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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (March 8, 1951)
12 PAGES — 2 SECTIONS m 1 J * r — ■ '"* ‘ - — North-Nebraska s Fastest-Growing Newspaper VOLUME 70.—NUMBER 44. O'NEILL, NEBR.. THURSDAY. MARCH 8, 1951. PRICE: 7 CENTS . 1 I— - 1 II .1 I I .■" I "" ’ ' - STATE HIST SOC i _JI_ l am l imotny Joe O Connell. My mommie was marooned in a wagon for several hours the day I was born—March 7. 1950. I walk. I have four teeth. My hair is blond. They call me the bliz zard baby. Why all the fuss? What blizzard?" — The Frontier Photo. Hurricane Blizzard Struck a Year Ago ASSESSORS START ' WORK MARCH 10 The annual job of assessing Holt county’s property owners will get underway Saturday, March 10. Taxpayers will be responsible for contacting the assistant as sessor in their precinct or town ship before April 20. All property, tangible and in tangible, owned by individuals, banks, corporations, partnerships, administrators, guardians and caretakers, must be listed for taxation as of March 10. Of prime interest to taxpay ers in the O'Neill region will * be the livestock valuations — still undecided by the Nebras ka County Assessors' associa tion. Northeast and southeast ern Nebraska associations fa v,or substantial valuation in creases on livestock, while northwest Nebraska assessors are against an increase. The issue will be settled before the assistants begin their chores this weekend. Holt County Assessor William F. Wefso has announced the fol lowing precinct assessors for 1951: Antelope— L. Crumly; Atkin son precinct—Eli McConnell; At kinson city—Wes Kirkland Chambers precinct and village —Clarence Young; Cleveland --- Waldo Frost; Coleman— Arthur O’Neill; Conley—Chas. Mahoney. Deloit—A. Latzel; Dustin—L. E. Axtell. Emmet precinct and village— Joe Winkler; Ewing precinct and village—Eben Graft. Fairview — Harold Gilman; Francis—Joe Dobrovolny. Golden — Homer Rutherford; Grattan — Archie Densberger; Green Valley — Robert LeMun yan.. Holt Creek—Harold Shaw. Inman precinct and village— F. E. Keyes; Iowa—James Lieb. Josie, Swan and Wyoming —R. E. Bly. I Lake and McClure — O. Me Cl an ah an. Paddock — Elmer DeVaJl; Pleasantview—Wm. Troshynski. Rock Falls—Levi Hull. Sand Creek — Pat Kilmurry; Saratoga—Ralph Coburn; Scott— Albert Carson; Shamrock—C. E. Cavanaugh; Sheridan—Chas. Ku bart; Shields — Clarence Gokie: Steel Creek—C. L. Brady; Stuart precinct and village—Ed Engier. Verdigris and Page— Bob Nis sen. Willowdale—Bob Tomlinson. O’Neill city—H. W. Tomlinson. Monday Is Answer Day on Meter Suil— The city of O’Neill, as defend ant in the parking meter tempo rary injunction suit, must file an answer in Holt county district court by Monday, March 12. Todate nothing has been done legally by the defense, but City Attorney William W. Griffin said the city would have an an swer on the record by that date. Griffin said, however, the park ing meter firm has not signified to him any interest in getting into a legal battle. The council in January author ized the city to enter into an a greement with the parking me tar manufacturer. The meters ar rived—but Sumner Downey et al, a group of interested citizens, promptly went to court seeking a temporary injunction. District Judge D. R. Mounts issued a restraining order. O’Connell Baby I* Celebrating 1st Birthday Wednesday was the first anni versary of the famous Hurricane Blizzard of March 7, 1950. But there was little compar ison. A year ago the infamous storm struck furiously early in the morning, continued all day and finally subsided in the early hours the next morning. One man, Robert Gesiriech, 23, of At kinson, perished near O’Neill, other persons suffered from ex posure, and hundreds of livestock died. Winds mounted from 60- to 100-miles-per-hour and snow was packed hard and high. On March 7, 1951, the ground was almost free from snow, dur ing midday topcoats were dis carded, and the mercury got as high as the upper forties, but was scneduled to drop. During the ordeal a year ago the mercury hovered between 5 and 12 degrees. Had subzero temperatures prevailed, a whole sale loss of human life might have resulted and certainly half of the region’s livestock popula tion would have perished. During the height of that terrible storm an O'Neill farm woman, Mrs. Wallace O'Con nell. living 3 miles northwest of the city, was marooned in an open wagon near the Coun try club for 10 hours. An expectant mother, her hus band was attempting to get her to the O’Neill hospital. The storm became so severe the team of horses could no longer negotiate the drifts and the wind. A valiant crew of O’Neill men, bearing a litter, finally reached Mrs. O’Connell after several un successful attempts. That night she gave birth to a son, Timothy Joe (see photo above). A bright - eyed, affable little fellow, Timothy Joe will formal ly celebrate his first birthday an niversary tonight (Thursday). Neighbors and some of the rela tives will help celebrate. A year ago when Timothy Joe posed for The Frontier’s camera the picture ultimately found its way onto most front pages across the land. Some will always regard the storm as the O’Connell blizzard. Fern Ritts Gets Year in Reformatory Mrs. Fern Ritts, wife of Joseph Ritts, Tuesday was sentenced to one year in the women’s beform atory at York on a larceny charge. Mrs. Ritts originally pleaded innocent to the charges, was re leased on bond. She appeared before District Judge D. R. Mounts on Wednesday, February 28, and changed her pleading to “guilty.” Judge Mounts continued the case until Tuesday when he pro nounced the sentence. Joseph Ritts already is serving a sentence in the men’s reform atory in connection with a knife point robbery behind an O’Neill tavern last fall. His wife was an accomplice in the sortie in which money was taken from an Osceo la truck driver. Sings on Network— Cliaude Cole, who attends Wayne Teachers college, was a member of the chorus which sang on a radio network program on Sunday evening. Claude is the son of Charles Cole, of Star. LILLIE H1NSHAW EXPIRES IN OMAHA • ■ Burial Monday for Well Known Chambers, O’Neill Cafe Operator CHAMBERS—Funeral services were held in the Methodist church at Chambers on Monday afternoon, March 5, for Mrs. Lil lie Richard Hinshaw, 66, who died Friday, March 2, at the St. Joseph’s hospital at Omaha. She had been confined there for nine weeks. Rev. V. R. Bell, of the O’Neill Methodist church, had charge of the services and burial was in the Chambers cemetery. A quar tet, Leo Adams, Ernest Farrier, Mrs. Kenneth Adams and Mrs. Art Miller, sang “Way of the Cross," “In the Garden,” and “Beautiful Isle of Somewhere," accompanied on the piano by Mrs. Lela Corcoran. Pallbearers, long time friends of the family, included Hiriam W. Hubbard, Charles Grimes, Fred Smith, Thomas Newhouse, William Turner, Glenn Adams, Glenn Taylor, Johnny Walters, Louis Harley and Jerry Grimes. Mrs. Clarence Tibbets and Mrs. Myrtle Bell had charge of the flowers. Lillie B. Wyant was born on November 23, 1884, in Wheelor county, near Deloit. She was one of 10 children of J. N. and Mary Wyant, now deceased, who were early pioneers of the Chambers community. She came to Holt county with her family when about cne year of age and spent the remainder of her life in this vicinity. She was married on August 31, 1901, to Walter Richard and they became the parents o£ two chil- i dren, Clarence W. and Leona. She was a charter member of the Winona Rebekah lodge 301 when it was instituted in May, 1921. Survivors include: Son— Clar- I ence, of Powell; daughter—Mrs. George (Leona) Hodgson, o f Chugwater, Wyo.; grandchildren —Rae, Kay and Jack Richard, Richard and Donald Hodgson; sisters—Mrs. Charlie Spann, Mrs. C. J. McGinn and Mrs. Will Row and; brothers — Walter, Arch, Charles, Lewis and Clarence. Among out-of-town friends and relatives attending the services were: Mrs. Will Rowand and Art Rowand, of Brush, Colo.; Mr and Mrs. Clarence Richard, of Pow ell, Wyo.; Mr. and Mrs. George Hodgson and Donald, of Chug water, Wyo.; Mr. and Mrs. Frank Reese, of Carroll; Mrs. Ezra Hodg son, of Claire; Mr. and Mrs. Ver non Lowery, Mrs. James Low ery, Mrs. Art Rowse, Mrs. Ernie Rowse, all of Burwell; Mrs. Fred Lowery, Eldora Lowery, Mrs. Fritz Yantzi, Mrs. Mildred Wy ant, Mrs. Larry Bourne, Mr. and Mrs. Grover Shaw, Mrs. Emma Lawrence, Mrs. Charlie Law rence, Mrs. Ray Lawrence, Jack Berrigan, Lee and Verne Rey noldson, Ray Lienhart, Mr. and Mrs. Lee C. Blake, Rev. and Mrs. John Conrad, Mrs. Claire Eason, Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Fox, Mrs. Bessie Klingler, Mr. and Mrs. Levi Fuller, Mrs. Vivian Floyd, Mr. and Mrs. Howard Burch, Mrs. Ira Summers, Mr. and Mrs. Homer Davis, all of O’Neill. Biglin Bros, were in charge of arrangements. The body reached O’Neill early Saturday. In recent years Mrs. Hinshaw operated cafes in both Chambers and O’Neill. Her O’Neill proper ty was adjacent to the O’Neill Livestock Market. SCHOENENBERGER RITES AT STUART Former Holt Man, 57, Dies Suddenly in Idaho; Body Returned STUART — Funeral services were conducted Wednesday, March 7, at 2 p.m. at the Com- i munity church in Stuart for Les- j ter Schoenenberger, 57, a former Holt county resident who died Friday, March 2, at his home in Buhl, Ida. His death was unex pected. The body was accompanied to Stuart by the widow, one son and one daughter. The late Mr. Schoenenberger was bom north of Newport on April 14, 1893. He was married to Ina Sharp and the couple re sided on the Schoenenberger home place until 1949, when the family moved to Idaho. Survivors include: Widow — j Ina; sons — Chester, of Bassett, and Neil, of Buhl; daughter — Mrs. Lois Stoltenberg, of Buhl. Frontier for printing ! Richard D. ("Slim") Robert!, 22, Dal* L. Hines, 20. (center. * hiding face from camera) and Gene W. ("Red") Roberts are pic tured leaving the Antelope county district courtroom. They al ready have begun serving two- and three-year sentences. Ante lope Sheriff Harry Livingston (below) inspects hole bored in jail wall. Discovery of hole may have thwarted attempted escape.— Photos by Emil Reutsel, Jr. (Story in column 71 . f.' . I ROBERT W. FORD DIES IN OMAHA Holt Fanner III 2 Weeks; Burial Will Be in Atkinson Robert W. Ford, Boyd and Holt county resident since 1889, died Monday afternoon, March 5, in an Omaha hospital. He had been ill only two weeks. The body is at Biglin Bros, fu neral home here. Funeral ser vices will be held Friday, March 9, at 10 a.m. at Biglin Bros, fu neral home. Burial will be in Atkinson. The late Mr. Ford was Dorn on January 26, 1883, at Harlan la., a son of Robert H. and Ma ry Ellen Culver Ford. He lived at Dunlap, la., for a time and moved to Boyd county in 1889. The late Mr. Ford spent 15 years in Atkinson and eight years at O’Neill. He was a farmer by oc cupation. On July 7, 1904, he married , Mabel Jarchow at Butte. Mrs. Ford died in 1946. One son, Rob ert, died in 1939. Survivors include: Sons — Charles J. and Harry L., both I of Glenwood, Wash.; daughter— Mrs. Francis (Doris) Murphy, of O’Neill; and 17 grandchildren. Pallbearers will be P. B. Harty, J. J. Berigan, L. D. Putnam, Frank Froelich, Val Darling and John Grutsch, all of O’Neill. Visit Holt Towns— Carl Sauser, of Wallhill, and Claude Marr, of Rosalie, return ed to their homes Wednesday evening after visiting since Tues day with relatives and friends at O’Neill and Atkinson. MRS. BARNES MOVES EMMET — Mrs. Vera Barnes has moved from a farm near At kinson to the place formerly oc cupied by James Regal. TRANSFERS TO FREMONT Gene Wolfe, who drives a ; bread truck, has been transferred to Fremont. j O’Neill Host to Women Leaders O’Neill was host Wednesday to rural women leaders from a nine-county area. The annual gram took place at the American rural women’s recognition pro Legion auditorium under the au spices of the Chamber of Com merce. The area includes Holt, Rock, Boyd, Brown, Keya Paha, Wheel er, Garfield, Blaine and Loup counties. Sixty guests were present. Mrs. Vern Sageser, president of the Nebraska home extension council, spoke briefly. James W. Rooney, Chamber secretary, was master-of-ceremonies and L. M. Diehlman, Chamber president, represented the hosts. Entertainment for the program was furnished by high school students: From St. Mary’s academy: Vo cal sextette, Joanne Bauer, Bar bara Streeter, Gene Funk, Mary Jo Jarman, Lorraine Simonson, Rose Anderson, accompanied by Deloris Hull; “Horn Pipers,” sail or skit and song, Nyla Jaszkow iak, Cecelia Ann Arbuthnot, Jane Petersen, accompanied by Mrs. F. J. Kubitschek; vocal se lection and dance, “Top o’ the Morning”, Marde Birmingham, Lorraine Simonson, Bernadette Hynes, Constance Murphy, Fran cis Flood and Gene Stasch, ac companied by Mrs. Kubitschek. From O’Neill high: Trombone solo, Elizabeth Schaffer; combin (Continued on page 8) Back from Carolina— Mrs. C. H. Chambers, sr., and her sister, Mrs. Ted Lekander, of Ft. Collins, Colo., arrived from Columbia, S. C., Wednesday. They had spent several weeks with Mrs. Chambers’ son, Lloyd, and family. Mrs. Lekander will return home in a few days. MARRIAGE LICENSES Eugene W. Porter and Miss Marie Guthmiller, both of O’ Neill, on February 23. Dean Junior Cadwallader, of Stuart, and Elsiemae Pauline Kohler, of Atkinson, on Febru ary 24. Young Burglars Draw Sentences — ■■ - - - ■ . . _ & RECORD CROWD ATTENDS AG MEET Gustavson Urges Youth to Continue Studies, Await Draft Chancellor R. G. Gustavson, of the University of Nebraska, Mon day urged Holt county’s high school boys to continue their ed ucation until the selective service beckons them into service uni forms. The chancellor was tne princi pal speaker at the joint annual meeting of the Holt county Soil Conservation District and Holt county extension service held at the American Legion auditorium. He addressed students of O' Neill high school and St. Ma ry's academy high scnool at a brief, joint convocation, where he further emphasised the im portance of education to build leadership. The chancellor told of a recent session in Washington, DC., in which key educators met with government officials. Doctor Gus tavson said the plan is to draft 18- or 18%-year-olds and give them four months of basic mili tary training. Then the young men would be given competitive tests. Fifty thousand would be turned back to the colleges and universities for officer training under the ROTC program and 50,000 or 75,000 (depending upon whether congress decides to draft at 18 or 18%) will be given spe cial academic training in science. The urgent need. Doctor Gustavson said, » for good leadership during an emergen cy that is capable of going on for five, 10 or 20 years. George S. Round, director of public relations at the university, introduced Chancellor Gustav son. Doctor Gustavson also stressed the great importance of basic re search in universities during a time of world tension. He made a plea for greater consideration for basic research. He said huge dividends paid on applied research are based upon earlier work done in laboratories by investigators and scientists. "Contrary to public opinion, wars do not bring about r.ig nificant basic research princi ples," he said. "They only speed up the practical applica tion of basic research. Good examples are the atomic bomb and the newer drugs.** Three hundred fifty persons at tended the meeting — a record turnout. Ora Yarges, of Stuart, was reelected to the extension board of directors, defeating Ed win Engler, of Stuart, only other candidate, 84-52. Mrs. O. A. Hammerberg, of At kinson, who has been a board member of several years, with drew as a candidate for rejec tion. New member is Mrs. J. B. Mellor, of Atkinson Mrs. Mellor received 61 votes; Mrs. Conrad Frickel, of Atkinson, 28, and Mrs. Hammerberg, 19. Soil conservation and exten sion officers told of the 1950 ac tivities. The program included a song by Bobby and Carolyn Reimers, of Inman; an oration by Benton Mellor, of Atkinson, district 4-H speech champion, topic — "Our Constitution—Worth Having and Worth Preserving”; music by the O’Neill high school band; piano music by A. E. Bowen, and col ored slides by County Agent A. Neil Dawes. 11 More Men Leave for Army Induction Holt county’s manpower con tribution to the selective service system was swelled to 50 Wed nesday as 11 registrants departed for Omaha to be inducted later that day. Newest inductees are: Robert L. Mlinar, bf Atkinson; LuVern L. Olberding, of Stuart; Dean W. Hamilton, of Middle branch; Ivan L. Walters, of Ew ing; Steven Warren Kelley, of Atkinson; William J. Kohle, of Stuart; Raymond P. Sullivan, of O’Neill; Tommy Blake, of O’ Neill; Patrick Miller, of Atkin son; Eugene Porter, of O’Neill, and Donald A. Sterns, of O’Neill. Eldest of Trio to Penitentiary, Others to Reformatory The three Holt county young men whose burglarizing spree was brought to a dramatic close already have begun serving their sentences. In Antelope county district court at Neligh. Gene W. ("Red") Roberts, 25. was sen tenced to three years in the state penitentiary! his broth er, Richard D. ("Slim") Rob erts, 22, of O'Neill, and the third member of the trio. Dale L. Hines. 20, of Inman, drew two years each in the men's reformatory at Lincoln. They were taken to Lincoln Monday by Antelope Sheriff Harry Livingston. The Roberts brothers were sen tenced last Thursday, less than 4ft hours after they had confessed to a series of robberies in north east and northcentral Nebraska, including the Emmet State bank, and the Emmet and Hadar post offices, and a number of liquor and general merchandise? stores. Hines’s sentence was withheld until Monday to determine if the results of a psychoanalysis would have any effect on the disposi tion of his case. The Roberts brothers and Hines were caught in the act of looting the Contois Motor com pany offices at Clearwater dur ing the early hours Saturday, February 24. They were captured by Night Watchman Darrell Hoffman, and turned over to Ant elope county authorities. All three were sentenced on three counts and the terms are to run concurrently. Sequence m which their break ing and entering occurred fol lows: Emmet State Bank, Emmet postoffice, Oasis liquor store at Newport, an Ainsworth liquor store, Honke hardware store at Butte, a Butte beer tavern, Ha dar postoffice, Dankert service station at Chambers, Marcellus Implement company at O’NeilL Holt County Attorney William W. Griffin said Wednesday he has written to state authorities for permission to try the trio at O’Neill in connection with the Emmet bank, Dankert service station and Marcellus Implement company robberies. Griffin also has asked other nearby counties, where the three confessed to burglaries, and asked if they were interested in prose cuting. Rock county has indicat ed no present interest. Boyd and Brown counties may want to press charges. Griffin said he did not know if federal authorities would pro secute in connection with the postoffice looting at Emmet and Hadar. _________ t Inmates Cut Hole in Jail Wall— | Antelope county authorities Friday discovered a hole in an inside wall at the county jail where Gene W. Roberts, Richard D. Roberts* and Dale L. Hines were being held in custody. The discovery may have thwarted a jail break. The hole, almost large enough for a man to crawl through, had been drilled into a wall separat ing the jail compartment from the storage room where the trio's loot was stored. Firearms and ammunition were included in the loot taken from Oakdale stores the night the three youthful burglars were captured. Antelope county authorities were satisfied that if the hole hadn’t been discovered there may have been some dramatics Reason the room was emptied was because the loot was being restored to the rightful owners and because the authorities were making room for a woman pris oner who was being transferred from Norfolk. 500 POULTS PERISH Five hundred poults perished in a fire about 12:50 a.m. Wed nesday at the Corkle turkey farm number 1. A defective brooder stove was blamed for the start of the fire. The firemen, arriving too late to save the building, con centrated on saving nearby buildings. HEART ATTACK FATAL Ben Rose, 53, former Garfield county judge and a Burwell at torney, died recently following a heart attack.