Vol. 1, No. 53
Palmer, Alaska, March 31, 1948
Ten Cento
Coal Slide
Kills Miner
At Jonesville
♦ A 10-ton slide of coal crushed
the life from George Roganovich
of Jonesville last Sunday morn
ing. Mr. Roganovich, who had
been employed at Jonesville for
the past three years, had been at
work in the mine shaft for only
half an hour, when he was im-,
mersed by the gigantic slide.
Two partners working with
Mr. Roganovich, Fred Cottrill
'and Charles Walton, escoped the
slide without injury.
The deceased miner, who came
to Alaska from Montana, is sur
vived by a daughter in Fair
banks. He had no immediate
xcuiiiiay ill uuiiccvuxc. lit v>ao u i
years old at the time of his death.
Since a slide as large as the
one which took the life of the
miner is very rare, an inquest
was held at Jonesville to deter
mine the cause. The coroner’s
jury, which met Sunday, was un
able to find a reason for the slide.
Men who served at the inquest
included Marshal Bill Bouwens,
Ludlow G. Anderson of the Fed
eral Bureau of Mines and Wiley
Robinson of the Territorial De
partment of Mines. U. S. Com
missioner Walter E. Huntley pre
sided at the inquest.
Carrier Service Ends
Beginning with the April 3
issue of the Valley Frontiers
man, the present carrier serv
ice for townsfolk will end.
Hereafter all papers will be
■^nailed through the local post
office.
However, if there are down
town office workers who wish
to arrange to pick up their
paper at the Frontiersman of
fice after 3 o’clock on Tuesday
and Friday afternoons, they
may do so. It is requested that
those who wish to pick up
their paper at the office drop
in ctiiu itrgi&iei uciuie jcnuay
of this week.
It is with regret that the
carrier service is ended. How
ever, the Frontiei'sman now
has a mailing permit, which
makes it possible to handle the
<paper through the postoffice
at a considerable saving over
the delivery boy plan.
Health Council
Meets Thursday
An important planning meet
ing of the Valley Health Council
is scheduled for 7 o’clock next
Thursday evening in the Health
Center. Mrs. Clyde King. Coun
cil president, announced today.
Mrs. King particularly re
quests that all members of com
mittees appointed to plan the
Bingo and basket social to be
held on April 10 be present at
this meeting. There will be no
other Council meeting before the
party.
•Meeting time has been moved
ahead to 7 o'clock, in order to
permit dismissal in time to at
’ tend the MEA annual member
ship meeting, scheduled for 8
o’clock that same evening.
rl
The Alaska Highway may have cost most taxpayers a pretty penny, with its total bill of many
millions, but it pays Kathleen Patton of Palmer a $2 return. That's what Kathleen will collect
for this prize-winning photo, when she next stops in at the Valley Frontiersman office.
Kathleen's picture includes a glimpse of highway against a backdrop of lake and mountains
somewhere along the Canadian stretches of one of the biggest Army and civilian mutual pro
jects of the recent war years.
4-H Round-Up Is
Moved From Gym
Because of a conflict in meet
ings, the 4-H Club Spring Round
up, originally scheduled to be
held in the gymnasium Wednes
day evening, has been moved to
the Extension office. The date
of the Round-up remains March
31.
All 4-H Club members, future
members, club leaders and par
, ents of children of club age, are
'■ asked to attend this meeting,
| which will officially launch this
year’s 4-H work in the Valley.
The meeting will begin
promptly at 7:30, and will con
i elude with movies and entertain
1 ment for the 4-H’ers in attend
| ance. Miss Marilyn Johnson, dis
! trict demonstration agent, will
j be present at this meeting.
NextMusicale
Is April 1
The program for the April 1
I musicale of the Music Apprecia
: tion Club, to be held in the rec
tory of St. Michael's church, will
include these numbers, accord-:
ing to announcement from Father
James Snead:
Hardel - Beecham's "T h e
Great Elopement" conducted
by Sir Thomas Beecham and
the London Philharmonic Or
chestra;
"Sonata No. 1 in A" com
posed by Gabriel Faure and
played by Jascha Heifetz, vio
linist, with Emanuel Bay at the
piano;
A radio play. "The Snow
Goose" by Paul Gallico and
featuring Herbert Marshall;
A radio transcription, "The
Culture Corner" with Garry
Moore.
Mr. and Mrs. Dan Fleming will
serve refreshments at intermis
sion time.
The concert begins promptly
at 8 o’clock, Father Snead re-1
minded. Everyone interested in
music is invited to attend.
Pills Carry
Party Bids
Blue and pink pills that con
tain fun potions for every resi
dent of the Valley, including Wa
silla and Jonesville, were dis
tributed through the postoffice
and at downtown stores this
week.
The pills, transparent capsules,
contained a nicer stuffing than
any doctor ever dreamed of, for
they held a rhymed invitation to
the Bingo and basket social
planned by the Valley Health
Council for the evening of April
10.
The gymnasium has been re
served for that evening. Bingo
will begin at 8 o’clock, and will
continue until all players are
hungry. Then there will begin
the auctioning of the lunch bas
kets, brought by each lady who
attends the social.
The money raised by the eve
ning’s entertainment will go to
make up the deficit in the Valley
tuna ox 5>buu levied by the De
partment of Public Health. The
Community Chest was able to
aid the Health Council to the ex
tent of only $169.
Wasilla has volunteered to
make up a portion of the total
quota, but a substantial sum re
mains to be raised by the local
Health Council. It is their hope
the proceeds of the April 10 so
cial will meet that need.
Bus, Car Collide
On Palmer Hiway
An O’Harra bus, Anchorage
bound last Sunday morning, col
lided with a passenger car driv
ing toward Palmer at the curve
in the Palmer highway at Peters
creek. The front of the bus was
damaged, and the passenger car
was badly battered, but neither
bus passengers, driver, nor driv
er of the automobile were in
jured.
The accident occurred when
the automobile slid out of con
trol rounding the curve. The car
skidded across the road and
crashed into the bus.
Fire Meeting Is
Open To Public
There will be a special meeting
of the board of directors of the;
Valley Volunteer Fireman’s As
sociation tonight (Tuesday), it
was announced this week by A1
Hagen. This meeting is open to
the public, and everyone inter
ested in the Valley’s fire protec
tion problem is invited to attend.
Residents of Wasilla also have
been asked to attend the meeting
and to participate in the discus
sion of plans for a Valley-wide
fire protection program.
The meeting will begin at 8
o’clock in the basement of the
Valley Theater.
Photo Shop Almost
Goes Up In Smoke
Friday Evening
Again fire narrowly missed de
stroying more Palmer property
last week, when smouldering1
rags in the basement of the Pal-!
mer Photographic Center were i
discovered last Friday evening!
before they leaped into flame.
Daryl Meeks, whose barber
shop adjoins the Photographic
Center, first noticed smoke and
the smell of burning rags. He, in
company with Victor Nielson,
gained access to the Photo Cen
ter basement through the back
and reached the scorching rags.
They are thought to have begun
to burn through combustion.
Friday’s near-fire'was the sec
ond alarm in the Palmer busi
ness center within a week. The
community has been fortunate
this winter, in that no serious
fires have destroyed homes or
property in the Valley.
Funeral Not Fixed
| Funeral arrangements for Sam
, Radish, Jonesville miner who
died in Providence hospital last
1 week, still were not complete at
j press-time today. A spokesman
for the Phillips-Mapleton funeral
parlors said it was probable the
service will be held late this
week, but no definite date has
been fixed.
Wasilla Linked
To Palmer
By Telephone
WASILLA—Another step for
ward in Valley progress was
reached last week, when wires
of the Valley Telephone Ex
change linked Wasilla with Pal
mer to give the former town its
fir£t direct telephone communi
cation.
The final wire was strung by
owner Maynard Sands late last
Friday afternoon. And just as
the final connections were
hooked into place, C. L. Cad
walder of Wasilla, Jack Maze,
president of the Valley Cham
ber of Commerce, and Francis
Bowden, mayor of Anchorage,
| were linked in a three-way con
versauon memorializing the new
milestone in Valley communica
tion.
That telephone call was com
pleted at exactly 4:20 Friday
afternoon, at almost the identi
cal zero hour predicted by Mr.
Sands earlier that day. So
anxious was everyone to have
the call go through on sched
ule, that Mr. Cadwalder car
ried on his conversation from
his front porch rather than
wait for the telephone to be in
stalled in his home.
Mr. Sands sent progress re
reports through to Mr. Maze at
the Matanuska Valley Bank dur
ing the last two hours of wire
work. The telephone exchange
manager was assisted in the final
day of wire-stringing by Mrs.
Sands, who subbed for an ailing
exchange employe in order that
the hook-up might go through on
schedule.
Once the wire to Wasilla was
installed, Mr. Cadwalder was
congratulated on the new com
munication service to that town
by Mr. Maze, representing Pal
mer, by Mayor Bowden of An
chorage, and by Viola Daniels,
editor of the Valley Frontiers
man.
Mr. Sands states that there
will be nine telephones in
stalled in the Wasilla area im
mediately. with adder] inctvu.
menls lo be allotted lo that
area as the spring advances.
Most of the nine original
phones will be placed in Wa
silla business houses, he said.
Mr. Cadwalder, speaking for
Wasilla, expressed appreciation
for the new service now offered
to that town. He said he expected
the added communication facili
ties to mean much to Wasilla’s
development. Heretofore the
town’s only link with other Alas
kan cities has been through the
telephone and telegraph systems
of The Alaska Railroad.
Boy Scouts Enjoy
17-Mile Jaunt
Scouts of Palmer troop No.
654, who took a 17-mile stroll
into the Wolverine creek country
a week ago Saturday, so much
enjoyed their excursion that
they’re planning another for this
Saturday. Although wading
through two and three-foot snow
drifts on their first trip, the boys
say they found it an enjoyable
outing and are anxiously waiting
for Saturday to try it again.
Call 8 to get meeting notices
printed in tha Frontiersman.