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“VOICE TEN
OF THE FRONTIER”
SECTION ONE
. 780 k. c. 9:45 cum. PageS 1 t0
North-Central Nebraska’s BIG Newspaper
Volume 72.—Number 30. O’Neill, Nebr., Thursday, Nov. 27, 1952._ Seven Cents.
Mrs. Joseph Axtell . . . endured pioneer hardships in Holt
county.—The Frontier Photo.
4 ★ ★ ★ * ★ ★
Stuart Woman, 101,
Came West for Health
Mrs. Alvina Wayman
Expires in Hospital
Mother of 11 Came
to Holt in ’09
Mrs. Alvina S. Wayman, 78,
widow of the late Henry Way
man, died about 5 p. m., last
Thursday, November 20, in St.
Anthony’s hospital here where
she had been a patient. The late
Mrs. Wayman had been in fail
ing health since last August
when she suffered a light stroke.
Death was attributed to a
heart ailment and climaxed 10
days of serious illness.
Funeral services were con
ducted at 2 p. m.f Saturday,
November 22, from the Metho
dist church here with Rev.
Wallace B. Smith, church pas
tor, officiating. Burial was in
Prospect Hill cemetery under
direction of Biglin Brothers.
The pallbearers were five
grandsons — Floyd Hershiser,
Francis Hershiser, Ralph Way
man, Ivan Wayman and Walter
Schrner, and one grandson by
marriage, Bennett Heriford.
Tne late Alvina Sophia Kloep
per was bom in Gage county,
Nebraska, April 4, 1874, a daugn
ter of Henry and Elizabeth
Backy Kloepper.
On February 25, 1892, in
Gage county she married Hen
ry J. Wayman. The Waymans
farmed for many years 2 Vz
miles west of O'Neill, where
Mrs. Wayman made her home
until her fatal illness.
O
They became the parents of six
sons and five daughters. Mr.
Wayman died six years ago.
Survivors include: Sons—Ed
ward, Ben, Roy, Harvey and
Harry, all of O’Neill; Clarence of
Boulder, Colo.; daughters—Mrs.
John (Elizabeth) Nickel of O’
Neill; Mrs. Williiam (Alma)
Schmohr of Emmet; Mrs. Clyde
(Jennie) Hershiser of O’Neill;
Miss Linda of O’Neill, and Mrs.
Kenneth (Anna) Ellingston of
O’Neill; 13 grandchildren and
two great-grandchildren.
3 Registered Stock
Sales on Calendar
Three registered livestock sales
are listed on The Frontier’s auc
tion calendar. In addition two
ranch closeouts are booked.
Schedule:
Wednesday, December 10:
George Atkinson & Son, 4 Vz
miles west of Chambers, farm
closeout sale; 43 head of cattle
including 10 registered Here
fords; complete line ranch ma
chinery; some household goods;
Col. Ed Thorin, O’Neill, auction
eer; Chambers State Bank, clerk.
BYiday, December 12: Niobrara
Valley Hereford Breeders asso
ciation show and sale, Butte
Livestock Market; 35 bulls and
six females; W. G. Sire, Butte,
secretary - manager. (Catalogs
published by The Frontier now
available through Mr. Sire.)
Saturday, December 13: Will
Sitz, Burwell, registered Aber
deen-Angus production sale, 49
lots, Atkinson Livestock Market
(Catalogs being published by
The Frontier.)
Wednesday, December 17:
Wayne Standage ranch closeout;
2 miles southeast of Amelia: 35
head of cattle, including register
ed bull; complete line of ranch
machinery, household goods,
fram dwelling; Col. Ed Thorin,
O’Neill, auctioneer; Chambers
State Bank, clerk.
Monday, December 22: Fritz
Bros, and Kenneth R. Meier,
both of Niobrara, annual regis
tered Hereford production sale,
52 lots, males and,females, Nor
folk Livestock Sales Pavilion.
(Catalogs being published by
The Frontier.)
DIES OF WOUND
NELIGH—The accidental dis
charge of a gun has cost the life
oE. 4-year-old Dennis Joseph
Krause, son of Mr. and Mrs.
Gene Krause of Elgin. The acci
dent occured Sunday and the boy
died Monday in Antelope Me
morial hospital, Neligh.
Mrs. Richard Kazda and baby
were guests from Thursday, No
vember 2, until Sunday at the
Archie Bright home.
► • -
STUART— Mrs. Alice Axtell
celebrated her 101st birthday
anniversary on Tuesday, Novem
ber 25.
Her daughter, Miss Pearl Ax
tell, conducted open-house in the
afternoon in order that her many
friends could greet her and ex
tend birthday wishes.
Miss Alice Butterfield was
born in St. Lawrence county,
N.Y., and moved to Iowa with
her parents in 1866. In 1880 they
came to Holt county in covered
wagons.
Miss Butterfield was married
to Joseph Axtell in 1887 and
they made their home in the
South Side neighborhood on the
Niobrara river where they ex
perienced drouths, blizzards,
prairie fires and all the pioneer
hardships.
Mrs. Axtell has seen Holt
county develop .from a treeless,
fenceless prairie to a land of
well-improved farms and ranch
es with many trees. The ox teams
she drove have been replaced by
cars and trucks and the candle
light has given way to electricity
in towns and on farms.
Her activities belie the ad
vanced age of this woman who
was told, back in 1866, that she
should go West for her health.
She does much of her own
housekeep ing.
Mrs. Axtell is believed to be
the oldest person living in Holt
county.
Her husband died in 1911 and
she and her daughter have lived
in Stuart for the past 36 years.
First Snow Comes
in Blizzard Form
The first real snowstorm of
the season was borne into north
Nebraska and the O’Neill region
Tuesday.
The weatherman said the
storm was caused by a storm
center over eastern Oklahoma
which was feeding moisture
from the Gulf of Mexico into
cold air moving in from Canada.
Strong winds up to 30 and 35
miles - per - hour caused some
remained open.
drifting. Highways, however,
Trains and busses were run
ning behind schedule except
for the O'Neill-to-Norfolk bus
due out of here Tuesday after
noon at 5 o'clock. That bus
was held up pending a break
in the weather.
The mercury hovered around
20 to 25 degrees most of Tuesday,
By 8 p.m., it had dropped to 18
and was expected to reach as
low as 15 early Wednesday.
From two- to three-inches of
snow had fallen here until 6
p.m. Precipitation for the past
seven days has amounted to .dl
of an inch.
Consumers Publuic Power re
ported disturbances about 7:45
p.m. south and east of here
where more snow was falling.
Icing may have created feeder
line trouble. A 4%-minute pow
er interruption occurred shortly
afterward.
The Deloit community receiv
ed over an inch of moisture last
week — the first in more than
two months.
Weather summary based on
24-hour periods ending at 5 p.m.
daily follows:
Hi Lo
Nov. 20_58 19
Nov. 21_21 45
Nov. 22_ 33 23
Nov. 23_36 il
Nov. 24_33 17
Nov. 25 _27 18
Hull, Foreman
‘Victory* Royalty
A victory ball was held in the
i O’Neill public school in the new
recreation room Tuesday eve
ning, sponsored by the Eagle
Cadettes, O’Neill’s pep club.
Crowned king of football was
Gaylen Hull, Queen Victory was
Mary Lou Foreman.
The attendants to the king and
queen were Marlene Waring and
Eddie Davis, seniors; Carol Se
ger, and George Kilcoin, juniors;
Dwaine Alton and Sharon Han
cock, sophomores, and Marilyn
Carroll and Russel Borg, fresh
men.
This is the first dance to be
held in the new recreation room.
The Frontier for printing!
Irrigation
Information
Meet Held
Engineer Burdick
Answers Questions
in Informal Session
A variety of cold statistics in
the comparisons between irrigat
ed and dry land farming were
pointed out to a group of Holt
countyans Monday night in a
meeting held here.
The session, held in the base
ment of the courthouse’ annex,
was labeled as an informational
public meeting.
Area Reclamation Engineer
Clyde Burdick of Ainsworth
aptly fielded a barrage of
questions, mostly from persons
in the audience who are in
support of the move.
Burdick’s fingertip answers, as
well as comments from officials
of the Niobrara Basin Develop
ment association, left little doubt
in anyone’s mind that:
1. With reasonable support
on the part of the basin residents
a development of the Niobrara
is within grasp.
2. Comparisons between irri
gated farming and dryland farm
ing in Nebraska weigh heavily in
favor of irrigation.
Mr. Burdick offered these bur
eau statistics based on the 20
year span between 1925-’45:
Dry Irr.
Yd. Yd.
Com, bu. per acre ...18-20 .50
Small grain, bu. per
acre _16-20 40
Alfalfa, tons per acre 1-1% 3-8
Potatoes, bu. per acre 200
Sugar beets, tons per
acre _ 12-16
Burdick explained, as he has
numerous times before, that Holt
has approximately 66-thousand
acres of class A and B irrigable
land, possibly more if “fringe
areas” are figured. Weather bur
eau figures down through the
years show 18 to 20 inches aver -
age annual rainfall. Thirty inch
es are needed, the speaker de
clared.
One of the four official hear
ings called in the basin by Gov.
Val Peterson will be held at O’
Neill. Date is Tuesday, Decem
ber 16.
If there is enthusiastic sup
port from the majority of the
residents at these hearings, ir
rigation districts will be form
ed. The reclamation bureau's
reports and recommendations,
if all goes smoothly, will go to
the next congress for appro
priations.
Burdick estimates that three
and one-half to four years of
work will be needed to ready the
O’Neill area for irrigated crops—
the O’Neill area being the larg
est in the basin.
He estimates the ratio between
benefits and costs at O’Neill will
be $1.04 to $1.00. At Lavaca flats,
for example, a mucn smaller
project requiring only about a
year to complete, the estimated
ratio is 3.54 to 1.00 At Ainsworth,
a three-year proposition, the ra
tio is 1.94 to 1.00.
Costs on the above figures,
Burdick said, are based on prices
of construction, materials and la
bor in January, 1952, while the
benefits are calculated on per
acre dollar production between
1939 and 1944. While the ratio
in each instance justifies irriga
tion, the standards are not cur
rent. The 1939-’44 prices were
used purposely, Burdick said, to
prove the point even with ad
verse figures.
Harry Thor ley, Ainsworth
banker-rancher and director-at
large for the basin group, em
phasized that irrigation ' would
stabilize the feeding problems in
this region, pointing out that
farmers and ranchers frequently
are obliged under certain condi
tions to ship in supplemental
feed.
"After irrigation arrives we'll
have all the supplement we
need right here in the valley,"
he declared. "I think ranchers
up-and-down the valley should
have more enthusiasm than
they have—if only for rough
age reasons."
Verne Lindholm of Ainsworth,
president of the association, also
was present and spoke. Lind
holm recently was elected to
succeed E. R. House of Ains
worth, veteran Niobrara devel
opment enthusiast who has been
ill. Lyle P. Dierks of Ewing,
James W. Rooney of O’Neifi’
John Dick of O’Neill and Walter
Ries of Atkinson are members of
the board of directors.
—
Former Residents of
Page 'Strike Oil'—
PAGE — Relatives here have
received word that on oil well
has come into production on the
Lloyd Bergstrom property at
Clareton, Wyo.
It has a daily output of 100
| barrels. Mr. and Mrs. Bergstrom
I formerly lived at Wayne.
THE FRONTIER IS EARLY
This issue of The Frontier
went to press 24 hours ahead
of schedule in order that most
mail patrons would receive
their copy before—instead of
after—Thanksgiving.
Game of Pool Follows Wedding
Cpl. Donald Snowardt of O’Neill and his
bride, the former Clarabelle Fultz of Norfolk,
whiled away a few hours Friday in Matt’s bil
liard parlor following their marriage. Corporal
Snowardt operated a crane and cat with the ar
my engineers in Korea from April, 1951, until
last month, laying fuel pipe lines. The bride and
bridegroom are shown enjoying refreshments
(left) and the bride takes careful aim with her
cue (right). Corporal Snowardt said he often long
ed for a “good old game of pool back home”
while overseas. (Wedding story on page 5.)—The
Frontier Photo.
Gillespies Planning Open-House
__ _JL_ .1 1 . «
%
Sunday, November 30, will be
the golden wadding date for
Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd G. Gillespie,
well-known O’Neill couple. They
will receive their friends at their
home between 2 and 5 o’clock
and from 7 until 9. The Gilles-,
pies reside at 315 South First
street, where they have lived for
more than 35 years.
George Whitney of Ainsworth,
who was a member of the wed
ding party that November day
in 1902, expects to be here for
Sunday’s celebration.
Both Mr. Gillespie, 77, and his
wife, 75, enjoy “good health.”
Miss Bertha Fawkes, eldest
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. C.
Fawkes, and Lloyd G. Gillespie,
second son of Mr. and Mrs. B. S.
Gillespie, were married by Rev.
Amos Fetzer, Methodist pastor,
at O’Neill. Mr. Whitney and Mr.
Gillespie’s sister, Miss Maude,
were attendants.
Tne bride was bom at Maro,
Macon county, 111., November
2, 1877. She was reared and ed
ucated in Illinois, coming to
Holt county at the age of 20—in
1897 — with her parents, four
brothers and two sisters. Her
brothers were Walter, Herbert,
Raymond and Bud and her sis
ters were Mabel and Florence.
The Fawkes family resided
for a short time on the farm
4l/2 miles north of O'Neill now
owned by Frank BurivaL Fol
lowing the drowning of the
eldest son. Waller, they abant
doned the farm for lack of
help. The family moved to
Sioux City, later to Portland,
Ore., but young Bertha re
mained.
Mr. Gillespie was bom April
10, 1875, near Canton, S.D., and
his parents settled in Holt coun
ty when he was 2-years-old. In !
those days Paddock near the
Niobrara river was the county
seat. His father successively
Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd G. Gillespie . . . O'Neill iheir home over
half-century.—The Frontier Photo.
served as county superintendent,
sheriff and surveyor. In 1881 he
moved the family to Oak creek
locality, about 20 miles north of
O’Neill. There the head of the
family farmed 160 acres of land
and served as postmaster at Sar
atoga. In 1885 he was elected
Holt county judge. The follow
ing year he moved his family to
O’Neill, residing in a house
which stood where now the post
office is located.
The elder Mr. Gillespie was
born in Ohio: his wife in New
York.
Lloyd’s brothers were Harry
and Frank; his sisters were
Maude, Ruth, Sue and Letti.
During the first six months of
their married life Lloyd and his
bride resided with the elder
Gillespies. Later they took up
housekeeping on the second floor
of the Campbell Implement
store.
During the ensuing few
years they lived in several
dwellings in the northwest sec
tion of town. In 1917 they pur- #
chased their present residence
from Romaine Saunders.
Their eldest child, Eleanor,
died in 1928. They have one son,
W. Bennett of O’Neill, and one
daughter, Mrs. Eldon R. (Mar
jory) Wood of Alhambra, Calif.
There are three grandchildren
and one great-grandchild.
The Gillespies are hoping all
their living descendants will be
with them on Sunday.
Mrs. Gillespie’s sister. Mi's.
Mabel Davies of Portland, Ore.,
arrived a fortnight ago to be on
hand for the celebration. Mr.
Gillespie’s sister, Sue (now Mrs.
George Whitney of Ainsworth),
also will be here. Expected Wed
nesday were Mr. and Mrs. Eld
on R. Wood of Alhambra and
possibly their daughter, Mrs.
Paul Robinson, and husband and
daughter. Mr. Robinson is in the
navy. They have one child.
(Continued on page 5)
Truckers Roy Johnson (left) and Bob Davidson ... start meters on way to Arkansas.—Frontier Photo.
Frightened Child
Dislocates Jaw
Bruce Ann McKamy, 2^
year-old daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Don McKamy, suffered a
dislocated jaw last Thursday
afternoon.
Bruce Ann was visiting an
uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs.
Willard Sherer, on a farm near
Orchard when she was fright
ened by either the bellow of a
cow or a rooster jumping at
her, causing her to scream, dis
locating her jaw. The exact
source of fright is not definite.
She could not close her
mouth and five hours later was
taken to an O’Neill doctor, who
had to reset the jaw three
times before it would stay in
position. It was then taped in
place.
She is recovering without
any other effects.
Chamber Maps
Holiday Events
Window Unveiling
Friday Night
The Chamber of Commerce
has arranged a busy schedule of
events for the yule season ahead.
The annual citywide unveiling
of store windows is scheduled
for 8 p.m. on Friday, November
28. This is an annual feature that
attracts widespread interest in
the business district. Stores,
however, will not be open.
The committee in charge of
arrangements for the unveil
ing event includes James W.
Rooney, Mrs. Winnie Barger
and Mrs. Georgia Rasley.
Saturday, December 8, has
been designated as the second
annual turkey day in O’Neill.
Four trucks will move out si
multaneously at 4:15 p.m. from
the corner of Fourth and Doug
las streets. Tickets will be dis
tributed to spectators and hold
ers of lucky tickets will receive
free fowl. A. P. Jaszkowiak is
in charge of arrangements.
Saturday, December 20, will
be the date for Santa’s annual
O’Neill visit. He’ll arrive as us
ual by plane, ride into the city
aboard a fire truck, and distrib
ute fruit and candy to young
admirers at the O’Neill public
school, starting at 2 p.m. John
R. Gallagher will help arrange
for Santa’s appearance.
Chamber President William
W. McIntosh said Tuesday thaf
O’Neill stores are brimful with
yule merchandise, foretelling
one of the biggest retail seasons
in the history of the city.
Retired Blacksmith,
Wife Wed 50 Years
Noffkes Will Observe
Quiet Anniversary
EWING—Mr. and Mrs. Frank
Noffke, sr., quietly will observe
their golden wedding anniversa
ry at their home on Sunday, No
vember 30. No celebration is
planned because Mr. Noffke is
“not well.”
Mr. and Mrs. Noffke were
married in Germany and came
to America with their 8-year-old
son, Herman, in 1904. They set
tled in the Clearwater vicinity.
The family engaged in farming
for one year, then moved to
Clearwater where Mr. Noffke
opened a blacksmith shop, a
trade he learned in his native
Germany.
In 1915, Mr. and Mrs. Noffke,
sr., and their family moved to
Ewing which has been their
home since.
Mr. Noffke continued in the
blacksmith work and in later
years was assisted by his son,
Frank, jr. This partnership was
dissolved in 1946 when the elder
Mr. Noffke retired because of ill
health. His son, Frank, has con
tinued to serve the Ewing com
munity in the shop which his fa
ther founded.
Mr. and Mrs. Noffke have six
living children—Herman of Su
perior, Carl of Albion, Mrs. Am
elia Owens of Norfolk, Frank,
jr., of Ewing, Harold of Kansas
City, Mo., and Mrs. Margaret
Cronin of Pierre S.D.
PURCHASES DRUG STORE
S. Bertolini, a pharmacist at
Cilligan’s Rexall store here since
luly, has purchased the McPher
;on pharma-cy at West Point and
vill take possession December 1.
Mr. and Mrs. Bertolini came to
3’Neill from Omaha where Mr.
3ertolini had graduated in June
rom Creighton university school
)f pharmacy. Mrs. Bertolini’s
ariginal home was at Tecumseh.
3ennett Gilligan said Tuesday he
vould name a successor soon.
CAR BURNS
Firemen were summoned Sat
urday evening to extinguish an
automobile fire one block east
:>f the Burlington depot. A gaso
line sediment bowl had broken,
releasing gas on the exhaust.
s> _
Legal Battle Brews*
Game Is Called Off;
Machines Shipped
O’Neill has just experienced a
shortlived relationship (if you
can call it that) with parking
meters.
The mechanized money swal
lowers were loaded onto a truck
which trundled out of town late
Monday. And two law suits on
the docket at the courthouse are
soon to be withdrawn by mutual
agreement or simply die a nat
ural death.
Feeling in the city was mixed
as finis was written on the me
ter story—one of those chapters?
of modern living that come along
once in awhile to break the rou
tine in small city civic life.
There were those who were a.
bit enthusiastic with triumph
following five days of sparring
and melodrama. Included in this
group were sincere people who
thought there was no room or
need for the machines here.
On the other hand, there was
a well-meaning handful who
died hard when the meter
swan song was sounded. They
courageously thought meters
were a solution to the city's
growing parking problem.
Here’s a chronology of th‘5
meter story:
On January 9, 1951, the city
council instructed Mayor J. E.
Davis and City Attorney Wil
liam W. Griffin to enter into nr*
agreement with the Duncan.
Parking Meter corporation of Ill
inois for “150 meters, more-or
less” to be placed into service*
within “30 to 60 days” . on the
streets of O’Neill
The meters were io cost in
the neighborhood of $69.50
each. One-half of the take was
to go to the city: the other half
to Duncan until the meters
were paid for. In other words,
the city “bought” on a lease
rental - purchase arrangement
about 10 - thousand dollars
worth of meters.
A band of citizens, some miff
ed by the prospect of meters and
others unhappy because the con
tract was signed without warn
ing and without giving the peo
ple a voice, promptly took the
matter into court. Sumner Down
ey et al petitioned the Holt
county district court for a temp
orary injunction against the me
ter firm. This was granted by
District Judge D. R. Mounts.
Members of the original coun
cil were C. E. Jones, Norbert
Uhl, J. L. McCarville, sr., Tony
Asimus, L. M. Diehtman and Av
W. Carroll.
Uhl was an outspoken oppo
nent of the meter plan from the
outset In April of that same
year several board members re
tired and new members came on
the board. The reorganized board
on May 1, 1951, voted 3-2 to
“cancel, rescind and annul” the
pact with the Duncan firm.
Meanwhile, the meters arrived
in the city and were placed in,
storage by the city.
Months passed.
owuiuiivA tu* uuviuiai
meeting of business and profes
sional men at the American Le
gion auditorium produced a 33
14 vote against the meters. The
verdict was offered as guidance
for the council
In September, this year, the
Downey petition was dismissed
by the court.
Early last week the Lions club
posted a petition with the mayor
urging acceptance of the meters.
A. E. Bowen was an outspoken,
supporter of the meter move
ment.
The Chamber of Commerce,,
meanwhile, remained neutral on
the matter. But feelings were
mixed.
On Wednesday. .November
19. the rattle of a pneumatic
drill on Douglas street, punch
ing holes in the sidewalks, set
up reverberations that were*
heard from Chicago to the
Rocky mountains. As the holoa
went down tempers flared up.
A private citizen hailed RIr.
Coffee, Duncan engineer and
head of the 1 ole - digging and
meter-erecting detail, into city
police court on charges of de
facing sidewalks and creating
obstructions. Police Judge H. W.
Tomlinson ordered Mr. Coffee
and his party to desist.
Coffee hurriedly filled the*
newly-created holes with sand
lest some petite ankle meet with
a mishap and a law suit of a d*f
lice court here was last Thurs
ferent sort rear its head. The po*
day at 2 p.m.
That evening the city council
voted 5-0 to meet the “crisis” in
a novel way in the event the city
found itself legally bound to ac^
cept the contract made by the
former council. Resolutions were
adopted to space the meters in
every fifth parking stall in 11
blocks instead of in every stall in
two blocks, as was orally agreed
back in January, 1951.
Bright and early Friday morn
ing M. Zelen of Lincoln, Duncan
salesman who carried out the or
iginal liaison, and an attorney,.
Harry Grumminger of G r a n‘d
Island, buzzed into town in an
airplane.
In the absence of Judge
Mounts they filed a petition with
County Judge Louis W. Reimer
(Continued on page 5)