FIRST ISSUE OF VALLEY
PAPER OVERCOMES JINX
• Lmut' j» f < latter and tinkle.
11m- «nrm lead column* (:nm In,
di'Msnati'd *iac and end. pri'tytt'i
luim and growl into nrtlvH)' and
Manip out itark hlark letter* in 1
i'\ n row* with monotonous reg
ularity. vilme Mi ck deliver,* {
truck* (with four *pare tire*
radii runli *iill faintly ink* !
copie* to eagerly impatient I
reader*—Out a the way Komi |
new >paper* are published ome-,
when*. 1
But not the Valley Frontiers ,
man—an individualist among '
newsnap* rr> and a departer
from trodden path* from its first
day of publication this week.
Things began with a turn for
the worn , journalistically speak
ing. short I > before noon on Mon- i
day (publication day). A check of ,
submitted items then showed j
that this first Frontiersman
would undoubtedly make news
paper history by appearing in j
print with at least one blank '
page, unless remedial steps were
« taken at once.
Editors, reporters, and inter-,
ested bystanders rushed to files'
tu purloin and plagiarize wher- ■
ever they might, in order to fill I
tlie gaping columns of the infant !
Frontiersman. Joint efforts re-<
duc ed the holes, line by line, and ;
eventually they filled, although ;
it was plainly evident that the 6
o'clock schedule for delivery
would need some revising. Plans
were hatched and appeals made
in the name of friendship, and at
length a vehicle was borrowed j
to transport 1.000 of the first
edition copies to their Palmer
destination.
Eight Plus One
All concerned relaxed, but
snapped back to attention sec
onds later when a final printer’s
bulletin reported that the j
planned eight pages had some
how grown to nine. Borrowed
phrases were returned or filed j
against a Friday emergency, and
the Valley Frontiersman was
ready to go to press.
The hum and the growl, mel
lowed by an occasional clank,
sprang into being with the switch
of a lever, but the even rows of j
letters demanded by the script
♦ were purely script-ed imagina
tion on the first hundred Fron
•tiersman, meat or which emerged
from the press sideways.
X upprj, wiiiueu cJIUUIlU
rollers and clogged moveable
parts, but mechanical tempera
ment smoothed itself out and
2,500 copies of ‘Volume One,
Number One of the Valley Fron
tiersman had been stacked and
tied by 9:30 Monday evening,
only little more than three hours
behind schedule.
, Palmer-Bound
With a sigh of relief and a
what-was-so-bad-about-that feel
ing, the Matanuska Valley's own
newspaper began to roll foward
Palmer headquarters and final
wrapping, stamping and address
ing operations. Those three hours
still could be overhauled and the
Frontiersman would appear on
schedule Tuesday morning after
all, for there could be no hitch
in this final step in newspaper
production.
But hitch there was, and it
arose on a particularly dark and
empty stretch of highway when
still short of Palmer several
miles, a tire shattered editorial
daydreams of a first issue out
on time. A borrowed truck—was
there a spare? a jack? There
wa* but th« thick hlack dark
I (4 Um* night ww clow rtmu|h
| to touc h and theft* wa* no finish
> light
He re Om' Valley Frontiersman
miiU'd down from the* art and
| lit* rature *e*ction of the nt’Wi
paper world and became strictly
| utilitarian. The damp new col-'
until* wrung into twist* made ex
cellent torches while tiro* were
►V. itched.
Encore
All hottc of gaining ilu- ! l> r« •<
hour* was gone, but still the
delay was not too great, and
Koine* paper* might yet be* |
wrapped for early morning read-1
er*. But hope of c*ditor* should 1
never riae, for bar< Iy had tltc* \
thought b**en framed when a sec-1
ond tire was if tired from active
duty.
1 his time there was no spare.
To sit or to walk—that is a ques-;
| tion. A compromise solution
called for a period of sitting fol
lowed bv walking — walking
i down a slurp stoned road in high
heeled slippers and listening in
tently to a sound-filled night of
: hoots and howls and rustles.
But help, wearing a khaki
! jacket with a corporal's stripes
I and driving a friendly, rackety
l Ford, transported the editorial
section of the Frontiersman to
Palmer, and eventually the 1.000
I copies of the trouble s founda
tion stone arrived there, also.
Tuesday there was no thought
of schedules. A sleepy editor
■ wrapped mechanically, won
dered onlv “when?” And at 4
o'clock that afternoon., with only
300 copies yet to be mailed, the
work was halted while that edi
tor totalled other first-day score
boards on a mental bulletin
board. It hadn’t been so bad, arid
at least, the paper seemed to
have pleased. No complaints
from anyone all day. Score that
high in the Frontiersman rec
ords.
The ring of the telephone in
terrupted, and when, later, the
final scoring was tallied on an
other first-day, the Frontiers
man total, too, had dropped to
normal. It was just another 24
hours in the first day of another
newspaper.
Leather Class
To Open Soon
Registrations for a class in
leather-tooling and carving, open
to all members of Homemakers
clubs in the Valley, are now be
ing accepted at the Extension of
fice, it was announced today by
Mrs. Bernice Johnson.
The class will be taught by
Mrs. Ruth Allmon, and is now
scheduled to meet each Wednes
day morning between the hours
of 10 and 12 o’clock.
Date for the opening class has
not been set, and will not be
announced until the registration
period is ended, Mrs. Johnson
said.
To Anchorage
Jan Kosloski flew to Anchor
age on a quick business trip last
Wednesday morning. He return
e dto Palmer that same day.
Selling out? Do it with a Fron
tiersman classified.
Valley FRONTIERSMAN
Published each Wednesday and Saturday
Palmer, Alaska
Printed in Anchorage plant of Anchorage Daily Times
Viola Daniels ..Editor
No printed material in the Valley Frontiersman may be re
produced except by permission of the editor.
Subscription rates.75C month
Delivered by carrier in Palmer. Mailed to all points in
Alaska and the United States.
Saturday, Sept. 20, 1947
Charles Moore
Makes Report
(Thf following » re
printed from 1»^t work * An
rhtir»n< Daily Times of Sr|rt 12
It was written by Charles M«k»:«\
former V alley resident Mr
Moore. who ufa-rated a radio sta
tic*n in Palmer shortly after tin
colony war organized
♦The writer is now a student
in tb«- school «*f journalism at
lh«' University of Washington
and wrote the editorial for the
University daily. Hu family no
longer resides in the Valley!.
’An eastern clergyman re
turning from a few weeks' jun
ket to Alaska recently is quoted
in the press to the effect that
only by granting statehood to
that territory will its people
take themselves seriously and
assume responsibility.’
* Admitting the Reverend Doc
tor's premise that statehood is
desirable. Alaskans may object
that they have been taking
themselves seriously for years.
The difficulty is that few state
side' citizens seem to take Alas
ka seriously. To many Amer
icans (excepting ex-residents and
Alaska war vets) Uncle Sam's
attic is still in the grade school
category of Iceland, Greenland
and Shangri-la.
iwmiii'iiicii > uursm oi pur)
licity tell of the man who ic
going to sell iceboxes to the Eski
mos, ol' round-the-world flights,
the Matanuska colony or the
Bogers-Post tragedy. This kind
of publicity is not all gravy. It
puts Alaska in the schoolbooks
as a land of ice and wilderness,
not of ice-cubes and civilization,
as any visitor to the territory
will tell you it is.
“As the visiting clergyman
suggests, fear of war with Rus
sia may be hampering severely
development of Alaska in peace
ful pursuits. Whether or not the
Russian bogeyman is a threat,
Alaska is a pearl of too great
price to be left unguarded.
“The war department an
nounced on May 11 an eight
million-dollar B-29 air base con
struction program near Fair
banks. This and other new de
fenses from Nome to Point Bar
row will be condemned by some
as pouring money into an empty
sock. Without considering mili
tary strategy, those who are cog
nizant of the past boon that fed
eral spending has been to Alaska
will applaud. The United States
can do worse than to subsidize a
country that can become a great
49th state. In Alaska’s vast sil
ver horde, in the salmon, in
the gold of the mines, in the good
northern soil, we may visualize
a land that may rival modern
Scandinavia.
“Such glowing portraits of the
land of the midnight sun may be
ruled out by Alaska veterans
who know only the “williwaw,”
frozen beards, chapped lips and
bleak Arctic nights. They will
admit, however, that they may
not have seen all there is to the
great northern land.
“The valley of the Matanuska
is not a Shangri-la mystery. It
is there, and so are the other
green valleys*
“What Alaska needs most are
(1) statehood, (2) a paved Alcan
highway, (3) an ambitious gov
ernment program of exploitation
and favorable publicity. A net
work of improved inter-city
roads, a readjusted freight rate
schedule for railroad and steam
ship lines and a rejuvenated
homestead program re also top
drawer in importance to the
steady growth of Alaska.”
ILL THIS WEEK
Christine Alfsen daughter of
Rev. and Mrs. Victor Alfsen of
Palmer, was confined to her
home by a slight illness this
week.
Send him the
Frontiersman
r---—
WASILLA CAFE
j MEALS AND FOUNTAIN
} SERVICE
SB a. m. to 8 p. m. weekdays
8 a. m. to 10:3$ p. m. weekends
-----
Stenvall Girls
Have Birthdays
Itilya and Helen M. S*.< vail
v. ei> guests «»f honor id a joint
birthday dinner i iven t \ Mrs
Harry Rice last Wrdnewitii eve
mill Until girt* celebrated birth
day* this wch
Dinrpf I*wests who joined in
extending i;«MKt wishes to Itilya
and Helen that evening were
Hilda Stenvall. Janet Sherrod,
Marie Wright and the four Hire
children.
Valley Resident
Plans Wedding
A ui.rrtiiv« lirense was issued
to M’>s 1 A (Him' Nelssm «#f Wa*
Mllii and At' <T1 Render «»f Palm*
«-r at the •(!:»>■ U. S Commits*
siuner "Valter llunlley last Timms*
«'ay afn Wedding plans of
the nmole aw mi| revealed
Mis* NHaon i* a former Palmer
iwi(i:'nt. wtio turn’ makes her
home in Wakill i. Mr Rs*eder is
on eneiiMMT now employed in
rainier
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or bring to the office in the Neal Wright Bldg.
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jg ■ .. . . .. —. —. ms
I There’s an O’HARRA bus leaving...
PALMER FOR ANCHORAGE
Daily at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
ANCHORAGE FOR PALMER
Daily at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.
(Except Sunday)
Sunday bus at 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.
PALMER FOR WASILLA
Daily at 1 and 8 p.m.
Connections for Valdez, Gulkana, Fairbanks
and Whitehorse
On Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, 11 a.m.
O’Harra Bus Lines
Page Seven