Vol. 1, No. 82
Palmer, Alaska, July 20, 1948
Ten Cents
Local Groups
Air Problems
Before Davis
In an effort to bring disagree
ing factions of the membership
of the Matanuska Valley Farm
ers Cooperating Association into
harmony again, James P. Davis,
director( of the Division of
Insular Possessions and Ter
ritories, spent most of last
Friday in conference with
members of the Co-op board and
with group committees and indi
vidual farmers.
Director Davis discussed in de
tail all phases of the Co-op’s
problems with its board of direc
tors. He also met with commit
tees from the Matanuska Valley
Dairyman’s Association and from
fhe Valley Producers, Inc. Later
he called at the homes of several
Valley farmers for still further
conferences.
At the conclusion of his day’s
work, Mr. Davis expressed the
hope that an amicable settlement
of the differences may be
reached this week. The director,
who met with the board of the
Alaska Rural Rehabilitation Cor
poration at an informal break
fast meeting last Friday, will re
turn for further discussion of the
matter with the Corporation
board next week.
He said he hoped to be able to
announce at the meeting that the
Co-op’s disagreement with its
members had been settled and
that Valley farmers are again
content with the operation of the
organization.
Enough Oil
For Valley Needs
Is Promised
Although the sale of diesel oil
and stove oil have been placed
on a quota for the months of
June, July, August and Septem
ber of this year, Valley users will
have no cause for worry, it is
promised by Martin Jorgensen of
the Anchorage headquarters of
fice of the Standard Oil Co.
Declining to comment on
whether the quota would be
lifted, Mr. Jorgensen said there
would be ‘ plenty of oil when
the time comes that there is need
of it.” He pointed out that there
had been no curtailment in the
sale of oil here, although Bob
Stewart of the local bulk station
reports that the July quota has
been exhausted for several weeks
now. However he has been in
structed to continue sales as us
ual.
“I am confident,” Mr. Jorgen
sen said, “that the allocation will
be 'noderated so that everyone’s
. needs will be taken care of, as
well as those required for the
b‘normal growth or expansion of
a city. Allocations do not apply
on federal, territorial or munici
pal governments.
“The stove and diesel oil situa
tion is tight. Certain allocations
apply but there does not appear
to be any cause for concern,”
• Jorgensen stated.
The Valley’s oil quota was set
at1 a figure 10 per cent above last
- year’s civilian use for the four
■ months’ period. However many
of Palmer’s large new buildings,
I all of w’nich use diesel oil in their
(Continue 0n back DageV
Legion Auxiliary
Head To Visit
Palmer On Friday
Mrs. Ruth Lee Hutton of Min
netonka, Minn., national presi
dent of the American Legion
Auxiliary, will be the guest of
Palmer’s Legion Auxiliary at a
j luncheon next Friday. The
I luncheon will be served in the
I basement of St. John’s Lutheran
Church.
The local group is planning a
menu of Matanuska foods to
serve their guest of honor. Lunch
will be promptly at noon and
will be followed by a tour of the
Valley. At least three carloads
of Anchorage Auxiliary mem
bers are expected to accompany
Mrs. Hutton here.
Members of the local commit
tee in charge of Friday’s plans
are:
Mrs. Jack Maze, Mrs. Richard
Demming, Mrs. Carl Meiers,
Mrs. Ann Nieman, Mrs. Karla
Duff, Mrs. Lennie Johannsen,
Mrs. Bob Johns and Mrs. Mar
garet Cope.
Mrs. J. T. Dunlap will be in
charge of table decorations.
All members of the local Aux
iliary are invited to attend the
luncheon.
Young People's Conference
Planned For Next Week
There is to be a conference of
young married couples at King’s
Lake next week, it was an
nounced. The conference is to be
conducted under the sponsorship
of Rev. Fred Gillespie of the
Church of the Open Door at An
chorage.
Visits From Fairbanks
WASILLA — Mrs. Nels Stens
len of Fairbanks has been the
guest of Mrs. Trent Johnson for
the past several days.
James P. Davis, director of ihe Division of Insular Possessions
and Territories, catches up on the Valley's current events by
consulting a recent issue of the Valley newspaper. He is being
brought up to date on the local news through the coaching of
C. W. Peters, general manager of the Alaska Rural Rehabilita
tion Corporation (left) and I. M. C. Anderson of the Anchorage
office of the Farm Home Administration. Mr. Davis is the
central figure in ihe picture. (Photo by Palmer Photographic
Center).
Railroad Expert
Studies Cities
C. Reed Salisbury, industrial
analyst, has arrived in Alaska
from Washington, D.C., to begin
a study of the economic develop
ment of Railbelt cities. Mr. Sal
isbury was brought north by The
Alaska Railroad for this purpose.
The analyst already has spent
some time in the Territory. He
has been at work at Seward for
the past week or two, but has not
yet completed his studies there.
It is Mr. Salisbury’s hope to
make a thorough economic sur
vey of each of the Railbelt cities.
Through this survey he expects
to arrive at recommendations for
potential industrial development
in each city.
The analyst will include Pal
mer on his list of cities to be
! studied, but it is not known when
] he will arrive here. He has been
j invited to be a guest at tomor
! row’s Chamber of Commerce
Chamber Meets Tomorrow
There will be a regular lunch
eon meeting of the Valley Cham
ber of Commerce tomorrow at
noon in the basement of St.
John’s Lutheran Church.
Rumors Are Flying
A report that pilot Leslie
Green was long overdue at Pal
mer Airport last Thursday was
proved to be completely erron
eous upon investigation. Mr.
Green was napping at his home
during the time he was reported
missing.
Is Improved
Jack Cody, who suffered back
injuries in a farm accident last
week, was reported resting much
more comfortably today. Mr.
Cody is now in a cast and is able
to move about quite freely.
luncheon, but at press-time it was
uncertain if he would be able to
attend.
Bees Relax In Cool Valley Clime
Hundreds and hundreds of
California bees are having a
whizz of a time in the clover and
fireweed blossoms of Matanuska
Valley these days. However the
long highway trek they made to
reach Alaskan pastures evidently
has gone to their heads some
what, for beekeeper G. D. Shreve
says they’ve apparently decided
to make a holiday of their north
ern junket and nothing more. At
any rate, they haven’t rewarded
him with any appreciable
amount of honey yet.
Mr. Shreve is inclined to blame
it on the Valley’s climate. He
: thinks that after the plus-hun
dred temperatures of Chico,
Calif., his bees may find the Val
ley’s temperatures of 50 and 60
just too cool for any honest-to
goodness work. They sip enough
Alaskan nectar to supply their
daily needs, and apparently are
going to let tomorrow take care
of itself.
Mr. Shreve’s bees, which rep
resent the first attempt to pro
duce honey commercially in
Alaska, still have most of the
summer in which to redeem
themselves, however. He says it’s
not unusual for hives to produce
most of their summer’s store of
honey in a couple of weeks. Even
in Chico, he finds mid-July a bit
early for any serious honey
making in his hives.
The Californian loaded 100
hives r\i hooc nn feie Jbmalt
two months ago. He struck Cana
da when flood conditions were
1 at their worst, and he was so
• long in arriving in the Valley
! that his bees were in very poor
condition. He set up the hives in
a spot near the Matanuska River,
where the bees might feed on the
pollen of pussy willows, then at
its best. In the meantime, he
wired Chico for another 44 pack
ages of bees, with which to sup
plement his dwindling supply.
The second shipment came by
air to Anchorage and were
transported from Anchorage to
Palmer by bus. This shipment ar
rived in excellent condition, Mr.
Shreve said, although the bees
were sent through without any
food. It was the first time a ship
ment had been attempted in this
manner, although bees are ship
ped all through the mid-west by
air from the Shreve ranch at
Chico. The Shreves combine al
mond-growing with bee-keeping.
The Shreve hives are now
scattered in small lots at several
points through the Valley. No at
tempt is being made to segre
gate the types of honey, but the
insects are allowed to feed freely
on all types of wild flowers.
If Mr. Shreve’s experiment
fails in the Matanuska Valley
this summer, he plans to try a
| similar project in Fairbanks next
j year. He feels that Fairbanks
; may be more suited to the com
though he says he’s already seen
enough to be sure that a few
hives of bees on Valley farms
would prove a profitable under
taking for any farmer interested
in raising his own honey.
One local farmer, Bill Smith,
has experimented with bees dur
ing the past years. He gets one
package each year, just because
he "likes to fool with bees.” Any
one who’s ever been around bees
likes to work with them, Mr.
Shreve asserts. “They’re inter
esting,” he explains.
Should the bee experiment
prove successful, the California
rancher will not attempt to win
ter his hives. It is more profitable
to kill off the bees each fall and
to order new packages in the
spring, than to attempt to feed
them through the winter. The
airborne bees are inexpensive to
transport and their initial cost is
not great.
Although Mr. Shreve expects
that he may be disappointed in
his first attempt at bee-raising in1
Alaska, he’s not planning to give
up after one attempt. He’ll be
back somewhere in the territory
trying again next year. He’s
found that although he “likes
California fine, I like Alaska
even better.” He’d rather live in
the Valley, but if his tempera
mental bees prefer Fairbanks,
then that’s where the Shreves
will hang out their hives nevt
Great Future
Is Ahead,
Davis Asserts
Palmer, as does all of Alaska,
stands on "the eve of very great
development,” director James P.
Davis of the Division of Insular
Possessions and Territories, told
luncheon guests last Friday noon.
He was addressing a group of
representative farmers and agri
cultural heads from the Valley.
Mr. Davis pointed to the recent
highway appropriations which
he said would be of direct bene
fit in aiding Palmer’s growth.
Much of the money will be used
to hard-surface existing roads, a
program which he anticipated
would bring a commuter’s resi
dent population to Palmer.
All of Alaska needs much
in the way of government
housing, schools and other fa
cilities, he continued. He said
the Federal government could
do a great deal to help meet
those needs, but that much of
this groundwork lies squarely
in the hands of the towns, for
the government can do only a
part of the work.
Questioned concerning any
government plans for the loca
tion of future institutions in the
Valley, Mr. Davis said he knew
of none at present, but he added,
“I believe Palmer is an excellent
site for any future institutions,
such as veterans’ hospitals or a
branch of the University.”
The director denied that any
plans for further government
colonization were ready for an
nouncement at this time. He said
some preliminary work was be
ing done now to determine what
the agricultural potentiality of
Alaskan areas is, but that this
was only one small step in the
procedure. He pointed out that
legislation and appropriations
must precede such planning.
Questioned later that day
regarding an announcement
from the Bureau of Land Man
agement in Anchorage which
stated that two colonies would
be located in Alaska, Mr. Davis
branded the statement as pre
mature. "None of the details of
such colonization have been
worked out." he said. "We
don't have the appropriation.
We don't know how the colo
nies would be set up. We don't
even know how the colonists
would be selected or how the
plan would be administered. I
insist that any colonization
plan for Alaska is still in its
earliest stages."
He assured luncheon guests
that any colonization project
which might become effective
here would not be based on dis
placed persons.
Director Davis then asked Val
ley farmers what they felt their
principal problems of Alaskan
farming were. Rex Monoghan
replied that there is urgent need
for some sort of revolving fund,
from which a farmer may bor
row money at a low rate of inter
est, in order to clear more land.
Charles Wilson, soil conser
vationist, agreed, saying, "A
proper land-use program can
not be inaugurated if the farm
ers have only 10 acres cleared.
Yet such a program is most es
sential in the development of
Alaska."
Mr. Davis was told that thf>ro