Prairieland Talk . . .
Abnormals Are in Command
By ROMAINE SAUNDERS
LINCOLN — Maybe we of prairieland are
stuck up and don’t like to think that we might
haye been a crummy outfit had our lines not been
cast in pleasant places. Decency controls the lives
of most of us in this part of the nation. A news
paper guy in the country’s largest city has a story
•to jar the sensibilities.
‘‘Somebody’s got to blow the whistle on the
breakdown of American decency,” he says. “More
bums and scum are fouling up life today than at
any time. I have been working
on the berserk Broadway beat
for 10 torrid years, and on news
papers for 2 years. Never have I
seen so many vice lice—so much
tomcatting—such hordes of fall
en females, panderers, hopheads,
phonies and abnormals—as de
face America now. Abnormals
are in command and, God help
us, abnormality is becoming nor
' mal. This leaves me no room for
another holler—a blast against
lying. Once it was a sin, later it Romaine
was naughty, today it’s a fine Saunders
art. Unless we do something about it, this de
cade’ll be known as the “filthy fifties.”
Lei us turn from this picture of depravity
and look at another. A woman gifted in song in
a city at the other extremity of the continent
when told that her days were numbered be
cause of a deadly scourge, gave one more con
cert.
“Oh, listen to a maiden’s prayer, for Thou
canst hear tho’ from the wild, and Thou canst
save amidst despair,” she sang. And then one
day summing up her life for a friend, she said:
“If God gives me a few more days or months
to stay, it is to enjoy them and not to make oth
ers moan and weep.” The end of life’s trail a few
steps ahead—those few steps bringing cheer into
the lives of others. Brave soul!
* * *
The greatest Christmas gift to prairieland
was a blanket of snow laid across the landscape
in gleaming while undisturbed by winds that
took a layoff for a few days. What snow does
for the land cannot be duplicated by artificial
means, though we complain a lot about having
to clear highways and byways and footways.
* * *
Science has a job for the clergy. Conferring
with a representative group of gentlemen of the
cloth, a group of scientists put it up to them in
these words: “Gentlemen, we’re frankly fright
ened. In finally achieving nuclear fission, we’ve
either discovered something that will greatly
bless our culture or thoroughly blast it. The threat
is not in the explosive power of the atom; we can
control that. What we cannot control is the ex
plosive power of human nature. The plain fact is
that man’s skills have outdistanced his morals;
his engineering has leaped ahead of his wisdom.
We can’t stop or cancel scientific advance. But
we can and must, if this world is to survive, help
them to close the terrific gap between man’s
morals and his cleverness. In God’s name—if you
still believe in God—tell us what you can do to
help. Otherwise we perish.” Bold words. But is it
not a regretable truth that along with the loss
to science of the moral guiding star the clergy to
a pitiful degree stand dumb in their clerical robes
without the message that once moved human
hearts?
* * *
Globemaster. But is it? Is not the earth, the
forces of nature, the law of gravity and an un
seen hand out among/the stars the master of this
globe? And man’s boasted supremacy at times is
but mockery that results in such tragedy as
struck in eastern Washington and turned into
horror-haunted homes what had been planned for
a joyous holiday season. Men have done great
things, brought into being marvelous inventions,
but that thing which dogs their pathway which
is summed up as accident seems in the end to be
globemaster.
* * *
A clock was brought to a jeweler for repairs.
Opening the case he found a time-faded sheet of
paper on which had been written: “Repaired Feb
ruary 23, 1883; weather clear; national affairs,
muddled.” To bring this up to date the jeweler
wrote and placed in the clock: “Repaired August
14, 1950; weather clear; national affairs, still
muddled.”
Thajia S. Woods, an executive of the federal
civil defense administration in Washington, D C.,
who tours the country at times addressing groups
, of women, interesting them in measures for de
fense of homes and communities in the event of
foreign invasion (which Washington seems to
regard as a possible threat), is a daughter of pio
neer Holt county parents. Her father, L. T. Shan
ner, had an early day trading post at Inman and
her mother as a young woman was in education
al work in Holt county.
Mrs, Woods recently spoke before a large
gathering in Austin, Tex., explaining the plan
and need of preparing for defense.
Mrs. Woods, who is a niece of Prairieland
Talker, said in her addiess in the Texas city that
there are now three million volunteers serving in
civil defense organizations. Among the scores of
women’s organizations now having a part in de
fense work are mentioned the Daughters of the
American Revolution, Young Women’s Christian
association, National Council of Jewish Women,
National Council of Catholic Women, Campfire
Girls and many others.
Why women in civil defense, asks Mrs. Woods.
“Civil defense is protection of the home front. It
is the protection of everything most sacred to
women, beginning with the home and including
our civilization.”
There have been perfunctory spasms along
this line in Nebraska but it may take a wallop
from an enemy bomb to wake us up. Federal civil
defense also includes preparation for aid in times
of local community need when disaster hits.
* * *
An Indian maid, with the stoical indifference
to pain characteristic of her race, recently sub
mitted to the amputation of an arm in an Omaha
butchery institution known as a surgical ward.
Another Indian just heard from over that way
claims to be 114 years of age and was involved
in the Custer affair up on the Little Big Horn, 39
scalps from the heads of soldiers being his tro
phies of the day. Had not the barrels of firewater
first got what was under those scalps Sitting
Bull’s band would have lost their scalps instead.
Happily, the day is past when mountain and
plains men counted the redskins that bit the dust
or warriors returned to camp clutching white
men’s scalps taken in the raid. The Sioux and
Apache have turned to peaceful industry and the
works of art turned out by Indian hands cannot
be duplicated by the machines of palefaces. A
mong the greeting cards and gifts with which
Prairieland Talker was favored at Christmas,
some from unexpected sources, out of the former
domain of thecl iff dwellers came a pair of beau
tifully wrought moccasins. Now I hear the call
of the open country to come out across the trail
once more and at eveningtide sit down, fold my
legs and rest moccasined feet before the camp
fire.
* * •
A dozen towns on the North Western rail
road route from Norfolk eastward have employed
legal talent that appears before the railway com
mission protesting the commission’s findings
that grants the railroad permission to discon
tinue certain passenger trains that have been
steaming from Omaha to Norfolk. Suppose the
railroad would be happy to run those trains to
those towns if the towns could make it worth
while. Livery barns had to fold up for lack of
patronage. Train service is curtailed for the same
reason.
♦ * *
Two young men of the Atkinson neigh
hood, the Meals brothers, in the business of bal
ing and markting hay, have shipped 30 carloads
to one man in Denver, Colo., who calls for
more. Some Colorado range cattle are feeding
on good Holt county hay this winter.
* * *
Agronomists are concerned over what to do
with the plant known as sweet-clover which they
class as a weed. Some years ago we cowmen
down there in Swan and Wyoming precincts had
no better sense than to mow it and feed it to the
cattle and the cattle had no better sense than to
wrap a long tongue around a wad of it in pref
erence to the orthodox hay.
* * *
It’s good to see so many of our armed forces
personnel home for the holidays. It appears the
military has made an effort to accomplish this.
May joy and
success attend
you the whole
year through.
t
I*
' *
TRI-STATE PRODUCE
TRI-STATE HATCHERY
TRI-STATE TURKEY FARMS
Letter to Editor
LeCompton, Kans.
Monday, December 22
Dear Editor;
If the editor doesn’t object, we
would like to take this means of
greeting our friends and neigh
bors at this holiday season
through The Frontier.
WeJiave been too busy to send
personal cards. We are helping
to run a little eating house down
here in Big Springs. There are
nine of us, all with greedy ap
petites and it keeps us all busy*
trying to make things go.
We like the country down
here except for a famine of water
this year, having to buy our
water for household use, have
had very litle moisture since we
arrived here the latter part of
October. No snow at all on the
ground at present.
The people here are real friend
ly. They not only gave us wood
to burn fqr the entire winter, but
are sawing it in fireplace lengths
for Us. We want to thank every
one for their nice cards and let
ters we have been receiving.
They pep us up a lot. So wishing
each and everyone a very Merry
Christmas and a happy and pros
perous new year, may we all
look to Him who is able for all
our problems.
MR. and MRS. W. B. LAMB
Van Every Serves
With First Cavalry —
Pvt. Dean A. Van Every, whose
wife, Ivalyn, and parents, Mr. and
Mrs. George Van Every, live at
826 Grant st., O’Neill, is now serv
ing with the First cavalry divi
sion in Japan.
Veterans of the Korean con
flict are giving intensive field
training to the new replacements
in the unit on the northern Jap
anese island of Hokkaido. The
division spent 17 months in the
combat zone before being ro
tated out of the line last Decem
ber.
Before entering the army in
May, 1952, Van Every was’ em
ployed by Safeway Truck lines,
Chicago, 111.
Van Horn Bulls Fare
Well at Valentine —
Three bulls consigned to the
recent Valentine Hereford show
and sale by H. A. Van Horn &
Son fared well. They showed the
grand champion, a senior year
ling, which brought $1,725. A
summer yearling won top hon
ors in its class and sold for more
money than the grand champion
—$1,875.
The third entry sold for $950.
The Van Horns have entered 10
bulls in four recent sales av
eraging $1,172.
Early in December they pur
chased a bull in Texas to add to
their herd.
REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS
WD—Betsy Aim to Clara Aim
10-18-52. $1. Lot 6, E % lot 7,
Blk. 17, O’Neill.
WD—G. C. Funk to Milton D.
Funk 10-11-52. $5. NWy4 18-30
14.
B. G. Hanna of Chambers spent
Christmas with Mr. and Mrs. Ger
ald McDermott.
State Capitol News ...
Peterson, Crosby Sweat Over Budget;
‘U’ Seeks to Strengthen Medicine, Ag
LINCOLN—The 45 state agen
cies included in the list for which
the 1953 legislature will approp
riate funds showed up this week
with a healthy bank balance.
Figures released by State Tax
Commissioner Philip K. Johnson
showed that of the $173,000,000
appropriated by the 1951 session*
only about $170,000,000 will have
been spent by the end of the cur
rent biennium, next July 1.
There are a number of reasons
for the decrease. Biggest is the
fact that the state assistance de
partment has an unexpended bal
ance of about $3 million due to a
sharp decrease in its case load
and a change in the formula for
matching federal funds.
Another factor in the saving
was the order sent out in the
fall of 1951 by Gov. Val Peter
son. ordering all the agencies
under his control—the so-called
code departments — to trim
their budgets by 5 percent.
He estimated this will mean a
savings during this two-year pe
riod of about $2,000,000.
The agencies are asking to
spend during the next biennium
about $173,500,000. One of the
biggest increases is being sought
by the University of Nebraska
which is seeking to strengthen its
program, particularly in medicine
and agriculture.
It’s on the basis of these re
quests that Governor Peterson and
Gov.-Elect Robert B. Crosby are
spending this between-holidays
week in preparation of their
budget messages to the new leg
islature.
* * *
Federal Aid —
Are Nebraska counties losing
out in federal funds for the sec
ondary road system because the
standards are too high?
An official of the Nebraska
farm bureau federation thinks it’s j
possible. Bernal R. Camp, edi- I
tor of the farm bureau paper,
Nebraska Agriculture, wrote in
the current issue that the time
has come for a demand by Ne
braskans for a change in the spe
cification for such roads.
Noting that the proopsed mil
lion and a half dollar O street via
duct here in Lincoln will be built
largely through such funds which
otherwise would lapse, Camp
said:
“Construction of the viaduct
with federal funds may solve a
temporary problem, but in the
long run we feel it is likely to
create additional headaches for
the state engineer and the high
way department at a time when
they are anxious to get into op
eration in the state a sufficiency
rating system which would re
move politics from highway de
cisions in this state.”
To become eligible for the
federal funds, Lincoln and Lan
caster county officials agreed
to make the viaduct site county
" territory until after the struc
ture is built and then it will
be ^returned to the city.
Camp’s article brought a reply
from William Palmer, chief of
the highway department’s infor
mation section, which said:
“Personally I don’t think the
standard of road building for
county-federal projects should be
reduced.”
He cited several instances of
temporary construction measures
which had been accepted as qual
ified for federal aid. “I don’t know
how standards could be lowered
any more than that,” he said.
* * *
Good News —
There was good news here last
week for Nebraska’s $85,000,000
poultry industry.
Forty representatives of various
segments of the industry met
here and voted to ask the 1953
legislature to match federal re
search marketing act funds to set
up in Nebraska a federal-state
poultry marketing service.
The cost to the state was ex
pected to be not more than $7,500
a year. Frank Mussehl, of the
University of Nebraska staff,
told the group that neighboring
states had the service for years
and that the lack of it in Ne
braska is one reason this state’s
eggs sell for 8-cents a dozen un
der the national average, costing
poultrymen in Nebraska an esti
mated $12,000,000 annually.
* * *
Oath —
Loyalty oaths have been much
in the news here in the past sev
eral days. Against a background
of charges by an American Le
gion spokesman that a book used
by a University of Nebraska pro
fessor was improper and counter
charges by university personnel
that academic freedom was be
ing threatened, there appeared a
rash of demands for layolty oaths
for teachers and all public em
ployees as well as for a statewide
investigation of the threat of
communism in the state’s school
system.
What many of those making
the loyalty oath suggestions ap
pear not to know is that the 1951
legislature provided an oath for
teachers and another for everyone
paid from public funds. Legis
lators and other state officials
were exempt because they take
an oath of office which contains
a loyalty pledge.
Meanwhile, the U. S. su
preme court held that Okla
homa's oath violated the fed
eral constitution.
Here in Lincoln, Assistant At
torney General Clarence A. H.
Meyer said the decision had no ef
fect on the 1951 Nebraska law.
The Oklahoma act made a state
employee liable for mere mem
bership in a subversive organiza
tion, even though he was unaware
it was subversive.
The Nebraska law, he ex
plained, is not so severe and an
employee who unwittingly be
longed to a subversive group,
could establish a defense if he
could prove that he himself did
not believe in its principles.
* * *
Last Gasp —
The long drawnout school land
lease legal squabble drew its last
breath here last week.
The Nebraska supreme court
outlawed year-to-year tenancy
and thus over-ruled district courts
in Chase and Dundy counties,.in
the heart of the school land area.
The court recalled its ruling in
the now famous Ebke case in
which it held that the automatic
renewal of leases provided for by
the 1947 legislature was uncon
stitutional.
* * *
Personal —
And now, permit a word from
this reporter. It has been a real
privilege to serve as your capitol
correspondent during 1952. The
days ahead will be busy and
news-filled with the meeting of
the 1953 legislature.
This is to invite inquiries about
legislation or other statehouse
matters of a general nature in.
which this writer may be of
service. Quite obviously, there
will be a limit to the extent of
service which can be rendered in
individual cases, but within those
limitations, your inquiries are
welcome.
Send your letters to The Fron
tier which will forward them to
the writer, who resides in Lin
coln.
And may 1953 be the best year
of your lives!
Navy Man on Leave —
PM1 Richard D. Morgan ar
rived Wednesday, December 24,
to spend the Christmas holidays
with his mother, Mrs. Ruth Mor
gan. He will report back to the
USS Boxer. Richard has served
6^ years in the navy.
^ ItewyeareSpiw^
American Legion Club — O’Neill
Plan to Spend New Year's Eve with Us!
ALL LEGION NAIRES,
Auxiliary members
and their guests are invited
to make it a memorable
evening at the Lgeion Club
in O’Neill.
Music by WILL DeCAMP
and His Orchestra . . .
lots of noisemakers and fa
vors.
JOIN YOUR friends at the
Legion Club!
Admission: $1 Per Person
Legal Notices
(First pub. Dec. 18, 1952)
John R. Gallagher, Attorney
NOTICE OF HEARING OF
PETITION FOR FINAL
SETTLEMENT OF
ACCOUNT
Estate No. 3747
COUNTY COURT OF HOLT
COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
ESTATE OF MICHAEL CUR
RAN, DECEASED.
THE STATE OF NEBRASKA,
TO ALL CONCERNED:
Notice is hereby given that a
petition has been filed for final
settlement herein, determination
of heirship, inheritance taxes,
fees and commissions, distribution
of estate and approval’ of final
account and discharge, which
will be for hearing in this court
on January 7th, 1953, at 10 o’
clock, A.M.
LOUIS W. REIMER
County Judge
(COUNTY COURT SEAL) 33-35
• .
drs, brown &
french
Eyes Tested—Glasses Fitted
Broken Lens Replaced in
24 Hours
Other Repairs While Ton
Wait
Complete X-Ray
MONEY TO LOAN
ON
AUTOMOBILES
TRUCKS
TRACTORS
EQUIPMENT
FURNITURE
Central Finance
Corp.
C. E. Jones, Manager
O'Neill : Nebraska
DEAD ANIMALS REMOVED
“ONE HOG OR MORE!”
CATTLE - HOGS - HORSES
Prompt Sanitary Service
Call Long Distance and
Ask for ENTERPRISE 1000
(No Toll Charge for Enterprise Calls)
ATKINSON - O’NEILL RENDERING
SERVICE
(Owned by Valley Rendering, Ord, Nebr.)
REFEREE'S SALE OF
LAND
i o
January 12th, 1953
AT 2 P.M.
COURT HOUSE - BUTTE. NEBRASKA
As ordered by the District Court of Boyd County, Nebraska, 1 will
sell at public auction to the highest and best bidder for cash the
SEI/4, Sec. 7; WJ/2SW»/4, Sec. 17; E»/2SE»/4, Sec. 18;
SV2NE!/4, NE»/4SE»/4, Lots 6 and 7, Sec. 19; Lots 1, 2, 3
and 4, Ny2NEV4 and NWVi, Sec. 20; Lots 1 and 2, Sec.
21; Twp. 33, North, Range 16; West; in Boyd County,
Nebraska, containing 939 acres, more or less, according
to the U. S. Survey.
KNOWN AS THE HOYT RANCH in the southwest comer
of Boyd County, a self-sustaining ranch unit, of hay
and grazing land, well watered.
TERMS OF SALE: 30% of bid in cash on date of sale; balance in
cash on confirmation of sale; possession given purchaser on March
1. 1953; abstract of title available for examination at office of Ref
eree; the land will be offered as a whole and also in parts to suit
bidders.
COURT HOUSE - BUTTE. NEBRASKA
January 12th, '53
AT 2 PJ.
For further information write the undersigned.
V . .1RENNAN
BUTTE. NEBRASKA
REFEREE
James C. Quigley and
Lynn E. Heth, Attorneys,
Valentine, Nebraska
