Prairieland Talk . . .
Think Of and Do for Others
By ROMAINE SAUNDERS. Retired. Former Frontier Editor
• LINCOLN—Today as The Frontier goes into
the homes there is anticipation in Holt county
households. This will be Christmas eve. Mother
and dad have been keeping things in hiding,
maybe not suspecting that inquiring eyes and
children’s active hands have al
. ready found out. Christmas is
the big day, a day that maybe
has become a little over-com
mercialized, but, nevertheless, a
time to think of and do for
others.
There has long been a ques
tion as to the date Christmas
falls on. The date is not so im
portant. Whether it was January
6, March 25, a day in April or
some other date that the Lord
as a babe lay in a cow manger Romain®
“because there was no room in Saunders
the inn” isn’t the important thing. The future of the
world hung upon the historic fact of the birth of
the One who is remembered in a special way at
this season. After a few centuries of more or less
guess work churchmen of the fifth century, per
haps unintentionally, finally settled upon the na
tal day of Tammuz, the bogus Babylonian mes
siah, December 25.
Those of the Christian faith in the first cen
tury were more concerned over whether they
were exemplifying in their daily walk what they
had learned from the Great Teacher and fulfill
ing the commission to preach the gospel than in
observing anniversaries. The Lord as a man had
a humble beginning. There were no hotel ac
commodations for Joseph and Mary. Travelers
today at times are met with “no room in the
inn.” The first Christmas greetings were brought
to mankind by an angel, “I bring you good tid
ings of great joy, which shall be to all people.’
Out here on prairieland we are the better for
that message intrusted to a few shepherds watch
ing their flocks at night on the lonely Judean
Kills.
And so Prairieland Talker joins others of The
Frontier in cordial Christmas greetings.
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That the element in control in Russia has
no intention of cooperating with us to pro
mote peace among the nations is evident.
* * *
The sun rode its flaming chariot above prai
rieland today, bathing in regal splendor the firm
ament over us. This evening the glory of blend
ing colors of sunset paints the prelude to the on
coming night with the glittering stars looking
down upon the cold earth. Wind from out the
arctic circle throughout the day has blown itself
out as hurrying feet seek the warmth and shelter
of home after the day’s activities. What has the
day meant to us? Did you hear only the sweep
of the wind through the leafless branches of
trees, feel only it pulling at your coat tails, buf
feting your every step? Have you missed the
cadence of friendly voices or failed to catch the
glimpse of a smiling face? Was your life enrich
ed out of the fragrance of contact with some
great soul or your own soul enlarged by lifting
the burden of another if only to dry the tear
stained face of a child? Did God have a place in
our thoughts today or have we been so absorbed
in doing and getting that the sacred human emo
tions and high aspirations were smothered? Out
of life’s great adventure many find they are one
day nearer eternity’s imperishable goal.
« * *
One exalted personage says there will be no
thir-* world war. A still more exalted personage
calls for all out preparation on the part of those
running things in American cities for protection
against atom bomb attacks.
It was about the year 1885 on a day in late
summer that I was having what fun the open
prairie afforded for a spindly teenager, when
Tom Kearney came along on his way from O’
Neill to the Middle Branch mills with a bit of
wheat to be made into flour. The Kearney home
stead was just across the road west of the O’
Neill cemeteries. Tom invited me to go along,
so my first visit to Middle Branch was made pos
sible.
At that time the little settlement was aglow
with the activity of youthful life, settlers coming
in to secure provisions at the store, hopeful of
getting a letter from “back home” or trade a
bit of grain for a bag of flour. We had lunch of
crackers and cheese, cut a big watermelon, got
Tom’s flour and headed for home. Traveling by
team was slow motion compared with what hits
the highways today. But we were not beholden
to highways or roads—the open prairie was ours.
Middle Branch was the start of Methodist church
work in the county when Rev. Bartley Blain cast
anchor there before there was a mill or postoffice
I or a store.
Now we read of the obsequies of another
pioneer community that made its contribution to
the unfolding of the riches and beauty of prai
rieland. Middle Branch may pass out of the pic
ture as a government recognized mail distributing
j center but a community in eastern Holt will
ever be remembered as Middle Branch. One by
one communities are aging, like men whose hair
begins to gray at the temples, then the postof
fice is discontinued and neighbors and friends—
those who were once neighbors and friends en
joying community fellowship—now scarcely more
; than strangers, speed away to distant points
where they are just one of the crowd of shoppers
looking for bargains.
Something of human interest, of human wel
fare, of the human touch and heart-throb, is lost
when the door of a community center closes.
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Due to the thoughtfulness of Lee Downey, I
hang up a 1954 calendar, the kind you can read
without opera glasses. Lee, formerly Burlington
agent in O’Neill, has the responsible job of freight
agent for that railroad at Denver, Colo. And as
we hang up the new calendar we are made con
scious of the passing of the years leaving the
marks of time on all. Life requires taking down
the old, putting the new in its place. And so, step
by step, a year merges into another year and we
have wrought out on the anvil of time the warp
and woof of our lives. What ’54 will shape with
the lengthening threads rests with each to de
termine but the results with most of us will
probably not be much different than that which
the year now about to take flight into the past
has shown. Happy new year for Lee and all other
friends!
* * *
The former governor of Illinois and laie
candidate for president would inspire confi
dence and win public favor if he would cut out
the partisan hogwash, go home and sit down.
« * *
In crime and court circles there is no telling
i what will come up. A north Nebraska young man,
; after admitting his hands had been stained by
j murder and leading officers to the scene of his
! crime and the grave of his victim, now goes into
I court and enters a plea of not guilty. An Illinois
man has been released from prison after being
incarcerated 10 years for a $10 deal. A group of
13- and 14-year-old girls from Lincoln homes of
well-to-do parents are in the clutches of the law
for shoplifting. They had worked in pairs, one
on the watch while the other took what had
caught her eye. And to realize some cash out of
their hellish enterprise they returned stolen
goods and got a refund in money.
Editorial ...
Our Brother’s Keeper?
A long time ago, very soon after the crea
tion, a-fellow by the name of Cain raised the
question: “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
And ever since that time, especially as civ
ilization progressed, mankind has been learning
that we are indeed our brother’s keeper, and
that man does not live unto himself.
This has been brought to our attention forci
bly, on numerous occasions, in connection with
labor troubles. Industrial squabbles and strikes
are supposed to be private quarrels or local dif
frences between labor and management. But, as
a rule, they are more than that.
Recently there was a strike in the tin can
industry. And it is proving to be more than a
little matter of how much the factory workers
shall receive and how many hours they shall
work. First of all, the strike can almost make or
break the families who produce citrus fruits—
just one example. It can also cause some distress
among the humble workers who follow the fruit
harvest. It will hit the steel firms hard, also
railroads, truck lines, canning plants. And thus
it goes.
A handful of photo engravers in metropolitan
New York City controlled the voting margin
which plunged the world's greatest city into a
news blackout. Other unions sympathized with
the engravers and refused to cross the picket
lines. One wonders if the press in the greatest
city in the land is free after all?
Last weekend in Minneapolis, Minn., a team
sters’ union struck and the city was without a
Sunday newspaper.
Commerce is stifled, if not paralyzed, when
there is interrupted newspaper service. All the
other medias combined cannot scratch the surface
in keeping workaday life normal in cities l^rge
or small when newspapers are tied up.
One small group can go on strike and throw
• ° ten other folks, not directly involved, out of
work or off schedule for each one that is on
strike.
, Labor must learn that it is its brother’s keep
er, and find some way to settle such things,
without closing down an industry.
Agricultural folks are not organized like la
bor. It’s our guess, if they were they wouldn’t
be so difficult as these recent examples of labor
misconduct.
‘Christ in Christmas’
[Guest editorial from Nebraska State (Lincoln)
Journal]
Every year about this time agitation breaks
out here and there over the outmoded usage of
Xmas for the birthday of Christ. For the most
part the press is solidly against it, a stand ex
pressed by the Hanover (Kans.) News in its rule:
^Christmas is the great feast of the celebra
tion of the birth of Christ and the beginning of
Christianity. Without Christ there would be no
Christmas, therefore Christ must be kept in
Christmas.”
The editor’s position is unassailable. Neverthe
• •
less the old spelling by no means removes the
Savior’s name from the appellation of His birth
day. The word Xmas consists of two elements, X
being a symbol of the Greek letter “chi” which
resembles it in form and which begins the name
Christos. “Mas” is a Latin term preserved in
the English noun “mass” in the sense of a relig
ious service. Thus Xmas, the mass of Christ.
This was the popular designation of the holi
day for centuries and down to the recent past. It
connotes no disrespect, no lack of sensibility.
But in this country at least it has fallen into dis
favor because it looks like an abbreviation—even
like a coined word, of all things that could have
no place in this connection. The popular senti
ment for uniformity, conformity, conventionality,
long ago demoted “Xmas” and while it still re
mains technically correct, it is going rapidly
through the process of obsolescence.
Gobbledeygook
This is the season of the year when many
newspapers and magazines are filled with gob
bledeygook from supernatural economists who go
into a fancy prognostication (always leaving
loopholes to protect themselves) and windup
saying not very much.
The following paragraph, written in satirical
form, appeared in one of Nebraska’s dailies this
week:
Barring war or peace, there is prac
tically nothing to worry about. Of course,
adjustments will occur and some busi
nesses will go “poof’ but, viewed broad
ly, this is a healthy thing. Less compe
tition, you know. Indications are that
people will continue to eat, sleep and
have babies throughout most of 1954.
Don’t sell America short, but, if you do
take a gamble and lose, remember we
told you so.
FrontTeR
CARROLL W. STEWART, Editor and Publisher
Editorial & Business Offices: 122 South Fourth St.
Address correspondence: Box 330, O’Neill, Nebr
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—2,258 (Sept. 30, 1953)
[Johnson - Kaminsky
Rites in New Mexico
DELOIT— Announcement was
made this week of the marriage
of Winifred Johnson of Neligh
and Harold Kaminsky of Pueblo,
Colo. They were married in Ra
ton, N.M., on December 10.
Mr. and Mrs. Kaminsky arriv
ed in Neligh last week and will
visit at the Johnson home over
the holidays.
Other Deloit News
Roland Schrunk, son of Mr.
and Mrs. Earl Schrunk, who is
in the service, is spending some
time with home folks.
Mrs. Zoe Huffman of Elgin
was a visitor at the Stanley
Huffman home last week. The
occasion was the first birthday
anniversary of Becky Huffman.
Don Larson of Wayne is spend
ing a two week vacation at
home. Bonnie Rossow, a student
at Wayne, is also home for va
cation.
Henry Reimer and John Hupp
had television sets installed last
week in time for Christmas.
Neva Mae Bauer, who is em
ployed at the Neligh hsopital,
spent Friday at home.
Leland Hupp, a high school
freshman at in or folk, is vacation
ing at home.
A number from here attended
the Christmas program at Bart
lett Weonesday evening, Decem
ber lti.
The Deloit Pinochle club had
i Christmas party at the H.
Werkmeister home Sunday, De
cember 13.
Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Paul and
Mr. and Mrs. H. Reimer visited at
tne August Kallhoff home recent
ly.
Several from here attended the
Greeley-Bartlett game at Bart
lett Friday evening. Bartlett won
the game.
A group of friends surprised
Johnny Bauer Sunday evening.
His birthday anniversary is De
cember 25. After an evening spent
socially, a lunch of pie and cof
fee was served by the self-invited
guests.
Mrs. Fred Harpster is visiting
at the home of her mother in
Ewing.
SPELTS - RAY
LUMBER COMPANY
ELGIN RAY, Mgr.
Phone 74 O’Neill
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• To all the children —grownup or
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| otherwise—our very best wishes, g
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D. C. SCHAFFER, President
JAMES W. ROONEY, Secretary-Treasurer
EDITH J. DAVIDSON, Asst. Secy.-Treas.
WILLIAM S. MATTERN, Assi. Secy.-Treas. A
I O’Neill Production Credit Association I
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Phone 42 — Harmon Bldg. 2
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Mr. and Mrs. Henry Reimer
and Elayne were dinner guests
t the Reimer home in Ewing on
Sunday.
Ewing Soldier Gets
Promoted to Corporal—
EWING—John McClenahan, 21,
: son of Mr and Mr. Omer McClen
| ahan of Ewing, was recently pro
| moted to Corporal while serving
| with the 40th infantry division
in Korea.
The former California national
guard division, which arrived in
Korea during early 1952, is un
dergoing intensive post - truce
' training.
Corpora} McClenahan, clerk of
company M in the 160th regi
ment, entered the army in Nov
ember, 1952, and arrived in Korea
last June.
Give The Frontier for Christ
mas!
O'NEILL LOCALS
Mrs. William Luben visited at
the Joe Bartos home Monday j
afternoon.
Mr. and Mrs. L. F. Becken- |
hauer went to Bloomfield Sat- i
urday to attend the wedding of j
their niece, Miss Helen Stover,
to Doyle Lukens.
Paul Fritton of Albion visited
at the Edward Campbell home
Sunday.
Miss Helen Harty, who attends
St. Mary college in Omaha, is
spending the Christmas holidays
with her mother, Mrs. W. H.
Harty.
Mr. and Mrs. Noal Long and
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DR. DONALD E. DAVID
OPTOMETRIST
Eyes Examined
Glasses Fitted
Phone 2101, Spencer, Nebr.
daughters of Colton, Calif., ar
rived Sunday to visit at the
home of her parents, Mr. and
Mrs. Sam Robertson, for the hol
idays.
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O'Neill National Bank
O’NEILL, NEBR.
— Member FDIC -