Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 17, 1936)
N,k itat. SUtnlMl VOL. LVII O’NEILL, NEBRASKA, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1936. No. 18 boom expected in NEBRASKA USE OF ELECTRICAL POWER Nebraska Power Companies Going Into Rural Field, One Having 200 Miles of Rural Line. by James R. Lowell One of the pleasant certainties for Nebraska in the near fu ture is a boom in the use of electric power which will not only turn the wheels and illuminate the build ings on thousands of farms, but also tend to develop the manu facturing industry in the state. The state railway commission, which of all state governmental bodies is closest to the activities of power companies, is of the opinion that this coming boom will be due not only to Nebraska’s great hydro electric developments now nearing completion or pending, but also be cause of the aggressive merchan dising by the privately owned com panies. It is agreed that the pos sibilities in the rural electrification field are only beginning to be tap ped by power lines. A controversial point of power development is what effect the fed eral program is having and will have upon the private firms that now have millions of dollars in vested in sites and equipment, with thousands of Nebraskans employed. Officials of the Nebraska Electric association say that the‘Nebraska power companies they represent are expanding private rural elec trification, and declare that the de mand for service has been stim ulated in part by the federal pro gram. W. R. McGeachin of the Iowa Nebraska company estimates his company will have completed 200 miles of new rural lines by the end of this year. He asserts the com pany’s relations with public rural electrification districts in Nebras ka, except in Lancaster county, are “friendly.” He warns, however, that exten sion of rural service can be accom plished only by subsidy of some sort, and that city consumers in directly must pay slightly higher rates so that the farmer can have a low charge. A representative of the Nebras ka Power company, headquartering at Omaha, says they intensified rural electrification work about a year ago and have built about 300 miles of new lines since then, and will build 350 more miles in the next year. On the other hand, Secretary Thorne Browne of the Nebraska Electric Light association, recently told the state board of equalization that 1936 valuations on corporation franchies should be eliminated or reduced because of the “inability of the companies to pay the pro posed valuations in view of re duced revenue . . . and the threat of possible extinction thru com petition with tax-free power dis tricts being set up by the federal government.” The state board allowed small reductions aggregating $20,000 to three of the smaller corporations, but decided to leave the larger corporations subject to franchise tax unchanged. The total franchise assessment fixed by the board on Nebraska utilities, including telephone com panies, is more than $4,000,000. These assessments are in addition to the valuations placed on their physical properties by county of ficials. An interesting sidelight on the Nebraska power scene is revealed in a survey to be completed about Oct. 1 by state university engine ers and political economists as a WPA project. It shows that Ne braska has more publicly owned electric utilities than any other state, with 179 of the 529 incor porated towns having municipal power. The survey also shows that 374 Nebraska towns own their own water systems. Additional facts already gleaned from the survey: The state aver age power consumption per cus tomer per year is 967 kwh, com pared with the national average of 1,683 kwh in 1932; considerable free service is given by utilities to municipalities; and while the city resident in Nebraska uses an aver age of 1,325 kwh a year, the village consumer accounts for only 514 kwh. The Lowell Newspaper Service has gathered opinions, facts, sta tistics and straw vote results from various sources over the state and is now launching a weekly forecast on November election results and political trends. The political sent iment in each of the state’s five congressional districts will be sum marized in turn during the next five weeks. This week it is the 2nd district: The Omaha vote dominates^this district, and with the democrats in the majority it appears Roosevelt will edge out Landon despite sup port of the latter by the two metropolitan dailies. Governor Cochran likewise is rated to swing a good majority of the votes, and, with the pro-Lan don World-Herald staunchly sup porting him, is expected to pile up a bigger majority in the 2nd than will Roosevelt. Simmons (R) for senator, with Norris and Carpenter splitting a good share of the democratic votes. Norris rated to run a close second, with Carpenter trailing . . . Mc Laughlin (D) to stay in as con gressman. Congressional contest in the primary rated 35,000 votes as against 22,000 for the four re publican candidates. Jurgensen (D) for lieutenant governor (Williams, republican (Continued on page 4, column 1.) 4-H Club Members From Holt County Make Good Showing At State Fair The Holt county 4-H club mem bers who competed in various con tests at the State Fair gave a very good account of themselves. Elev en boys and girls from the county made the trip. Earl Ressel placed first in judging of both eggs and dressed poultry and placed ninth individual in the contest. Joe Cur ran placed fourth in judging dressed poultry and tenth individ ual in the contest with 30 mem bers representing 10 counties com peting. Marie Hynes stood up well to ward the top in the Health Con test. Marjorie Rees and Vera Grutsch gave a very creditable demonstration in the face of keen competition. Their demonstration was on “Fresh Eggs.” Henrietta Schrier and Marion Ickes placed ninth as a team in judging clothing against a field of teams from 25 counties. Monday evening Gold & Co. ent ertained all 4-H members taking part in the State Fair at a banquet in the Cornhusker hoel, and their choice of moving pictures at the main Lincoln theaters. All members report they had a very worthwhile trip and are de termined to do even better next year. Soil Conservation Soil depleting bases were mailed out to landlords and producers of all farms in Holt county this week. School of instruction for farm re porters was held in O’Neill on Monday and Tuesday and they have already started measuring farms. This year all crop land must be measured on those farms when the operator or landlord in tends to apply for a grant. This is a big undertaking and the coopera tion of every cooperator will be greatly appreciated. Farm reporters will be equipped with a 100 foot steel tape which will require that the operator or his assistant carry one end. In this way both the operator and supervisor will be satisfied with the measurement of the field. Per manent field boundaries will be es» tablished so that in the future an operator can tell what the require ments for compliance will be. After the farms are measured those entitled to federal grants will fill out the necessary forms which will in turn be transmitted from the county office to Lincoln and Washington. CARD OF THANKS We desire to express our heart felt thanks to the many kind friends and neighbors for sympathy expressed and the many acts of kindness following the death of our beloved father, the late F. C. Gatz. —Mr. and Mrs. F. G. Clift, Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Schroeder, Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Vincent, Mr. and Mrs. William E. Gatz, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Gatz, Mr. and Mrs. Ed ward E. Gatz and Mr. and Mrs. C. J. Gatz. O’Neill Public School Opens With 476 Pupils The O’Neill public schools opened on Monday, September 7, with an increased attendance. The total enrollment in the grades for this schol year is 270 as compared to 239 for the school year of 1935, an increase in the grades of 31. The total enrollment in the High school for this school year is 206, as compared with 195 for the year 1935, an increase of 11. The total number of pupils enrolled in the public schools for this year is 476, compared to 455 last year, an in crease of 21 pupils. The number of pupils in the different grades are as follows: Kindergarten H 26 first Grade 17 Second Grade _ 33 Third Grade 31 Fourth Grade 35 Fifth Grade 25 Sixtli Grade 42 Seventh Gradd . 29 Eighth Grade 32 Total 270 Non Resident Resident 9th grade 25 22 10th grade 28 20 11th grade 31 26 12th grade 22 28 Post Grad. . 4 Total . 110 96 Total for 1936 High School 206 Total for 1935 High School 195 Maine Against New Deal The electors of the state of Maine spoke in no uncertain tones last Tuesday on their opinion of the New Deal. They elected a re publican United States senator and three republican members of con gress, replacing two demtcratic •yes men with two republicans in the national house. They also elected a republican governor with a majority of over 40,000 to replace a democratic governor. The demo crats secured control of the state in 1934 by electing a democratic governor and two democratic mem bers of congress. They re-elected ?hem in 1934. This year they re pudiated the entire bunch, the dem ocratic candidate for the senate by about 5,000 majoriy and the demo cratic members of congress by ap proximately 20,000 each. This shows clearly how the east takes to the New Deal, altho they have dis tributed over $150,000,000 of the taxpayers money in this state in the last three years they failed to hold it in line. Just watch the other eastern states fall in line as soon as they get a chance to get a crack at the New Dealers. Frisbie-Markey A very pretty wedding occurred at St. Cecelia cathedral in Omaha when Mr. R. Frisbie, of Omaha, and Miss Cecelia Markey, formerly of O’Neill, were united in marriage by Father O’Brien on Saturday, Sept. 5. They were attended by Bob O’Donnell, cousin of the bride and Miss Agnes Weil-, a friend of the bride. The groom is the only son of Mrs. R. Frisibe, of Toronto, Can ada, and at the present is engaged in the film business in Omaha. The bride is the youngest daughter of Mrs. Markey and the late Thomas Markey, of this city, and is quite well known here, being a graduate of the O’Neill high school, Class of ’26. She taught school three terms prior to going to Omaha where she since has been employed by the Electric Supply corporation of that city. The bride wore a brown dress and hat with accessories to match, and carried a bouquet of three gardenias. A wedding breakfast was Served at the home of the bride’s cousin, Mrs. Mary O’Donnell, of Omaha, for immediate relatives. After a short wedding trip to Kansas the young couple will take up house keeping in a furnished home in Omaha. ALPHA CLUB The Alpha Club met with Mrs. Harry Lansworth on Wednesday, September 9. Thirteen members responded to the roll call by stat ing a Nebraska law. The annual picnic and plans for a Hallow’een party were discussed. After the business meeting there was a book report by Mrs. Albert McDonald and a very interesting paper on the Club members “Forty And How! jjjfCoprrigl* It I*. fry TW Cliff HfM and EumiMf five Years Hence,” written by Mrs. Art Auker. The meeting adjourned to partake of a most delicious luch eon. An enjoyable time was had by all. The annual picnic of the Alpha Club members and their families was held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Drayton on Sunday, Sept. 13. Dinner was served at 1 o’clock. The afternoon was spent in games and contests. Everyone went home tired and saying they had enjoyed the day. Primary Elections Show Republican Voters Lead Primary elections were held in several states last Tuesday. In Michigan, Senator Cousins, repub lican, who has represented that state in the senate for the past foureen years, was defeated for the republican nomination by former Governor Wilbur M. Brucker by more than 100,000 votes, was one of the outstanding surprises of the election in that state. Senator Cousins guessed wrong. He stated a few weeks ago that he was going to support the Roosevelt pol icies and the republicans of that state relegated him to a place where he will not be able to do much injury to the cause of good government. In the state the re publicans polled more than 100,000 more votes than the democrats, which seems to insure Michigan in the Landon column in the Novem ber election. In Massachusetts the republicans polled about 50,000 more votes in the primary than the democrats, in. spite of the fact that he democrats had several interesting contests for various state offices, as well as U. S. senator. Governor James M. Curley, an ardent New Dealer, was the democratic choice for United States senator, while Henry Cabot Lodge, jr., won the republican nom ination. Primary election returns indicate a great battle for suprem acy in that stae next November. Griswold To Speak Here September 26 Dwight Griswold, Republican candidate for governor, will be in Holt county Saturday, Sept. 26, 1936, and will speak at Chambers at 3 p. m., and at O’Neill at 7 p. m. of that day. Citizens and taxpay ers of the county, who wish to hear the issues of the state campaign discussed in a fair and dispassion ate way should attend these meet ings. Mr. Griswold is a convinc ing speaker, well posted on the af fairs of the state, having been a member of both branches of the state legislature. Come and hear him. Mr. and Mrs. Paul Montgomery returned Sunday from Casper, Wy oming, near which city Mrs. Mont gomery had spent the past three months on her homestead. Mr. Montgomery left Monday for their home at Hartington, while Mrs. Montgomery remained here for a week’s visit at the home of her par ents, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Grady and with other relatives and friends in this city. W. C. T. U. Meeting Held In Atkinson The following resolutions were passed at the W. C. T. U. county convention held at Atkinson last week, and in view of the conditions existing at this time, and the ter rible temptations being placed be fore our boys and girls, should re ceive the hearty endorsement of every father and mother in Holt county. Why not join in a mighty effort to make Nebraska a safe place in which to bring up our children? Are they not worth the effort? We, Women of the W. C. T. U. of Holt county of the year, 1936, wish to reaffirm the principles writ ten by Francis Willard in 1874, the first of which is: 1. We believe in the coming of His Kingdom, and to bring this about we resolve to better obey His laws. 2. We believe in the gospel of the Golden Rule, and that eacl> wo man’s life should be a safe example for other women to follow. 3. We resolve to better obey the rules of our organization in the doing of the work required and re porting what we do do. 4. In view of the fact that dur ing this past year many of the faithful members of the state, and others have dropped out; Be is Re solved that we make greater effort to secure recruits for our ranks. 5. We Resolve to stress our program of education for the youth of our country. 6. In view of the fact of the terrible offensive advertising of the liquor traffic, we resolve to give more publicity to our work. Holt County W. C. T. U. Visits At Old Home John Hunter, of Malta, Mont., arrived in the city last Friday for a few days visit with relatives and old friends in this county. Mr. Hunter is a former resident of this county, having lived in the north eastern part of the county until 1912, when he moved to Iowa, liv ing there for a few years and then returning to Nebraska, living for a time in Keya Paha county. From there he went to Montana where he has lived for more, than twenty years. Mr. Hunter is a brother of the late J. M. Hunter, long a re spected and well loved resident of this county, and his last visit to O’Neill was to attend the funeral of his brother. Mr. Hunter has been a life-long democrat, but this year he says he is for Landon and Knox, altho he still says he is a democrat. He says he has watched things in his section of the country and it is appalling the way the present administration is spending the people’s money. He will visit his nephew, Frank Hunter, of Star, and will then visit in Iowa before returning home. Former O’Neill Couple Take Up Aviation Mrs. E. L. Davies, of Valentine, was in the city the latter part of the week on her way from Lincoln, where she and her husband had been attending an aviation school the past two mouths. Mrs. Davies returned home with the car while Mr. Davies flew home in a new plane that he purchased in Lin coln. Mr. and Mrs. Davies were former residents of this city, Mr. Davies being an employee in the O’Neill laundry several years ago, moving from here to Valentine where he has been for several years engaged in the laundry and dry cleaning business Mrs. Davies was formerly Rose Rosenwald, a daughter of Mrs. Anna Hughes of this city. St. Mary’s Academy Has Large List of Hoarders St. Mary’s Academy opened Mon day, Sept. 7, with the largest at tendance for several years. There are 309 pupils enrolled in the acad emy for this school year, 188 in the grades and 121 in the high school. Of the 121 students in the high school 90 are hoarders, possibly the largest attendance of boarders in the history of the school. We un derstand that they are full and could have had several more board ers if there had been accommoda tions for them Boarders are at tending this year from Nebraska, South Dakota, Spokane, Wash.,j Stockton, Calif., Janesville, Wis., and Chicago, 111. St. Mary’s has an enviable repu tation as an institution of learning and the sisters will probably have to build an addition to the building in order to take care of all the stu dents who wish to take advanago of its courses of study. Report of Atkinson Livestock Market Tuesday, September 15 Hogs: Receipts, 684 head. De mand extremely active for all classes of feeder pigs with the market generally 26 to 50 cents a hundred higher. Most pigs were bought to go to Illinois. 40 to 50 lb. averages at $6.25 to $7.00; 60 to 90 lb. averages at $7.00 to $8.00; 100 to 140 lb. averages at $8.00 to $9.00; 170 to 220 lb. averages at $10.00 to $10.15; sows at $8.25 to $8.95. Cattle: Receipts 1,435 head. A good strong market on all kinds, with more buyers on hand than any time this fall. The bulk of the cattle were taken by Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota buyers. Best steer calves at $6.50 to $7.35; heifer calves at $5.76 to $6.50; plainer calves on down to $5.00; choice yearling steers at 5.50 to 6.60 with reds and roans selling on down to $4.00; fleshy yearling heif ers at $5.00 to $5.75; good stock heifers at $4.00 to $5.00; fat cows choice at $5.00 to $6.00; best heavy cutters at $4.00 to $4.50; canners at $3.00 to $3.25; bulls at $3.75 to $4.50; cows and calves by the head at $50.00; milk cows from $35.00 to $4^.00; two year old fleshy steers at $5.50 to $6.50. About 500 head of South Dakota catle were included in the days offering. — Speaker Shows Abuses Of New Deal Program A truck sent out by the republic an national committtee, with a ra dio and a public speaker, with E. E. Deel, of Kansas City, Mo., in charge, was in Holt county last Friday and Saturday. The truck was in Chambers Friday morning and at Atkinson in the evening. In both of these places they were greeted by large crowds. Saturday afternoon the truck was in this city. The car contained an exhibit of meats and other agricultural products now imported, from for eign countries in great quantities. Mr. Deel delivered an address of about an hour’s duration, during which time he was listened to at tentively by a large crowd. The exhibit car was the center of inter est and many farmers were heard to express their disgust that our government would compel farmers to let part of their land lie idle, to enable foreign countries to flood our markets with their products. Mr. Deel is a fine gentleman and a good talker and he made a very favorable impression with the vot ers in this section. They left here late in the afternoon for Plainview where they were billed for an ad dress that evening. Large delegations of O’Neill cit izens attended the South Fork fair at Chambers last week and they say the people of that enterprising little city and the officers of the fair association furnished good amusement for the visitor^, al though the exhibits of farm . pro duce was considerably curtailed to what it had been in other years. WILLIAM WALSH IS DEAD FOLLOWING A SHORT ILLNESS Funeral Services For Early Settler Held Today At St. Patrick's Church. Burial Here. William A. Walsh died at his home in this city last Monday night about 11:80 after a short illness, at the age of 64 years, 3 months and 27 days. The funeral servies were held this morning at 9 o’clock from St. Patrick’s church, interment in Calvary cemetery . William Anthony Walsh was born in Decatur, Illinois, on May 17, 1872. When he was a few years of age the family moved to Iowa, settling near Corning and came to this county in the spring of 1884. They lived on a farm just east of town for a couple of years and then moved to the north eastern part of the county, on the edge of Knox, where his faher took a homestead and Bill grew to man hood. On January 20, 1903, he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Jane Lauless, daughter of a pion eer settler living a few miles north east of this city, the ceremony being performed in this city. Four children were born of this union, three of whom survive, one son and two daughters. The children are: Francis and Marie, O’Neill, and Mrs. K. P. Hoffman, of Rushville, Nebraska, who are left, with their mother, to mourn the passing of a kind husband and father. He also leaves one brother, James, of Knoxville, and two sisters, one liv ing in Denver and the other in Wyoming, all of whom were pres ent at the funeral. Bill Walsh was one of the old pioneers of the county. Coming here in 1884 at the age of 12 most of his life was spent in this county. He lived for many years on the old homestead, northeast of this city, on the Knox county line, moving to O’Neill in the spring of 1911 where | he resided up to the time of his death. For several years he was an employee of the Northwestern railroad, at the station here, and was employed by that company for a couple of years in Omaha. For several years he has been unem ployed. He was a rugged man but his health failed a couple of years ago and for the past year he had been rapidly failing, but was confined to his bed but a few days before his death. He was a good citizen and had a host of friends in the city and the northeastern part of the county who will regret.to learn of his death. School Notes Holt county rural schools are sponsoring an attendance contest. The contest will last until the end of the school year. The .rural schools of the county will be divided into three groups. Group one will be made up of schools having an enrollment of ten and under. Group two will be comprised of schools having an enrollment of twenty and under. Group three will be made up of schools having a enrollment of thirty and under, as well as thirty and over. In addition to this each school will be divided into two sides the reds and the blues. Team cap tains will be appointed whose duties are to stimulate each side to great er attendance efforts. The schools having the best aver age daily attendance in each group will be awarded a framed picture at the end of the school year. The school exhibit will be on dis play until after the teacher’:- insti tute. The school exhibit hall will be open to the public until that time. County Superintendent. Deals of This Kind Are Now Very Rare It has been several years since\ anyone was here to make final proof on a piece of government land, until last week when Mrs. Elizna Good appeared before Land Attorney L. G. Gillespie and made out her papers for final proof on 22 acres of land in Section 33, Township 33, range 11, in the Ni obrara river bottom about one mile south of the Spencer bridge. Mrs. Wood filed on this land on Novem ber 5, 1931. The papers were made out and will have to be sent to Washington for action before tha interior department.
