Spring ii Here
end
Clean-Up Week !« Near
May 11—17
Be Proud lo I ive in Palmer"
uniibEy frontiersman
PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS Or THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
I TRY A FRONTIERSMAN {
CLASSIFIED AD lor that j
item you may have for »#l«. j
rent or l*a»e.
VOLUME V. NO. 34
PALMER. ALASKA. THURSDAY. MAY 1. 1952
PRICE TEN CENTS
Record Turnout for Primary Election In Palmer Precinct
World Around Us
IN JUNEAU count of Tues
day’s election ballots was inter
rupted in the big No. 1 precinct
when the poll workers pleaded
exhaustion early Wednesday
morning.
IN FAIRBANKS the Chen .
River went out at 2:43 p.m. Tues
day. April 29. Oldtimers are pre
dicting that the Tanana will go
out tomorrow. May 2.
IN KETCHIKAN construction
of a S46 000.000 pulp plant is
scheduled to start immediately.
The Ketchikan Pulp Company
will be a joint venture of the
American Ciscose Corp. and the
Puget Sound Pulp and Timber
Co. of Bellingham, Wash. The
plant will have an assured per
petual supply of timber through
its contract with the U S. Forest
Service. Engineers plan a 300-ton
minimum daily capacity output
of high-alpha pulp. Several hun
dred rnen will be employed in the
plant and logging operations.
* * *
IX CORDOVA Ray James' con
tract for rehabilitation of the
Cordova water system may de
pend on the outcome of a suit
brought by Harold Z. Hansen.
Robert Hammerquist and Ira
Rothwell. on behalf of them
selves and "all" other taxpaveis
of Cordova, to seek an injunction
to prevent the Cordova City
Council from issuing bonds in
or purchasing electric light,
power water and telephone sys
tems now operated by Alaska
Public U*iIitie;-\ Although bond
ing at ‘tomato r. was granted by
taxpayers i.n the last of a series
of bond elections over the past
five y irs. it is charged that the
S304.0C'» purchase price authoriz
ed by he council is “grossly and \
flagran.lv exhorbitant ana exces-!
five.”
* * *
IX' KODIAK the prospects for
clam diggers ..ere not as bright.
Halferty Canneries- Inc. announc
ed that the company will not can
claims in Kodiak this year be
cause the clam diggers demands
are too high. Cannery workers in
Kodiak face the grim prospect of
an entire season without work:
earlier it was announced that no
salmon would be canned at the
Halferty cannery there because
of increased costs and the reduc
tion of the fishing season.
3 Local Men to Help
Coordinate Dept, of
Agriculture Pregram
Swift action followed the let
ter sent to Governor Ernest
Oruening from 91 Valley dairy
'll end poultrvmen last Thurs
day supporting Dr. Earl F.
Gr: vi s. 1 cal 7 n itorial v ts rin
arian. who had received irom
Commissioner of Agriculture
Clyde Sherman a notice of dis
missal that hinged on his ability
to prove or disprove three
charges contained therein.
In a hastily called meeting.
Commissioner Sherman met with
the local dairymen and poultry
men last Friday night to explain
that the conditional dismissal let
ter was actually a strong warn
ing that he would have to. have
cooperation from the veterinarian
on his departmental program.
Introduced to the group by
Harold Thuma. president of the
Breeders' Association. Sherman
opened the discussion with a brief
resume of veterinary work in the
Department of Agriculture, point
ing out the necessity of coopera
tion and mutual understanding
between department heads.
Livestock and dairying need ail
assistance possible. Sherman
stated. To make use of this as
sistance. new methods- their sug
gested uses, and regulations must
be observed, he added.
Meat slaughtering regulations
in the Territory came in for quite
a lengthy discussion. Sherman
told of his department's fear tha.
Alaskan farmers could not com
ply with the proposed regula
tions. For that reason he request
ed House Bill 22 be withdrawn
from the last session of the Leg
islature. with the promise that
(Continued on page 3)
Relatively unnoticed yesterday
was the first birthday of Palmer,
incorporated city of the first
class.
It was on April 30. 1951. that
Judge George V.'. Folta signed
the order creating the municipal
ity of Palmer- Alaska.
G”oat progress, has been made
by the City Council in alleviat
ing conditions that were instru
mental in bringing about the de
' m on
April 10. 1951. Chief among these
conditions were the shortage of
water, the humpy streets, and the
no. f r police protection.
Commenting on the city's first
birthday- City Councilman Chet
Sandvik remarked, “One of the
most important factors in the
city's progress was the adoption
• tv tax. Wit it that
we wouldn’t have been able to
have paid for our road grader
and truck. Those two items alone
have contributed to our pro
gress.”
Councilman Lloyd Severn;
pointed out that contrary to the
due prophesies of many incor
poration opponents, the city of
Palmer has not had to adopt a
property tax yet.
“Great progress has been made
(Continued on Page 8)
MAN'S BODY FOUND
HEAR AIRPORT
STILL UNi’DFNTIFIFD
P?:l! unidentified is tlm body of
a middle-age 1 man discovered
Saturdnv afternoon April 23
beneath a piled-un stump row on
''arm property rear the airport
b$* tv.- ’ Palmer boys.
The boy? N :! Herman and
Ronnv Ablest: d were erecting
- ; : ■ n thev discov
e : the partially decomposed body.
U m investigate n. U. S. Com
n'is-ioner Dorothy B. Saxton.
U. S. Deputy Marshal William
Bouwens. and Sergeant Laird of
the Highway Patrol discovered
a 38 caliber revolver clutched in
the right hand. One shell had
been fired from the fully loaded
cylinder. A bullet hole in the
center of his forehead :ndicated
death had been caused by a gun
shot wound.
The body was dressed in new
clothing. well-polished shoes,
overshoes gloves and a winter
cap-with flap? pulled down. All
cl- thing was of good quality.
The lack of a wallet, identifica
tion papers or tattoo marks made
immediate identification impos
sible. The sum of SI.49 in coins
was found in a pocket. Authorit
ies are hoping a 15 inch thora
coplasty scar, result of a lung or
rib removal, on his back will
lead to his identification.
The condition of the body in
dicated to the Coronors Jury that
death, caused by a gun shot
wound, had taken place some
" re during the Fall season of
1951. Members of the jury were:
Clarence Bell, foreman: James
Q. Sandvik. Philip T. McRae,
David C. Vigdahl. Robert Mielke
and John H. Hermon.
The body was removed to An
chorage where an autopsy was
performed with the report show
ing the body was that of a rather
spare man. approximately 40
years of age. He was about five
foot eleven inches tall, had
brown hair- greying at the tem
ples. and fair complexion. His
teeth were in good condition.
Cty To Have One
Cf First Well Water
Systems in TerrJtery
One of the first well wate.
.- ysten>- far ; r, Alaskan commun
ity is scheduled to he under con
'tructi"n in Palmer this <umme .
with competitive b'ds to be open
• ■ J in 4 it th listrict ffi< •
Alaska Pub . 'V >rks in Juneau.
The prop ~cd water system in
clude' tw i wells. ;.n underground
reinforced cone r t reservoir with
a capacity of 240 000 gallons. 6.
700 feet of 14-ineh supply main.
37.000 feet cf distribution system
:n lines varying from two to ten
inch pipe, a.id provision for chlor
ination.
Successful test well drilling has
been completed a short distance
west of Palmei by Thomas B.
Bourne Associates of Alaska, Inc.
engineering firm which has pi 2
pared the plans, officials stated.
F. W. Trainer and C. J. Ceder
strom of the U. S. Geological
Survey cooperated in the selec
tion of the- well site. Engineers;
report that the test well, drilled :
to a depth of 183 feet, yields!
water at the rate of 120 gallons
per minute.
A second well, equipped with
• auxiliary power is provided un
der the plans, the intention be
ing to have water for Palmer
even in the case of a power fail
ure. according to engineers.
Electric motors will power the
pumps for the wells during nor
mal use.
In the case of Palmer, a water
system supplied by wells repre
sent long-range economy, civil
engineers believe, for in the
event the city outgrew the under
ground supply, the proposed sys
tem would need only an exten
sion of the supply main to Was
llla Creek to tap an additional
source of vatei and continue
funr-tioning. Five thousand feet
of the existing mains will be in
corporated into the new system.
I
*'••**■:!■* ’ s w* r> fu j r ", '* r>-» a»■ tp i*» ’in> s #■ >s* ?. r **i w»
’f ~‘ t . Sj Tr , 'l >% ILP F* 8 A :'.J» t-ft ft * ,'. . f if fl (; V- 5^
2 iw«t aSiSa j MLikitaS’i si a, 2
DEMOCRATS REPUBLICANS
Delegate to Congress
Robert C. Reeve—3
Auditor of Alaska
Neil F. Moore—147
Robert E. Sheldon—92
Highway Engineer
-192
Senate Short Term
Frs
A. Metcalf
Anita Garnick—122
Albert E. Goetz—iOl
Irving Reed—263
Paui F. Robison—279
Jack Conright—130
Karl Armstrong—56
Senate 4-year Term
William A. Egan—110 John Gorsuch—272
Steve McCutcheon—107 Marshall Hoppin—167
10 High Territorial House of Representatives
Betty Mears—202 M. D. Snodgrass—307
Wendell Kay—123 Lee McKinley—230
Ed Baldwin—105 L. C. tClair) Stock—275
Z. J. Loussac—96 Dorothy Prior—255
Buell Nesbett—95 Barbara bimock—242
C. A. Pollard—90 Lloyd C. Olsen—230
Irene Ryan—84 Howard Pollock—189
E. G. Bailey—81 Bert C. Rutherford—180
Earl D. Hillstrand—68 Herald Stringer—170
William S. Cruthers—62 Fred Williamson—157
PRIMARY BALLOTING REVEALS STRONG
REPUBLICAN TREND THRUOUT VALLEY
The Palmer Precinct chnlke:!
up a record Primary election
Tuesday when a total of 533 elei
tors went to the polls to nomin
ate candidates for IT Terntor; d
offices.
A Republican trend in the vot
ing ..a- appa ent in the Palmer
Precinct lone, before the la -t
votes '..ere tabluated by election
nidges it Recreation Hall short lv
before 3 a.m. Wednesday morn
ing.
The report was in on the 32
Latest Count
Following are the latest tabu
lations on the Third Division Pri
mary election count as reported
at noon today with 54 out of
77 precincts counted, Palmer in
cluded:
Delegate to Congress—Bob
Bartlett 3.532: Robert Reeve 3039.
Attorney General—4.438 vote
for Gerald -J. Williams.
Auditor of Alaska—Anita Gar
nick (R) 1.825: Robert Sheldon
(D) 2.003: Neil Moore (R) 1.416:
and Albert Goetz fR) 924.
Highway E n g i n e e r—Frank
Metcalf fD) 3• <23; Irving Reed
fR) 2.556.
Senate Short Term—Paul Rob
ison fR) 2 734: Jack Conright fD)
2.615: and Karl Armstrong <D)
1.126.
Senate j* yr. Terms—Steve IvTc
Cutcheon rD) 2.675; John Gor
<mch fR» 2.230: William Egan fDi
2.077; Victor Rivers fD) 1.94’:
Marshall Hoppin (R) 1.532: Wal
ter Hodge fR) 1.020; John H. E.
Johnson fR) 559.
House of Representatives
(Democrats)—Wendell Kay 2-619;
Buell Nesbett 2,267; C. A. Pollard
1.820: Alfred Owen, Jr. 1,776:
Chester Carlson 1.715: Peter Kal
amarides 1 715: Irene Ryan 1,665;
Russell Young 1.620: Z. J. Lous
sac 1.607: Charles Davis 1.607
Pearl Gibson 1.504: Ed Baldwin
1.475; William Cruthers 1.424: E.
v_r. DaiU. » uui i i i * * * .
1,360; Betty Means 1.096: Fred
Oliver': 1 080: John Thomas 1.
076: James Clemans 971: Zebb
Harris 801; Alexander Shadura
739.
House of Representatives Re
publicans)—-Barb? Dim c c
404: Dorothy Prior 2 341: Howard
Pollock 2.234: Bert Rutherford 2
231: Herald Stringer 2.220: Lee
McKinley. 2.141: Lloyd Olsen 1
747' M. D. Snodgrass 1702: Carl
T. Rentschler 1.535; Fred Wil
liam-on 1.513- Alex Niklason
310: Olaf Ol ,n 1.275: Paul Krov
nung 1 230: Dor. Smith 1.118: L.
C. Stock 1,043; Reese Tatro 942.
C C? CS MATANUSKA
VALLEY PUBLICATION
AGAIN AVAILABLE
A new cacne of last year’.
Chamber of Commerce pamphlet
on the Matanuska Valley has
come to light.
Copies of the populaf publica
tion may be picked up at the
Frontiersman Office, Betty’s, and
at the ARRC office.
v t - r'ast at the K
1' after 9 pm. .11.
:ea within tt
•its of Pain," ii:
♦adulate and ti
Palmer Precinct ,
Palmer had a tntai
Fourteen of 11:* : :
24 of the latter had
if ied because
eros in.' out. or bee
candidates were eh
1 poll short
li - f. . the
reorpi .rated
2 \ .?e- to
ice f .!• the
It : ie of
: 258 \ .ies.
r t and
1 ■ i) u a 1 -
• • : nont,
' tot many
Palmer Precir.ct vot» s dev. at
m
preference only ;■ eve local
Democratic H iusc Candidate
Betty Means a gratifying vote of
approval with a total of 202
votes. Her closest Democratic
colleague, running for the House,
received only 128 votes.
The Valley’s favorite sons led
the count for House nomination
on the Republican ticket. Veteran
Republican and lor.--tone Valley
resident M. D. Snodgra." headed
the list of House eand.dates with
a total of 307 votes iron, the Pal
mer Precinct. Dr. Lee McKinley
was second with 280 votes and
L. C. Stock was p rd with 277.
Two Republican women candi
dates from Anchorage were the
next two favorites. Dorothy
Prior received 255 votes and Bar
ic: . ek 242. i . Pal
mer resident Lloyd C. Olsen, now
of the Anchorage Travel Bureau
followed them with 230 votes.
Also finishing among the first ten
of the Republic^" House candi
dates at Palmer Precinct polls
were Howard Pollock. Bert C.
Rutherford, Herald Stringer, and
Fred Willamson- -all of the An
chorage area.
House Votes Almost 2-1 R
The Republican trend in the
\ Palmer Precenet was apparent
in the count on almost all offices
on the Third Division ballot.
Robert Reeve fR) led Bob Bart
lett. Democratic incumbent, for
nomination as Delegate to Con
■ gress 321 to 171. Since both men
were unopposed in the Primary,
irurv win u'iiii w: ii*>111111tii’ i iui
general election n< xt fall. Neil
Moore, the Democratic incum
bent. led the field in votes cast
for Auditor. He received 147 to
122 for Anita Gamick (ID. 10! for
Albert Goetz (ID- and 02 for Rob
ert Sheldon (D». Republican Irv
ing Reed had a 01 vote lead over
the Democratic incumbent. Frank
Met< a If. for Highway Engineer.
Republican Paul P obi-on w;. - far
ahead for the Senate short term
witl 297 votes ’1 - 130 vot< r
Jack G'.nright. and 50 for Karl
Armstrong—both Democrat-. Re
publican John Gorsuch, wit! 1 is
272 votes wa far ahead in the
race for the two four-year Sen
ate terms. Another Republican.
Marshall Hoppin. followed him
with 107 votes. Democrats V 1
liam Egan and Steve McCutch
eon received 110 and 107 votes,
respectively. In fifth place was
Walter Hodge (R) of Cordova
with 102 votes. Victor Rivers (f)j
and John H. E. Johnson CD trail
ed with 73 and 57 votes respect
ively.
The Republican trend was most
(Continued on page 8)
INTRODUCING...
SEE OUR ADVERTISEMENT ON PAGE 3