The Alaska daily empire., 1915-02-06
WINTER NEWS FROM
 KOYUKUK COUNTRY

Ll ttll MY NtANtAN ~Is-ats-af -t. '-sr absent from Fairbanks for about six weeks. Thomas c. King the well known local dog musher and long dis tance congressman, arrived In town on Saturday afternoon says the Citizen. He made the journey of something ov- CT 1900 miles without mishapsi other than those generally met with travel ing over little used trails, and he re- ported thot his trip was successful In every respect The snow ct tho pres ] ent time is over five feet deep all along the trail from Tanana to Wiseman, ale though. when Mir. King went into the Koyulull the fall was very light
 Generally speaking, the Koyulyub is quiet at the present time, accord. ing to King. No new strikes of inc portance are reported there, nor have there been any finds of large nuggets or 'pickups" usually reported in the winter from Hammond river How. ever. Wild river. from which some encouraging reports were received here several weeks ago, is looking good although none Of the propsectors working on the stream have reached bedrock as yet One hole down to Q depth Of go feet. shows fairly good prospects,
 overflow Stops All Work.
 On Hammond river thero Is e num- ber of large outfits working. an of them daily, expecting to get into one of those runs of pay which have made that stream famous as one of the pro- ducers of gold in the world. However Hammond-river operators have been having a great deal Of hard luck this winter, as they have been unable to keep the water of the stream from entering their drifts.
 Tho mlldness of the winter is biam- cd for this unusual trouble as It has not been cold enough to keep the riy- CT from glaicering and then overflow ing.
 During the time Mr King was 0 the Koyukuk the miners were not do- ing anything but waiting for the water to subside before attempting to pump out their workings.
 In many places along Hammond riv- CT, the incoming of the water caught the miners in a state Of unprepared- ness. It was at the time of year when there had been but very little snow, and they tehrefore. had been unable to haul in their wood and had no steam up in their plants Consequent- ly they were unable to pump out the drifts Immediately Several narrow escapes from drowning in the cases of the men underground were reported. It being stated that while one man was waiting for his partners to hoist. him out Of the bottom of Q shaft the water rose up to his armpits.
 storms Have Bothered.
 Heavy storms have prevailed ell the winter in the Koyukuk, according to| Mr. King. There was very little snow at first but when it did come it was. accompanied by a wind which was almost cyclonic iu its violence. How eyer the storms have now abated somewhat and tho Koyukuk people hope to have good weather for the remainder Of the winter.
 Pioneers Elect.
 A few days before Mir. King reached Wiseman the Koyukuk Igloo Of the. Pioneers Of Alaska held It's annual election. Those who were elected 10 office are as follows:
 President. Judge F. D. Howard.
 Vice-presidont, Peter Dow.
 Secretary, Daniel Webster
 Chaplain, John Flowers.
 Sergeant at arms, John Goldslough.
 Historian Harry Owens
 A Big Potlateh.
 At Christmas time one of the big gest potlatches ever held along the Koyukuk rivor took place at the mis- sion, st. Johns, in the Wilderness at Alatno. Indians for miles around took part in the festivities, many of them coming from the extreme head Of the Koyukak
 Archdeacon Hudson Stuck was pres ent at the celebration.
 Coming To Town.
 4 number of the miners of the Roy ukuk contemplate coming to Fairbanks within the next few days, some of them for the purpose Of attending tho court session. Ike Splnks is expect ed arrive within the next few daysI on bis way Outside to attend Che San Francisco exposition, while others will be through here for the same purpose at a later date
 King will probably make several more trips into the Koyukuk yet this winter
 THERE ARE OTHERS
 It is reported now that Governor Goethals, the canal builder will not superintend the construction Of Che | Alaska railroad There was never any ! practical reason advanced why some other good engineer should not be able | to direct the work which really incl wolves no great engineering problem. < (Fairbanks citizon.l