Nebraska Newspapers

    VOT.tTME 71._NUMBER 33. O'NEILL, NEBRASKA. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20. 1951 PRICEi 7 C*TTTt
stats hist hoc m
‘BLANKET TAX’
CONSTITUTIONAL
Judge Mounts Upholds 1049
- Law in Peterson
Test Case
District Judge D. R Mounts, of
O’Neill, Monday held the blanket
4-mill tax levy law affecting
school districts is constitutional.
He made the ruling in a suit
brought by Charley W. Peterson,
extensive Holt county landowner,
seeking to prevent Holt County
Treasurer J. Ed Hancock from
collecting the tax against Peter
son’s properties in school district
231, which amounted to $943.98.
Judge Mounts heard arguments
on the action November 7 and
handed down his ruling dismiss
ing Peterson’s action.
A motion for a new trial was
J filed Wednesday. Mounts over
ruled the application and the
matter will promptly go to the
supreme court.
O
Peterson sought to test the 1949
law on the grounds that district
231, in which his ranch home is
located, will not participate in
distribution of the tax money be
cause there were less than 5 pu
pils enrolled during the 1950-1951
school year. He held it is in effect
taxation without representation.
He contended the tax is not
levied uniformly and proportion
ately and is gross discrimination
against him as plaintiff and others
similarly situated, in favor of
taxpayers in districts where there
are more pupils.
He held that cipce there was
*’ no school operating in the dis
trict there were no expendi
tures for which tax money was
required.
There are 35 such districts, with
less than 5 pupils in the county.
He said that the law provides
for a tax levy without a provision
for the needs of the district. He
said the title of the law does not
disclose that elementary districts
with fewer than 5 pupils would
not share in the distribution of
the funds.
Peterson said that the Nebraska
law specifically requires that a
tax be levied in each district to
maintain the school in the district
that year.
Julius D. Cronin, of O’Neill, and
Daniel Stubbs, of Lincoln, are at
torneys for the plaintiff. Holt
County Attorney William W.
Griffin and the attorney-general
are defending Hancock, the nom
inal defendant in the case.
Atkinson Burial for
Former Resident
ATKINSON—Mrs. Mary Doyle,
68, former Atkinson resident, was
discovered dead in bed at her
home in Chicago, 111. The body
was found by a cousin, who had
gone to call on Mrs. Doyle, who
lived alone.
The remains reached Atkinson
early Tuesday and funeral ser- j
vices were conducted Wednesday,
December 19, at St. Joseph’s
Catholic church. Burial was in
St. Joseph’s cemetery. Rev. R. J.
Parr officiated. Pallbearers were
Alex Cleary, Fred Mack, Patrick
Corrigan, William Morgan, Jo
seph Judge and Nick Schmit.
Mrs. Doyle’s husband died a
bout 3 months ago. There were
no children.
Survivors include: Brothers —
‘ John Slachetka, of Newport; Ste
phen Slachetka, of Omaha;
Frank Slachetka, of Omaha, and
Leo Slachetka, of Newport; sis
ters—Mrs. Josie Maring and Miss
Stella Slachetka, both of Atkin
son; nephew—Francis Moore, of
Fremont.
Her brother, Stephen, went to
’ Chicago to accompany the body
* to Atkinson.
Schools Await
Holiday Recess
The O’Neill schools—the public
and “St Mary’s academy—will dis
miss classes early Friday after
noon for the annual yule vaca
tion. Classes at the public school
will be resumed on Wednesday,
January 2, and at the academy
on Monday, January 7.
Because of storm warnings sev
eral boarding students living a
distance away were dismissed
from the academy early Wednes
day. _'
Group Sends Yule Greetings
To Men in Service—
PAGE—Members of the Meth
odist Youth Fellowship have sent
Christmas cards to men from
Page now serving in the armed
forces. They include: Cpl. Jack
Hartman, Cpl. William Hartman,
Cpl. Ernst Graves, Pvt. Gary E.
Banth, Pfc. James H. Parks, Ster
ling Albright, FA; Melvin Al
bright, RMM2; Lt. D. M. Stewart,
Pfc. Merwyn French, Cpl. Don
ald Nasland, Pfc. Elwin Haynes,
Pfc. Arnott Buxton, Cpl. Dale
Braddock, Pvt. Donald Prill, Pvt.
Sidney Frahm and Cpl. Errol
Held. _
Receiving Entries in
Decoration Contest —
The Chamber of Commerce is
* receiving new entries daily in the
annual home yule decoration con
* test. First and second prizes will
be awarded by judges on decora
Itions on the north and south sides
of the city, divided by Douglas
street. Entries should be filed
with Secretary James W. Rooney,
phone 42.
I •*„
° c
o
‘Ave Maria’ Sung
from Scaffolds
Gounod’s “Ave Maria’’ as
sung from the choir loft is fa
miliar to St. Patrick’s Catholic
church parishoners.
Very Rev. Timothy O’Sulli
van. church pastor, was some
what surprised Tuesday when
he entered and heard a rich
tenor voice filling the church
with the strains.
A 50-year-old German-born
artist, Wolfang Wittich, was in
a precarious position on a high
scaffolding busily redecorating
the church interior, his brush
es working to the accompani
ment of his own music.
Wittich, a member of the Ea
gle Studios art firm specializ
ing in church decorations, was
born in Germany, studied mu
sic and art there, and came to
the U.S. about 25 years ago.
He is a substitute on the O’
Neill job. The original artist
contracted virus pneumonia
and could not take on the pro
ject. Both are Chicagoans.
The art is done freehand and
includes work on the altar,
ceiling and stations of the
cross.
The pews this week are being
revarnished.
The painting is a part of an
extensive redecorating and im
provement plan at the church,
according to Father O’Sulli
van.
CHESTER FEES, SR.,
DIES SUDDENLY
Funeral Services Tuesday
for Veteran Chambers
Garageman
CHAMBERS—Funeral services
for Chester Fees, sr., 54, Cham
bers garageman who died sudden
ly last Thursday, December 13, at
his home were held on Tuesday,
December 18, at 2:30 p.m., at the
lemorial Baptist church in Cham
bers. Rev. Lawrence McElheran,
church pastor, officiated. Burial
was in the Chambers cemetery.
The pallbearers were Wm. Ren
inger, Kenneth Werner, Thomas
Newhouse, Herman Hubbard,
Darrell Gillette and George
Thompson.
The body was taken to Biglin
Bros., in O’Neill and was re
moved at 10 a.m. to the Fees
home in Chambers the day of the
funeral.
The late Mr. Fees was born
March 8, 1897 at David City. He
_ame to Holt county in 1922.
He was married to Myrtle Gor
don at Plainview, Tex., on Sep
tember 18, 1920, and they became
the parents of 3 children.
Survivors include: Widow;
daughter, Mrs. Albert Farrier, of
Compton, Calif.; suns—Richard, of
Chambers, and Chester, jr., also of
Chambers; brothers—Alvin Fees,
of Vallejo, Calif., and Robert Fees,
of Lincoln; sister—Mrs. Wm.
Workman, of Lincoln. There aVe
2 grandchildren.
The late Mr. Fees was a veteran
of World War I and a member of
he American Legion.
More Off-Campus
Studies Planned —
“We are trying to arrange foi
2d semester off-campus courses,’
explained the Holt county super
intendent of public instruction,
Miss Alice French, this week.
At the last meeting of the pri
mary activities class the following
seemed to be the most desirec
subjects: Children’s literature
geography of South America, and
teaching arithmetic. “Please con
tact the office if you are interested
in any of these classes,’’ Mist
French explained.
“Since we are all busy with
Christmas preparations, my office
will close at 12 o’clock noon Sat
urday, December 23. It will be
open all day Saturday for the re
mainder of the school year,” she
added.
NEWS DELAYED
Considerable newsmatter from
The Frontier’s correspondents in
outlying sections of the O’Neill
region has been delayed because
of storm conditions. As a result
this issue is being contained in
12 instead of 16 pages.
Frontier for printing 1
RETURNS FROM KOREA . . .
QM/3 Francis B. Luben (a
bove), son of Mr. and Mrs. Wil
liam Luben, of O’Neill, has re
turned from navy duty which
included the Inchon landing in
Korea. A reservist, he was re
called to the navy a year ago.
He was separated from the na
vy Friday and is spending the
holidays hero.
O'NEILL CIVIC CHORUS IN DEBUT . . . Director Charles B.
Houser and members of the newly-formed O’Neill Civic chorus
posed for The Frontier’s camera following Sunday’s debut—a pre
sentation of Handel’s oratorio. "The Messiah.” In the photo are
(left-to-right): Front row—Rev. k. W. Olson, D. H. Clausson, Clif
ford Dick, Stanley Lambert, John Bowen, Melvin Miller, Mr.
Houser (standing). Grant Peacock, Roy D. Johnson. Dewayne
Landis. Eddie Bridges, Bruce McElhaney, Don Hagensick, Delbert
Dick John H. McCarville. James Bastian (pianist); second row—
George Hammond, Mrs. Earl Ralya, Mrs. D. H. Clausson, Priscilla
Holsclaw. Suzanne Moss, Mrs. Clay Johnson, jr., Mrs. George Jan
+ + +
—Th« Frontier Photo A Engraving
ousek, Mrs. Kathleen Flood Hansen, Mrs. Grant Peacock, Mrs.
Thomas Hutton. Mrs. Donald Loy. Mrs. Roy D. Johnson, Mrs.
Howard Manson. Mrs. D. E. Nelson. Mrs. John Harbottle. Loretta
Enright. Mrs. R. W. Olson: back row — Janice Holsclaw. Betty
Thomas. Leona Troshynski. Mrs. Kenneth Adams, Mrs. Nick
Schmit, jr.. Mrs. C. L. Brady, jr., Barbara Bennett, Pat DeBolt,
Mrs. Stanley Lambert. Mrs. William Mattern. Mrs. Robert Corcor
an, Betty Harmon, Phyllis Harmon, Elizabeth Schaffer, unidenti
fied (partly hidden), Mary Lou Conard, Mrs. Harold Lindberg,
Helen Thomaa.
★ ★ ★
‘The Messiah’ Pleases Large Audience
<?'------ ~ I
O’Neill Civic Chorus in
Successful Debut with
Handel’s Oratorio
(By a Staff Writer)
The O’Neill Civic chorus com
posed of 60 voices made its debut
Sunday in a presentation of
George Frederick Handel’s fa
mous oratorio, “The Messiah.”
About a thousand persons, a
surprisingly large turnout, heard
the creditable offering of difficult
music from a chorus which had
been formed only a few weeks
before and which had staged on
y 6 rehearsals.
The music lovers were duly im
ressed with the organizational
and leadership ability of the di
rector, Charles B. Houser, who
came to O’Neill in September.
Every great musical work,
whether operatic or oratorio, has
a twofold purpose: (1) To tell a
story; (2) To give a pleasing de
scription of the composer’s music
as nearly as possible in the man
ner which the composer intended.
From the point of view assum
ed by many in the audience the
newly-formed chorus succeeded
in both. The voices, although ov
erwhelmingly soprano and alto,
were succesfully blended to por
tray the true spirit of Handel’s
immortal music. The balance a
chieved with the hastily assem
bled chorus was commendable.
“The Messiah” is recognized as
very difficult music. Handel in
tended it to be sung with full
orchestra and organ. The O’Neill
musicians were obliged to use
only the piano.
Arias are inserted in works of
this kind to display vocal tech
nique. Certainly the arias as in
terpreted by Sunday’s soloists
proved that talent abounds.
Mrs. Kathleen Flood Hansen’s
soprano role was professional.
Her poise and perfected interpre
tations were rare indeed for a
provincial audience. By virtue of
a very fine voice and intensive
training over a period of years,
Mrs. Hansen’s singing highlight
ed the presentation.
The other soloists, Stanley J.
Lambert, tenor; Mrs. Herbertta
Hutton, alto, and Mrs. Phyllis
Johnson Loy, alto, portrayed
'onsiderable native talent. Their
lesser trained voices projected
well and ably told their part of
he story.
It was apparent that “The Mes
siah” music was not new to Mr.
Lambert, who sang the tenor role
last year at the University of Ne
braska.
It was remarkable—if not in
credible—that Mrs. Hutton, who
once lost her voice following an
attack of polio, could step for
ward and sing alto arias with a
very fine voice and with ease.
The rich quality of Mrs. Loy’s
alto has long been recognized in
j north-central Nebraska circles.
Mr. Houser’s musical know
j ledge and experience accounted
for the fine execution of this work
in consideration of the minimum
of time spent in preparation.
James G. Bastian. jr., piano ac
companist, should be commended
for his excellent rendition and
tireless hours spent in working
with the amateur group.
It should be remembered that
“The Messiah” was written for
experienced singers. This factor
varied considerably among the 60
voices but their love for music
was obviously a common denom
inator.
George Hammond, of "Voice of
The Frontier” radio fame, was the
reader, setting the mood for each
number and bridging the gaps
where music necessarily had to
be omitted. No person in the
■ auditorium, designed for basket
I ball and not for opera or dramat
C-47 GETS JET ASSIST ... An air force C-47,
after being mired in the mud at Clearwater for
a week, Friday became airborne with an assist
from an improvised jet attachment. School class
es were dismissed and townspeople turned out
en masse to witness the takeoff. The C-47 with a
crew of 6 was on a routine training flight and had
instructions to land at Clearwater. Everything
went well except a wheel on the landing gear
broke through the sod after a successful landing
and the crew was marooned for a week. The en
forced stopover was a lark for the airmen. They
were royally entertained. Offutt air base mechan
ics brought portable jet equipment to aid in the
takeoff.
I
Rebroadcast Planned
A rebroadcast of “The Mes
siah”, as sung Sunday by the
O’Neill Civic chorus, will be
presented Christmas morning
over radio station WJAG (780
kc), originating through the
facilities of the “Voice of The
Frontier” and WJAG.
The Handel music was re
corded in full at Sunday's pre
sentation, and the tape will be
edited to an hour’s program.
The program will start at
9:15 a.m., a time especially pro
vided by the station to enable
family circles everywhere to
hear the O’Neill music. This is
a half-hour earlier than usual
“Voice of The Frontier” pro
grams begin.
This special events program
has been made possible through
the cooperation of 5 sponsors:
Spelts-Ray Lbr. Co.
O’Neill Photo Co.
Central Finance Corp.
Jacobson’s.
Lohaus Motor Co.
Several critics who have
heard the tape have acclaimed
its quality as even better than
the original presentation. A
WJAG special events engineer,
Duke Derry, was in charge of
the recording. _
ics, was out of range of Mr. Ham
mond’s settings. The auditorium
simply does not do justice to the
arts.
The Chamber of Commerce
sponsored the presentation and
an offering was received at inter
mission to defray expenses and to
help perpetuate the chorus finan
cially.
The audience was a bit hasty in
leaving, probably due to an un
comfortably low temperature in
the big room. The chorus received
only one curtain call and Mr.
Houser was not given the oppor
tunity to present the soloists, ac
companist and reader.
This may have been due in part
to the solemn notp on which the
grand Hallelujah chorus brought
the work to a conclusion. In any
event Mr. Houser and the singers
themselves seemed to be ade
quately repaid for their efforts
bv the first round of lusty ap
plause and bv the turnout. After
all. road conditions were adverse
and the weather was cold.
Tt is a fair prediction that Mr.
Houser and the O’Neill Civic
chorus t’ave established a splen
’’d tradition.
NEW COLD WAVE
GRIPS REGION
North-Nebraskans are paying
now for the grace of the weather
man during a long Indian sum
mer.
On 5 recent mornings subzero
temperatures greeted the citizen
ry when they stepped outdoors.
Late Wednesday another mass of
icy air, accompanied by more
snow and strong winds, was
headed into the region.
The new storm is the result
of ■ well-developed low pres
sure area which was located
early Wednesday over Wyom
ing. It was moving eastward
rapidly.
Highest temperature during
the week was 25 degrees reached
last Thursday. That night 10
inches of snow fell. Several inch
es of snow fell intermittently
through the week.
Lowest temperature was 18 de
grees below zero, registered early
Saturday.
The bad roads and storm condi
tions shortened the yule buying
season. Merchants and many un
finished shoppers are hoping for
a break in the weather before
Christmas.
Mainline trains on the North
Western railroad were running up
to 6 hours behind schedule, at
tributed primarily to the heavy
volume of mail and partially to
storm conditions. The Burling
ton’s freight service was inter
rupted Friday and until late Wed
nesday was not back to normal.
It was the “Burl” that ex
perienced a costly chapter during
the historic 1948 - ’49 recurring
blizzards.
All principal highways in the
region were still open late Wed
nesday. All busses were running.
Storm warnings were broadcast
to stockmen.
Week’s summary, based on 24
hour periods ending at 5 p.m
daily, follows:
Hi Lo Prec.
Dec. 13_ 25 14 10-in. snow
Dec. 14_„14 -6
Dec. 15. 1 -18
Dec. 16_7 -8 1-in. snow
Dec. 17 _22 -6 1-in. snow
Dec. 18_10 -12
Dec. 19 10* 1*
‘Unofficial.
The Christmas Story
(Rev. Robert Hupp, a native
of the Deloit community and
now pastor of St. Mary’s Cath
olic church at Wayne, wrote the
following article for the current
issue of The Nebraska Legion
naire. Father Hupp is chaplain
of the Nebraska department of
the American Legion.)
By Rev. Robert Hupp
In great contrast to the gospel
of hate being promoted in Un
world today is the mission ol
Christ whose birthday we cele
brate each year on Christmas
day. His was a mission of love—
a Child’s love for His Father who
had been offended—a Child’s love
for His brothers and sisters who
tad lost their way and were ar
ming and quarreling among
hemselves in their utter confu
sion.
He came into this world to tell
us to work and play together; to
be happy and make others happy;
to think of others and forget self;
to love and be loved. Children
can understand such things. It
seems to come naturally for them.
On the other hand children do
not understand hate, greed, and
war. They are puzzled by the
blundering of their elders. Just
try to explain to one of these lit
tle ones why his daddy must go
to a distant land to fight and kill
other men.
The Babe of Bethlehem came
iot as a mere symbol of peace
but as the only means of peace.
He gave us a formula for peace,
but the world refuses to listen to
it. Perhaps it is too simple, too
childlike to be understood and
practiced by minds that have
grown in power until they over
shadow the little ones who must
tarve, suffer and die.
During His lifetime He once
aid: “Unless you become as little
children you shall not enter the
kingdom of heaven.” Applying
this to the world today it sounds
like this: Unless simplicity re
places our world-wide duplicity,
unless humility roots pride out of
the hearts of men, unless love
conquers hate, we will not under
stand the message of Christmas.
And. as long as the formula of
the Babe of Bethlehem goes un
heeded there will be no peace.
Patient in VA Hospital—
CHAMBERS — P. T. Avard
who was a patient in the Veter
ans hospital at Grand Island, re
turned home early last week.
VETERAN JET
PILOT RETURNS
Capt. Brennan Chalks Up
103 Missions Against
Reds in Korea
Capt. Herbert O. Brennan
reached O’Neill late Tuesday, and
is home again after 9 gruelling
months in the Korean air war.
An air force F-80 jet pilot, Bren
nan returned with 103 mission*
to his credit and decorations in
cluding the distinguished flying
cross and air medal with 2 clus
ters.
The youthful U.S. Military
academy graduate (class of 1947)
went to Korea in March and join
ed up with the Eighth fighter
4roup of the Fifth air force.
His work was strictly tarsal,
including attacks on enemy
strong points and other military
objectives, interdiction of the en
emy’s communications, and an
occasional bomber escort assign
ment.
“We generally avoided the
Russian - built MIGs,” Captain
Rrennan explained, “leaving
hem to our Sabres.
“During the past 4 months we
have been pretty busy working
out an interdiction plan and tbfi
has been fairly successful.”
A St. Mary's academy gradu
ate in 1944 and a son of Mrs.
F. M. Brennan and the late
Colonel Brennan, the youthful
career airman suggested that
O'Neill has as much rail traffic
as all of North Korea. He point
ed out, however, the North
Koreans were surprisingly apt
in recuperating following an
attack.
Anti-aircraft fire is heavy and
quite accurate and the reds are
quite clever in deliberately ex
posing a locomotive, for example,
mly to have the U.S. airman dis
cover it surrounded by flak bat
teries.
Captain Brennan has highest
praises for U.S. ground forces in
Korea. He says they deserve the
credit for what has been accom
plished todate.
“Their lines are now stable
nd they've dug in for the winter
unless the reds mount a big at
tack.
“Our troops are much better
situated than a year ago. The
mm
Captain Brennan ... "ground
forces deserve the credit."
morale for all U.N. troops is very
high, I think,” Brennan continu
ed.
The O’Neill pilot, who rose
from flight leader to group oper
ations officer while overseas, re
ceived the DFC a month ago for
extraordinary heroism. He was
leading a flight of F-80s, they
encountered an enemy strong
point near their target. Brennan
left the flight, neutralized the
troublemakers, rejoined his com
rades and led the flight to the
end of a successful mission.
He left Japan Friday, reach
ed San Francisco Saturday, ar
rived Monday in Kansas City,
Mo., and continued to Omaha
all jumps by air.
Following his rest and recup
eration leave he will report to
Dow field, near Bangor, Me., and
fly F-80s in an interceptor squad
ron.
Captain Brennan appears to be
in fine physical trim despite the
9 months jet ordeal.
A former schoolmate, 1/Lt.
John Lee Baker, son of Mr. and
Mrs. H. J. Lohaus, is also here on
leave for the holidays. Baker flew
more than a hundred jet missions o
in Korea earlier in the war.