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PUBLISHED IN THE INTEREST? OT THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
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VOLUME I. NUMBER 32
PALMER ALASKA THURSDAY APRIL IT ISM
PRICE TEN CENT!
Matanuska Man Confesses Murder of Wife
World Around Us
IN FAIRBANKS the first copy
of the Alaska Sunday World
News will come off the Jessen’s
Weekly presses next Sunday.
April 20. Published by Bob Brew
er, who will serve as business di
rector, and Seymour Kopf, who
will serve as editor of the paper,
the Alaska Sunday Worldnews
will be Alaska’s only Sunday
newspaper published in the Ter
ritory. The United Press will
furnish the news service, and
there will be an unusually large
number of outstanding syndicated
columnists. Full pages of the lat
est comics and the best photos of
the week will also be included in
the paper.
* * *
IN SPENARD. plans arc afoot
throughout the entire community
for the second annual Country
Fair scheduled for May 2 and 3
at the North Star School. The
school, the Spenard Lions Club
and the community merchants
are joining forces to produce a
bigger and better fun time this
year. Proceeds will be used for
hot lunches at school, a summer
playground program, and for
much-needed equipment at the
Spenard firehall. The Lions are
sponsoring an amateur talent con
test for youngsters up to 12 years
of age as a feature of the fair.
* * *
IN ANCHORAGE the City
Council is still turning thumbs
down on the Greater Anchorage
Health District created by Ter
ritorial Commissioner of Health
C. Earl Albrecht. They refused
last week to name three persons
to be appoointed to the district
board to represent Anchorage.
Councilw'oman Margot Hoppin
pointed out that the federal gov
ernment will no longer furnish
matching funds for health work
unless the law requiring the dis
trict is complied with. “We are
now receiving $67,000 in federal i
funds and that will be withdrawn
if the district is not created.’’ she
insisted.
Loads Limited
On Valley Roads
Oliver Onkka, supervisor of the
Alaska Road Commission for this 1
area, reported this week that 5G j
percent capacity load limit for
trucks and busses now in effect
on certain Alaskan highways ap
plies also to roads in the Valley
during the present spring break
up period.
The Knik road, which is in very j
poor condition, is closed to bus i
and truck travel altogether this
week. As soon as the road dries
up—probably in a few days—this
restriction will be removed.
The Bureau of Reclamation
Board of Appraisers will be in
this area April 24 to examine the
old Eklutna Power Plant pre
paratory to early purchase of
the facilities from Anchorage;
Public Utilities.
CITY ARRESTED
FOR EXCEEDING LOAD
LIMIT ON NEW TRUCK
The city of Palmer has been ar
rested!
City Clerk William Head sadly
announced this embarrassing sit
uation to the Chamber of Com
merce and the City Council yes
terday.
"Without a warning of any
kind,” the city clerk said, "an
arrest citation was issued to the
driver of the city’s new Ford
truck by the Highway Patrol, and
trial was scheduled for Friday
morning in U S. Commissioner’s j
Court.”
The offense was driving the"
truck on Glenn Highway with a
load exceeding the 50 percent
load limitation that went into ef
fect this week. Russ Felzien has
been hauling gravel since Friday I
from the Matanuska River banks!
to improve city streets that have :
been virtually impassable since1
the spring break-up started Iasi 1
week.
All city street work has stopped
until some agreement can be \
worked out with the Alaska Roaa :
Commission. It was pointed out!
:hat AJRC trucks are being used,
to haul gravel.
“If we could have hauled
gravel for 10 more days,” wailed
Chet Sandvik of the roads com-1
mittee, “we could have had all1
the streets passable.’ * '
Head said he hoped the arrest:
citation could be altered by hav
ing it changed to a warning cita
tion. which it should have been
in tne nrst place.
“If Palmer people ask ‘Why
doesn’t the City Council do some
thing about the streets.’ we can
only say that the work has been
stopped by the due process of
law.” he added.
Commenting on the ‘'arrest”
this morning. Highway Patrol
man "Speed” Hoff stated that
Felzien had been warned three
times.
At present. Valley Street, one
of Palmer's main arteries, is rop-.
ed off from the Matanuska Hotel
to the Kirk's Sales and Service.
Felzien was authorized to build
a ramp at the river, get a screen
for gravel, and acquire right of
way to the river site while the
continuation of street work is
suspended.
Tuesday evening, April 22,
Matanuska Masonic Lodge 293
will hold their regular meeting at
Carpenters’ Hall. The Master Ma
son degree will be worked.
CITY CURFEW
NOW IN EFFECT
Palmer’s city curfew for;
youths under 17 is now in ef- ;
feet. !
The curfew ordinance was !
adopted automatically follow-!
ing the third and final read-!
ing at the City Council meet- ;
ing last night. Under the head-;
ing of "loitering,” the ordin- ;
ance sets up a 9:30 p.m. cur- ;
few during the school term,;
and 10 p.m. otherwise, for all |
youths under 17 years of age.!
The curfew period extends to !
5 a.m. During such period no !
child under 17 should be on!
the streets or in unsupervised <
places unless on legitimate '
business directed by parent or ;
guardian. ;
The ordinance provides for!
responsibility of the parents, i
making them liable for fines '•
up to $100 or 30 days in jail
or both if their children are
apprehended in violating the;
above provisions. ;
Two Local Youths
Arrested, One Jailed
After Midnight Fracas
Two local boys, aged 19 and 17. i
were arrested about midnight last
night by Police Chief Bemie Bou
wens and were charged with
driving a vehicle in a reckless'
manner, forcing another car off
the road, and threatening bodily!
harm to its driver.
The offense took place near one
of the Palmer railroad crossings.
Five other local minors were with
the two boys in their car at the
time of the arrest.
After a hearing in City Magis
trate's Court shortly before noon
today, the 19-year-old boy was
sentenced to serve 15 days in
the local jail and was fined $25.
The 17-year-old driver of the
car, because of his youth, was
remanded to custody of his par
ents while awaiting disposition of
his case, which has been turned
over to the Territorial Depart
ment of Welfare for such action
as department officials may deem
fit.
The two youths have been in
volved with others in several es
capedes and alleged infractions of
the law during the past year.
C of C to Erect
Signs Pointing
To Palmer Airport
Quick, pet out the signs to the
airport, the VIPs are coming to
town.
What, no signs to the Palmer
Municipal Airport? Then get out
the paint brush and start point
ing. else what will the House in
terstate and foreign commerce
committee think of such provin
cial laxity?
Clair Stock reported the an
xieties and wishes to Tony Sch- '
wamm, Territorial director of i
Aeronautics, to the Chamber of I
Commerce yesterdajr and was
promptly hustled into the job of j
making up for lost time. Al
though, he didn’t know it, Irving
Plitt was also recruited for the
hurry-up task of giving the air
port the directional publicity it
deserves.
Anticipated action by the
Chamber regarding the Eklutna
detour was stymied by a letter
from the Anchorage Chamber’s
John Croul in which he reported
that work would start on the
Eklutna Bridge May 1, weather
permitting. Since the contractors
will have to work with a crane
near the bridge, the present river
ice conditions will have to be
eliminated before work can be
gin.
In his letter. Croul also asked
that the local marketing and
agricultural committee get to
gether with the Anchorage
Chamber’s committee on market
ing to work out plans and policies
regarding the marketing of local
products. This precipitated dis
cussion of an Associated Press
dispatch in which Walter Pippel
protested military purchase of
Outside potatoes at $10 per hun
dredweight when there are over
250 tons of spuds in the Anchor
age-Matanuska Valley area that
could be purchased for $3.50 pef
hundred. Pippel had rapped mil
itary policy in discriminating
against Alaskan producers.
Co-Op Manager Roy Brock
said that he didn’t know how
many potatoes other growers in
thus area have in storage, but
the Co-Op has 400 tons and is,
currently getting about $7 per!
hundred, James Hurley,,
Brock, Gene Kirsch, and Don Ir-:
(Continued on Page 8)
Council Asked
To Enforce City
Licensing Ordinance
How much protection does the
local contractor get in return for
his $100 city license fee?
That was the question raised by
John Weisenberger, local sheet
metal and heating contractor, at
the City Council meeting last
night.
"he city licensing ordinance,
which set up fees ranging from
$14 to over $100 for the privilege
of engaging in various types of
business in Palmer, was adopted
to protect the local business and
tradesman. Weisenberger claimed
that the ordinance is being vio
lated almost every day by per
sons without licenses who con
tract to do work in Palmer. He
wanted to know what the City
Council was going to do to en
force the ordinance. Ray McCart
ney, a plumbing contractor, was
also interested.
Although similar complaints
have been heard before, last
night's grievance stemmed from
work begun yesterday on a city
councilman’s building by an un
licensed contractor doing business
as the Northern Roofing Com
pany.
“His men started work here at
noon, and tonight it's hot on the
Council table.” said Lloyd Sev
erns. Severns said he didn’t know
the contractor didn’t have a li
cense and didn’t figure it was his
business to ask him.
“Our entire ordinance hinges
on whether or not we wrant to en
force it,” obserT. cd Ax Hagen.
After much discussion of neces
sary legal procedure, it was
pointed out that someone has to
sign a complaint before an ordin
ance violator can be hauled into
City Magistrate’s court to be fin
ed up to S100 for each day’s vio
t^lease turn to page 5)
Bids Invited for
Construction of
Eklutna Power Plant
Bids for construction of Eklu
tna power plant, 14 miles south
of Palmer were invited this week
by the Bureau of Reclamation.
Specifications were scheduled for
issuance Friday, April 11.
Opening of bids to construct
the powerhouse, switchyard, and
machine shop, and to relocate
one-half mile of highway, is
scheduled for May 20 at Reclama
tion offices in Denver, Chief En
gineer L. N. McClellan announc
ed.
Joseph M. Morgan, Bureau Dis
trict Manager at Juneau, estimat
es that the power plant will be
in operation by spring or summer,
1954. The contract will allow 830
days for completion, dating from
award and notice to proceed,
which will be given probably
early in June. Work will be under
supervision of Byron G. Felkner,
Reclamation construction engin
eer at Palmer.
The 30,000-kilowatt plant will
provide desperately needed de
fense and industrial power for
the Anchorage area. Already un
der construction are works, in
cluding a pressure tunnel 4.5
miles long, to divert water to the
plant site through a mountain
chain westward from Lake Eklut
na.
The plant is a principal feature
of the Eklutna project, which ,'s
at once the first multiple-purpose
development of Alaskan water
resources and the first major
Bureau of Reclamation construc
tion outside the 17 western states.
The powerhouse superstructure
(Continued on Page 8)
Brutal Beating by Drink-Crazed Spouse
Ends in Easter Death of Gronia Rousseau
"I told her. 'don't light that1
candle'—that started the fight
because it was pretty dark and
if we went to sleep we'd be burn
ed up.”
This was the motive for the
beating that led to the death of
Groma Rousseau as given by her
husband Charles Rousseau of
Matanuska in a statement to U.3.
Deputy Marshal William J. Bou
wens following Rousseau’s waiver
to a preliminary hearing in U.S.
Commissioner's Court April 15. J
-----|
Call for Bids on
City Water System
Expected in 10 Days
The city should be ready to call
for bids for the new water sys*
tern in about ten days. William
Head told the Chamber of Com-,
merce yesterday after introducing
two Alaska Public Works engin
eers who were in town for final
conference regarding attention to
details that must precede the ad
vertisement.
The two APW engineers were?
Milbert Keranen of Juneau and
William Prizer of Anchorage.
A telegram from APW’s Don
Wilson listed the items the city
must take care of before the bids
can be called for:
1. Acquire reservoir site. Pur
chase of 4.2 acres for the site was
completed last week by A1 Hagen
who delivered the city's check to
Art Thompson, the owner.
2. Acquire well site. Purchase
price was agreed upon by city
and the owner, Mrs. Henning
Benson last fall when option was
obtained. The deed is in the pro
cess of being drawn up by ARRC.
3. Obtain easements along
transmission line from well to
city. These have been spoken for
and await action by City Attor
ney Harold Butcher, who has just
returned from Outside.
4. Obtain easements from Alas
ka Railroad for three waterline
crossings and if necessary for
three locations where pipelines
will parallel the railroad tracks.
Again, action by Butcher is all
that remains to be done.
5. Arrange for purchase of
ARRC water system. All arrange
ments have been made and a
price has been agreed upon.
6. (Be certain that) all changes
and alterations required by the
Alaska Department of Health
have been incorporated in final
plans. This has been done as a let
ter from the said department in
dicated when read in the Council
meeting last night.
SECOND WEEK IN MAY
IS "CLEAN UP WEEK"
The second week in May
was officially designated as
Palmer’s Clean Up Week in
action taken by the City
Council last night.
The motion designating the
time of the annual clean up
week also solicited “the aid
of all citizens and organiza
tions toward this end.”
In years past the Health
Council and the Kiwanis Club
have joined forces in sponsor
ing “Clean Up Week” and
they did a fine job. This year
the city will help these organi
zations and any other inter
ested groups and individuals
by making both its truck and
personnel available for this
laudable activity.
Rousseau had been charged with
second degree murder and bail
was set at S10.000
Durmg his telling of events
that It'd to the fateful fight, Rous
seau told of a drinking party
with two friends who dropped in
it the cabin. He said the four of
them had consumed over half a
gallon of wine and "all but one
mouthful" of a pint of whisky.
"I was pretty drunk and didn't
know what I was doing.” he ad
ded.
Statements given by Rousseau
and evidence given by neighbors
established the start of the fight
at 9:30 Saturday night. Neighbors
said they didn't interfere because
the noises were nothing new to
them; there had been fghts there
before. Thumping, moaning and
cursing noises continued for
several hours, they testified.
On Easter morning, April 13,
Rousseau went to a neighbor,
Billy Austin, and told him Gronia
was dead. After seeing the body,
Austin drove Rousseau into Pal
mer to report the death to U. S.
Deputy Marshall Bouwens. Ac
companied by U. S. Commission
er Dorothy B. Saxton, the group
returned to the cabin in Matan
uska.
When Bouwens questioned him
about who did it. Rousseau told
him that he didn't know', he had
passed out drunk about nine o’
clock and didn't hear anything or
know anything until he awoke
Sunday morning to find Gronia
on the floor near the door. During
subsequent investigations of the
cabin and grounds by Bouwens,
Mrs. Saxton and Highway Patrol
man Stanley Laird. Bouwens dis
covered a cache of blood-stained
clothing hidden under a mattress
on the bed Rousseau claimed he
nau siepi in.
Evidence of a recent fire in the
stove was explained by Rousseau
when he said he made a fire to
heat water for a cup of tea and
to wash up before going into Pal
mer to report the death of his
wife. He admitted in his state
ment Tuesday that he had built
the fire to burn up newspapers
he had wiped the floor with and
the piece of wood he had used to
his wife.
Rousseau also stated a heavy
blood-smeared drinking cup of
ficials found in the cabin was
used by him during the fight.
When he finally went to bed, he
believed Gronia was still alive he
stated, laying on the floor near
he bed.
Rousseau concluded his state
ment with the words, "I want to
say now that I did kill Gronia
and I’m sorry. I didn’t want to
do it and I took her in my arms
and held her for awhile. It was
then Easter morning.”
Jurors at the Coronors inquest
April 14 placed cause of death of
Gronia Rousseau as apparent re
sult of a severe beating about the
head. Jurors were Grayson Mur
phy, chairman, Dr. Curtis Dear
born, Roscoe Taylor, Virginia
Gallant, Avis DePriest and Lin
nus DePriest.
Rousseau, who is of Native
French descent, was born at Cof
fee Creek, Bristol Bay in 1913,
moving to Matanuska about eight
years ago. The couple were mar
ried in 1938 and had two children,
one ten years old an the other
six. At present they are in a
school in Wrangell, Alaska.
Following his waiver to a pre
liminary hearing, Rousseau was
removed to the federal jail .n
Anchorage, by U. S. Marshal
Walter B. Huntley and Deputy
Marshal Oscar Olson, where he
will be held for a grand jury
hearing.