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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (April 21, 1949)
Landslide Changes Course in River ' Sunken 20 - Acre Tract Near Naper Attracts Widespread Interest NAPER — A landslide or the Niobrara river, about two miles East of the White Horse ranch, created widespread in terest here over the weekend. A tract of land estimated to be at least 20 acres has slip ped, portions of it into the riv er. As a result, the course of the river has been altered. First evidence of the phem omena occurred early Friday about a half-mile back from the river channel, where the hill “seemed to break loose,” as one observer put it. Where the breakaway occurred, the walls appear as though they had been sheared by a mighty instrument as sharp as an ax. The landslide resulted in partially filling a bayou. 0 The Yocum hill is on the Boyd county side of the Nio brara river, which is one of the swiftest-flowing plains streams in the world. The hill is near the confluence of the Niobrara river and Keya Paha creek. Land previously had been us ed for pasturing livestock. It has been owned by the Yocum Bros. Residents in the area this week are speculating on the cause of the landslide. Some at tribute it to an earthquake tremor that rocked the Pacific Northwest last week. Others say the hill rested on shale-like rock, common along the North bank of the Niobrara, and con tinued high water may have de veloped a cavern-like effect un der the hill and the collapse re sulted. In any event the phenomena has brought sightseer's from many miles. Landslides on a miniature scale have been common occur ances along the Niobrara and Missouri rivers to oldtimers, but seldom have slides of this size been reported. A similar slide—though on a lesser scale—a year ago filled the arena at the White Horse ranch. Frank Clausen, whose land joins the Yocum property, is re ported as saying that the slide was caused by too much mois ture. Ruth Thompson, of the White Horse ranch, has described the slide as an avalanche. National Press Photos to Be Judged Here For the second consecutive year a committee of the Na tional Editorial Association will convene at The Frontier to pick winners in the nationwide weekly and semiweekly news paper contest in connection with the “best use of photo graphs.” Date is Sunday, May 1. Fred R. Zimmer, of Harting ton, publisher of the Cedar County News and vice - presi dent of the Nebraska Press As sociation, for the second straight year is chairman of the National Editorial Associa tion committee to .judge the entries for the photographic award. Winners will be announced in June at the Summer NEA convention to be held at Salt Lake City, Ut. Zimmer has named as judges E. C. Liggett, publisher of the Ord Quiz; G. E. Miles, editor of the Holt County Independ ent; Carroll (“Cal ’) Stewart, editor, and John H. McCar ville, staff photographer, both of The Frontier. Weatherfords Return from South— Mr. and Mrs. Charles A. Weatherford returned last Thursday following a three weeks’ visit in Tulsa, Okla.. and Ft. Worth, Tex. Mr. Wea therford, who owned the O’ Neill Cleaners until last month, Mofiday began working as a salesman for a Lincoln firm selling refrigeration equipment and grocery store fixtures. The Weatherfords will move to Lincoln at the end of the school term. L. A. Becker, who bought the O’Neill Cleaners from Mr. Weatherford, will move his family into the Wea therford residence. The Beck ers come from Randolph. Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Mason lived at the Weatherford resi dence with the Weatherford boys, Marvin and Kenneth, during the absence of their pa rents. Atkinson High Earns 15 'Superiors'— Atkinson high school was awarded 15 “superiors” in the annual district III music con test here recently, instead of 14 as reported in last week’s issue of The Frontier. In addition six “excellents” and two! “goods” were issued to contest ants from the Atkinson school MARRIAGE LICENSES Vernon Siebert, 23, of Atkin- ! son. and Betty Braun, 19, of Atkinson, April 13. I f 2 Automobiles Are Stolen at Ewing EWING — Two automobiles were stolen Sunday at Ewing. A grey 1947 Ford sedan was stolen from Art Marquardt and abandoned in a mud hole. The thieves are believed to have driven away in a 1941 red Ford pickup, belonging to Jack Sisson, of Ewing. The license number (1948) is 36-CE399. The state patrol believes the auto thefts can be linked with a series of break-ins that have occured this week at Norfolk. Kin Perishes in Effingham Blaze Mrs. Robert E. Gallagher and Mrs. John Melvin have re ceived word that their cousin Mrs. Mary Mafferty Haley, a resident of Illinois, perished in the April 5 blaze at Effingham. 111., a town of about 8,500 pop ulation. Mrs. Haley was not known in O’Neill, except by relatives Eighty lives were lost, includ ing those of at least 13 new born infants. ELLA TUTTLE, 91, DIES AT ATKINSON Rites Tuesday at Stuarl for Early Resident of That Locality STUART— Funeral service: were held Tuesday at th< Coats funeral chapel for Mis: Ella Tuttle, age 91, who diet early Easter Sunday at the Ethel Brown nursing home ir Atkinson. Death resulted frorr complications accompanying hei advanced age. Burial was in the Stuarl cemetery with Gene Andersor officiating. The late Miss Tuttle was born at Goldfield, la. She came to the Stuart locality with hei parents. The Tuttles were £ pioneer family. In late years she made hei home with a niece, Mrs. Roy f Thomas, at Holton, Kans. 33 Acceptances for Recognition Program Here Thirty-three women f r o rr ! eight North-Central Nebraska counties have accepted invitat ions to the annual rural worn I en’s recognition program to be | held here Wednesday, April 27 under the auspicies of the i Chamber of Commerce. Approximately 85 women presidents of project clubs and county representatives of pro ject clubs will gather here for the all-day recognition pro | gram. Delegates will come from the following counties': Brown, I Rock, Keya Paha, Boyd Whee ! ler, Garfield, Loup and Holt. A style show is planned in ! connection with the program. Mrs. Edward M. Gallagher and Mrs. Harry Peterson are : cochairman in charge of ar rangements. Registration and coffee hour will be between 10 and 11 a. m. The delegates will be free between 11 a. m. and 12:45 p. m. The luncheon and style show will begin at 1 p. m. in the American Legion club. The affair originally was scheduled for last Thursday, Aprill 14, but was postponed because of adverse road con ditions. !):'rrel! Weingartner Hoys’ State Delegate Darrell Weingartner. 17, O’ Neill high school junior and son of Mr. and Mrs. George Weingartner, has been selected as Boys’ State delegate for 1949 by the Chamber of Com merce. This year O’Neill will have only one delegate. In previous years representatives were chosen from each school—O’ Neill high and St. Mary’s acad emy. Next year’s delegate will be from St. Mary’s. Weingartner has participated in football and band at O’Neill high. _ Vequist Acquitted on Driving Charge i Ray Vequist, of O’Neill, was acquitted Monday by a six man jury in Holt county court on state charges of operating an automobile under the influ ence of intoxicating liquor. Ve quist was arrested and lodged in the city jail by Assistant Police Chief Joseph Wert. John R. Gallagher, attorney, repre sented the defendant. Senator Nelson Here— State Sen. Prank Nelson spent the Easter weekend in O’Neill. Although excused from Monday’s session of the state legislature, he left O’ Neill Sunday to be on hand for Monday’s business in the uni cameral. The Frontier ,ik North-Nebraska s I'astest-Growing Newspaper SECTION I _ _ PAGES 1 TO 3 VOLUME 88-NUMBER 50 O'NEILL. NEBRASKA. THURSDAY. APRIL tl, lM PRICE 7 CENTS HIGHWAY PARLEY HERE APRIL 28 Official of 281 (i roup Says ‘Much Work to Be Done’ Dakotans Are Invited A meeting of the Nebraska chapter of the Highway 281 Association will be held Thurs day, April 28, in O’Neill. Ses sion begins at 8 p. m. in the American Legion auditorium. Earl Carpenter, of Red Cloud, is president of the Ne braska chapter and Julius D. Cronin, of O’Neill, is vice-pres ident. Carpenter says “there’s a lol of work to be done” in behali of highway 281—often referred to as one of the most strategic yet most neglected roads ir Nebraska. Business on the agenda will include amending the bylaws and constitution of the association. In mid-Win ter a meeting of the chapter was held at St. Paul, but, because of storm and road conditions, there was little representation of cities and J towns North of the Platte river. This partially accounts for a second meeting within such a short time. 11 Host will be the O’Neil! 'Chamber of Commerce. A dutch lunch is planned. In making arrangements, the O’Neill Chamber undertook tc ' notify civic groups at Greelej and the following towns Nortl of there: Ericson, Spaulding Bartlett, Chambers, Spencer Butte, Bristow and Lynch. Ir addition, the Chamber has ex tended invitations t o civil leaders in the following Soutl Dakota towns: Bonesteel, Fair fax, Platte, Plankington anc White Lake. Secretary James W. Roonej of the O’Neill Chamber saic officials were unable to deter mine exactly how many woulc be attending the meeting, bu delegates are expected fron Hastings, Grand Island anc other cities and towns alonj the North-South transcontinen tal routte. (In an editorial on page 2 section 1, The Frontier say: the highway 281 meeting wil be held “tonight.” This is ir error. The meeting will b< held Thursday, April 28—on< week from tonight.) Page Discusses School Problem _ PAGE—A community meet ing was held at Page Wednes j day night to discuss the schoo situation. Since the school buildinj was destroyeyd by fire severa weeks ago, classes have beer held in the Odd Fellow's build ing, American Legion club anc Methodist church basement. F. B. Decker, deputy state superintendent of public in struction, met with the boarc of education and townspeople to discuss the problem. Decker recommended thai the community attempt to re build a grade school, but aban don plans for building a high school, which, he pointed out would run the cost into the neighborhood of 150 thousanc dollars. Pays $10,500 For Mann Residence Richard ("Dick”) Tomlinson paid $10,500 for the Joseph A Mann residence, situated on the East edge of O’Neill on highways 20 and 275, in Fri day’s auction of real estate be longing to the Mann estate. Mr. Mann died in 1948. Herman McDaniels, of At ! kinson, bought a 480-acre tract | of unimproved pasture land for $7,200. The property is locat ed four miles East and 2xk miles North of Atkinson where the Eagle creek heads. Several bidders showed an interest in the spacious Mano residence. -«■ Return from West— Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Bowen arrived Wednesday. April 13 after a vacation trip to South ern California and Phoenix Ariz. They also visited Mr and Mrs. John Reid, Mr. and Mrs. Russell McKee and Mrs. Martha Belle Warner, all of Denver. Colo. Robert Bowen of Lincoln, returned with them. YOUNG MAN, 19, DIES STUART—Richard J Scho enenberger, 19, son of Mr. and Mrs. Lester Schoenenberger, died Sunday at Beatrice. Fu neral services were held Wed nesday afternoon at the Fed* erated church in Stuart and burial was in the Stuart ceme tery. Weight Restrictions Still on Highways - The 12,000-pound per axle weight restriction for rnoto* carriers is still in effect on some roads: in the O'Neill re gion, the state safety patrol warned this week. The limit applies on U. S. highway 20 from the East edge of Stuart to the junction of highways 20 and 281, neat Danceland, outside O’Neill; from the junction of highways 20 and 275 East on 20 to the West junction of highways 20 and 13, near Plainview. Patrolman Faye Robeson said his orders were to stop violaters. The restriction was imposed a month ago in order i to halt deterioration of the roads. S1TZ TOP BULL SELLS FOR $530 Oft-Postponed Angus Sale Held Friday; Herefords Sell Saturday Standby tractors had to be used to pull trucks' and auto mobiles through mud holes on i the road to the Will Sitz place, , but the registered Angus dis persion sale went off as sched. uled Friday with good results, considering that the sale had been thrice postponed. The Sitz place — Pmegrove ranch — is located one mile East and 15 miles South of Stuart. Originally the sale had been scheduled for March 25. Then I it was postponed until April 4. Because of bad road conditions a new date was set—April 11. j Again road conditions interven ed and a fourth date—Friday, April 15—was set. 1 All of the 27 bred heifers sold, averaging $285 per head. The yearling bulls averaged ! $330. Top price paid was $530 i for Blackbird Double Revolu i tion. Buyers came from Nebras ka points as far distant as [ Kilgore and there were buy ers from Burke, S. D. Most of the cattle will s! xy in Ne braska as replacement breed ing stock. ; Ed Thorin, of Chambers, was f the auctioneer, assisted by i Laurence Buller, of the Ne ■ braska Farmer. Mr. Sitz is selling two herd bulls and eight yearling bulls at private sale before May 15. These were unsold in Friday’s auction. Mr. and Mrs. Sitz plan to take an extended pleasure trip I this Summer. Most of their farm and haying machinery and other personal property were disposed of at the sale. ] The sixth annual Sageser - I Robertson - Shaffer sale was held Saturday at the Atkinson , Livestock Market. Ernie Wel ' ler, of Atkinson, and Ed Thor ‘ in, were the auctioneers. All of their 60 registered bulls and 70 females were sold. Alexander Cooper Dies at Orchard ORCHARD — Funeral ser vices were held Thursday, Ap ril 14, at the Hamilton mortu ary at Orchard for Alexande* Cooper. 86, of Ewing, who died at his home on Monday, April 12. Mr. Cooper was born at Ab erdeenshire, Scotland, ou March 4. 1863, a son of James j and Mary Cooper. He came to the United States in 1882 at i the age of 19, spending two i years in North Dakota, later moving to Norfolk, where he worked as a fireman on the : Chicago & North Western rail ! road. In 1889 he moved to a j farm North of Orchard. In 1897 he was united in marriage to Miss Emma Pet er at Nor 'oik. To this union three children were born. They moved to a farm East of Ewing in 1912, where Mr. Cooper lived until his death. M’s. Cooper died on Decem ber 19, 1941. Mr. Cooper joined the Ma, j sonic lodge in 1891 and has j ■ held continuous membership since. He was a 32d degree : Mason and was presented the Jordan medal several years ago. At the time of his death he was a member of the Ply I thogoras lodge 156, of Page. The Masonic lodge of Pag« and Orchard had charge of fu neral services, with Reverend Anderson officiating. Survivors include: Daughter —Mrs. Mary Iloeberg, of Boise, Ida.; sons—James and Peter, both of Ewing: seven grand children: and two sisters, who still live in Scotland. Out-of-town relatives and friends at the rites included:: Mr. and Mrs. Robert Peter. Mr. and Mrs Dick Peter, and Bill Peter, all of Norfolk; Mr. arnd Mrs. Jess Rose Burnwich, I CONSUMERS TO REROUTE LINES Improvement Calculated to Better Service in Atkinson Talk Muny Power L. C. Walling, O Neill dis trict manager ot the Consum ers Public Power district, this week announced that he has given approval to prepare plans and specifications for the re routing and rebuilding a part of the transmission line be tween O’Neill and Atkinson. The present line is located in the Elkhorn river bottom, near Atkinson. The old line paralleling this section of the line was im passable during the severe Winter and again during the high water and made mainten ance difficult—“almost imposs ible,” Walling said. The line is the principle source of power for the Atkin son community. When snow, sleet and wind hit the vicinity recently, the heavy-laden lines caused the poles to tip over in the mud Talk of a municipal plant at Atkinson has resulted from the service interruptions during the Winter and Spr ing. Meanwhile, Mr. Walling says, Consumers plans to go ahead with the rerouting and rebuild ing of the line, and also to make a pole-by-pole inspection of transmission lines including the line from O’Neill to. Ains worth in order to strengthen the lines that were subjected to the severe Winter beatings when the only means of pat rol was by air. Mr. Walling also stated that this work will get underway immediately and that every ef fort is being made to push a head improvements needed in the area to guard against fur ther damage by storms. Plans for rerouting the line will be madeup by the districl engineering department and it is planned that the heavy equipment of the district’s con struction crews will be sent tc aid in digging the holes and setting poles for the new por tion of line. Walling explained to The Frontier service interrup tions on several occasions have resulted from lack of communications. Engineers are expected ir the city momentarily to layou plans for a shortwave transmit ter in O’Neill for Consumer use. The district headquarter here, which serves 13 countie: and 55 towns in North Nebras ka, will be in two-way contac with strategic points in the net work and with maintenance and patrol vehicles. Clark to Close Stuart Hospita STUART — Dr. F. J. Clarl this week announced that th< Stuart hospital will close dowr operations effective May 1 Doctor Clark has operated thi Stuart hospital since May 1937. The hospital topic dominat j ed a meeting of the Commer cial club Tuesday night. Mean.' of perpetuating hospital facil ities in Stuart were discussed but no definite plan was adopted. Stuart has had hospital fa ciclities for many years. Doc tor Clark plans to carry on in the community as a general practitioner. Hudson, Kassel Hands Coming to O’Neill A1 Hudson and his orchestra will appear at the American Legion ballroom here tonight (Thursday), and Art Kassel and his orchestra are booked for Friday night, April 29. John R. Gallagher, Simonson post commander, said Wednes day that the second floor lounge in the Legion club probably would be ready for use by the time of the Kassel dance. Recently new furniture and furnishings were bought for the the lounge. Some car pentry and ventilation work in the lounge is yet to be com pleted. Ag Office to Be Open Saturday, April 30— The PMA sign up deadline has been extended to Saturday. April 30. Harry Ressel, chair man of the Holt county agri cultural organization, has a*1' nounced tht the PMA offices in the annex building here will be open all day Saturday. April 30—onlv Saturday that the office will be open. Mrs. C. A. Townsend, of Page, spent Tuesday visiting at the home of Mr. and Mrs. John R. Gallagher. Mrs. Emily Bowen. ... a charter member of the WCTU . . . dies at 88. (See story at right.) KELLY BUYS STUART PAPER I Metzger Sells Advocate to Publisher of The Atkinson (Jraphic STUART— Ralph J. Kelly, publisher of the Atkinson Gra phic, has purchased the Stuart Advocate from F. G. Metzger. Metzger will serve as man ager of the Advocate until June 11, when the new man agement will take over. Until May 1, 1947, the Ad vocate was owned by Norris j Coats, who leased and later sold to Metzger. Metzger’# background included publish-* j ing an Iowa weekly and being an employee of the Ord Quiz. Metzger leased the paper until May 1, 1948, when he purchas ed the Advocate. Mr. and Mrs. Metzger have not announced future plans. J except that they plan to rest for a time. Kelly says he plans to main tain the Advocate as a sepa rate publication from the Gra phic. Phone Circuits Tangled by Storm Northwestern Bell Telephone company line crews in North east Nebraska tackled the “ toughest assignment of the Winter last Thursday on the ’ heels of a freakish Spring storm. ; Trunk lines were snarled as poles toppled under the weight ; of moisture-laden snow which swept the Norfolk-Grand Island t areas late Wednesday, April 13, and continued through early Thursday. By Thursday morning the | O'Neill toll center was with ' out direct service to Norfolk and Omaha and most points South, East and West. Only I emergency calls were accept i ; ed here until Sunday, and these were routed circuitously | through Crawford on the 1 West and Winner, S. D., on the North. The wire linking the O’Neill j studios with radio station WJAG was severed and the remote control “Voice of The Frontier” was silenced. However, a tape recorded pro gram was broadcast Satui da\ | at the usual time, featuring an j interview with Mr. and Mis. Daniel Perkins, of Chambers, who recently presented to the village of Chambers a 101-acre tract of land near Chambers. Remote control broadcasting was resumed Monday morning. The Frontier program is heard Mondays, Wednesday and Sat urdays at 9:45 a. m. The city of O’Neill was in darkness about 50 minutes early Thursday morning. A short cir cuit in the Consumers Public Power district transmission lines, in an alley near Biglin Bros., il luminated the downtown area intermittently until workmen could reach the scene and make i repairs. Before actual repairs 1 could be made, however, the power was turned off. So brig it were the arcs that some resi dents believed they saw flashes f lightning. Date High Low Prec. April 13 77 43 April 14 56 32 .74 April 15 46 28 .03 April 16 52 32 April 17 70 40 April 18 56 25 April 19 54 34 April 20 57 43 Visit at Taylor — Mr. and Mrs. A. L. McMast er spent Easter Sunday visiting 1 Mrs. McMasters parents, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Rusho, of Taylor. I \ EMILY BOWEN, 88, SUCCUMBS HERE Widow of Pioneer O’Neill Merchant Dies After Short Illness Born in New York Mrs. Emily Bowen, 88, wid ow of the late Frank Bowen, a pioneer O’Neill variety store merchant, died at 5:30 p. m. last Thursday at her home here. She had been ill only three days. Funeral services were held at 2 p. m. Saturday at the Melvin H. Grosenbach, pastor of Wesleyan Methodist church, officiating. Interment was in Prespect Hill cemetery. Mrs. Bowen was born in Whitesboro, N. Y., on May 4, 1860, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Simmons. She moved to South Omaha from the East and there on July 16, 1902, she married Mr. Bowen. The Bowens moved to O’ Neill on July 18, 1902. That month the late Mr. Bowen opened a variety store on South Fourth street in the building now occupied b^ the John Melvin store. The late Mrs. Bowen was active in Methodist church and Sunday-school work through out most of her life. She was a charter member of the Holt county chapter of the WCTU and until her death she was the only original member still j living. Survivors include: Sons—Or en A. Bowen, of St. Paul, Minn., and Archie E. Bowen, of O’Neill. She also leaves nine grandchildrren and six great-grandchildren. Pallbearers were: Charles Karl, Harley Fox, Harry Page, Robert Strong, Beech Lamb and Emil Adamson. Gerald Toy a Phi Beta Kappa — Gerald Toy, son of Mrs. An ton Toy, has been elected to membership in Phi Beta Kap pa, national scholastic honor* ary society at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Gerald’s fa ther was a longtime merchant here and he carried on the Toy store until August, 1946, when he reentered the University of Nebraska after an interruption in his education. He was one of 40 top scho lars selected for entrance into the society. Membership is open scholastically to the up per one-sixth to one-tenth ol the senior class in the college of arts and sciences. Only one other O'Neillite has gained entrance into Phi Beta Kappa: Clear Golden. Worshippers Crowd Churches on Easter Worshippers filled O’Neill churches Sunday, joining with Christians all over the world in celebrating the resurrection. On the lighter side, clear skies but a hair tangling wind greeted Easter paraders i n new bonnets and outfits. Most O’Neill stores reported a last-minute rush by shoppers. It was the first full weekend in about five months from a business standpoint. On othe* weekends during that period storms occured on one or more days or travel was next-to-im possible because of snow or mud. 2*/2 Miles REA Poles Are Set SPENCER — Two and one half miles of REA poles hav® been set this week in Boyd county by the Niobrara Valley Electric Membership corpora tion, which headquarters in O’Neill. This phase of construction began Monday, Manager Ed Wilson said. CITY BUYS BROOM The city of O’Neill has pur chased a rotary broom, which attaches to a small tractor, and this week the hardsurfaced streets are being swept. It is the first time in history this type of work has been done mechanically, Mayor Hugh E. IToyne said. AUDITORS HERE Four auditors from the Ne braska state auditor's office for 10 days have been working an the annual audit of Holt county books. Sunday dinner guests at the home of Mr. and Mrs. William McIntosh were Mr. and Mrs. LeRoy Novotny and daughter, E. L McIntosh, Mr. and Mrs. Gordon McIntosh all of Mead jw Grove.