.tote MralSi
VOLUME XXVII.
ALLIANCE, BOX BUTTE COUNTY, NEBRASKA, KB I DAY, JULY 16, 1920
No. 6C
i
r
FIREWORKS WHEN
. COUNCIL MEETS
Kast Alliance
Delegation Th $f
From City Un..
to Withdraw From City
Given Water
The Tuesday evening council ses
sion was not without its thrills. J.
M. Weaver, who spoke for water
main extension east on Mississippi,
Missouri and Yellowstone, waxed
wrathy in urging the council to take
action. He pointed out that this dis
trict was taken into the cily limits
without consulting the residents at
the time Alliance moved into the
first class, and hinted that unless the
residents of that district got some
thing for the taxes they paid, action
might be begun to withdraw from the
city. 'And if we once get out, you'll
have some time getting us back," he
said.
This district was taken Into the
city a little over a year ago long
enough to be twice assessed, the del
egation said and they complain
that they have been paying increas
ed taxes and have not received any
benefits. There is no water and
therefore no fire protection. There
Is no sewer and few lights. This
delegation has had a petition in for
water extension for several months,
but nothing has been done. They
declare that other districts have been
favored against them, .naming the
new. community houses. "The big
bugs are back of these houses," it
was charged. "The newspapers won't
print this," one. of the delegations
said, "they are members of the
chamber of commerce."
Councilman Harris attempted to
reason with the delegation, explain
ing that there were no available
funds and that any water extension
that had been made had been in dis
tricts which were within the corpor
ate limits the longest
"I see it all now.
said Deputy ;
Sheriff Miskimmen, "I have had an off into a long steel cylinder wnere
application for lights in for some under intense heat the liquid Is con
months. Now I understand that . verted into solids,
there's no chance until we have been. jjy (nG new method, however, this
In the city limits pine years." I second process is eliminated. In its
At this juncture Mayor Rodgers pjac,. naa been substituted a tank in
snnke un. The mayor had annpuuc- which the fort v ner cent solid brine
ed before the' meeting that he' was!
going to recommend that water e7f) p..ra
tensions be made In this district, but tinn- potash is first precipitated,
he was apparently a little warm ln(n 80da, and in turn other cheml
under the collar. He spoke sweet- cajSi
. . . . 1 J it. . .tjIM
ly, ana to me poini, aim iu "-,
eion languished when he had finish-
ed. He told of being in favor or tne
extension, explained the shortage of
funds, assured the delegates that
the extension would be taken up as
soon as possible and reminded them
that as peaceable men the council
could be pushed Just so far and no
farther. "You can't get any w Here Dy(i
bulldozing tactics," he assured them
Fuller Now Councilman.
Mayer Rodgcr3 then announced
the appointment of Oscar W. Reed as
chief of police, and Attorney Earl W.
Meyer as member of the library
board. These were confirmed. j
The mayor then announced the ap
pointment of Charles L. Hill as mem
ber from the Third ward to fill, a
vacancy. This the council refused
to confirm, three members voting
against. The mayor then declared
that there had been too much trou
ble getting a quorum, and he would
leave the matter up to the board,
which thereupon elected Charles L.
Fuller to the place.
Refunds Light mil.
The council then refunded a bill
against the race meet association
amounting to $288 for labor and
electricity for the carnival. J. W.
Guthrie explained to the council that
the association had put on a show to
benefit the city, but had met with
hard luck. The council thought tBey
ought to share the deficit, and did so
by remitting this bill, every council
man voting In favor of the motion.
Councilman Hills then annouced
that he, too, had Intended to help
entertain the city's visitors. He had
established a stand, had paid the con
cession fee. Business was not as
good as he expected, but he had done
his part. He suggested that the coun
ell remit his light bill, amounting to
$2. The council laughed, but took
no action.
J. E. Templeton and J. R. Roselle
asked permission to erect a shooting
gallery, to be constructed of cast Iron
supported by wood frames, on the va
cant lot near, the Western hotel
City Attorney Metz pointed out that
the use of wood framework' was a
violation of the fire ordinance, and
when Mr. Templeton suggested angle
Iron told him he would need no per
mit to build In that way.
The estimate of Engineer Grant
for water extension In sanitary dis
tricts 11 and 12 was accepted and
the clerk ordered to advertise for
bids.
Complaint having been made that
Till) WKATIIKU
For Alliance and vicinity: Partly
cloudy tonieht and Saturday; prob
ably unsettled hi raft portion; not
much change In temperature.
he draw near the viaduct was being
A as a dump, Chief of Police Reed
- M
'ected to see that the scavcng-
up tne place, ana to arrest
futu a "irs.
J. K?pa ence submitted a bid of
; $900 forradlng the district near
the viaduct, and his proposition was
accepted. The work will be complet
ed August 15.
The council expects to have accur
ate assessment figures within a few
days, and a special meeting will be
called to make the tax levy for the
coming year. The personal property
will be about the same as last year
and there is a raise of a million dol
lars in real estate. The total assess
ed valuation will be raised about
$200,000.
Bills were allowed, with the excep
tion of a few upon which the claim
committee desired further light.
Council Harris reported that the
city's Ford car was seen twenty-two
miles outside of the city July 5, and
suggested that the man who had bor
rowed it be canned without delay.
NEW PROCESS IN
POTASH INDUSTRY
Manufacture of potash from the
brine of lakes in Western Nebraska
is being revolutionized through a
new production method recently
idopted, according to an Associated
Press dispatch from Omaha.
Under the method Heretofore in
use the brine has gone through two
processes. First it is run through
Tour containers in each of which is a
Urea in basket, and, under vncuum
emerges as a liquid in which the
:ioiid content has been increased to
forty per cent. After that it is drawn j
subjeeled to' varying -degrees of
iV6rer" crytrallIzation --!tpsu1t
0ne oX the probabilities of the new
mlhodg ,he advlcea ay. wm bo to
change production from a fertilizer
to a chemical proposition, with the
fertUizer ingredient becoming the
by-product.
FpFMflW Cf j VFRTH0I??J
uiLninn uiu lih uviin
DROWNS AT ARDMORE
V. J. Silverthorn, Burlington fire
man, was drowned while swimming
in a lake near Ardmore, S. D., Thurs
day evening. Particulars of the ac
cident are not known, save that he
was drowned at 8:30 p. m., and that
the body was not recovered until
2:30 this morning. Mr. Silverthorn
lived In Alliance with his wife and
one child. The body was brought
to Alliance on No. 4 4 today. Funeral
arrangements have been delayed,
pending the arrival of his wife and
child, who are visiting in St. Joseph,
Mo. The body Is held at the Glen
Miller undertaking parlors.
MANY IMPROVEMENTS
AT THESTOCK YARDS
i
Beginning this morning, a force of
workmen are engaged In transform-
ingthe Alliance stockyards. The Im
provements planned are extensive and
will take some weeks to complete,
but when the work Is done, they will
be much more modern and consider
ably more sightly.
The improvements include the
painting of all buildings and connec
tions and the paving of all the pens
and runways with cement. The work
will be done by company men. There
will be no effort made to. rush it
through, but it will be completed as
fast as men can be spared for the
- ; 11
Civil Service examination will be
held at Alliance postofflce in the
near future for tbe purpose of filling
a vacancy as letter carrier. Entrance
salary is $1400 a year working up to
$1800 a year. Age limit 18 to 45
Further information may be had by
applying at local office. F. W. HICKS,
Sec. Local Civil Service oBard.
Two ornamental lights are to be
Installed at the postofflce entrance
The Quick Service Electric company
has the contract.
HOME BREW MAKER
PAYS A STIFF FINE
Albert Flnley, Colored, Finds
CoMa More to Make lloozo
Ttuui To Buy It
It
Albert Flnley, colored cook at the
Harvey cafe, has discovered that
booze Is a pretty expensive luxury In
these dry clays. Albert was assessed
a tine of $100 and costs on two dif
ferent counts connected with booze,
County Judge Tash givii.g htm the
limit at a hearing in county court
Wednesday afternoon. Later the
judge suspended a portion of the
fine, Flnley representing that ho was
intending to be married Thursday.
The arrest was made Tuesday eve
ning by Sheriff Miller and Chief of
Police Iteed, who gathered up a five
gallon Byrup can containing some
Ihree gallons of homemade Jny Juice
as well as several colored men who
were suspected of having unholy
knowledge of the contents of the
Jcmijohn, which was located In the
rear of the Harvey restaurant.
Flnley was arraigned on two
counts, the first charging him with
the manufacture of intoxicating
liquor, and the Becond with having
intoxicating liquor in his possession
at a place other than his dwelling
house. Attorney H. E. Qants defend
ed Finley, and County Attorney
Rayse represented the state.
J. H. Taylor, colored porter at the
Alliance hotel, was the first witness
called. He told of Finley manufac
tuiing a beverage composed of apri
cots, raisins and other ingredients
supposed to impart a kick. He de
clared he had never drank any of
the stuff, but this was not because
he lacked the opportunity. Flnley
had offered him a drink, but he hac
refused.
Mrs. Minnie Harvey, mother of the
proprietor of tho restaurant when
Kiniey was emplyed, was the next
witness called. She qualified as an
expert witness, in a way, for she was
raised In the mountains of Pennsyl
vania and was familiar with the pro
cess of fermentation In the manufac
ture of such Pennsylvania beverages
as, elderberry wine and small beer.
,-Mrs. Harvey told of discovering thoj
Ave gallon ran- ihr rer of tilt
Harvey restaurant. It gave off an
odor that was suspicious to say the
least, and upon closer examination
she became convinced that it contain
ed fermenting liquor. She ordered
Finley to destroy it,' declaring tha
it wouldn't be permitted on the
premises. Flnley unfortunately fail
ed to obey instructions.
Sheriff Miller and Chief of Tolioe
Reed then testified concerning the
elrjunistaaces of the arrest. They
produced In court the can containlne
about three gallons of the liquor,
which they offered in evidence. Both
officers Btated that they had smelled
of tho beverage, and had tasted it,
and gave it as their opinion that if a
man consumed any quantity of It.
he would become intoxicated
Judge Tash made an examination
of the liquor on his own account. He
poured out perhaps half a glass of
it, smelled of It judicially, and last
ed of it in the same manner. It was"
only a taste, but it convinced th
Judge that it was intoxicating. He
stated as much, and remarked that
he firmly believed that If he got away
with a half glass of It, he would be
shouting for Cox for president
One colored man who was present
during the trial, but who talked
freely afterward, hinted that he con
curred in the court's Judgment
"Man," he said, "that stuff has a wal
lop that would knock you f'um here
to Bridgeport
Judge Tash imposed a fine of $100
on each account, which made the
grand total, adding in the costs
tin. ou. Aiiorney uantz then an
nounced that the defendant would
appeal, and requested the court to
set the appeal bond. ir. Gantz was
fairly certain that be could convince
a jury of his client's innocence. Fin
ley was unable to raise this sum, and
said so with but little hesitation
Finally he threw himself on the
mercy of the court. Ho confided to
the Judge that he was going to be
married the very next afternoon, and
that It was clemency he desired. He
got It. On payment of $100 and the
costs, enough to settle for one coun
of the complaint the Judge suspend
ed the remaining $100 fine during
good behavior, and Finley was re
leased to seek his bride.
Thursday aft -moon another chap
ter of Mr. Flnley's experiences was
written. He appeared again before
Judge Tash, this time accompanied
by Mrs. Minnie Williams and th
Judge performed the ceremony that
sentenced him for life,
Mrs. R. E. Wltham of Sidney, 1
visiting her brother, Mr. R. T. Jone
and family.
TWO AD GRAFTERS
ON TlinVARPATII
And Alliance Men hunts Will Save
Several Thotiwnnd IHdlars As
a HcstiH
finance merchants may congratu
late themselves. They are ahead at
cast $2.600 and Piobubly $4,000
cause two brothers working ilu
same advertising scheme are at outs.
It'll a ilevtr scheme and one that Is
particularly hard for a merchant In a
tty of this sort to turn down, and
the chances are that If it hadn't been
fofi the fact that these two fellows
were thirsting to nab the other's goat
Alliance would have been numbered
among the cities "worked."
llere's the stunt. Harry 11. Lone.
who carries a letter addressed to hlra
anj "voluntary" organizer for the
American Federation of Labor, blew
Into Alliance some days ago and
busied himself with organizing a
central labor union. He was moder
ately successful In this, for' he claims
that five unions have united In an
application for a charter. He de
clined Friday morning to make pub
lic the names of these unions, though
heaven knows why there should be
any secret about them. The story
he gave the newspapers was to the
effect that he received a salary for
his organizing work direct from the
American Federation of Labor. In
order, however, to enable the strug
gling central labor union to get a
good start, he had a little "cam
paign" which he staged. This cam
paign did three things it advertis
ed the merchants who were friendly
o union labor; it educated the pub
ic concerning union label gooits and
helped create a demand for them;
and lust, but not least, it brought In
some money. Tills money, he gave
us to understand, was to go to the
lnlons here. He hinted that some
of ft. would go to the procuring of a
labor temple.
On these representations, he gain
ed some support. No merchant carer
0 antagonize union labor, and most
Alliance merchants would be willing
to subscribe to a labor temple fund.
or to contribute in other needed
ways. Everything looked rosy,
VBist Thursday morning C. A. Dar
rington blew into the city. And he
hunted up the chamber of commerce
secretary and told a tale that inter-
sted that official. A special meet
ing of merchants and directors whs
railed for 4 p. m., and at that meet
ing both Mr. Long and" Mr. Darling
ton were In attendance. Onrstif.pn
wore asked the first named, and It
kveloped that there was qu" s ''"
understanding as regards the little
advertising proposition. To begin
with, Mr. Long was not working on
i Salary for the American Federation
of Labor. It is true that he has let
ters addressed to him as "voluntary"
rganizfx but. a telegram addressed
to federation headquarters at Wash
ngton, asking as to his status, is
still unanswered. Mr. Long "got
his" through the little ndvortlslnp
scheme, receiving 35 per cent of the
proceeds after expenses were paid.
Then Mr. Darrington pot the f1no-
and for twenty minutes he proceeded
to "tell the world." He told ihe
meeting that Long and an associate,
G. C. McDowell, had been in his em
ploy for some four months. Mr
Darrington represented the Allied
Labor Press association of Boston
and has no hesitancy in saying that
It was organized to sell advertising.
He had letters which showed that
he often organized local unions, cen
tral labor unions and that he and his
crew were kown by labor officials
who endorsed their work. A couple
of months ago, Mr. Darrington said,
he had been ill In a Lincoln hospital
and when he got out he found that
Lond and McDowell were working
on their own, using his scheme, vary
ing It in some respects. For Instance.
the poster which Darrington used
was headed, "Friends of Labor" and
listed merchants thereon at so much
per list. Long's poster was headed
"Co-operation," but the object was
the same to get the money. Mr.
Darrington makes no bones af)out nis
attitude. He Is willing to "burn up
Alliance In other words, kill this
advertising scheme here in order to
get even with Long. And Alliance
merchants have cause to be thankful
It took the merchants and direc
tors present about ten seconds after
the completion of the argument to
decide that they wanted nothing to
do with Mr. Long's scheme or Mr.
Darrlngton's either, for that matter.
They made it plain that they were
willing to help organized labor but
declared that they preferred to make
a donation outright of $100 the
amount the union here was to re
ceive rather than pay $2,600 or
more for advertising of doubtful
value In the name of organized labor.
President Glen Miller called the
r. sr.- -; 'Z m ' 1 V WJV
attention of club members to the fact i
that the chamber of commerce has
iecret commit tee to pass upon a
advertising schemes, and suggested
that In future, when some solicitor!
c:il!s upon merchants with an adver-1
tlslng scheme, ask them for their'
credentials from this committee, and
If they don't produce them, refer
them to the chamber of commerce. I
l"h In committee is impartial, and ifl
there Is anything good In the prop-
ositlon, don't withhold a recommen-
lation. From now on. It will func-
tion, and merchants who are stung '
wlll have no. exsuse to offer.
Mr. Long told a Herald reported
this morning that, despite any op
position, he was going through with
his program. That means that Al
liance merchants will be urged to
purchase advertising space on pla
cards and In booklets "to help the
unions." All together. men kill It
while it's young. The contract with
the Alliance union, nccordlng to Par
tington, reads that the union will re
ceive $100. That means that some
body else gets the rest. Don't be
persuaded on the grounds that you'll
be rated unfriendly to labor If you
don't. Harvey Hacker, representing
one of the largest Alliance railroad
unions, declared at the meeting that
he had never heard of the project
and there are a whole lot more of
them.
A $50,000 BLAZE
AT
Wednesday Morning Fire Destroys
Mill, Hotel, Feed Yard and
Other Itiiiluiiigs.
Fire, discovered at 1:30 a. m.
Wednesday, did damage to the extent
of fully $50,000 at Ilemingford be
fore it was controlled. The blaze
was first seen at the north side of the
S. A. Grimes feed yard, and by the
time the firemen were on the ground
had spread to the Ray Graham
plumbing shop and tho mill office
building. The mill lttelf was then
found to be on fire, starting appar
ently from the Inside. Following
this, the hotel was burned.
All of these buildings were burned
lo the ground. The firemen worked
long and hard, but there was hardly
any water pressure and they could
make no headway against the flames.
Had there been a strong wind, a
large portion of the business section
would have burned. The alarm was
sent to Alliance by phone, but it was
useless to take the city's fire-flpliting
equipment tUiie. L. C. Thomas, A.
G. Isaacson and Harvey Kl'ls made
the drive, each bringing an auiolou-i
of p ople, but there was nothing thn
could be done The blaze was most
hpectacular, Its reflection being
plainly visible from Alliance. A
quantity of canned goods stored In
the hotel basement exploded now
and then, making the scene rest in !
a battle field in some respects. The
mill warehouse, containing consider
able flour, was practically emptied,
but little else was saved.
The hotel, a two-story frame struc
lure, was a complete loss. The build
ing was owned by A. M. Miller, and
waa conducted by Grant Mtiick
fhere were ten guests and five cm
ployes, all of whom made their e-
a;e. The Insurance was $6,000,
and the loss considerably larger.
The mill was perhaps the chief
loss. It burned to the ground, des
troylng between six and seven thou
sand bushels of grain. This loss will
amount to fully $20,000, partially
covered by Insurance.
The Ray Graham plumbing shop
was also destroyed. There was
$2,000 Insurance carried on the
stock which Is insufficient to meet
the loss.
The Melick Implement shed -was
destroyed, but the Implements were
scattered over a large territory and
were saved. A carload of hay, be
longing to the Grimes feed yard
burned.
There is considerable discussion of
the water pressure and the condition
of the fire hose, which had been loan
ed. Some of this had the threads so
jammed that it could not be used
The belief among some Hemlngford
citizens is that the fire was incendl
ary in origin, it being pointed out
tbe mill was burning from the inside
at the same time the other buildings
were ablaze.
J. Ramirez, a Mexican, was arrest
ed last night. He was charged with
having stolen chickens and peepln
into windows in the Mexican village
In the railroad yards. Ramirez
supposed to be one of three fellows
who have been carrying on this kind
of work for some time. lie was
caught about 11 o'clock.
nnvnis
Monday, July 12 To Mr. and Mrs.
J. S. Lymath, 604 Sweetwater,
daughter.
HEMNGFORD
A LITTLE SYMPATHY
FROM SCOTTSBLUFF
" 1
Announcement of Census Return
Hi lugs Forth Intensive News
paper Comment
The wallop handed Alliance by the
recent census totals, which left us
lacking some half a hundred eiti-
Zens to make the five thousand class.
as been heard all over the western
part of the state, to Judge from
newspaper comments which are be-
innlng to make their appearance.
Some of these are wonderfully kind
and cheerful, and others are written
in a gloating vein that makes the
reader yearn to go right out, and bite
policeman or choke a dog-catcher.
At least one newspaper In Scottsbluft
which was also handed a Jolt by the
census, has sympathy for us. Read
the following from the Star-Herald:
"Alliance Is now in the travail ot
bitterness because of the published
census figures of that city, which
Uncle Sam reports officially as be
ing 4,591. The report further goes on
to state that the Box Butte county
seat gained a total of 1,486 during;
the past ten years, or 47.9 per cent.
"Dispatches from Alliance are to
the effect that officials of the city
council and Chamber of Commerce
are extremely disappointed, not to
say peeved over the outcome, declar
ing by the great horn spoon and set
eral other well known - authorities
that Alliance has at least 6,000 peo
ple. At a special census taken some
ix years ago the population was
shown to be 5,109, and on the
strength of that enumeration several
moves were made both municipally
nd on the part of certain clubs the
latter thus being able under their
tenets to make that city their abid
ing place.
"Since that time, aver the hostile
Box Butt tans, there have been a
couple of hundred new homes built, "
nd it is averred that a close census
will Bhow the six thousand desired.
"All signs Beem to fail, however.
when It comes to Uncle Sam's census
eal. Scott bluff in the matter of
new homes has any city In the coun
try bested, save possibly some of the
mushroom towns built around manu
facturing concerns in, the-east that:.
sprang" up"itruringk'th(T"i war 1 peTted.---Scottsbluff
also has a directory that
shows a population to be fully 9,000.
Scottsbluff also has school children
to show for between 8,500 and 9,000.
And yet, and still, and nevertheless,
Uncle Sam says the city's population
is 6,912, and has so written it in the
big book."
"There Is no question but that Al
liance has more thai .i
Uncle Sam gives it, just as there is
no question but that smoiImi-i.i. h
more than 6,912, yet the question
arises as to whether any great good
will come from a recount a. i t ;t .i .i
labaloo. Of course, in the matt r of
Alliance there is an added sting fmm
the fact that the figures ot the city
census and the govern in i
shows a falling off in population of
518 during the puwt iiv
hiatus is what is causing the chief
grief, and to cover whicu tha recount
will no doubt be made."
On the Other Hand
All of the comments, however.
aren't wiiittn in that vein. The
St-o:t; bluff Republican doesn't send
any flowers or extend the hand of
friendship. Here's what they hand
us:
"The census for Alliance Is very
disappointing to the business men of
the sand hill city, and a recount is
threatened. For several years past
the people of that fair city have boen
kidding themselves on having a pop-
ulation Oi over 5.000 and have pro
ceeded under a city manager plan.
which requires that cities of five
thousand or over may have a city
manager.
"The official report from the cen
sus department received last week
gave the total number of inhabitants
for that place at 4,591, and immedi
ately tbe wires were kept hot trying
to get the department to change the
figures, but no amount of wiring
could change the result and the good
people ot that city will have to be
content with the number accredited
them or recount the ctiy at their
own expense.
"A meeting of the citizens has
been called to see if the figures can
not be changed, but change them as
they will, the fact will always remain
that they are below 6,000. This city
had the same experience and while
there were a few mistakes, made by
the enumerator, there was not
enough mistakes made to warrant
the taking of the new census and it
was abandoned. Like Alliance and
other towns of the west we thought
we were larger than we were, and
it took the official figures to bring us
(Continued on page for.)
