SELF DUMPING LAKE GEORGE SOON
WILL VENT WRATH ON KNIK GLACIER
By Tom Saville—Vice-President
McKinley Foundation Inc.
Residents of Anchorage. Pal
mer. and the surrounding villages,
those within driving or flying
range, who elect to go to Lake
George sometime within the next
few weeks will be treated to a
spectacle so wonderful yet so awe
some that it will stagger their
senses and leave them discussing
what they saw; namely, the an
nual break-up or dumping of
Lake George.
An old gold prospector is be
lieved to be the first to have
stumbled across the lakes out
pouring while back in the moun- j
tains searching for the yellow j
metal. Since then thousands of:
people have made the trip to;
Knik Bridge to see the final act
of this self-dumping lake. The
episode begins in Alaska’s remote
Chugach Mountains, where an ir-;
resistible force meets an immov
able object.
The irresistible force is the j
slowly advancing face of Knik
Glacier, and the immovable ob
ject is an unyielding corrugated
cliff in the Chugach Mountains.'
Each year a seven-mile-wide:
“river” of glacial ice. more than
300 feet high, flows along the
lower lip of Lake George until
it reaches the face of the moun
tain. This ice advance gradually
plungs up the outlet of 16-mile
long Lake George. j
When the outlet is damned by
this ice barrier the lake begins to:
back up and deepen, as millions
of gallons of water are impound
ed.
By late summer tremendous
pressures have been built up be
hind the ice barrier. In early Aug- J
ust when temperatures are rela
tively high these intense pres- j
sures applied against the lower
surface of the ice begm to melt
an escape channel for the lake
waters.
By degrees the Knik Glacier
ice is undermined. Finally the
full length of the glacier is pene
trated by the water. Then the
pent-up waters roar out of this
new outlet, bringing their full
fury and weight to bear against
the glacier along its entire width.
Savage pressures of weight and
water begin to rip building size
slabs of ice from the glacier wall.;
Sections of glacier ice TOO feet i
wide and approximately 300 feet
thick have been seen (by camera
men recording the ice break-up
for the McKINLEY FOUNDA
TION) hurled into the river with
thunderous force.
These massive chunks of Ice
are carried downstream by tor
rents of water, traveling at ex
press train speed. Geysers of
spray hundreds of feet high
blossom upward as section after
section of the glacier collapses.
With each passing hour the
fury of the rushing waters widen
the channel until after six. or
seven days the ice barrier bottling
up Lake George is completely
swept away. _
At this point the Lake empties |
itself at the rate of approximate
ly a foot an hour for several days
before reaching rock bottom.
Later, with the rushing waters
subsided, the glacier with its
ever forward movement, once
again commences to bottle up j
Lake George in its never ending
cycle.
As a tourist attraction, no-!
where in the World would Lake i
George be surpassed, for it is, here
that Mother Nature has created
one of the truly great phenomena j
that will hold the interest of peo
ple for all time.
HOSPITAL BIDS
TO BE READ MONDAY
O. K. Kincaid, manager of the
Valley Hospital, announced this
week that due to limited space in
the hospital, bids for the construc
tion of the new hospital will be
opened at 4 p.m., July 14 in the
Co-Op club room, rather than at
the hospital as stated in the bid
advertisement.
The bids will be publicly open
ed and read aloud before hospital
board members and any other
interested persons who care to
attend the opening.
Insure today, see Ray.
Better still, SEE BILL!!
I
COMMUNITY
CALENDAR
THURSDAY, JULY 17
NORTHLAND PIONEER GRAN
GE, Grange Hall, 8 p.m.
AMERICAN LEGION AND AUX
ILIARY, Carpenters’ Hall, 8
p.m.
HEALTH COUNCIL, Council
rooms. 7 p.m.
FRIDAY. JULY 11
AAAS. COOK INLET CHAPTER.
Box lunch at Mat. Experiment
Station Farm.
SUNDAY, JULY 13
INSTALLATION SERVICES for
Rev. Brian Cleworth. United
Protestant Church, 8 p.m. Re
ception for Rev. and Mrs. Cle
worth in church parlors will
follow.
MATANUSKA SKI CLUB, work
party Little Susitna. Leave,
Palmer 10:30 a.m.
MONDAY, JULY 14
KIWANIS CLUB. Co-Op club
room, 12:05 p.m.
TUESDAY, JULY 15
WELL BABY CLINIC. Health :
Center, 2-4 p.m.
BOY SCOUTS, U. P. CHURCH. (
7:00 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 16 1
MATANUSKA VALLEY, O.E.S., j *
Carpenters’ Hall, 8 p.m.
CITY COUNCIL. Co-Op club1«
room, 7:30 p.m. j
RUGS AND LINOLEUMS
Prints or Plains
Imports or Domestics
Ask for Our Estimates on Asphalt Tile
J G FLOOR COVERING
Located in National Bank of Alaska Bldg.—Spenard, Alaska
Phone 32251
Sheet Metal Work
Furnaces Stokers Pre-fab Chimneys
Stainless Steel Work
— Free Estimates —
PALMER SHEET METAL & HEATING
Box 1797 John Weisenberger
Phone: 62J3
Palmer
\Hpk crops
£eM FLOPS
WHEN YOU
IRRIGATE WITH
LINESHAFT
TURBINE PUMPS
You can insure greater farm produc
tion and profits by irrigating with
low cost water. A high efficiency, oil
lubricated Jacuzzi turbine will pump
large volumes of water from great
depths at an amazingly low cost. Ad
vanced engineering features of this
proven, Jacuzzi turbine make it the
buy in pumps. Ask for illustrated
folder.
Itw W«T»f IU*pt hm Prsfttt Higit
LEWIS PUMP & WELL SUPPLY
525 East 4th Ave. Anchorage
MEA Steps Up
Service With New
Mobile Radio Units
Service to MEA consumers was
stepped up last week when three
new portable radio units were
installed in the three service
trucks.
Although the three General i
Electric ultra high frequency j
units arrived some time ago. the j
main station was aboard the S. S.!
Victoria wrhen it nearly sailed on j
the first day of the now six-week i
old Pacific Coast maritime strike.
A small 50-watt station unit ar- j
rived last week. Then General
Electric company, hearing of the (
delay, shipped the smaller unit !
air freight at its own expense to
oe used by MEA until the strike- j
bound unit arrives.
With one of these radio units !
placed in each service truck', J
servicemen can be notified of out
ages without having to return to
:ne office after each service trip, j
r’ne resulting faster service is j
accompanied by an appreciable j
;aving in time MEA Manager C. j
\ Brewer estimates that the $7,
)00 cost of the new units should
aay for itself within three years.!
According to plan, two station
ary units will be maintained at
Uhugiak and Wasilla in addition
o the central unit at MEA head- '
juarters in Palmer .
Insure today, see Ray.
Better still, SEE BILL!!
TIME TO
CLEAN
SLIPCOVERS
Make your home bright
and cool and cheerful for
summer with CLEAN slip
covers that look like new.
Call us now before the
rush ... let us figure on
your work. Our rates are
very reasonable.
CROWN’S SHOP
I
SWEET CORN
FROM HOLLYWOOD
A1 Brooks received a clipping
this week from William Moyes’
column in the Portland Oregon
ian.
It seems that One Harold Gill
had just returned from Fair
banks, where he saw a group of
stars and starlets from the Holly
wood World Premiere troupe
window shopping.
Seeing a sign that read “Fresh
Matanuska Eggs” one of the star
lets studied the eggs in the open
carton carefully.
“I’d say they look just like
hens’ eggs,” she said. “Say, what’s
a Matanuska, anyway?”
>
Valley Frontiersman
7
ALL DAY PICNIC FOR
SUTTON DORCUS CLUB
Games and prizes have been
planned for entertainment at the
all-day picnic and weiner roast
to be held by the Dorcus Club
of the Sutton Community Church
July 11.
Scheduled to start at ten
o’clock, the picnic will be held at
the Wallace Moffitt farm. Mem
ber and friends of the club, and
their families are invited to at
tend.
Mrs. Hazel Harris of Sutton
will be in charge of entertainment
plans.
Motor-in-Service
GENERAL REPAIRS - WELDING
GAS & OIL
Harry Duff Phone 65J11 Bert Duff
Copper Center Roadhouse
JUNCTION OF COPPER AND KLUTINA RIVERS
Mr. and Mrs. Geo. Ashby, Prop.
VALDEZ HIGHWAY
SPORTSMEN'S AND
TOURIST'S MECCA FOR
• FISHING
» HUNTING
• VACATIONING
Groceries - Picnic and Fishing Supplies
FINE FOOD
Short Orders — Snacks, Full Dinners
All Your Sewing Needs
IN YARD GOODS
Dan River Ginghams Percales "Handicuts" Pillow Tubing Outing
Flannel Muslin Checked Tabl4 Damask
SEE OUR 10c and $1 BARGAIN TABLES
ALL YOUR CAMPING NEEDS
In Camping Equipment
Coleman Camp Stoves—Picnic Ice Boxes—Camp Coffee Pots
and Cups—Toasting Forks for Weiners and Marshmallows—
Cast Iron Dutch Ovens and Frying Pans—Popcorn Poppers—
Thermos Jugs
ALL YOUR CANNING NEEDS
In Canning Equipment
16 and 21 Quart Presto Pressure Cookers—Cold Pack Canners
Tin Cans—Glass Jars—Lids—Rings—Certo Sure Jell
We have a variety of cheese and lunch meat in the Cheese
Department
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