REGISTRATION DEADLINE
FOR ELECTION IS SEPT.
29. AT 1 P. M.
Hulley Jrontiergman
PUBLISHED Ilf THE INTERESTS OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
H PAGES
TODAY
VOLUME 5, No. 3.
PALMER. ALASKA. THURSDAY, SEPT. 27. 1951.
PRICE, 10c
School Bonding Issue to be Voted on Tuesday
C. C. Brix Presents City Council
With Deed for 7!4-Acre Park Site
At a meeting of the city coun-1
oil last night, C. C. Brix gave the
city of Palmer the deed to the j
property he offered as a city park !
a few months ago.
The 7 1/2-acre property includ
ed in lot 3, section 34 is located
just.east of the Matanuska river
bridge. It includes the end of the
bridge and also constitutes the
entrance to Wolverine lake.
A1 Hagen's motion that the
council accept the deed for the
park site, to be named Brix Park,
was passed unanimously by coun
cil members. A formal resolution
is to be drawn up accepting the
deed.
Mr. Brix, who is planning to go
Outside soon, also offered the city
a site overlooking the city and
I£nik glacier as a hospital site.
The site is located just east of the
road leading up Lazy mountain
from the Anchorage-Palmer high
way. Hagen suggested that the
offer be worded “for a hospital
or other civic purpose or for the
hospital’s benefit’’.
Brix also mentioned that his of
fer of 20 acres for a capitol site
for the Territory of Alaska as
made three years ago still stands
Phone Committee Reports
More routine business taken up
by the city council at last night’s i
meeting included a report by the !
telephone committee consisting of
Lloyd Severns, Frank Brown and
Steve Ward. The committee re
sported that certain specifications
had been drawn up in the closed
council session held Tuesday eve
ning. These were specifications
that council members would like
to have included in any proposal
by a private company seeking a
franchise to operate in the city of
Palmer. It was the opinion of the
committee that further study
would be needed before these
specifications were made public
and that more advice from disin
terested experts in telephone
(Continued on Page 11)
Community Chest Bd.
To Consider United
Defense Fund Request
The Palmer Community Chest
has been asked by the national
office of United Defense Funds to
contribute $214.65 as its share of
the national $15,511,854 budget,
it was announced this week by
Marvin Slaughter, president of
the local chest board.
This request will be taken up
,at the budget meeting of the
Community Chest board Friday
evening at eight o’clock in the
office of the U. S. Geological Sur
vey.
In urging the community to
consider the matter seriously, Mr.
(Continued on Page 11)
Senate Confirms
Huntley Appointment
As U. S. Marshal
According to press releases
from Washington, the U. S.
senate confirmed Tuesday nite,
President Truman’s appoint
ment of Walter Huntley as U.
S. marshal for Alaska’s third
division.
Although Huntley himself
has still received no official
confirmation of his appoint
ment he is expecting a wire
soon. He is making arrange
ments for posting his bond and
getting ready to assume his
new duties.
Huntley will continue to
maintain his home in Palmer.
He will spend week-ends with
his family at their new home
in the Sherrod sub-division.
His local contracting business
will be taken over by his son
Duane.
STAN LAIRD IS
NEW COMMANDER OF
AMERICAN LEGION
Installation of the new Legion
commander, Stanley Laird, will
take place at Carpenters hall next
Thursday. Other officers to be in
stalled include Richard Demming,
1st vice commander; Marvin
Slaughter, 2nd vice commander;
gene Kirsch chaplin; B. Niemann,
John Weisenberger, adjutant; Eu
finance officer, and Chester Eg
gleston, sergeant-at-arms.
POTATO GROWERS
YELL FOR HELP
AS FREEZE-UP NEARS
Valley potato farmers were
flooding the Co-Op offices early
this week with requests for help
to get their crops out of the fields
before freeze-up.
After nearly a week of rain had
kept potato digging at a virtual
standstill, the skies cleared over
this week-end, bringing the Val
ley its first warning freeze of the
season Monday morning.
Potato pickers this year are
getting $2 an hour and their din
ners, but Co-Op acting manager,
Carl Rasmussen said Monday that
he would have to go to the news
papers and radios for help in
what he described as a near crisis.
The Co-Op has huge potato con
tract obligations to fill for the Al
aska military command. For Co
Op producers alone, Rasmussen
(Continued on page 11)
SEPTEMBER'S BEEN
A RAINY MONTH
According to the climato
logical section of the U. S.
Weather bureau, September,
1951, has been one of the wet
test on record over the Cook
inlet drainage area.
At Max Sherrod’s weather
recording station, 5.14 inches
of rain have been recorded so
far this month—more than the
total received last year during
the entire growing season,
Sherrod added. The average
September rainfall is 2.71
inches.
Registered Voters Decide Oct. 3
On $1 Million School Bond issue
Hurley Elected
Lt. Gov. of Kiwanis,
Aloska-Yukon Division
According to word received
this morning, James Hurley
was elected lieutenant gover
nor of the Alaska-Yukon divi
sion of Kiwanis International
at the 34th annual convention
of the Pacific Northwest dis
trict of Kiwanis International
held at Vancouver, British Co
lumbia, this week.
Hurley will assume his new
duties on January 1, 1952. He
succeeds William S. Wilson,
acting director of the Geo
physical Institute, head of the
department and professor of
chemistry at the University of
Alaska.
Hurley is a charter member
of Palmer Kiwanis, which was
organized in September, 1949,
and served as its second presi
dent. He has also served as
president and district officer
of another service club in the
states.
PALMER C of C PLAYS
HOST TO ANCHORAGE
CHAMBER WEDNESDAY
Members of the Anchorage
Chamber of Commerce will be
luncheon guests of the Palmer
Chamber at the regular luncheon
meeting Wednesday, October 3rd.
President Jack Anderson of the
Anchorage Chamber accepted the
local invitation this morning.
New Bishop of Juneau to be Consecrated in
Colorful Rites at Anchorage Holy Family Church
Converging on the Holy Fami
ly church in Anchorage next
Wednesday, October 3, will be all
the bishops of the new ecclesias
tical province of Seattle, all the
priests of the Territory, and a
number of dignitaries represent
ing the Roman Catholic church
the world over. They come for the
consecration of the Most Rev.
Dermot O’Flanagan as the first
bishop of Juneau, Alaska.
Bishop Francis D. Gleeson, S.
J., vicar apostolic of Alaska, will
be consecrator; and Bishops Chas.
D. White of Spokane and Joseph
P. Dougherty of Yakima will be
co-consecrators. Archbishop Thos.
A. Connolly of Seattle will pre
side as metropolitan.
Father O’Flanagan flew to Se
attle, Monday, to be present at
the consecration of Archbishop
elect Connolly and Bishop-elect
Dougherty this week. A chartered
plane will bring at least 30 digni
taries from Seattle to Anchorage.
Among the passengers will be
Bishop O’Hara of Kansas City,
and very probably Archduke Ot
to, Hapsburg pretender to the
throne of Austria.
A caravan of the guests attend
ing the ceremonies Wednesday
will make a tour of the Matanus
ka valley the following day. Mr.
and Mrs. Bill Bouwens will be
hosts at a game dinner for the
group in their home Thursday
evening.
Bishop-elect O’Flanagan will be
installed in the Cathedral of the
Nativity in Juneau shortly after
the consecration. Date for the in
stallation will be announced lat
er. The newly created diocese of
Juneau includes Palmer as well
as the cities of Anchorage, Ko
diak, Cordova, Ketchikan, Sitka,
Skagway, Wrangel and Seward.
The rest of the Territory remains
under the jurisdiction of Bishop
Gleeson.
The bishop-elect came to Alas
ka 18 years ago when Anchorage
was still a small village. His Holy
Family parish is now Alaska’s
largest, with Sunday attendance
at the new church reaching 1,200.
Until Father James Snead came
to Palmer, Father O’Flanagan
served the parish here as well as
his own in Anchorage. He still re
tains his deep interest in the St.
Michael’s parish.
Who will take Father O’Flana
gan’s place in the Holy Family
church is a question interesting
not only to the Anchorage parish
ioners, but also those from the
Matanuska valley area. The ap
pointment will come from Rome,
according to Father Snead, to re
lieve the new bishop of making a
choice among those with whom
he has been so closely associated
for so many years.
• Qualified electors will go to the
Palmer school district polls in the
school gymnasium Tuesday, Oc
tober 2 to vote “Yes” or “No” ;o
the proposition: SHALL THE
PALMER INDEPENDENT
SCHOOL DISTRICT INCUR AN
INDEBTEDNESS OF $1,000,000
FOR THE PURPOSE OF CON
STRUCTING A HIGH SCHOOL
WITH GYMNASIUM-AUDITOR
IUM AND SHOPS?
Qualified electors in this case
are persons whose names appear
on the 1951 tax assessment roll of
the Palmer independent school
district, and who have registered
for the election in the tax collec
tor-assessor’s office in the Neal
Wright building prior to 1 p.m.
Saturday, September 29, 1951.
The polls will be open from 8
a.m. to 7 p.m. on the date of the
election Tuesday, October 2,
1951. Judges for the election will
be Mrs. William Curtis, Mrs. Emil
Larsh and Mrs. Charles Wilson.
No Vote on Tax
Increase in property taxes is
not an issue in the election. The
school board has indicated that it
might be necessary, failing other
sources of income, to increase the
school tax by two mills in order
to meet the amortization cost of
the district’s one-half share of
total construction costs. The pres
ent tax on property is 10 mills, or
10 dollars for every thousand dol
lars of assessed valuation. Two
mills would add 2 dollars to this
amount. The school board has the
power to raise the tax to a total
of 30 mills provided the city of
Palmer has no property tax.
Two Percent Interest Rate
Several people have expressed
concern over possible high inter
est rates if bonds have to be is
sued. School board members
point out that if the government
takes the bonds, the interest rate
as set by law on school district
bonds held as security for loans
I made under the Alaska Public
(Continued on Page 11)
ARVID JOHNSON
AND MADS JOHANSEN
SELL THEIR FARMS
.Announcement was made last
week of the sale of two more
large farms in the Valley and the
imminent departure of their two
owners who have been agricul
tural leaders in the Valley for a
number of_years.
Both of the farms are on Fish
Hook road. One of them is Arvid
Johnson’s 115-acre dairy farm,
which was purchased last Friday
by Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Williams
of Madisonville, Texas. The other
is the 100-acre vegetable farm of
Mads Johansen, purchased re
(Continued on Page 4)