Official Taper of Box Butte County TWICE A WEEK TUESDAY AND FRIDAY VOLUME XXIX (Eight Tages) ALLIANCE, BOX BUTTE COUNTY, NEBRASKA, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 27, 1921. i -My V. CHECK ARTIST CAME TO GRIEF THRU PRANCE - DEWEY L. RUSSEL V TS AN ENTERTAINING , . Strange Will Left by Milliona.' . ' and the Want-ad Bride W.1 Flivvered Oat on Him. ' , Dewey L. Russell, recently of Green Hiver, Wyo., is a Romeo come to grief. "Young Russell who is a personable young chap of twenty-two summers, arrived in Alliance Thursday evening of last week and late Saturday after noon was in the city bastile, following Ills arrest on a charge of writing three checks on the First National bank of this city in which, unfortunately, he carried no account. Saturday Russell left an unmounted diamond with the Thiele Drug com pany, and desired a new setting for it. lie -wrote a check for $25 in payment ior the -work, and received $10 in change Later he cashed a second check for $10 at the Thiele establish ment. . He then proceeded to the W. R. Harper store, where he made a pur chase, and tendered a $35 check, which the clerk refused to cash, because of Its size. The young man then went to the Thiele store, and during his ab sence it was ascertained that he had no ccount at the First National. Night Officer Stilwell was called and took Lim into custody. At the drug store, it was noted that le had given the name of G. A. Rus som to the jeweler, but had signed the checks with the name of D. L. Russell. He told the Thiele employes that he was a railway dispatcher, and no dis patcher in Alliance bears tnat name. Sir. Russell also got confidential with the clerks and unfolded to them the story of what bad brought him to Al liance, and it was as entertaining a yarn as they had listened to in years. A Want-ad Romance. Russell, at the city jail, was perfect ly, willing to tell the story of his ad entures to a Herald reporter. He did so with a wealth of detail which quali fies him either as a young man gilted with splendid imagination, or else the victim of a want-ad romance which will cost him somewhere in the neigh borhood of ten thousand dollars. TJuscpll aavs that he has been em ployed since 1917 in the Union Pacific offices at Green River, Wyo. He has a sweetheart there, and has planned in the 'past to marry her. Even now, that i3 his plan. But there was an in terlude when he, thought differently. And this is the why of it, according to the man behind the bars. I On August 25 of this year his uncle, H. L. Campbell of Tulsa, Okl., a weal- i thy oil operator, died, leaving en es--tate of around a million dollars, which j was willed to some twenty-three heirs. The bequest to Russell, his nephew,1 was ten thousand dollars, but mere was a condition. This condition was the sort one reads about in the movies and the dime novels the nephew was to be married by December 23. This crave him less than two months in which to find a bride. "It wasn't simply a question of getting married,'' Russell said. "I could have got plenty of girls to marry tne for the ten thousand dollars, but I want to be loved for myself, and not for what cash I've got I liked the Green River girl, but I thought I'd look about a bit" And so he inserted a want-ad in the Denver Post The', advertisement he said, stated that a young man, twenty two years of age, with a good, steady job, wanted to marry, and that he pre ferred a girl weighing not more than 110 pounds. : "D n these big women," he declared emphatically. Fourteen Prospective Brides. Russell received an object lesson as to the value of advertising, as well as the scarcity of young men with jobs, for he received fourteen replies. He sorted these over carefully, and shuck ed out the ones that didn't appeal to him. He -wrote to about six of the ap plicants. ''I'm a working man," he ex plained, "and there simply wasn't time to keep up a correspondence with four teen girls." One by one, Russell diminished the list of his correspondents. There was one prospective bride, he confesses, who wrote a beautiful letter, and he was greatly attracted to her. She was employed in the Denver mint, he de-lni-A9. nml she wrote' that she owned a Dort automobile. "Along about the fourth or fifth letter," he saul, "she told me that she was forty-two years of age. That let her out I was honest with her and told my age in the ad, but she thought she could put some thing over. 1 don't want to marry my Grandmother." Russell had considerable pleasure out of selecting his bride. But there ricVa tn this method, too. 'There was one of the girls," he said, "a Den ver girl, who brougth her mother out t r pivoi- ami thev were troinor to marry me to that girl whether I want ed to or not I looked the girl over, and she wasn't so worse, but when I 1- nn in. tli nntfl in DM the tWO Of them, I found they were both smoking cigarette That setuea me. i fcuajuj THE WEATHER Forecast for Alliance and vicinity Generally fair tonight and Wednes day. Rising: temperature Wednesday. refused!. The pair were Ptill in Green River, working at a cafe, when I left" Choice Falls on Alliance Girl. Finally, after a considerable amount oi correspondence with the girls Mho wanted to marry him, and a number of disappointments ns Via Hiuvivowwl that this one or that one couldn't qualify mnd were not able to reach his Jeal. Russell decided, in favor of a candidate. This c-irl. he Rnva. live near quite near to Alliance. He re- iusea to give ner name, rit Isn't quite fair to her or to her father," he said. "The old man trAtH m nrwttv faii even if he did refuse to cash a check on my father for me, and got me into all this trouble." iRussell says he was laid off at Green River a few dava int. nnrl ImmArliatalv headed for Alliance. He had only a lew days m which to fulfill the terms of his uncle's will. The Alliance girl had promised to marry him. "I've got dozens of letters from her in the two months I've corresponded with her," he says. "Sometimes she wrote as many as three in one day. She prom ised to marry me, and I thought that everything was all set She and her father met me at the train Thursday night and I went out there. I thought she meant business," he said sadly. The bride, however, in the course of the next twenty-four hours, got a case of cold feet Russell is a bit lame, and it may be that this influenced her de cision. At any rate, she didn't meet hira in Alliance Friday afternoon, as she had promised, and instead sent her father with his ring. Everything was off between them. (Continued on Page 8.) REQUIRERETURNS ON ALL INCOMES EXCEEDING SI 000 TAXPAYERS ARE REQUIRED TO ANSWER MANY QUESTIONS Income Tax Returns Must Be Filed by' March 15 Important Changes in the Revenue Law. Along with the usual grist of Christ mas bills, the approaching income tax payments are helping to take the joy out of life. A whole lot of people' who haven't had to make out schedules are going to get into the game this year. A new and important provision .of the revenue act of 1921 is that ev ery person whose gross income for 1921 was $5,000 or over shall file a return, regardless of the amount of net income upon which the tax is as sessed Returns are required of every single person whose net income was $1,000 or over and every married per son living with husband or wife whose net income was $2,000 or over. Wid ows and wndowers and persons sep arated or divorced from husband or wife, are regarded as single persons. Net income is gross income, less cer tain deductions for business expenses, losses, taxes, etc. Gross income in cludes practicaUy all income received by the taxpayer during the year; in the case of the wage earner; salaries, wages, bonuses and commissions; in the case of the professional man, all amounts received for professional services: in the case of farmers all profits from the sale of farm prod ucts and rental or sale of land. With the approach of the period for filing income tax returns, January 1 to March 15, taxpayers are advised to lose no time in the compilation of their accounts for the year 1921. In the making of an income tax return, every taxpayer must consider tne following questions: Many Questions to Answer. What were vour profits from your business, trade, profession or voca tion? , Did you receive any interest on bank deposits? ' Have you any property from wtucn you receive rent? Did you receive any income in tne form of dividend or interest from stocks or bonds? Did you receive any bonuses during the year? Did you make any profit on the sale of stocks, bonds, or other prop erty, real or personal? Did you act as a broker in any transaction from which you received commissions 7 Are you interested in any paitner- ship or other firm from which you re ceived an income; Have you any income from royal ties or patents? Have you any minor children who are working? Do you appropriate, or have the right to appropriate, the earnings of such children? If so, the amount must be included in your return or re ported in a separate return of income. Did you receive any directors' fees or trustees' fees in the course of the year? Do you hold any office in a benefit society from which you receive in come? . GOVERNMENT MAY SOME DAY PAY FOR PAVING BUT CITY MUST WAIT TILL CON CRESS HAS ACTED Bill Now Tending to Authorize Cities to Assess Government With Its Share of Improvement Costs Uncle Mose Klnkald, congressman from the Sixth Nebraska district, al though not utterly without hope, does not hold out much encouragement for Alliance' city officials, who a short time ago, through City Manager Kem mish, wrote to him to discover wheth er there were any way to collect from the federal government the cost of paving the streets and making other improvements around the federal building in this city. Mr. Kinkaid, tn a reply to Mr. Kemmish, says that once on a time the treasury depart ment was in favor of the government bearing its fair share of the expense of these improvements, but congress has never seen fit to authorize it There is now a bill pending in the senate, the object of which is to pro vide for the payment by the United States of the proportionate cost of paving of streets upon which property of the United States abuts. A copy of the bill is forwarded by Congress- man Kinkaid, who points out that there is little hope that it will become a law. The taxpayers of Alliance will, ac ording to the present regulations of the treasury department, have to pay the bill for paving on two sides of tie federal building here. The total cost amounts to $4,041.46, with $404.14 in terest to date. Mr. Kinkaid's letter follows: '; "WASHINGTON, D. C. Dec. 29. N.'A. Kemmish, Alliance, Neb. My dear Mr. Kemmish: Referring further to the contents of your esteemed favor of the 9th mst, written in behalf of the government bearing its share of the cost of paving the streets and making other improvements by youri city around the federal building at Al liance, will say, I have had the matter up with the proper official of the Treasury Department, and find they are yet adhering to the practice adopt ed years ago, not to in any way sane-' tion such a proposal. However, the treasury officials did at one time, for a while recommend to the congress favorable action by the enactment of appropriate legislation and the making of appropriations for the payment of taxes, the same as if the property of the government belonged to individ-i uals, but the conrrress itself declined to pass appropriate legislation or make any such appropriations, and yet adhere to the stand so taken. I "However, a bill is pending in tne Senate, which authorizes the cities to make all assessments and levy all taxes for the government's share of the cost of street improvments, etc., and I have introduced a like bill in the House, a copy of which I enclose here with. But there is only a remote pos sibility that favorable action can be secured on such a bill. "The Supervising Architect of the Treasury has mailed to the custodian of your public building at Alliance, a copy of a printed circular, used for the purpose of answering such injuiries as that contained In your letter, and i suggest that you call unon the custod ian and ask to be permitted to read that circular. "Believing the above fully responds to the counts of your letter, I remain, "M. P. KINKAID" Rehearsals for " Legion Play to Start Tonight Rehearsals for. "The Jollies of 1922", which will be staged. by the members of the .Alliance- post of the American Legion 'will start at 7:30 tonight at the parish house of St Matthew's Episcopal church. The production will be directed by Chris Ming of the staff of the Joe Bren Pro duction company, of Chicago, which put on the Elks minstrel show here last year, one -'of the most successful performances of the kind ever given in the city. The cast includes some fifty young mm and women and there will be two performances, Thursday and Friday evenings, January 5 and 6. DEATHS AND FUNERALS. The infant daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H. O. Mullender.i Anita Nadine, died this morning at the home in Duncan's addition, aged twenty-one days. Brief bet vices will be held from the home at 10 o'clock Wednesday morning, con ducted by Kev. Stephen J. Lpler. In terment will be in the Evergreen cemetery, fourteen miles southwest of Alliance. Word was received by Alliance Masons yesterday of the death oi C J. Carlson in an Omaha hospital early Monday morning. Mr. Carlson was employed in one of the potash plants at Antioch at the time he affiliated with Alliance lodge. A. F. & A. M. Funeral services will be held at Fre mont, in charge of the Masonic order. ALLIANCE TO BE GIVEN CHANCE TO MAKE A PROTEST PROMISE OF SPECIAL HEARING BY RAILWAY COMMISSION. Northwestern Bell Telephone Company to Be Forced to Live Up to Its Franchise Agreements. Alliance is to be given an opportun ity to present arguments before the state railway commission against the application for an increase in rates at the Alliance exchange of the North western Bell Telephone company. As surances to this effect are contained in a letter received by City Manager N. A. Kemmish Monday from John E. Curtlss, secretary of the commission. The commission's action followed a protest sent by City Manager Kem mish, who wrote his opinions in the matter in very plain words. The com mission had set Wednesday of this week for a hearing on the company's petition for authority to increase rates. No notice of the proposed hearing was received by the city authorities, al though a section in the franchise re cently granted the company by the city of Alliance specifically sets forth that this shall be done, and that in addition to this, the city shall be fur nished with a detailed, sworn state ment of the investments and gross re ceipts and operating expenditures of the company covering the year preced ing the request. Mr. Kemmish makes it plain that the city expects to fight the proposed increase, and he takes occasion to make a few arguments in his letter to the commission. The city authori ties, he said, had but six days in which to present their case, and he consid ers that this time is insufficient to make any kind of a showing. The city manager's letter, which re sulted in the promise of a special hear ing for Alliance rates, follows: 9 Letter to Railway Commission "ALLIANCE, Neb., Dec. 21, 1921. State Railway Commission.- Uncoln, Neb., Gentlemen: We heard yesterday that the Northwestern Bell Telephone company had made application to your lody for an increase in telephone rates. We have also heard that you have set December 28 as the day for . i. - i !, nn thia nnnlirntion. So far we nave not received an official notice of this but suppose the same is i.ruc. V, . T o 1091 thn ritv v . , j f-onnhiB ' .v. ppoKB lor a lew minutes, .iitrr imw council of All-ance granted -to taxation n Sheridan county, State Tax t children filed past in single flet to the Northwestern Bell le1"0"6 Commissioner Osborn is taking steps boyg on one Ride and girls on the. company containing section six bj t0 we tnat these properties are placed other. As they mounted the platform lows: -, .. vw(,tern!upo,v tax.roI! and made bear they were greeted by Santa Claus tnd "That should the N"f,. their share of the expenses of state handed their cards to assistants oirect Bell Telephone company or its succes and Jocal government, says the Lin- iy behind him. They then filed on. sors or assigns or ; the city of Alliance co, Sta . past the tree and were each given at any time during the life oi this, Complaint regarding the omission of J,ack nnej wnh presents and candy, franchise request a revision oi rates these piant8 fr0m assessment came to Tne distribution took over half aa which if granted would affect the rates state tax commissioner from an at- hour J ! for service within the city" of Alliance, torney who ascertained that they . Civ Manager N. A. KemmUh, who. the Northwestern Bell Te ephone or hadnt been listed. Osborn wired to'wag (he originator of the plan, wu its successors or assigns will then lur- the county clerk at Rushville and got much pieaSed with the way it -aa car. nish to the city of Alliance a detailed, an answer confirming this report. It rjea out. The preparation of tha' sworn statement of the investments was explained that assessment returns Christmas sacks was carried out at th and gross receipts and operating ex- had actually been obtaind from the cubt where the Campfire cirl penses of the Alliance exchange for owners of the plants, but the assessor worVpH early and late for sever.U days' the year preceding such request to- gether witn a true ana cenmeu copy at such application or reouest' "This franchise was accepted by the telephone company on a later date. "We took this matter up with them this morning resulting in a long dis tance call to Omaha and Grand Is land in which Mr. Haldeman stated that the telephone company would not be able to get out the data required in section six in time for your hearing on December 28. This leaves us t.b- solutely without any data upon which to worn. Perhaps we are a little slow out here but it seems to us that sev-m days' notice on a propositon of so much importance is all together too short, especially is this true since the tele phone company ars unable to get the data to us as required in our fran chise. We don't see how your body can expect us to prepare our case in this short time. Perhaps your intentions are that we should not. Please under stand , us. ; We want the telephone telephone company to have a fair ileal but ail we ask is the same considera tion. It does seem to us however that this is not an opportune time to ask for increases when nearly every line of business in the state - outside of perhaps the railways and telephone companies, are and have been nearly on the verge of bankruptcy. It seems to us that the stockholders of the Northwestern Bell Telephone com pany gbould also share in this read justment process. In comparison to other lines of bus-mess they have ap parently fared pretty well. "We therefore ask that you delay the hearing on this matter until we can get our data together and present our case and ask for a word irom you along this line, lours very truly, CITY Of ALLIANCE, By N. A. KEMMISH, City Manager. Can't Postpone Hearing In its reply, the railway commis sion declares that notice was sent to this city, a copy of the petition hav ing been forwarded to one newspaper and the chamber of commerce. Inas much as the hearing set for tomor row concerns all the exchanges of the Northwestern Dell Telephone com pany in the state, it is impossible, the commission says, to postpone th hearing, but because it feels that th company should be required to com ply with the terms of it Alliance franchise, offers to grant the city of Alliance a special hearing. Just what this special hearing means Is not made plain in the com mission's letter, but it is presumed that no order will be entered in the case of Alliance until after the city officials have been heard. A certified copy of the company's application was received by Mr. Kem mish Monday, together with assur rances that the figures contemplated by section six of the franchise will be forthcoming without delay. Mr. Kem mish, who has had plenty of experi ence In analyzing figures, expects to go over them thoroughly and prepare the case for Alliance. In the meantime, Alliance will be represented at the hearing tomorrow by Attorney Penrose E. Romig, who j will attend as the representative of, the chamber of commerce, which for- warded a resolution of protest against any increase in rates. The Lions club of this city also took a similar action. The following letter from Secre tary Curtiss of the railway commis sion gives definite assurances that Al liance will not be deprived of an op portunity to make an effective pro tect: . The Commission's Letter . "LINCOLN. Neb., Dec. 24, Mr. N. A. Kemmish, City Manager, Alliance, Neb., Dear Sir: Your favor of the 21st instant at hand relative to the Northwestern Bell Telephone company for authority to publish and collect certain definite and specific schedule of ratej, in lieu of the present basic rate plus the ten per cent surcharge. "I notice you offer certain criti cism of the action of the Commission (Continued on Page 8.) POTASiTPLANTS NOW LISTED ON TAX SCHEDULES SHERIDAN COUNTY OFFICIALS - ENTIRELY OVERLOOK THEM. State Tax : Commissioner Will File Claims With Referee in Bank - ruptcy for Money. .. Following the ciiscovery" that rire potash reduction plants at five large potash reduction plants at Anti t och and Hoffland had not been formal . . . ..... was not satisfied with the fifrures and aia not inciuae mem on me dook.. ne claimed that he expected to make an examination into the value of the prop erties later, but forgot. Almost Escaped Taxation. Had the matter gone a week longer until the end of the calendar year. it would have been too late to add the omitted property, which would thereby have escaped taxation for 1921. All of the plants have been idle the past year, due to the slump in the! potash industry following the war. One or two other potash plants in the same district were destroyed by fire within the past year or 60. W. E. Sharp or Lincoln is president of the American Potash company of Deleware, now in the hands of a trus tee, and also of the Nebraska corpora tion of the same name, which owns ootash properties at Antioch. lax Commissioner Osborn will confer with Sharp and ask him to furnish informa tion regarding the properties. Osborn will have to get a claim for the taxes due into the hands of Dan H. McClenahan, referee in bankruptcy by Wednesday, that being the time limit set for the filing of claims. Instructions have been wired to county officials at Rushville to see that all of the potash plants are added to the tax lists. The American plant was valued for assessment in 1920 at $izu,uuu. , Kansas Man Is Seeking Traces of His Sister The Herald is in receipt of a letter from Charles Sturma of Holyrod, Kas., who is seeking to discover the present address of his sister. Anna Sturma, sometimes called Ella Storm. He last heard from her in 1898, and at that time she was employed in the B. & M. eating house in this city. From there she went to the McCook county hos pital, taking a position as a nurse. Anyone knowing oi tne woman pre ent address will confer a favor on thel brother by writing The Herald. I FIVE THOUSAND , ATTEND PUBLIC XMAS PROGRAM COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS TREE A MARKED SUCCESS. Twenty-one Hundred Kiddies Mad Happy by Gifts From Santa Claua Sunday Afternoon. Over twe thousand children made happy In Alliance Sunday even ing and a crowd estimated at over nve thousand people attended th flrsfc Community Christmas tree for thia city. Hundreds of people came in from, the surrcundin,r eountW thZll Zz the surrounding country through th aeep snow. Huge bonfires at street intersection warmed the evening air and th radiant monster "Welcome" sign a Third and Box Butte avenue cast it beams on the thousands of people who took part in the program whlclv lasted over an hour. The entire city and adjacent territory furnished par ticipants and it was easily the biggest event of the kind ever staged in west ern Nebraska. Hundreds of Alliance school children, grouped in mass formation, sans Christmas carols under the direction iol Mrs. Inice Dunning. Music was fur nished by the Alliance band under th direction of J. P. Mann. The entire crowd joined in singing "America" aa a large American flag slowly unfolded! his above the brillianty lighted Christ mas tree, while just above the flag was hung a beautiful star, "the Star of Bethlehem." Flag and star stood out in bold relief during the program, for a huge spotlight had been placed on the fire truck nearby. The beautiful Christmas tree had been placed in position in time to chtch the heavy snow of last week. With its scores of multi-colored lights and the streamers of lights which led to the street corners, it was pronounc ed much prettier by visitors from out of-town than the Denver tree. Santa Claus, who was represented on the program by Lloyd C. Thomas, arrived in a sleigh with jingling lelt and a sack of presents, promptly afe five o'clock, behind a team of prancing horses, while behind them came two huge auto trucks, loaded to the guards with boxes filled with acks of pres. ents, candy and nuts. r... . Mayor It. M. Hampton said a lew words of greeting and Rev. Stephen J, IL.pier, pasior OI vne tunsuan viiwrcu. Epler, pastor of the Christian ciiurcn. other members of the cemmittee wtw tnnii an active part were: w M. Looney, general chairman, S. V; Thompson, Mrs. S. H. Cole, Mrs. N. A, Kemmish, Mrs. Charles Fuller, H. E,; Gantz, P. E. Romig, B. J. Sallows, a v nvm K. 1 Mever. Elliott' st'rand. Supt. W. R. Pate, Roy Strong j JnL w. Guthrie. , srfti hundred sacks of candy and nuts were leit over from the celebra. tion. If people living in the country who w -.-ioie to attend and who have children will call at the office ot the Chamber of Commerce they will la given a sack for each child as long at . the supply lasts. Christmas Spirit Encompases Even the County Jail The Christmas spirit this year waa a most powerful intiuence. It brougn hundreds of farmers into Alliance tor the community Christmas proKrW and cemented more firmly hundreds i c friendships. It even peneirateuui. county jail, where Tom Gray, boot legger, is slowly serving out a fln that will keep him in durance vile for a full year, unless friends come to nU rescue. , ... Christmas morning, however, th costs in the case oi the state vs. Evelyn McElhaney were paui ia. v was a witness at uu rr such was entitled to a couple of dol lars from the county court and Bevea or eight more from district court, IX it hadn t been lor tne wnsiuM. this money would have been apphed toward the payment of his fines, but Judge Tash couldn't do it The money was taken up to Tom in his cell and he wa3 permitted to blow it in in any old way that he desired. . , - Francis Carroll, eighteen-jeAT-oId youth, drew a fine of $10 and costs from Police Judge L. A. Berry thia I morning, on a charge of intoxication He was crested Saturday night by, Officer Jeffera and StUwelL w ,