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About The Alliance herald. (Alliance, Box Butte County, Neb.) 1902-1922 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 1922)
mm Official Taper of Box Butte County TWICE A WEEK TUESDAY AND FRIDAY Official Taper of the City of Alliaact VOLUME XXIX (Eight Pages) ALLIANCE, BOX BUTTE COUNTY,, NEBRASKA, FRIDAY, JANUARY 13, 1922. No, 14 it costs mm rU 5At MAINTAIN ROAl THE WEATHER Forecast for Nebraska. Fair to night and Saturday. Rising tempera ture extreme east portion. TIGURES FOR 1921 ARE ILLUMINATING. MOST V ln the counties where the work is Over $8,000 Expended on the Antioch and Chadron Roads During the Past Year. The taxpayers of Box Butte county, who have not paid their high taxes with any great evidences of pleasure, -will be interested in the illuminating 'figures contained in a statement made lip by County Highway Commissioner R. E. Knight Telative to the cost of maintenance of state aid roads in this county. These roads are known as state aid, although actually every cent that goes to their upkeep is .contribut ed by the residents of the county, for "the funds expended in this way are "realized from automobile license fees. Formerly all of this fee money was paid over to the state and expended under state supervision. Now it re mains in the hands of the county treasurer, with the exception of a mall portion which goe3 to the state 'for administrative expenses, but it is still expended under state supervision, "through the county highway commis sioner, with the approval of the divi sion engineer. In Box Butte county "the highway commissioner does not Tiave active charge of the maintenance of roads, this being taken care of by the division engineer. Th result of this pleasing little sys tem is that Box Butte county is cer tainly paying enough money for up Tceep'ofroads. There are now exactly thirtv-three miles of state aid road within the county. Seven miles of ihe "Potash highway, leading toward An tioch, are in Box Butte, and twenty ix miles of the Chadron road. The maintenance charges for the year 1921, according to the figures compiled by highway Commissioner Knight for the board of county commissioners, for these thirty-three miles total exactly 38,614.50, an average per mile, for upkeep alone, of $262.50. Antioch Road Costs Most. The seven" miles of the Antioch iroad have been the most expensive bur den. For every mile of this road in "Box Butte county, there was expended the sum of $327.60! This road eost over S30.000 to build, and proves a pretty expensive luxury with a yearly upkeep cost of over two thousand dol lars, the total for 1921 being $2,293.20. This money was expended for the fol lowing items: Patrolman's salary $1,155.30 T- vtra abor 1-W.uu "Extra team hire 48fi.30 ;s and crease 157.61 Truck and tractor repairs 105.35 "Repairs other equipment 28.00 "Material and repairs, bridges, 6.10 "Material and repairs, culverts 7.10 Tools and equipment purchas ed DO. i o Dtherltems ' 142.59 Total - - - - $2,293.20 Figures for Chadron Road. 'TVia total for maintenance on the ent as to be most economical to a highway commissioner out . the board, to handle the work. i . ft that you will give first consid eration to a man best qualified to han dle the patrolmen and keep them busy, so that the work may be organized in such a manner that it will not be necessary for this department to in terfere in any way with the operation of the county highway commissioner'3 work. It is not the policy of this de partment Jto interfere with the county in handling this work, providing the maintenance money is being properly expended, ami in all of the counties where the maintenance work has been properly organized, it has not been necessary for this department to in terfere with the county highway com missioner. Will Save Much Money. According to one member of the Box Butte county board, if the state department wlil keep hands off and al low the county to maintain the roads, it will be possible to make a saving of from one-half to two-thirds of the amount expended in maintaining the thirty-three miles of state road in 1921, and do as good a job. "Well (Continued on rage 4) AUTOOWNERS WARNED TO BUY NEW LICENSES COMMISSIONERS NOT IN FAVOR OF A COUNTY AGENT NO PETITION HAS YET BEEN PRESENTED TO THEM. May Deride ' to Make a Member the Board County Highway Commissioner. of SATURDAY THE LAST DAY ONE WILL DO OLD A is hiirh enoueh. consider ing the fact that the initial cost should indicate that the road was well enough constructed so that it should not need rebuilding every year under the gui.:e of maintenance, but the twenty-six mile3 of the Chau-on road shows an other illuminating instance of state economy. Thi3 road was constructed at a cost of about $104 per mile. In the year 1921, out of Box Butte coun tv funds, the enormous sum of $6,,- 32 1.31 was expended for maintaining this twenty-six miles, an average of $242.31 per mile. The money was frpent for the following items "Patrnlman salarv $1,864.28 Extra labor 616.30 "Extra team hire 800.00 ,c.as. nil and crease - 834.09 liepairs, truck and tractor 390.52 n?nnirs. other equipment - 241.13 Material and repairs, bridges. 1,407.00 Purchase tools and equipment 34.10 Other items 133.89 Cars With 1921 Licenses on Sunday Morning Will Bring Disaster Upon Their Drivers The old order changeth. There was a time when the owner of an automo bile wouldn't need to worry about get ting a new license for his automobile until after the spring thaw had set in, and even then he'd be compara tively safe until the dog days if he parked on a side street and did most of his driving at night- But in 1922 there is going to be a new deal.' '' County and city authorities have sounded the warning, following closely upon notices sent out by County Treas urer F. W. Irish. Automobiles must be equipped with the new style license numbers some time Saturday, or else keep out of the way of the watchful eyes of city and county police officers. Saturday is absolutely the last day, The slaughter of the innocents and the forgetful will begin bright and early Sundav morning. The first cars on the streets on that eventful mora will, unless the new license numbers are prominently displayed at both front find rear, subject the driver to arrest and a trip before County Judge ash. This is expensive, as well as unpleasant. Accept the warning in the spirit in which it is onerea, ana maite your plans accordingly. County Treasurer Irish has not signified his intention of keeping his office open Saturday eve mtr. and the thought! ul motorist win make it a point to show up there early, plank down the necessary coin nd take away his license numbers. The fee is the same as last year, but the purchaser gets two numbers this trip. 1 hey are or a new and novel ile um, with a special key number lor the county, and are said to be well worth the money. It is pointed out that the minimum fine for failure to procure a license is $10, sufficient to pay for the license. Cars bearing no number will be held and the owner prosecuted when lo cated. Total ... - $6,321.31 State Changes Front. "Kicks over the high cost of mainten ance by employes hired and working under the direction of the state, which have been coming in pretty fast r-nm over the state. coupled with the knowledge that the sentiment over Nebraska leads toward ho nholishine of the state department, lias brought about a favorable change in the attitude ol tne department oi ficials. A circular letter has been received by the Box Butte county commission hich -shows a disposition to nl low the counties a little more voice in the way money raised wunin tne coun tv i to be expended. This letter in .i;ta that the state department is not insisting these days that the most expensive system be followed, but is recommending wsi wncie mcic is email amount of work to be -lone member of the board be appointed as highway commissioner, or the county clerk. The chief point of interest in the .letter is contained in the following The board of commissioners of Box Butte county met In the first session of the new year Tuesday, and have been in session ever since, engaged in lining up for the county's business during the coming year. Cal I Hash man was elected chairman of the (ward the first day of the session. County Judge Tash submitted his annual re port, which was approved and placed on file. The first day's session con cluded with the selection of a list of sixty men, from which will be drawn the names of the twenty-four jurors who are to be called for service at the next term of district court, which will be held early in February. The commissioners devoted Wednes day to interviewing paupers. There are at present two people one the head of a family, who are being as sisted by the county board, in addition, of coursev to the inmates of the poor farm. The board has been providing them with coal and groceries. In one of the cases, that of a woman of sixty- three, the commissioners decided that she had several avenues of escape from charity before her, and she was invited to choose one of them, or else make up her mind to enter the poor farm. The woman lives alone, and the board could see no reason for heating the house and supplying her with gro ceries when she was out of employ ment and making no great effort to obtain it. This woman had asked for an allowance of $20 a month. She has four children, the commissioners discovered, all of whom are anxious that she make her home with them, but she has preferred otherwise. She was provided with groceries and coal sufficient for a week, and told to have her mind made up by that time. No Petition for County Agent. The commissioners have been ex pecting that a petition would be pre sented at this meeting, asking mat a county agent be appointed, but to date none has put in its appearance, ac- ( Continued on page 6) Basketball Tour Put Alliance on the Athletic Map LAST TRIO OF RAID VICTIMS GIVEN FINES ALL THREE GET ASSESSMENTS OF $100 AND COSTS Anonymous Writer Sends Cops Most Pathetic Epistle A writer who sisms himself as "A Broke Gambler and Bootlegger" has mailed the follownig letter to Chief of Police Jeffers, who is exhibiting it to his friends as a literary gem. The anonymous writer seems to think that th colored element of Alliance is pro tected, but if be really ha3 that sort of a hunch, the chief is willing that h consort with the dark brethren and see how long he can get away witn anything. The letter reads this way, with the original ortnograpny preserv ed: "To WTiom It May Concern in the Law: It funny -that you law will not alow gamleing and Bootlegging in Al liance, altho the Negro men and Women do it every day and night, and sav they stand in with the Jaw. aruess they do. Hope I will some day, A Broke Gambler and Boot Legger." The following letter, received by Secretary A. V. Gavin of the Alliance Rotary club, shows that Alliance's am bitions to tret into the "big time cir cuit" in football and other athleti pursuits has awakened interest outside of the city. Frank J. Dailey of the Jailey Motor Car company of Lincoln, writes: "I can't let this opportunity pass without telling you what a big amount of advertising your high school has ketball team did for Alliance on their recent eastern trip. According to Charles Sherman of the Lincoln Star, no such trip has ever been attempted by a hijrh school so early in the sra son. You know no doubt the number of games won 7 out of 10. The Lin coln papers were full every day about Alliance and they had everybody in Lincoln talking Alliance. I believe they put Alliance on the map as far as athletics are concerned. Coach Prince is after a football eame with Lincoln on November 10 1922. The coach or the Lincoln high is for the game and I understand your Rotary club is going to back the high school football team next season. The principal of the Lincoln high, II. P Shepard, belongs to the Lincoln Rotary club and I believe if your club would wire him and ask him for a date for Alliance high, you would get it. I be lieve the advertising Alliance would get from this game would surely pay. "As you know, rrince expects to have a contender for the state cham pionship next year. Lincoln only has two open dates and their schedule will be settled this week and I believe if you would wait to write it would be too late, so if possible and you think it advisable wire Mr. Shepard for one of the open dates and I believe he will give Alliance one of them. You can call Mr. Prince and he can tell you just what he has done in regard to the game. Lloyd Chapman, Jim Potts and Fred Lehman to Prolong New Year's Celebration for Awhile The New Y'ear'a booze raid on the tailor shop in Hemingford, which netted the Alliance police officers a total of eight prisoners, is now a thing of the past and a matter of history, so far as the records of the county court are concerned. Of course, the records in the county jail are not yet closed, for there are now three prisoners, without funds, who face $100 fines with costs a little higher than usual, and unless aid comes from heaven or their friends, will have the pleasure of continuing their New Year's celebration until the said fines are served out at fo much per diem. The eight Hemingford cases dragged longer than nny similar cases in years. The men were slow in making up their minds whether to plead guil ty or bluff it out, but one by one they appeared before County Judge Tash and accepted their medicine. The last three put on their little act Thursday morning in county court, twelve days after their arrest, and then retired to the rooms reserved for them upstairs in Sheriff Miller's hotel. The first case called Thursday was that of the State of Nebraska vs. James Potts and Lloyd Chapman, who wereTharged with the illegal posses sion of liquor. Chapman is the half brother of Garrison, proprietor of the tailor shop where the successful raid was made, and Potts, it appears, was a sort of helper and with Chapman, managed the place in the absence of the owner. The two men entered pleas of not guilty. They entered court without the usual attorney, and Judge Tash asked them if they had made arrange ments for legal counsel. Plead Their Own Case The prisoners announced that they had failed to make arrangements for anyone to conduct their defense. In fact, it had slipped their mind. They hadn't thought of It until Wednesday. "But, judge, asked one of them, "doesn t the state have to supply us with an attorney to defend us if we tre not financially able to hire one? The judge informed them that this . . it . .. was not , tne case unless tne were charged with a felony. Possession of hooch is a misdemeanor, not u felony, and the state furnishes no attorney free. Furthermore, the judge pointed out that he had an idea that the mem bers of the Alliance bar would not welcome the opportunity to defend Talking dolls, walking dolls, laugh ing dolls, crying dolls, singing doll and dancing dolls of all nations repre Rented in Expression class recital "The Toy Shop" given by pupils of Mrs. Dunning, at the Imperial Theater, January 19. 14 "From the test applied." said the judge, "I am convinced that this liquor is not only intoxicating, but very much so. One hundred dollars and costs of $1S.25. Next case." The two men, unable to pay. were committeed to the county jail. After regaining the sacred precincts of the county jail, Potts confided to the offi cers that it was just as well. If he got out, he said, he'd have to hunt a job or go without his mcnls. According to the court, all the Heminirford tailor shop needed was a bar, a back mirror, a cuspidor and a few obscene pictures to be an old fashioned saloon. $100 Fine for Lehman Fred tx-hman, the last of the raid victims, also drew a $100 fine Thurs day morning. He pleaded not guilty, and like his two friends, conducted his own defense. He attempted to im peach the testimony of Burlington Special Agent Martin, who testified that he had taken a small liottle of liquor from his pocket immediately after arresting him. Ix:hman denied that there hnd been any hooch in his possession. Chief Jctiers testined that tie was pretiy busy at the time Martin arrested Ienman, but that he had no ticed a bottle of liquor in Martin's hand a few seconds after he had placed the prisoner under arrest. In this case, the Judge did not pro long the prisoner's agony, but assessed the usual $100 and trimmings of $16.95, and Lehman retired to the county jail, lacking the wherewithal to procure his release. ALLIANCE LIONS HEAR DEFENSE OF PHONE COMPANY E. K. HALDEMAN OF GRAND IS LAND MAKES ADDRESS. CITY FINANCES DISCUSSED BY CITY MANAGER SAVES TAXPAYERS INTEREST ON SCHOOL WARRANTS, Recommends That There Be No AddU tlonal Paving This Year But Pay Off Obligations. City Manager N. A. Kemmish, In statement issued this morning, (lis cusses city finances. He explains an arrangement made with local banks whereby the interest on a number of outstanding school warrants is saved to the taxpayers of the district. A high compliment is given the banks of Alliance for their public spirited! attitude. Mr. Kemmish suggests among other things, that although paving is a matter for the citizens to decide, a better plan would be to con tiuue for this year with the liquida tion process, the indications being that costs will lie reduced by next year. The statement follows: Tuesday we paid the last $1,000 and interest on the 1906 water extension bonds. The original bond issue was for $2,000. $1,000 was paid in August. 1919 thus leaving $1,000 which wo have jus paid. This clears up this bond issue in full. We also paid $5,000 on the 1910 water bonds. The original bond issua was $55,000. This is the first payment so far made on this issue and leaves a balance of $5Q,000. Our total out standing water bonds are now $80,000 Saturday we received $16,000 from the county treasurer for the general school fund and called this many out standing registered school warrants. Yesterday we arranged with the banks and took over the school warrants thev were holding amounting to soma; Explains the Need for nigher Rates $33,000 and deposited $53,000 remain- ing oufc oi wic oOUuu itvcuuj ivwt ed for the school building. In plae of depositing the $86,000 in the banks and getting only 2 interest until want the money for school purposes as is usually done and at the same um and That Improvements Ben efit All Subscribers. B. K. Haldeman of Grand Island, rlintripf mmmerrial mnnairer for the Northwestern Bell Telephone company,! the school district paying the banks addressed the members of the Alliance 7-7p interest on tne outstanoing re- Lions club at a meeting held in the den Thursday evening. Mr. Haldemnn spent the better part of an hour in le vlewing conditions leading up to the request for a rate increase and justify ing the company's position in asking for it at this time. According to the speaker, the North western Bell company has for several years past been working on a tempor ary basis. It has several times asked the railway commission to establish rates that would yield it a reason-able and yet adequate return on its invest ment. but at no time has the commi sioner ever granted all the comp.try Viiis nslcpd. The telephone company, he declared, them unless they had the money to .has never made 6 per cent on its in- Baptist Church Offers Free Use of Building: to the Farmers At a recent meeting of the trustee? of the Baptist church it was voted t extend to the farmers the free use of the building for any general meetings they may hold in Alliance. Such as their quarterly and conventions. Lewis Powell was authorized to notify the various farmer unions of the fact An agreement wa3 also entered into whereby the pastor. B. J. Minort. be comes pastor for not less than three years longer. nav the fee in advance, or could find someone to guarantee payment. Thereupon, when informed that they might conduct their own defense the two men decided to act as both law- vers and defendants. Potts, it is un derstood, had told Sheriff Miller pre ceding the trial that his father was a prosecuting attorney in lexas, ani that he was "wised up" to an tne rights and privileges of a prisoner at the bar. He knew what evidence w required to convict, he told the sheriff, and he simply knew they couldn't get him on the evidence they had. The case proceeded to trial. E. S. Martin, Burlington special agent, and C. W. JefTers, chief of police, testified concerning the raid on the tailor shop. The judge's desk was pretty well cov ered with a two-gallon jug, partially full; two quart bottles, full; a smaller bottle and a still smaller bottle of hooch taken from the shop. Judge Qualifies as Expert Following the testimony of the two officers. Potts, actintr in his capacity as attorney for himself, addressed the court: "You know, your honor, that you cannot convict a prisoner of posses- tlnn fit intoxicating liuuor until it is conclusively shown that the liquor is intoxicating. This can De snown pos itively only by a chemical analysis. I demand nroof of chemical analysis." And Potts sat down witn a smiie on his face, after playing this trump Judge Tash, however, wasnt a du nvorawMl bv the learned counsel and prisoner. "Mr. Defendant," his honor said, "the court has a test of its own, which it firmly believes is tne equai, if not the superior, of any chemical feet " And then the Judge proceeded to tst. the hooch on his desk according to his own system. He announced, nftr n dance about the court room that inasmuch as some members of the bar were absent, he was regretfully rnmnollod to ur his own corkscrew. . . .... . , . After uncorking a oottie oi tne hooch, his honor proceeded to smell it. One sniff was enough, lie announcea that it had a smell that was strangely reminiscent of hooch, exactly like it, iri fact The judge then raised the bottle to his lips for a taste. The taste test was eminently successful although the judge gasped and stran cried n. bit. He then poured a bit out upon some paper, applied a match and noted the blue name. vestment, during the years of the war, when other businesses were waxing comDarativelv fat. the company made no abnormal profits. This, he said, was the reason why it considered that it should not be compelled to lose mony nt this time, even thouirh other busi ness were not making profits. He cave the earnings for several years, none of which was over 6 per cent nnd the lowest beirnr 2.K8 per .cent. Attorney P. K. Romig declared that the year this return was realized, tha company had just been relea-sed from the control of the federal government nd the government guaranteed C per cent on the investment during the time it was in charge. The 2.88 per ent, Mr. Romig declared, covered only part of the year after the govern ment let go. Telephone costs to subscribers couiu be reduced, Mr. Haldeman declare!, in one of two days, f irst, by reduc-j ing the cost of labor, but salaries paid to company employes were not as high as those paid in other lines. The other way was by reducing the service, and he did not tlunK Uiat subscribers wanted poorer service. He argued that the company should be allowed a fair return on its investment, lor un less it did receive such a return, there would be fewer extensions and im provements. Every extension, he said. was of value to every subscriber, anu the more the service was extended, the more each phone patron got for his money. George It Mann, Lincoln attorney, another guest at the dinner, made a brief address in a most nappy vein. He touched on the farmer hearings at Washington, and declared that he had no sympathy for the farmers who were grasping speculators, witn cnecK dooks open to the first man with a wildcat Df-oDosition promising Dig returns, ne did, however, have much sympathy for the plieht or the farmers witn no cash reserve laid aside. He told of the wav the corneaters movement is spreading, which, he said showed the ieopie were in sympauiy witn uie farmers. He also opposed the cancel lation of the allies war debt, even thouirh it would mean renewed pros perity through foreign trade, for the reason that it was proposed to cancel some fifteen billions of money raised by popular subscription, but not to cancel five billions of dollars loaned bv bijr financial interests. If the big banking houses were willing to lose their share of the loan, he would favor cancellation, he said. gistcred school warrants they hold w are taking over our registered school warrants and holding them ourselves thereby saving the school district be tween $2,000 and sa.uuu interest wui we, need the money lor school traiia lugs which will be somewhere in me neighborhood of one year. Any tlm during this period if we no neea wus money for school buildings our banks will cash whatever warrants we may hold so thut this money will then t available for school buildings. This virtually means putting , our school warrants on a cash basis while we can do thia and will save this interest to the taxpayers whihe they would other wise have to pay. We will not need all of this o3,wv for school buildings for nearly a year (Continued on Page 8.) Siot-x County JMan Draw Fines of $G00 in Harrison Court According to word which has reach ed the sheritr and chief of police, Jack Woods and Olaf Scholander, ar rested recently in two laids on land owned by F.mmett Johnson, pleaded guilty at Harrison to a number ct charges connected with the great game of making and selling hooch, and paid fines amounting to $000 each. Em mett Johnson, arrested with Scholand er, his son-in-law, is reported to havsj entered a plea of not guilty, and has been released under bond, pending a , hearing. Vagrant Given Twelve Hours to Leave the Gty A young man giving his nam as Pmd J. Norlan was arrested by the city cops at the Alliance hotel Wednes day night, and a cnarge oi vagrancy placed against him on the police blot ter. Ihe ponce say uiat uunu au been in the city for five or six weeks, that he has been without visible means of support, and that, in addition to ft disinclination to work, he has managed to keep three or four rooming: houses on his list and has evaded payment of the. simple expedient or moving, in police court Thursday afternoon, Judge, L A. Berry assessed a fine of $25 and costs, which was suspended on condi tion that Norlon shake the dust of this fair city from his feet within twelve hours. He promised to do so and was allowed to leave, the understanding being that if he were found in tne city after the time limit naa expueq am would be incarcerated and given an opportunity to work, at least until ths fine were paid. Norlon, who claimed to be an ex soldier, rented a room at the hotel and within a short time it was filled with nine or ten young men. No evidences of gambling or other skul duggery were discovered, but under the circumstances the county and city police authorities weren't in favor OX the lineup. . .