Site
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Official Paper of Box Butte County
TWICE A WEEKTUESDAY AND FRIDAY
Official Paper of the City of Alliane.
VOLUME XXVII.
ALLIANCE, BOX DUTTE COUNTY.-NEBIiAsKA, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1920.
No. 93,
ELECTION OF AN
ASSESSOR MAY
NOT BE LEGAL
BOX BUTTE MAY HAVE ONE TOO
MANY OFFICERS
Four Year Ago Voters Decided ,
Abolish County Assessor But At
torney's Opinion Prevented
to
Have the voters of Box Butte coun
ty elected a man to an"office"that
doesn't exist any more, fo far as this
county is concerned? That's the
question that is agi'ating County
Clerk W. C. Mounts and a few other
county officers today. The record
shows that at the November election
in 1916, the question of abolishing the
office of county assessor was put to
a vote, and the proposition carried by
a comfortable majority, and there is
nowhere any record of the action be
ing rescinded. Yet Box Butte coun
ty has had an assessor the past four
years and has just finished the job of
electing another one to 6erve forthe
next four years.
The Herald reporter visited the
county clerk's office Monday after
noon for the purpose of getting the
official totals for last Tuesday's re
publican race meet. In comparing
the figures with those of four years
ago, the reporter's eye caught the
lines: "Against election of county as
sessor" and "For election of county
. assessor." The vote was 455 to 391
in favor of abolishing the office. Ac
cording to M. S. Hargraves, county
clerk at the time, some loci! attor
ney gave an opinion to the effect that
the proposition had faile dto carry be
cause the number of votes cast was
not a majority of all the votes cast at
the election. This was apparently ac
cepted without opposition. The prop
osition was favored by a majority of
those who voted on it, and this is now
held sufficient, in the case of consti
tutional amendments. At any rate,
this is an opportunity for Box Butte
county to save from $1,000 to $1,200
a year. If an adverse opinion was
given at that time, it is possible that
a new ruling could be secured.
The office of assessor pays a
small salary, as salaries go these days,
and there was no competition devel-
oped for the place. But one candi
uitie iiicu. juiui riikioKiun. ocvnui .
-1 . - 1 .1 T.I Ti: n C 1
of the voters of the county for a time
this summer talked of putting the '
matter to a vote, which shows that '
the referendum has been completely
forgotten
Under the provisions of the law, the
office of the county assessor may be
abolished by majority vote of the
county. The question will be put on
the ballot after a petition of a cer
tain size has been presented to the
county commissioners. The commis
sioners proceedings contain no rec-
ord of the presentation of such a pe- i
tition, and the petition has not been
located in the files, although the
search made was not thorough. How
ever, the official vote record, proper
ly attested by the counting board,
wov.ld be accepted as evidence in any
court, whether the petition could be
found or not.
The discovery of this referendum
brings up a number of interesting
questions. Among these is the ques
tion of the tenure of office of J. A.
Keegan. The law provides that the
question of abolishment may be sub
mitted in 1916 or four years there
after, and that if the voters decide to
do away with the office, it shall cease
with the expiration of the term of the
ircumbent. According to the time the
question was voted on, the office
should have ceased four years ago.
Of course, at the time the question
was voted upon, there was a chance
that it would be defeated, and so two
candidates filed for the place, J. A.
Keegan and P. H. Dillon. Keegan re
ceived 732 votes and Dillon 667.
More people voted for the candidates
than voted on the referendum, but the
vote was sufficient to abolish the
office. The law does not say "a ma
jority of all the votes cast," and it
is to be presumed that the votes on
the question itself were all that were
counted.
A number of counties over the ;;tate
have abolished the office of county as
sessor, and many of them were con
sidering the matter this year. The
salary is so small that very few
men desire the office, and the duties
of the position are not onerous. The
law contemplates that the county
clerk shall take on the additional du
ties if the office is abolished.
Following is the section of the sta
tutes which applies to the matter:
"1956 Sec. 18. County Assessor
when elected abolishment of office j
At the general election in 1910, and
each four years thereafter there shall
be elected a county assessor in each
county of the state, whose term of
office shall be four years, and shall
commence on the first Thursday after
the first Tuesday in January follow
' ing his election. No county assessor
shall be eligible for two consecutive
terms: provided, in any county, upon
presentation of a petition to the coun
ts honrd, not less thnn sixty davs be
fore any general election, signed by
at iei. t ten per cent of the electors
secure 1 in not less than two-fifths of
the townships or precincts of said
cointv, and praying that the ques
tion of electing a county assessor in
sa'd county be submitted to the elec-
PROCLAMATION
In order to co-operate with Gover
nor S. K. McKelvie in observing
istice day on November 11, I re
hat all business places be closed
at.' ock, and that a general ob
serve 4 iul.l be marked with pa
triotic ,ll4 ceremonies in both
our homo our schools.
99 Aft
. x.
tors therein, the county board at the
next general election shall order the
submission of the same to the quali
fied voters of said county. The form
of submission upon the ballot shall be
as follows:
"'Against election of county as
sessor;' " 'For election of county assessor;'
"And if a majority of the votes cast
shall be against the election of coun
ty assessors in said county, the office
shal cease therein with the expira
tion of the term of the incumbent, and
the-duties of county assessor shall
thereafter in said county devolve up
on the county clerk, who shall re
ceive from the county board such al
lowance for the additional duties as
shall seem reasonable, until otherwise
ordered by the voters at a new elec
tion hekl under the same requirements
us herein provided."
BAYARD PLAYED
AN INELIGIBLE
Talks of Barring Alliance for Rough
Play, But Her Own Skirts
Far From Clean.
Bayard high school, which has been
doing a lo tof frothing at the mouth
since. Alliance scored against their
championship team, played an ineli
gible quarterback during last season,
according to revelations made at the
state teachers' association meeting in
Omaha last week. It was brought out
during this meeting that the Bayard
qaurterback had not been in school a
year, and that his parents live in Au
rora, not Bayard, which made him in
eligible under the rules.
Following the Bayard-Alliance
game last year, Coach Prince entered
a protest because of another ineli
gible player, and the game was for
feited to Alliance- . bince another
player was ineligible, every game
won by Bayard during the season
could be declared forfeit, and in that
event the Alliance team deserves the
I championship.
For the last two weeks, the news
papers in the valley have been rap
ping Coach Prince and the Alliance
team, on the ground that the Alliance
bovs plav too rough. They have
called the pride of our hearts all sorts
of harsh names. The Bayard Tran
script started the fuss, and the Star-
Herald of Scottsbluff joined in the
anvil chorus. It is easy to guess the
source of the Bayard paper's animus,
but one wonders why Scottsbluff
should be so eager to take up the
hammer.
TIGHT MONEY MADE MORE
TAX SALES THAN LAST YEAR
The sales of real estate for delin
quent taxes, held the first of the
month by F. W. Irish, county treas
urer, amounted to $3,209.19. A total
of 13o sales were made. inis in
cludes both tracts of land and town
and city lots in Box Butte county.
The sales this year were almost
double those of 1919, due, according
to Mr. Irish, to the tight money con
ditions this year a3 compared with a
vear ago.
A total of 1,492 auto licenses have
been issued so far this year, as com
pared with a total of 1,410 for the
year 1919. One reason for the fact
that only a small additional number
have been issued this year is that in
previous years a large number of
auto owners from southern Sheridin
county and from other nearby points
came to Alliance and secured their
licenses. This year the state board
ruled that this could not be done tnd
that the owners of autos would be
compelled to secure their licenses
from the treasurer or the county in
which they reside.
ENGINEERS HELD BUSINESS
MEETING HERE SATURDAY
Saturday afternoon, November 6,
the Lincoln chapter of the American
association of engineers held their
business meeting in the assembly
room or the court house, where impor
tant plans were discussed.
In the evening at 7:15 a banquet
was given for the members in the
Palm Room of the Alliance hotel,
Interesting talks were, given bv K. T,
Bracken, vice-president; Mr. Thiehoff,
general manager; Mr. (.roune, general
superintendent of building; Mr. Dar-
row, assistant chief engineer and
Superintendent G. L. Griggs.
Mrs. E. R. Harris, Red Cross roll
call director, accompanied by the lo
cal secretary spent Mendav in Hoff
land and Antioch, getting the roll Ci.1
lined up.
BROADWATER
MAN IS NOW IN
MONTANA PEN
Char Red With Transporting Young
Girl from Nebraska and Living
There as Man and Wife.
A dispatch to Broadwater, Nebras
ka, southeast of Alliance, states that
Clyde Reeves, formerly of Broad
water, has been sentenced to the Mon
tant penitentiary for from three to
ten years on a state charge for trans
porting fourteen-year-old Buelah Agy,
daughter of John Agy of Broadwater,
to Montana and living there with her
as man and wife.
After the elopement the girl's fath
er pursued the couple first to Alliance
and from this city to Sioux Falls,
South Dakota, but stopped his pursuit
at the latter place when he learned
hat Reeves would be prosecuted on a
white slave charge if captured.
Ihe eloping couple apparently ran
short of funds upon their arrival it
Billings, Mont., and forged the name
of Cliff Guthrie to a bank in Broad
water requesting the bank to wire the
money. A few days after the bank
had wired the money the officials of
the bank learned that Guthrie mid
never been in Billings, Mont, and the
case was immediately put in the hands
of the Nebraska bankers' association.
Pinkerton operatives traced the forg
ery to Reeves who was found at a
rooming house in Billings with -Miss
Agy.
Prosecution followed upon the state
charge and Reeves was convicted.
The forgery charge against him wus
dropped.
GOLD WAVE HERE TODAY
BUT NOSNOW WITH IT
The first severe cold wave of the
season arrived during the night and
is with us today. The heavy snow
which fell ten days ago was unac
companied by cold weather. Doubt
less the snow of that date and the
cold spell of today were started to
gether, hut became parted when Old
Man Winter stopped at the Canadian
border to take one last drink of bot-tled-in-bond
before entering the Sa
hara desert of these United States.
Sprague & Wisely, the contractors
in charge of the Alliance paving,
were within three days of compleU
their contract when the snow des
cended on their outfit and suspended
a ; ,ri . . i . .
operation, iney started again Mon
day and are making some headway,
although a shortage of paving brick
is delaying the work to some extent.
The necessary brick to finish the job
nave nen rn"yei rri are now in
the care of the Burlington. The
crew is laying brick this morning, al
though they are working with frozen
sand, which has to be broken with
shovels.
Burlington officials report that the
weather west is clear. The lowest
temperature last night was 10 de
grees above with a wind velocity cf
thirty miles.
POTATO MARKET SOMEWHAT
WFAKER THAN LAST WEEK
The potato nir.rket is somewhat
weaker this week, according to Geo.
Walker, manager of the Nebraska
potato growers' association. The
movement of potatoes continues to be
heavy and the price of Ohios today
is irom i.bU to 11.80 per bushel.
Mr. Walker sold a carload of Cob
bler?; last week for $2 f. o. b. Alli
ance, which was slightly more than
tney are worth this week. He pre
dicts that the car situation will
prove and that the future prices dur
ing the next few days will depend
somewhsit upon the movement in
Minnesota. -
RED CROSS CONFERENCE
WAS HELD LAST FRIDAY
The regionl conference of the Red
Cross was held t the court hou e Frv
c'ay, November 5 at 10 a. m. Dele
gates were present from fourteen
neighboring towns. Thomas Allinvon
or i.hicago, civilian relief director,
called the meeting to order, and i'uve
n talk en grneral Red Cross work.
M. S. McMullen, director of the roll
spoke of the ho"s still in hospitals
and those ktill in the cei-vire. Mi km
Dolly Tv.itchell of the department of
nursing discussed public health nurs
ing. At 12:i50 a luncheon was givn
at the A'lianre hotel for the visitor;".
after which Mr. Allinson sroke on
"The Red Cross Health Center," Mi.
McMullen on "Oragnizat on for R,!1
Call, and a genera! round table cMf
cussion followed.
At 4 p. m. they visited the Worn
an s club meeting and gave talks on
why nnother rob call was necesrarv
at th.:- t.me.
Bom To Mr. and Mrs. Willi vm G.
Niemann, Frida ymorning, a 7 3-4 lb.
boy, named William Kenneth. Moth
er and baby doing fine.
WESTERN BANKS
ARE HELPING OUT
THE STOCKMEN
South Omaha Journal-Stockman Tells
or Instance in Which Hanker
Was After Spendthrift.
When a western rancher comes to
market and says he has been force.!
to sell close this year in order to sat
isfy his country banker who is push
ing him hard for ready cash, natur
ally the hearer sympathizes with the
cattleman ami scores the banker for
his selfishness and greed, says the
Omaha Journal-Stockman.
Instances have come to light, how
ever, in which it is the rancher him
self who has bought about this forced
liquidation. Just recently a shipper
from the west came on the market
and was hot against his banker, who
he said forced him to sell off almost
everything he had. This rancher hud
a sympathetic audience and the bait
er was branded as an outlaw.
A few hours later the reporter had
a conversation with another man jn
the lobby of the Exchange who, by a
strange coincidence happened to e
from the same locality as the mucii
eppressed rancher This man hu l no
personal live stock interests and he
was asked how he happened to be bt
the market He replied that he wiis
down waiting for : rertain shiirr
from his point to get his cattle cashed
In so that Le could jet some i nne
from him.
It developed that the self-same
shipper who was scoring the banker
ro nard was the man this outsider
was trailing. Immediately he was
asked why he was pushing the cattle
ranchers so hard when they needed all
me time imv could possibly secure.
His reply was, "We are not pressing
the real cattle producers, in fast we
are trying to encourage them ail we
can. lhis man .o whom I refer runs
about a hundred head of cattle an an
open range and v-ithin the past two
years he has bought at least three
automobiles. I am here to get my
mone 101 tne automobile. iou
understand, it is rot the producer ve
are after, but it is the spendthrift und
the ruto fiends who have no limit to
their reckless spending as this nun
that 'vk are after."
This explanation put an entirely
different light on ihe subject of ranch
er versus banker and did considerable
to elevate the standing of the country
bankers in reference to their treat
ment of the cattlemen.
mf f...
FORMER IOWA MAN NOW
LIKES BOX BUTTE CROPS
Made More Money in One Year in
Box Butte County Than in Five
Years in State of Iowa.
Lew Lauer was an Iowa farmer,
For five years he farmed near Pres-
cott, la., and saved his pennies and
nickles and paid high rents to the
owner of the farm, who had to have
high rent in order to nav interest on
his investment and pay the taxc on
nis mgn-priced land.
Lew came to Box Butte county not
many months ago and bought IfiO
acres of land near Berea, ten miles
northwest of Alliance. He and his
wife and sons came to Box Butte
county to make their home the hitter
part of I-ebruary, 1919. i
When Lew left Iowa, his trui'ier.
with tears in his eyes, begged him to'
put a nest egg of $1,000 in the bank
and leave it there, for the time when
he would fail in Box Butte county
and come back with the other farmers
in Iowa who rent year after year.
But Lew and his industrious wife
wanted a farm of their own anl they
found the opportunity here. As tney
told the reporter on Monday, their
eyes aiight with pleasure and satis
faction that comes from succe. well
earned, they were tired of fanning
the clay hills and rocky glade i cf
Iowa, and came out where they cin
see the boys at work any place on
the farm from the house.
They built their house and barn and
other needed buildings and put in a
crop in the spring of 1919. Said Mr.
Lauer, "1 made more money last year
(r.U'J) rrom this farm than 1 made in
five years on the Iowa farm, and I
made twice as much money this year
as I made in 1919, for I had out more
crops and knew the country better.
My white potatoes this year made 3 -10
bushels per acre, my red (Triumph)
potatoes made 130 bushers per acre,
and my Early Ohios made 102 bushels
per acre. Potatoes were bringing
around $1.30 per bushel Monday
through the potato growers' market.
"And our old friend bid us good
bye with tears in their eyes when ve
lett Iowa, said Mrs. Lauer, "and
said tl.ey would send u-t things to eat
and wear when we needed them. Our
old grocer wanted our address so
that he could send us a barrel af groc
eries when we began to starve."
The Lauers are anxious for someone
to induce their old friends to come out
to Box Butte county "just to look
around".
W. M. Shean and family, who have
been living at the Lloyd Thomas home
have moved to bOS Box Butte.
THE WEATHER.
Alliance, Neb., November 9, Fair
and colder tonight; cold wave east nnd
south portion; temperature ten to fif
teen degrees: rising temperature
Wednesday north and west portion.
NEWCASTLE THIEVES ARE
CAPTURED IN ALLIANCE
Officer Nova Taylor Friday morn
ing took two colored men off of train
No. 42, following receipt of a tele
gram asking him to be on the look
out for Perry Grover and James
Hughes, who were wanted in the
Wyoming city to answer to charges
of robbing bunk cars. The men are
said to have helped themselves to a
number of articles of more or less
value, including a suit of clothes
apiece, several shirts, a Smith A
Wesson .38 caliber revolver and;
other things that took their fancy.!
1 he men did not argue the matter
when placed under arrest, and stayed
quietly in the city Jail until the sher
iff from Newcastle arrived to take
them back to Wyoming. This was
done Monday night.
ARMSITICEDAY
PLANSAREMADE
American Legion to Hold Dance at
Roof Garden in the Evening
Stores Close in Afternoon.
Armistice day, November 11, will
be observed in Alliance Thursday.
The American legion decided, after
discussing the matter, that it would
not have a set program, but would
celebrate the day in a dance, which
will be held at the Lowry & Henry
roof garden in the evening. Indica
tions are that at least 300 ex-soldiers
and their friends will be present. The
dance is to be open to the public, and
in order to help Becure good attend
ance, the owners or tne iooi garden
called off their Wednesday night
dance and are boosting for the le
gion dance. It s a pleasing favor,
and the soldier boys will undoubted
ly show their appreciation of it.
Mayor Rodgers this morning issued
a nroclamation asking the co-opera
tion of merchants in properly observ
ing the day by closing their business
ho'-s Pt nnn.
The football game between Alli
ance -and Crawlwd, watch .had, been
announced for Friday afternoon, will
be played Armistice day instead. Mr.
Prince had a considerable straggle
with the Crawford authorities before
they would consent to advancing the
date, but they have agreed to the
change.
CHARLEY FULLER T OLEAVE
SUNDAY EVE FOR ENGLAND
Charles Fuller and wife will leave
at midnight Sunday on a four-month
trip to England, and will have an op
port unit yto visit with friends r-nd
relatives they have not seen in thir
teen years. It will be a most enjoy
able trip and they will make the most
of it.
Reservations have been made for
passage on the Aquitania, which will
not sail until November 23. This
gives" them four or five days in New
York city. They will arrive at
Southampton and will proceed to
Kent, th eold home of both Mr. nnd
Mrs. Fuller. Mrs. Fullers parents
are still living, and Mr. Fuller has
several brothers and sisters. They
will also visit in Oxford and if .o.
sible will take a trip through France
before returning.
Mr. Fuller came to Alliance in 1912
as general foreman of construction on
the court house building, then being
erected by R. A. Matthews. When
the contractor blew up, the work was
assigned to Mr. Fuller', and was com
pleted by him. He remained in Alli
ance and has a numlter of fine build
ings to his credit. He was employed
! on the construction of the Elks club;
he remodeled the old Gadsby build
ing into the present Masonic temple;
remodeled the McCorkle building into
the Coursey & Miller garage; had the
contract for the community houses
two years ago, and in addition to
this he has built at least fifty houses
during the past two years.
Ihe trip, he says, is for the pur
pose of getting rested up and ready,
on his return in February, to put in
the biggest year yet.
William Grant of Lincoln, the city's
consulting engineer, is in Alliance to
day and will meet with the city court
cil this evening, at which time the
naving assessment will be made, two
or three more days should see the
windup of the paving, and Mr. Grant
is exceptionally pleased with the way
the work has gone. His firm super
vises some twenty paving jobs, an
the Alliance work has gone faster
tha nany of them.
The Woman's club will meet at the
library Friday afternoon. Roll call
Famous Educators. Lecture, "Prac
tical Psychology," Prof. Pate. Host
esses. Mrs. O'Bannon, Mrs. Snellen
berger and Mrs. Neuswanger.
OR HANSON IS ,
SUGGESTING A
LINE OF ACTION
COMMUNITY WELFARE MEET
INGS AROUSE INTEREST
Committee of Thirty Selected to Maka
' Recommendations to the Mayor
and the City Council
Theodore Hanson, director of th
Nebraska state hygiene and welfare
campaign, opened the Alliance and
Box Butte county campaign Sunday
night at the Presbyterian church in
this city. While these meetings mrm
held at the church because it is con
veniently and centrally located, thesa
are not church meetings but are com
munity gatherings of concern to every
citizen, as Dr. Hanson is setting forth
a program of action adaptable to ev
ery community in the state.
Sunday night Dr. Hanson spoke en
"Community Salvation." Strewing?
the fact that the boys eat and sleep
at home, but live in the environment
and social atmosphere of the com
munity, he developed the conclusion
that the entire community is respon
sible for the environment in the pub
lic arena and has no more right to
turn its streets over to a carnival
company with its organized band of
gamblers and prostitutes than a hom
would be permitted to furnish such
amusement
Monday night Dr. Hanson took up
the governmental steps necessary to
remedy this condition in a community.
He presented the need and work of a
public welfare board and officer au
thorized for its work with govern
mental authority, as the school board
or health board is authorized and em
powered. A committee of thirty was called
together to form a provisional wel
fare committee. W. R. Pate waa
elected chairman of this committee.
The province of the committee is to
study the program in its relation to
this community and recommend to the
mayor and council an ordinance pro
viding for a welfare department in
the city government. Sub-committees,
were appointed to expedite the
work of the general comnvttee.
The afternoon meetings held each
afternoon at 3 o'clock are of first
importance to parents as well as
young people, as they treat in a scien
tific way with the problem of child
training and supervision. The sub
ject for Wednesday afternoon is
"Home Government." There meet-,
fugs afford a rare opportunity for thet .
mothers of this community and
should be improved by them.
The Monday attendance at both aft
ernoon and evening meet'ngs ex
pressed the splendid interest that has
been awakened in this piogram.
Dr. Hanson is especially anxious
that every business and professional
man be present tonight at 8 o'clock.
The subject of the lecture is "Col
lective Immorality Vs. the Individ
ual." The campaign closes w'th tho
Wednesday evening lecture on "The
World Asset Our Liability."
MEXICAN LOSES TRACK fF
WIFE AND TWJ CiOREn
An untden'ifed Mexicr" h v"s
willing to -Hve. hi name, hut the of
ficers couldn't undert''nd what he
was driving it. shewed up ft the po
lice station last Friday afternoon.
Ho had lo t a wife and wo 'h'ldreri
and he drdn't know whether they had
deserted h:m or whether he was to
b'ame. Se was divided be' ween wor
ry and suspicion, and was in rather a
bad way.
It seems that the Mex and family
were en route from Peadwood, S. D.,
to Denver. Fonr tickets had been,
purchased. The husband carried them
all. At Edgemont he left the train
to get something to eat and when he
had finished he found the train had
departed He came on to Alliance to
locate his family. lie knew ne was
to blame, but the thought struck him
that maybe they had skipped. He
was in the position of a man who
wants to lay the blame somewhere.
but don't know where it fits.
Officer Taylor and Special Agent
Todd came to the rescue. They did
some investigating and found that
the women and children had gone on
to Denver, Alliance friends putting
up the cash for the railroad fare.
Probably, when tne Mexican geis
home, his wife will have a lot to say."
But that s his war.
Elliott Beaumont, son of Mr. &nd
Mrs. M. C. Beaumont, returned from
California on Friday of last week, ac
companied by four large sacks of Eng
lish walnuts. Elliott and his parents
left by auto in the early part of Sep
tember, taking their time in making
the trip. At that time he was in poor
health, caused by the railroad accident
this summer in which he was bad'y-
hurt. He is now-looking fine an i is
spending a little time with his siutet
and brother-in-law, Mr. and Mra. D.
W. Konner at G'rard.
G. K. Meeks, manager of the Flis
stone Tire & Lubber Co., of Dearer,
stopped ove? in Alliance for a short
visit with Coursey & Miller, local di
ttibuters, on hih way to Kansas Citj
