THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
PIONEER
Published Weekly at Palmer, Alaska.
♦
JACK ALLMAN
Editor-Publisher.
♦
Application made for entry as second class matter
at the post office at Palmer, Alaska.
Subscription Rate
One year by mail .*...$3.50
How .Will It Work?
One must admire a person who will work
for even the bare necessities of life rather than
accept public assistance, but how will it work
out here in the valley?
We are informed that a few lecently discharged
corporation employees are working for colonist,
families for their board and room.That, of course,1
is the individual’s own dusiness, but. it surely
raises hob with our already shattered wage stan
dards. What will the married man without em
ployment do if this becomes general?
Might not the farmer who is employing men
without wage be doing something that will react
on the colony group as a whole. There is the bin
gle angle. If even since the 15 per cent budget cut,
families can board one or two extra men might
not the bingle allowance be further reduced?
On Nov. 7 there were 32 colonists employed by
the corporation and if it were found that any of
these men were drawing wages for their labor
while others were slashing their tracts for board !
it might very conceiveblv bring forth an order
that no more colonists would be employed.
And, we are t aid, there is a statute prohibit
ing employment of labor without wage; that any
one so working can, at the termination of such
employment, put a labor lien upon the property
where the work was performed and collect*‘the go
ing w age for such class of labor" by process of law.
As we said before.it is the individual’s own
business, but such practice may prove a boomer
ang, turning out to be expensive in the end.
Cheap Insurance
When you buy Christmas Health Seals you
are not only aiding a worthy cause, but you are
buying protection lor yourself and your children.
Your chances of contracting tuberculosis are
just about one sixth of those run by your grand
{jarents Why? Because of the scientific control
of the disease.
As an Alaskan citizen it is up to you to help
finance a survey of conditions so that the Federal
government may be made aware of the need of
modern sanitoriums in the Territory. Upon the
thoroughness of this survey rests the strength of
our argument to Washington, and this survey
will have to be, in part, financed by YOU.
Don’t send those seals back! Put a dollar in
that blue envelope which will come to you
through the mail. It’s cheap insurance.
A Job For The S. P. C. A.
A sad tale of stock abuse was brought to the
office the other day. One farmer, (we were un
able to ascertain his name as the man didn’t
want it said he was tattling on a neighbor) has
his horse pastured in a field that our informant
tells us has no more feed in it than the floor of
this print shop. The horse is out night and day
during this none too balmy weather while stalls
stand idle in the barn and hay lies stacked near
by. We are told that every rib can be counted
on the horse which was in fine condition during
I the summer.
Efforts are being made to have the Revenue
Cutter “Boxer" come to Seward and pick up the
idle men who have recently been discharged from
the job here. This would be a God-send. Many of
these men will be so broke if the strike continues
another couple of weeks that they won’t be able
to get out and will be needing assistance from the
Territory all winter.
Let’s hope that the government sees the em
ergency and does away with that red tape ruling
that only government employees can ride on gov
ernment doats. If they can’t charge a fare, be
cause of the “entering into private business”
angle, let them haul the boys out at the $1.10 a
day subsistance rate which applies when govern
ment employees travel. It wouldn’t hurt any
thing to give the working stiff a break like that.
It will pay all farmers to keep
their hen houses clean as the
creamery will be compelled to
dock ten cents per dozen on dirty
eggs, and this deduction will be
made from the “half-cashnot
from the credit.
Prodace clean eggs. Washed
eggs will not keep well, and if
washed eggs are slipped into a
case the quality of valley produce
will suffer.
There’s Money In It
No wonder Walt Pippel says
his farm is better than a lot of
gold mines that are being work
ed in this country. “The miner
might run out of pay ore,” says
Walt, “but that ground of mine
will be a steady produce.;.”
Engineer Anton Anderson
tried a number of times to lo
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cate people on that tract, but
they dicln’t like it. It isn’t a very
attractive location. But it was
not looks that Pippel was after.
When he sifted a hand full of
the dirt through his fingers and
saw the tiny shell matter in it
he begaan to look further. He
found that the old survey cor
ners put in twenty years ago
were under about eighteen in
ches of fine soil that had been
blown in from the river bars.
Here was land that was build
ing, not eroding, and the shell
jmatter supplied lime. The topog
raphy of part of the tract was
such that it was protected by
the high bench to the north. In
this protected area he planted
his garden.
Proof of his good judgment
is in the credit checks he got
from the commissary. Ten days
ago he was bunching the last
of his radishes, and this week
he delivered lettuce, cauliflower,
spinach, parsley, green -onions
and carrots.
In Anchorage the housewives
put their orders in ahead for
Pippel’s vegetables as he has
been unable to supply the de
mand.
Since word of his success as
a truck farmer has been given
publicity outside, Pippel says he
has as high as fourteen letters
in one mail, all asking for agri
cultural information.
“Oregonian” All Wet
In spite of the fact that the
Portland “Oregonian” is classed as
one of the better papers in the
states, it came out editorially on
September 23 with rank misstate
ments that smack of willful mis
representation rather than ignor
ance. The “Oregonian” says in
part: “One of our Washington cor
respondents sends the information
that an original champion of the
project, back from a visit, is in a
most dour frame of mind. The
plan, at the beginning, was that
each settler should have forty
acres of land, with stock and
equipment, at a cost of $3,000. But
the $3,000 per family has already
been used up and each family has
only ten acres. Revised estimates
are to the effect that it will cost
$12,000 to carry out the original
program.
On top of all this is the fact that
the Matanuska farmers, while
they may be made self-sufficient
from the standpoint of food and
other supplies, have no cash mar
ket where they can sell enough
farm produce to pay back any of
the $12,000.”
We don t see how anyone could
possibly have visited here and
gone away with the idea that the
colonists had only ten acres each.
Quite the contrary. Many tourists
this summer expressed surprise
that such a number had latger
farms. None are smaller than for
ty acres and the average is 52.3
acres per family.
As to the individual debts, such
statements are pure rot. They do
not even approach such a figure,
and some colonists owe as little
as two thousand dollars.
No market We thought that
question was settled long ago. The
actual figures on produce imported
that can be raised here have been
printed often enough. Here they
are again, agricultural commodi
ties, all of which can be raised
here. The report is over the signa
ture of Colonel 0. F. Ohlson, gen
eral manager of the Alaska Rail
road, and represents shipments
through Seward during 1935. It is
well to keep in mind while reading
this, that only about an eighth of
the population of Alaska is served
through this salt water terminus
of the Alaska Railroad.
Commodity— Value
Veal .$ 13,467.20
Beef . 208,724.12
Pork . 64,237.95
Mutton . 22,758.43
Poultry . 59,624.65
Butter . 189,468.95
Cheese . 22,361.28
Ice Cream Mix . 104,822.62
Potatoes . 37,362.72
Carrots . 3,147.74
Turnips . 874.69
Cabbage . 6,374.35
Leaf Vegetables . 12,807.60
Eggs . 158,428.85
This totals $904,461.15, actual
landed value. Milk, probably be
cause cf oversight, was omitted
from Colonel. Ohlson’s report, but
the figures for the fiscal year of
1933-34 give the total Alaskan im
ports of this commodity as $282,
269, quite an item in itself, bring
ing the grand total well above a
million dollars.
(Continued on page 6)