Spring it Here
and
Clean Up Week it Near
May 11—17
'Be Proud to Live in Palmer”
uniiUEy Frontiersman
PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
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VOLUME V. NO. 35
PALMER. ALASKA. THURSDAY. MAY 8. 1952
PRICE TEN CENTS
Valley to Get $377,000 in Military Produce Contracts
f
World Around Us
IN WASHINGTON, D. C. last
week the U. S. Supreme Court
approved (6-3'» the practice of re-;
leasing children from school clas
ses for religous instruction, pro
vided the instruction is held out
side the schools.
* In explaining the difference be
tween this decision and that in
the famous McCollum case of
1943, Associate Justice William
O. Douglas wrote for the major
ity: “In the McCollum case, the
classrooms were used for reli-1
gious instruction, and the forceT
of the public school was used to
* promote that instruction. Here
the public schools do no more
than accommodate their schedu
les to a program of outside reli
gious instruction. . . . No one is
forced to go to the religious class
room, and no religious exercise
of instruction is brought to the
classrooms of the public schools.
.... We find no constitutional
requirement which makes it nec
essary for government to be hos
tile to religion and to throw its
weight against efforts to widen
* the effective scope of religious in
fluence.”
* * •
IN FAIRBANKS last week vot
ers approved a $250-000 bond is
sue for a water treatment plant
a $100,000 bond issue to finance
telephone expansion, and a $200
000 bond issue for street paving
and new sidewalks. A proposal
> to sell city-owned property at
Weeks Field for reported con
struction of a large housing pro
ject was approved without a vote
to spare.
* * *
IN CORDOVA drilling will
start soon for an oil well at the
Katalla- Yakataga field nearby,
according to a report confirmed
by William T. Foran, geologist
and Northern Development Com-,
pany official. Qualified experts
have expressed the opinion that
a great oil reserve may lie in
the Cordova area. A shallow well
produced to some extent until
the 1930s when fire destroyed the
equipment.
• * »
IN ANCHORAGE a recount on
the city’s sales tax vote Tuesday,
f< April 29, revealed that the pro
position lost by nine votes. A
total of 1,260 had voted for the
tax and 1.046 had voted against
it, but a 55 percent majority was
necessary for passage. Mean
while, a recount was authorized
for the school sales tax votes for
the Anchorage School District.
This proposition lost by 141 votes
although 2,234 voted for the mea
sure and only 2,126 against it.
CLEAN-UP WEEK
PICK UP SCHEDULES
ANNOUNCED FOR CITY;
Sunday marks the beginning of
a city-wide clean-up campaign |
Local residents and merchants ;
are resquested bv civic groups
and the City Council to co-oper
ate in making their city as beau
tiful and inspiring as the setting
which surrounds it.
To that end. the Kiwanis Club
of Palmer is co-ordinating all ac-,
tivities in the clean-up week cam- [
paign. On Saturday and Sunday,
winning posters made by Pal
mer school students in the Health
Council’s Clean-Up Poster Con
test will be placed in the windows
of business establishments. On
Wednesday and Thusdav the Ki-1
wanis sound truck will tour the ,
city, urging citizens to collect all
trash on their properties and
place it in suitable containers at;
the edge of the street. The trash i
will be picked up by Russ Felzien
and tw’o helpers and placed in
the city truck for disposal.
No Garbage, Please
The pick-up schedule announ
ced by Kiwanis committeemen
George Crowther and Ed Smith
is as follows: North Palmer, north
of the highway. Friday morning: '
south of the highway and east;
of the railroad tracks, Friday
afternoon: the remainder of Pal
mer. south of the highway and
west of the tracks. Saturday mor
ning.
Residents are particularly ask
(Continued on Page 4)
Work Stoppage
On Eklutna Tunnel
Expected lo End Soon
At Eklutna Headquarters this
week it was expected that the
work stoppage involving the
Eklutna Lake half of the tunnel
operation would be ended this
week.
Commenting on the reason for
stoppage. Byron Felkner. project
engineer- opined that the real rea
son was that the contractor had
cut off the workers’ on-th-job
coffee recently.
He said that the contractor’s
plan to put an electric hoist on
the three-foot diameter bucket
that goes down into the 14-foot
diameter shaft had met with the
workers’ approval. The crisis im
mediately preceding the work
stoppage happened last week
when the gear-controlled cable
piled up on the drum and kept
the bucket (full of men) from go
ing up or down. Eighteen feet
from the ground, the workers
climbed up a steel ladder to the
ground surface, where they
changed to a rope ladder to get
over the rail protecting the hole.
Felkner denied the workers
implication that there had been
many serious accidents and that
the rate was far in excess of that
for similar operations. According
to personnel records of the con
tractors as kept by the Eklutna
Project supervisors, there has
never been a broken back on the
job, as reported recently. Since
the start of construction last fall,
the only fractures have been a
broken leg and a fractured foot.
A foreman received the com
pound fracture of a lower leg
Continued on page 4
New City Mayor and
6 Councilmen to Be
Elected Next October
Residents of Palmer will elect
a mayor and an entire new City
Council on the first Tuesday of;
October, according to the provi-!
sions of the new ordinance which
had its first reading at the Coun
cil meeting last night.
Entitled “An Ordinance Gov
erning Elections and Elected Of
ficials. Designating Their Terms
of Office and Providing Notices
of Election and Vacancies, the
new city law establishes the Oc
tober election date in accordance
with the practice being adopted
by most Alaskan cities and which
was provided for by Territorial
law during the last session of the
legislature. One of the best rea
sons for having municipal elec
tions at this time is that it per
mits an elected council to draw
up a budget for the city's fiscal
year and to collect revenues to
carry out such budget. Otherwise
an elected council might find it
self hamstrung by its predeces
sor’s budget.
Terms of Office
In addition to general instruc
tions as to how to hold municipal
elections and the parliamentary
procedure for conducting Council
meetings and the business of the
city, the ordinance establishes
three-year terms for six council
men and a two-year term for
ma\'or. All seven offices would
be filled directly by the qualified
electors. Although six councilmen
would be elected next October,
two of them would be elected for
three-year term- two for two-year
terms, and two for one-year
terms. Thereafter, two council
man would be elected each year.
The mayor, according to the or
dinance. would be elected in odd
numbered years. Thus, the mayor
elected next October would pro
bably be elected for a term of
only one year.
Nominating petitions with sig
natures of 25 qualified electors
of Palmer would be necessary for
all candidates. Electors signatures
Continued on page 10
MAYOR RETURNS
Looking younger and refresh
ed, Mayor Carl Meier, was back
on the job last night, presiding
over the City Council. He said
he had lost fifty pounds during
his trip Outside for medical treat
ment, and he appeared to be
right.
VETERANS ON-FARM I
TRAINING PROGRAM
ENDS THIS MONTH
The Veterans Administration 1
institutional-on-the-farm train
ing program will be terminated
in Alaska at the end of this
month.
This information was forward
ed to all Veteran instructors in
Alaska by the supervisor of the
program. Lynn Hollist. Classes
will continue until the program
closing date. May 31, 1952. At this
time the program in wdiich ap
proximately 75 Valley Veterans
have been enrolled —most of
them for the past three years—
will be terminated at least a year
ahead of the earliest expiration
date for the planned four-year
program.
The program has been admin
istered in Alaska under a con
tract between the University of
Alaska and the Veterans Admin
istration. Lynn Hollist. Director
of the University of Alaska Ex
tension Service, was selected as
supervisor and the four-year farm
training program was integrated
with that of the Extension Ser
vice.
The recent issue of the so
called “180-hour rule” was instru
mental in bringing about the can
cellation of the contract between
the University and the Veterans
Administration. In his letter to
the VA. President Terris Moore
said: “. . . the '180 hour rule’ will
disqualify so many trainees from
subsistence payments that it be
comes impractical to continue the
institutional on-the-farm training
program.
“In Alaska.” Moore explained,
‘part time rather than full-time
farming is largely the rule. This
is because of the highly seasonal
nature of agricultural operations
here. To disqualify a man as a
farmer because he exceeds 180
hours of work off the farm even
though these may be wholly
within the seven non-agricultural
months of the year, means th.3t
Veteran farmer trainees would
not have signed a contract for
the (program) at all.”
President Moore further justi
fied the University’s termination
of the program on the basis of
there not being enough qualify
ing trainees in each area neces
sary to continue such program.
Regarding the retroactive ap
plication of the 180-hour rule,
Moore made it clear to the VA
that the University considers it
illegal, citing the Constitution ox
Continued on page 10
Baccalaureate Sunday Ushers in
Class of '52 Graduation Ceremonies
Traditional Baccalaureate ser
vices will be held for the Palmer
High School Class of 1952 Sun
day evening. May 11, at eight
o’clock in the school gymnasium.
The 20 members of the class
will march in their caps and
gowns, the boys in blue and the
girls in white, to the tune of the
Processional, “God of Our Fath
ers.” played by Miss Virginia
Carle.
Following the Invocation, the
school chorus will sing “Bless the
Lord, O My Soul” by Ivanoff.
Later in the program, the chorus
will also sing “Holy Art Thou”
| by Handel-Clark.
Rev. George Geiwitz will de
liver the Scripture reading and
the address. He has chosen for his
subject “Youth’s Challenge.”
A solo “Beautiful Savior” by
Christianson will be sung by An
nie Haverneister.
Joining in on the singing of
two favorite hymns, “All Hail
the Power,” and ‘Taith of Our
| Fathers,” will be the entire con
1 gregation
The service will close with the
Recessional “A Mighty Fortress is
Our God,” again played by Miss
I Carle.
Local Potato Growei
2,470 Tons At .053
COLD WET SPRING
DELAYS PLANTING
AND BREAK-UP
Most farmers in the Valley
iave been more interested this
.veek in when the water will
frain out of their fields than
ivhen it will flow freely in the
ranana at Nenana.
Spring planting has been de
layed in the Valley by unseason
able dampness resulting from al
most nightly light snows that j
leave the ground wet and muddy
in the day time. Many farmers
haven’t been able to get on their
land with plows.
The same delay has been notic
ed in the Tanana Valley, where
there is still snow and where j
night-time temperatures have j
been dipping below the freezing j
mark.
Congregating around town as
they itch impatiently to get to
work. Alaskan farmers are mostly
agreed that it is “an unusually
cold, wet, and late spring.”
In Nenana there’s a lot of
grumbling because the break-up
hasn’t come on schedule.
§ Local Men Named
In SI§8,SCO Suit
For Ghugiak Accident
Five local men were named in
a damage suit totalling S130.200
filed in Third District Court last
week.
The damage suit is brought by
Henning Johnson of Chugiak and
stems from an accident involving
the death of his seven-year-old
daughter. Sherry Lee and the in
jury of an older daughter last
November 19. The little Chugiak
School girl was killed and her
nine-vear-old sister. Gail, was in
jured when they were struck by
a truck while crossing the An
chorage-Palmer Highway after
being discharged from the school
bus.
Named in the suit are James
Parks, Chugiak School bus driv
er; Edward Christensen, owner
of the school bus; Andrew' Culli
son, driver of the truck; Carl
Meier, owner of the truck; and
Fred Beyer, owner of a car al
legedly parked improperly along
the highway at the point of the
accident.
Witneses at the time of the ac
cident stated that the truck was
not traveling at an excessive rate
of speed. Because of a car park
ed close to the highway, Culli
son w'as unable to pull off to the
side of the road when he sighted
the girls in the road. Instead ne
hit the car and skidded, knock
ing Gail Johnson to the pavement
and hitting Sherry with the left
front fender and causing instan
taneous death. It was also
brought out at the time that the
school children had been dis
charged from the bus improper
ly, that the bus had proceeded
on its way before the girls had
time to reach the other side of
the road.
Breakdown of the total $180,
200 damages being sought was
listed in the complaint drawn
Continued on page 10
s to Furnish
-.0735 Per Pound
Announcement this week of
low bidders on military pro
duce contracts for Fort Rich
ardson- Eimendorf Air Force
Base, and Whittier revealed that
Valley farmers have an almost
certain market for their spuds
and green vegetables that will
bring them a total of nearlv $377,
000.
Among the low bidders an
nounced for potatoes to be sup
plied from September 1952 thro
ugh June 1953: and beets, cab
bage. carrots, celery, lettuce, and
turnips for the duration of the
local season, there was only one
producer who does not represent
the Valley. He is an Anchorage
grower who will furnish 230.000
pounds of potatoes to Fort Rich
ardson for the month of Novem
ber. Potato prices varied from
.0525 for the Anchorage grower to
a high of .0735 for the Co-Op’s
May-June shipment of 68.000
pounds to Whittier.
Co-Op Gets High for Spuds
The Co-Op will furnish 15 tons
of potatoes monthly to Fort Rich
ardson for all but four of the ten
months, for a total contract price
of $92,230. Contracts for furnish
ing 15 tons monthly for seven
months to Eimendorf AFB and a
total of 204 tons for six months'
use at Whittier, brings the Co
Op’s spud total tor the three mili
tary installations to $213,985 for
its potato contracts alone. The
Co-Op prices were far above
those asked by other low bidders.
Starting at .001 per pound for
September, the prices are pro
gressively higher throughout the
year until the high of .0735 is
reached for May-June Whittier.
The June price to Eimendorf
AFB and Fort Richardson was
.073.
Glenn Woods, who after the
Co-Op will furnish the most po
tatoes to the three military in
stallations, will receive the Fort
Richardson contracts for Febru
ary. March, and April and the
Eimendorf contracts for March
and April for a total of 575 tons
at .0541 per pound. Two other
i local low bidders on potatoes
were Lorin Wc-iderkehr. who will
furnish 115 tons of potatoes to
Eimendorf AFB in November at
Continued on page 4
PRIMARY ELECTION
COUNT INCOMPLETE
Final returns on last Tuesday’s
Primary election were still not
available this morning.
Next week the Frontiersman
hopes to publish a complete list
of the names that will appear on
the Third Division General Elec
tion ballot next fall.
Meanwhile, it appears almost
certain that local Republicans Lee
McKinley and M. D. Snodgrass
are within the top 10 of their
party for House of Representa
tives nominations.
For the Territorial office of
Delegate to Congress, the Demo
cratic incumbent E. L. Bartleit
i appeared to maintain a slight
S lead over his Republican oppon
ent. Robert Reeve, although the
[ names of both men will appear
on the ballot next October. Lead
ers in the race for Auditor of
Alaska were Neil Moore (Dj and
! Anita Gamick fR>.
InjjjArQjjA/-. / Lots, $10 down — $25 per Month
— - S— PALMER REALTY ■ CUxifiei Sectiwi