Vlacon County
From Near
The following very interesting let
ter has been received by The Press
' from1 R. E. Berry, who is located at
Central, Alaska, 50 miles from the
Arctic Circle : .
Central, Alaska,
February y, V)S).
Editor Franklin Press:
Having been born and reared in
Macon county, I always look for
ward to receiving The Press. I
thoroughly enjoy reading your in
dependent editorials which cover
such a variety of questions, both of
domestic and national importance.
As. they are of an independent na
ture they give both sides of the
question.
I have been in Alaska for about
three years, and have been employ
ed by the C. J. Berry Gold Mining
comoanv. of California practically
all of that time. 1 find the gold
mining business very interesting.
There are two types of mining
quartz and placer. Quartz is where
tVm rrrAA Ic ctill in thv mrc ( nuarty
state and therefore has to be crush
ed and separated by different pro
cesses. On the other hand, due to
the action of glaciers which moved
along the valleys possibly thousands
of years ago, and literally crushed
the gold out of the quartz and de
posited it along the valley floor, we
have placer gold.
A prospector would pan these
streams and know how much the
gold bearing gravel was worth per
square yard. If it was worth enough
he would install either a hydraulic
plant or a dragline. In late years,
with the higher price of gold, they
are using still another method the
dredge.
Hydraulic plants cost about five
to ten thousand dollars. Draglines
(which are somewhat like a steam
shovel) cost about fifty thousand
dollars. Dredges, cost from one hun
dred thousand to five hundred
thousand dollars. In rare cases they
may cost three-fourths of a mil
lion dollars, like the mammoth
Goodnews Bay platimum dredge.
Gold Ruth Days Are Con
Gone are the days when '& bum
could become a millionaire almost
overnight. Rich strikes now are al
most a thing of the past. Therefore,
the ' business is changing more to
expensive draglines and dredges, I
might add that where they took
out millioas of the yellow metal by
hydraulic methods in the old days,
they are dredging the same "ground
today and taking out more millions.
In the old days they mined only
the richest and highest grade
ground, and they paid exhorbitant
. prices for supplies, wages, etc.
, The following prices will give you
an idea of what they paid during
the cold rush davs comoared with
the prices of today: Flour, 100 lbs.,
$85 to $100, (today's price is $10) ;
tobacco, $5 per lb., (today's price is
$0; eggs, $1 each, (today's price is.
60 cents per dozen.)
The smallest coin used here at
that time was 25 cents, therefore if
yau bought a five cent pencil, cigar
or anything priced at a nickel you
paid 25 cents, and were glad to get
it even at that price.
A Lucky Swede
A true story known throughout
the Klondikes (Canada) and Alaska,
concerns a Swede we shall call Mr.
Samson. A couple of gamblers made
Mr. Samson drunk and sold him a
mining claim they owned 'for $800.
When he sobered up he tried to sell
it back to them for almost any
one else, but since everyone thought
it was worthless he had no takers.
At last he .said, "Well I tank I go
up and sink a shaft on my claim."
So Mr. Samson did, and when he
reached bedrock he began to shovel
out gold. After working out his
claim, he took out only two million
dollars worth of gold. I'll bet the
gamblers left the country.
Scores of creeks have each pro
duced from a few thousand to
thirty million dollars worth of gold.
The richest was the Eldorado in
the Klondikes (Canada). I would
like to mention at this time that
u- Ty 1 l:i '. j i . .
urc iviuiiuikcs in vanaaa nas oeen
the world's richest and biggest
placer district. The Nome and
Fairbanks districts in Alaska have
also produced hundreds of millions
of the yellow metal. Dawson, (Klon
dikes, Canada.), Nome and Fair
banks during the gold rush days
each had populations of forty thou
sand. Today each has a population
of only two thousand.
Man Writes
Arctic Circle
Beautiful Display of Light
As Alaska is so far north, we
have the midnight sun in summer
and beautiful displays of northern
lights in .winter. .Imagine a giant
curtain with all the vivid colors of
the rainbow .stretched across the
heavens. They are continually mov
ing as if a gentle breeze was blow
ing against them.
- Great Temperature Variation
Most people in the. Southern
states invariably think or Alaska
as a place of snow and ice, but
this is riot the case. We have some
real hot days in summer and tre
mendously cold days m winter. We
are able to see the sun 24 hours a
day during June and part of July.
During part of December and Jan
uary we cannot &ee the sun at all
as it does not rise above the south
ern horizon. Of course it is light
for three or four hours during the
day. As it is dark all day during
December above . the Artie Circle
they close the schools until it be
gins to lighten up again.
The temperature varies from 100
degrees above in summer to 72 de
grees (record) below in winter. The
coldest we have had this winter has
been 52 below. Last year the cold
est was 60 below zero.
Since we have such cold winters,
rivers and lakes freeze to a great
depth. In fact they use the rivers
and lakes for hauling and freight
ing instead of the highways.
Important Alaska .Industries
Some other important Alaska in
dustries are coal, copper and plat
imum mining. Her biggest industry
is fishing, with an annual value of
thirty million dollars. Gold, which
ranks second, has a value of 26 mil
lion dollars. -
Alaska's purchase from Russia in
1867 by Secretary of State Seward
for seven and one-half million dol
lars and was called by many at
that time "Seward's Folly." Since
that time she has proven to be one
of Uncle Sam's best investments.
She has produced almost one-half
billion dollars worth of gold alone
inv addition to almost pne-half bil
lion dollars worth of other products.
Journalistically speaking, the gold
rush days' papers have had colorful
careers. During the Klondike stam
pede a couple of newspaper men
from the states brought a printing
press into the district. They had
to haul it over dangerous snow
covered passes and across frozen
rivers and lakes for hundreds of
miles at thousands of dollars of
expense. After reaching Dawson and
installing it they began to turn out
a paper of only two or four pages,
selling for 25 cents. They paid for
the press and the freighting cost
after one year of operation.
Alaska is much larger than the
combined area of all the southern
states. Her population is only sixty
thousand (1930 census) with about
one-half this total being natives
(Indians and Eskimos).
I would like to correct an error
which appeared in a recent issue of
The Press. Central is about 140
miles northeast of Fairbanks and
50 miles s0uth of the Artie Circle.
In closing, as I look out the win
dow and see the theomometer
which reads 50 below zero, I think
of "Sunny Dixie."
Very truly yours,
R. E. Berry.
Every Farm Family
To Get Publication
Each person on the farm needs
three bushels of wheat, two bush
els of corn, 1.8 bushels of Irish
potatoes, two bushels of sweet po
tatoes, 85 pounds of pork and lard,
30 dozen eggs, four gallons of
sorghum, and quantities of about 15
other foods to maintain health
throughout a year.
This information is contained in
a new publication prepared by E.
W. Gaither, analyst of the State
college extension service, and now
being distributed to every farm
family in North Carolina. It is de
signed to aid the farm family in
planning its food and feed re
quirements, and crop rotations.
Dr. I. O. Schaub, director of the
extension service, is having the
pamphlet distributed through the
county farm and home agents, but
he announced that copies are also
available upon request to the Agri
cultural Editor at State college,
Raleigh, for Extension Circular No.
235, "Facing Farm Facts."
In Addition to tables listing the
THE FRANKLIN PRESS AND THE HIGHLANDS MACONIAN
Key Buildings of the
' - ft '- ' v', J?"WC t f ' ,
If C x - r ' v !
; - f.
I r '.' 1
Artist's sketch of the 200-foot Perisphere within which visitors to
the New York World's Fair of 1939 will view, from a revolving
platform 'suspended in mid-air, a dramatization of the World of
Tomorrow. Clusters of fountains will screen the piers supporting
the Sphere so that the great ball will appear to be poised on jets of
water. The 700-foot triangular Try Ion at the left a unique archi
tectural form will serve as a Fair beacon and broadcasting tower.
food requirements for one person,
there are tables showing how much
feed is required for one hen, one
dairy cow, one beef animal, one
hog, one sheep and one horse or
mule. The circular also contains a
garden . calendar, showing what,
when and how to plant dozens of
vegetables adapted to this section,
and a crop rotation table which
iJuXIS
BEER BUYS
OF 3 MILLION
.AM
Good crops at good prices . . . Isn't that the
kind of farm relief that farmers really want?
Since 1933, the brewing industry has bought 15
billion pounds of American farm products . . .
paying good prices, too.
Add to that, the million jobs that Beer has
made ... and the fact that Beer pays a mil
lion dollars a day in taxes: local, state, national
To safeguard these
BEER. ..a beverage of moderation 4
New York World's Fair
lists the general crops, and other
crops which follow best to conserve
and enrich the soil.
Dr. Schaub said, "It is not pos
sible to predict definitely in ad
vance what price farm products
will bring. Those depending upon
money received from the sale of
farm products .with which to pur
chase food for the family and feed
sBoJocThat Concern You
-here. MR. FARMER, is A
BICNEW CUSTOMER 5
THE PRODUCE
FARM ACRES
advantages, the brew-, 40th St., New
)nVu o xt
THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 1939
for the livestock often find them
selves without the necessary funds.
The farmer who produces his liv
ing largely from the farm and who
conserves the fertility of the soil
usually lives well every year and
in the end has more cash as a re
sult of his labors."
RELIEF
A new plan of distributing food
to relief families by issuing them
stamps good for commodities in
grocery stores will be tried as an
experiment in a limited number of
cities.
AAA
Dnrirxv U ind rmt VMT th&
agricultural adjustment administra
tion program was applied to 282,
629,000, acres, or almost 65 per cent
of the total crop land of the United
States.
HOME TALENT .
State College's, annual farm and
home week, to 'be held July 31
August 4, will feature more farm
ers and farm women on the pro
gram, announces John W, . Good
man, assistant extension director.
Bryant Furniture Co.
EVERYTHING FOR
THE HOME
AT REASONABLE PRICES
I Phone 106 Franklin, N. C.
v.
BOTHERED
with Rats, Mice, Roaches.
Use Bestyet. Guaranteed.
Sold by Henry D. West,
FRANKLIN, N. C
Loyal Order
of Moose
Franklin Lodge, No. 452
Meets
In America! Lesion Hall
Every Thursday Night
7:30 O'CLOCK
Billy Bryson, Secretary
ANOHfRE.MR.WORKMAH
ARE A MILLION JOBS
madebyBEERV
BEER. PAYS A MILLION
lDOLLARSaDAYintaxes
NATI0N-WID5,
AND HERE.KAR.TAXPAYER.
IS A HUGE SUMT0 LIGHTEN
YOUR TAX BURDEN!
m . m a m tern. ia
Ing Industry stands ready to cooperate fully
with , all law enforcement authorities. The
brewers can enforce no laws . . . but they do
insist that retail beer outlets should give no
onense to anyone.
. Would you like a booklet that describerthe
?feWefi program of direct action? Address:
ert ,ustr,al foundation, 19 East
York, N. Y.
..m
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