Many Receive Advice; only the
Wi*e profit by it.
VnuiEy Frontierskihh
PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
TRY A FRONT 1KRSMAN
CLASSIFIED AD for that
item you may hart for ula,
rent or lease.
VOLUME 5. NUMBER 18.
PALMER. ALASKA. THURSDRY. JAN. 10. 1952
PRICE TEN CENTS
Raging Three-Dag Ulind bashes Ualleg
Local Sportsmen Suggest August 20
Opening on Moose, Caribou Seasons
Opening of the big game hunt
ing season on August 20 instead
of September 1 was recommen
ded in the FWS hearing on fish
and game regulations for Alaska
held last Saturday evening in the
Sportsmen’s quarters at Recrea
tion Hall.
The presence of nearly 100
sportsmen and women showed
the importance attached to con
servation by local hunting and
fishing enthusiasts. It also gave
the Fish and Wildlife Service a
gents in attendance a good cros
section of Valley opinion on the
questions involved.
Ed Chatelain. FWS biologist,
conducted the meeting. He was
assisted by FWS agents from the
Anchorage area including Harry
Pinkham, Jim Branam, Don
Cross, Robert Scott, and Bob
Burkholder. Beginning with game
animals on page 12 of the 1952
‘Regulations Relating to Game
and Fur Animals, Birds, and
Game Fishes in Alaska”, Chate
lain covered each section deal
ing with hunting and fishing in
Alaska.
Through majority vote of those
present the following changes!
were recommended:
MOOSE. Season to be set ahead
to August 20 instead of the pre
sent September 1 opening and
no December hunt and no per
mit hunt in the Palmer area. The
closing of the season on Septem
ber 20 or September 30 would be
at the discretion of FWS.
CARIBOU. Season to be ad
vanced to August 20 instead of
the present September 1 opening.
Only those caribou with brow
or eye guards are to be consider
ed legal game.
MIGRATORY BIRDS. Season
to be advanced to September 1,
the earliest date allowed under
treaty obligations of U. S.
CLOSED AREA. Designation
of the present Palmer area limits
to be changed to except the drain
age of the south side of the Mata
nuska river above but not in
■* eluding the Wolverine River.
(The closed area applies mainly
to the December moose hunt.) No
hunting limits on either side of
the Alaska Railroad tracks would
be reduced from the present one
fourth mile to 100 feet.
The local recommendations re
garding moose had been agreed
upon by the membership of the
Matanuska Valley Sportsmen at
their last meeting. Roy Brock
made the recommendation at the
hearing. Leo Lucas added that if
there are more bulls in this area,
it w*'uld be better to have the ex
tension early in the season when
the meat is better. Most of those
present were opposed to the per
mit hunt since it attracts many
who otherwise would never think
of hunting.
“Does the stipulation about a
moose with four antlers o± better
mean that only those that have
their antlers can be shot?” asked
Brock, trying to clear up a stock
question among hunters. Chate
lain’s answer was an unqualified
“Yes”.
The recommendations on cari
bou were designed to prevent the
charged after last year’s hunt.
Saving the cows and calves was
considered the best way of pre
venting this slaughter. Although
Chatelain observed that the limi
tation of forked antlers or better
would eliminate the calves, there
was some disagreement among
local hunters who pointed out
that many calves have forked
horns by the opening of the hunt
ing season. They believed that the
(Continued on page 6)
EVENING DATES
ANNOUNCED FOR
ISSUING LICENSES
U. S. Commissioner Doro
thy Saxton announced this
week two evenings on which
her office will be open for the
convenience of special em
ployee groups who ax'e unable
to obtain 1952 motor vehicle
licenses plates during the re
gular business hours.
Tonight, January 10. the
Commissioner’s office will be
open from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
to accomodate miners from
Jonesville. On Wednesday
evening, January 16, the of
fice will be open during the
same hours to issue licenses
to Eklutna Project workers.
This year it is impossible
for owners of vehicles to have
their wives or agents pick up
their license plates since the
license application must bear
the owner’s signature.
Col. Glasby and Chair
To Present Swan Song
Concert Here Jan. 27
Ed Smith, chairman of the Val
ley Hospital fund raising commit
tee announced this week that Col.
William S. Clasby, chaplain for
the Alaska Air Command, has
consented to come to Palmer
Sunday evening, January 27, with
16 members of his famous choir
to put on a program for the
people of the Valley.
The Palmer program will be
the swan song for members of
this choir who have appeared on
many national radio programs
and have brought their music to
thousands in the United States
and in the Pacific war theater.
The singing sargeants are all due
for rotation, so the choir will be
disbanded.
In Palmer, Col. Clasby and
the sargeants will present a full
two-hour program. Col. Clasby
will deliver one of his inspiring
lectures for 30 minutes, and the
choir will take up the remainder
of the program with their songs
and skits.. No admission will be
charged for this program al
though a voluntary offering will
be taken. The entire collection
will be turned over to the fund
for the new Valley Presbyterian
Hospital.
Col. Clasby and his choir have
appeared on three NBC programs
series over the Catholic Hous and
have presented one series of pro
grams on the ABC network’s
Hour of Faith. The most recent
series of five programs over the
Catholic Hour was completed De
cember 30, 1951. Late this fall.
Col. Clasby and his singing sar
geants completed a tour of the
Pacific area where they enter
tained troops at Okinov.a, the
Philippines, Japan, and Korea.
On this trip they put on 18 shows
in 14 days, bringing their enter
tainment to over ten thousand
servicemen.
As a result of an NBC broadcast
last May, people all over the Uni
ted States offered a total of 2,
800,000 prayers for the welfare of
servicemen. Everywhere the Col
onel and his choir have appeared,
in army theaters all over the Uni
States and in the war areas, they
have been received with enthu
(Please turn to page 5)
CAA MAN SERIOUSLY
INJURED IN ACCIDENT
AT CARIBOU CREEK
Two men were injured, one
seriously, in an auto accident
which occurred about five o’
clock Monday morning at Mile
107 on the Glenn Highway at
Caribou Creek.
According to the report of the
local Highway Patrol, three men.
all CAA employees, were return
ing to Anchorage when the ac
cident happened. Approaching i
the Caribou Creek bridge at too '<
great a speed to make the curve i
there, the car plunged over the
25-foot embankment and landed
right side up on the frozen creek.
A passing motorist reported the
accident to members of the ACS
; station at Sheep Mountain. After
| notifying the Highway Patrol the
I servicemen in charge of the sta
| tion went to the scene of the ac
cident and brought back the men
! to the ACS station where they
i would be warm. It was 20 below
at the time of the accident. One
of the accident victims, Robert
Smalley, had to be transported
carefully. He was paralyzed from
the neck down although fully
conscious. Dr. C. C. Bailey, who
arrived at Sheep Mountain a
short time afterward commended
the manner in which the service
men carried the injured man out
Dr. Bailey immediately took
Smalley to Providence Hospital
*n Ajnchorage where the CAA
man was found to be suffering a
possible fractured back. The in
jured man wras taken to Seattle
by plane Monday night where he
wall be under the care of a neuro
surgeon at Virginia Mason Clinic.
The driver of the car, Paul W.
Kasten who is CAA branch man
ager at Umiat, was taken to Val
ley Hospital where he received
treatment for cuts and bruises. A j
third occupant of the car, Arthur |
C. Kirmer, Jr. was uninjured in
the crash. He is a CAA technician
in Anchorage.
The 1949 sedan, which was
badly damaged in the wreck, be
| longed to Smalley. He is an el
j eetrician maintenance man for
J CAA in Anchorage and is unmar
j ried.
b'ew City Water
System Must be OK’d
On 2 Ballots Jan. 29
Most residents of Palmer will
have to vote twice on the water;
indebtedness question which!
comes before them on January
29.
City Clerk William Head ex
plained this week which electors
will vote on each ballot. Electors
on the first ballot are all persons
who are qualified electors of the
city of Palmer, regardless of pro
perty ownership. These electors
are to vote on the matter of in-1
curring indebtedness up to $300,- j
000, which shall be paid from re- i
venues from the new city water|
system. A 50 percent affirmative I
vote or more is required to carry
this proposition.
Ballot number two will be re
stricted to those persons within
the city whose names appear on
the city assessment roll. These
persons are all real or personal
property owners within the city.
This group is to vote on the
issuance of $250,000 in general
obligation bonds, bonds to be is
sued only if required by the Uni
ted States Govenment if it ap
pears that revenue from the w'a
ter system is not sufficient to pay
for the system. An affirmative
vote of 65 percent or more is re
quired to carry this proposition.
Those who are property owners
shall also vote on the first bal
lot.
Although Alaska Public Works
has already allocated $500,000 for
Palmer’s water project, an affir
mative vote on both questions is
a necessary pledge of faith by
members of the community if
construction of the city’s new sys
tem is to be started next spring.
LOCAL MEN INDUCTED
INTO ARMED FORCES
Three local men reported Tues
day at Fort Richardson for induc
tion into the armed forces.
They were Wiliam Bruce Zah
radnicek, Donald Duane Church,
and Rex O. Hardage.
Arrival of First Valley Baby of '52
i Is Fitting Climax to Christmas Season
A fitting climax t o the
Christmas season was the arrival
last Friday of the Valley’s first
1952 baby, a little girl who need
ed some rejoicing at her birth.
Little Carmen Dadrie Alfred
was born at Valley Hospital about
8:50 p. m. January 4. Although
the hospital frequently has been
compared with a stable, it was a
much warmer and more comfort
able place than the little cabin at
the foot of Valley Street where
the baby’s mother, Mrs. Minnie
Alfred, has been living with her
seven-year-old son, Arthur, and
a 15-month-old daughter named
Sharon.
Mrs. Alfred came to the Valley
from the Fairbanks area last July
when her husband, Amos Alfred,
went Outside. Mr. Alfred has not
yet returned to Alaska so he was
not here to rejoice at the birth of
his new daughter.
Mrs. Alfred found employment
at Brown’s Shop upon her arrival
in the Valley, and worked there
right up to the time that Carmen
was born. Her co-workers at
Brown’s were jubilant at the
news that Mrs. Alfred was the
mother of the first Valley baby
of 1952. “It couldn’t have hap
pened to a more deserving per- l
son”, they said, in reference to
the many gifts offered by gener
ous local merchants.
The child’s mother had planned
carefully for her baby and had
worked hard to provide money
for the baby’s birth and the lit
tle things that babies need. Her
pride in working out her own
problems and her touching ap
preciation of every kindness done
her, endeared the mother and her
expected baby to all the workers
at the cleaning establishment.
They took pleasure in adding
little garments and necessities to
the mother’s little stockpile. When
she worried about what would
happen to her children during
the time of her delivery, Mrs.
Frank Brown kindly offered to
keep them in her home. She plans
to keep the baby there also when
Mrs. Alfred is released from the
hospital this week because it is
too cold in the cabin for a baby.
If Mrs. Brown’s statement that
”It’s no more than anyone around
here would do”, is a true one, it
would appear that Palmer is a
wonderful place for a little
stranger to be born in.
lemperatures Rise With Bitter Blow
but Colder Weather is Predicted
DON'T LOCK CARS LEFT
ON BLOCKED ROADS,
ONKKA WARNS
ARC superintendent Oliver
Onkka registered a request to
day that all motorists cooper
ate with the Road Commission
by leaving their cars unlocked
when they abandon them on
doads that are blocked by
With the doors of the car
locked, the road maintenance
men cannot get in to turn the
wheels and push the car from
the road where it blocks snow
clearing operations. Their on
ly alternatives are leaving the
road blocked and uncleared
or calling a wrecker to remove
the vehicle. In latter case,
many people are inconvenien
ced during the precious time
lost and the owner of the ve
hicle will have to pay a tow
bill before he can reclaim his
car.
‘‘It is not necessary to leave
the keys in the ignition", said
Onkka. “Just leave the car
door unlocked.”
MARCH OF DIMES
CAMPAIGN GETS
UNDER WAY HERE
The March of Dimes iron lung
coin boxes will be placed in stores
and public buildings, offices and
the school this week as the month
long campaign to raise funds to
help in the struggle against polio
gets under way.
March of Dimes chairman for
the Palmer area this year is Betty
Mears. She is being assisted by
Nina Stock and Karla Duff. Hei
nie Snider is in charge of the
campaign for the Wasilla area,
and members of the local High
way Patrol are placing the iron
lung coin boxes in roadhouses
along the highway.
Ed Smith, chairman of the Val
ley Hospital Fund Drive commit
tee, asked this week that the hos
pital fund milk bottles be “taken
off the market” for the duration
of the polio campaign. Business
people in whose establishments
the milk bottles and signs have
been located -are asked to put
them under the counter until the
March of Dimes campaign is over.
Last year the March of Dimes
fund from the Palmer area was
swelled by proceeds from a tal
ent show sponsored by the Ki
wanis Club and Beta Sigma Phi.
This latter local service or
ganization is planning again this
/ear to sponsor some program to
help this worthy cause. The Beta
Sigs have been so busy with their
many hospital fund activities that
the March of Dimes campaign
crept up on them unawares. How
ever, a commitee was appointed
at their Monday night meeting
and their plans will be announced
in a forthcoming issue of the
Frontiersman.
The national March of Dimes
campaign is two weeks longer
this year, extending from Janu
ary 2 to 31. The reason for this
double time is because the need
is twice as great this year. There
was a great increase in the num
ber of polio cases over the nation
last year, and costs of treating
polio have spiraled along with
everything else.
Local givers should remember
that half of the proceeds from
iPlease turn to page 5)
After gathering its forces up in
the hills north of Palmer for two
days, the big blow long expected
by experienced residents descen
ded on the Valley early Tuesday
morning with all its fury.
There was little accurate in
formation about the wind veloci
ty in the Valley, and old timers
differed in their opinions about
the force of the first big blow
of the 1951-52 season. Johnny
Reed though that “This wind is
about as bad as it gets”, but ac
cording to Bob Klein, it was just
a draft compared with the big
wind storms of ‘38, '39, and '40.
“Those were winds that blew
roofs off and houses down”, he
said. Reports on this week’s wind
indicated that it had succeeded
only in tearing down a few chim
neys, including the top part of the
Palmer School smokestack which
is hanging by a thread of iron.
Out at King’s Lake, where Bill
Head was drifted in all day Tues
day, a close check on his anemo
meter showed that the gusts were
traveling at a speed of 40 miles
an hour with some of them reach
ing gale velocities up to 65 m.p.h.
At the Palmer Airport, Les Green
reported his anemometer av
eraging about 33 miles per hour,
but he added that this was not a
fair indication of the force of
winds in Palmer because the
gauge itself is in a protected spot.
When Green put a plane out on
the runway Wednesday, the wind
gauge registered 40 m.p.h. at that
time.
By mid morning today the
winds in the Valley had died
somewhat although they could
still be heard roaring up in the
hills. By noon all the roads had
been plowed out, and weary ARC
men went home to get a little rest
before the wind decided to make
another invasion of the Valley.
ARC superintendent, Oliver On
kka, said that some of the men
have had only a few hours sleep
since the Highway Patrol report
ed Glenn Highway blocked about
midnight Sunday night. After
working on the highway all day
and part of the evening Monday,
those operating the big snow
blower had to return to the Drift
Inn area on the highway where
it was “drifted in’’. When the
wind struck the Valley early
Tuesday morning, all the road
equipment v,as put into operation
to keep the roads open in the Val
ley. From the reports of farmers
coming into town, the ARC men
had done a mighty good job of it.
All the roads except the Scott
road were cleared by last night
at 7 p. m. Then the wind picked
up renewed fury and the road
commission men had to do their
work all over again.
Seven men including Onkka
have been operating ARC equip
ment to keep the roads open.
Another has stood by at the gar
age constantly to keep the equip
ment going. Seven pieces of road
equipment have been kept in al
most constant operation through
out the wind storm: a Stirling
big-nose V plow, a road main
tainer, two cats, two Harrington
trucks with blades, and one ro
tary snow-go. From Sunday eve
ning until last night one piece of
road equipment registered 500
miles of operation on a 22-mile
stretch of the Glenn Highway
from Palmer to King river.
In Palmer few of the roads
were blocked except the usual
spot on Fairview Avenue opposite
the Fair Grounds fence. Streets
and yards were blown free of
(Please turn to page 5)