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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (April 9, 1953)
.... O . e • * . ■ jj ° \ “VOICE ° T\T/ri \rr* . OF THE FRONTIER” North-Central Nebraska’s BIG Newspaper Volume 72. Number 49. O’Neill, Nebraska, Thursday, April 9, 1953. Seven Cents. ... • — v,......— ■TATI HIST »OC jr m Muny Election Quiet; Pool Issue Comes Next O sfV Leidy Sells to Dankert, Fetrow Appliance Auction Is Planned Saturday Effective Saturday, April 4, Leidy’s propane gas enterprise here came under new manage ment. Ralph N. Leidy, who pioneered bulk and bottle gas distribution and gas appliance sales here, sold the bulk business to Eric Dank ert of Dankert’s Service, Cham bers, and the bottle gas business to Dale Fetrow, O’Neill. The firm features Unipane gas, the all weather propane. Mr. Dankert is now in O' Neill, occupying Leidy's new building at the corner of Sev ° enth and Douglas streets, and is operating under the firm name of Dankert's Service. Mr. Fetrow, who for several years has operated a refrigera tion and appliance store at 505 East Douglas street (across from the Ford garage), will continue in the same location and will be servicing Mr. Leidy’s bottle gas customers. Mr. Dankert and wife and son, Douglas, 12, plan to move to O’ Neill when housing can be ar ranged. They recently built a new home'an Chambers which has been purchased by Louis Harley. Mr. Dankert has announced that the entire present stock of gas appliances, including fur naces, cook ranges, floor fur naces, refrigerators and some electric appliances will be offer ed at auction on Saturday, April 11. Purpose of the sale is to make room for new lines of merchan dise in transit. Mr. Leidy will offer poultry remedies, 'brooders, fertilizers, seed and miscellaneous items at auction in connection with the sale and proceeds from Leidy’s phase of the sale will be turned over to St. Anthony’s hospital. (For details turn to page 9.) Mr. Leidy said this week that he plans to take his family on a trip to the West coast as soon as the school term ends. He has not announced any other future plans. Lee Scriven, 44, Dies in Hospital Funeral services for Lee Scriv en, 44, former resident of the Chambers community, will be conducted at 2 p.m., today (Thursday) from the Biglin Brothers funeral chapel. Burial will be in Prospect Hill ceme tery. The late Mr. Scriven died Tuesday morning, April 7, in University hospital, Omaha. He had beer, ill several years. The late Mr. Scriven was born August 13, 1908, at Chambers, the son of Everett Tyler Scriven and Mary Jane Cox Scriven. Survivors include: Brother — Frank of LeMars, la.; sister — Mrs. Earl (Ethel) Keifer of Star. Pallbearers chosen are Si Howard, William A. Anderson, Joseph Conarro, Bart Walton, Ray Noble and Albert Stauffer. • Plan Citywide Dollar Days A citywide dollar days promo tion is being planned by the Chamber of Commerce retail trade committee. Dates will be announced next week. It is planned, Chamber o£ Commerce officials said, to make it a three-day event. Joe Grenier Is 76— A birthday anniversary dinner was held at Lyons on Easter Sunday for Joe Grenier, who was 76 - years - old. There were 32 guests present. Among those at tending from here were Mr. and Mrs. Vern Grenier and family, Mr. and Mrs. Byron Grenier and family, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Grenier and family, Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Sawyer and family, Mr. and Mrs. James Donohoe and family, Hattie Kindlund, Mr. and Mrs. Max Grenier and Mr. and Mrs. Cecil Grenier. After dinner the group enjoyed watching tele vision. Hammon Now with 43rd Division— LYNCH—Cpl. Eldon L. Ham mon, son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Hammon of Lynch, recently join ed 43rd infantry division. The 43rd, now stationed in southern Germany, is undergoing constant field training as part of the North Atlantic treaty organ ization army. Corporal Hammon has been as signed to headquarters company in the 102nd infantry regnment. Mrs. Morgan Entertains at Dinner— Easter dinner guests of Mrs. Ruth Morgan were her daugh ters and their husbands, Mr. and Mrs. George Hendrick and fam ily of Omaha and Mr. and Mrs. Fred Colfack and family of Ew ing. Mrs. Hendrick and daughters returned to Omaha Tuesday after a four weeks’ visit here. TO OMAHA HOSPITAL ATKINSON — Fred Mulford, Atkinson high student who be came ill while participating in a recent track meet, Sunday was taken by ambulance to Method ist hospital, Omaha. O Tuesday’s municipal election turned out to be an exceedingly quiet, uninteresting affair. One hundred ten O’Neill voters went to the polls—approximately one twelfth of the number voting in the general election last fall. Lack of opposition for the throe city council and two board of ed ucation candidates and with no special issues at stake caused the voters to simply stay away. Forty votes were cast in the First ward; 35 in the Second, and 35 in the Third. M. J. Golden, First ward coun cil incumbent, received 39 votes; Marvin Johnson, Second ward in cumbent, received 33 votes, and Norbert Uhl, Third ward incum bent, was given 34 ballots. The trio was reelected for two-year terms. H. J. Lohaus, incumbent, was out of 110 for a board of educa tion for a three-year term, re ceiving 95 votes out of the 110 cast. Elgin Ray received 98 votes out of 110 for a board of educa tion three-year post. Dr. L. A. Burgess, veteran member of the board, was not a candidate for reelection. On Wednesday, April 29, the O’Neill voters will go to the polls in a special election. They will vote “for” or “against” a pair o£ proposals and determine whether or not the city will issue bonds for a 40-thousand-dollar munici pal swimming pool. J. M. Thornton of Norfolk, special engineer, has presented plans for the proposed pool to the city council. The 40x80-foot pool would be constructed in the northwest corner of Ford’s park, bounded on the north by Benton street and on the west by Jeffer son street. The bathing area would range from three feet in depth in the shallow end (east) to 10 feet in the west end. Thorburn’s plans provide for a concrete walkway around the pool and a metal fence as well as a 24x44-foot bathhouse built on the south side of the pool, mid way east-to-west. The bathhouse includes compartments for men and women, showers and lava tories. A children’s circular wading pool 16 feet in diameter is plan ned for the southeast corner of the pool with a children’s sand play beach abutting the concrete walkway. The voters will be confronted by two propositions. Number one calls for the issuance of bonds in the sum of 35-thousand-doliars for park improvement and re quires three-fifths of the vote to carry. Number two is $5,000 for pool construction and requires two-thirds of the vote. Combined, the two issues would provide 40 thousand-dollars with which to pursue the engineer’s plan. O’Neill civic groups have gone on record supporting the pool movement and filed petitions with the city council asking for the special election. Family Reunion at Searles Home; Family to Turkey Mr. and Mrs. Frank Searles entertained at a family reunion Saturday afternoon and evening. Those present were Mr. Searles’ son, Austin, and his wife and daughter, Judy and Kathy; Mr. Searles’ daughter, Mrs. Percy (Ilene) Anderson, and daughters, Sue and Lynita. were present except a son, Rob All of Mrs. Searles’ children buquerque, N.M. However, Rob ert Friedrich, who resides at Al ert’s wife, the former Onallee Kirkland of Atkinson, and sons, Kirk and Kerry, were present. Guests from Omaha were Mr. and Mrs. Hal Sinclair and son, Hal Dean, Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Vescio and daughter, Linda. The ladies are daughters of Mrs. Searles. iwo aaugmers, Mrs. Lou Sper ling, Mr. Sperling and daugh ters, Vicki and Connie, of Ord, and Mrs. Lloyd Waldo, Mr. Wal do and children, Roger, Darla, Debbie and Bruce, of Amelia were also present. Relatives from Spencer attend ing were Mr. and Mrs. Carl Friendrich, grandparents; Mrs. P. O. Friedrich, son, Richard, and daughter, Helen Joan, and Mrs. Ralph Friedrich. From Loveland, Colo., came Mr. and Mrs. Carl Hagelin and daughters, Carolyn and Jean. The Hagelins will depart for Turkey in June where Mr. Hage lin has accepted a position in the engineering department on a reclamation program. Mrs. Hagelin is the former Ra mona Friedrich of Spencer and an aunt of Mrs. Searles’ children. A feature of the evening was an Easter egg hunt for the chil dren. Methodist Youth in Sunrise Service— PAGE—Members of the Meth odist youth fellowship held a sunrise service Sunday morning on a hillside north of town. Miss JoAnn Braddock, assisted by Carrol French, led the meeting. The group retired to the church parlors where a breakfast was served. Tables, arranged in the form of a cross, were decorated by Joellen Kennedy and Bette French. Thirty young folks and Rev. and Mrs. C. E. Wilcox were present. Visit Slannards— Mr. and Mrs. W. W. Jones of Denver, Colo., are guests of her mother, Mrs. D. Stannard. Mrs. Jones is the former Kathleen Stannard. KCs Mark 50th Year in Jubilee Council Founded Here in 1903 by Group of Pioneer Catholics Plans have been completed for the golden jubilee celebration of Charles Carroll of Carrollton council of the Knights of Colum bus. The celebration will take place Sunday, April 12. Council 701 was founded in 1903 by a pioneer group of Cath olic laymen who envisioned the need for a strong organization to further the principles and doc trines of the Catholic church. To celebrate the day. the Knights will attend the 9 o' clock mass and receive holy communion in a body. At noon a group of jubilee in itiation candidates will receive the first degree of installation in the clubrooms. The second and third degrees will follow, also in the club. The lunch hour will be observ ed earlier than usual in order that more time can be devoted to the evening banquet, which will begin at 6 p.m., in the Am erican Legion auditorium. Sev eral charter members of the council are expected to be pres ent. Rev. B. J. Leahy of Fremont, formerly of O’Neill, will be the principal speaker. Entertainment will be under the direction of Matthew G. Beha and F. E. Parkins. The decorations com mittee consists of Joe Stutz and William Moriarity. At the Knights’ regular month ly meeting tonight (Thursday) the celebration plans will be re viewed and final, arrangements completed. Carolyn Watson Schedules Recital Miss Carolyn Watson, daugh ter of Mr. and Mrs. Ira C. Wat son of Inman, will be presented in recital by Mrs. Charles B. Houser Sunday afternoon at 3 o’ clock in St. Mary’s auditorium. The program, which will include works of Scarlatti, Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy, Ravel and Dohnanyi, is open to the public. Miss Watson is well-known in musical circles of Inman, O’Neill and vicinity. She is a member of the O’Neill Civic chorus and sang in that group’s 1952 presentation Miss Watson . . . pianist. —O’Neill Photo Co. of ‘The Messiah.” As pianist of the newly-organized O’Neill Civ ic orchestra she will perform in the May production of Kurt Weill’s folk opera, “Down in the Valley.” She is pianist for the Inman Methodist church, also for the Inman high school chorus. Besides her varied musical ac tivities, she is a member of the Inman high school student coun cil, editor of the 1953 yearbook, member of the Pep club, 4-H club and the Theta Rho girls’ lodge. Sne attended all-state at the University of Nebraska in the summe rof 1950 and plans to at tend the fine arts festival in Lin coln this spring. Next fall she will enroll as a freshman at Ne b r a s k a Wesleyan university, Lincoln. Conduct Egg Hunt— The Junior auxilary held an Easter egg hunt Monday after noon in the American Legion uditorium. Fourteen children and six mothers were present The winners of the hunt for the jun iors were Elizabeth Fritton and Linda Stuifbergen, and for the tiny tots, winners were Arlene Fritton and Ellen Abart. Francie Kelly won the one dollar award. A lunch was served by the moth ers. RETIRES FROM ARMY M/Sgt. Phillip Simmons ar rived Tuesday from Ft. Dix, N.J., to visit his sisters, Mrs. Bob Cook and Mrs. Harry Dempsey, and his brother, Charles Simmons of Page. Sergeant Simmons receiv ed his retirement on March 31 after serving 26 years in the army. Fire Victim Melvin L. Steskal, 24 (above), was fatally burned in an ex plosion at his home southeast of Inman on March 18. (Funer al story and obituary on page 6.) Former Resident Expires in Omaha Frank Calkins, 74, who spent 16 years during his early married life on a farm in northeast Holt county, died Thursday, April 2, in St. Joseph’s hospital, Omaha. Funeral services were conduct ed at the Lincoln Center church at Corning, la., on Saturday, Ap ril 4. Rev. A. Breeling of Grant officiated. Interment was in Wal nut Grove cemetery. The late Mr. Calkins, son of George C. and Mary Calkins, was bom March 17, 1879, in Ad ams county, Iowa. He was reared at Corning and attended Iowa Business college at Des Moines, where later he held several sec retarial positions. He farmed with his father and later owned and operated a store and coal mine at Briscoe, la. He was married to Anna Sep ter and they became the parents of five daughters and six sons. His wife and four children pro ceeded him in death. After leaving Holt county J e returned to Adams county whe-re he farmed and served as presi dent of the local federal land bank. Survivors include: Sons — George C. of Dorsey; Kenneth of Corning; Cecil of Dexter, la., Dale of Mt. Etna, la.; daughters —Mrs. Rhea (Dorothy) Heuer mann of Buffalo, Wyo.; Mrs. Ar thur (Darlene) Eno of Charlotte, N.C., and Mrs. William (Rose mary) Wilcynski of Buffalo, Wyo.; 20 grandchildren; one great-grandchild; sisters — Mrs. W. J. Frederick of Corning; Mrs. E. M. Cain of Mt. Etna, la.; Mrs. H. S. Septer of Cumberland, la.; brother — C. C. of Burlingame, Kans. Civil Aeronautics Agents Coming Here Aviation safety agents repre senting the civil aeronautics ad ministration will visit the munic ipal Airport at O’Neill on Thurs day April 16. These agents will be prepared to give written, flight and pract ical examinations to applicants for various types of airman certi ficates, and to conduct inspections of aircraft, airports, and ground and flying school facilities. Appointments for tests or in spections should be made before 11 a.m. that day. Preview for New Band Uniforms— STUART — The Stuart high school band will present a con cert as well as several vocal se lections tonight (Thursday) at the auditorium. This will be a preview of the new band uniforms which were received last week after a fund raising campaign sponsored by various civic organizations and individuals. The maroon suits with white trappings are in keeping with the school colors. 1 " " Air Force to Conduct Vital Wind Tests Here pi •* o WWW WWW Attention Space Cadets (By a Staff Writer) Doctor Guenter Loeser, a re nowned German scientist who is now conducting secret research for the U.S. air force, has a hob by that will capture the interest and imagination of children and adults alike. He is vice-president of an in ternational society of scientists who are bent on space flights you know, the planet-to-planet Buck Rogers business. Doctor Loeser, a 36-year-old 5 ft. 9 in. man with a wealth of science and physics stored un der a thatch of dark hair, is vi tally interested in space flights strictly as a hobby. Twice during the past two years he has attended confer ences in Europe with interna tional enthusiasts. He was born in the Saar basin and received his early physics training under the Nobel prize winning physicist, George Cur rie, a Sorbonne university in Paris. Later he studied at Frankfurt, Leipzig and Heidel berg universities in Germany As a youth of 13 he used to board a bus at 4:45 a.m., and make the trip to Paris on Satur days for the privilege of sitting in on Currie’s lectures—although Loesser then was a junior high school student. The bus trip re quired four hours each direction. During World War II he was “drafted” by the famous Krupp munitions works and headed a research division throughout most of the war. He was intimate -with weapon ballistics, partici pated in the development of the V-2 rocket weapons, and had a hand in engineering and con structing some of the largest surface and battleship guns em ployed by the Germans during the war. Doctor Loeser told this re porter a story about a personal experience during World War II. At the Krupp works a giant experimental gun had been built that could lob a shell 50 miles. The mechanism sprawled ov er six railroad flat cars, the only weapon of its kind in ex istence, and it had been moved into Russia by the Germans tr bombard Sebaslapol. The big gun went out of com mission, the German field com manders hurriedly called Berlin, Berlin called Krupp, and sent a plane for someone who could get the big gun on the target again. Doctor Loeser was hustled to Russia by air in tne night, went to the special instrument car, where all the panels and dials were located. He promptly found the trouble. The electrical circuits were not functioning properly because one of the plugs was not in position. He fixed it. There upon, the Germans resumed the shelling of beleaguered Sebasta pol in one of the dramatic bat tles of the late war. Doctor Loeser said that for the hurried trip to the Eastern front the boys at Berlin thought he should shed his civilian clothes and be an officer. They made him a major for a day! Doctor Loeser's wife is also from the Saar basin. He brought his family from Ger many in midwinter and the family is residing in Water town, Mass., near the air force research center. They are ap plying for U.S. citizenship. The youngish German scientist has traveled more than 65 thou sand miles since arriving in the U.S., and is fully accredited to the air force. He estimated that three fourths of the German scientists are either in the Western zone of Germany, in Western Eur opean countries or in the U.S. His father edited a scientific journal until wartime paper ra tioning forced it to suspend. Then his father died and after the war for a period of 316 years young Loesser revived the journal and edited it on a part-time basis. He admitted he enjoyed a wide ac quaintance with the scientific thinkers in Europe. Doctor Loeser hesitates to talk much about space rockets and flights and insists on keep ing the record straight: Space rockets are a hobby, meteorolo gy is his bread and butter. Bespectacled and on the stocky side, he speaks broken English. He’s a contrast to the traditional scientist with a flowing beard and furrowed brow. He has a family, a keen sense of humor, meets people readily in a land he hopes to adopt, and pursues his business with energy that is systematized and thorough. The distinguished visitor was told of O'Neill's freakish win ter weather during the past years that has Dravoked the title "America's Winter Sports Capital." “Before our experiments are over,” he quipped, “perhaps we can scientifically explain for you what has been happening.” O’Neill’s kids, however, will he much more interested in putting to use their space cadet helmets. Plan Literature for Proposed School STUART— The P-TA met on Monday, April 6, for a regular session at the school. The pro gram was a panel discussion on the proposed school bond to build a new schoolhouse. Supt. Milton Baack, James Nelson and Don Fuller, high school seniors, Leonard Roberts, L. H. Steinhauser and Florian Scholz were on the panel. A committee was appointed to distribute pamphlets compiled by Superintendent Baack, which explain what it would cost the taxpayers and what the advant ages would be to build a school house and enlarge the school curriculum. Officers were elected for the coming year as follows: Mrs. Ber lin Mitchell, president; Mrs. James Newman, vice-president Miss Marguerite Smith, secre tary, and Mrs. Noma Hall, trea surer. Mrs. James Newman was elect ed to go to Lincoln as a delegate to the state P-TA convention, which will be held April 22-23. Hostesses for the evening were Mrs. Wilfred Seger and Mrs. M. M. Shattuck. They served cookies and coffee after the meeting. Auction Scheduled at Curry Ranch— A public sale of ranch and farm machinery will be held on Wednesday, April 22, on the Curry ranch in Wheeler county, located three miles east and four and one-half miles north of Four Corners on U.S. highway 281. (See advertisement on page 10.) Meanwhile, the sale of the 1, 420-acre John Dalton ranch in northern Holt county, scheduled Wednesday, April 8, has been postponed until Wednesday, Ap ril 15, because of weather condi tions. -— ‘Sugar Blues’ McCoy Comine Clyde McCoy and his cele brated “Sugar Blues’’ orchestra will be in O’Neill next Tuesday night, April 14, playing at the American Legion ballroom. McCoy’s orchestra is one of the big-time, all-time entertainment j favorites in radio, recording, screen and hotel, night club, ballroom, theater and college engagements. Ranking high among the top orchestras in the country today, Clyde and the entire orchestra recently were featured on a series of TV shows from Holly wood, Calif. His crew now includes five sax, seven brass, including the mae stro’s trumpet, four rhythm, plus two vocalists. They play the type of music people like to dance to —arrangements in which it does not take a Sherlock Holmes to find the melody. His brass is used in good solid fashion but with no blaring and screeching. The band is extremely well balanced, and play blues, waltz es, Latin-American and swings all with equal ease. Clyde McCoy . . . veteran in the big time. Clyde is inspired by the chal lenge of “modern” music makers in creating outstanding and un usual arrangements to provide his millions of fans with the finest in music. McCoy’s trumpet is one of America’s best - known musical instruments and dance - lovers from a wide area are expected to converge here next Tuesday for the Legion-sponsored appearance of the famous “Sugar Blues’’ band. Finishes Pre-Flight Course— PAGE—Naval Aviation Cadet Harold D. Tegeler, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Tegeler of Page, re cently finished a 15-week pre flight course and has now been graduated from the U.S. naval preflight school, Pensacola, Fla. He is now assigned to the aux iliary air station, Whiting Field, Milton, Fla., where he is engag ed in primary flight training. «-• Mrs. Van Every in Brief Illness Resident Since 1910 Dies in Hospital Funeral services for Mrs. James E. Van Every, 71, were conducted at 2 p.m., Monday, April 6, from Christ Lutheran church here with burial in the Page cemetery. The late Mrs. Van Every died at 10:55 p.m., Thursday, April 2, in St. Anthony’s hospital. She had been ill since March 13. Mrs. Van Every had suffer ed a slight stroke about a year ago while visiting a son, Les lie, at Sioux City, and had been in failing health since that time. Rev. R. W. Olson, church pas^ tor, officiated and Biglin Broth ers were in charge of arrange ments. Pallbearers were Ralph Young, William Murphy, Roy Landman, William Anderson, all of this vicinity, and Leonard Anderson of Newport. The late Mrs. Van Every, who resided 16 miles northeast of here, was born October 14, 1881, at Council Bluffs, la., a daughter of George Nitz and Emma Smirh Nitz. She was reared in Colfax county near Leigh. Her mother died when she was a young woman and she came to O’Neiu in 1909 to visit her sister, the late Mrs. Steve Bausch, who re sided in the Phoenix community. On June 30, 1910, she married James Edward Van Every at O’Neill. They became the parents of nine children. Before moving to the Oppor tunity locality about 10 years ago the Van Everys lived northwest of O'Neill and for a time lived near Chambers. Mr. Van Every was reared near Page. Survivors include: Widower; sons — Leslie G. of Sioux City; Melvin R. of Niobrara; Clyde E. of Beatrice; James L. and Ken neth G„ both of O’Neill; daugh ters—Mrs. Sanford (Mary Jane) Gamel of Cedar Rapids; Mrs William (Evelyn L.) Derickson of Star; brothers — John Nitz of Stanton; Jacob Nitz of Clarkson; Conrad Nitz of Elk City, Ida.; sisters — Mrs. Ed Otto and Mrs. Ed Kroeger, both of Schuyler. One son and one daughter died in infancy and are buried at Page. She was reared in the Luther an church. Among friends and relatives from a distance attending the funeral were: Mr. and Mrs. John Nitz of Stanton; Jacob Nitz of Clarkson; Mr. and Mrs. Ed Otto and Mr. and Mrs. Ed Kroeger, all of Schuyler; Mr. and Mrs. Harold Otto of Clarkson; Mrs. Emma Nelson, Mr. and Mrs. Ganord Anderson and daughters and John Nekolite, all of Newport; Mrs. Stanley Johnson of Atkin son; Mr. and Mrs. Jess Rose, Mrs. Dave Rose and Odell Frier, all of Brunswick. Junior College Musicians Appear Norfolk Junior college band and chorus members presented a program at 10:45 a.m., Wednes day in the O’Neill high school auditorium. The group presented similar programs at Ewing, At kinson and Bassett the same day, and will appear today at Or chard, 11 a.m., and Creighton, 3 p.m. The 32-piece band is under the direction of Merton V. Welch The chorus director is Russell C Cummings. Personnel in the group from this area includes: Larry Stoi johann of Atkinson, trombone; James Galloway of Bassett, cor net; Wilma Higgins of Naper; Arthur Loock of Spencer, drums; Neville Holm of Royal, clarinet. MARRIAGE LICENSES Sam Solinsly of Hannibal, Mo., and Irene Peterson of Clarence, Mo., on Friday, April 3. They were married the same day by Rev. Samuel Lee. Their attendants were Bruce McElhaney and Bryd ine Wilcox Lee. both of O’Neill. Richard Dallas Roberts, 24 and Miss Bonnette Larraine Stowe, 19, both of Inman, on Monday, April 6. They were married the same day by Louis W. Reimer, county judge. They were attended by Mrs. Basie E. Boies and Mrs. Ophelia Sessions, both of O’Neill. Guests at Coyne Home— Mr. and Mrs. Leo Dowd of Schuyler and Mrs. Lawrence O’Malley were Easter guests in the home of Edna Coyne. > -- The air force research center has selected a location one mile north and four miles east of O' Neill for the site of the largest, most exhaustive wind research field tests ever attempted in ne teorological history. A group of one hundred fifty persons, including several re nowned scientists, meteorology experts from a half-dozen uni versities and a unit from the air force research center at Cam bridge, Mass., will converge here about August 1. The tests will continue for about six weeks. The group will bring equip ment including helicopters mm other air force craft. They will have a weather detachment, ambulance and first-aid per sonnel. fire-fighters and a se curity police force. Dr. Guenter Loeser, a native o of the Saar basin in Germany and a leading meteorological scientist, arrived in O’Neill Tuesday tr» personally inspect the site before plans for the project are com pleted. He was accompanied by Lt. Bryan Postman of the Cam bridge research staff. Pastmar will be in charge of domestic de tails in connection with the tests Doctor Loeser, who has been in the U.S. less than two years, participated in the now-famous Leipzig windfile experiments in Germany—a similar study which is now recorded in most meteor ological text books. He considers the O’Neill study will be on a grander scale and predicts that one day O’Neill will be widely recognized in scien tific circles in connection with the forthcoming findings. In lay terms, Doctor Loeser explains that the scientific com munity is satisfied with wind studies above five thousand fee-; in altitude He points out that the currents and eddys above that level are common know ledge and are common by nature throughout the world. Bui the wind studies that Have been conducted to date between zero feet and the five thousand foot mark leave cer tain unsolved problems. He said that research people have combed the U.S. weather bureau files in search of a geo graphical location for these test-. O’Neill was tentatively decided upon about six months ago, merely on the weather bureau records and the nature of the terrain, which must be flat He said a two-man air force team of meteorologists was dispatched to O’Neill at that time to make? a preliminary survey. The weather bureau records were consulted again and other possible sites were graduallv eliminated and within the fort night the O’Neill location was de cided upon for certain. The project will enjoy a high priority among research center efforts. Lieutenant Postman explained that he will be concerned with billeting the influx of personnel. He estimated the hotel and motel facilities here will be unable to accommodate all of the proper: personnel and still cater to their regular guests. At a future date it is possible he will appeal to O’Neill residents to open their homes for the duration of the project. Civic leaders have assured the military that O'Neill will find a way to receive the pro ject personnel and make them comfortable during their stay. The land selected is the J. B. Ryan property. Extensive owe also will be made of the O’Neill airport facilities. Doctor Loeser intimated that physics students at both O’Neill high school and St. Mary’s acad emy who might be especially in terested in the tests will be in vited to take part and even as sist. Meteorological teachers and students from Massachusetts In stitute of Technology, Cahtorma Tech, University of Wiscecsir. and University of Califanaou, among others, will take part. Much of the findings will be classified as secret by the air force. Loeser and Postman will be in O’Neill several more days making preliminary arrange ments. They will need water and power supply, messing facilities, fuel and will have other domestic needs attending such an under taking. With regard to physical char acteristics of the land, Doctor Loesser said they took into con sideration trees, streams, build mgs, roads and even fencing when selecting the site. All these factors have a bearing on the re sults, he pointed out. “This particular site on the Ryan property is the most suit able for our purpose that we could find in the nation,” he said.
