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PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
VOLUME S. NUMBER 22
PALMER ALASKA THURSDAY FEBRUARY 7. 19S2
PRICE TEN CENTS
Palmer Battles Seward for Conference Lead Friday
World Around Us
IN ENGLAND, King George VI
died Wednesday morning, Febru
ary 6, at Sandringham, the royal
estate in Norfolk. England where
he was born 56 years ago. Prin
cess Elizabeth now becomes
Queen Elizabeth II, the first wo
man ruler of Great Britain since
Queen Victoria died in 1901.
» * «
IN JUNEAU, the proposal of an
auto and freight ferry service on
the Inside Passage between
Haines and Seattle is being pro
moted with enthusiasm. The long
time dream of B. Frank Hein
tzleman, Regional Forester for
Alaska, has become a practical
possibility since the advent of
Ketchikan's new pulp mill has
assured a profitah’t. rt ‘ am
freight. Supporters point out that
the low freight rate possibilities
would stimulate the economic
development of Southeastern
Alaska and provide and a natural
highway linking Seattle with
Alaska. The ferry system would
tie into the Haines Road, and
thereby to all Alaska via the
Alaskan Highway.
IN KODIAK. Father C. R. King. j
of the Russian Greek Orthodox
Church at Kodiak, died Decem
ber 24 after several year’s illness
Born in Unalaska January 8, 1879,!
he came to Kodiak at the age of
12 years and spent his entire life;
there except for a year in Seattle (
in the interest of his health.
* * *
IN FAIRBANKS, while the
City Council tried to woo resi
dents of South Fairbanks within
the city fold, South Fairbanks
night club operators staged a
benefit dance January 25 to raise
funds for the incorporation of
their district as a new city named
"North Pole, Alaska”. An over
flow crowd of 300 attended the
Squadron Club rally where danc
ing was intermingled with
speeches for incorporation, serv
ing drinks, and a lively floor
show. A realtor claimed that the
proposed new city has an assessed
valuation of $12,000,000.
IN SEWARD, a much needed
and long hoped for airport be
came a certainty last month with
the announcement by Tony
Schwamm, director of aviation
for the Territory, that advertise
ment for bids would appear im
mediately. Plans for the construc
tion of a 3,800-foot long airfield
were approved by the Civil Aero
nautics Administration several
months ago. The runway will ac
commodate planes of the DC-3
type and larger.
Purchase of the Bank of Sew
ard by the First National Bank
of Anchorage was announced
early last month by D. H. Cuddy,
president of the Anchorage Bank.
The purchase was the first to be
completed under the branch
banking law of 1951. The bank
will be known as the Seward
Continued on page 4
SO Third Division
Candidates File for
Alaska Legislature
With the deadline for filing
now past. 50 candidates from the
Third Division have entered their
names in the April 29 primaries
for seats in the Territorial legis
i lature.
, Twenty- nine of these candi
dates are Democrats and 21 are
Republicans. A total of eleven
i candidates - six Republicans and
five Democrats - have filed for
the two four-year Senate terms
and the one unexpired two-year
, term. Twenty-four Democrats
and 15 Republcans have filed for
the 10 two-year terms in the
House.
Democrats seeking nomination
for the two four-year Senate
terms are Steve McCutcheon
(incumbent) and Victor C. Rivers
of Anchorage and William Egan
I of Valdez.
Republicans aspirants for these
four-year Senate terms include
John Gorsuch, Bailey E. Bell, and
Marshall C. Hoppin of Anchor
age; Walter Hodge of Cordova:
and John H. E. Hohnson of Chu
giak.
| Republican Paul F. Robinson of
; Spenard has filed for the two
I year Senate term. Democratic
j candidates are Jack Conright and
| Karl Armstrong, both of Anchor
I age.
Democrats who have filed for
the 10 two-year terms in the
House are Wendell Kay, C. A.
.rd of*Kasilof and C. Chester
(Continued on page 8)
KINCAID ANNOUNCES
C OF C COMMITTEES
Chamber of Commerce Presi
dent O. K. Kincaid announced ap
pointment of chamber committees
for the year's activities at the
i regular luncheon held in the Co
Op Club Room yesterday.
On the Colony Day committee
' will be Steve Ward, Jim Hurley,
j Eugene Kirsch, Bill Head, and £d
Smith. A chairman for the group
remains to be appointed.
! Hurley, Clair Stock, and Kirsch
make up the agricultural com
| mitiee. On the membership com
mittee are Bill Rempel, Betty
Mears, and Frank Brown. The
program committee is composed
of Kincaid, Rempel, and Lucille
Mick.
Betty Mears was given author
ity to go ahead with the indus
trial survey of the Valley, an
important chamber project for
the coming year.
Less Featherbedding
Jim Hurley read a letter from
the president of the National
Chamber of Commerce urging a
resolution from local chambers
stating their determination to re
frain from exerting pressure on
members of Congress for appro
pration of funds for the benefit of
states and local communities dur
ing the present spending emer
gency and to oppose any propos
als for increased spending other
than clear-cut emergency pro
jects.
The letter pointed out the fact
of a paradox: While chambers all
over the country clamor for less
government spending and de
creases in taxes, they are the
most potent lobbyists for federal
appropriations to finance “need
ed” local projects.
The local chamber discussed
the proposed resolution pro and
con, but no action was taken. It
was decided that chamber mem
(Coatinued on Page 8)
BOV SCOUTS OS AMERICA
President Truman will greet 12 outstanding Boy Scouts in
the White House during Boy Scout Week, Feb. 6 to 12. marking
the 42nd anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America. Boy Scout
Week will be observed throughout the nation by more than
2,900,000 boys and adult leaders. Since 1910, more than 19,000,000
boys and men have been members of the organization. ‘'Forward
,.. on Liberty’3 Team" is the birthday theme.
SWISS GENERATORS
TO SUPPLY
EKLUTNA POWER
1
The Pacific Oerlikon Company
! of Tacoma, domestic representa
tive of the Oerlikon Engineering
Company of Zurich, Switzerland,
| was awarded the contract for fur
' nishing and installing two 15,000
| kilowatt capacity generators for
the Eklutna Project hydro elec
tric plant, according to a recent
announcement of Joseph M. Mor
gan, district manager of the
' Bureau of Reclamation. The suc
cessful bid was $639,004.80.
Next lowest bids were Tye
English Electric Co. of Stafford,
England, $692,569.81; and the El
liott Company of Ridgway. Pen
nsylvania, $801,897.62.
The bid figures include the ac
tural bid plus spare parts, trans
portation and inspection costs,
and in the case of foreign sup
pliers 25 percent differential in
accordance with the “Buy Ameri
can Act’’ of March 3, 1933, and a
15 percent import duty. The gen
erators will be manufactured in
Switzerland and installed by an
Alaskan firm as subcontractors
for the Pacific Oerlikan Company.
In the case of the domestic
suppliers - the losing firms being
Westinghouse Electric Corp., Al
lis Chalmers Manufacturing Co.,
and General Electric Co., the fi
gures included a 20 percent maxi
mum escalation increase which
the Elliott Company stipulated,
whereas the bids of both foreign
suppliers were firm. Assuming
the full escalation cost would
have to be paid to the Ellioit
Company, the difference in the
actual bids between the low
foreign producer and the low
domestic producer is $162,892.82.
Actually, the true saving to the
government is $245,681.07. The
Continued on page 4
Lincoln Day Dinner
Planned by Valley
Republican Club
The Matanuska Valley Repub- j
lican Club will hold a Lincoln
Day dinner Thursday, February
14, at the Moose Hall, it was de
cided Tuesday evening at the
regular club meeting in Valley
Theater. All Valley Republicans
are invited to attend.
John Gorsueh of Anchorage. I
candidate for the Territorial |
Senate, will be guest speaker.
Many local residents will remem
ber his inspiring address at the
Kiwanis Charter Night dinner
held in Palmer last fall. His
Lincoln Day topic will be "Amer- !
icanism.”
A number of Republican candi
dates for Territorial officers have
indicated their desire to attend
the dinner and get acquainted
with the folks of the Valley.
Palmer’s High School basket
ball team and Coach Robert
Crites will be guests of A1 Hagen
at the dinner.
Only 100 tickets are available
at $2.50 per plate. They may be
obtained from M. D. Snodgrass.
Don Ingalls, Mrs. Gertrude Fei
zien, or A1 Hagen. The United
Protestant Ladies Aid will pre
pare and serve the dinner.
Twenty-three Valley folk have
signed the roster of the local club
and attended the meeting held
Tuesday. The next meeting of the
club will be held on Thursday
at 7:30 p.m„ a half hour ahead of
the dinner at Moose Hall. Two
directors of the club will be elect
ed and other business matters
will be discussed. All Republicans
are urged to attend.
The Boy Scouts of America
have honored 2,861 of its mem
bers since 1910 for saving the
lives of others.
LAST HOME GAME OF SEASON FINDS
LOCAL FIVE WITH CONFERENCE FEVER
43RD ARMY BAND
TO PRESENT CONCERT
HERE SUNDAY, FEB. 24
Valley residents will have an
unusual opportunity to hear a
military band concert Sunday
afternoon, February 24. when the
three local intelligence detach
ments of the Organized Reserve
Corps, US. Army, Alaska spon
sor a hospital benefit perform
ance by the 43rd Army Band of
Fort Richardson.
Arangements were made
through Col. James T. Mahoney,
senor Army instructor for Alaska
who supervises the training of
all organized military reserve
units in the Territory, to bring
the large Fort Richardson band
to Palmer to help raise funds for
the new Valley Presbyterian Hos
pital. The Alaska Command
readily co-operated in the local
project by authorizing transporta
tion of band members and their
instruments to the Palmer School
of all local arrangements. Com
gymnasium in Army vehicles.
The concert will begin at 2:30
and will last for a full two hours.
Members of the local intelli
gence detachments are in charge
of all local arrangements. Com
manding officers of the three de
tachments are Capt. Curtis Dear
born, Lieut. Marvin Udevitz, and
Lieut. Tom Merton.
CITY ACQUIRES
GARBAGE DUMP
The City Council acquired i
garbage dump at last night’s
regular meeting and also received
the deed to the land on which a
city administration building may
someday be built.
The deed to be future adminis
tration building site was present
ed to the Council by James Hur
ley. manager of ARRC. For the
consideration of $1. the corpora
tion gave the city two and one
half acres bounded by the ARR
right of way on the west, Fair
view> Avenue on the south, Air
port Way on the North, and the
MEA property line on the east.
After the ARRC had been
thanked for the gift in a resolu
tion passed by Council members,
Hurley offered the city the gar
bage dump site located on the
west bank of the Matanuska
River just north of the bridge.
The city fathers displayed no
eagerness in their acceptance of
this gift. However, w'hen Hurley
explained that the ARRC no
longer wanted the responsibility
of maintaining the dump and that
it would revert to private owner
ship if the city did not accept the
"gift” was accepted. With the
ownership, the city now has the
responsibility for keeping it up
in accordance with regulations
stipulated by the Territorial sani
tarian.
Club license okayed
A petition for city approval of
a club license from Palmer Lodge
1842 B.P.O.E. was read. The
Council approved the granting of
the license.
Dogs bite boys
Newsboys Johnny Mears and
Laddie Huntley appeared before
the Council to present their com
plaints regarding certain dogs
that have a habit of biting them
when they deliver papers.
It was pointed out that a city
ordinance provides that dogs
should not be allowed off their
premises unless on a leash or un
(Continued on page 8)
With basketball fever at a high
pitch this week as a result of
community pride in the Palmer
High School teams' two straight
victories over Anchorage, the
school gymnasium will be jam
packed with cheering fans Fri
day night to watch the local
Moose clash with the numbtr one
team of the Railbelt Conference,
the Seahawks of Seward.
Interest is heightened by the
fact that tomorrow* night’s game
will be the last conference game
of the season to be played on the
local court. Next week Coach Bob
Crites takes his team to Fair
banks. where they will play their
last two games in the Railbeit
Conference series and will remain
on for the Western Alaska
Basketball Tournament. The
tournament, which begins in
Fairbanks Wednesday, Febru
ary 20. will last four days—or
maybe more, depending on the
outcome of the games. The West
ern Alaska Class A champions
will then play the champions of
Southeastern Alaska for the
Territorial championship. An
chorage won the championship
last year.
4 Teams Evenly Matched
With the end of the Railbelt
Conference series just a few days
aw’ay, its impossible for anyone to
guess at the winners. Red Mur
ray, Anchorage’s veteran sports
announcer, said he'd never seen
a time in history when four
teams were so evenly matched
Seward, the present number one
team, has lost three games and
won five; Anchorage and Palmer
have each lost four and won five
Although the Fairbanks record
stands at three wins to seven
losses, the Malemutes’ brilliant
teamwork displayed in their re
cent games with Anchorage in
dicates no pushover for the Moose
next week.
In tomorrow night's game, the
Moose will have an opportunity
to Hfecome—if only briefly—the
number one team of the Rail
belt Conference. The Palmer five
will have a chance to even the
score with Seward and prove that
their two losses to the port city
team three weeks ago were the
result of bad luck, occasioned
only by the illness of two star
players, Millis and Klem. An
chorage, however, will have a
chance to tie up the lead in their
Saturday night game with the
Seahawks. Then the Seward
Anchorage contest will be resum
ed at the port city with two
games to be played next week
end while the local team tackles
Fairbanks.
Conference Fever
Watching the heated practice
session in the local gymnasium
Tuesday afternoon, Coach Crites
observed that his boys are in
fine shape—with the possible ex
ception of Klem. Gus Klem hasn’t
been able to shake entirely the
cold that laid him low in Seward
In practice this week, the team
was trying to sharpen up its
defense. "We’ve found from ex
perience that we can't expect to
make more than 48-50 points ’n
a game,” Crites explained. “Oui
best hope is to keep the other
teams from making as many
points.
"It’s not the individual play
ing. It’s not good shooting that
makes these boys good. It’s their
never-say-die spirit that counts”,
Crites added. "These boys arc
getting conference fever. The
Seahawks will have to play the
best game they’ve ever played, or
they won’t win Friday,”