THE r AONTIERS^AN
iRote-red as second class matter on Oct 21 1947 *- pu
Palmer. Alaska under the Act of Marr^ ’87^
... ■ - ..... ..— .
■A. J. DeJulio_ _ Publisher-Manager
3E<ittor ____ Virginia Gallant
l&dbscription Rates 50c a month. $5 a v* In Valley Area
Mailed to all points in Alaska and the United States
$6, per year
Hlklional Adv. Representative — Weekly Newspaper Representative
404 Filth Ave — New York 18, N. Y.
FACING REALITIES IN
ALASKA TODAY
To my mind the most vital pro
bkm facing Alaska is that of be
•ooming self-supporting. In time
<af war or other great disaster we
•mild survive but a very short
fine. Success of civil defense will
Mat impossible so long as we are
•dependent upon shipping our
food supplies from the States.
Training for civil defense is
tnec essary, but we must become
&elf-supporting and able to feed
•mn selves and to help support all
caty populations that may need
Ibelp during a crisis.
We must bring into cultivation
and production every available
iaore of land suitable for crops or
grazing.
To do this will require changes
our land laws by Congress. An
tiquated homestead laws with the
.*same requirements used since
3865 when the vast central and
Western states were settled are
istill used. The Homestead Act was
iaan ended once to encourage Alas
kan homesteading. Many of the
Thnana Valley and early Matan
'jska homesteads were settled un
«der this act which allowed a
homesteader 320 acres. In 1916
Ihe law was changed reverting
back to 160 acres. Bills introduc
‘ed to Congress in 1923 were kill
fed. In 1929 a second bill which
•provided for greater acreage and
.grazing land was also killed.
However ,the Alaska Grazing Act
2ranv in force did come and is
gradually being extended in all
ipasts of Alaska.
The grazing lease is of little
'ttiid to the small operator. Alas
Jfcasi homesteaders need pasture
la® :1 for their increasing herds of
•dairy and beef cattle. Tracts of
360 acres of native grass would
Mat required for each dairy farm
■and would require fencing. It
•Should be available within 15 to
20 miles of one’s homesteads It
^should be open to lease, develop
ment and purchase within three
five years and title when com
pletely fenced and in use. Such a
provision would encourage home
deeding and rapid settlement.
Tbe grazing land in our mountain
Galley would soon be producing <
beef, dairy stock and mutton.
The Angora goat should be here
—it provides food and mohair
and requires little attention; the
milch goat provides milk and has
been proven a valuable aid to
settlement of new countries; poul
try has become a profitable sour
ce, of food, the lowly hog was
proven its worth. Hams and ba
con should be the foundation of
a packing house industry here.
No other farm animal fits into
the agricultural economy of this
region as the hog. It thrives on
lambs quarters, our most prolific
weed.
Search the record of shipments
of foodstuff into Alaska and you
will be surprised to learn that
we import annually:
It will require a large acreage
of tillable land to produce the
food necessary to feed our ex
panding population. Recent chan
ges in our land laws and the in
crease of land management has
made a few acres available. Just
enough to give our people a toe
hold, but little is done to aid
these new settlers in production
of food stuff to feed our popula
tion. | *\
The home built on the small
tract contributes little toward
permanent settlement of farms.
They provide little taxable pro
perty. Governor B. Frank Heintz
leman asked for changes in land
laws and aids to settlers and
farmers now engaged in farming.
I offer a farm program based up
on 10 years experiments in land
clearing at Fairbanks and Mat
anuska Experiment Stations from
1917 to 1929. Costs have doubled
and tripled in many cases.
Alaska must become self sup
porting as rapidly as possible.
M. D. Snodgrass
NORMA N. NELSON
TO WED ON JAN. 18
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Nelson of
Palmer announce the coming
marriage of their daughter Norma
Noreen to Richard Marshall. The
wedding will take place at the
Church of God on Matanuska
Street at 7 p.m., Friday, January
19. A reception will follow at Elks
Hall.
All friends of the couple are
invited to attend.
FOR FAST RESULTS TRY A
FRONTIERSMAN CLASSIFIED
HoTeSim
_ NEWS
Happy Valley Club
The Happy Valley Homemakers
club met January 9 with Mrs.
Don Cook. Thirteen members
were present as well as a guest,
Mrs. Jackie Cabo.
There was a discussion on ideas
to improve our Homemakers’
booth at the Fair.
“Music for the family” was our
lesson topic, led by Mrs. Jack
Flint.
Our next meeting will be Feb
ruary 13 at Mrs. Bill Bouwens. A
lesson on Emergency Shelf Meals
and Broiler Meals will be given
by Mrs. Loomis.
Golduslers Club
The Goldusters Homemakers
clup held their-January meeting
at the home of Faith Krause. This
month’s theme was Music for
the Family. Roll call was answer
ed by our favorite songs. We wel
comed our president, Marjorie
Heddles, who just returned from
the states.
Background music played dur
ing our business meeting and the
entire program was dedicated to
music for our family. We listed
the ways we promote music in
our homes. We studied books on
nursery songs for our children
and listened to childrens’ records.
Helen Woodings brought Swiss
melody bells her daughter receiv
ed for Christmas which we play
ed. She also brought her concert
ina and we all learned new ideas
on how we could introduce music
to our families.
Our craft meeting will be held
January 17 in the Extension of
fice. Our next meeting will be
February 13 at the home of Wan
da Wilson.
Sourdough Club
The Sourdough Homemakers
Employees No Longer
Pey ESC Contributions
Employee contributions under
the Alaska Employment Security
Act are no longer required afjer
December 31, 1956, according to
Merrill E. Weir, director of the
Employment Security Commis
sion. Employers, therefore, should
cease making deductions for em
ployee contributions on wages
paid after December 31, 1956.
Wages actually earned in Decem
ber 1956, but not paid until Janu
ary 1957, are not subject to em
ployee contributions under exist
ing law.
The 1955 Alaska Legislature
enacted the employee contribu
tions provision retroactive to
January 1 of that year with a sta
tutory limit of two full calendar
years, 1955 and 1956. Employers
are required to keep a record of
amounts deducted for employee
contributions and to furnish a,
statement of such deductions to
each employee.
club met at the Seth Cook home
in December for their family
Christmas party. There was an
exchange of gifts.
An interesting Christmas card
from the Don Irwins, who are
spending the winter Outside was
read.
The January meeting was in
the home of Iva McKenzie with
10 members present.
Karla Duff gave a report on the
last council meeting. There was
a discussion on the location of the
new Mental Hospital here in the
Valley. Music was the theme of
the month and roll call was an
swered by favorite melodies.
FOR FAST RESULTS TRY A
FRONTIERSMAN CLASSIFIED
If
to
§ S
Ij
EASY ROAD TO I
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This is a quality that just can’t be
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Authorized Dealer for the Valley
MAGAZINE ARTICLE
TELLS OF LOCAL ELKS'
HOLIDAY PROJECT
Even though it is a little late
for a Christmas story, an article
recently submitted to the Elks
national magazine is interesting
because of the scope of the pro
iect undertaken and carried out
this past Christmas by the Pal
mer Elks.
During the Christmas season
the local Elks distributed some
500 Christmas socks full of treats
to children in their lodge, young
sters living in Talkeetna and to
children in Glenallen. They also
distributed a number of Christ
mas baskets which contained a
large ham or turkey, fresh vege
tables, fruit, nuts, milk and candy
—all in great enough amounts to
assure more than one big meal for
each family. In addition, old-tim
ers throughout the valley were
honored with the presentation of
large fruit cakes. Christmas par
ties were staged for the local Elks
children, for the entire village
of Talkeetna and at Glenallen.
The trip to Talkeetna was made
by seven planes through the co
operation of the local Airmens
Association, and the trip to Glen
allen was by car. The Elks arriv
ed at that town in 40 below zero
weather just as the community’s
school party was concluding and
Santa’s arrival made a big hit.
Four boxes of apples and oranges
were left there for distribution to
,ARR APPOINTMENTS
ANNOUNCED THIS WEEK
Two appointments to the offi
cial staff of The Alaska Railr&ad
were announced today by J. H,
Lloyd, general manager.
Kenneth Messenger, car fore
man for the Chicago, Rock Island
and Pacific Railway, is <*ue here
February 1 to become superin
tendent of car department.
Joseph C. MacKenzie, construc
tion inspector for the Alaska Dis
trict, U. S. Army Corps of Engin
eers, became safety engineer and
compensation agent January 14.
He succeeds E. W. McGee, who
resigned. ______
the more outlying areas.
The article concluded with the
statement that although the par
ties represented considerable
work, the Palmer Elks felt that
they had indeed had a “very
merry Christmas” themselves.
I ■". ■■n“r
j: OFFICE HOURS:
DAILY, EXCEPT TUESDAY AND THURSDAY ;!
;! 9:00 A.M. — 5:00 P.M. AND 7:00 P.M. — 9:00 P.M.
■ SECOND HALF 1956 PROPERTY TAXES ARE
DUE NOW, AND WILL BECOME DELINQUENT
FEBRUARY 1, 1957.
Taxes may be paid at the Assessor's office
over the bank, or by mail to box 1757.
Taxes for 1956 will incur 15% penalty
and 1 % per month interest after February 1,
1957. Fifteen percent means an additional $15
for every $100 of tax.
Payments received after 5 P.M. February
1, or postmarked later than February 1, will
not be accepted unless penalty and interest
are included.
Pay now and save.
WM WAKELAND, Assessor-Collector
Palmer Independent School District
City of Palmer
COMPLETE LINE OF
GOOD/flM
TIRES
Also Good-Year
• BATTERIES
• ACCESSORIES
# TUBES
BRING IN YOUR FARM EQUIPMENT NOW i
! FOR REPAIRS-BE READY FOR AN EARLY i
START THIS YEAR.
FOR SALE
| ’53 WILLYS JEEP, 4-Wheel Drive
| ’53 CHEVROLET - 5-Pass. Coupe
Also Used Trucks
Co-Op Garage
Matanuska Valley Farmers Cooperating
Association