ounty
VOLUME XXVIII.
DENVER FAMATiO
- KILLS MOTHER 0!
ALLIANCE MAN
.JOE SMITH'S MOTHER MURDER
ED MONDAY AFTERNOON.
Sirs. Mary Smith, 71, Victim of Shot
Fired by Insane
Russian.
Mr3. Mary Smith, seventy-one years
old, mother of Joe Smith of this city,
was almost instantly killed late Mon
day afternoon at her rooms in the
Greek apartments, 1339 East Seven-'
teenth street, Denver, by a shot fired
by Philip Greek, a religious fanatic,
who is believed to have been the vic
tim of an attack of violent insanity
at the time the murder was com
mitted. Joe Smith received a telegram
. Tuesday morning from his sister in
Denver, which said simply: "Mother
Is dead; come at once," and giving no
hint of the tragedy. Mr. Smith left
on the late train Wednesday morning,
and it was not until the Denver news
papers arrived that Mrs. Smith knew
the facts surrounding the death. A
telegram from Mr. Smith asked that
the pool hall.be' closed from 2 to 5
o'clock Thursday afternoon, during the
funeral, but no additional details have
been received. Mrs. Smith recalls
sending Christmas presents to that
address, and is quite certain that it is
her husband's mother who met such a
terrible death. Mr. Smith is expected
to arrive in this city today.
The following account of the trag
edy is taken from the Denver Post:
' Philip Greek, SO years old. was
reading from, "The Travelers' Guide
From Life to Death" late Monday
afternoon. With him were his wife
and MrsyMary Smith, 71 years old, in
1 the Greek apartments, 1339 East Sev
enteenth avenue.
On a page headed "Man's Way to
Salvation" Greek read:
"There isa way which seemeth
right unto a man, but the end thereof
are the ways of death." Prov. 14:12.
Then Greek turned to the opposite
"paE. Jid-''Jtrod's Way to Salva
tion," and he read:
"Doing is a deadly thing
"Doing ends in death."
Shoots Without Warning.
Greek grasped a revolver which his
wife and their caller had been dis
cussing and shot Mrs. Smith to death
without a word of warning.
There had been no Quarrel no man
ifestation of ht'tred. the police say,
Greek leveled his revolver and fired
into the breast of the ac-ed woman
without a moment's premeditation.
Religious fanaticism is declared to
be the only cause for the shooting. As
Mrs. Smith toppled to the floor mor
tally wounded, Greek, brandishing his
smokinir weapon, da.shed through the
open door on the second fiooc of the
house, clown the stairs and into the
street. The terrified screams of hi
wife, who was found by other roomers
kneeling over the body of Mrs. Smith,
first warned of the tragedy.
Beside the outstretched bady lay a
small red book, a book of Bible ex
cerpts and religious discussion the
kev to the tragedy. Several minutes
after firine the shot Greek surren
dered to.OfVicer C. E. Townscnd of the
Capitol Hill police station, with the
words, "I have killed a woman she
did me wrong!"
"We were sitting in our apartments
the three of us, my husband, the
old lady (Mrs. Smith), and myself,
when this awful thing happened,"
said Mrs. Greek immediately after
the shooting. Her version of the af
fair was narrated to the police as she
stood above the body of the murdered
woman.
Mrs. Smith Very Religious.
"To think that my husband could
have done that. That poor old lady
dead. My husband had talked noth
ing but religion of late. He was often
in Mrs. Smith's room, poring over her
books and discussing the bible. She
was very religious and 6he was
good and kind, and, so far as I know,
there -was no earthly reason -for kill
ing her. , v
"As we talked, just before she was
shot, rav husband arose from his
chair and Baid he was going to a
union meeting.
"Aren't you afraid to Etay home!"
the old lady asked me. I answered
that I had no reason for fear, and I
6aid I had a gun 1 was safe.
U,I wish I had a pistol,' the old
lady said, and just then my husband
walked past her. As he was just op
posite her he said, 'Oh, you do, do
you, well there!' and I saw that hor-
.. . 1 . 1 T . l A 1 . 1 1. -
rible flash of light and the smok
everything seemed so terrible, and I
stood and screamed as my husband
ran out of the door."
The pistol 6hot was not heard by
many of the other roomers. The gun
used was of a small calibre. Greek
handed it to the police as he surren'
dered.
When asked Tuesday his' motive
for the shooting, Greek first assumed
(Continued on page 6)
Official Paper of Box Butte County
" '
THE UK AT! I M
I
I!TC;;t for
i.r. vt ri.y:
: ; n I Sa'urd.iv.
Fair an.l coh'k r
tonight
- BAsmeai team cut "
RAWi HOLIDAY CAKES
Coach F. C. Prince and seven. mem
bers and subs on the basketball team
of the, Alliance high school will re
turn Sunday from a four-day trip in
search of basketball victories. The
hunt has been moderately successful
so far, but more games are expected
to be bagged before the holiday series
closes.
The learn left Wednesday noon.
The first stop was Merna, where Alli
ance won, 61 to 20. Thursday the
Alliance five lost to Ansley by a score
of 20 to 16. The boys will play Litch
field today and Ravenna Saturday.
Next week, the second 'of the holi
day vacation, the boys will go into
the North Platte territory for three
games with North Platte, Osh-
kosh and another city in that vicinity.
The. boys are enthusiastic over spend
ing the holidays in this way, and
Coach Prince fs perfectly willing to
devote his vacation to building up the
team.
TWO QUESTIONS
UP TO VOTERS
NEXT TUESDAY
IMPORTANT MATTERS TO COME
UP AT SPECIAL ELECTION
Citizens Will Vote on Adoption of City
Manager Plan and Ratification
of Telephone Franchise
The voters of Alliance will be called
upon next Tuesday to decide two im
portant matters at a special election
called for the purpose. They will be
asked to say whether this city shall
give up. the mayor and council for
the city manager plan of municipal
government, and whether the tele
phone franchise which has been be
fore the council in some form for two
years shall be approved.
There has not been a whole lot of
interest in either proposition on the
part of the voters. A group of busi
ness men who have been interested in
the city manager plan for some years
are taking an active part in advocat
ing the change in the city government.
The mayor and a majority of the
council, together with other business
men, are opposed to it. The general
public has not been particularly in
terested. Two or three public meet
ings have been held, at which the at
tendance was more or less limited..
Prof. L. E. Aylsworth of the Uni
versity of Nebraska made his second
visit to Alliance in the interest of
the city manager plan last Tuesday.
In the afternoon he addressed the
Woman's club and in the evening a
public meeting at the Lowry & Henry
roof garden . At this latter meeting
some twenty-five were present, who
listened with great interest to a schol
arly address by the man who drew up
the law permitting cities of this class
to adoixt the plan. Mr. Aylsworth's
address followed the same lines as a
previous uddress given at a noon
luncheon of the chamber of commerce.
He' gave the theory of the plan, a
centralized, responsible government;
gave reports from various city man
agers of the success of the system in
their respective cities, and gave a
number of reasons why the plan
should,' theoretically, at least, result
in a more economical and business
like administration of city affairs.
Among the new points that he made
Was the fact that the city government
is more close to the average citizen
than any other. A larger share of
the tax burden he is compelled to bear
goes to the city, Professor Aylsworth
said, arguing therefrom that reforms
and economies in city administration
were especially desirable.
The telephone company has made
no campaign for the ratification of its
franchise, and presumably, after its
two-year wait, is beyond caring how
the election comes out.
It Is probable that there will be
a light vote cast, Just as was the case
at the election on the constitutional
amendments. The women voters will
probably remember to exercise their
new franchise, and this may bring up
the totals somewhat Both of these
questions are important, and every
voter should cast a ballot Unless a
majority of the voters do come to the
polls, a minority of the citizens may
have the final say. If a representa
tive number of citizens express an
opinion on the two questions, the
verdict will not be wrong, no matter
how It reads.
TWICE A WEEK TUESDAY AND FRIDAY
ALLIANCE, UOX IIUTTE COUNTY,
1
m OPERATING
POTASH PLANTS
COMPANIES HOPING FOR RE
, SUMPTION OF BUSINESS, i
Intimated That Fertilizer Companies
Will Resume Buying Within a
Month or Two.
The future of the potash industry in
Nebraska depends upon the ability of
the big fertilizer concerns of the east
and south to resume the contracts that
they recently broke, a procedure that
has closed all of the plants at Antioch
and sent the American, in which a
million or more of Lincoln money
went, into the hands of a receiver in
bankruptcy. Before the orders to dis
continue sending potash arrived all of
the plants were operating on a small
but satisfactory margin of profit,
made smaller than usual by the ad
vance in coal and oil, says the State
Journal.
W. E. Sharp, head of the American,
said Wednesday that the prospects
were good for a reopening of busi
ness by the first or middle of Febru
ary, and that this would come about
through the resumption of purchases
by the big five concerns in the fertiliz
er trade, the American Agricultural
Chemical company, the Virginia and
Carolina company, Armour, Swift and
Roysters.
Buying by the fertilizing companies
was halted because the money short
age prevented them from financing
their own purchases, of which potash
is only a part Fertilizer is sold
largely throughout the south through
the country merchants. The farmer
buys on an installment note, and the
fertilizer company is paid by the coun
try 'merchant attaching this note to
his own. The manufacturer, in turn,
borrows on these notes, from his own
banks. The cotton planter of the south
is on the same sort of a strike as the
wheat farmer of the west, and is not
paying his debts" any faster. He did
not pay his fertilizer note, and the
banks that bought these and the other
notes not only refused further accom
modations, but insisted on payment of
the outstanding obligations by the
guarantors.
Mr. Sharp went through the books
of the big chemical company to satisfy
himself that it was lack of money to
pay for potash that, caused the can
cellation of orders, and from the same
source he is receiving intimation that
conditions will have so bettered them
selves that the companies can re-enter
the field of purchasing. '
The American Potash company was
adjudged a bankrupt on Tuesday. This
course was taken in order to prevent
the small, individual creditors from
suing, getting judgment and taking
pails of the plant under levy. By this
plan it is hoped to preserve the prop
erty intact until such time as business
can be resumed. The market, how
ever, is limited to a ' comparatively
few buyer?. If it is impossible to do
otherwise, a reorganization of the
company will be effected, tentative
plans for which hve already been
discussed by heavy stockholders.
The failure of the banks at Antioch
to promptly clear all of the labor
checks that were issued when the
plant was closed has resuUed in some
hardships to former workers at the
plant. When the checks were issued
there was money in bank to meet
them, but by the time a part of these
reached Lincoln the money had gone
nto the custody of the receiver.
These are all preferred claims, and
will be paid out of the cash on hand
just as soon as the court orders this
lone.
So far as known here the original
potash plant at HofTland, next to An
tioch, is still running, this company
having made a big cleanup during the
war and having ample cash resources.
It is storing its stuff for the market
that js bound to open later because
fertilizer is a necessity in the south.
The Heber Hord plant at Lakeside was
also, at last reports finishing up
ruTining through some stuff on hand.
Mr. Hord has Fued the Armour com
pany for breach of contract resulting
from iU cancellation of a long-time
order.
REPORTS OF A MURDER AT
SCOTTSBLUFF LAST NIC.nT
Reports reached police officers in
Alliance early this morning of a mur
der at ScottsblufT last night. Accord
ing to the stories, a Mexican and two
other men escaped In an automobile,
and were headed toward this city,
One of the fugitives was found in the
car, it was raid, and had been aban
doned on the road six miles out of
SeottsblufT. A telephone call to
Scottsbluti newspaper brought the in
formation that they had, heard there-
ports, but had not verified them.
i- fflil it
sure mrajiigr
Nr.I3:.SKA, nil DAY, I)iXKMi;i:n 31, ieo
. . . . -
BUSINESS MAN AGAINST PRO.
POSE!) CHANGE
Says City Should Not Risk a Four
Year Experiment His Advice Is
"Let Will F.noufeh Alone"
An Alliance business man, who for
reason that seem sufficient desires to
preserve his anonymity, writes the
following letter to The Herald for
publication. He is opposed to the city
manager plan, and cites a number of
objections to it Among these are the
difficulty of securing a competent
manager, the fact that all the good
things that have been said about the
plan came from the men who are its
chief beneficiaries the city managers
themselves, the expense and long term
for which the system must be tried.
He answers certain arguments made
by the advocates of the plan, and calls
attention to what he regards as ques
tionable methods adopted by those
who would, have it adopted. He
charges that a resolution endorsing
the plan was railroaded through the
T. P. Ai when seven members were
present, and that of these seven, some
were opposed. His letter follows:
ALLIANCE,. Neb., Dec 30 To the
Editor of The Herald:
Having listened attentively at Com
mercial club and other meetings to the
constant distortion of facts put out for
the abtorbtion of a dear, unsuspect
ing public, I ask some of your valu
able space for presentation of the
other side of the question.
In little ol' New York exists a
school that is said to dig from the
gutter these rare pseudo city manager
birds, polish them off for compensa
tion, provide them with rare and am
ple credentials and hoist them into a
position where they may elevate their
heels to desk and arbitrarily, scatter
public simoleons. Then too the city
managers have a little association to
promote and protect their own inter
ests. About all we have heard and
read has come from these fountain
heaJj." .... .
One of these wise, desirable manag
ers of many and varied accomplish
ments is not coming to a place for
test at less than a salary of from
$3,600 to $5,000 per annum and a
contract to remain a year or more.
While here on the job he has absolute
control of city affairs, except the
making of the city's laws. This city
manager plan, if adopted, must endure
four years, according to present laws.
Does Alliance want to be. trussed up
and take the European method of one
man domination four years? Or would
we prefer the present American plan
in which all may have a hearing and
part? Alliance has existed something
more than thirty-two years, prospered
and progressed without a high-priced
city manager. Would it not be wise
to let well enough alone? Where is
the money coming from to pay a high
priced man, except in a further in
crease of taxes. We start for 11)20
with the assessed valuation of most
citizens very materially increased.
The total tax levy Is 17.1 cents on
each dollar. This high taxation is no
fault of the present city administra
tion, but due to some of the acts,
perchance mistakes, of the very men
who are the most persistent promot
ers of this proposed change. Mr.
Voter, it might be wise for you to
dig under the surface and learn just
who these men are, and see if you
place implicit confidence in their in
tegrity and judgment. Listed in the
items that are cause for this taxation,
might be mentioned the following
bond issues, fathered by some of these
very self-same reformers:
Sanitary Sewer and Septic
Tank bonds, $15,000
City Park bonds G.000
Funding bonds (to pay old
debts) 47,000
Paying for worthless Elec
tric liprht franchise 55,000
(For this latter item city re
ceived nothing of value except the
wiring about city.)
In your annual taxes 19 mill per
dollar goes to pay for these doubtful
values.
A careful study of the situation
convinces one that back of all this
clamor for a change, a few men start
ed systematically, to create sent!
ment Perhaps they are men who
have never been known to make spe
cial effort, except for personal gain.
Who is putting up for the cost of
these various city manager educators,
who come to Alliance from a distance,
but always urge adoption of thi
plan? Their time, railroad fares
hotel bills, hall rent, handbills, etc.,
must all be paid for. Certainly the
(Continued on Page 4)
Officia'
i'.lljiaiViLL
The Alt' .wee ho' el v;ll, fhor'ly
after ilu: Nj.-w Year, ojm n up a t;b:i
.rct mo.ii in connect. on with their ho
tel and vkiIouh dining rooms. The
new place of onterta'nmrnt will occu
py U;e store room to the north of the
buildiitr. and will be filled up for
dancing ard special parties. The floor
will le put in condition, and waxed,
ami a number of small tables will be
placed along the walls, leaving the
center of the floor for dancing.
Plans for the new cabaret are not
complete although the work of get
ting the place ready is now under way.
Mr. Miller desires to secure some ex
tra good music. The present idea is
to have the room open for dinner
dances from 8 to 12 at least three
nights a week. The room will also
be available for special parties. These
added facilities will make the Alli
ance hotel still more popular as a
place for entertainment The Palm
Room is now the best known place in
western Nebraska, and the new oom,
which has not been named, will per
mit choosing between a formal ban
quet and a dinner dance. The eve
nings it will be open to the public for
dancing will undoubtedly meet with
instant favor.
BANKER URGES
MORE BUILDING
FOR ALLIANCE
j
CONSTRUCTION WILL BE A HELP
TO BUSINESS IN GENERAL.
S.
a Wright Declares That It Has
. Always Led the Way Out of
Periods of Depression.
S. B. Wright, cashier ef the Guar
dian Ktnte hnnk. is of the onfninn that
hp nun Kn that will mkmi mnut toln fact, he has pulled out of our cits
Alliance in getting away from thover itW.Cnty .thou"and . tor hi
present period of business depression jlt
is to speed up the building program, ; rioua boar(,g (Rince m besides
which came to a halt some months ; xtra money it has cost our city in
ago andjias been practically at a ' grades and lawsuits,' and the etra ex
standstill ever's-ince. "Renewed build-ipense to which the citizens have been
ing activity throughout the United ' put.
States is forecasted for 1921," said)
Mr. Wright, "and more activity along j
that line
ound to help business in
Kt the present, there is .
general
shortage of fully one hundred houses
in Alliance. It is to the interest of
everyone to speed the construction of
homes, oirice buildings, mercantile
hui'd'mrs and some manufacturing
plants, and soon things will be in full
.:- Mr Wright
"The merchant who has dry goods
to sell, the professional nan, and the
woikcrs in the railroad shops are just
as interested in seeing building take
a boom as ure the reul estate men, the
contractors and the bulling trades
workers. The United States today is
in the midst of what ecc.omrsts term
a b'j-siness depression. The term va
longer has a fearsome aspect. We all
reaHze now thnt business goes
through the cycles of prosnerity t.nd
'depression, and that prosperity fol
lows depression ju-t as surely as de
pression' follows prneritv. Tt
very interesting to tne average man
to le-irn thi.t new buM ng tied i.tw
construction h-is alwavs led the wr.V
interesting to the average man
out of the period of depress on. It
ha-? always been the forerunner of an
other period of pro -perity.
"The nat'on is safe financial! and
distress is vanishing, recording to Sec
retary Houston. The United States is
better able to weather the storm than
any other country and is today the
rreatest economical power. It is bet
ter able to care for itself than nr.y
other nat'ioo on the globe. The United
States is the greatest financial and
economic power in the world and will
continue to wield its power in the fu
ture. This was the Christmas mes
sage Saturday from the secretary of
the treasury.
Increase is shown in retail buying,
according to Bradstreet's. The favor
orable features of the week in dis
tributive trade are seasonal increases
in retail buying, stimulated by he'.lday
rurchases of seasonal poods, a wignt
v enlarired distribution of heavy
wearing apparel, due to corner
weather; the snow north and west and
some belated activity on the part of
the jobbers in shipping goods to till
in broken stocks. lhe irena otner-
wise has been toward increased quiet
at wholesale and in manufacturing
lines,
"Nebraska produced a bumper corn
crop, lne average yieia in me 6taie
was the hicrhest since 190n. lhe es
timate of the Nebraska crops during
1920, as approved by the bureau of
crop estimates at Washinsr'.on was
7,000,r.GO acres, compared to 7,030,000
acres last year. The average yield of
33 bushels, asralnst 26 last year, is the
highes tsince 190G. Crops in Kansas,
our adjoining state, are valued at
nearly one billion dollars. The volume
of production in Nebraska exceeded
all records."
Lj Purer of tb.e City of AUian
NO. 10
Mm RQBGERS
IS
OPPOSED TO.
A CITY MANAGER
(JIVES HIS REASONS FOR
MAKING CHANGE
NOT
Says Important Improvements Would
Have to Be Passed Orer Because
of Expense of Plan
Mayor A. D. RodgerA, in a commun
ication to The Herald, explains hi
opposition to the proposed city man
ager plan, which will be voted on at
Tuesday's special election. The mayor
is not much in favor of hiring out
side men, to assist in running tb
city's affairs, and points to the fact
that Alliance has, since 1909, paid
out over $20,000 for expert assist
ance. The mayor lays the blame fee
most of the mistakes made by city
administrations to this high-priced
outside advice. He advises that citi
zens vote "No" on both proposition.
His letter follows:
"ALLIANCE, Neb., Dec 30. Ta-.
the Editor of The Herald: May I mm
some space in The Herald to explain,
here I stand on this city manages
plan of government ? There has bees .
a lot of advertising that our city ha
been poorly run, and there are charger
of gross extravagance, incompetent
help, misappropriation of funds, and
that claims have been allowed for
goods purchased for the city by per
sons without authority. It is said that
these evils can be cured only by
"changing doctors." The new phyri
cian would be called a city manager,
and he alone would have the right
kind of medicine to cure all adminis
trative ills. . ,
"The city manager must be a sort
of a ,Monkey-Ward man, because ha
must have the right credentials te
prove him a competent civil engineer,
electrical engineer, water commission
er in fact, he will know everything '
and everyone s may learn from him.
Yes,- this is so for we have had on-
of these fellows every three or four
years to pull our legs for all he can.
m lw.t ne surveye.l our city and
established grades which caused th
vt "r..y . o. our
1 V" Z !
tmore Rripf than any ())hfr rnIftak,
that he h is made. Up in West Lawn
j his survey there calls for a subway
, under the railway tracks to carry the
! water awuy from that M.rt 01 town-
,nd the erodings put up in this part
1 01 the city are one foot under the
surface.
(Cortinued on page 5)
HEWKA'I MI EraSiSST
" FGR POTATO EIGIiAE
William Newman, who lives :r. the
Yale S'ding vicinity, w.f &n A'i'arce
visitor Thursday morn in", i-n I diop-
j ped into the j ot .to c:;ch".ne heud
; (juuitfi-.s to pay his reMtt.. Mr.
iNtwman is one Box Bu t? ounty po-
t.'to 'rrovvoi' u-1 ii l pn i ':' -V't nvr
, - -
tht" re.-u.ls he has receded from the
' exchange, and he in t 'J:f e;..-t bit
backward a'xut telling the world
about it.
"The exchange has resulted in at
least three hundred dolHis' ad.l't'oial
profit for me this season," Mr. New
man told a Herald rej oil r, "and I
have several cars yet to market
There isn't a single doubt in my mind
that this extra, money came from my
connection with the exchange. Out of
five cars I sold, two of them went
through the exchange, and realized me
from J4 to 17 cents per bushel abova
prices paid by trackside buyers. Tha
other three cars were all ready to b
turned over to the exchange, but tha .
buyers were so insistent that I let
them hav them at exchange prices.
They howled quite a bit' when they
heard the figures, but I wouldn't
weaken a notch, and they came
through. I never sold one of those
cars that I didn't call up the ex
change and learn the day's quotations.
and every car sold at top price for
the day."
Mr. Newman thinks the exchange
will grow in value to the growers tha
more they learn about the way it
works. "Many of the growers dont
know what it will do for them," ha
said. "If they would only take fira
minutes off the next time they art
in Alliance and call at the exchange,
they'd find it the most profitable fir
minutes they ever spent".
The manager of the potato ex
change hints that Mr. Newman la co
operating with them in the careful
way in which he sorts and packs hi
potatoes. . "When we have spuds like
(Continued on page 4)
