Prairieland Talk . . .
Straw Hat, Coatless in Midwinter
By ROMAINE SAUNDERS. Retired. Former Frontier Editor
LINCOLN—September 1 is the date custom
decrees that the straw hats be put away. But it
being still up in the 90’s with sweat to contend
with, I will cling to the straw for the present.
There was a patriot living over by Antelope
slough in the long ago by the
name of Haynes, who would
come to O’Neill in midwinter
wearing a straw hat and no ov
ercoat. A half-century or more
ago there was variety on the
streets about every day. A gent
from the Niobrara river gulches,
the only one taken through the
legal farce of a trial for the
lynching of Barrett Scott, was
clothed in a blanket when he
came to town. A handsome gent
with long black hair and clothed ^
in buckskin breeches and jacket
with fringes flopping as he rode along Douglas
street mounted on a bay beauty came up from
the southwest corner of what is now Wyoming
precinct from time to time to get a fresh plug
of tobacco. Gents who spent their life in the sad
dle were seen about town in leather chaps and
spurs clanking on board walks.
The homesteader, the legitimate settler, was
thankful for his felt boots and big overshoes when
blizzards came howling out of the north and the
pioneer mate by his side had exchanged the sum
mer sunbonnet for a hood and shawl. But there
were dressy guys and gals keeping up a show of
importance in O’Neill—John Mann setting the
pace for Pat Biglin and his crowd, while Hattie
Potter dictated the garb adornment for young
ladies.
• * *
Archeologists have finished Ineir work in
the Ft. Randall reservoir area and tell of un
covering an ancient Indian village. Too late
now for a sesaion with Spotted Tail but old Spot
e&uld doubtless have told us more than the
paleface diggers have learned.
* • •
Resorting to a buzz saw as an instrument to
accomplish suicide is something new in the realm
of human invention to get away from it all. A
Lincoln woman went to the basement of her
home with the evident intention of taking her
life but accomplished only the loss of one hand.
. . . The Indians have adopted another pale face
trick. A Sioux maiden from Ft. Gates, N.D., has
been named Miss Indian of America, the title be
ing awarded in a contest with other Indian girls
from various tribes. . . One of those noted Cana
dian five sisters, Emilie Dionne, is dead and doc
tors are puzzled over what may have been the
cause of her sudden taking off. The quints had
attained the age of 20 years. . . Former President
Herbert Hoover had his share of partisan abuse
and has survived to celebrate his 80th birthday
anniversary and, more recently, a four-day
mountain fishing excursion with Ike.
Drip, drip, drip—a steady weeping of a be
clouded sky. Rains are refreshing. They may also
be depressing. After many dry, hot weeks in July
and August, where now does so much rain water
come from? It is soaking a thirsty earth. If it is
this wet on Holt county hay flats, Tom Baker and
Fred Watson are not very happy about it. But
maybe they beat the rain clouds to it and have
the hay flats dotted with stacks. Fields of late
com in this part of the vineyard got a lift and
pastures revive where there is a cow or two left
as emblems of former farm life, though the up-to
the-minute tractor clodhopper down this way does
not care to soil lilywhite hands milking a cow.
* * *
A suburban citizen of the capilol city is in
the chick hatching business and has in the pro
cess of hatching just now 16.000 eggs which he
“turns" every two hours.
Governor Crosby will retire at the end of the
year, possibly feeling his venture in politics has
been a mistake. He has had the courage to do
what he held should be done as governor and this
in itself should have recommended him for a seat
in the United States congress. While not manifest
to an extent that would have given him such a
seat, there is a feeling that the time is about ripe
for some new men in the congress. Mr. Curtis is
not such but will probably win the November
election, although in Mr. Neville he has no mean
opponent. Had the contest been reduced to the
two leading candidates for the republican nomi
nation, the result might have been different. Ex
tending congratulations to Mrs. Abel is in order.
She walked off with the nomination for the short
senate term with 15 men as her opponents.
* * *
Ben Franklin was sent to Paris to enlist the
interest and aid of the French in the struggle for
independence on the part of the colonies. Mr.
Franklin joined a literary society as one means of
impressing the highbrows in Paris. It was pro
posed that the members of this society each write
a love story, the one the society voted the best to
be printed in a national journal. Mr. Franklin
submitted his story written in his own fine pen
manship. It was pronounced the best and should
be in print. Franklin informed the men of literary
talent it was already in print. He had copied and
submitted the story of Ruth, one of the books of
the Old Testament scriptures. A friend tells me
you could put a thousand dollars in the Bible of
one person he knows and she would never find
it.
» » *
British guardians of the peace and dignity
of the community say children naturally are
not good citizens. One said centuries ago that
whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God
as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.
Perhaps the Britisher means those of the next
stage in the development from childhood. The
teenager is at onoe a showoff, a daily worry
and a great kid we can hardly do without.
* * •
Six killed in a highway crash. Man sinks in
deep water, is taken out lifeless. Airplane plunges
into the sea, all on board are lost. So the news
flashes across the land. Fathers, mothers, young
wives made widows in one tragic flash, linger at
family altars dumb with grief and look in silence
at the vacant chair of the one they nevermore
will caress; haunted, too, by the consciousness
that those who go down in the ocean’s dark wa
ters have not a sacred spot in the home communi
ty graveyard where should lie the dead. And so
even the simple service to their memory of plac
ing a floral tribute at the grave is denied. With
all the scientific attainments, mechanical skill,
penetration into the mysteries of the vast universe,
the tragedy of fatal crackups goes on.
* » *
J. B. Donohoe, Tom Donlin, L. G. Gillespie—
three octogenarians who have abided in or near
O’Neill for more than 70 years—appeared in a
picture with a magazine writeup of the O’Neill com
munity true in every’ detail, except that Kid Wade
had a wife. When these oldtimers read of the
registration, frills, coaches, agronomy and other
strange things introduced into the schools, they
may wonder how they made it under primitive
conditions of pioneer life. J. B. sometimes felt
that the promoters of the O’Neill colony should
have been sent to jail but now, having come on
the highway of life to the years of peaceful se
renity, probably neither he nor Tom nor Lloyd
'would exchange the fun of a pioneer kid for any
Pennsylvania coal mine.
* * *
Down the road ahead where you hope to see light
Flowers fragrant bloom by the side of the way,
Clouds have left us the blue of the sky today.
May await you only the blackness of night!
Then pause to embrace life’s joys for today—
A lovelier rose may be far away!
Editorial . . .
British Subterfuge:
A recent issue of the Washington, D.C., news
letter, Human Events, which has a reputation for
flitting hard and squarely on the nail, offered this
interesting discussion concerning British incon
sistencies on the international diplomatic and
trade scenes:
“When the McCarthy committee exposed
British trading with the enemy during the Ko
rean war, the British at first denied the charge.
■When conclusive evidence was presented that they
had been trading vigorously with the enemy,
London’s defense shifted. The claim was then
made that the trade had been entirely in non-stra
tegic items and, hence, innocuous. Secretary of
Defense Wilson stated publicly that any trade with
the enemy helped the enemy and was, therefore,
not harmless. Pentagon sources also said that stra
tegic items had been included in British trade
with the reds.
“Consider the case of cotton as a perfect ex
ample of British adroitness. British vessels did
carry cotton to Red China during the Korean war,
but the British claimed that cotton was of no con
sequence to a war effort. Yet before America
entered World War I, the British placed American
cotton destined for Germany or the low countries
on its ‘prohibited’ list, as helping the German
war effort. At that time American cotton and
American profits were at stake. During the Ko
rean war it was a case of British cotton and Brit
ish profits.
“After the Korean armistice, British trade with
Red China leaped—but British spokesmen kept up
a continued chant that the British government
was exercising vigilance to see that no stategic
items were included. But now the Red Chinese
government through E. C. Chen, deputy director
of the communist East China foreign trade bureau,
spills the beans. He stated publicly (as reported
by the New York Times, August 29) that: 1. Dur
ing the first half of 1954 a total of 246 foreign
vessels arrived in Shanghai. Of these, 182 (74 per
cent) were British. 2. From Western Europe, com
munist China had imported such articles as met
als, machinery, communication and transportation
equipment, dyestuffs and chemicals. Metals im
ported included silicon steel plates, black iron
sheets, tin plates, steel plates, steel pipes and hand
tools. It is assumed that ‘Western Europe’ includes
Britain, as Chen described it.
“If these are not stategic items then the word
is meaningless and defies definition.”
What Will Happen?
Evidently not over-impressed by the prob
lems and perplexities which confront the human
race, forward - looking astronomers sometimes
speculate on what will eventually happen to the
globe that we call the earth.
The experts generally agree that the most
likely fate is that the sun will explode, shriveling
the earth in a sudden, hot death. Other less likely
fates include the cooling of the sun so that the
earth will be frozen waste-land, the destruction
of the earth because of a smash-up between our
sun and another star, the destruction of the earth
through a collision with a comet and the possibil
ity that the moon might come so close to the earth
as to create tidal waves and volcanoes to wipe
out the habitation of man.
While people seem to be interested in the
effort to understand the future, there is no occa
sion for anyone to become excited. Some religious
groups have theories and entertain beliefs to the
contrary, but experts do not think the sun will
explode during the next billion years or so.
A cat may have nine lives but, when on the
highway, remember you are not a cat.
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—2,335 (Mar. 31, 1954)
News, Views
and Gossip
BY THE EDITOR
^ -- J*
Question for John
No less than a half-dozen peo
ple eagerly brought word to The
t'rontier concerning the half
hour visit to O’Neill of John L.
Lewis, the United Mine Work
ers’ bossman. Singularly our in
formants neglected to pass the
word until after that burly man
with the big thatch had started
his big car down the road, travel
ing eastward alone.
There was a bit of irony in
not getting at Mr. Lewis for an
informal, hurryup press confer
ence.
We’ve had a simple little ques
tion in mind for Mr. Lewis or
any of his counterparts.
We’d like to have him explain
why folks live so well in this
part of the country, they eat reg
ularly and abundantly, each fam
ily averages about two automo
biles, home ownership is high,
airplane ownership ranks highest
per capita in the world, homes
are modern and filled with gad
gets. and yet there’s hardly a
union card within a hundred
miles!
Compare that with the mining
communities of Illinois, West
Virginia and Kentucky where
wages are so high the coal miners
are pricing themselves out of
business, and miners live, gener
ally, in dingy hovels.
Explain that to us, will you
John?
# * *
Miscellany
The oft-quoted editor of the
Blair Pilot-Tribune, Reed O’Han
lon, jr., launched his Hooligans
column with this blurp: “Last
week, in case you were trapped
in an outhouse with nothing else
to read, you may have noted that
we were spending a vacation
at home, the idea of some maniac
from back East who has since
been captured and tossed into a
pit for further observation.” . .
Heartiest laugh heard at the
movies: Joe Biglin. . . One of O’
Neill’s most eligible young bach
elors had this to say concerning
an attractive young thing seen
on an O’Neill street: “She could
have me if she plays her cards
right.” . . An O’Neill public
school kindergarten pupil, Eddie
Ray Bright, son of Mr. and Mrs.
Archie Bright, abandoned the
class at recess time on the first
day of school. “Why are you
home?” asked the bewildered
mother. “I’m tired,” was the
forthright reply.
REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS
EXECUTORS DEED— Lenna
Torbert, Ex to Dominick L Bohn
& wf 6-30-54 $4000- So 85 ft lots
15 & 16 Blk 27- O’Neill
WD—Watson R McDonald to
J A Larson & wf 8-28-54 $3,000
Part of N%NWy4 2-26-9- 20 rods
by 16 rods
WD—Harold G Hayes to Msuy
M Schaaf 3-4-54 $1- East % lot
6 all lot 7 Blk 10- Atkinson
WD—J G Brewster to Roy A
Rhodes & wf 8-28-54 $4200- So
180 ft lot 8 Subdivision of Outlot
“L”- Hallock’s Add- Stuart
WD—Alice D Matthews to Al
ice D Matthews & Robert E
Matthews 8-31-54 $1- SEy4 20-29
11 & North 100 acres, except
Kight-ofway for Road & power
line of NE14 29-29-11
WD—Hilda Chandler to Clar
ence Strong & Wf 8-31-54 $1- Lot
4 Blk 5- Fahy’s Add- O’Neill
WD—Gladys F Cunningham to
Rilla Kurtz 8-23-54 $6000- West
40 ft lots 1-2-3 Blk 42- Riggs
Add- O’Neill
WD—Millie M Ferry to Frank
U Shane & wf 9-1-54- $5300
Lots 7 & 8 Blk 16- Kimball &
Blair’s Add- Stuart
WD—Fred Colfack Jr to Emma
Fleming 8-23-54 $2100- Lot 9 &
E 25 ft lot 8 Blk 15- Pioneer
Townsite Co 1st Add- Ewing
WD—Russell Heuton to State
of Nebr 7-26-54 $2800- Part of
NWyjSWy, 33-30-14
QCD—Agnes Johnson to State
of Nebr 8-3-54 $28.20 Part of
SEy4SEy4 1-32-12 and Part of
West part of Lot 5 in SWy4NW»4
6-32-11
QCD—Marvin C Frisch to State
swanas?$1-Pan °*Nwv*
WD—Frank Dalton to Ralph
D Davis & wf 9-3-54 $100- % acre
29 flW COmer of swy4NWy4 29
WD— E C Weller to Julius
Hugo Holz & wf 9-2-54 $3600
Ny>NEy4 24-29-12
Frontier want ads tell you
where you can save!
Richard E. Johnson of Lincoln . . . adds final exhibit to "Ne
braska's Education Story."
School Exhibit
Here September 15
3 Busses to Bring
Showing to City
A series of exhibits empha
sizing school district reorganiza
tion, teacher certification and
school finances will be in O’Neill
on Wednesday, September 15,
under the auspices of the Cham
ber of Commerce.
Sponsored by the Nebraska
Better Education Association
committee, the exhibits will be
housed in three school busses—
donated for the tour by three
major school bus companies.
The busses started a state tour
on July 12 with a trip around
most of the colleges. The August
and September schedule includes
visiting county fairs and com
munity special-event days. The
exhibits are being shown at the
state fair this week and will
complete the itinerary with a
September 19-20 showing at the
“Mid-America: Past, Present and
Future” show at Joslyn Memorial
in Omaha.
me cusses will house, for ex
ample, large state and county
maps explaining reorganization;
enlarged Freedom Forum dis
plays; school supply house and
textbook company displays; a
sound-motion picture; a large
comparison chart of school funds
in various states; pictures of the
state’s newest and best schools
on a projectograph; tangible re
sults of the Better Education
committee funds; free copies of
education publications; and free
literature and materials.
A representative of the com
mittee will accompany the exhi
bits during most of the tour.
Kalkowski Families
Gather at Park—
LYNCH—The Kalkowski fam
ilies enjoyed a picnic at the
Lynch park Sunday, August 29.
Those present were Mr. and Mrs.
Herman Schochenmaier, Carol
Ann, Leon and Kevin of Bone
steel. S.D.; Mr. and Mrs. Cyril
Burbach and Larry Kent of Wy
not; Mr. and Mrs. Dale Barta and
Sheila of Verdigre; Mr. and Mrs.
Anton Kalkowski, Mr. and Mrs.
George Kalkowski and Deloros
and Mr. and Mrs. Albert Kal
kowski, all of Lynch.
Frontier for printing!
Prompt deliveries.
MYF Officers
Are Chosen—
INMAN—The MYF has elected
the following officers: Line lie
Tompkins, president; Sharon
Cunningham, vice - president;
Beverly Smith, secretary; Lucy
Cunningham, treasurer; Edna
Fairbanks, news reporter.
The west - central subdistrict
MYF planning day conference
was held at Inman Sunday, Aug
ust 29.
When You and I Were Young . . .
Sheriff Corrals
23 Stray Horses
May Be Those Which
Are Missing
SO Years Ago
Sheriff Hall made a big scoop
the other day. Out in Swan town
ship he rounded up and corraled
23 head of stray horses. The sup
position is entertained that this
bunch is made up of some of the
horses that for a number of
months have been disappearing
at regular intervals from this
i- T TT TT 1 _ 1 . r j
kvjiiwij, . . u. iiamcj icn
Friday for Hubbard where he
goes to accept the principalship
of the public school. . . Mrs. S. F.
McNichols and Martha returned
from Colo, la., where they had
attended a family reunion. . .
Paul Schutz of Atkinson and
Minnie Blackmer of O’Neill were
united in marriage at the home
of the bride’s parents, Mr. and
Mrs. W. H. Blackmer. Rev. T. W.
Bowen officiated at the cere
mony. . . Mrs. Fitzsimmons will
have a grand opening of her new
stock at her millinery store later
in the month. She has been in
Chicago, 111., on a buying trip.
20 Years Ago
Cal Kizer was killed in an
auto - pedestrian accident at
Phoenix, Ariz. . . Dr. Thomas N.
Jenkins, professor of experi
mental psychology and head of
the experimental laboratory of
New York university, and his
wife, Dr. Marian P. Jenkins, of
the psychoeducational clinic,
New York City, left for their
home after visiting for several
days with his parents, Mr. and
Mrs. Charles Jenkins, who live
five miles north of O’Neill. . .
The pinochle players around
town are wondering how the
dreamed of hand of 1,000 aces
could be a loser—it happened!
Mayor Kersenbrock had the 1,000
aces and he lost the game. . . J.
P. Mann, Edward M. Gallagher,
H. J. Birmingham and C. E.
Stout drove down to Sioux City
with W. J. Froelich, who caught
a train there for Chicago, 111.
10 Years Ago
Montana Jack Sullivan and
Petty Officer Foley are in O’
Neill on Montana’s annual visit
to the city, visiting old friends
and making new. . . Miss Made
lynne Hynes and Oswald Drueke
were united in marriage at St.
Patrick’s Catholic church. Rt.
Rev. J. G. McNamara officiated.
[ • . . Word was received in O’Neill
that Marine Lt. John R. Galla
gher had been wounded in action
in the South Pacific. . . Mr. and
Mrs. P. T. Stevens of Page were
honored at an open-house honor
ing their 62d wedding anniver- f
sary.
One Year Ago
A new electric and gas appli
ance and television store is to
open in O’Neil}. The new owner
is D. M. Osborne, who also owns
the Osborne Shoe store. . . The
annual former Holt countyans’
picnic for those residing in the
Los Angeles, Calif., area was held
in Griffith park. . . The parents
of two of the helicopter crash
victims visited the city during
the week. . . Mr. and Mrs. Mar
lin Marlatt were honored at a
dinner celebrating their golden
wedding anniversary at the
Frank Loock home in Spencer.
o
Gordon Rakow Disposes
of Minnesota Business—
PAGE—Mr. and Mrs. Gordon
Rakow and family visited Wed
nesday evening, September 1,
with Mr. and Mrs. C. A. Town
send. Mr. Rakow has disposed of
his business in Minneapolis,
Minn., and is looking for a new
location due to the health of his
son. They first went to Denver,
Colo. They will visit Gordon’s
brother, Eddie Rakow, and sis
ter, Mrs. Myrtle Peeler, in -Ore
gon; his brother, JL. C. Rakow,
and nephew, Ross Rakow, in
Washington, before going to
Santa Paula, Calif., to visit his
sister-in-law, Mrs. Claude Ra
kow, and family.
-a——
r -■ ---.
640 Acre Holt Co. Ranch
and Personal Property
AT PUBLIC AUCTION
On premises, 16 miles north of O’Neill, Nebr., 4 miles east, 2
miles north, 2 miles east and 1 mile north, on —
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10
Starting at 12:30 P.M. — Lunch on Grounds
Fine small ranch unit, includes 8-room dwelling, barn,
poultry house, etc. Near school, mail route, lots of water. Pos
session in falL
50 Head of Cattle — 4 Horses — Ranch Machinery
FLOYD CRAWFORD, Owner
Sale to be conducted by Thorin-Bowker Auction Service,
O’Neill; Col. Ed Thorin, auct.; Bill Bowker, clerk. Inspect |
any time.
..iiim——warn
i
*
Rural & City
PHILLIPS “66”
PRODUCTS
New & Used Tires
Greasing 8c Washing
BORG &~WORTH
Prompt Tankwagon
SERVICE
Phillips ~66" Station
Phone 362
..DANCE..
AT O’NEILL
American Legion Auditorium
& BALLROOM
NOSMG KING ORCHESTRA
Saturday, September 11th
Adm.: Adults $1; Students 50c
——— ■ i — iimi
Best time ever to
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B
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