Cite. State Historic! Eodttj
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VOL. NO. IH
PLATTSMOUTH, NEBRASKA, THURSDAY, JULY 30, 1936.
NO. 50
Gering Home
Looted by Burg
lars Saturday
Discovery Made Sunday Morning by
Caretaker of Fact House Broken
Into Loss Undetermined.
The fact that ttie beautiful Gering
home on North 6th street had been
visited by burglars, was discovered
Sunday morning by Mrs. James
Sochor, who has been looking after
the residence since the departure of
the family for the ast. Mrs. Sochor
had visited the house Saturday even
ing to check up and the house then
was undisturbed so that the breaking
in occurred sometime during the
night.
Chief of Police Libershal and De
puty Sheriff Cass Sylvester were
notified of the discovery of the- burg
lary and on visiting the home discov
ered that entrance had been gained
by prying up a window and break
ing the lock to gain entrance to the
home.
The party or parties had taken
plenty of time in going over the
house as it was well ransacked and
articles scatter over the place.
The family are summering in the
east near New York City and it has
been impossible to determine just
what was taken, if anything, from
the house until the return of the
family to check up on the contents
of the h ye. There are many very
valuable furnishings of the home and
whether any of these are missing it
remains to be discovered.
The officers are checking upon the
case in the hope of running down the
party that had pulled off the crime.
The officers are of the opinion that
those who committed thej:obbery
were well aware of Ihe, fact, that the
family was (rut of the city.
LOCAL BOY WINNER
)
The finals in the Soap Boi ,erby,
which was the culmination jf sev
eral local derbys held over the east
ern part of the state, was held at
Omaha Sunday afternoon. The races
were held on west Dodge street east
from sixty-fourth street hill.
In the finals James Torbert, 13, of
this city, was the winner of third
place in the race and received a fine
bicycle as his trophy of the race.
Eillie Schuler of Omaha was the win
ner of first place and will go to
Akron, Ohio, to enter the national
race.
Torbert and his nearest rival,
Terry Horton, of Omaha, furnished
the sensation of the afternoon when
the car of Horton collided with that
of Torbert ju after the Plattsmouth
boy was over the line as the winner
of third place in class A.
Kenneth Wohlfarth, winner of
class B in the Plattsmouth race, fail
ed to place in the finals wnere a large
entry of very speedy cars were made
from all sections of the state, altho
the local boy and his car drew much
attention in the race.
IN SERIOUS CONDITION
Mrs. 3. A. Capwell has been spend
ing the greater part of the time since
the middle of May at Weston, Ne
braska, where she has been with her
mother, Mrs. Joseph Samek. Mrs.
Samek has been bedfast since May
and her condition is very grave at
this time and her recovery a matter
of grave doubt.
HERE FROM ST. LOUIS
Mrs. Harry L. King and daughters,
Viola, Ruth and Lillian, of St. Louis,
are in the city to enjoy a visit at
the home of her father, John Lutz,
as well as the brothers, Otto and
Henry Lutz and families. Mrs. King
reports that St. Louis and vicinity
has also been suffering from the dry
ness of the last few months.
IN SERIOUS CONDITION
)
Claus Boetel, Sr., one of the oldest
residents of the community, is in very
serious condition at the county farm
west of this city where he has re
sided for the past several years. Mr.
Boetel is past ninety and has gradu
py succumbed to the attacks of his
great years, his recovery being prac
tically abandoned. ' ' ' 14 '
RETURN SROM THE WEST
Dr. and Mrs. C. M. Gradoville and
family, of Knoxvile, Iowa, were in
the city Saturday to spend a short
time with the relatives and old
friends in this city and vicinity, de
parting Saturday evening for their
home. They have been enjoying a
vacation trip in Colorado, visiting at
several of the places of scenic beauty
in the mountain regions. While at
Atanuou iney naa me pleasure or a
visit with Father George Agius, pas
tor of the St. John's church of this
city, who is enjoying the coolness of
the mountain country for a few
weeks.
Prowlers are
Reported on a
Number Farms
Residents of South and West of My-
nard Rout Prowlers by Unex
pected Return Home.
A number of the residents of the
territory west and south of Mynard
Sunday reported to the office of Sher
iff Homer Sylvester that prowlers had
been around their home and had been
routed by the return of the families.
Strangers were seen lurking around
the farm homes of Phillip Keil, Perl
Albin and John S. Vallery late Sun
day as the members of the family
who had been out for a Sunday drive,
returned to their homes unexpected
7. The strangers were able to get
away before they could be definitely
recognized by the householders but a
very good description of the license
number of the car was secured and
reported, the car being fron an out
side county.
. A number of the homes in the ter
ritory where the strangers were seen,
have been robbed in the past few
weeks and it is thought that he
parties seen Sunday were the same
gang.
SHOW GREAT INTEREST
The interest in the selection of
"Miss Plattsmouth" is-growing and
the list of business houses and f j
fessional men who are sponsoring
candidates now number over sixty
and constantly growing.
The young ladles mat inter will
not face the necessity or any extra
preparation as to fancy costumes as
a regular street or house dress, formal
or sport suit will be in order. No
bathing suits are required and no
flowers or other additional features
are to be permitted.
It should be borne in mind that
this beauty pageant is being put on
by the Korn Klub committee and the
proceeds will go into the treasury of
the King Korn Klub. With no sub
sidies from the state or county the
Korn Karnival faces a difficult task
in financing the project this year
against adverse conditions. We want
every young lady who takes part in
the beauty pageant and each one of
their sponsors to feel that they are
helping to make the Korn Karnival
possible. With this patriotic slant
to the proposition, we trust everyone
will get in and help put this over in
a big day. If you have not been so
licited please call Ed Schulhof at 150.
HONOR MOTHER'S BIRTHDAY
The members of the Kerr family
had a very delightful time Sunday
as they gathered at the old home to
honor their mother's eighty-first
birthday, where a very happy day
was enjoyed by all.
Those present were Mr. and Mrs.
Miles Reazer and children, Miles Jr.,
and Margaret from Glenwood, Mrs.
Alice Andrews and son, Gene, of Om
aha, Mr. and Mrs. James Hishel and
children, John, Burton, Louise and
Mary, Mr. and Mrs. M. S. Kerr and
the honoree, Mrs. S. E. Kerr.
HERE FROM UNION
From Monday IaHy
Mrs. Louvina Comer, one
long time residents of near
of the
Union,
was in the city for a short time today
looking after some matters of busi
ness. While here she was a pleasant
caller at the Journal and renewing
her subscription 'to the semi-weekly
edition of the paper.
Council Favors
Amendment to
Cut Tax Penalty
Would Have Legislature Provide for
Submitting Amendment to Elim
inate Penalty Interest.
Prom Tuesday's Daily.
The city council last evening had
another of their long winded sessions
that involved a bond sale and also
had a considerable amount of busi
ness to transact after the sale was
disposed of.
The council received a communi
cation from Hugh J. Kearns post of
the American Legion of this city ask
ing that the city remit the license
fee for the Gibbs carnival company
which is showing here under the Le
gion auspices. As this has been the
custom in the past the council voted
to allow the request.
The council then started in on the
bond sale and which covered from
8:15 to 9:45 with several of the bond
bidders taking part and the final re
sult was that the $45,000 issue of
4 bonds now outstanding were re
funded at 4 per cent, twenty year,
optional after five years, with a $11
premium. The successful bidder was
the First Trust Co., of Lincoln, and
to whom the bonds will be delivered
as soon as prepared.
The tax and property committee of
the city council through Chairman
Webb, introduced a resolution asking
that the governor submit the matter
to the state legislature of a constitu
tional amendment to be voted on by
the people and" which would cover
the enactment of laws to permit the
payment of delinquent taxes without
the penalty interest and permit., a
larger amount of tax being restored
to- the -state and' othr -governmental
divisions. The resolution adopted
was as follows:
A Resolution :
WHEREAS, an emergency Delin
quent Tax situation has arisen in Ne
braska during the past seven years
of general and world-wide depression,
which two successive legislative ses
sions have sought to remedy through
the passage of non-penalty interest
laws, applicable to both real estate
and personal taxes, but which have
been found inadequate and finally
unconstitutional by the Supreme
Court of Nebraska; and
WHEREAS, in every county in the
state many persons owing back taxes
have taken advantage of the provi
sions of such non-penalty interest
laws, either through payment of their
back taxes in full or under the ten
and five year payment provisions;
and many hundreds of other similarly
delinquent taxpayers are anxious to
be allowed to do likewise; and
WHEREAS, such laws remitting
penalty interest are now in operation
and proving very satisfactory in the
way of getting in delinquent taxes
that would be lost otherwise in the
states of North Dakota, South Da
kota, Wyoming, Colorado, Montana,
Texas and Washington, while in the
state of Minnesota there has even
been a remission- of two-fifths of the
principal amount delinquent, with
equally good results; and
WHEREAS, to make such a law
operative in Nebrasqa it will be
necessary to amend the Constitution,
which can only be done by a vote of
the people at the general election In
November, which due to time limit
ations can now only be proposed by
legislative enactment . . . now, there
fore BE IT RESOLVED by the Mayor
and City Council of the City of Platts
mouth, Cass county, Nebraska, that
His Excellency Governor R. L. Coch
ran be urged to call a special session
to enact a constitutional amendment
for submission to the voters at the
election to be held November 3, 1936,
regarding extended payment of taxes
and remission of penalty interest, not
only on real estate and personal
taxes, but to go a step further and
permit the governing bodies of cities
and villages to enact ordinances re
mitting the higher rate penalty In
terest on special improvement assess
ments that are delinquent and per
mitting their payment in install
ments, all to the end that the tax
payers of Nebraska may be given an
opportunity to pay the 40 millions of
dollars in delinquent taxes In In
stallment payments and without in
terest the same as is done In states
enumerated above. And be it fur
ther RESOLVED that copies of this
Resolution be sent to Governor Coch
ran, the Nebraska League of Muni
cipalities and other interested par
ties, as well as furnished the press
for publication.
The council approved a resolution
presented by Councilman Bestor
which reconfirmed the members of
the new cemetery board of control,
A. H. Duxbury and W. P. Evers for
a term of one year, James Comstock
and L. W. NIel for a term of two
years and George A. Kaffenberger
and Fred H. Sharpnack for a term
of three years.
Police Judge C. L. Graves reported
that for the weeks of July 16 and
July 23 that there had been three ar
rests made and fines and costs of
$23.25.
The finance committee of the coun
cil reported a resolution asking that
$1,629 be transferred to the gasoline
tax fund from the general fund to
cover the excess due on work on
Sixth street. The money to be paid
the city in the gas tax fund is to be
returned to the general fund.
The council then took up ordin
ance No. 723, providing for the levy
for the year 1936-37 and which
placed the levy at 23.40 mills on the
$1.00 valuation, a slight drop below
that of last year.
The council then, passed the an
nual appropriation bill in ordinance
No. 724 and which placed the total
cost of the operating expenses of
the city government for the year at
$44,850, which covers to the close of
the fiscal period, May 1, 1937. The
appropriation for the past year was
$47,200.
The following claims were ordered
paid by the council:
John Kubicka, street work $ 17.33
John Kubicka, burying one
dog T
Geo. Taylor, work with team
Ivan Taylor, street work
George Taylor, same
Franklyn Kief, same
Charles Gradoville, same
National Ref. Co., gas
Clyde Jackson, labor
R. G. Reed, typing
H. W. Johnson, tractor oper
ator .60
27.00
26.80
4.20
7.35
19.95
18.40
1.00
1.00
6.40
F. R. Gobelman, paint j 15.45
Platts. Journal, printing 35.85
E. J. Richey, lime
D. H. Merritt & Sons.s and
gravel, 6th street T' ,
Ray Bryant, repair, trwek
John Boetel, burying 2 dogs
2.10
924.77
5.65
1.20
KIDDIE PAGEANT
As a prelude or "curtain raiser"
to the major show next Tuesday
night at the Beauty Pageant, there
will be a Kiddie Pageant of little
girls from 2 to 6 years of age. Mrs.
Henry Soennichsen and Mrs. E. L.
McKissick are in charge of this fea
ture and if you have a little girl of
this age whom you would like to en
ter, phone Mrs. Soennichsen, No. 133.
It will cost you nothing for the entry
and your little girl will enjoy the ex
perience. These little tots will be
Judged by three out of town stran
gers. Mr. Lapidus, proprietor of the
Hotel Plattsmouth, has kindly offer
ed the use of the hotel lobby for the
assembly of the Beauty Pageant en
trants. These young ladies and the
kiddies as well, will come to the hotel
lobby at 7:30 sharp. They will form
in line and parade to the opera house
next door where the pageant will be
put on. Over 75 young ladies have
so far entered. The judges are going
to have a hard time.
IN CRITICAL CONDITION
Councilman E. O. Vroman has re
ceived word from Chicago of the very
critical condition of his brother-in-law,
Woodrow York, who has suffered
a very severe attack of heart trouble
and from which there is little hope
held for his recovery.
Mr. York, who is twenty-five years
of age, was born in this city and
since the removal of the family to
the east has been a frequent visitor
here with His sister and family and
the old friends. He is a son of Mr.
and Mrs. O. L. York.
The many friends here will regret
very much to learn of his condition
and share with the family the regret
that his illness has brought.
Mrs. Vroman is at Chicago at the
bedside of the brother and will re
main there until there is a change in
his condition.
RETURN FROM VACATION
From Tuesday's Dally
Dr. and Mrs. P. T. Heineman and
daughter, Margaret, who have been
enjoying a summer vacation In the
Yellowstone national park and in the
Teton park in Wyoming, returned
home last evening and report a very
pleasant trip and njoying the cool
ness of the mountain country.
Truck Burns and
Two Drivers are
Injured Monday
Destroyed by Fire on Highway No.
75 Near Murray and Men Suf
fer from Burns.
Two truck drivers were slightly
injured and a large truck was de
stroyed by fire when the gasoline
tanks on the truck caught fire and
exploded Monday five miles north
of Murray on highway No. 75.
Chester Griffin. 2418 8th Ave.,
Council Bluffs, driver, and his com
panion, Roy v llson, Chicago, es
caped with only slight injuries, Grif
fin said.
Griffin had burns about the arms
and hands and Wilson suffered a bad
head laceration when he jumped
from the careening truck.
Griffin said the truck, loaded with
16 tons of lumber consigned to the
penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kan.,
caught fire when the sediment bulb
on the motor burst and the leaking
gasoline sprayed onto the exhaust
pipe.
One fuel tank exploded, wrecking
the 6leeper cab and blowing a mat
tress through the roof of the cab, ac
cording to Griffin.
Griffin said he steered the truck
into the ditch, told his companion to
Jump and then jumped out himself.
Then the second tank blew up.
. The lumber and -truck were burn
ed completely, according to Griffin's
report. Value of the load, he said,
was about $1,000 and of the truck j
about $3,000. The transport was:
property of the MIdwe tsForwarding
Co. of Chicago.
DIES FROM AUTO ACCIDENT
For tbe-thJrd- time "In - a- two week
period, death has , invaded the circle
of the W. P. Wortman family of Mal
vern, Iowa. Saturday at the hospital
at Omaha occurred the death of Miss
Helen Zane Wortman, third victim of
an auto accident which occurred two
miles west of this city on the Louis
ville road, Saturday, July 11th.
The father, W. P. Wortman, died
a few moments after arrival at the
hospital on the afternoon of the ac
cident, the mother passed away last
week and the daughter now joins
the parents in the last rest. The
deaths that have come so rapidly in
the family circle have been a great
shock to those of the family group
that survive. The only living member
of the party that rode In the wreck
ed Wortman car is Mrs. Fred Newell,
sister of Mr. Wortman, who is suf
fering a fractured leg, but otherwise
is expected to recover.
HERE TOR VACATION
From Tuesday's Dally
Miss Alice M. Funk, of Baltimore,
Maryland, arrived here this morning
for a vacation visit with her parents,
Mr. and Mrs. Albert Funk as well
as the other relatives and many old
friends. Miss Funk since the com
pletion of her training as a dea
coness, has been engaged in the work
of her profession in the east and has
been assigned to the Fayette-Bennett
M. E. church at Baltimore, one
of the largest churches of this de
nomination in the east. She has
made a splendid record and has been
asked to continue on in this church
for the ensuing year.
CELEBRATES BIRTHDAY
Monday afternoon at the home of
his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. John
Lohnes, John Chamberlain celebrated
his sixth birthday anniversary. The
afternoon was spent in playing
games. Prizes were won by Millie
Lohnes and Ralph Hilt.
At a suitable hour a delicious
lunch was served, and a very pretty
cake with its six glowing candles.
John received many beautiful gifts.
VISIT RELATIVES HERE
Mr. and Mrs. Fred Woolcott, of
Batavia, Illinois, were visitors here
at the week end at the home of Mr.
and Mrs. William H. Woolcott, the
former a brother. They have been
visiting in the west and stopped here
to enjoy a short stay with the rela
tives in this city.
BIND MEN OVER
In the county court Saturday aft
ernoon Robert Lee Whitfield and
John H. Pointer, both of Murray,
were arraignel in connection with
several bad checks which had been
circulated here and signed by the
name of John Davis. The men had
entered a plea of not guilty to the
charge. After hearing the evidence
offered the court bound the two men
over to the district court and set the
bond at $500 and failing to supply
the same the men were remanded to
the custody of the sheriff.
Officials
Discuss WPA
Future Work
L. A. Woodward. Lincoln: Mark
Herns, G. W. Welch', Neb. City,
Meet with Commissioners.
Prom Wednesday's Dally
This morning a meeting was held
at the court house by the board of
county commissioners, Fred H. Gor
der, E. B. Chapman and J. A. Pitz,
with L. A. Woodward of the state
office of the WPA and drouth relief,
Mark Kerns and George W. Welch of
employment of the district WPA at
Nebraska City.
The work this year will be planned
in advance so that the problems may
be arranged to be taken care of as
they arise Instead of the matter be
ing forced on the organization in a
group as was the case last year.
One of the problems of the future
is going to be that of taking care of
many farmers who are suffering from
the effects of the drouth in the var
ious sections of the county and which
will make necessary the organization
of propositions that can take care of
a number of the farmers that may be
in need of relief through work facil
ities. .
The situation was gone over thor
oughly by the officials of the WPA
and the board of commissioners and
it is hoped to have a definite lineup
on future projects arranged before
the fall season.
HERE FROM UNION
from Tuesday's Dnj-
This morning Mr. and Mrs. John
Lidgett and Mrs. Martha Lynn of
Union were in the city to attend to
some matters of business at the court
house and visiting with friends.
While here Mrs. Lynn was a visitor
at the Journal office to renew her
subscription to the semi-weekly edi
tion of the paper. While at the court
house they were paying their taxes
and were pleased to find that they
were several dollars less than for the
former years.
LEAVE ON OUTING
Mr. and Mrs. J. D. Rising of near
Cedar Creek, accompanied by Miss
Grace Livingston, Towner Livingston
and Franklin Wehrbein, departed
Sunday on a vacation trip to the
west. They are to visit at Yellow
stone park, thence to Spokane and
Seattle, Washington, and then down
the Pacific coast to California. The
father of Mr. Rising lives at Los An
geles and here they will spend some
time in visiting.
HONOR RETIRING SCHOOLMAN
From Tuesday's Dally:
Mrs. Alice Andrews was a visitor
in Omaha today where she attended
a dinner party at the Hotel Fonten
elle in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Booth,
the former, retiring head of the Ne
braska School for the Deaf, where
Mrs. Andrews has been a teacher.
Mr. Booth has served as head of the
Nebraska school over a long period
of years bt is leaving Omaha on Aug
ust 1st for an important school post
in the east.
SUFFER FROM MAT.ARTA
There are several cases of malaria
reported from La Platte and vicinity
but in the cases the patients are all
doing nicely. The cases are thought
to be originated from the very low
water supply that is found over the
state and which has brought on, in
many cases, the Impurities in the
water.
Recreational
Program Started
Locally Today
Supervisors Meet with County Direc
tor G. M. Corum of Louisvilie;
Plan Program for City.
From Tuesday's Dally:
The recreational program planned
by the WPA had its first start today
when a large group assembled at the
Central school building to meet Coun
ty Director G. M. Corum and the
supervisors who will have charge of
the work here. These projects are all
absolutely free and from the indica
tion of the initial meeting there
should be a large number enrolled
before the end of the week.
Peter Gradoville has been selected
as supervisor of music and will have
charge of band work, harmonica
bands, community singing and or
chestras will come under the depart
ment of Mr. Gradoville and whom
anyone interested Is requested to con
tact. Rev. H. A. McKelvey will be the
supervisor of boys work and which
will include athletics, handcraft and
supervised play.
Mrs. Ruby Lester will be the super
visor of girls work, which will in
clude dramatics, athletics, handcraft,
singing and supervised play.
Thelma Duncan, primary super
visory, will have charge of the pri
mary children, singing, games, paper
cut outs and all kinds of supervised
play and instruction.
Clyde Jackson has been selected as
the building and grounds supervisor
of the local group projects.
RETURN FROM THE EAST,
Mr.' and Mrs. Frank A. Cloidt and
daughters. Maxine and Frances, re
turned home Sunday morning from" a
very pleasant outing that has taken
them to a large part of the east coast
country and parts of Canada. They
enjoyed several days at Ottawa, the
Canadian capltol city, Montreal and
Puebec, the latter two very interest
ing by reason of their old world
French atmosphere. They also spent
few days in New York City, Bos
ton, Providence and at the Cleveland
Great Lakes exposition. On their re
turn trip they stopped for the even
ing meal at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, and
had the pleasure of meeting Marion
Dickson, who is conducting a theatre
in that city. Leaving Mt. Pleasant
they drove all night and reached
home at 4:30 Sunday morning.
RETURNS FROM EUROPE
Miss Mathilde Soennichsen of this
city, who has been spending two
months in a trip through Europe, has
return to the United States, arriving
on Thursday at Baltimore on the
Baltimore Mail Liner, "City of Nor
folk." Among others on the "City
of Norfolk" were nine year old
Michael Edward Palmquist of Holly
wood, California and Captain George
H. Stone, U. S. Army flyer, returning
from the orient via Europe. Captain
Reginald Rose was in command of
the the vesseel that sailed from Bre
men and Southampton.
LEAVE FOR MINNESOTA
Saturday evening Mr. and Mrs.
Clare Shellenbarger and little son and
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Robinson and
little son, departed for Minnesota
where they will enjoy a fishing trip
and outing for a week. They are
spending the greater part of the time
at Bowan's Resort at Parham, Min
nesota, near where are located several
large lakes that are very popular
with the fishermen.
CARD OF THANKS
We wish to thank the kind neigh
bors and friends for their beautiful
floral remembrances and kindness In
any way at the funeral services of
our dear father and brother. Mr.
and Mrs. T. M. Tefft, Mr. and Mrs.
E. M. Buttery.
HERE FROM NEHAWKA
John M. Fitch of Nehawka, was In
the city for a short time on Tuesday
and while here was a pleasant caller
at the Journal office to renew his sub
scription for the ensuing year.