Alliance Herald
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OFFICIAL OIM3AN NEBRASKA 8TOCK (2ROWKKH ASSOCIATION. REACHES KVFJIY MEMBER
OFFICIAL OUGAW NEBRASKA VOLUNTEER FIREMEN'S ASSOCIATION. IT REACHES EVERY DEPARTMENT. I1RADOUARTER3 FOR lfl.OOO VOLUNTEER FIREMEN
VOLUME XXI
ALLIANCE, BOX BUTTE COUNTY, NEBRASKA, THURSDAY, JULY 9, 19J4
NUMBER 81
x
IN DEFENCE OF DEMOCRACY
Notorious Combine Runs County Convention and
Forces Adoption of Mitchell's Resolutions
Bristling with Falsehoods.
Dr JOHN W. THOMAS, Editor
Where Am I
At?
Like Finne
gin, I'm "out
agin and in a
gln." I thot
1 1 was a demo
crat, but the
notorloui Mlt
' chell - O'Keefe
combine, after
running their
well oiled
Bteam roller
over me, back
aid forth, seven times, kicked me
ut. threw roe over the transom,
chucked me In my political grave, at
he democratic county convention In
Alliance, July 7, 1914. But the dead
hall rise again.
If I were as young and as inexper
ienced in such matters as I once was,
1 would feel bad; as it Is, I am glad.
1 feel like saying. "O goody," or
"lory" or something else express
ive of my feelings. I am proud of
the distinction that has been con
ferred upon me.
I have seen steam rollers before.
I have seen them operated, too. Koine
f those who engineered the running
f the steam roller over me are not
(experienced. I remember very dis
tinctly seeing them assist in that
kind of work once before. One day
four years ago this summer I was
own at Grand Island, Nebraska.
There were quite a number of peo
ple in the old town that day, and
taey were mostly democrats and
ear-democrats. It was the oecas
m of that long-to-be-remembered
democratic state convention &T. I910.
I went out to the big tent in the
nrove where the show was staged,
ring the proceedings of that day,
I saw stand on the platform before
That throng of people a man wbo
far many years had been my politic
al idol. Willie he sat in that conven
tion and when he stood before that
rrowd, a giant of manhood and cour
age, a lot of rufnecks on the out
nkirts of the crowd, Joined by some
who were delegates to the conven
tion, jeered the man whom I respect
ed. I saw and heard some of the
sen who took a leading part last
Tuesday in trying to discredit me,
laagh in derision and hoot when the
aame of William J. Bryan was men
tioned in denunciation by the notor
ioas Mike Harrington, . who was
e beered by the rabble.
I felt bad then; I feel good now.
Can I forget these things? Will
I keep quiet about them now? Will
I, while these same men. Joined by a
few others who are crasy for an
appointive office, are resorting to
aarefaced falsehoods and other Tam
many methods to drive me out of Al
liance in order to save themselves
from exposure? Will I keep quiet?
Watch me.
I anticipate that some at a dis
tance from Alliance who read this
will be horrified to see William Mit
chell and T. J. O'Keefe referred to
as "notorious" and "infamous", not
m much in regard to Mitchell as
when applied to "Two-faced Tom".
Let them come to Alliance and in
vestigate for themselves and their
horror will be on the other side.
There are some things in regard to
these two men that I will not publish
bow. The code of political ethics
which I follow will not permit me to
relate them while in the position of
aa opposing candidate, but any one
who is sufficiently interested to come
to Alliance and make an investiga
tion can easily find out what those
things are.
I am aware that an honest man
cannot but become indignant when
contemplating the unfair and dishon
orable means employed by hypocrit
ical politicians to accomplish their
purposes, but in writing an account
f these things I shall endeavor, as
always, to proceed "With malice to
ward none, and charity for all; do
sag the right as God gives me to see
ke right."
Because W. J. Bryan has for manyj
years followed his convictions in re
gard to his personal life and has bp
posed political corruption in public
Bfe, he has been accused many, ma
ay times of hypocrisy by politicians
fea whose breasts the spark of sincer
ity has long since been snuffed out.
Moving as I do in a smaller sphere,
exactly the same conditions have ob
tained on a smaller scale.
As has been pointed out thru The
erald since I have been editing it,
exponents of Mr. Bryan raised the
talse cry of "prohibition" against
bin in order to influence a class of
voters. In whose interests he was
really working but who were too ig
aorant to reason for themselves,
hence were controlled thru their
prejudices by political heelers. The
aame is true concerning me and the
. treatment I have received. When I
a me to Alliance, I formed the ac
quaintance of a leading business
an wbo was then and Is still a lead -
' jr.
er In the temperance movement. I
rrlied his friendship then, as I do
now and always shall. I believe that
a more honorable business man nev
er set foot on Nebraska soil. Mitch
ell hated him, of course. It Is natur
al for him to hate a decent man. It
was because of the friendship of that
man, according to Mitchell's own
statement, that he began his fight on
me; but I would not part with the
good opinion of a man like the one
Mitchell so much hated, even if by
so doing I could get the highest of
fice on earth.
Soon after I began editing this
paper, I began advocating the hold
ing of an election for the purpose of
adopting the Initiative and referen
dum, as the city had the right to do
under the Nebraska law as It then
stood. I desired particularly that
the question of license should be Bet
tied by that method, in a peaceable
and orderly manner, Instead of
causing strife and turmoil such
as I had known In other Nebraska
towns where the decision of the
question hinged upon the election of
"wet" or "dry" candidates. William
Mitchell securing the co-operation of
others who got scared at the sugges
tion, raised the false cry of "prohi
bition" and thereby deceived many
voters. In vain I told them .that
the city could continue to have sa
loons, If a majority wanted them.
The proposition was defeated. Since
then the privilege of deciding mun
icipal questions by direct vote has
been given the cities of Nebraska by
legislative enactment. It has been
tried twice In Alliance and Is so
much 'better and more satisfactory,
just as I said it would be, that no
one now, so far as I know, openly
opposes that method here.
In order to make sure of con
trolling the convention of the bosses
held last Tuesday, Mr. Mitchell pre
viously raised the false cry of "pro
hibition", publishing it in connec
tion with a number of barefaced
falsehoods in the Alliance Semi-
Weekly Times, the stand pat repub
lican paper of this city and county,
altho I had previously stated in
print that the issue was not the wet
and dry question, that no matter
how "wet" or how ."dry" a man
might be, he would be acceptable if
only fair. But the dodge worked for
the time, as It usually does for a
while, and gave him a cinch on some
votes that might otherwise have
been doubtful.
The County Convention
In giving a truthful account of
the county convention at which reso
lutlons were passed reading The
Herald out of the democratic party
and endorsing T. J. O'Keefe, I am
not "casting aspersions upon the
democracy of Box Butte county." I
am defending the rank and file of
the party In the county outside of
that convention, and a considerable
number of those who were delegates,
and I will try to make this plain
enough to be understood. I state
my deliberate conviction in saying
that had the proceedings of that
convention been submitted to a vote
of the democrats at a general or pri
mary election at which there was a
full or nearly full attendance, they
would have been voted down by an
overwhelming majority. The reac
tionary paper above referred to has
already published the names of the
delegates to the convention and the
secretary's minutes that the proceed
ings were unanimous thruout. Of
course, "unanimous". If upon con
vening the assemblage had turned
the proceedings over to William Mit
chell and adjourned, the result
would have been exactly the same.
There were quite a number of
delegates permitted to sit in the con
vention and give it somewhat the ap
pearance of being a representative
gathering, wbo detest William Mit
chell and his methods and do not en
dorse the resolutions that were
passed concerning The Herald and
O'Keefe, and other proceedings of
the so-called convention.
It Is defending these men and not
casting reflections upon them to pub
lish these facts
It is standing up in defense of the
rank and file of the democratic party
of Box Butte county to publish the
fact that scarcely one-tenth of them
were at the caucuses where delegates
to the county convention were nam
ed and that in some instances the
attend was defeated by trickery,
attend was defeated b ytrickery.
It is defending those men who
were permitted on some of the dele
gations to give them the appearance
of fairness but were kept safely in
the minority on each delegation that
was controlled by the machine.
I wish to request that Box Butte
county readers who are interested in
the matter, to keep this paper for
reference, and when some henchmen
of Alliance's "Little Tammany
' makes the statement that I have
cast aspersions upon the democracy
of Box Butte county, or indiscrimin
ately upon the members of the not
orious convention, pull this on them
and show them that what they say
is false.
Not only was trickery and politic
ally dishonest methods used in con
trolling the selection of delegates,
but that contemptible dodge, work
ing upon religious prejudices, was
resorted to in order to insure a larg
er attendance than could be muster
ed by the opposition. I dislike ex
ceedingly to mention matters of this
kind it Is repugnant to me but I
cannot give a fair account of the
way in which this Tammany ma
chine has been run without doing so.
What's the use In mincing matters.
anyway. Some people know the
facts, Why not let everybody know
them? I am a local preacher. For
three years, since being a resident ef
Alliance, I was president of the Box
Butte County Sunday School Associ
ation. At present I am acting sup
erintendent of the Methodist Sunday
school of Alliance. These facts, cou
pled with numerous misrepresenta
tions, trying to put Into my mouth
things that I have never uttered,
have been worked overtime upon
the prejudices of persons of a differ
ent religious faith. This In spite of
the fact that as editor of The Herald
I have taken particular pains to treat
fairly and well those who might dif
fer with me on such matters. I have
testimonies to the fact that my ef
forts in this direction have been ap
preciated. The political hyenas have howled
preacher" and multiplied their
falsehoods in order to prejudice and
frighten timid voters who would be
my friends, if they knew the. truth.
Thru The Herald I have already giv
en the public some truth regarding
political conditions in Nebraska that
have not always been truthfully re
ported. I expect to keep at It. As
long as I do I expect to have the op
position of corrupt political ma
chines and receive unfair treatment
from them; but I know I have the
endorsement of a large part of the
people, in fart I firmly believe that
an overwhelming majority of the
people of western Nebraska who
know what Is transpiring here are
backing me with their sympathies.
and I am encouraged to go on.'
How It Wan Done
To begin with, the chairman of
the state central committee recom
mended that the county conventions
be held on Saturday, July 25, 1914,
and that the precinct caucuses be
held on Thursday, July 23. Every
other county In the state will proba
bly follow the state chairman's rec
ommendation. Why not Box Butte
county do the same? The reason is
very easy to see. The Mitchell ma
chine was in working order. At any
time he can summon practically his
entire strength within twenty-four
hours. The opposition was unor
ganized and needed time. Mitchell
took advantage of the position he
held to not permit the time designat
ed by the state chairman.
If you want to know more about
the strength of Mitchell's influence,
watch the primary election in Aug
ust, and particularly the general elec
tion In November.
Notice this: The state chairman
recommended that the precinct cau
cuses be held at the usual voting
places. Were they? In the first
ward of Alliance, the precinct having
the largest delegation of any pre
cinct in the county, the precinct
committeeman, acting under instruc
tions from Mitchell, called the cau
cus to be held in Mitchell's office, a
room not large enough to accommo
date one-fourth of the democrats of
the precinct if they attended. The
caucus for that precinct was called
to meet at 7:30 p. m., an unusually
early hour for summer evening meet
ings in Alliance. Trior to that
time, a number of men appeared in
Mitchell's office with names type
written on slips which they carried.
Before 7:30 p. m. bad arrived the
eight delegates for the precinct had
been elected. As they were elected
by acclamation after being named
from the slips of paper carried by a
few persons. I cannot say def
initely how many participated In the
caucus. From the best information
I can obtain, I am confident that
not more than eighteen were there
before the adjournment of the cau
cus, and probably not more than
fourteen or fifteen. The business of
the caucus, was completed before
the time set for it to convene. Per
sons leaving the caucus after it had
sojourned met others coming at ex
actly 7:30 o'clock. We hear about
the political corruption of New York
Tammany, and of the New Jesrey
machine that Wood row Wilson help
ed to clean out, and in Chicago and
various omer places, but Ola any
one ever know of anything more rot
ten than the stunt that has been pull
ed off in Box Butte county?
The precinct committeeman of one
of the country precincts, that was al
lotted four delegates, was told by
Chairman Mitchell to select three
other men and for him and the three
he selected to be the delegates from
that precinct. Whether be did this
I do not know.
The second ward of Alliance is an
example of the Mitchell forces secur
Ing a part of the delegation by being
organised and the opposition not or
ganized, altho the opposition had an
overwhelming majority in the pre
cinct and a majority of about two to
one in the caucus.
BOUND OVER TO
DISTRICT COURT
George Smith and T. K. Williams,
Charged with I lobbing Olds Drug
Store, Plead Not Ciuilty
Alva Moon, alias George Smith,
formerly a convict in the Jollet, 111.,
penitentiary, and Thomas E. Rod
ger, alias T. E. Williams, who were
brought back to Alliance last Thurs
day from Council Bluffs, Iowa,
where they were captured last week,
charged with robbing the Olds drug
store at Hemingford of Jewelry val
ued at over $500, were given their
preliminary hearing before Judge
Berry Wednesday afternoon. Both
men plead not guilty and were
bound over for trial before the dis
trict court this fall.
Sheriff Cal .Cox and Chief of . Po
lice Ovlde Vine of Council Bluffs
both deserve credit for the way this
case was handled. As soon as the
robbery was reported, Sheriff Cox
immediately got busy and sent cir
culars throughout the country, with
a description of the men and of the
Jewelry stolen. The men were ar
rested in Council Bluffs while trying
to pawn some of the stolen Jewelry.
On one of them was found an ex
press receipt for a package shipped
from Long Pine, Nebr., to Moon's
mother, at Mobile, Ala. The sheriff
In Alabama was notified and sent the
peckage to Council Bluffs, where It
was found to contain most of the
stolen Jewelry.
The men put up the claim that
they bought the Jewelry from a
tramp at Long Pine, but gave no
reason for shipping the Jewelry out
of the state. They had on them two
of the watches and part of the Jew
elry. They were placed under bond
of $1,000 each, which they were un
able to furnish. The reward of $100
offered was sent to Chief Ovlde Vine
this morning.
STUDY MUSIC
IN CHICAGO
Director of the Alliance School
of
MiikIc Preparing for Enlarge
ment of School This Fall
The Herald is in receipt of a let
ter from Mrs. Edith Swan Zediker,
one of the directors of the Alliance
School of Music, written in Chicago,
July 3rd. Mrs. Zediker said:
Just a line to inform you that
Miss Burnett and myself are settled
In Chicago for a short period of stu
dy under the best teachers available.
We are registered at the Cosmopoli
tan School. Miss Burnett with Mrs.
W. S. Bracken and I am with Henry
P. Eames. Both of us are delighted
with our work bo far.
We gave a program at Grace Epis
copal church on June 30, and we
were very well received. We are in
vestigating material for our new de
partment of Expression and Dramat
ic Art. It is our aim to establish
something very fine in this depart
ment next year, and the outlook for
someone who will give us the very
best is very good Indeed.
Very soon we will be able to an
nounce thru your, columns definitely
who our faculty for the ensuing year
will be.
Kindest regards to the Herald
family, and Alliance.
Very sincerely,
EDITH SWAN-ZEDIKER.
Chicago, 111., 804 Michigan Ave.
F.S.- We Bpent a very delightful
day In Des Moines on our way here.
guests of Mr. W. M. Robinson and
the Haddorff Music House oeoDle.
We were very agreeably surprised at
the splendid equipment of the Had
dorff House both in instruments and
sheet muBlc.
LANDS RESTORED
PUBLIC DOMAIN
Iinds Will lie Subject to Settlement,
Under llomefctaad Laws, after
August 17, 1914
By order of the First Assistant
Secretary of the Interior, issued June
18, 1914, the following described
lands were restored to the Public
Domain and the same will be sub
ject to settlement, under the public
land laws on and after Aug. 17, 1914,
at 9 o'clock a. m., and will be sub
ject to entry, filing or selection, on
Sept. 16. 1914, at 9 o'clock a. m.
Stt 8VV4 Sec. 8 and the NV4.
NH 8WVi, SEK Sec. 17. Tp. 23 N.,
Rg. 54 West of 6th P. M.
All these lands appear vacant on
the Land Office Records except the
NW4 and NW14 of SW4 of
Sec. 17, which is covered by home
stead entries.
Miss Ida Buss, of Ravenna, who
nas been vUiting Mrs. Louisa Faw
cett since Sunday, returned to her
hosse yesterday.
NEW LIGHTING FOR STREETS
City Council Gives Superintendedt Hughes of Elec
tric Light Department Permission to Install
New System for Lighting Streets.
At the regular meeting Tuesday
evening, the city council gave per
mission to Superintendent Hughes of
the electric light department to in
stall a complete new street lighting
system in all sections of town now
covered by the cluster lights, which
are Installed on part of Box Butte
avenue and one or two side streets.
The cost of the new system will
be approximately $2,000. It will be
what is called the series Mazda sys
tem, one light of approximately 100
candle power to be placed at each
street intersection. Mr. Hughes is
planning on removing the present
small lights stationed on poles from
81 Intersections and replacing them
with the new lights which will be
hung over the center of the Intersec
tion. Work will be started as soon
as the material can be secured.
Transacted Much ItiislneMM
The cuoncll transacted a great
deal of business during the session.
Councilmen Fleming, Snyder and
Swan were present, Councilman Ho
mlg being absent on a trip Inspect
ing auto fire trucks.
Itoport of Police Magistrate
The report of the police magistrate
for the month of June showed re
ceipts from fines of $53 and from
marshal fees of $4 2, making a total
of $95.. Fines were paid In 20
cases.
lUMirt of City Treasurer
The report of the city treasurer
was as follows:
City Treasurer's Report for month
of June, 1914.
RECEIPTS ,
Balance $4452.12
Interest 11.19
Misc. Licenses 130.00
Light Dept 2076.27
Water Dept 728.43
Miscellaneous . 28.90
Total
.$7426.91
DISBURSEMENTS
General fund
Officers' salary
Water
892.10
50.00
359.63
Light 1096.69
Interest on Warrants 5.92
Total $2404.34
Balance 5022.67
Balance In general fund . . 165.32
Balance in Light fund .... 1913.61
Balance In Water fund ... 2943.64
Amount of registered war
rants unpaid for lack of
funds $1613.69
A. GREGORY.
Treas. City of Alliance.
Report of Light and Water Dept.
Report of the light and water de
partments was as follows:
OPERATING REVENUES
Light St power earnings ..$2462.17
Bal. due for current May 15 236.24
$2698.41
Discounts for payment of
bill on or before May 22
167.05
$2531.36
NON OPERATING REVENUES
Insurance refund ..$67.78
Service deposits . . . 55.00
Bat due mdse, 5-15.244.71
Charges during mo. 96.25
Cash sales 41.53 605.27
$3036.63
Disbursements paid by light depart
ment from May 15 to 20 1671.26
$1365.37
912.99
$2278.36
Cash in light dept May 15
i 1
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'c'..":.--f-.-.-.-...-?v .'; .-v.
FIX)AT OF W. It. IIAKPEK DEPARTMENT HTOKK AT CONVENTION
Above is shown a picture of the float of the W. H. Harper department
tore, which won first prize In the parade on Satarday morning, June 20.
This float was prepared at great expense and rnaeh trouble. It was the
finest of its kind ever seen In Alliance and was the subject of much com
ment bv those who saw the parade.
Dal. da for current 6-15,
deducting era $6.40, pd.
In advance 221.85
BaL 4m tor mdse. 6-15 .. 212.16.
Cash in light dept 1843.66
$2278.36.
83,950
KW output at plant
No. KW Mid con
sumer 16,074
No. KW as. sighting 3.960
No. KW PBtap. watr 4,840
No. pamptaf sewer. 1,440
No. KW city hall &
plant (eel.) .... 1,400
26.714
7,236
28
196.375
$450.76
No. meters aot read
No. tons coal consumed
Approximate cost of coal. .
WATER DEPT
No. gal. water pumped Jan.
1 to Apa. 1, 1914 ....12,835,600
Jan. 1 to Apr. 1:
Sold consaaners, 7,757,560
(fH6...aadAt 8,371,o
Use at plant, est 613,912
8,371,462
4.464,038
Amt. charged consumers,
Apr. 1, 1914 $1,567.95
PoUta Library Report
To the Honorable Mayor and Coun
cil of the City of Alliance:
We respectfully submit the fol
lowing report of work done in the
public library and a statement of the
disbursements of funds for the
maintenance:
LIBRARIAN'S ANNUAL REPORT
Circulation 12911
An Increase of 1402 over
the cliratatlon of the year
118.
Average dairy circulation . 43
Borrowers cards Issued . . i .'. 368
Books purchased ... ...... 184
Fines collected $65.60
Incidental expends . . : 8.43
Twenty-three story telling hours
during the year have been held.
Since May 1, 1911, 735 books have
been given to the library.
4 63 purchased making total 1188.
184 books, worn out, have been
withdrawn from circulation.
21 lost and carried away, 10 be
ing paid for amounting to $8.
29 have been destroyed In quar
antine, 9 of which were paid for,
amounting to $5.26, money being
turned over to the city treasurer
with the fines.
We have at present time 217
books in the library.
17 In circulation overdue.
19 periodicals.
1 daily paper.'
3 weekly papers.
NELLIE WILSON. Librarian.
SECRETARY'S ANNUAL REPORT
Warrants drawn on city treas
urer 1185.15
Disbursements
Librarian's salary $4i9.00
Janitor service 180.00
Library building 51.35
Furniture , , 43.83
j Fixtures ... 3.50
Books 74.20
Magazines 38.78
Lights 63.99
Water 26.30
Fuel 173.62
Printing . 7.80
Freight and ei press 11.37
Postage 1.68
Supplies 8.80
Miscellaneous 20.03
Tola! $1185.15
MRS. W. W. JOHNSON, Secretary.
(Additional reports given next week)
V , V. v.
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J-.y.t-Vly
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-Photo by Grebe
