Legion Revives
Festival Plan
September 30 Selected for
Jubilee Celebration
and Festival
12
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North-Nebraska’a Fasteat-Growing Newspapei rtion I Pageslto8
JLUML 69—NUMBEi, 1 O NEILL, NEBR., THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1949 PRICE 7 CENTS ir it +
O'Neill will have a celebra
tion after all! And the Dia
mond Jubilee theme will be
used in commemorating the
75th anniversary of the arrival
of the first colony of settlers.
Until last Thursday evening
prospects were dim for an O’
Neill celebration in its Dia
mond Jubilee year. A propos
ed celebration was off-again
on-again several times during
recent months but Chamber
of Commerce plans had to be
altered because of extenuating
circumstances'. But Thursday
evening the Legionnaires in
session gave their new com
mander, Gordon O. Harper,
the go-auead signal to lay on
a big affair. Following a ser
ies of conferences, the Legion
naires convened again Tues
day evening and a course was
adopted.
Date was set for Friday,
September 30. Activity will
begin in the morning, con
tinue through the day and
well into the night.
There will be a parade,
probably in the forenoon, and
entries are being solicited, de
picting pioneer life and 75
years of progress.
A midday feature will be
the auctioning of calves al
ready being solicited by the
St. Anthony’s hospital build
ing committee. Details will be
worked out in cooperation
with leaders in the hospital
movement.
There will be a cross-coun
try horse race, a tractor ob
stacle race for farmers, an old
fiddlers’ contest, a carnival on
the midway, a football game
between O’Neill and Ewing
high schools (ancient gridiron
foes, and an appearance of
the Stuart Saddle club, which
this season has been in demand
making appearances on spe
cial occasions.
Oldest continuous r e s i -
dents of the county—a man
and a woman—will be made
king and queen for the day
and will reign over the Ju
bilee festival. Entry blanks
will appear in The Frontier
in its next three issues and
the honorees will be select
ed from the entries that are
received. Plans call for an
interview with the royalty.
Concessions are being
sought for work on the mid
way. But the Legion insists,
Commander Harper says, that
50 percent of the profit must
be turned over to St. An
tony’s hospital building fund.
All profits the Legion derives
from the celebration, includ
ing its activities at its own
clubrooms, will be turned ov
er to the hospital movement.
Harper said Wednesday he
had not yet made all appoint
ments, regarding the celebra
tion. The general committee
for the combined Diamond Ju
bilee-Fall Festival celebration
includes: G. E. Miles, Glea H.
Wade, Paul Beha, N. O. Mc
Crary. Laverne Stevens and
M. L. Jacobson.
Val Darling has been ap
pointed to head the conces
sion committee. Other ap
pointments will follow “in a
u«y or so.” Commander Harp
er stressed that non - Legion
naires would be asked to
function as wcii as Legion
naires. and all appointments
will be determined by ab-uty.
The general committee is
appealing to indiviouals and
organizations to cooperate.
Harper explained, in order
to make the affair a "tre
mendous success." F 1 o a t s,
entertainers and workers
are urgently needed.
Harper pointed to the cre
do: “If it’s worth doing, it’s
worth doing well.” And with
characteristic Legion gusto,
the committeemen were at
work Wednesday marshalling
their resources and talent to
make the Jubilee-Festival a
milestone in the cjty’s history.
Complete details will be pre
sented in subsequent issues.
National 281 Meet
Next Wednesday
President Melvin Ruzicka,
of the Chamber of Commerce,
said Wednesday that the O’
Neill chapter will be repre
sented at a national meeting
of the Highway 281 associa
tion to be held at Red Cloud
next Wednesday, September 7.
Representatives have not
yet been determined.
Earl D. Carpenter, of Recj
Cloud, president of the Ne
braska chapter, was in O’Neill
Friday and Monday in behalf
of the Nebraska organization,
which headquarters in O’
Neill. President Carpenter had
been in the Dakotas promot
ing interest in the meeting
next week.
TO NORTH DAKOTA . . .
Rev. Vernon Harley (above)
has accepted a call from a
Missouri Lutheran church
at New Salem. N. D. Rev.
Harley returned to the Unit
ed States in December, 1948,
after eight years in mission
work in South America.—
O’Neill Photo Co.
OLT-WHEELER IN
10AD AGREEMENT
Petitioners Ask Counties
ti) Maintain Highway
on Boundary
Holt county supervisors
Monday entered into an a
Teement with Wheeler coun
y officials to mutually main
ain the East-West road which
orms a boundary between
he two counties.
Action resulted from a peti
ion signed by numerous Ew
ng and Deloit residents' who
vill be benefitted by the
naintenance of the road.
An agreement had to be
eached because the two coun
ties operate under different
systems of road control. The
supervisor system i n Holt
calls for maintenance, where
necessary, of alternate miles
along county boundaries.
Holt County Clerk Ruth
Hoffman said that Holt a
greed to maintain its share of
the road. A Wheeler county
commissioner was present.
Melvin Rexin was spokesman
or 23 interested persons who
Iso met with the board.
On Tuesday the board lis
tened to interested persons
regarding an opening of a
road through what is now a
pasture owned by J. C.
Stein, North of O'Neill. No
action was taken but a
compromise may be effect
ed.
Thirty to 35 Northeast Holt
farmers were in the court
house Monday conferring with
individual supervisors regard
ing a 14-year-old road peti
tion. No action, however, was
taken.
The road petition was filed
in the state legislature in 1935
by L. G. Gillespie, then state
senator from this' district. In
the past the road in question
has been under state control
and the county has no juris
diction over it.
The farmers are attempting
to establish the segment of
the road North 10 miles from
the Van Connet corner, and
then one mile West to the
state road that connects
through to Lynch.
If the state will maintain
the road it would provide the
residents with a gravel road 1
that would “at least be pass
able in some of the bad wea
ther,” one petitioner explain
ed.
The 11 miles of dirt road
make if very hard for Ihe
farmers in that area to make
the farm-to-market trip, El
mer Juracek, of Star, a pe
titioner, said.
The farmers were attending
the county board meeting to !
seek a resolution from the
board to be sent to the state
highway department. The pro
posed resolution would re
quest the road be taken over
and be maintained by the
state.
Juracek said. “The county
now has too many roads to
maintain and that is why we
are attempting to revive this
dormant measure.”
Besides Juracek, some of
the other petitioners visiting
the courthouse were Thomas ,
Zakrzewski and Ray Siders, |
both of O’Neill* Ray Noble, i
Albert Derickson, Bill Derick- 1
son, jr., Ben Miller, all of
Star; A. G. Braddock, O. L.
Reed, H. L. Banta, Frank Sni
der, Guy Johnson, Richard
Copes, Luke Rakow and Otto
Terrill, all of Page.
Returns from California—
Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Lar
son returned Sunday from a
two-weeks’ trip to California
.iP. MILLER SEES
BASIN PROGRESS
___
t ongressiuan Predicts a
Future for Irrigation
Along Niobrara
Rep. A. L. Miller, of Kim- i
ball, Nebraska’s Fourth dis- |
trict congressman, spent Mon
day and Tuesday in the O’
Neill region.
Congressman Miller was
particularly anxious to learn
how Holt countyans felt con- :
cerning the development of
the Niobrara river basin for
uiigation, flood control, pow
er and recreational purposes.
The Kimball physician, a Re
publican, is a member of the
House public lands commit
tee.
Representative Miller said
he has been working closely
with others interested in Nio
biara development and he
foresees a brjght future for
325 - thousand irrigable acres
in the basin.
He said folks from Gordon
East to Atkinson and O’Neill
are “working together the
same way and the right way”
in behalf of Niobrara develop
ment.
The Kimball physician,
now serving his second
term in congress, pointed
out to friends here that
money spent and to be
spent by the government on
natural resources represents
a relatively small item in
the national budget.
He said, personally, he felt
reclamation spending paid for
itself through the years by
increasing productivity of the
soil and tax returns.
Doctor Miller originally in
tended to visit here a fort
night ago but had to interrupt
his tour of the district to re
turn to Wasington. He drove
through from Washington, D.
C., over the weekend and
laughingly told The Frontier
that for the next few weeks
he would be making "the
county fair circuit.”
Representative Miller spoke
to his friends in the O'Neill
legion on the "Voice of The
Frontier” radio program. In
terviewed by Chuck Apgar on
a tape-recording, the program
was heard on Wednesday
morning at 9:45 on the regu
lar broadcast.
School Teacher
40 Years Dies
The remains of Miss' Mary
Purcell, 65, a school teacher
at Clearwater for more than
40 years, Monday were bur
ied at O’Neill. Miss Purcell
died late last Thursday at ■
McCook, where she had been |
residing for several years.
She had been hospitalized
considerably during late years,
relatives said.
Miss Purcell was a daugh
ter of the late Richard and
Catherine Purcell, who were
pioneer Holt countyans and
were the first of the family
to be buried here.
Funeral rites were held at
9 a. m. Saturday in St. Cath
erine’s Catholic church at Mc
Cook and services were held
again Monday at 9 a m. at
St. Theresa’s church at Clear
water.
Survivors include: Brother
—John Purcell, of McCook;
three neices and cne nephew
- innTnniTHHMariiWP ,MMarniTff|
OLD AND NEW . , . Simonson post 93 of the
American Leg'on installed new officers last
Thursday evening. New commander is Gordon
O. Harper {seated at right). Others in the pho
tograph are: Seated—Keith Abart, newly-ap
pointed adjutant; standing—Archie Bright, re
aring adjutant; John R. Gallagher, retiring
commander, and Glea H. Wade, who served
. IMHII nOTWMMNWM I1 Sll" II Si Milimil i | HI W I I »H .) j i__j_ ]‘>plKOJ ~
two terms as commanuer prior to Gallagher's
one-year term. Other new officers not pictured
are: Eugene V. Cantlon, vice-commander; Jack
Arbulhnot. sergeant-at-arms; Robert Eby,
chaplain. Members of the executive committee
are: Dorrance Crabb. Bennett Giiligan. Melvin
Ruzicka, Dr. H. L. Bennett and Elgin Ray,—
The Frontier Photo by John H. McCarville.
Touring i eachers Obliged to Dispose of
Petrified Bits But iiave WionderfuT Trip
Thirty - seven Holt, Boyd,
Boone and Wayne county
teachers returned Thursday,
August 25, from an educa
tional tour through six West
ern states.
Elja McCullough, Holt coun
ty superintendent, was mana
ger of the tour and the course
was under the auspices of
Wayne State Teachers’ college
with Miss Lula Way as the
instructor.
The 18-day tour will credit
the teachers with three hours
that may apply On any teach
ing or master’s degree, two
year or renewal of a teaching
certificate
"The entire trip was very
interesting. educational and
enjoyed by all,” Miss McCul
lough said.
The tour left O’Neill the
morning cf August 8, stopping
at Butte and Spencer, and
then headed for the Bad
Lands of South Dakota.
The rock formations through
!he Bad Lands were different
trom any seen before by the
tourists, M i s s McCullough
-ommented.
Samples of Bad Lands top
soil were taken by the teach
ers.
Andy’ Hoffman
Burial at Stuart
STUART— Funeral services
vere conducted here Tuesday
r Wilbert Andrew (“Andy")
offman, 72, who died Satur
iy at his home near the Ni
irara river, North of New
' >rt.
Rev. Gene Andersen, o f
ariaville, offii iated in rites
the Federated church here.
Twice married, the late Mr.
TMffman was the father of six
>ns, all of whom survive,
ther survivors include: Wid
v — Alberta; sisters — Mrs.
Margaret Dobrovolny and
Miss Gertrude Hoffman, both
( f Atkinson.
The late Mr. Hoffman for
merly lived in the Stuart
community.
The first night was spent at
Rapid City, S. D Highlight of
the Black Hills was attending
the Passion Play near Spear
fish, S. D., and a tour of Mt.
Rushmore.
The next day, August 10,
was spent going through
Wyoming seeing Devil's
Tower and again the group.
Miss McCullough said, was
concerned with the topogra
phy of Wyoming. The night
was spent at the Cody Inn
at Cody, Wyo.
Aligust 11 the traveling Ne
braska teachers toured the
(Continued on page 4)
Tomlinson Attempts
To Schedule Tilt
Dick Tomlinson, manager of
the O’Neill Rockets baseball
team, announced Wednesday
that he is attempting to
schedule a baseball game dur
ing October that would in
clude big league baseball stars
to be played at Carney park
against the Rockets.
Tomlinson said the game
will probably be scheduled
sometime between October 11
and 15, if he is able to book
the tilt.
Some of the stars that
would be asked to appear
would be Richie Ashburn, of
the Philadelphia P h i 11 i e s;
Johnny Hopp. of the Pitts
burg Pirates; Rex Barney, of
the Brooklyn Dodgers, and
other big league standouts.
Hopp is the baseballer who
sent the s i x autographed
baseballs to the North-Cen
tral-day-and-night league all
star hospital benefit game
that was played here July 20
Attends Convention—
Mr. and Mrs. John Davidson
went t o Omaha Saturday
from where Mrs. Davidson flew
to Philadelphia, Pa., where
she will attend the National
American Legion auxiliary
convention. She is one of two
pages of Nebraska.
TEEN-AGE SOCIETY . . . Last Friday eve
ning’s benefit dance netted St. Anthony's hos
pital fund more than $50. Among teen-age so
cialites at the affair, held in the American
Legion auditorium, were (left-to-right): Donald
Becker, Mary Lois Kelly, John J. Uhl, Berna
lette Hynes, Mary Hynes, Catherine Ann
Golden, all of O’Neill, and James Kirschbaum,
of Grand Island.—The Frontier Photo by John
H. McCarville.
1949 HOLT FAIR
GETS UNDERWAY
CHAMBERS — A large vol
ume of 4-H club and livestock
entires were received here
Wednesday — entry day — for
the 1949 Holt county fair, ac
cording to Edwin Wink, secre
tary of the sponsoring organ
ization. the Holt county ag
riculture society.
Entries started pouring in
early Wednesday morning and
by midday most all had been
recorded, Wink said.
Today (Thursday) will be
devoted to judging the entries
which will start around 9
a.m. There will be a carnival
on the midway and an after
noon parade. In the evening
at the dancing pavilion, the
rural youth will sponsor a
square dance, which is open
to the public.
Friday, September 2. the O’
Neill municipal band will play
a concert; a baseball game is
scheduled between the O’Neill
BROADCAST PLANNED
The "Voice oi ihe Fron
tier" tape-recording unit will
be on hand today (Thurs
day) to interview people at
tending the Holt county fair
and fair officials. A spec
ial program will be broad
cast Friday, September 2, at
9:45 a.m. on WJAG.
Rockets and Lynch, which is
to get underway at 2 p.m.; a
carnival on the midway; a
thrilling, bronc-busting rodeo
staged by Gus Obermire, vet
eran showman; and an array
of outstanding grandstand per.
formers featuring Harry Ville
ponteauex (acrobat); Charles
McCauley (juggler); Walter
Graham (magician); and the
appearance of Miss Madleine
King, ‘‘Miss Omaha” and “Miss
Nebraska’’ of 1947. The cur
tain will fall on the third day’s
activities with dancing to the
music of Skip Beckerbauer and
his orchestra.
The final day—Saturday,
September 3 — the Atkinson
Towners will face the winner
of Friday’s baseball contest;
there will be the carnival on
the midway; a rodeo with the
thrills similar to the previous
day, and a parade of grand
stand acts, during the evening
only, with the same perform
ers in a completely different
show. The 1949 Holt county
exposition will be climaxed
with dancing to the music of
Johnny Mullen and his orches
tra.
McCarthy Sale Listed
in Fontier’s Calendar
Listed in The Frontier’s j
farm sale calendar is the sale
of D. A and Margaret Mc
Carthy. The sale will be held
:even miles South and 2lz
miles West of O’Neill on Mon
day. September .12, at 1 p. m.
Wallace O’Connell and Ed Ev
ans will be auctioneers and
the O’Neill National bank will
clerk.
The sale will include 83
head cf cattle, farm machin
c;y, poultry supplies, tools,
household goods and numer
ous articles.
For details consult the Sep
tembes 11 issue of The Fron
tier.
WJAG . . . 780 on your dial!
itAMS TO CANVAS
r OR CALVES, GIFTS
i Men and Women to join
in Systematic Drive
for St. Anthony's
Teams of men and women
workers will take to the rur
al areas next week in behalf
of St. Anthony’s hospital
building fund. They will be
seeking calf contributions for
a big calf sale to be held here
September 30 and they will
be asking for cash contribu
tions ranging from five thou
j sand dollars down to 50-eents.
This was announced Wed
nesday by James M. Corkle,
i chairman of the hospital
! building fund committee.
The calf sale, to be held in
j conjunction with the Ameri
! can Legion - sponsored Dia
mond Jubilee - Fall Festival
'elebration, will be one of
the final promotional efforts
in raising the 100-thousand
dollars for the people’s share
in the building of the 300
thousand-dollar St. Amhony’s
hospital. After the 100-thou
sand - dollar mark has been
reached through popular sub
scription and through various
money-raising methods, work
can begin on the project.
The United States govern
ment will make available a
grant of 100-thousand-dol
lars and the Sisters of St.
Francis, who will own and
operate the hospital, have
agreed to assume the bal-'
ance of the indebtedness.
The 100-thousand-dollar fig
ure was agreed by committee
men as the minimum amount
to be raised before physical
construction could begin.
Martin Aitkens, a Lincoln
architect who .three years a
go drew original plans for the
40-bed O’Neill health center,
has been requested to pre
pare estimates on furnishing
rooms and wards in the pro
posed hospital. He will make
figures available to the com
mittee before next Monday.
The systematic canvass in
rural areas will take solicita
tion teams to every dwelling
in each township.
Primary objective of the
solicitors will be to sign up
farmers and ranchers for
calves to be sold at the novel
benefit auction. However, the
representatives will be pre
pared to discuss all phases of
the hospital movement and
will be commissioned to re
ceive cash contributions.
Last week Mrs. Leo
Moore, Mrs. Harry Sullivan
and Mrs. Edna Coyne made
trips to the country on be
half of the hospital and met
with "good" results. They
sold banquet tickets and ac
cepted calf offerings and
other donations. The five
dollars - per - plate hospital
banquet will be held Octo
ber 3.
In the absence of Mrs. Glen
Tomlinson, who is in charge
of the hospital building fund
headquarters, no list of do
nors for the past week has
been prepared. All contribu
tions, however, will be ac
knowledged in these columns.
Mrs. Don Enright has been
substituting for Mrs. Tomlin
son, who has been in Minne
sota.
Butte Resident
Stricken Suddenly
BUTTE—A resident of the
Butte community for over 40
years died unexpectedly in
the business district here Sun
day morning.
He was George Altvater, 73,
who died while talking with
H. E. Oline. also of Butte, in
front of a garage here.
They were sitting on a
bench talking when the late
Mr. Altvater slumped down.
Death was instantaneous.
The late Mr. Altvater lived
1% miles South of Butte and
had come to town with a
neighbor to prepare for a
short fishing trip.
He was waiting for the
neighbor when he was stridd
en.
Miss Norma Jean Altvater
is the only survivor.
Funeral arrangements were
incomplete late Monday.
Firms to Close
Labor Day—
Member firms of the Cham
ber of Commerce will be clos
ed all day Monday, Septem
ber 5, which is Labor day.
The closing announcement
conforms to a policy on
holiday closing dates adop
ced two years ago, Secretary
James W. Rooney said.