" 'Twas the night before
Christmas and all through
the house, not a creature
was stirring, not even a
mouse."
VOLUME 6, NUMBER 14
THE FRONTIERSMAN
PUBLISHED HV THE INTERESTS OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
PALMER, ALASKA. THURSDAY, DEC. 24. 1952
TRY A FRONTIERSMAN
CLASSIFIED AD for that
iltm you may han for sal*,
rent or lease.
PRICE TEN CENT*
CHRISTMAS TO BE
OBSERVED IN ALL
VALLEY CHURCHES
V Following the many tradition
al Christmas programs and musi
cal presentations this past Sun
day several Valley churchs will
continue their holiday programs
with special services Christmas
eve and morning. The public is
iinvited |o attend the services.
A candlelight ceremony is plan
ned at the United Protestant
Church on December 24. The hour
long service will include the sing
ing of Christmas carols. Rev.
Brian H. Cleworth will conduct
the service, scheduled to begin at
nine o’clock. - ' . F i
St. Michael’s Catholic Church
will hold .their annual midnight
Mass December 24. The program
will commence with special
Christmas music at 11:30 p.m.
There will be two Masses on
Christmas Day, starting at 10
am.
Christmas Day worship ser
vices, starting at 11 a.m. will be
held at St. John’s Lutheran
Church on Christmas morning.
Rev. Edward Imme will deliver
his message, “God’s Way of Say
ing That He Loves Us.” Special
Christmas music will be present
ed by the choir.
City Council Hears
RTA Representative
I
ir
Present at the regular City
Council meeting held December
123 was Earl J. Smith, loan repre
sentative of .the Rival E’ectrifi
cation Association.
Invited by Mayor A1 V. Hagen
to present the functions and fin
ancing plans of the Rural Tele
phone Association, Smith report
ed that his association has delib
erately stayed away from move
ments in the Valley to acquire
RTA until some indication would
be given that the City of Palme:
did not wish to operate the tele
phone system as a municipal util
ity.
In explaining the fundimentals
of the association and its basic
operation plans, Smith pointed
out that RTA loans are obtained
in similar manner to REA loans
However, he emphasized they
are separate organizations. There
are separate board of directors
their objectives are different, in
that on. concerns electrification
and the other telephones.
Money loaned would be paid
back within 35 years with the
rate of 2% interest, he said. There
would be a certain cost to sub
scribers, Smith said. The govern
ment makes 100% loans through
the REA. However, RTA loans
are not 100% and subscribers
would be obliged to invest more
than their five dollars member
ship fee at the time of telephone
installation.
In such a proposed system, a
board of directors, composed of
Valley persons would be elected
by the public.
‘Tm not here this evening to
push this RTA proposal to you
councilmen,” Smith said. “Rather,
Tm here at invitation, to explain
I don’t want to see anyone jump
into an operation without proper
knowledge on the subject.”
Councilman Kincaid pointed
out that in his opinion it appear
ed to be a community problem.
Loans of this type can not be
made to individuals but must be
applied for by groups.
It was proposed that those in
terested in the Valley hold a com
munity meeting at which time the
council would be present as repre
sentatives of the city telephone
system and an opportunity to find
out what the people of the Valley
want would be made possible.
When the City of Palmer pur
chased the Matanuska Valley
Telephone Co. it was pointed out
that the system would in tim» be
able to make money for the city.
r
OFFICE OPEN TWO
NIGHTS FOR WORKERS
The office of U. S. Commission
er Dorothy B. Saxton will remain
open the evenings of December
29 and 30 to accommodate work
ers at Jonesville, Buffalo Coal
Mine and Palmer Constructors
who are unable to get to the of
fice during the day to obtain new
drivers licenses. The license ex
pires December 31 at midnight
and all Alaskan drivers must pur
chase the new two-year license
on or before that date.
Early in January her office
will be open evenings for the pur
chase of car licenses, Mrs. Saxton
added.
HOME FOR CHRISTMAS
Marine Corporal Paul D. Bam
hardt, son of Mr. and Mrs. Wil
liam Bamhardt arrived in Pal
mer December 23 on a 30-day
leave. He was one of the 2,092
Marines and 133 Navy men who
arrived in San Francisco Decem
ber 21 aboard the transport Gen.
William Weigel.
Cpl. Bamhardt is with the Mar
ine First Division who have been
on a tour of duty in Korea for
the past year.
MAN INJURED IN
ALLEGED ATTACK
John Stump, 47-year-old Native
of Caswell, was admitted to Val
ley Hospital shortly after mid
night Sunday, December 21.
Stump was suffering from severe
head lacerations and other injur
ies alleged to have been received
in a quarrel with Johnny Tough
Luck, also a Native from Caswell.
Following the quarrel, Stump,
a retired section laborer of the
Alaska Railroad went to the ARR
station house at Caswell. Engineer
Howard Allen, of the ARR, went
from Curry with a railroad ambu
lance to take him to Anchorage.
However, Stump was bleeding so
profusely that he stopped the am
bulance here at Valley Hospital.
Stump is not considered in criti
cal condition.
Miss Iva Sproul, Alaska’s sec
ond International Farm Youth
Exchange delegate, will be in Pal
ma January 12 to describe her
experiences this past summer and
fall in Fiance. She will show some
of her colored slides at the regu
lar Kiwanis noon meeting
POOR AIR CONDITION
EXPECTED IN CALLS
TO THE STATES
Based on scientific calcula
tions included in a report re
ceived by the local ACS office,
radio circuit conditions in the
Alaskan area will probably be
poor on the 24th and 25th of
December. Individuals who
plan to place calls to the States
on these dates may quite pos
sibly expect poor circuit qual
ity and delays, it was an
nounced. All calls will be com
pleted as fast as possible. How
ever, as air conditions are ex
pected to improve after the
25th, the public is urged to
take advantage of this when
making their holiday calls.
BAPTISTS TO HOLD
TRADITION WATCH SERVICI
There will be a watch-servici
al the First Baptist Church of Pal
m«r December 31 from S pan. ti
midnight. Rev. A. V. Richer an
nonneed this week. A progran
of devotional* fellowship and re
ligious films will be held. Th
public is invited to attend. Th
service will be held in the nes
church
Moose Lodge Robbed
Of Nearly $200
The Palmer Moose Lodge was
robbed of a total of $190; their
cash register and a cabinet dam
aged in a break that occurred the
nght of December 21.
Joe Edward Patrick of Wasil
la was picked up the following
night by Deputy U. S. Marshal
William Bouwens on the felony
charge. Leo Lucas, Moose Gover
nor, signed the complaint.
Patrick was arraigned before
U. S. Commissioner Dorothy B.
Saxton and waived rights to a
preliminary hearing. Bail was set
at $1500.
Sgt. Stanley Laird of the High
way Patrol and Bouwens trans
ferred Patrick to the Federal jail
, at Anchorage when he failed to
’ provide bail.
[ The damaged register and part
| of the money was recovered.
Anchorage now stands at 16,550
| with an anticipated count of 17,
’ 430 expected by April 1, 1953, ac
' cording to tabulations announced
' by the Anchorage city planning
department.
GOVERNMENT TO PAY
SHARE OF AIRPORT
CONSTRUCTION COST
The Civil Aeronautics Admin
istration was told by Comptroller
General Lindsay Warren that it
can go ahead with payment of the
federal • government’s share of
construction costs on the Palmer
airport, it was announced yester
day. *
However, the comptroller gen
eral stood by his earlier refusal
to reimburse the territorial gov
ernment for land costs stating
that” .... In view of the ques
tionable and irregular circumstan
ces surrounding the application,
the validity of the territory’s
claim to reimbursement for land
costs is so doubtful that this of
fice would not be justified in ap
proving payment of any part of
such costs.”
The territory’s application for
a grant under the Federal Air
port Act seeking a total govern
ment payment of $148,922, was
investigated by a Senate expen
ditures subcommittee last winter
and rejected by Warren who said
he felt the record of the hearings
‘‘adequately supports the views
expressed . . . that there was col
lusion between officials of the ter
ritory and those of the territory
and those of CAA in Alaska.” The
CAA later asked Warren to re
consider his decision, citing find
ings of a special CAA board that
did not substantiate the accusa
tion of collusion.
In his latest decision, Warren
said among other things .
Certafilily if there was no collu
sion between the two groups of
officials, there was conduct on
their part which, to say the least,
was highly questionable and mis
leading.”
Anchorage Man
Injured in Early
Morning Accident
Werner Mosimann, 37 Anchor
age, is a patient at Valley Hos
pital where he was taken by ARR
gas car December 21 following an
accident at Cobb Hill.
Driving a one and one-half ton
International truck, Mosimann
applied the brakes on the icy hill
and went over the enbankment in
a skid. Pinned beneath the truck
for more than an hour, he was
found to be suffering from multi
ple rib fractures, fractured collar
bone and injuries to his lungs
when admitted to the hospital.
Robert Howe, 32, passenger in
the truck received a lacerated
and crushed foot and bruises. A
third passenger, also of Anchor
age reported no injuries. The ac
cident was investigated by the
Alaska Highway Patrol.
Alaska REA Board
To Meet In Palmer
A Board of Directors meeting
of the Alaska Rural Electric Co
operative Association will be held
in Palmer January 5, according
to an announcement made this
week. The meeting will be held in
the ARRC office.
Officers planning to attend the
meeting include: Mrs. Justine
Parks, president and also Presi
dent of Matanuska Electric Asso
ciation, Inc. S. S. Gnad, vice
president and also a member of
the Board of Directors of the
Homer Electric Association, Inc.
Ed Jarvi, secretary and aso Presi
dent of the Chugach Electric As
sociation of Anchorage. Nick Eid
em, treasurer and also President
of the Golden Valley Electric As
sociation, Inc. of Fairbanks. Mr.
Eidem is also the Alaskan repre
sentative of the Board of Direc
tors of Region IX of the National
Rural Electric Association, Inc.