LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL
Thursday Friday Night
Little League Diamond
6:00 P. M.
The Frontiersman
PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
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VOLUME 6, NUMBER 42
PALMER. ALASKA. THURSDAY. JULY 9. 1953
PRICE TEN CENTS
ZAHRADNICEK NEW COUNCILMAN;
CITY TO BUY NEW SWITCHBOARD
William T. Zahradnicek, super
intendant of Palmer schools
has accepted the office of citj
councilman, filling the vacancy
on the council caused by the
resignation of O. K. Kincaid
this spring. He will serve in
office until election-time in Octo
ber. His selection was by unani
mous vote of councilmen present
at the regular meeting July 7.
To Hire Engineer
Charles W. Tryck, engineer
with the Anchorage firm of Rut
ledge, Johnson and Tryck was
hired on an hourly basis to es
tablish grades on streets invol
ved in the city water distribu
tion system. A working agree
ment between Tryck and the
city will be worked out before
he commences work.
Construction work on the
water system is expected to gel
under way very soon, with near
ly £,000 feet of six-inch pipe anc
nearly 2,000 feet of 14 inch pipe
arriving this week. Fittings were
being unloaded in Seward this
week. George Lilly, contractor,
expected final pipe shipmenl
from Seattle would be completed
by July 7 and additional fittings
on July 11. There will be more
thar. 41,000 feet of steel pipe used
in the system. Council members
tabled the discussion of the pur
chase of a pipe finder until a later
meeting.
Accept Audit
Members of the council accept
ed the city audit as prepared
and presented by William Head,
CPA. The audit represents city
business up to April 30, 1953.
To Repair Fire Truck
Russ Felzien of the city fire
committee reported a short block
is available for $223 for the 1942
Chevrolet fire truck. Council
members voted authorization for
the purchase, and repairs.
Order Switchboard
At a special meeting July 2,
called because of a quorum lack
tit the June 30 meeting, council
members gave their approval to
the telephone committee to order
a Western Electric switchboard
from the Alaska Telephone Ex
change, Inc. of Juneau.
The board is located in
Skagway and will be shipped to
Palmer for council approval or
rejection, at the company’s ex
pense. The expenditure of $10,
000 to rejuvinate and improve
the present telephone system was
also given the committee. New
cables and lines, complete with
cross arms and new poles where
necessary will be included in the
improvement program.
The purchase of a three-inch
pump and hose from Alvin Sax
ton for $200 was approved by
the ouncil. The pump is being
used for pumping river water for
the street sprinkling program.
COURT NEWS
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In U. S. Commissioner’s Court
July 8, John Meehan entered a
plea of guilty to a charge of con
cealing stolen property. U. S.
Commissioner Dorothy B. Saxton
found him guilty as charged and
sentence. The charge was brought
by Lauritz Loberg.
Charles E. Sutton, Eklutna,
pleaded guilty to driving under
the influence of liquor on July 4
when he was charged with such
in U. S. Commissioner’s Court
July 8. Bernard Jones brought
the complaint. Finding him guil
ty, U. S. Commissioner Saxton
revoked his driver’s license until
January 1, 1954; fined him $150
and issued a 30-day suspended
sentence.
On a second compaint, brought
by the Territorial Police, Sut
ton was found guilty of having
in his possession a revolver,
loaded and of making threats to
other persons while under the
influence of intoxicating liquor.
He had entered a guilty plea to
the charge and was fined $100
and a six-month suspended sen
tence was given by U. S. Com
missioner Saxton.
In Wasilla Philip Plack, 22,
and Joseph Smith, 22 were
charged with car theft by Har
vard Luther. The charge was
withdrawn by Luther following
the payment of $1,000 for dam
ages done to his 1952 Chevrolet
suburban.
|
1
ACS Announces
Phone Rate Increases
Effectice July 1 telephone
call rates between Palmer and
Anchorage, Whittier, Seward
and Kenai were increased
from 20 to 30 cents per call.
Sergeant William Kalleigh
of the local ACS office said
this week that Anchorage re
ceives the bulk of Palmer toll
calls and that the minimum
between the two cities was
was increased from 50 cents
to 70 cents, plus tax, bring
ing the cost of a day call to
Anchorage up to 88 cents. The
night and Sunday rate rose
from 40 cents to 55 cents, plus
tax, totalling 69 cents. Other
increases went as high as 30
cents.
The increase was announced
as a necessity to meet in
creased costs of communca
tion operations in Alaska and
to establish rates more in
line with those charged for
equal distances in the States.
Holiday Draws Huge
Crowds to Area;
Roads Take Beating
Picnics, outings and various
celebrations held during the July
4 week end accounted for ex
tremely heavy traffic throughout
! the Valley and adjoining areas.
A vehicle count taken in the
| Big Lake region by the Division
j of Foretry, Bureau of Land man
i agement showed 691 vehicle- a^d
16 passenger buses went into the
area during the week end where
somewhere between 1200 and
I 1500 persons attended a picnic
* held by the Civilian Club of An
chorage. Jack Thatcher, fire
guard in the Big Lake region ex
tinguished six camp fires that
had been left burning during the
week end.
Palmer Constructor’s picnic
drew several hundred picnicers
to Duff’s; camp boat races and
the Shriner’s picnic at Lake Lu
cille atracted many more hun
dred. A large Valley group at
tended the annual VFW celebra
tion in Wasilla and an estimated
one thousand vehicles made trips
up the Little Susitna and Willow
roads. ,
All roads leading to and
around Wasilla took a beating
this weekend, according to Oliver
Onkka, of the Alaska Road Com
mission. “It’s a good thing we
got some rain,” he said. Because
the Valley had experienced no
rain and many hot days, the
roads were very dusty, he said
The heavy traffic over these
areas increased the dust on the
roads. Many holiday travelers
who had planned to use the Ster
ling highway turned north to the
Glenn highway and by-roads,
because of high water damage.
In spite of the many hundred
campers, located along every
stream in the area, no serious
fires were reported.
LITTLE LEAGUERS PLAYING GOOD BASEBALL; WILL PLAY IN REGIONAL MEET
Baseball fans are missing some
real baseball by not attending
the Little League games being
held nearly every night in the
Little League diamond in the
Co-Op area.
A week ago Wednesday the
Jonesvilfe Dodgers took the
game in an over-time inning. At
the close of the sixth inning, the
game was tied at 1-1. Ronald Lar
son was winning pitcher; Rus
sell McKechnie of the Moose
team was losing pitcher.
Thursday the Kiwanis trim
med the Moose boys 19-1. Koslos
ky’s handed the Jonesville team
a loss with a score of 13-9 on
Friday.
On Monday of this week the
Jonesville team beat the leading
Kiwanis team with a 5-3 score,
with Larson again the winning
pitcher. Michael Leek pitched
for the Kiwanis Iidians.
Last night the Moose team
blew an 8-run lead to Koslosky’s
with the final score of 11-10 at
the close of the sixth inning. Jer
ry stock was winning pitcher
with Jerry Fogg pitching the last
inning. His bro'ther James Fogg
was losing pitcher.
Other good games are sche
duled for tonight and tomorrow
night when the Jonesville vs.
Moose and Kiwanis vs. Koslosky
games will be played. The pub
lie is urged to attend these
games and encourage the young
sters and see some very good
baseball being played by Valley
boys.
Friday night the all-star team
will be chosen, Jack Leek an
nounced today, these players
will participate in the Little
League regional playoffs to be
played in Anchorage July 31 and
August 1.
The regional playoff will see
teams from Palmer, Anchorage,
Juneau, Douglas, Fairbanks, Sit
ka and Ocean Falls, British Col
umbia playing for a win that will
qualify them to go to Vancouver
B. C. for the game that will deter
mine the team to play in the
the West Coast playoffs at San
ta Monica, California.
National Little League offi
cials, impressed with the rapid
growth of the leagues in Alaska,
named Anchorage as the tourna
ment site this year. Last year
Alaska teams had to travel to
one of the West Coast cities to
participate.
Team standings
Kiwanis _ _8 3
Jonesville __ 6 5
Moose _5 6
Kosloskys _3 8
Grasshoppers Invade
Butte Area; Spraying
To Start Tomorrow
Grasshoppers, which did con
siderable damage in the Butte
area two years ago, have again
this year invaded the region in
an even higher consecration.
Warm, dry weather has favored
their increase, Jim Wilson, Com
missioner of Agriculture said this
week.
Control of the damaging pests
will be attempted with a spray
of Aldrin, two to three ounces
per acre. Wilson said this is
the amount recommended by the
USDA. Clyde Snyder, flying off
Lake Hood, will spray the area
from the air, with work sche
duled to be done tomorrow morn
ing between 2 and 3 a.m., wea
ther permitting.
Costs of spraying will be borne
by the Department of Agricul
ture, the ARRC and individuals
of the affected area. Dr. Richard
Washburn of the Experiment
Station has also assisted in the
program. Farms and properties
owned by I. M. Sandvik, Loren
Smith and Paul Nelson were in
vaded by the grasshoppers.
The breeding grounds appear
to be located on the south and
east slopes of the Butte where
the dry and warm soils seem best
suited to the pests.
Wilson said this week that this
project points out the need for
pest control funds in the Terri
! tory.
Paul Nelson has been spraying
areas but much of the terraine is
too steep to be effectively work
ed over from the ground, Wilson
i reported. It is hoped that spray
ing from the air will stop their
increase and damaging work.
Farm Youth Visitor
Compares Alaska to
His Finnish Homeland
Bo Larsson, International Farm
i Youth Exchange from Finland,
] this week discribed Alaska^, as
] being very similar to his native
land. We don’t have the moun
tains, he said, but our climates
are very much the same. Lars
son is spending three weeks with
the Glen Woods family and as
j sisting in the farm work.
The youth who will be 23 years
! old July 28, thinks agriculture
: is more advanced in Finland
than in Alaska. “Before the war
i we had no combines,” he said,
| “now we have three thousand.”
The equipment is imported chief
ly from the United States and
England he said. Finland’s farm
ers have 17 thousand tractors,
compared to only three thousand
before the war, he added and
| pointed out that all war damages
have been rebuilt, including
buildings and bridges.
Following the war when land
was lost to Russia, cultivated
land was divided to the point
where there are no longer large
farms. We are not trying to culti
vate more land for we consider
our forests our “green gold” Lar
son said. Our very important pa
per and pulp exports are made
possible by these forests and we
realize their value.
Larson will be in the Valley
until August 10 and will then
journey to Maryland. When he
returns to his homeland he will
continue his studies at the Uni
versity of Helsinki.
MT. SPUR ERUPTING
1953 CANCER DRIVE
TO GET UNDER WAY
The local 1953 drive of the
American Cancer Society has
started, Mrs. Charles Wilson,
Valley chairman announced this
week. By July 20 the familiar
coin boxes and several hundred
letters will be distributed
throughout the area, she said.
Funds obtained from annual
drives throughout the Territory
are sent to the Territorial ACS
office in Juneau from which
funds are dispersed for aid to
those afflicted and for scientific
advancement in the disease. Fol
lowing the 1952 campaign Dr.
A. J. Colberg of Palmer was
among those physicians who
availed themselves of the re
fresher course sponsored by the
American Cancer Society. The
society also assisted a local per
son this past year in attending
the cancer clinic in Denver.
Statistics released by the ACS
show that cancer strikes one per
son in every five: that of every
20 people, four will have cancer.
Of these four one is saved; one
dies who could have been saved
by earlier diagnosis and two die
of types of cancer that future re
search must control.
As Mrs. Wilson pointed out,
the American Cancer Society is
now trying to “zero in” its big
research guns on hidden cancers.
Some of the nation’s best lab
oratory investigators are concen
trating their efforts on finding a
simple and reliable diagnostic
test that will unmask cancer in
elusive sites when the disease
is in an early enough stage for
cure. !
Assisting Mrs. Wilson in the
local work are Mrs. Stanley
Laird and Mrs. Howard Estelle.
Workers Make Repairs j
On Damaged Power Line
Early last evening the Valley
was without electrical power for
a short period of time but no
one did any griping for the out
age permitted CEA workers time
to tie in the line that was dis
rupted by high waters over a
week ago.
Immediate repairs were not
possible because of high waters
and during that time Palmer and
vicinity received their power
through the old line and old
plant, which as Cy Brewer, MEA
manager put it, “is too small to
carry the larger load.” At times
during the “brown-out,” power
was as low as 95V with the maxi
mum at 110V, Brewer said. '
BREAKS LEG IN ACCIDENT
S. P. Summers of Sutton is in
Valley Hospital, suffering a brok
en leg received when his 1952
Studebaker half-ton truck went
off the road and overturned at
Mile 56 July 4. He reported to
Territorial Police that he fell
asleep while driving. Approxi
mately $900 damage was done
to the truck.
ACS OFFICE TO MOVE
Sergeant William Kalleigh of
the local Alaska Communication
System office said this week they
are reasonably sure the Palmer
office will be moved from the
Neal Wright building to larger
quarters in the Severn building
by the 10th of August.
NEARBY MTS. GERDINE AND TORBETT
ALSO BELIEVED TO BE ACTIVE
Believed to have erupted at
approximately 5:30 this morning
Mt. Spur has been spewing ashes
in heavy content for many miles
around. Mt. Torbett and Mt. Ger
dine in the same area are also
believed to have become active.
The mountains, located in the
Alaska Range, are but a few
miles from Beluga Lake, popular
Wasilla Celebration
Well Attended
Opening the VFW annual
Fourth of July celebration in
Wasilla this past Saturday, an
impressive flag raising ceremony
was conducted by members of
the Veterans of Foreign Wars
and Wasilla Boy Scouts. “To the
Colors” was played by bugler
Jerry Sorenson.
Three baseball games were
played during the afternoon
along with “Alaska’s Favorite
Game.” Grand prizes were
awarded to the following: George
Brown of Seward, 35mm camera;
Lorraine Lindburg, Wasilla, Fry
rite and George Edlund of Knik
road $20 merchandise award.
Hundreds of bottles of soda
pop, donated by the Anchorage
Cold Storage, and 830 ice cream
cones were given away during
the day to the youngsters at
tending the celebration.
Foot races and a bicycle race
were conducted for the young
sters with Jimmy Hilburn tak
ing top honors in the bicycle
race for the second consecutive
year. Wally Teeland placed sec
ond and Fred Nunnley third.
SUMMER REPAIR WORK
GOING ON AT SCHOOL
New doors have been installed
at the front and back of the sec
tion of the Palmer school con
necting the gymnasium to the
main building. The location of
the door at the back of the school
has been changed from a right
angle to a front entrance.
Small glass windows, reinforc
ed with wire, have eliminated the
danger of glass breaking. The
school library floor is to be
sanded and refinished this week
and other summer repair jobs
are going on throughout the
school building.
SERVICES HELD FOR
DEAN W. ROTH
Funeral services for Dean War
ren Roth, 36, were held July 8
at the Wasilla Community Club.
Burial was in the Wasilla ceme
tery.
Roth died July 4 in a Seattle
hospital following an operation.
His body was returned to Alas
ka Tuesday.
Mr .and Mrs. Roth were oper
ators of Green Acres resort on
Wasilla Lake. In addition to his
wife, Betty, he is survived by
two sons, Terry, 7, and Tommy,
seven months. He also leaves his
mother, Mrs. Margaret Roth of
Prospect, Pennsylvania; a broth
er William Roth of Green Acres
and other sisters and brothers in
Pennsylvania.
| fishing spot for many Palmerites
! and about 76 miles west of An
j chorage.
I At noon today Anchorage was
very dark, with street and vehicle
lights turned on. “It’s almost
like two or three o’clock in the
morning,” one spectator report
ed. White shirts turned to grey;
those out doors without head
coverings soon found themselves
prematurely grey. Many women
were shielding themselves with
umbrellas. Car and plane owners
were cautioned to keep their
equipment covered as much as
possible. If the volcanic ash be
comes wet, the resulting sulphur
ic acid will do considerable dam
age to the finish and materials,
they were warned.
Anchorage housewives were
asked to refrain from using elec
trical appliances in the event it
was necessary to shut down the
! diesel generators. When ashes
penetrate a motor, it was ex
plained, they act the same as an
abrasive. Aircraft owners ^vere
warned not to fly through the
ashes in the air. Complete motor
failure could result if enough ash
were taken into the motor. Ait
traffic off Anchorage fields was
at a complete stand still with
Army and Air Force planes
scheduled to land in Anchorage,
being instructed to land at Ladd
or Eilsen AFB in Fairbanks.
According to the Weather
Bureau, wind directions indicat
ed that regions around Potter,
Rainbow and Girdwood would
probably get the heaviest fall
of ash.
Due to atmospheric conditions
Palmer apparently will escape
much of the volcanic ash, falling
on the city of Anchorage since
early this morning.
Looking south from Palmer,
the haze and darkness has beer,
in evidence sfince just before
noon. Unless wind directions
change, it is expected that the
Valley will not experience any o£
t^ie falling ash.
TANANA FAIR ASKS
EXCHANGE EXHIBITS
Valley residents have been in
vited to exhibit produce, hand
craft or livestock in the annual
Tanana Valley Fair to be held
at Fairbanks August 21, 22 and
23, according to word received
from Dan Bemis, association,
president.
An exchange of exhibits is
hoped for, Bemis said and sent
l an invitation to the 1952 Matan
uska Valley Fair Queen to visit
them as an honorary guest dur
ing their August fair. Last year’s
winner was Rose Mary Vickary
ous, now Mrs. Raymond De
Priest of Palmer.
Alba Brooks, Valley Fair As
sociation president said this week
that he hoped an exchange could
be worked out with the Tanana
association, and asked all Valley
exhibitors who would be inter
ested in sending displays to Fair
banks to contact him or Gene
Kirsch, local fair manager.
AIRMAN DROWNS AT
FALK LAKE JULY 3
A pre-holiday accident Friday
evening claimed the life of a
young serviceman when he
drowned while swimming in
Falk’s Lake.
T/Sgt. William A. Adams, 27,
with the 5039th Airforce Medical
unit drowned in approximately
16 feet of water while swimming
with friends early Friday morn
ing. Bobby Call of Palmer who’
was swimming with Adams at
tempted to help him when it
became evident to him that his
friend was having trouble. Ex
hausted, Call was assisted by A2c
John M. Zimmer who accompan
ied them but who had not gone
in the water because he could not
swim.
Adams is survived by his wife
and a daughter who make their
home in Anchorage.