In this comparison, however, it should be realized that in all the cars preceding 1934 the establishec wice of gold was approximately 2067 e fine ounce, whereas dur- ‘ng and after that year it has heer 135. On the basis of quantity, there- ore, the amount of gold produced n 1940 has been exceeded in eact of the 12 years 1905 to 1916, inclu- first wi [ ern town of Greasewood City and man | THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE, WEDNESDAY, JAN. 1, 194l1. [ ive. The total value. of the gold produced in Alaska from the begin- ning of recorded mining in 1880 to the present is estimated at $561311,- 000 Types of Deposit Gold in Alacka ccmes frem two distinetly different types of deposits —placers and lodes. In the placers the gold d from or other ur ated depes the lodes curs in the solid rock In 1940 the propor 1d produced from deposits types is estimated to 71 to 20, or $17.- s and $7.463.000 may be compared ¢ obtained in 1939 1 of g these two have been t 000 with t en about came from the placers it from the lodes past. the great- In 1240, as art of the lode gokl from Alaska m properties in southeast notably those near Juneau 1 Chichagof Island, with lesser ode gold came from this region a lesser proportion than in 1939, when it yielded about 70 perc>nt. The second district, in the value of its lede-gcld production was the Willow Creek district, at the head of Cook Inlet, ne the southwestern flanks of the Talkeetna Mountains The output cf this district seems to have increased decidedly in 1940 over that of 1939 and probably accounted for somewhat more than 22 percent of the total lode-gold production of the Territory In the Yukon region the pri pal lo ld district is that n Fairbanks, where the combined pro- duction from a number of small mines and prospects puts that dis- trict in third place. In addition to these districts with large production, i- a score of smaller lode mines were year, The total valu» of the output,i!‘rm crisis. been ex- | active in other Alaska areas. Properties of this sort occur in the Prince William Sound region; in the Cepper River region; in Kenai Pen- including the Nuka Bay, Mocse Pass, and Girdwood distriets; in the Chulitna district, at the head insula, of the Susitna Basin; in the Kan- tishna district, situated in the |northern foothills of the Alaska * Range; in the Nixon Fork district of iihv Kuskokwim region; in the Na- | besna district, near the head of anana River; and even at such re- |mote points as in the vicinity of |Neme, in Seward Peninsula. With | the exception of the mine in the ‘Kanmhm district, the production |from these smaller lode mines seems to have been approximately at the ‘.snmr- or at a lower r in 1940 than |in the preceding yea: Place) The great increase in output of placer gold in 1940 was due to the increased activity in placer mining, as a result of which a number ‘of new projects began operations, and many of the older properties showed ircreased outputs. Although the output for 1940 sets a high record of achlevement, it is not regarded las so unduly high that it cannot be | maintained or bettered in the near future. In fact, throughout the Ter- ritory new placer-mining enterprises | were under way which had not yet become fully productive, and none of the larger deposits of the older operations showed worked out. The Yukon region, in- cluding 16 principal productive min- {ing districts and scores of small camps throughout its extent, con- i tinued to lead in the output of plac, jer gold, the value of which is es- timated at more than $11,636,000. Second in the list was Seward Pen- insula, with 8 principal districts, which had an estimated output of placer gold worth more than $4,722,- !000. These regions were followed, in ! the relative order of their estimated placer production, by the Kusko- kwim, Cook Inlet-Susitna, Copper River, northwestern Alaska and southeast - Alaska regions. Dredges Important Of the gold won from placers, by far the largest amount was recover- ed by dredges, of which there were 48 in operation in various parts of Alaska., This number does not in- clude one dredge in the Goodnews district of the Kuskokwim region that was engaged primarily in min- ing placer platinum metals. The gold dredges appear to have mined about 67 percent of the total gold recover- ed through placer operations in 1940. Of these dredges 23 were in Seward Peninsula, in the Nome, Bluff, Council, Fairhaven, Koyuk, Kougarok, Port Clarence, and Solo- mon districts; 22 were in the Yukon region, in the Fairbanks, Circle, Fortymile, Hot Springs, Iditarod, Innoko, and Tolovana districts. At least two of the dredging projects were new and in prodi/.ve opera- tion during only part of the open season of 1940. One of these was the large project in the Cripple-Ester area of the Fairbanks district, which has been’ in course .of preparation for the past several years and came into actual production late in Au- zust. The other was the new dredge n the Livengood district, which be- 2an mining in September. Bilver No Alaska ores are mined solely | { 15 a byproduct from ores and mater- als that are principally valuable for seme other metal. It is estimated hat in 1940 about 198300 ounces valued at $141,000 was produced ‘rom this source.. Approximately 60 sercent of the silver produced from Alaska mines in 1940 came from ores whose principal value lies jn their z0ld content, and about 40 percent o the silver was associated with he gold dust recovered in the course of placer mining. In the past, by far frem smaller 1cers tared throughout that | liminary e es indi- e t in 1940 about 65 percent of signs of being | for their silver content, but consid- | “rable silver is recovered each year | | the greater part.of Alaska silver has been recovered frofn the copper ores, notably those in the Kennicott district, With o cessation of cop- |per mining in that district in 1938 ine output of silver from that scurce |has stopped. It has heen assumed that all of the silver recovered from Alaska ores in 1940 qualified for purchase by the Gavernment at the special price of 71.1 cents a fine ounce, and the feregoing estimates of the value of the silver produced g/ have been computad on that basis. Platinum Metals ‘The production of platinum met- als from Alaska depc 1940 d a 208 le iner e, both n quantity and value, as compared with 1 According to preliminary stim: the Alaska production in 28,860 fine ounces having 1e of approximately $1,092,000. large output places Alaska mong the four or five largest plat- inum icing countries of the world. By far the greater part of this vroduction comes from mines in the Geodnews d ict near the mouth of the Kuskokwim River, in south- | wastern Alaska. The deposits there {are mined by dredze and draglines in practically the same manner 8 are the more common gold plac This Some platinum metals, mainly palig adium, are recovered from Alaske ores carrying accessory values ir j0!d and copper. Ores of this compo- sition are being developed on Ka- an Peninsula in tk Ketchikan district of utheastern Alaska Much smaller amounts of platinum metals were recovered from placer-gold mining enterprises, es- in the Koyuk district of Peninsula es, ally Seward Coa! coal from Alaska Imines in 1940 is estimated to have been 170,000 tons, valued at $680.- | 000. This is apparently the greatest The output ed in the Territory d 'however, appears to have 'ceeded in 1923 when, although 50,- 1000 tons less coal was produced, the unit price per ton was $2.30 higher |so that the total value of the pro- ducticn in that year was 000 more than in 1940, By far ti !preduced from Alaska mines comes from the Healy River field, which lies on the northern slopes of the | Alaska Range, in central Alaska. This coal is mined and sold by the | Healy River Coal Corporation in the Fairbanks district, but it also finds a ready market for domestic use throughout the central part of Alaska, as well as at points on the i »past even as far distant as Cordova, near the mouth of {Tie Copper River, |and at canneries on the Alaska Pen- from deposits in the Matanuska | field, near the head of Cook Inlet. |The principal producing mine in this field is that of the Evan Jones Coal Co. This coal is of bituminous rank and is the principal source of | supply for the fuel used on The Al- aska Railroad, as well as for com- mercial and domestic uses through- out the Cook Inlet-Susitna areas |adjacent to the railroad. A little | coal mining was in progress at a few |other points in Alaska but afforded |only meager amounts of coal, which ;were consumed locally. Other Minerals | A number of other mineral pro- |ducts came from Alaska mines in 1940, which, together, added several hundred thousand dollars to the mineral output of the Territory in that year. Among these lead, tin, antimony, quicksilver, copper, and limerock were commercially the most valuable. The lead that is derived from Al- aska ores comes almost entirely as a by-product from ores that are {mined principally for their gold. Al- though the lead carried in each ton of these ores weighs only a few ounces, the yery large tonnage that is treated yields lead that in 1940 |1s estimated to have weighed 1920,- 000 pounds and to have been worth $96,000. By far the larger part of the lead derived from Alaska gold ores came from the mines of the Alaska Juneau Gold Mining Co., near Ju- neau, Tin Mining Tin mining in Alaska in 1940 was confined mainly to placer deposits that have been. developed in the western part of the Seward Penin- sula, but small amounts of stream tin were recovered in the course of placer-gold mining in the Ruby 1:19 Hot Springs districts of the Yukon region, The output for the year showed an increase of approximate- ly 25 percent as compared with 1939 and is estimated as equivalent to $2,200 pounds of metallic tin val- ued at $46,000. Although the output of tin in 1040 showed an increase over that of the preceding year, it was much less than during the per- iod of greatest activity from 1911 to 1919, inclusive, or even during the period of revived activity from 1936 through 1938. No lode tin was mined during 1940 from any of the Alaska deposits, Under the stimulus of prepargwipn for national defense, search for workable deposits of tin in the Territory has been quickened. Antimony Ores The production of antimony ores from Alaska deposits showed a marked increase during 1940. All of the known shipments of this mater- ial came from a single mine in the Kantishna district, on the northern flangs of the Alaska Range. In ac- cordance with the uwual Survey practice, no quantitative statistics can he reported as to the operations of individual properties. The ship- ments from this deposit consist of both crude ore and concentrates which have an average content of 55 percent metallic antimony. These 0 | | larger part of the coal now being insula | The rest of the coal produced {from Alaska mines in 1940 come| CHARLIE CHAN SEEN HERE IN CRIME PICTURE "City in Darkness” Open- ing Tonight at 20th Century Theatre All the thrills and suspense of a Paris blackout await you on the 20th Century Theatre screen in “Charlie Chan in City in Dark- ness,” the exciting new 20th Cen- tury-Fox melodrama, which shows here now Caught, like so many others, in the tense city during those un- fo able days of crisis when the once-gay capital lived in dread of air raids and inaugurated the protective blackout, Chan, the person of Sidney Toler, com- mandeered in the great human in is | emergency s about $75.- ing mineral are known in many! | lamount of coal that has been min- | t€nsely ing any one | roots are tangled deep in the gen- For, although Paris is plunged| to darkness, the authorities quick-| learn that there no Dblacl out for crime, and the great de- tective is set to work fighting the/ dangers that lurk under cover of the inky blackness. Chan is attending a reunion of, handful of Intelligence officers| { the first World War. The cele-| ration is interrupted by an air| aid siren and the subsequent| slnrkout ! The Paris Chief of Police is ompletely occupied with the task| of guarding the darkened city| igainst crime and sabotage, so his! would-be detective son “takes over”( and works with Chan on an in-| baffling mystery whose, ly is cts are transported to the| elter in the States for treatment. | ~~ntainine antimony-bear- | parws ol the Territory, and | specting was in progress at some | them, but so far as known none of them afforded ore that enuxml{ into trade channels. Quicksilver Mine | A small but significant mining de- velopment during 1940 was the op- >ning up and getting into production of a quicksilver mine in the Kusko- kwim alley, near Sleitmut. Quick- silver minerals have long been known in this general area, but the producing mine is at a new locality |on the flanks of Barometer Moun- tain, on the south side of Kusko- kwim River. Two retorts were gotten nto operation late in the season and during the few months remain- ng hefore winter caused cessation for the year yielded a significant amount of metallic quicksilver, most of which was shipped by air- slane. The success of this operation encourages the expectation that the area will largely increase its output another year and that further pros- pecting in the neighborhood is well warranted. Copper Drops Although for a long time copper minerals, next to gold, furnished the greater part of the value of the an- nual mineral production of Alaska, | lately the quantity and value of the copper output of the Territory has| dwindled to such an extent that in 1940 the entire production of copper is estimated to have been only about 70,000 pounds, valued at $7,900. None of the Alaska copper is now derived from ores that are mined primarily for their copper content; instead it comes entirely as a byproduct from ores that are principally valuable for their gold and other minerals. The principal mines that recovered some copper from their ores in 1940 were in the Ketchikan district of southeastern Alaska and in the Na- besna district of the Yukon region. Limestene Quarries The shipment of limestone from quarries in southeast Alaska to Se- attle, where it is used as a constit- uent of cement, is an enterprise that was started several years ago and has heen continued by a single com- pany. The property from which the limestone is quarried is on Dall Is- land, in the Ketchikan district, and work there is carried on during the summer. season from March to Au- gust, inclusive, the product being shipped by the protected inland| waterways to Seattle, The output, of the quarries at this place in 1040 was at a rate somewhat lower than in 1939, but this was due to lack of demand for the product rather than to any shortage of raw material. Petroleum—Marble Although in the recent past con- siderable quantities of petroleum and marble have added each year to the mineral output of the Territory, neither of these commodities, so far as the Geological Survey is inform- ed, was produced in significant com- mercial quantities in 1940. This does not indicate that the potential reserves have been exhausted but| Relief At Last For Yourcougg Creomulsion relieves prom, cause it it to the seat of the trouble help loosen and expel 'K:rm laden , and aid nature soothe and heal raw, tender, in- flamed bronchial rnucot:‘: nlxlem~ branes: Tell your druggist to'sell you a bottle of Creomuldfin l:“&: the ngl‘; ! lerstanding you must like the wa quickly allays the cough or you !n,.re ‘\ CREOMULSION | for Coughs, Chest Colds, Bronchitis I Where the Better BIG Pictures Play! GH? [[”]Z,fly WEDNESDAY THURSDAY X Pich.. LAST TIME TONIGHT MARTHA RAYE maRTEA RAYE 9] 000,00 TOUCHDOWN" i Tevival of wterest has been show': was due rathe. to ti.. genéral state several of the previously known d of the market or to other conditions. | o : “Strategic” Minerals | posits, notably the chromite deos ¥ its near Seldovia, at the sout! The urgent need of the Govern- o4 of Kenai Peninsula, and ment in its program of national de- | ick)eiferous deposits on Yakob tense for certain so-called “strateg-|jang and adjacent parts of Ch ic” minerals has awakened especial gof sland, in southeastern Al activity throughout the nation in| g, gar aimouxh i g the search for possible sources of |po¢ hrought considerable public supply. Among these minerals that tention to the latent possibiliti-. of Alaska might supply are those con- LRSS taining chromium and nickel, and i (dfl}l&nued on Page éeven) Hollywood Sights And Sounds By Robbin Cooms. THEATRE HOLLYWOOD, Cal, Jan. 1—Ann Sheridan made news with that party of hers the other day rews of a kind not ordinarily s under suspension by their studios. Annie’s invitations said one of the things she missed was the chance to see her friends, 50 would we drop around and see her? Of coudse we would, and we all expected bulletins. We got none. Annie talked freely of her studio troubles when you asked her, but “There’s nothing new — and this is just.a party, honest!” And that was news! ‘The Pat O'Briens, Frank McHugh and Jane Wyman were among the early arrivals from the Warner lot, where Annie’s services are held — in idleness — until her salary demand is settled. Annie said she expected Rita Hayworth too - but Rita didn't show. Rita was tired out from a heavy day's work in the role of “Strawberry Blonde,” the role Anuie would have played but for the salary impasse. made by sta Proving it's an ill wind, etc, this Hayworth girl's career is blossoming because of the role. She hadn't been at Warner's two weeks before they were talking of buying half her contract from Columbia. It would be a calamity to the lensers if Rita follows the example of many another leg-art starlet who has succeeded and bans future leg-art. She says she won't — most of her fan mail came from newspaper and magazine “stills.” Rita had hard times before she got the “breaks.” One of the PERCY’S CAFE @ - STOP AT PERCY'S CAFE Breakiast, Dinner or Light Lunches © DELICIOUS FOOD © FOUNTAIN SERVICE © REFRESHMENTS dancing Cansinos, she danced with her father down in Agua Caliente. . But the experience she seldom mentions is the time when, the dancing Cansinos being down on their luck, she and her dad took a job as the floor show on one of the old gambling barges. “It was ghastly — I was sea-sick the minute I goi en the water and all the time until I got back on land, but we danced. We fished too, between shows — and came home ‘and cooked the fish for dinner. We were flat broke.” But shortly after, Rita was signed for her first picture work. A promised role as “Ramona” went to Loretta Young instead, and Rita (now Hayworth) started over in the “B's” Her im- portant pictures are still few (“Only Angels Have Wings," “Susan and God,” “The Lady in Question,” “Angels Over Broadway"), but she is on her way. One of the customers at showings of “Knute Rockne, All- American,” was a 7l-year-old pastor who had never before seen a movie or a stage play although his son, John Qualen, had been an actor 20 years. The elder Qualen, still active as a Lutheran minister, broke his rule to hear John recite that Norwegian prayer in the film —a prayer he himself had taugh his son. f§‘. o