Hyder Alaska miner., 1919-11-28
DEVELOPMENT }
 PROGRESS ON SALMON RIVER
Allof the We'll Known Prop
 critics in Famous Section
 Are Steady Operat ors : This Winter.
Program at Premier Mine Includes Shipm mt of 5000 Tons of High Grade Ore.

This time of the year the mines of the district are down to a strictly busi
 ness basis, and as a source of ne vs are of somewhat negligible quantity. Re
 ports of new discoveries are noticible by their absence. Natures mantle of white having driven the prospector and small operator into winter Quarters. Out idle work of every desiription is necessarily at standstill and the work being prosecuted in the developing mines is carried on in quiet, steady manffer.
 Considering the shortness of the sum- mer season, and the fact that it is inn possible to see the surface in the higher mountains until midsummer, it is source of ratification that so many pro- perties of the district were able to ac- complish sufficient outside work to en- able them to employ substantial crews of men through the winter. An even half dozen properties on the Salmon and Bear river slopes are forging ahead with all the men who can be conven- '%iently employed underground. Of these the Premier takes precedence, though the crew now employed there is far short of what it will be later in the season when all the stopes are put in operation. It is General Manager Neill's expressed determination to ship from 2,500 to 5000 tons of ore this winter, and the extraction of this amount mears the employment of fifty or sixty men, though this figure is not named as being authoritative.
 If the snow tractor does what its makers claim for it, breaking the road and hauling twelve tons of ore at trip as well, the shipping problem will be greatly simplifed But if the tra, tor proves a disappointment the ore will come down to the inlet by horse pow,r, it being the intention in this event to is belng kept 'broke,' and for the first time in years there was sufficient cold weather to freeze the ground before the first heavy fall of snow. thus assur- ing good solid roadbed. The Premier company has constructed a wa ehouse on one of their large scows for housing the ore, and number of large fiat wagon beds are being constructed for the ore sleighs, the latter being of the heaviest and most substantial type.
 Assistant General Manager D. L. Pitt, appointed since the Guggenheim and Keith interests bought into the prop erty, has taken hold with vim which assures vigorous and capable man. agement. MT, Pitt is ably assisted by Superintendent w. G, Harris, under whose direction the Premier has reach ed it's present high State of development
 MT. Nei has stated that by the end of next year the ore road to the Pre- mier will be second to none in the west it being the intention to widen and ditch it wherever necessary, as we'll as giv- ing it a thoroughly modern surfacing The story of the Premier road is an epic in itself, starting as it did, as a l narrow track for hand sleds, and grad ually improved as funds could be spar ed for the purpose and obtained from none too easy money market. MT, Neill has had long, hard pull of it to put the Premier on it's feet and over coming the difficulties of securing eff cient transportation facilities has been not the least of his troubles. However it now looks as though his worries are about over, and he can sit back and take it easy. Anyone however who thinks that Mir, Neill has planned life