tion to accept no more applications until after additional funds were appropriated. There were undoubtedly a number of prospectors who would have used the assistance in 1930 that were unable to do so on account of the early depletion of the fund available. For the purpose of assisting in administering this act providing assistance to prospectors 16 local agents for the commissioner served in different sections of the Territory. Ten of these agents were United States commissioners and the other six are men who have a wide acquaintanceship among the prospectors of their respective districts and are therefore well qualified to pass on the merits of individual applications for assistance from their sections. Four of these agents served in the first, 2 in the second, 5 in the third, and 5 in the fourth division. During the biennium ending March 31, 1931, 196 prospectors were assisted. Of this number 42 were prospecting in the first division, 43 in the second, 47 in the third, and 64 in the fourth. The act providing assistance to prospectors during the past biennium requires that every prospector who receives transportation assistance shall, within one year from the date of receiving such assistance, file with the commissioner a written report covering the results of the operations for which he receives aid. A blank form showing the data required is furnished each prospector with his application blank. A rather disappointing feature of the operation of the act during the past biennium was the failure of a majority of the prospectors to file the reports required. Out of the 196 who received assistance only 85 filed reports. Of these reports 16 were from the first division, 18 from the second, 27 from the third, and 24 from the fourth. Most of the reports received were well prepared and contain valuable information which has been of much service in answering inquiries by prospectors and others concerning the mineral resources of regions about which little is known. Prospectors who failed to file the required reports according to the terms of the act will be unable to obtain further assistance until the expiration of one year from the date on which their reports should have been filed. During the past biennium two associate mining engineers, while engaged in conducting field examinations in various parts of the Territory, investigated the work done by about 75 prospectors who had received transportation assistance from the Territory. Reports rendered on these investigations indicate that a very high percentage of the work done by the prospectors whose fields were visited was of a bona fide nature, and that the funds furnished were actually employed in defraying transportation expenses for the prospectors and their outfits as contemplated by the act. The full value of the results obtained by the operation of the act is difficult to appraise for the reason that much of the benefit derived is of an indirect and intangible nature. The mere fact that the Territory has lent its support to prospectors in their efforts to carry on their operations has undoubtedly been a large factor in stimulating prospecting throughout the Territory. Many cases are on file where prospectors who continued their search for minerals throughout the biennium would have been unable to do so without the assistance in transporting their equipment and supplies that was given by the Territory. This assistance has also expanded the field of operations of many prospectors, enabling them to visit and examine remote localities that they would otherwise have been financially unable to reach. This is particularly true of those who were assisted in employing transportation by airplane. An outstanding result accomplished by the operation of the act thus far has been the exploration and development of the promising placer fields in the Shungnak section of the Kobuk River district. Assistance in airplane transportation from Fairbanks was given to the first group of prospectors who entered this field in 1928 and whose work has resulted in such development in the area as has so far been accomplished. Assistance in airplane transportation has also been given subsequently to other groups who have been engaged in this development work. Other discoveries of potential importance are reported to have been made by beneficiaries of the act in two placer districts of the fourth division. The only discovery of a lode deposit of outstanding merit was made by a prospector while working in a district to reach which transportation funds had been granted him by the Territory. This discovery was in the Nizina River district, and an option on the property was taken by the Kennecott Copper Corporation, which company conducted development work on the deposit with a crew of about 15 men over a period of nearly a year. Many discoveries of mineralized deposits of sufficient merit to induce prospectors to return to them for further examination during the coming year have been reported to the commissioner by prospectors who have received assistance from the Territorial fund. At its 1931 session the Alaska Legislature again appropriated $20,000 for transportation assistance to prospectors in the Territory, one-half of which is to be spent during each year of the biennium. The new act provides for a small payment to local agents of the commissioner for their services in connection with the administration of the act. This action will enable the commissioner to keep a closer check on prospectors who apply for assistance, as he will be able to call on the local agents for reports that he did not feel free to request when the agents were giving their services gratis. The 1931 act also provides that prospecting for which assistance is received must be done on claims which have not been held for a longer period than two years prior to application for assistance. This will eliminate assistance in doing assessment work on claims held for long periods and make funds available only for work in new areas. A number of applications for assistance have already been received, and it is evident that the appropriation for the first half of the present biennium will be applied for before the end of the year. BUREAU OF MINES The activities of the Bureau of Mines in Alaska during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1931, were again confined to the mine-safety service, assaying and mineral analysis for prospectors and others, and the sampling and analysis of coal. The supervision of this work continued in charge of the supervising mining engineer for the Geological Survey in Alaska, with headquarters for the work of the Bureau of Mines at Anchorage and branch offices at Juneau and Fairbanks. MINE-SAFETY SERVICE The purpose of the mine-safety service is to safeguard the lives and health of those engaged in mining and related activities. This work in Alaska is conducted by a senior foreman miner assigned from the Bureau of Mines staff. His duties include giving to miners and subordinate mine officials training in approved mine-rescue and first-aid methods; giving instruction in accident prevention, and the nature and seriousness of various types of hazards that are met in the mining industry, and approved methods of eliminating or overcoming them; conducting field contests in first-aid and minerescue work; giving exhibits and demonstrations of the bureau's safety work; and maintaining in condition for service the rescue apparatus provided by the bureau in the Territory. The equipment of the mine-rescue car, which is maintained on the Alaska Railroad, was kept complete and in good condition for service at the operating coal mines adjacent to the railroad. This car also serves as a base for training in mine rescue and first aid in that vicinity. Five sets of oxygen-breathing apparatus, an approved inhalator, and other mine-rescue equipment are kept at Juneau in good condition for use at any disaster that may occur in the mines of southeastern Alaska. Training in first aid, mine rescue, or both, was conducted during 1930 for the Fairbanks Exploration Co. at seven of its camps near Fairbanks; Pacific Coast Cement Co., View Cove, Dall Island; Citizens Light, Power & Water Co., Ketchikan; Alaska Juneau Gold Mining Co., Juneau and Douglas; Juneau Public Schools, Juneau; Hirst Chichagof Gold Mining Co., Kimsham Cove, Chicagof Island; and Evan Jones Coal Co., Jonesville. An exhibit of Bureau of Mines rescue and first-aid equipment was prepared and displayed at a first-aid contest held at Juneau that was attended by about 100 people. The foreman miner also assisted, with the Bureau of Mines H-H inhalator which is kept at Juneau, in saving the lives of two children at Juneau who had been overcome by smoke in a burning dwelling. In addition to the first-aid contest held at Juneau during the year a contest was held at Fairbanks, where five teams of the different camps of the Fairbanks Exploration Co. participated. About 150 spectators attended this contest. Eight lecures on first aid were given during the year to girl scouts, firemen, chambers of commerce, and to the Indian boys at a Government school. Safety inspections were made of four gold dredges in the Fairbanks district and reports submitted. Data was collected for a report on limestone quarrying in Alaska and a report submitted to the supervising mining engineer. During a trip to the States the foreman miner made a study of safety at gold dredges in California and collected data for use in making recommendations at gold dredges in Alaska. He also acted as a judge at the international first-aid and mine rescue contest held at Louisville, Ky., and attended the accident-prevention course at the Pittsburgh station of the bureau and meetings of the National Safety Council at Pittsburgh. All breathing apparatus at Juneau and Anchorage were rebuilt and the trunks painted and varnished. 81740-31-6 Following is a record of the training completed in mine rescue and first aid during the year: Assaying and mineral analysis work was continued at the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines near Fairbanks by an analytical chemist and mineralogist detailed to that work by the Bureau of Mines. This work is carried on under a cooperative agreement whereby the college furnishes quarters and supplies and the bureau furnishes fixed equipment and details and pays the salary of the chemist who conducts the work. This service provides prospectors and others in Alaska with an opportunity to secure official assays of ore samples at actual cost and of having made identification tests of mineral specimens free of charge. Assays of ore samples taken by field engineers of the Geological Survey and of the Territorial Mining Department, in connection with the investigation of mining development and assistance to prospectors, are also made at the college by the analyst of the Bureau of Mines. Opportunity is also given the mining students at the college of witnessing the assaying and identification tests conducted by a skilled analyst and mineralogist as well as to actually assist in the work. During the fiscal year the following determinations were made in the laboratory at Fairbanks: Custom assays_. Official assays and analyses.. 858 198 239 355 These determinations were as follows: Aluminum, 1; antimony, 8; arsenic, 4; bismuth, 5; calcium, 2; copper, 50; cobalt, 4; iron, 14; lead, 50; manganese, 2; nickel, 4; phosphorus, 2; platinum, 15; silica, 4; sulphur, 3; water (sanitary analysis), 26; gold and silver (requiring 1,532 fusions or scorifications and 1,105 cupellations), 1,090. COAL SAMPLING AND ANALYSIS The analysis of samples of coal in Alaska is carried on by the Bureau of Mines in a well-equipped laboratory at Anchorage furnished by the Alaska Railroad. The analyst who conducts the work is detailed and his salary paid by the Bureau of Mines. All coal purchased by the Alaska Railroad under contract from private operators is inspected, sampled, and analyzed by the analyst; and, if necessary, appropriate penalties are applied on the basis of the results obtained. The facilities of the coal-analysis service are also available to other departments and bureaus of the Government and to the public. In addition to the Alaska Railroad, advantage of the service was taken during the year by the special investigator for 1 None. the Interior Department, Bureau of Education, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Geological Survey, Light House Service, several of the coal companies, Bureau of Public Roads, Territorial Mining Department, Alaska College, Alaska agricultural experiment stations, and the Signal Corps. The analyst also made a log of the No. 5 bed of the Alaska Matanuska coal mine and assisted in investigations being carried on in the railroad belt by the Interior Department and the Geological Survey. A brief summary of the sampling and analysis work done in the coal-testing laboratory during the fiscal year is as follows: Tons of coal inspected and sampled--- Analyses made: Ash control determinations___. Proximate analyses for Alaska Railroad__. Proximate analyses for the public and other services---. Total terminations 39, 652. 42 274 26 35 4 339 PUBLIC LANDS Alaska is divided into three land districts, which include the four judicial divisions of the Territory. A local land office is maintained at Anchorage to care for the land entries of the first and third judicial divisions, and the Nome office and the Fairbanks office handle the second and fourth divisions, respectively. The land laws of the United States, modified to meet local conditions, are applicable to Alaska. The administration of the town sites in Alaska is in charge of the division inspector at Anchorage. Timber sales, outside of the national forests, are arranged through the local land offices. Birch timber may be exported, though all other timber on the public domain outside of the national forests may be sold exclusively for local consumption. The third and fourth judicial divisions contain the greater part of the suitable homestead lands, and requests for information should be directed to the local offices at Anchorage and Fairbanks, respectively. The following statement shows the total number of entries made and the total acreage of land entries filed in the offices in Fairbanks, Nome, and Anchorage during the year 1931: |