■i
IX
J I
61° 30' N. LATITUDE
149° 15r W. LONGITUDE
BUY
“MATANUSKA MAID’
PRODUCTS
Vol. II No.3
PALMER, ALAKSA, NOVEMBER 12, 1636
PRICE 10 CENTS
Edward Coffey And
Rath Kelly Married
With' no one except a few
close friends aware of what was
going on, Edward D. Coffey, Pal
mer’s Representative to the
Legislature, and R th Yost Kelly,
surgical nurse at the hospital,
were quietly married at the home
of Dr. and Mrs. Albrecht on the
evening of Armistice Day.
Rev. Frieling officiated and
those present included, Mr. and
Mrs. Francis Biggs, the Misses
Marion and Luella Batdorf,
Katherine Powers, Dr. and Mrs
Albrecht and Jack Allman.
After the ceremony Mrs.
Albrecht served a luncheon and
later in the evening the newly
married pair drove to Anchorage.
Mrs. Coffey will remain at the
hospital until another nurse to
take her place arrives, probably
some time with n tic- n. xt couple
of weeks. It is their hope that
she will he able to reach here be
fore Mr. Coffey, in his capacity
as Secretary of the Fishermen’s
Union, has to leave for Juneau
for a conference with cannery
owners on the matter of the
abolition of fish traps.
In January Mr. Coffey will have
to be in Juneau when the Legis
lature convenes and Mrs. Coffey
will be with him. After that
they will probaiiy return and
make their home in Palmer.
Here’s A Chance
For Chrisiff.os $$8
The corporation w ill pay 33e a
pound cash tor ail su iting pgs
delivered not later than Nov. 18.
These pigs must be mo:oughly
cleaned and free from cuts and
scars as they are to be served on
Thanksgiving tables. They should
ueigh between 15 and 20 poun Is, I
though a few weighing 25 pounds
will be purchased. See Hr.!
Cronin first on the larger anima.s
Harry O’Neill Has
Attractive Store
Harry O’ Neill, operating un
der the name of The Palmer
Trading co„ has a fair stock in
his new store despite strike con
ditions and reports a brisk trad .
Mr. O' Neill has been in ih(
general store business in Alaska
for years and knows the wants of
the people of the Territory. He
knows their favorite brands, and
stocks them.
Advertise in the PIONEER
Zelda Pilkington Dies
From Gun Wound
At 11:30 on the night of Armistice Day a small group of I
Palmer citizens gathered excitedley at the home of Mr. and “Mrs.!
Aivali Pilkington on the edge of town.
What they saw upon entering ihe tent will forever be indelibly
stamped upon their memories. On the linoleum covered floor of;
the kiichen lay the body of Zelda Pilkington, nee King. A bullet;
irom a .scanner rme naa passed
directly through her htart. She
lav, fully clothed except for her
shoes, with one arm crossed be
neath her as though thrown out
in an effort to break the fall. At
her head kneeled Alvah Pilking
ton, her husband of five months.
Behind the stove stood the
rifle where it had been placed by
Mrs. James Smith. The Smiths,
neighbors of the Pilkingtons, had
been called by the husband and
were the first upon the scene.
All efforts on the part of Dr.
I Albrecht to revive a spark of life1
tin Mrs. Pilkington failed and he
! pronounced her dead,
j Mr. Pilkingtons story of what
I had transpired was somewhat
i confused as he was obviously
under the influence of liquor and
I he was detained by Marshal
Hermon until an inquest could
be held.
Commissioner Huntley took
charge and at two o’clock the
body was removed to the morgue, j
The bullet had passed com
pletely through the body and all
efforts to find it that night failed,
hut in the morning it was located
where it had gone into the wali
and buried itself in a two by four
studding. It was then determ in d
in just what position Mrs. Pilk
ington had been standing when
the bullet entered her body.
At the inquest Mr. Pilkington
told an incomplete story, but j
later, behind closed door., gavel
testimony that brought in a ver
dict of suicide from the jury.
Mrs. Pilkington was a daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur King cfl
Mabton, Washington, who have j
requested that her body be sent J
to them. She had been in Alaska
about five years, having taught
school at Seward and later in the
Ivaih v. This year she had been
a substitute teacher.
Mr. Pilkington, whose parents
i live in Miami, Florida, came j
| north summer before last with
j the transient organization and
'stayed on with the A.RRC as an
! employee in the accounting de
j pertinent.
Mrs. Piikingtou’s body will be
shipped to the States on the MS
Discoverer, leaving Amchorage
| on Tuesday the 17th.
Subscribe to the PIONEER
Legion-Auxiliary'
Observe Tie 11th
Armistice Day belonged to the;
Legion and Auxiliary here in the |
valley last Wednesday. At 11;
o’clock services were held in the
Community Hall and at noon the I
two organizations were sponsors’!
of a banquet served to all ex- j
service men and their wives,
with Boy and Girl Scouts as
guests. Many comrades and
; their wives were up from Anch
! orage.
j Comrade Pat Hemmer threw
digs around as Master of Cere
monies and called upon members
for talks. Those who spoke were
! Liner Huseby w'ho was elected to
succeed Ned Miller as Post Com
mander at the last meeting held
at the Huseby home on Tract 34.
Other speakers were Sid Raynor,
De; ailment Commander; Mrs.
Eleanor Marsh, 2nd Vice Depart
mental Commander of the Legion
Auxiliary; Mrs. Grace Anderson, ;
President of tiie local Auxiliary I
unit; Miss Janet Borges, Walter
Huntley and Neil Miller. Re
sponses by representative boy
and girl scouts were made by
Dorothy Vasenoja, Ruthelyn
Elliott, Merle Anderson, William
Bouwens, Jr. and Don Huseby.
Reverend B. J. Binglc gave the
invocation and later during the
dinner gave a short talk. The
quartette as Pat Hammer said,
set a fine example to the Boy j
Scouts - they were prepared.
The members are Walter Hunt
ley, Claire Nichols, Leonard
Capps, and John Hoekzema.
After the banquet installation
services were held in the Com
munity Hall. Sid Raynor, Depart-1
merit Commander brought two
Past Commanders with him from
Anchorage, Maurice Sharp and
Hugh Savage, who assisted him
with the the ritual of replacing
retiring officers with their succes
sors. Officers installed were:
Einer Husby replacing Neil Miller
as Commander Matanuska Valley
Post No. 15; Lawrence Rorrison
[was re-installed as 1st Vice Com
mander; Chris Anderson succeed
ed Einer Huseby as 2nd Vice; Ik
Moore replaced Emil LaWalters
[as Adjutant, Frank Worden as
(Continued on page 6)
Architect And Nurse
Wed November 7th
At a very pretty ceremony held
at the Staff Dormitory on Satur
day afternoon, Nov. 7 th, Miss
Pearl Williams, Red Cross Public
Health Nurse, became die bride
of Hairy K. Wolfe, Assistant
Architect with the A R R C.
Friends of the couple filled the
spacious living room and prior to
the ceremony Miss Peggy Pimper
ton sang “Because.” Miss Pimper
ton and Miss Ruth De Armond
also sang “I Love You Truly” as a
duet.
To the strains of Lohengrin’s
Wedding March, played by Miss
De Armond, the bride, wearing
white satin and a tiara of crystals,
desc n ed he stairway on the arm
of Dr. C. Earl AJbrect, preceded by
Mrs. Leo Jacobs as matron of hon
or. The groom entered from the
end of the room accompanied by
I Mr. Jacobs and passed between
i two lines of uniformed Colonial
Volunteer Fir* me n, of wfdqh or
ganization Mr. Wolfe is a member.
The ceremony was performed
j before the fireplace which had
! been tastily decorated with green
j spruce boughs.
1 The informal sermon delivered
to the y ung couple by .Father
Sulzman before the ceremony
may well have been taken to
; heart by ail present, whether
married or not. '
Immediately following their
marriage Mr. and Mrs. Wolfe were
deluged with congratulations and
were the red; ients of many
beautlft 1 gifts.
Mrs. Wolfe was presented by
Johnny Osseward with a check
fur twenty dollars presumed to
have come from the office of the
Federal Biological Survey as a
bounty for capturing a Wolfe.
The newlyweds departed
for “parts unknown in the hinter
lands of the Matanuska Valley,”
but it wasn’t long till all Palmer
knew that they had taken posses
sion of Skip Couden’s cabin on
Fish-hook road.
Sherrod In Charge
0? Poultry Plant
Max Sherrod, who for the past
year and a half has been male
nurse and assistant to Dr. Al
breeht, has left the hospital to
take charge of the poultry plant.
Max is quite a chicken fancier
and won first prize with his bird
at the fair. He says that he is
now on a job he really iikes.
Mr. and Mrs. Sherrod will live
in quarters to be constructed in
connection with the incubator
house.