Balleg Mrnntiergman
PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
PA6ES
TODAY
VOLUME 5. NUMBER 7.
PALMER, ALASKA THURSDAY. OCT. 25. 1»51.
PRICE. 10c
Mayor Appoints City Planning Commission
EARLY MORNING FIRE
DESTROYS HOME OF
ED CASEY FAMILY
Tragedy dreaded by every Al
askan householder struck early
Monday morning at the home of
Mr. and Mrs. Ed Casey about
three miles south of town when
the entire dwelling and all its
contents were destroyed by fire.
The Caseys and their young
son David were not at home when
the fire broke out. Visiting with
friends in Potter Sunday, they
were forced to delay their home
ward trip when car trouble de
veloped. A neighbor, Alex Carl
son, Jr., had volunteered to look
after the oil space heater located
in the living room to make cer
tain that it did not go out. He had
fended the stove at 10 p.m. and
again shortly after midnight,
leaving the yard light on the last
time in anticipation of the Caseys’
arrival. Ben Cabo, who went by
the house at three a.m. noticed
the light, but saw no signs of
smoke coming from the house.
The blaze was discovered first
by Robert Webb who noticed it
from his barn. By the time he
and other horrified neighbors had
arrived at the site, it was too late;
the entire structure was aflame.
Loss Partly Covered
The house and most of the fur
nishings were owned by Maud
Hosier, manager of the Trading
Post. The house had been her
home until a year or so ago when
she built her greenhouses and
cabin on the Anchorage-Palmer
Highway. Mrs. Hosier’s loss was
only partly covered by insurance.
The insurance injuster had not
yet investigated the fire yester
day. The greenhouse located some
distance from the house was not
touched by the blaze.
The Caseys had no insurance
on the many personal items
which they prized. An entire set j
of sterling silver was found a
molten mass in the charred rub
ble that had fallen through to the
basement.
Notified of the tragedy before
(Continued from Page 9)
FIRE SIREN TO BE
TESTED SATURDAY
Saturday some time between
12:30 and 1 p.m. local residents
may hear the ominous whine
of a fire siren, but they’re not
to get excited about a fire,
worry about an atom bomb, or
imagine any other dire possi
bilities.
“It won’t mean a thing,” A1
Hagen assured, “except that
local volunteer Fire Associa
tion is testing. Once in a while
we have to test our fire equip
ment. Saturday’s the day we
plan to test the siren.”
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Annual Halloween Carnival
Saturday at School Midway
Ghosts and witches will make an early Halloween arrival at
Palmer School Saturday night in order to attend the gay carnival
put on annually by students and teachers of the school.
Everyone at the school was busy this week with preparations
for the big event. Attractions are planned for young and old. Doors
open at 7 p.m. on the midway where concession booths will offer
food, pop, games of chance, games of skill, and thrills of horror.
Dancing starts in the gymnasium at 10 p. m. In a revolt against
twerp season practice, men are being charged two dollars and
women get in for free.
According to tentative plans, concession booth responsibilities
shape up something like this:
Dorothy Lorscheter, Lois Thompson, Barbara Rumball, and
Geraldine Kindgren will have charge of the all-important lunch
room. Mildred Schneider will preside at the novelty stand. A whizz
game is to be conducted by Fred Stassel, and Coach Bob Crites has
an attraction listed as "B-B Bottle Throw'’. At the little fish pond,
Margaret Conway will be in charge. Nettie Smith and members
of the newly organized Pep Club will have a big fish pond.
Customers seeking satisfaction in games of skill have a wide
range of choices from Betty Jo Riddle’s Ring the Goose to Vernon
Fridley’s Ball Throw. Penny pitching and rifle and dart shooting
are offered by Gottfried Stevahn and John Zawalnicki. Balloon
and dart by Chuck Millis and bottle and glass by Bob Zetmeier offer
equal opportunities.
Alaska’s favorite game will be tailored to kiddie and big kids’
sizes by concessionaires Barbara Smart and Margaret Cope.
Service booths include the cashier’s cage with Grace Heath.
Alma Blunck, and Pearl Moyer alternating the cash responsibilities’
hat check with Barbara Tirapelli, and Nancy Wade’s tea room.
Alaska Telephone Co.
Backing Revealed By
Maynard Sands
Maynard S. Sands put all his
cards down on the City Council
table last night and the next
move in his attempt to gain a
telephone franchise in the city of
Palmer is up to the council.
Council members agreed that
the cards looked good and def
initely put the Matanuska Valley
Telephone Company in a position
to bid along with others interest
ed on specifications being drawn
up by telephone committee mem
! bers Lloyd Severns, John F.
Brown, and Steve Ward.
Placed on the table was a third
party beneficiary agreement
: drawn up between the Alaska
! Telephone Co., an Alaskan cor
! poration, and Maynard S. and
Dorothy A. Sands, proprietors of
(Continued from Page 9)
David Warner Indicted
For 1st Degree Murder
By Grand Jury
David O. Warner was indicted
for first degree murder in a true
bill returned by the Third Dis
trict grand jury Friday.
The 39-year-old local man was
charged with the death of Mrs.
Minnie Barnes, 57, at the home of
Theodore Glenn, two miles south
of town, on the morning of July
16. Mrs. Barnes, who was Glenn’s
housekeeper, was found by Dep
uty Marshal Bill Bouwens shortly
after 7 a.m. that morning with
(Continued from Page 9)
WATER RIPE ARRIVAL
SQUELCHES FEARS OF
ANOTHER DRY WINTER
Palmer’s fickle fawcetts might
possibly go on a few more strikes
of short duration before the per
manent water line from Carnegie
Creek to the Co-Op hook-up is
completed, but every effort is be
ing made to make them cooper
ate with local householders.
While Co-Op workers were
busy with construction of the per
manent line, City Council mem
bers Frank Brown and Allan
Mick have been at the water site
each day trying to get water
flowing through the temporary
steel pipe. Assisting them was
Lew Hanks, loaned by the Soil
Conservation Service along with
their 3-inch gas powered pump.
An airlock in the pipes had
blocked the flow and caused the
pipes to freeze. When the pres
sure was applied, the pipes
thawed out, all right, but the wa
ter disappeared through the
many leaks discovered. The three
men hope that with the help of
the Co-Op welder, the pipes can
be repaired today. If they are, j
water will flow from Carnegie
Creek to the main water line for
the fir^J time in two weeks.
Investigating the cause of the
water stoppage last Friday, Mick
and Brown found that no water
was coming from the Creek and
that just a small trickle, little
bigger than a finger, was coming
from the spring source.
With the arrival Monday of the
long delayed wood stave pipe for
the permanent line, Palmer
householders could at least con
sole themselves that relief was in
(Continued on Page 4)
Community Chest
Campaign Ends $600
Short of $3,000 Goal
The Community Chest cam
paign officially ended Wednes
day evening, October 24. over
$600 short of its goal.
Collections last evening totalled
$2344.70, but all returns were not
yet in.
“Much credit is due the solici
tors who accomplished this collec
tion feat in the brief 10-day
drive,” commented Emil Gan-1
schow, campaign chairman. “The ;
Chest Board is optimistic that the 1
goal of $3,000 may still be
reached.”
If anyone has been overlooked ;
during the campaign, he may
bring or mail a contribution to
the Palmer Community Chest, to
Emil Ganschow, campaign chair-;
man, or to Marvin Slaughter,!
president of the board.
Two Servicemen Dead,
One injured in Hi-way
Accident Near Mile 54
Two servicemen were dead and
one was seriously injured in a
Glenn Highway accident early
Sunday morning near Mile 54!£.
According to the highway pa
trol and U. S. Commissioner Dor
othy Saxton, who as Coroner, in
vestigated the accident, the 1951
Plymouth convertible coupe had
plunged off the highway just two
tenths of a mile past the guard
rails on the Moose Creek hill
(Continued from Page 9)
Council Plans Early
Meeting With Seven
Commission Members
Local interest in city planning
for Palmer, spearheaded by ac
tion of the local Kiwanis Club
and Chamber of Commerce, cul
minated last night in the appoint
ment by Mayor Carl Meier of a
City Planning Commission.
The seven-member commission,
which serves without pay, was
appointed for one. two, and three
year terms in order ;o stagger
future three-year appointments
and allow for unbroken continu
ity in planning. Three-year ap
pointments went to Dr. C. C. Bai
ley, Charles W. Wilson, and Bet
ty Mears. Two-year appointments
were given Oliver Onkka, and Ed
Smith. Lew Hanks and Richard
Demming drew the one-year
terms.
Hope was expressed by the ma
yor that Demming would not be
disqualified from serving because
of his residence just outside of
the city limits. With his back
ground of experience with city
plats, the local surveyor could
render invaluable assistance to
the city, Meier said. Actually the
council has the power to set up
a commission numbering any
where from three to nine mem
bers. Professional assistance may
also be retained by the commis
sion. (See page 6 of this week’s
Frontiersman for the paragraph
from the Alaska Compiled Laws
of 1949 concerning city planning
commissions.)
Council members okayed the
mayor’s appointments and decid
ed to set aside a special meeting
devoted solely to orientation of
the new commission appointees.
Street Problem Brightens
Council members congratulat
ed themselves on acquiring the
services of two well qualified en
gineers—Demming and Wilson—
on the planning commission. Both
of them had offered to help in es
tablishing the street grade lines.
Street equipment needed to re
construct city streets and main
tain them was also assured at the
(Continued from Page 9)
SEPTEMBER SALES
TAX YIELDS S6.257.86
City Clerk Bill Head said
this week, “I am amazed!”
Source of his amazement
was the September total of the
city’s tax on sales and services.
After all receipts were in they
added up to a grand total of
$6,257.86.
For the first time, Palmer
has some idea of its monthly
retail business volume. From
the total two percent tax re
turns, it was obvious that this
volume well exceeds $300,000
monthly. Calculated on a
yearly basis, the total estimate
would near $4 million.