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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (April 9, 1953)
Prairieland Talk . .Ik No Room for Prejudice By ROMAINE SAUNDERS LINCOLN—Reli',io^s prejudice or prejudice directed to an indjffioudl, a people or a nation because of their t^Sgion, has kept neighborhoods, communities animations at sword points througn the long swet pwf time. In the final analysis this is what brought communism into being. The claarch may have invited it or it may not. flflaybe »aose Greek clergy got a little arrogant with t'^e"result that the Rus sians, Undergoing political ana social changes^ turned a hateful on everything of a religious nature. This feeling is manifest in some degree most everywhere. My own neighborhood is touched with a bit of it. Most of the neighbors are of one faith. In came a couple not carrying the brand. They were received cordially and helped to get set tled. Somehow that old feeling or prejudice that has been the curse of the race got into their thinking and they will not have with others along the street, but will quarrel if they can, and will not allow their lit tle girl to play with the children of the neighbor hood. Too bad for the little girl. But maybe that newcomer mother ran into something that turned her against all the others on the street. Prejudice is the outgrowth of closing the mind to all the facts. It erected a cross on Calva ry’s hill, burned victims at the stake, started witch-hunting and made fools out of otherwise sane individuals. “Hatred stirreth up strife: but love covereth all sin.” There is no room for prejudice if we but wrap ourselves in the mantle of charity for the other fellow, the sort of charity that “suffereth long and is kind, envieth not and vaunteth not itself.” * * * Earthquakes during the past 10 years took the lives of 50.000 people and left 120.000 home less. * * • Soil conservation has become a fad. Trust it’s not commercialized excessively. The few farmers I contact in the com and wheat country pass it off with a smile when conservation is mentioned —apparently satisfied to harvest an individual crop of anywhere from 10 to 15 thousand bushels of grain by the farmer’s method he has tested in a life time on the farm. The ancients had a simple method of conservation. Every seventh year they did not plant a crop. They seemed to make out al right judging from the daily allowance for King Solomon’s household, which consisted of 30 mea sures of fine flour, 60 measures of meal, 30 head of cattle, 100 head of sheep, some deer and roe buck meat and “fatted fowl.” Qf course, that wise man had something of a household to provide for. His discerning eye had taken a fancy to a thou sand Oriental ladies whom he must keep well fed, beside the retinue of retainers. * • * High in the heavens the full moon rides across the prairieland sky as the month of March has drawn to a close in a gust of wind. Trees are taking on the emblems of renewed life, front yards are putting on their summer robes of green and early blooming plants are adorned in gold and crimson colors. Back yards, garden grounds, farm lands have been invaded again with plant ers and gardening tools. Seeding time and then the harvest. Out across the far-flung landscape industrious citizens sow in hope. Nature blooms again in shimmering shades on peaceful prairie land, our favored realm in a troubled world. And so once more down the highway of time nature blooms forth in regal glory, flowers giving a touch of color and fragrance to the scene, birds and insects on the wing, while men growl over high taxes, bad roads and scheme to put their plans over. O’Neill’s colony of Syrians, now a memory, furnished one couple that provided a little ex citement in Judge Morgan’s county court. It hap pened the day after the big celebration of Inde pendence day in 1902. Maybe they became over charged with the American spirit. At any rate, Mrs. William Staphen had her husband arrested for striking her. Staphen had a little store on the north side of Douglas street, having come here from South Dakota. At the hearing in Judge Mor gan’s chambers the accused denied beating up on his wife and defended himself by saying, “She talk too much—me no like that.” He had not yet discovered that it’s the prerogative of American women to always have the last word. Judge Mor gan fined him $25 and the next morning he board ed a train for parts unknown, leaving Mrs. Sta phen and other interests to shift for themselves. * • * Fifty years ago this month the O’Neill Knights of Columbus council was organized with a membership of 70. Knights from Sioux City and Omaha were in O’Neill in numbers and perfected the organization, were regaled with a big feed at the Evans. The local Knights still carry on their functions, though many of the original group have died. . . Three patriots were taken to court that year charged with illegal voting and one of them soaked for a $25 fine and costs, not having resid ed in the ward the required length of time when he voted. . . T. V. Golden sold his residence on Kid hill that spring to Mike Gallagher for $2,000. . . . Jake Pfund went to Neligh and contracted for the brick for the building to house his mercan tile business at Third and Douglas streets. . . . One bottle of Chamberlain’s cough remedy at P. C. Corrigan’s was said to cure a “severe attack of the grip.” • * * Maybe they know more about agriculture in those Rocky mountain states than appears to a prairieland dweller travelling the desert trails. Somehow, our great farming and ranching inter ests as expressed in the federal department of agriculture have been in the hands of first one and then another, not from the country’s bread basket, but from the mountain states. Possibly the wheat and corn and grass would make a go of it without this official oversight. * * * A member of congress from Indiana is boost ing a proposal for a federal toll highway to hook up with the Pennsylvania turnpike and cross the continent to an undetermined Pacific coast point. Nebraska would logically be on the route of such an undertaking. Toll roads may yet be the solu tion of the much mooted highway problem. * * * Hemoglobin levels—if you know what that is —affects six million American women from 18 to 59 years of age. In other words there are that many of them anemics. And 20 million of us, gents and ladies, are classed among the deaf or hard hearing. * * * The Frontier is one of the 13 Nebraska pa pers listed by the Nebraska Newspaper, organ of the State Press association, which have re ceived awards in newspaper making the past few years. * * * McCarthy in the United States senate and Carpenter in the Nebraska unicam give a touch of drama (or is it tragedy?) to otherwise staid routine sessions. * * * One unionized group asks for an increase in pay, sidestepping the old alibi of living costs but that they are giving the bosses an "in creased output." * * # Of the many jobs a president can hand out, the judicial robe of a federal judge is about the choicest. Editorial . . . New Crusade Gen. Maxwell Taylor, who succeeded Gen eral Van Fleet as commander of the Eighth army, had an interesting comment to make the other day on soldiers as men of faith, according to a re cent issue of the Christian Science Monitor. Impressed by the number of chapels he saw along the Korean front, he declared that people at home might be surprised to see the extent of the soldiers’ interest in things spiritual. Men of the sword, he continued, had propa gated much of the Christian faith, particularly during the Crusades; many cathedrals were built by feudal barons who were leaders of soldiers. And today, he concluded, the United Nations forces are in Korea “because we believe there is a better world we con construct through our efforts as soldiers.” To this high-minded evaluation of the Al lied soldiers and their purpose in Korea, The Monitor added a further distinction. There is one great difference between the “crusade” of today and the “holy war” of earlier centuries. War it self is now generally regarded as essentially un Christian, as (at best) a necessary expedient in the defense of freedom rather than a glorious vir tue in and of itself. To the pacifist who condemns war under any and all circumstances this may seem a small dis tinction; but to the Christian soldier in the front lines it may represent the difference between ac cepting the hideous destruction around him as part of God’s plan for the world and seeing it as the necessary cost of humanity’s failure to avail itself, collectively as individually, of the higher law of God. The guns with which he resists the enemy’s aggression are not the instruments of Christianity. But the courage and faith he may find in a bunk er chapel—or in his own heart—these are the Christian weapons with which the good soldier may help to wipe war from the earth. . 0 Death and Taxes Nothing is certain, it has been said, except death and taxes. In China, according to a report by the official newspaper of the Chinese com munist party central committee, Peiping People s Daily, the two inevitable facts of life are being more closely linked. Hundreds of peasants are committing suicide because of high taxes, the pa per admits, but one wonders whether the concern expressed is for the death toll or for reduced tax collections. O __ The Missouri river on Easter Sunday this year was a model child compared to its violent behavior of a year ago when the worst flood of the century swept down the Valley. The snow blanket in the Dakotas this winter was negligible compared to several feet of snow in 1952. Next comes the special election on O’Neill’s proposed 40-thousand-dollar swimming pool. Balmy skies abetted Easter paraders in North Nebraska cities and towns. Tragedy Averted — Barely George Hammond, the “Voice of The Fron tier” announcer, seldom preaches, but on Mon day’s program he unleashed a two-minute denun ciation aimed at careless motorists he encounter ed on a holiday trip. Saith George: “It isn’t often that the Hammonds—George, Dorothy and the three kids—venture out on a hol iday jaunt on the highways. And, I believe yes terday’s trip from South Sioux City, was our last. “Of all the gol darned crazy fools at the wheels, we met them all! “There was one fellow who was determined to commit suicide. He attempted to pass us only when there was a tight squeeze. Out in the open, where there was lots of room and we were taking it easy to encourage him to pull around, do you suppose he’d do it? No! “Then, we encountered a half-dozen fellows on the last lap, between Orchard and O’Neill, who had no idea what the floor button is for—the button that dims the lights. “Oh yes, and in the hills, I must tell you about the enormous big truck that lumbered by us at no less than 70 miles per hour. We were doing 45 and the traffic was heavy. “I think there were at least four instances when our Easter holiday trip might easily have been tragic. And, brother, that isn’t fair. Because, in those four instances, anyway, an accident would not have been our fault—except that we had no better sense than to venture out on the highways on a holiday. “Next Monday morning we’re going to preach on beer cans and alcohol bottles along the road side ...” Communist peace gestures, under Russia’s new Czar Malenkov, amount only to new strategy. The overall real objective probably is unchanged. How under the sun can Nebraska’s tax situa tion become more muddled than it already is? Editorial & Business Offices: 122 South Fourth St. CARROLL W. STEWART, Editor and Publisher Established in 1880—Published Each Thursday <. _ Entered at the postoffice in O’Neill, Holt county, Nebraska, as second-class mail matter under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879. This news paper is a member of the Nebraska Press Associa tion, National Editorial Association and the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Terms of Subscription: In Nebraska 52.50 pet year; elsewhere in the United States, 53 per year; abroad, rates provided on request. All subscriptions are strictly paid-in-advance. Girls’ State Choice Miss Mary Chvala (above), daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Pete Chvala of Monowi, has been selected as the Lynch high school girls’ state representa tive in June. She is a junior. Highway 108 to Get Resurfacing 6.4 Miles on U.S. 281 Also Allowed Announcement of an award of a contract for resurfacing state highway 108 south of Page was made last Thursday by State Engineer L. N. Ress. Francis R. Orshek company of Fremont is to receive $74,620.21 for rebuilding the 4.4 miles of bituminous surfacing. Nine contractors bid on this job at the March 26 letting. Two of the bids were below the depart ment’s estimate of the cost, Ress said. Orshek’s bid was $3,140.21 less than the next low bid and $13,121.20 beneath the high bid. According to the working sched ule set by the department of roads and irrigation, the contractor is to begin operation by May 11 and complete his construction within 75 working days. Sundays, Nebr aska legal holidays and days when the weather or soil conditions pre vent operations are not counted as working days. Within Page, the new surfacing is to be 47 feet wide, extending to the existing curbs and gutters. The rural width will be 22 feet. All of the resurfacing will be at least five inches thick. Some of the existing bituminous surfacing will be torn up and soils and sands will be added to the bed to improve the foundation. When bids were asked for this project, the highway department announced that this road had the lowest rating in the emergency category of any bituminous sur faced highway on the federal aid secondary system in field div ision eight. A contract for resurfacing U.S. highway 281 for 6.4 miles north of St. Libory also has been awarded. Robert M. Stump of Lincoln, has tne contract and made a low bid of $13,186.90 for the hot-mix resurfacing. Seven firms bid on this job at the March 26 letting and four of the bids were under the highway department’s esti mate of the cost of the work, Ress said. Stump’s bid was $3,494.90 under the closest bid and $28,766 beneath the high bid. The contractor is to begin his work by May 19 and complete it within 100 working days. The hot-mix is to be three in ches thick and 24 feet wide. It will be laid on only one lane at a time, with one-way traffic necessary only in the immediate vicinity of the lay-down machine. One important factor which lowered the rating of this road, Ress said Thursday, is that since 1949 it has cost twice as much per mile to maintain this high way as the average mile of bit uminous highway in the state. Ress pointed out that the three inches of resurfacing will have a cost per mile of nearly $14,600, compared to a $6,800 cost per mile for a three inch thick stab ilized base and a two inch thick bituminous mat laid in 1937. Head for Omaha’s Ak-Sar-Ben Meet ATKINSON— Mr. and Mis. Jasper Hitchcock left Atkinson this week for Omaha where they will be through the Ak-Sar-Ben race meet, which starts next month. The Hitchcocks have 12 horses —several of which have been wintered at Atkinson and others at Harrison. Mr. Hitchcock left Monday with the horses and Mrs. Hitchcock left Wednesday with their house trailer. They will be joined by Wendell Leeling of Harrison, who made his home with the Hitchcocks for several years prior to army duty. A veteran jockey, he recently re turned from overseas and has been separated from the service. Wendell is well-known in the At kinson and O’Neill communities. Frontier for printing! On Florida Trip— John Bowen, w'ho is attending Southern Methodist university at Dallas, Tex., recently went by air to Florida with the universi ty ROTC band to witness an air show on April 1. They stopped at New Orleans, La., traveling both ways. He will be touring the southern states with the univer sity chorus later this month. HEARD AND SEEN With its siren open, a fire truck tore through the Sutton streets. Then it stopped at the fire station and the driver jumped out—to brag about the new truck he was delivering to Wauneta. Star to Meet— The regular meeting of Sym phony chapter 316, Order of IT . Eastern Star, will be held tonight (Thursday), 8 p.m. Dr. Rex W. Wilson, M.D. | PHYSICIAN & SURGEON Offices, 128 W. Douglas St. O’Neill Phones: Office 138, Res. 158 MOWER MAGIC It’s almost as easy as wav in a wand to mow your law with a precision aharp t ened mower. Brinff youra in and have it machine 1 sharpened for easy mow Pete’s Saw Shop ! 491-W — O'Neill LADIES! Here’s a Reminder FREE COOKING DEMONSTRATIONS today (Thursday) . . . 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. . . featuring HOTPOINT’S Home Economist Barbara Gray. Plan to be with us. FREE DOOR PRIZES. Noth ing to buy. Cooking at a touch with the in stant starting 1953 HOTPOINT colored keyed pushbutton electric range. BE OUR GUEST . . . BRING A FRIEND . ■ .i,i ! 1 ^ ; P 1 - ... .—-- , -. - ... - - It Happened In NEBRASKA— Range feuds between big cow outfits and “dry farmers” wrote a vivid chapter in Nebraska history. When the farmers put up fences to protect their acreage, big cattle raisers often cut them down. Then farmers would retaliate on the range fencing of the cattle men. Near Kearney in the ’80’s, it was common for both sides to send out masked men to cut down “enemy” barriers. Today a more law-abiding Nebraska is NEBRASKA DIVISION typified by its tavern industry. Approved , _ and respectable tavern operation is no u ” otates longer the exception; it's the rule—thanks c F retJe^s to a continuing educational program by ,,ou„- foundation the brewing industry. 710 First Nan Bank Bldg., Lincoln m and why \\\\ There’s an old saying that a thing is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Well, if you could tour the wholesale and retail used car auctions around the country, if you could survey hundreds of used car lots you would discover that used Fords bring higher prices than any competitive make—and by substantial amounts. THAT’S WHY we feel our ’53 cars should not be compared with cars in the same price range. Not because our competitors don’t do a good job—obviously they do—but because we feel Ford Cars have more in common with the highest priced automobiles. The similarities are far greater than the differences. For example. Today, the most expensive cars in this country have V-type, 8-cylinder engines. Ford Cars have had this exact same type of engine for over 20 years. What’s more astounding, the current Strato-Star V-8 sells for hundreds of dollars less than several other makers charge for a six-cylinder car. Now there’s nothing wrong with a Six but they do cost less to make. Ford makes a Six—the most modern overhead valve Six in the industry. And if it’s a six-cylinder car you want, Ford has it and for less money than the V-8, which is as it should be. What about ride? Here’s another Ford similarity with high-priced cars . . . Riding Comfort. One of the misconceptions for many years has been that weight—sheer weight—is what it takes to make a car ride well. Ford has found that you can make a 3000-pound car ride softer and hold the road better by far than many cars that weigh a full 1000 pounds more. In the ’53 Ford, for example, front end road shock has been reduced up to 80%. We say it compares most favorably with the heaviest cars sold today. What about automatic transmissions? It would take the fingers of both hands to count the various kinds of automatic and semi-automatic transmissions on the market today. The one we offer is called Fordomatic. It is the most versatile on the market, it represents the most profound consideration of engine-to-wheel power transfer— and that it does the best job for our engines isn’t even open to question. It "shifts” better than you could shift by hand. What you can see is also important. Here again Ford Cars lead not only in their price field but in the medium and upper brackets as well. Ford visibility is Full-CircU Visibility. This means huge, curved unobstructed glass area, front and rear, plus side windows that allow all passengers what the hotels call "room with a view.” Appearance? A higher price, of course, does not make a car more beautiful. Conversely, beauty in a Ford comes "for free.” Ford has found that it costs no more to develop a beautiful car than one that is less pleasing in appearance. You can drive up to the most exclusive doorways in the world and feel perfectly at home in your Ford. Fords "belong” ... in exactly the same social category as the finest, one-of-kind creations. After all, a Ford is a custom creation multiplied. What about running costs? Here’s one place that Ford’s advantages are obvious. For oil and gas economy Ford has the big cars whipped. Ford parts cost less. Ford service charges are less. Ford tire mileage is thousands of miles greater. And, Ford depreciation is the lowest of any car on the market—bar none. What are Fords made of? Some people have the idea that the costliest cars are made of "better stuff.” It’s true that some high-priced cars have costlier upholstery and fittings. What Ford has is so good, both in durability and appearance, that you probably could not tell the difference. You might even prefer it, because of its better design and more pleasing appearance. Then there’s the question of sheet metal. If you were to measure and analyze the sheet metal structure in the most expensive car, you most likely would find it identical in thickness to the cqrresponding panels in Ford. After all, then, what is the difference between a Ford and the costl t cars? In our opinion, the difference is largely a matter of dimensions, weight (and the power required to move it) plus the distinction of owning a car that not so many other people own. The desire for these tilings is understandable . . . and probablv justified for people who are willing to pay the price to satisfy it. As to comparing Ford with other cars in its price range, by all means do so if you wish. But, as we said before, you’ll get a better picture of l ord value by comparing with cars that are most like fords—those that are priced up to twice as much. In fact, we think you’ll quickly begin com paring the other cars with Ford—because the 195.1 Ford has really established the New Standard of the American Road. ’53 FORP Worth more when you buy it . . . Worth more when you sell it . • • Lohaus Motor Co. PHONE 16