The Chitina leader. [volume] (Chitina, Alaska) 1910-1928, 1915-10-19
MINING REACHING
INDUS RIAL
STAGE


discoverer of the Nizina mining dis
trict, and locator of a large body Of
anthony ore about fifteen miles from
Mccarthy, recently went to Seattle
from Cordova, and Jack Underwood
publishes the following interesting
story in the Times about this we'll
known Alaskan:
Rowland first found this anthony
thirteen years ago, about fifteen miles
from Mccarthy. which is now the
head of the Copper River & North
western railroad.
At the time it cost approximately
$500 ton to carry freight to the dis
trict, and as anthony was then worth
only few cents a pound, he did not
bother to stake it. The war in Eu-
rope sent the price of anthony flying
skyward and Rowland returned to the
North. He found the big veins I'M
touched. He brought a quantity of
the ore to Seattle with him and is now
arranging to make regular shipments
this winter. He is registered at the
Hotel Savoy.
Rowland went into Alaska in 1896
and soon afterwards discovered Jack
Wade Creek, in the Forty-Mile dis
.trict. He made small stake at
Dawson and in the spring of 1900
'mushed" over the ice from Dawson
to Nome. Then he went into the Cop
per River country, and although miss
ed the Bonanza mine, he found the
Nizina diggings, where he acquired a
number of claims and sold them for
$250,0OO. Since that time he has been
in Nevada and Arizona in charge of
copper properties.
ALASKA" he said, " is much the
same today as it was in the old days
the richest, virgin region in the world
for the hardy prospector. The means
of transportation are still largely To-
Called, but it is not hard to see null
tiplied growth of trade with Seattle as
time goes on. The conditions are
such that great mines will be walked
over undiscovered for many years.
Nevada is a bushless region, and
her white and brown hills are eroded
as clean as scrubbed floor. 1t has
been mined and prospected for fifty
years. Yet within the last fifteen
years a score of new camps have
sprung up, each with one or more rich
mines. Every year sees some add.
ton to the number, either from new
discovery or development.
"The same thing will happen and is
happening in Alaska, where, because
Of the overburdden of moss and de-
composed vegetation, prospecting is
much more difficult. The trouble
with Alaska today is that there are too
many men looking for jobs and not
enough seeking to make a fortune for
themselves.
Nineteen years ago I discovered a
real bituminous coal in Alaska COW
ering as large an area as a Washing
ton township. If it has been redis-
covered I never have seen any men.
ton Of it in the newspapers nor did I
hear anything about it on my trip
North.
Copper mining in Alaska is a COM
paratively new industry. Yet the
boat came down brought 1000 tons
of copper ore, so rich that it will make
1900 tons of copper ingots. And each
succeeding ship is bringing down it's
quota of wealth.
Gold mining in the Copper River
Valley is proving an important factor
in it's wealth, the value of the strikes
made ten and twelve years ago becom-
ing more apparent as practical mining
machinery is applied. Valdez, Dan,
Chittitu and Rex Creeks are all pro-
ducing and have years of work before
them. One cut on Chittitu River this
summer yielded 100000 at an operat-
ing cost of $4,000.
Mining operations are bound to In
grasses as the years go by. Mining in
the North is rapidly reaching an in
dustrial stage. The population is
slowly increasing and will continue to
become greater, and the prosperity of
Seattle will not diminish with the de-
velopments in the North"
Rowland believes that the advanced
prices of all metals caused by the war
in Europe will be maintained for a
considerable time after peace is de-
clared, and he thinks it probable that
the price of anthony will be carried
along with the price of other metals.
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