TTi±C MATANUSKA VALLEY PIONEER
Published Thursdays by .VLRC
at palmer, Alaska
Jack Allman Editor
Subscription rats te.bO per
year. single copies o cents
locally, 10 cents by mail.
Advertising rates on request
A DELIBERATE LIAR OR
JUST PLAIN DUMBNESS?
Read the following and answer
the above question yourself. Your
guess is as good as ours.
It seems incredible that any
Alaskan would tell such deliberate
and bare faced lies about his home
Territory as these we have before
us. on the other hand, it seems
equally incredible that any man
could live in a country five years
without learning something about
it; at least as much as the aver
age ten-year-old school boy would
know.
Yes, the answer is in one of the
two premises submitted above. Take
your choice.
Mr. Erick W. Voss, of St. Joseph,
Michigan, has written Dr. Charles
E. Bunnell, president of the uni
versity of Alaska, asking if there
is any truth in a feature article
which appeared, in a St. Joseph
paper. Evidently Mr. Voss is a
thinking man, for he suggests that
it sounds just like so much polit
ical bunk to him.
president Bunnell has sent the
inquiry on to Ross sheely here as
there are some questions regarding
the soil that hr. Sheely, in his
capacity as 'Director of Agricul
tural Extension for the TJ. , can
answer with authority.
We have been asked to answer
some of the other gross misstate
— ments which were set down by a man
named pledge Brown, who claims to
have been -a newspaper man during
his five years of residence in
Ketchikan.
perhaps he was, but w;e can't help
feeling that he should have left
printer's ink alone and stuck more
closely to the tin shop he ran In
that coastal city.
Copies of this paper will be sent
to, Mr. Voss, The Ketchikan Chron
icle, where Mr. Brown claims to
have worked, and to the St. Joseph
Herald-press, if the papers publish
it we can discount the suggestion
of Mr. Voss and score against the
second half of the question expres
sed in our heading. A man seldom
sets out deliberate lies without a
reason for them.
The statements in quotation marks
are Mr. Brown's, the others our
answers.
"Alaska's new "pioneers,' wards of
a generous government, will be
shouting to return home after they
'Continued on oasto 4)
MAPLE SUGARl MAYBEl
How about Matanuska Maple Sugar?
Is it not possible that this nay
have been overlooked? when one
can harvest as much as 77 bushels
of Leader or victory oats to the
acre he is liable to fdrgbt such
things as by-products from his un
cleared land, or from areas that
do not lend themselves to plowing.
There is not a great deal of dif
ference between the climate of the
sugar raising section of New Eng
land and that of the valley but
what it would be worth the exper
iment .
Sap runs freely up here. You
can sock an axe into a tree here
in the Spring and have the sap spit
right out at you, and old timers
have made u fair grade of sugar
from birch.
If any of the old settlers of the
valley have tried, out the Eastern
Sugar Maple here we would be glad
to hear what success attended the
experiment. If it has never been
tried we can write the chambers of
commerce back in some of the cities
of Vermont and New Hampshire and
have them send in grafts for plant
ing next Spring.
LEGION DANCE GALLED OFF
TOO MAIL7 MOUSE WARMINGS
With so many Colonist families
moving into uh.ir completed homes,
and so many house warmings sched
uled for Saturday eve, the Legion
has decided to postpone its pro
posed dance until the following
Saturday night.
Mr. Cook, of the experimental
farm, who has the hall at Matan
uska has kindly accepted the can
cellation, and announces that he
will hold the regular week-end
dance there for those who will not
be out christening new homes.
Next Saturday evening at eight
o'clock transportation for the Col'
onists will be at each of the sev
eral camps.
The members of the American Leg
ion post now being formed ask that
everyone in the Colonist group who
can play any instrument please be
there. it is proposed to select u
permanent orchestra which will
play at all social functions where
music Is desired. compensation
for their services will be arrange
with the musicians chosen, so get
out the old ’’stretch organ," mouth
harp, fiddle, guitar or what have
you. polish her up and be there
for a big time. Don't forget the
date: September 28th, at the hall
in Matanuska.
Legion meeting at the Library
tent on »c* Street at 8 o'clock
Friday evening. Secretary Atwood
asks you all to bring your cre
dentials .