Valley frontiersman
*
VOL. III.
PALMER, ALASKA, OCTOBER 20, 1949.
Number 6
Highway Wreck Brings Death To Girl
Monday Will Be
Palmer Day
Al Anchorage C of C
Members of the Valley Chamber
of Commerce are to be guests of
*■ the Anchorage Chamber next Mon
day, which will be Palmer Day at
the Anchorage luncheon meeting,
it was learned in yesterday’s reg
ular session of the Valley Chamb
erites.
“Come on down for lunch, and
bring the lunch—a Matanuska pro
ducts meal,” invited committee
chairman A. Floyd. So a commit
-* tee from the local group is plan
ning a menu and hunting Valley
vegetables to blunt the appetites
of Anchorage-ites apd Valley resi
dents, who will be their guests.
James Wilson, Don Irwin and
Jack Maze are tentatively schedul
ed to address the Monday meeting
Dr. R. E. Garrett, a guest at
Wednesday’s session, reported on
the possibility of the establishment
of regular airlines service to Palm
er in the near future. He said a
hearing before CAB soon will de
cide whether an Anchorage firm
shall be permitted to fly a twice
a-day round-trip schedule between
Palmer and Anchorage.
* Present tentative plans would
base the plane at Palmer, with lo
cal pilot Bob Totten at the con
trols.
Dr. Garrett urged that local busi
ness men push the project. He
pointed to the condition of the An
chorage-Palmer highway, which he
(Continued on page 9)
Tax Problem
Still In Air
The “ands, ifs and maybes” of
territorial law, with respect to the
taxation problem of the school dist
rict, precluded any clear-cut an
nouncement of when and how
much to pay on district taxes, at
last Tuesday’s P-TA meeting. The
meeting had been planned as one
in which school board members
could explain the details of filing
a tax return for the Palmer school
District.
However, until a legal opinion
is received on district plans for tax
collection, there can be no such an
nouncement, meeting attendants
were told. At the present time, un
til the board enacts a resolution
embodying several points of the
tax law, there actually are no ex
isting tax regulations within the
district, according to Neil Miller,
assessor.
However that resolution is ex
pected to be passed tonight, at a
special meeting of the board at
Palmer School. After that action is
taken, district tax forms will be
(Continued on page 3)
740 Valley School Kids Given
Chest X-Rays By Local Doctors
At the close of school on Tues
day, 740 Valley students had re
ceived a chest x-ray, it was an
nounced by Dr. C. C. Bailey, Val
ley physician. The x-ray examina
tions, given as a part of the school
program, were made' possible
through the joint co-operation of
the Territorial Department of Pub
lic Health, represented locally by
Miss Marjorie Myren, and Drs.
Vernon Cates, R. E. Garrett, Carl
Pelka, and Bailey.
The Department of Public Health
supplied the x-ray equipment, ma
terials and technician Lee Kerr
who conducted the examinations.
The three local doctors helped fi
nance the cost of the program by
turning back the fees received for
conducting the school physical ex
aminations, recently concluded.
Since cost of the physicals to the
school was kept at a minimum,
funds were barel sufficient to cov
er major x-ray costs, Dr. Bailey
said.
Purpose of the chest x-rays is to
discover pulmonary tuberculosis in
its early stages. Dr. Bailey pointed
out that early discovery and re
sultant care of the disease will per
mit the early return of the child
to a normal life.
He emphasized that it is most
important that Valley children be
given this chest x-ray annually. If
each of the 4,000 families in the
Valley were to contribute to the
cost of the examination, the cost
to each would be very small, he
physician said.
Children from Wasilla, Independ
ence and other nearby mines all
were examined at Palmer.
It was explained that the X-rays
should be a required follow-up to
the regular school physical exami
nations, because pulmonary tu
berculosis, particularly in its early
stages in children, cannot be de
tected in routine physical check
ups. “Positive cases of pulmonary
tuberculosis can be picked up only
by x-rays,” Dr. Bailey stated.
Third Annual
Chest Drive
Starts Today
The third annual Community
Chest drive in the Matanuska Val
ley opens today, Miss Louise Kel
log, Chest chairman, announced.
The drive will close on Nov. 15.
Agencies participating in this
year’s drive number six. They in
clude: Valley Health Council, Pal
mer Public Library, Girl Scouts,
Boy Scouts, Alaska Crippled Chil
dren’s Association and the local
disaster fund.
Each participating agency has
been asked to submit a complete
budget of all expenses, as well as
a report of income received from
other sources than the Community
Chest. These financial statements
were studied at a meeting Wednes
day evening too late for publica
tion this week) and the 1949 drive
goal was fixed.
All members benefitting under
the Community Chest drive agree
to hold no other fund-raising drive
Miss Kellogg reminded. This means
that if the Chest falls short of its
financial goal, member organiza
tions may be forced to curtail
their activities.
Miss Kellog said that some
change in the local organization of
Community Chest is contemplated
next year, with reference to the
local disaster fund. “Properly, this
is not a function of the Chest,” she
explained.
“We are a collection agency,
(Continued on Page 8)
Committee Plans
Carnival Fun
A combination evening of chills,
thrills, and skills and of dancing
is planned for the annual Hallowe’
en Carnival of Palmer School, to
be held this year on Saturday, Oct.
29. A total of 14 separate events
were listed by Carnival chairman
Edison Thuma today, in a prelim
inary calendar of activities for the
evening of the twenty-ninth.
Strictly Carnival fun will take
place in the halls and the basement
of Palmer school between the
hours of 7:30 and 9:30 p. m. Events
on the Carnival fun-list, together
with the chairman in charge of
each, include the following. ,
Hot dog stand—Ramona Davis;
fish pond—Duane Goodrich; ring
the goose—Doyle Ross: novelty
stand—Alma Roark; senior Bingo—
Barbara Hecker and Joanne Drag
seth hat check—Marilyn Harris;
dart throw—Larry Beck shooting
gallery—Edward Cope; baseball
throw—Harvey Hiber; Hall of H<|
rs—Monte Larsh; popcorn stand—
Geraldine Kindgren; junior Bingo
—Jean Smith; penny toss—Charles
Collins; baseball roll—Roger Wood
Students already have visited
Anchorage to enlist the backing of
merchants there. Radio station
KENI has promised free air pub
licity and both the Anchorage
Daily Times and the Anchorage
News will give newspaper publi
city to the event. In addition, An
(Continued on page 10)
DRIVER REPORTED
TO DE SPEEDING
ON NEW PAVEMENT
No charges had been filed, at
press time, against John Peterkin
of Anchorage, who drove the auto
mobile in which Miss Tessie Mee
han of Anchorage received fatal
injuries in a highway accident
early last Sunday morning. High
way Patrolman Stanley Laird said
he was continuing to investigate
the accident, in company with Pat
rolman Jack Davis of Anchorage.
He expects to submit his report
soon.
Although there were no wit
nesses to the accident, Mr. Laird
said conditions at the scene indi
cated the automobile was being
driven at an excessive rate of
speed. The vehicle failed to make
a turn in the highway at Mile 39,
about 12 miles from Palmer. The
driver apparently lost control sev
eral hundred feet before the car
left the highway and overturned.
The machine rolled end over end
several times, throwing both the
passenger and driver out.
Peterkin is reported to have ad
mitted driving at a speed of 75
miles an hour, just seconds before
the accident. He was unhurt except
for minor cuts and bruises.
Miss Meehan's injuries were di
agnosed as a broken right hip and
broken left ribs. Dr. C. C. Bailey
was called to administer first aid
at the scene of the accident. The
injured girl was taken to Valley
Hospital, where a blood clot on
her lungs, the result of internal
injuries, caused her death at 3
o'clock Monday morning.
The dead girl, 21 years of age,
had been employed as a book
keeper in the Union Bank of An
chorage. She formerly lived at
Seldovia and Ninilehik. Alaska.
Grange Names
New Officers
Officers named at last Thursday's
annual election at Northland Pi
oneer Grange included:
Eugene Kirsch, master; Ralph
Dye, overseer; Esther Brock, lec
turer; Bruce Graham, steward; Art
Stacey, assistant steward; Vera
Rorrison, chaplain; Tom Lepak,
treasurer; Nina Stock, secretary;
Leon Faurie, gate keeper; Lillian
Loberg. Ceres; Opal Dye. Pomona;
Carol Stephan, Flora; Karla Duff,
lady assistant steward; Vivian
Goodrich, home economics chair
man; Lou Sandvik, pianist.
George Small and Bill Hoskins
were named to the executive com
mittee.