The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965, March 09, 1950, BLIZZARD EDITION, SECTION 1, Page 4, Image 4
Storm Toll ■ f Livestock Mounts Steadily 24 Out of 60 Head of Catt k Perish on Taylor Place At Chambers i Karlv today (Thursday) live stock men in the O Neill still had no idea how many head of livestock might have ed during the historic March 7 storm—worst in the annals of Holt county history. • But most of the stockmen large operators and small—con ceded that the losses will be hSome stockmen, particularly the extensive operators, won t be able to determine the full extent of the losses for days County Agent A Neil Dawes said "1 can't help but think Sere'll be lots of I^ses-prob: ably most of it caused by sul location and smothering. Mondav nights ram set th stage for staggering JojJM if the temperature h*d been lower than it was cattle deaths would have been wholesale. The rain wthe coats of ihe animals. Then the ice an mow built up in their eyes and on their nostrils. Bill Babutzke, who lives l’a miles east of the O’Neill Live . stock Market, was one of the first country people to town aft er the storm. He reported a loss of 5 head of last fall’s calves. John Storjohan, who has a place south of Spencer, was con fident he had suffered losses but hesitated to estimate hov ™ wev C. Schaffer, who is considered one of Holt’s biggest stockmen, told The Frontier he had been unabe to contact his ranch and his other P^es in outer reaches of the county. He said he felt certain his men had exercised every precaution but was prepared to learn of some losses." 1 mm _a-. nlr%on nHfhllt 10 He went to nu. -- miles south of O’Neill Wednes day afternoon, saw a hole in a snowdrift that resembled a rab bit hole. He kicked away the snow and a husky cow climbed to her feet and walked away The Wedigre Bros., near At kinson, until this morning said they “hadn’t found” a number of their cattle. L. D. Putnam, O’Neill stock man, reported late Wednesday he had no losses on 2 of his places, but cattle there repre sented only a small portion o. his total. Lloyd Durre, Chambers air man who won fame as a mercy messenger a year ago, was scouring the Chambers and Ew ing vicinities by air searching for dead critters. Connie Funk, of Atkinson, re ported that 3 milk cows at his dairy farm 1 mile west of At kinson. had become blinded and wandered into the Elkhorn riv er where they perished. Thirty head of cattle were re ported dead at the Golden ranch by Earl Wright. This news was brought to Inman by Gene Clark, mail carrier. Gallagher Bros, who have a ranch near Inman, until this morning told of the loss of 4 head, and Harry Hart, who lives northeast of In mart, said he would suffer “some losses.” Wallace O'Connell, father of Timothy Joseph O'Connell. O'Neill's widely - publicised j blixxard baby, told today of the loss of at least 2 head of livestock — "possibly there'll be others." Guv F Cole, of Emmet, told The frontier of the loss of one head In the Chambers locality loss es were heavier. Percentagewise, Lloyd Tavlor, who lives 1 mile east and 4 miles south of Cham bers, absorbed one of the heav iest losses in the region. From a herd of about 60 head. 24 were reported dead by noon today. B. W. Waldo, who lives 8 miles west of Chambers, count ed 20 dead. Earlier he had re ported the loss of 13. Four out of a herd of 20 per- j ished at the W. A. Smith place, 1 mile from Chambers. Mr. Smith lives in town. Louis Vitt. who lives south of O’Neill, said Thursday he had : lost 2 calves. Stories were rampant about other losses, but in making its regional survey by telephone The Frontier has attempted to limit reports to specific instan ces. Losses will mount as the snow melts and herdsmen are able to count the noses. Overshoe Is Springy; Snake Explains It ATKINSON — Joe Kokes, of fice manager at the Atkinson Livestock Market, dug an aban doned pair of 4-buckle over shoes <vit of his basement to wear enroute to his work the day after the big blow. He thought one shoe felt “springy.” Removing the shoe, he discovered the reason why. A small garter snake had been stowed aw ay in the shoe, but was killed by the pressure of the heel ‘The snake was in a hibemat/ed condition,” Kokes said "Voics? of The Frontier" . . . "80 on vour dial . . 945 a m three times weekly—Monday**. Wednesdays, Saturdays 4 —————————— BLIZZARD SNARLS A LL TRAFFIt Rails, Busses, Highvwt Travel Curtailed 40 Hours For more than 40 hours high ! way traffic, rail and bus tran.« ' portation was tied in a knot i the weatherman during an i following the storm that swep: into the O'Neill and North Central Nebraska regions early Tuesday morning. Both the Chicago & North ; western and the Chicago, Bur lington Sc Quincy railroads were hampered by the reduced visi bility and the giant snowdrifts I which swirled onto their res j pective right-of-ways. Both railroads temporarily ! ceased operations during the i storm. The last train pulled nto the C4NW depot here 20 minutes ! late Tuesday morning. It was I westbound. Before normal rail operations, either east or west, were resumed, more than 36 hours had elapsed. Drifts along the CB&Q rail lines were reported to be in the neighborhood of 7- to 8 feet deep with some of these drifts ranging in length from 200- to 500-feet. i m mmm . H Sol V. J. Towle, C&NW depot ag ent. said a wedge plow slowly Eicked its way from Norfolk to ong Pine Wednesday clearing the rail right-of-way. Towle re ported to The Frontier the main tenance crew on the plow en countered drifts from 2- to 6 feet deep and were from 100- to 500-feet In length. The rail snow plow crept through O’Neill at noon Wednesday. The CB&Q’s regular schedule has not, up until press time, been resumed. Freight train 96 left Wednesday morning headed for Sioux City but was forced to return when it ran into a 12- to 14-foot drift some 1,650 feet long east of here. It was the Burlington that had such a hec tic experience in drifts east of O’Neill a year ago. It took 17 men and a large wedge type railroad snow plow more than 3 hours to work through the “granddaddy” of the drifts thus far reported in the Tuesday storm. A crew of 14 men with an en gine and snowplow left O’Neill at 7 a.m. this morning (Thurs day) and by 12:55 p.m. had reached Brunswick, a distance of only 36 miles. Bus travel was cut off sharp ly Tuesday morning as the vis- [ ibility grew steadily worse. The bus terminal said today (Thurs day) that operations ceased aft er the midnight bus had arrived in O’Neill Monday. Partial bus service commenc ed again Wednesday afternoon at 5 p.m. when a United Motor Ways bus traveled south. How ever, this morning (Thursday) the regular schedule of daily busses was resumed. Motorists and salesmen were stranded in O’Neill for more than 48 hours as the snow blocked roads snarled highway traffic. John D. Osenbaugh, resident engineer for the state highway department, said today (Thur&r day) that main highways were open in all directions from O’ Neill. The flash blizzard and howl ing gale-like winds made all roads impassable and virtually all county roads were blocked. As the blizzard swept into the O’Neill region Osenbaugh an nounced no maintainer crews would venture out in the driv- j ing, blinding snow storm until i visibility was “good.” The operation of opening the , main highways began early : Wednesday. All equipment that was avail able was pressed into action to clear the highways. It was about noon on Wednesday that the crews slowly began to carve their way through the moun tain-like drifts. Highway. traffic is slow as reported by some observers and there is one-way traffic in var ious spots where drifts have been cut through. State Highway Patrolman Faye Robeson reported there was one-way traffic where drifts occurred: From Or chard west on highway 20 and then on highway 275; between O'Neill and Atkinson on high way 20; from Atkinson to Butte on highway 11 and vir tually all of highway 281 north. Since the digging out and op | ening of the roads began at 7 am. Wednesday, rotary and , "V” (wedge-typel snowplows have been in continuous opera tion. All main state roads are open as reported by Osenbaugh. High , way 20 and 275 east to Ewing was the first piece of road to be opened by crews. This was open to traffic by noon Wednesday. ! By 5 p.m. Wednesday afternoon the highway east to Norfolk and Omaha was clear. Highway 20 west to Valentine was opened by 7 p.m. Wednes day evening. The last of the main roads north and south on highway 281 were opened by 1 a m this morning (Thursday.) Drifts nearly reached the Royal theater marquee on O' Neill's Douglas street. In case you've wondered, there are auto mobiles burled under the biy snowbank.—The Frontier Photo i by John H. McCar’Vlie. O'Neill was stilled by the paralyzing storm that belted the region for over 18 hours. It was reminiscent of the Recurring Blizzards of 1949. Automobiles are being burrowed out of the a giant drifts on Douglas street between the Royal iheaier and the Tom Tom cafe (bus depot).—Aerial Photo by Lawrence Robinson courtesy Omaha World-Herald. i Osenbaugh said the snow re moval machinery did not break down although kept in opera tion more than 34 hours. He also reported the maintenance crew suffered no casualties. “The largest drift we tackled in the highway clean-off opera tion.” Osenbaugh said, “was a half-mile long drift 8 feet deep three miles west of Danceland." With a rotary plow on each end it took 5 hours to conquer. Highway 108 to Page is still blocked and some state roads north of Stuart and in the New port area have yet to be plowed, Osenbaugh added. Mayor Hugh Coyne, of O’ Neill, reported a maintainer, a bulldozer, 3 trucks and a scoop working in the city in an at tempt to open up all of the streets both in the business ) district as well as residen tial areas. Mayor Coyne said “most all of the main streets are opened and the crews will keep working until every street . in the city is opened.” Coyne said they have run in to some large drifts which has slowed the process of digging I out. NO ROOM AT INN Ironically, M. J. Golden, pro ! prietor of the Golden hotel, i couldn’t get a room for himself; instead, he slept on a roll-awav cot. Visit* Ewing— Mrs, Gene Streeter was a weekend guest ir. Ewing at the homo <>f her mother, Mrs Marv Hot h.r ham Wind Rips Roof, 2 Sides Off Barn EMMET—A 66x100 foot barn here Tuesday was stripped of its roof and 2 sides as the 60-to j 100-mile an hour gales spread the debris over the country side. The barn, owned by Guy Cole, of Emmet, practically vanished from the scene dur ing the historic storm. The l-oof gave way about 10:30 a. m. and soon to follow were the two sides. For a while timber and hay were flying through the air and pieces wer - scattered for several hundred feet. STAY IN DEPOT INMAN — As in all cases of flash storms, traveling people seek cover of any town, large nr small. The Chicago & North Western railroad depot here served as a haven for nine trav i elers that were caught in the ! flash storm early Tuesday morning. All stayed until the roads were cleared early Wed j nesdav. INMAN — Riverside 4-H 1 Community club Sunday eve | ning held its annual program and banquet at the IOOF hall here with 75 members, their parents and guests present. Gene Streeter and Clyde Me-, Kenzie. jr., visited in Winner, I S, D.. Sunday at the home of : the latter’s brother and sister-in ! law, Mr. and Mrs. Dan McKen • 21^, WEATHER SUMMARY High Low Prec. March 2 _ 30* 28 March 3 50 15 March 4 58 15 March 5 50 35 March 6 .. 71 32 March 7 63 12 .90 March 8 27 -3 1.20 : Expectant Mother Marooned 10 Hours (Continued from page 1) wrapped warm in blankets.” Rescue party members who performed this act of heroism included, besides Godel: Hugh Benson, Walter and Dick Me- j Nichols, Sandy McKim, Dale Curran, Charles Yarnell. Virgil | Tomlinson, Vernon Gorgen, By- j ron Grenier. Red McKim, N. O. McCrary, James Donohoe. Don Donohoe, Eldon Waldo, Harold Hubert. Gerald Harding and James Coker. Radio stations and newspa pers throughout the land fol lowed closely the story of the rescue. Wednesday afternoon Chuck Apgar, announcer for the “Voice of The Frontier," and John H McCarville, The Frontier's staff photographer, went to Mrs. O’ Connell’s bedside. Mrs. O'Connell told her storv which was broadcast-over radio station WJAG and subsequently over Omaha’s radio station KF\B. . . Mrs. O’Connell uttered undv ! ing words of praise for the 19 1 m“n who came to her rescue Memorial Fund At Lynch Started LYNCH — An. improvement fund for the Sacred Heart hos oital here in memory of the late Mrs. Olive D. Guttery. wife of Dr. J. A. Guttery, of Lynch, has been established. A balance of $21.25 remained after business people of Lynch collected funds for flowers for Mrs. Guttery’s funeral. Dr. Gut terv gave the money—plus 73.75 to make an even $100 — to start a memorial fund. However, it was suggested the fund be used to convert the front porch of the hospital into a reception room. Dr. Guttery stated: “Why not start a fund here at home and STORM ISOLATES 24 CITIES, TOWNS Maintenance Crews Forced To Return Because Of No Visibility Many cities and towns in the O’Neill area were cut-off from their sources of power during Tuesday’s historic storm. Lack of electricity caused considerable hardship for peo ple depending upon power for heating and refrigeration units. L. C. Walling. O’Neill district manager for Consumers Public Power, estimated line damage in his district “between 15 and 18-thousand dollars.” First' towns to be isolated during the early hours of the louble - barreled storm were ’age, Inman, Ewing and Or hard. As the storm intensi ied, many towns’ power con vections snapped and the com nunities were without service intil Wednesday morning. Some maintenance crews set ut in the teeth of the unprece ented storm but their efforts vere abortive They had to turn >ack. Visibility was nil and he wind blew them off their ourse. During the peak of the tooth hattering gale that reached i e a r hurricane proportions, hese were the towns that were emporarily cut off from the lower supply: Wausa, Page, Inman, Ewing, >rchard, Bassett, Atkinson, Tewport, Emmet, McLean, llearwater, Tilden, Creighton Irunswick, Center, Winnetoon, lagnet, Crofton, Battle Creek, leadow Grove, Oakdale, El in, Petersburg, and Royal. However, today (Thursday), Vailing reported that all lines o these towns were back in •peration. Late Tuesday morning the lain line west from O’Neill to tins worth broke and Atkin on, Emmet, Bassett and New iort were without power dur ng most of Tuesday and Wed esday. There was, however, some intermittent service” to hese 4 points. As the wind grew stronger many power lines in the area were unable to stand the pres sure and broke? This was true also of many power lines in the residential sections of O’ Neill. The storm was a stiff test for the new all-weather high voltage line completed last year, linking O'Neill and Nor folk and the main source of power in this region from the Loup river hydro - electric plants. “The line stood up *100 per cent,” Mr. Walling explained. Workmen have for several months been rebuilding some of the lines that yielded under the stress of Tuesday’s winds. Harry Peterson, Northwestern Bell telephone manager in O’ Neill, reported to The Frontier today (Thursday) their damage in this region was small. Peterson explained there was { only minor toll line trouble dur ing the storm. Page and Inman were severed from telephone communications Tuesday. Ser vice was restored early Wednes day morning. “Our local calls doubled the day of the storm and the day following,” Peterson said. Toll calls doubled Wednesday. Ten operators, who normally work 8-hour shifts, worked 12 hours during the storm to handle the increased number of calls. Here’s a comparison of the number of calls handled before, during and after the storm: Monday—3.100 local calls and 473 toll calls. Tuesday—6,391 local calls and 35?. toll calls. Wednesday—6,173 local calls and 648 toll calls. Manv long distance calls had ♦n take circuitous routings. Line noise, caused primarily bv static alectricitv. was "very bad” dur :tjg the hgh wind. Peterson said. HEADS FRATERNITY PAGE—Darrel Heiss. son of Mr. and Mrs. R. L. Heiss, was rpcentlv elected president of his fraternity at Nebraska U. 'urther our own resources and still have a memorial to those gone on before us. It might sur prise all of us what this mem orial fund may accomplish in a period of time and be a refil blessing and benefit to all in this area.”