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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (June 10, 1948)
The Frontier VOLUME 67.—NUMBER 5. __ O'NEILL. NEBRASKA. THURSDAY. JUNE 10. 1940. PRICE 7 CENTS Frank Hardy, jr„ 15, one of the principals in the dual drowning tragedy Friday at Chambers is the eldest in the above picture. On his left is his sister, Kathline, 11, and on his right is his brother, Vorace, 13. In front are Carl, 9, and Robert, 7. The other drowning victim is 17-year-old Laird L. Hardy, of Boise. Ida. (below), Frank's cousin. (See story in columns 6 and 7.) Laird Lamonl Hardy DETERIORATION OF CROPS SERIOUS Moisture in Nebraska’s Central Division Only 43% of Normal Deterioration of crops in the O’Neill region continued dur ing the past week due to a a want for moisture. So serious has become the drouth that most farmers and ranchers are uneasy. Some observers believe that the pro longed dryness has already af fected the price of livestock. Most of the alfalfa has been cut several weeks in advance of normal. For the period April 1 to June 7, inclusive, rainfall in the eastern division of the state is 60 percent of nor mal, the center division (in which O'Neill belongs) is 43 percent of normal, and the western division is 62 per cent of normal. Government Observer Elmer Bowen reported Wednesday that the average total precipi tation in the central division during this period is 2:80 inches as compared to the nor mal of 6.57. Total precipitation since January 1 is 3.83-inches, Bow en said, in comparison with 9. 55-inches for the correspond ing period a year ago. The stands of corn are gen erally poor because it has been too dry for corn to germinate. Some com would be replanted in the event of rain. Unless there is consider able rain to bring on satis factory second and third crops of alfalfa and ample moisture to make some corn, the feed supplies are expect ed to be short. The Inman locality received a shower last Thursday about midnight, and several other communities reported precipi tation. In O’Neill the shower netted only .05 of an inch. The week’s summary, based on 24-hour periods ending at 8 a. m. daily, follows: Date Hi Lo Moist June 3_ 85 63 June 4_ 89 60 .05 June 5_91 63 June 6_ 73 50 June 7 _ 91 57 June 8_ 88 55 June 9_ 86 53 Eddie Campbell Gets Hole-in-One Eddie Campbell, 21, one of the leading golfers in O’Neill’s younger set, Sunday produced the first hole-in-one in recent years. Stepping up to the tee on number 4 at the Country club course here, young Campbell dropped a lofty ball into the “bullpen”—a 125 yard distance. Considerable time was spent looking for the ball before some decided to look in the hole. • Young Campbell’s father was m the party that witnessed the rare shot. Eddie is a student at t, r e i g n t o n university in Oxxuaa. CRONIN OFFICER IN H1WAY GROUP O’Neill Attorney Named Vice - President in Grand Island Meet Julius D. Cronin. O’Neill at torney, Monday was elected vice - preside, t of Nebraska’s newly-organized Highway 281 association in a meeting at Grand Island. Earl Carpenter, of Red Cloud, was named pres ident, and Max Brown, of Hastings, was chosen secretary treasurer. The meeting in the Hotel Yancey was largely brought about by the Red Cloud Chamber of Commerce. In terest of the Grand Island and O'Neill Chambers was enlisted and the organiza tional meeting resulted. Besides Cronin, other O’Neill Chamber representatives at the sessions were: Mayor Hugh Coyne, President Leo J. Moore, G. C. DeBacker, H. L. Lind berg, Tony Asimus, R. II. Lien hart and * Secretary James W. Rooney. Also present were Frank* Nelson and Fay Puckett, O’Neill farmers. The Nebraska state group plans to organize a national highway 281 organization The group went on record with a plan for raising funds in the state for road building purposes. These are the main points: 1. A 1-cent per gallon gasoline tax increase. 2. A $5 flat wheel lax on all cars and trucks. 3. All funds thus raised— approximately 5 million dol lars annually— would go to the state highway depart ment for matching federal funds, and not be apportion ed in the usual county-by county manner. It was also decided that each city and town on or adjacent to highway 281 would be enti tled to 1 director and the rural community related to each ci ty or town would also be en titled to 1 director. Thus, O’ Neill and Chambers, for exam ple, may have 4 directors all together. Each county will se lect 1 director as a member of the association’s executive committee. Red Cloud had the largest delegation at the Grand Island meeting with 22; O’Neill was second with 10. Hastings and Lebanon, Kans., also had size able "delegations. Representa tives from Spencer included Dr. J. M. Pucelik and Shorty Sieler; from Bartlett were Ar thur Auserod and W. A. Sum-* mers. MISS LILY EI^ 60, BURIED AT INMAN INMAN— Miss Lily Ek, 60, daughter of a pioneer north Nebraska railroad man, died early Monday, June 7, at the home of her sister, Mrs. Jennie Grosser. She had been in ill health for more than a year and had been bedfast for 6 months. Funeral services were held Wednesday at 2 p. m. at the Methodist church here with Rev. E. T. Baldwin, church pastor, in charge. Interment was in the Inman cemetery. The pallbearers were: Herb- I er Rouse, James Coventry, Ed Chadomelka, Karl L. Keyes, Kenneth Smith and Chester Youngs. The late Miss Ek, daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Ola ' Ek, who were natives of Swed- j en, was born near Springview, , Keya Paha county, on Novem ber 10, 1887. When she was 7-years-old she moved with her family to Inman where she contined to reside for 53 years. She grad uated from the Inman public j school in 1903. For the past 10 years she made her home . with Mrs. Crosser. Survivors include Mrs. Cros-1 ser, l niece and 3 nephews. 'GLAMOR GALS’ WOW AUDIENCE . . • This bevy of “glamor girls” pleased large audiences during a 2-night stand at the American Legion auditorium here last week. They appeared in a take-off on radio's “Breakfast in Hollywood” program as a skit in “Fun for You,” a home-talent production sponsored by the Legion. “Gypsy Rose Lee” (left) was impersonated by A. P. (“Scovie”) Jaszkowiak; C. V. Sullivan played the role of “Gravel Gertie”; M. J. (“Max") Golden was “Marlene Dietrich’; the man is Homer Mullen, impersonating “Tom Brenneman”; “Lana Turner” is Donald Willson, and “Bet ty Grable” is the elongated J. B. Grady (right). More “Fun for You” pictures are on page 3.—The Frontier Photo by John H. Mc Carville. Pacific Northwest Floods Force Former Residents to Evacuate Their Homes Mr. and Mrs. Jack Dailey, of O’Neill, are among those with kin in the flooded area of Washington and Oregon. Their first advice that “all were safe” came by telegram and this message was followed by a letter describing some of the hardships that were en countered. Mr. and Mrs. Bernie Dai ley. formerly of O'Neill and now of Van Port, Ore., were forced to evacuate their home with only the clothes that they were wearing. All their other personal effects were swept away by the hirrVi water. Mr. and Mrs. Ben * Alder, formerly of Dorsey and now residing in Kelso. Wash., had to abandon their home on Me morial day. Mrs. Alder is a sister of Jack Dailey. Mr. and Mrs. William Dai ley, formerly of O’Neill and now of Van Port, were fortun ate enough to be able to move their furniture. They have found shelter with Mrs. Dai ley’s relatives. In the letter they mentioned Mr. and Mrs. Leo Smith, of Prescott, formerly of O’Neill, who had to move out very quickly. They Ire residing with their son, Wilbur. 4 Holt Women to State Parley Four Holt county women, Mrs. Vern Sageser, of Amelia; Mrs. Ora Yarges, of Stuart; Mrs. Edgar Stuaffer, of Page; and Mrs. Robert Martens, of Atkinson, plan to attend the state home extension council meeting at York June 9-11. The first 4 are delegates of the Holt county extension club and will take an active part in the election of new officers for ;he state council. Mrs. Sageser is vice-presi lent of the present state coun cil and will be active at the state convention. Toyland 'Royally' Crowned Friday Nighl— Francis Gene Grenier, 16 months-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Byron Grenier, was crowned "king" of toyland and Karen Ann Carr, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Emmet Carr, was crowned “queen” during an interval in the “Fun for You” American Legion - sponsored show Friday night. The children were winners n a popularity contest in con lection with the show. The “prince” was Jerry Dean Dexter and the “princess” was Linda Glea Wade, runnersup in the contest. The duke was Michael McManus and the “dutchess” was Donna Diane Jonas. IN ATOMIC RESEARCH . . Romaine Saunders, jr., son of The Frontier’s columnist, was one of a class of 1,400 grad uating June 14 at the Uni versity of Colorado at Boul der. On July 1, Mr. Saunders and wife leave for Camden, N. J., where Mr. Saunders joins the research staff of the Radio Corporation of America. A little white school in Swan precinct, 5 miles west of Amelia, gave young Saunders his eighth grade foundation. This was followed with study in acad emy, college and university. His education was interrupt ed by 5 years of Coast Guard service in the Pacific during World War II. As a physicist, young Saunders will be working with nuclear ener ergy in the RCA laborator ies. ANOTHER TYPESETTING MACHINE ADDED ... A second linotype machine — a modern model 8 — has been installed in The Frontier during the past week. Work men and staff members are shown moving the base unit of the machine through the rear door of The Frontier building. When the model 8 was put into use Tuesday, The Frontier joined the ranks of few weekly newspapers in the state using more than 1 Linotype machine. It is the only plant be tween Norfolk and Chadron using more than 1 Linotype. The Mergenthaler Linotype fac tory in Brooklyn, N. Y.. requires about 28 months for delivery of a new machine and the cost is in the neighborhood of 8 thousand dollars. The Frontier has been on order for a new machine for a year with a view to ward improving its equipment. The used model 8, which is in "excellent” condition, is expected to alleviate the immediate need for a new machine. In the photo left-to-right are; William (“Bill”) Kelly (bending down), Al bert A. Tyler, Dudley J. Stone, James J. Kel ly. and Carroll W. Stewart. — The Frontier Photo by John H. McCarviltt. REV. BELL IS NEW MINISTER HERE Methodist Conference Makes Its Annual Appointments Assignments of pastors to various churches in the state marked the close of the annual Nebraska conference of Meth odists held last week in Lin coln. Two Holt county churchfes were assigned new pastors by ?ishop William C. Martin, of the Kansas-Nebraska district. Rev. V. R. Bell, of Si. Paul, has been assigned to the O'Neill church, succeed ing Rev. Lloyd W. Mullis, who transferred last month to New England. Rev. Bell will appear in the pulpit here Sunday and he and his wife will move to O'Neill next Monday, The Bells have 2 grown sons, the eldest of whom is a mem ber of the national board of education of the Methodist church with headquarters at Nashville, Tenn. The Bells were formerly lo cated at Stuart. Rev. Roy M. Wingate, of Johnstown and Wood Lake, will be the new pastor at In .man, succeeding Rev. Edgar T. Baldwin, who goes to Bel grade and Pinnacle Hill. Dur ing his 3 years at Johnstown the church was rebuilt twice. It was destroyed by fire on 1 occasion and was damaged by wind on another. Rev. J. W, Clapper, of In man, formerly of the Assembly of God church at O’Neill, has been assigned by the Metho dists at Royal and Clearwater. Atkinson and Emmet will again be served by Rev. W. C. Birmingham, who begins his third year, and Amelia will be served for the third year by Rev. Floss Biltoft. Rev. T. O. Brownfield will be new at Page and the Cham bers pulpit “will be supplied.” Ten planes piloted by Ne braska flying churchgoers took 20 persons, including a num ber of Holt countyans, flew to Lincoln for the conference-end service conducted by Bishop Martin. Rev. Birmingham or iginated the Lying churchgoers organization. President Harry S. Tru man, who was in Nebraska, had been invited to join in the pilgrimage, but the in vitation was declined. Conrad Fickel, of Celia, made the longer flight; Rudy Dvorak, of Atkinson, made the 'earliest takeoff; Earl Coxbill, of Atkinson, was the earliest arrival, and Mrs. Maude Clif ford. of Atkinson, was the old est flying churchgoer. ________ Annual O'Neill Picnic Slated— The annual O’Neill picnic sponsored by the St. Mary’s Academy alumni will be held 1 at Benson park in Omaha on Sunday, June 13, at 4 p. m. All former O’Neill residents have been invited to attend | and to provide their own pic nic lunch. — CAR UPSETS PAGE — Robert Wood, of Page, and Donald Sauser, of O’Neill, escaped injury Sun day evening when the Wood coupe turned over several times 1% miles south of Page. The car was badly damaged. 2 Youths Drowning Victims Swimming in Gravel Pit Fatal to Cousins; Bodies Recovered Next Day by Rescuers By a Staff Writer CHAMBERS—Two youths, Frank E. Hardy, jr., 15, and his cousin, Laird L. Hardy, 17, perished about 2:30 p. m. Friday in a gravel pit on the Edgar Jones place, 8 miles northeast of Chambers. They had disrobed and were swimming wThen the younger Hardy encountered difficulty, presumably cramps. The older boy, who had reached the bank, swam back to help. In the meantime both disappeared from the surface and drowned. Vorace Hardy. 13, brother of Frank, witnessed the trag edy. He told authorities that he was on the bank and sensed trouble when Frank's hair bobbled on the surface. He saw the 2 go down after they had been in personal contact. The younger Hardy is the eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Hardy, of Chambers, the elder is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Al bert F. Hardy, of Boise, Ida. Laird had arrived in Nebraska with his parents the day be fore. and had arrived in Chambers only a few hours earlier. The father of the Chambers boy told The Frontier that the youths had eaten a family dinner and had taken the family car for a drive. Workmen had left the pit for the day when the boys reached there, and the parents did not know that a swim ming excursion had been planned. • The surface water was rel atively warm, but several feet down the spring-fed wa ter was very cold. The pit measures from 40- to 60-feet deep, but the drownings are believed to have occured in shallower water. Crews worked all night to recover the bodies. Among them was a seining crew for the state game, forestation and parks commission, using a net 36 by 600 feet in size. A sec ond crew arrived from North Platte early the next morning. “Grapple” hooks were also used. The body of the Idaho youth was recovered at about 6 a. m., and the second body was re covered about 10:30 a. m. Meals were served to the res cue workers during the night. After witnessing the tragedy, Vorace ran for help. A gen eral alarm was sounded in the Chambers vicinity and a call was sent to the O'Neill fire de partment. The Frank Hardy family came to Chambers only a fort night ago trom Ericson. They purchased the Faye Brittell bakery and cafe. Both bodies were taken to Biglin Brothers mortuary in O'Neill pending funeral ar rangements. Frank Hardy was born at Seward, and was reared there, and learned to swim in the Seward pool. He re sided with his parents a short time at Ericson, and would have been a freshman in Chambers high school next Fall. Funeral services were held at the Methodist church Tues day at Chambers at 10 a. m. and at the Methodist church at Ericson at 2 p. m. Burial was at Ericson with Rev. Cox in charge. Survivors: Parents; brothers —Vorace, 13; Carl 9, and Rob ert, 7; sister—Kathline, 9, all of Chambers; grandmother — Mrs. Katie Hardy, of Ericson. The remains of Laird La mont Hardy were shipped from O’Neill via Grand Island to Boise early Sunday. The youth was born at Holdrege on August 17, 1931. Funeral services were ex pected to have been held there Wednesday. Survivors: Parents; sister — Mrs. Jean Stearns, all of Boise. The fathers of the drowning victims are brothers. The gravel pit is relatively new with most of the gravel having been removed recently. Mr. Jones, who resides a half mile away, has forbidden use of the pit for swimming. He was unaware, however, that the Hardys were using it. Robert Allen Is Youngest Grad Robert Allen, 19, son of Mrs. Margaret Allen, of O’Neill, last Thursday graduated from Creighton university at Omaha. He is believed to have been the youngest winner of a bach elor’s degree in the history of the institution. The youth’s mother and brothers. Jerome Allen. of Page, and John Allen, of Lin coln, a student at the Univer-: 1 sity of Nebraska, were pres j ent at the commencement. Clara Booth Luce was the com mencement speaker. A St. Mary’s acamedy grad uate, young Allen will work i for a wholesale grocery firm in Omaha during the Summer. He plans to work towards a master’s degree. Mrs. John Brophy, of Grand Island, spent the weekend here, with friends.