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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (July 6, 1950)
12 PAGES—2 SECTIONS 1 SECTION — 8 PAGES i \ > \ North-Nebraska’s bastest-Growing Newspaper VOLUME 70—NUMBER 9_O'NEILL, NEBRASKA. THURSDAY, JULY 6, 1950 ~~ ' PRICE 7 CENTS *rATE hist soc Hail, Wind Rip Green Valley Neighbors Find Safety From Storm Huddling Iln Church By MAE HANEL (Special Correspondent) GREEN VALLEY — A group of neighbors picnicking in a church yard found safty inside the building Sunday afternoon, July 2, when a combination wind-hail storm shrieked across this section of Holt county. Green Valley is located south of Stuart. ‘ Those who sought safely from the storm by huddling in the church saw the win adows smashed in by the hail stones. A chimney was blown from Bill Tasler’s house and a big tree was uprooted and fell on a car owned by Kieth Jones. Ranchers say about half of their hay crop was pounded in to the ground. This is serious because haying season arrived this week. All small grain dn an area 3 miles wide and about 7 miles -• long was completely ruined. The hail let up after shel lacking the ,Ed Bouska place. Mr. Bouska had not yet cut his alfalfa. After the storm had subsided it was apparent there was none left to cut Charles Prussa, living 1 mile northwest of Bouska, reported no damage, but Tony Tasler counted 36 big cottonwood trees down on the road that runs past his place. He report ) ed hail stones in his driveway measuring up to a foot in depth at certain places. Tasler said these was blown into “drifts” Mrs. Phillippi Safe in Japan O’Neill relatives of Mrs. Stan ley Phillippi were deeply con cerned over the welfare of she and her husband until Satur day. They had been living at Se oul, South Korea, which last week fell into the hands of the aggressing North Korean Com munists. Mrs. Phillippi cabled buring f the weekend that “We are well and safe.” They had been evac uated from Seoul to Hukuok, Japan. She is the former Ora Ott, who was reared in the Joy com munity north of O'Neill. Mr. and Mrs. Phillippi had been re siding in Korea for about a year. Mrs. Phillippi’s brother is L A Ott, O’Neill farmer. 11 Beat Deadline In Office Filing Eleven persons Thursday, I June 29—the deadline for fil ings for the coming August 8 primary election—stormed the j office of Ruth Hoffman, Holt \ county clerk, to file for various positions. Thus, total number of candi- j dates who have filed for the primary election was swelled j to 50. Six of the 11 candidates filing on the last day were of Atkin son. Atkinson residents filing in cluded: Joseph E. Judge, for | Democratic supervisor of the 7th district; candidates for del egates to the Democratic state convention — Francis D. Lee; Neal S. McKee and Fred Mack; ; candidates for delegates to the Republican state convention— Eacl J- Collins and Frank J. Brady. Ira H. Moss, of O’Neill, for mer head of the Holt county Republican organization, is a candidate for the GOP state i conclave also. Mrs. Guy Cole, ' of Emmet, filed as an alternate delegate for the state Repub lican convention. Other filings on the final day included: For sheriff— Robert (“Bob”) Tomlinson, of Star, and incumbent A. B. Hubbard. H W Hubbard, of Chambers, who had filed for the position of supervisor from the 5th dis trict on the Republican ticket,, was erroneously omitted from the composite filing roundup in the June 29 issue of The iron- . tier. Chamber to Discuss Postal Curtailment M. J. Diehlman, newly elect ed president of the O Neill Chamber of Commerce, said late Wednesday that at the regular monthly meeting of the civic group a discussion of the cur tailment of O’Neill postal ser vice will be held. Regular meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 11. In addition to the postal ser vice discussion, members will decide about closing Saturday, July 15, first day of the Amer ican Legion sponsored “Pro gress” celebration. Celebration is slated to conclude Sunday, July 16. Ivalyn Brady left Wednesday, July 5, for Crete, to visit her sister, Joan Brady, for a few <Jays. ■ ..-. ..... .— - — ! New Grandstand, Lights Assured ATKINSON—A special elec tion was held in Atkinson Tues day, June 27, to vote on the is suing of bonds to build a new' grandstand at the baseball park. The $8,000 bond issue carried by a vote of 3-1. The American Legion donated $10,000 for the lighting system for the park and purchase of 12 acres of ground. Thus, Atkinson will be assured of a grandstand that will seat about 1,500 peo ple and an adequate lighting system by the time of the Hay Days celebration in August. BIDS SOUGHT )N 281 IMPROVEMENT 5 Miles of Grade Will Be Constructed North of Junction Construction of 5 miles of U. 3. highway 281 between O’Neill and Spence;- was among the projects advertised for bidding Wednesday by the state high w' a y, department. Contractors may submit bids until July 27. This project in Holt county I will proceed north from U. S. highway 20 a mile and a half i north of O’Neill. Building the s;rade of the highway will re 1 quire the excavation of nearly 150 - thousand cubic yards of earth. Two concrete box cul verts and 12 metal culverts will provide drainage for the new highway. The state highway department will request bids for placing a 29-foot wide grav el surface course on this 5 miles at a later date. During ine consiruicion, traffic will use a road 1 mile west. The proposed work in cludes building several new culverts on this detour and graveling it. A relocation of U. S. highway 281 in Greeley and Howard counties was also among the projects advertised. The proposed work will short en and eliminate kinks in the present highway. The project will begin in Greeley Center at the intersection of 281 and state highway 56. It will continue southwest 13 Vz miles rejoining the present 281 about a half mile south of the Greeley-How ard county line. Two spurs to join the new highway with existing roads will be included in the work. One will be from the new high way east .7 of a mile to join the oil mat leading into Wolbach. The other will be in Greeley Center from O’Neill avenue west past the depot to the new highway. One bridge, 13 concrete box culverts and 28 metal culverts will be built on the highway in addition to drainage facilities to be provided across adjoining driveways. The 3-span bridge, 72 feet long, will be built across the north branch of Spring creek in Greeley Center. The struc ture will have a concrete floor 26 feet wide. A channel change will be dug at this point as well as one at the crossing of the west branch of Spring creek. Building of the grade of the 'ighway will require the exca . ation of more than 743 thou ,and cubic yards of earth. Lay ing a sand clay blanket course ver the earth grade will be in luded in the project. Bids for gravel surfacing the aew highway will be requested by the state highway depart ment at a later date. Depart ment officials state that the highway will be constructed to standards suitable for future hard surfacing. Speaker Being Sought for Rite A speaker will be sought this weekend for the ground breaking rite at the St. Anth ony's hospital building site, ac cording to James M. Corkle, building chairman The ground - breaking will take place between 1 and 2 o’ clock on Sunday, July 16, in connection with the second an nual citywide American Le gion-sponsored celebration. Mr. Corkle is in correspond ence with Mother M. Erica, of the Sisters of St. Francis pro vincial house, at Denver, Colo., urging her to be present for the program. Sunday-School Picnic— The Sunday-school classes of the Wesleyan Methodist church held a picnic the Fourth of July at the Robert Strong home. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Law rence and their niece, _ Bonnie Lawrence, were in Yankton, S. D., Saturday. BLUEGRASS BRINGS n TO 9c POUND I * Short Crop in Other States Holsters Prices in Holt County Holt county’s 1950 bluegrass harvest is well underway and the green strippings are com manding prices ranging from about IVz to 9 cents per pound. Price has been bolstered by a short crop in Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and several other blue grass states. Holt’s yield is below that of recent years but some of the higher ground is producing more i bluegrass seed this year than j formerly. Most buyers are grading "very close" because of the high price and amount of for eign material being gathered. There is also complaint that in some fields the seed is too I close to the ground. Total income from the 1950 crop will compare favorably to other years, although probably it will be less than anticipated. Trucks are rolling throughout the region loaded to the hilt with sacks of seed. Curing yards j are working full force. Small grain prospects are ‘.airly good,” according to Holt I County Agent A. Neil Dawes. Tuesday’s shower, which was general in Holt county, practi cally assured the small grain crop for the farmers—except, of course, where hail already has pulverized the fields or where hail might yet strike. Oats and barley are gener ally not as far along as they should be. Estimates of thresh ing dates run from July 18 to 20 to start. Rye probably looks best of all small grain. First cutting of alfalfa was “quite good,” according to most .armers, and the recent rain will be a big help to the second crop. Com in the county, like else where in the cornbelt, has been retarded but should come along rapidly with the recent mois ture. • There are isolated reports of grasshopper infestation and Dawes urges folks to examine the border fields and spray where necessary. ‘Hoppers have been increasing in numbers in gardens and potato fields. (Continued on page 8.) Tree Purge Takes Landmarks PLEASE. MR. WOODMAN. SPARE THAT TREE! Woodman, spare that tree! Touch not a single bough! In youth it sheltered me, And I’ll protect it now. 'Twas my father’s hand That placed it near his cot; There, woodman, let it stand, Thy ax shall harm it not! That old familiar tree, Whose glory and renown Are spread from sea to sea, And wouldst thou hew it down? Woodman, forbear thy stroke! Cut not its earth-bound ties; Oh, spare that aged oak Now towering to the skies! When but an idle boy, I sought its grateful shade; In all their gushing joy Here too my sisters played. My mother kissed me here; My father pressed my hand; Forgive this foolish tear, But let the old oak stand. My heartstrings round thee cling Close as the bark, old friend! , Here shall the wild birds sing, And still thy branches bend. | Old tree, the storm still brave! And, woodman, leave the spot; I While I’ve a hand to save, Thy ax shall harm it not. —Morris. | ONeillites this week glumly looked on while workmen felled dozens of trees lining the city’s 2 principal thoroughfares. Several of these trees were lofty, 60-year-old landmarks endeared to the hearts of young and old. The tree massacre was I brought about when the city1 council decided to install a j new street-lighting system, pro viding ONeill with a north south and east-west white way. All trees in parkways and along curbs would interfere with the street-lighting and the council decided the trees must go. A giant hackberry tree on the west side of the Spelts - Ray Lumber company office, on South Fourth street, provoked more than one tear when it fell into the street with a rending crash. Consumers Public Power disrict workmen had labored 2 hours with a power saw and axes before they penetrated its tough 56-inch base. Felling of another land mark in front of Dean Street Giant hackberry goes down in purge . . . tough. 60-year old landmark measures 56 inches in width. Frontier Photo. ers barber shop (next door to The Frontier building) also attracted wide attention. Chuck Apgar, the "Voice of The Frontier" radio announc er, recorded the drama for his radio audience. But most tears are being sav ed for the wholesale massacre on West Douglas street. For years tourists passing through ONeill and visitors to the city have been impressed with the row of giant elms that line the parkways on West Douglas street. Their leaves arch the avenue and practically touch. Wednesday the Consum ers tree-fellers went to work on those. While the cost of the new arcs may seem great to those persons who put a high value on trees, it can be said that O’ Neill’s streets will be well light ed. The lamps will be rated at 10 thousand lumens (or approxi mately 620 watts each). In the concentrated business district there will be 8 lamps per block and on the Extremities of Doug las street and Fourth street the lamps? will be placed 3 per block. Monday the final shipment of heads for the poles arrived. The lamps will be 26 feet above the ground and fixed on an arch-lilce arm on the poles. In the business district the poles will be steel, on the ends of the streets they will be wooden. Both Douglas street and Fourth street carry considerable traffic and the original lighting system long since has been con i sidered inadequate. I One councilman stated he was surprised there haven’t been more accidents and possible fa talities because of the poorly lighted streets. L. C. Walling, Consumers district manager, says he can not fix a completion date, but he expects the white way to be in operation “in just a few weeks.’’ OUTFALL - LIFT DOES JOB WELL Sewerage Flows Thru at Rate of 250-Gallons Per - Minute The city’s new outfall - lift system, the answer to a first class sewerage disposal prob lem, is working beautifully. This was the opinion this week of Mayor J. E. Davis, City i Superintendent L. C. Anderson ! and members of the city coun cil after the plant had been in ' operation nearly 2 weeks. The lift features 3 automatic electric pumps. All the city’s sewerage empties into a large submerged concrete pit at the <outh end of Sixth street, across the Chicago & North Western railroad tracks, near the stock yards. The pumps force the sewer age into an elevated outfall that empties into the Elkhorn river several blocks away. Before the station was install ed. the emptying became slug gish and during periods when the water level in the river was high the sewerage would bacx up’’ and inundate the lowlands south of the tracks. City Engineer Donald u. Price, of Lincoln, designed an outfall-lift system and the coun cil proceeded with the installa tion. , . Mechanism is housed m a small white building. All switching is automatic since the system was placed in operation. Sewerage flows through the pumps at the rate of about 250 gallons-per-minute. Capacity of the trio of pumps is consider ably greater than the 10-inch input pipes or the 10-inch out fall pipe. One pump is always standing by in event of a mal function of another pump. Mayor Davis said that the station "meets all specifica tions beautifully." A saving of $550 under the engineer’s estimate was effect ed when creosoted pilings weie used at the mouth of the sewer instead of concrete pilings. The capacity of the outfall lift station is expected to be adequate to serve O’Neill for several years at the rate of its normal growth. To Finish Outside Public School Repair — Workmen this week will fin- [ ish repairing the outside walls j of the O’Neill public school | building, according to Ira H. Moss, O’Neill school board of j ducation secretary. Repair of the outside walls of the building consists of filling cracks where moisture had seep ed in. Follow’ng the outside repair job, workmen will begin inside remodeling. Moss said. Inside work will consist of partitioning the main study room, painting and plastering. Then insulation and a new furnace will be in stalled. Estimated cost of the inside and outside repair work will run “in the neighborhood” of $8,000. Outside repair—$500; parti tioning—$200; painting— $400; plastering—$100; insulation — $1,000; furnace—$3,000; wiring —$1,000; and miscellaneous — $1,800. Outfall-lift station goes into operation . . . City Superin tendent L. C. Anderson throws the switch.—The Frontier Photo. LIONS COUNT 81 MEMBERS Largest Club in Area; Begin New Year With Putnam at Head The O’Neill Lions club has entered a new year, beginning July 1, with a membership of 81, which makes it the largest club in the Nebraska Lions dis trict 38-E. A membership campaign was conducted throughout most of the past year under the leader ship of D. H. Clausson, presi dent. The O’Neill club currently ranks first in the national mem bership contest. Ratings are based on percentage of growth. Results will be announced soon. 1 The Lions during the past year have backed the "white way" street-lighting system, door-to-door mail delivery, improvement for highway 281, all of which soon will become a reality. The club encouraged music students from both O’Neill schools by having them enter- : tain the members. Other highlights of the year | included: A Christmas party at the American Legion club for j Lions and their ladies; a contri- ! bution of $100 to the Boy Scout fund, arranging for the use of “Kigmies” in the March of Dimes campaign; providing milk and crackers to the pupils in the opportunity room at the public school; sending Miss Bernadette Hynes, St. Mary's student, to Scottsbluff to com pete in the statewide Lions beauty contest; and sending James Carney to boys’ sttae. New officers are: T D Putnam, president; Ray Eby, first vice-president; J. H. Doerning, second vice - presi dent; Elgin Ray, third vice-pres ident; Harold Bumann, tail twister; N. O. McCrary, Lion tamer: M. E. Jacobson, secreta ry; John Watson, treasurer; Hugh Ray and Harry Petersen, directors, 1-year; D. H. Claus- , son and Joe Stutz, directors, 2- j years. A. E. Bowen is retiring sec retary. MRS. S. J. BENSON DIES AT NORFOLK Successive Strokes Fatal To 94-Year-Old Holt County Pioneer Mrs. Alice M. Benson, 94, widow of the late Stephen J. ("Link”) Benson, died Sunday, July 2, at 4:05 a. m„ at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Fred Har rison, in Norfolk. She suffered a stroke in No vember, 1949, but never fully recovered. A second stroke, a week before her death, caused her to go into a coma. Funeral services were held at 2 p. m., Wednesday at First Presbyterian church in O'Neill. The body lay in state at B i g 1 i n Bros, mortuary Tuesday afternoon and eve ning. The late Mrs. Benson w'as born August 28. 1855, at Rush ville, O; and when a child mov ed with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Pitt Lawrence Purdy, to Iowa City. la. From there they moved to Fulton county, Illinois, where she grew to womanhood. While in Illinois she met and married Mr. Benson. The mar riage took place at Lewistown on January 1, 1876. In 1883, the couple with 3 children came to ■ Nebraska in a covered wagon and filed on a homestead in northern Holt county where they lived for more than 50 years. The Ben sons observed their golden wed ding anniversary in 1927 while still on the homestead. The couple retired to O' Neill in 1933. A few months later Mr. Benson submitted to a major operation and died 18 months later — In 1935. I He was 82-years-old. Survivors include: daughters —Mrs. George J. Hess, of Wayne, and Mrs. Harrison, of Norfolk; sons *— C. L. Benson, of Nor folk; J. L. Benson, of Owanka, S. D., and Blake, of O'Neill, who still resides on the home- • stead; 14 grandchildren and 16 great - grandchildren. After their own family was reared, Mr and Mrs. Benson took care of an orphan girl, who is now Mrs. Irma Bradley, of Omaha. The late Mrs. Benson often recalled for her descendants stories of pioneer life, includ ing dealings with Indians. Rev. Norman Wrenn officia ted in the funeral rites. Burial was in Prospect Hill cemetery. Pallbearers were: Robert L Benson. Hugh Benson. Harold Benson, Harold Stober. Elwin Benson and Stanley Benson. Region Free of Holiday Mishaps The O’Neill region passed an uneventful long holiday week end without a serious mishap, it was reported Wednesday by the state highway patrol. A transient automobile from the state of, Washington went into a ditch east of Atkinson, shook up the occupants and re sulted in only minor damage to the car. Fourth of July celebrations were in progress at Neligh and Stuart, where Jupiter Pluvious unloaded some needed mois ture during most of the morn ing and early afternoon. To ward evening, however, the skies cleared and celebrations moved into high gear. The traditional fireworks dis play at the O’Neill Country club attracted several thousand spectators. Automobiles throng ed the club grounds and park ed along the highways and roads near the club to view the exhibit. In charge were R. V. Lucas and Homer Mullen. bu moii Touin at 4-H Camp— Sixty Holt county 4-H club bers spent Thursday through Saturday at the club camp near Long Pine. There were more than 350 youths enrolled. Achievement Day Set August 14— County Agent A. Neil Dawes said Wednesday that the 1950 extension achievement day has been set for Monday, August 14. Program details are not yet complete. COUNCIL MEETS Regular monthly meeting of the O’Neill city council was held Wednesday evening at the city hall. Go to Long Pin©— Mr and Mr*. M. M. Krause and Nancy, were In Long Pine Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
