61° 30’ N. LATITUDE
149° 15' W. LONGITUDE
I* BO IS HE 9!
BUY
“MATANUSKA MAID”
PRODUCTS
Vol. II No. 1
PALMER, ALASKA, OCTOBER 26, 1936
PRICE 10 CENTS
Doctor’s Fine Work
Saves Child’s Life
A delicate piece of work, the kind
usually turned over to specialists and
seldom attempted by general practi
tioners, was successfully accomplish
ed one day last week when Dr. Earle
Albrecht removed an open safety pin
from the throat of the small daugh
ter of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Griese,
tract 77.
The pin, lodged point up, wasdeep
in the child’s throat, but showed up
plainly in the x-ray picture taken by
Technician Max Sherrod.
It was a ticklish job without the
special instruments so necessary for
such delicate work, but Dr. Albrecht
managed to effect the removal with
forceps.
It’s all in a day’s work, though, for
Doctor. The hospital is about the
busiest unit around here. Since mov
ing inlo the new building last Nov.
23th there have been 166 surgical cas
es. Since the hospital was first star
ted a total of 474 patients have been
given treatment. Mrs. Ferber Bail
ey’s girl, born on the 22nd, was the
71st baby to arrive since <the colony
was formed, an average of almost
one a week.
Marketing Setup
Is Organized
A marketing organization with
seven incorporating directors has
been formed and will function as
such until such time as the Co-op
is ready to take over this phase of
the project plans.
The organization is known as
The Matanuska Valley Marketing
Association and incorporating di-j
rectors include Ross L. Sheeley and
Leo B. Jacobs as ARRC members;
Joe Seiber, Scotty Dreghorn, Wal
ter Pippel and Bob Higgenbotham
as colony representatives; and
Adam Warner from among the
cld timer group.
Masquerade Ball
For Halloween
A costume ball will be held
Halloween Eve at the Community
Hall under the sponsorship of the
Colonial Volunteer Fire Depart
ment.
There will be a floor show of four
acts, and prizes will be offered for
the best sustained, the most comical,
the finest, and the most appropriate
costumes. Free bus transportation
will be furnished, and a big night is
promised all who attend.
Be sure and wear a costume or you
will have to get a domino at the door.
Fishermen Request
Legislature To Act
At the annual Convention of the
United Fishermen of Alaska, held at
Seward, Alaska the week of October
5th, the United Fishermen unani
mously went on record as requesting
the Territorial Legislature to
memorialize Congress to abolish
fish traps in the Territory.
This backs up the Resolution
adopt ed by the Democratic Territor
ial Convention as a plank in their
platform and will no doubt be an im
portant issue at the coming session
of the House.
School Now Has
Its Own Paper
A school paper, bearing the
jocular name of “Banana Belt
Breezes,” is being mimeographed
and edited by-weekly by the English
IV class.
Bill Young was elected editor;
Virginia Broostrom, assistant
edii or; Jack Sheely, business m ana
ger with Ruthelyn Elliot and Ina
belle Irwin as his assistants.
Two issues of the “Banana Belt
Breezes” have appeared and are full
of school notes of interest to pupils
in all grades.
Swap" center for Valley residents
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= MOCCASIN TRACKS
lead to your tents am
cabins, leaving new
f and gathering news.
Walt WfncheJl uses
keyholes, but sinct
tents haven’t any we
will make lots of MOC
CASIN TRACKS.
These cuts, drawn es
pecially for the PIO
NEER by Cave Mark
ham, arrived too late to
be used over the features
they will regularly head,
The POWDER HORN
will head all communica- :
tions to the editor. «
Fr. Sulzman Has
Tough Trip Home
Reverend Merrill Sulzman was
called recently to Fairbanks for a
conference with Bishop Crimont re
garding the construction of the new
log church here at St. Michael’s
parish.' He returned by way of the
Richardson Highway to Valdez, and
there boarded Don Glass’ big Si
korsky amphibian for the flight to
Anchorage. Over Portage Bay Don
ran out of gas, yet there were no
leaKS and the ship was full the night
before. The only answer is that the
gas had been stolen at the Valdez
air port.
Glass set the big ship down, made
her fast, and mushed 20 miles over
a glacier and through some tough
country till he reached the railroad.
Bad weather delayed a rec ue party
and the occupants of the plane had
to remain on the beach for 4 days
and three nights without food, bed
ding or smoKes. Other passengers
included Mr. and Mrs. Glass, parents
of the flier; the co-pilot, Red Mac
Kenzie; JacK Hermon, our local
deputy marshal; O. O. Krogh, Andy
Parks, and Red Glover.
Stage Driver Hits Wolf
Glen Robinson, driver for the
Palmer Motor Service, hit a big
timber wolf and sent him spinning
off the road during a night drive
from Anchorage recently. The
wolf jumped off a bank into the
headlight glare just this side of
the Eagle River bridge.
Valley Gets
Quake Shocks
Starting with one of the most
severe shocks felt in this district in
many years, a series of tremblers
shook up Inlet towns Thursday*
evening.
The first quake struck Palmer at
8:23 and was of 90 seconds duration.
Canned goods and bott les crashed
from the shelves of the stores, but
little other damage resulted.
In Anchorage windows were
broken and cracks appeared suddenly
in the walls of some of the build
ings. Automobiles at the curbs;
rolled back and forth as much as
six inches.
About a dozen more or less minor
shocks were felt during the night
and Friday.
Look Out For “Queer”
Keep an eye open, folks. Francis
Henry reports having a counterfeit
metal dollar passed off on him the
other day. This, as far as vre can
learn, is the first to make its ap
pearance in camp.
Bingle Tries A Fast One
We don’t know exactly what Rev-!
erend Bert Bingle had in mind,
but when he returned from his trip
in the East recently he saw that
big new manure spreader at the
farm machinery yard and tried to
get some of the boys to roll it up
in front of the PIONEER office.
Serious Hog Malady
Hits The Valley
A virulent disease which looks
like hog cholera hit the herd of M.
D. Snodgrass last week and within
two days took 37 of his 42 porkers.
All precautions possible are being
taken to prevent spread of the
disease, and so far it is confined
solely to one set of pens, but as the
j contamination can be carried by
j ravens and other scavengers, it is
difficult to control.
Joe Flakne of the Extension Divi
sion of the University of Alaska
urges keeping the animals in dry
pens, suggesting that they be
changed at once if their quarters
are now muddy. There is plenty of
hog wire available for all farms.
Mr. Flakne also points out that. it
will be well to cook the garbage if
that happens to be what you are
, feeding. Uncooked pork is the most
j likely carrier of the disease and it is
i very probably that it was in this
manner that the contagion was
introduced to the va/lev.
Mr. Flakne asks that if one of
your animals gets sick, isolate itand
report the case at once, but be cer
tain not to carry the disease from
your place.
Dr. Loftus, Territorial Veterin
arian, is on his way by airplane and
serum for innoculation is coming
from Seattle by air. Every hog in
the valleyr will be immunized.
Game Plentiful
In The District
Almost everyone who went hunt
ing this year got something for his
trouble. Last reports give 41 as the
number of moose that were brought
out of Willow Creek district already
this fall. Marnr sheep and goats
were also taken, and bag limits were
common on the duck flats.
Unfortunately, some have disre
garded the game laws. A cow
moose wandered up within 125 feet
of LeRoy Hamman’s barn and died.
There were bullet holes through her
and one leg was broken. Another
cow and calf were found dead out
near SkipCouden’s recently acquired
property just beyond camp 7.
Snodgrass-Carter Wed
Miss Ruby Carter who arrived
October 23rd. from Riverside, Calif.,
became the bride of Lawrence Snod
grass at the home of his aunt and
uncle Mr. and Mrs. M. D. Snodgrass
here Sunday afternoon. The Rev.
Fr. Merrill Sulzman read the
ceremony.
Advertise in the PIONEER.