Ipt ALASKA HIS I OR I
. JUNE
PUBLISHED IN THE INTEREST OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
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VOLUME 10, NUMBER 16 PALMER, ALASKA THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1957
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MEA POWER RATE REDUCTION PENDING
LOAD AND SPEED
RESTRICTIONS
COMING SOON
The Anchorage District of the
Bureau of Public Roads this week
reminded, all buyers, shippers,
truckers and other persons con
cerned that load and speed re
strictions will be in effect on the
Alaska road network on or about
April 1, 1957. These restrictons
are required in an effort to pro
tect the weakened roadbed and
roadway surface during the an
nual “spring break-up” period.
Restrictions normally consist
of a reduction of the gross axle
loading for all trucks and busses
to as low as 50 percent of that
normally allowed and a reduction
in speed limit for all vehicles.
Past records indciate that load re
strictions on roads south of the
Alaska Range may be expected
any time after March 31 and on
roads north of the range about
one to three weeks later. Restric
tions are normally in effect from
three to six weeks depending on
weather conditions.
Early announcement of the
above is being made at this time
to forewarn interested parties of
the pending load restrictions in
order that plans may be made for
hauling of commodities prior to
or after the break-up period and
thus minimize the loss suffered
in hauling of reduced loads.
Territorial Police of this area
have been notified that scales
will be issued to them in this
>ection this year and spot checks
will be made on all roads in
cluding the highways and rural
roads.
Chamber Backs
Several Proposals
Eugene Reid conducted the
Wednesday meeting of the Ma
tanuska Valley Chamber of Com
merce. President Stewart Dur
rant is in the States.
A number of members were
-out of town and attendance at
the meeting was the smallest for
quite some time.
Chamber members went on
record favoring the Palmer Edu
cation Association’s proposed*
legislation in regards to increas
ed salaries and other benefits for
Alaska teachers.
The Valley Chamber approved
the submission of names of three
valley residents to be considered
for the vacancy on the University
of Alaska Board of Regents. They
are V. Louise Kellogg and Ro
land Snodgrass of Palmer and
Walter Teeland of Wasilla. Mem
bers also approved submitting
the names of Archie McClean of
Kasiloff, Norman Nelson and
James Faulk of Homer for the
vacancy on the Agriculture Loan
Board. These names will be sent
to Acting Governor Weino Hen
(Continued on page 8)
DR. LANE MOORE TO BE FORUM SPEAKER
Dr. Lane Moore, Assistant Chief of Dairy Husbandry Research
Center, Belisville, Maryland
No Site Selected
For Mental Hospital
The controversy on where the
Alaska Mental Hospital should be
located is by no means settled,
however, members of the local
steering committee who have
spent considerable time in an ef
fort to have the hospital located
in the valley were last week as
sured by Otis Anderson of the
U. S. Public Health Service that
the Service has taken no position
as to the specific location for lo
cating the hospital.
A news item appearing in the
Anchorage Dairly Times quoted
William J. Moran, chairman of
the Anchorage Mental Health As
sociation as telling members of
the Anchorage Chamber of Com
merce that the surgeon general
has indcated he will veto a pro
gram that wll place the hospital |
in any city except Anchorage or j
Fairbanks.
Dr. C. C. Bailey, chairman of
the steering committee, request
ed by wire a confirmation or de
nial of the statement attributed'
to the sugeon general and receiv
ed the following reply:
“THE PHS HAS TAKEN NO
POSITION AS TO THE SPECIF
IC LOCATION FOR FACILIT
IES TO BE CONSTRUCTED
UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF
THE ALASKA MENTAL HEAL
TH ACT. ACTION BY THE SER
VICE MUST AWAIT THE SUB
(Continued on Page 8)
ELKS ATTENTION
ANNUAL
■**
Purple Bubble Ball
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9
IOP.M.-2 A.M.
Elks and Their Ladies
ELKS HOME
Dr. Lane Moore, assistant chief
of the Dairy Husbandry Research
Center at Beltsville, Maryland,
will be featured at this year’s
Farm Forum announced Exten
sion Agent Lew Hanks today.
Moore served at Iowa State Col
lege, Michigan State University
and the University of Maryland
before joining the U. S. Depart
ment of Agriculture in 1945. Pri
marily interested in dairy cattle
nutrition ,his recent studies have
focused on evaluating forages and
measuring the feed requirements
of dairy calves.
An accurate method of measur
ing carotene in hay and silage
was developed by Dr. Moore
which made it possible to deter
mine the effect of maturity and
storage on carotene levels. His
greatest contribution \^as tracing
abnormal spinal fluid pressure to
vitamin A defiency. Dr. Moore
served as president of the Ameri
can Dairy Science Association in
1955. He is brought to Alaska es
pecially for the Forum by the Al
aska Agriculture Experiment Sta
tion.
The Third Alaska larm Forum
will convene in the Palmer high
school March 1, 2 and 3, said
Hanks. It is sponsored by farm
ers, industry, the Extension Ser
vice and Experiment Station, the
Commissioner of Agriculture, and
the Soil Conservation Service.
This year’s program committee
includes Gene Reid, Bill Hoskins,
Pat Lawton, Frances Hulbert,
Faith Krause, Russell Oberg,
Cliff Marcus, Jan.es Wilson, John
Nash, Ed Smith and L. M. De
Priest. They promise a stimulat
ing Forum including Miss Star
ley Hunter of the Federal Exten
sion Service who will discuss
home management problems. Ar
vo Kallio will describe his recent
travels in Scandinavia. Morning
sessions will feature a dairy short
course aimed at providing infor
mation for improving Grade A
dairy management. Among other
attractions the Palmer Grange is
planning a dance for Saturday
evening March 2.
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Buying a Burger
Feb. 9 Will Help
’57 March of Dimes
For the second consecutive year
Mr. and Mrs. Jim Wilson, owners
of the Co-Op Cafe, will sponsor
“Burgers for Polio”. All proceeds
from their privately-sponsored
project will go to the local 1957
March of Dimes fund.
Mrs. Wilson said this week that
on Saturday, February 9, all pro
ceeds from all, hamburgers sold
at the resturant will go into this
fuhd.
Ed Smith, March of Dimes
chairman, praised the Wilsons
this week for their personal in
terest in the campaign. Smith
pointed out that all expen
ses involved in the project,
including the food, and trans
portation, is underwritten by the
Wilsons. Nancy Wilson, daughter
in-law and Jean Wilson, daughter
of the Wilsons, have each volun
teered a full day of work on the
3th of February as their contri
bution to the project.
mi. ttt t ji j
j.iie vv ubuiib cuinuuuueu mat
they will deliver orders of ham
burgers within the city. Along
with the burgers will be served j
chips, relishes, and coffee. The
entire 50 cents charged for the
burger will go toward the March
of Dimes. Residents of the area
were urged to participate in this
“Burgers for Polio” event and
help the Wilsons in their strive to
raise a sizeable amount for the
1957 March of Dimes.
The Co-Op Cafe will remain
open later than usual Saturday
nig.4 to accommodate those who
wish to buy burgers during the
evening.
Wasilla Grange
Plans Follies
March 15 and 16
The Wasilla Grange will be
presenting their annual “Follies”
this year on March 15 and 16, it
was announced this week by Mrs.
Laura Mommsen ,Grange mem
ber.
The theme chosen this year will
be the gold rush days and a var
ied and mirth-provocing program
is now in production. The Follies
will be presented in the Wasilla
school gymnasium with the entire
community assisting in the pro
duction. All proceeds will be used
for the improvement of the Was
illa Community Hall.
HOSPITAL NEEDS
VOLUNTEER HELP
The Valley Presbyterian Hos
pital is in need of part-time sten
ographers. Any person capable of
doing such work and willing to
donate a few hours each week,
is requested to contact the hos
pital as soon as possible. Time
and effort volunteered will be
greatly appreciated.
} BUS DRIVERS
I to take first
AID COURSE
;! Police Chief Bernard Bou- ;!
\\ wens will begin a class in Am- ;i
;! erican Red Cross first aid for ;i
;i all school bus drivers on Feb- {>
;i ruary 18. The drivers will be j!
ij taking the standard course, j!
ij consisting of 18 hours of in
instruction and practice. Classes 1;
ij will be held daily from 9 to 11 i;
![ a.m. at the school bus garage, i;
i; Chief Bouwens is a licensed i;
i; Red Cross first aid instructor. !;
i; Persons interested in taking an i;
> advanced first aid course, or !;
i; a refresher course in the ad- i;
i: vanced grade are asked to con- i;
;; tact Ed Smith, Chief Bouwens !;
or Virginia Gallant. Classes i|
;i will be arranged and conveni- ;!
;i ent hours. ;i
3-Day Forum
Offer Interests
To All Residents
The 1957 Farm Forum program
is being planned to carry inter
est for every homemaker, urban
and rural dweller, according to
Lew Hanks, Extension Agent in
Palmer.
Arrangements are being made
for a panel discussion on the
Community College. This panel
will be held Sunday afternoon,
March 3. On the opening even
ing, March 1 officials from the
military bases will be in attend
ance to offer a picture of the mil
itary market. Other features be
ing pdanned include a talk on in
surance by a representative from,
the University of Alaska. Farm
ers will be interested to learn
that a panel will be held on farm
equipment and machinery. Par
ticipating in this panel will be
local farm equipment dealers,
and various farmers who will
discuss the new trend in equip
ment and machinery. A meat cut
ting demonstration will be held
during the Forum and for the
women of the valley, a hair cut
ting and styling demonstration is
in the planning stage.
In addition to these and other
parts of the three-day program
already announced, there will be
day sessions on dairy sanitation,
| water supply and Grade A re
| quirements. Cal Winey, Sanitary
1 engineer with the Alaska Depart
, ment of Health will be in charge
j of these morning meetings.
ATTENTION!
j| ALL GLEANING
2 for the |
price of I
I j; ON LIKE GARMENTS
Gash and Garry
1jj BROWN’S GLEANERSj
ALL CUSTOMERS
TO BENEFIT
FROM RATE CUTS
, Matanuska Electric Association
members will soon be in a hap
pier frame of mind following the
monthly reading of the meter, ac
cording to an article appearing
in this month’s issue of “The Val
ley Gooperator”. Electric rates for
the MEA users will take a good
sized drop if the puroposed chan
ge in rates is approved by the
Palmer City Council and the Rur
al Electric Administration. It was
speculated that the new rates
may go into effect as soon as
April 1.
The new rate schedule will
lower the average consumers
electric bill by some nine percent
and commercial users will get an
even better break by a 14 per
cent decrease in rates.
The announcement was made
by Phil O’Neill MEA, president
who said the “excellent financial
condition” of MEA makes the rate
cut possible. “Sound business
practices and good management,
not. only on an administrative le
vel but throughout the system,
make the rate reduction pos
sible”.
I • :
VANDALS DAMAGE
BPR EQUIPMENT
Damages around $300 were
caused to a Bureau of Public
Roads one-half-yard shovel late
February 2 or early February 3,
according to an announcement
made today by Oliver Onkka,
local BPR engineer.
The damages done by vandals,
amounted to smashed glass in the
cab, smashed head lights, turn
signals and rear-view mirrors as
well as the sterring wheel being
beaten off. The vandalism was
discovered by the BPR work
crew Sunday morning when they
reported Ho the BPR sand pit on
the Buffalo Mine road where the
shovel was parked. Because the
equipment is federal property,
the charges which will be brought
will be federal offense charges.
Investigating this week have
been BPR officials, Territorial
Police and the Federal Bureau of
Information. Investigations will
continue until the case is closed,
officials said today.
The shovel was located on land
(Continued on Page 8)
GO-OP CAFE
|;j Burgers for Polio |i
Benefit
All proceeds from hamburgers ;[
f sold during Saturday, Febru
j! ary 9 will go to the March of !|
<; Dimes benefit.
-—-—— --
Palmer League Basketball
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9
ALL-STARS vs. OLIVERA’S - 8:30 P.M.
PRELIMINARY GAME - 7:00 P.M.
(WOMENS' TEAMS)
ELKS ROCKETS vs. 1st NATIONAL BANK of ANCHORAGE
PALMER GYM - Admission 75c and 25c
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmrnmmimmmmmmmamimmm ——————— ' •mmmmmmm ' r ' i ti - — '
SMORGASBORD, £1 Feb. , PAL ER BA
WELCOME BASKETBALL PLAYERS _MUSIC BY TOM, FRANK & COWROY