VALLEY FRONTIERSMAN
PRINTED AT PALMER, ALASKA, EACH THURSDAY
By the Matanuska Press, Inc.
Entered as second class matter on Oct. 21, 1947, at the post office at
Palmer, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
A1 J. DeJulio . Publisher, Manager
Editor .Lucille Kennedy Mick
Associate Editor . Virginia Gallant
Subscription Rates 50c a month, $5 a year
Mailed to all points in Alaska and the United States
CITY TELEPHONE
PUNNING HAS NEW
WASHINGTON FRONT
The shroud of mystery that long
has hidden city planning for fu
ture telephone development was
lifted just enough for a quick
peek at the general direction last
night in City Council meeting. The
general direction is Washington
D. C.
In answer to questions of Visit
or John Gorsuch, Territorial rep
resentative of the Kellogg tele
phone interests, it was learned
that the city will explore the pos
sibility of an RFC loan through a
Washington, D. C. lawyer named
Ray R. Murdock, who will act as
city agent in trying to procure a
loan.
Mr. Murdock was a Council vis
itor at a July meeting and pre
sumably he made a preliminary
proposal at a special session that
followed regular business. Last
night the Council acted to accept
Murdock’s proposal and authoriz
ed him to proceed in accordance
with terms of a recent letter re
ceived from him.
With Mr. Gorsuch at the meet
ing last night was W. D. Burke,
Kellogg telephone engineer who
made a telephone survey regard
ing feasibility of an expanded sys
tem with dial equipment in the
Palmer area last fall.
New Valley Hospital—
Continued from page 1
final grade work and landscaping,
(3) road work, and (4) many re
visions on the hospital structure j
itself. The first three items will j
now be performed by the hospital j
board. Most drastic of the hospital
revisions was the lopping off of j
1,600 square feet from the admin
istration and public health wing.
By virtue of this economy axing,!
public health quarters, a library
and conference room, and a
nurses’ lounge have been erased
completely from the hospital pic- i
ture. The administration office;
has been cut in two. Nothing was
cut from the nursing unit of the
service unit that backs it up.
An alternate will provide for
the square footage cut from the
original general contract; if the
low bid on this alternate comes
within funds available, it will be
allowed.
It is estimated that this reduc
tion of 1,600 square feet will re
present a saving of $50,000 on con
struction costs. Removal of land
clearing, grade and road work,
and landscaping from the contract
will save from $4,000-$5,000, it is
believed.
In selecting a November date
for the re-opening of bidding, it
was believed that this would be
an opportune time to attract
healthy competition in bidding.
With a tentative opening date of
December 15, the successful bid
der and his sub-contractors would
have plenty of time to get materi
als on hand for an early start
text spring. Also the tentative
date would come between the
end of the working season and the
time the government usually
comes out with its contracts.
The specified limit of 485 days for
construction would bring com
pletion of the hospital in the
spring of 1954.
Special Election
Continued from page 1
people instead of an elected seven
th councilman subsequently elec
ted Mayor by his Council collea
gues. Because the ordinance as
adopted, provides for election of
Mayor on odd-numbered years,
the first Mayor elected under the
ordinance will be elected for a
one-year term.
Plans to include in the special;
election proposal of bond authori-1
zation for Palmer’s new sewer'
system, as required by Alaska
Buffalo Coal—
Continued from page 1
Lang, and E. Pearl. Officers are
Nesbett, president; Douglas Colp,
vice-president; and H. V. Vermil
yea, secretary.
Prospecting on the Buffalo mine
property was started in 1939 by
Frank Colobuffalo and Fred
Spach. Located about 12 miles
north of Palmer on Moose Creek,
the mine has been closed since
the end of World War II. Impact
of the war on Alaska furnished
the impetus for early production
when the mine was still in the
prospect stage. Core drilling and
trenching by the Bureau of Mines
in the Moose Creek district dur
ing 1943 and 1944 upholds Gra
ham’s contention that coal in the
Buffalo property can be mined at
400-500 tons per day “for many
years to come.” According to
Bureau of Mines Report of In
vestigations 3784 (Dec. 1944),
"The quality of Moose Creek coal
is considered superior to that oll
any now being produced in the
Matanuska field of Alaska. In
rank it is classed as poor coking,
high volatile B bituminous coal. . .
"Core drilling and trenching by
the Bureau of Mines revealed 2,
375,500 short tons of coal in the
Buffalo series on the Buffalo Coal
Co. leasehold. Of this, 514,200
tons is considered measured coal
and 489.900 tons indicated coal.
Existence of deeper beds over the
same length increased the (esti
mated) tonnage of coal ef all cate
gories to 3,259,300 tons. The prop
erty has an assumed life of 16
to 22 years, depending on the
number of beds mined, based on
an output of 500 tons of coal a
day and 100 percent recovery.”
Bureau of Mines exploration of
coal areas in Alaska, with the re
sultant encouragement of produc
tion, stems from the high cost of
importing coal from the States,
shortage of cargo space in ships
enroute to Alaska, the impending
shortage of coal in the States,
the known abundance of acces
sible coal of good quality in Alas
ka. and similar considerations.
Five holes were drilled by the
Bureau of Mines in the early ex
ploration of mining reserves. The
1944 report advised drilling of two
more holes to prove up the geo
logy of a certain area in question
and perhaps extend the present
limits of indicated coal to the
property boundary. The 1952 dril
ling program for the Bureau of
Mines in the Matanuska Valley
coal field anticipates a beginning
of this further exploration of the
Buffalo property.
Public Works, had to be abandon
ed when the necessary documents
from APW failed to arrive in time
The proposal will be submitted to
electors at the general elgptjpn in
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Hunting Equipment
SHELLS - All Sizes and Types
COLEMAN CAMP STOVES and LANTERNS
RIFLES - SHOTGUNS - GUN CASES
PACK BOARDS - SHOE PACS - THERMOS
rDxccrD'C hardware &
UKAlJljElf U SPORTING GOODS
OPEN THURSDAY TO 8 P.M.—CLOSED SATURDAY NITES
iHe-*********-**-x-**-**-*****-x**-x*-*******
, CITY STREETS GET
VERBAL DRUBBING
AT COUNCIL MEETING
Three visitors to the City Coun
cil and a letter from a local real
tor read at last night’s meeting
focused attention on city streets
in spite of the “dusty” descrip
tions that had at least one of
them hidden completely from
view.
Jim Morgan of North Palmer
entered a complaint about the
road of uncertain name that
marks the city’s northern boun
dary as it extends from the high
way near the foot of Bailey Hill
and eastward across the railroad
tracts to the Sherrod farm. Des
cribing the road as good enough
to encourage speeding, he added
that resulting dust created a haz
zard dangerous to both drivers
and pedestrians. After each pass
ing car, he said, a driver had to
wait five minutes for the dust
to settle enough to make the road
visible. He asked that the street
be graveled. He and Norris Boss
: later objected to the limiting of
Street maintenance to a few main
streets in the city. Mayor Carl
Meier explained that lack of a
loader had held up graveling of
the streets all over town. He said
a loader would be available short
ly on a loan basis. Ross complain
ed bitterly that care of the roads
was neglected when (privately
owned) equipment for graveling
was available. Contemptuously he
described the back-and-forth
watering of city streets as useless.
He didn't think much of the con
tinued scraping of the main
streets either.
A letter from William Rempel
of Palmer Realty called attention
to the need for extending roads
into subdivisions where some
homes have already been erected
and where many lots have been
sold recently. Specifically, he ask
ed for the dozing out of Wolver
ine Avenue and Knik Street in
the Smith subdivision to pro
vide access to" those streets. He
didn’t ask for a graded street—
just a few swipes with a bulldozer.
Later in the evening Council
man Chet Sandvik asked for ac
tion on these complaints. A heated
discussion arose regarding effec
tiveness of present street main
tenance, although everyone ad
mitted that Russ Felzien had
worked zealously in performance
of his duties. Disagreement con
cerned the direction given the
street department by the Council
street committee. On the one
hand were arguments that the
city couldn’t give special atten
tion to one “new” street when
there are many streets of long
standing that are still a series of
mudholes whenever it rains.
Sandvik insisted that people have
a right to complain and that the
Council should do something
about complaints. The city’s new
equipment, he said is merely be
ing used to wear down stones—
and also the blades. Councilman
Sevems insisted that roads should
be graded at the sides to extend
them to proper width and make
snow removal easier later on.
Councilman Mick Wondered if it
was the usual practice for realtors
to lay out subdivisions, make their
money from lot sales, and then
ask the city to bear the expense
of building up the subdivision,
i.e., establishing the access streets.
In the new city of Palmer, there
was no precedent.
In the end the whole matter of
street maintenance was left to the
discretion of the street committee
—Mayor Meier and Steve Ward.
Saboteur at Large
In Palmer; Reward
Offered for Capture
A1 King revealed a series of
incidents Friday morning that
sounded just like a victim’s story
of protection racket gangsterism.
Only the town wasn’t New York
or Chicago, it was Palmer. And
there had been no attempts to ex
tort money for protection.
The most recent incident occur
red Thursday evening while A1
was in Horton’s having a cup of
| coffee. Returning to his taxi about
five or ten minutes later, he could
not start the car. Someone—and
it couldn’t have been a child—had
pulled out all the ignition wires.
On the sixth of July someone
put a dynamite cap on one of
the taxi’s spark plugs.
A few months ago, after a short
and snappy supper, A1 returned
to his parked taxi and something
! was wrong. Investigation showed
that someone had lifted the gap
from the generator and had re
moved the rotor.
About a year ago someone put
gravel in the taxi motor. A com
plete new motor had to be put in
and what with freight charges
from New York, the little incident
cost A1 about $750.
Repeated complaints to law
enforcement authorities have not
resulted in apprehension of the
saboteurs. Last Friday A1 King
offered a $100 reward for informa
tion leading to arrest and convic
tion of the person (or persons) at
tempting in the past or in the fu
ture to sabotage his taxi opera
tions.
Valley People—
Continued from page 1
“Many lives that would have
been forfeited to cancer just a
few years ago are being saved to
day thanks to research develop
ments which produced new anes
thesias, surgical techniques, an
tibiotics to control infections as
sociated with surgery, copious
blood transfusions to permit radi
cal surgery and improved meth
ods of radiation.” Mrs. Wilson de
clared.
“Chemicals, including radio
active isotopes, now are consider
ed indispensable in the manage
ment of many kinds of cancer/’
she added. “We do not talk about
Officials Urge
Continued from page 1
ett added', by paying only 15 per- j
cent of the actual cost.
Following recommendations
made by Fire Chief O. R. Mitchell
the City Council fire committee i
recommended purchase of the fol- !
lowing items by the City of Pal- ,
mer: Two Jeep fire pumpers at
$825 each: one electric siren, single j
phase, 220 volt with a five mile
area, at $150; medical kits cost
ing $375 and one complete re- i
ceiver-transmitter with spare
parts at $150. These figures repre
sent but 15 percent of the actual
costs of this equipment, with the
their curing cancer yet. But more
and more they are proving their
worth as pain-reducing and can
cer-retarding agents. Cancer re
search is paying off today—pay
ing off in the handsomest manner
possible, the prevention of suffer
ing and the saving of lives.”
A ■
Territory and Federal govern
ment paying the 85 percent bal
ance. •
Fortier pointed out that this
equipment is being offered for
sale on this basis to all cities in
the Territory as part of the Civil
Defense program. Equipment pur
chased through the CD may be
used by the purchasing cities for
any type emergency.
Kindergarten and Day
Care for 4- and 5-year
olds
Starting September 2 offer
ed by Mrs. Annette Reiss, ex
perienced primary teacher
with pre-primary training.
Interested Parents should
contact Mrs. Reiss at the Co
Op Club Room Saturday,
August 23. at 1 p.m.
Corsages, Plants
and
Cut Rowers
For All Occasions
Anchorage Music and Flower Shop
746 4th Ave. Anchorage Tel. 42325 or 23351
k
Too Hot to Hold
This must Sell!
THREE BEDROOM HOME WITH CONCRETE BASEMENT
COMPLETELY FURNISHED. MODERN. ONE BLOCK FROM
POST OFFICE. INCLUDES GARAGE.
Oar Iasi special sold in 48 hears. This can’t Iasi a week at
*9,000. cash
Palmer Realty, Inc.
"We Sell the Valley"