valley Frontiersman
VOL. II.
PALMER, ALASKA JULY 7, 1949
No. 31
Doctors Clinic To Open Branch Here
ACS Takes Over
Communications
Along Railbelt
Jack Maze of Palmer was one
of a group of seven businessmen
and officials from the territory
of Alaska and the city of Seattle
who participated in ceremonies
last week making the opening of
a new ACS direct landline. At 4
o’clock (Alaska time) last Fri
day afternoon, the group spoke
to one another in a wire link
which reached from Seattle to
Fairbanks.
Others who officiated in the
ceremony included Jack Perry,
chairman of the Alaska division
of the Seattle Chamber of Com
merce, Col. Fred I. Andrews,
ACS commanding officer for
Alaska, Ray Kohler, mayor of
Fairbanks. Eugene Lanier, may
or of Seward, Dan Setchfield,
city councilman of Anchorage,
and J. T. Cunningham, assist
ant general manager of the
Alaska Railroad.
The July 1st ceremony was the
culmination of months of nego
tiation, according to Colonel An
drews. On that date all com
mercial communications along
The Alaska Railroad were trans
ferred to ACS. It means that
nearly 75 railbelt communities,
heretofore isolated, now will be
able to carry on long distance
conversations direct to the
states. For Palmer, it means that
even the local long distance calls
between this city and Anchorage
are greatly speeded, according to
operators at the Matanuska
Valley Telephone Exchange.
The agreement between Rail
road and ACS officials permits
the direct linking, by landline,
of all major ACS stations in
Alaska. These stations are locat
ed at Fairbanks, Anchorage,
Whittier, Seward and Palmer.
Fixes Ad Deadline
The deadline for placing ad
vertising in the 1949 premium
book of the Matanuska Valley
Fair Association has been fixed
for Saturday, July 9, fair mana
gen Charles Dillon announced
this week. The book is expected
to be in the hands of the print
ers no later than July 15. The
early deadline has been set, in
order that the book can be in
the hands of exhibitors a few
weeks before fair time. The book
is expected to be off the press
by mid-August. It is to be print- .
ed in the shop of the Anchorage
News.
Hospital Now Has
X-Ray Equipment
Equal Anchorage
The x-ray laboratory of the
Valley Hospital is now as finely
equipped as any x-ray room in
the territory, Birger O. Martin
sen, field representative for the
General Electric X-Ray Corpor
ation, stated here this week. Mr.
Martinsen has just finished in
stalling a new x-ray machine in
the local hospital, which brings
equipment of up-to-the-minute
design to the Valley.
Asked how the new machine
compared to the former portable
unit in use here, Mr. Martinsen
replied, “In the language of the
layman, there’s as much differ
ence between this machine and
your old one as there is between
a DC-3 and a Piper Cub.”
He explained that the new
unit, which is similar to those in
use in the Seward general Hos
pital and Seward Sanitorium,
and at Providence Hospital in
Anchorage, had a 200 milli
amperage in comparison to the
15 milli-amperage of the former
machine. The new unit also has
a greater power voltage than did
the other.
The increased power of the
newly-installed machine permits
a shorter exposure time, allow
ing exposure as low as one
twentieth of a second, Mr. Mar
tinsen said. Again reducing facts
and figures to non-medical
terms, he explained that motion
is the problem which stumps an
x-ray technician, even as it does
any regular camera fan. Invol
untary motions of breathing, di
gestion and heart-beats cannot
be stopped, and the higher
(Continued on Page 8)
Now May Send
Wires By Phone
Palmer’s own local communi
cations system marked another
“first” in its history last week,
according to Maynard Sands of
the Matanuska Valley Telephone
Exchange, Inc.
On July 1, it became possible,
for the first time, for Valley res
idents to send wires by telephone
from their own home. This ad
ded service is made possible
through a new contact with
ACS, Mr. Sands said.
The wires may be phoned to
the local ACS office from home
or business telephones, and the
cost of the wire will be added to
the telephone bill at the month’s
end.
Find No Trace
Of Missing Man
There was still no news, at
press-time this week, which
couid throw light on the myster
ious disappearance of Paul Bar
nett, prospector who makes his
home near the Little Nelchina
Glacier. A Tenth Rescue Squad
ron trail crew had combed the
area near Barnett’s cabins, with
out finding any trace of the
missing man.
Maps were dropped to the
searchers on Wednesday, in or
der that they might cover the
little-known trails which Bar
nett is believed to frequent.
Capt. Robert Wiese of the
Medical Corps, who is leading
the trail crew, stopped in Pal
mer briefly on Friday of this
week. He was returning to the
search party, after coming out
to check for new leads.
Rumors persist that the pros
pector has been seen within the
past several weeks. Paul Wave
rick, owner of Eureka lodge, re
ported that he had talked with
the man no longer than three
weeks ago. Mr. Waverick said
that at that time Barnett re
marked he would not be back
until Sept. 1.
However other friends insist
that the prospector’s dogs would
not have returned to Sheep
Mountain Inn alone, unless mis
fortune had overtaken the eld
erly man.
Post Soldier Killed
in Holiday Accident
A Fort Richardson soldier was
crushed beneath the wheels of
a heavy truck in an accident
which occured on the Wasilla
highway last Monday morning.
The man later died at the
Valley Hospital at 8; 55 a. m.
His name is being withheld by
the Army, pending the notifica
tion of next of kin.
Witnesses said the soldier fell
from the front seat of the truck
as it rounded a curve. He rolled
beneath the truck and the rear
wheels passed over his body, in
flicting fatal injuries. The ac
cident occurred just a mile from
Finger Lake.
The accident was the Valley’s
only serious holiday injury.
Leppanens Have Girl
Mr. and Mrs. John Leppanen
of Palmer became the parents
of a baby daughter on July 3.
The little girl, born at the Val
ley Hospital, weighed six pounds,
12 ounces at birth.
OFFICES TO BE
LOCATED IN
KOSLOKY BLDG.
The Doctor’s Clinic of Anchor
age will open offices in Palmer
next month, it was announced
this week by T. T. Walker, man
ager of the Anchorage office. Al
so to be known as the Doctor’s
Clinic, the Palmer office will
bring another physician to the
Matanuska Valley.
The Clinic offices are to be
located on the second floor of
the Koslosky Building, where al
terations are now in progress
under Joseph Loyer.
The Clinic expects to be ready
to receive patients by August 1,
Mr. Walker said.
No doctor has yet been selct
ed to fill the Palmef position.
Announcement of his name may
be expected within a week or
two. He is to be a permanent
resident of the Matanuska
Valley, but all of the facilities of
the Anchorage Clinic are to be
available to him.
The new man is expected to be
both a physician and surgeon,
and Mr. Walker said it was the
Clinic’s plan to utilize the Valley
Hospital for all patients requir
ing hospitalization.
Mr. Walker said the opening
of a branch of the Doctor’s
Clinic was being undertaken in
an effort to bring the best of
medical service to the Matan
uska Valley.
He pointed out that one re
quirement for doctor members
of the Anchorage clinic is a two
and a half months’ refresher
course in the states each year,
in order to bring the latest im
provements in medicine to
Alaska. That phase of the clin
ic’s medical program is expect
ed to be extended to the Palmer
doctor as well.
Specialist Also Seeks
Opening Here
Another physician was expect
ed to be added to the Valley’s
fast-growing medical ranks this
week, in the person of Dr. Clar
ence Bailey, recently of Kodiak.
Dr. Baily is interested in estab
lishing a practice in the Matan
uska Valley, and is here to make
a final survey this week.
Dr. Bailey is an eye, ear, nose,
and throat specialist.