“VOICE” ---
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Sat. _ ^__- > ~ .
9:45 A.M. — 780 k.c. • | Pages 1 t0 8
North-Central Nebraska’s BIG Newspaper
Volume 73.—Number 30. O’Neill, Nebr., Thursday, November 26, 1 953. Seven Cents
Reservations Pour in
for Stock Meeting
<6*
Chief Burks . . . spent World
* War II on busy destroyer.
. Navy Chief Quits
After 20 Years
R.- J. Burks Enters
Insurance Field
Navy Chief R. J. (“Bob") Burks
hung up his navy garb this week
after 20 years of active duty, in
cluding a long and colorful car
eer during World War II.
He is the son of Mrs. Laura
Burks of O’Neill, the former
Laura Stannard.
In 1933 young Burks graduated
tfrom St. Mary’s academy here
and several months later joined
up with the navy. Duty was fair
ly routine for Burks—until Pearl
Harbor. He escaped the Jap as
sault without a scratch although
many of his comrades perished
„ in the memorable December 7,
11941, attack.
As a chief machinist's male,
Burks spent the entire war in
the Pacific aboard the busy
destroyer, USS Hubby. He par
ticipated in numerous invasions
as the navy helped clear the
islands to the Jap homeland.
For 24 months his mother did
not hear from him. Once in the
Atlantic the task forcje hit a
minefield with the result many
seamen were drowned — but
Burks emerged okay.
On January 25, 1949, he married
Eileen Sullivan, daughter of Mrs.
Ellen Sullivan of O’Neill. They
now have four children—two sons
and two daughters and live at
San Diego, Calif., where Mr.
Burks will join his uncle, George
Stannard, in the insurance bus
iness.
Youth. 18, Driver
of Death Auto
Don Renze, 18, son of Mr. and
Herman Renze of O’Neill, was
•• driver of a car which went out
of control about 2:30 a.m., Mon
day on state higwhay 15, two
miles north of Hartington. A pas
senger, James Suing, 18-year-old
Hartington youth, was killed.
The machine overturned after
it went out of control, Renze told
authorities. Renze escaped with
. cuts and bruises.
‘ The accident brought to 25 the
number of highway fatalities in
the 15 - county area covered by
the Nebraska safety patrol at
. Norfolk.
Renze was home on leave from
the navy. He was taken to Sacred
Heart hospital at Yankton, S.D.,
where his condition is fair.
Renze’s father is employed by
Consumers Public Power district
' at O’Neill.
Green to Establish
Bakery at Mitchell
Lyle Green, veteran employee
. at the M&M Cafe and Bakery,
announced this week his plans
for establishing a bakery at
Mitchell, near Scotts bluff,
“around the first of the year.”
Mitchell has been without a
bakery for several years.
Mr. and Mrs. Green will be
leaving O’Neill in about a month.
They have three children—Rich
ard, Donald and Luetta.
They plan to sell their resi
dence here.
Raymond Anderson
Funeral Is Held
RUTl'E— Raymond Anderson,
49, of Butte died at a Lynch hos
pital Friday.
He is survived by his wife, An
na; two daughters, Sharon and
Romo, and a son, Randall, all of
Butte; one sister, Doris Anderson,
and three brothers, Darold and
Arden Anderson of Butte and
Maynard Anderson of Grafton.
Funeral services were at the
Butte Community church Tues
day.
PUBLISHES EARLY
This issue of the Frontier went
to press 24 hours ahead of the
normal schedule in order that
all subscribers in the O’Neill re
gion might receive their papers
before the Thanksgiving holidays.
Rural and city mail routes ex
cept star routes) do not carry
mail on national holidays. The
size of this issue is curtailed but
newsmatter and advertising o
mitted will be published next
week.
Reservations are being readily
taken up for the regional meeting
of the Nebraska Stock Growers
association at O’Neill on Thurs
day, December 3, according to
an announcement by D. C. Schaf
fer, president of the cattlemen’s
association.
Mr. Schaffer reminds those yet
planning to attend this big one
day meeting to notify H. J. Lo
haus of O’Neill to assure banquet
leservations and necessary lodg
ing requirements.
The meeting session begins at
9:30 a.m., at the Royal theater. A
noon luncheon for all visiting la
dies will be held in First Meth
odist church. The evening ban
quet at the American Legion
audtiorium will feature an ad
dress by Carl E. Bahmeier, ex
ecutive secretary of the South
Dakota Bankers’ association. A
dance will follow.
Four speakers will appear on
the day program to discuss the
agricultural outlook for 1954, the
unicameral legislature, cattle
supports and beef promotion.
The convention committee was
fortunate to secure an official of
the United States department of
agriculture to report on a com
pleted study of 1954 prospects,
Mr. Schaffer declares. He is Har
old F. Breimyer, agricultural eco
nomic statistician from Washing
'if' i .HMnrriurn
Rohlwing . . . will encourage
beef producers fo advertise.
ton, who promises to have as re
liable information as is available.
Another speaker and a man
who is versed in a problem of
the cattle industry is Erich Rohl
wing from the American Meat in
stitute. His discussion about beef
promotion will be a timely one,
Mr. Schaffer infers, declaring
that a better understanding on
how to advertise beef is needed.
“What’s Good and What’s Bad
About the Unicameral Legisla
ture,” is the title of the address
by Stan Matzke, news editor,
commentator and agricultural
analyst for radio stations KRVN
and KOIL. Dan Hanson of
Hat Creek, Wyo., a rancher, will
present his conclusions on the
practicability of price supports
on livestock. The latter address
alone also should be worth driv
ing to O’Neill to hear, Mr. Schaf
fer concludes.
As a final bid for attendance,
the officers and convention com
mittee of the Nebraska Stock
Growers are eager for as many
cattlemen and their wives as
possible to take advantage of
hearing these discussions on
down-to-earth problems of the
industry.
2 Boyd Young Men
Face Check Charge
Waive Hearing and
Released on Bond
Two Boyd county young men
v/ere released on $500 bond Sat
urday after being held two days
in the Holt county jail.
Victor Rockford, 20, and Thom
as Thompson, 21, both of Bris
tow, will face check forgery
charges in Holt county district
court. Thompson is alleged to
have issued a check to Rockford
for $96.50 and the check was
used November 17 to purchase a
firearm from Fred Saunto of O’
Neill.
Names used on the check were
alleged to be fictitious—“Thom
as” and “Rutherford”. The check
did not clear the bank on which
it was drawn.
The Boyd county sheriff picked
up the two men last Thursday and
brought them to O’Neill from
Butte, where they were employ
ed, at the request of Holt author
ities. They waived preliminary
hearing and no date has been
fixed for the trial in district
court.
Schools Dismiss
for Thanksgiving
The city’s two schools—O’Neill
public and St. Mary’s academy—
were to dismiss classes Wednes
day afternoon for the Thanks
giving holidays. Academy pupils
were to be released at 2:30 p.m.;
public, 4 p.m
Classes in both schools will re
convene Monday morning at the
usual time
LETriNG DECEMBER 17
Nearly four million dollars
worth of proposed highway work
is included in a letting called by
the highway department at Lin
coln for December 17. Included
is 19.5 miles of bituminous sur
facing on U.S. highway 183 be
tween Bassett and Taylor.
Mr. and Mrs. Louis Zastrow
spent Monday in Sioux City.
F ormer
Resident
Dies at 66
_/
McDonough Funeral
Tentatively Set for
Friday at Lincoln
Funeral services are tentatively
scheduled for Friday morning,
November 27, at Lincoln for W. J.
McDonough, 66, former O’Neill
businessman and farmer who
died at 9:30 a.m., Tuesday in
Lincoln. The rites will be held
at St. Mary’s Cathedral and burial
will be at Lincoln.
Mr. McDonough had been in
failing health for about six years.
He spent 35 years operating a
paint shop and store here and
resided on a farm five miles
northeast of O’Neill for about 10
years, moving with his wife to
Lincoln two years ago.
The late Mr. McDonough was
bom at Salina. Kans., Febru
ary 14, 1887, and was reared
in Cloud county, Kansas. For
a number of years he taught
school in Kansas. On August
23, 1911, he married Agnes
Brown. They became the par
ents of four children.
Mr. McDonough served in the
army in the U.S., during World
War I
Survivors include: Widow;
sons—Robert of Lincoln and Wil
liam of Portland, Ore., (recently
separated from the service);
daughters—Mrs. Thomas (Exlau
ra) Spates of Leesburg, Va., and
Mrs. Donald (Dorothy) Sutcleff of
San Francisco, Calif.; grandchil
dren—Dorothy Ann and Thomas
Spates of Leesburg, Va.; sisters—
Mrs. C. E. Laman of Concordia,
Kans.; and Miss Mary of Lincoln;
brother—Lawrence of Wichita,
Kans.
The McDonoughs left O’Neill
about two years ago after selling
their farm to Freeman Knight.
The McDonoughs have been
residing at 319 South 25th st.,
Lincoln.
Mountain lion
Tale Is Revived
CLEARWATER — The latest
addition to the “I’ve-seen-the
lion” club is Fred Forslund, farm
er residing 10 miles west of Clear
water.
The Clearwater Record reports
that Forslund saw the mountain
lion Monday morning, (Novem
ber 16, while hauling hay. Earlier
the lion had been reported by
several other members of this
Antelope county community.
Forslund said he spotted the
big animal as it was making off
with a young calf. Being a mile
or more away from home, he was
unable to grab a firearm and set
tle the issue once and for all.
An unidentified person report
ed seeing the lion on the Huffman
ranch, south of Deloit, about a
fortnight ago, the Record added.
Other persons in the area have
reported seeing lion tracks.
Persons who claim to have
seen the lion insist there is no
mistake about the beast. With
one glimpse, any skeptic will
change his mind.
Romaine Saunders, writing in
The Frontier at O’Neill, says it
is not uncommon for mountain
lions to work eastward down the
mountains and onto the plains.
I However, the presence of lions in
: this area is so rare the moderns
believe it highly newsworthy and
useful for lots of conversation.
Forslund. however, takes the
view it’s costly to tolerate the
beast because with his own eyes
he saw the lion making away
with a calf.
—
42 Heifers Are
Shipped to Michigan
Henry Wood of Ewing, Francis
Anderl of Inman and S. R. Rob
ertson of O’Neill sold 42 head of
registered Hereford heifers to C.
S. McReynolds of Gaylord, Mich.
The heifers were shipped by rail
from O’Neill Tuesday night and
will reach Michigan about Satur
day. The three men are members
of the Holt County Hereford
Breeders’ association.
Page Gals Defeated
at Clearwater—
PAGE—The Page high school
girls’ volleyball team journeyed
to Clearwater Monday night for
the annual preseason volleyball
tournament. Page played Clear
water and was defeated, 32-20.
The elementary grades have
started practice on the Christmas
operetta which will be presented
to the public on Tuesday eve
ning, December 15, at 8 p.m., at
the school auditorium.
School was to be dismissed on
Wednesday, November 25, at 4
p.m., for the Thanksgiving holi
days and will resume on Monday,
November 30.
YOUTH REVIVAL STARTS
A bov’s and girl’s youth revi
val series of meetings will start
Sunday night at the Assembly of
God church, according to the
pastor, Rev. Wayne A. Hall.
Bonnie Bell Roll of Milford and
1 Colo., will be in charge.
Holt’s Oldest Person Now 102
By MRS. BERLIN MITCHELL
Special Correspondent
STUART—A bent little Stuart
lady, who has been regarded as
an elderly person as long as most
folks in the community can re
member, this week celebrated her
102d birthady anniversary. She
was bcrn November 25, 1851.
Mrs. Joseph Axtell was born
long before the Civil war when
these United States were still
young and Indians, Spaniards
and French claimed most of the
western half of the country. And
wmle Mrs. Axtell was a young
maiden growing up in Lawrence
county, New York, the vast
reaches of unexplored prairieland
belonged to the bison and buf
falos.
Mrs. Axlell's coming west is
an oft-told story, yet there is
a moral which rightfully justi
fies retelling it as the anni
versaries roll around.
The Butterfield family physi
cian in Canton, N.Y., advised the
parents to take their 15-year-old
daughter, Alice, “out west” for
her health. That prompted a
move to Waverly, la. Fourteen
years later the family settled on
a homestead six miles northeast
of Dustin, north of Stuart.
Apparently, the Nebraska cli
mate was the ticket — because
Mrs. Axtell now enjoys the dis
tinction of being the oldest per
son in the county (probably in
several counties). Her health is
nearly perfect but her hearing
and eyesight are only fair. She
continues to do odd workaday
tasks about the house in Stuart,
residing with her only daughter,
Miss Pearl. Her husband died in
1911.
The Butterfields came to Holt
county by covered wagon from
Iowa — a distance of about 400
miles. They resided on a pre
emption claim in an improvised
log-sod house. In Holt she met
and married Joseph Axtell in
1887. They became the parents of
one child and a neighbor lady
assisted at the birth.
Once fheir entire crop was
wiped out by hail. On another
occasion a band of nine Indians
appeared at Mrs. Axtell's front
door. The redskinned visitors
were invited in, sat on the floor
; awhile, disappeared without trou
ble. On other occasions they
stopped for something to eat.
The Axtells burned cowchips
for fuel, frequently changed
their residence while making
land claims. Often the family
was obliged to fight prairie
fires.
To help out financially, Mrs.
| Axtell made cheese during the
I summer and butter in winter,
i She also made stays for the la
dies and in later years became an
exrT.'t seamstress.
Mi's. Axtell has continued
quite active in the Wesleyan
Methodist missionary society, and
until recently has been helpful
in piecing quilts. She continues
to take an interest in what her
friends are doing.
The aged Stuart woman and
her daughter have been making
their home in Stuart near the
school for 37 years.
Wednesday a few friends
dropped in to congratulate Mrs.
Axtell and wish her many more
anniversaries.
But anniversaries are old
stuff to the grey, prim little lady
wearing a print dress. She has
been reeling them off by the
scores since the New York doctor
admonished, “Go west, little girl,
for your health.”
Mrs.*Alice Axiell ... a school girl at the time of the Civil war.
Sadie Chrestensen
Dies in Hospital
ATKINSON— Sadie Chresten
sen, 89, mother of Mrs. C. C. Ray
mer, died Thursday, November
19, in* Atkinson Memorial hospi
tal.
Brief funeral rites were con
ducted at 1 p.m., Saturday, No
vember 21, at the Seger funeral
home by Rev. E. G. Hughes,
Methodist church pastor. Funeral
services were held at 2 p.m., the
following day at the funeral
home in Friend. Burial was in the
Exeter cemetery.
The late Mrs. Chrestensen had
been making her home the past
seven years with her daughter,
Mrs. Raymer. Mr. Chrestensen
died in 1946. Survivors include
two daughters—Mrs. Raymer and
Mrs. Burton, who lives in Cal
ifornia. The late Mrs. Chrestensen
was bom at Ringold, la., in 1864.
50 MILLION PHONES
The 50,000,000th telephone in
the U. S., has been presented to
President Eisenhower by repre
sentatives of the telephone in
dustry. There is now a phone for
every three persons in this coun
try. Harry Petersen, manager of
the O’Neill exchange for North
western Bell Telephone company,
said Wednesday there are 1,121
phones in O’Neill—above the na
tional average.
Josephine Novratil,
Ex-O’Neillite, Dies
Succumbs in Omaha
Hospital
Funeral rites were conducted
at 9 a.m., Tuesday, November 24,
from St. Patrick’s Catholic church
for Mrs. Josephine Novratil, 53.
She died Saturday, November 21,
in an Omaha hospital after hav
ing been ill for 10 years.
Rev. Kenneth Carl officiated
and burial was in Calvary ceme
tery under the direction of Big
lin’s. Pallbearers were William
Sparks, John Vitt, Norbert Uhl,
Joseph Sobotka, Ted Zaborow
ski, Harry Sullivan and Victor
Halva.
A daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
John Valla, she was bom at O’
Neill May 31, 1900. She was rear
ed here and married Emuel No
vratil.
Survivors include: Son—Robert
of Washington, D.C.; brothers —
Joseph Valla of Winner, S.D.;
Frank Valla of O’Neill and John
Valla of Lincoln; sisters — Mrs.
Thomas Sedlacek of Spencer
Mrs. Vincent (Fannie) Dvorak of
Spencer and Mrs. Anton (Nell)
Dvorak of Gregory, S.D.
Storm Prevents Son
Reaching Funeral
Among the out-of-town rela
tives and friends here for the
funeral of Herman G. Eisert, 70,
were:
Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Clobes of
Omaha; Louis Hohndorf, Mr. and
Mrs. Leslie Hohndorf and family,
and Wilbur Hohndorf of Shelby;
Mr. and Mrs. Harold Berglund of
Lincoln; Mrs. John Hickstein of
Grafton; Mrs. Pete More of Fair
mont; Werner Eisert of Grand Is
land.
One of Mr. Eisert’s sons, Carl,
of Gering was unable to reach
O’Neill because of Thursday’s
blizzard in western Nebraska. He
started the trip to O’Neill but was
forced to turn around after trav
eling half way.
Mr. Eisert died of a heart at
tack Monday, November 16. Fu
neral serivces were held at Christ
Lutheran church with burial in
Prospect Hill cemetery Thursday.
GETS TRANSFER
EWING—A/2c Jerry Mlnarik
has been transferred from Kan
sas City, Mo., to New Brunswick,
N.J. He is an air force X-ray
medical technician who returned
from Korea at Christmas time,
1952.
The Frontier for printing!
.
Flies Enjoy Meat in Casablanca
(Editor’s note: The following
letters, reproduced below, re
cently were received by Mr.
and Mrs. Blake Benson of O’
Neill from their son, Pvt. Stan
ley Benson, who has been sent
to Europe by the army.)
Dear Mon, Dad and all:
Tomorrow morning we’U pull
into Casablanca and the next stop
will be Leghorn, Italy, where I’li
get off.
It was kind of rough the first
couple of days—then smooth as
glass, until yesterday. We left
New York (Staten Island) at 2:30,
October 27. We made good time
even for the rough weather,
around 350 miles in 24 hours
That was pretty good for this
overgrown rowboat. Our top
speed is 18 knots.
I’m on and have been on guard
duty all the way, four hours on
and 20 hours off, a pretty good,
deal since I stand in the theater
for the cabin class passengers.
There are around 50 officers and
their wives going over as cabin
class passengers and until the
ship had a Hallowe’en party for
the kids on board the ship they
figured on 75 kids.
When the party came off the
cracks in the walls seemed to
open up and over 150 kids showed
at the party. After we’d been to
sea a week, I figured I knew
most of the “cabin class” by sight,
by watching them come into the
movie every night. Then one
night there was a dance for the '
cabin class an3 I found out there
were some on board who hadn’t
been out of their staterooms yet.
Its pretty crowded on board—
1,230 persons and 1,240 is capac
ity.
• * *
Hi,
Hfere I am at Camp Darby a
bout eight miles from Leghorn,
Italy. Left Casablanca at 2 p. m.,
the same day we got there—Fri
day—and the next morning we
were through the straight of Gil
bralter -and heading up along the
Spanish coast.
The coast looked pretty rugged
from the ship but there were a
few valleys once in a while that
looked green, but they were few
and far between as far as I
could tell. The mountains looked
about like the ones around Globe
Ariz. Not much for timber, I’d
say. Couldn’t tell too much
because we stayed 8 to 12 miles
out all the time and anything
smaller than a 40 didn’t show
up too good.
Took a tour in Casablanca. It
surprised me. Quite a few big
buildings and put up pretty well,
too. But the slums would make
the lower east side in New York
look like the garden of Eden.
Never hope to see such filth
again.
It was warm and the meat was
hanging outside where the flies
could get to it easy. In the slum
markets, of course, maybe they
figured that if the stuff was out
side it would keep the flies out
There’s a public wash house
(not a house exactly)—just a place
where there’s a stone slab 50 by
30 feet and a fountain in the cen
ter. The procedure was to get
the clothes wet, pour on soap
and stomp on them barefooted
until' clean. Must work because
everyone was doing it. Bet some
of those people walk 50 miles a
day just to do their washing and
never get off that rock.
We pulled in Leghorn around
9 a. m. Monday. They loaded us
into trucks like cows and brought
us up here. Seemed the town was
pretty well shot to hell during
Scrap 2 and is’nt too far along in
it’s rebuilding. It’s nice here,
semi-tropical, and they had their
first snow in 25 years last year.
About the coldest it gets is 31
to 40 degrees. Seems to be a
plain between the mountains and
the sea, can’t tell too much. Lots
of little farms with fields from
two to 10 acres. We leave tomor
row for Austria near Salzburg.
Salzburg is 720 miles from
here, about 30 hours by rail. They
processed us here and gave us
our permanent address.
As for enjoying the ride over,
it was’nt too bad except 188 men
sleeping in a space the size of
the alleyway in the new bam
seemed rather crowded.
Did’nt buy anything in Casa
; blanca except a bottle of Belgian
[ beer, 200 francs a bottle. They !
use French money there, can’t
understand why the denomina
tions are so small.—Love, Stan. I
Winners in Window
Contest Announced
Winners in the annual Cham
ber of Commerce-sponsored yule
window unveiling contest, held
Thursday evening, have been an
nounced as follows:
Commercial division: Apparel
Shop, first; Johnson Jewelry,
second; Penney’s and Petersen
Clothing, honorable mention.
Non - merchandise: Marie’s
Beauty Shop, first; Dr. H. D.
Gildersleeve, second.
Judges were Mrs. Axel Borg
of O’Neill, Mrs. Jeff Davis of In
man and Cordes Walker of Page.
Meanwhile, the Chamber offi
cials have announced that mem
ber retail stores will be open on
Thursday evenings—December 3,
10 and 17—until 9 o’clock and on
Wednesday, December 23, until
9. These evening store hours will
be in addition to the usual Satur
day night retail hours.
Man, 93, Cuts Arm
Badly on Fence
AMELIA — Lew Berry, 94,
had the misfortune to fall and
cut his arm on barbed wire.
The wound bled profusely. He
was rushed to a doctor at At
kinson where several stitches
were taken to close the wound.
Mr. Berry was 94-years-old No
vember 22.
School Officials
Talk Reorganization
Ira H. Moss Elected
Group Chairman
A meeting of Holt county
school boards of education, both
rural and town, was held in the
courthouse assembly room Mon
day, November 23, at 2 o’clock,
with about 50 present. This meet
ing was called for the purpose
of electing a Holt county commit
tee for the reorganization of
school districts.
The following committee was
elected for a four-year term: Ira
Moss, distriet 7, O’Neill; Lyle
Dierks, district 29, E w i n g;
George Collins, district 180, At
kinson; Howard Oberle, district
48, O’Neill; Pete Frahm, district
211, Amelia; Harry Mitchell, dis
trict 18, Atkinson; Frank
Schmidt, district 31, Page.
The county superintendent,
Alice L. French, serves as a non
voting member and acts as secre
tary of the committee.
Supt. D. E. Nelson of O’Neill
discussed reorganization of school
districts in Nebraska following
the election. His talk was follow
ed by an open discussion with
many taking part.
The committee organized at
the close of the meeting, electing
Ira Moss of O’Neill as chairman
and George Collins of Atkinson
as vice-chairman.
Moss also is vice-president of
district IV, Nebraska State School
Boards association, and has call
ed a meeting Thursday, December
3, at the Ainsworth high school,
starting at 8 p.m.
Glen Pickrel will be the speak
er. His topic; “The Citizen's Re
sponsibility -for Schools.” To be
heard in a panel discussion are
Supt. Harold Hutcheson of At
kinson, Moss, and three others.
District IV includes Cherry, Keya
Paha, Boyd, Holt, Rock, Brown,
Grant, Hooker, Thomas, Blaine,
Loup, Garfield and Wheeler
counties.
Win Berths on
Mythical Team
Warren Seger, end, and Duane
Booth, fullback were the only two
O’Neill high athletes earning
berths on the alJ-North-Centrsl
conference football team. Both
are seniors.
Dennis Brewster, halfback on
the Stuart Bronco team, was the '
only Stuart player to place. Bas
sett, conference champs, placed
six.
Fourteen linemen and eight
backs were chosen.
Backs — D Brewster, Stuart;
Booth, O’Neill; Morton and
Young, Bassett; Cozad, Ains
worth; Wrage and Asher, Valen
tine, and Swett, Wood Lake.
Linemen — Peterson, Young,
M. Bussinger and Patitz, Bassett;
Kirkpatrick, Spearman and Phil
lips, Ainsworth; Seger, O’Neill,
Simons, Drybread and Ohlman,
Valentine, and Bauch and Dillon,
Springview.
The mythical team was feted
Tuesday evening at Ainsworth.
Coaches Marvin Miller and Paul
Baker accompanied the O Neill
honor players.
Find Pussy Willows
in Pasture—
STUART — There was no
school at the public or St. Bon
iface Catholic schools on Fri
day, November 20, because of
the snowstorm with near bliz
zard proportions — somewhat
different from the 81 degree
reading five days earlier on
Sunday, November 15, when
the Obsrmire children picked a
bouquet of pussy willows they i
found in their pasture.
Late Fall
Snowstorm
Crippling
Phone Lines Snap,
Travel Is Stopped;
Snow Disappearing
The net result of the small-scale
fall snowstorm that roared into
the region last Thursday evening
and lingered throughout Friday
can be summed up like this:
1. The moisture—1.01 inches—
was welcomed by farmers and
ranchers.
2. Many travelers snowbound
up to 18 hours were inconven
ienced a bit as they overflowed
the city’s four hotels and three
motels.
3. Telephone communications
were disrupted between O’Neill
and Norfolk, Sioux City, Omaha,
Lincoln and other points. (Ten
circuits between O’Neill and Nor
folk were snapped by ice east of
Neligh.)
The storm moved into the re
gion on the fifth anniversary of
the momorable November, 1948,
two-day storm, which proved the
beginning of a miserable winter
The 1953 storm, however, was
followed by mild temperatures
and the snow began to disappear
rapidly Monday and Tuesday.
Most of the wayfarers poured
into O’Neill hostelries Thursday
night. The major highways were
never blocked but rain earlier
turned to ice and made the roads
slippery and treacherous. Most of
the snow—variously estimated in
this area from three to six inch
es—filled the air, blown by winds
up to 35-miles-per-hour, and re
duced visibility to about nil.
The rain amounted to .23 of
an inch and the snow measured
.61 of an inch of moisture,
bringing the total amount of
precipitation to 1.01. Lowest
temperature during the ordeal
was 13 degrees early Saturday.
Most of the travelers simply
waited for the wind to subside
on Friday and continued on their
way. Many of the travelers were
enroute to Lincoln to the Nebras
ka-Oklahoma football game.
John D. Osenbaugh, resident
engineer for the state highway
department, dispatched plows
during the storm and the crews
reported little difficulty handling
the wet snow.
Most O’Neill streets were chok
ed until plows cleared them.
Scores of vehicles were stuck by
the unseasonal storm.
Livestock men were well pre
pared for the blast and for sev
eral weeks have had big feed
supplies close to their yards.
Both St. Mary’s academy and
O’Neill public school dismissed
classes early. Many functions
scheduled Thursday and Friday
were postponed or cancelled.
Mainline trains on the North
Western railroad continued to
operate through the storm, but
were running a little behind
schedule. A Burlington train,
eastbound from O’Neill to Sioux
City, reached Ferry Junction,.
near Sioux City, slightly behind
schedule.
Bus service was snafued by
the si&rm—only two of 12 bus
ses in and out of the city op
erating during the height of
the storm.
Ice raised havoc with the phone
circuits in the Neligh and Norfolk
areas where there were hundreds
of line breaks. The ice snapped ■
the “Voice of The Frontier’s” loop
circuit to radio station WJAG’s
control room at Norfolk and Sat
urday’s program (9:45 a.m.) could
not be broadcast.
Cities Must Answer
Pollution Letter—
The state health department
letters about stream pollution
have stirred up quite a squabble
Dr. E. A. Rogers, acting state
health director, sent the letters
to seven Missouri river towns—
Omaha, Nebraska City, Niobrara.
South Sioux City, Dakota City,
Bellevue and Plattsmouth. The
letters pointed out that untreated
sewage and industrial wastes
were being dumped into the Mis
souri.
Storm Forces
Cancellations—
EWING — The snow storm
which began last Thursday with
showers of rain turning to snow,
forced cancellation of many
weekend trips for Ewingites.
Roads became slippery from sleet
and the blowing snow made driv
ing hazardous. A strong north
west wind piled the six-inch
snow into some good-sized drifts.
School was dismissed at noon
on Friday. Many students were
absent during the forenoon. * *
SUFFERS HEART ATTACK
Police Chief Walt Calkins is in
St. Anthony’s hospital recovering
from a heart attack suffered Fri
day.
Mr. and Mrs. Jack Wallen
spent Sunday in Omaha visiting
John Obert and attending the ice
show.
