other utilities.
These figures were
incorporated in a
wire to Senator Wal
ter-E. Huntley, then
in Juneau, who was
asked to obtain Dr„
.ulbrocht's support,
if possible.
Mr. Huntley con
ferred. with Dr, Al
brecht, who reported
that he did not dis
approve of the Valley
as a location. Dr,
Albrecht pointed out
that he ’was' interest
ed in obtaining a tu
berculosis hospital,
for the territory ’as
quickly as possible
and that he felt a.
location in either.
Anchorage ;0r 'the Mat;
anuska Valley yes, ac
ceptable. ■ ' x ■
Mr. Huntley wa s
next to hear further
concerning the; XiNS
hospital, when -ori
March 2b he received
a 3-page memorandum
from Don Foster, gen-'
oral superintendent'"
of the Alaska Native
Serviceo Mr.. Foster
violently'd1so pp rove d
Palmer’s bid for the
hospital. He said,
in parts
"A move, of . this,
kind stand's a' very
good chance of jeop
ardizing the possibi
lity of securing nec
essary funds to cons- .
truct the much': needed
tuber culosis ho suit al
which has been loca
ted at Anchorage by
the final decision-of
the Department of the
interior. A knock
down drag - out fight
between Palmer ''and
Anchorage over this .
site would • cause . a
long delay in its
construction,
’’The Department of
Interior h-s commit
ted themselves to the
City of Anchorage for
the location of the"
hospital and the City
held a referendum.
granting t’hc 'Depart
ment of Int.crfqr cer- ■
t a in 1 and s *#11hin
the City limits of
Anchor-ge, Said ref
erendum carried by a
huge majority......
’’The Department-of
Interior has worked
out on arrange nent.
with the Al-ska Rail
r oaA 9 whesc e xp ansion
program is dependent
to a certain extent
upon this agreement,
wh e r e by the 1.1 a s ka
Native Service will
receive steam and el
ectricity for the
hospital which is to
be located in nnchor
'age. The Ha t anu s ka
Chamber of Conmcrce
proposal would mater
ially affect ‘the org
anizational program
of the .'Alaska- Rail
road and v.ould. threw
their present plans
into' a'state of utter
confusion.
’’Rians and speci
. fi c a ti qns • ha. vo • bu-.c nf
noproved ’ for this
project.. .The' Matan
uska Chamber of Com
merce ■ -is. me re lyi mud
ding up the 1 /ater ^nd
cliub 1 ngi >' the■ issuc
which will .again,.
; bring ( about, -a long'
1 n . . -St ■ ' ' • —
delay•
"It would cost not
less . than*',r" million'
dollars more, on fr’rst
investment, ^ to piece
the hospital at Pal
mer instead' of Anch
orage. It would mean,
construction of r. p°
wc-r plant .ano const
ruction of various
utility facilities
whidh ’poult a not be
constructed for less
than'1 a million doll
ars at ’ the present
time. .. Increased
■•freight . 'cGbts, \ ‘iin
crcased cost "of pro
viding housing?''for
construction workmen
a£d other facilities
needed in a construc
tion • of this ’ kind
which Palmer cannot
provide would run up
the bid...) i
"Operating the
hospital at -Palmer ,
rroU Id' . thr ow \ ■certain’ ’
increased inconven
iences and ''dded cost
.in ■ go 11 ing,A • pat iepta . ;•
in ’ and out ’ of the
ho s.pi t al. then O'. ^ lit
woiild mean t.Hat'’/ar
rangements w<)uld have
to be made for the
transportation of tu
bercular pat 5. exits
from ‘Anchorage' '";to
-V . 1 V • X i- ■
Palmer any time of
the d.?v or night...
"Anchorage, in all
probability, will be
cone the 'medical cen
ter of /.laska . .To
day Anchorage- Ins a
number of special
ists... that ether
centers of ..l^ska do
not have. The Fed
eral government would
be in a.position to
contract with these
specialists to pro
vide specialized ser
vices. to the tubercu
losis sanitarium...
The location at Pal
me r would metcrially
require added expense
from the s tandp- i n t
'of freight, supplies,
transportation,- of em
:.p 1 oy c e s- a nd e m p 1 cy e e s
houschold effects.,,
; ''The lack of rec
reational facilities -
in the Palmer area is
one of the most ser
ious objections for
the site of. a s-ani
, torium..- There will
bf • a minimum of 32 5
employees, -> l^rge
percent of which will
be single women who
will need, recrcaticn
al facilities- which
Palmer • cannot fur
nish. This matter of
recreation npplirs to
all employees, but it
is more serious with
nurses, nurse's 'id.es
a nd \the \ single pcopic
employed- -.around / a
hospital-.. '• '■
"We strongly obj
ect to- this proposal
'.an'1 ~s far as the' lo
cal service in .'.laska
is concerned we will
use our influence to
the uthost ’-to8 prevent
such a olive,, for vie
feel it' is undesirab
le, untimely, uncall
ed for, is uneconomi
cal, and rill merely
incr ase our ndminis
t r a t i pn ma ny \ f p 1 d,
ciit c Own on the effi
ciency of operation,
and cent the rpvcrn
htindrecT*d 'of 'thou
sands of dollars un
.:ncice!ssarily>.,? V‘. V< \ h '
Mr. Foster, foll
owing his memorandum
to Mr. Huntley, wired
Del. ;,E. jL. Bartlett,
reprtesent'a t iye- i n a> n- •
/(Corit.i next p^£o")