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The Frontiersman
PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
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VOLUME 6. NUMBER 6
PALMER. ALASKA. THURSDAY. OCTOBER 30, 1952
PRICE TEN CENTS
John D. Shaw Appointed City Magistrate
PROPOSED ALASKA AGRICULTURAL LOAN BILL
READY FOR PRESENTATION TO LEGISLATURE !
.rroposea .xviasKa agriculture iucui
Probably the most important
unsolved problem holding up de
velopment of Alaskan agriculture
today is the problem of financing.
This problem was spotlighted at
the McKinley Alaska Science
Conference last month and by lo
cal campaigning preceding the
Territorial election October 14.
Losing no time, board members
of the Alaska Soil Conservation
District have drafted a suggested
bill entitled “The Alaska Agricul
tural Loan Act” for presentation
to the next Territorial Legisla
ture. Copies of the proposed legis
lation were mailed this week to
the apparent winners of seats in
the Senate and House of Repre
sentatives. Several of the legisla- j
tors already are vying for the I
honor of presenting the bill, but j
M. D. Snodgrass will probably
be the sponsor or a co-sponsor.
The proposed Alaska Agricul-1
tural Loan Act has as its declared |
policy the promotion of more j
rapid development of agriculture;
as an industry throughout Alaska !
by means of long term low inter- i
est loans. An agricultural Loan
Board composed of five members,
the majority of whom would be
farmers or persons closely associ
ated with agricuture, would ad-!
minister the act. Appointment
would be by the governor subject'
to confirmation by the Legisla
ture at its next session following
the appointment.
Sections 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 of the
proposed act outline the powers
■of the board, interest allowed to
contracting agencies, require
ments for applicants, creation of
the resolving loan fund, and an j
immediate appropriation.
Section 4 would give the Agri
cultural Loan Board the follow
ing powers:
a. To make loans to individual
farmers, homesteaders, and part
nerships or corporations compos
ed of farmers and homesteaders
for development of farms, storage,
and processing of farm produce,
livestock, and machinery. It is
stipulated that farm development
loans shall neither exceed $20,000
nor raise the total real estate in
debtedness above $20,000, that
such loans will run not longer
than 30 years nor bear interest in
excess of 41a percent. Chattel
loans shall not exceed $10,000
for each farm unit, shall not run
longer than five years nor bear
interest in excess of five percent.
b- To employ necessary employ
ees, designate agents and delegate
such of its powers as deemed nec
essary to such employees or
agents.
c. To adopt rules and regula
tions necessary to carry out its
functions.
d. To establish amortization
plan for repayment of loans.
e. To enter into agreements
with private loaning institutions,
other Territorial agencies, or
agencies of the Federal Govern
ment to carry out the purposes -
of the act.
Section 5 allows payment of no
more tharx two percent of the
loans made by a contract agency
under agreement with the Alaska i
Loan Board for its services in
processing and collecting loans
made under the act.
Outlined in section 6 are the
requirements with which appli
(Continued on page 8)
EIGHTH ANNUAI
CIVIL DEFENSE
MEETING TONIGHT
All persons connected with
the local Civil Defense pro
gram are urged to attend an
important meeting tonight,
October 30, at the Lutheran
Church at 8 p.m.
The local Civil Defense
program is being re-activated
after nearly two years of in
definite status. Appointments
and resignations have taken
place on the director level, but
there’s been little activity on
the committee level, either
within committees or between
them.
Grand Jury
Indicts Local Man
On Second Charge
A second indictment was re
turned against Jack Maze by the
Third District grand jury last
week.
Following the first indictment
for embezzlement, handed down j
after the first day of the current
session, a second indictment was
returned two days after, charging
Maze with forging a $12,000 note
and signatures of two Valley men,
Harold L. Thuma and James J.
Hurley.
Thuma and Hurley are still
members of the Palmer Independ
ent School District Board of which
Maze was president at the time of
his arrest last New Year’s eve.
Bond on the new charge was
set at $2,000. Maze is already in
$20,000 bond on the embezzlement i
charge.
The grand jury this week clear
ed another Palmer man, Herbert
“Speed” Hoff, of charges that he
had made false and fraudulent ,
claims against the U. S. Govern
ment. The charge stemmed from |
allegedly excessive charges (ap
proximately $70) for subsistence I (
of two prisoners confined in the j
federal jail at Naknak during the'
summer of 1951 when Hoff wasp
U. S. Deputy Marshal there. *
Deciding that the charges were j
probably brought against Hoff!:
with malicious intent, members Of *
the grand jury voted unanimously j;
for a “no true bill,” according to j •
the foreman reporting. 11
Hoff is attached to the High
way Patrol in the Palmer area. 1
LOCAL MAN IN
HOSPITAL FOLLOWING
ACCIDENT NEAR BUTTE
Full details are still lacking re
garding an accident that took ■
place Tuesday evening about 1
5:30 p.m. at the intersection of J
the second Butte road and the ^
highway, just 300 yards from the •
Butte Roadhouse.
Still in the hospital from in-■ j
juries is Olaf Nelson, who drove 1
his 1942 Ford into the side of 1
a 1952 Cadillac when he madea <
left hand turn onto the highway. 1
Dr. C. C. Bailey said today ’that <
his condition was good. <
Driving the Cadillac was Jack 1
Carr. A passenger, William David i
Kellogg of Anchorage was treat- <
ed for three broken ribs at the c
hospital as an outpatient. I
EIGHTH ANNUAL
LADIES TfTDKPV niNNFR CHILDREH 5, 00 LUTHERAN CHURCH
AID lUllllljl l/lllilllll ADULTS $2.00November 6 - Serving 5:00 P.M. - 8:00 P.M.
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ANCHORAGE-PALMER
FLIGHT ASSISTANCE
SERVICE BEGINS
Inter-agency cooperation be
tween the Civil Aeronautics Ad
ninistration, U. S. Weather Bur
eau and the Alaska Communica
tions System is now providing
pilots in the Palmer area with a
new service. This additional aid
to the aeronautical public was in
augurated October 27, 1952 with
the completion of a “fastline” be
tween Palmer and Anchorage.
It is now possible for any pilot
n the Matanuska Valley to use
my telephone connected to the
Palmer switchboard and have a
lirect line to the CAA Pilot Brief
ng center and the Weather Bur
eau Forecast office at Merrill
Field in Anchorage. To use this
service, a caller merely asks the
Palmer operator for “CAA.” As
there will not be any ringing ser
vice on this line, alter the con
nection is made at Palmer, the
:aller must then say “Anchorage
CAA” or “Anchorage Weather
Bureau” whichever is desired,
rhis voice signalling will be heard
Dn a loudspeaker installed at
those locations. Experienced per
sonnel are on duty 24 hours a day
to take flight plans, arrival re
ports, furnish pre-flight briefing
and weather forecast service.
As the CAA is continually stres
sing to pilots the importance of
oeing thoroughly familiar with
their proposed route of flight so
that all flights may be conducted
without mishap, it is hoped that
the pilots in the Matanuska Val
le will make full use of this direct
‘fastline.” It must be recognized
that occasionally a flight meets
with unforeseen difficulties. If
there is a flight on file with the
CAA, search and rescue proced
ures are instituted shortly after
the plane is overdue. With this
Continued on page 8
Sunday Snow Makes
toads Hazardous;
2 Accidents Reported
For the second Sunday in a
•ow, all roads in the Palmer-An
:horage area were made hazard
ous for drivers by a wet, blinding
mow storm. Although quite a
arge number cars were observed
branded and in ditches along Val
ey roads, the Highway Patrol
eported only two accidents in
:he Palmer area. No one was in
njured.
One of these accidents took
place about 11:15 a.m. Sunday,
oefore the morning rain had turn
id to snow, at the intersection of
Fish Hook Road with the highway.
Warrant Officer Charles H. Wilt,
who was nearing the end of a
ong journey to his new Alaska
)ost, applied his brakes on the
lill and slid into an incoming car
rom Fish Hook Road driven by
jieut. John A. Boley.
The other accident took place
n Palmer about 5:15 p.m. One of
he drivers was cited by the High
way Patrol for driving while un
ler the influence of liquor. John
). Walton, pleading guilty to the
harge in U. S. Commissioner’s
ourt next day was fined $125,
lad his driver’s license revoked
or 60 days, and received a 60
lay sentence, suspended. Further
harges may be placed against
Valton as a result of the accident.
Dr. Fred Honsinger
To Replace Graves as
Veterinarian Nov. i
Territorial Commissioner of
Agriculture Clyde Sherman an
nounced while in the Valley last
week-end that another veterinari
an has been assigned to this area
on a temporary basis to replace
Dr. Graves, whose resignation as
of October 31 was reported last
week.
Dr. Fred Honsinger of Juneau,
who was appointed as Territorial
veterinarian in charge of south
ast Alaska over a year ago, is
expected to arrive in Palmer .
about November 1 to assume his |
duties here. Since the Matanuska
Valley has the largest concentra- |
tion of dairy cattle in the Terri
tory, the need of having a veter- |
inarian on call is of paramount
importance.
Commissioner Sherman indicat- 1
ed that Honsinger’s temporary ap
pointment might be tantamount
to a permanent one since diffi- I
cully is anticipated in obtaining
another qualified veterinarian to
fill the position.
TO BE RELOCALED
MOOSE CREEK ROAD
ON PARALLEL LINE
»
Palmer is going to lose its lone
angle street, Moose Creek Road.
This street, which is the first
south of the highway, running in
a northwesterly direction between
Valley Street and Bailey Hill :
Street was cited by the City !
Planning Commission months ago ;
as a bottleneck as far as over
all planning for traffic and future :
building was concerned. It was 1
urged then that a change should
be made before more people were '
involved in the proposed change. !
The matter was brought to a
head last night at City Council
meeting by City Engineer Dick
Demming because of the need for ]
an efficient routing of water and ,
sewer lines to serve people who ,
will live in the future subdivision
area. According to an unrecorded ]
plat made by John L. Sullivan |
when he purchased the property ■
north of the road some time ago, j
provision was made (<>n paper) ■
for an extension of Matanuska
Street to the highway and the
extension of parellel alleys be- 1
tween Valley and Matanuska
Streets and between Matanuska! •
and Bailey Hill Streets.
Owners of the property invol- ,
ved were at the Council meet
ing last night. They were Sand- '
vik and Roark for the area northi
of Moose Creek Road facing on \
Valley Street, Lee Hartley, who
had the section of land facing on
Bailey Hill Street, Arthur ‘Tom- ,
my’ Thompson, who has the plat \
in between, and Donald Mealey,
who has a house and garage on
property south of the present
Moose Creek Road.
Together with Demming, the
engineers worked out all the de- ;
tails involved in abandoning the :
present Moose Creek Road and i
making plans for a new road that ;
will fit into the city’s rectangular :
system. It will start just a road’s
width north of the present mouth '
on Valley street. Only a garage '
on Thompson’s property will have 1
to be,moved to give the city ac- '
cess to the footage necessary for '■
the extension of Matanuska Street '
Continued on page 8 ]
PERMANENT APPOINTMENT OF NEW CLERK
IS IMMINENT; NEW CITY OFFICE SELECTED
\ CHANGE IN COUNCIL
! MEETING DATES
>
! The next regular meeting of ;
! the City Council will be Tues- j;
day, November 11. Regular;:
Council meetings will be held ;
hereafter “at places designat-;!
ed from time to time” on the ; I
second and fourth Tuesdays of ;
each month. At present the;:
Council is meeting in the Co- ]!
Op Club Room. Meetings begin ;
at 7:30 p.m. ;
Protests on Valley St.
Eondition Spur Promise
If Immediate Action
Sympathies of everyone at the
City Council meeting last night
vere with Mr. and Mrs. Larry
Bixby of the Valley Grocery
store when they protested against
;he condition of Valley Street.
After having the trade to their
store blocked by an open ditch
"or three weeks, the contractors
ast Friday had merely bulldozed
;he earth back into the ditch with
out any compacting. After the
•ain and wet snow of the week
end, the road was a quagmire of
)f mud in which unwary motor
sts welt* mired hopelessly and
Dedestrians sank down to their
cnees. .
There was no question but that
something had to be done and
lone fast. City plans to put a big
oad of gravel on the street this
veek had bogged down because a
hovel operator left behind by the
:ontractors to dig gravel with the
:ompany’s equipment was not
:ertain of his authorization to pro
ved. V .R. Worstell t,he contrac
tor’s engineer in charge, had
agreed informally to load the
gravel on city trucks.
It was pointed out that it would
>e worse than useless to put grav
el on the road in its present con
iition. It needed a 4ot of compact
ng by a “cat.” To complicate the
situation, the Council was not ex- j
ectly certain about the contrac-1
tor’s responsibility in putting the i
•oad back into good condition at
his time. The specific provisions j
about compacting applied to the
;ime when the job was completed,
rhe ditch will have to be opened
.ip again next spring to complete
he job.
The Council decided to wire the
contractor today about getting the
road fixed up at his expense,
“ailing that the road committee
ias authorization to proceed with
he job immediately at city ex
pense.
Gravel is now being put on
several city streets by the street
lepartment.
BETTINE SHOWS SIGNS
OF IMPROVEMENT
Aefcording, to word received
yesterday, Robert L. Bettine has
shown sighs of improvement since
lis removal to the Veteran’s Hos
pital in Portland, Oregon a week
igo.
The message, sent by his wife
;o Dorothy Saxton, stated Bettine
vas trying to talk and is moving
lis head. Today marks the twen
ty-first day he has been uncon
scious since his fall at Goat Moun
ain. His family will remain in
Portland for the present.
Mayor A1 Hagen’s appointment
of John Shaw as City Magistrate
was unanimously approved by the
City Council, meeting in special
session last night in the Co-Op
Club Room.
Shaw, the local representative,
of Butcher and Shaw, Attorneys
at Law, has been acting City
Clerk and City Magistrate since
the new mayor and Council were
sworn into office October 13.
Previous to that time he had an
appointment under former Mayor
Carl Meier for both offices, dat
ing from July 1.
The question of an appointment
of City Magistrate came up when
Mayor Hagen made a temporary
appointment to fill the vacancy
of City Clerk. In proposing Alice
Weaver, former manager of Val
ley Hospital, he indicated that the
offices of City Magistrate and
City Clerk would not be joined as
previously.
The temporary appointment of
Alice Weaver as City Clerk was
stymied by City Attorney Harold
Butcher, when in answer to Coun
cilwoman Betty Mears’ question,
quoted from a section of the Ter
ritorial Statutes showing that all
city appointments of the mayor
must be approved by the Council.
The Council indicated a desire to
know more about Mrs. Weaver’s
qualifications before giving ap
proval. It was observed also that
a period of orientation under the
present acting City Clerk would
be necessary even for a temporary
clerk and that the city would be
involved in more expense when
there was a change to a perman
ent appointment. He thought the
temporary appointment would be
a stop-gap measure for an im
mediate emergency and that it
would give the Council time and
opportunity to give careful con
sideration to her qualifications.
He said that she was a qualified
stenographer, typist, and book
keeper, that in addition to her
experience as manager of the
Valley Hospital, she had held
similar positions in large hospitals
in the States. Referring to a pre
viously expressed Council pref
erence for someone with an en
gineering background, he observ
ed that it might be impossible to
find all the desired qualifications
in one person. He pointed out that
the city already has an engineer
(Richard Demming).
Although Shaw had agreed to
continue to handle the City Clerk
job until a successor was appoint
ed, Attorney Butcher pointed out
that his present position, unsup
ported by any appointment is a
precarious one. He continues his
work only through Council suf
ferance and there's only a moral
obligation to pay him. It was fin
ally agreed that the Council
would have a special meeting this
week to consider Miss Weaver
as a permanent appointment.
City Chooses New Office
The whole issue of the appoint
ment was further complicated by
the decision to rent the No. 6
office space of the new Neal
Wright building as a permanent
city office. The 334-square-foot
space at $85 monthly had been
the choice of a special committee
that had considered several other
available offices. Mayor Hagen
wanted the new City Clerk ap
pointed right away so that the
city could establish its perman
ent office as of November 1. Shaw
Continued on Page 8