Valley frontiersman. [volume], September 24, 1947, Image 1

About Valley frontiersman. [volume] (Palmer, Alaska) 1947-1952

Image provided by: Alaska State Library Historical Collections

                
Vo!. I. No. .1
24. 191?
T<n t
National Security Sub-Committee Visits Palmer
Road Washout
Halts Traffic
■ Several Days
Moose Creek Overflow
Takes Out Highway
8 Miles From Palmer
The Alaska Road Commis
sion workers succeeded in re
pairing the damage to the
Palmer-Moose creek road at 11
a.m. on Saturday, M. C. Ed
munds of the road commission,
reported today. Cars immedi
ately were able to use the high
way after that hour, he said.
All highway traffic stopped
eight miles beyond Palmer at
Moose Creek this week, when
heavy rains last Tuesday and
Wednesday diverted the flow of
the creek from beneath the
Moose Creek bridge and sent it
down the highway.
The rain-swollen waters car
ried out at least a hundred feet
of fill just this side of the Moose
Creek bridge, according to Clyde
King, Alaska Road Commission
. foreman here.
Work crews have been attempt
ing to divert the stream back into
*. its original course since Wednes
day afternoon, but had not yet
been successful by Saturday
noon. Two doctors were brought
to Moose Creek to rush the
work's progress. However one of
the big Cats created a secondary
problem Friday, when the ma
chine toppled into the waters of
the creek.
Another small area washed out
at the spot where the highway
crosses the railroad tracks, but
that stretch has already been fix
^ ed, Mr. King said. As soon as the
area at the Creek is repaired, the
entire highway will be open
again, according to the foreman.
* Rocks washed down on the
road in several spots to the north
and one or two minor wTashouts
closed various sections for a
short time.
The Wednesday closing of the
highway caught a 27-man army
convoy enroute to the airbase
under construction near Fair
banks. The men have been camp
^ ed on the outskirts of Palmer for
the past several days, while wait
ing for the road to open.
The heavy rains of the week
tied up northbound rail traffic
last Thursday also, although the
rail line was reopenend writhin
a few hours. A slide blocked the
tracks between Moose Creek and
Sutton and was indirectly re
sonsible for Palmer's late mail
delivery on Thursday.
The regular train, due in Palm
er in the late forenoon, was
routed back to Anchorage at Mat
anuska, in order to pick up a
ditcher with which to clear the
tracks. A special train, which
was sent back to Anchorage from
Palmer, brought the city’s mail
' from /the south at 5 o’clock that
afternoon.
New DeLong Heir
A 10-pound baby son, Joe Al
lan, was born to Mr. and Mrs.
Glen DeLong of Palmer at the
Matanuska Valley hospital last
Thursday. The little boy is wel
comed in the DeLong home by
an older brother, James, aged
five.
Specialist!) Sent
To Help Set Up
Research Program
Two apeciulMt* ol the Depart
ment of Agi icuiture are expect
ed in the Valley in the immed
iate future, in connection w’ith
the establishment of the new
centralization of the territory's
agricultural experiment work in
Palmer, it was announced today
i by Don Irwin, director of ex
periment stations.
O. E. Reed, head of the dairy
department of the Department
of Agriculture, will be first to
arrive. Mr. Reed was expected
to be in the Valley at press-time
today. He comes to Alaska to
inspect the dairy industry here,
and to assist in outlining a pro
gram of dairy research in the
Valley.
Mr. Reed will be in the Val
ley for several weeks, at least,
according to Mr, Irwin.
Early in October Allred Ed
gar, an agricultural engineer
with the Agricultural Research
Administration, will be in Palm
er and the Matanuska Valley,
Mr. Edgar, a specialist in vege
table storage, will study local
problems of storage and assist in
establishing a program of re
search in that work.
i School Man
Heads List
Subscriber No. 1 on the Fron
tiersman's lists last week was
James Pendleton, superintendent
of schools at Wasilla. Because of
his place at head of the Frontiers
man list, Mr. Pendleton's seven-,
ty-five cents bought a two ]
months’ subscription instead of
one.
For subscriber No. 100 the
Frontiersman is offering a three
month's subscription, and to the
man whose name runs the sub
scription list to 500 there goes a
six month's subscription.
The Frontiersman will be mail
ed to any address in the United
States, by request (airmail extra,
please) and will be carrier-deliv
ered to any home in Palmer.
Subscription orders may be
left in the Frontiersman office in
the Neal Wright Bldg. That of
fice is the second door down the
hall and not the first. The first
office suite in the building is oc
cupied by MEA. The Frontiers
man shares quarters with REA
next door.
Weatherman Gives
Valley The Works
Palmer got e\«i>1hiac in th<
wcMlherbook thi* week and it
all pointed direr!Iv to a fast ap
proaehing »uiUt,
Rain* of last weekend were
fo) lowed b> * brilliant sunshine
last Monday, which wat- quickly
i forgotten in the Tuesday advent
of more rain—buckets of it.
When the week e water ration
w'as complete, or seemingly so.
the weather gods varied the pro
gram with a good stiff down
waid plunge of thejthermometer.
Unofficial records }put it as low
as 25 (.plus! last Friday.
Then to complete ttie week, a
few flakes of snow, probably the
first of tile 1947 winter, sifted
! down on Saturday. However,
there are early risers who say
they spotted a flake or tw'o float
ing down as early as last Tues
day.
Anyway it ail adds up to win
ter weather—on the way and
coming at a gallop, and it makes
Southern California more invit
ing every minute — especially
when viewed from the heatless
interior of the Valley Frontiers
man office.
Music Club Plans
First Meeting
Next Thursday
The first fall meeting of the
Palmer Music Appreciation Club
will be held Thursday evening
at 8 o'clock in the rectory of
St. Michaels Catholic church,
it was announced today by Rev.
James A. Snead.
This group was first organized
here by Father Snead last year,
when the total membership
reached 30. Anyone interested
in the study of good music is
welcomed to membership in the
group, which meets every three
weeks at the rectory.
Planned programs each eve
ning include one symphony or
opera, some short selection of
lighter music, and a transcrip
tion of either a radio play or a
popular radio houy from major
networks jn the states.
Father Snead has announced
that the program for Thursday'
evening will include:
Bernstein's Airborne Sym
phony, only recently completed
and a musical interpretation of
the history of aviation: a radio
transcription of an "Amos n
Andy" show: Cesar Franck's
short symphony, “Variation for
Piano and Orchestra."’
Station Projects
Not Fixed Vet.
Irwin Announces
Work at Its Alaskan agricul
tural .incut Kttliuns now
to*-Irig organised tor operation in
accordance with provisions of
the recent Agricultural Appro
priation Act. has not definitely
been determined for the coming
year, Don Irwin, director of ex
periment stations, said Saturday.
Mr Irwin explained that the
work will be conducted under a
dual set-up and must conform to
both territorial and federal pro
visions. The recently appointed
director has just returned from
Fairbanks, when he conferred
with heads of agricultural re
search w'ork there, but will not
knowr what the eoming winter's
program of project will be. until
he returns from Washington,
D. C.
The trip to Washington, where
the Alaskan director will confer
with federal heads of the De
partment of Agriculture, is now
scheduled for early November.
Mr. Irwin said he expected to
have a definite announcement of
planned work for the year, as
w’ell as more information con
cerning the anticipated construc
tion program here, immediately
upon his return.
Meanw'hile. the new- office of
the director of experimental
work will be established in the
immediate future. Headquarters
of the work will be in Palmer,
and the director's office is to be
in the new Steve Ward office
building, now nearing comple
tion. Mr. Irwin said that he ex
pected to be located in that
building by Oct. 1 of this year.
P-TA Meeting
Set for Tonight
Parents and all interested
community residents are remind
ed that the first meeting of the
fall term of the Parent-Teacher
Association is planned for Tues
day evening in the music room
of Palmer school. Meeting *time
is set for 8 o'clock.
This meeting, originally sched
uled for last Tuesday, was post
poned for a week because of the
potato-picking holiday.
Mrs. Charles Schaefer, presi
dent of the group, urges that
everyone interested in P-TA
work be present at this meeting
for there is much important busi
ness to be discussed.
Law And Love Find A Way
A bridegroom without a bride,
and today with not even an idea
of when his wedding was (or will
be) celebrated—that's Bernard
Swoboda of Palmer and Jones
ville. And to complicate the sit
uation, although Mr. Swoboda is
slated to be a bridegroom in the
near future or maybe already has
been in the immediate past), he'll
be a bachelor again the moment
his bride steps foot on Alaskan
soil.
The reason for Mr. Swoboda's
complicated matrimonial tangle
is the lovely Miss Adalgesia G.
Lopes of Recife, Brazil. She's
way down there, and Mr. Swo
boda is up here, and there didn’t
seem to be much that could be
done about the matter, at first,
since hard-hearted governments
said Miss Lopes had to be Mrs.
Lopes before she could be gath
ered into her suitor's welcoming
arms.
Then Mr. Swoboda took to
reading Brazilian law, and he
found that as far as Brazil is
concerned, a marriage by proxy
would transform Bliss Lopes into
a bonafide GI bride.
The anxious suitor hurried off
to pop the question via a 10,000
mile airmail route, and his in
tended answered “Yes” by re
turn airmail. The rest is easy, al
though it still entails a good bit
of airmail postage while legal
papers and wedding licenses are
signed.
All Mr. Swoboda had to do was
sign a power of attorney author
izing his future brother-in-alw.
Oscar De Oliveira, as his proxy.
The power of attorney was issued
by Mrs. Walter E. Huntley, U. S.
Commissioner, last week, and is
off on its 10,000-mile journey
to Recife.
Now all Mr. Swoboda has to
do is wait until the former Miss
Lopes gets to Alaska. Then he
has to go through the whole mat
ter of signing wedding licenses
and applications to marry again.
The reason — proxy marriages
just aren't recognized in Alaska.
The future (or recent) bride
groom has been a resident of the
Valley since 1935. He met his
bride while serving as a member
of the armed forces during the
war. He is at present employed at
Jonesville.
Congressmen
Visit Briefly
Last Friday
With only 20 minute* to spend
I in Palmer and the Valley, the
members of the House Foreign
Affairs Sub-Committee or Na
tional Security, who visited here
last Friday, made only the brief
est of inspections of local build
ings nearest the Railroad depot.
The men were escorted to
Palmer by Col. John P Johnson,
general manager of The Alaska
Railroad They made the trip by
rail car and were forced to cut
their visit short because of the
need to return to Anchorage
ahead of the southbound train
that afternoon.
However the men expressed
interest in Palmer and the Val
ley. and asked to be told frankly
of the most pressing needs here.
They were particularly interest
ed in the problems of Matanuska
Valley farmers and asked a num
ber of questions with regard to
the milk production and dairy
industry here.
The visiting Congressional
group was accompanied by an
officer of the Canadian army, sta
tioned at Whitehorse, and in com
mand of the stretch of Alaska
highway from Whitehorse north
to the border.
Questioned about the purpose
of their visit to Alaska at this
time, the members of the party
stated they were not free to dis
cuss the visit, which is related
to the problems of national de
fense in Alaska. The Canadian
member of the party said his
government was vitally interest
! ed in co-operative plans for na
tional defense in Alaska and Can
ada.
Every member of the group
commented on the beauty of
Palmer’s location in the Valley.
One member of the party halted
as he crossed the railroad tracks
(Continued on page 8)
Hacker ‘Fair’
After Attempt
At Suicide
Earl Hecker, local barber, was
reported Monday night to be in
fair condition at the Valley hos
pital after an attempt at suicide
earlier in the day.
Mr. Hecker, believed to be in
his late 50’s, was found lying on
the floor of his barber shop in
midmorning by Bob Peterson of
the Frontier Bar, which is lo
cated next door to the barber
shop. Mr. Peterson was drawn to
the barber shop when he heard
ber shop when he heard groans,
groans. He looked into the bar
ber shop window and saw Mr.
Hecker lying on the floor. He
had slashed his wrists with a
razor.
He was taken to the hospital
immediately and the doctor and
the staff worked on him all day.
In the evening it was learned
that his condition was unchanged
and he was expected to recover.
Mr. Hecker, who has a wife
and two daughters here and a
married son in Anchorage, was
reported to have been in ill
health for some time. He had
complained of headaches and
sleeplessness for some time.