VALLEY FRONTIERSMAN
Published each Wednesday
Palmer, Alaska
Entered as second class matter on Oct. 21, 1947, at the post office
at Palmer, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Subscription rates.75c month, $8 a year
Viola Daniels .Editor
Walter Freeman ..Associate Editor
Beverly Larsh .Advertising Manager, Palmer
No printed material in the Valley Frontiersman may be
reproduced except by permission of the editor.
Mailed to all points in Alaska and the United States.
DANIELS — In the Lion's Den
There were 14 fires in the Matanuska Valley last year. There
were seven Valley residents present at last Tuesday’s annual meeting
of the Valley Volunteer Fire Association. The 14 fires caused an esti
mated loss of $165,000. There are 70 paid-up members of the Valley
Volunteer Fire Association in the Matanuska Valley, the estimated
population of which is 4,000.
Last week was Fire Prevention Week all over the United States.
So little thought is given to fire prevention in the Matanuska Val
ley, that when recent information disclosed that the already sky
high fire insurance rates were to be upped again, it caused scarcely
a moment’s concern to any of the 4,000.
The Tuesday decision of the Valley Volunteer Fire Association
to answer no calls for help to the homes or businesses of non-mem
bers will probably also be dismissed with a shrug.
When this column, in past months, voiced criticism of the local
department because of what was considered negligence in drills and
care of equipment, many of our readers stopped to express a word of
agreement and commendation.
We were encouraged. We felt the criticism was justified, and
we felt the reader response to our criticism was an indication of an
increased interest in the volunteer fire department and its workings.
We expected, foolishly, at least a 50 percent membership attendance
at future meetings, and we were even silly enough to think that the
emaciated ranks of the firefighters might be swelled with several
newcomers.
We’d forgotten to reckon with the Valley when we counted
reader encouragement as results for the building of a better fire
department. We know now that most of that encouragement was
nothing but the wholehearted enjoyment of a schoolchild who
watches teacher give what-for to Johnny for some sin of which the
whole class was really guilty. Johnny, in this case the fire depart
ment, got caught and everyone sat back and enjoyed his public
chastisement; enjoyed it the more thoroughly because they knew
they’d been smart enough to get away with the same small crime.
Now the time has come to point a finger at the entire class.
Every Association member who dodged last Tuesday’s meeting has
no right to voice a word of protest toward any Association actions
during the coming year. They lost that right of protest by staying
home on Tuesday.
Should the seven members of the Valley Volunteer Fire Associ
ation, who did attend the annual meeting, decide to lock the doors
of the Fire Hall, return loaned equipment or sell purchased equip
ment, the Valley Frontiersman would have little to say against it.
The job’s too big for seven men, and we’d not blame them for giving
up the attempt to stagger along under a load that should be borne
by several times that number.
The Matanuska Valley homes and businesses do not deserve fire
protection. If we are too dilatory to spend four evenings a year at a
membership meeting, or in the case of volunteers, to spend a few
minutes weekly in drilling and testing equipment, then it would be
better to lock that equipment away and give up all pretense of fire
fighting.
Untrained fire crews usually are worse than none. Equipment
that won’t work when it’s neded is infinitely worse than no equip
ment at all. Seven men can’t be responsible for training and testing,
and when another fire comes which will be beyond their ability to
fight, theyd be better off among the crowd of spectators who are
criticizing their efforts, than up front at the fire-line and in the
public eye.
The seven are to be commended and we hasten to voice that
commendation now. We think it will be a nice thing for them to re
member, when the Monday quarterbacks start in the morning after
our next distastrous fire.
BRYANT & CO.
BULLDOZING CARRYALL WORK
GENERAL LAND CLEARING
Write Box 1848
CLASSIFIED
FOR SALE
SINGER SEWING machines, re
built; portable type; immedi
ate delivery. Contact Freeman
at Frontiersman or call Mr.
Schmidt in Anchorage, Main
165 .evenings.
LOT with basement excavated;
water, sewer, lights available;
three blocks from shopping
center. Write Box E, Frontiers
man, or inq. Frontiersman of
fice.
MODERN one-bedroom house in
Palmer; full concrete base
ment just completed. Inq. at
Frontier Bar or phone Bill
Roark.
SPACE HEATER, good condition.
Inq. Valley Frontiersman.
ROADHOUSE, doing excellent
business, on Palmer Highway
at Mile 36. First-rate location
on trout stream. Must sell due
to ill health. Write P. O. Box
713, Palmer.
COAL STOKER, comp., $50; hay
fork and carrier, $25; 50-gal.
electric water heater, 220 volt.
See Arthur Marsh.
CHEVROLET Army truck, 4x4,
front-end winch. See Ralph
Goodrich, Co-Op Garage.
YOUTH BED w/innerspring mat
tress; lamp shade, washable
plastic; 14” table lamp. Mrs.
Seth Cook.
ALTO SAXOPHONE, $85; Road
master bike, $42; Elto outboard
motor (repairs needed) $10.
Gene Marsh, Co-Op Garage.
FOR SALE OR RENT
6 - ROOM "HOUSE—G7 ATLindsey,
Box 798, Palmer.
FOR RENT
CABIN, part, furn.; 2 mi. south
of town. See William Hoskins,
Experiment Station.
2-RM. HOUSE. Inq. at Frontiers
man office.
CABINS; located opposite Hart
ley Bros. Garage. See A. H.
Marsh.
BARGAIN—Good used washing
machine, $35. Hartley Bros.
TENT, 10x10, 3 ft. wall; good
condition. $20. See J. P. Loom
is at Don Irwin’s, or write to
Box 234.
NOTICE
TRY OUR new Hess Hair Milk
treatment; excellent dandruff
remover, stops falling hair,
changes gray hair back to its
original color. For a dandy hair
cut, and a shave that’s closer
than the next second, it’s the
VALLEY BARBER SHOP
Daryl Meeks, Prop.
I WILL NOT be responsible for
any debts incurred by the
Ron-Da-Voo Cafe after Sep
tember 15.
(Signed) PETE LUCEY.
NEW MATERIALS for sale;
men’s suiting, half price. Inq.
Valley Cleaners.
LESSONS IN PIANO
Accredited high school teacher;
students may receive credits.
Contact at Neal Wright’s.
MARY BAIRD STOECKLE
FOR EXCHANdtfe
TWO OIL heaters for one good
coal heater. Inq. at Brown’s
Shop at North Palmer.
WORK WANTED
WILL CARE for children under
6 in my home. $2 to $2.50 daily
or 50c hr. Inq. third house
south of Adventist Church or
write Mrs. Carlos Driggers,
Gen. Del., Palmer.
POSITION WANTED
RELIABLE VETERAN, age 23,
wants responsible position;
high school grad.; have re
stricted radio tel. lie., also
priv. pilot’s lie; best of ref.;
willing to learn; will appear
for interview on request. Write
Clyde Clark, Palmer, or inq.
through Frontiersman off.
TO BE IN ANCHORAGE
Beginning October 18, Parker
Lester, local Extension agent,
will be in Anchorage for a week
to take care of Extension Office
work there.
NOTICE FOR PUBLICATION
Notice is hereby given that Jo
seph S. Kaylor, entryman, of An
chorage, Alaska, together with
his witnesses, Howard Franklin
Estelle and Herbert Holstein, all
of Wasilla, Alaska, has made
final proof on his homestead,
Anchorage serial 011793, for the
SV2NWV4, Wy2SWi/4, sec. 14.T.17
N. R. 1W, S.M. containing 160
acres, and it is now in the files of
the District Land Office, Anchor
age, Alaska, and if no protest is
filed in the local land office,
within the period of publication
or thirty days thereafter, said fi
nal proof will be accepted and fi
nal certificate issued.
(SIGNED) GEORGE A. LINGO,
Acting Manager.
Date first publication Oct. 13,
1948.
Date last publication November
10, 1948.
Wirtanen's Tanker
Service
Metered Delivered
Gasoline, Diesel and Stove Oil
Ph. 6-23Y-11 Eino Wirtanen
Green's Flying Service
(At Palmer Airport)
STUDENT INSTRUCTION
CHARTER FLIGHTS
GI TRAINING
M. D. SNODGRASS
REAL ESTATE
Dairy and Vegetable Farms
City Lots Acreage
Matanuska Electric
Association, Inc.
For Power Distribution
DON McKECHNIE
For all digging and
back-filling jobs
Write or phone him your
excavating orders
P. O. Box 796 Palmer