The weekly Alaska citizen., 1920-01-19

mining Industry, not only profits, but even possibility of working at all will soon be out of the question. If. then. mining is to continue in this district there must be some other compensation, such as cheaper powe, to offset this handicap.
 The shortage of labor was caused in part by the enlistment and daft ing for military service of the young est and strongest of the miners. whicn made 1t necessary for the mines to work short handed. while such labor as could be secured was not able to do the same amount of work as the younger and stronger men who had left, causing a further decrease in production for the same wage cost. And the shortage of labor was | further enhanced by the tempting offers of employment at high wages in the states, which attracted many other miners away from the interior. But even the shortage of labor and high cost of supplies might have been successfully overcome If fuel for pow CT, which plays such a large part in the cost of mining here, had been available at reasonable price.
 When the placer mines were first discovered an abundance of fuel was to be had on the tree-clad slopes and bottoms of the valleys. Wood was plentiful and could be obtained at reasonable cost But after a few years of using this timber as fuel shortage began to be apparent which has increased and grown more stringent annually, until we have reached the condition where practical ly all of the available timber on the important older creeks has been cut and burned. and on several of them even the very stumps have been Increased to point where a price fuel. The cost of securing wood has increased to a point where pf;re of $16 or $17 per cord Is not excep- tional; as compared with $5 or SC few years ago. But even in favored localities where wood can still be had at nominal price, it should not be used as fuel under any conditions that have a regard for the future. because the time can easily be fore seen when such timber will be needed urgently for mining and building pur- poses. It should therefore be con served for such use.
 The problem of cheaper power is vital element in the cost of mining here that there can never by any extensive development of the latent resources of the interior of Alas'Ia until 1t is satisfactorily solved. The entire district depends directly or in directly upon the mining industry, not only for its present existence, but also for It's entire future growth. There are big possibilities in agri- culture, to be sure, possibilities which have been demonstrated beyond ques ton by the wonderful farming that is now being done in the Panama valley But, because of remoteness e tn ch I ic produce to the United States at profit and must, therefore, look to local consumption for his market And what is the source of that con sumption? The mining industry and the attendent commerce depending directly upon 1t. If the mining in dustry fails, agriculture must fail also thru shere hamilton, or else be so seriously crippled that it may per haps never realize the opportunities that are now in sight. And the mining industry cannot hope to advance un less power can be had more cheaply than at present.
 The placer workings, upon which this portion of Alaska has been so dependent in the past, have reached the point where most of the bonan gas have been exploited. And lode mining for any but the highest grade of ore has as yet been unthinkable But there remain untouched many mil lion yards of lower grade placer gravel, containing nearly twice as much gold as has thus far been re- covered, that can and will be mined as soon as cheaper power and sup plies are available; while the pro, duction to be had from lode mining under such conditions has not yet been scratched on the surface, with the completion of the government rail road supplies will be cheaper. Bu, any reduction here must be accom- panied by a marked decrease in the cost of power especially for large op- erations where power is such a con siderable item of cost. because any possible reduction in freight rates on supplies cannot be sufficient to lower tho cost of mining materially