Valley ?mitiersmaa
VOL. III.
PALMER, ALASKA, NOVEMBER 10, 1949,
NUMBER 9
Co-Op Takes Erring Milkmen to Court
‘Blood Record Plan
To Be Set Up Here
May Save Life’—Bailey
Plans for the establishment of
a vast filing system that will re
cord blood types of Valley resi
dents were disclosed this week by
Dr. C. C. Bailey. Dr. Bailey, who
hopes for a minimum of a thous
and records under the plan, said
he expected the program to be
a means of saving lives that
otherwise might be lost, when no
donors can be immediately lo
cated in an emergency.
The physician termed the plan,
which calls for the establishment
of two master files—one at the
Valley Hospital and the other in
his office—better than a blood
bank. He explained that stor
age requirements are costly for a
blood bank. Too, blood cannot
be stored for longer than a two
week period, which makes a
bank plan impractical in a rural
area.
The project is sponsored by the
local Kiwanis Club, which is fi
nancing the cost of the serum
needed for typing and Rh deter
minations. The Department of
Public Health is co-operating by
paying for materials for the re
quired Kahn test, furnishing
equipment for procuring the
blood and making the laboratory
determinations on test days.
Dr. Bailey said he hoped every
Valley resident between the ages
(Continued on Page Six)
WOOD ALCOHOL
KILLS THREE
Three persons, all of Houston,
met violent death last Tuesday
evening, when they drank wood
alcohol. The trio, Harry Chilli
gan, Jack Tanake and Donna Ni
coloskai, is believed to have
drunk Ban-Ice, a starting fluid
for heavy equipment.
Tanake became violently ill
early Tuesday evening. He stag
gered to the cabin of Joe Chilli
gan, brother of Harry, and col
lapsed, complaining of severe
stomach cramps and cold. Chil
ligan called George Gove, sec
tion foreman at Houston, who
talked with the sick man and
then put him on a speeder and
brought him to Wasilla. Harry
Chilligan and Donna Nicoloskai
refused his offer of transporta
tion, saying they were all right,
although suffering slight stomach
cramps.
Tanake apparently was dead on
arrival at Wasilla. The man was
brought by cab to the Valley
Hospital .where Dr. Vernon Cates
diagnosed the cause of death as
examined the body. Dr. Cates
wood alcohol poisoning, resulting
from drinking Ban-Ice. He
phoned Wasilla asking that word
be sent to Houston prescribing
treatment for the remaining pair.
Shortly before 9 o’clock that
evening, Mr. Gove returned to
Wasilla with Chilligan and Don
na Nicolaskai. The woman was
(Continued on page 3)
Peterkin Found
Reckless Driver
John Peterkin, 21, of Anchor
age, was found guilty on a reck
less driving charge in the court of
Commissioner Dorothy Saxton,
last Saturday morning. The
charge grew out of a highway ac
cident Oct. 16, in which Miss Tes
sie Meehan, also of Anchorage,
sustained injuries v.ich later re
sulted in her death.
BULLETIN
Mrs. Susan Meehan, mother
of Tessie Meehan, Monday filed
suit against John Peterkin in
Third District court. She asks
$15,000 for her daughter's
death. The mother, a widow,
as represented by McCutcheon
and Nesbitt.
Monday morning proved that
Peterkin was traveling “between
60 and 75 miles an hour, at
least” when his machine hurtled
out of control on the curve at
Mile 39.6 on the Anchorage
Palmer Highway.
Skid marks were measured for
a distance of 250 feet. The au
tomobile rolled for an additional
165 feet before it came to rest on
its wheels. The patrolman said
the car rolled end-over-end once
when it crashed into the road
side barrow pit, and then rolled
sideways twice before its forward
momentum was spent,
the case, said that deductions
(Continued on Page 8)
C of C Will Try to Make
Money Come, Not Go
Palmer’s “unfavorable balance
of trade” and suggested remedies
for the situation were principal
topics of discussion at last week’s
Chamber of Commerce meeting.
The discussion was precipitated
by the report that figures have
been compiled showing that $67,
000 goes from the Valley tp An
chorage weekly, while only $20,
000 returns.
It was stated that the potato,
chief vegetable crop of the Val
ley, would very nearly bring the
flow of money into balance, if
Anchorage markets were devel
oped properly. Chamber mem
bers argued the pros and cons of
whether the development of a
market or the production of more
potatoes should come first.
Claire Stock pointed out that
no farmer would be apt to invest
in seed, time and equipment to
plant an increased acreage of po
tatoes unless he had assurance of
a market. “Go out and get the
market and the farmer will grow
the spuds to supply it,” he con
cluded.
Mr. Stock presented figures
showing that the average annual
potato consumption for an indi
vidual Outside is from 125 to 128
pounds. In Alaska, best esti
mates up that consumption to 145
pounds annually. Army figures
report that men in the armed
forces in Alaska are eating 240
pounds of potatoes annually.
Using the civilian figure of 145
pounds, it was estimated that An
chorage alone, excluding Fort
Richardson, has a potential an
nual market for 2,900,000 pounds
of potatoes
How best to capture that mar
ket will be a Chamber of Com
merce project for the coming
weeks, it. was decided. Mr. ?toek
offered as a solution a concen
trated campaign directed toward
the Anchorage housewife, pur
chasing agent in most homes.
“Make her want to buy Valley
potatoes, and the Anchorage mer
chants will be more than willing
to sell them,” he said.
Members decided that demon
stration teams of Valley women
might stage a successful cam
paign, by putting on regular po
tato-cooking demonstrations in
Anchorage. It was suggested
that the various Homemakers’
clubs might find such a project
in line with their programs. The
idea was referred to the Cham
ber’s agricultural committee,
headed by Don Irwin, for more
detailed planning.
Aimer J. Peterson, Anchorage
lawyer, who was a guest at the
Wednesday meeting, endorsed
(Continued on Page Seven)
SEEKS TO HOLD
FIVE PRODUCERS
TO MILK CONTRACT
In an effort to bring straying
dairymen back into the Co-op
fold, the Matanuska Valley Farm
ers’ Co-Operating Association will
seek a court injunction to pre
vent shippers under contract from
marketing through any other
medium, Co-op manager James
Wilson announced this week.
Five Valley dairymen, among
them A. A. Rempel, Frank Mc
Allister, Ernest Harrington, Vic
tor Falk and Arther Holbrook,
recently began selling their milk
through Alaska Dairy, Inc.
All five of these dairymen are
under contract to the Co-op, Mr.
Wilson said. “We expect them to
live up to that contract until such
time as they may legally with
draw from the Association,” he
continued.
Co-op by-laws provide that
members seeking withdrawal
from the organization file petition
to that effect between Feb. 15
and March 15. Mr. Wilson point
ed out that Co-op members now
cannot legally withdraw from
their contracts before Feb. 15,
1950.
Although Alaska Dairy, Inc.,
offers an initial payment which
exceeds the Co-op price by a dol
lar per hundredweight, Mr. Wil
son said the Co-op had no plans
for an immediate price increase.
“We don’t feel it is a sound pol
producer more than one hundred
icy,” he said, “to return to the
percent of the profits from is par
ticular department. We no long
er wish to subsidize any depart
(Continued on Page Six)
MINER FALLS
DOWN CHUTE
The condition of James Corbett,
Jonesville miner, was “improv
ing” at press-time, according to
his physician, Dr. C. C. Bailey.
Mr. Corbett plunged down a
chute at the Jonesville Mine last
Thursday evening, suffering a
fractured skull, extensive lacera
tions about the head and minor
body injuries. Dr. Bailey said he
was still not completely out of
danger.
The physician gave credit to
the mine’s first-aid men for the
injured man’s quick response to
treatment. He said the aid men
had done an excellent job in ad
ministering remedies to prevent
shock and in facilitating the in
jured miner’s arrival at the Val
ley Hospital.
Mr. Corbett came to Jonesville
from Michigan. He has a wife
and three children, who live at
Jonesville.