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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 6, 1953)
-VOICE OF THE FRONTIER” TWELVE PAGES ★ SECTION 1 Pages 1 to 12 0:45 A.M. — 780 k.c. . j ..' f Volume 73. Number 14. O Neill, Nebraska, Thursday, August 6, 1933. Seven Cents Freight Engine Hits Motor Car; Man Dies Young Mother Dies in Omaha Survivors Include 3 Small Sons The mother of three small sons, the youngest of whom was only a few hours old, died Saturday ;n St. Catherine’s hospital, Omaha. Funeral services for Mrs. Owen Moore, 34, the former Margaret Mary Earley of O’Neill, were conducted at 9 o’clock Tuesday morning, August 4, from St. Pat rick’s Catholic church. Very Eev. Mrs. Moore . . . burial here. Timothy O’Sullivan officiated and burial was in Calvary cem etery under the direction of Big 1 in Brothers. Pallbearers were Robert Gal lagher, John Cleary, John Con way, Michael Bonenberger, Louis Zastrow, Edward Murray, Ber nard Pongratz and James Dono Jl9e. The late Mrs. Moore was born April 4, 1919, on the family farm located 15 miles north west of O'Neill, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James T. Earley. She received her grade school and high school education at Si. Mary’s academy, graduating in 1936' After attending Nebraska uni versity she worked in Denver five years. It was in Denver she met and married Owen Moore of Amarillo, Tex. They were married on September 21, 1946. The Mooses resided for several years in Wisconsin after Mr. Moore was recalled to duty as an army captain. Upon his release from the army, they purchased a home in Omaha. a we x»iuuica uccaxiic liic jjuxcuia of three sons—Michael, Leo and Bruce Allan, the latter born im mediately prior to his mother’s death. Survivors include: Widower sons — Michael, Len and Bruce Allan; parents — Mr. and Mrs. James T. Earley of O’Neill: broth ers — Robert of Syossett, L.I., N.Y., Joseph of Fremont and James of O’Neill. Among those from out-of-town attending the funeral were: Nel son F. Moore of Geneva, O., Mrs. Mamie Rohrbaugh of Youngs town, 0-. and Mrs. Harold Mor gan of Fostoria, O., brother and sisters of Mr. Moore; Robert Ear ley of Syossett, L.I., N.Y.; Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Earley of Fre mont; William McCormick and Leo Anderson, both of Omaha; Mrs. Cecil Muller of Omaha and her mother, Mrs. Ella Gaughan of North Bend; Edward T. Ear ley of North Bend. Cronin Nominated i to Head State Bar Julius D. Cronin, 58, veteran O’Neill attorney and prominent for many years in Nebraska re publican' politics, has been nom inated to head the Nebraska State Bar association He is the only nominee for the post, according to an announcement issued by the nominating committee. The association’s president, three vice-presidents and ex ecutive council member-at-large will be elected at the 1953 annual meeting to be held in Omaha November 12 and 13. Cronin is a native of O’Neill end the son of the late D. H. Cronin, pioneer editor of The Frontier and veteran Nebraska legislator. He was a delegate to the re publican national convention in 1936 and 1948. Vern Cunningham, 58 yea*--old Oakdale man, was fatally injured about 8:40 a.m., Thursday, July 30, when the motor ear on which ie had been riding was struck hy an eastbound Chicago & North Western freight tram at a point about three miles west of Emmet. Three O’Neill crewmen — James Boyle, Hans Saas and A1 Bosn—jumped free of the west bound motor car when they saw the freight train rounding a curve and bearing down on them. Boyle got off the car and ran ahead to flag down the train while Cunningham, Saas and Bosn tried to stop the car by applying the brakes^ and put ting it in reverse. ' When they saw their efforts were to no avail, it is reported the three abandoned the car. Cunningham is said to have re turned to the car for some lea son and he was fatally injured in the head-on crash. County Assessor William Wef so of Atkinson, heading eastward toward O’Neill on US. highway 20, assisted in loading the in jured man into his auto and took him to St. Anthony’s hospital here, accompanied by Boyle and Saas. Bosn stayed with the wreck age. Supt. A. L. Eckles of the rail road’s Norfolk office said the crew apparently didn’t see the freight train until it was very close to them. At 10:15 o’clock Mr. Cunning ham died. He was a relief section foreman on duty at O’Neill. Military funeral services were conducted at 2 p.m., Saturday from the Methodist church in Oakdale. Mr. Cunningham was a veteran of World War I. Burial was at Oakdale. His wife died in July, 1945 Survivors include one daughter, Mrs. Lois James, of Neligh. Carl Pettijohn Dies in Hospital Veteran Hay Inspector 111 a Week Funeral services were conduct- ■ ed at 10 a.m., Wednesday, August 5, from the Biglin Brothers fu neral chapel for Carlton W. Pet tijohn, 74, an O’Neill resident who died at 7:15 p.m., Sunday, August 2, in St. Anthony’s hospi tal. He had submitted to surgery about a week before his death and failed to recover. Rev. Charles Phipps, Wesleyan connolly 24 FP Methodist church pastor in At kinson, officiated. Burial was in Prospect Hill cemetery. Pallbear ers were Charles Beilin, Roy Johnson, Lawrence Jonas, H. E. Coyne, Roy Worth and Justin Butterfield. The late Mr. Pettijohn was born December 24, 1878, at Rav nard, 111., a son of Robert and Elizabeth Connley Pettijohn. He came to Holt county from Long Pine in 1896. He was a hay in spector by occupation. On January 3, 1918, at Neligh he married the former Amanda Martha Greseck. They became the parents of one son. Survivors include: Widow; son —Frank of Bensenville, 111.; three grandchildren. Dobson’s Enter Low Paving Bid w The Dobson Bros. Construction company of Lincoln, successful bidder at the letting of contracts a fortnight ago for O’Neill’s new swimming pool, held the low card again Friday night when the city council met in special session to open bids on eight blocks of paving. Dobson’s were three thousand aollars under the next highes bidder on the total amount for paving and improving of streets in districts number 7 and 8. The districts embrace four square blocks adjoining the center of the city and the con tract calls for eight lineal blocks of concrete paving. (Continued on page 6.) Gas Flare Lighting August 13 Color Ceremony Will Usher in Use of Natural Gas Here i A flare-lighting ceremony next Thursday evening, August 13, will mark the inauguration of natural gas service into O’Neill. Mayor J. E. Davis will light the flare in front of the Holt county courthouse. Officers of Kansas - Nebraska Natural Gas company will attend. Of 14 communities in north east Nebraska to which the com pany is building lines, O’Neill is the third to be connected. Kan sas-Nebraska is investing more than $1,70,0,000 in the extension of its system north of Neligh lo bring gas to O’Neill, Plainview, Osmond, Creighton, Inman, Bloomfield, Wausa, Randolph, Laurel, Hartington, Coleridge^ Clearwater, Ewing and Pierce. Gas to serve O’Neill is brought from the Hugoton field in soutn ern Kansas and northern Okla homa, the largest gas field in the world. Kansas-Nebraska also draws gas from fields in western Ne braska and eastern Colorado. In these three fields the com pany gathers gas from 230 wells. ihe company also has 40 addi tional wells available and await ing connection to its gathering facilities. It is estimated that the company has a reserve supply of gas equal to 30 times the annual consumption of its present cus tomers. Kansas-Nebraska Natural (las company was founded in 1936. It pioneered the bringing of natural gas service to smaller cities and towns of Kansas and Nebraska. The company was built on faith and courage, a spokesman for the company said. At the time of its organization, other leaders in the gas industry warn ed that bringing gas to the small communities scattered over a large area was risky business. But Kansas - Nebraska officer visioned the cordial reception of natural gas service and went ahead with the venture. O’Neill is the 173d town to be connected to the Kansas-Nebras ka system. The population of the communities served in north-cen tral Kansas, central and western Nebraska, and eastern Coloraao totals more than 250,000. One hundred twelve commun ities are provided retail service by Kansas-Nebraska. In 59 ether communities the company brings its pipe lines to the town border where gas is supplied on a whole sale basis to other companies which distribute the gas In the company's new north eastern Nebraska extensions, all communities will be served at retail except Pierce. There the company will wholesale the gas to the Central Gas & Elec trie company. Although the total population served by Kansas-Nebraska is not as large as many companies serve in a single city, Kansas Nebraska must maintain 3,400 miles of pipe line to serve its customers. In its new northeast Nebraska division, Kansas-Nebraska will have 36 regular employees. Char les S. Duncan, district manager, states that about half of these will be hired locally. “Over its entire system the company em ploys about 550 people,” Duncan said. O’Neill employees are Manager Cecil Baker, George Bosn, Free man Knight, Leland Lieb, Bex Stowell. Orville Dye, Lowell Nes bitt and Miss Deritha Smith. Plans for completing the wind study here will continue, despite the loss of six lives in the helicopter tragedy. Prof. Vern Suomi (left), Ben Davidson (center) and Dr. Heinz Lettau discuss problepis on the test site. Professor Suomi is from the University of Wisconsin. Davidson and Lettau are directors of the project. A third di rector, Dr. Guenter Loeser. died in the 'copter crash.—The Frontier Photo. 6 Die in ’Copter Crash; Research Going Ahead - A i A i • ... —r- -■ ...^^^^ljnfffBMr"^ Helicopter wreckage ... six persons instantly killed.—The Frontier Photo. ★★★ ★★★ t ★★★ Arrow points to rotor mechanism where blade snapped off.—The Frontier Photo. -—--—. i Sarah Connolly Long 111, Dies O’Neillite Expires in Beverly Hills Mrs. Sarah Connolly, 82, a longtime resident of the O’Neill community, died at 9:15 o’cIock Wednesday morning, August 5, at the home of her daughtef, Mrs. John Dailey, at Beverly Hills, Calif. She had been ill for some time. Mrs. Connolly resided here un til two months ago when she went to California to reside with her daughter. Funeral arrangements for the burial at Beverly Hills have net been completed. Sarah Slattery, daughter of the late Michael and Sarah Slattery, was born on June 10, 1871, in Pittsburgh, Pa. After coming to this area she married Patrick J. Connolly, who worked for the railroad and later operated a cream station until his death several years ago. They became the parents of two chilldren— Joseph and Gertrude. Joseph preceded her in death about five years ago. Survivors include: Daughter— Mrs. John (Gertrude) Dailey of 1823 Fox Hills drive, Beverly Hills, Calif.; brother—Ed Slattery of Winter, Wise.; sister — Mrs. Clyde (Katherine) Hiatt of O’ Neill; several nieces and ne phews. Arrives from Glendale— Mrs. Alice Bridges arrived last Thursday from Glendale, Calif., where she had been living for the past year. On Monday she resumed her job as secretary to Julius D. Cronin, O’Neill attor ney. Mrs. Bridges is making her home in an apartment in the William Artus home. Her son, Pfc. James Bridges, will arrive today (Thursday) from Ft. Bragg, N.C., to spend a furlough here. Holt Teachers on Mexico Tour Miss Lucille Mitchell of Stuart, Miss Leah Serck of Emmet and Miss Leona Fern Beckwith of Atkinson left Omaha Tuesday morning, July 28, with 34 other Nebraska school teachers for an extended tour of Mexico. Miss Elja McCullough, former Holt county superintendent of schools, is director of the tour. Miss McCullough currently is dean of women at Dana college, Blair. Enroute to Mexico, they visited places in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. One complete day was spent in the historical town of Laredo, Tex. The group will be back Aug 10.. Crash Sidelights Tired Warrior— Capt. Charles A. Johnson, pilot, was a veteran of 13 years in the air force. He arrived on the Korean war scene early and spent nearly a year and a half there, originally flying fighter planes and rounding out his stay there as a ’copter pilot doing rescue work on the west coast of Korea. Captain Johnson was the father of three children. He carried an unofficial card which testified to his Korean duty. “This certifies that Capt. Charles A. Johnson has served his time in hell,” the card stated, signifying he had run the gamut in the Far East. He would not readily discuss his war exploits, and when asked during a “Voice of The Frontier” radio interview what decorations he had earned, he simply didn’t say. Captain Johnson was of slight ly above average height, wore a short haircut and was an intelli gent, quiet, pleasant fellow. He impressed this Frontier reporter as a tired warrior who had been given a research assignment far less arduous than the jobs he had been on. But that isn’t the way things turned out. * * * I Bodies Escorted— Bodies of the ’copter crash vic tims were forwarded Saturday night by rail from Sioux City to the respective hometowns. They were accorded military escort. Funeral services for Dr. Guenter Loeser will be conducted today (Thursday) in Boston, Mass. The rites will be conducted at 2 p.m., from the Mt. Auburn chapel. * * * Gasque Just Arrived— Lt. Francis Gasque drove in from Boston, Mass., about 11:30 o’clock on the eve of the fateful accident. He was copilot on the flight but was sent here to re lieve Captain Johnson on arouno the-clock operations as pilot. * * * Another 'Copter Requested— Maj. Oscar Tibbets said Wed nesday another helicopter has been requested for continuation (Continued on page 6) By a Staff Writer Six persons including a famous German scientist were killed instantly at 10:47 a.m., Thursday, July 30, when an air force H-18 helicopter crashed in a J. B. Ryan pasture located about six miles northeast of O’Neill. The three-ton ’copter which had reached O’Neill only a few days before, appeared to disintegrate when one of the rotor blades broke loose while the craft was preparing to land. The ’copter hit the earth with a rending crash, having gone out of control at an altitude of about one hundred feet. Perhaps 75 persons witnessed the accident. Killed were: DR. GUENTER LOESER. 40, 41 Paul street, Watertown, Mass.; husband of Mrs. Isle Loeser, same address. CAPT. CHARLES A. JOHNSON, about 33, pilot, native of San Gabriel, Calif.; husband of Mrs. Grace M. Johnson, Lexington, Mass. LT. FRANCIS GASQUE, Conway, S.C., copilot; son of Archie M. Gasque, same address. S/SGT. ROBERT IDE, about 25, crew chief and flight engineer; son of William A. Ide, Scranton, Pa. A/2c DONALD E. EDDY, about 21, son of Mrs. Ella V. Eddy, Clarington, O. A/2c FRANCIS G. MAPES, about 23, son of Mrs. Viola G. Mapes, Monocqua, Wise. Doctor Loeser . . . interna tionally famed scientist. —The Frontier Photo (transmitted around the world by Associat ed Press Wirephoto). Captain Johnson . . . highly - decorated fighter and 'copter pilot.—The Frontier Photo. f — ^ Recent Visitor at Ewing Drowns EWING—Mrs. Anna Pollock received word Sunday telling of the death by drowning of her nephew, Wayne Divan. The ac cident happened in a reservoir near White Clay, S.D. She left Monday for Gordon to be near the youth’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Divan and to attend the funeral. Wayne was discharged from the navy about a month ago and was a guest of his aunt for a few days at Ewing. Loeser Wagered on Moon Trip, By CAL STEWART Editor. The Frontier A young teenage science stu dent from the Saar basin and the son of the editor of Germany’s foremost scientific journal en thusiastically posted what may seem to have been preposterous bets with some of the older Eur opean scientists. That was in 1928. Guenter Loeser, in those days a high school physics student spending weekends studying un der Professor Currie at Sorbonne university in Paris, contended that before he (Loeser) attained the age of 50 a successful ex pedition from the earth to the back of the moon would have been completed. The bets were readily grabbed up. Doctor Loeser’s brilliant ca reer ended abruptly at the age of 40 in a helicopter accident near O’Neill on Thursday, July 30. This enthusiasm for interplan etary explorations, however, will be carried on by his compatriots. Doctor Loeser, one of the di rectors of the Great Plains Turb ulence Field Project now in pro gress near here, was interested in space flights as a hobby. He organized the Interna tional Society of Interplanetary Scientists, largely composed of scientists from Britain, France, Germany and the U.S. He be came the society's first secre tary and discussed the organ ization in the United Nations at Lake Success, N.Y. Doctor L'o e s e r ’ s scientific knowledge was so valuable that the Hitler government assigned him to the Krupp munitions works prior to and during World War II. He was a ballistics ex pert and helped develop the fa mous V-2 rockets, which had a terrifying effect on England, principally London, during the late war. During the Germans’ shelling of Sebastopol (bitterly defended Russian city), Loeser was flown to the eastern front during the night to make adjustments on a custom - built nazi gun that sprawled over six railroad cars. With Germany prostrate fol lowing the war, he “mended watches” for farmers and vil lagers in the Saar basin. They exchanged milk and eggs for watch and clock Repairing. Loeser’s elderly father died and Guenter, then in his mid thirties, took over as editor of the magazine in a limited way. The country’s economy was wrecked but the scientists kept at research in the western zone. They labored under all kinds of trying conditions, the doctor has told us. “You’d be surprised at the re sults that came out of unheated rooms and makeshift labora ! tories,” he explained. The Western Germany postwar government had few resources for continuing meteorological re search, so Doctor Loeser accept ed an opportunity to work for the U.S. air force research center at Cambridge, Mass. “I had an opportunity to estab lish for the government of Mex ico a weather forecasting system —an attractive offer, it was—but I preferred to bring my family to the U.S. I am not content to work with my hands in routine things,” he explained. “I am a re searcher.” He fold us how difficult it was for any organization ex (Continued on page 6) s r irst persons to reach the crash scene were A/lc Edward G. Populo and A/2c Wallace E. Wimmer, who hastily boarded a jeep driven by Wimmer and rushed to the scene. Populo suc ceeded in pulling Captain John son’s body from the cockpit and together they freed the body of Lieutenant Gasque. They heard a hissing sound and anticipated an explosion and fire. They safely withdrew from the death scene with only a few seconds to spare. It was generally considered that all six persons died in stantly in what was Holt coun ty's worst single accident of any description and Nebraska's second worst air tragedy since the close of World War II. One of the wrist watches worn by a crew member stopped at 10:47. Maj. Oscar J. Tibbets of Mc Lean, Tex., commanding officer of the military personnel, with held names of the personnel un til after notification of the acci dent had been made to and acknowledged by next-of-kin. Captain Johnson and Sergeant Ide had flown the ’copter—the biggest standard model used by the air force and navy—to O’Neill from Hansen field at Bedford, Mass. They had left Bedford on Friday, July 24, stopping at Syra cuse, N.Y., Battle Creek, Mich., and Des Moines, la., on their hopscotch transcontinental trip to O’Neill—traveling about two thousand miles. The craft reached O’Neill at 6:10 p.m., on Monday, July 27. Captain Johnson, a veteran fight er pilot who had also received numerous decorations for ’copter rescue work on the Korean west coast, indicated to The Frontier that all was not well with the machine and that he had requisi tioned a new blade. (Main mech anism was a three-blade variable pitch rotor.) On Wednesday, July 29, Cap tain Johnson and Sergeant Ide “revved up” the plane and the pilot lifted the four-wheel land ing gear several feet off the ground. On that fateful Thursday morning, about 9 o'clock. Cap tain Johnson and Doctor Loe ser made a test flight. Ground observers said the 'copter was put through its paces and its reactions and maneuverability appeared to be normal. Apparently it was then the de cision was made to make the test flight with six persons aboard. Loeser, Johnson, Gasque and Ide made up the complement for test purposes, and Eddy and Mapes, nonflying personel, were mem bers of the ’copter’s ground main tenance crew. The ’copter worked its way to about four thousand feet and a rack of 12 smoke bombs was dropped. This is procedure that had been rehearsed earlier at Cape Cod, Mass., and was to be followed here in connection with the wind research. During this flight the ’copter had been seen over O’Neill and its functioning was considered normal. Finally, tne Dig crait Degan ns descent. Normal procedure from that altitude is to circle about twice and land on the third round. When the ’copter gets down to within several hundred feet of the ground, the pilot “guns” the rotor and the plane “meshes” or eases to the ground. When the rotor acceleration set-in, witnesses said, the blade fell off and became entangled in the rear stabilizing propellor (vertical). From that point — about one hundred feet in the air —the disintegration began and the main fuselage, housing the personnel, controls and engine, plunged straight downward with terrific impact. Because the landing and tak ing off of any type of an air (Continued on page 6)
