National Guard docu
mentary film at Legion
Hall, 7:30 p.m.. Aug. 1
VOL. 3. NO. 46
Malley IFrontieersm
PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
PALMER. ALASKA. FRIDAY. JULY 28. 1950
Carpenter's benefit
dance in gymnasium
on Aug. 5.
PRICE 10c
Valley Farmers Look For Good Crops In 1950
Committee Heads
Named to Plan
For Valley’s Defense
Preliminary plans for the ci- ,
vilian defense of Palmer were!
outlined at last Monday’s public i
meeting by chairman Walter j
Huntley. Mr. Huntley appointed j
committee heads for all phases of
the civil defense program of the
area, and asked the committee ;
chairmen to appoint their own
workers.
, Individual committee meetings |
were scheduled throughout this;
week. Committee heads are to!
meet again next Monday eve
ning, at eight o’clock in the Gym- j
nasium, to report the plans they
have formulated for their por
tion of the defense program.
Lt. Tom Murton, who will com
mand a National Guard platoon
here, pledged all possible help
from his unit, but warned that
Guard members should not be
given jobs of responsibility in
community defense, since the Na
tional Guard may be called any
where in the Territory where it
is needed.
Mr. Huntley assigned these jobs
to the following Palmer residents:
Fire fighting—A1 Hagen.
Rescue and first aid—Jack
Maze. Marjorie Bysen.
Medical care—Drs. C. C. Bail
ey and Vernon Cates.
System of alerts—Bill Smith.
Viola Daniels.
Evacuation of sick and in
jured—Rev. Victor Alfsen.
(Continued on Back Page)
NO BID AWARD MADE
ON AHA HOUSES
No bid award has been
made for construction of Pal
mer’s 25 houses, E. Glen Wilder
of the Alaska Housing Author
ity said late last week. Mr.
Wilder said he hoped for an
award for Palmer, following a
meeting of AHA’s board of
commissioners at Fairbanks
this week.
Mr. Wilder further stated
that Clinton Staples of the
Federal Housing Administra
tion had informed him that
plans for the Palmer houses
had been approved.
(A story in last Friday’s
Seward Seaport Record said
that a Seward firm, the James
Construction Co., had been
awarded the bid on Palmer
houses and that plumbing and
electrical sub - contracts also
were awarded to Seward firms.
Mr. Wilder emphatically de
nied on Friday that any awards
had been made. There has been
no further confirmation of the
Seward story.)
Anchorage Writers Meet
Each Monday Evening
The Anchorage Writers Club
meets each Monday at eight p.m.,
in the upstairs lounge of the
YMCA at Fifth and F Streets in
Anchorage, secretary Marcine
Plimpton announced this week.
Anyone interested in the work
of the club is invited to attend a
meeting.
MEETING REVEALS - -
Portlanders Want More Markets,
Valley Wants More Outside Dollars
Portland Chamber ol commerce f
visitors and Valley businessmen i
sat down together at luncheon
last Tuesday to tell their troubles
to one another. The net result
well may mean one or two new
industries for the Valley, and it
certainly promises to bring about
improved trade relations between \
the Matanuska Valley and the
Oregon city.
The Portland delegation, a
dozen strong, was led by George
Henderson, secretary of the Alas
ka department of the Chamber. ]
The visitors spent the first half of ;
the meeting asking questions of ;
Valley folk concerning the agri- ]
cultural development here. They
wanted to know the number of ]
homesteaders here, what the size (
in acres of various types of farms
was and the dollars and cents ;
^alue of the agricultural products ]
grown here. They also wanted to <
know where the markets for those ]
products were, and how well Val-11
ley farmers were doing in supply- ’
ing the demand.
Visitors and Valley folk alike i
were surprised at some of the fig- <
ures bandied about in the general 1
discussion. Clayton Esslinger, ac- :
countant for the Matanuska Val
ley Farmers’ Co-Operating Asso- :
ciation, presented a series of fig- <
ures on the milk, potato, egg and
produce business of the Valley .
that showed local Co-Op farmers
did a $600,000 business last year.
Further questioned concerning i
the amount of agricultural pro- j
auce imported nere, Mr. £,ssnnger
•eferred the question to Don Irwin,
iirector of the Agricultural Re
search Administration. Mr. Irwin
:old the visitors that he estimated
75 per cent of the perishable
?oods used in the Matanuska
Galley still were imported from
Dutside. The figure runs even
aigher in Fairbanks, he added.
Jan Koslosky, as spokesman for
;he businessmen of Palmer, told
visitors that there had been a
/ery decided increase in business
rere in the past year. “The Val
ey has progressed more in the
aast two years than it ever has
before,” he said. “The new high
way from Palmer to Anchorage
las helped us immensely in the
levelopment of added business.”
When Portland questions were
inswered, the visitors invited Val
ey residents to question them
roncerning Oregon business,
i/luch interest was expressed in
he Coastwise Steamship Line,
vhich is based in Portland. H. H.
rVrightson of that company said
he volume of business, from the
itandpoint of freight tonnage, had
ar exceeded expectations in the
irst two years of service. Coast
vise now has four vessels sailing
'or Alaska on a 12-day schedule
)ut of Portland, he said.
The shipping head explained
;hat the business had depended
leavily on transport of heavy ma
chinery in its first years of op
eration.
(Continued on Back Page)
[Dr. Albrecht Says - -
Valley Needs 35-Bed Hospital;
Would Cost Half-Million Dollars
The Valley Hospital’s board ol
I directors met in special session
j last week to discuss the local in
| stitution’s eligibility for territo
rial financial aid for operational
I expense. With a course of action
planned to seek that aid, talk then
! turned, as it usually does in hos
pital board meetings, to plans for
I a new hospital building here.
Dr. C. E. Albrecht, territorial
I commissioner of health, outlined
his plans for a 35-bed institution
S that he estimated would cost
either $400,000 or $500,000. He
| said he felt the Valley must build
with an eye to its future needs,
| and that a hospital that size is
essential to those future needs.
The earlier discussion of build
ing plans had been predicated on
1 the possibility of drawing on
I Federal, territorial, Presbyterian
mission and community funds to
erect the building. Board mem
| bers are optimistic concerning the
possibility of beginning some type
j of building in the near future,
j Rev. Victor Alfsen, who had
f just returned from a trip Outside,
; said he had discussed the hos
pital’s building problem with rep
! resentatives of the board of mis
! sions at Presbyterian headquar
I ters in New York. He also had
I VALLEY POPULATION
I FIXED AT 3.504
Kirk Stone, reading of the lo
cal dilemna with regard to the
figure which represents the total
population of the Matanuska Val
ley, came up with the answer
this week. He writes that there
is a total of 3,504 residents in the
Valley.
Mr. Stone, a member of the de
partment of geography of the
University of Wisconsin, was a
Valley visitor on a government
assignment two summers ago. It
was he who helped establish the
j recording districts of the census
i for the Valley, so his answer is
bound to be right.
DRIFTER CHARGED
WITH ASSAULT
OF BABY GIRL
Richard Selma, itinerant con
struction worker who has run
afoul of the law several times in
Alaska, was arrested here last
Monday and charged with as
sault with intent to rape a four
year-old Palmer girl. Deputy
Marshall Mill Bouwens and Ter
ritorial Highway Patrolman Stan
ley Laird made the arrest.
Selma was brought before U. S.
Commissioner Dorothy Saxton for
a preliminary hearing. After the
hearing, he was taken to Anchor
; age, where he will be held for the
| grand jury. Bail was fixed at
$2,500 by Mrs. Saxton,
j The alleged assault occurred in
| downtown Palmer late Monday
afternoon. Selma denies the
j charge and is understood to have
produced a witness with an alibi
for his movements Monday after
noon.
talked of plans with Miss Ger
trude Wetzel, territorial building
consultant, whom he met Outside.
It was emphasized that any hos
pital which the Valley builds
must be constructed to Federal
and territorial requirements. A
building which falls short of those
requirements cannot meet the
Valley’s needs for any length of
time, board members and Dr. Al
ibrecht agreed.
Returning to the problem of
; funds for operation, the board
| was informed that there is a
i $6,000 territorial fund available
! for maintenance of hospitals. It
' is not certain that the Valley Hos
pital is eligible, but Dr. Albrecht
; recommended that application be
; made.
Although the annual report last
February showed that the local
I institution had a $700 profit, its
| local operational costs and the in
| terest due on bonds have eaten up
! that sum.
In addition to Dr. Albrecht and
I regular hospital board members,
! the following persons attended
j last week’s special meeting.
Clayton Esslinger, Dr. C. C.
Bailey, Dr. Vernon Cates, and
: Mrs. John Weaver, hospital man
i ager.
ALASKA SEED BLDG.
SOLD TO H. ESTELLE
Alaska Seed’s Palmer store, lo
cated beside the Ward Building,
has been sold to Howard Estelle,
company head Ed Baldwin an
nounced this week. The seed and
feed business conducted by Alas
ka Seed will be closed immedi
I ately,. Mr. Baldwin said. Stocks
! were almost entirely depleted at
press-time.
j Mr. Estelle says he has no im
mediate plans for-putting his new
i purchase to work. He is certain,
however, that he will not operate
a feed store there.
Meanwhile, Valley residents
still may purchase Alaska Seed
products from Teeland’s Store at
Wasilla, the other Valley outlet.
Mr. Baldwin emphasized that the
I firm was not- withdrawing from
the Valley, but was merely clos
ing one phase of its operation
here. The company still maintains
its Anchorage store.
DAY PARENTS VISIT I
FROM CALIFORNIA
Mr. and Mrs. R. E. Day of San
I Francisco, Calif., arrived in the
! Valley last week for a visit with
; their son and daughter-in-law.
j Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Day. The
I elder Days will remain here until
; late August. They plan a trip to
I McKinley Park this weekend.
I They arrived by boat, but shipped
I their automobile with them, and
| will drive back to San Francisco
by way of the Alaska Highway.
They are completely satisfied
with the Alaska they’ve seen thus
far.
’CO-OP MANAGER
PREDICTS ANOTHER
$250,000 YEAR
The crop outlook in the Mata
nuska Valley for 1950 is good,
manager James Wilson of the
Matanuska Valley Farmers’ Co
Operating Association said today.
He predicts that this year’s dollar
totals will be only slightly less
than the $252,000 produce busi
ness that Co-Op ledgers recorded
in 1949.
While it’s still so early in the
season that anything can happen,
the Co-Op manager did review
the information a survey of thd
fields had revealed early in the
week.
The potato crop is expected to
be about the same as last year’s
harvest, which was estimated at
3,000 tons. Mr. Wilson said the
total acreage planted this spring
was slightly less than last year’s,
but he expected a somewhat bet->
ter yield to bring the tonnage
level up. It is still too early to
say whether there will be exten
sive disease in the potato crops.
There is only a short supply
of green onions and radishes. The
radish price offered by the Army
was so low the Co-Op relin
quished its contract for the com
modity, Mr. Wilson said. There
also is little demand for the on
ions.
An analysis of the lettuce crop
cannot be made with accuracy at
this time, the Co-Op manager
said. The lettuce crop can be lost
in a week, if weather is not fa
vorable. This week’s survey
showed some evidence of tip burn,
but it’s still too early to judge its
seriousness, farm experts say. If
the harvest is as good as present
condition of the crop indicates,
the supply is expected to be just
slightly under last year’s.
There is a good supply of tur
nips and carrots, and they are do
ing well, Mr. Wilson reported.
The celery crop is excellent, with
this year’s harvest expected t >
| equal that of 1949.
Cabbage acreage is limited i -
the Valley this year, because th
Co-Op has no cabbage contract.
All in all, the year of 1950 is
expected to compare very favor
ably with the figures accountant
Clayton Esslinger recited for vis
iting Portlanders at Tuesday’s
Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
Those figures were almost as big
a surprise to Valley listeners, as
they were to the Portland guests.
This is what Mr. Esslinger told
luncheon guests the Co-Op paid
to its producers last year:
$300,000 for 3.000,000 pounds
of milk.
S48.Q00 for 52,000 dozen eggs.
$200,000 for 4,000.000 pounds
of potaloes.
$52,000 for all iypes of green
produce.
$10,000 for meat.
$2,000 for surplus grains.
As just one example of rev
enues received from the sale of
commodities marketed by the Co
Op, Mr. Esslinger reports that the
MVFCA grossed $250,000 last year
for its ice cream.
Asked to give an estimate of
the Valley’s agricultural business
that is handled by the Co-Op, Mr.
Esslinger said he judged the
MVFCA handled two-thirds of all
the farm products of the Mata
(Continued on Back Page)