: Many. Prospectors Go I In
2 To Kisgagas Placer Field|

_ NEW HAZELTON, B. . Coy JULY 17, 1925

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Up to press time between forty
ge and fifty people have gone in to
a the Kisgagas district from which
gag’ the report came last week of a
ma discovery of placer gold. Most

| of these people went from New
Hazelton and Hazelton with a
ae number from:Usk and Prinee Ru-
me pert. In the.latter city there is
| quite a lot of interest in. the dis-
me covery and all news is eagerly
[is awaited. Many are ready to go
By as soon as there is confirmation
: by those who are. on the ground
etl now.
The report of forty or forty-
y five dollars, as given last week,
m was an exaggeration due to the
a lack of knowledge on the part of
mm the discoverers, What they ac-
fem tually got was about a quarter of
fee that amount. - This, however,
| makes no difference to the placer
| prospector. The fact that they
| got coarse gold was enough.
z; Hugh Harris and Roy Macdon-
] eli got away to a flying start on
Friday morning and returned on
| Tuesday. They say they did not
stake anything.
L Geo. Hodgins, an old Klondyke
™ miner and prospector who’ went
m in for the Omineca Herald, is not
@’ expected back fora week yet as
Mae he proposed prospecting in the
ae vicinity fora week or more: be-
oe fore coming out. His report will
* be awaited with interest. ~
men An old-timer of New. Hazelton,
am talking about the Kispagas gold
oon B report, let his mind run back
fem twenty-seven years when a canoe
fa’ with a mysterious party, led bya
fe mysterious Indian, quietly poled
. B their canoe past Hazelton in the
Se dead of night, so -as not to dis-
#turb the people or allow them to
m become aware of their passing.
Bie were headed for Kisgagas
Metin search of gold, which the
= B indian told them was found
: BS there. Unfortunately the native
mcould not re-locate the place from
m which gold had been taken. In
mdue course the men came wan-
dering back'to Hazelton to ret a
mboat down the river again. °
Since then numerous. parties
have made mysterious trips into
- Bihe same country, and with the.
mcsame results. Some who still
Geelive here have prospected’” up
Fthere. But it remained for two
optimistic ‘tenderfeet to find
where that gold came from and
= zo get more. Ek and Burke had
@earever panned. gold .before and
; - aad never staked a placer claim.
mlhey knew nothing . -of placer
Bezround nor ot the placer game..

When they came ‘out. they had al-

tory to tell that, rang go true|
‘Mission House, in ‘Hazelton. . AT

aethat.old placer. ‘miners, men who
Binew -the gartie, could not help
put believe that the:two partners]
mad found a real new: place todig
mor gold, The sarople. of gold

brought out, ‘the description of|
the country given, the nature of
the ground where. .the fine gold
was secured and of that where
the coarse gold was found, and of
the hills: and. the creeks, was just
what every ‘real placer miner had
pictured. in his mind as an ideal
setting fora big paystreak.

‘ Such placer men as George
Hodgins, Sperry (‘‘Dutch’’) Cline
and. Pete Enoch thrilled and
tingled to their toe-tips . -at the
news and the gold sample. '.Geo.
Hodgins lost no time in getting a
pack together and getting away
to give the place the once-over
and to stay to stake and pan if
necessary, He believed the two,
men who discovered the gold.
“Dutch,” police officer for this

district, is going about his duties

with a ball and chain about his
ankles, and running his hands
through his shock of timothy
every few minutes.
the Hazelton ferry, and when no-
one is crossing he tramps up and
down the deck like a caged
animal, praying for an early
freeze-up of the Skeena so that
he can-lay-up the ferry. and’ get].
away. Manv others, howeyer,
who do not know so much about
placer mining, but who are en-
thused and optimistic and glad to
take a chance, have quit their
jobs and gone. Some who had
no jobs have gone.- There are

lalso some who do not believe in

Kisgazas any more than they
believe that there is another life
after this one is over: - ‘But one
of the best signs that the ‘disco-
very, is genuine is that there are
those present who contradict the
report.

There has not been a day since
Burke,and Ek arrived that one or
more parties have not packed up
and hit the trail from either New
Hazelton or Hazelton, and by the
end of this week there will be
few men left in either town who
can possibly make the riffle.

There is the greatest anxiety
for the return of the first of those
who have. gone to: verify. the
report of -the discoverers, A

‘favorable report trom them will

send.out many more from. this.
district; while, in the meantime,

‘men are coming in from the out-
ide,

It looks like. a big night,
and there is going to be some

prospecting done along the creeks
on the opposite side of the Kis-

gagas River to that on which
otherg bave Prospected.

“Oh uly. 25 a. strawherty: social
will bé held on the lawn at the

hearty ‘welconie extended to all.

Wee Harris: ‘went down to
Prince Rupert last’ Saturday, F Pes

turning on Wednesday.

‘Pete runs:

x. —e =
OVERHEARD AROUND

| NEW HAZELTON

John Salt returned home .-on-
Friday evening last after spend-
ing a couple of weeks i in Prince
Rupert.

The trail from the top of Mud
Creek hill into Lost Creek, Lost
Lake and on up to the head-
waters of ‘Mud Creek, is being
cleaned out this year. Anyone

-|who desires scenery and to see

mountain lakes, glaciers, ete.,
will find that trip one of the
most beautiful and interesting
inB.C.

The Vancouver Exhibition dates
are August 8 to 15, and the Asso-
ciation is making this the biggest
show ever attempted in that city.
They are making it a real pro-
vineial show, and-seek the co-op-
eration of every section of the
province, both in the way of
exhibits and attendance,
North should be represented,

On another page of this issue
will be found an advertisement
calling for tenders for the con-
struction of the new school at
New Hazelton.

Miss Martha Johnson spent the
last week end i in. Smithers.

_ Mrs, - Thornton. and, Miss Hilda
Spooner left last night to spend a
holiday. at Lake. Kathlvn.

The C. G.L T. left Thursday
for their annual outing at Lake
Kathlyn.

A-meeting was held last night
to arrange for the’entertainment
of forty-five members of the Van-
couver Board of Trade who will
arrive Tuesday evening and put
in the next dav Here,

- The Indians of Hagwilget and
their guests wound up their pot-
latch on Thursday afternoon with

ball grounds. The proceeds are
for reseating the church at Hapg-
wilget, . Rey. Father Allard was
in charge of the affair.

°/Mine Engineers .

_ Here This Week

Mr. and Mrs, Cabrera are now
guests at the Omineca Hotel on-
til his party arrive from the” Ba-
binerange where they have been
examining the Debenture group
and the Cronin property, They
will be here this week and are
expected to examine the Rocher
De Boule and other local proper-
ties, They are also interested in
the Ingenica and Ominéca dis-
tricts: where’ placer is ‘the main:
attraction: Mr. W: G: Norrie is
one of the party. He will be
‘welcomed by-his many old friends
in this district, “The “party ‘re-
‘presents Toronto and‘ Philadel-
‘phia, capital- that hag: ‘heen: oper-
“jating the: ‘North: Star mine | “at

Trustees Elected

The

| Hazelton Hospital met an Tues-

a big field day of sports on the! |

without: a.licenae.

and Assessment
Fixed for School

The annual school meeting was
held in New Hazelton, in the
schoolhouse, last Saturday even-
ing, when W. §. Sargent, the
tetiring trustee, was re-elected
for one year to complete the un-
expired term of §. Bergman, re-
moved. J, H. Willan was eleeted
for three years to fill the place of
Mr. Sargent, whose term was up.

The meeting authorized the
trustees. to raise the assessment.
of the school district so as to
bring in a return of $1200 to meet
the expenses connected with. the
new school grounds and to meet
the additional cost of being raised
from an assisted school to a rural
school standing.

Other matters were discussed,
but ho action was taken. The
meeting was adjourned until next
Saturday night, J uly 18, at eight
o'clock, _ It is redjuested that a
large naihber of ratepayers turn
out tomorrow night.

Hospital Dance July 31st

The New Hazelton members of
the Women's Auxiliary to the

day afternoon to discuss. further
their plans for the dance which

\Fear Fatality in

Case of Missing
Manin Ingenica

Word*was received by the pro-
vincial police at -Hazelton ‘on
Thursday of'last week that Frank
Smith, formerly of Terrace, was

‘missing, and his partner, Edmond

Moore, is seeking information. _
Moore himself has been badly
used up from a fall down a hill
These two men. came from Ter-
race last winter and outfitted at
Hazelton for a trip into the Dease
Lake country, but after they got
on their way they changed their
minds and headed for the Ingen:
ica country. In due course they
ran out of dog-feed and grub and
had ‘to return down the Sustut
river to replenish their supplies,
In this they were. unsuccessful,
and about the first week in May ©
Smith left camp, intending to gro
to Bear river for flour'and sugar.
They thought it was about a day’s |
journey, but Smith never got
back. Moore, expecting his part-
ner to return every day, remained
atcamp until the twentieth, when
he started out to.search the coun-
try. He got no trace of his part-
ner. He met Wm. Dennis, of
Bear Lake, and he had seen no-
thing of Smith. . Moore spent
about two Weeks. around that

they will hold on Friday evening,
July 31. It is tne intention cf
the ladies to make the affair one
of the best possible. The music,
they. say, will be good, and the
refreshments will be second to
none, They anticipate a large
crowd to make the occasion ag
enjoyable as can be, and will
give full value for the admission
charged. The proceeds of the
dance will be used to purchase
new blankets for the hospital.

Funeral of Mrs. Sallis

The funeral of the late Mrs,
Sallis was held on Friday after-
noon, July 10, at two o’clock,
when a service was held in St.
Peter’s Church.’ Rev. T. D,
Proctor conducted the service,
and a large number. of friends
attended: and followed the cor-
tege to the grave, Many flowers
were sent by smnathizing friends.
The pall-bearers were L. Mero,
Ed. Sweet, J. Breckenden, Al-
bert Mearns, Norman Cary, and
A. H. Hindle.

Fined $300 and Costs
Another resident of Usk fell
into the grasp of the long arm of
the law on Friday night, and was
haled into police court next day|
ona charge of selling the ardent
-She was. as-
sessed. the amount. usual in. auch

cases, $300 and costs, in default:
of ‘which the option of. three
months ia durarite vile with hard
labor was. held. out, Weighing

the alternatives in her: mind still

leaves the convicted one without,
aac choice: mange We

on

lake. There he found that a
native had picked up one of the
dogs, the one secured from Chas.
Sterritt, and the red dog he had
had been found somewhere be-
tween Bear and Tacla lakes, Hf,
says Moore in his letter, Smith
did not get out to Fourth Cabin,
on the Yukon Telegraph line, it
looks as though he had met with
an accident:

Moore reports himself in poor
shape, both from his accident and
from poor grub and a shortage of
that. He has given up his watch
and other things to the natives
in return for food, and, a8 soon
as he gets the rabbits out of his
system, he says, he will have to
look for a job, as he is broke.
He asks the police to make en-
quiries about his partner, Smith,

and to advise what to do next.
He says he has received rood
treatment from the Indians when- -
ever he could find any of them,
and that the store at Tacla Lake
allowed him a little grub. ;
Local men who know that coun- -

try believe that Smith has -been
drowned in the Sustut River,
daring the high water.

| Inspected. the Bank

T. ELF, Robertson. manazer .
of the Royal Bank at Prince Ru-

bert, was a visitor here the first

of the week inspecting the local
branch of the Union Bank, This

the country ‘and. will: hot regret: —
ifhe has. to make. several auch a

e Mabe in: future, > ye SB yo

section and then headed for Tacla -— -

was his. first visit:to the interior = -
and he was. greatly taken with ©.