Prairieland Talk . . .
Breaking Plow Brings Ruin
By ROMAINE SAUNDERS. Retired. Former Frontier Editor
. . * • i i r__
LINCOLN—President Eisenhower visited Mc
Cook. and bestowed his blessing upon the region
where the breaking plow had wrought ruin. Had
the unexcelled grazing lands of western Nebras
ka been left as nature formed them, windblown
fields would not now spread across the land.
A central section of Holt county a little way
out from O’Neill was subjected to the breaking
plow by early day settlers who gave it up and
prairie grass has taken over to put meat on cloven
hoofed herds. When homestead
ers arrived in southwest Nebras
ka, Barnett, who had gathered
what he thought was the cream
of the lumber trade at O’Neill,
sold the Barnett & Freis Lumber
Co. to O. O. Snyder and took off
for McCook. I was in that city a
few years ago and ran onto a
lumber yard with a sign bearing
Barnett’s name. Mr. Barnett had
died some years previous but the
lumber business he founded in
Bomain* McCook was still in operation. A
Saunden dressy, polished sort of gentle
man, Barnett chose to live amid pioneer conditions
and when O’Neill had lost its two-gun aspects h
pulled out for a new field.
A stately monument to his partner m th
Neill lumber company, Captain Freis stands on
the courthouse grounds in Monroe, Wise., his na
twentyEis^hower is the first president to get
a first-hand look at conditions in a Nebraska com
munity, though Herbert Hoover when president
authorized the expenditure of $100,000 to alleviate
the need in Holt and adjoining counties during the
drought of the ’30’s. ^ ^
A group of dark-skinned children appeared
at a while man's school to register as students.
“Can't come here." was their greeting. But that
was down in old Alabama where blacks were
first enslaved under the lash and are now denied
the right of citizens.
Street lights glow from the top of high poles.
The early September moon has hung its crescent
of gold in the southern sky. The calm of early
nightfall, the tranquil moment between the day
light and the slumber marks the passing of an
other day. Looking out 0n the street below away
from the zone of high pressure traffic I see chil
dren at play and hear the childish laughter, the
shouts and screams of youngsters racing about.
Childhood at play—the burden and the care and
the joy and pride of fathers and mothers—child
hood, for the moment safe, marching down the
highway of life soon to be jarred into sensibility
that they are in a troubled world, yet a world
with open arms of opportunity beckoning to all
who would be embraced. The play hour is over,
children have gone to their homes and to bed.
The street is empty, symbolic of days ahead when
the home will be empty, children grown and gone,
and two old folks sit in the evening twilight and
images of childhood at play come marching down
memory’s lane.
• * *
An Omaha Lochinvar found himself in a
Council Bluffs, la., jail, and thereby hangs a
strange tale. His car was gone and with it his fair
®len. So he called the sheriff’s office and asked
for help. The Iowa guandian of human rights in
the community was incensed at being aroused at
night to do something for a guy from Omaha,
had him arrested and jailed. And the car with the
fair Ellen at the steering wheel showed up and
rescued her Lochinvar from the clutches of an
unsympathetic sheriff. Any Nebraska sheriff
would go the limit to restore a lost maiden to her
devoted Prince Charming. If on a drive down
lovers’ lane stay away from Council Bluffs.
* * *
Mr. and Mrs. J. Roblyer, formerly living in
Swan precinct but now of Neligh, spent a few
days wih friends in Lincoln recently.
The annual iNenrasKa swic icui wuwugo
to the capitol city last week. Fairs are about the
same from year to year with respect to exhibits
and entertainment features. Looking on as the
crowds shift about from place to place you may
be led to think that city and country dwellers
alike have felt the need of getting away from the
daily round of home scenes and release the ten
sion of the times by going some place. Two little
girls, who had been to the fair grounds, sized it
up this way in my hearing: “Takes lots of mon
ey.” They were referring to the merry-go-round
setups and the like for children. Twenty-five and
30 cents for a minute ride this year on those toy
horses that you formerly rode for a dime. So chil
dren maybe got one ride or none at all. But they
had fun one day when the price was lowered to a
dime.
• * *
Some go seeking for what they imagine io
be more congenial climes. If you are intexesied
in attaining to fullness of years just stick around
where you are. Mrs. Davis, a Lincoln citizen,
has reached the age of 107 years. You might die
before your time in a California earthquake
or get blown out to sea if you think Florida
locks good to you.
* * *
Sunday, June 28, 1903, Steve McNichols, ac
companied by his mother, went to Omaha to spend
a little time with his sister, who had been known
in O’Neill as Miss Mary but had joined a religious
order and was not expected to live as she was af
flicted with a serious illness. . . Mr. and Mrs. John
Halloran of Inman, accompanied by their daugh
ter, Mrs. Coffin, and her husband of Burwell put
in a day shopping and visiting friends in O’Neill.
. . . The Ernest Stilwell family, who had sold their
ranch in the Cache creek valley in 1902 and re
turned to their native England, were back in the
States planning eventually to locate again in Ne
braska. . . Judge Kincaid attended the wedding of
his niece in a Kansas community a day in July,
1903.
Peach trees down in the com belt and alfalfa
region are loaded with blush-tinted fruit, bushels
being gathered from a single tree. Housewives
are working overtime stewing and “putting-up’*
peaches, storing the jars row upon row on base
ment shelves and in cold storage plants. The age
old concern over food problems involves laying
tn stores for future use. Our pioneer mothers did
n’t have peaches so they made use of the melon
rinds, contrived some way to manufacture “pre
serves” out of them.
* * *
A total of $21,850.12 was put into circulation
by the group of ambitious patriots who made
the primary race for the nomination for the two
months' terni in the U.S. senate.
* * *
Rosa Hudspeth, editor of the Stuart Ledger,
stepped in off the street, sat down at the editorial
desk a day in April, 1903, and wrote this one:
“Talk about the curiosity of woman. It is baby
play compared to the innate curiosity of a portion
of the big, superior, lordly, masculine, godlike
race. They are married men—businessmen—who
will stand on the street and with blinks, winks
and sniffs watch a business woman’s comings and
goings with looks that would shame a decent dog.”
* * *
Two men died last night—one a part of the
modem business life of the community who went
the way of all the earth in middle life from a sud
den heart attack, and the other if mentioned be
yond his tribal group just a nobody. They each
will now have six feet of earth to lie in. The
story at death of the one was given a column on
the front page. The other a brief notice among
the list of deaths. Such is the estimate of man to
man.
Editorial . . .
Arrival of Autumn
After the hot months of July and August, the <
arrival of autumn is welcomed by most Ameri
cans.
Of all the seasons, autumn is the most nos
talgic. The first crisp days of fall, the bright
turning leaves which begin to cover the ground,
combined with new wool sweaters, football, the
smell of burning leaves, the brown fields and blu
ish smoke from country chimneys, are all familiar
impresions. The weather is perhaps the pleasant
est of all the year.
Because the flowers and crops are dying or
dead, however, fall is a melancholy time of year
for nature’s products. There is also the thought
that soon after the beautiful days of October and
early November will come the colder, harsher
weather of winter.
The end of the year comes into view, and
this tends to bring back memories and summa
tions for the year, thus lending another emphasis
to the nostalgic note. The days rapidly grow
shorter and the nights longer, and the result is
that the earth loses the heat stored up during
the summer months. But, until the cold weather
is actually upon us, and the days are at their
shortest, the best days of the year and nature’s
greatest show should be enjoyed by all who are
capable of appreciating the mircale of life and na
ture so evident around us.
Intelligence Vital to Life
Let's not make the mistake of underestimat
in'* intelligence.
Too many people take every opportunity to
say smart things about the man of book-intelli
gence, suggesting that they believe that this is a
big joke.
No problem of the world will be solved by
emotion. No great benefit comes to the world ex
cept through change. Thousands of experiments
would have been valueless without a trained mind
to read their messages and apply them truthfully
It is all right for a man to take pride in his
experience garnered through the years. He has
something that is distinctly an asset to him. How
ever, let him not under-estimate the value of so
called book-intelligence, if he has little of it.
Experience and intelligence together will
solve many problems that neither, alone, can
handle. The man without either is badly handi
capped. He who pokes fun at intelligence is as
foolish as the book-worm, who imagines he can
understand all of life by reading between the
covers of the printed word.
There are few rules for success that improve
on “pay cash” for what you buy.
»
Business to Move Upward
Dr. Gabriel Hauge recently told 42 governors
at the governors’ meeting in New York a business
upswing is about to start. Hauge is one of the eco
nomic advisers to President Dwight D. Eisen
hower.
Hauge told the governors the United States
economy was “catching its breath” for a new ad
vance, and that the retreat from peak records of
1953 had finally been stopped.
Most of the governors were reported to be in
agreement with the presidential adviser and to
have reported conditions in their states as con
forming to his analysis. Hauge’s statement is sup
ported by an imposing array of figures. And he
is also backed up by the opinions of most of the
country’s business writers.
In his opinion, the readjustment which took
place at the end of the 1953 boom was a logical
one, one which was sure to follow a war period
such as that entered into when this country began
operations in Korea. The readjustment, however,
has been made, in Hauge’s opinion, and without
too much strain on the individual or business, and
the prospect is now for improved business condi
tions—although not for a return to boom condi
tions- *i*M
Locally, many merchants did all right through
July but experienced a sharp volume decline in
August. Now that autumn is in the air, a season
al upturn is expected.
^SLFrontiEr
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)
When You and I Were Young ...
O’Neill Boasts Modern
Sampson in Stevens
Feat Includes Sack
Carried by Teeth
50 Years Ago
O’Neill has a modern Sampson
in the person of George Stevens,
a clerk at the J. P. Gallagher
store. Laden with 400 pounds of
sugar and flour, he walked from
the warehouse into the store, a
distance of 20 feet. The exhibition
was performed by placing a 50
pound sack of flour on each
shoulder, a 100-pound sack of
sugar under each arm and a sack
of sugar in his teeth. The burden
outweighed the bearer by 250
pounds. . . Charles McPharlin
departed for St. Louis, Mo., the
first of the week, to take in the
exposition now being held there.
. . . The mercury registered 99
for a record-breakin? tempera
ture at this time of the year last
week and two nights later came
the first frost. . . Leo Loggerwell,
who sold out his farm near At
kinson two years ago, has come
back to stay and says Holt coun
ty is good enough for him.
20 Years Ago
The wind storm last week de
stroyed two barns on the Aloys
Kaup farm near Stuart and drove
flying timbers into the roof of
his home. . . Elmer Phillips and
John Tullis, old time settlers,
passed away at their homes in
Idaho and Colorado respectively.
. . . Mr. and Mrs. Robert Schulz.
Luther and Mr. and Mrs. Char
les Leirmann were in an auto
accident on highway 281 two
miles south of the Porter filling
station. Mrs. Liermann suffered a
broken collar bone. . . Free day
will be held in O’Nelil next
week. A splendid program has
been planned and everyone who
attends will be assured that there
will be something doing every
minute.
10 Years Ago
Mrs. William Hull celebrated
her 89th birthday anniversary at
her home with some of her 11
children, a number of her grand
children and a host of friends. . .
The O’Neill Woman’s club held
its opening meeting for the sea
son at the home of Mrs. Seth
Noble. . . George Mellor and
Leonard Engler won top honors
at the Nebraska state fair with
a team demonstration on brand
ing cattle. They will receive a
trip to the national 4-H club con
gress in Chicago, 111., early in
December. . . Mrs. Joseph Teply,
94, died at the home of her
daughter, Mrs. Adolph Dudek, in
this city.
One Year Ago
Another fatal accident occurred
at the junction of U.S. 281 and
U.S. 20 lVfe miles north of the
city. S/Sgt. Antonio Gonzalez
was killed when his car missed
the turn coming from the west.
. . . The O’Neill Eagles had an in
auspicious opening. They .out
downed, outyarded and out
charged the Plainview Pirates at
every turn of the game, yet the
game ended in a scoreless dead
lock. . . Tommy Wanser, 9, fell
from a speeding automobile while
he was attempting to close the
door. He suffered a compound
skull fracture. . . Mr. and Mrs.
Lee Terwilliger left for Eagle on
the first step of a trip to Ger
many. They will cross the At
lantic on the USS United States.
They plan to be gone about two
months.
27 Gather for
40 et 8 Meeting—
EWING— Twenty-seven mem
bers of the “40 et 8” were at Ew
ing Thursday evening, Septem
ber 2, for a 7:30 o’clock dinner at
the home of Mrs. M. B. Huffman,
with Mrs. Stanley Huffman as
co-hostess. Mrs. Charles E. Chace
of Atkinson was introduced as a
new member. Mrs. Irvin Ashby,
Mrs. A. R. Andrews and Miss
Daisy Robinson, all of Stanton,
will be hostesses for the next
meeting, the place to be announc
ed. Mrs. Leo Chapeau directed
the business meeting.
Keyes Family Arrives—
CWO Lorin Keyes and wife
and their daughter, Mary, 10,
Sunday moved into their home
at 231 North Eighth street from
Ft. Riley, Kans. Mr. Keyes is on
leave and will depart in late Oc
tober for a three-year assignment
in France.
THE FRONTIER for your print
ing needs.
Christian Mothers
Hold Initial Meeting
EWING—The Christian Moth
ers of St Peter’s church met
Tuesday evening, September 7, at
the Stockmen’s cafe for the first
meeting after the summer vaca
tion. Twenty-eight members an
swered roll call.
Mrs. Gail Boies, president, pre
sided at the business session.
September 18 was the date set
for a food sale. Mrs. Mary Roth
erham gave a report on the box
es of clothing which had been
sent to the needy and Mrs. Pat
Knapp gave a report on the Na
tional Council of Catholic Wom
en which she attended in Omaha
recently.
The 30th annual archdiocesan
convention to be held in Omaha
on October 5 was discussed and
will be attended by Mrs. Knapp
and other members.
A social hour with card games
was enjoyed. Lunch was served
by the following committee: Mrs.
Charles Rotherham, Mrs. William
Lofquest, Mrs. Ralph Munn and
John Miller.
Ewing News
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Edwards
and daughter, Cathy, accompan
ied by Mr. and Mrs. Clifford
Hahlbeck and C. C. Hahlbeck, at
tended the Ewing-Bassett foot
ball game Friday evening at Bas
sett.
Mrs. Henry Baum, sr., went to
Norfolk on Friday where she met
her daughter, Miss Christine
Baum, who had a three-day va
cation from duties at St. Eliza
beth’s hospital. On her return
Monday for classes, she began her
senior year in nurse’s training.
Mrs. Allan Pollock has been
assisting at the Stopebraker home
in Ewing.
Mr. and Mrs. Sylvester Tom
jack and family from California
are spending a two-weeks’ vaca
tion in Ewing and vicinity with
friends and relatives. Mrs. Tom
jack is the daughter of Mrs. Maud
Boies.
Mrs. Hazel Kimes spent Friday
evening at the home of Mrs. Ed
na Lofquest.
Mrs. George Jefferies returned
last Thursday from a trip to
Michigan where she was the
guest of relatives at Detroit and
Cedar Springs.
Mr. and Mrs. Dewitt Hoke and
family attended the state fair
last Thursday. Their daughter,
Janell, was one of the judges of
clothing and won in that cate
gory at the county achievement
day held in O’Neill in August.
Bennie Taylor was also selected
to judge in the dairying group at
the state fair, but was unable to
participate. Both are members of
the Happy Hollow 4-H club. Mr.
and Mrs. Lionel Gunter accom
panied the Hoke family to the
fair.
Mr. and Mrs. Lee Fink spent
Friday at the state fair.
Mr. and Mrs. Mason Moritz of
Stanton were callers on Satur
day at the home of Mr. and Mrs.
Arthur Kropp. Mrs. Moritz is a
sister of Mr. Kropp. They were
enroute to the Black Hills on a
vacation trip.
Mrs. Ldna Lofquest and her
aunt, Mrs. Carrie Bernhardt,
spent Monday and Tuesday, Sep
tember 6 and 7, at Albion visiting
at the home of Mrs. Bernhardt’s
sister-in-law, Mrs. Bd Brophy.
Recent guests at the home of
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Edwards
were her mother, Mrs. Dora
Shipp of Harlan, Mr. and Mrs.
Roy Brogard and son of Fremont
and Don Prather of Kearney. Mr.
and Mrs. Richard Edwards and
children were guests on Tuesday,
September 7, at the home of Mr.
and Mrs. Archie Tuttle and fam
ily at Neligh. In the afternoon,
Mrs. Edwards and daughter, Jo
Ann, accompanied by Mrs. Mel
vin Lund and Randy Ray of
Clearwater, attended the baby
alumni of 1954 held at the Ante
lope Memorial hospital. Prizes
were given for the shortest and
longest baby, and the youngest
and oldest. Pictures were taken
by Neligh photographers. Re
freshments were served.
Mrs. John Bollwitt and daugh
ter, Verlee Ann, returned Tues
day, September 7, from a five
weeks’ vacation trip through
Oregon and California. The first
week was spent in Oregon visit
ing and sightseeing, which in
cluded the shrine of Our Sorrow
ful Mother. Other places visited
were relatives at Newark, San
Bernardino and Los Angeles and
many places of interest such as
Golden Gate park, Fisherman’s
wharf and San Francisco airport.
Miss Florence Van Ostrand is
employed at St. Anthony’s hos
pital in O’Neill as a nurse’s aide
Miss Van Ostrand was a member
of the graduating class of 1954
from the Ewing high school.
Mr. and Mrs. Kermit Jefferies
took their daughter, Judy, to
Omaha on Sunday where she will
enroll at the College of St. Ma
ry’s. She is a member of the class
of 1954, Ewing high school.
Mrs. Earl Van Ostrand trans
acted business in O’Neill on Sat
urday.
The Upper Room club spon
sored a fellowship dinner at the
Ewing Methodist church on Sun
day following the worship hour
and Sunday-school. About 40
were present. Dinner was served
buffet style. Sunday, September
19, the congregation of the Ew
ing Methodist church is invited to
Clearwater for a fellowship din
ner.
Receipts of New
Books Noted—
EWING — New books at the
Ewing public library include:
For adults — “Seven Steeples”
by Henrichsen; “The Sojourner”
by Rawlings; “Every Day Was
New” by Filley; “The Jones
Girls” bv Worley; “No Quarter”
by Jorgensen; ‘The Apache Kill”
by Hopson; “Outlaws of Lost Riv
er” by Evan, and “O Nurse Come
Home” by Hamil.
For juvenile—“Capt. Jeep” by
Rexhnitzer; “Window on the
Wall” by Gollom; “The Heavenly
Series” by O’Rourke; “The Dare
devil” by Stillman; “Blazer, the
Bear,” “Who’s Afraid of Thun
der?” “The Feathered Cape” and
“Lucky Orphans.”
In the non-fiction group are
“Your Dream House,” “Showers
for All Occasions,” Hammond’s
“Nature Atlas,” Hammond’s
“Guide in Nature Hobbies.”
Mrs. H. J. Birmingham and
Miss Marde drove to Omaha on
Monday where Miss Birmingham
enrolled at Duchesne college for
her senior year.
Venetian blinds, prompt delie
ery, made to measure, metal or
wood, all colors,—J. M. McDon
alds. tf
Picnic Supper Held
at Stems Home—
The following recently enjoyed
a picnic supper at the home of
Mr. and Mrs. Albert Sterns in
honor of Mr. and Mrs, Leslie
Strong and Doris Stems:
Mr. and Mrs. Levi Yantzie, Mr.
and Mrs. William Claussen, Mr.
and Mrs. James Curran and Ar
dell. Mr. and Msr. Floyd Johnson,
Mr. and Mrs. Francis Curran,
Betty and Mary Jo, Mr. and Mrs.
Donald Hynes and Lynda. Mr.
and Mrs. Lyle Vequist, Rita, Jan
ice and Tommy, Mr. and Mrs. El
mer Sterns, Francis and Gene,
John Richardson and Mr. and
Mrs. Donald Stems.
Diane Sehi Moves
from O'Neill—
Brownie troop IV met at the
public library on Monday, Sep
tember 6, with six members pres
ent. We were sorry that we lost
Diane Sehi. She moved away.
We finished our plaques. Judy
Sullivan treated us to candy
bars.
Next hostess will be Treva
Baker. Next meeting will be on
Monday, September 20, at 4 p.m.
—By Janet Peterson, scribe.
_ " ..
Celia News
Last Thursday evening supper
guests at the Frank Kilmurry
home were P. W. Kilmurry and
Mary Catherine Kilmurry. Mrs.
P. W. Kilmurry is in Rapid City,
S.D., getting acquainted with her
new granddaughter at the Vin
cent Allard home.
Mr. and Mrs. W. R. Greenwood
and Arlene of Spokane, Wash.,
and Mrs. O. A. Hammerberg were
last Thursday O’Neill visitors.
They also visited the George
Beck family.
Mr. and Mrs. Ed Rome and
children and Mr. and Mrs. Bots
Gutchewsky and daughter, all of'
Omaha, were Sunday evening,
September 5, guests at the Frank
Kilmurry home.
SURPLUS
Glad Bulbs for Sale
Get them this fall CHEAP.'
No Sunday sales.
The Lambs
Phone 512-W
■..—• .. . O
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Treat your home to gorgeous new color . . . fascinating
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Hundreds of colors to choose from . . . colors you always
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Completely odorless . . . and freshly mixed just for you at no
extra cost.
WESTERN AUTO STORE, O’Neill
“SCOVIE’S”
TAX INFORMATION
From the
Office of Holt County Treasurer
Distress warrants must be issued for all unpaid personal
taxes this month and delivered to the Sheriff before October
1st.
Delinquent real estate taxes not paid by October 1st must
be advertised for tax sale. The cost added for advertising after
October 1st is 50c per line.
We will be glad to send you a statement of your taxes
upon request. Please give us the legal descriptions of all your
land in asking for tax statement.
J. Ed Hancock, County Treasurer
| AS GEJVERAL ELECTRIC SEES IT... ^
New products created
45,000 G-E jobs in
the last nine years
And hundreds of new ideas are now being developed
to keep employment high and help America live better
o
Tower of time cards shows jobs created by new G-E products. In a single pile, they'd reach 5 stories high.
One out of every five people working at
General Electric owes his job to prod
ucts G. E. didn’t make before 1945.
Will coming years bring as much
progress?
Actually, we believe there will be
more. Many exciting possibilities are
predictable as we learn how to make
full use of atomic energy. Another im
portant new development will be elec
tronic machinery which will make work
easier, production swifter—and create
more jobs. New uses for gas turbines
promise improved air, rail and ship
transportation, and better power plants
for industry. Research will make home
appliances even more helpful.
All these fields—and many others—
are so promising that we expect to pro
duce more in the next ten years than in
all the previous 75 years of our exist
ence. As we see it, in a free economy,
America's industrial progress is not only
continuing, it's rapidly accelerating.
Tiny Job maktr. The G-E transistor, not much bigger
than a pencil eraser, does the work of a full-sized
vacuum tube. It makes possible a wide variety of
new electronic devices which will make your life
more pleasant in the future and give employment
to thousands of people.
Progress Is Our Most Important Poduct
GENERAL ELECTRIC