r
Prairieland Talk . . .
Bold Thugs Get $2
By ROMAINE SAUNDERS. Retired. Former Frontier Editor
LINCOLN—A quiet evening early in August
just 49 years ago Mrs. J. B. Ryan, seated on the
porch at the Ryan home on East Douglas street,
was approached by two men who demanded that
she turn over any money she had. Mr. Ryan was
away and being alone and confronted by two
thugs, Mrs. Ryan thought the
wise thing to do was to hand
those fellows her purse, which
she did, and they walked away.
The purse contained S2. . . .
That night County Surveyor
Norton and Hugh O’Neill, who
had holed up together in one bed
at the Dewey hotel, were each
robbed, Norton of his watch and
O’Neill his money. The money
and watch were recovered and a
guy caught and landed in jail. . .
It was in the summer of 1904 Romaine
that Congressman Kinkaid saw Saunders
the fruition of a measure he got through congress
that opened for errtry under the homestead act
640-acre homesteads in two townships in Keya
Paha county that had been withheld when the
section homestead law was passed. . . We got a
paper from New York City that year at The Fron
tier with a picture of the democratic candidate
for president and a few other bigwigs, our own
Col. John Maher standing in the center of the
group. . . Sadie Skirving, A. J. Roberts, Mark
Howard, John Howard, C. L. Davis, Pat Welch and
Henry Cook were the O’Neill citizens who drew
land in the Rosebud lottery that year.
• • •
I have just greeted and had a brief visit with
a friend from the Missouri Ozarks who came to
Nebraska for a car of hay. He is in the milking
business. Reports that they are burned up in
south Missouri and he has had to dispose of 40
head of cows and was in south central Nebraska
after feed for as much of his herd as he feels
able to keep. This is now twro years that they
have been short on rainfall and it has begun to
be seriously felt He is a former Nebraskan and
at the suggestion that he “come home” together
with the lure of the hay meadows spread across
prairieland it had an appeal.
mm*
Disaster marks the introduction of the work
of the scientists in the O'Neill community.
Much of the world's progress in science, religion
and learning has left a trail of tragedies along
the way. Out there where Prairieland Talker
roamed as a carefree youth across the open
country six men were crushed to death in a mo
ment. In the previous 70 years that community
knew of but one death, and that from natural
cause. The tragedy of a few days ago is shock
ing. another added to the daily growing list of
similar death plunges that leave desolated
homes, sorrow and tears all over the land.
* * *
“That looks so much better.” I heard a lady
say it to the man by her side as I passed a home.
The world is indebted to the ladies for keeping
the men and things looking respectable. And
then I saw a guy with a begrimed face, indiffer
ently garbed in dirty duds. I thought what he
needed was a competent woman to see that he
cleaned up and then tell him, “That looks so much
better.” Daughter casts a critical eye at me from
time to time and if it’s a clean shirt that’s need
ed, I hear about it. That means, do something
about it.
• * •
In view of what they did down here at the
statehouse to property values in Holt county for
assessment purposes, patriots out on the grass
lands may swing into step with the harassed
property owners who feel there should be a sun
rise firing squad. They need the money at the
statehouse, $8,891,482 the operating expenses for
June. And after a tour of the statehouse and the
annex two miles to the south, you wonder what
it is all about.
A churchman filling a high position in the
great Methodist Episcopal church has been before
the senate committee to clear himself of suspi
cion that he was at least leaning toward the reds.
One senator says the bishop was neither washed
clean nor found guilty. This same bishop was
at one time located in Omaha and messed into
things that left not too good a feeling among Ne
braska Methodists. Churchmen and university
instructors are for the most part loyal Americans,
but that there are some who have flirted with
the Muscovites cannot be denied. The Methodist
church is not what it was in the days of the Wes
leys any more than the Baptist is now’ a Spur
geon or a Lutheran a Martin Luther. Churches
and colleges, as well as various branches of gov
ernment, need to do a bit of housecleaning.
• * •
Young fellows who have married and be
come dads are not to be exempted from mili
tary service unless the extenuating circuit
stances overtake them of being able to show
"extreme hardship and privation." As the
business of a soldier is to die. he has a choice
between death or being a dad encompassed by
"extreme hardship and privation."
• • •
Evening shadows gather over the hot city
; now fanned by a cool breath out of the north.
Sunset but no evening star visible among the
streaks of gold and purple bars where a moment
ago the sun’s burning disk hung above the prairie
rim. The pale half-moon rides high in the south
ern sky, a sky that an hour earlier was overcast
by a solid mass of clouds w’hich floated out of
our view without dropping a tear. The past two
nights had given a wide scope of country refresh
ing show’ers. Rain two nights in succession in late
July is an unusual gift from nature’s rain maker.
Prairie land is robed in summer’s green, yet rath
er than boast there may w’ell be a spirit of hum
ble gratitude for the bounties heaven bestow’s
upon us, while other lands have become but drift
ing sands.
* * *
The car with Minnesota license plates rolled
to a stop at the curb. The man slid out from be
hind the steering wheel and started across the
street to a cafe, followed by a woman who had
slid out the door on the opposite side of the car.
The man swung open the door to the public eat
ing place and went in, assuming the woman
would follow, which she did. Married couple—
probably. And had life’s hard struggles robbed
that man, still youthful, of the chivalry, the cour
tesy, the romance and attention he had once
shown escorting a lady to the banquet board? I
did not go in to watch who paid for the meal, but
that capable woman having found her way to a
table maybe carried the bag with the swag. May
be that’s the way they do in Minnesota.
* • *
The rejection by congress of the president’s
request that the national debt limit be raised
again, this time by 15 billions, no doubt meets
with public approval. The president’s appeal in
this instance is revealing. Ike made a campaign
for the job he got on promises of debt reduction
and curtailing high living costs. These promises
were made in good faith. The result show-s that
political campaign promises are made not know
ing the score. The president desired to cut the
cost of government and should have known that
this is impossible unless our country retires from
its assumed positon of financing the world and
occupying seas and lands with our military- might.
After three weary years on the bloodstained bat
tle fields of Korea, the guns are silenced but
what has been accomplished? The silencing of the
guns for the moment does not means tjie end of
tramping armies on foreign soil. And while this
goes on and appealing hands from abroad are held
out it could be that President Eisenhower needs
another 15 billion.
Editorial . . .
Tragedy in Research
A tragedy claimed the lives of six persons
connected with the widely-publicized Air Force
Cambridge research center’s field project here.
In a single, fateful moment the lives of Dr. Guen
ter Loeser, a civilian, and five air force personnel
were wiped out in the helicopter crash — Holt
county’s most grim tragedy on record.
Broken and charred bodies were mute evidence
of an ill-fated flight that may or may not have
been necessary. However, the annals of pioneering
and researching in most fields are filled with
tragedies.
It would seem to the observer that little if any
danger would attend a peacetime field project of
this type, where tranquility prevails, where pla
cid cattle graze in vast pastures, and where un
obstructed winds whisper and blow as they’ve
done fox centuries.
There are broken homes strewn from Cal
ifornia to Massachusetts. There are homes in
which msnlion of the name O'Neill forever will
bring back sorrowful memories.
We were told by the pilot, Capt. Charles A.
Johnson, that the craft was not wholly air-worthy.
We were convinced by the close relationship be
tween Captain Johnson and the crew chief-flight
engineer, S/Sgt. Robert Ide, that there was a
fine degree of harmony between the two, and
both mutually respected the other’s technical
knowledge and ability. The writer of this editorial
had an opportunity to superficially inspect the
curious whirlibird craft shortly after its arrival
and we talked with both Captain Johnson and
Sergeant Ide at length in a tape-recorded inter
view.
We feel qui e certain the flight was not un
dertaken until after there had been consultation.
We know something of Doctor Loeser’s eager 1
and thorough mture. He was a research sci
entist first, iast and always and literally bounc
ed about O’Neill’s streets in pursuit of his ob
jective. His keen mind was highly geared to the
task here that lay ahead. Often he spoke to us
about the fine progress that had been made in
preparations for the test. The inception and plan
ning for the O'Neill venture, officially known as
the Great Plains Turbulence Field Project, to a
great degree was Doctor Loeser’s work, and cer
tainly he would have figured prominently in the
consummation of the work.
We feel that Doctor Loeser had a minute
study of air turbulence in mind since the 1930’s,
when a smaller-stale test was conducted in Liep
zig, Germany — a study in which he played a
prominent role.
Doctor Loeser was immeasurably proud of his
14-year-old son, Rudolph, who was on the test
site at the time of the tragedy. We are cer
tain Doctor Loeser was a fine father; there is
ample evidence he deserved the international
lame that he enjoyed among scientific thinkers;
and we feel he would have made a valuable
United States citizen had not this ’copter tragedv
interfered.
Captain Johnson was a quiet, modest fellow
who faltered when we asked him what wartime
decorations he had earned. He had a host of them,
' m
. ■
we learned before his death, but Captain Johnson
did not readily expand on his wartime exploits.
This is typical of a true war hero. He was a vet
eran fighter and ’copter pilot with a fine record
and some of his deeds were published in maga
zines and newspapers.
Sergeant Ide was a cheerful Scranton, Pa., chap
who was extremely courteous and who showed
great interest in the fact that Gen. John O’Neill,
the father of this community, had recruited from
Scranton in the 187t)’s a colony of settlers. Ser
geant Ide told us he “vaguely” was aware of
General O’Neill, and brightened with the happy
prospect of “finding some relation here.”
We did not know three other members of the
crew—Lt. Francis Gasque of Conway, S.C.; A/2c
Donald E. Eddy of Clarington, O., or A/2c Fran
cis G. Mapes of Monocqua, Wise. But Doctor Loe
ser, Captain Johnson and Sergeant Ide were
representative of the fine type of civilian and
military personnel making O’Neill their tempo
rary home.
This issue of The Frontier, bearing tragic
photographic and word-picture evidence of the
’copter crash, will reach bereaved relatives and
friends across the land.
We can only say that we are very sorry for
what has happened, and that, while they were not
our own, folks in the O’Neill community never
will forget.
The death of Sen. Robert Taft of Ohio, per
haps is the severest blow to the republican party
—if not to the nation—in many years. Through
out the Roosevelt-Truman dynasty in the white
house, “Mr. Republican” was the opposition bul
wark. His convictions were strong and unwaiver
ing, he was prompt and forthright with his opin
ions, and he was universally respected for these
virtues among friends and foes. A strong two
party system has been an American tradition.
Without Mr. Taft’s constant alertness and being
a champion of the republican cause during the
prolonged GOP drouth, we doubt if there would
have been but little core left for the November,
CARROLL W. STEWART, Editor and' Publisher
Editorial & Business Offices: 122 South Fourth St.
Address correspondence: Box 330, O’Neill, NeLr.
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
newspaper is a member of the Nebraska Press
Association, National Editorial Association and
the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
Terms of Subscription: In Nebraska, $2.50 per
year; elsewhere in the United States, $3 per
year; rates abroad, provided on request. All sub
scriptions are paid-in-advance.
Audited (ABC) Circulation—2,200 (Mar. 31, 1953).
Out of Old Nebraska ... ,
Newman Known as
Cattle Pioneer
—
Got Idea from Vast
Buffalo Herds
By JAMES C. OLSON. Supt.
State Historical Society
An ever fascinating aspect of
the story of old Nebraska is ihe
history of the range cattle indus
try. Among the pioneers of me
Nebraska range cattle industry—
and for that matter of the wnole
western range cattle industry—
was E. S. Newman. In an inter
esting article for a recent issue
of Nebraska History, the quarter
ly magazine of your state Histor
ical society, Robert H. Burns of
the University of Wyoming tells
the story of the Newman ranches.
The vast herds of buffalo
spread out over the plains gave
tnoughiful travelers the idea
that the area would sustain
callle. The first direct evidence
that cattle could prosper on the
plains, however, came quite by
accident — an accident that
happened to E. S. Newman.
Mr. Newman, engaged in
freighting supplies to the mount
ains was snowed up on the Lar
amie plains during the winter of
1864- 65. He arranged the train
as best he could then turned the
cattle out to die in the wasteland.
To his surprise, tne worn out
' cattle began to improve from the
start and the next March were
rounded up in better shape than
they were when originally set
adrift to starve. This discovery
led to the purchase of stock cattle
for fattening in the north and
the ultimate development of the
great northern range cattle in
dustry.
Mr. Newman grew rich in the
freighting business and branched
out into banking, operating in
Leavenworth, Sah Lake City,
St. Louis, Joplin, Mo., and El
Paso, Tex. He also followed up
his lead in the cattle business,
developing extensive ranching
| operations in Nebraska and Mon
tana.
His Nebraska operations are
of the greatest interest to us.
—/
—
The Newman ranch was located
at the mouth of Antelope creek
on the Niobrara, about i2 miles
east of tne present town of
Gordon. It was a big ranch
for the time, handling from
10.000 to 15.000 head.
Ranching along the Niobrara
was made both possible and pro- i
fitable by the gathering in of i
the Sioux Indians to Roseoud and
Pine Ridge reservations. With
that ranchers could run their
cattle in the former Sioux area
north of the sandhills and the :
reservations themselves provided
an important outlet for the mark
eting of Niobrara region, each
had government contracts for
furnishing fresh beef to the In
dians on the Rosebud and Pine
Ridge reservations. Most of the
Newman cattle w*nt to Pine
Ridge.
Mr. Newman .along with many
other ranchers lost heavily
during the middle 1880's. He sold
his holdings in Nebraska and
moved his cattle to Montana.
Mr. Burns visited the old New
man ranch last year. He described
the site in Nebraska History. One
of the original buildings was still
standing at the mouth of Ante
lope Creek. The old hewn logs,
however, were covered with sid
ing. weathered and broken. That
building and the reminiscences of
some of the men who worked for
the Newmans are about all that
remain of this once great ranch
ing operation.
When You and I were Young . . .
Lynch Points to
Electricity, Water
50 Years Ago
Barney Mullen stepped off the
Black Hills passenger train long
enough to shake hands with a
few friends at the depot . . .
Michael McCoy sold his farm, 10
miles noTtheast o>f O’Neill, for
S2.000. The purchaser was from
Michigan. Five years ago the
farm w-as offered for S500, but
no buyer appeared. . . The Boston.
Bloomers ball game was said to
be the best game ever put up in
the county. The Bloomers are all
ball players, conducted them
selves as ladies, and won the
same on a score of 7-3. . . David
Ward and family of Chamebsrs
were poisoned by ea*ing a box
of sardines. Mr. Ward, one son
and one daughter died. Paralysis
had set in before they received
medical attendance. . . . Lee Card
was captured by Sheriff Hall on
the Ray McClure ranch 18 miles
south of O’Neill. Card was
charged with the assualting of
John B. Hodge of Lake Town
ship. . . . Charles Mohr was in
jured seriously when hanging up i
a loaded shotgun. A nail hit
the trigger causing the gun to
discharge into his left hand and
lower arm. It was necessary to
amputate the shattered part of
the arm. . . Electric lights, water
works system and an artesian
well are some enterprises pending
in Lynch.
20 Years Ago
Rev. H. D. Johnson and a party
t ■ .—■ ...
of boy scouts went to the exposi
tion at Chicago for two weeks. . .
C. P. Hancock resigned from 20
years of service as bookkeeper in
the O’Neill National bank and
joined his son, Charles, to open
an insurance and real estate of
fice . . D. H. Cronin drove to
Nebraska City to get bis wife
and family, Marjorie and Richard,
who had been visiting relatives
there. . . The St. Mary’s alumni
held a picnic at the Andy Clark
place.
10 Years Ago
Dorothy Wilson underwent a
tonsilectomy. . . Sgt. Lewis Green
of Chambers was killed in a veh
icle accident at Camp Chaffee,
Ark. . Miss Constance Golden
returned Friday from Cheshire,
• J0
Conn., where she had spent a
month’s vacation with relatives
Jack Gallagher joined the navy
and went to Omaha to be trans
ferred to duty at another pomt.
Miss Helen Biglm went to Calif
ornia to spend several we< is
there on vacation.
One Year Ago •
Russell Miner was serious! , in
jured when run over by a truck
enroute to a grass fire. Ke was
placed in a full length cast .. The
hospital at Stuart was closed dne
to the doctor’s departure . . On
July 26, Miss Judy Martin be
came the bride of Pvt. Robert
Shaw. . . On August 3, Mr and
Mrs. Lyle McKim were hosts at
a McKim family reunion held
in Ford’s park.
-. i—
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"O'NEILL DAY"
At the Burwell Rodeo
I
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12TH
O’Neill Saddle Club Will Perform
CHOICE RESERVED SEATS^ To gain admission and be
absolutely assured of a good seat you must have re
served seats. There are on sale at PETERSEN’S CLOTHING,
McCARVILLES CLOTHING, GOLDEN HOTEL and SLAT’S
CAFE.
/
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M
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