gross, urging that no
change in site be
consicored0 Mr. Hun*
tley also- Fired the
Delegate, following
his talk with-Dr. Al
brecht,
Mr. Brrtlett rep
lied to the /.NS chief
saying, in port, "I
have . heretofore ta
ken the position that
the hospital should
be located in the
Met a nus ka Valley,..1
was persuaded to that
course of action for
two reasons. The
first was that I
thought and think
some mighty good arg
uments could and can
be made for having
the hospital in the
Valley* Second —and
this was the reason
that caused me to
make a recommenda
tion — it is obvious
that in the great new
Alaska program i:;,hich
is developing rovern
ment expenditures,
both for construction
and operation, will
in themselves have an
important bearing on
the economic future
of the Territory* I
reasoned that there
ought to be disperse
ment of these activi
ties whenever and
wherever such disper
senent could be just
ified ... I thought
this to be such an
instance...
"In the last few
days Mr. Clayton Ess
linger and. Mr. L. C.
Stock have come, to
Washington from Pal
mer in an attempt to
persuade those* in
authority here that
the hospital should
be in the Valley. Cf
course, the people of
the Matanuska Valley
hr.ve every right to
send, a committee here
for that- purpose and
parenthetically I
should say they have
chosen two fine rep
resentatives. Mr.
Stock 'ond Mr. Esslin
ger are now working
diligently in an at
tempt, to convince the
appropriate officials
the hospital's loca
tion should be chang
ed. I am trying to
give them every ass
istance oossiblc in
making it convenient
for them to meet with
those with whom they
went to talk, Other
then the1, I felt it
quite proper to tell
Mr, Esslinger end Mr„
Stock upon their ar
rivel here the.t in
meking th; represent
etions in behalf of
the Matanuska Valley
previously, I had
gone as f r as I be
believed I should... ”
Following the re
turn of Senator Hunt
ley to Palmer at the
close of the legisla
tive meetings in Ju
neau, Chamber of Com
merce members began
checking the repres
entations made in Mr.
Foster’s memor-ndum.
One of their first
acts was to communi
cate v;i th officials
of the ..la.ska Rail
road, in an effort to
1e arn their s ta nd
v/ith reference to
statements in ' the
Fester memo.
Larry Hoore, ass
istant to the general
manager, ’ answered
questions with, the
following statement t
"The selection of
the Anchorage . site
for the Alaska: Native
Service hospital was
not influenced by the
Alaska Railroad thr
ough any considera
tion of power or el
ectrical energy. The
■Alaska. Railroad power
plant, which was ob
tained prior to any
location site for the
hospital, is capable
of furnishing power
and steam to the‘hos
pital merely as a
convenience; but the
plant or its future
operation is not in
tegrated in any way
with the hospital or
the services it will
require.
"At the time of
discussion the Rail
road was ^sked if it
could provide power
and energy and it re
plied in the affirm
ative in view of the
plans to construct
the plant that is now
eh route to Anchorage.
The utilities, as far
as the Railroad is
concerned, c^n he fur
nished or dispensed
with, and the Rail
road made no effort
to influence the lo
cation of the hospi
tal as a supporting
user of the output of
the power plant*,"
Chamber members
arc continuing to ga
ther other facts in
rebuttal to the state
ments in the Foster
memorandum, although
Mr. Esslinger and Mr.
Stock are now return
ing to the Valley.
Thev feel Mr* Fos
ter is unfair in
characterizing the
Volley's effort os on
attempt, to "mud up
the waterIt is
the profound convic
tion of members '.of
the V-lley Chamber of
Commerce, according
to the statement of a
spokesman, that the
/.richer age site, loca
ted as it is in the
heart of a waterfront
industrial area and
surrounded by Rail
- road yards and shops,
is unsuited to a san
itarium.
They point to that
location as their
most convincing argu
ment. They consider
the argument regard
ing Palmer recreation
to be.' invalid. As
o.ne member puts it,
"Are they building
the hospital for the
patients or for the
employees — and any
way , what•s Anchorage
got besides saloons
and soldiers, that
the Valley doesn't
have?”
Chamber members
also feel that loea •
tion of a hospital
near military tarrets
and in the direct,
flight patterns of
both n military and
civilian airfield, is
a. strong argument ag
ainst -the present
chosen site. The
hospital would be in
the path of some of
the first bombs drop
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