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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (June 8, 1950)
12 PAGES—2 SECTIONS I SECTION — 8 PAGES ' North-Nebraska’s Fastest-Growing Newspaper • ^ ___ VOLUME 70—NUMBER 5 __ O'NEILL, NEBRASKA, THURSDAY, JUNE 8, 1950 PRICE 7 CENTS Atkinson Council Reconsiders Action ■ — * Reverses Stand on Power Issues and Workmen Resume ATKINSON — Consumers Public Power district workmen are making hay in Atkinson since the city council reconsid ered its earlier action on a transmission line issue. And the high tension line along the Chi cago & North Western railroad right-of-way will be completed “in just a few hours.” The building of the line from the east (O’Neill) became com plicated several weeks ago when a group of residents sought a restraining qrder in district court to prevent the 23-thou sand-volt line running through the residential district. L. C. Walling, manager of the O’Neill District of Consum ers Public Power, declared the residential route already was a compromise over earlier plans. Finally Consumers decided lo run the line, which is in tended to vastly improve At kinson's power service, along the North Western rail right of-way in the industrial dis trict (instead of residential) to a new substation in the heart of town. Construction crews were at work a fortnight ago when the Atkinson city council voted 3-2 to order abandonment of the route. Consumers immediately with drew men and material. Editor Ralph J. Kelly, of the Atkinson Graphic, rallied the citizenry to become interested in the affair, printed unofficial ballots and maintained an unofficial voting booth in order to gain a con sensus of opinion. At a meeting of the council Monday night, June 5, the bal lot box was opened. Three hun dred thirty-one votes had been cast— 323 “for” the Consumers’ plan to complete the line along the rail right-of-way, 8 “ag ainst.” A vote of the council was cal led with the result of a 3-3 tie. Voting against the transmision ’ line were Earl Coxbill, R. O. Jarvis and C. C. Raymer; vot ing for the line were Hugh O’ Connor, L. P- Haynes and Roy Dickerson. Mayor Francis D. Lee was obliged to break the dead lock. casting his lot "for." Result is a reversal of the or iginal vote at a meeting in which not all council members were present. Unofficial ballot read: “Shall Consumers Public Po wer District be permitted to construct electric transmission line along proposed route on north edge of the Chicago & North Western railroad right of-way through Atkinson to connect with proposed new sub station at Carberry street for puroose of serving city of At kinson with improved electric service?” , In the Mav 26 issue of the Graphic Mr. Kelly published a lengthy discussion of the situa tion under his own by line. Mr. Raymer told The Fron tier that the principle objec tion to the line along the tracks or through any section of town was on a "safety bas is” and "such a line would create radio interference. He said those who were op posed to the line construction in the heart of the city had con sulted an engineering firm, Ful ton and Kramer, of Lincoln, and had talked with interested per sons in a number of cities and towns where problems were comparable. Fulton and Kramer proposed /tunning the line around the city with a spur feeding the At kinson substation where power is “stepped - down” for dom estic use G. R. Nicholas, OHS Instructor, Resigns At the regular monthly meet ing of the O’Neill public school board of education Monday, members accepted the resigna tion of an instructor and auth orized repair of the old school building. G. R. Nicholas, English and dramatic instructor for the past IVz years, submitted his resig nation. Nicholas will enter bus iness in Wilber. He had been reelected for the 1950-’51 school year. . . , Board members authorized repair of cracks in outside walls of the “old” school building. According to Ira Moss, secre tary, moisture has been seep ing through causing plaster to fall. A Lincoln auditing firm will audit the O’Neill board of edueation books as well as the high school activities books, Moss said. O'Neil) Queen Places 3d— Miss Bernadette Hynes, 16. O’Neill Lions club queen and entry in the statewide Lions beauty contest, placed third in the competition at Scottsbluff. Present at the Lions conven tion and contest were Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Bowen, Miss Hynes, Miss Nancy* Beha and Mrs. Leona Hynes, Bernadette’s mo ther. 11 HOLT PEOPLE RECEIVE DEGREES Osenbaugh, Schaffer, Toy Among Nebraska ‘U* Graduates The University of Nebraska conferred degrees and certifi cates at commencement exer cises held on the campus Mon day morning, June 5. Among those honored were 11 Holt countyans. The following persons from the O’Neill region were recipi ents: Charles O. Shane, of Atkin son; Frank O. Skokan, of Nio brara; Merwyn G. French, jr., of Page; Ernest J. Gotschell, of Atkinson; William S. Mattern, of Creighton, associates in ap plied science, college of agricul ture. Reid R. Harrsch, of Niobrara, bachelor of arts, college of arts and sciences. Harold E. Dickerson, of At kinson; Lawrence E. Honke, of Butte; Edwin Juracek, of Nio brara; Harold D. Shane, of At kinson; Marvin F. Sobotka, of Inman; Raymond Van Norman, of Bassett; bachelor of science, college of business administra tion. Robert W. Turner, of Cham bers, bachelor of arts, college of engineering and architecture. Earl G. Eastman, of Bassett, bachelor of science in architec tural engineering, college of en gineering and architecture. Silas R. Barton, of Creighton, bachelor of science in civil en gineering, college of engineer ing and architecture. Clayton D. Sumpter, of Bas sett, bachelor of science in me chanical engineering, college of engineering and architecture. John D. Osenbaugh, of O’ Neill, bachelor of science in pharmacy, college of pharmacy. Agnes R. Troxell, of Burwell, bachelor of arts in education, teachers’ college. Shirley M. Schaffer, of O’ Neill, bachelor of science in ed ucation, teachers’ college. John S. Shaw, of Atkinson, doctor of dental surgery, dental college. Donald L. Shaneyfelt, of Long Pine; Anton Toy, jr., of O’Neill, bachelor of laws, college of law. Charles F Walker, of Page, master of arts, graduate college. James M. Tische, of Wood Lake, degree from college of arts and sciences, certificate in journalism. Holt Republicans Elect W. W. Griffin William W. Griffin, Holt coun ty attorney, Saturday was elect ed chairman of the Holt Repub lican committee in a meeting held here. Griffin, who was secretary - treasurer of the group, succeeds Ira H. Moss. Moss had been chairman for the past 8 years. Thirty Republicans from all sections of the county attended the meeting. I Moss, Julius D. Cronin, both of O’Neill; Guy Cole, of Em met; F. J. Brady and Edward F. Matousek, both of Atkinson, were chosen delegates to the pre-primary convention sched uled to be held at Omaha June 13. Convention alternate dele gates include: Mrs. Guy Cole, jf Emmet; H. D. Grady and Chairman Griffin, both of O’ leill, and Arthur Runnels, of Stuart. A new secretary - treasurer will be chosen following the pre-primary convention. Holt county Democratic or-! ganization met Saturday after noon, June 3, and reelected John Sullivan, of O’Neill, chairman for the coming year. Other officers chosen were: John R. Gallagher, O’Neill at torney, secretary, and Mrs. C. V. Sullivan, also of O’Neill, head of the women’s Democratic group. Sullivan, Gallagher, Louis Ko pecky, of Inman, Francis D. Lee and Neal McKee, jr., of Atkin son, were selected as delegates to the pre-primary convention slated to be held in Omaha June 13. . . Alternate delegates included: Fred Mack and Hugh O’Connor, both of Atkinson; Thomas Sul livan, M. H. Horiskey, and John Grutsch, all of O’Neill. About 20 Democrats attended the meeting in the Knights of Columbus building here. Flower Show Dales ATKINSON — Tuesday and Wednesday, June 13 and 14, are the dates set for the annu al iris show in Atkinson. The exhibit, which is sponsored each year by the Atkinson Iris so ciety, will be staged in Mem orial hall. Doors will be open to the pubic at 2.30 o’clock each day, and will remain open Tuesday evening Mrs. W H. Harty and daugh ters, Miss Helen and Mrs. Kev in Kocina, of Creighton, attend ed the graduation of their son and brother, Jack, from Rock hurst college, Kansas City, Mo. NAMES ACREAGE . . Gary Waller (above), 12-year-old j son of Mr. and Mrs. W. W. Waller, of O’Neill, has been j awarded $10 by Mr. and Mrs. Carl Asimus. Gary named an acreage southeast of the city the “Carl and Ann Boy Scout Ranch.” Mr. and Mrs. Asimus last year donated the acreage to the Boy Scouts of Ameri ca.—O’Neill Photo Co. GOL WEDDING E T DELAYED Celebrate i n Connection With Silver Wedding, Family Reunion STUARi — The Stuart city auditorium was the scene of the celebration of a golden wedding anniversary, a silver wedding anniversary and a family reun | ion on Sunday, June 4. Mr. and Mrs. N. E. Philbrick, ! of Rapid City, S. D., were cele brating their golden wedding ! anniversary which was post poned from January. Nathaniel E. Philbrick and ; Alexandra Albertson were mar ried at Laurel on January 23, 1900. They traveled by covered wagon to Oklahoma, were dis appointed in the country and retraced their journey to Mead ; county, Kansas, where they homesteaded. Still longing for their home state, they returned to Ne braska after a few years and settled in the Orchard and Ewing communities. They came to Stuart in 1911 ; and lived on a farm north of | Stuart until 1925 when they j moved to South Dakota. Three of their 4 living child ! ten and their families were in ; Stuart to help them celebrate. They were: Mr. and Mrs. Darrel j Freeman and family, of De \ ; Smet, S. D.; Mr. and Mrs. Ora j I Philbrick and family and Mr. ! and Mrs. Henry Hutcheson and I family, of Stuart; also Mrs. Philbrick’s brother, E. J. Al bertson, of Grand Island ana | Mr. Philbricks’ sister, Mrs. Olive Wedding, of Laurel. Mr. and Mrs. Ora Philbrick were celebrating their silver wedding anniversary. Their 4 | childen were present: Mr. and 1 Mrs. Dwayne Philbrick and j daughter, of De Smet; Mr. and Mrs. Dwight Philbrick and daughter, Miss June and Bob of 1 Stuart Mrs. Dwight Philbrick and Mrs. Marion Armstrong each baked a silver wedding cake. The 8 Hutcheson brothers and sisters were here for the reun ion. They were: Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Hutcheson, of Long Pine; Mr. and Mrs. Warren Hutche son, of Onawa, la.; Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Spillman, of Lebo, Kans.; Fay Hutcheson, of Woodbine, la.; Mrs. Pearl Blower, of Ar nold; Mrs. Orlo Shaffer, of Moorhead, la.; Mr. and Mrs. Ora Philbrick and Mr. and Mrs. Henry Hutcheson, of Stuart. Other relatives were: Miss Norma Jean Hutcheson, Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Hutcheson and -daughter all of Long Pine; Mr. and Mrs. Roy Humerick, of Os mond; Harold Humerick, of O’ Neill; Mr. and Mrs. O. F. Moore, Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Kuhlman and family, all of Onawa, la.; Mr. and Mrs. Elton Besly and family, of Halsey; Mr. and Mrs. L. J. Alderman, of Newport; Mr. and Mrs. A1 Rowland, of Turin, la.; Mr. and Mrs. Lyle Lezatte and family, of Spring view; Billie Hutcheson, of Wood bine, la.; Miss Leona Hutcheson i and Mrs. Lottie Lofquest, of Stuart. The entire group enjoyed a basket dinner at noon and held open house from 2 to 5 o’clock ; in the afternoon. — FILES FOR SUPERVISOR Fred Catron on Monday filed for the position of supervisor from the Fifth district Catron, a Republican, is from Cham ! bers. REV. BIRMINGHAM TO NEW LOCATION Atkinson - Emmet Pastor1 To New Location; Rev. I Jell Stays Appointments and reappoint ments of Methodist pastors for the coming year were announc ed Sunday night, June 4, in the closing session of the annual Nebraska Methodist conference at St. Paul’s Methodist church in Lincoln. Assignments of mterest to Holt countyans include: Rev. W. C. Birmingham, pas tor at Atkinson and Emmet for 8 years, to Wisner and Beemer; to be succeeded at Atkinson and Emmet by Rev. E. G. Hughes, of Tekamah. Reverend Birming ham requested the transfer. Rev. V. R. Bell, pastor at O’ Neill, reappointed for another year—his third. Rev. Roy M. Wingate, pastor at Inman and Ewing for 2 years, to Kilgore, Merriman and Cody, to be succeeded at Inman and Ewing by Rev. C. C. Chappell, who has just completed his the ological training. Rev. T. O. Brownfield, pastor at Page, has already moved to Cozad; to be succeeded by Rev. C. E. Wilcox. Rev. Duane Hutchinson, who has been pastor at Chambers and Amelia for the past year, to Pauline and Ayr; to be suc ceeded by Rev. L. R. Hansberry. Rev. L. R. Mullis. who pre- | ceded Reverend Bell at O'- { Neill and has been stationed in New England for the past 2 years, returns to Nebraska to become pastor at Clarks and Pierce chapel near Grand Island. Rev. Adolph Majorin, who has come to the United States from Latvia under the displaced persons act, will serve at Clear water. % Rev. Carl B. Rayburn, former ly of Page, goes to Greeley. H. R. Tompkins of Inman, was appointed associate lay leader in the Norfolk district. Reverend Bell was made a member of the board of Metho dist hospitals and homes. During Reverend Birming ham’s stay records show 184 members were received into the Atkinson church, 10 at Emmet; 60 were received by transfer at Atkinson, 1 at Emmet. There were 117 baptismals of child ren under 12 and 94 baptismals over 12 at Atkinson; 5 under and 5 over at Emmet. Reverend Hughes’s family in cludes his wife and a son, 8, and a daughter, 2. Reverend Mullis, who with his family spent Tuesday night and Wednesday in O’Neill, re quested the transfer from New Hampshire to Nebraska. O’Neill Sisters Are Both Majors Two O’Neill sisters who are members of the army nurses' corps are now majors. They are Catherine Ullom and Madeline Ullom. Madeline’s promotion from captain to major was announc ed a week ago. Catherine has been a major for about a year. Madeline, who is now station ed at Burke hospital, Ft. Sam Houston, near San Antonio, Tex., was a prisoner of war on Corregidor for 3 years. Catherine is stationed in the Panama Canal Zone. Ex-Resident Makes Plea for Youths Phoenix Insurance Man Adds $10 to Youth Center Fund The fund-raising drive for the proposed O’Neill youth center was boosted $135 during the past week as money continues to come in. Latest donors are: John Berigan, jr., $50; Alfred T. . Drayton. $50; Ira H Moss, $25; Mike O’Sullivan (Phoenix, Ariz.), $10. L. D. Putnam and District Judge D. R. Mounts, who have helped direct the fund-raising movement, said still more mon ey has to be collected. Total is now over the $2,700 mark. The committee is strongly enteraining the idea of build- . ing a structure in Ford's park. Mr. O’Sullivan, now a Phoe nix, Ariz., insurance executive, wrote an eloquqent little note to which his $10 check was at tached: “I was an O’Neill youth . . . about as poor a® O’Neill youth as there could be. The O’Neill business and professional men then, except a very few, were as cold as ice to me—a poor kid. “A great number of convicts that start a life of crime were in towns of 5,000 or less and were, in most part, poor boys—boys who were not on the ‘in’ in any thing in their town. “Someday I hope to talk to the business and professional men of O’Neill in the hope that I can spark them into steering young, poor O’Neill boys into proper way of life and living.’’ Mr. O’Sullivan said he thought the youth center was a wonder ful idea. Elected Vice-President of State Auction Group— ATKINSON — Ernie Weller, well-known Holt auctioneer, Sunday was chosen first vice president of the Nebraska Live stock A-uction association. The convention was held at Norfolk. O’Neill’s Prelim Census Figure Now at 3,050 CENSUS AT A GLANCE Vernon O. Taylor, assistant supervisor of the bureau of the census at Keamev, has released “unofficial preliminary" fig ures for the following cities and towns with the understanding that this release does not include the “missing persons” check now being carried on, nor does it include new arrivals within the city during the census operations. Therefore, these "unoffi cial preliminary” figures will increase somewhat in varied communities. PERSONS DWELLING UNITS HOLT COUNTY 1950 1940 In. or De. 1950 1940 I or D O'Neill _ 3,050 2,532 Atkinson.. 1,350 1,350 _ 449 404 45 Chambers ... 393 388 5 154 135 19 Emmet _ _ 62 89 27 20 24 4 Ewing _ 702 681 79 225 187 38 Inman _ ...... 238 206 32 79 66 13 Stuart _ 779 760 19 253 221 32 Page- 272 335 63 106 111 5 BOYD COUNTY— Naper- 189 195 6 63 57 6 Br^tow-,- 146 188 42 58 55 3 Monowi_ 66 99 33 21 28 7 Anoka - 60 117 57 21 36 15 Butte-__ 614 623 9 198 174 24 Lynch - 432 487 55 149 151 2 Gross- 29 23 6 10 7 3 Spencer.._ 509 635 126 168 191 23 WHEELER COUNTY— Bartlett-.... 145 176 31 51 56 5 Ericson ._ 186 279 93 67 87 20 ROCK COUNTY— Bassett- 1,065 931 134 374 282 92 Newport - 206 275 69 74 87 13 Official Declares City Gains 518 Persons During Decade (Special to The Frontier) O Neill's "unofficial prelim inary'' census count for 1950 was fixed at 3.050 persons late Wednesday by Vernon O. Taylor, of Kearney, assistant census supervisor in this dis trict. This represents a gain of 518 persons over the 1940 count of 2,532. Last week O'Neill's incom plete count revealed 3,038 per sons, but this figure was re vised upward by 12 persons. When "missing persons" have been accounted for and the national average is com puted, O'Neill is expected to gain an additional 1 or 2 per cent. Atkinson's Count Sam* as 10 Yaars Ago— ATKINSON — The popula tion count at Atkinson is the same for 1950 as it was in 1940, according to figures re leased Thursday, June 1, by the census supervisor. Some interesting facts con cerning the city of Atkinson are shown here from 1920 on. In 1920, Atkinson had a tabu lated count of 1,300, which de creased 156 to bring the total count in 1930 to 1,144. How ever, a gain was made in the next 10 years. In 1940, the fig ure was 1,350 or a gain of 206 people. The count from 1940 to 1950 j remained the same, with the ; latest unofficial count 1,350 peo | Pie. Bassett Gains 2d D*cad* in Row— BASSETT — The figures just released by the bureau of the census, show Bassett’s popula tion count just 134 more people in 1950 than there were in 1940, bringing the population to 1,056 people instead of 931 people. In 1920, the city of Bassett had a tabulated count of 664, which decreased 29, bringing the total count in 1930 to 635. However, an increase was made during the next 10 years. In 1940 the figure was 931 or a gain of 296 people. The count from 1940 to 1950 was increased by 134 people, bringing the present unofficial count for 1950 to 1,065. Hospital Contracts To Be Let Today A contract for the building of St. Anthony's 40-bed hospital here will be let today (Thurs day) subject to the approval of government hospital financing agencies. James M. Corkle, chairman of St. Anthony’s hospital build ing fund committee, said the opening of bids will begin at 2 p.m. today (Thursday) at St. Mary’s academy. Corkle said 5 or 6 general building bids have been receiv ed along with 7 or 8 bids each on the contracts for wiring, plumbing and heating. Frank M. McNett, of Grand Island, architect for the $400, 000 health center; Vern Pang born, of Lincoln, and other fed eral representatives from Kan sas City, Mo., will attend the meeting. Rev. Yaquib Khan Atkinson Visitor— , ATKINSON—Yaquib. Khan, j of Pakistan Province, was a ] guest of Miss Laura MacLach : lan and her parents, Mr. and ! Mrs. Robert MacLachian Fri iay, June 2. Reverend Khan has been in the U. S. for the past year at tending seminary at Pittsburg, Pa. He and Miss MacLachian have worked together for 11 years in their missionary work in Pakistan. He began his work as a child in the village attend ing school there, going through the seminary, finally coining to this country to finish his edu cation. He now holds degrees equal to any other degree in theology and also has a mast er’s degree. He will return soon to be come president of the only sem inary in his native country. AH protestant ministers who go to Pakistan are trained here. He and Miss MacLachian are both associated with the United Pres byterian missior. work. She is at lome now on leav®. Claude Hamilton, 54, O’Neill Man, Dies Claude Hamilton, 54, well known O’Neill businessman, died at his home at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 6. He had been in ill health for a number of months. During recent months the late Mr. Hamilton sought med ical attention at Rochester, Minn., as well as other points. But his health declined stead ily. Funeral services will be held Friday morning at 10 o’clock in St. Patrick’s Catholic church. Very Rev. Timothy O’Sullivan will officiate and burial will be in Calvary cemetery here. The late Mr. Hamilton had lived most of his life in Holt county. He was born March 27, 1896, at Lynch, the son of the late Frank and Ruth Hamilton. Prior to his coming to O’Neill in 1930 he had worked on the construction of the Spencer dam, north of O’Neill. * At that time the dam was owned by Northern States Pow er company. Later he worked for a time for Armour & Co. He owned and operated a tavern here. Survivors include: widow; son—Claude, jr., of O’Neill; and Joseph, of Monmouth, I1L; daughters — Mrs. Margaret Wildes, of O’Neill; Mrs. Hazel Lawrence, of Valentine; Mrs. Dorothy Saindon, of Denver, Colo.; Mrs. Dan Helmers, of Rogers, and Leona, of O’Neill; 5 brothers and 5 sisters. Pallbearers will be: Larry Bourne, Paul Bourne, Dean Reed, Joe Jareske, Francis Mur phy and Luther Schulz, all of O’Neill. CIT1 LOYEES GET PAY BOOST Police, Street and Water Workers Will Draw $200 a Month' The O’Neill city council held a 5-hour session Tuesday night. Business on the agenda was varied indeed. City employees, including 3 policemen and 3 street depart ment and water department employees, were issued pay in creases, amounting to a flat $50 per month boost. Employees were drawing $150 per month, will draw $200. Leo Anderson, new general superintendent, reported to the council and was formally granted authority to run the city's affairs and hire-and fire city employees, except police, who are responsible to the mayor. Twenty-five persons u re on hand to present various prob lems to the council. These con sisted mostly of persons inter ested in sewer and water ex tensions and building permits. The council room was so con gested that several persons sat on the floor. In addition, 2 paving engi neers were on hand to talk pav ing possibilities with the coun cil and a parking meter sales man presented a proposal. How 1 ever, no action was taken on either item. Possibility of an extensive I citywide cleanup campaign was discussed and tentatively plan ned within the next few weeks. It was also decided to spray the city at the same time if neces sary arrangements can be made. The council learned that the new sewer outfall and lift sys tem would be in operation in a ‘ week or 10 days.” Improvements for Hi way 281 Slated Gov. Val Peterson Wednes day announced through a letter to The Frontier his proposed im provements for 1950 for high way 281 north of O’Neill. Governor Peterson said: “At the present time the (Nebraska) state highway department con templates sending out notices for bids on July 5 for the grad ing, culverts and graveling — preparatory to blacktopping — on the 5 miles north of O’Neill. “These plans are, of course, subject to approval of the U. S. bureau of public roads.” Peterson also saidi “We plan to take bids for the grading, graveling and structure for that section of highway 281 starting approximately at the junction of highway 28.1 and 12 (the Spencer-Lynch junction) run ning south about 7 Vi miles. “This improvement would in clude a new' bridge over the Niobrara river. “Upon completion of this work it will leave a 5-mile sec tion of 281 south of Eagle creek without hard surface.”