Applications for
SPECIAL PERMIT SHEEP HUNT
must be submitted
to FWS in Anchorage
PRIOR TO AUGUST 20
THE FRONTIERSMAN
- PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
try a frontiersman
CLASSIFIED AD for that
item you may have for sale,
rent or lease.
VOLUME 45, NO. 46
PALMER. ALASKA, THURSDAY. JULY 31. 195Z
PRICE TEN CENTS
World Around Us
IN CHICAGO Democrats meet
ing for their National Conven
tion last week nominated Gov.
Adlai Stevenson of Illinois as
their presidential candidate and
Senator John J. Sparkman of Ala
bama as his running mate.
Alaskan Democrats gave then
support to Senator Estes Kefauver.
Named to the Democratic Na
tional Committee were Stanley
McCutcheon, committeeman; and
Mrs. Essie R. Dale, committeewo
man, from Alaska.
* * *
IN ANCHORAGE Judge George
W. Folta upheld a city’s right to
imprison and fine persons who
fail to file personal property re
turns in an opinion filed in Third
District Court last week. His rul
ing paves the way ior more in
tensive enforcement of an ordin
ance which requires all Anchor
age residents to furnish a state
ment, under oath, listing all per
sonal property at its just and fair
value for tax purposes.
* * *
IN COPPER CENTER area resi
dents have banded together to
protest mlitary construction of a
road leading from Mile 160 on the
Glenn Highway to Lake Louise.
Registered Guide Don DeHart re
ports that the military has set up
a camp of about 160-175 men who
will be engaged in the road work.
He lists two objections of the resi
dents: They feel that the road
would set up a lush hunting area
for the exclusive use of military
personnel anc’ that the livelihood
of the Copper River Indians
might' be jeopardized since the
region is their hunting and trap
# ping grounds.
* » *
IN NOME J. Earl Cooper, newly
appointed District Judge for the
Second Diivsion will take over his
new duties next week. He will
start immediately to work on 25
civil and 14 criminal cases that
have accumulated on the court
docket since the end of last year
when the former judge resigned
to become Secretary of Alaska.
IN SEWARD, the well-known
covered bridges just north of
town started being a thing of the
past with the opening of the new
section of the Anchorage-Seward
highway past the Sanatorium and
use of three new concrete and
steel bridges.
* * *
IN CORDOVA visiting tourists
are greeted by a skunk at the
Windsor Hotel this month. The
hotel was sold recently to a firm
known as the Windsor Develop
ment Company of which Bruce
Kendall of Valdez is vice-presi
dent. Kendall is also the new
manager of the hotel, and the
skunk is the pet of Kendall’s
young son, Bruce, Jr. Guests of
the hotel stop fleeing when they
hear that the friendly animal has
been “treated.”
MRS. JUSTINE PARKS
ELECTED ARECA HEAD
AT ANNUAL MEETING
Mrs. Justine Parks of Chugiak,
president of the Matanuska Elec
tric Association, was elected presi
dent of the Alaska Rural Electric
Cooperatives Association during
the final session of its annual two
day meeting Tuesday night.
The Territorial association in
cludes officials of rural electric co
operatives from all over Alaska.
Newly elected vice-president is
S. S. Gnad of the Homer ECA;
secretary. Ed Jarvi of the Chug
ach Electric Association; trea
surer, Nick Eidem of the Golden
Valley Electric Association. Fair
banks. Eidem was also named
Territorial director to the National
Rural Electric Cooperatives As
. sociation.
During the two day meeting
held at Anchorage's Carpenters
Hall, many stirring speeches re
garding Alaska's power potential
were heard from power authori
ties and technicians well acquaint
ed with the underlying facts.
Many resolutions were passed, a
number of them calling for need
ed legislation.,
Gus Norwood, manager of the
Northwest Public Power Associa
tion, said that the people of
! Alaska should ask Congress
for 500,000 kilowatts of low
j cost hydro-electric power. He
insisted that Alaskans should
ask for the power needed to en
courage capital and major indus
tries to come to the Territory,
not the power that a specified
number of dollars would provide
under Alaskan construction costs,
i "You people up here will repay
the money to the U. S. Treasury
so why should a congressman
from Florida get excited about
comparative costs?” he insisted.
According to Joseph Morgan,
head of Bureau df Reclamation
I for Alaska, the 30,000 kilowatts of
! Eklutna Power is just a drop in
i the bucket compared with the
! power Alaska really needs. Lis
: teners from the Matanuska Valley
j were particularly interested in his
! description of the proposed big
! Susitna project. “Susitna can pro
; duce more power than the Grand
Continued on page 8
Parker Lester Is
j 1952 Fair Manager
Parker Lester was given the
contract as Matanuska Valley Fair
manager for 1952 at a meeting of
the Fair Board held Tuesday
night. He starts working tomor
row, August 1, at the Fair admin
istration office on the Fair
Grounds.
Lester was manager of the Fair
last year, and appointment this
year stems from the Fair Board’s
expressed satisfaction with his
handling of the ’51 Fair.
Local organizations and clubs
desiring concession space should
contact that Fair manager at his
office. Individuals and commer
cial concessionares will contract
for space through A1 Stein of B
and B Alaska Shows.
Fair superintendents should
contact the Fair manager to make
certain that space for their sev
eral departments has been lined
up properly.
Windshield stickers advertising
the Fair have arrived. They will
be placed with gasoline distribu
tors and hotels throughout the
community. They are free and the
Fair Board asks everyone in the
community to help boost the Fair
through display of the stickers
on windshields.
The Fair Board has requested
the use of the city grader to slick
up the Fair Grounds. Work will
be done under the supervision of
Mr. Lester as one of his first pro
jects.
The local Moose Lodge enthusi
asticallv accepted the work detail
of setting up the gigantic fire
works display, which will be one
of the unique attractions of the
1952 Fair.
6 Valley Girls Vie
For Early Lead In
Fair Queen Contest
Six Fair Queen candidates re
ported a brisk business in Fair
Queen ticket sales this week.
This was the first week of the
contest that will end with the
| opening of the twelfth annual
i Matanuska Valley Fair August 30.
1 At the time only those girls who
have qualified for the race
| through the sale of at least 250
; tickets will be eligible for the
final judging.
This week all six girls and their
supporters are working hard on
their individual campaigns. Next
week will find the city flooded
with posters bearing -pictures of
the queen candidates. Over 2,000
tickets have been issued to the
queen aspirants during the first
week of their campaigns. Over
SI,500 worth of prizes will be
awarded to Queen ticket purchas
ers on the final day of the Far.
Vying for the Fair Queen title
this year are:
Tall, blond Marilyn Janice Ma
cek. 16-year-old daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. George Macek. Marilyn
: will enter Palmer High School
as a senior this fall. She came to
Palmer two months ago from
Olympia, Washington, where she
belonged to the Olympia Ski Club.
A skiing enthusiast, in addition
to her interest in swimming and
dancing, Marilyn has already af
filiated herself with the Matan
uska Ski Club, w-hich is helping
to sponsor her. Another sponsor
is Kosloskv’s, where her mother
! works in the meat department.
Father George Macek is manager
: of the Shamrock Lounge.
Marilyn has the distinction of
having won the first baby con
j test sponsored during the Matan
\ uska Valley Fair of 1936. At that
| time Mr. Macek was operating the
j Anchorage Market and Mrs. Ma
i cek had Kay’s Book Store. The
i Maceks still have the tickets from
I the Fair of 1936. The family went
i Outside in 1938 and returned this
| year, settling in the Valley.
Petite fifteen year old Patty
' Plumley, a sophomore in Palmer
High, is the daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. George Plumley. Mr. Plum
ley operates a saw mill in the
Butte area. Patty is but five feet
one inch tall, has red hair and
pretty, blue eyes.
Lorene Uzelac, 15, daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Nick Uzelac of
Springer Road will be a junior in
Palmer High School this fall. She
arrived in the Valley a year ago i
from Suntrana and Heifer, Utah, i
She has browm hair and eyes and
is five and a half feet tall. Her
dad works at the Evans-Jones
i Mine.
The Wasilla community is spon
soring Rose Marie (Tiny) Vickar
yous, 20, daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Anthony Vickaryous, who
are original Matanuska Valley
colonists. Tiny is a graduate of
the Wasilla High School, class
of 1950 and is employed in the
(Continued on page 8)
Annual Field Day to Be Held At
Matanuska Exp't Station Monday
Annual Field Day at the Matan- J
uska Experimental Station is one
of the year’s agricultural high
lights. This year the event is
scheduled for Monday, August
4th.
It features a picnic lunch on
the station lawn and a chance to
see many friends as well as com
pare notes on research work at
the Station.
This year will be no exception, |
, each department will have some
1 thing to contribute to the pro
gram. The dairy department will
j start the day off at 10 a.m. near
the station barns. Mr. Sweetman,
head of the dairy department,
will be in charge. The Entomo
logy. En«;veering and Economic
d s will have their dis
plays in the same vicinity and
will carry on the program until
lunch at 11:30.
At 12:30, the Agronomy depart
ment will lead off the afternoon’s
program with a tour of grass and
forage trials. The Horticulture de
partment continues the tour with
a showing of their many plantings
of cabbage, lettuce, and potatoes.
The Soils Science department will
show the effect of various fertil
izer combinations on vegetables
and forages.
All farmers and persons inter
ested in agriculture are invited to
attend. The picnic lunch will be
pot-luck and visitors are expected
to furnish their own eating equip
ment. Coffee will be furnished.
■ »__'
TRADING POST
TO HAVE NEW
MANAGER AUGUST 15
Fred Zieke, manager of the Co
Op, announced this week the ap
pointment of Tom Reiss of the
Fort Richardson commissary as
new manager of the Trading Post,*
effective August 15.
Maud Hosier, who has been
manager of the Trading Post for
the past year has resigned her
position in order to make a long
delayed trip Outside to settle her
late father’s estate. On her return
to the Valley shortly after Decem
ber 1. she hopes to devote her
entire time to her expanding
flower business. While Outside
she plans to attend a school of
floriculture to get information on
new techniques and methods that
will be useful in her business.
Mrs. Hosier will stay on at the
Trading Post for two weeks after 1
Mr. Reiss takes over in order to
help him get oriented in his new
establishment.
Reiss and his attractive wife, |
Annette, were in Palmer Tuesday<
to make plans for getting settled |
here. “We’re very glad to be in!
Palmer,” Mrs. Reiss said, “be
cause this is just the way we
pictured Alaska. The people here
seem like home folks—much more
than they do in the metropolitan
area.”
“Or on a military reservation,”
her husband added. Mr. Reiss has |
been associated with the Fort
Richardson commissary since it
opened up. He has had charge of
sales and the large inventory at
the Fort, which is twice as large
as the inventory carried at the
Frading Post, according to Co-Op
Manager Zieke. Prior to coming to
Alaska, Mr. Reiss had several
years of experience in merchandis
ing land sales work, mostly in
handling food items.
“We feel very fortunate in se
curing the services of Mr. Reiss,”
observed Fred Zieke. “After go
ing over the entire Trading Post, j
he is as impressed with its poten- j
tialities as I am. He has many
plans for modernizing the store
both in appearance and in the in
novation of new merchandising:
practices.”
Although he will not assume his j
duties until August 15, the newly
appointed Trading Post manager
and his wife hope to attend the
Co-Op annual meeting on Satur
day, August 9, in order to get a
head start on meeting all the
Co-Op members and their fam
ilies.
The Co-Op will offer many
valuable door prizes at the an
nual meeting a week from Satur
day.
MVTC Property Up For Auction Aug. 18;
Service Continues Under City Custody
SANDS STAYS ON
DURING 50-DAY
CUSTODIANSHIP
The City Council last night vot-(
ed to retain the services of May
nard Sands, former owner and
principal stockholder of the Ma
tanuska Valley Telephone Com
pany, Inc., during the 50-day
period the city will act as cus
todian of the phone company pro
perty for the United States” Gov
ernment.
This action was taken after
councilmen agreed to accept the
custodianship contract. Under
terms of the contract, the city gets
one dollar per day for operating
the telephone company, absorbs
any losses from the 50-day oper
ation, but turns over any profits
to the government. It was decided
that the switchboard staff would
be held to a minimum of three
operators, with Sands working as
relief operator and general re
pairman. City Clerk John Shaw
was delegated the responsibility
as custodian of the telephone com
pany. Bills will be made out and
collected in his office by Rita Mc
Clafferty, clerk in the local office
of Butcher and Shaw, Attorneys
at Law.
The city is responsible to the
U. S. Government only for the
property listed on the seizure or
der. Any improvements or addi
tions to the telephone system
made by the city remain the prop
erty of the city, it was brought
out at the Council meeting last
night. All unpaid accounts of the
MVTC now become the assets of
Uncle Sam and may be collected
by him. The city is no longer re
sponsible for the collection of
these long past-due accounts owed
for service prior to March 1, when
the city took over operation of
the phone company. The city will
collect all unpaid accounts for ser
vice after March 1.
Timely Pail of Water
Averts Serious Fire
A well-aimed pail of water last
night quenched a fire that might
have destroyed a large home still
in the process of construction in
the immediate farm area south of
Palmer.
The man who seored the bull’s
eye with his first pail of water
collapsed, overcome with smoke,
as he attempted to fill the pail a
second time. But Art Erickson’s
work was done. His first pail of
water had hit the vital part of
the blaze and the resulting steam
did the rest.
The fire started when an elec
tric refrigerator located in the
basement of the partically com
pleted home shorted. The resulting
Dlaze spread to the wooden tim
bers of the ceiling above the refri
gerator. One of three or four
Erickson children asleep in the
basement was awakened by the
smell of smoke. Hurriedly he
broke the glass out of a basement
window and rushed to inform his
father, who was sleeping in a
nearby trailer. Art Erickson’s
first trips into the smoking base
ment were made to bring his chil
dren to safety. Then he went
about the business of putting out
the fire.
Meanwhile, a passing motorist
noticed the smoke billowing out
of the cellar window from which
the Erickson boy had made his es
cape. He rushed to the nearest
telephone to notify the Fire De
partment. The time was shortly
before 11 p.m.
The Palmer Fire Department
responded quickly. At the first
blast of the siren Councilman A1
Hagen excused himself from the
City Council meeting then in ses
sion and joined the other volun
teers as the truck left the garage.
But when the firemen arrived, the
fire was out. Damage had been
limited to approximately $500,
covering the ruined refrigerator
and the charred timbers overhead.
The Collector of Internal Rev
enue for the district of Wash
ington and Alaska has seized all
property of the Matanuska Val
ley Telephone Company, Inc. for
assessed taxes owed the United
States Government. The seizure
order was posted in the telephone
j company office and in the U S
i Commissioner’s office. Palmer
precinct, at 3 p.m. yesterday, July
Simultaneously, the city of
Palmer was appointed custodian
of the telephone property with
authorty to continue operation of
the telephone company. This was
i done through a contract that went
j ^nto effect at midnight last night
as the seizure order, transferring
control of the property to the
government, went into effect. This
timing coincided with the expira
tion of the city’s option to pur
chase the MVTC and the agree
ment whereby the city managed
the telephone company during the
effective period of the option.
Property Up for Auction
, The city’s custodianship is ef
fective only for a fiftv-day period,
during which time the Collector
of Internal Revenue will seek to
dispose of the property through
public auction for the amount of
the tax lien against the corpora
tion. The first public auction of
the telephone property will take
place at the MVTC office at 2 p m
Monday, August 18. 20 days after
the seizure order was posted.
Sometime before this first auction
begins, the Department of Internal
j Revenue will announce the
J amount of the minimum bid. Pre
sumably, the minimum figure
will cover the total amount of the
| tax liens filed against the com
pany. This total is approximately
$13,000. If no acceptable bid is
made August 18. there will be a
second auction 30 days later. If
no acceptable bid is made at the
second auction, the telephone
j company becomes the property of
the U. S. government to dispose
of as it sees fit.
The first tax lien against the
property was filed July 1, 1949
for the amount of $1,908.25, cover
ing withholding and employment
taxes due December 31, 1948 and
for telephone and telegraph ser
vice taxes collected over the peri
od of October, 1948 through April,
1949. Four other tax liens have
been filed, the last one dated
July 22, 1952. The unpaid taxes
listed in the five liens plus the
[filing fees amount to $11,959.58.
1 Interest and penalties listed on 16
separate warrants for distraint is
i sued from 1949 to July of 1952
boost the figure owed the govern
ment The 16 penalties (five per
cent of the total listed on each of
the warrants of distraint) amount
to a total of $592.46. Copies of the
warrants for distraint and tax
liens are attached to the seizure
order.
No City Franchise
The property seized by the gov
ernment is itemized on a list in
cluded with the seizure order. It
includes a Western Electric
switchboard, a 1950 model Inter
national pick-up truck, approxi
mately 200 telephones in use and
approximately 200 telephone
poles, 20-^5 miles of telephone
line, several items of office equip
ment and telephone supplies, and
“any unexpired city and Territor
ial license to do business.” The
last item is important. If MVTC
had been granted a franchise by
the city, any company or private
individual who made an accep
table bid on the property would
be able to operate the telephone
company until the franchise ex
pired. The crux of the matter is:
There is no franchise. Without, it,
the property is worthless as a
telephone business,
j Acting for Clark Squire, Col
I lector of Internal Revenue for
j the Washington and Alaska dis
j trict, was A. Verle Collar, assist -
| ant chief field deputy in charge
I of Alaska. Accompanied by John
| J. Marx, deputy from the Anchor
Continued on page 8