ALASKA PIS 0 RIC A L
L I B R A R Y
J 0 N £ A »J
4-H CAMP OPENS
KING'S LAKE CAMP
JUNi: 21
The Frontiersman
PUBLISHED IN THE INTEREST OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
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PALMER. ALASKA THURSDAY, JUNE 26. 1958
PRICE 10 CENTS
VOLUME 11 NUMBER 34
ROCKEFELLER GRANT
APPROVED FOR
RESEARCH WORK
The Rockefeller Foundation
approved a $30,000 grant to
i x a three year study of selected
i rage grasses and legumes na
•. vc- to Alaska.
One of the objectives is to pro
Y.de basic material for the de
% opment of a new agricultural
: :c.ustry in Alaska—the produc
: rn of a forage crop seed for
export.
According to word received by
Ur. Iversity of Alaska President
} west N. Patty and Alaska Sta
' . Director Allan H. Mick, the
foundation funds will be used co~
■ ratively by the University of
Alaska Agricultural Experiment
Station and the University of
V-'. • con sin Agricultural Bxperi
nt Station. The Alaska re
trch will be supervised by Ros
c - L. Taylor, head of the sta
t r-ys agronomy department.
Previous financial support
d m the Rockefeller Foundation
permitted the conduct of forage
c p and disease surveys in Al
a-xa during 1956 and 1957. Over
7. grass and 40 legume species
were identified. Plants posessing
. parent superiority in disease <
stance or agronomic •desira
. 1 .tv in their native habitat were
- - ted within a number of spe
t Preliminary evaluation sug
g- rts that several species may
re value for planting in the
Ur. fed States. Others have been
s. guested for their value to agri
culture in Alaska, the armounce
rr.c-nt stated.
The investigation will work to
ur :d possible new crops and im
; . ved varieties for forage, lawn,
P.n' and green manure crops in
Alaska and other areas. It also
will evaluate the seed production
t vential of selected grass and
tsiime strains in Alaska.
Local Film Gets
Air Force Contract
Roark Construction . Company
Palmer has been awarded a
MK.320 contract for construction
of a water supply system for
' e U. S, Air Force at the Pedro
Dome White Alice site.
Bids on the project were open
tr.'i June 12 by the U. S. Army
Engineer District, Alaska.
The work is to be completed
by September 30.
SAVE!
< ON YOUR
CLEANING
CERTAIN GARMENTS
2 for the |
price of ■
Cash and Carry
BROWN’S CLEANERS
\ WE GIVE GOLD STAMPS
EARLW. BARRY
I SET POLICY FOR
PURCHASE ORDERS
FOR '58 FAIR
Purchase orders to be used
before and during the 1958 Ma
tanuska Valley Fair will orig
inate with the Fair manager
and will be countersigned by
the treasurer or assistant trea
surer, up to $300, it was an
nounced this week. Orders
amounting to more than $300
will be signed by the finance
committee. Any purchase
made without a purchase or
der, or over budget limit will
be nun-reimbursable unless
prior approval has been made
by the board of directors.
HOSPITAL RATES
TO GO UP JULY I
Rates at the Valley Presbyter
ian Hospital are slated for an in
crease, effective July 1, it was
! announced this week. The pedia
l trie rate will go from $17 per day
! to $20; double accommodations
for adults, from $20 to $23; and
single accommodations from $27
to $30.
“The rate charged at the Val
ley Presbyterian Hospital has in
the past been the lowest rate in
the territory,” it was pointed out
by Marvin Slaughter, board
president, “and it is with great
reluctance that we find it now
necessary to raise them. In order
to attract and retain qualified
hospital personnel and eventually
to accrue funds to defray the de
preciation of the building and
equipment, this increase was ap
proved by the hospital board of
directors.” ,
Slaughter pointed out that the
hospital building is four years
old and that with normal use the
building is beginning to show
wear. Each year this amount of
| use and need for repairs will in
; crease. It is the obligation of the
| hospital board to keep the hos
; pital in good repair as well a>
| to provide good care for the pa
tients, he added.
CAMPUS DEDICATION
PLANNED FOR NEW
METHODIST UNIVERSITY
The Alaska Methodist Univer
j sity will hold campus dedication
ceremonies at their campus site
near Goose Lake in Anchorage
on Sunday, June 29 at 3 p.m.
All residents of the Matanuska
Valley are cordially invited to
attend the dedication.
For those unfamiliar with the
j college site location, one way to
| reach the area is to go up Gam
| bell Street to Fireweed Lane,
left on Fireweed to Lake Otis
Hoad, right on Lake Otis road,
then left, following signs which
will be erected to indicate the
way to the campus site.
The dedication will mark the
beginning of construction; the
first three buildings to be the
| administration building, class
j rooms, and student union build
i ing.
Flowers for
the June Bride
Telegraph Delivery Service
MAUD S FLOWER SHOP
COMFORTABLE
Steam Heated Rooms
Hyland Hotel
2 blocks from Post Office
Moose Legion
Plans Summer
Ceremonial Here
Members of the Mt, McKinley
! Legion No. 51, Loyal Order of
Moose, will hold their annual
summer ceremonial in Palmer
this week-end, June 28 and 29.
The program for Saturday will
be held at the Palmer Moose
lodge and will start with a steak
dinner for Legionnaires and their
ladies from 6 to 7 p.m., followed
by an after-dinner program
which will feature a 35mm slide
contest, with prizes being offered
for the best pictures in the fol
| lowing four classes: Best scenery,
! most unusual picture, best ani
i mal picture and best winter pic
i ture. At 8:30 p.m. the Legion
I Ceremonial and election of offi
! cers will be held. Officers nomin
I ated by the committee are: Rob
I ert Korn, Cordova, North Moose;
| George Plumley, Palmer, South
i Moose; Robert Dunn, Fairbanks,
East Moose; George Doyle, An
chorage, West Moose, and Thom
as Moffitt, Palmer, treasurer. A
Legion dance for Legionnaires
and Moose will round out the
evening.
On Sunday, June 29, the pro
gram will begin at 11:30 a.m.
with an open air installation of
"officers for the 1958-59 year. This
program will be held at Green
! Acres at Wasilla Lake. A pot
! luck dinner will follow at 1 p.m.
I and recreation will be enjoyed
1 m the afternoon.
Visitors are expected from
! Cordova, Fairbanks, Nome, and
Anchorage. Don Ingalls of Pal
mer is herder of the Mt. McKin
ley Legion.
Dedication Planned
At Wasilia Church
I Gayle F. Lewis, of Springfield,
Missouri, National Home Mis
sions director of the Assemblies
of God, will dedicate the Assem
bly of God Church in Wasilia on
Sunday. June 29. The service
will begin at 2:30 p.m. and the
public is cordially invited to at
j tend.
; Special music will be present
! ed by the choir of the Assembly
j of God Church, Anchorage, under
the direction of Doyle Smith,
j Other vocal numbers will be
I presented by the local church.
The Wasilia Assembly of God
i church had its beginning in June
! of 1951 in the Community Hall
i in that town. After property was
| purchased on Knik Road, one
| block from the railroad depot,
► the basement was completed and
] services were held there,
The auditorium was completed
sufficiently for services on Easter
Sunday of this year. Work on
the exterior of the building will
continue during the summer
months. The church has been
built primarily through the gifts
and labor of the local congrega
tion. The pastor, the Rev. Paul
Riley and the congregation cor
dially invite everyone to attend
the services.
Refreshments wall be served
in the church basement immedi
ately following the dedication
service.
In addition to his presentation
at the dedication service, the Rev.
Lewis will speak in the Sunday
morning worship hour at 11
i o'clock.
4-H TEE-SHIRTS
HAVE ARRIVED
; Four-H tee-shirts have arrived
: and may be purchased at the Ex
; tension Service office just in time
j for 4-H camp, it was announced
I today.
COUNCIL
NOTES
Among visitors at the June 24
meeting of the City Council werej
Mrs. Robert Hardisty and Les
Klebesadel. Mrs. Hardisty was
requested to be present to hear'
of a necessary requirement that j
a concrete slab be installed near j
the gas pumps at Tost’s Service
because the asphalt paving, which
will be put down in front of the |
station, will deteriorate from j
spilled gasoline.
Klesbesadel requested the
Council consider the drainage
problem on Springer Road. His
j, requests were turned over to the
street committee for study.
* * *
Ted Bu/.bv of the water de
partment reported on his recent
attendance at a water school
held in Fairbanks. Buzby was
authorized by the Council to hire
two men to hand dig sections
around certain water valves on
streets to be paved. Hand digging
not only would protect the val
ves, but would eliminate the
need to close off streets while
the work was done. He reported
"the Co-Op has requested water"
‘ to be used m one phase ot the j
creamery work and that a two
inch line would be run to the
creamery, as well as a four-inch
line to the power house. The lat
ter line would not be used, ex
cept in a case of emergency. The
creamery line is to be metered.
He also reported that the analy
sis* of well material is expected
this week and that the type
screen necessary for the new
well can then be determined. He
I stated that at the present time
| one well is producing approxi
i mately 115 gallons of water per
' minute and the other 55 gallons.
' * * *
Police Chief Bouwens asked
the Council to consider what type
traffic control signs are to be
put up on the streets to be pav
ed. He suggested the city use
yield-right-of-way signs where
ever possible in preference to
stop signs.
Before any person may dig any
part of any city street it will
be necessary for them to first ob
tain a permit from the office of
the city clerk. Before such per
j mit is issued the water and police
j departments shall be notified and
J the digging is to be at the de
| part men ts’ convenience.
A motion was approved by the
Council to follow a recommenda
tion of the Planning Commission
that application be made to the
Housing and Home Finance Ag
ency for preliminary planning
| money to be used for sewer sys
j tern planning.
Councilman Duff reported that
the American Petroleum Insti
tute has been requested to make
a study of the asphalt materials
the city has on hand; making rec
ommendations for its use. He
stated it is expected that the
study would take from six to
eight weeks.
The second reading of the new
tax ordinance was made.
* .* *
The city clerk was authorized
j to purchase a Thermo-Fax ma
S chine for the office; the amount
j of $150 was voted to Buzbv as
expenses allowed for attendance
at the water school; and bills,
as adjusted, were approved for
payment.
I TO PUBLISH
ONE DAY EARLY
Next week’s issue of The
Frontiersman will be publish
ed on Wednesday, July 2, in
stead of Thursday. This will
permit rural delivery of the
paper before the Fourth of
July holiday week-end. Ad
vertisers are requested to
have their ad copy in as early
as possible to be included in
the July 2 issue.
RECORD GRAIN
PLANTINGS REPORTED
Judging from the amount of
seed sold in Alaska, as well as
planting reports, more oats and
barley have been planted this
year in the Territory than ever
before, according to C. Ivan
Branton of the Alaska Agricul
ture Experiment Station. Bigger
plantings have been encouraged,
he added, by the Matanuska Val
ley Farmers Cooperating Asso
ciation dryer and elevator, and
their promotion of local mixed
feeds.
Grain growers must now plan
for drying and storage of their
crop next fall, he pointed out.
The Co-Op storage was filled al
most to capacity last year and
•obviously cannot take care of
much additional acreage. The
dryer associated with the eleva
tor, however, can dry as much
as 1500 bushels per 24-hour day.
Growers can therefore take their
grain to the dryer, have it dried
and take it back to the farm for
storage.
An important fact to keep in
mind is that freshly combined
grain will not keep without heat
ing, Branton pointed out. A farm
er gambling on its being dry
enough to store is almost certain
to lose.
Many farms have covered
buildings where grain can be
stored in sacks after artifical dry
ing. This method of storage also
has a potential danger because
mice can cause the loss of a high
percentage unless some method
of protection is used.
It. is recommended that grow
ers make a plan now for the dis
position of their grain so they
will not be caught unprepared
; at harvest time. The Matanuska
Valley Farmers Cooperating As
: sociation has announced that they
are ordering several thousand
! bushel metal grain bins wrhich
will be available by harvest time.
VALLEY AREA DUE
FOR PUBLICITY
| The Matanuska Valley is due
‘ for some more national publicity,
it wrnuld appear.
Lowell Thomas, Jr., was a vis
itor in the area on Wednesday of
this week and plans to return
! sometime next week to photo
, graph some of the agricultural
aspects of the valley which will
be used in a television presen
; tation of Alaska. It is probable
that some ai;ea farm families will
be included in the film.
| In addition last Sunday a stafi
; photographer from LIFE maga
zine wras in the Valley and did
j considerble photography work.
LOCAL PURCHASES
DISCUSSED AT
ARMY BASE MEETING
|
James Wilson, commissioner of
agriculture, attended a meeting
of the Governor’s Procurement
Committee and representatives of
the military, including the Hon.
Frank Higgins, Assistant Seere
; tary of the Army for Logistics
! on June 24, The meeting was
| held at the U. S. Army Alaska
i Headquarters. Topic of discussion
j was how to widen the scope of
j Alaskan procurement with farm
! products as a major item of dis
! cussion.
‘“Iti brief , said Wilson, “it
seems that imported commodities
can be purchased locally in
greater quantities if suppliers
can deliver for Stateside prices
plus freight, or less. Freight al
lowance for local produce sold
through commissaries cannot
now be made, although Mr. Hig
gins executive offecer has prom
ised to make a full review of the
regulations and report back to
the committee.
“'It can definitely be stated",
“that no increased sales will re
sult for this crop season. How
ever, the problem has been
pointed out to people high enough
in the military complex that bet
| ter understanding is certain.”
I Also attending the meeting
from Palmer was E. H. Schom
i burg, Co-Op general manager.
Washington Officials
Here for ASG Meeting
I II. Laurence Manwaring, dep
uty administrator with the U. S.
; Department of Agriculture and
Roy Jordre, director of the in
| sular area of the Commodity
Stabilization Service, both of
Washington, D. C., concluded a
visit lo the valley area this morn
ing. The officials were here to
inspect the Agriculture Stabil
ization Conservation committee
system and the administration of
I the agriculture conservation pro
I gram. Also in attendance at
! meetings were P. R. Johnson,
: State chairman from Fairbanks;
Vern Mutch, Homer; Rudy Og
| ren, chairman of the Homer ASC
(committee; and Roland Snod
grass, John Nash, Kit Carson, and
Dr. Allan Mick, all of Palmer.
The two Washington visitors
i and Johnson arrived in the val
ley this past Sunday evening
and left for the Fairbanks area
this morning. This was Manwar
ing’s first visit to Alaska. Jordre
was first here in 1952 at which
4 time he assisted in setting up the
| committee system. He again
visited the valley in 1956 at
j which time he was a featured
| speaker at the Farm Forum.
While here the officials dis
cussed the milk marketing situa
tion with Commissioner of Agri
culture James Wilson.
In addition, the group made
plans to apply for a new loan
i program for farmers, for (1).
(farm grain storage loans and (2|
| grain, drying equipment loans,
i The two Washington officials wili
(Continued on page 8)
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