Nebraska Newspapers

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Neb. State Historical Society
The Frontier
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VOL. LVIII. O’NEILL, NEBRASKA, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17,1938. No. 40
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Funeral Services Held
Wednesday In Atkinson
For Charles F. Pruss
Charles F. Pruss died at the
home of his daughter, Mrs. Leslie
Caster, at Inman last Monday
afternoon after an illness of sev
l eral weeks of ailments due to ad
vancing years, at the age of 77
yars, 3 months and 13 days. The
funeral was held from the Luther
an church in Atkinson Wednesday
afternoon at 2 o’clock, Rev. Wil
liam Vahle officiating and burial
in the Atkinson cemetery at the
side of his wife.
Charles F. Pruss was born at
Buffalo, N. Y., on November 1,
1860. While he was in his teens
his parents moved to Glidden, la.,
where he grew to manhood. On
March 15, 1881, he was united in
marriage at Glidden to Miss Laura
Charlotte Schulz, who passed away
in October, 1926, at her home in
this city. The family moved to
k this county from Glidden, la., in
1890 and for 48 years he was a
resident of this county.
When he came here he located
northwest of Emmet where the
family resided for many years,
then moved to Emmet, where he
purchased hogs on the Emmet
market and afterwards moved to
this city where he was also one of
the active hog buyers of this city.
After the death of his wife he
made his home here for a few
years and then went to the home
of his daughter at Inman where he
resided for the past three years.
He leaves five children, three
daughters and two sons to mourn
the departure of an affectionate
j husband and father. The children
* are: Henry, of O’Neill; John B.,
of Emmet; Mrs. John Martfeld, of
O’Neill; Mrs. Dan Crandall, of
Chambers; Mrs. Leslie Caster, of
Inman. He also leaves two broth
ers, Frank of this city, and Joseph
of Glidden, la., sixteen grandchild
ren and three great grandchildren.
AH of his children were present at
the funeral and his brother, Frank,
Joe of Glidden, being unable to
attend.
Charles Pruss was a good citizen
and had a host of friends in this
city and in fact all over the county,
for, during his years in the hog
buying business he became ac
quainted with people in all sections
of the county. He was known as
a square shooter, a good friend and
neighbor. W’hile he lived to a ripe
old age his passing will be sincere
ly regretted not only by his im
mediate relatives but by a large
circle of friends.
Offer Youths Chance To
Learn Building Trades
In Cooperation with the State
Teachers college at Kearney, the
National Youth Administration in
Nebraska is establishing a project
whereby thirty-five eligible young
men may be offered an opportunity
to participate in an educational
work program. With the increas
ing demand for skilled workmen in
the building trades, it appears de
y sirable to assist youth in acquiring
as much experience and training
in occupational skills as possible.
Thru a cooperative plan of work
and learn, young men may earn on
this NYA work project enough to
cover their living and instruction
expenses, plus $5.00 a month for
personal use. The training courses
which the young men will take out
side of their work hours will con
sist of short comprehensive and
practical instruction in carpentry,
cabinet making, masonry, bricklay
ing, etc. It is expected that the
initial training period will start
around Feb. 1, 1938, and continue
for approximately four months.
A particular effort is being made
to extend the opportunities of this
f' project to eligible youth residing
in small communities and rural
areas since vocational training op
portunities are ordinarily very lim
ited to these youth. Boys between
the ages of 18 and 25 who are in
terested in preparing themselves
for skilled work may make appli
cation for this training in the
Holt county Assistance Office.
335 Miles of Shelterbelt
Trees In Neligh District
Definite arrangements have been
made for planting 335 miles of field
shelterbelt tree plantings in the
. Neligh district, which is composed
of all of Antelope county and parts
of Holt, Boone, Knox and Wheeler
counties.
It is estimated by E. Garth
Champagne, forest service officer
in charge of the Neligh district,
that 375 men nearly all of which
will come from the WPA rolls, will
be needed to complete this work in
approximately six weeks time. Two
million trees of species suitable to
the area will be used in planting
this mileage and they will be
planted in narrow strips of ten I
rows, seven rods wide on approxi
mately 700 different farms. If
these trees were planted in one
single row they would reach ap
proximately from New York to
Los Angeles, according to Mr.
Champagne.
Survival for the shelterbelt
plantings made in the spring of
1937 in the Neligh district was 77
per cent and many of the trees
reached a height of six to eight
feet the past summer even though
moisture was very lacking during
this period.
Large Group of Friends
Greet Mr. and Mrs. Dan
Cronin On Anniversary
At the nine o’clock Mass last
Sunday, specially offered for them
by Monsignor McNamara, one of
O’Neill’s oldest and most esteemed
couples began the celebration
marking their fifty years of mar
ried life.
“This is an occasion for celebra
tion not only by this one family,
but by the entire community,” said
Monsignor, as he viewed the pan
orama of fifty years of Christian
marriage, dating from Feb. 13,
1888, when Daniel J. Cronin and
Mary Morrison were married in the
small frame church by the late
Monsignor Cassidy, when this
parish was just eleven years old.
One had only to see the vast
crowd which thronged the church
Sunday morning—from the child
ren who offered hymns of praise,
to the contemporaries of the couple
themselves—to realize that indeed
it was a cause for a community to
rejoice.
Following the Mass the couple
was honored at a dinner at the
Golden hotel which was attended
by the nine children and their
families who came from far and
near to be with their parents on
this happy d^y.
They are Mrs. Margaret Breken
kotter of Denver, Julia of Chey
enne, Wyo., Mrs. Grace Guinan of
Missouri Valley, Phillip of Chicago,
Mrs. Mary Roach, Mrs. Loretta
Johnson, John and William of
Omaha, and Mrs. Nan Sauser of
O’Neill. Monsignor McNamara,
Father Flynn and other relatives
were also guests at the dinner.
Mr. and Mrs. Cronin received a
beautiful copy of the Bible from
Monsignor McNamara, as well as
a handsome purse and other lovely
gifts.
During the afternoon, while
friends dropped in to congratulate
and reminisce on pioneer days in
Holt county, a group of O’Neill’s
songsters wended their way thru
the hotel singing, “Let Me Call
You Sweetheart,” “I Want A Girl”
and “Put On Your Old Gray Bon
net.” This lovely thoughtfulness
together with the felicitations of
fered by the many friends convey
to Mr. and Mrs. Cronin our own
hope that God may continue to
bless them all their lives.
Alpha Club
The Alpha Club met at the home
of Mrs. Art Auker on Wednesday,
February 9. Eleven members
were present and Mrs. Ervon Sim
onson and Mrs. Henry Martin were
guests. ^ dessert demonstration
was given by Pear Widtfeldt.
A 1 o’clock luncheon was served
by the hostess which consisted of
sandwiches, meat loaf, sweet pota
toes and gravy and a spiced tea.
The dessert was then served by
Pearl Widtfeldt.
After luncheon the meeting was
called to order. Roll call was to
give an interestng fact about Wash
ington or Lincoln.
The Club fees for the year were
paid and other business matters
were discussed. Mrs. Sam Robert
son was taken in as a new member
of the Club.
A book report, “Wind From the
Mountains” by Gulbranssen, was
given by Esther Robertson, which
was much enjoyed by all.
I The next meeting will be held
with Pearl Widtfeldt on March 9.
Mrs. Henry Martin and Mrs. Er
von Simonson entertained the Al
pha Club and their guests to a
party at the Simonson home Satur
day evening. About thirty guests
were present and the evening was
spent playing cards. High score
was won for the ladies by Pearl
Widtfeldt and for the men by Al
bert McDonald. Consolation by
Lillian Drayton and Clarence
Wrede.
Mrs. Simonson and Mrs. Martin
served a lovely lunch and the even
ing was much enjoyed by all.
«
Charles Thomson And
Gertrude Conway Are
Married Here Tuesday
A pretty wedding was solemnized
at St. Patrick’s church in this city
at 8 o’clock Tuesday morning, Feb.
15,when Chas. Thomson of Cham
bers, and Miss Gertrude Conway
of O’Neill, were united in marriage
the ceremony being performed by
Father Walter Flynn. The at
tendants at the wedding were Ray
and Miss Clare Conway, brother
and sister of the bride.
The groom is the youngest son of
Mrs. S. A. Bartlett of Chambers,
and is well known and highly es
teemed in the southern part of the
county and is an energetic and am
bitious young man.
The bride is the daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Martin Conway, old time
and prominent residents of Shields
precinct, and is a charming and
attractive young lady who has
a host of friends in this city and
vicinity.
The young couple were the reci
pients of many useful and beauti
ful presents at a shower held in
their honor at the home of Mr.
and Mrs. James Earley.
Mr. and Mrs. Thomson have the
best wishes of a host of friends in
this vicinity and in the south
country for a long and happy mar
ried life.
They will be at home to their
many friends on a farm south of
this city after March 1, 1938.
The Weather
The weather has been chilly the
past week and this section, as well
as most of the state, received a
good snow fall the forepart of the
week. It started snowing here
Monday night and continued inter
mittingly until yesterday noon and
it is estimated that ten inches of
snow is now on the ground. We
have had little wind here and the
snow has not drifted much, and
main highways in this section are
open for travel this morning. A
good heavy wind in the next few
days would tie things up in this
section as with nearly a foot of
snow on the ground it wouldn’t
take long to tie up traffic.
While It has been chilly all week
the thermometer did not reach
zero until last night when it regis
tered one below zero. It is warm
ing up today and the weather
bureau gives the cheering news
that it will be warmer in this sec
tion of the state today and to
morrow.
Following is the weather chart
I for the past two weeks.
High Low Precp.
Feb. 8 . 35 0
Feb. 4 . 62 19
Feb. 5_ 57 23
Feb. 6 ... _ 41 27
Feb. 7 57 27
Feb. 8 _. 47 29
Feb. 9 . 34 9
Feb. 10 _ 34 19
Feb. 11 _ 58 21
Feb. 12 .. 51 33
Feb. 13 _ 39 7
Feb. 14 _ 22 2
Feb. 15_ 19 4
Feb. 16_ 8 3 .65
Feb. 17 .09
Total precipitation since Jan. 1,
.99 inch.
CARD OF THANKS
We desire to express our sincere
appreciation to the many friends
for the kindness and sympathy
shown during the illness and death
of our mother.—The Gallagher
Family.
Marriage Licenses
Clarence L. Lee of Chambers,
and Miss Lorena M. Fackler of At
kinson, on February 14.
Charles C. Thomson of Cham
bers and Miss Gertrude Conway of
O’Neill, on February 14.
Mrs. M. W. Costello of Ewing,
wad visiting friends in this city
last Tuesday.
Highway Program Must Go On
Congress is told it must solve
three vital questions before it can
close this session. One is the labor
question, because there are still
about 11 million unemployed people
in our country. Another is the na
tional defense question, because
the world still believes in war and
because it is said our Navy is not
strong enough. Another is the
question of our national debt
which now is close to the forty
billion mark. So congress is told
to cut expenses by curtailing high
way construction.
Compared to road work, building
of battleships would not take up
the slack in unemployment because
85 to 90 per cent of every road
dollar goes to labor of some sort.
With newly mechanized army ser
vice it is agreed that highways are
just as important for national de
fense as are a few giant battle
ships. So congressmen who are
told they must pass another half
billion dollar bill to build big navy
ships are wondering how they can
help balance the budget by stop
ping highway work and at the
same time relieve unemployment
and assure national defense.
They are preplexing questions
and the guess is that when the
smoke clears away the highway
program will go on without being
seriously hampered and that the
Navy will get its new ships as per
order.
Battleships Require Millions
There is a lot of war talk in
Washington these days. The big
Navy bill, the second one coming
to the House within a short time,
calls for more battleships. Of
course, Uncle S^ni is not telling
his Army and Navy secrets these
days. Other nations are pretty
secretive. They always have to
keep their secrets. Uncle Sam
has been more generous. But now
that the war talk is going on there’s
more secrecy. The new navel bill
will call for new battleships. Just
how many, what kind and all de
tails, are and should be kept sec
ret. But it is generally under
stood there will be several of the
modern or super-type battleships.
These modern ships cost from 65
million to 70 million dollars each.
A twenty-foot concrete highway
costs 20 thousand dollars a mile.
So one of these new battleships
cost as much as a twenty-foot
paved road running across our
entire nation from east to west.
The maintenance cost of a bat
tleship is tremendous. It becomes
absolute in fifteen to twenty years.
There is maintenance cost on a
paved highway, but nothing com
parable to the cost of maintaining
a big battleship fully manned and
equipped.
What, No Washington?
The town of Washington is grow
ing. The commercial club here ex
pects the population to be around
one million and a half .in 1950. Its
around 600,000 now. Over 130 con
ventions are hoi ked for the town
this year. Washington officials
say there is no such town as Wash
ington. This town officially is
“The District of Columbia.”
Reform Must < "me From People
Themselves
Serious-thinking statesmen in
Washington are giving a lot of at
tention to the warning of a very
prominent minister of this town
who told them from the pulpit last
Sunday that they have to try some
thing else if thev want to cure the
ills of the world today. He told
them that they have failed to solve
the unemployment question after
all these years of legislation. He
said there are still 11 million people
unemployed in our land; there are
still wars between labor and capi
tal; there are wars among people
over the world; business has not
recovered and people art still
hungry and and all the things man
has tried by way of legislation
has failed thus far.
His warning was to the effect
that men and women have to re
form themselves and that churches
of all denominations will have tc
do something about it very soon
or else all churches will suffer the
worst slump they have ever ex
perienced. This warning was
serious enough to be discussed
pretty openly in the House lobby
the other day.
Congress Must Decide if Road
Work Is To Be Cut
Hundreds of letters have come
to the district office urging continu
ation of the Federal aid highway
program. In these letters are
many questions asking what the
fuss is all about in the House
Roads committee.
To explain, briefly, the situation:
The committee is now holding
hearings on a bill which would au
thorize the usual amount for dis
tribution among states for federal
aid to highways, for the fiscal years
1940 and 1941. Some time ago
the President recommended the
cancellation of the federal author
ization to the states for the fiscal
year 1939. The congres* had al
ready authorized the money
amounting to $238,000,000. The
allocations to the states have al
ready been made according to the
law passed by the congress.
Cn December 31, lffe7, Henry
Wallace, Secretary of Agriculture,
under whose department the high
way act is administered, wrote let
ters to the governors of the various
states that notwithstanding the
fact that he had apportioned the
’39 money, he requested the gover
nors to hold up the 1939 applica
tions for projects. Then the Sec
retary of Agriculture and the Sec
retary of the Interior sent pro
posed bills to the house committee
on roads which called for a repeal
of the law making the 1939 author
ization.
These bills, however, have not
been officially introduced and it is
entirely up to congress now to
either back up the President’s pro
posal or take some affirmative
action on what’s going to be done
with the 1939 money. Here is a
legislative branch of the govern
ment confronted with the problem
of the executive department tell
ing the state governments not to
carry out the will of the legisla
tive branch until the legislative
branch takes some other kind of
action or rescinds the law it had
passed.
(Continued on page 5, column 5.)
Johnsons A Family
Of Railroad Men
Mr. and Mrs. John S. Johnson,
parents of Mrs. Thomas Edwards,
arrived in the city the first of the
week for a several weeks visit at
the Edwards home. Mr. and Mrs.
Johnson were for many years resi
dents of Plainview but they came
here from Beatrice to which place
he was transferred a little over a
year ago.
Mr. Johnson had been an em
ployee of the Burlington railroad
for forty-nine years when he was
retired on a pension last June.
He is a brother of Mike Johnson
of this city who has been section
foreman for the Burlington since
1903. Another brother, Frank, is
foreman at Belden. He has been
with the Burlington since 1898
Two other brothers, Bert and
Charles, have also been section fore
men for the Burlington, but are
now on the retired list.
This Johnson family seem to be
natural-born railroaders. They are
the sons of a pioneer family ol
this county who settled southwesi
of this city about 23 miles, in 1880
where they resided for many years
Fire Damages Home
Of Mrs. Ella Rile>
Fire, of unknown origin, badlj
damaged the home of Mrs. Riley ir
the northern part of the city Iasi
Monday night about 10:30. Mrs
Riley was not at home at the tim(
and a neighbor noticed smoke pour
ing from the building and sounde<
the alarm. The fire departmen
promptly responded and in a shor
time extinguished the flames.
The fire started in the basemen
and burned thru the lower floor am
the contents of the building wa
badly damaged with smoke am
water. We understand that thi
loss is covered by insurance.
Over 3,000 Automobile
Licenses Issued Hen
Applications for automobile li
cense plates has been better in th
office of the county treasurer thi
year than for several years past
up to this time of the year. Th
! office has issued 3,000 plates for
passenger cars so far this year and
it is believed that there are about
1.000 cars in the county for which
no plates have yet been secured.
The end of the good will season is
rapidly approaching and those
without new plates for their cars
had better secure them at once.
When R. E. Gallagher, who had
charge of the issuing of licenses for
automobile drivers, closed his office
on December 7, he had issued 5,903
licenses. An inspection of the
records in the treasurer’s office this
morning discloses the fact that
there has now been issued 6,100
drivers licenses to automobile
drivers in this county. While this
is a large number it is still about
2.000 less than it had been antici
pated would be issued in this
county, prior to the start of the
examinations.
Mrs. M. A. McCafferty,
Pioneer Lady, Greeted
On Her 79th Birthday
On Friday last a dozen or more
old time friends and neighbors
dropped in on Mrs. M. A. MeCaf
ferty at the home of her daughter,
Mrs. It. E. Gallagher, to wish her
happiness on her 79th birthday. In
the group were several who have
passed the three score and ten,
Mrs. Daly, Mrs. Biglin, Mrs. Bren
nan, Mrs. Bauman, Mrs. Minton,
Mrs. McCabe and Mrs. McCafferty.
Across the yenrs they glimpsed
again the yesterdays of half a
century ago, as each lady related
some experience back in the decade
when they held the stage at the
same time.
They were all young brides to
gether, unused to the hardships of
pioneering, not the pampered lan
guishing type, but keen-edged, de- i
termined wives and mothers, many!
from comfortable homes in far
away eastern cities, lured on by
fantistic stories of fame and for
tune that was to be had from “them
thar bare prairies.”
Their abodes were crude and in
adequate to their needs, but by
sheer determination, they strung
along and created an atmosphere
of homelike coziness for their
. men folks and little ones, going
their way with human kindliness,
lending assistance here and there
by the roadside, whenever a crying
need presented itself.
As the afternoon merged with
the candle hour and tale after tale
unfolded itself, we saw the happy
adventuring, gayety, wit, and
humor mingling with hardships,
privations, misfortunes and suffer
ings of those long ago days when
they lived in a labryinth of fron
tiering. But the realities and
achievements they accomplished
stand out with a brilliant light in
a rather sterile background.
A few were left widows at an
early age with a brood of little
ones to care for, but with unflinch
ing courage and necessity they
faced facts, and were wielders of
the master spirit to do and con
quer. One brave woman harnessed
herself to the plow and sowed the
seed to feed and nourish her little
ones, and she lives today to see
her children’s grandchildren.
Cruel prairie fires swept along.
Blizards and destructive hoppers
i winged by and furrowed brow and
cheeks not a little. There were
times when their thought wafted to
other scenes and other days, as
each fall settled in on them for a
long sleep, it saddened them for a
time, but each spring with the com
ing of the feathered flock when
mother nature stretched out her
great arms and welcomed them
within her mantle of greenest
green, they pushed on with re
newed courage and faith in the
soil, thereby bequeathing to us a
I tremduous influence to grab the
I next spoke of the wheel and push
with all our might so that in the
years to came, we too, may know
the meaning and essence of a well
spent life.
I We are gratefully proud to have
known these women and wish that
I the retelling and stringing along of
their story might be embroidered
into beautiful verse, for as a great
writer says, “They had the happy
faculty of making a lot, and a
I lovely lot, out of a little.”
I
R. E. Gallagher drove to Omaha
? last Friday for a few days visit
> with friends and to look after busi
, ness matters. He returned home
: Sunday afternoon.
George Farman Jr. Is
Chosen Bar Head At
Meeting Last Saturday *
The members of the Fifteenth
Judicial District Bar association
held their annual meeting at the
court house in this city last Satur
day afternoon and wound up the
meeting in the evening with a ban
quet at the Golden hotel.
The afternoon meeting was the
business meeting when matters af
fecting the profession were dis
cussed. The following officers were
elected to head the association for
the coming year: President, Geo.
A. Farman, Jr., Ainsworth Vice
President, E. H. Curtis, Bassett;
Secretary - Treasurer, Wayne A.
Davies of Butte.
At 7 o’clock in the evening a
banquet was served in the Golden
hotel to the visiting attorneys and
at this gathering two vocal solos
were rendered by Lewis Cambre,
and two more selections were rend
ered by the O’Neill quartette com- !
posed of Matt Beha, Gene Harty,
Lewis Cambre and Frank David
son, which were well rendered and
well received by the members of
the bar.
After the musical program
Harvey E. Johnsen of Omaha,
president of the Nebraska State
Bar association, delivered an ad
dress to the members of the as
sociation touching upon their du
ties to the fraternity, their country
and the courts. It was a splendid
address and was very well received
by the members present.
W. C. T. U. Honors
Francis E. Willard
The W. C. T. U. met at the home
of Mrs. Mary Uttley Tuesday af
ternoon, with Mrs. Elsie Johnson
as assisting hostess.
A memorial program in com
memoration of the fiftieth anniver
sary of the death of Francis E.
Willard was conducted by Mrs. Lila i
Loy, and many interesting inci- 5
dents of her childhood and life as
a temperance leader and organizer
were brought out. Rev. May gave
a very fine talk on the temperance
situation as it exists today, as
compared with the conditions that
existed during the career of
Francis E. Willard. •
Discussing current topics, the
the portion of Stefan’s article in '
The Frontier of Feb. 10, “To Fight j
or Not To Fight,” touching the
Ludlow Bill which was killed in
the House a few weeks ago, called
for very emphatic comments from
the majority of those present. It
is felt that parents of young men
and boys are opposed to having
them sent to foreign countries, to
sacrifice their lives, as has already
been done, without the people hav
ing a word to say about the matter.
The question is, “W'hat will they
do to help care for the blind, the
hiaimed and crippled boys that are
sent back to our shores?” We
know from experience who has the
burden to bear.
The W. C. T. U. favors the bill
introduced in the senate by Senator
Capper of Kansas, asking for an
amendment to the Constitution of
the United States, providing for
a referendum on ajiy war except
in case of actual or imminent in
vasion. N
Ash Grove Project Club
The Ash Grove Project Club met
on February 9th at the home of
Mrs. Robert Miller. All of the
members and two visitors were
present.
The lesson was: “Decorative
Objects One Can Make.” This in
! eluded decorative objects made
from tin, objects made from ser
pentine paper and articles made
from twisted crepe paper. The
leaders had a good display of these
articles made and demonstrated
the making of them very efficiently.
A lovely covered dish luncheon
was served at noon. Our next
meeting will be a special meeting
at Mrs. George Rector’s on Feb
ruary 24. We hope to have our
district leader, Miss Grace Lee
with us for this meeting.
Dr. and Mrs. L. A. Burgess left
last Sunday morning for Chicago
where Dr. Burgess will attend the
Mid-West Dental association meet
ing being held in that city the
first four days of this week. They
are expected to return home Sat
urday.