Just For the Record
'(The following item appeared in last week's issue of Hi-Life,
an^Arichorage tabloid appearing there weekly. Since the entire
story is completely in error in its statements referring to the
Valley Frontiersman, and since the editor’s answer to points
raised in that letter may help to answer questions of Valley read
ers about the Frontiersman, the article and the editor’s answer
to that article are reprinted below?)
“A new newspapper hit the local streets yesterday as the Val
ley Settler, datelined Palmer, appeared, edited by Viola Daniels,
late of Seldovia.
‘ Though no mention of ownership of the paper is made, reports
arc that it is to be owned and edited by persons associated with
the Anchorage Times. Hi-Life welcomes the new newspaper to
the host of sheets already in publication in the Anchorage and
Matanuska Valley areas.
“Hi-Life further commends the new publication for allying it
self with an organization as sturdy and well-situated as the An
chorage Times. Life, under such conditions will undoubtedly be
much easier and more enjoyable than starting from scratch with no
editorial groundwork upon which to base its policy.”
Editor, Anchorage Hi-Life
Anchorage, Alaska
Sir:
An item which appeared in the most recent issue of Hi-Life
has just reached my desk. Inasmuch as the Valley Settler has been
published in the Matanuska Valley for several years under the
editorship of Mrs. Dorothy Bell, I assume that the statement which
attributes the editorship of that paper to me is in error, and that
you are in reality referring to the Valley Frontiersman, the first
issue of which appeared in the Valley under date of Sept.-17.
Your article was most informative. I learned facts from it
about the Valley Frontiersman which were unknown to me until
I read that article. For example, I note with interest your.state
ment, ‘‘Though no mention of ownership of the paper is made,
reports are that it is to be owned and edited by persons associated
with the Anchorage Times.”
Since the question of ownership of the Valley Frontiersman
evidently interests you, allow me to clear up that point for you.
The Valley Frontiersman is an independent paper, owned and
edited by myself and has no association with the Anchorage Times.
Thi^fact will be borne out by a check with the “persons” you
mention, although that check might better have been made before
your story was printed, rather than at this time.
To continue, since the business background of my paper ap
parently is of interest—although the papper is my’own and I alone
formulate the editorial policy for it, it is financed by borrowed
funds from private individuals—very few borrowed funds, to be
perfectly frank. I am fortunate in that I have friends who share
my faith in the future of the Matanuska Valley, and who believe as
I do, that a newspaper published for Valley readers will fill a
definite need in Palmer and the Matanuska area.
Therefore if the Frontiersman is to be condemned along edi
torial lines, your condemnation should rather have been directed
toward its editor, who is foolish enough to believe that even on
limited financial support a Valley newspaper can and will be a
success. The Valley Frontiersman must stand or go under in the
first two months of its existence. I hope it will stand, and to that
end I am bending every effort. It is my hope that as editor of the
Valley Frontiersman I can sell enough advertising to Valley folks
to pay the cost of printing, and that as circulation manager and
mailing clerk, I can build a subscription list that will help to
make my living.
You commend the paper for its alliance with the Anchorage
Times, which you describe as a “sturdy and well-situated sheet.”
I am in complete accord with your description of the Times and
I can ‘only agree with you that such an alliance would make publi
cation of the Valley Frontiersman mere child’s play.
Unfortunately no such alliance exists. The Anchorage Times
prints the paper, since no struggling new publication could pos
sibly afford the prohibitive costs of establishing a printshop in
the first weeks of its existence. However I do not feel that an
agreement, by which the Anchorage Times prints a certain number
of copies of the Frontiersman each week and then hands the editorI
a bill on which is written a very definite amount representing the
cost of such printing, is in any way an alliance. To me, that is a
business arrangement only, as I should think the editor of Hi-Life '
would thoroughly understand. Or does the fact that Hi-Life is pub- !
lished in the Anchorage News plant mean that Hi-Life lives only 1
through News sponsorship? That fact may or may not be true in 1
Hi-Life’s case, but it certainly does not apply to the Valley Fron- i
tiersman.
Possibly a second fact furnishes your basis for the supposition.
It is true that the editor of the Valley Frontiersman once occupied j
a poition on the staff of the Anchorage Times. That fact is well ]
known to the editor of Hi-Life, who sat at the opposite desk in r
the Times office during a part of that time. I doubt that you con- l
Valley FRONTIERSMAN
Published each Wednesday and Saturday
Palmer, Alaska 1
im
printed in Anchorage plant of Anchorage Daily Times
--- -—_ -_ <
Viola Daniels ... Editor 1
No printed material in the Valley Frontiersman may be re- ^
produced except by permission of the editor. ]
Subscription rates...75c month 1
Delivered by carrier in Palmer. Mailed to all points in ‘
Alaska and the United States.
sider yourself in alliance with the Times because of that former
employment—neither does the editor of the Valley Frontiersman.
As you know, the present editor left the Times staff a year ago to
begin publication of The Frontiersman in Seldovia.
Your final statement that the supposed alliance will make
‘‘life easier and more enjoyable than starting from scratch with
no editorial groundwork upon which to base a policy” is confusing
to me. Perhaps an editor’s copy pencil, judiciously wielded, might
have made that though more concise.
Do you doubt that the editor of the Valley Frontiersman has
the ability or background to build an editorial policy for the paper?
Or do you imply that because of the supposed alliance with the
Times there is no need to formulate an editorial policy?
If the first, that question is one which only the next two months
can answer. The editor has a background of five years of newspa
per work in Alaska, with all but one of them carrying editorial
experience.
If the second implication is the correct one, then I can only
say that the strongest proof of the editor’s belief in a firm editorial
policy is undoubtedly on file in your own office, since the Seldovia
issues of The Frontiersman were on the exchange list of Hi-Life.
But perhaps the time required to do that checking is more than
Hi-Life cares to give to the proving or disproving of statements in
its columns?'
The editor of the Valley Frontiersman has been making up her
own mind about things for more years than she cares to remember
now, and she certainly doesn’t intend to fall into new ways at this
late date. The editorial policy of the Frontiersman was clearly
stated in that first issue, which you undoubtedly have not found
time to read throughout. What’s best for the Valley will be pushed
with all the editorial power in my possession, and what’s bad for
the Valley will be fought just as vigorously. I believe that only
as the Valley grows and prospers can the Valley Frontiersman
forge ahead.
In conclusion, the Anchorage Times does do my printing. I’m
proud of the fact, as is demonstrated by the credit line in my mast- i
head. They do it because they’re the best printers I can find in !
this area, and they do the job for me at the cheapest rate. When \
a better printer comes along doing work for less money, then he’ll i
be printing the Valley Frontiersman.
I should very much appreciate your publication of this letter
in your next issue, since I feel the errors in your original story
can best be corrected in this way. This letter, preceded by your
story, will appear in the editorial columns of the Frontiersman
next week.
Yours sincerely,
VIOLA DANIELS
THE veterans administration will
HELP EMPLOYERS, LAPSE OR SMALL
TO SET UP TRAINING “PROGRAMS
FOR DISABLED VETS fN NEED OF
ists. If a bed stands in a corner
or alcove, equip it with ball-bear
ing casters so that it will slide
out to simplify making.
Porcelain enameled coffee
pots in daily use should be fresh
ened up weekly to protect flavor
of the “cup that cheers.” Rec
ommended way to freshen pot is
to boil a solution of baking soda
and water in it.
Let ammonia help you slick
up the oven with a minimum of
rubbing. Wipe a cloth saturated
with ammonia over walls and
bottom of oven. Then put a small
dish filled with ammonia in the
oven, close the door and let po
tent fumes soften burned-on
food and grease overnight. In
the morning, wash range interior
with soft cloth and warm, soapy
water.
To remove a cork from a bot
tle, pour in a little ammonia and
leave it for 48 hours. The am
monia will eat away the cork so
that it can be shaken out.
Kitchen Katie
Tells Valley
Housewives...
|
An easy way to use soap
scraps is to dry them thorough
ly and then run them" through
a food chopper; resulting pow
der is handy in dishpan.
To remove stains from sink,
close drain, put in water to
which two tablespoons of clorox
is added, let stand ten minutes.
Wash with soap and water.
.Know this one? Use wire rack
as a grater when you want to
make bread crumbs in a hurry.
Tie a paper bag over the open
ing of the chopper when grind
ing dried bread crumbs to pre
vent them from flying out.
If too much salt has been add
ed to cooking food, stretch a
clean cloth over the vessel and
sprinkle one tablespoon flour
over cloth. The flour will absorb
the salt if ‘allowed to steam a
few minutes.
Do not add salt to pork sau
sage and ground beef which are
to be preserved by quick freez
ing, but add other seasonings.
This frozen ground meat keeps
better without salt.
Put cabbage for kraut in sack
and weight down, thus keeping
Linder juice to eliminate spoil
age. Put in a small amount of
sugar if kraut is too sour.
'Mix blueberry juice with sour
:herry juice for jell.
The above hints were com
piled by the members of the
sourdough Homemaker’s club in
;he Valley, and were made avail
ible to the Valley Frontiersman
;hrough the Extension office in
Palmer.
For conventional bed-making
here should be at least 18 inches
>f clear space around three sides
)f the bed, say U. S. Department
>f Agriculture housing special
Subscription Blank
To get your copy of the Valley Frontiersman
regularly, fill out the subscription blank below and
either mail to the Valley Frontiersman at Palmer
or bring to the office in the Neal Wright Bldg.
Name .
Address .
(Be specific if for carrier service)
I enclose 75c for one month’s subscription to
the Valley Frontiersman beginning.
(Paper appears in the Valley each Tues. and Fri.)
I also should like to have you mail the Valley Fron
tiersman to
Name .
whose address is...
(No subscriptions accepted for a longer period
than one month at this time).
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 Whifehorse
On Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, 11 a.m.
O’Harra Bus Lines