Colored film at Valley
Theater, Tuesday, Nov.
26. 7:15 p. m., and 9
p. m. Sponsored by Li
brary Association.
*
Halley IHrnntiergman
PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
24 Shopping
Days Until
Christmas!
VOL. 4. NO. 11
PALMER. ALASKA, FRIDAY. NOVEMBER 24. 1950
PRICE 10c
Palmer Site For Power Substation
Committee Elected
For Emergency Action
On Water Crisis Here
Palmer’s critically serious
shortage of water, which now
amounts to a state of emergency
and has become the concern of
the entire community, is to be
acted upon immediately by a com
mittee of five representing the
water users of Palmer, which is
to meet this week end with the
board of the Matanuska Valley
Farmers Cooperating Association.
The committee was elected at
a special Health Council meeting
Wednesday night attended by ap
proximately 70 of Palmer’s resi
dents, including big water users,
members of the Co-Op board,
Alaska Health Department offi
cials, members of the Health
Council, both large and small
property owners and other inter
ested residents of the community.
Committee of Five
Elected to the committee were
Dr. Allen Mick, representing the
Smith subdivision; A1 Hagen, and
Matthew Perkins, representing
business property owners; Ralph
Moore, representing North Pal
mer, and James HurJ^y, repre
senting Alaska Rural Rehabilita
tion Corporation.
The present requirements for
Palmer as estimated at the meet
ing are in the neighborhood of
500,000 gallons of water per day
also basel on industrial use and
for fire protection.
•Drops to 125 Gallons
Mr. Rasmussen said that the
supply of the Co-Op water sys
tem has dropped from 225 gallons
of waer per minute last summer
(Continued on Back Page)
-1
Sorority To Sponsor
Concert; Purchase
Piano For Community
A second concert will be spon
sored here by the Beta Sigma Phi
sorority next month, which will
not only bring famous artists to
the Valley but will also provide
funds toward the purchase of a
new piano for the community,
Mrs. Dorothy Saxton, Beta Sigma
Phi sorority president, announced
here this week. The sorority plans
to buy a piano for the community
and the proceeds from the concert
will go to that fund,* Mrs. Saxton
said.
Maxim Schapiro, famous con
* cert pionist who appeared here
last month, actually got the piano
fund under way when he sent a
check to be the first contributor
toward the project. Mr. Schapiro
wrote to Mrs. Saxton from San
Juan, Puerto Rico, where he is
appearing in a concert tour which
also includes Haiti, Jamaica and
Cuba. As organizer of the Alas
kan Music Trails, which brings
the famous artists to the territory,
Mr. Schapiro confirmed arrange
ments for the sorority-sponsored
concert here. He •'■>rr limented
the sorority on its j to buy a
piano for the con nunity’s use
' and enclosed the ch< ck expressing
the hope that he wt lid be one of
the first to contribute.
TO PURCHASE BEDS
WITH PROCEEDS FROM
BIG HOSPITAL BENEFIT
New hospital beds for the Val
ley hospital will be purchased
with the proceeds from a com
munity fund-raising benefit party
to be sponsored here by Moose
Lodge No. 793 of Palmer on Fri
day, December 8. “Alaska’s Fa
vorite Game” will be the feature
of the hospital benefit party
which will be held in the school
gymnasium and will start prompt
ly at 8 p.m., Moose officers said.
The entire proceeds will be
turned over to the Valley hos
pital for the purchase of brand
new hospital beds. Prizes to be
awarded during the .evening will
be solicited from local firms and
business men by a committee
comprised of Moose members,
Don Ingalls, Merle Anderson, D.
T. McMahon, John Reed and
Ralph Moore. A list of the donors’
names will be published weekly
in the Frontiersman. Mr. Ingalls,
chairman of the committee, re
ported that he made a few calls
this week, receiving a generous
100 per cent response from every
one contacted. Those who have
already pledged prizes for the
event, Mr. Ingalls said, are Pal
mer Body and Paint, Grasser’s
Hardware, Neal Wright, Valley
Theatre, Koslosky’s, Matanuska
hotel, Palmer drug store, and the
Matanuska hotel coffee shop.
Anyone who wishes to give a
prize or contribution for the
event may do so by contacting
any member of the committee.
P-TA To Purchase New
Playground Swings
Playground equipment consist
ing of new swings for the Palm
er school to bepurchased by P-TA
funds was voted at the regular
meeting of the organization Tues
day evening. Mrs. Barbara Smart,
treasurer of the P-TA called at
tention to the hazardous condi
tion of the swings now being
used. The new equipment will
consist of eight swings attached
to a ten foot steel frame at a cost
of $170.
The meeting was called to order
by Mrs. I. M. Sandvik, president
at 8 p. m. Following an invoca
tion by the Reverend Davis, com
mittee reports were given. Mrs.
Clayton Esslinger, membership
chairman, reported that until a
count of all new memberships
could be made it would not be
possible to announce winners in
the P-TA contest.
W. E. Elliott’s eighth grade
room took the $2 monthly prize
for parent representation.
“There isn’t any water” was
the terse statement made by Mrs.
Allan Mick, chairman of the skat
ing rink committee when called
upon for her report. William T.
Zahradnicek, superintendent of
the school read a letter from Col.
(Continued on Sports Page)
RAY ADAMS HAVE SON
Mr. and Mrs. Ral Adams have a
new baby son. The little boy was
bom at Valley hospital November
22 at 6:08 p. m., weighing seven
pounds .three ounces. Mr. Adams
is employed at the hotel coffee
shop.
Local Artist's Film Sponsored by
Palmer Library Association Here
Seegooruk, “Eskimo Winter,”
colored movie by Fred Machetanz,
will be shown by Mr. Machetanz
at the Valley theater Tuesday,
November 28, under the auspices
of the Palmer Library Associa
tion. Two showings for the eve
ning will be held with the first
at 7:15 p.m., and the second at 9
p.m. Proceeds from both show
ings will go toward paying out
standing bills for the construc
tion of the new library building,
members of the Palmer library
board said in making the an
nouncement.
The colorful film includes sled
dog races, ice fishing, primitive
Eskimo dances, ana seal hunting.
Critics in the states, where Mr.
Machetanz has also shown the
film and lectured, acclaimed "Es
kimo Winter” as one of the out
standing films on Alaska.
So that members of the Moose
Lodge and Women of the Moose
may attend the film, their regular
meeting, scheduled for Tuesday
night also, has been set at 9 p.m.
LIGHTS OUT!
Thanksgiving Day came in
like a lion as icy winds swept
across the Valley and went out
in a flood of moonlight when
electricity for the town failed
at about 6:30 p. m. Thursday
night. Candlelight twinkled all
over the town to light Palmer
homes where most people were
just beginning to breathe eas
ily from too much turkey.
A tree fallen across the line
between here and Matanuska
was the cause of the trouble,
the Matanuska Electric Associ
ation reported this morning.
For some homes and stores, the
service disrupted until almost
11 p. m., meant no lights and
no heat. And that brings us
around to the Frontiersman. It
was not exactly “too much tur
key” that made us late this
week. We can honestly say that
we were slowed up some by
the electricity being off.
OLD-FASHIONED MILK
BOTTLE GIVES WAY
TO MODERN METHODS
The old-fashioned milk bottle
is on its way out here and will
soon be replaced by modern paper
carton containers. Milk from the
Valley will be delivered in the
paper carton containers, that will
be filled from a big Pure-Pak
machine that does everything
from pasteurizing the milk to
stapling the carton all in a mini
mum of minutes.
The installation of the Pure
Pak machine in the Co-Op
creamery here will make it one
of the most modern plants in
the territory. Ten tons is the
shipping weight of the machine,
which has a net of 14,933
pounds, is 194 inches long, 94
inches wide and stands 89 inch- j
es high in one complete unit.
Without the aid of human hand
the machine will take the milk
through a complete process which
will start with pasteurization.
The temperature automatically
dropped to cool the milk before
it goes into the containers, is the
next step. Then in rapid succes
sion the machine takes the flat
carton, opens it up, glues the bot
tom, waxes it inside and out,
fills it with milk and staples the
top of the carton, almost faster
than it can be told.
Pre-Fabricated Homes
Solve Housing Problem
For Five Families Here
Alleviation of the Palmer
housing shortage, for five families
at least, was assured with the ar
rival here of that number of
Transa-Houses this week. The
Transa - Houses, which are for
Eklutna Project staff members
and their families, arrived here
on Alaska railroad flatcars Tues
day. They were moved here from
Seward, where they had been
shipped by boat from the states.
They are so compact in construc
tion that they rode easily on the
flatcars with room to spare but
when set up and ready for oc
cupancy they will provide a com
fortable family unit of four rooms
and a small bath.
The houses are of all - metal
construction and are pre-fabri
cated to open into an H-type unit.
The middle room comprises the
small but well-equipped kitchen
and bathroom. Walls clamped
down to this room during ship
ment will swing out to form H
wings on either side. One of
these wings is the living room
with the other forming two bed
rooms. The houses are also com
pletely furnished.
The houses can also serve as
trailer homes as they are built on
tandem wheels with a hitch pro
vided so they may be pulled by a
car.
The five houses were moved on.
land owned by the Alaska Rural
(Continued on back page
Epidemic at Children's
Home Here Is Diagnosed
An epidemic of illness which -
has been recurring among chil
dren of the Valley Christian Chil
dren’s Home for the past two
months, was diagnosed last week
as bacillary dysentery, Miss Mar
jorie Myren, Public Health Nurse,
announced here this week. Forty
four cases of the illness were re
ported at the home during the
two-month period, Miss Myren
said.
The epidemic is now under
control with none of the children
acutely ill at this time, the nurse
stated. Examinations and treat
ment will be continued by Dr.
Arthur Colberg, local physician,
with the cooperation of the Alas
ka Department until all the chil
dren have completely recovered,
she added.
Construction Bids to
| Be Called Early This
Spring for Eklutna
Construction siated for Palmer
to get under way as early in the
spring as possible will include a
nigh voltage transmission line
and the building of a 5000 KVA
substation here as a part of the
Eklutna Project.
Eld ulna Project officials said
here this week that bids to be
called early- this spring are to
include a 115.000 volt trans
mission line to be built between
the old Eklutna power plant
and Palmer. Bids will also be
called, under separate specifi
cations. for a 5.000 KVA sub
station in Palmer which it is
expected will go into operation
in November of next year.
The construction program at
the site of the power plant, on
which bids will also be called,
will include installation of com
plete water and sewage systems
for a permanent camp where
ten permanent and six Transa
Houses will be located. Also
bids will be called for the erec
tion of a steel warehouse «r»H
laboratory building at the proj
ect. Other construction which
will also be awarded next
spring will include the reloca -
tion of a section of the Anchor
age to Palmer highway which
is to be routed around the
_power plant site.
Work at the project site will be
in progress all winter, according
to S. S. Westgate, field engineer
on the project and acting con
struction engineer during the ab
sence of Byron Felkner, who is
now in Denver, Colo., on a busi
ness trip. Specifications based on
exploratory work will be written
this winter and will be issued
this spring when calls for bids
are made. The Alaska Road Com
mission will keep the road open
to the site so that work may be
continued all during the winter,
Mr. Westgate explained.
Drilling ai Eklutna lake start
ed on Tuesday of this week.
Four drills, consisting of three
diamond and one churn type,
are now in operation to follow
up exploratory work done by
geophysicists in determining
the best location for a four and
one-half mile tunnel to drop
lake waters to a power plant
800 feet below on the shores of
Knik Arm. Drillers and their
helpers now at work total 31 '
men.
Aiituifeiuauuu aw uic J^lVlUUld
project has also been completed,
Mr. Westgate said, explaining that
that is the survey work which
“tied together the two ends of
the tunnel for the 30,000 KVA
hydro-electric plant.”
The calls for bids on the various
construction jobs will be made as
soon as specifications are issued
ALFSEN'S HAVE DAUGHTER
Mrs. Victor Alfsen and new
daughter left the hospital for
their home last week end. The lit
tle girl was born to the Reverend
and Mrs. Alfsen at Valley hospital
on November 12 at 8:29 a. m. She
weighed eight pounds, three
ounces on arrival. Karen Liv is
the name chosen for her by her
parents.