The Chitina leader., 1914-12-22
Cordova, December 16


 This information reached Cordova today in the form of a cablegram to E. c. Ross. MT. Burke had been i'll for about three weeks before leay- ing for the outside on the Mariposa which sailed November IS, as he contracted a severe cold when he came down from his farm at Long Lake. His reservations on two dif- ferent boats were cancelled because he did not feel able to make the trip, although he was not confined to his bed at any time here.
 Before his departure, MT. Burke conflded to friends here the fact that he intended to give the families of his sons, at his old home in Mime apolis, Minnesota, pleasant sur prise on Christmas eve by dropping fin on them unannounced and as a real Santa Claus; but fate willed otherwise.
 The remains will probably be sent there for interment. MT. Burke was about 75 years of age and was among the first to locate home stead in the Copper River valley, where he had resided for about 12 years. He was under the care of Malcom Smith, former physician at the Cordova hospital, at the time Of his death. ,...s,-,
 Discovery of big ledge of low grade ore near the headwaters of the Copper river has just been made known at Fairbanks, says the Citi- zen, though the find was really made last summer.
 The discovery was made by Dick Rothenberg and J. l.. Myers. who had interested an English syn dicate in it. The war in Europe, however, put stop to the negotia- tions for the sale or lease of the property. From Mir. Myers it is learned that the ledge is near the Slate Creek placer mine, which has been such good producer and seems exhaustless. The ledge is un- covered for a distance of mile and a quarter and is from 500 to 1,5O0 feet in width. Assays of the ore show that it runs about S3.50 in gold and s7.50 in silver. In most of the assays there is also some showing of copper and lead. Some of the ore is free milling.
 Down in the creek bed, where the rock is decomposed, men have made S4 a day shoveling the dirt into sluice boxes. It is believed that the whole ledge can be milled to good profit when transportation facilities are provided.
 The English syndicate was to have the mine examined by the. Har- graves Engineering Company, whose engineers were in Cordova last month returning from Ruby, but it was learned that the syndicate would be unable to do anything with it this season, so the matter was put off until next season. It is expected that when the engineers return to Alaska next spring, the find will be carefully inspected with view of promoting it's development.
 Sig. Goodwick, returning from Tolovana on the 5th inst. informed the Fairbanks News-Miner that the men working on below discovery, Livengood, had reached bedrock and found nine feet of pay gravel run ming three cents to the pan. By the usual method of computation this would mean S1.35 dirt, calculating five pans to the cubic foot. The men measured their pans and weighed their gold and it is this information that gives it value.
 Three-cent gravel has been re- ported from Tolovana ever since bedrock was struck this fall, but 1t lay in stratas and only individual and disconnected pannings were weighed. The pay ground reported was struck just before Goodwick Fett and he claims 1t was actually meas ured and the gold weighed. The name of the owner of this claim could not be learned, but he is said to be Garden Island man.
 H. c. Hall, whose feet were frozen after he stepped into water hidden by snow while he was crossing Spen- cer glacier, will lose the great toe and portions of the other toes of his right foot, also several toes of the left foot, as the attending physician at Seward found amputation neces- sary.
 The cable between Cordova and Valdez went out of commission this morning about 10 o'clock, necessi- tating the transfer of business with outside points to the wireless sys- tenn. The Valdez office has its . "trouble shooter" at work endeavor-