Vol. 1, No. 31
Palmer, Alaska, January 10, 1948
Ten Cents
Hon Irwin Says—
New Work Planned
For Alaskan Stations
ivew construction, new per-,
sonn?tl, new projects and origin
al research problems are a part
of the program of work for
Alaska’s experiment stations
during the coming year, direc
tor Don Irwin announced this
week.
Mr. Irwin has recently re
turned from Washington, D. C.,
where he toiled for nearly a
m6nth to organize the work of
stations in Alaska.
Construction on the existing
experiment station plant in the
Valley is underway, Mr. Irwin
said. The present mess hall at
the station is to be remodelled
into two apartments upstairs,
and the station office is to be
moved to quarters on the first
floor of that building. The pres
ent station office is to be con
verted to a laboratory.
It is hoped this work can
be completed by March 1, in
order to make room for the
new personnel expected to be
gin arriving in the spring.
The present station staff will
be augmented by a dairyman,
who will be in charge of the
four bulls to be received from
ie Beltesville experiment sta
tion. A horticulturalist and an
agronomist also will arrive soon.
These latter two will split the
work of the position now held
by Dr. Zola Fineman, who has
resigned to accept a position in
Arizona.
Work projects for the coming
year have been established for
four fields: (1) Soils, (2) Animal
afid dairy husbandry (including
experimental work on fur-bear
ing animals), (3) Agronomic re
search, (4) Agricultural engin
eering.
Objectives have been set up
for each of the established work
projects. In the first, three men
are to be employed as a soil
classification unit to do soil map
ping and classification.
These men will work in the
Valley fields during summer
months/ and will complete
their laboratory work in the
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>
Hartley Girl
Is First Baby
Of New Year
Katherine Ruth Hartley of
Palmer, born at 2:10 p.m. on
Jan. 6, won the Valley baby der
by of 1948, but a still unnamed
Carter daughter of Wasilla made
a strong bid for contest honors
when she arrived at 5:30 p.m. on
Jan. 6.
Katherine Ruth is the seven
pound, eight ounce daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. James Hartley. She
is the Hartley’s third child, hav
ing an older brother Michael,
age 2V2, and a sister Tanya, aged
IV2. Her father is a partner in
the construction firm of Bryant
and Hartley.
Miss Carter is welcomed in
her Wasilla home by two sisters
apd a brother. Her mother and
father are both employed in the
Wasilla postoffice and are U. S.
commissioner and deptuy there.
The contest runner-up weighed
eight pounds, ten ounces at
birth.
Katherine Ruth will receive
these gifts from Palmer mer
chants before she leaves the
Valley hospital:
A sweater from Koslosky's
store; a baby blanket from
Variety Vogues; a photograph
from Palmer Photographic
Center; a $15 bank account
contributed jointly by the Val
ley Theatre, the Lou Henkes
and Hopkins Popcorn & Nut
Shop; baby bootees from the
Valley Frontiersman; six cans
of evaporated milk from
Palmer Cold Storage.
And as top prize in the con
test, the young Miss Hartley will
take her first automobile ride as
the guest of A1 King. At that
time, she also will receive a $25
bond, also the gift of Mr. King.
Bar Hearing
Delayed Again
The hearing which closed four
Palmer bars at midnight on Dec.
31 again was delayed this week.
Originally scheduled for Mon
day and then set back to Wed
nesday, the hearing is now on
the calendar of the Third Dis
trict court for Monday, Jan. 12.
The second delay has been oc
casioned by the illness of Judge
Joseph W. Kehoe of Nome. He
had been summoned by Judge
Anthony Dimond of Anchorage
to help clear the crowded cal
endar in district court.
P-TA To Meet
On Frida?
Jan. 16 is the date of the next
Palmer Parent-Teacher’s Associ
ation meeting, it was announced
today by Mrs. Charles Schaefer,
president. C. C. Caldwell,
Anchorage superintendent of
schools, and Dr. E. F. Dorsey,
chairman of the school board,
will be special guests for this
Mr. Caldwell and Dr. Dorsey
meeting.
are to speak on problems to be
faced in the organization of an
incorporated school district.
This meeting, at which a pot
luck dinner will be served, will
begin at 7 o’clock in the school
lunchroom. The P-TA will serve
a hot dish, and all attending
members are requested to bring
one food item to contribute to
the dinner.
All Valley residents are in
vited to come to this meeting
and to participate in the discus
sion which will follow the guests’
address.
Grasser’s Leases
Store Space
The store space in the recent
ly finished Steve Ward building
has been leased to Grasser Hard
ware of Anchorage, it was an
nounced this week by Mr. Ward.
He said the Anchorage firm
would establish a hardware and
furniture branch in Palmer.
The new store is not expected
to be open for business in Palm
er before March 1.
Changes Suggested In FWS Rules
Five recommendations, some
of them calling for changes in
existing regulations and some
for entirely new legislation, were
approved at Wednesday’s hear
ing of the Fish and Wild Life
Service. That meeting, held in
^he basement of the Matanuska
hotel, was attended by more
than 60 of the Valley’s sports
men, hunters and trappers.
Upon ihe suggestion of Bill
Bouwens, Ihe group voted to
request that deer, preferably
the whitetail variety, be plant
ed in ifie Matanuska Valley.
Changes in existing regula
tions called for a closed season
on all game fish between March
15 and May 15 in the drainages
-• of Wolverine lake and creeks,
Fish creek and lakes and Cot
*<M\wood creek. Joe Loyer also
iuced a resolution that pres
egulations requiring moose
be shot a mile distant from the
highway be changed to a quar
ter-mile distant. It was recom
mended that the yearly caribou
bag be reduced from two ani
mals to one.
It was requested that game
fish be stocked in the Valley’s
empty lakes. Holger Larsen, who
conducted the hearing, said
Anchorage sportsmen were un
dertaking to exchange grayling
for Rainbow trout in the Kenai
peninsula and suggested that pro
gram also be inaugurated in the
valley. Mr. Larsen said the Fish
and Wild Life Service could rot
help with the program, other
than to provide transportation
for the fish.
It was further recommended
that legislation be enacted which
will legalize the planting and
cullivation of game fish on fish
farms.
Mr. Larsen warned the group
that recommendations made at
the Palmer hearing would not
necessarily be embodied in new
regulations. He explained that
four hearings, one each in Palm
er, Wasilla, Anchorage and Tal
keetna, will be held for the pur
pose of determining public sen
timent toward existing regula
tions and need for new ones.
Once a cross-section of opinion
has been sampled recommenda
tions will be compiled and sent
to Federal legislative bodies for
action.
A. number of suggestions at
the Wednesday meeting dealt
With need for further license
rules. Mr. Larsen said such mea
sures were controlled by territo
rial legislation and could not be
passed by congress.
Fvistinsf regulations Govern
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Backing Sought
On Chamber Plan
For ANS Hospital
.t* auuu ctiiidiiut; ui an civic ana
fraternal organizations behind
the Chamber of Commerce ef
fort to secure the location of an
Alaska Native Service hospital
in the Valley was sought at Wed
nesday’s luncheon meeting of the
Chamber.
Committees of one from every
organization in the community
were named. It was requested
that each committee member be
responsible for pushing the
Chamber program of letter-writ
ing and wires in his own organi
zation. These members were
named by president Jack Maze
for this work:
Grange, A1 Brooks; Legion,
Carl Rasmussen; Moose, John
Reed; Masons, W. C. Mau;
Legion Auxiliary, Mrs. Doro
thy Bell;MVFCA, Marvyn Al
lyn; ARRC, W. C. Peters;
P-TA. Mrs. Dorothy Henke.
One chamber visitor told the
group that the proposed hospital
is to include beds for employes
of The Alaska Railroad and for
veterans, in addition to the 400
bed tuberculosis hospital planned
by the Native Service.
A list of congressmen and ter
ritorial officials was announced j
as possible recipients of the let
ters to be written by organiza
tions and Valley residents. This
list included the names of:
Arthur Orr, executive sec
retary of the House agricultur
al appropriations committee;
Gen. Carl Gray, head of Vet
erans' Administration; Bob
Bartlett, Alaskan delegate to
congress; John Tabor, chair
man of the House committee
of appropriations; James P.
Davis, director of division of
territories and insular posses
sions; Julius A. Krug, secre
tary of interior; Everett Dirk
sen, chairman of agricultural
appropriations committee; Dr.
C. Earl Albrecht, territorial
commissioner of health; Col.
John P. Johnson, manager of
The Alaska Railroad; Don Fos
ter, head of Alaska Native
Service.
A list of land donors for the
project also was announced at
the Chamber meeting. President
Maze said these men had offered
sites for the hospital:
Jack Cope, Leo Lucas, John
Reed, Thomas Carter of Wasilla
and Max Sherrod.
Dr. R. E. Garret asked that
every effort be made to contact
key men personally, if it is pos
sible to do so.
There were two guests present
at Wednesday’s luncheon—Wil
liam Gulbranson of Alpine Inn 1
and H. B. Foss of the engineering
firm of Foss & Malcolm of Ju
neau.
Year's Half Gone
Half a year’s work will end
for Palmer high school students
on Jan. 16. Regular mid-year’s
examinations at the school will
be conducted all next week.
wasiiia and Falmer residents
who attended the special Cham
ber of Commerce meeting called
last Monday evening pledged
every effort toward securing the
location of a proposed Alaska
Native Service hospital in the
Matanuska Valley.
Called to order by president
Jack Maze of the Valley Cham
ber of Commerce, the meeting
was then turned over to A1 Hag
en, Chamber secretary, for a gen
eral outline of the proposal. Mr.
Hagen told the group that the
bill, which is in committee now,
at present calls for the location
of a hospital in the “Anchorage
area,” but he believed that this
phrase might be changed to read
the “Anchorage or Matanuska
Valley area.”
He said he believed the prac
tical plan of procedure was to
secure title to several plots of
ground in the Valley, which
might serve as possible sites.
He called for help from each
resident of the community, in
the form of letters and wires
to congressmen, asking for the
re-wording of the phrase in
question.
Roger Langdon, president of
Wasilla’s Community Club, an
nounced that Mr. and Mrs.
Thomas Carter of that town had
offered a five-acre lake front
plot, with another 10 or 15 acres
added, if needed for the hospital
site.
Mr. Langdon said he believed
t h e hospital unquestionably
would be located at the spot most
advantageous for its patients,
for it is understood the institu
tion will be for tuberculosis pa
tients. He pointed out that Wa
siiia was well qualified for such
an establishment.
Ernest Line, Wasilla school
teacher, said he believed lo
cation of the hospital in the
Valley was in line with the
president's plan of develop
ment for the territory for
both defensive and agricultur
al purposes. Mr. Line empha
sized particularly the boon
that a 400-bed hospital would
prove for homesteaders, in
furnishing both markets and
employment.
Ray Bergman, also of Wasilla,
then spoke for a united action in
this matter. “We don’t care
where the actual site is. It will
do a great deal for our highways
and our schools.”
Residents of Palmer and Wa
silla alike concurred in the need
for unity. It was agreed that all
letters and wires sent would
plead for a location in the Mat
anuska Valley, without specific
ally designating either Wasilla or
Palmer.
Mr. Langdon promised that
eve:‘y cor imunity organization
in Wasilla would direct wires
to Washington. In addition,
residents of both Wasilla and
Palmer were requested to
write at least five airmail let
ters to territorial officia’s and
comressmen, to seek their
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