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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (April 20, 1939)
1 ». ■■ ■ ■ ■■ "' ' ' " —————————— 1 "” ' "*■ m " " - 11 " *1 ' — VOL. LIX. O’NEILL, NEBRASKA, THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 1939 No. 49. THE NEBRASKA SCENE By the Lowell Service Lincoln — Pioneer advocates of the unicameral legislature are mak ing a careful study of the per sonnel and the results attained in the present session. They will check with their conclusions con 4cerning the 1937 session. So far, the friends of the one-house system maintain that the plan has not yet been put into effect as projected by its originators. The true unicameral places re sponsibility directly on the mem bers, holds several short sessions, and functions after the manner of a board of directors. There is no inner ring; no hidden machinery. In the fall of 1934, the bicameral ites were astounded at the sweep ing victory for the Norris amend ment. Immediately they set out to preserve as many features of the two-house legislature as possibly could be retained. Senator Norris declined to make any suggestions. The legislature of 1935 was strongly against the unicameral. A great many of the members elected to the bicameral had opposed the amendment dur ing the campaign. Committees in * both the house and senate were hostile, the house commilee par ticularly so. The latter commit tee set up a bill which retained nearly all the two-house features. This measure passed the house and was defeated in the senate. Dur ing the closing hours of the 1935 session, a conference committee scrambled a hasty setup. The re districting plan satisfied no one. With positive leadership lacking in 1937, the committee of the whole was retained and the legislative council created. The partisan ele ments of the state government also exerted an influence which uni cameral advocates eyed with mis givings. So far, efforts to elect on a parti, san ballot and increase the number (of members have been rejected. At the close of the present session, it is believed that a campaign will be made to improve the unicameral and change it to conform to the ideal of its proponents. A study of the personnel of the present session is proposed with special attention to those who spon sored self-serving and special leg islation. A tabulation is being made showing those most amenable to the blandishments of the lobby. As to the mechanics of legisla tion, it is contended that the pres ent system is entirely too cumber some. The critics urge that re<i tape be snipped, that the speaker and others speed up the work and that lobbying be proscribed. In stead of one long session, it is suggested that several short ones be held during the biennium to meet the demands of changing con ditions. The legislature has killed LB 17, ^ a bill to cut automobile towing charges from $10.00 to $5.00. Ad vocates of the measure argued that Nebraska was losing out on the towing business. Also slaughtered was LB 183, to in crease dental examination fees from $25 tto $50. The solons ap proved a bill to abolish the Uni versity of Nebraska serum plant. Two of the major complaints against the governor and the legis lature arise from delays in enact ing a suitable old age assistance plan and in clearing up the at mosphere which surrounds the insurance department. The governor maintains that the federal assistance authorities want a setup controlled by some state body such as the board of control. ► The legislature insists that the county boards have something to say concerning personnel. Weeks have been spent in sparring. The recent visit of Miss Jane Hoey of the federal asistance bureau led to conferences with the legislators. In the meantime checks for the old people are help up. Definite reforms are promised by Chairman A. L. Miller of the committee investigating the insur ance department. Legislation has been outlined but it is indefinite in form. According to advices from New York, eastern holding companies that control private power con cerns in Nebraska have endorsed (Continued on page 4) I Bass Anglers Anxious For Fishing Weather Several of our local anglers are getting anxious. The open season for bass fishing closes on May 1, and several of our local lovers of the piscatorial sport are lamenting the fact that they have not had an opportunity to indulge in their fav orite pastime. We predict that be fore the first of the month that Herb Hammond, Mike Horrisky, Pat Donohoe and a few others will be heading for the Cherry county lakes to try their luck. HOLT COUNTY 4-H CLUBS TO ATTEND ANNUAL MEET Holt County will be well repre sented at the annual 4-H Club Week at the Nebraska college of agricul ture in Lincoln, May 29 to June 2. From here will go Carol Sum merer, Ewing, Burinlgton trip win ner and Roy Forbes, Amelia, Crete Mills trip winner. More than 300 of Nebraska’s out standing farm boys and girls in 4-H club work and leaders will be on the agricultural college campus for the week whi:h is one of the highlights of the entire year’s ac tivities. Plans already are well along for entertaining the youths while they are on the campus. Throughout the week, the 4-H club members and local leaders will enjoy educational and recreational sessions. Several outstanding edu cators are scheduled to address them at general convocations. There will be several banquets, picnics, and the annual trip to Omaha. In addition the 4-H club bers and leaders will spend some time each day in group discussion talking over problems in which they are vitally interested. Forest Service Starts Spring Planting The Forest Service has started the planting of 350 miles of shel terbelts in the Neligh District this Spring. The District includes Holt, Antelope, Boone, Nance, and Mer rick counties, also parts of Knox and Wheeler. The 350 men employed include practically all WPA workers avail able in the area. The men plant by a unique method developed by the branch of the Forest Service, and attain surprising speed and proficiency. Many of the planters average over 1,000 trees a day, and considerable rivalry Exists between some of the fastest crews. Special training and thorough inspection by supervisory personnel assures that each tree is planted correctly, and excellent survival is attained without watering or other special care. 430,000 evergreens and over three million other trees will be planted in the District by May 10. These would make a single row of trees 8 feet apart from New York to San Francisco and a row from Canada to the Gulf with enough left over for four rows across Nebraska. Under the shelterbelt program, the Government furnishes and plants the trees, and builds a fence to exclude livestock; and the farm er furnishes the fence material, prepares the ground for planting and cultivates the trees. Erickson Fined Here For Traffic Violation Oscar Erickson, of Merriman, was arrested on complaint of Pa trolman Lawrence Russell, who al leged that on April 6, 1939, he was operating a car on the highways in this county without the proper license plates. On April 12 he pled guilty and was fined $10.00 and costs of $3.10. CARD OF THANKS We wish to take this way to thank the many friends who so kindly helped to lift our great bur den of sorrow by their comforting words, their help, and beautiful flowers. Mr. and Mrs. Emmet Crabb and Donna. Mr. and Mrs. Dorance Crabb , Mr. and Mrs. Verle Crabb. STEFAN SAYS ALL RELIEF AGENCIES TO UNDERGO RIGOROUS INVESTIGATION Graft, Rackets and High Cost of Administration Must Be Eliminated; Relief Agencies May Continue for Another Generation. Apparently congress has finished « with emergency relief appropria- ' tions for the fiscal year, 1939. The 1 second supplemental relief appro priation since Congress convened in January has now passed both the House and the Senate. It is in the 1 amount of $100,000,000. The pre ceding supplemental appropriation amounted to $725,000,000. Thus, since January, 1939, $825,000,000 has been appropriated to supple ment the regularly passed appro priation to finance relief activities 1 through June 30, 1939. The regu lar relief appropriation and the two supplemental appropriations to provide funds for expenditure for emergency relief purposes during the period extending from July 1, 1938, through June 30, 1939, ag gregates in excess of $2,200,000, 000. Aggregate appropriations for WPA since its inception are about six billion dollars. It is contem plated that a new appropriation in an initial amount of between one and one half and two billion dol lars will need to be made for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1939. The House of Representatives has authorized and directed its Committee on Appropriations to make an investigation of emerg ency relief administration. Per sistent charges of rackets, politics and maladministration of relief funds produced the investigation. One of the many charges aired on the floor of the House, is that in New York City, WPA has been paying skilled wages at the rate of $2.00 per hour and that hundreds of these high wage scale WPA workers were allowed to continue assignments that paid them $200 and $250 per month, while thous ands of other skilled workmen could get no assignment at all. Another charge made on the floor is that the President appointed a commission to have charge of all government exhibits at the' New York World’s Fair and the commis sion has about completed its build ing and most government agencies, with the exception of WPA, have cooperated in the arrangement of exhibits. The charge of one mem ber of the commission is that big space was reserved for WPA but only recently the commission learn ed that WPA is starting the con struction of a $300,000 building and will run its own exhibit. The com mission told Congress that it had a building for WPA and its ex hibits and that the $300,000 and the money that will be spent for running the exhibit could easily be transferred to people who need jobs. There are rampant charges of graft in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Mexico. Charge followed charge until both parties in the House demand ed an investigation. Many know that investigations of this type produce a disappointingly small amount of good, yet those who be lieve that the relief question will be with us for many years, feel that the investigation of the var ious complaints against the admin istration may tighten the efficien cy of the system and increase re spect for the intent of Congress. That intent is that needy unem ployed men and women be given jobs of some kind until they can relocate themselves in regular pri vate employment. Most of the membership of the Appropriations Committee are well aware of the fact that Congress has not been voting enough money to give a job to all of the unem ployed persons in our nation. The real reason that the committee sponsored $725,000,000 instead of the $875,000,000 for supplemental relief recently was that they wanted more information from the flew WPA boss, Colonel Harring ton. This Army officer came back to the committee and about con- i lanced members that the $725,000,. )00 was near exhaustion and that in additional $150,000,000 was < needed to run the business of re- ' ief until July 1, 1939. The $100,- : 300,000 figure in the bill was a tompromise with the ultra-conser rative members who demanded that ,he sum be cut t6 $60,000,000 with •esultant forceful elimination of mnecessarily expensive adminis ,ration. Some members told their :olleagues they were going tto vote 'or the extra $100,000,000 because ;hey felt that the WPA chiefs had aid off the poorest paid and most leedy men and women, first, in n-der to force Congress to accept ;he larger figure. The hearings lisclosed that administration costs ire too high and that though pre vailing scales of wages met little jbjectlon, it seemed neither neces sary nor right for one class of workers in one state to get $250 per month from WPA when men like those in Nebraska could get but $40 to $60 per month. The prevailing wage idea came about when union chiefs felt that if pre vailing wages were not paid, it would result in lowering wages of ill classes of labor In private in iustry. Already there are many demands for change in the# WPA set-up and for the merging of some of its work with the PWA. One recommenda tion is that all emergency relief money be expended by a single igency and that regular account ing be made to Congress. Regu lar accounting has, heretofore, not neen made. The principal demand from all sides is that the expendi ture of emergency relief funds be so safeguarded as to eliminate ex isting abuses and to increase the net share of the appropriation that actually reches the people in need of relief. i* Even members from New York with somewht radical tendencies admit that if orderly distribution of relief is ever to come, discrimin ation must be eliminated. One of these members who is close to the real radical groups admits that pol iticians must discontinue the exploi tation of human misery and cut out the utilization of relief funds in local petty graft. Members who would otherwise vote enough money to put every idle man and woman to work, vigorously oppose the alleged pull and rackets that inevitablly are to be found in the expenditure of any large sums of public money. A majority of the House mem bership is not opposed to voting some federal funds for relief. Most of the conservatives feel that the states must assume an increasing share of the responsibility in the job of giving relief to needy people. There is a growing sentiment in the House that private business can UlKe up mucn Ui UIC suren. *11 uu employment if given the opportun ity, but these advocates admit that private business cannot take up all of the slack no matter how much help private business gets from the Federal treasury and else where. Nobody in the House to day will admit that expenditures for relief should be cut off immedi ately and that the Federal govern ment should stop all relief assist ance. The building of the new forty thousand ton battleships at a cost of about seventy million dol lars, each, has taught members to realize that the profits in the building of these expensive battle boats go to private industry and while such building of armaments means much for idle men and, at the same time, helps in national iefense, they realize that with all jf the millions of subsidy for mer chant marine; with all of the mil lions of loans to private industry, less than half of the unemployment load can be eliminated. These beliefs have been con firmed by not only experts on relief jut by many private business ex perts. A private report which is a sup plement to the printed report on ihe investigation of relief in the city of Washington, indicates that jy reorganization of the relief set jp here, about a million dollars •an be saved annually. This pri vate report states that duplication, favoritism, rackets nd petty graft (Continued on page 4) Elite Cafe Opened Here Last Saturday Afternoon The Elite Cafe was opened to the public last Saturday afternoon, in time for the evening meal. Mrs. Sirek, the proprietor, says that she was more than satisfied with the large number of people they served there on their opening day, over 200 people being served for dinner and for lunch later in the evening. The restaurant is neat and attrac tive and promises to be an inviting place for those dining out. testingUw is REPEALED BY LEGISLATURE Last week the legislature re pealed the compulsory automobile testing law by the passage of LB No. 3 by a vote of 38 to 4. With the repeal of this law many of the municipalities of the state are left with white elephants on their hands as many of the cities installed test ing apparatus and buildings to house them at a cost of from $5, 000 to $10,000. The people of this city who favored the installation of a testing station by the city here about eight months ago can now see that the opposition to the plan was not using hot wind in their op position. The Weather We have had all kinds of weather the past week. Last Saturday it rained nearly all day a slow steady drizzle that extended into Sunday and gave us .70 hundredths of an inch of moisture. The rain came down so easily that it all went into the ground and will be of immense benefit to the small grain that has been planted, to winter wheat and rye and to pastures. Monday it snowed nearly all day. It was very wet and melted almost as fast as it fell. While it was not cold for a time it gave the ap pearance of an old time blizzard. The precipitation in the snowfall amounted to .41 hundredths of an inch, which gave us 1.11 inches of moisture the past week. We had a nice little rain this morning and at this time 10:30 it is still cloudy and looks as if we would have more rain during the day. Following is the weather report for each day for the past week: n Li M April 13 .. 59 32 April 14 6G 41 April 15 _ 63 39 .63 April 16 . 45 39 .07 April 17 _ 45 31 .41 April 18 52 30 April 19 _ 70 28 April precipitation, 1.28 inches. Total precipitation since January 1, 1939, 3.60 inches. Failure to Spend $1.00 Nets Fine of $4.10 W. B. Herring, of Ainsworth, was before the county court on com plaint of Patrolman Russell who alleged that he was driving a car on the highways of this county on April 8 without first having pro cured a drivers license. He ap peared on April 13 and was fined $1.00 and costs, or a total of $4.10 O’Neill Woman’s Club The O’Neill Woman’s Club met Wednesday afternoon, April 19th, at their club rooms. The following officers were elected for 1939-1940: Mrs. J. D. Osenbaugh, president; Mrs. Mar tin Penister, vice-president; Mrs. Bennett Gillispie, secretary; Mrs. C. E. Lundgren, treasurer; Mrs. Harold Lindberg, auditor; Mrs. George Miles, custodian. The following program was given: Solo, “Brown Bird Singing’’ and “Little Boy Blue," by Lois Jean Robertson, accompanied on the piano by Mrs. Pete Todson. Book Review — “Joseph and His Brothers" and “Young Joseph," by Thomas Mann, by Mrs. Arthur Cowperthwaite. This was a very fine review. Mr. and Mrs. George Coleman drove to Norfolk Saturday on busi ness. CENTER UNION TO CELEBRATE 34TH ANNIVERSARY The 34th anniversary of the Cen. ter Union Sunday School will be celebrated in special week-end ser vices. The first service will be Friday evening, April 28. Services at 2 o’clock Saturday afternoon and 8 in the evening. All day ser vices on Sunday. Special speakers and basket dinner at noon. • All are invited to share these services. C. J. Gajz Attends Storz Convention at Omaha Mrs. Mary McLeod and C. J. Gatz left Sunday morning for Omaha. Mrs. McLeod was return ing to her home after spending the past two months here visiting at the homes of her daughters, Mrs. C. J. Gatz and Mrs. Henry Lohaus, and Mr. Gatz went to attend a convention of Stortz distributors, which meeting was to be held last Monday at the Fontenelle hotel. Sales and advertising plans for the coming year will be discussed at this meeting. Mr. Gatz returned home Tuesday evening. 20TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY IS CELEBRATED Sunday, April 16th a large crowd of relatives gathered at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Fora Knight in honor of their 20th wedding anni versary. About 1:00 p.m. a very delicious dinner was served after which the gifts were showed. They received a number of nice pieces of china and cooking utensils. The after noon was spent visiting and taking pictures. In the evening a large crowd of their friends and neigh bors gathered for a card party, there were four tables of cards and at midnight lunch was served and the prizes awarded. High score prize was won by Harold Krug man and Max Grenier. WE APPOLIGIZE; THE LAMBS WERE TRIPLETS; NOT TWINS Fay Puckett, one of The Fron tier’s old-time readers living northeast of this city, writes to inform us that we got his lamb story sadly muddled last week. So, to keep history straight, we reprint the story as Mr. Puckett says it should be: “Your paper said four pair of twins that should have been four sets of triplets. It isn’t uncom mon for a sheep to have twins, triplets are uncommon, and four sets out of a band of fourteen ewes, is more than uncommon, and for eleven of the twelve lambs to live and run with their mother is still more uncommon, and that is because a ewe can only set the table for two lambs, or only two lambs can su.’k at the same time, the third one must wait for the second table, and unless the mother ewe is giving lots of milk and more than the first two lambs to get to the table wants there won’t be anything left and it be comes a case of the ‘survival of the fittest’ and the hungry lamb will be kept pushed away from the table until he weakens and dies. “ To date, eleven lambs out of twelve in four sets of triplets live a> d run around with their mother (w'v. Altogether we have iwenty five lambs from thirteen ewes..” We are afraid that if Mr. Wal lace hears of this occurrance that he will order the ewes killed off, as they are increasing the sheep sup ply too fast. He believes that a scarcity of everything is the way to end the depression. Work Progressing On New School Building Work on the new school building has been going on for the past two weeks. The placing of the footings are about completed and work will probably start in earnest on the building within the next week. Brown-McDonald Store Gets New Assistant Manager Vincent Schoberg, who has been employed by the Johnson Drug Co. in this city for the past year, haa accepted a position as assistant manager of the Brown - McDonald store in this city and will enter upon his new duties on Monday, April 24th. Jack Grady, who was form erly employed by the Golden Rule Store, resigned to take a new posi tion offered him in Denver. Colo. easterTantata GIVEN AT SPENCER LAST SUNDAY The Methodist choir of O’Neill went to Spencer last Sunday even ing and presented their Easter Can. tata to a large and attentive aud ience at the M. E. Church. Mrs. Lawrence Russell is now leader of this splendid choir. She held the audience spell bound as she sang the beautiful soprano solo in this cantata. She has a wonderful voice that appeals to all who hear her sing. Mrs. Harold Lindburg sang the alto solo which required a voice with wide range in order to reach both high and low tones. She sang it in a very beautiful manner. Charles Yarnell, who is going right to the top in voice culture, sang the bass solo in this cantata and de serves to be complimented very highly on the splendid way he pre sented this fine solo. Donald Bowen also showed fine quality in the tenor solo parts he took and has been urged to develop his talent as a singer. The Methodist choir of fers rare opportunity to the young man or lady who desires to develop as well as display their talents in singing and invites anyone who would like to do so, to join them. Nebraska Accident Survey Accidents Have Sharp Decrease Accidents for the week ending April 8, 1939 showed a sharp de crease as to the total from three hundred thirty to two hundred fif ty-six. The list of injuries or deaths showed a corresponding drop going from two hundred sixty-four for the week ending April 1, 1939 to one hundred ninety-nine for this period. Deaths, however, stepped up to sixteen from nine in the pre vious record. The children’s situ ation is little better with three chil dren reported killed and thirty three injured. Automobile Mishaps Show Drop Among the categories, Motor Vehicle mishaps showed the larg est decrease going from one hun dred fourteen accidents to eighty one and from one hundred twenty eight casualties to sixty-six. A salesman was fatally injured in a collision west of Paxton and an Omaha man died of injuries sus tained in an automobile-street-car crash. A woman sustained a dis ability when she lost control of her car south of Hastings. Two per sons, a man and his wife, were dis abled when blinding lights on a truck forced them to drive off the highway. During the year 1938 blinding lights on automobiles caused twen ty-nine accidents in which fifty six were injured and one was dis abled. This last week, two per sons were disabled from that cause. It is only because of luck and very careful driving that there are no more casualties resulting from these accidents. Cars are equipped with light adjusters to be used when approaching other cars, but it can be said truthfully that only three drivers out of five extend that courtesy. Good driving abil ity and mechanical efficiency in cars are two very importnt re quisites but the courtesy of the road is also just as importanat and often sadly neglected with dire con sequences. Out of thirty-seven collisions this period thirty persons were injured while four pedistrians were struck by cars and injured. Skidding, tire blowouts, and losing control of automobiles each accounted for five injuries while hitting an obstruc tion, blinding lights, a railroad crossing mishap, and a car-bicycle (Continued on page 4)