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Official Paper of Box Butte County
TWICE A WEEKTUESDAY AND FRIDAY
Official Taper, of the City of Allianc
V
VOLU1UE XXIX
(Eight,
ALLIANCE, BOX BUTTE COUNTY, NEBRASKA, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1921.
No. 10
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PHONE COMPANY
HAVING TROUBLE
AT RATE BOOST
TWENTY. FIVE CITIES JOIN TO,
FIGHT THE REQUEST.
State Railway Commission Shows
Disposition to Make the Com
pany Prove Its Case.
Prospects that the state railway
commission would grant the request of
the Northwestern Bell Telephone com
pany, which owns the Alliance ex
chancre, for an increase in rates are
aiot so bright since Wednesday, when : braska will .become new tfloomnelds,"
h hearing at-Lincoln began. Somel" Stugh said in arguing his
twenty-five towns are banded together!'0"- JLMtETO JSwiSt
in opposing the increase. P. E. Romig "y' "ffipH thl
.is representing the Alliance chamber ",TLVo it Si EPZLJi
of commerce at the hearing. The city ?'0UJ lmJ a$ely turn to federal
of Alliance will be given a hearing at,C0S.r ,G. M
later date, due to the fact that the 1 J"1 ultfS nS !
telephone company failed t f unush , 2
the city council with a copy of its ap -
nnii it
-Derating exoenses lere as nrovided
e5J 2J tloS w-
in a liaiRiiioc icvcuwjf 5iuubcu mg
company.
There is considerable feeling in Alli
ance, as well as in other towns over
the state, over the 'application, and
there is already talk of a county tele
phone company, such as is now operat
ing in Hamilton county. In ' other
: ows threats of a telephone strike are
made openly.
ciiy wianager Kemmish, who has re
ceived word from telephone company
officials that the figures called for by
th franchise are being prepared and
will be sent to him as soon as possi
ble, is counseling moderation. "We
want to go on the theory that the
railway commission will treat us fair
ly," he said, "and not run hog wild
until we have something to get wild
about. We Have been promised a spe
cial hearing, and it is noted that the
- railway commission has decided to
extend to other towns affected by the
increase the same privilege of calling
for figures from the company."
Commission to Investigate.
7 The. state' railwaycommlasion will
conduct a thorough investigation into
4A iiAcf ond affifl'oniv tf AnAfotl'mi
.1 v iviib uiivt vii itJt 1., wfitww. 1 i m . " . WWIF iwiviil .uatus; c tiiu.iu.t . cnuvi m
of the Northwestern Bell Telephone sell, young Green River,. Wyo., youth. !the movement There was discussion
company, rather than rely altogether who last Saturday Passed worthless by Cubs Brittan, BAsye, Rhein, Gra
n figures presented by the company checks for $25 and $10 at the Thiele nam Guthrie and Dr. Francis, one of
to prove why thk 10 per cent sur- drug store and later was caught when tne visitors, and the club finally vod
charge now charged should be con- he attempted to pass one for $25 at to lay th,e matter on the table. This,
tinued, according to H. G. Taylor, the W. R. Harper department store, j jt was brought out by the discussion,
chairman of the commission. Had the law remained unchanged, was not because the Lions are opposed
The Northwestern Bell Telephone Russell would be even now in the ! to jt but they feel that it is a matter
company of Omaha must furnish any
data on local exchange revenues, and
investments that communities may de- mis morning, Douna ior ureen juver,
mand before the Nebraska railway where his job is waiting for him and,
commission will set a date for the he hopes, a certain girl whom he came
hearing on its application for a new near losing through his philandering,
permanent rate schedule incorporating The heart affairs of Mr. Russell
a, 10 per cent surcharge in the North colored by his inspired imagination,
Platte territory where is serves 103,- made interesting reading during a dull
O00 subscribers. I week in Alliance. He had a story of
It is probable that more details as to an inheritance of ten thousand dollars
Derating costs will be requested to contingent on his marriage by a cer
show that figures of the company for . tain date, of a want-ad romance with
-irATntinr nnrniu arm tint Viifrhor than an Alliance hi eh School girl Which
they should be, either during the pres
ent hearing or after its close.
It was brought out Wednesday In
cross examination of Guy H. Pratt,
vice president of the company in
charge of operation, that the cost of
phone service to the" public was SO per
cent higher than in 1914. v
E. M. Morsman, attorney for the
company, stated that wages paid the
cpef ators made up a great part of the
expense, and that they were paid a
minimum of $10 per week. He fur
ther stated that the company would
welcome an investigation into the
reasonableness of the girls salaries.
"Why lay the high cost altogether
on the 'widows and orphans,' Thorne
Brown, member of the commission,
asked him. "Don't you think the sal
aries of the general officers might
have some effect on operating costs?"
Big Depreciation Fund.
. Other facts brought out:
The American Telephone and Tele
graph company, which owns all the
stock of the Northwestern Bell Tele
phone company, is paying and has paid
lor years 9 per cent on it3 own
CtOClCa
The Northwestern BelJ Telephone
company about January 1, 1921, ab
sorbed the old Nebraska Telephone
company.
The company, which serves the peo
ple of Nebraska, has a reserve fund to
cover depreciation of its property of
814,000,000, or nearly 20 per cent of
. . . i rr-i m i t i
tne total vaiue. xnis iunu nas oeen
built up from the earnings.
Expert testimony by a company en-
' gineer was that the property today is
worth 85 per cent of what it would
coit to reproduce it new, so well has it
been maintained, in addition to the
creation of a large depreciation re-
The annual cost of maintenance and
the amount set aside for depreciation
amount to 42 per cent of the annual
revenue of the company in Nebraska.
The Northwestern company buys
cractically all its material and supplies
from the Western Electric company,
, which also is owned by the American
At noon Thursday- ihi Northwest
em Bell Telephone company concluded
its showing before the state railway
commission in support of its applica-
THl THER
Forecast for
V
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fair tonight and S, Colder Sat
urday and north. .rtion tonight.
Strongs-northwest winds tonight,
diminishing by Saturday morning.
tion for a continuance of the 10 per
cent surcharge on exchange rates in
NV" D,!cember 3L .
aims icii, uie aiLtinuon session open
to attorneys and other representatives
of twenty or more communities in the
state which are demanding that the
surcharge be dropped the first of the
year. These towns have formed a
committee which is fighting the con
ti nuance of the surcharge. ' i
Strikes Are Threatened.
"Unless the surcharge is discontin
ued until the commission finds whether
it is actually necessary or not, from
sixty to seventy exchanges in Ne-
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: " " ' , V, "Ca V.iT,
Pf cent, Morsman said. If we a
are
we
limited m money-making times,
should not be cut off from rever
revenue in
such times as these."
Morsman resisted the motion to dis
continue the surcharge with the argu
( Continued on Page 8.)
LEGISLATURE
SAVED BACON
FORJUSSELL
CHANGES PENALTY FOR WORTH
LESS CHECKS.
His Offense, Formerly a Felony, Now
Ranks as Petit Larceny Al
. lowed to Return Home.
( t
It was the Nebraska state legisla
ture, which at its last session passed
air -amendment to the law relating to
the uttering of bank checks, which
StPFIfUHl 1T1 ATlfl SaV6U DeWeV Ll. KUS-
county jau, awaiung inai m unsritv
court As it is, he left Alliance early
flivered. and he told his yarn with a
wealth of details.
Russell cut quite a' different figure
in county court before Judge Tash
Tuesday afternoon.. His voice was
tremulous and he was inclined to
snivel just a trifle." "But," he said
weepingly to County Attorney Basye,
"The man I passed the check on said
he wouldn't prosecute me. Won't you
give me another chance?" The tears
trickled down his face during a good
share of the proceedings, during which
Russell several times promised to be
good and never do it again. ,
Change in the Law.
Had Russell Dulled, his little stunt
just a few weeks ago, it would have
been Denis for him. As it is, the legis
lature, in amending the law, made a
distinction in the size of the check.
Under the old law. the uttering of any
worthless check was a felony, and pun
ishable by a penitentiary term. Under
the amended law, the distinction is tne
same as between grand and petit
larceny. No check written by Russell
was for an amount greater than $35.
Had it been larger, he'd have been out
of luck. Under that amount, the max
imum sentence was a fine and ninety
days in jail.
Tuesday afternoon. Judge Tash sen
tenced the youth to thirty lays in the
county jail. Thursday mdrning an
other letter from his Green River
sweetheart arrived, which mentioned
the fact that his old job as engine
dispatcher for the Union Pacific was
open to him, and Judge lasn, con
vinced that he had been both punished
and scared, and that hi3 repentance
would last at least until he was out oi
the city, permitted him to leave on
payment of the costs in tne case.
Russell paid a visit to The Herald
office before leaving, and .unfolded a
few more of his future plans, saying
that he intended to go from here to
Green River, Wyo., and from there to
Tulsa, Okl., to see the administrator
of his uncle's estate. , He says he in
tends to sue the estate, if the adminis
trator doesn't kick through with the
ten thousand dollars left him by his
uncle. He evaded funner questioning
by saying that publicity, woultL inter
fere with his plans and that he had
already told more than was good for
nun. .. . . . .
LIONS FAVOR A
SPUD EXPERT FOR
STATE NORMAL
ENDORSE PLAN OF PRESIDENT
R. I. ELLIOTT.
Chadron Man Makes Vigorous Talk
on the (rowing Importance of
Seed Potato Industry.
The members of the Alliance club,
at their regular weekly dinner at the
Alliance hotel 'Thursday evening,
passed a resolution endorsing the plan
of President R. I. Elliott of the Chad
ron state normal to install a seed po
tato expert in the school, following an
address by Mr. Elliott. The club also
discussed the petition for a county
agent, now being circulated in Box
Butte county, favoring the matter, but
declining to take action, on the ground
that this was a matter for the farmers
to decide. Robert 1. Elliott of Chad
ron, Dr. Q. H. Steven of Broken Bow,
Dr. A. H. Francis of Lincoln and Dr.
H. E. Smith of North Platte were
visitors. -
Cub Lloyd C. Thomas reviewed the
steps taken to date in Alliance to de
feat the application of the Northwest
ern Bell Telephone company, which
has asked of the state railway com
mission to increase rates. The city of
Alliance, he said, has gained permis
sion for a special hearing, following
the submission of certain data relative
to the cost of doing business in this
city, and provided for in the franchise
recently passed. The chamber of
commerce has sent a representative,
Attorney Penrose E. Romig, to attend
the hearing which started Wednesday.
There is a disposition, Mr. Thomas
pointed out, to drag out the hearing.
This will work to the advantage of the
telephone company. It is expensive
for the smaller cities and towns to
maintain a representative at the hear
ing, while the telephone company isn't
worried at all.
Cub Charles E. Brittan brought up
the matter of the county agent for
Box Butte ounty. He stated that peti
tions are now being circulated, signed
by 150 farmers, requesting the com
missioners to employ a county agent
fik Pltain mala o mntmn tt Anlnfe.
, wmch concerns the farmers particular
ly, and that they should De allowed not
only to have the lead in the movement,
but to decide whether they want a
county agent.
Seed Potato Expert.
President Robert I. Elliott of the
Chadron state normal made, an inter
esting and vigorous talk concerning
his plan to install a seed potato expert
at the Chadron normal. He discussed
the growing importance of the seed
potato industry in western Nebraska.
He said that it was possible for twenty-five
or fifty times as many seed po
tatoes to be grown here, the soil and
high altitude being favorable to the
growth of the highest grade seed po
tatoes. K. L. Pierce of Hemingford
(Continued on Page 8.)
Property Owners .
Object to Gosing
Big Horn Avenue
A remonstrance, which is being
pretty generally signed, is being circu
ited in Alliance this week, protest
ing against the closing of Big Horn
avenue between D. and Eighth and
Twelfth street north of those two
blocks. St. Agnes academy recently
filed a request with the city council
that this be done in order that it
might extend its proposed school build-
incr over on the streets. Ihe council
discovered at the time that the city
water mains are now located on Big
Horn avenue and Twelfth street north
of block D. and that Twelfth street is
the main crosstown connection, find
the matter was laid over. The remon'
strance points out that the closing cf
the street is likely to interfere wnn
fire protection and that people living
.. r.. . . .
to the north of the academy wm le
greatly inconvenienced.
Candle Service
At Methodist Church
Sunday Evening
There will be a New Year's candle
light service at the Methodist church
Sunday night at 7:30. The opening
service will be as usual, then all the
lights will be turned out except one
lighting a cross. A large candle will
be lighted in front of this cross
Twelve girls, representing the twelve
months of the new year, eaoh carry
ing a candle, will light their candles
from this one, while the minister ex
plains the significance-" "each new
month. Music to interpret the ivm
bolic acts will be played during the
entire service.
ROtARIANS HEAR
ABLE DISCUSSION
OF DISARMAMENT
REV. STEPHEN J. EPLER TELLS
OF COST OF WAR. i
Alliance Minister Points Out What
Could Be Done With Money Now
Devoted to War Purposes.
Rev. Stephen J. Epler of the First
Baptist church of this city was the
speaker at the Wednesday evening din
ner of the Rotary club. L. L. Ray
mond, Scottsbluff attorney, was pres
ent as the guest of one of the mem
bers, as was H. F. Anderson of Mis
sion, S. D. Mr. Raymond told of his
first trip to Alliance, by ox team, and
discussed briefly the changes that had
taken place in thirty years. Mr. An
derson greeted the members of the
club. i
Mr. Epler discussed the work of the
arms limitation conference, now in
session t Washington. He said, in
part: . i
"My subject will not be announced,
for if any of you have been bored by
my remarks during this Christmas
season, you already are aware that I
have only one subject to present You
are permitted to guess what that sub- L
ject is. Your guess may be a little
nearer than that of the school teacher
who said, Johnny, I know what you
had for breakfast this morning. It
was egg, for I see some on your face.'
Johnny replied, 'Teacher, you're mis
taken I had egg yesterday morning.'
The one message is the message of
good cheer, or 'Peace and good will
to all men.'
"It was my earnest hope that the
conference on limitation of armaments
could be able to announce as a Christ
mas present to the world that an
agreement had been reached whereby
the possibility of war would be min
imized to suchn extent that nations
would have no fear or suspicion of
each other. Certainly we are in need
of a perpetual peace among all na
tions. ! ' :. , ''.
War a Menace' to Civilization.
ListCirto General Jehn J. Pershing,
who, in an address delivered in New
York in 1920 said, 'Unless some such
move (to limit armament) be made
we may well ask ourselves whether
civilization does not really reach a
point where it begins to destroy itself,
and whether we are thus doomed to
go headlong down through destructive
war and darkness to barbarism.'
"The cost of war is told in figures
arniost too targe ior our comprehen
sion. All the wars from the years
1790 to 1910 cost twenty-three bil
lions of dollars. These included the!
Napoleonic wars, when the little em-,
peror designed to lay the whole world ;
at his' feet He, like the kaiser, was
not a student of Scriptures, or he
would have understood from the Book
of Daniel that there were to be only
four universal empires, Babylon.
Persia, Greece and Rome. The cost of
the world war was eight times as
much as the wars just mentioned, or
186 billions of dollars.
"The German dreadnought Ostfres-
land was sunk in twenty-five minutes
by seven one-ton bombs dropped from
airplanes. How long before our six-
(Continued on Page 8.)
Agate Oil Well
Proves Failure And
Is Abandoned
The oil well at Agate, Neb., has
proved a failure and they are now tak
ing the machinery and casing away
says a Hemingford dispatch to the
State Journal. High hopes have been
entertained of this prospect hole bring
ing in oil but only light and unsatis
factory oil indications were developed
It is understood that at about 2300 feet
light flow of oil was encountered,
but of no commercial value. A depth
of about 4,700 feet was reached. Sioux
county's hopes of oil seem thus to be
blasted in the first test that has ever
been made, but those interested in the
well at Lakeside, Neb,, now down
about 2C00 feet, are very sanguine
of success. , The well was located by
wlgglestick artist whose instru
ment performed such wonders that a
number of the most capable and sane
capitalists of western Nebraska be
came convinced that there was oil at
about 3500 feet. Believers in the
wietrlestick men assert there is an
immense pool of oil south, southeast
and southwest of Alliance, and the
local Box Butte papers are running
legal axis wherein the school lands of
the state are being advertised for oil
lease. The wigglestick man says
that the north end of Box Butte
county has not any chance for oil
' i i 1 ..j i .vi
unu ne is reponvu iu iibvs eaiu mat
there was none in the vicinity of the
Agate prospect hole.
The high wind that came late this
morning proved too strong for some
windows and signs about tne city,
amontr the store buildinrs that suffer
ed being the Horace Bogue store, the
Newberry 4 lardwam company, George
D. Darling and the Model Cleaners.
A couple of windows were also blown
ADVERTISING IS NEWS
It is a safe venture that 80 per
cent of the readers of news read
the advertisements also shecrly lie
cause of the general interest to be
found in them. There is news value
In a well-written advertisement,
which is a thought for the consid
eration of those who think an ad
vertising contract is something of a
speculation, or who are careless in
the preparation of their "copy."
An attractive advertisement com
pels the reader's attention. Every,
one knows how at times, even in
the midst of an interesting news
item, his eye has been deflected by
some outstanding sentence in a
nearby "ad," and how he has read
the "ad" before returning to the
news story. Advertisements nar
rate the romance of business, they
represent an individual art, they
are instructive.
For instance, the classified ad
vertisement page. The persons are
innumerable who read it, not be
cause they are searching for some
thing definite, but because each lit
tle "ad" tells of something of in
terest to the active mind. Many
are those who, reading the classi
fied page because qf this general
Interest only, find something there
that interests them individually and
directly, prompts a reply, and per,
forms a concrete service both for
the advertiser and the reader.
Billing Gazette.
SHERIFF MILLER
OFF ON A TRIP
WITH PRISONERS
TAKES TWO MEN TO LINCOLN
AND RETURNS, WITH TWO.
Enzor and Dolan to Go to the New
Reformatory Auto Thieves to'
.. Be Brought Back.
Joe Dolan and Archie Enzor. the two
eighteen-year-old youths who pleaded
guilty to the charee of Brand inrcenv I
m connection with the robbery of the
Wilson Bros, store last week, were
taken to Rushville Wednesday before
District Judge W. H. Westover to re -
ceive sentence. There were two
..charges against them, grand larceny
and burglary, but when they pleaded
guilty to the first charge, County At-
, torney Basye dismissed the second
count and .recommended that they be
sent to Hawthorne, the new state re-
formatory at Lincoln, instead of the
penitentiary.
in pronouncing the sentence. J.uuge
Westover gave the boys a very impres-
sive lecture, pointing out that crime mfs or a pastime,
was not a paying business and nor onei "He told the reporters that he Kadi
in which they could ever hope to be-'planned to assume management of
come respectable citizens. The sen- picture show at Tulsa, Okl., and mk
tence was from one to seven years in this his home. In my talk with kirn
the reformatory. ,
Sheriff Miller left Thursday night on
42 to take them to Hawthorne, and
will go from there to St. Paul. Minn..
to bring back Harold. Watkms i and
Peter Bchleve, who are being held
there for the theft ofthe J. F. Spat-
ma? fi t" ,y' mf n , v '
stated, that they are willing to return,
to Alliance without extradition papers.
but County Attorney Basye doesn't
care to take any chances, and made out
the papers for Sheriff Miller to have
signed by the governor and take along
in case they change their minds. Jack
Dve accompanied the sheriff and will
drive the car back.
Coyote Roundup
Next .Sunday in
West Box Butte
Arrangements have been made for a'
big coyote roundup which will take
place next Sunday in the western part
of the county. Kines are barred, but
almost any other kind of weapon.
from shotguns to crowbars, will be in
use. A general invitation nas been
issued to those who care to participate
in the hunt . . I
The territory to be included in the.
hunt follows:
North line From Hemingford to
Lawn church. Hunters will meet at
the Roy Phillips farm.
West Line t rom Lawn cnurcn to
it Line From Lawn church to
J Caha place. Hunters will meet
Will Roth farm. ,
th line From the Floyd Trine
the old
at the
Smith
farm to the old Caha place. Hunters
will meet at the Jasperson home.
East line From Hemingford to the;
Floyd Trine farm. Hunters will meet
at the H. O. Strong place.
Hunters are asked to meet at the
line nearest their place at 10 a .m.;
when the hunt is scheduled to begin.
Chief of Police C. W. Jeffers re
oaivH n tolpnhone call yesterday from
Sheriff Neumann at Bridgeport, asking
the Alliance police to keep an eye
for a Ford runabout which left
rhf ritv vsterdav morning. The car
was taken by two day3, the driver
b4nwaward, Jackett, soma. twenty
vam nt Atrtt. The car was describ
ed as having a rebuilt body, painted
blue, with built-on top. . , .
SCHOOL GIRL
.DENIES STORY
RUSSELL TOLD
INTIMATES THAT ARTIST WAS
OUT FOR THE MONEY,
Declares She Answered Advertisement
Just for the Fun of It and Never
Had Any Serious Intentions,
The tale of his love affairs told by
Dewey L. Russell, Green RiverWycn
young man who was arrested ia Alli
ance last Saturday and charged with
uttering three checks on the First N
tional bank, in which he had no e
count, were read with considerably
amusement in Alliance. There wr
few people, however, who were movVt
to indignation rather than smiles.
Among them is Miss Nellie Price,
daughter of M. B. Price, living in tfc
outer limits of the city. This was th
young high school girl who answerw
an advertisement of Russell's ia
Denver newspaper, in which he an
nounced that he was Beaching for
wife.
According to Russell's . tale, th
young lady had. agreed after a series
of letters to marry him, but the girl
in the case denies it strenuously, alone
with a number of other remarks the
Green River swain was reported to
have made. In a letter to The Herald,"
she says:
"I did not demand particulars of Mr
Russell (she corresponded with him
under the name of Russum, which ha
apparently assumed for the occasion)
when I was writing him, and indeed I
am not a 'husband seeker.' I only an
swered his ad in the Denver Post really
for fun and as a pastime. We did not
exchange photographs. I have none of
his and he has none of mine.
"He did not send me a diamond en
gagement ring, but he presented on
after I arrived here. And no 8J
rangements were made for hi visit
until December 22, when he called ID
from Sidney, Neb.
"No agreement was made to mfc
Mr. Russell by me and my father on
Saturday December 24, for I didn't
care to see him after my first talk
with him. I saw him Saturday wora-:
mg several times, although I always
sidestepped tr ditched him, and never
1 talked wih him. He also came out t
'my home Saturday afternoon and I
i didn't even come out of my room ta
him. I asked my father to take
the rirnr to town and give it to him
tor I didn't care to see him. And h
did not call me up at all that after '
noon.
Never Promised to Marry Him.
"I had never said that I wouli
marry him. Never. I was only writ-
he said as soon as he got enough C&lv
he was going to Oklahoma and start
chicken farm.
In hig talk u1th me he K
he had got in wih an
i nn.k. ,,. ...Ci
ukin8, $640 and wag mut th, ,ut
penitentiary at McAlester. He also,
Qd m(i tht his Mrent, - him t
the state reform school at Paula Yal-
lev, Okl., in his younger years. Whait
I heard all these statements, I begin
to feel afraid of him and at once began,
to shun him.
"Before he came here, and while at
Ogden, Utah, I received a telegram
from him asking me to wire him $30,
and I had to pay the charges on th
telegram. I did not ki.ow who it waa
from until later, or I would not hava
paid for the telegram. And I wasn't
foolish enough to wire him the cash,
"On the following day, a long dls
tance ell came from him, still at
Oirden. wanting me to pay for it and
I refused to talk. In several of tha
letters he wrote me, he asked to send
him money. All he is is a fortune
seeker.
Unsuccessful With Father,
The girl's letter also contains
an
explanation, written at the request of
her father, which shows that Russell,
while in Alliance, was pretty busily.
engaged in trying to get hold of soma
ready money. Mr. Price s Btatement
follows:
"When my daughter told mo that
'he wanted her to wire him $30, pay
for the long distance call from Utah,
and that he had written her several
times asking for money, I told her at
he wanted her to wire mm sau, pay
once that he must surely be a crook.
The first time I saw him was at
mv nome Thursday noon, when I waa
. introduced to him. Then," Saturday
morning, when l was in town, ne mei
me and asked me to go on nis noia
for $50, and I absolutely refused him.
Then, again that afternoon, when I.
was in tne f irst xviationai Dana, ne
entered and once more asked me for
the money. I refused, and he pro -ceeded
to follow me to the First Stat
bank and asked again, and once mora
I turned him down. This was the last
I saw of him.
"While Russell was at my. home. h
had $30 or $40 with, him, and said h
wished he knew where he could dou
ble that sum. He certainly waa
crook or a mighty nervy guy. .
in at the Keuier store. ..
