valley Frontiersman
VOL. II.
PALMER, ALASKA JUNE 23, 1949
No. 29
Benson Alarmed By Unemployment
PCRA, P-TA
Are Preparing
For Election
Pre-election literature was be
ing assembled and processed for
mailing this week, as two com
munity organizations prepared
letters designed to clear up
points of confusion for voters in
the coming school election on
June 28. At that time residents
within the proposed incorporat
ed school district, who meet the
Territory’s legal qualifications
for voters, will decide the ques
tion.
Next Tuesday’s election, to be
held in the lobby of Palmer
gym between the hours of 8 a.
m. and 8 p. m., will elect a five
member school board as well as
determine the question of dis
trict incorporation.
Of the slate of 15 candidates
named last week, only two were
known to have refused the nom
ination by late Monday evening.
Those who requested that their
names be taken from the ballot
were Mrs. Neal Miller and Mrs.
Matt Perkins. Other changes
are expected before next Tues
day.
To make certain that everyone
who wishes to vote is able to
reach the polls, the P-TA and
the PCRA have organized a ve
hicle pool. Anyone who wishes
a ride to the polling place will
be picked up in one of these ve
hicles and then returned home
after he has voted.
Cars will leave Palmer, driving
along each of the eight morning
school bus routes, at 6:30 p. m.
next Tuesday evening. They will
signal each farm as they pass,
although it would facilitate mat
ters greatly if those who plan
ned to ride might be waiting at
the roadside. The cars will make
the return trip immediately aft
er their occupants have voted.
Mrs. A. H. Mick, P-TA presi
dent, has called for more volun
teers with cars. Anyone who will
use his automobile to pick up
passengers and bring them to
the polls is asked to leave his
name with Betty Mearst a Vari
ety Vogues. Anyone who wants
to ride may also tell Mrs. Mears.
She'll arrange the details.
Vote On June 28
G. I. STARTS HIS OWN
TRAVEL TOUR HERE
An uncontrollable yen to see
Fairbanks and the Railbelt area
seized GI Johnnie Sutherland of
Fort Richardson, while visiting
in Palmer at about 4 o’clock last
Sunday morning. Mr. Suther
land’s itching foot overcame him
at almost the same minute he
cast eyes on the Brille car. which
travels daily between Anchorage
and Palmer.
The shiny blue and gold Brille
gave the wandering lad in o.d.s.
an idea, which he promptly put
into action. He clambered into
the car, started the motors, then
switched on the lights, made all
the proper gestures of a Brille
car motorman on the point of
departure, and set out for Fair
banks.
Mr. Sutherland overlooked the
small matter of a derail in the
Palmer yard, so his trip ended
before it properly started. He ran
the forward trucks of the car off
the rails, backed it to put it on
the track, and then ran off the
rails a second time.
Two More Girls
Enter Contest
For Fair Queen
Two more Palmer girls, Janet
Sherrod and Barbara Hecker,
have thrown their pretty bon
nets into the ring at press-time,
in announcement of their can
didacy for queen honors at the
coming Matanuska Valley fair
on Sept. 3, 4 and 5. However,
there was still no announcement
of a talent contestant by Tues
day of this week.
Janet is sponsored jointly by
her Frontier Cafe employers and
by Drift Inn and Grasser’s Hard
ware & Sporting Goods. It is
possible that .still other Palmer
businesses will announce their
backing of Janet within the next
day or two.
Queen aspirant Janet is short,
with red-brown hair, brown eyes
and a piquant face. She was
born in Battle Creek, Mich., but
has lived in the Valley since she
was three years old. Janet’s par
ents, Mr. and Mrs. Max Sherrod,
were nurses on one of the trans
ports which brought the colo
nists north in 1935.
Janet has spent her entire
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The net result of his expedi
tion was stripped gears for the
Brille car and smashed axle
housings. Railroad men add up
the damage at something like
$5,000.00.
However the Army is willing
to go along with a gag. Officials
are thinking of letting Suther
land pay for the damage out of
his monthly Army paychecks. It
may take a hitch of about 20
years to finish the payment, but
the Army is willing to wait, and
the Railroad will have to. Suth
erland’s views on the matter are
not known.
Station agent Charles Nelson
expressed bewilderment at the
whole thought of the project.
"How he started it. I’ll never
know,” he confessed. “I’ve been
railroading for 40 years, and I
couldn’t start a motor on one of
the blasted things. I couldn’t
even find the switches to turn
off the headlamp that he’d turn
ed on.”
Co-Op Watchman
Dies Of Fail
Myles Hyland, fireman and
janitor employed by the Matan
uska Valley Farmer’s Co-operat
ing Association, died at Valley
Hospital last Monday evening, as
the result of a fall suffered at
work. Mr. Hyland, who was the
oldest employe in point of serv
ice on the Co-op payroll, appar
ently slipped on the steps at the
Matanuska Valley Lodge and
pitched down the stairway.
There were no witnesses to the
accident, but Mr. Hyland had
been discussing heating prob
lems with the Lodge manager
only a few minutes before his
fall. He w'as taken unconscious
to the hospital, and he died
without regaining consciousness.
Dr. Ft. E. Garrett said he died of
a cerebral hemorrhage, the result
of an accidental fall.
Mr. Hyland, who was 63 years
old. had been a long-time resi
dent of Alaska, having lived in
the territory prior to his marri
age more than 20 years ago. He
was a familiar figures in the
Girdwood area and in the gold
mines of this section. He was
born at Wexford. Ireland.
(Continued on Page 8)
LABOR OFFICIAL
CONCERNED FOR
HOMESTEADERS
Henry Benson, territorial com
missioner of labor, last week ex
pressed grave concern over the
persisting problem of unem
ployment in the Matanuska Val
ley. Mr. Benson, who visited here
late in the week, said he had
given the matter much thought
during the past few months, but
that there was little his office
could do to help.
“I believe it is a problem the
solution of which can be met lo
cally through the co-operation
of the local contractors and the
unions.” he said. “Certainly it
is a problem in which the Alaska
Road Commission should be
deeply interested.”
A particular source fo worry
to the labor commissioner is the
unemployment so prevalent
among the new homesteaders in
the valley, most of whom are
veterans.
a numoer oi tnese Home
steaders, who have clustered
principally in the Wasilla area,
have found summer work on the
line construction of the Matan
uska Electric Association. How
ever the work is temporary and
seasonal in character, and can
offer no permanent solution.
Many of the homesteaders
have been in Alaska for the past
two years, during which time
they have eeked out a precarious
existence through GI benefits
and any temporary employment
they could find, while attempt
ing to develop their homestead.
But there has been little per
manent work open to them.
Many of these beginning far
mers who had hoped to earn
high wakes on road construc
tion crews and on the Railroad
have been disappointed to find
most of the jobs filled by non
resident workers. Again men in
the Wasilla area were disap
pointed last year in the continu
ed shutdown of gold mines near
there. Homesteaders now look to
the proposed operation of Inde
pendence, and other mines in
the district, as a possible source
of steady income.
The lack of a cash income for
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