The Frontier
[ - ___ _ . 1 ♦ y , , , t
VOLUME 67.—NUMBER 18._O’NEILL, NEBRASKA, THURSDAY^ SEL1 EMBER 11,' 19477
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JOHN F. SCHMIT
RITES MONDAY
%
Consumers Lineman, 21,
Fatally Injured by
2,300-Volt Charge
Funeral services for John F.
Schmit, 21-year-old Consumers
Public Power district lineman
who was fatally injured late last
Thursday when he came in con
tact with a 2,300-volt power line,
were held at 10 a. m. Monday
at St. Mary's Catholic church at
Nenzel, west of Valentine.
Rev. Cail J. Liebig, church
pastor, officiated and the sermon
was delivered by Rev. Leo M.|
Blaire, of the St. Nicholas Cath
olic church at Valentine. Burial
was in the cemetery at Nenzel.
Born October 28, 1925, on a
* farm near Nenzel, he was a son
of Mr. and Mrs. John Schmit.
He attended school both at Nen
zel and Valentine. During World
War II he seived overseas in
the Navy.
A year ago he and his
brother, Edward, joined the
Consumers organization here
and were both members of the
same line crew. Edward was
ab:enl, however, when his
younger brother was fatally
injured while working on a
power pole in an alley near
the Gorgen Motor company in
West O'Neill.
The wedding date for the late
Mr. Schmit and his bride-elect.
Miss Sheila Barrett, daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Barrett,
of O’Neill, had been set for Sep
tember 27.
Among those attending the fu*
neral were: the Barretts, Mr.
and Mrs. Gene Lawrence, Mr.
and Mrs. Robert Kurtz, Mike A.
Smith, R. L. Bode, Mr. and Mrs.
James Cronk, Mrs. Lod Janou
sek and daughters, Mary Ann
and Martha, Mr. and Mrs. Rich
ard Tomlinson, Wilbur D. Pet
ers, Ivan Pruss, Alfred Sipes,
Mr. and Mrs. William Watson,
all of O’Neill, and Mr. and Mrs.
Merle Caster, and Mr. and Mrs.
Robert Stevens, all of Inman.
Survivors include: the parents;
brothers—Edward, Charles, Leo
nard, Aloysios, Paul, William,
Richard; sister—Anna Marie, a
student at St. Mary’s academy
here.
Among the Consumers person
nel attending the funeral were:
P. L. Bower and R. W. Staal,
both of Columbus; Herman Mas
sengale, Herman Reichers. Don
Asher, Walter Sheldon, Melvin
Hooper, Earl Ladd and Charles
• Stout, all of Valentine.
John F. Schmit. Navy over
seas veteran • . . his wedding
day was set. (Story at left )
TAX PUBLISHING '
DATE INDEFINITE
Attorney General Puts
Snag in New Law
with Ruling
The date for publishing the
names of Holt county’s delin
quent personal taxpayers is in
definite, County Treasurer J.
Ed Hancock said Wednesday.
Under the new state tax law,
! the list must be publi.hed be
i tween September 1 and Decem
ber 1.
One reason for the holdup is
because of a snag created this
week by Attorney Gene al Walt
! er Johnson, who ruled that the
list must contain all the delin
quent taxpayers on the county
I treasurer’s books. Originally,
the county had planned to pub
lish only the names of 1946 de
linquent taxpayers.
Meanwhile, county officials
over the state are looking
toward Omaha for a possible
solution of the problem. A test
| action is expected to be filed in
district. court here under which
county officials will seek a court
ruling on whether the names of
all delinquent taxpayers pr'or to
1946 must be placed on the list.
Hancock said it would be al
most impossible to compile such
a list before December 1 with
the present staff. The work
would involve thousands o f
names, including many persons
I who are dead or moved away.
The Camera Goes to the Fair
(The Frontier -Photos by John H. McCarville)
Black Diamond ... an 18-month-old Angus . . . grand
champion in 4-H competition. At right is Owner Billy Sits
First prize iloat . . . entered by district 137. of Chambers . . .
presenting gailey-colored 55lh anniversary scene, featuring ru
ral youth and agriculture.
20 FROGGIES
Second prize float ... a school of 20 little froggies . . •
mimicking frogs behind masks, the pupils won plaudits from
the crowd. The float was jointly entered by districts 121 and 71.
GEORGE A. FRENCH
BURIED AT PAGE
Helped Homestead on the
Townsite of Page;
Dies at 80
SPECIAL ID THE FRONTIER
PAGE — Funeral services for
George A. French, 80, wiio died i
at the O’Neill hospital Friday |
evening, were conducted at 10 j
a. m. Monday at the Methodist i
church in Page. Rev. Carl B
Rayburn, church pastor, officat- j
ed and burial was in the Page i
cemetery. A la;ge crowd attend-I
ed the service.
The late Mr. French, born at!
Bath, N. Y., on February 27,
1867, moved w-ith his mother,
Mrs. Louisa Hi French, from
New York to near Lewis, la.,
when he was 14-years-old. Two
yearg later—in the Fall of 1883
•—Mrs. French brought her fam
ily to Holt county, settling on a
homestead which is the present
site of Page.
During the family’s early
years in Nebraska, son George
returned to Iowa to earn money
I. nd assist his people financially.
He was the second son in the
family. The father, Henry A.
French, died in New York state.
On April 15, 1891, he was
married to Stella R. Brobst, an
Iowan who had come here to
teach. They established their
| home on the west-half of the or
iginal French homestead. Here
they became the parents of five
children and resided the remain
der of their lives.
Interest in Livestock
A member of the Methodist
church since youth, the late Mr.
French was active in church
and civic affairs. He had a spe
cial interest in raising livestock
and fruit and shade trees.
Survivors include: sons. Dr. O.
W. French, of O’Neill; Merwyn
; G. French, of Page; and Clifford
; D. French, of Lamberton. Minn.:
1 daughter, Mrs. Hazel Brouse. of
Valentine; brother, Wallace
French, of Page; sister, Mrs.
Louise Heiss. of Page; eight
grandsons, six granddaughters,
one great-granddaughter, seven
nieces and five nephews.
Mrs. F.ench died in April,
1938, and thei” son, Kenneth G.
French, died in infancy.
Music ’»t the funeral was pro
vided by a quartette consisting
of Mrs. John Lamason, Mrs.
Harold Heiss. Edgar Stauffer
and Victor Snyder, accompanied
■'t the piano by Mrs. Mildred
Haynes. The pallbearers were
O. L. Reed, H. L. Banta, Roy
Haynes, Ray Snell, Lorenze
Riege, and Charles Vroman.
Among those from a distance
attending the rites were: Mr.
and Mrs. *Paul Tallon, of Oma
ha: Dr. Ivan French, of Wahoo,
and Murel Johnson, of Omaha.
Mercury Drops 43
Degrees with Rain
Nebraska’s changeable weath
er was aptly demonstrated by
the weatherman this week. The
mercury skidded from 97 de
grees at midday Monday to 54
at 8 a. m. today (Thursday)—
a difference of 43 degrees.
With a touch of raw dampness
in the air, prompting citizens to
break out today in a rash of top
coats and field jackets, folks
were reminded that summer
would soon be only a memory.
A shower Saturday night was
accompanied by an intense elec
trical storm. Lighting struck
the wiring at the Lawrence
Bourne residence, in the north
east section of the city, igniting
the side of the house. The fire
department was summoned to
extinguish the blaze.
School days have been short
ened by 3 p. m. dismissals at
the O’Neill public school when
the temperatures exceeded 90
degrees. This has occured three
times during the first eight days
of the new term.
Precipitation during the week
totaled -82-inches with showers
three days in a row. (Sfee sum
mary below):
Hi Lo Moist.
j September 5 86 56
September 6 94 60
j September 7 98 69 .13
September 8 97 75
September 9 97 65 .31
September 10 89 62 .23
September 11 — 82 54 .15
Total -- -87
Driver Injured as
Truck Overturns
EWING— Jack Angus, 25, an
ex-service man and driver of a
truck owned by the Yant Con
struction company. suffered
nainful scalp injuries and pther
bruises about 11:30 Saturday
forenoon when his truck over
turned on highwav 275. about
two miles west of Ewing.
Angus was found wandering
ibout the truck in a dazed con
dition by Oscar R. Gretschmann,
-f Ewing. Gretschmann took
the injured tiucker to a Ewing
physician for treatmen.
The truck was considerably
damaged and was upside down
when it came to a stop- Angus
„ms unable to account for the
accident. It is believed that no
other vehicle was involved.
Legion's $25,000 Club Open but Not Finished
The quonsel - type structure appeared
"overnight" on O'Neill's main thoroughfare.
Much of the labor was done by Legionnaires
themselves and many materials were delivered
at cost.
i
The lounge features a glass-tile front win
dow, fluorescent lighting and comfortable fur
I niture. A stairway leads to the second-floor
| club offices.
CONVENTION NEARS
Here are three views of the
new $25,000 American Legion
and Auxiliary building in O’
Neill. Although the entire
building has not been formal
ly opened, the swank club
rooms are attracting members
and their guii* daily between
4 p. m. and midnight.
The top panel shows the
quonset-type building as it ap
pears facing south on Doug
las street, 2‘-> blocks east of
the Golden hotel. The site
was donated by J. B Ryan,
O’Neill grain dealer, and the
building measures 40 x 160
feet.
The center panel shows the
spacious lounge, which is im
mediately inside the main en
trance. The predominating
color is blue.
The photograph at right
shows the glass-tile bar and
the attendant, Edward N.
Flood, who is a World War I
veteran.
Legion officials have indi
cated that the auditorium will
be completed before October
13—the date set for the an
nual Second district Legion
and Auxiliary convention,
The clubrooms are open from 4 p. m. until midnight daily.
Edward N. Flood is the attendant
which will be held here this
year. It will be an all-day
alfair.
Besides the lounge and aud
itorium. the building contains
a kitchen, two rest rooms, a
cloak room and club offices
(on the second floor.)
Counties represented in the
Second district are Antelope,
Boone, Boyd, Holt, Pierce,
Knox, Madison and Stanton.—
The Frontier Photos by John
H. McCarville.
STOCK EXHIBITS
•TOPS' AT FAIR
Chambers Exposition in
Good Start Despite
Bad Weather
SPECIAL Ml THE FRONTIER
CHAMBERS — Before raw
weather and threatening skies
moved in to dampen the big
rodeo and restrict attendance to
day (Thursday) at the 55th an
nual Holt county fair, the 1947
exposition had already establish
ed itself as a success with the
Tuesday (entry day) and Wed
nesday (judging day) activity.
By placing a yardstick on the
4-H and open class livestock en
tries and other agricultural ex
hibits, the fair was considered
easily one of the best.
Supt. of Livestock Henry
Wood, of Ewing, declared:
"I've been working with the
fair a good number of years
and the animals shown this
year will certainly rank high
at anybody's fair."
Billy Sitz, of Atkinson, won
grand champion 4-H baby been
honors with Black Diamond, a
husky. 18-months-old Angus calf
which will point next to the Ak
Sar-Ben stock show in Omaha.
Young Sitz is a son of Mr. and
Mrs- Will Sitz.
Three stockmen who came
to Holt from Buffalo county a
few years back set a fast pace
in the open-class showing.
They were: E. R. Carpenter,
of Chambers, with Shorthorn
entries; Will Sitz, of Atkinson,
with Angus, and Floyd Whit
aker. of Chambers, with Here
fords.
Three out-of - county judges
decided on the school parade
winners. They were: E. M.
(Continued on page 4.)
SCHOOL HEARING
TO AUDITORIUM
The hearing for the reapprais
al of Holt county’s 77,000 acres
of school lands has been post
poned from September 18 to
September 25, it was announced
Monday in Lincoln by Henry H.
Bartling, secretary of the board
of educational lands and funds.
The hearing is the latest move
in a series of bickerings over
school land valuations in Holt
county. The values fixed by the
state were bitterly opposed by
a group of school land leasees,
who appeared in August before
the board at Lincoln to ask for
another hearing.
Bartling offered no explana
tion for the postponement.
The session will be held in the
courtroom at the courthouse
heie, beginning at 9 a. m.
A legal notice on page 7 of
this issue of The Frontier states
that the hearing will be held in
the courtroom of the Holt coun
ty courthouse. However, court
house officials explain that the
courtroom will not accommo
date the crowd and plans have
been made to transfer the meet
ing to the O’Neill public school
auditorium, one block north of
the couithouse.
LICENSES PASS 2.000
Holt county motorists, clamor
ing for new drivers’ licenses as
a result of a new law that be
came effective September 8,
passed the 2,000 mark today
(Thursday) at the office of
County Treasurer J. Ed Han
cock. All driver’s licenses ex
pired September 1 and the issu
ance of new licenses began Mon
day.
DOC GOES BY AIR
Dr. George R. Cook. O’Neill
veterinarian, took to the air
Monday to make a rush call to
a ranch south of Stuart. Rud
olph Dvorak, a flyin" rancher,
met the doctor at the O’Neill
airport.
WIN HONORS AT
STATE FAIR
Maxine Peterson and'
Valera Lofquest First
in Food Judging
Miss Maxine Peterson, of
Amelia, and Miss Valera Lof
quist, of Stuart, walked off with
top honors in the 4-H foc*l judg
I ing division at the Nebraska
state fair in Lincoln last week.
In addition, Miss Peterson won
top individual honors in food
| judging.
They led a group of 15 Holt
county 4-H youths entered in
the 1947 statewide agricultur
al show at Lincoln.
Other winners were Miss Lu
cille Mitchell, of Stuart, purple
ribbon on her rug and a red
ribbon on her pillow cases; Bil
ly Sitz, of Atkinson, blue ribbon
on Hereford steer and red rib
bon on Angue heifer; Lindy
Mulford, of Stoart, blue ribbon
on Hereford steer; Miss Lois
Heiss, of Page, and Harriet Sim
mons, of Page, third place in
I food preservation judging; Miss
' Peterson and Miss Beverly
j Small, of Amelia, blue ribbon
on making and using bias tape
at home; Miss Twila Whaley, of
1 O’Neill, red ribbon on bed mak
ing: Betty and Helen Thomas,
white ribbon on fitting shoes.
Others participating in the
I fair were: Murray Mellor, of O’
| Neill; Thomas Kelly, of Page;
I Tla June Coon, of Inman; Alice
j Whaley, of O’Neill.
Holt counlyans competed in
livestock, homemaking and
clothing judging, music, weed,
orass and tree identification
contests, and health contest.
Accompanying the delegation
| were County Agent A. Neil
Dawes and County Home Agent
Catherine Kirwan, both of O’
Neill, and Dale Stauffer, of
Page.
RIVER CLAIMS
WAR VETERAN
D. Dwayne Okeson, 24,
Drowns Sunday Near
Spcneer Dam
THE FRONTIER PRINT
SPENCER—Tragedy abruptly
ended a wedding trip for D.
Dwayne Okeson, 24. and his bride^
Irene. While swimming in the
Niob:ara river near the Spencer
dam late Sunday, Okeson is be
lieved to have been stricken
with cramps or a heart attack
and was drowned.
The Okesons had been mar
ried only four days.
Mr. Okeson, who was former
ly of Bonesteel, S. D., and re
cently of Columbus, went swim
; ming at about 7 p. m. with his
brother, Kenneth, of Bonesteel,
and members of the Ray Velder
family, of Spencer, fie was
heard crying for help and was
seen disappearing below the sur
face of the water.
The brothe . Kenneth, endan
gered his own life in trying to
save the distressed man, but
was unsuccessful. Mrs. Okeson,
the bride, witnessed her hus
band’s drowning from the bank
of the river.
The body was found the
following morning on the riv
er's south bank at a point a
half - mile below the dam.
which is located about 24
miles north of O'Neill on high
way 281.
The discovery was made by
Adam and Norbert Koenig, who
are farmers in that vicinity.
Holt County Attorney Wiliam
W. Griffin, who investigated,
said that Okeson was a swim
mer and was “stricken with
either cramps or a heart attack."
The water wheels at the dam
were shut-down by Consumers
Public Power company e m
ployees manning the hydroelec
tric plant there. The shut-down
enabled searchers to work be
low the dam. When the water
began to flow over the top,
however, generating w-as resum
ed through the water wheels.
A momentary service disrup
: tion was felt in O’Neill when
! the hydro power was shut-off.
A searching party worked
until midnight without suc
The fast-flowing Nio
brara is believed to have de
posited the body on the Holt
bank at an early hour in the
morning.
Okeson’s wife is from Shelby.
His mother is Mrs. Marie Oke
son, of Bonesteel, and Mr. Vel
der is his uncle.
During World War II young
Okeson served in the Seabees
He graduated from Bonesteel
high school in 1941. He was ac
tive in football and basketball.
TILLAGE SHOW
SITE CHANGED
The site for the subsurface*
tillage demonstration has beeit
changed from the Fred Carey
farm, located two miles east of
O’Neill, to the Frank Searles.
farm, two miles west of Dance
land ballroom. The date and'
time remains the same — Mon
day, September 15, 1 p. m.—ac
cording to County Agent A.
I Neil Dawes
The demonstration will fea
1 ture modern machines designed
to conserve crop residue for pro
tection against wind and water
erosion
Mr. Dawes said the demon
stration has been planned by
the implement dealers, the co
operating farmers, the county
extension service and the soil
[conservation service.
POLIO VICTIM, 3,
IS RECOVERING
i __
—
Raymond Harding, 3. sen of
Mr. and Mrs. James Harding, is
I “well on the road to recovery,”
> according to attendants in the
infantile paralysis ward in a
Lincoln hosDital where the O’
Neill youngster was received
August 26 for polio treatment.
! The child’s padents, who vis;t
,-r) fhoir c -i la«t weekend in
Lincoln, said that Raymond
would be rel ased from the hos
pital late this week.
Wherry’s Father 111;
Senator Passes Holt
Nebraska’s junior United
-States senator. Kenneth S.
Wherry, of Pawnee Citv, was
forced to go through Holt coun
ty Wednesday without making
scheduled stops because of the
serious illness of his father, who
also resides Pawnee Citv.
He had intended to visit O -
Neill late Wednesday and re
main until 10 a. m. today
(Thursday). _ ,
! * PRUITT INFANT DIES
f,rPno v Dennis Pruitt, infant
son of Mr. and Mrs. Calwin A
IPrnHt Horn Monday in St. Vin
cent’s hospital at Sioux City,
died there early today (Thurs
Iday). Mrs. Pruitt is the former
Miss Marjorie Cronin.