The Sunday Oregonian., May 21, 1916, SECTION SIX, Page 6, Image 74

THE SUNT) AT OKEGOXIAX PORTIiAWD, MAT 21, 1916.
i ft " 4 k
II H if H li'll V -J? tlXV 1LJ
I. ryyTT; . . . u. . 1 ' f
FRANK. C. CARPENTER
DESCRIBES ALASKA'S VAST
BEDS OF COPPER,
CORDOVA, Alaska. Cordova la the Wrangell Mountains, about 209 miles
copper center of Alaska. It 1 the In a straight line from Fairbanks,
terminus of the Copper River and
Northwestern railroad, which winds Its The most Important dlscoverr of cop
way up the Copper River valley and Per in Alaska, and, indeed, one of the
taps the great copper deposits that He most Important mining discoveries of
on the southern slopes of the Wrangell the world was that of tho Kennicott
range. The ore now coming down to . . . . '. .
, , . - mines, wnicn nave since Deen Dougoi pt
the Morgan-Guggenheim syndicate and
which are now yielding more than. 60,
000,000 pounds of pure copper a year.
These deposits were discovered by two
miners who were, prospecting ' about
Kennicott Mountain in the year 1900.
and the property was then investigated
by Stephen A. Birch, a young mining
engineer, who brought it to the atten
tion of the capitalists and organized
the port is from only two or three
mines belonging to the Morgan-Guggenheim
syndicate; but the copper belt
Is over 70 miles long and 20 miles wide.
It is one of the most extensive and
richest of . the copper areas of the
world. More than 400 copper locations
have already been made and the wealth
of the deposit is such that Alaska may
become as noted for its copper as it is
1 . 1 rr-1 i a i . . .
X . "r" Ulm'a OL the development projects which have
-"" """" l" " Prl con" made it one of the
linueu meiai 10 tne value or more than
greatest -copper
$500,000. and that now on the wharves
here Is worth from $12,000 to $16,000 a
carload. The ore la brought down in
sacks as big as an ordinary pillow and
of the weight of an average man. Each
eack contains from 150 to 200 pounds ot
ore carrying $28 worth of copper. There
are 600 sacks to the car, so that each
carload is worth almost $17,000,
mines in the world.
During my stay at Cordova I met
Mr. Birch. He is the vice-president
and manager of the Kennecott prop
erties, and is thoroughly acquainted
with their history and present condi
tion. I asked him to tell me the story
of the discovery. He replied:
It began with the rush to the Klon-
The copper of the Kennicott mines is dlk- and the mining excitement that - reu me something of how the mine
so pure that it can be dug from the rouowea it .mere were men pros
earth, turned Into metal and put on Pecto moving about hese and there
the market at a cost of about fi cents over Alaska, and 11 of these men had
a pound. In these days, when copper is made &n agreement to investigate cer
worth from 20 cents upward, you can
"MSHSBWW taMM
say that she will be paying dividends
for generations . to come."
, "7
was developed," said I.
"After Warner and Smith had located
the claim they came out to Valdea,
tain sections and to divide share and where they met the rest of thlr party.
that these copper mines pay? I am told
that they will yield something like
$6,000,000 In dividends this year.
see that every pound means at least 16 6hare allka what they found. The They discussed the situation and de
cents profit. The average ores now men went ,n Palr. nd drew lots to ciaed that they had not enough money
being mined are above 20 per cent pure, "eo whIcn etion of the country they to develop the mine themselves, and
and a large part of them carry as high 6ould take- The district of the Upper that Jt would be best to sell it. I was
as 72 per cent of copper To show what ch,tlna was drawn by Clarence at valdea at the time, looking for such
this means, the copper ores of Arizona Warner and Jack Smith. It waa they properties on behalf of myself and cer
yield about 5 per cent, those of Mon- who dlscoverc1 mines. taIn capitalists of New York City. They
tana about 3 and those of Michigan "Both Warner and Smith were old told me about their discovery, and
less than 1 per cent. Do you wonder Prospect"". ail Jack Smith for years showed me the specimens of ore. It
naa trampea over tne mountains or was then too late to go to tne interior.
Arizona. He was commonly known as hut I agreed to make an examination
the 'Arizona Centipede.' I suppose the of the property the following Spring If
name came from the miles he had trav- they would give me an option upon it.
The copper output of Alaska Is e1 WSrner and Smith had been To this they agreed.
rapidly Increasing. Its value last year working throughout the Summer of "I then went to New Tork and Inter
was five times as great as during the 100. They had gone carefully over ested Messrs. H. O. Havemeyer. James
year preceding, and was only two and the country, but had found nothing II Ralph and Norinan Schulta to the ex-one-half
million dollars less than the Bnd were about to leave in despair, tent jthat they agreed to put up enough
total product of gold. In 1914 about They had only a few days of grub to money for preliminary examinations
21,000,000 pounds of copper was mined eo UP that stream and prospect the and work sufficient to show what the
and its value was less than $3,000,000. land between Kennecott " Glacier and property was. That was in 1901. I then
In 1916 the output was over 80,000,000 Nikolas creek, named after Chief Niko- came to Alaska and did the work. I
pounds and its value was more than Iat- They had gone only three miles found the deposit all that had been
$14,000,000. The copper product will be when Warner sprained his ankle on claimed and far more than I had hoped,
even greater this year. n ' the rocks. He sat down to rest, I secured a new option, agreeing to pay
So far we have taken out of Alaska and ho and Smith ate their lunch. As $100,000 to each of the 11 members of
about $80 worth of gold for every dol- did so. Smith observed a large the prospecting party, or $1,100,000 In
lar's worth of copper. But our gold Sreen patch In the rocks on the side alL To make this option perfectly valid
mining began 36 years ago and our ' tho mountain and called Warner's I had to secure the signatures of the 11
attention to lu He said It looked- prospectors and all who were Interested
strange and that they ought to go up with them. Some of, the men had been
and .see Just what it was. Warner grub-staked by others, so that the
replied that Smith might go if be money had to be divided among 32
would, he did not intend to climb up claimants, each of whom had to agree
copper mining not until 1901. Today
the prospecting "for copper may be said
to be at Its beginning. There are ex
tensive deposits of this metal on the
other, Bide of the Wrangell Mountains
1 i i i ii i n i-nts-
ii .. ... . .. . . -iA. .
V-ii .ji $T7 -Lv y vjv - ?':i.-.,tj . - - - - irfi
and large working mines on enma of ' tbere to look at a blanked sheep pas- to the deal. These men were scattered
the Alaskan islands. Seven mines are ture- H thouKnt tha green patch was over the United States, even to the
now being develoDed In th Ketchikan Krass and that it was one of the feed- Philippine Islands. Most of them I had
Z; Tr f ,Jlj I t-?.e": thlt are often found on the hlU. of their signatures. "I should say so. They have already these are in process of development.
mines on Prince William Sound. A tnls part ot -aJaska-
number of copper locations have been
approximately 70 miles long and to
"Did they get the worth of their miles wide and more than 40 locations
have already been made. many oi
"In the meantime a lawsuit was be- received more than I16.000.009 in aivi- ' " v-
mn Kt, .v- -i. jt .1 dends. Ud to 1916 they had been paid log- If
Ll LUEV ii n ii - - . . . . . . . .
"This objection of Warner dlsconr- grubstaked Jack Smith and Clarence over $8,000,000, and their receipts last transporation and If coal were avaname per. it h quariet
. ,,.. ,-. year were more than $7,000,00." ior tne reduction si mo ora - r "
e mine be- .v,. ih v. inmW .in- by the flotation pr
from the railroad, and on th. ,0th a8red -?"11.115- and he w" abou to elV. Warner and that half of the
side of Turnagain Arm native copper ST Tr t 1? l.-.l . d inBed t0 them- That 8Ult WM trtCd at
ha, been sluiced down by the hydraulic "0m,e Watef 'f' "m.Ml' Valdez. Alaska, before Judge Wicker-
miners. The copper -of Prince of Wale. T""" "Tj" .tt--5? J Wh ta DOW terrltt-lal egate
c. . VL w congress n is also tne rignteous
eral-bearing rock. He picked it out ludge described In Rex Beach's novel.
Island carries considerable amounts of
gold and silver, and the same is true
of that of the Chitlna district.
What is the market value of the dova there would be a largely . in
property V creased output in the near future.
. "It is more than $50,000,000." "From what you say, Mr. Birch, It
"Were you able to do anything with would seem that the Morgan-Guggen-
the mine, Mr. Birch, before the railroad he1 syndicate does not own all the
wfiJer man
with that of ordinary mines that 850
.ons of it will yield more of the pure
metal than 30.000 tons of copper ore
mined on our western highlands.
The Latouche mines are low-grade
producers. Their ore is a chalcopyrlte
the region could have cheap wMch averages about 3 per cent cop
ed from the hillsides
,-ater, and is treated
process. The Beat son
mine on Litouche Island. Mr. Birch
tells me is now producing from ten to
twelve million pounds of copper per
annum, and Its output will be Increased
within the near future.
htm $30,000 to purchase the mine, with
the understanding that he. Beatson,
was to retain his own share.
The word'Chltina Is of Indian origin.
It is composed of two words, "chltl,"
meaning copper, and "na," meaning
river. We know that native copper
and took it Pack to warner. xney 'The Snoilera.' Amonn- th lnwvera for w oumr - ,.,i a . rxnlled Mr.
diuuicu ii tuscLncj nuu uiuno ' " tne pialntin were a united States Senr --'u v u Birch. "Its Alaska holdings are pr it-
two.
The story of the discovery of the
Latouche copper mine is quite as in
The first fracture had a silvery at0r and a member of our Hou. of bu we were able to take In men and tlcally confined to those at Kennecott . ..,., , r,o-. Th.
look, and they thought It was silver. Representatives at Washington. The machinery and so develop the mine that and on the Island of Latouche. As I & prospector
They then went down to the creek suit was decided in our favor. It was we could deliver ore a. soon as the rail- have told J.lton SSiSl at SewarSaid he:
to find more of the float It increased then appealed to the Court of Appeals road was done- ur mining machinery f""" ,yD th. Kenecott prop- "The Latouche mine waa the result
ertles. The Latouche prepertles are be
ing handled in the most moaern way.
of
of
a mes
miners
of bad
were
clams.
illng
it Washington ct about $300 a ton. or of more than 15 The policy which the Government has shores of Latouche Island when they would take that price if I could fi
vlctorloL cent - Pound. We carried some of It pursued has retarded the development found a clam bed and stopped i dug the money V The miners "Pei: "Ye;
victorious. .ijr. , - , . , , v,. in this section by Ihe up enough for meal. They cooKed He then asked them to put their on
vd?eS,V"t " "n. w j"001 Va"f S , i:tln .f tl. ,X "l th. the clams, but before eating them in writing. They thought he w
ft or
prevention of the opening of the coal the clams, out Before eating tnem in writing. iney mougni ne waa
fields and the failure to rurnisn tne iuuhu mat ure wcro cui iiuiwuuua uiuiuun Suu v.,. uu
111 1 11 1 1 1 1. rippcu U)JCU 1113 WAk aim uanucu UUI
that the the sum In $1000 bank notes. The men
gards copperf coperas must come irom copper ae-
It bids fair to oe one oi ui luacai. , l.
countries or tne ""ip anu prmiiei'i un nitn.
did so. ana tne result was tne ais-
000,000 pounds per annum, and this is covary of these great deposits of low-
was used by the Copper River Indians gradually ,ed them to the spot which t"H kppealed VohT UnTted mountains, and that at a cost
before white men entered the territory. -. vart thought u the sheen oas- i thereupon appealed to the Un ted
Sti.r -nfl ,rrnc. f ., : . " . - .. . oiai.es oupreme wourt a
. . . ture. it proved to De tne outcroppmgs ,-
made bv them hov rn-r.A in . . and we were once more
- 0r an enormous aeposit or copper ore,
eiuice Doxes or tne miners, ana cere- and of tne richest copper mines ever ' Tha finai decision was not rendered We had also to open up the property.
, . . aiscoverea. until five years after the discovery and "mis Bnarts ana anve tunnels, as well . mUch needed." on account of the copperas
employed by the natives for cutting ..Now th, fIrat th,ne. . Dr0sneetor .- , as to make oth.r rmnm.nt. tra"s.Portf tto" "i."f f . ...XT- on of th.
the salmon can eh t at th h,rlr,nln. r . . ' . " " - " " .... ... vv nat is tne mmro
. : aoes arter maKing a strme is to select to develop the property. At that time raising tne ore. ah in is was aecom-
eeason. a name for his find." Mr. Birch is still the options were taken un and tho Plished by the time the railroad waa
The RUSSianS had discovered that criAaUlmo. "T- Vi nnllnn vhnt , . ... . . . mmnl,tH tn 1911 T'V, T- n I . V . . pAnnnr-nrodUClnff
a- ii ujci i v.ti in o in in o jiosBCBsian ol - . . -- r,v , . . inn
copper existed in Alaska long before they should call the new mine. Old Messrs. Ralph, Schultz. Havemeyer and we had a good traffic from the start, world. The product is now close toiuu.
they sold the territory to us. They jack Smith, who was ahead of War- myself. We In turn Interested J. P.
had nuggets of copper and small house- ner. and first saw the possibilities, Morgan & Co.. and the Messrs. Guggen
hold utensils beaten out of the metal, turned to his partner and said: By helm, who formed ti A In ulin Rvni11iat.
They found no large deDosits. however n ri Wo m&r ahn'a a hnnnnxn ' Tn ti.1. i,.. - a m . that time on the traffln of tYttk rnaii k o - i,rna out here In an v aPpre- selves- but the ore
aim ii waa not unui (sj or more years which Warner replied: 'Well. JacB. interest In the mine and agreed to increased.- claoie quantity. -
after we had taken possession of the that' a trood name for hw. w'ii rail v,n ti,. ou,n i. rr., 1 Further on In
territory that there was any hope that her the Bonanza Mine.' The find proved syndicate afterward purchased the re- "--re there other valuable deposits
the copper would be of great value, to be a bonanza, and up to 1915. after malning 60 per cent of the stock. .copepr in the vicinity of the Bonanza
It was In 1899 that prospectors on their only 4 years' operation, she had . "What did they have to pay for the "Tes, we have opened up the Jumbo island is not far from Seward. It has price.
wa., num x-rmco w iiiiara oouna to tne already yielded over ; $8,000,000 In property?" I asked. mine nearby which Is a lartre nrodueer rlch PP' lodes, out tne ore is oi an
jvioname jearnea aDout the Copper dividends, and she is now earning at "The Bonanza mine. Including the
River region, and the same year the the rate of more than $6,000,000 per railway, cost the Alaskan Syndicate ap-
Geological Survey reported a similar annum. No one knows the actual ex- proximately $26,000,000." replied Mr
copper belt on the northern side of the tent of the deposit, and it Is safe to Birch.
"Beatson then came back to La
touche," continued the prospector, "but
before he did so he changed his money
into 30 yellow bank notes of $1000
each and sewed them insiue the lining
of bis mackinaw. When he came to the
mine it was with a sad (ace. He said'
that capital was tight and the puulio
not prone to invest. He kept on preach
ing hard times and at last cast such a
gloom over the camp that the others
of the party decided to sell if the
could get any kind of a price for the
mine. They were in this mood when
Beatson asked them to make a fixed
price, and they finally agreed on a few
thousand dollars. Just how much I
don't know, but it was less than the
$30,000 Beatson had in his coat. At any
A number rate, before showing the money Beat
along the son asked: "Are you men sure you
could find
were scared stiff. The yellow bills
looked good. They took them and the
mine became his.
"Mr. Beatson then began to develop
our first tralnload contained more than ;'., - twelfth of the total produc- grade copper ore, which lie almost on the property with the expectation of
a half million dollars' worth of ore tio of the United States. Nevertheless, the edge of the sea. The miners de- selling it. He opened up more of the
that was 70 per cent copper, and from riv vnn since copper has elded to develop the property for them- mine and showed the extent of the 3e-
contalned such a posits, ne got one company to mK
conversation
small orcentatre of cotmer that they an option for a considerable sum. They
I could not make It pay. They kept on drove a sbait Into tne niu. out nap-
. asked Mr Birch to tell me about the mining, however, with the idea that pened to strike between the ore vein.
of " ... , on the Island of La- the deposits were so large that they that was forked, and found nothing.
toSche In Trine. WU Suni TWs ought to aell th. property at a big The option expired and Beatson finally
w- ; , -1 -5, ... Tt has Drlee. sold the mine to the Alaska Syndicate,
In the meantime one of the miners, which is now operating it. I have not
C.t.nn AnnoMnoArf4 that , . nra, lnrnnH What thfe rTH'P WIS. DUt 1 am
and there are many other copper pros- ?t;n"1n;e, ndjumbo ' The latter disgusted and 'wa going outside for told that it was high enough to drop
pecta in the same region not belonging hae a chcite ore which car- the Winter. He took some of the ore Mr. Beatson Into 'Easy "treef and t
to us which will be producer, in the "e. f f 2 to 70 percent of pure cop- with him and went to New Tork. where remove- the necessity of his ever ork-
.r r Th- r-h.t.. oo.. h.n ner The ore 1. so rich in comparison he Induced a rich relative to advance lng thereafter.
STORY OF THE GOGGLE EYE
HC was a young trout, a little boy
fish, you know, who lived with his
brothers and sisters. In a still, shallow
pool, among the twisted roots of a big
gum tree that grew in the edge of the
water.
He was only about as long as your
middle finger, and, when he swam up
near the surface where the sunlight
was, one could see right straight
through him. Just like he wasn't there
at all.
That's being transparent, you know.
If you could havev gotten him between
yourself and the sun, you could have
counted his little ribs, about a thou
sand of them, I suppose, and you
could have seen his little heart beating
merrily away, and even the tiny mellow
bug he had for breakfast was as plainly
seen as the clock on the mantel.
But then. Goggle Eye waa a generous
' little f ellow, and didn't mind a bit let
ting people see what he had.
Goggle Eye never ventured very far
away from the shelter of the black
roots of the gum trees, but he liked to
hide there and watch the water people
go by. and It seemed to him that some
of them were always going up or down
the stream.
It was a good thing tor him he had
such a fine place where he could lie,
and see, and not be seen, as some of
the creatures that swam by had awful,
big mouths, and looked awfully hun
gry, too.
There was a big old catfish, all slimy.
Goggle Eye never ventured very far
away from the shelter of the
black root of the (lun tree.
and slick, who would come sneaking
along, looking for something to eat
and he ate little fishes, too.
His wicked little eyes were Just like
two shining amber beads, and he had
two long, wavy strings, sticking out
from the front part of his face, where
mustaches grow; and. when he opened
his mouth, it looked all big and dark,
like the entrance to a tunnel! And
then, he had two stiff, needle-like
things standing out from his shoulders,
like the sharpest spears. They were
the things he fought with when any
body made him mad. When the other
water people saw him come sliding
along they all tried to look very smil
ing, like they were glad to see him.
but the; always gave him. plenty, of
room, and got so far out of his way
that their tails stuck. In the mud of
the banks.
Queer how folks always get so polite
when a big fellow, llae the catfish,
comes along, isn't itT .
But, some of the fish that swam past.
were very beautiful, and Goggle Eye
Just loved to watch them and wonder if,
he would ever grow to be as big and
shiny as they were.
Now, there was the perch family, who
lived where the creamy pond lilies
floated, and where their big. round
leaves lay flat on the water, they
seemed to be real nice people, too.
They were certainly mighty nice to
look at so thin and flat, and with such
beautiful, well-kept fins and scales.
Goggle Eye didn't know how their
backs looked, as they were always
above him in the water, but they surely
did have lovely stomachs. Just the color
or oranges, lemons and things. '
Sometimes, when he was watching
them, one would suddenly disappear,
going out of sight, right up toward, the
world of air and sunshine!
It was a funny habit, and Goggle Eye
couldn't understand It at all.
It waa like this: Something, would
drop down from above, and when the
something got still enough to be seen it
was Just a long, pink worm, all tangled
up on a black, curved wire arrange
ment, with Just a teeny, sharp point,
sticking out.
Then the biggest one of the Perch
children would Jump for the wriggling
worm, swallow' It with one gulp and
then, with a wild flourish of his tail,
disappear right straight U In that
horrid air, where fish can't breath,
to do any good.
When he was gone and the water had
become still and clear, the other little
Perch children would lpok at each -other
and say: "Now, that's funnyl
We'll have to ask mother about that."
But of all the water people ths
funniest one was the big. lazy old bull
frog, who was always as happy as
the day was long, and who swam with
two long green and yellow splotched
legs. Instead of with fins, like every
body else did.
This Jolly old fellow did not live
all the time In the water, but some
times he would crawl out on the bank
and actually get perfectly dry.
Now, if Goggle Eye was ever so un
fortunate as to get perfectly dry, he
would moat certainly die and there
wouldn't be any Goggle Eye any more.
The hardest work that Goggle Eye
had to do was to go to sleep.
Now, you know, all little fishes and
big fishes, too, as to that matter, don't
have any eyetVds to pull down over
their eyes and make everything good
anj dark when the sand man ebmee.
No matter how sleepy they get they
Just can't shut their eyes, but must
sleep with them wide open. And they
must see all sorts of things to Interest
and keep them awake, though they
try ever so hard to keep from seeing.
The reason for this queer state of
things Is they must watch out all the
time, even when they are fast asleep,
for fear some big fish, or eel. or turtle,
might come along and gobble them
up and they would never .know it It
their eyes were shut.
Now. how would yon little folks like
to have to keep your big eyes open
when bedtime comes, when you, are
tucked warm under the blankets and
the light, are turned low and every
thing 1. so .till and quiet? I Just don't
believe you could do It. Do your
of tight, and the total is th
human happiness.
Answer Love.
Make four straight lines
add five straight lines and
for the result.
Answer 1111 TEN.
Prove that one taken from
20.
e sum of Answer Take the 1 from XTX and
wa have XX.
Show that the half of 11 Is .
Answer XI; divide In the middle
and then and the upper Is VI.
have ten
Truancy has u.en reduced to a minimum
. In the ccnoola of Los Angeles by means ot
ithe telephone. As soon as a child's ab
19 leave. IFnca ia noted hl parents are called up
and aaked the rt-Mon.
DOT FIZZLE.
Our Puzzle Corner
ARITHMETICAL PUZZLERS,
Boya and girls always like to have
a few choice arithmetical puzzler, to
spring on their friends when they meet
together. Here are a few staplo ones.
Ask them:
If a room with eight corner, had a
cat in each corner, seven cats before '
each cat and a cat on each cat's tail,
what would be the whole number of
catsT - t
Answer Eight cats.
5SSfiV ft
S 4 r- & & E.
There waa a big old eatfiah. all
and slick.
See if you can complete this picture and how what these children ara
Take 60 add a o, add 5, add the first dolus by. connecuns the (lota in the order in which they, are numbered.
zJ