. Vol 1, No. 30
Palmer, Alaska, January 7, 1948
Ten Cents
MISSING GIRL FOUND FROZEN TO DEATH
PHS, Shamrocks Both Win
From Outclassed Medics
Calmer high school and the
namrocks both grabbed a pair
■>f lopsided victories from the
Army’s Medics of 183rd General
Hospital on local basketball
courts last Saturday.
The Medics simply could not
'ind their scoring range in
either game. The high school
won their encounter by a 20 to
8 margin. The Medics’ Slaugen
aauept put through the
..irst field goal for his team
with only 35 seconds of play
’maining in the first half. Even
,o, half-time score in that game
was only 8-4 in favor of the
ligh school.
The revamped high school
line-up, further weakened by
the permanent loss of Ray Puhl
and the continued benching of
Don Irwin, saw Walter Stevens
moved from guard to forward
with Lynn Sandvik as his run
ning mate.
Hutchinson, filling in for Ir
win at center, has proved an
able understudy. He led in Sat
urday’s scoring with six points.
Slaugenhauept was high for the
Medics with a pair of field
goals.
The Shamrocks’ scheduled op
ponents failed to arrive, so a
Medic second-string squad filled
in to round out the evening’s
two-game schedule. They proved
>.. ro competition for the basket
rappy Shamrocks who tucked
that game away, 43 to 4. Bob
Stewart was high scorer with
15 points.
Mourer netted a field goal in
the third and fourth quarters to
account for all of the Army’s
four points.
Local Couple
Wed At Wasilla
Miss Shirley Johnson, daugh
ter of Mr. and Mrs. Clay John
son of Palmer, was married to
Ray Puhl at an informal Wasilla
ceremony on New Year’s eve.
Mrs. Puhl is a recent graduate
of Palmer high school and her
husband is a member of this
year’s senior class.
The ceremony was witnessed
by Earl Onkka, classmate of Mr.
Puhl.
The newlyweds plan to spend
le winter on a trapline, but will
eturn to Palmer in the spring,
•vfrs. Puhl has been employed in
he accounting office of the Co
^P
Convalescing
WASILLA—Mrs. George Stin
on, who has been severely ill
vith the flu recently, is now
onvalescing at her home.
No Winner Yet
In Baby Derby
Although 1948 has turned its
back on tne first five days of the
new year, there was still no win
ner in the Valley 1948 baby
derby at presstime today.
Three anxious youngsters,
Miss Corey of Chickaloon and
Masters Wien and Rousseau, ar
rived several hours too early to
qualify in the event. The Wren
boy, last baby of the old year
born in the Valley hospital,
could not have been a bona fide
entry in any case, since his par
ents live at Dillingham.
As the Valley waits for a win
ner, still other gifts are being
added to the list. Hopkins Pop
corn and Nut Shop augmented
uie new bank account with a $5
contribution, as did Lou and
uoiomy Henke. The Henkes had
planned a postal savings ac
count as their gift, but found the
recipient would be required to
sign a signature card in order to
claim the gift.
If other Valley merchants
wish to add a contribution to the
baby's gift list, they may do so
by calling tne office of the Val
ley Frontiersman.
Liquor Hearing
Called For Jan. 7
The hearing on a petition
which requests that no beverage
dispensary license be issued to
four Palmer bars has been set
back from Jan. 5 to Jan. 7, it
was announced this week.
The petition, signed by 51 lo
cal residents, locked the doors of
the four Palmer bars at midnight
on Dec. 31, when all licenses ex
pired. The hearing will determ
ine whether new licenses should
be granted.
The petition affects only the
bars in Palmer. Local liquor
stores and bars which are not
situated in Palmer continue to
operate.
CALLED TO SPOKANE
BY MOTHER'S DEATH
Bob Peterson of Palmer has
been called Outside by the sud
den death of his mother, Mrs.
Margaret Peterson of Spokane,
Wash. Mrs. Peterson died Dec. ■
38, and her son left immediately
to attend funeral services. He
expects to be back in Palmer by \ 1
the end of this week. '
Salesman Visits
Hugh Dougherty, Anchorage i
insurance salesman, spent sev- 1
eral days in Palmer last week. !
DISASTER FUND HELPS
tN TIME OF NEED
Facing the first community
ragedy of the year even before
a final accounting of recent
drive proceeds has been com
pleted, members of the Com
munity Chest board of directors
met Saturday afternoon to of
fer financial assistance to the
sisters of Dagmar Skoubo.
Board members were told by
treasurer Clayton Esslinger that
there is now approximately $1,
500 in the Community Chest
oank account. He estimated that
4 io more than $650 of that
imount would be allotted to the
* isaster fund, when final dis
osition of the money is made.
The directors then voted to
vive $100 from the fund to the
koubo sisters, and to loan them
an additional $200.
Community Chest chairman
Les Ray said, in announcing the
board decision, it was his hope
that all future crises in the com
munity would be referred im
mediately to he board of di
rectors for action. ‘'We can give
help, only v/hen we know
where it is needed,” he said.
“We ask that people of the Val
ley tell us when a need arises,
so that we can give the assist
ance that your Community
Chest promised in time of such
need.’”
An independent fund subscrip
tion was inaugurated early Sat
urday morning, before Corn
unity Chest help was re
u :sted
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It’s AH Over Now
The decision has been made.
However, ii has been modi
fied from the murder we
promised for three Frontiers
man comics io just a gentle
cold storage treatment for the
three least popular strips.
Because you've asked us to,
we're keeping Steve'Canyon,
Dick Tracyv%nd Lil' Abner.
However, because many of
you also have asked us to
keep them all, we'll continue
to subscribe to the other three,
in the hope that some day
Frontiersman advertising ac
counts will'gorow big enough
to fill 10 pages profitably.
When that day comes, we'll
gladly de-ice Joe Palooka,
Gasoline Alley and Abbie and
Slats and put them back into
Frontiersman circulation
again.
In the meantime, we thank
you for your many expres
sions of interest in our comics.
Music Club
Meets Jan. 8
The first January meeting of
th Music Appreciatioin Club
will be held in the rectory of
St. Michael’s church on Thurs
day, Father James Snead an
nounced this week.
The evening’s musical pro
gram selected by Father Snead
includes these numbers:
The Swan Lake Ballet by
rschaikowsky with Antal Dorati
conducting the London Philhar
monic Orchestra; the musical
score of the movie “Duel in the
Sun” with the Boston “Pops”
Orchestra, Arthur Fiedler, con
iuctor; a Victor Borge program
>f comedy and piano selections;
i recorded play, “Sorry, Wrong
dumber” with Agnes Moorehead
ind supporting cast. This is a
•adio transcription of a Suspense
crogram.
Mrs. Richard Demming will
erve refreshments for the
rhursday musical hour.
FWS Announces
Public Hearing
A public hearing has been sche
duled in Palmer for discussion
of new fur and game regula
tions, it was announced this week
by Holger Larsen of the Fish
and Wild Life Service. The hear
ing will be held Wednesday at
8 o’clock in the basement of the
Matanuska hotel.
All Valley residents are invit
ed to attend and to express their
opinions on needed hunting and
trapping regulations for this
area.
Mr. Larson said a second hear- '
ing would be held at Wasilla, at '
a date to be announced later.
C of C Meets j j
There will be a regular <
Chamber of Commerce lunch- '
ccn meeting this Wednesday at ;
noon. The meeting will be held <
m the basement of the Lutheran
church. (
1
Movie Pays Off \
Miss Karen Bryant is a hun- £
ireci dollars richer this week, ^
because she attended a movie *•
Friday evening. Karen won the
SI00 prize money at the Valley
rhertre that night. She promptly
elebrated the occasion by sitting *■
cu^h the movie again. *
Vehicle Licenses
Now Being Sold
At Henke Office
i Vehicle licenses for 1948 may
now be purchased at the office
of Lou and Dorothy Henke. Sale
|of the new plates h^d been de
layed here for several weeks
awaiting the arrival of proper
receipt forms, which were lost
in the mail. a
Because of the delay, the. Val
ley area has been granted' a time
extension for purchasing the
plates, highway patrolmal Wes
ley Gilman announced this week.
January 31 is now the deadline
for 1948 vehicle licenses.
The Henkes are dispensing the
licenses daily between the hours
of 9 and 12 and 1 and 5 o’clock
at their office next to Palmer
Cold Storage.
They urgently request that all
who wish to purchase license
plates be certain that they bring
a certificate of ownership. No
license can be issued without
this certificate.
Butte To Have
Bus Service
A new bus schedule, which for
the first time offers regular trans
portation to residents of the
Butte area, has been announced
by Charles Johnson, driver for
the Matanuska Valley Lines.
Effective January 15, Mata
nuska Line buses will leave Pal
mer for Anchorage at 6:30 and
8 a. m. and at 4 p. m. The 6:30
morning bus will not run on Sun
days. The afternoon bus will
travel through the Butte area en
route to Anchorage.
Buses will leave Anchorage for
Palmer at 11:30 a. m. and at 4:30
and 7:30 p. m. The morning bus
from Anchorage will come to
Palmer by way of the Butte, ar
riving there at about 1:30 each
afternoon. The 4:30 bus will run
on weekdays only.
At Last Weather
Drops Far Down
To Minus Reading
The admirable restraint the
Valley’s weather gods displayed
all winter long faded away with
the old year, when the Mata
nuska Valley’s first below-zero
temperatures struck on New
Year’s day.
Temperatures dropped to a
minus eight that morning, ac
cording to recordings taken at
the weather station kept by
Charles Wilson. They have since
dropped below zero for brief
intervals, in the Valley’s first
cold wave of the year.
However there is small cause
for complaint, when Mr. Wil
son’s records of last year are
scanned for comparison. Last
winter the first minus temper
atures were recorded on Nov.
14. The mercury stayed down
below zero for a total of 53 days
during that not to be forgotten
winter. Last year’s last below
zero temperature was recorded
on Feb. 14.
Palmer’s white Christmas was
delayed en route, but arrived
belatedly during the following
week, when the Valley’s biggest
snowfall of the winter made
picture postcard images of all
jutdoors.
Called To Jury
YV alter Cooper of Palmer has
Lten called for jury duty in
i.ncnorage this week.
» _
Death Came
Within View
Of Shelter
Dagmar Skoubo, who disap
peared sometime late last Tues
day afternoon, was discovered
lying dead near a trail in a
wooded area only five minutes
walk from Palmer late Friday.
Daryl Meeks, a member of the
search party combing that area,
found the body.
Death was caused by extreme
exhaustion and exposure, ac
cording to the decision reached
by a coroner’s jury at Saturday
morning’s inquest. Results of an
autopsy performed by Dr. R. E.
Garret were negative in every
other respect.
Miss Skoubo was last seen
alive about 3 o’clock Tuesday.
She then stopped at the Palmer
Fountain and Cafe, where she
was employed as a waitress, to
ask directions for finding a path
to the river. She said she in
tended to walk that way to do
some sketching.
Marian Barry, a fellow em
ploye, spoke with the girl for
several moments. It is be
lieved that she set out immed
iately in the direction of the
river, for she was dressed for
outdoor hiking.
Her disappearance caused
no alarm until early Thursday,
when fellow roomers at the
Dormitory discovered Miss
Skoubo had not yet returned.
Hotels and hospitals in the sur
rounding area were alerted, but
the report reached Deputy Mar
shal Bill Bouwens too late to
begin an active search before
the following morning.
Early Friday morning Mr.
Bouwens and his brother Bernie
went to the bridge and checked
the river area there. When their
search revealed no trace of the
missing girl, several other men
joined the party to extend the
hunt toward the airport and the
river area there. This party,
composed of Clare Stock, Vir
gil Eckert, Vern Donaldson, Art
Stenberg and the Bouwens
brothers, combed that area
thoroughly until noon.
A second party set out at 1
o’clock, determined to make a
thorough search of wooded
areas nearer Palmer. They be
gan just behind the Chicken
Coop apartments and worked
toward the river. Searchers sta
tioned themselves in a line
spread 20 feet apart and syste
matically worked through every
bit of undergrowth and wooded
areas.
The personnel of this sec
ond party included Mr. Stock,
Mr. Eckert, Mr. Donaldson,
Bob Seiber, Daryl Meeks, Mr.
Stenberg, Jim Hartley, Miss
Mary Jones, Irwin Plitt and
Bill and Bernie Bouwens.
Just at mid-afternoon, Mr.
Meeks discovered the body of
the missing girl lying near a
well-marked trail not far from
t h e George Small residence.
She apparently had wandered
until she became exhausted and
then had lain down to rest, only
to become a victim of last
veek’s cold weather.
Medical evidence shows that
ieath did not occur before
Wednesday noon. Snow, which
ell early Wednesday morning,
lad been disturbed by the girl’s
notions as she slept.
The dead girl had been
(Continued on page 4)