Neb. State Historical Society
THE
Frontier
LX VI
O’NEILL, NEBRASKA, THURSDAY, JULY 5,1945
NO. 8 i
SMALL DOSES
PAST AND PRESENT
By Romaine Saunders
Rt. 5, Atkinson
A CONTRAST
There is something fine in the
story coming out of Wisconsin’s
great city which tells of a mallard
duck making her nest on a piece
of a bridge in the midst of the
city through which flows the Mil
waukee river. I have stood in
the long ago by that bridge and
watched with boyish amazement
the river traffic and the endless
coming and going of humanity
crossng the bridge. Amid the
noise and confusion a lowly duck
settled on a nest in response to
mother instinct and brought forth
a brood of nine. Sixty odd years
ago the city was visited by a
disastrous fire that brought out
unbleivable acts of heroism.
Nothing since has so aroused a
spontaneous out flow fro the
thousands as this lonely mother
duckl and her brood. Bridge tend
ers, folks from the Humane
Society, Boy Scouts patroled the
bridge to protect “Gertie,” the
mother duck, and then the whole
city took over. If a duckling fell
from the nest into the riveT some
one was there to rescue it. Feed
was supplied and each tried to
outdo his neighbor in doing for
Gertie. Something fine about it
all. And Gertie, a creature of the
wild, a creature of nature, un
mindful of noise and confusion,un
conscious of war among men and
its horrors, is a symbol of that
which is beautifully expressed in
a line from the Doem “Absolem:”
How strikingly the course of j
nature tells by its light heed of
human suffering that it was fash
ioned for a happier world.
If the human story was only of
the fine, the magnanimous there
would be no dark shadow. Out
1 of the swamps, and out of the
gloom of human activities rears
a reprehensible monster. It takes
form now in a few communities
in an unreasoning racial hatred.
American citizens 0|f Japanses
’ ancestry are the unhappy victims.
Is this hatred born out of human
folly or human grandeur? Is
the feeling so bitter that the j
Yankee foot would crush every ‘
reminder of the flowery kingdom?
By that token countless millions
of German extraction should be
dealt with. At some time the
Goddess of liberty opened her i
arms, to take us all in from lands
afar. There are loyal American- j
Japs, heaven help them. They,
have done their share, exceeded
a full measure on the home front, j
on tha flaming battle front. The
words of a G. I. when he heard
of a combat-wounded Nisei being
put out of a barber shop in Ari
zona are significant. “What kind
of —-- -paltriotism is that? I
fought along side of those Nisei
kids of the 100th Infantry Battal
ion and I never saw an outfit with
more guts.” I stem from long
guilt? r^uiuj^cdii gtriuri diiuub. ijven
now the wreck of the old con
tinent saddens. What must be
the heartaches of Americans of
Asiatic blood over the course the
land of their forefathers has
taken, overf the harshness of some
y misguided souls of Yankeeland
whose real savors of medevial
persecution.
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower,
among his first public utterances
when he arrived in New York,
threw out this warning: “The
nations of the world cannot
stand another catastrophe of war. j
Peace is an absolute necessity or
we are all lost.” Peace is devout
ly to be wished. Maybe “all lost”
means something grander. "Un
less within my heart I hold abid
ing peace, no league of nations
can succeed nor will strife cease.” !
Not the G. O. P. but the OP A
will probably determine the re- i
suit of the next election.
Howard Berry drove the prairie
trails a day last week through
Swan precinct in the interest of
bond sales.
Franco is just another who
guassed wrong. But at last
reports he still carried his head
on his shoulders.
The vegetarian chuckles over
the predicament of the carnivor
ous biped, but is willing to share
his vegetable stew,
Wonder if those sour, vinegar
soaked critics of Nebraska’s live
wire delegation down at Wash
ington would bring us the politi
cal Utopia if sent to congress.
Blue grass stripping will be
about over out this way by the
end of the first week in July.
Some meadows have yielded a
heavy crop of seed, some not any.
Nebraska citizens had $62,412
533 to put into insurance in 1944
in what the profession calls
“premiums.” They got back to
cover losses about five millions,
so the insurance boys walked off
with a neat profit of over $57,000,
000.
Mr. Truman’s denial of the
rumor that Interior Secretary
Ickes was slated for retirement is
a disappointment to many who
have had a run in with the ob
streperous secretary. Mr. Ickes
has tread on nobody’s toes in my
neighborhood as yet but there
seem to be some loaded clubs out
this way for the OPA.
Applying the fine-tooth comb
method William Fryrear worked
the country over looking for a
tractor mower when he spotted
one to be sold at a public sale
at Johnstown, out in Brown
county. He took in the sale, got
into the lottery and drew the
mower against 700 odd names
that had been tossed into the hat.
Where ever there is a difficult
problem there is a Yankee on the
spot with the answer. A truck
just high enough from the ground
to become wedged in when enter
ing a railroad underpass had all
the experts guessing how to get
it out. A 9-year-old boy looking
the situation over said: “I know
how to get it out—let some air
out of the tires.”It worked.
To the extent that lofty pur
poses inscribed on parchment in
the double tongue of fifty peoples,
signatures and seals gay ribbon
and canning wax can make it so
United Nations is an accomplished
fact. “Whether the charter and
the league also will be a suc
cess,” warns an AP writer who
stands aside to see the world go
by, “will be inscribed in the
pages of history in the future.”
“Why should we throw away
that money? I will talk till
Christmas if necessary to stop
funds for a lot of peckerwoods
to go around and meddle into
other people’s business.” Sena
tor Bilbo of Mississippi speaking.
The object of his “talk till Christ
mas” is a threatened filibuster to
knock a certain commission in the
head by the simple expedient
of (furnishing them no money.
The commission staff would have
no interest in “other people’s
business” the minute pay checks
stop coming their way.
In a letter from relatives at his
boyhood home in England Tom
Baker has first hand authentic
expression of released human
emotions of those at the doorstep
of Europe’s crushing tragedy.
After the bombing horrors, the
roof of their own dwelling opened
by a bomb, Tom’s sister-in
writes, lights are again on in their
home and in the souls of millions
who for many weary years had
carried on amid haunting fears;
children again play and laugh
and enjoy life. There are scars,
there are heartaches that the
baptism of fire has scorched into
the souls of men, but hope springs
anew over the wreckage and ruin
wrought by a world’s evil genius.
Ain CPA lawyer, who had to
define the ultimate consumer of
eggs wrote: “Ultimate consumer
means a person or group of per
sons, generally constituting a
domestic household, who pur
chase eggs generally at the in
dividual stores of retailers
or purchase and receive deliveries
of eggs at the place, off abode of
the individual or domestic house
hold from producers or retail
route sellers and who use such
eggs for their consumption as
food. But OPA had a gent whose
job it was to bring legal verbage
within the scope of comprehen
Venus Boy Winins
Bronze Star Medal
For Heroism
With Sixth Infantry Division on
Luzon—Staff Sgt. Leon F. Vesely,
son of Mrs. Josie Vesely, of Route
1, Verdel Nebr., has been award
ed the Bronze Star Medal by the
commanding general of the 6th
Infantry Division for heroism in
action against the Japanese along
the Wawa-Antipolo line, Luzon,
P. I., on, April 17.
As an assault platoon forged
ahead, it encountered a severe
barrage of mortar and machine
gun cross-fire which killed two
men, wounded one and pinned
down the remainder in a small
narrow ravine which afforded
little cover. Although wounded
by shrapnel in the back and with
a bullet wound in his leg, Vesely,
acting as platoon sergeant, re
fused to be evacuated and led his
men out of the precarious position
without additional casualties.
Vesely is in a front-line rifle
company of the First Infantry
Regiment of the 6th Division,
holder of the continuous combat
record for the Pacific. The 6th
participated in the Sansapor and
Maffin Bay campaigns in New
Guinea before coming to Luzon.
Mr. and Mrs. Lyle Page, of
Sioux Falls, S. D., arrived last
Sunday to spend several days vis
iting at the home of her brother,
Gene Grenier and with other rel
atives and friends.
sion. He wrote: “Ultimate con
sumers are people who buy eggs
to eat them."
I have not had the slightest
interest in irrigation since my
youthful curiosity was intrigued
when that irrigation canal was
put across a few north Nebraska
1 counties by O’Neill boosters—on
paper. Or was it carried so far
as to have the route surveyed?
Lloyd Gillespie will know. Irri
gation, like many other things,
has unwarranted importance at
tached to it in the minds of some.
Holt county, and our neighbors
west of us through whose land of
promise the healing waters of ir
rigation were to flow, is doing
pretty well with its endless miles
of grass. Let others work their
fingers to the raw with irrigated
products, which at best are arti
ficial.
Joseph F. Newton asked the
question, gave the answer:
“When is a man educated? When
he can look out upon the universe
now lucid and lovely, now dark
and terrible, with a sense of his
own littleness in the great scheme
of things and yet have faith and
| courage. When he knows how
to make friends and keep them,
and, above all, when he can keep
friends with himself. When he
i can be happy alone and high
minded amid the drudgeries of
• life. When he can look into a
i wayside puddle and see some
1 thing besides mud, and into the
| face of the most forlorn mortal
1 and see something beyond sin.
Wher\ he knows how to live, how
f,to love, how to hope how to
pray. When he is glad to live
and not afraid to die, holding in
his hands a sword for evil and in
| his heart a bit of song.”
I Papers of June 23 carried a
1 picture of a bag of Nebraska
wheat, flanked by a group of dig
nitaries, the governor, chairman
of this, president of that, secre
tary of something else, director
of another set-up, but the sweat
•and dirt-begrimed face of the
clodhopper whose toil and watch
fulness produced that bag of
wheat was not in the picture.
The unsung, the forgotten man.
But the wheat will be just as
acceptable over in Czechoslovakia
whence it has been sent. A few
years ago I made inquiry in the
community as to what benefits
were derived from the College of
Agriculture, agronomy, exten
' sion, animal husbandry and other
[ scholastic offerings for hayseeds
i and cow herders.. None. I was
; told if the whole set up was
wiped out it would mean nothing
out here. But Nebraska will
doubtless want to continue its
white-collar farmers, supplement.
1 ed by a sizable force in overalls
; and big hat out in the grain
j fields and grass lands.
Advisary Committee On
Poultry Transportation
The Office of Defenes Trans;
portation in the Warnock Build
ing, in Sioux City, Iowa, an
nounced today receipt of confir
mation from the Washington
Office of Defense Transportation,
the election of C. L. Willson,
chairman of the newly formed
Poultry and Poultry Products
Transportation Advisory Com
mittee. R. G. Shelhamer is ac
cepted as vice chairman. Other
members of the advisory com
mittee are: J. Q. Archer, Gayle
Couch.
This committee is now recog
nized as the duly ( looted commit
tee, subsequent to the meeting
held at O’Neill, Nebr., on April
18, 1945, under > direction and
guidance of Carl Wolle, farm fit Id
specialist for the Sioux City Dis
trict.
It will be the duty of this com
mittee to keep themselves in
formed, analyze and advise the
district office cf Defense Trans
portation on the adequacy or in
adequacy of motor truck facilit
ies employed in the movement of
poultry and poultry products in
Boyd, Holt and Wheeler counties.
In delivering the Washington
letter of acceptance to Mr. Will
son, Mr. Wolle tendered the per
sonal thanks of Frank R. Wamp
ler, District Manager, Sioux City,
for the time and effort that will
be expended by the committee in
assisting the Office of Defense
Transportation in the important
movement of pbultry and poultry
products in 'Boyd Holt and
Wheeler counties.
1H AIN H YUU
Atkinson Service Club
O’Neill Cdrnmercial Club,
O’Neill, Nebr.
Attention, Ted McElhaney, Pres.
Dear Ted: By resolution adopt
ed at our la t regular meeting
I have been instructed, as Secre
tary of the Atkinson Service Club,
to write to you offering our con
gratulations for the splendid
manner in which your organiza
tion handled the recent Stock
Growers Convention in O’Neill.
Due to the varying conditions
under which an organization must
labor to sponsor such a conven
tion and ably handle the housing,
feeding and entertainment of
such a large number of people,
we fully realize the immense
amount of labor which must have
been expended by your organiza
tion as host and it is with a feel
ing of pride that we, as a neigh
boring city, viewed the results of
your efforts and we are sure that
your guests from all over the
State were entertained as royally
as they have been by any city of
like size within the State of
Nebraska.
. FRANCIS D. LEE, Secretary,
Atkinson Service Club.
OLD SETTLERS
PICNIC MEETING
i There will be a meeting held
at the Meek Store on Friday even
ing July 13, at 8:00 p. m., to dis
cuss the Old Settlers Picnic. If
interested attend
PRESTON JONES,
Secretary.
Pfc. LaVerne Morrow
Very Busy Overseas
Salisbury, England—Pfc. La
Verne A. Morrow, a member of
the Air Service Command’s 4th
Base Air Depot near this historic
cathedral city, helped ship 150,
000,000 pounds of supplies to the
bombers and fighters that knocked
out Nazi war industry and paved
the way to final victory in
Europe.
Among the vital items of supply
handled at this base were 30,000
droppable belly tanks which en
abled fighters to escort B-17’s and
B-24’s deep into Germany and
back.
Pfc. Morrow is the son of Mrs.
Leatha Morrow, O’Neill, Ncbr.
He is a graduate of the O’Neill
High School and entered the
army on December 22, 1942. He
arrived overseas December 5,
1943, and is now assigned as a
truck driver at this station.
Miss Ann Asher spent the
Fourth with her brother and fam
ily, the Tom Hartigan’s at Inman.
Robert J. Harte, Inmas
Has Seen Real Action
Aboard the USS Nevada in the
Pacific—Robert J. Harte, water
tender, third class, son of Mr. j
and Mrs. W. F. Harte, Inman,
Nebr., is serving aboard this
battleship which has written a1
blazing chapter in the history of
jWorld War II.
The only battleship to get under
way during the Jap attack on Pearl
Harbor, she cleared the blazing
USS ARIZONA and through a
sea of flaming oil, passed the USS
OKLAHOMA. Nearing the Pearl
! Harbor entrance channel she i
avoided Jap planes attempts to
sink her and block the channel,
by running aground in shallow |
j water.
Raised from the bottom, she
put in at a West Coast port for
repairs in April, 1942. From here
the NEVADA supported troop
landing operations at Attu, and
then steamed to European waters
to participate in the Normandy
invasion. After helping silence
the German shore batteries, she
steamed ito the Med&trranean
for the invasion of Southern
France in August, 1944.
After refitting in New York,
the NeEVADA returned to the
Pacific where her guns covered
the operation against I wo Jima.
She is now older than many of
her crew. Her keel was laid
down November 4, 1912, in the
Fore River Shipyard, Quincy,
Mass., and she was commissioned
at the Charlestown Navy Yard,
March 12, 1916.
Virginia Schultz O’Neill
Wave Promoted
Bremerton, Washington — Vir
ginia M. Schultz, WAVE seaman,
first class, USNR, daughter of
Mrs. Florence Schultz, Rural
Route, O’Neill, Nebr., has report
ed for duty as a master-at-arms
in the WAVES’ quarters at the
Puget Sound Navy Yard in
Bremerton, Wash.
Since entering service in
March, 1945, she has attended
recruit training and a specialist
school at Hunter College in New
York City. She had been a file
clerk employed in Omaha, Nebr.,
by the Mutual Benefit Health and
Accident Insurance company and
teacher at School District No. 3
near O’Neill.
Seaman Schultz is a 1941 grad
uate of O’Neill Public High
School and a former student at
Wayne State Teachers College at
Wayne, Nebr.
O’Neill Juniors Trim
Neligh Last Sunday
The O’Neill Junior baseball
team went to Neligh last Sunday,
July 1st, and came home feeling
good as they defeated the Neligh
team by a 9-8 score. Dick Tib
betts sacrificed out to left field
in the last half of the tenth inning
with one out, and after the
catch Dewey Schaffer came in
with the winning run. Newman
helped the Neligh club in the
second inning with a home 1 un,
but it was not enough to win the
game. The Batteries were: Ne
ligh, Mohr and Paulson; O’Neill,
Morrow and Baker. O’Neill made
nine runs, eight hits and three
errors; Neligh, eight runs, seven
hits and four errors.
O’Neill Again Defeats
Tilden At Neligh July 4th
A large group of O’Neillites:
traveled to Neligh Wednesday to
attend the big Fourth of July
celebration there and also to
wtatch the ball game between
O’Neill and Tilden, with the
O’Neill boys coming out the win
ners in a close game by a 3-2
score. While many O’Neill !
people were enjoying the Fourth
1 at Neligh, others traveled to
Stuart and attended the festivit
ies there, many could be seen at
the City Park here and enjoying
'themselves in shady spots around
their homes.
Mr. and Mrs. Donald Gallagher,
of Chicago, arrived Tuesday
morning to spend several days
here visiting at the home of his
brother and sister-in-law, Mr.
and Mrs. E. M. Gallagher and
family.
Receipts And Expense
Stock Growers Meeting
Report of Contributions and
Expense for1 Stock Growers.
O'Neill National Bank _$25.00
First National Bank-25.00
P. B. Harty_ 25.00 j
Midwest Motor Co_ 25.00 :
Consumers Public Power Dt. 25.00
McMillan & Markey ... 25.001
Dick Tomlinson ... 25.00
Asimus Bros. 25.00
R. G. Shelhamer 25.00
O’Neill PCA .... . 25.00
Spelts Ray Lumber Co._20.00
Lohaus Motor Co. 15 00
H. L. Lindberg 15.00
N. W. Bell Telephone Co. 15.00
Drs. Brown & French 15.00
Brown McDonald Store 15.00 j
Gamble Store . 15.00
Council Oak Store _ 12.50
Johnson Drug Co. ... 10.00
Seth Noble .. 10.00
H. E. Coyne 10.00
Slats Cafe 10.00
Holt County Independent 10.00
Golden Hotel _10.00
J. J. Harrington_10.00
O’Neill Drug Co_ 10.00
Ralph McElvain _ 10.00
James M. Corkle_ 10.00 I
Elkhorn Valley NFLA .... 10.00
Sumner Downey-10.00
Judge D. R. Mounts_10.00
W. J. Froelich_10.00
H. J. Birmingham _ 10.00
C. J. Gatz___10.00
L. M. Merriman_10.00
D. C. Schaffer... 10.00
John Broderick_._10.00
J. D. Cronin_ 10.00
L. D. Putnam___10.00
O’Neill Livestock Com. Co. 10.00
J. C. Penney Co. _ 10.00
Harding Cream Co._ 7.50
Tri State Produce_7.50
Ted McElhaney___. 7.08
Ralph P. Rickly_ 5 00
Herb Peterson_ 5.00
R. H. Shriner_.1__ 5.00
C. E. Stout_5.00
Earl Ralya _ 5.00
Wm. Griffin _ 5.00
Central Finance __ 5.00
Dr. W. F. Finley_ 5.00
Dr. L. A. Burgess_5.00
Ralph Walker .. 5.00
W. H. Harty . 5.00 ;
Rite Spot Cafe ..—. 5.00
Fred Bazelman _ 5.00
Biglin Bros._ 5.00
Anton Toy . 5.00
Elite Cafe _ 5.00
John Kersenbrock _ 5.00
C. H. Switzer . 5.00
Edith Castleman _ 5.00
Vogt’s Cleaners _ 5.00
J. B. Ryan _ 5.00
Roy Sauers_ 5.00
Claude Hamilton _5.00
A. E. Bowen_ 5.00
Ralph N. Leidy
Rdyal Theatre
P. C. Donohoe _
Bill Gatz _
Western Auto ...
Stannards ..._
Robert Schulz
Harrison Bridge
Saunto’s
Stanley Soukup _
O. M. Herre __
Dr. F. J. Kubitschek_
Margaret Clausen
A1 Virgin . _
Lod Janousek _
Joe Fuen _
Alma’s Beauty Shop
Dr. L. A. Carter ... .„
James Moore _
James Mullen _
Tom Connelly _
Jack McManus _
Dean Streeter _
Bennet Gillespie _
Joe Steskal ..
Dr. F. J. Fisher —
Tim Harrington_
Nebr. Stock Growers ...
3
3.
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2.
1.
1.
1.
1
1,
1,
1
1.
1
1
l
1
1
1.
1.
1.
1,
541
00
00
50
50
50
00
00
01)
oo
00
00
00
00
00
00 I
00 I
oo I
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
97
I
430.99
30.00
42.58
Total _1328.05
Expenditures for Stock Growers
Business Meeting:
banquet Expense _$ 541.97
Buffet Stag Party ...
Theatre Rental _
Theatre Party for visiting
Ladies ---
Luncheon & Prizes for
Visiting Ladies _
Drayage ...
Stenographers -
Auditorium Rental &
Janitors ___
Loud Speaker Operator ..
Printing ...:_....
Phone calls postage,
Signs, towels_
Miscellaneous__
94 68
30.50
59.00
25.00
10.00
12.00
17.48
3.50
Total _1297.70
The Stpck Growers paid the
Commercial Club $541.97, the
Large Delegation Holt
County Club Members
Attend Long Pine Camp .
4-H Club members from all
over the county gathered to
gether at Page, O'Neill, Atkinson
and Stuart on June 28 to make up
two truck loads of 4-H’rs to go
to Long Pine for a three day
camp. This was the largest
number of members and leaders
ever to attend from Holt county.
There were boys and girls from.
Boyd, Holt, Rock, Brown, Keya
Paha, Cherry, Wheeler, Garfield,
Loup, Blaine and Valley counties,
which made a total of 318 attend
ing camp. While at camp the
young folks enjoyed sports,
handicraft work, swimming, sing
ing, and a class in accident pre
vention. One of the highlights
of the camp was a Stunt Night.
Each group or Indian Tribe gave
some type of a skit of play. Some
groups sang songs or had piano
selections. The people of Long
Pine and Bassett communities
came and enjoyed the evening’s
entertainment.
The camp closed Saturday at
2 p. m., with a recognition ser
vice with Guy Davis, As
sistant State 4-H Leader, and
Miss Dorothea Follmer in charge.
Donald Johnson, of the Holt
county Wild and Wooly Club was
judged one of the best campers,
while Kenneth Heill, of the Eagle
Hustlers of Page, was selected as
gn outstanding person in hand
craft work. Each of the boy*
received a certificate of recog
nition and a small prize. The
trip home was enjoyed by every
one with singing and laughter aU
the way. Holt county may well be
proud of the fine young folks wht»
are in 4-H Clubs, striving to Make
the Best Better.
AAA News Notes
At this season of the year no
doubt our practice No. 15 go
down crops is the most current.
Protecting the soil from wind
and water erosion by the use of
go-down crops, provided a good
vegetable growth is obtained and
the crop is not pastured or har
vested for hay, grain seed, or
forage, or otherwise taken from
the land. On land where go-down
crops are necessary for the pro
tection of adjacent cropland,
sudan grass, millet, sweet sor
ghums, or winter rye seeded in
the fall of 1944 at the normal rate
of seeding for grain. No credit
will be given for a rye go-down
crop if a 1944 winter cover crop
payment was made for such acre
age. We believe this a very bene
ficial practice on light soil but do
not mean to imply to leave grain
in the field to meet these quali
fications.
As General Dwight Eisenhower
in one of his recent speeches
since his return has said, “In
spite of floods, in spite of drought,
every handicap that can be imag
ined, this country must produce
food. Without it, there will be
no peace. At the best there will
be an uneasy cessation of hostil
ities. We cannot stand that. We
must have peace and among
other things we must have food.”
Harry E. Ressel, Chairman,
Holt Co. AAA Committee.
Staff Sgt. Robert Mossman and
Keith McGraw spent the week
end in Omaha.
Pfc. Edward McManus arrived
Wednesday afternoon to spend
his thirty day furlough visiting
his father, Charles McManus and
other relatives and friends. He—
just recently returned from Ger
many where he had spent five
months in the European Theatre
of war. He also spent over eight
een months in the Tleutian Is
lands.
actual cost of the banquet. Ths
$3.50 a plate charged for the ban
quet, by the Stock Growers went
into their treasury. The expense—
of the business meeting, borne by
the Stock Growers, amounted to
about $1600.00. The difference . r
otf $30.35 between contributions
and expense will be used by the
Commercial Club to apply
against the cost of two one page
ads in the Nebraska Cattleman
and the expense of having seven
cuts made. The total cost of the
ads and cuts amount to $126.57.