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About The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 1897)
NORTH PLATTE. HOTEL FACILITIES. The first place with which the new arrival must neccesarily have business relations is a hotel: for. in the process of nature, he must eat and sleep. It is therefore but proper that the public should be notified where the best ac commodations in this line are obtain able. There is no business in the make-up of a town that effects its rep utation abroad so much as does its hotel facilities. If these be poor, dis credit is reflected on the whoie com munity; but, if good, no better recom mendation could be given than these cheery words from one acquainted with this place: ''Yes, North Platte has an excellent hostelry known as the PACIFIC HOTEL, of which L. D. Jackson is proprietor." This, the leading hotel of the city, occupies a three story frame building erected at a cost of 820,0'JO. The Paci fic Hotel has fifty large, comfortable rooms, including office, sample room, parlor, dining and bath rooms. That this is a first class hotel, we are in a position to judge after having stopped there several days. The rooms with their comfortable beds are all carpet ed, furnished and heated: while special care is taken regarding the sanitary condition. The dining room service is another feature worthy of special mention. Its tables, at which one hundred guests can be accommodated, are supplied with every delicacy the market affords; and the waiters are un- usally kind and obliging. Being locat ed in the same building as the depot, thePaeifi; Hotel is a very convenient stopping place for traveling men, who realize thefact and give it the patron age so justly deserved. L. D. Jackson, the genial proprietor, has had twenty-live years experience in the hotel business including every position from bell boy to landlord, and is therefore capable of conducting the establishment understandingly. Since he assumed the control of the house last May, the patronage has percept ibly increased. Mr. Jackson has a happy faculty of immediately placing his guests at their ease and making their surroundings so home-like it is with reluctance that at the call of duty the onward journey is resumed. Among our Pioneers. The writer hereof is always pleased to give credit to whomever credit, is due and especially to the pioneers, for tie himself belongs to that body. In writing up the history and resources of North Piatte and Lincoln county, it would, indeed, be incomplete without a kindly mention of that pioneer and public spirited citizen, CHAS. MCDONALD. whose name is known and revered in every household in the county. It has been truly said that, in a figurative sense, he is the father of the town. He was born amid the cedar-covered hills of Tennessee: but arriving at the age of maturity he left the overcrowded state of his nativity ;iml with ambition and integrity as his -lock in mule land ed in Nebraska in thf yt-ar I &.". Fh nearly half a ecntui. he has been one of the stu e's honored and prrgr. ssive cilizei.s. By frugality and industry he has ama-sed a competency and is now enjoying the comforts of a happy home and a well spent life. Mr. McDonald has exper'enced all the vicissitudes accruing to the iot cf the average frontiersman, such as Indian outbreaks, prairie fires and grasshopper reourges, but his is an example of the "survival of the fittest." His earlier days in this locality were spent as a homestead er, ranchman and buffalo hunter, but in li72 he located in the ciry of North J Matte and became actively interested! in building a rit S:x years later he estiblished the HANKING HOUSE OF CHAS. MCDONALD. which still has an existence under the same title, and its individual responsi bility is -375,000. This will overbear the proud distinction of being the old est bank in Lincoln county. This bank is located in the McDon ald block, a fine two story brick build ing 50x100 feet, which stands opposite the union depot. It forms a leading feature of the monetary interests not only of this city but of this and other adjoining counties. The building is well equipped, has a large brick vault including an all steel safe held shut by an automatic time lock, the safe being considered absolutely burglar and fire proof. Mr. McDonald is assisted in his duties by Simon Goozee who acts in the capacity of teller. Yes. the word, deed and purse of Mr. McDonald have contributed largely to the upbuilding of every laudable enter prise in North Plane and the county in which it is situated: and the people of the county appreciating his services as a public benefactor have elected him to many important office;., among which may be enumerated membership oT the board of county commissiom r-. superintendent of public instruction and sjveral others, all of whose duties werj discharged to the satisfaction f hii constituency and with credit to hinself. Among his many Lincoln county possessions is a 540 acre tract of laud adjoining the city of North Puitte, and a handsome home within its borders which is the abiding place of his happy family. There is scarcely a more pityable object in all the world than the man who has "missed his calling" and is struggling along a pathway nature never intended him to tread. Though examples of this kind are so common we have never yet been able to conjur the feeling of compassion that surges over our souls when contemplating such a misappropriation of talent. Oc casionally, however, one meets a man identically fitted by nature for the oc cupation he has chosen to follow. Dur ing our stay in North Platte, we found two men so well qualified to siime the duties of the medical profession, and who were discharging them so nobly. We cannot refrain from giving in this special edition a sketch of DRS. BEDELL AND THORP Whose likeness appear in these col umns and who have such pleasant of fice rooms over the North Platte National Bank. In the two years they have been as sociated together a peculiar similarity of manner has become characteristic of both. When either of them enters a sick room it is with a smile and an immediate proceedure to engage the patient in pleasant conversation in short to "visit" in a way to allay fear and quiet the nerves. The only evi dence that a keen diagnosis is being made is an ocassional query which is often masked by a joke. They evident ly arraying all the patients powers of will and imagination on the positive side of his complaint. To their cheer ing presence must be attributed in part alike their popularity and their success. But the real foundation of their popularity and their success is a thorough scientific medical training, coupled with an instinctive power of diagnosis. By the existing partnership they are able to combine the experience of some years' practice with the later and ex tensive advances both in medicine and surgery, and are doing a class of surgi cal work and obtaining results that are seldom excelled in ciiy practice under more favorable hospital surroundings. Indeed, it is as surgeons that these gentlemen especially excel, and they make a specialty of surgical operations required by female &ull"erers. Dr. Bedell was a time surgeon of the United States Hospital at Denver, where his theoretical acquirements were supplemented by a wide and vari ed practical experience in medicine and surgery. Both are close students of their ex tensive library and believe in apply ing up-to-date principles. As a result their medical and surgical practice, has out-grown, not only the limits of their own town and county, but those of the state as well. Who does not enjoy meeting and greeting those known in the years gone by! One of the pleasantest things connected with our itinerancy is the fact that, go where we will, there is either a familiar face seen or, in conversation with an apparent stranger, names known to both are re called. Thus, though our duties may at times call us hundreds of miles from home, wc never quite get bej-ond the realm of acquaintance. Eighteen years ago there lived in Ida Grove, Iowa, the home of yc writ er, a pli3"siciau whose skill was known far and wide and who was frequently called to neighboring towns on mis sions of consultation over some mortal very near the river of death. Howev er, much to the regret of all his ac ouaintnuces. the doctor executed a de- termination to proceed farther west, Imagine our stirpri.se. thet., after a lapse of eighteen years to recognize in UK. N. I-. DONALDSON, of North Platte, the former Ida county physician above mentioned. Upon in quiry of Dr. Donaldson as to how the world had used him since our last meeting, wc learned that success had crowned his every effort and prosper ity had waited at Irs right hand. Ever since coming here Dr. Donaldson has been the local pln-siciau and surgeon for the Union Pacific railroad com pany. We understand that no one was mere competent to fill such a re sponsible position than a graduate of KLE' TRU' the Baltimore College of Physicians and Surgeons, as is tlie subject of this sketch. The North Platte school board was for a number of years pre sided over by Dr. Donaldson, and main other official duties of a public charac ter have been satisfactorily performed by him since his advent to this city. The front rooms over Streitz drug store are occupied by the .doctor as an office; while the ones in the rearare" the shrine of his happy family. We take pleasure in thus being able to chron e prosperity of one known and Jky m'-y- -gr- H: respected so long, DR. V. LUCAS, was born in Indiana, but came to Iowa at an early age, having been raised at Chariton. In 1S95 he graduated from the Nebraska Medical college in Oma ha, and in 1S took a post graduate course at New York City at which lat ter place he assisted for a time in the New York city hospital. He has an office over the First National bank. The doctor has a large and constantly increasing list of patients and carries on a general practice in both medicine and surgery having been successfully consulted in some of the most serious cases of illness known in the county. He answers all calls either by day or night, promptly, and is a very pleas ant gentleman both in the sick room and in public life. Dr. Lucas has a fine library and is a reader of all the lending medical reports and believes in progress and in keeping in line with all the discoveries made by a pro fession in which he is winning his way to the front rank. Of all the physicians it has been our privilege to mention since beginning this write-up, DR. 1? KA.NK DENNIS is the first one of that class of good Samaritans who go about quietly and unostentatiously with their small phials and little white pills and color less, tasteless fluids to bid dread dis ease to take its flight and in its stead rest and ease come to abide with the sufferer. The reader will at once in fer that we mean the HOM IiOl'ATI IIC I'll VSIC1AN Dr. Dennis claims the Buckeye state FARM as the one wherein he was born, and speaks with reverence of the country home where his childhood days were passed. He is an alumnus of the Ohio State University and also of the Chi cago Homeopathic college, and re mained a year in the hospital and free dispensary, of Chicago. He located here one year ago and already has a practice covering a breadth of territory from Kearney on the east to Ogalall i on the west. At his wcil appointed suite of rooms j COL.W. V. CODY'S RANC1IE. over the First National bank. Dr. Den- nis may be found attentive to the ills of all who desire his services. UK. W. KVKS. Imagine the "tales of woe" that are poured into a physicians -ear in the course of twenty-seven years of actual practice! In 1868 Dr. Eves with med icine case in hand, walking from the door of Jefferson Medical college of Philadelphia his Alma Mater and from that day to this has been distri buting the panacea--of which his medicine case has ever been the abid ing place to heal the ills of suffering huma ii it y. It has been seven vears since Dr. LIGHT PLANT Eves gathered up his household effects including a family and removed from the former abiding place in Wil- liamsport, Pa., to our own beautiful city on the Platte, and established a home one block west of the M. E. church. It is at his residence that the doctor's office is located. Dr. Eves is a member of the United States board of pension examiners and is a very prominent citizen as well as a popular physician. While seated in the handsomely equipped parlors in theOttman Block,- occupied by E. E. NORTHRUP. U. D. S., "talking shop," in the course of re marks we asked: "Do you guarantee your work?" "Certainly," responded Dr. North rup, "I guarantee every bit of work done, and in case it does not prove satisfactory the money is refund ed. "However." he added after a pause, "1 have never had occasion to pay back any money." He then went I on to state that the real art of dentistry j is not so much in extracting teeth and RESIDENCE : : : : : htting plates; as in saving the teeth and bridge-work, the minutiae of which he took pains toexplain. "But," he said, "the people as a general thing have not been educated up to that, and think am talking to make money." Dr. Northup has practiced dentistry twelve years -one third of the time in this city after having graduated und er eminent specialists in his line. j By temperament he is ideally fitted r i SX'EXE IN THE PLATTE RIVER VALLEY. for his work, being gentle and deft in manipulation, genial in manner, and absolutely self possessed. LEGAL PROFESSION. A learned and skillful phys'iean is always in demand and too high an esti tna'e cannot be placed upon him: just o if is with the disciples of Black sto.ic. It is an important matter when a man is defending his character, moral rights or his prop.rty that he seek good counsel. Kather than em- ploy an unworthy attorney it is better - 4- , - to let the cas ro bv default and sae the fee. If one's rights are worth ue- i feinting at all, they are worth defend- ing well and to do this able lawyers should be employed. The bar is ! especially strong and one of its most prominent members is JUDGE THOS. C. PATTERSON: Judge Patterson came into existence on the 'Emerald Isles:" but on Jan uary 1st, 1S54 became an adopted son o' Uncle Sam. So true a citizen of our empire did he become that, al though only sixteen years of age when the call was made for troops !o defend the rights of the United States, he laid aside school books and pencils, ar.d marched forward into battle along with Co. E. 19: h Illinois here hescrv ed until the wa- closed and an honor able discharge freed 1 ;m from arm duties. The yar ISfiS found him m;.l;irg ne.v acquaintances in North Piatte. After serving :hu Unin Pacific em- ployc for a year or so lie w a- appoint- J ed postmaster of the ciy, ivtaln'ng the J position eleven years. At the en 1 of hat timt he began the study of law. ind in 18S4 was admitted to praelh c in all the courts. Mr. Patterson is o-.e of the :no-t srgae'ous lawyers in i'ie state and has b en connected v. ith t- us of the most impniiant casci; in c management of w hich he gained j that credit which has made him famous throughout this section as an able and gifted attorney. In addition to his leg al work Mr. Patterson pays consider able attention to the handling of REAL ESTATE, and has listed for sale thousands of acres of lands at from $4. to $2t). per acre. The cheaper ones being dry, and the more expensive irrigated lands. He also writes insurance in all the old line fire and life idemnity companies. Mr. Patterson is a gentleman res pected by all who know him for his legal knowledge and professional in tegrity. One of the best known and most orominent legal firms in the state is that of IIOAGLAND & HOAGLAND. Of North Platte. Tney occupy of fices in the McDonald Block, where they have one of the finest law librar ies in the city. Hon. J. S. Hoaglund began the study of law upon his arrival in Nebraska in 1S72, and since being admitted to the bar eight years later has been a prom inent figure in Nebraska professional and political circles. His first place of OF DR Mi TAKE - r ; residence in the state was at Lincoln, jvaucaster eouniy. nis tiucoi uon was received as the result of a two years attendance at the Legislature as a representative of the republicans of our own district. For the very good reason that .Judge llouglind was a soldier during the late unpleasantness, his interest in the G. A. JR. organizat ion is very deep He is also a very prominent member of the I. O. O. P. fraternity, having several times been i states representative from Nebraska to the Sovereign Grand Lxlge. Judge HoagTaud has h id a 1 extensive experience in law practice, in cluding a number of eases in the United States Supreme Court, which involved constitutional questions of national im portance. His entire career has been marked with unusual success. Mr. W. V. Hoagland is a son of the seaior member of the firm, and whose profile is herein sho.vn. He is a 1 vff graduate of the Nebraska State Uni-i versit s law department. Though a young man, through his active pro- fessional experience in the higher courts, in the more important classes of ligitation, Mr. Hoagland has already esraoi'.sneu a suoitantiat legal reputa-1 tion throughout the state. Socially, j as well as professionally, W. V. Tloag- - - y land has no peer among his associates, t falo is "Old Mobile," the long-horned Thus it will readily be seen that j red steer that made himself famous by these gentlemen are well prepared to becoming stampeded at Mobile. Ala discharge the duties devolving upon j buna, in 18SS, as he was being unload them from an immense clientage, and ed from one of the cars containing are prepared to conduct cases in all the I Cod v's Wild West show. He ran courts. A. II DAVIS, attorney Dav:-. w ho nccupii s the re-pon-1 Mr WILCOX BROS DEPARTMENT STORE. sible official position of city police judge, was too mucn occupied with profession 1 affairs the day we called to spare time for imparting to us any more information than that he makes a specialty of commercial law, con tracts and adjustments, and that he is the county representative of several eastern loan companies: also that he has some choice lands for sale at prices beyond compensation. Corres pondence solicited and promptly at 1 tended to. W. II. MCDONALD. The subject of this sketch is a pio neer by force of circumstances over which he had no control, having been born in this city; and not only that,but he bears the distinction of having oeen the first white child born in Lin coln county. His boyhood days were passed here and many a time have his childish feet kept pace with those of an Indian playfellow as they chased but terflies over the identical premises whereon stately dwellings and large mercantile depots now stand. Many and varied were the wild experiences of those days.aud in more than one in stance harrowing as well. We sat for an hour or more spellbound with at- t tentiou while he related incidents of j frontier life that raised our hat sever al inches in the air and made our flow ing tresses take on an extre kink. Had his reputation for veracity notbeen of ' the best we might have been tempted to doubt some of the tales; but, as it was, we thanked our stars yes, and I garters, too that our lot had been cast in a land of civilization. A f tot PfiM nlof i fi rr n t lirt-rttrli r 1 1 r n - ' tional training, Mr. McDonald became j associated with his falher as cashier of which has heretofore been made in these columns. Here he had remained ten years when, in 1894, his appoint ment as United States Land commis sioner was handed him. Ti ere was nothing for him to do but accept it. so long as it had been graciously tender ed him and this Mr. McDonald pro ceeded to do as gracefully as over whelming surprise would permit. That there is still a large amount of govern ment land in Nebraska may be under stood when one is told by Mr. McDon ald that there are SOO.OOO acres in the district over which he has control, 200. 000 of which are in Lincoln county. It seems incredible that so much fine grazing land should still remain unen tered. The largest life insurance associa tion of the world is the Equitable Life Insurance society of the United States with headquarters in New York City. Of this Mr. McDonald is the local agent. The day we arrived in the city he had just paid a draft of 55,000 that had been received by him just six days after proof of death had been furnished the company. It is a duty every man owes his family to have his lite insured; and it is gratifying to i learn that one so prompt in its pay ments is represented in our midst by the genial, whole-souled eldest son of Chas McDonald. From the Ida County, Iowa, Pioneer, the writer's own paper, was the follow ing concerning Col. W. F. Cody: Of course our readers expect a de scription of Col. W. F. Cody, (Buffalo Bill) and his ranch. First, we will give a description of the ranch and then a brief biography of the owner, a picture of both being presented herein at our own expense as a matter of interest to our readers and as a courtesy to our long-haired brother (figuratively). Sunday, Dec. 11, our party visited the ranch and were entertained by Mr. and Mr.-.. I.A.Goixlman, Mrs. G. being Col. Cody's sister and Mr. G. the fore man of the ranch. The Colonel was not at home, much to our regret, he being up in the Big Horn country on a hunt. This ranch is located on the north side of the Union Pacific tracks and comes up to the city limits of North Platte. There are acres of laud all under a high state of cultiva tion, with a handsome residence,parks filled with deer, buffalo and other ani mals, while the whole farm lays very level and is well watered by the Colo nel's own irrigating ditch. Two large barns, each 56x100 ft., two stories high and plenty of sheds and feed yards also form a part of the improvements, and upon the barn nearest the resi dence is painted on the roof with laige letters the following: "SCOI'T'S REST RANCH." Last season there was 1,200 acres of corn grown on this place all in one field, and the average yield was .'12 bushels to the acre. There is now be ing fed on the place S00 steers, mostly Shorthorn and Hereford grades. One of .he curiosities on the place and roaming at will among the herd of buf- ' through the streets of that city with head erect, tail over his bick, his eyes like bills of fire and a .Vobile Bay happened to be in his course he jumped into it like all stampeders would have done and swam to the opposite shore, a distance of eight miles. He was recap tured after many days of hard chase in the Alabama swamps and was then christened "Old Mobile," a name that he will bear till age takes him to the bovine paradise. Around his ranch home are all sorts of curios, wild animals, etc., while fan cy bridges span the irrigating ditches and a great variety of trees adorn the premises in fact tis not unlike the bow. surroundings of the house of yc writer and his park, though upon a larger scale. This North Platte ranch is but a garden patch in comparison to what the Colonel has in the Big Horn moun tains up in Montana, at a station on the Burlington road known as Cody. Here he has a ranch containing 20.000 aeres, 1,000 cattle, i)0 miles of irrigating ditches, and the country and soil is said to be favorable for grain and fruit. These lauds will be placed upon the market for sale some time next year, when we expect to visit and give our readers a more extended description of them. Col. W. F. Cody was born in Scott county, Iowa, in 1845, and is therefore 52 years of age. We gleaned thso facts from his sister Julia. Mrs. Good man, therefore reliable. At the age of 8 years he was taken to Kansas with his parents, where his father was kill ed by a band of Kansas ruffians in 1857. Cody was then 12 years of age and he realized that there was a responsibility upon him in the w ay of looking out for the support of his mother and s-sters With a true and brave heart he began Trork and engaged in the cattle herding business in short, assuming the role of a young kcow-boy," and later secur ed a position with the great cattle kings of the plains, Messrs. Majors, Kussell & Waddle, and before he had reached his teens had made a trip or two across the plains in the capacity of a bull whacker for the above named firm He then assumed the dangerous occu pation of an Indian scout, fighting them when called upon to defend the whites and atv the same time was securing boarders for his mother and sister from the revenue of which the family was supported, for there was no money in the scouting work. After William, as he was then known, had arrived at the age of 17, he enlisted with the Kansas Jayhuwkers and fought for his country as did thousands of other gallant boys in blue. At the close of the war the then made Colonel took up the "pony express" work across the dangerous plains from Nebraska City to the mountains via Laramie and Ogden. carrying the l S. mail. After he had iollowed this hard and extremely dan gerous life for a few years he settled down in Lincoln county, his present home, and engaged in the cattle ami ranchman's trade, and was elected a member of the Nebraska legislature, representing the great cattle district and was known as the "cowboy legis lator." He was always a self-appointed Indian scout and Indian soldier, and was always to the front if any danger was apparent and the settlement al ways felt safe so long as "Bill Cody" was around. He was a great buffalo Hunter and the westerners christened him "Buffalo Bill," under which name he has become famous the world over. His schooling was of course neglected as was the case with all those having been raised upon the frontier, but he Dad "horse sense" an 1 was a very ob serving man and having gained a fail knowledge of law, etc., by reason of his having served in the legislature, the people of his county elected hi in to the office of justice of the peace. in l.su Cody went upon the stag, taking a leading part m the Buffalo Bill combination company which was the stepping bock to his worid-wMe famous "Buffalo Bill Wild West" show which has received high comment ia Home and foreign countries. This show will btf at Ooiaha for one month next season during the Trans-Mississippi exposition. Personally. Col. Cody has many no ble traits or character. It cm truty be said of him that he ha- a let tut hear filled with bravery. Kindness and! liberality is his religion, and if more people would adopt thesj traits and cut oti the n perisy, tt vvoualbj.t better world anu ;i luueli Lap. lu Yes, Col. Cody can truly be c,..Uu a. philanthropist u.ij a bene lit to Ma Ici lowmau. For ii.cinee: Mniiy of his old former cow boy and rcout associates have become pauperized and incapable of support ami this big hearted Buffa lo Bui lias their names and addresses and he has caused them to be p.ucetl upon his pension list and sends theia 25 or $.50. a month each. His money goes just as free in other directions, for upon his first visit home after the World's Fair he presented his certified check to the four churches in the city and ordered it to be divided equally by a committee. The citizens in return gave him a public banquet at the opera nouse. I he lolonel puts a great deal id time and money into the irrigation Fair association and as a partial recog nition for this the citizens erected a stone statue on the fair grounds of the colonel, life size, at a cot of nearly SbUO. Kvei'i body in North Platte and Liueoln county have a high regard and much esteem for the subject of this sketch When Col. W. F. Cody shall hare passed oft the stage of life, it will put an end to all the novelty attached to an Indian hunter, scout and buffalo Killer, for there will be no original "Uulfalo Bill Wild West Shows" ex isting, and in fuel the show he is now operating may run the same as dkl chat or P. T. B trnum. but it will nut oe the same, nor will it be as interest ing, because the central figure W. F. Cody himself will not be there. Yes, when he is gathered in the "grand iound up," the last and greatest type of true American scouts, has gone, and no history of the United Stales written m the future will be complete without- a prominent sketch, with appropriate illustrations of him, the great show in in. illu-.trious frontierstnin ami phi lanthropist. LV CONCLUSION. We desire to thank the many public spirited citizens of North Platte foi judicious support and kindly encaur ugemcnt in making this sH?cial issue of the Tribune a success. The people of whom we have made mention are the ones who have con tributed greatly to the upbuilding of this city and ieiuicy and arc assuredly the ones entitled torespjet and palion :ij;e from all who have the com itunitys b-'st interest at heart. We found others gxl ei:iziis and bisiness men, tco although favorable t the upbuilding of the city, declined t) allow us to write a sketen of them selves or their business. Many of. them advertise in the North Platte papers assisting generously with any enterprise which tends toward the city's welfare and we regret exceed ingly that they were too modest to de sire a representation in this issue. We also found of that class to whom we will devote just space erough to state ought to have lived before the Hood when churches, schools and newspapers with their attendant bene fits were unknown. But to the enterprising citizens who were instrumental in - making the city what it is and were the means of trans forming these once vacant fields into the fine little city you now have, and who can recognize in a measure the Power of the Press, we daft our broad brimmed hat, and as the breezes sweep- through our floating tresses, make our profoundest, most respectful editorial J. :1 1, r r s