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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (July 19, 1951)
16 PAGES —2 SECTIONS • » - • North-Nebraska’s Fastest-Growing Newspaper VOLUME 71.—NUMBER 11. O'NEILL. NEBRASKA. THURSDAY. JULY 19. 1951. “ ~ pp -- -—___PRICE 7 CENTS state msr soc m Holt Stockmen_ , Protest Values Oppose 33 to 68% Hike Adopted By Assessors A handful of Holt county’s leading livestock growers were at the state capitol in Lincoln Tuesday protesting the 33 to 68 percent increase in livestock val uations as approved and adopted by the assessors at their meeting in January. Included among them were Charley W. Peterson, of Atkin son, who spoke briefly. Tuesday's hearing was the second round between the Ne braska County Assessors asso ciation and the cattlemen be fore the state board of equali zation. The stockgrowers were vigor ously oposed to what they termed ‘‘non-legal and unscientific meth od” used by the assessors organi zation to arrive at cattle valua tions for tax assessments. James H. Anderson, of Omaha, counsel for the stockgrowers, led the attack on the valuations re commended by the assessors. These valuations represented in creases of from 33 to 68 percent over 1950. Anderson drew enthusiastic ap plause at the end of his presenta tion from the 250, perspiring, shirt - sleeved cattlemen who > jammed the west senate chamber of the capitol. The former attorney-general of Nebraska contended that the 25 percent across-the-board increase approved by a rump meeting of county assessors at Alliance, held after the January meeting at Lin coln, was “far more fair” than the “disproportionate action” tak en at th^ January convention. Anderson was especially criti cal of what he termed the “quo tient verdict” whereby the live stock committee of the assessors association, at the Lincoln meet ing, arrived at its recommenda tion by having each member put his sugestions in a hat. An aver age was struck for the whole list and that became the committee’s recommendation. ' Anderson protested inai as nearly as we can tell, 3 mem bers of that 10-member com mittee. by putting in extremely high valuations, were able to get the average raised beyond proportion." He asserted that an additional taxation “burden is being placed steadily and continuously on per sonal property’’ and he said he sympathized with taxpayers of that category. “But 1 cannot sympathize with a situation where real estate, which makes up the great mass of Nebraska’s tax property, is valued at from 21 to 28 percent of its actual value.” Anderson said that cattlemen are being discriminated against * taxwise in comparison with grain farmers, who are able to sell their product before the March 10 as sessment date. He cited figures to show that only about a third of the wheat and corn crop grown in Nebraska is ever assessed. (Continued on page 4.) Heat, Fog Feature Week’s Weather Holt county weather during the past week has been charac terized by heat and fog -and lit tle precipitation! For weeks the weather sum mary told of rain, rain, rain. But Friday the rainy spell apparent ly came to an end and Ol’ Sol got busy, boosting Ihe mercury to 94 degrees. I Hot summer weather during the weekend and early this week was welcomed by farmers aa ideal growing weather. The small grain crop is made—except for hail. Farmers are cultivating corn, hay is being put up. and bluegrass stripping and drying is well along. Harvest of small grain is nearly at hand. O’Neill residents early Wed nesday awakened to find the area enveloped in fog, which did not begin to lift until 8 o’clock. Visibility was restricted to 150 feet during the early part of the morning and motorists drove with lights on. Week’s weather summary, based on 24-hour periods ending at 6 p.m. daily, follows: Hi Lo M-Ms. July 12 70 50 .60 July 13 .. 80 66 .26 July 14 94 58 July 15 _ 85 70 July 16 83 64 I July 17 94 68 Total_ .86 Spittler Family Holds Reunion— Guests of honor at a Spittler family picinic held at Ford’s park Sunday evening, July 15, were Mr. and Mrs. L. M. Spittler and family, of Orinda, Calif. Other guests from out-of-town were: Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Spitt ler, Mary, John A., Gerrv, Pat, Danny and Theresa Rotherham, all of Ewing: Mr. and Mrs. Anton Tasler and Mr. and Mrs. Ed Jan sen and daughter, all of Atkinson. Visit Albion— Mr. and Mrs. Milton M. Krause and daughters were in Albion Sunday. --. Frontier lor printing! ^ John <3. Stuifbergen . . . will lead Simonson post 93 during next 12 months.—The Frontier Engraving. (Story below.) STUIFBERGEN NEW LEGION LEADER World War II PW Will Succeed Laursen As Commander John G. Stuifbergen, who was a prisoner of war in Germany for more than 6 months during World War II, Thursday was elected new commander uf Si monson post 93, of the American Legion. Stuifbergen, an infantry lieutenant during the late war, now is manager of the O’Neill Beverage Co. He is married, has a daugh ter, Linda, 5. and a son, Richard, 2. Other Candida tes for com mander were Dr. H. D. Gilder sleeve, whose name was on the ballot, and Glea H. Wade, who was nominated from the floor. Stuifbergen succeeds Virgil Laursen, who has held the post for a year. Laursen was named vice - commander. Other new officers ari: Elmer Ross, chaplairt; Dale Buckmas ter, sergeant-at-arms; Gordon Harper, Elgin Ray, Dr. C. M. Ea son, Melvin Ruzicka and A1 W. Carroll, members of the execu tive committee. Buckle on Hay Belt Wins Slogan Contest “O’Neill, the Buckle in the Hay Belt” will be the slogan used in all future O’Neill publicity, A. E. Bowen, secretary of the Lions club, announced Wednesday. Mrs. Howard Manson has re ceived a $25 savings bond for her winning entry in the recent slo gan contest. Contest entries were judged at a meeting of the O’Neill Lions club Wednesday evening, July 11. It was decided at the meeting that on July 29 there would be a flag golf tournament at the O’Neill Country club for Lions club (members and their wives. Three prizes will be awarded in the morning and 3 in the after noon. First prizes will be $10; second, $5; and third, $2.50 each. The tournament is open to all Lions of district 38-E and will begin at 10 a.m. The newly-elected officers of the club for the coming year are: Arnie Doerning, president; Elgin Ray, 1st vice-president; Dr. H. D. Gildersleeve, 2d vice-president; Joe Stutz, 3d vice-president; A. E. Bowen, secretary; Woodrow Me lena, treasurer; Robert Jonas and John Watson, tail twisters; Harry Claussen, lion tamer and song leader; Dewey Schaffer, Judge D. R. Mounts, L. D. Putnam, Hugh Ray, and Harry Petersen, direc tors. L. D. Putnam is the retiring president. State Bar Group Holds Institute Sponsored by the Nebraska State Bar association, an institute on new legislation was held Wed nesday, July 18, at Hotel Madison in Norfolk. The all-day session started at 9:30 a.m., with Clarence A. Davis, of Lincoln, state association pres ident, presiding. At the morning session, Barton H. Kuhns, Omaha, spoke on “Uni form Acts—Release of Child Sup port Judgments—Acts Relating to Inheritance Tax,” and Robert R. Moodie, West Point, talked on Acts Relating to Probate Prac tice—Condemnation Act — Gar nishment Act.” Federal Judge John W. Dele hant, Lincoln, spoke in the after noon on “Deposition Act—Sum mary Judgment Act—Written In terrogatories.” State Senator Rob ert D. McNutt, of Lincoln, talked on “Acts Relating to Procedure.” A discussion period followed each subject. Similar institutes are scheduled by the state association at Lin coln, July 19; Omaha, July.20. Miss Carol Fredrickson, of Bas sett, spent last Thursday with diss Mardelle Gaskill. CHAMPION FLOAT . . . The Wm. Krotter Co. of O’Neill’s ‘‘Sum mer Garden” float entry in the American Legion-sponsored parade here Saturday captured top honors in class I. Under the archway is Miss Hazel Marie Johnson, wearing a green formal; seated on bench in foreground is Miss Claryce Johnson, in a yellow formal. (For a full page of other parade pictures turn to page 14.) — The Frontier Photo & Engraving. S. A. SULENTIC, 74, ENGINEER, DIES Native of Yugoslavia, Resident 2 Years, Dies in Ambulance A colorful civil engineer, who has been an O’Neill part - time resident about 2 years, died at 9:15 a.m. Wednesday, July 18, enroute to a Norfolk hospital. S. A. Sulentic, 74, consultant engineer for the Consumers and Loup River Public Power dis tricts, was stricken about 2 a.m. in his room at the Golden hotel, where he has been residing, and he died in a Biglin Eros, ambu lance while passing through Ne !if?h. Dr. W. F. Finley, who had attended him, said death was caused by a heart ailment, Su lentic recently had been con fined fo a California hospital for 6 weeks. His widow lives at Topeka. Kans., where Sulentic for years has been a member of an engi neering firm. The body was taken to Biglin Bros, and will be forwarded to Topeka late today (Thursday). A native of Yugoslavia, he was educated as an engineer at Hei delberg, Germany. He worked on the famous Ploesti oil fields in Rumania and worksd with the British in developing the oil in dustry in the Middle Ea«t. Su lentic served with British forces during World War I. Twice since coming to O' Neill he has made trips to Eur ope — in 1950 penetrating be hind the iron curtain under diplomatic immunity. He was consultant engineer for the Santa Fe and several other U.S. railroads and has been a deputy U.S. marshall. While driving his automobile in recent months Suientic fre quently was seen wearing a oe ret with an interesting back ground. In London last summer a small party was organized in his behalf by members of the British Royal Society of Engi neers. Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery was in the group and presented Suientic with his beret as a memento. LACKS 3 TEACHERS ORCHARD—The public school board of education at Orchard still lacks 3 teachers to fill va cancies on the teaching staff. The Orchard high school needs a home economics teacher; and the grade school lacks a teacher fnr the fifth and sixth grades and another for the seventh and eighth grades. CONDITION 'CRITICAL' LYNCH—Mrs. Sarah Darnell is in “critical condition” in the Lynch hospital with a kidney ail ment. James Langan, of Spencer, call ed Sunday at the home of his aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Er vin Sanders. Mr. and Mrs. William J. Froe lich were hosts at a picnic Satur day at their home for their fam ilies. O’Neill Girl with Smile and Container Fake Charity Stunt Takes ’Em In Attractive Lydia Halva, daugh-' ter of Mr. and Mrs. Vic Halva, of O’Neill, figured prominently in Omaha’s weekend news. She had fun taking advantage of Omahans who are used to shelling out on downtown street corners. Apparently all it took was a pretty girl, a ready smile and a collection container. The merit of the "charity" means little. Miss Halva, who now lives at 64 Drake Court, Omaha, proved that in a noon-day collection. She collected $2.59 in 20 min utes despite a glaring sign which proclaimed her campaign a fake. The sign read: “Give. “But it won’t help the orphans. “I’ll keep it.’’ Most of the Omahans who con tributed glanced indifferently at the sign and reached for small change. Few bothered to read the sign and only one had any idea of the cause to which he was giving money. A young man read the sign, started to walk away and then returned. "Hell, you're honest, anyway," he said, and droped a coin into the container. One woman proved to be a wily old campaigner as she ap proached Miss Halva at her post on the southeast comer of Six teenth and Farnam streets. “I gave to the other girl down on the comer,” she confided with a gracious smile. ; Miss Hglva did not bother to | tell her that there was no “other , girl” in this particular “charity I drive.” A reporter walked up to one man after he had contributed and pointed out the content of the | sign. He asked the man if he al ! ways contributed without at ! tempting to ascertain where his mone' was going. ““I never try to find out where the money is going,” he answered. “There are so darn many of those street drives that I contribute to get ’em out of my hair. Usually if you refuse to contribute on one corner they are button-holing you on another." Miss Halva donated her time to the experiment. The money was given to Children's Memo rial hospital. “Say, I just happened to think that more women donated money than men,” the pretty girl said as she removed_the sign. “At my age that ain’t good." Elected to National Angus Association— Martin and Elkins, of O’Neill, have been elected to membership in the American Aberdeen-Angus Breeders’ association at Chicago, 111., announces Secretary Frank Rkhards. Martin and Elkins were among the C purebred Aberdeen Angus breeders elected from Ne braska during the past month to membership in the organization. “Voice of The Fro ltier”.. 9:45 a.m.. WJAG, Norfolk, 780 kc. Phot a." Miss Lydia Halva and donor . . . $2.59 in 20 minutes. THRONGS WITNESS PARADE, SHOW 3d Annual Legion Affair Goes on Record as ‘Big Success’ The 3d annual American Le gion-sponsored O’Neill celebra tion has been entered on the rec ord book as a “big success,” Si/m onson post 93 officials explain. The 2-day celebration opened with a parade at 2 p.m. on Sat urday, July 14, and closed in the wee hours Monday morning at the conclusion of a dance. Thousands of people lined Douglas street for a glimpse of the colorful parade in which 5 trophies were presented to the winners. Judges were Charles E. Chace, Atkinson attorney; John Conard. Emmet merchant, and Julius D. Cronin, O’Neill attor ney. The mile-long parade got un derway exactly at 2 o’clock, after forming at First and Douglas. Music was provided by the Municipal band, under the di rection of John Berigan, band alumnus who is now a music stkidenl at the University of Nebraska. A word-descriptive of the par ade was broadcast by George Hammond (WJAG, 780 kc through the “Voice of The Fron tier’s’’ special events faciliities). The broadcast, incidentally, was heard by hundreds of persons parked in their automobiles along the Douglas street parade route, by some persons in the parade itself, and by thousands in the general radio audience. A broad cast booth was improvised on the second floor of the Hagensick building- former Nebraska State bank building). “Summer Garden,” the float entered by the William Krotter Co., of O’Neill, was awarded first prize in the class I of Saturday’s parade. vynue ireuis - woric wiin climbing roses against a grass green background gave the float a colorful effect that was a crowd-pleascr. Miss Claryce Johnson, in a yel (Continued on page 4.) MRS L. EAXTELL. DUSTIN, SUCCUMBS ATKINSON—Funeral services were held Wednesday, July 13, at 2 o’clock in the Presbyterian church at Atkinson for Mrs. L. E. Axtell, of Dustin. Reverend Graff had charge of the services. Mrs. Axtell, 66, died < bout 11:30 p.m. Sunday, July 15, in Lynch. She had been ill for a long time and would have cele brated her 48th wedding anniver sary on the day she died. She and Mr. Axtell were married July 15, 1903. Her maiden name was Ber tha Hamilton. Burial will be today t.Thurs day) at Fairbury. Survivors include: Widower; son—Harold Axtell, of Beatrice; daughter—Mrs. Hester Roberts, of Dustin. ‘PAT’ O’DONNELL DIES SUDDENLY Heart Attack Is Fatal to Manager of Big Hay Firm A heart attack about 5:30 a.m, Saturday. June 14, proved fatal to Patrick J. (“Paddy’') O’Don nell. 74. former O’Neill banker, real estate and insurance agent and for the past several year* office manager for the J, B. Ryan Hay company. He had not been ill and deatk came suddenly and unexpected ly. Funeral services were conduct ed Monday, July 16, at 0 a.m. aft St. Patrick’s Catholic church. Very Rev. Timothy O’Sullivan, church pastor, officiated in the requiem high mass and burial was in Calvary cemetery. Pall bearers were H. E. Coyne, John R. Gallagher, Neil B. Rvan, F. N. Cronin, P. B. Harty, Joseph Gal lagher, H. J. Birmingham and Stanley Soukup. Biglin Bros, were in charge of arrangement*. The body was removed from Biglin’s to the O'Donnell home at 2 p.m. Sunday where it lay in stale until funeral time. A rosary was offered Sunday night. ' The late Mr. O’Donnell, son of John P. and Ellen Brennan O* P°°neU. Awa,s born August 12. 18 <6, at Audenried, Pa. .uH<A.c*m,e with his Parents to P770 Pf i11 co\ony in September 1877, while still an infant and fee spent virtually his entire life here. On June 16, 1919, ho married Helen Harte at O’Neill. For several years he served as a bank receiver. Survivors include: Widow _ Helen; brothers—John, of Oak land, Calif.; M. F., o* Dallas. Tex., and Edward L., of Salina. Kans ; sisters—Mrs. B. Remscb ler, Miss Anna L„ and Mrs. Su san Deaver, all of O’Neill; Mis. J. Lymans, of Omaha. Mrs. Mabel Bacon Expires in Omaha ATKINSON—Funeral service* were conducted at 10 a m., Wed nesday, July 18, at the Methodist church in Atkinson for Mrs. M» bel Bacon former Atkinson resi dent who died Monday, July It m an Omaha hospital. She had suffered a lingering illness. Survivors of the longtime Holt county resident include: Daugh ters—Mrs. John (lone) Bouska of Portland, Ore., and Mrs. Robert (Alma) Brown, of Atkinson; 15 grandchildren; sisters—Mrs. Jess (Luella) Osborne, of Lander. Wyo., and Mrs. Joseph (Tessie) Sherfy, of Lewellyn; brother— RRussell Carr, of tAkinson. An other brother, Robert Carr, was killed in a truck accident less than a year ago. Pallbearers were: George Mon ahan, Floyd Osborne and Ton* Malley, all of Atkinson, and D. L. Banks, Hugh Benson and Sa's Banks, all of O’Neill. The body was at the home is O’Neill, 1 block north of the O’Neill hi^h school auditorium. Tuesday night and was taken to Atkinson early Wednesday. ■■ ■ ii ff McClaskey to Pen for 4 Year* Bill McClaskey, who had been selling magazine subscription* in the O’Neill region, was sentenced Wednesday, July 11, to 4 years in the Nebraska state penitentiary on charges of breaking and enter ing an Omaha restaurant. Holt county authorities issued a warrant for his arrest and wanted him returned here to face charges in connection with an alleged check forgery. The check was cashed at the Page Co-o^ Credit association and bore Joe Pritchett’s name. It was in the amount of $80. ^ McClaskey was being held in Kansas City, Mo., where he war arrested. Pribils Hurt in Auto Mishap Mr. and Mrs. CasDar Pribil. farmers south of O’Neill, receiv ed only cuts and bruises when their car went out of control on the Inman road 2 miles east oT U.S. highway 281, south of here, on Monday, July 18, about 7 p.m. The car was badly damaged but the couple was able to return home, after being treated by I* cal physicians. They are being cared for by Mr. Pribil's daugh ter. Mrs. William Watson, a reg istered nurse. Try Frontier want advs. for quick results!