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VOLUMK XXVII.
ALLIANCE, BOX BUTTE COUNTY", NEBRASKA, TUESDAY, AFR1L 20, 1920.
r'o
NUMBER 41.
s
ALLIANCE IN CRIP
OF BOLIZZARD
Trnin Service Practloully Suspended
for Three Days Xo. 41 Stall,
cd Near Girard.
Since Saturday morning, Alliance
lias been In th egrip of a snowstorm
which has bepead the roads hibh
with snow, rendering traffic impossi
ble, and caused a cessation of train
and mail service. The storm began
-with a light rain Friday evening
which changed to sleet and then
snow. The snow was accompanied
by a strong wind, but the tempera
ture was at no lime particularly low.
The difference fo a few degrees In
temperature was undoubtedly the
means of saving a good many head of
livestock, and the probabilities are
that the loss from this source will be
large in spite of It.
The storm extended from coast to
coast, according to reports that have
reached Alliance, althuogh the terri
tory between Billings and Broken
Bow was the worst. Train conduc
tors say that the other side of Brok
en Bow there was rain, and one de
clared that the rain extended clear to
St. Louis.
' It was necessary ror tue Alliance
division of the Burlington to call on
Lincoln for help and Sunday evening
th eblg rotary snowplow from Lin
coln was started to Alliance to plow
a way through the drifts. It was
then understood that all traffic west
of Seneca to Edgemont was at a
standstill.
Train schedules were badly inter
rupted. Xo. 42 due into Alliance at
midnight Saturday, was stalled in a
big drift near Cirard for nearly fifty
hours, being released last night.
Monday night two No. 41's and three
No. 43's were in Alliance, waiting for
the track to be cleared. The Denver
train came In .late Sunday afternoon,
and service has been delayed on that
line since. Trains are now running,
although schedules for the time
being have been forgotten.
Heavy loss of stock in the cattle
country is feared by prominent stock
men. R. M. Hampton of Alliance,
president of the First National bank,
and a well known stockman, does Dot
believe that the stock will drift into
the sand hills lakes as they did six
years ago when millions of dollars
worth of cattle perished, but he fears
tha tthe shortage of feed will cause
a heavy loss.
Herman Krause, owner of one of
the largest western Nebraska ranches
believes that the loss will be heavy
on account of rain preceding the
blizzard, causing stock to be in poor
condition to withstand the cold snow
being driven by a fifty-mile wind.
Alter being stalled In a fourteen
foot snowdrift for forty-seven hours
and fifty-seven minutes, one and one
half miles west of Girard and about
thirty-two miles west of Alliance,
Burlington train number forty-two,
due in Alliance at midnight Satur
day, was rescued at eleven o'clock
Monday night The train consisted
of thirteen cars and carried one hun
dred and sixty passenger, includlrg
thirty women and fifteen children
On board the train were a number of
Alliance citizens, including the Misses
Dalley and Young, Dr. H. A. Copsey,
C. M. Looney, Rex Roberts and I. L.
Keith.
There were one hundred and sixty
passengers on the train when it left
Crawford Saturday night, but there
were one hundred and sixty-one when
it reached Alliance at one-thirty
o'clock this morning. The stork
could not wait on stranded trains and
be brought a six-pound baby boy to
Mr. and Mrs. W. L. McPherson of
Denver, at seven ' o'clock Monday
morning. Dr. II. A. Copsey of Al
liance, who was a passenger on the
train, saw that the little stranger ar
rived safely. Mrs. Wilbur A. John
son of Deadwood, South Dakota, a
trained nurse on her way to Denver,
assisted in caring for the mother and
new arrival. The ladies on the train
provided an improvised wardrobe for
the baby and the men, after lengthy
discussion, decided that - the baby
should be named "Maroon Marvel."
A collection as a present for the new
baby was taken at the vaudeville
show held Monday evening on the
train and the purse was presented to
the parents of the youngster with the
request that be be named aa above.
Repeated efforts were mad made
all day Sunday, Sunday night and
Monday to rescue the stranded train.
The final effort was made with the
assistance of forty Hemlngford,.ctti-
sens, who shouldered snow shovel
and boarded a relief train for Girard,
where they handled their shovels for
six hours like veterans In shoveling
' out the marooned train.
t, Snowplows sent out Sunday and
j' Sunday night were unable to pierce
&Ocu. 1' of wit, oggy snow;
whlcn..p In the train. At five
o'clock Monday morning a big rotary (
1'iow, irom me sterling division, left
Alliance and came to within a half
mile of the train, where it left the
track and climbed a big drift. A
heavy push plow left Alliance at four
o'clock Monday afternoon, taking
forty men with snow shovels from
Alliance and picking up the Heuiiug
ford volunteers.. This crew of fresh
workers shoveled .out the big rotary
plow, tunneled through several big
drifts and shoveled out the passenger
train, which has released in sections.
The Herald reporter reached the
stranded train at six o'clock Monday
afternoon." "He found the passengers
all in excellent humor and comfort
able. There were no grumblers on
the train and there was no criticism
of the railroad officials and their
helpers, for all realized that these
.r.en were doing their level best to
release the train.
Division Superintendent George L.
Griggs, Yardmaster O. . E. Williams
and other Alliance officials, assisted
by several score of loyal helpers
(Continued on rage 6) i
APRIL 24-MAY I
CLEAN UPJEEK
.Mayor and Council Vi-ge Citizensto
Make Alliance Look the
Host Ever.
Mayor A. D.' Rodgers announced
Tuesday morning that the week be
ginning April 26 and ending May 1
has been set apart as a general clean
up week for the city. During this
time the citizens are urged to clean
up and burn all rubbish, plant pe
tunias In the front yard and sweet
peas along the back fence, and then,
if they have more time, energy or
money left, to make contracts for re
painting. Just at present the snow makes
Alliance a second Spotless Town, but j
If Tuesday's fine weather keeps up,
the city will be in the midst of a sea
of mud within three days. Most of
this ought to be gone by the first of
the week, if the weather man is any
kind of a sport, and spring will start
officially. - .
A lot of rubbish accumulates dur
ing any winter or two or three win
ters, for that matter and if the
council secures the proper kind of co
operation, there's no reason why this
shouldn't be one of the most attrac
tive, as well as the best, cities In
western Nebraska. Of course, if the
weather goes flooey again, no citizen
will be expected to dig rubbish out
from under snowdrifts, but if not
shovels, rakes and bonfires ought to
be in evidence in front of half the
houses in the city.
SPECIAL AGENT SMITH
SETTLES "WOBBLIES"
Burlington Special Agent T. J.
Smith ran across a bunch of brothers
who possessed "Wobbly" tendencies,
whether they were members of the
I. W. W. gang or simply tired men
with high wage ideals. When sev
eral trains were stalled at Girard
Sunday morning, and efforts were
made to get together a crew of men
Lto go down on a special and wield
shovels against the snow, the Burl
ington officials found that recruiting
was proceeding rather slowly. As
usual, there was a gang of husky
idles around the station, and strong
inducements were made to encourage
these fellows to go to the relief of
the stalled trains and snow plows.
Special Agent Smith soon un
earthed the reason for strong men
refusing to work for good wages. He
had. offered a bunch of them time
and a half 60 cents per hour to
gether with their board to join the
relief gang, but the most he could
get was a few of the passengers from
various stalled trains, who were will
ing to do their bit. The huskies
weren't coming across like they
should. Mr. Smith found that there
were a few brothers who were mov
ing among the men, counseling them
to hold out for a dollar an hour.
Figuratively speaking, Mr. Smith ap
plied the toe of his boot where It
would do the most good, and aftei
the bolsheviks had been ejected
there was a whole lot less opposition
to the high wages offered.
The most appalling feature of the
sugar situation Is the fact that the
government Is to continue In control
for another season. -
Wanted Two or three furnished
rooms for light housekeeping; pri
vate family preferred. Call phone
S40. . 41P
PRIMARY ELECTION
BEING HELD TODAY
StHmMonii Makes It Impossible to
Deliver Ilallots to Some Out
lying Precincts.
A i rimary election is being held
today, but sjmie Box Butte county
citizens will not be able to vote un
less some elector, braver than the
rest, volunteers .to take the ballots
from the office of County Clerk
Mounts to the polling places. There
was lUtle difficulty in getting the
ballots distributed In Alliance, but
with no trains running, and the roads
drifted high with snow, there was
simply no way to pet them delivered
outside of the city. County Clerk
Mounts was able finally to get a batch
off to Dorsey precinct, wherein lies
the cUy of Hcming(ord, and a few
precincts" were taken care of by elec
tors bolder than the others, but at
10 a. m. today ballots for five pre
cincts reposed In the clerk's office.
Wright, Box Butte, Snake Creek,
Liberty, and Running Water pre
cincts are those which are without
ballots. Some of these are from
twenty-five to thirty miles out of the
city. It Isn't likely that the electors
there are particularly anxious to
vote and certainly none of them has
been anxious enough to come after
the ballots, although Mr. Mounts has
been Bending out the cry of distress
by phone. -Interest
in Alliance Is fairly strong
In the county election, and a fair
sized vote is expected. The voter will
have an opportunity to mark two or
three yards of ballot when he shows
up at the polls, there being a long
string of contenders for the nomina
tions. The big snowstorm Is already be
ing used as an alibi for Various can
didates, as it will undoubtedly keep
a good many away from the polls. . It
will be especially hard on Governor
McKelvie, for the storm-bound coun
try Is his particular stronghold. -'
The political forecasters are rather
up a stump. With a long list of can
didates for every office of importance,
and with a large number of voters
kept away from the polls, it's a trifle
difficult to say Just how things are
coming out. Leonard Wood appears
to be the favorite for the Republican
presidential preference, as does
Hitchcock for the Democrats, but the
Wood supporters are a trifle leary of
Pershing, for whom a good deal of
electioneering has been done. If
there Is a tie-up between the Wood
and Johnson supporters, the Califor
nia man will not show up particul
arly strong, although It is one thing
for campaign managers to make
slates and a totally different thing
for voters to follow them.
MANY NEW BUILDINGS
ARE BEING STARTED
Alliance is beginning to get started
on the spring building drive. New
houses are springing up In all parts
of the city, and only the lack of car
penters prevents more of them being
built.
The Rhine Hardware company Is
sporting a new front, which is one
of the niftiest In the city. The light
ing effects are especially fine, and
will furnish display windows that
will be unequalled in the city. One
of the large plate glasses was
smashed during Installation, but
this, thank fortune, is only a tem
porary mishap.
The Fowler Lumber company, not
to be outdone by other like concerns
in the city, is entering upon a gen
eral renovating and remodeling cam
paign, which will result in newly
painted walls and new floors, to
gether with new electric fixtures. The
Forest Lumber company's office
building is progressing rapidly.
Race Ends Sat Night
Standing of Contestants in Campaign
MR. B. M. KELLY
MISS MARGARET HARRY
MB, RALPH COX
MISS SARABEL NEWMAN
MISS LYDA GASSELUra
MRS. J. WOXQ .
VOTE NOW
AUTO CAMPAIGN
ENDS SAT. NIGHT
Itace 11ns Nun-owed lovn to Few
Contestants. Crucial Test
Xow Ahead.
f The climax Saturday night!
Seven weeks of effort and anxiety
Culminate with the closing of tho
Herald's automobile, and prize cam
fcaipn at 8 p. m., April 24th.
The extremely heavy balloting of
Saturday eclipsed all former records
Thousands of votes were cast, and,
with the race in the home-stretch,
the race has narrowed down to two
or three who will decide supremacy
at the First State Bank In the pres
ence of tho judges and Interested
friends.
.'allot Hot Xow Sealed,
v The ballot box, sealed and locked,
is now at the First State Bank where
it will remain until the closing hour.
Members of the Advisory Board, an
nounced at the beginning of the
campaign, will bo asked to officiate
When the box is opened for the last
time Saturday night, count the votes
aiid decide the winners.
All contestants should be sure to
have their final collections and re
serve votes in the ballot box before
8 p. in. The campaign, will close
promptly at that time hot one min
ute before nor one minute after.
f Important.
As a protection to all contestants
no personal checks for more than
10. will be accepted In the final
cpunt. Subscriptions with remit
tances to cover are to be put in
sealed envelopes and taken to the
First State Bank. Subscriptions
amounting to more than $10 must be
accompanied by cash, certified check
or draft made payable to the Alliance
Herald. There will be no variation
from that rule.
Race in Honie-Stretilu
; The race Is now In the final lap.
Mr, Kelly made a surprising gain and
now leads the field. He made a big
report Saturday, both of subscriptions
and Job cards. He brought in orders
from Bridgeport and Angora as
Well as several big orders from
Alliance. Mr. Kelly says that it any
loi In, or within fifteen miles of An
gola is moi geuing tne irerata, or
who has not bought a Job card, he
doesn't know It.
Miss Margaret Barry also did
splendidly last week the final one
of the second period. It looks very
much as though the struggle for the
Reo is between Miss Barry and Mr.
Kelly. The latter holds the lead to
day. ' The full voting strength of
these contestants is not shown. Both
have made splendid records and,
with strong reserves yet to come to
light the race is an interesting one.
The totals as shown below will not
be changed until the votes are
counted for the last time at the First
State Bank by the Judges. The final
scenes are set all that remains Is
the final burst of speed. The storm
will interfere with active work for a
few days but there is still time for
determined action. Both Mr. Kelly
and Miss Barry can be counted on to
make a determined bid for first
honors Saturday night.
A notorious "dip," whose name
was given as Harry Mulvert, was
picked up by Burlington Special
Agent T. J. Smith Monday evening
at the" Burlington station and taken
down to Chief Reed's headquarters.
Mulvert was recognized by the spe
cial agent, who thought It wise to
remove him, temporarily, from the
reach of temptation. He arrived in
the city on Sunday's No. 43 or was
it Saturday's? and wasn't even
given the opportunity to look the
town over. He was released on his
promise to leave town, and although
trains weren't running with the best
regularity, managed to make his
word good with as little delay as
possible.
.Angora .5,614,500
-.324 First 4,038,600
-S23 Cheyenne .........
.3,122,300
.222 Toluca i 1,917,700
.Hemingford :.l,55a,500
.315 Cheyenne 360,900
OR NEVER
TI1H WKATIIKIt.
Forecast for Alliance and vicinity:
Cloudy tonight and Wednesday;
wanner west to central portions tonight.
mai)i:i.im; zi diki.ii wins
IX lUMKICT tOXTIXT
Miss Madeline Zediker, represent
ing the Alliance High School, won
lirst prize in dramatic class, In the
declamatory contest held Friday,
April 16, at Sidney. Her selection
was "Rock of Ages.." " '
Ten towns were represented, a
Scottsbluff girl winning first prize
in tho humorous selections, giving
"The Lady Across the Aisle," and a
boy from Sidney carrying off the
honors in the oratorical.
The winners In this contest will
participate in the state contests to be
held some time next month, the dale
and places to bo announced later,
There will bo three of these state
contests, to be held in different places
at the same time, one for each class,
dramatic, humorous and oratorical
GAS WELL BROUGHT
IN ATCRAWFORD
Citizens "OH Mad' . Following Suc
cessful Drilling of First OH
Well lit Xebiaska
Citizens of Crawford and other
western Nebraska cities where drill
ing for oil Is In progress are "oil
mad" today. Values on land be
lieved to be In the oil Btrata doubled
and trebled within the past twenty
four hours and oil speculators from
the Wyoming fields are hurrying to
this locality and wiring friends to
obtain leases for them, says the
Omaha Bee.
Business was suspended there Sat
urday and people for miles in every
direction have visited the oil well be
ing drilled by F. M. Stapleton, a
local banker, and W. H. Coleman on
High School heights, In the heart of
the city. The drillers Saturday punc
tured a vein of a gas pocket. The
ensuing explosion was heard for
eight blocks. Mud, sand and water
were thrown to a height of seventy
feet, and the derrick- and ground for
a distance of fifty feet were covered
with mud. The gronnd was covered
with heavy traces 'of oil that burns
freely.
The driller managed to extract his
bit from the well and the roar from
the escaping gas, which can be heard
for a considerable distance, indi
cates a heavy pressure.
The well was set on fire by an
adventuresome member of the crowd
who doubted that the well contained
gas. The workmen were still work
ing at a late hour Saturday to cap
the well and extinguish the huge,
roaring flame which could be seen
for miles after dark.
Mr.. Stapleton announced Injinodi,
ately after the gas pocket was
struck the drilling would be contin
ued In an effort to find the oil-bearing
sands.
Several oil companies have been
organized among local people, who
have made no effort to drill, but al
are preparing to start drilling at
once. North and west of Crawford
several companies are preparing to
increase their drilling crews and
work day and night.
EVERETT COOK HOME
DAMAGED BY FIRE
The residence of Everett Cook, 316
Laramie, was damaged to the extent
of about $5,000 early Sunday after
noon by a fire which was caused by a
defective flue. The blaze started In
the kitchen, and had gained a good
headway by the time the fire truck
arrived. The flreboys made good
time, but were badly handicapped by
the heavy snow storm. The first
block it was necessary to run the big
truck on the sidewalk, and within
five seconds after leaving the walk,
it was stalled In the snow,- By
standers and firemen put their
shoulders to the wheel, and practi
cally pushed the truck through the
snow to the house.
Two streams of ..water were put pn
the blaze, and the damage was con
fined to the . kitchen and another
room. The firemen were able to ex
tinguish the flames without damaging
other parts of the house particular
ly, and Chief Taylor was on band to
keep zealous bystanders from walk
ing all over the rugs. .
Dispatcher Uarltng, who has rooms
on the second floor, became excited
when bearing of the blaze and let bis
wife out of one of the windows. She
dropped only a short distance, but
was badly bruised by the fall.
RUFUS JONES TO
LEAVEALLIANCt:
Secretary of Chamber of Commerce
Hands la Resignation at Sto
rial Mcrtlng Monday
Secretary Rufus Jones of the Alli
ance chamber of commerce handed
In his resignation at a special meet
ing of the board of directors held
Monday noon at the Alliance hotel.
The resignation of Dr. W. J. Ma
haffy, w ho has removed to Mullen,
was also presented. The board of
directors accepted the resignations.
Walter C. Rundln, pastor of the
community church at Mitchell, Neb.,
has been considered aa Mr. Jones'
successor, and It Is probable that the
place will be given him If he desires
to take it. Mr. Rundln has won a
reputation over the state for his
work at Mitchell and Crawford,
where he formerly held a pastorate,
and those who are acquainted with
him consider him an Ideal man for
tho place. He has had considerable
experience In secretarial work,
which, combined with his ability as
a speaker, especially fit him for the
position. Mr. Rundln was the prin
cipal speaker at the annual meeting
of the Alliance volunteer fire depart
ment, held last Wednesday evening.
and made a real hit with the local
people who heard him.
Rufus Jones, the retiring secre
tary, leaves Alliance to enter In busi
ness In Denver, where he has pur
chased a half-Interest In the National
Investment company, a business
brokerage concern with offices in
Temple Court of that city. His
partner is James Schneider, who has
been sole owner since the establish
ment of the business several months
ago. Prospects are excellent. Mr.
Jones says, and he was Induced to
leave by a guarantee of a minimum
of 1600 per month. He ' will have
charge of the company offices, while
his partner will devote himself to
the management of the field force.
consisting of some half a dozen men.
Mr. Jones has made an enviable
record as secretary of the Alliance
chamber of commerce, and in hi
year's residence here has won a large
circle of friends and admirers, whose
best wishes will follow him wherever
he may go, The resignation will not
take effect, it is understood, until a
successor has been chosen, but Mr.
Jones believes that this will be done
by the first of May.
BOX BUTTE COUNTY
VITALSTATISTICS
The state bureau of health has
made public Its report for the year
1919, and the figures by counties
n ake an interesting study. Box
Butte county reported 208 births for
the past year, a decrease from 1918
of 77. There were 69 deaths dur
ing the year. One hundred and
eighty-one marriage licenses were is
sued, a record number, and forty-five
divorces were granted during the
year. There were fewer matrimon
ial fehii wrecks in this county than in
the majority of the counties In the
state.
In tne figures for the state, those
covering divorce proceedings are es
pecially noteworthy. The total num
ber of divorces In Nebraska in 1919'
was 3,358, nearly a tbouband more
than during the preceding year. The
increase totals fully CO per cent.
One explanation of this may be
found in the marriages that came
with the war, where a number of
couples were married in baste to re
pent later on.
The bureau is making strenuous
efforts to Insure the recording of
births, and is making good headway. '
In addition to furnishing valuable
statistics for the state and nation, a
birth certificate is often a handy
thing for a grown-up to have In his
possession.
The bureau has received valuable
assistance from the county superin
tendents and teachers of the public
schools all over the state In gather- '
lng data regarding children whose
births have not been recorded. The
bureau has mailed to every mother '
whose child's birth has been recorded
a booklet on the care of her baby,
and beginning with January 1, 19,20,
will mall to the mother a certificate
for every child whose blrtb is re
corded. In this way parents will
know definitely whether or not their
child's birth baa been recorded.
The department of agriculture
strongly advises a larger acreage la
Spanish peanuts, as many will be
needed this year. I this the variety
that Is suitable for.olL bogs or politicians?