''Thai we here highly retolve . . .
! that government of the people, by
the people, for the people ehail
NOT periih from the earth. *
—Abraham Lim-oln Nov. 19, 18C1
VniikEtt FRONTIERSmRN
PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
TRY A FRONTIERSMAN
CLASSIFIED AD for thit
item you may hare for sal*,
rent or lease.
VOLUME 5. NUMBER 23
PALMER. ALASKA THURSDAY. FEB. 14. 1952
PRICE TEN CENTS
World Around Us
IN ANCHORAGE nurses at
Provdence Hospital were granted
a 30 cent hourly increase ancl
“fringe” benefits as a result of a
recent request for more pay and
improved working conditions. Al- j
though the $300 base pay agreed
upon is less than the amount re
quested, it represents a substan-!
tial increase over the former $240 j
base for nurses living out.
* * *
IN FAIRBANKS the Alaska!
Dog Mushers Association an-!
nouhced a total of $6,150 to be
awarded in prizes to be awarded
in the annual North American
championship sled dog derby to
be run there March 7-9 in con
junction with the Fairbanks Ice
Carnival. For each of the first
two laps of 20 miles, $1,075 will
bring division of $2,525 among
the five leading teams. The mush
er with the best time for the en
tire 70-mile run will receive an
additional $1,000.
The city of Fairbanks is richer
by $21,110.76 as a result of sales
tax collections during the month
of December, first that the tax
was in effect. City Manager Evan
Peterson expected that the first
months’ total would be at least
$25,000 and possibly $30,000 when
all returns are in.
* * *
IN JUNEAU a Mr. G. Cogg- |
Willoughby of Boston, Massachu
setts, arrived recently to spend j
two weeks in taking color pic- i
tures of Alaska. Said he, “Oni
my trip into these primitive:
, areas. I shall be less concerned !
about consuetudinary aspects and !
will attempt to portray the rech
erche vistas which abound here in
such profusion.” Mr. Cogg-Wil- j
loughby is reputed to have a
photographic field with some
specialization in beauty contests.
* * *
IN DOUGLAS a cannery build
ing was lifted up by gusts of wind
estimated in excess of 100 miles
per hour on January 24 and set
down in shallow water near its
pier on Gastineau Channel. Sal
vage operations were expected to
recover about 50 percent of loss
estimated at about $65,000 for the
structure and its equipment. The
mishap caught the company in
the midst of its crab processing
season. The Douglas natatorium
has been made available until a
new building can be constructed,
and it is expected that shrimp
processing will proceed next
week.
* * *
IN THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS
and Amchatka Island an expedi
Continued on page 5
i MATANUSKA VALLEY REPUBLICAN CLUB ,
★LINCOLN DAY DINNER ★
MOOSE HALL
8:00 P. M.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14
JOHN GORSUCH
GUEST SPEAKER
GOPs Muster Tonight
100-Strong at Valley
Lincoln Day Dinner
It is expected that the entire
roster of Republican candidatef
for the Third Division will atten i
the Valley Republican Club'
Lincoln Day dinner tonight ir
Moose Hall.
A complete sellout of the 10(
tickets available for the dinnei
was reported this morning by A]
Hagen, club president. Efforts an
being made to install a few extrt
tables for the inevitable last min
ute requests for places at the din
ner scheduled to begin at 8 p. m.
Hosts for the affair are the Val
ley’s three favorite sons who an
seeking seats in the Territoria
legislature: L. C. Stock, M. D
Snodgrass, and Dr. Lee McKinley
Gerrit “Heinie” Snider, membe
of the Territorial Senate, will b<
master of ceremonies. Mrs. Rus
sell Felzien. secretary of the loca
club, is in charge of decorations.
John Gorsuch. candidate fo
nomination to the Territoria
Senate, will deliver the Lincoli
Day address. Appropriately, h'
has chosen ‘‘Americansm” as hi
theme.
A number of persons who an
attending other activities earlie
in the evening have indicate!
their desire to hear the speeches
To accommodate these people .
public address system is bein;
set up so that the speeches wil
be carried to all corners of Moos>
Hall.
a LOCAL SCOUTS
ATTEND GHUGACH
RALLY IN ANCHORAGf
Ten Chugach district Ben
Scout troops, totaling nearly 25^
boys, participated in the annua
Boy Scout Rally held February
12 in the school gym at Anchor
age.
Among those participating it
the eight competative events wa:
Palmer Troop 654. In the firs'
event, an ice-rescue trial, the
Palmer scouts placed second
Taking part in all events, the^
succeeded in taking first plac<
in the “fire by flint and steel’
contest, in the record time of 2.
seconds.
Local scouts who attended tht
rally included Laddie Huntley
Neil Herman, Jerry McKechnie
Ronnie Aklestad, Eldon Sandvik
Members of Troop 654 who at
tended the rally included scout:
Huntley. Mick Herman, McKech
nie. Aklestad, Sandvik, Gallant
Mears, Miller, Johnson, Hamilton
Lucas. Van Valkenburg, Gans
chow, Wimmer, Frank, Campbell
Esslinger. Zaborac, Shook
Wright, and Pruitt. They were ac
companied by Scoutmaster Ver
non Fridley and Assistant Scout
master Harry Gayley, as well a:
several parents. Emil Ganschou
was among those chosen to judge
the contests.
NEW MANAGERS
AT CHICKALOON INN
It was learned this week that
Larry and Irene Vasanoja, well
known local couple, are operat
ing the Chickaloon Inn, which
they have leased from Ray Gras
ser.
St. Valentine's Day;
i
I
i
!
i
l
1 !
I
by HOB KI.EM
Leaves tliat blow before the winter
Blades of (trass, and drops of rain
Many things convey the meamnc
That a Valentine makes plain
Like the buds upon a rose bush.
Tiie last blossom on the vine.
The* kiss ol a good woman
Will improve along with wine.
Sparks of fire fade fast, then glimmer
Then a memory remains.
May your Valentine be tinder
To a spark that starts a flame.
Nodding in the rocking chair.
Feet stretched toward the fire.
Grandpa dreams of footsteps
On the trail of heart’s desire.
There are footsteps of fair ladies
Where his ^leepy memory plays,
Soft hands and arms caressing
And kisses light and gay.
Now he dreams about the lady
Who is resting in her grave.
And misses the companionship
His very nature craves.
Facing to the coming Springtime.
Forgetting many weary woes,
Looking to the life that quickens
Not the ashes of a rose!
(M'x,
11.
' Recent Palmer Survey Shows That
Alaskan Grocery Costs Stay In Line
Information released from the
Alaska Experiment Station’s Ag
, riculeural Economics department
; recently reveals that Alaska’s
grocery costs have risen in the
r past year but that the percentage
I of increase is below that exper
I i ienced in the States.
Hugh Johnson quotes recent re-!
leases from the Bureau of Labor ;
Statistics as showing that re-1
, | ta>l food prices for the United
States on November 15. 1951, i
were 13.9 percent above thor;e cf|
June, 1950. and 9.8 percent above
those for November, 1950.
The nearest comparable data I
; from Alaska is for 40 grocery
items from four stores in Palmer.
According to Johnson’s survey, it
cost eight percent more to buy
one each of these 40 items on
November 15. 1951, than it had
a year before. This eight percent
is roughly comparable to the 9.8
percent rise in food costs for the
United States as a whole.
Prices rose rapidly in the States
after fighting started in Korea. In
Alaska, at least as represented
by the Palmer survey, they rose
less rapidly and then largely on a
few items at a time. Most of the
change in Alaska occurred dur
ing the period January to April
1951. The Palmer prices dropped
about 2.5 percent in late April
and have held relatively constant
since May 1. The total cost of 42
groceries on November 15 in Pal
mer was only 0.6 percent above
the May 1 prices. This cost rose
to 1.1 percent by December 16,
largely due to increases in the
price of eggs, meats, flour, cigar- :
ettes and lemons. Small decreases ,
actually occurred in the prices of ;
soap and soap powder, canned i
fruits and vegetables and sugar.
Data from Anchorage and Fair
banks snoe May 1 indicate that
their price pattern was about the
same as for Palmer. Their gro
cery prices dropped slightly dur
ing the summer and were still
fractionally below May 1 prices
:>n November 15. Anchorage rose1
an average of 0.6 percent be-;
tween November 15 and Decern- i
oer 15. Rises occurred in the!
arice of eggs, meats, flour, some j
canned fruits and vegetables, le- i
mens and local carrots. Slight de-!
creases occurred in salad dress- j
ng soap, bananas, some canned j
vegetables and cigarettes.
Interest always exists concern
ng comparisons with Stateside i
prices. Using 18 food items com- :
non to both the Bureau of Labor
Statistics and the Experiment
Station surveys, it appears that
Anchorage food costs were about
19 percent above Seattle on Nov
ember 15. Palmer and Fairbanks
prices each were 41.5 percent
above Seattle. Anchorage and
Palmer prices appear to have ri
sen slightly this fall and winter
in relation to Seattle, and Fair
banks may have dropped slightly.
Small differential adjustments
In meats, fresh fruits and canned
vegetables seem to have caused
the changes in relation to Seattle
prices. These probably are of a
seasonal nature. Comparisons lat
er in the winter or spring will be
necessary before it is known
whether actual changes in price
•elationships have occurred wdth
;he Seattle level.
The first prices from Juneau
for this series were collected on
ranuary 1, 1952 by the Alaska
Development Board. The 18 food
terns used for comparison cost
Continued on page 5
Hopes Dim for 1952 Construction
Start on Palmer's New High School
QUEEN PAGEANT TO BE
FEATURED IN KIWANIS
1952 MINSTREL SHOW
H. J. Hodgson, chairman of the
Kiwanis Minstrel Show commit
tee. announced this week that the
1952 Minstrel Show will feature
for the first time a queen page
ant.
“This pageant will add con
siderable color and glamour to
the production." he explained.
Requirements for queen candi
dates are only that they be sen
iors in high school or older, but
not over 25 years of age, and
that they sell a required mini
mum number of tickets. The
number, to be announced later,
will be dependent upon the num
ber of candidates entered in the
contest.
Various organizations in the
Matanuska Valley are being
asked to sponsor queen candi
dates for the year’s hospital bene
fit sjjow. Since the Kiwanis Club
sponsors the show, it will have
no candidate in the queen com
petition. Any girl may enter as
an independent candidate if she
so desires. All candidates must
register with Mr. Hodgson, who
may be reached at the Alaska Ex
periment Station, not later than
February 24. At that time they
must furnish information regard
ing sponsorship and age. Tickets
will be made available to all
candidates on or before March 1,
1952, and the ticket sale will end
March 21.
Ten points will be awarded for
each dollar of tickets sold. The
total number of points earned
will be the most important criter
ion in selecting contest winners,
although beauty, poise, and pos
sibly ability to model gowns will
also be considered.
The five candidates with the
highest scores will appear in the
queen pageant. Each of the three
candidates w i t h the highest
scores will reign as queen for one
night, and will act as an attend
ant on the other nights. The
Continued on page 5
Cubs lo Mark
Scout Birthday With
Blue and Gold Party
Cub Scout Pack 354 of Palmer
will celebrate the 42nd anniver
sary of scouting with its anual
Blue and Gold dessert banquet on
February 25 m the Lutheran
Church basement.
Parents of Cub Scouts are urg
ed to attend as family groups for
an evening of Inspiration and fel
lowship.
This will also provide an excel
lent opportunity for parents to
become better acquainted with
Cub Scout program and to meet
the new Cubmaster, Rev. Edwasd
Inline, and the assistant Cub
master, Dr. Curtis Dearborn, who
will act as song leader and game
director for the evening.
Refreshments and decorations
will carry out the Blue and Gold
theme and are being planned by
the Den Mothers.
Returned from a conference of
the Territory's school superin
tendents held in Juneau last
week. Superintendent William T.
Zahradnicek had little hope this
week that construction on Palm
er’s sorely needed high school
will start this year.
In conference with Alaska Pub
lic Works officials in Juneau, he
learned that the local school pro
ject is on APW’s '53 budget. If
the legislators in Washington are
prompt in appropriating the mon
ey for APW's budget request—
$20,000.000—it is possible that
some phases of the construction
could be started early next fall
However, such optimism is not
based on last year’s experience.
Zahradnicek pointed out that
it is still possible that the Palmer
Independent School District will
receive some building funds
through Public Act 815, which
awards funds to districts exper
iencing increased enrollments be
cause of defense projects. Appli
cations for such funds have been
made by the local district. Only
yesterday, it was revealed that
Anchorage has been offered
$2,257,695 for .‘minimum” con
struction under the act.
Recommendations Made
At the conference of superin
tendents several recommenda
tions for improving the Territor
ial school system were made.
These recommendations will be
passed on to the Territorial Board
of Education.
The superintendents suggested
a simplified system of making
Territorial refunds to the indi
vidual school districts to elim
inate the paper work in the pres
ent system. Under the proposed
system, the refunds wrnuld be
based on the number of teachers
Continued on page 5
Lag in Purchase of
1952 License Plates
Assures Deadline Rush
A big last minute rush for 1952
license plates was indicated by
figures released by U. S. Com
missioner Dorothy Saxton this
week.
Comparing last year’s sales
with those made this year, the
Commissioner noted a more than
40 percent lag. By the end of
January 1951. a total of 708 li
censes had been purchased in
the Palmer precinct. This year
only 415 motor vehicle licenses
of all types had been picked up
by the end of January.
Only two more weeks remain
for the purchase of license plates,
the Commissioner warned. Febru
ary 28 is the last day drivers may
operate vehicles with 1951 plates
without being subject to penalty
This year car owners must sign
for their plates and must present
Territorial titles of ownership.
Owners of trucks also need to
know the unloaded weights of
their vehicles.
Under the new law- this year
trailers, such as two-wheeled
boat trailers, open box trailers,
and small canvas top trailers are
exempt from licensing. However,
house trailers, even though hav
Continued on page 5
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