Official Organ Nebraska Stock Growers Association and Nebraska State Volunteer Firemen's Association
16 Paget 2 Sections
Leading Newspaper of
Western NEBRASKA
The Alliance Herald
Tell 'Em You )
Saw it in
The Herald
VOLUME XXV
ALLIANCE, BOX BUTTB COUNTY, NEBRASKA, DECEMBER 6, 1917
NUMBER 1
FISHER WRITES
ON COMMERCIAL
CLUB OF TODAY
SECRETARY OF ALLIANCE COM
MUNITY CLUB WRITES IN
SPIR1NO ARTICLE
SECRETS OF ITS SUCCESS
Alliance's Live Wire Secretary Tells
How to Make Success of Com
mercial Club Work
WAS THE MONEY
BURIED RECENTLY
Friends of "Buck" Washington Be
lieve Money Found'with Bones In
Sewer Pit Was Buried Lately
W. D. Fisher, secretary of the Al
liance Community Club, was recently
requested by the Omaha Tradesman,
leading trade magazine, to write an
articles on "The Commercial Club of
Today." He wrote the article and It
was published in the issue for No
vember, 1917. It is full of good
thoughts ,the result of the knowl
edge gained by Secretary Fisher dur
ing the eight years of untiring com
mercial club work. The article, as
It appeared in The Tradesman, is as
follows:
THK COMMERCIAL CLUB OF
TODAY
What It Can Do and What It Can
Mean If It Is Properly Supported
by Business Men
Business men in most towns have
kept pace with up-to-date methods.
City officials have realised that a i
city to hold its pine in the front, !
must replace old wooden sidewalks
with 'cement, foster the movement
for paving, stop the practice of her
citizens in dumping ashes and rub
bish on the principal streets, and
similar practices; purchase and
maintain parks and play grounds;
lay out boulevards and foster the
movement to beautify the city in
general.
what Is the Cnuse of the Present
Condition?
Just recen.ly the Writer had a
talk with on i of our state oih( ials
who is doing a great work for every
city and town in our slate, but the
majority reft --e point blank to co
operate with him. Quoting his
words he sayi: "It sure looks good
to see you cn the job agan. Stuff
you sent n.e was just what 1
wanted. Wish I could get every
secretary in the state to send me
something along the lines you 'sent
but they simply will not respond to
my requests. "
Now! Wtat does ihl3 mean? It
means' that t.tber the organization Is
dead or the business men have
officers who are not attending to
their business. Would men who call
themselves business men feel that
if they adopted the same tuctics in
their busnie. sthat they do in bup
tporing theii club they would make
a success of things? Even the pessi
mist admits ibat it will take organi
zation and business-like methods to
lick the kaiser and the1 present con
dition of a li rge number of organiza
tion can not be blamed upon just a
few but to the majority of the busi
ness men a' id property owners in
their own locality.
Suppose en individual no matter
how big a t afl he is and what in
fluence he 1 :s in his own com
munity, appt.irs beif J the city coun
cil or calls for a public meeting to
present some worthy proposition.
Will any one admit that he will
meet with the same success that a
body of men representing their
Commercial or Community Club?
Then if thlr is so. why is it that
some of our business men say that
they will net join, that the club
That the pot of money, supposed
to have been found by i"Buck"
Washington, the colored excavator
who dug up the ancient bones and
home-made coffin while working on
the sewer ditch between Third and
Fourth streets on Cheyenne-avenue,
was burled within the last two years,
is the opinion of the friends of
friends of "Buck" who saw the
color of the coin with which he was
apparently flush before leaving for
points unknown.
The friends of "Buck" who saw
the coin believe that.it was of re
cent make and that the bills and
silver were burled in the hole at
night and in haste, from the hints
which "Buck" let fall before skip
ping out. As to the amount of mon
ey he had they can only guess, but
it is supposed to be around $150.
Because of the amount supposed
to have been found by "Buck" and
the fact that it was probably not in
the box coffin but simply in the hole
above it, caused by the caving in of
the dirt. It is believed that this is
probably the long lost proceeds of
the fake wrestling match held in Al
liance a year ago last summer. That
the promoters of the fake match bu
ried the coin with which they
skipped when they left the box office
before the angry crowd made a dash
for their money back, has long been
the supposition, as none of it has
ever been returned , to the know!
edge of most of those who were
there. Tripping up the dark alley
in their flight in the early hours of
the mornine, the conspirators may
have thrust their toe into the soft
spot above the coffin , and quickly
thrusting the coin into t e rtepres
-ion. sped on their Way before the
'lisappointed spectators of the match
began the hunt for thorn which
! lasted most of the night.
But this explanation is, of rourse
merely conecture on the part of the
people who are interested In solving
the mystery of the old hand-made
coffin, the broken and sawed bones
and the sudden flight of "Buck'
Washington after his discovery of
th? bones.
! .F.. M. Broome, editor of the
'Antiocn News, in his iisuc of last
week, gives an explanation of what
might have been the origin of the
bones, had not a careful inspection
of the bones, now at The Herald of
fice, shown experts that tby are gen
uine and not made by human hands.
The only question at icsu? on this
point is whether or B9t the bones are
those of rn animal or a human being.
Editor Broome's article regard
ing the find is as follows:
Some years ago a tramp blew into
Chadron and with n formula which
he retained aB a Bccret, made the
skeleton of a giant which was bu
ried in the bad lands nort' of Chad
ron and conveniently d;scovered by
parties who paid him $200. The
skeleton that so strongly resembled
old human bones tbnt surgeons ex
amining it could not deirci the dif
jference, was exhibited in many
Inlaes at 2 5 cents a lock. The fel
low that made it followed up the ex
hibitors demandinga take-off, until
I those buying it threatened 13 blow
! his head off. It was exhibited In
i Alliance, the writer being one of sev
eral that fell for a quarter each, and
we 'never heard what became of the
skeleton or box, theio being no rec
ord of a shipment from Alliance.
Friendship for the memory of those
having put the deal across, pre
vents giving of any names but per
haps it might have some connection
with a recent unearthing alleged to
have been made in Allianc .
RESIDENCE DISTRICT OF CRAONNE
fi 4HR)' WelJW?JBSSSSBWSslsylEw. aSsWPWBSSBBS' . mBBtT?LsSSsBb1 TtTHbsP
MYSTERIOUS LIGHT GRAND FINISH
DISTURBS THE VALLEY tuc tfUinUTQ
i ml nmumu
OF COLUMBUS
Trainmen and Others Watch Light
Soar Over North Platte Valley
In Night Time
All that was Irtt of the residences of Cnionnc after the latest and severest
of the bombardments to which that French town bus been subjected by th
Germans and the nllles who fought for Its possession.
FORTY-TWO ENLISTED
IN ALLIANCE THIS WEEK
Many Yetting Men of Draft Age Are
.loaning the Branches of Army
They Like Before Dec. 15
There have been forty-two enlist
ments at the Alliance recruiting sta
tion so far this week for the United
States Army. The unprecedented
rush is due to a large extent by the
regulations which provide that no
one subject to draft in the next call
can enlist' after December 15th.
Alliance boys who enlisted in the
aviation section of the Bignal corps
are as follows: Thomas E. Kuten,
Jr., Floyd H. Donovan and Willard
L. Meyers. Ervin J. Macken en
listed In the quartermaster's corps.
Glenn D. Locke and W. H. Voight en
listed in the field artillery.
Those enlisting from Hemlngford
in the aviation section of the signal
corps were: Walter A. Lyon, Leo.
it May, Anthony M. Kuhn and Les
lie B. Bobblt.
Recruits from other points enlist
ing in tne aviation section are as
follows: Roy D. Floyd. Bayard;
Lewis J. Meitner and 'George
F. Todd, Crawford; Allen J. Peter
son, Bernard Asseng, and trans u.
Foster, Crawford; Samuel V. Wolfe,
Minatare; Sanford L. Clements,
Chadron; Oliver L. Pitt, Casper,
Wyo. ; Lorenzo D. Chambers, Gil
lette, Wyo. ; Jas. B. Larvhead, Fred
erick and Geo. H. Busier of Lingle,
Wyo.; Wayne L. Clark, of Fort
Morgan, Colo.; Sidney F. Morris and
Guy W. Heninger, Evergreen, Colo.;
John F. Elmore, Koubals, S. D.;
John F. Ellison, Hyannis; Carlos A.
Rogers, Antloch.
Clifford S. Robertson, of Bayard.
enlisted in the field artillery. Those
enlisting in the railway operating
department were: Ira Marting and
Francis Neustedt, Chicago; Guy M.
Heuter, Greenville, 111.; Edwin J.
Bolen. of Truesdale, Mo.; and Carl
H. Canarsky, of Bancroft, Nebr., en
listed in the infantry. Merrit A.
Kessler of Custer, 8. D., enlisted in
the infantry.
ABLEY'S CELEBRATE
GOLDEN WEDDING
Pioneer Box Butte Settlers Visited by
Seventy-live Ouests at Surprise
Party Wednesday
W. D. FISHER, ALLIANCE, NEB.
doesn't amount to much and what's
the benefits of a membership?
In a Kood many communities we
have tooo many store-keepers and
not enough business men. A store
keeper you know Is a man who
stands at bis door and waits for
trade to come to him, while a bust
nee man gets back of his local or
ganlsatlon with bis money and en
ergy and then spends a liberal
amount with his local newspaper
(Continued on page 8).
POTASH DISCOVERED
ON HYANNIS RANCH
Lake on Fred Pear Ranch Contains
Strong? Deposit of Potash Yet
I-'. mini New Rush Starts
It Ib reported in Alliance today
that a lake on the ranch of Fred
Pear, near Hyannis, has been found
to be rich in potash containing the
richest deposit of potash yet discov
ered in any .lake in western Nebraska.
Experts who have analyzed the
lake waters claim that the one lake
will make a multi-milllonrire of Mr.
Pear at prevailing potash prices.
Many potash experts have believed
that the potash field had been com
pletely surveyed and covered by
plants now operating and in course
of construction. The discovery of
potash la this section Is starting a
new rush for other lakes 'in adjoin
ing territory.
Wilson Case Dismissed
Judge W. H. Westover, in district
court Monday, dismissed the case of
the State of Nebraska vs. Homer
Wilson which tiad been appealed
from county court. Wilson had been
fined $100 and costs for having liq
uor in the Wilson barn in which he
was making his home at that time.
Judge Westover and the attorneys
in th ecas evislted the scene where
the liquor was kept. The judge
then dismissed the case, deciding
that Wilson's residence was the barn
where the liquor was found. No or
der was made as to the disposition of
the two demijohns of liquor which
Is in the possesison of the county officers.
Buried Hawaiian Queen.
John Priess, an Alliance boy, now
a member of the First Field Artil
lery, in the Hawaiian Islands, took
part in th eceremonies at the burial
of the former-queen of the Hawaiian
Islands. In writing lb an old school
mate, John Colerick of Allance, he
told of the ceremonies. Battery F,
of which PrieBs Ib a member, went
to the funeral of the queen with five
pieces of field artillery and their
accompanying ammunition wagons.
At the proper time they fired a salute
over her grave. Sixty coal black
horses hauled the artillery pieces the
twenty-seven miles from the fort to
the burial ground.
Priess has a brother In the new
national army who is now training
at Garden City, New York. The
boyB are certainly a long distance
apart. He expects to return soon
with his battery to the United States
and hopes to be in France and see
real fighting.
Mr. aud Mrs. Fred Abley, pioneer
Box Butte county settlers, were the
guests at a surprise party Wednes
day at their home, one mile from the
old town site of Nonpareil, south
west of liemingford, the occasion
being the celebration of their 50th
wedding anniversary.
Seventy-live friends, In twenty
autos, visited at the Abley farm
nome from 10 until 3 o'clock. The
committee in charge of the surprise
party were Mrs. C. .J. Wlldy, Mrs.
Ben Price, Mrs. Paul Armstrong, of
Hemingtord. and Mrs. M. J. Bailey,
of Custer, S. D. These ludles were
ably assisted by many others. The
big event 'was the serving of the ban
quet which was pronounced by
County Judge I. E. Tash as being the
finest of its kind ever served In Box
Butte county. Delicious eatubles of
many kinds we're piled high on the
long table.
Farmers, bankers, merchants,
capitalists and politicians were rep
resented at the occasion. Mr. and
Mrs. Abley have resided in the
same commodious farm house for
thirty-two years. A photo was taken
of the group during the afternoon.
Prominent in the foreground was
William Kinf, of Aliance. .with a
garden rake over his Bboujtler, pos
ing as "a producer of Irish cobblers."
The committee had tastily decor
ated the home in white and gold col
ors. Also present at the reception
were Emory Abley and his family of
Hemlngford and Amos Abley from
Omaha. The gift of the latter was
$50 in gold pieces and a beautiful
boquet of American' Beauty roses to
his mother. There were numerous
valuable and useful presents and let
ters of congratulation were received
from friends in many parts of the
country. Rev. Brown, of Hemlng
ford, made a short talk in honor of
the occasion.
The occasion is one which will be
long remembered by all who took
part. The guests enjoyed being told
of the political devlsion of the house
hold. Mr. Abley is a republican.
He reads the Times and has a photo
of Colonel Roosevelt In his part of
the house. Mrs. Abley is an ad
mirer of democratic doctrine. She
reads The Alliance Herald and keeps
a photo of President Wilson in her
part of the house.
That some one is operating an
airplane or other mode of aerial
transportation over the North Platte
valley In the night it im.-, la the sus
picion of a number of Burlington
trainmen operating out of Alliance
and of other people who have seen
the mysterious light which soared
'liferent nights last week -over the
"ley.
m .ralnmen saw the mysterious
gbt in the air several evenings last
week. On Saturday night one freight
crew, while waiting at Bayard, for
thirty minutes watched the light as
it moved up and down the valley.
They reported the matter Sunday to
The Herald office and an Investiga
tion has been started.
The crews which saw the light
say that It was high in the air and
that the light was quite bright; that
It moved swiftly from place o place.
They stated that It could not have
been a searchlight, as there were no
clouds on which a light of that
nature could have been thrown.
The "Will o' the Wisp" has been
seen often in the valley at night
during the summer season, when cli
matic conditions were right. How
ever, because of the fact that this is
not the season for the natural phen
omenon known as the "Will o' the
Wisp" and because the light was so
high in the air it Is suspicloned that
the light was an Indication of human
agencies Whether they are friendly
or otherwise is yet to be determined.
The big beet sugar factories at Bay
ard, Scot tsbl tiff and Oering would
make ideal spots for an attack above
by an evil disposed person or per
sons. The factories are amply
guarded at nil timoB on the ground
but suspicion has never been di
rected skyward.
A telephone , intervelw Wednesday
night with officials of the sugar com
pany at Pcottsbluff elicited th elnfor
mation that they had no knowledge
of the light or its cause and that they
would cause an immediate lnvestiga
lion with the view
the cause.
sniHCRIPTlONH RUN WAY OVER
THK APPORTIONMENT FOR BO
BUTTE COUNTY IN CAMPAICUf
CLOSED FIRST OF WEEK
Alliance Council Number 975
in a Total of 9S.090.flO for
Special War Work Fund
The Knights or Columbus, Al
liance Council No. 975, raised a to
tal of $3,090.60 during the campaign
which closed the first of this week.
As the apportionment of Box Butte
county was only $2,400, this was
$6 90.60 more than was asked.
There will be additional subscrip
tions to come In yet, raising th to
tal amount still larger.
The total donations are divided as
follows:
Alliance $2,088.60
liemingford 416.60
Bridgeport 81.00
Hyannis 96.00
Collected by priest at Hem
lngford 86.60
Sent previously on firBt call 374.00
Total $3,090.50
The executive committee in charge
of the work consisted of J. W. Guth
rie, chairman; C. H. Brlttain, secre
tary; John O'Keefe, treasurer; C .A.
Newberry, Rev. P. J. Manning, W.
H. Buechsenstein, and Grand
Knight J. C. Moore. Personal as
BlStaBce and h -lp was rendered at
Liaco by J. J. Cain, liemingford by
Wm. Delsing and Daniel O'Keefe,
Hyannis by Dan Egan and W. L.
Howell, Ellsworth by J. B. Kennedy.
J, w. Guthrie att aided church at
Bridgeport on Sunday and collected
the $81.00 from that point.
The Individual subpcri"""s to the
fund were as follows:
Frank Abegg $ 25.00
Westover Overruled Demurrer
Judge W. H. Westover. In district
court Monday, overruled the de
murrer filed by County Judge Tash
and Attorney Basye in the case of
the injunction asked by Harrington,
Fisher and Rooney against Tash and
Basyne to prevent them prosecuting
the latter on the charge of the il
legal possession of liquor in their
room at the Drake hotel during the
famous Chadron blackmail case.
In the demurrer Tash and Basye
questioned the right of Judge West
over to grant an injunction to pre
vent the prosecution. The demurrer
was overruled and the officers have
ten days until the 13th in which to
file their answer. When their an
swer Is filed a date for a bearing will
probably be Bet to decide whether or
not the injunction will be permanent.
Agnes Alyward
Anna Alyward
of ascertaining Delia Alyward
i P. Alyward
CHAIRMAN WAR SAVINGS
COMMITTEE
1.00
2.60
2.60
6.00
5.00
5.00
3.00
2.00
t.eorge B'jii-i
George J. Burke
Mike Bijuk
W. H. Barrett. .
Margaret Barry 10.00
vice president of Wlnuie Barry 1.00
T. J. Heal iu.uu
Mrs Beal 6 00
50.00
Charles Brittan
the First State Bank, has Deen Bp
pointed a chairman for Box Butte peieT Becker
county of the National War Savings Becker Bros 10.00
Committee. He haB selected the fol- F. J. Bet told 2.00
lowing committee to work with him ......... .jj
in the campaign to sell war savings Frank Breckner 5.00
certificates and stamps: KoDert Jonn Breckner
Friday Good Roads Day
Tomorrow, Friday, December 7th,
will be the second Good Roads Day
for Alliance. Because of the fact
that the hay which was recently scat
tered along the Alliance- Hoffland
Antloch road is being rapidly
burned up by sparks from passing
engines and being blown away and
because that the weather will prob
ably soon not permit of road work
it has been decided to complete us
much of the road work as possible
on Friday.
S. W. Thompson will be in charge
of the work tomorrow. He wants
from fifteen to twonty patriotic
citlsens to lend their aid in scat
tering cinders and helping unload
the four auto trucks which will do
the hauling.
Art Wright, John Wallace and
aVughan ft Son have each promised
a truck for tomorrow. These three
trucks, with the new Community
(Tub truck, will make four trucks do
ing the hauling. 81 promises to keep
every man busy who comes to help.
Everyone Is urged to br'ng their
dinner with them and be at the club
office at 7 : 30, o'clock Friday morning.
Graham, R. M. Hampton, Jotin
O'Keefe, tilen Miller, A. G. Isaacson,
B. J. Sallows, of Aliance; W. E.
Walker of Hemlngford ;M. A. Brown
of Marple.
The government haB piaceu on
sale two billion dollars' worth of cer
tificates and stamps to help finance
the war. The certificates are ar
ranged for the placing of war sav
ings stamps thereon and are an ob
ligation of the government when one
or more stamps have been placed
thereon. The stamps will have a
maturity value of $5.00 each on
January 1. 1923. They can be pur
chased for $4.12 in January and for
one cent more each month. Four
per cent Interest, compounded quar
terly, Is added to the cost of the
stamps. iThey can be purchased
when Usued at any of the banks or
the postofflce. The certificates are
;:ow ready for distribution.
ROADS ALL MARKED
FROM ALLIANCE WEST
Secretary Fisher Placed Luc Signs
at Cnss-Roads' and Ha High
ways in (Jood Hliape
All of the public roads betwoen
Alliance and Scottsbluff und Bayard,
including two routes to Scottsbluff,
are plainly marked with permanent
signs. Secretary Fisher of the Al
liance Community Club, using the
new road truck, spent Friday, Satur
day and Sunday placing the signs so
that the passer-by in the swiftest car
or the slowest one may jead them
with ease without stoping hiB speed.
Every main cross road leading to
another town on the routes is
marked with a four-by-four timber,
I set upright in the ground. -on which
is faBtened a three-foot sign, in the
form of an arrow, giving the direc
tion and distance. The letters A.
B. C" standing for "Alliance Com
munity Club" are stenciled on the
signs, rrhe colors are yellow and
hite.
J. W. Breckner
John Brcnnan
F. J. Bret nan
c. w. BrcBBaa
Chas Biit un
( Con' i iued on page 8).
5.00
5.00
25.00
10.00
10.00
25.00
Railroad Notes
W. M. Weidenhamer, division su
perintendent on the Alliance divisioa
for several years and for thirty years
with the Burlington, resigned the
The M. E. ladies are giving a food
sale on December 15th. Remember
the date
Joe Smith made a business trip to
Antloch on Tuesday.
E3
Former Superintendent Weideuhamer
first of the wek to accept a place of
more authority with the Milwaukee
railroad. -tant t .'resident H.
E. By ram of that roi d. That this
Twentv-ntne miles out of Alliance , change was i xpectet! was stated In
Is a large board sign designating the The Herald last weak. The many
two routes to Scottsbluff. Route one i friends of Mr. Weidenhamer and his
Koes through Nine Mile Canyon and family learned with much regret
route No. 2 goes soutn to wunin
eight miles of Bayard. Eight miles
east of Scottsbluff the two routes
Join and a sign Is posted there giving
directions.
Mrs. Patrick Nolan and daughter,
Irene, have Just returned home from
Sioux City, Iowa, where they have
been visiting a sister of Mrs Nolan,
Mrs John Crotty.
that they were to leave Alliance
but were pleased to know of the fact
that he had been called to a place of
more authority on the other 'rail
road. George L. Griggs, one of the most
popular Burlington officials in the
West, whose rise In Burlington cir
cles has been almost phenomenal,
but which is not surprising when one
(Continued on page 5).