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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 31, 1933)
The Frontier D. H. Cronin, Editor and Proprietor Entered at the Postoffice at O’Neill, Nebraska as Second Class Matter. ADVERTISING RATES: Display advertisments on Pages 4, 5 and 8 are charged for on a basis of 25 cents an inch (one column wide) per week; on Page 1 the charge is 40 cents an inch per week. Local advertisements, 10 cents per line first insertion, sub sequent insertions 6 cents per line. SUBSCRIPTION RATES One Year, in Nebraska — — $2.00 One Year, outside Nebraska $2.50 Every subscription is regarded as an open account. The names of sub scribers will be instantly removed from our mailing list at expiration of time paid for, if publisher shall be notified; otherwise the subscription remains in force at the designated subscription price. Every subscriber must understand that these conditions are made a part of the contract be tween publisher and subscriber. ALONG TilK SIDE Dr, C, Henry Cook, Omaha “scient ist,” who is receiving n lot of not ex actly desirable publicity in the public prints through the arrest at Minneap olis of C. Haffner ami William Merle Anderson, two of his ngents, in con nection with the promotion of some of his inventions, received ft lot of similar publicity over his operations in northern and western Nebraska, in the Norfolk Daily News about ten years ago. At that time Doc’s, spec iality was locating oil and he had many people from Norfolk west be lieving that he was going to locate an oil well on every farm. Previous to Doc’s arrival ignis fatus, or Ghost Lights, appearing along Eagle creek northwest of O’Neill, were attracting lots of attention among the super stitious and otherwise and received much notice in the nation’s press. Then the doctor arrived and organized the Ghost Lights Oil Development district, taking oil prospect leases on hun dreds of farms from Norfolk west. The doctor talked much and myster iously about molecules and had poetry about them on his business cards. He also had an oil bug or oil locating de vise which seemed to be a sort of a cage of molecules, and the little crit ters went wild whenever the bug was set up over an oil prospect. It found particular favor in the sandhill sec tion. Numerous crews drove the dis trict in large cnrs for the doctor and several sites were selected for test wells which never developed. Just what the game was, was never dis closed as none of the oil right lessors suffered and heavy financial loss al though the late M. F. Harrington, prominent O’Neill attorney, declared the form of leases might place clouds on unencumbered land titles. Some small bits of expense money were con tributed, and then gradually the oil excitement died away and was for gotten. The doctor is still talking molecules. L. C. P. NATIONAL AFFAIRS By Frank P. Litschert A 16,661,000-bale cotton crop was forecast for the South. It is estimated that this will be reduced to 12,314,000 bales by the destruction of 10,600,000 acres of cotton plants under contract with the Adjustment Administration. With the breakdown of the pro posed economic agreements in the London conference, there have been rumors of imminent combinations of certain nations against the United States for the purpose of waging a trade war. These rumors can be taken with a grnin of salt. The same scheme has been tried before against the United States and agninst other na tions but has generally failed to work. The big card in Uncle Sam’s favor is that he has the largest potential mark et in the world, llis people have the highest standard of living, make the most money and spend it—sometimes we think that in certain eras of pros perity they may have spent too much of it. But at any rate, foreign nations always are casting a wistful eye at the American market. They would rather have a share in that market than to be a part of doubtful organization for exploiting other parts of the world at the expense of the United States. They take this view because they know that the American market, if they can once get it, is worth all the other pos sible fields of commercial exploitation. Of course, the American market is generally protected for the home pro ducer against foreign dumping and cheap production from abroad. But even at that more* than half of our im ports come in duty free and the na tions who supply us with these goods are not going to forget the potential ities of the American market. Since Uncle Sam consumes about ninety per cent of what he produce* he is not going to give away this great American market in the hope of find ing a pot of gold at the end of the European trade rainbow. At the sume time it will ulways be necessary for him to import, in times of prosperity, great amount* of commodities which he cannot produce for himself, certain raw materials and finished goods, most of those in the latter class coming under what is called '‘luxury goods." These usually carry a tariff, as a mat ter of raising revenue, but few people object to this, even the free traders, because the materials so assessed are non-essentials which are purchased only by the rich and well-to-do. It has been the fact that we have had so few rich and well-to-do during the past three years, and not the effect of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff, which has played havoc with our foreign trade, so far as our imports are concerned. At any rate, so long as we have this rich potential market at home, we will not have to worry so much about possible trade arrangements against us. They will fall of their own weight, or break under the strain of rivalry among the participants. ECONOMIC HIGIILIGHTS As the NKA campaign entered the middle of its third week, enthusiasm was undiminished, pledges continued to pour in. While troubles have put in their appearance and the campaign is obviously touching its most crucial point, spokesmen are as confident as ever in forecasting remarkable results. The NKA blanket code has usurped the place of the trade codes in the news. The latter, however, will prob ably be in operation longer than the NKA, and the law, instead of public opinion only, is back of them. It is an open secret that the government is dissatisfied with trade code progress and is making every effort to speed matters up. One of the most import ant, lumber, was thrown out when first sent in. Now the President has signed an approved lumber code which is ex pected to do much for the industry and its employes. Minimum wages range from 2‘i cents an hour in the South to 40 cents in the North and West, with a 40-hour work week which may be extended to 4H hours at seasonal peak. An agency known as the Lumber Code Authority, Inc., is given the job of protecting price levels and controlling produc tion. Every operating company will be given an allotment, and production quotas for various divisions of the industry will be arranged on the basis of consumption, including anticipated export demand. Selling price is never to be allowed to drop below the cost of production point. Underselling will be illegal. The agreement is designed to increase lumber and timer employ ment by 115,000 men. The electric industry is operating under a temporary code, until the Edison Institute can obtain approval of a permanent agreement. Steel and automobile industries are bones of con tention. Code officials are struggling with the problem; if worst come to worst the government will make up codes, force them on the industries whether they like it or not. It’s a case where they won’t take no for an answer. The first NRA “ehislers” are ap pearing. These are firms which sign the agreement, then violate it by not bringing wages to the specified min imum, keeping workers on the job for longer hours than are allowable, etc. Cases have been found where employes have protested, only to be told if they reported violations to NRA directors, they would be discharged. General Johnson and subordinates are going after concerns falling in this classif ication. The law may step in. Signed NRA pledges are sent through the mails. Postmaster General Farley is considering the possibility of prose cuting employers who sign and then violate, under the postal fraud statute. General Johnson has inaugurated a Huy Now campaign, with the buying restricted to NRA members. An ex ecutive order, permitting cancellation of government contracts with manu facturers who have not come into the fold, has been issued. No new govern, meat contracts will go to non-NRA firms. Two famous government bureaus officially died the other day. One is the Shipping Board which, with its subsidiaries, received the neat sum of Id.OOO.OOO.OOO in appropriations dur ing its life, and had a book value of $288,000,000 at last report. Its func tions—what are left of them—were transferred to the Department of Commerce. Other casualty was the Prohibition Burau which came into being in 1920, spent $100,000,000 in Id years, and was involved in the loss of 250 lives. Most of the 1,800 dry agents were dismissed. The farmer and the grain dealer found one recent government report of great interest. It was the latest crop forecast. Highlight wus that the wheat crop would not be as short as had been expected, and prices dropped accordingly. Most remarkable revela tion, however, was that all grain crops will be extremely short. Total will be smallest in decades. The farm relievers arc faced with one very perplexing question—heavy hogs. The nation now has 1,000,000 expectant mother hogs, and if the birth rate is up to normal there will be a great oversupply. Probable solu tion will be to encourage the market inog of small pigs by paying a higher price per ew’t., and by placing a stiff processing tax against heavy hogs. To bring supply in line with demand, it will be necessary to remove 600, 000,000 pounds of pork and pork pro ducts from the markets during the remainder of this year, and 2,000,000, 000 pounds next year. AMERICA’S NEW TACTICS A wholesome change is reported to have come over the new administration recently regarding its future tacijcs in dealing with the international prob lems, as is evidenced by the exchange of views between the White House and Norman Davis, ambassador-at-large of the State Department. Heretofore, America has undertaken to lead the way for Europe, leaving Uncle Sam out on a limb when Europe failed to follow him. He did this very thing in the London conference and he got the short end of the deal. The only exception was at the Geneva con ference, when President Coolidge re fused to lead unless he had assurances of followers and that broke up the conference with Uncle Sam not losing his pants for once. The new tactics to be used by Davis on his departure for Europe next month it is understood, but few be lieve that it is worth the trip, will be the extending of a helping hand to any movement designed toward dis armament, but Uncle Sam will not take tlie initiative. If there are no movements in this direction. Uncle Sam will still come back with all his clothes on. This new departure in international affairs therefore is pleasing. For we will from now on go only as far as the other fellow has ngreed in advance to go through with his own plan. ALONG THE WAYSIDE. Indiana is just now celebrating the returning of draft beer which is an other indication of how the psychology of the people has changed. Secretary of State Cordell Hull is said to be unable to see any general tariff revision possible in the near future. Just what many predicted more than a year ago. We are in favor of putting the ehis lers on less than a thirty-five hour week. The code for the home town knock ers ought to provide that they be equipped with rubber hammers that bounce back and hit them between the eyes. Nowadays a girl is still a flapper until she has put on spectacles which contain bifocal lenses, and even then she doesn’t always give up. The poet tells us that there is a destiny which shapes our ends but the average women depends a little on tho milliner and the shoe clerk. One philosopher says that civili zation began when people started to realize thnt they should strive to bet ter their existence. It should bn noted also that at first they didn’t try to do it by playing the stock mar ket. A skeleton found in Minnesota is said to be that of a seventeen-year old American girl slain violently about 20,000 years ago. And let it be remembered that Chicago is only celebrating its 100th birthday. Scientists tell us that a grinding tool has been invented that, driven by compressed air, can be revolved 100,000 times a minute. And we are willing 4-H CLUBS OF THE STATE TO COMPETE AT NEBRASKA FAIR Results of Year’s Work To Be Shown Members of Nebraska’s 4-H Clubs will rally in great numbers to the Nebraska State Fair Grounds in Lincoln, the week of September 3rd through September 8th, to compete for state honors for the year’s endeavors. The fine new 4-H Club building will be the center of their activi ties, ami what is expected to be the finest exhibition in years will be found here. Baby beeves, dairy calves, (pigs, chickens, sewing, cooking and' can ning of every variety will 1*? on display, and during the week prizes will be nwarded tho winners in each field. Each year the attendance of the 4-H Club members has grown, showing enthusiastic cooperation with the state’s projects. In many rases the members come to tho Fair Grounds and camp for tho whole week with their families or friends. This year the same fine facilities nnd conveniences will be available for campers. The grounds are level and well drained, with cinder walks. The grounds are policed. Toilet facilities and baths are many and conveniently located. Tents and camping equipment are available at reasonable charges. Hundreds of entries for 4-H Club activities have been made, and the participation of Nebraska’s future generation promises to be one of the finest in years. to bet a dollar to a doughnut that our dentist has a whole set of them. It is said that air planes flying over New York now carry spy glasses so the passengers can see the sun bathers on the apartment house roofs and we suppose before long they will be carry ing grappling hooks. One of our Scotch friends whose daughter got married couldn’t go to the railroad station with her because he had to stay home and pick up the rice. A lot of men who get the reputation of being model husbands because they stay home at night are that way only because they are too lazy to go out. Some time Wall Street has to close business on account of the financial situation but Monte Carlo keeps going ahead in the old fashioned way. MAKING DISCOVERIES NEAR COLUMBUS. Wayne Herald; A specimen which was evidently the tooth of a prehis toric monster, was recently found by Henry Einung of Wayne in the bed of the Flatte river between Silver Creek and Columbus. Men were pumping sand from twenty-two feet below the river bed when the pump became clogged. They pulled the pump out anti found the tooth. The (Continued on page 5, column 6.) Research to Guide U. S. Road Expenditure THE research activities of the United States Bureau of Public Roads have been carried on behind the scenes so far as the general public is concerned. They have, however, contributed materially to the progress of highway construc tion for many years, and are now about to play an important part in assuring that the roads to be built or improved under the $400,000,000 allotment from the public works fund shall give the service to be demanded of them. In its tests laboratory at Arling ton, Virginia, across the Potomac from Washington, the Bureau has carried on research covering both sub-surface, or foundation, road soils, nnd the problem of providing satisfactory surfaces for low-cost highways. The latter phase of its research will prove of special im portance to rural districts where high-cost roads are not necessita ted by the amount of traffic, and where they would impose a heavy tax burden for maintenance. Surfacing Low-Cost Roads The extent to which low-cost roads can be provided with a smooth and durable surface de pends largely upon retention of surface moisture, for it is the pre sence of a moisture film between tlie surface particles that provides the “glue” to hold them together, and that keeps the surfaces of clay, sand-clay and ' gravel roads from disintegrating. Such moisture content can not be satisfactorily furnished and maintained by sprinkling or any other known means of mechanic ally applying water to the surface. The attention of the engineers, therefore, has been directed to the use of some chemical which will automatically draw the desired moisture from the air above or the earth below. Calcium chloride is a chemical of this kind. Applied to the road sur face it both draws moisture from the air and slows down evapora tion. A rainfall carries it beneath the surface, but as the surface moisture evaporates, the calcium chloride solution rises to take its place and furnish the “glue” to hold together the surface particles. With each rainfall and subsequent evaporation of surface moisture the process is repeated, the net result being that the surface has ,'o opportunity to dry out and dis egrate. The shrinkage test, another of the many tests used to determine the reactions of soils when subject to changing load, moisture and tem perature conditions. A moist sample of soil is placed in the laboratory “oven” and the amount of shrinkage observed when all the moisture has been removed. Among the most important fac tors that influence the action of the sub-surface soils is capillarity, or the extent to which capillary ac tion permeates them with moisture drawn up from the ground water. As in the case of the surface soils, a certain amount of moisture is highly desirable, hut too much dis integrates them just as too much water disintegrates a handful of damp sand. Sub-surface soils which attract excessive capillary moisture are also subject to the frost heaves that ruin many roads. J The Drainage Indicator, used to study the rise of water in a soil sample under varying conditions of pressure. A device developed by the Bureau and known as a drainage indicator makes it possible to de termine both the maximum capil lary rise in the soil under test, and the rate at which the ground water will rise due to capillary attraction. The device shows also the relative amounts of air, gravitational mois ture (rain water, etc.), capillary moisture and solid particles which go to make up the soil. The Capillary Rise The tremendous amount of water that can be furnished by capillary action is indicated by the composi tion of a sample ten-foot, column of soil. The sample contained 5.9 feet soil particles, .(> foot gravitational moisture and air, and 3.5 feet capil lary moisture. The maximum ca pillary rise was 9 feet, and at 1.5 feet above the ground water the rate of the rise was 10.4 feet per 24 hours. Soil is not a calculable and stable material to the same extent as steel, stone or wood, but the tests developed by the U. S. Bureau of Public Roads enable the highway engineer to forecast the reaction of his soil under varying conditions with a high degree of accuracy. At the same time they show in what necessary qualities the soil he must depend upon is deficient, and indicate what con stituents should bo added to repair these deficiencies. In The WEEK'S NEWS ROOSEVELT VISITS CAMPS. The President on his way back to the White House from his sum mer home at Hyde Park. N. Y., visits C.C.C. camps accompanied by cabinet members and Robert Fechner, Director of camps. JOINED — Edwin C. Hill, ace news commentator, and Singin’ Sam, leading basso, who will be heard together for the first time when their new airwave series starts on September 11. _ LUNCHEON ON HIGH— On his precarious perch high up above the ground a workman has his lunch on the scaffolding of the Vic toria Tower during repairs to Big Ben, the famous STR I KING MIN ERS RETURN. Mine strikers heed pleas of NRA lead ers and return to their duties. BACKS NRA DRIVE, s. W. A. Fiaher, presi- s dent of the Fiaher Body Corporation, who announced a 15% wage increaae affecting over 30,000 employes in planta in Tarrytown, Buffalo, Detroit. Flint, Pontiac, Lanaing, Cleveland, Norwood, St. Louis, KansaaCity, Oakland, Seattle, and Memphis. A 10% raise was given salaried em ployes earning less than $1800. These in creasce supplement a 5% increase made Juna 1. NEW PRESI DENT OF CUBA. Dr. Car los Manuel De Cespedet suc ceeds Gerardo Machado who was given a leave of absence by Congress In an effort to solve Cuba's crisis.