davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1953-12-27
June

EOR SHEER VOLUME of big news,
l. June was the top month of 1883
and the week of June 1920 was the top
week. (See box on Page C-3)
But aside from being busy month,
June had a bit of pageantry about it..
1t was the month of Queen Elizabeth's
crowning, and all England was en- tete.
The rest of the world looked on-not
without a little envy-as the trappings
of thousand years of monarchy were
displayed for the young matron who,
SO few years before, had been Lilibet,
the little princess.
The Empire, even in its declining years,
showed it knew how to do things with
a fair. 1t was quite in character for two
citizens of the Commonwealth New
Zealand beekeeper and Himalayan hill
billy-to give their Queen the highest
mountain in the world for q coronation
present. The two, Hillary and Tenzing,
Continued on Page C-3)
Evening star., 1953-12-27

his plans. His February 2 state-of- the
Union address was more specific. Still,
it did not answer all the questions it
raised.
For instance, the President announced
that he was releasing the 7th Fleet ION
patrol in the Formosa StraitS) from its
duty of shielding Communist China"
Many well-informed Americans had
never understood that to be the fleets
function. But there was implicit in the
Presidents remark the suggestion that
now Chang Kai-shek'S Chinese Nation
alists on FormoSa would be free to launch
an attack on the Red mainland. The
whole year ran its course without such
an attack being undertaken.
The President also lashed out at "se-
cret understandings of the past :.
which permit enSlavement." The
understanding was that the Republicans
were about to repudiate the Yalta and
Potsdam agreements. How and when the
new administration would repudiate
them was not answered in the speech;
nor has it been answered in subsequent
months. The President, in fact, said later
in February that it might be dangerous
to repudiate them. &
Wide Riffs
AS he settled down into his big new
job, Gen. Eisenhower found his congress
Slonal majority widely riven on number
OF p-priority projects. Even before his
first month was up the President was
faced with split on statehood for
Hawaii, the tide1ands oil issue, Taft
Hartley law revision, reciprocal trade,
social security and executive branch re-
organization. In his first year, Gen.
Eisenhower managed to get congressional
approval only on tidelands and reorgan-
ization, among all these.
That the administration had a man
date from the American people, most
Republican politicians agreed. Unfor-
tunately, they did not agree on the
precise nature of the mandate. The
President regarded it as his job to keep
the Nation strong and solvent. Repre-
sentative Dan Reed of New York thought
the voters had ordered tax cut. Senator
Joe Mccarthy of Wisconsin considered
the mandate to be for drive against
"Subversives" in Government. And Sec
retary of Agriculture Benson seemed to
think the voters had ordered a change
in long-standing farm policies.
Late in February the United Nations
General Assembly met to wreStle with a
host of problems, most of which had
their origin in the antagoniSm between
East and West. And in Europe the free
nations were stalled in their pursuit of
an ideal: The ideal of a United States
of Europe, where all the strengths would
be combined for peace and all the weak
nesses would be eliminated in unity.
Evening star., 1953-12-27
May

THE DEFENSE CUTS heralded in
L President Eisenhower's budget mes
sage were detailed in May by Defense
Secretary Wilson. Requests for appro-
priations in fiscal 1854 beginning July
/, 1859 would be reduced $5.4 billion and
spending $23 billion. At the same time,
a new Joint Chiefs of Staff took shape,
with Admiral Arthur Radford named to
succeed Gen. Omar Bradley as chairman;
Gen. Nathan F. Twining in place of Gen.
Hoyt Vandenberg in the Air Force; Gen.
j. Lawton Collins in the Army, and
Admiral Robert B. Carney for Admiral
William NJ Fechteler in the Navy. This
new team was to take over in August.
1t was felt the new jos would give
American defense new look-one more
in line with Gen. EiSenhower's concept
of an adequate posture of defense"
On Capitol Hill, the tidelands oil bill
passed, granting petroleum revenues to
the States rather than to the Govern
ment And the irreconcilable Dan Reed
kept Pumping for tax reductions nOlO-
the automatic elimination of excess
profits levieS on June 80 apd the ad-
ductions from December 81 to coincide
with the death of excess profits. AS
head of the Ways and Means Commit
tee, Mr.. Reed was in good position to
get his way, unless the administrations
steersmen in Congress could thwart him.
There was evidence, in May, that the
G. o. P. leadership would try to do
exactly that.
Peace Offensive
The Communists, all the while, had
been playing the peace routine to the
hilt BY the end of May, truce in Korea
seemed a sure thing at almost any mo-
ment; some observers expected the Reds,
with one eye on the history books, to
drag their feet until June Is, bringing
about a cease-fire on the third anniver-
sary of the war. The Wet Mini adven-
ture in Laos was all over by early May
even though the defenses of the little
kingdom had virtually collapsed before
the Red onslaught. And in Prague, a
wan man was released from prison and
expelled from CzechoSlovakia. He was
William N. Oats, an Associated Press
correspondent who had been arrested Is
months earlier on trumped-up espionage
charges.
Some elements of public opinion were
ready to condemn the whole Soviet peace
offensive as hoax. Others were less
sure. In Europe, sentiment was building
up for four-power talk with Russia on
outstanding problems. AS counter
suggestion, the United States offered a
three-power meeting Omitted States,
Britain France). Such conference was
scheduled for June in Bermuda, but
hours after the date was set, the French
cabinet of Premier Rene Mayer collapsed.
So did hopes for the conference. 1t was
not until December that the Big Three
finally got together.
Evening star., 1953-12-27
March

THE WORLD spotlight moved away
l. from Washington early in March as
MoScow'S radio announced the illness of
aging Josef Stain. Though the demise
of great man is always news, never had
the death throeS of world figure been
revealed in such minute detail. Four
communiques, eliminating with a death
announcement on March S, recorded
Stalin's respiration, heartbeat and the
medication used to keep him alive. It
was, some observers said, almost as if the
emerging leadership in the Kremlin
wanted to reassure everybody that all
was on the up-and-up.
With Stain dead, the question of sue
cession arose. Early in the mysterious
struggle behind the Kremlin walls,
Georgi M. Malenkov shaped up as the
new No. l. Of course, Malenkov was not
the strong man that Stain had been.
Rather, he was the first member of
triumvirate that also included Vyache-
slav M. Molotov and Lavrenti P. Beria.
Many persons considered Beria the can
nier of Malenkov'S two rivals. SubSe-
quent events proved this judgment
wrong: At last reports the white-mus-
tached foreign minister was still alive,
which was more than could be said for
Beria.
The Crucial Event
In retrospect, Stalins death appears to
be the single event that, more than any
thing else, shaped the course of 1858.
Most observers expected this to be the
case, and closely watched Russia for
Straws that might indicate change in
the direction of the wind. And Russia,
as if in reaction to this surveillance, got
tough at first. Soviet jet fighters in
Germany shot down an American and a
British plane and buzzed another Brit
ish craft, ostenSibly for border violations.
A few days later, after protests were
lodged, Russian general expressed
grudging regret over one of the incidents.
The latter part of the month was
replete with evidence that something
new had been added behind the Iron
Curtain. You could have knocked the
West over with an olive branch when
Molotov used his good Offices to win re-
lease of nine British civilians in North
Korea: when the Soviet radio admitted
that the United States and Britain had
a hand in winning World War II; when
some 1000 japanese were returned from
Chinese captivity after almost eight
years; when eight American newSmen
who had written a year earlier to Stain
received visas for trip to Moscow; when
an amnesty was proclaimed for many
Soviet convicts, and when the Com
munist bloc in the u N. agreed at last
on Dag Hammarskjold of Sweden as the
organizations new secretary general.
ConciIiotion in Koreo
The month Of March seemed, too,
to be q time of conciliation In Korea.
Gen. Mark Clark, U. N. supreme COM
mander, had urged an exchange Of dis
abled prisoners pending general solu-
Evening star., 1953-12-27
April

DY THE TIME April rolled around the
- Soviet peace offensive was well under
way. Almost as if Russia was trying to
say it had reformed, these events oc-
Cured in the first four days of the
month:
Molotov pledged Russian support for
a Korean armistice: Russia agreed to
discuss atomic control and arms re>
duction without insisting on her own
disarmament plan; Red officials in Ber-
lin opened talks with the British on air
safety; talks on exchange of sick priS-
oners in Korea went ahead speedily; IA
French civilians were freed from intern
ment in North Korea; the Kremlin
turned loose the nine doctors held since
January, and explained it was all
CHASTITY mistake; Molotov received United
States Charge d,AffaireS Jacob Beam for
the first time, and the amnesty granted
to Russian convicts in March was ex-
tended to Rumanians.
There were a number of things the
United States might have done in re-
action to these peace moves. For ex-
ample, it might have swallowed the whole
package, or it might have Scorned the
Red move. But the United States did
neither.
Deeds Before Words
President Eisenhower, before the
American Society of Newspaper Editors,
took cognizance of the Soviet campaign.
Then he asked for deeds before words,
and suggested that the first deed might
be cease fire in Korea. This, the PreSi-
dent added, should be coupled with an
end to the wars in Indo-China and
Malaga, and eventually to an easing of
tensions the world over. Secretary of
State Dulles later reaffirmed the deeds
before words concept as basic American
policy.
At almost the same moment the Pres
ident was speaking, Russia's puppet in
Indo-China, Ho Chi Mimi, sent his Wet
Mimi columns striking into the little
kingdom of Laos, which hitherto had
been virtually immune from the war in
neighboring Wet Nam. At first, it looked
as if the Laos attack signaled the end of
the post-Stalin peace offensive. But
four weeks later, almost as suddenly as
1t began-and for no more apparent rea-
son-HoS drive ended. There was some
reason to believe the Laos campaign had
been just slip-up.
Progress in Korea
But in Korea, things were progressing.
Agreement was reached on the exchange
of ailing prisoners, the United Nations
to repatriate $500 Chinese and North
Koreans, the Reds to return about 600
including something over 100 Americans.
The final count of Americans repatriated
was 149, out of U. N.-South Korea total
of 684
Like everything else ever accomplished
in Korea, the sick prisoner exchange was
not carried out without distrust and ill
feeling. And though many of the men
who came back from the north were in
pitiful shape, there was evidence aplenty
that even Sicker men were left behind
Still, in the return of the ailing POWs,
there was hope for formula by which
all prisoners could be exchanged. At the
end of April, however, with the exchange
of disabled prisoners completed, the gen.
eral truce talks stalled again.
In the United States and abroad, the
administration was having its embar-
rassments. Secretary of Commerce Sin
clair Weeks had fired Dr. Allen v. Astin,
head of the National Bureau of Stand
ards, over q bureau report that labeled
Evening star., 1953-12-27

FIGURES OF THE YEAR-Ths sketches in the
left ond right hond columns Of this pose. by
Stcr Stoff Artist Nswmon Sudduth. represent
leodins persons in the news in 1853. They were
selected. NOT 20 much a. the outstanding per-
sonosss Of the respective months, but es rep
Fsssntotivs figures who helped shape the news
ef the months they pesoniy.
Evening star., 1953-12-27
February

IF JANUARY was time of transition,
February was time of settling down.
The January 20 inaugural address by
Gen. Eisenhower was a generalization of
The frontiersman., 1953-09-03
MEA GETS G0-AHEAD ON NEW BUILDING

Plans and specifications for the Matanuska Electric Association s new administration building were approved this week by the Rural Electric Administration in Wash ington and a call for bids will be made as soon as possible, Cy Brewer, MEA manager announc- ed this week.
 Edwin B. Crittenden, architect, will have sets of plans and speci- fications in his Anchorage office for those desiring to enter bids on the building construction. One set of complete plans will be available for inspection at the Palmer MEA office.
 The first membership approval for the erection of the new build ing was given at an annual meet ing two years ago. However, plans were temporarily suspend ed until the annual meeting this past March, at which time the membership voted to go ahead with the construction plans.
 If we are able to get a satis- factory bid, we hope to start construction this Fall" Brewer said this week.
 This will be the third electric association building under pres ent construction in the Territory. The Chugach Electric Association of Anchorage and the Golden Valley Electric at Fairbanks have administrator buildings under construction.
The frontiersman., 1953-09-03
FAULTY WIRING
 BLAMED FOR TWO FIRES

Members of the Palmer volun- teer fire department were enjoy ing a full-course turkey dinner at the Palmer Fountain August 28 when they were politely in terrupted by the restaurant owner who told them he was sor- ry, but his fathers farm was on fire. At the time firement were being feted by the Matanuska Valley Farmers Cooperating As sociation for their work in saving other Coop buildings during the power house fire August g. Dam ages at the Oscar Kertulla farm amounted to approximately $350, Fire Chief Ray Lancaster said this week. Faulty wiring was blamed for the fire.
 The second fire within the week was at the home of MT. and Mrs. Herman Huebch of Valley Street last night where approximately $3,oOO damage was done to the one-family house. It was believed hat this fire also was caused from faulty wiring.
The frontiersman., 1953-09-03
'53 Valley Fair Opens Saturday
SCHOOL ENROLMENT
 GOES'OvER 825 MARK

Student enrolment in the Palmer school this year will go over 825 it was indicated this week as students and parents of students registered for opening day, September 8.
 According to a schedule re- leased this week by William Zah- radnicek, school superintendent, upon arrival at school on Tues day pupils should report as fol- lows:
 First grade: Rooms 205, 206 or 2O7. Second grade: Rooms POI, POP or SOL Third grade: Rooms 305, BIO or 303. Fourth. Fifth and sixth grades: Report to gymnasi- um at 800 a.m., where definite assignments will be made. Sev- enth grade: Rooms 102 or 105. Eighth grade: Rooms 101 or 107.
 Students who do not register before the opening day of school are asked to wait until Wednes- day, September g to enroll, when enrolment will be in the school library, Room 216.
 There will be three class rooms conducted off the school grounds until the new Swanson School is completed. These will be one class each in grades 4, 5 and 6 and will be conducted in the Matanuska Lodge, and the basements of the United Protes- tant Church and St. Johns Luth- eran Church. Pupils assigned to these off-grounds classes will be moved upon the completion of Swanson school which will house one class each in grades l through 6, Zahradnicek said.
The frontiersman., 1953-09-03
THIS YEARS EVENT
 EXPECTED TO TOP ALL OTHER FAIRS

Rain or not, the 1853 Matanus- ka Valley Fair is expected to top all previously held fairs with visitors expected from all over the Territory and States when the Fair opens Saturday, Sep tember 5 for a three day run.
 Proof of the fame of the Mat anuska Valley vegetables will be offered through club, group and individual displays. Out-sized cabbages, always a favorite sub- ject for camera fans, colorful dis plays of carrots, beets, squash, onions and many green vege- tables will fill display booths in the vegetable section.
 Four prizes will be offered in the individual farm displays with the first award winner to receive $100. Second prize is $75; third prize $50 and fourth prize, $25. Each display that qualities will receive $10 entry prize. To qualify for these attractive priz- es, all products exhibited must have been grown in the Valley or have been made by the exhib- itor and his immediate family.
 Displays will be scored separ- ately, with the judges rating like products against like only but total points will determine the winner. In case of tie scoring, a winner will be judged accord ing to the ingenuity of the ar ragement of the display.
 Dislays will be arranged on a six-foot frontage, six feet deep. All displays are required to con- tain not less than 25 specimens, nor more than 40, with each arti- cle to be correctly labelled.
 Three prizes, S5, s, and $1 and a grand champion ribbon will be presented in potato displays.
 All vegetables, except where indicated in the 1853 Fair Book, will be judged for table quality with three prizes of $3, $50 and 75 cents offered 30 classifications.
 One prize of $50 will be of fered for the largest vegetable in Is classes, including rhubarb and ctrauhorriQc A grand oh ocopioyo ribbon will be awarded to the outstanding entry in the small fruits class, as well as three cash awards of $2, $1 and 50 cents. Grain or seed crops will also draw prizes and champion rib bon in nine classes and sheaf forage crops and sheaf grains will receive cash awards and ribbons.
The frontiersman., 1953-09-03
OFFICIALS EXPECT RECORD CROWDS FOR GALA EVENT

Many treats are III store for 1853 Valley fair-goers, members of the Matanuska Valley Fair Association disclosed this week when the full three-day program was completed and announced.
 Band Concert
 In the line of entertainment will be band concerts by the popular 43rd Army Band under the direction of Warrant Officer Clapper. These concerts will be presented on Sunday and Mon- day afternoons from 300 D. m. to 400 pm. in front of the grand stand.
 Horse Races
 Each afternoon horse racing fans will have the seldom offered opportunity of seeig relay and standard horse races. Several young girls of the valley will prove their ability to not only stay in their saddles, but turn in sur prising performances. A num- Der of Anchorage entries have been received and will join Val ley horsemen in a prade around the track just prior to the races.
 To Select Queen
 Saturday night one of the nine Valley girls who entered the 1853 Valley Queen Contest will be named to reign over the remain ing two days and evenings of the fair. The crowning will take place at the Coronation Ball to be held in the Palmer School gymnasium.
 Colony Day
 Sunday vii be devoted to Colony Day" and all fair visi- tors are invited to register at the original tent-house replica which will be located just inside the gates at the fair grounds. Dis plays and information will ex- plain the way of living in the early colony days.
 There will be a baseball game
 Continued on page 8)
The frontiersman., 1953-09-03

truck. Nicholson told Territorial Police, who investigated the ac- cident, that he applied the brakes, skidded about 90 feet but hit the man with the right side of the truck fender.
 Oskolkou was removed to the Valley Hospital where he was treated for injuries and laten discharged.
The frontiersman., 1953-09-03

Nick Oskolkoll, 39, of Anchor age received injuries to his right shoulder about 9:30 last night when hit by 1853 Chevrolet pick up truck, driven by Earl J. Nicholson of Anchorage.
 Oskolkol and his wife Kathe- ren were walking along the Glenn highway near the Palmer Cemetery when he suddenly ran into the road in front of the
The frontiersman., 1953-09-03
TWO SCHOOL BOARD VACANCIES TO BE FILLED OCTOBER 6

Coinciding with the annual city election October 6 will be the school board election, it was announced this week. Two vacancies will be filled, one for a term of four years and one a five-year term. Candi- dates may get their names on the ballot by signing a declar- ation of intention to run. Forms are available at the Palmer School office.
The frontiersman., 1953-09-03
''COLONY DAY" TO BE CELEBRATED BY SEVERAL HUNDRED


 Fair will be covered by the Ma tional Broadcasting Company who will have a representative present to interview members of the original St. Mehiel group. Newspapers have also indicated their intention of covering the first full-scale reunion of the orig inal Matanuska Valley colonists.
 Nearly all the photographs ap- bearing on this page are from the Alaska Rural Rehabilitation Corporation's file. They are part of the vast record of the colon ization project from their arrival in Seward aboard the transport St. Mehiel on through the tenn porary housing and a few scenes of their "city of Palmer" as the colonists found it.
 In the Fall of 1894, President Franklin D. Roosevelt instructed Federal Emergecy Relief Admin istrator Harry Hopkins to pre- pare to send farm families to Alaska for resettlement. Early the following year, Don L. IT, win, who had been in the Val ley since 1884 as superintendent of the Matanuska Experiment Station, was selected as the first general manager of the coloniza- tion project. In May of 1885, he notified Washington he had pick ed the Palmer siding as the site for a model colony. The first of 200 families arrived in Palmer aboard Alaska Railroad cars on May II.
 Of this group who arrived that year, 36 are still in the Valley. A total of 91 live somewhere else in the territory, according to Pat Hemmer, one of the origin al colonist and chairman of the 1853 Colony Day. celebration.
 Hemmer, announced this week that they hope to have com mercial photographer present who will take pictures of the group and individuals for orders. In making the announcement, Hemmer urged all original col onists to be sure and attend the celebration and to register at the headquarters tent to be set up in the fairgrounds.
 Cash prizes will be awarded in various categories to colonists who are in attendance. The first prize of $100, donated by the AL aska Rural Rehabilitation Cor poration will be given to the col onist still in the valley who has contributed the most to the suc- cess of the colonization project. This person will be selected by the vote of each colonist and his wife. The prize will be awarded Sunday afternoon during the ceremonies to be held at 800 pm.
 Other prizes will include cash award of $25 for the oldest colon- ist. This will be decided by ad- ding the ages of both man and wife. Another $25 cash award will go to the largest colonist family living in the Valley, this includes children, and-children, daughters-and son-in law. An award of $15 will be given to the youngest decendant of a colonist who registers Sunday and is pres ent at 300 pm. A consolation prize of $5 will be given to each of the next two youngest colon- ist decendants.
The frontiersman., 1953-09-03
STREET CONDITIONS DEPEND ON WEATHER

George Lilly, contractor in- stalling the Palmer water system, said this week that if the weather cooperates, he will have city streets in good travel condition before fair time, by bringing in extra competing equipment.