Kiwanis Benefit Show,
H Valley Theater,
8 p.m.
■VI
Malley Mrnntiergman
PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
4 4 PAGES
10 TODAY
TOLUME 4, No. 42.
PALMER. ALASKA, FRIDAY, JUNE 29, 1951
PRICE, 10c
Eklutna Tunnel Bids
Top Gov’t Estimate
By $10 Million
Eklutna project engineers re
ceived a rude jolt when two bids
submitted for the Eklutna tun
nel construction were opened at
Bureau of Reclamation project
headquarters in Palmer, Monday.
It was found that the lower of the
bids was more than 10 million
dollars in excess of the engineer’s
estimate.
The apparent low bid, accord
ing to Byron G. Felkner, Eklutna
project construction engineer, was
submitted jointly by Peter Kie
wit ‘ Sons of Omaha, Neb., and
Morrison-Knudsen Co., Inc., of
Boise, Idaho. Their bid was for
$21,321,695.
The other bid, for $22,798,432,
jvas made jointly by the William
A. Smith Contracting Co., of Kan
sas City, Mo., and Brown and
Root, Inc., of Houston, Texas.
The bids will be sent to the
Bureau of Reclamation chief en
gineer in Denver and will be for
warded to the commissioner of
reclamation in Washington for
approval or rejection. This is the
procedure for all bids necessitat
ing expenditure of $200,000 or
more, Mr. Felkner said. I
The bid specifications called for
the completion of the tunnel ex
cavation, lining th*» penstock tun
nel with steel an^. t.ne installation
of the underwater intake within
a period of 1,050 calendar days,
or slightly less than three years.
Work on the intake will include
the dredging out of about 250,
000 cubic yards in a flour deposit
on the lake floor before pre-cast
concrete pipe can be set 70 feet
t under water. Divers will have to
lay the pipe and place the 315
ton trash rack over the intake to
keep debris from going down thru
the tunnel and turbines.
“Anticipated wage raises over
the next three years for hard rock
miners and other trades employed
(Continued on Page 13)
Huntley Appointment
-.As District Marshal
Reaches Final Phase
Walter Huntley remained calm
and unimpressed by news this
week that he had received the
endorsement of the Democratic
party (national, central and divi
sional committees of the Terri
tory) for appointment as U. S.
marshal of the Third division and
that the matter had been referred
* to the department of justice for
customary investigation.
“After waiting for 10 months”,
Huntley said, “I won’t count on
the appointment until I have the
papers confirming it”.
It was the opinion of many here
that the endorsement was tanta
mount to election. Nomination by
President Truman and confirma
tion by the Senate is the usual
procedure following a satisfac
tory report by the department of
justice.
Mr. Huntley received a letter
from Territorial Representative
Continued on page 13
Artist's Sketch of Eklntna Project
The multi-million dollar project which will bring needed electric power to the Anchorage and Mata
nuska Valley areas, consists of a dam at Eklutna Lake, source of the water supply, an intake structure
and flow control mechanism, a nine-foot diameter tunnel approximately four and one-half miles long
to be bored through the Chugach Range, a penstock connecting the north end of the tunnel to the
power plant, a switchyard and transmission lines to Anchorage and Palmer.
Continue Patrol of Big Lake Area
To Locate Victims of Drowninq
Patrolling of the area around
Big lake was to be resumed at
noon today in an effort to locate
the bodies of two men believed
drowned there Sunday.
According to a report received
from the public information of
fice, U.S. army, Alaska, Pvt. Rob
ert Sholin, 22, of Homer, is the
serviceman believed to be one of
the victims. His companion Eu
gene Kranick, was identified
earlier from a truck left at the
lake and registered in his name.
Fathers of both men arrived here
from Homer at noon today to as
sist in the search. They said that
neither of the young men could
swim.
Discovery that tne men were
missing was not made until Mon
day afternoon when two youths
found the upended boat in the
lake. Checking with Oscar Ander
son, who had rented the boat, it
was learned that the accident
must have occurred Sunday.
Boat Not Overturned
The boat was found floating
with the bow up and the motor
hanging on the bottom. There
were definite indications that the
men went into the water while
the motor was running. Bill
Bouwens reported that the throt
tle of the motor was three-fourths
open and the gas was turned on
to the carburetor. Fishing equip
ment and boat gear were found
intact in the boat.
Patrol operations have been in
progress since Tuesday from 7 a.
m. until 10 p.m. Holgar Larsen
of the Fish and Wildlife bureau,
Deputy Marshall Bill Bouwens,
Stan Laird of the highway patrol,
and Pat Carter of Wasilla, have
been searching the area with oth
er volunteers. Wednesday the
Tenth Rescue squadron sent a
plane over in an effort to try to
locate the bodies.
Bouwens explained that drag
ging operations are almost im
possible because of the size of the
lake and the depth. At the spot
where the boat was found the
water is at least 60 feet deep, he
said. Although the boat was not
moved until Tuesday, it was be
lieved that it could not have
drifted far because of the motor
which dragged like an anchor.
BASEBALL DANCE
SET FOR JULY 7
The Palmer baseball team will
sponsor a benefit dance, Saturday
night, July 7, Lynn Sandvik, com
mittee member, announced today.
The dance will be held at the
Palmer school gym, from 10 p.m.
to 2 a.m. with Schaefer’s orches
tra furnishing the music.
The club hopes to realize en
ough to purchase baseball equip
ment for the team. At present
they are playing pick-up teams,
a few games with Wasilla and
army teams, but they are hoping
for some games with Anchorage
city league teams.
Members of the dance commit
tee are: Lynn Sandvik, Ed Thu
ma and Jim Gleason. Tickets may
be purchased from any team
member and will be on sale in
several stores Monday, July 2.
Fire Association
Dues Payable
“Fire Association dues are
payable July 1”, Association
president A1 Hagen reminded
members today.
Only half year memberships,
covering the period July 1 to
December 31, 1951 are being
issued at this time. This will
amount to $5 per member for
homes or farms.
It is the thought of the Fire
Association, Hagen said, that
the City of Palmer will be
ready to assume the responsi
bilities of the association by
the first of the year. Members
outside the city limits are ad
vised to continue their memb
erships for the six month per
iod. After that it is believed
that the City Council will
work out some plan whereby
the city fire protection service
can be extended to rural cus
tomers.
Mr. Hagen urged everyone
to send in dues as quickly as
possible to help pay for the
$1000 balance due on the new
fire truck.
A 400 gallon tank and a high
pressure Bean pump are being
mounted on the new truck, and
it will be ready for operation
soon.
SETTLER HAS NEW EDITOR
Esther Kertula, daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Oscar Kertula, has tak
en over the editorship of the Val
ley Settler for the summer. She is
taking the place of Mrs. Elmer
LeDuc who is leaving soon on her
first trip to the States in 15 years.
COUNCILMEN EXPLAIN
HOW SALES TAX WILL
HELP CITY, SCHOOL
Discussion at the regular meet
ing of the city council last night
centered on the sales tax pro
posal. Council members released
the following statement covering
their recommendations:
"Palmer's sales tax has a better
than good chance of being adopt
de. Responsible voters appreciate
the wisdom of financing our new
ly incorporated town by means of
a tax on retail sales and services.
"Anchorage’s failure to pass a
similar proposal early this momh
raised a question in the minds of
some Palmerites. This doubt will
vanish when they realize that the
Anchorage school board intends
to call another sales tax election
before winter. The sales tax meas
ure was defeated in Anchorage
because of school board opposi
tion. According to Mr. John
Gorsuch, president of Anchor
age’s school board, another elec
tion probably will be scheduled
soon after school opens. With the
cooperation of the city council of
Anchorage, the proposal likely
■will be adopted, covering retail
sales and services in entire An
chorage school district. It there
fore behooves Palmer not to be
left behind in this matter of a
sales tax. This cheap and efficient
method of raising greatly needed
revenue should not be feared on
the grounds that retail business
will be diverted from Palmer to
Anchorage.
"Assume for the moment that
Palmer has a sales tax and An
chorage does not. How many peo
ple will spend $8 or $10 driving
to Anchorage to save $2 on $100
worth of groceries? By October
or November, when a sales tax
will no doubt become effective in
Anchorage, even this small dif
ferential will disappear.
"Will Palmer’s merchants have
to raise prices to pay the sales
tax? NO. After our proposed sales
tax has been adopted, a 50-cent
item will still cost only 50 cents.
A $5 item still will retail for $5.
The only difference is that you,
as the buyer, will contribute 10
cents to the city of Palmer when
ever you buy $5 worth of goods
here in town. The merchant func
tions only as a tax collector. This
is one reason why a sales tax is
inexpensive to collect.
"Purchases of less than 35 cents
will not be taxed. Purchases and
services costing from 36 to 65
cents will be taxed 1 cent. From
66 cents to $1.35, the tax is 2 cents
and so forth. Housewives need not
fear a general rise in prices be
cause of the sales tax. Remember,
this is to be a tax on RETAIL
SALES. Our merchants will not
pay a tax on their wholesale pur
chases. Unlike property taxes on
businesses, this tax cannot be
concealed in retail prices. The
consumer knows exactly how
much he is paying to the city of
Palmer.
"Remember, too, that bulk pur
chases by Co-Op members from
the Co-Op are WHOLESALE pur
chases. A farmer who buys more
(Continued on Page 4)