Si
4o
Official Paper of Box Butte County
VOLUME XXVIII.
MRS. M'ELH ANEY '
HELD FOR TRIAL
ATTHIS TERM
WOMAN CHARGED WITH MURDER
TO HAVE SPEEDY TRIAL
PRELIMINARY LAST SATURDAY
Judge Tash Holds There is Sufficient
Evidence to Connect Her With
Murder of Earl Anderson
Trial Starts Tomorrow
Evelyn Preiss McElhaney was bound
, over to district court for trial at the
present term, following a preliminary
hearing held before County Judge
Tash Saturday afternoon. Mrs. Mc
Elhaney is charged with the murder
of Earl Anderson, barber, last Tues
day morning. Judge W. H. Westover
has set the case for Wednesday, and
the first woman to be tried for murder
in this part of the state will have a
.speedy hearing.
District Judge Westover has re
quested that the Alliance newspapers
withhold printing the testimony at the
preliminary hearing until Friday, in
order to facilitate the selection of
jurors in the case. Mr. Westover's
opinion is that delay in printing the
actual testimony brought out at the
preliminary will save Box Butte coun
ty in the neighborhood of a thousand
dollars, without serious inconvenience
to either the newspapers or the tax
payers who are anxious to read every
thing about the case. A juror cannot
be disqualified for a belief based on
ordinary news reports, but if he forms
an opinion based on actual evidence
brought out at the preliminary, he
cannot sit on a jury.
It is quite probable that there will
be some delay in securing a jury, no
matter how the newspapers act in the
matter. Unless something occurs-to
prevent, the weeding out process will
begin tomorrow morning.
Assistant Attorney Employed.
Attorney W. A. Prince of Grand
rfcyp-1 ba been rined by the county
commipslonerTTi assist in the prose
cution of the catse. He was present at
the preliminary' hearing last Satur
day, and spent the entire day in get
ting acquainted with the facts in the
case, interviewing witnesses and mak
ing arrangements for his part in the
sensational trial. Mr. Prince was the
prosecuting attorney in the famous
Cole-Grammer murder trials. Attor-
new William Mitchell and H. E. Gantz
have been retained by the defense.
The preliminary hearing was semi
private. The county court room holds
less than thirty persons, and with rep
resentatives of the press, the attor
neys and the witnesses, practically all
the Beats were filled. Judge Tash an
nounced before the hearing that he
would not permit the court room to be
crowded and that the average citizen
had about one chance in a thousand to
get a seat. Despite this warning,
however, a huge crowd was gathered
In the halls of the court house by noon,
and when court convened the would
be spectators crowded into the dis
trict court room.
Plea to be Self-Defense.
It was brought out at the prelim
inary that the plea of the defense
-would be that Mrs. McElhaney shot
in self-defense; that , she had reason
to fear that Anderson intended to kill
her, and that it was a question of
-whether she got him or he got her.
The prosecution called only a few
-witnesses, most of them personal
friends of the defendant, while the
defense called no witnesses.
Among those who testified were
Miss Mydia Virdie, known as "Mike,"
who was Mrs. McElhaney's partner in
conducting the rooming house; Tom
Gray; Earl Mallette, soda dispenser at
the Joe Smith pool hall. Dr. George
Hand told of conducting an autopsy
on the body of Earl Anderson.
Mrs. McElhaney had lort the jaunty
air which has heretofore character
ized her since her arrest. During the
long hearing she did not once smile,
and appeared plainly ill at ease. She
stood up to hear the complaint read
and was apparently nervous during
the ordeal. In making her plea of
"not guilty" to the indictment, she
spoke in a scarcely audible tone. She
appeared in the court room quite well
dressed, but did not look around the
room or at the witnesses during the
testimony.
Husband Supporting Her.
Her husband, L. A. McElhaney of
Edgemont, S. D., was present during
the preliminary, as were a number of
other friends of the defendant. Fol
lowing the hearing, Mr. McElhaney
and his wife embraced, and the hus
band assured his wife that he would
-do everything in his power to secure
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EVELYN PREISS M'ELH AN Ef
Pretty twenty-five-year-old Alliance
woman who will go to trial in dis
trict court Wednesday morning be
fore Judge W. IT. Westover. She is
charged with the murder of Earl B.
Anderson, barber.
her freedom. The same day he is re
ported to have sold some jewelry at
a considerable sacrifice to Alliance
citizens.
There have been no further rumors
of a big slush fund on the part of
Alliance business men to aid the de
fendant. When she was first placed
under arrest, she is reported to have
said that she could get a fund of five
or six thousand dollars without any
difficulty.
Ander .on't. Brolher Located.
The body of the murdered man was
rent to Atlanta, Ca., l'. evening, fol
lowing the locating of a brother there.
Anderson had been in the service and
last week the Omaha Red Cross sec
retary forwarded the address of a sis
ter in Atlanta, but the police there
were unpble to find her. The next
day, however, a wire was received
from the brother.
Sheriff J. W. Miller is in receipt of
a letter from Mrs. Kenneth Anderson
of Svoux Falls, C. D., in which she
expresses a fear that the murdered
man may have been a relative. It
developed later that this was not the
case. The letter follows:
"I was informed about the shooting
of a young boy by the name o Ander
son by Evelyn McElhaney. We all
know her and know what she is. She
ought .to be in prison for she has
ruined many a young man. We would
like to know very much about this boy
as I have a nephew whom we could
not keep away from. She got all of
his money after he came out of the
army. We are enclosing you a photo
of an Anderson boy and kindly re
turn it if it is not him. If it is our
boy, wire David Toffguire at once at
Sioux Falls, S. D. I am sending you
two photos, and kindly return them if
it is not the boy we know. Kindly
let us hear from you at once."
POTASH PROSPECTS BETTER
THAN. EIGHT MONTHS AGO
William G. Haldane, former super
intendent of the Western Potash plant
at Antioch, who visited Alliance early
in the week, is very optimistic over
the western Nebraska potash outlook,
in spite of the fact that all five of
the large Antioch plants have recent
ly closed down. "I believe that things
look better now for the Nebraska pot
ash industry than they have ftr the
past eight months," said Mr. Haldane.
"The prospects of a protective tariff
are excellent; wages will be much
lower and help easier to get; freight
will undoubtedly come down and the
cost of fuel and materials is rapidly
dropping."
Although Mr. Haldane would not
state that he considered the Nebraska
potash manufacturing industry a per
manent one, he expressed himself as
believing that it will be a profitable
one for several years. He stated that
the present situation causes the need
of an efficient separation process to be
keenly realized and that at least three
of the large plants are working at the
present time to perfect processes by
which the potash can be easily and
cheaply separated from the soda and
the soda- converted into marketable
form, the latter being shipped at the
present time with the valuable potash
and nothing realized from it.
Mr. Haldane was for two years
president of the Colorado School of
Mines at Golden and at the present
time is a consulting engineer with
headquarters at Denver. He is fre
quently called to Alliance and Antioch
for consultation on technical proposi
tions affecting the potash industry.
Miss Grace Shean is assisting in the
city light office.
TWICE A WEEK TUESDAY AND FRIDAY
P.OX BUTTE COUNTY,
ALLiANCETO TRY
FOR NEXT STATE
FIREMEN'S MEET
TO SEND STRONG DELEGATION
TO YORK IN JANUARY.
Prospects Good for Securing 1922 Ses
sion This City Favored
by Firemen.
The city of Alliance is going after
'he 1922 convention of the state vol
unteer firemen's association, to be
held in January of that year, it was
decided at the second of the weekly
luncheons of the Alliance chamber of
commerce, held yesterday noon in the
chamber's new rooms above the Bren
nan drug store. The first step in the
campaign will be made by the dele
gates from the local department to
the 1921 convention, which will be
held at York January 16, 17 and 18.
Five delegates were selected at a re
cent ineeling of the Alliance depart
ment, Ray Trabert, Roy Butler, Ray
Burns, Ward Hall and 0. C. Moore.
This delegation will be made about
about four times as large.
The state firemen have always liked
Alliance, having been well entertained
on previous visits. Delegates to the
1920 convention stopped oft in this
city last January, largely because they
liked the sort of Entertainment the
local department hands out. Alliance
was eligible to the convention this
year, but was not in a position to
handle the proposition.
The annual attendance is usually I
well over 500, and it is not a slight .
task to entertain them. The Alliance J
fire boys have already started ,
planning the entertainment for 1922.
beintr fairly certain that they will
land the convention. The state fire-'
the various cities in tuin. The cham
ber of commerce is backing the local
firemen in full force.
ANTIOGH MAYOR'S CAR
COLLIDES WITHPOLE
Fletcher P. Walker, the energetic
mayor of Antioch, the potash town,
came near to an untimely end when
his big roadster collided with a new
thirty-five foot electric light pole just
south of the Burlington viaduct in the
east part of Alliance Monday after
noon. Spectators reported that the
Antioch mayor was making excellent
speed in the direction of his home
town when his heavy car left the road
and struck the pole with such force
that it snapped off like a pipestem,
almost completely demolishing the car
and leaving the heavy wooden pole
swinging from two electric power
wires carrying twenty-three hundred
volts' of electricity. The wires were
feed lines for the city septic tank sta
tion southeast of town. About all that
remained of the car was the engine,
which remained in practically one
piece, as did the mayor.
PLAN TO CONSOLIDATE
TELEPHONE COMPANIES
The following statement has been
issued by W. B. T. Belt, resident of
the NorthwerUrn, Nebraska and Iowa
telephone companies:
It is planned to consolidate the
three Bell telephone companies oper
ating throughout the states of Ne
braska, Iowa, Minnesota, . North Da
kota and South Dakota under the
name of the Northwestern Bell Tele
phone company on January 1 next,
subject to the approval of the public
uutilty commissions in those states
which have such bodies
The name, "Northwestern Bell Tele
phone company," has been chosen for
the proposed new coirmanv because a
considerable part of the territory in
cluded in the organization has long
been known as "the northwest," and
the name in itself identifies the com
pany's location in the country.
The consolidation proposed will in
clude the Nebraska TeleDhone com
pany, which operates throughout Ne
braska and part of South Dakota; the
Iowa Telephone company, which oper
ates throughout Iowa: and the North
western Telephone Exchange com
pany, which operates An Minnesota,
North and part of South Dakota.
For ten years all of these companies
have been under a single management
ana no changes ara contemplated in
the officers or In the district, division
or general headquarters of the or
ganization. Naturally there has been consider
able inconvenience In the operation of
three separate companies and three
distinct corporations under one man
agement This will be eliminated by
the change to a single corporation.
NEBRASKA, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1D20.'
STIiLL WRITES
ABOUT FREIGHT
RATES ON SPUDS
OMAHA BANKER DISCUSSES CON
DIT10N OF AGRICULTURE
Suggests That Grain Corporation
Should be Again Called
Into Existence
At the noon luncheon of the Alli
ance chamber of commerce yesterday,
Secretnry J. W. Guthrie read a letter
from William Stull, Omaha Invest
ment banker, calling attention to a
story appearing in the Omaha papers
to the effect that potato growers in
the legion of Kearney will not buy
their seed potatoes in western Ne
braska, but in Minnesota, due to the
fact that the freight rates are unrea
sonably high between Alliance and
Kearney.
George Walker, selling representa
tive at the Nebraska exchange, says
the report is an error, and that the
freight rate between Kearney and Al
liance is only 27 Va cents, although the
rute to some points in southern Ne
braska is higher than to th bit mar
ket centers.
The letter is particularly interesting
in view of the fact that the Omaha
chamber of commerce is interesting it
self in the spud freight rate question,
and with their co-operation, the local
exchange may be able to secure a
more advantageous tariff to some
point in Nebraska. Mr. Stull also
discusses the wheat situation. His let
ter follows:
Omaha, Neb., December 4, 1920.
Secretary, Commercial Club, Alliance,
Nebraska. Dear Sir: .A Kearney dis
patch published in the Omaha "Bee"
of this morning refers to freight rates
on seed potatoes between Alliance and
Kearney, and from points in the Min
nesota potato fields to Kearney, from
which it would appear that your lo
cality is put to a disadvantage. !
Will you be kind enough to tell me j
jut what the rate on these potatoes
is from Alliance to Kearney, the dis-!
tatce by the shortest route, and the
dijance by way of Omaha 7 This is
a Matter not only ef interest to po
tato growers, but to every farmer and
every consumer of food stuffs in the
state of Nebraska.
One of the chief factors in this, I
fancy, is the same iniquities practiced
by the railroads of the country in
making low rates to meet water com
petition, preventing its development,
and recouping their loss by extortion
ately high prices from the interior to
those waterways. I shall be glad to
hear from you fully in regard to the
matter.
Such a system is an outrage. It, in
substance, is based upon the theory
that all the benefits accruing from
waterways belongs, primarily, to the
railroads, and to a few people living
or doing business along those water
ways. No movement on the part of
the people of Nebraska promises
greater benefit to the whole state than
that this system be broken down. This
is important at all times, but particu
larly so just at present when the ar
tificially fixed prices upon farm com
modities are placed so low that they
are below the cost of production.
(Continued on Page 2)
ELKS MINSTREL WAS
THE HJTJF THE YEAR
"The Jollies of 1920," the produc
tion staged by the Alliance Elks,
aided and abetted by the Joe Bren
Production company, was the hit of
the year in theatrical circles. It was
a more or less finished production that
greeted the packed house last Friday
evening, and everything went off as
smoothly as clockwork. The partici
pants had been practicing only a lit
tle over a week, but there wasn't a
single hitch' in the program.
The first part of the entertainment
was an old-fashioned minstrel, in
which there were a number of good
gags and a number of catchy melod
ies. D. C. Bradbury acted as inter
locutor; the end men were J. W. Guth
rie, H. E. Reddish, W. L. O'Keefe,
Fred Murphy, J. B. Miller, Bernard
Hoist en, Joe Williams and Sibley Ross
Harvey. Solos were sung by J. W.
Guthrie, Fred Murphy, M. D. Nolan,
J. II. Vance, H. D. Shallenberger and
Sibley Ross Harvey. The chorus was
composed of L. S. Olson, M. D. Nolan,
W. B. Minor, J. H. Vance, Norman
Newberry. H. A. Cribble, H. A. Sage,
J. C Parker, R. O. Reddish, F. A.
Bald, II .E. Gantz, Frank Buechsen
stein, F. A. Hively, H. D. Shallenber
ger, F. H. Carlson, E. J. Baskin, E.
M. Burr and W. R. Metz.
The finale was a rag-time wedding
introduced by Miss Katherine Kneist,
who sang beautifully, "If They'll
EARL a ANDERSON
Alliance barber who was shot and
killed in the alley in the rear vf the
Joe Smith pool hall shortly after 1
o'clock Tuesday morning. The bul
let penetrated his abdomen, pass
ing through the stomach and lodg
ing near the spine, inflicting injuries
from which he died within a few
minutes.
Only Tlay My Wedding March in Rag
time." J. W. Guthrie took the part of
the bride, Fred Murphy the groom, W.
I O'Keefe the parson, J. B. Miller
and Ross Harvey bridesmaids and Joe
Williams and B. Holsten the grooms
men. The second half of the program con
sisted of various scenes. The first
was laid "In a Cabaret," in which J.
B. Miller took the part of the hand
some waiter, and E. M. Burr, Frank
Buechsenstein and Miss May Graham
other leading parts. The chorus was
composed of Janet Grarsman, Mrs. H.
E. Gantz, Ethel Graham, Mrs. D. C.
Bradbury, Mrs. E. J. Baskin, Emma
Barry, Ruth Morris, Winnie Barry,
Katherine Knelot, Irene Rice, Mabel
Young, Messr?, Edwin Burr, N. New
berry, E J. Baskin, M. D. Nolan, W.
Minor and Frank Buechsenstein. Miss
Janet Grassmnn sang, "Hold Me."
The "Peachie Chorus", was a decid
ed hit in the second scene. Miss Win
nifred Barry taking the lead and
Miss Irene Rice, Mrs. Ellis Baskin,
Ruby Campbell, Emma Barry, Mabel
Grassman, Emma Jane Davis, Mabel
Young and Katherine Kneist compris
ing the beauty chorus.
The awkward squad, captained by S.
Ross Harvey and comprising J. W.
Guthrie, H. E. Reddish. W. L. O'Keefe,
Fred Murphy, J. B. Miller, B. Holsten
and Joe Wiliams, was another feature.
Mr. and Mrs. Morris Nelson inter
preted the "Cat Step," a variety of the
Fox Trot, with exceptional grace. W.
R, Metz and H. E. Gantz put over a
fake mind rending stunt with con
siderable cleverness. Mr. Metz act
ing as manager of the great Persian
Matiffiff, Prince AH Ben Boozle. The
program closed with "Songs of the
Past," by the entire company .
Proceeds of the performance, which
will reach nearly $500, will go to the
Salvation Army for Christmas din
ners to those who need them. The
Elks, as well as the public, ore well
satisfied with their venture, and plan
to put on a similar performance next
year.
BOX BUTTE BANKS IN
SPLENDID CONDITION
The four banks of Alliance were
never in a more prosperous condition
than now. A compilation made a day
or two ago shows that the total re
sources of the Alliance banks is $3,
374,409.47; the total deposits, $2,901,
777.55, and the total cash reserve
$771,589.03. This is a remarkable
showing for a city of this size.
Lester S. Olson, who has been a
member of the Herald force for three
years, to a day, having commenced
work December 17, 1917, will leave
Friday morning for Harvard, 111. He
intends to go into business with his
brother at that place, and will visit
at Great Falls, Mont, and other points
on his way home.
Mr. and Mrs. A. G. Smart spent the
week-end in Omaha.
WANTED a HAT
Someone at chamber of commerce
luncheon Monday non picked up my
brown Stetson hat by mistake. Please
return it to me as soon as possible.
Dr. G. J. HAND.
TUE WEATHER
Forecast for Alliance and ricinity:
Fair tonight and Wednesday; colder
tonight
Official Faper of the City of Allianc
NO. 5
ANGORA PEOPLE
EXCITED ABOUT
GAS PROSPECTS
POCKET LOCATED ONLY EIGH
TEEN FEET UNDERGROUND
BURNS FOR OVER EIGHT HOURS
Enthusiastic Citizens Think There fa
Big Body of Oil in Indian Creek
Vicinity Traces of Oil
on Red Willow
The neighboring town of Angora is
in a fair way to become excited over
oil prospects, following the discovery
of a pocket of natural gas about 2:3(1
Saturday afternoon at a point on the
government irrigation lateral, on In
dian creek, five miles southwest of
that city. John II. Brubaker, wh
was in Alliance Monday, is responsible
for the story of the discovery.
It seems that the workmen on th
lateral had sunk a hole for a blast
some eighteen feet beneath the surface
level. When the blast was fired, there
was a rush of gas from . the hole."
One of the workman, more curious
than the rost, touched a match to it.
and for the next eight hours there
was a blaze, which was finally extin
guished by shoveling sand and gravel
Into the aperture. r
For some time it has been believed
that there is oil in this vicinity. At
one time, a few years ago, Alliance,
men were interested in Red Willow
creek, the surface of which, at that
time, had a habit of getting covered
with oil. W. G. Haldalen, well known
Antioch geologist, at that time was
called and gave it as his opinion that
it was undoubtedly evidence of bona
fido oil seepage, but did not say as to
whether he believed oil existed in
quantities sufficient to pay for the
drilling.
The fact that there is a gas pocket
there is not regarded by the oil men
ns positive evidence that oil will be
round, inc gas might have been seep
age from a considerable distance awny.
However, th Angora men are said t
be fairly well satisfied with the pros
pects, and are- already talking of be
ginning arming operations. , une An
gora man, R. K. Mayhell, manage I to
buy a share of-a well rayincr oil syn
dicate and his fellow citizens are con
siderably attracted to the gume.
"THE KIKADO" COMES
TO IMPERIAL TONIGHT
Tonight's program at the Imperial
is a Ralph .Dunbar presentation of
'The Mikado," recognized "as the best
of the Gilbert & Sullivan comic operas
The Dunbar company for the past few
years has been reviving some of the
old comic operas, coming here last
season in "Robm Hoo and ' The
Chocolate Soldier." The play is ade
quately cast, and the Japanese set
tings and costumes, as well as the
entertaining story, will make tonight
a red letter occasion in Alliance the
atrical circles. Last year the Dunbae
production had some exceptionally
good singers, a number of whom are
in the cast for tonight.
Thst exceedingly homely screen iter.
Will Rogers, is the attraction Wed
nesday evening in a photoplay, "Cupid
the Cowpuncher." The story deals
with the romance of Alec Lloyd, one
of the Bar-Y cowpunchers, who has
won for himself the nickname of
"Cupid" through his propensity for
marrying off "the Boys", although the
matches don't always end happily.
Alec's time comes, and he falls in
love with the boss' daughter. There's
a patent medicine show, and a popu
lar girl contest, as well as some land
sharks which help to make the fillum
interesting.
Marguerite Clark in "All of a Sud
den Peggy" is scheduled for Thursday.
Marguerite has the role of an Irish
girl, Peggy O'Hara, who with her
mother, a widow, is staying at the
manor of Lord Anthony Cracken
thorpe, an English nobleman engross
ed in the study of bugs. Mrs. O'Hara
is a noted scientist and is helping;
Lord Anthony write a book on spid
ers. The sister of the peer sends for
her son, Jimmy, because she thinks
Ppirtrv ho dpttnia nn Anttinnv Tn
reality the girj sees that her mother
and the nobleman are in love and
wants to promote the match. Jimmy,
of course, falls in love with Peggy,
there is a laughable mixup when
Peggy makes a premature announce
ment of their marriage in order to
render her mother free to wed
Anthony, but it is all cleared op sat
isfactorily in the end.
n. X. White is leaving Monday for
a visit with his brother at Spirit Lake,
ia.
