Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1935-06-20
BY AWHILE sCHALEFEN.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
PALMER. Alaska, June 20 (N.AN.A).
1t is now confessed by officials that
the magnitude Of the task Of settling
200 families in the Matanuska Valley
was not realized when undertaken,
and, recognizing the tremendous
amount Of work remaining to be done.
authorities here are making desperate
efforts to get more help.
Already the administrative person.
mel Of the colonization diviSion-as
differentiated from the construction
division, manned mainly by California
transientS has been bolstered.
Howard Lying of Nome has been added
as assistant to General Manager Don
Irwin, and Ed Croning Of Anchorage
as purchasing and disbursing agent.
To date the transient laborers and
some of the colonists have been in
the valley more than a month and
have not made a dent in work
promised the settlers.
Much Work to Be Done.
Trouble ahead is revealed by brief
summary of the work to be done.
The colony must:
Construct a community center, a
monumental task In itself, consider
ing available facilities.
Erect homes for all colonists lex
cept for a few who happened to draw
tracts with houses on them). Just
one cottage is now started.
Erect shelters for live stock.
Provide a water supply for settlers
homes and live stock.
Clear IL acres Of land for each
colonist.
Build 3o-odd miles of new roads
in the valley, plus IL miles connecting
Palmer with the Anchorage road. now
ending at Eklutna; and this includes
a $l50,00O bridge.
Prepare and harvest community
garden and field crops for settlers and
live stock during the Winter.
Most Of these tasks have not even
been started and others Just barely
touched. For instance, the road pro-
gram, under the Alaskan Highway
Commission, is about month behind.
Director Irwin comedies that condi-
lions are serious and other officials
privately admit the situation is most
alarming.
The colonists themselves are be-
coming apprehensive. Some of them
talk about cutting loose and going
into the woods and building their own
shelters, even if they must give up
their colony tracts to do it.
Others of the new settlers are sick
and tired Of delays, pickering and
mismanagement. Irwin says that four
families have asked to be sent home,
but runors around the camps are that
more than 80 are ready to quit. Those
with serious complaints are asked to
sign aff1davits that conditions were
misrepresented to them by case work.
ers back home. Then the Alaska
Rural Rehabilitation Corp. will in
yestigate the charges and may pro-
vide transportation, according to Ir-
win. Nothing is definitely promised,
however.
TRANSPORTATION, more than any
other colonization problem, was over
looked. In the first place, just two
bands of steel, representing the Alaska
Railroad, connect this wilderness with
the rest Of Alaska, there being no
highway. 1t is a small system whose
trains chase themselves around in
Vulnerable curves. The entire rail-
road has only some 20 cars and there
are some $4,000 and more tons Of
freight coming into the colony!
Railroad Swamped.
Approximately 1000 tons have come
into Palmer to date and it has kept
the railroad practically swamped.
Costly freight that never should be
left uncovered has had to be dumped
off and piled around Palmer to make
cars available for more shipment.
Bad weather could ruin thousands Of
dollars worth of equipment.
Complaining the problem, mate
rails have been shipped out Of the
United States that will not be needed
for months.
I've WuSu buS oAAPPAA6 0SSSS ~
Seattle time after time what we
needed and had to have Director Ir-
win declares. 1--WE told him ahead Of
time, so we'd have things here when
needed"
What has happened? Two hun
bred kits Of tools. such as hammers,
axes, saws, levels and planes for cut
ting house timber ana erecting cot
tage5. should nave been here when
the coIonists arrived They ale still
missing. Authorities here bought up
all available tools at Anchorage and
Seward. and these, with what the
cclorists brought along, are al that
there has been to work with. Eixty-
nine horses arrived o month ago.
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