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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (March 9, 1950)
*Voice* Again Performs Yeoman Duty Frontier Tells Blizzard Story to World; Plane Used for Pictures The Frontier’s staff worked overtime this week and the paragraphs that follow explain why. When the hurricane-like storm broke early Tuesday The Fron tier dug in for yeoman duty — much as it did a year ago when it earned wide attention for its dual job of radio broadcasting and delivering graphic stories to the nation’s press. a At 11:30 o’clock Tuesday morning the “Voice of The Fron tier" went on the air by remote control over station WJAG at Norfolk in a special 15-minute broadcast of storm news. At that point many communities east of here had not yet felt the force of the storm. Chuck Apgar’s able descriptive of O’Neill’s plight dumbfounded many “eastern ers,” who, within an hour’s time, were to feel the blast. To borrow from Apgar’s first broadcast, he said “visibility is so low I can occasionally see a big yellow truck parked at the curb outside my window.” To emphasize the point, he added: “Folks, that’s not hay— j t that’s simply a lot of snow and wind.” He referred to one of Bill Be- : ha’s special broadcasts of a year j ago. Beha had said one morning, J when he was being heard by a million listeners, that* “the O’ Neill streets are deserted. All I could see when I came down town this morning was a jack rabbit bounding through the street, spouting a geyser of snow.” Apgar used the reference, then caustically added a March 7 comparison. Any rabbit would be crazy ; to be out in this one!" At 4:30 p.m. Chuck broadcast to the KFAB audience by spec- j V;al wire to the Omaha station. And, a half-hour later, The Fron tier took to the air again with another special broadcast from Norfolk. A microphone was poked out i The Frontier’s front door and for about 60 seconds listeners had an opportunity to hear j the wind—the 100-mile-per-hour variety. At 9:15 p.m. a 3-minute broad cast was aired over station KOA at Denver, Colo. A radio “loop” couldn’t be set up because of line difficulties, so the news was sent by telephone, recorded, and “played-back” by KOA. Later in the evening, The Frontier was in telephonic con tact with stations WHO at Des Moines, la.; WGN, in Chicago, 111, and WNAX at Yankton, S. *D. KFAB used a 2-minute piece directly from the O’Neill studio on the 10 p.m. news Tuesday night. Meanwhile, The Frontier kept a battery of telephones busy dis patching word-pictures to the Associated Press and other newspapers. One direct dispatch was sent to the Chicago Trib une, and innumerable phone calls were exchanged with the Omaha World-Herald. Wednesday morning’s regular ly scheduled 9:45 “Voice of The Frontier” program ran over time. It was loaded with impor tant storm news and announce ments. i It was on this program that the first complete story of the rescue of the expectant moth er, Mrs. Wallace O'Connell, was told, and that Robert L. Gesiriech had perished in the storm. Meanwhile, practically every station in the country carried the stories on their noon news summaries and the word was printed in most newspapers. Finally at 5 08 p.m. Wednes day the “Voice” went on the air | again with a special, final edi tion of the storm news over WJAG. Featured was a tape-re corded interview wth Mrs. O’ ; Connell, who had given birth to a 7J4-pound son a few hours earlier. (See story on page 1) Final radio reporting was i completed on KFAB’s 10 p.m. i news broadcast Wednesday. Voices of Mrs. O’Connell and I Apgar were heard. That covers the on-the-spot j radio coverage-* but the news paper reporting is a separate story. The Frontier arranged with the Omaha World-Herald to fly | its chief photographer, Lawrence Robinson, to O'Neill on Wednes ; day. Robinson arrived about 2:45 p.m., made numerous passes I over the town for aerial photos, and landed at the snow-locked O’Neill airport where he made several pictures of damaged craft. The World-Herald and,' Frontier held a rendezvous at the Dick place, where the big rotary snowplow was working, and Robinson headed back with the first pictures to be taken out of the stricken area. Thursday morning’s World Herald carried a full page of O’Neill pictures in addition to a picture of Mrs. O’Connell and her new-born son, which ap peared on the front page. The Associated Press received World-Herald and Frontier per mission to move the entire set of pictures on the wirephoto network and Thursday papers throughout the country are graced with O’Neill blizzard scenes. Most of The Frontier’s photo graphic work was done by John H. McCarville, staff photograph er. On the Wednesday 5:08 p.m. broadcast, Apgar asked The Frontier’s readers to “bear with us” because the March 9 issue of The Frontier would be late. It is. The Frontier went to press Thursday about 24 hours behind schedule. But because most ru ral routes are impassable, it was decided to holdup the edi tion 24 hours in order to give the complete storm coverage with pictures. All storm pic tures were processed for The Frontier by the Omaha World Herald. “Your paper is late mister,” a freckled 10-year-old boy quip ped when he stuck his head in the doorway Thursday morning. “That’s right,” said Publisher Carroll W. Stewart. “Pull up a chair and I’ll tell you why.” Chas. Crook Sale Slated for Saturday The Frontier has two sales isted on its calendar. On Saturday, March 11, Charles Crook will sell at pub lic auction one lot of improved city property on the premises one block south then the sec ond house east of the O’Neill library. The sale will start at 3 p. m- on the sale date. Keith Abart, will be the auctioneer and P. C. Donohoe. the broker. On Saturday, March 25, the Niobrara Valley Hereford as sociation will hold its fourth annual spring show and sale of 50' registered herefrods at the Butte Livestock market at Butte. The offering inlcudes bulls and females. The show’ will get uqderw’ay at 10 a. m. and the sale will start at 1 p. m. W. G Sire, of Butte, is the sale manager: Ernie Weller, of At kinson, w’ill be the auctioneer and Emil Rezac, of Tabor, S. D., will be the judge. Dr. and Mrs. L. A. Burgess went to Omaha Sunday. They 1 returned today (Thursday). "he says HOTEL LINCOLN'' ... for solid comfort, real good food and satisfying service You'll like HOTEL LINCOLN popular hotel of the Nebraska Capital. DANIEL B. PERKINS, CHAMBERS, DIES Extensive Landowner Is Stricken Fatally by Heart Attack CHAMBERS — Daniel B. Perkins, 83, a retired rancher and an extensive Holt county landowner, died suddenly at 8:30 a.m. Friday, March 3, at his home in the east part of Chambers. He was stricken at the breakfast table and died al most instantly, according to Dr. J. W. Gill, who was summoned. Funeral services were held Monday at 2 p.m. at the Baptist church. Rev. Lawrence McEl heron officiated and burial was n the Chambers cemetery un der the direction of Biglin Bros. The church’s auditorium could not accommodate the overflow crowd that gathered for the rites. Pallbearers were Glenn Grimes, Clarence Grimes, Char les Coolidge, Robert Adams, Gordon Harley, Richard Harley, Cleo Aiderson and Jack Alder son. Daniel Bancroft Perkins was born on January 25, 1867, at Coral, 111., a son of the late Edward Everett Perkins and Janette Atwell Perkins. He came to Holt county with his parents at the age of 18 from Union county, Illinois. His parents were among south-Holt’s earliest homesteaders. On February 28, 1911, he mar ried Miss Louise Metzner, a Wisconsin school teacher. The nuptial rite was performed at Chambers. They were a child less couple. He was a member of the Odd Felow and Masonic lodges. Mr. Perkins continuously ex panded his land holdings and at the time of his death owned about 3.000 acres. In April, 1949, he and his wife deed to the village of Chambers a 100-acre tract adjoining the town on the southeast. Only lust ; week town officials were com pleting negotiations with Civil Aeronautics officials for con struction of a municipal airport on the site. Mr. Perkins’s sudden death denied him an opportunity to see actual construction begin on the port. An elaborate entrance was planned and the site was to be landscaped into a beauty spot as well. When the gift was made, Chairman Edwin Thorin, of the village board of trustees, esti mated the tract represented a cash value of about 10-thousand dollars. Survivors include: Widow, who has been in delicate healtn, and a sister, Mrs. Lois Adams. Exciting Diversion Playing Canasta Stranded transients and sales man staying at the Golden ho tel during the blizzard found better things to do than stare out the front window. Principally they found ex citing diversion in the current ly popular card game — canas ta. Max Golden, b izzard-wise hotel operator herev said “some of the games were so good the players wouldn’t come to din ner. Some salesmen passing the time of day playing the popu lar card game commented that in various years of traveling on the road, they had never seen or been caught in a storm comparable to the one that hit in the O’Neill region Tuesday Some salesmen who had been’ traveling the road up to 40 years were shocked at the sud den change in weather condi tions. Storm’s Damage At Stuart Minor STUART — Like all other communities this locality suf fered its toll from the elements during the storm that hit here Tuesday just about dawn. During the gale of hurricane proportions, some of the wall of the stairway leading from the old to the new public school building was blown out. Minor damage was reported. Walt Smith and his son were thought to be missing during the Tuesday storm. However, they turned up in town early Wednesday morning only after i walking in from their farm 5 S miles northeast of here Many members of this eom i munity were about to organize a searching party when the pail returned to town. It is report ed that Smith and his son were without .food from Monday night until Wednesday mom ; ing .— 1 Plan to attend a dinner and card party St. Patrick's day at St. Mary's gym, sponsored by the Friends of St. Mary's. 44 I _j unL - - - . .'lie Washington-Merry-Go-Round — Russian Possession of A-Bomb and H-Bomb Stresses Need for Relocation of Capitol By DREW PEARSON Republicans will probably wise-crack at this one, but since Russia’s discovery of H-bomb and A-bomb secrets, it’s likely that the President and Vice President of the United States ! will not again attend a Jackson day dinner under the some roof. Regardless of the political par ty in power, this is not a pleas ant kind of internal security pre caution to contemplate. Nevertheless, after the Jack son-Jefferson day dinner, some one began considering the grue some question as to what would have happened if an enemy plane over the Arctic Circle on February 16 and dropped an A ' bomb on Washington. Not only were the President and Vice-President under the same roof, but also every member of the cabinet, the Democratic governors of 10 states and a good part of the senate and house of represen tatives. The speaker was also present, and if such a catastro phe had occurred, it would have been up to a speaker pre tem to convene the house, while Senator McKellar would have had the power to con vene the senate. Whether congress would have then called for special elections, or whether the Republicans would have taken over the ad ministration is a debatable ques tion. Undoubtedly, however, the Republicans would have had to take over for the time being, since few Democratic leaders would have been left, and since three to six months would have been necessary to make nom inations and conduct the final balloting. There also would be the ques tion of who would declare war with part of congress gone, and who would make the vital de cisions necessary to carry on a war. ■ m w Tragic Possibilities These are just a few of the problems which aren’t pleasant to think about but which have to be considered in view of the now definite fact that Russia has all our atomic secrets. This is also why the admin istration, after inexcusably long delays, is finally and almost frantically working on civil de- I fense, including an alternate capital of the United States. For, should a bomb be dropped on Washington, it would mean the destruction of all FBI finger prints, all civil service records, j all veterans insurance and pen sion records, all military de fense plans, income-tax records, | the Library of Congress and the government archives dating back to the beginning of the re public. In fact, there is some doubt whether the government could function at all immediately after the destruction of these records. A period of chaos would be certain, military planners fear, unless careful plans are made now for an al ternate capital with micro filmed records stored there. Speculation is that an alter nate capital would be safest somewhere in the Rocky Moun tains, possibly Denver or Salt | Lake City. * * ■ John L. Lewis' Judge Federal Judge Richmond Keech, the man who had been , slapping John L. Lewis with j, those back-to-work court or 1 ders, was teethed on law en ; forcement. His father was a Dis trict of Columbia policeman. However, the 53-vear-old jur ist is not a chronic “crack- I downer,” but a quiet, amiable ! man with a homespun air that belies his black robes. He also , has a tremendous liking for peo ple, particularly little people, a characteristic developed in the days when he used to fight con sumers’ battles against the pub lic utilities as people’s counsel of the district. , Later Keech became a mem ber of the public utilities com mission and served for a time as corporation counsel of the D. C. government before Presi dent Truman recognized his tal ; ents and made him a White j Atk»nson Church Bell Tolls in Wind ATKINSON — Residents of I Atkinson heard church bells pealing during the height of Tuesday’s blow Visibility was zero but folk living near the Methodist church recognized the tolling. Rev W. C Birmingham, pas tor, was positive the sexton had no part of it: suggested the wind was either turninr the bell com pletely over or slamming the i clapper again t the side of the i | bell periodically Said Reveiend Birmingham: ' Tm not going to the belfry to ! investigate ’’ House administrative assistant. His automobile also is easily recognizable. For years Judge Keech’s tag had been “16.” A bachelor, looking younger than hjs years, Keech would be a big success in the Washington social whirl, but he shuns it. His only concession to “high society" is an occasional ride with a hunt club in near-by Maryland. • • • “Dictator" McCarran Dictator Franco’s friend, Sen. Pat McCarran, of Nevada, has been using Dictator Franco’s methods inside the senate judi ciary committee. In order to smear the displac ed persons commission, McCar ran held secret hearings with out notifying other committee members. It was a virtual star chamber proceeding. On the other hand, he refuged to grant the displaced persons commis sion a hearing to defend itself. Return from Florida— Mr. and Mrs. Edward M. Gal lagher returned Tuesday, Feb ruary 28, from a month’s trip to Dallas, Tex., New Orleans, La., and Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., where they spent a couple of weeks. Their daughter, Miss Donna Gallagher, of Chicago, was with them for three weeks. She flew from Miami, Fla., to Chicago Saturday, February 18. On their return trip Mr. and Mrs Galla gher visited her mother, Mrs. M. E. Slattery, in Washington, D. C., for three days. - ---- FUTURE SUBSCRIBERS WREDE—Mr. and Mrs. Don ald Wrede. of Seattle, Wash., a ■ daughter, Janett Earlene, born > at Renton, Wash., on Saturday, February 18. The Wredes are i well-known at Lynch, having lived in Redbird many years. BARRY—Mr. and Mrs. Rus sel Barry of Arlington, Va., a daughter, Jacquelyn Ann, born Saturday, March 4, in Arling ton. Mrs. Barry is the former Almeda Kubart, who was reared in Atkinson. KRAMER — Mr. and Mrs. Laurence Kramer, of Atkinson, a son, born Thursday, March 2, at the O’Neill hospital. GALLAGHER—Mr. and Mrs. John R. Gallagher, of O’Neill, a son, born Saturday, March 4, at the O’Neill hospital. LORENZ—Mr. and Mrs. "Glen Lorenz, of Ewing, a daughter, Carene Ann, born Saturday, March 4, at the O’Neill hospital. WALTERS — Mr. and Mrs. Louis Walters, of Chambers, a son, born Sunday, March 5, at the O’Neill hospital. O’CONNELL— Mr. and Mrs. Wallace O’Connell, of O’Neill, a son, Timothy Joseph, born Wed nesday March 8, at the O’Neill hospital. PERRY—Mr. and Mrs. Dean Perry, of Emmet, a daughter, weighing 7% pounds, born Sat urday, March 4. KRUTZ — Mr. and Mrs. Ferd Kurtz, of O’Neill, a son, Miles Carl, weighing 7 % pounds, bom Friday. March 3. at home. This is the couple’s third child and first soa - — — — - — — — — - LOWERY—Mr. and Mrs. Rob ert Lowery of O’Neill a daugh ter, weighing 8 poupds and 10 ounces, born Friday, March 3, in a Norfolk hospital. Coast To Coast Store To Open Gtorge Gilbertson, new own er of the Qoast to Coast stores, said he is preparing for his grand opening, scheduled to be April 1. The Coast to Coast store will occupy a vacant building form erly housing the Rickley vari ety store on Douglas s’reet. Gilbertson announced Thurs day that carpenters and paint ers will finish Saturday, March 11, and fixtures arc slated to arrive Monday, March 13. Married. Gilbertson, who was formerly in the banking busi ness, has a 15->^ar-old daugh ter. The Gilbertson arrived this week from Roslyn, S. D., to make preparations for the open ing of the store. SHED BLOWN DOWN William Kipple reported that a machine shed, measuring 20x 30 feet, was blown to pieces by Tuesday’s gale. He also report ed the loss of several chickens. Mrs. Ann Asher is entertain ing Mrs. Bertha Young, of North Platte, as a houseguest this week. Mrs. Young arrived Monday. Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Lehn and family, of Wahoo, were weekend guests of his sister, Miss La Veta Lehn. Mrs. Glenn Gettert is visiting her parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Liable, of Atkinson, this week^ : I GALLON PEACHES 53c ARMOUR PORK & BEANS, 2 No. 1\ cns. 35c HOLSUM SALAD DRESSING, it 39c FANCY No. 2 Cans PINEAPPLE, 2 cns. ARMOUR'S I MILK,can IOC | Lard. 2 25c LUSHUS SYRUP, gal 59c APPLE BUTTER.21bjar.15c ROYAL J E L L 0, pkg 5c I CINCH CAKE MIX. Pkg. 33c tRED TRIUMPH POTATOES IQQfe.$1.69 MEDIUM SUNKIST 1 ORANGES 1 EACH.let IU. S. GOOD BEEF ROAST, lb. 49C SLICED BACON ENDS, 2 lbs. 35c PORK STEAK lb.43c I SALE STARTS FR1., MARCH 10, THRU MARCH 11 I Plenty of Parking Wfit? O'Neill ■