Prairieland Talk . . .
Prairie Disappears in O’Neill
By ROMAINE SAUNDERS. Retired. Former Frontier Editor
LINCOLN—The vacant spots at O’Neill are
fast becoming “residential districts,” the last foot
of prairie sod will soon be no more within its
limits. In a recent visit I saw about a dozen
friends that “grew-up” with the town. Like the
shifting sands of desert lands,
the population of O’Neill and the
community around comes and
goes. We have seen the long pro
cession moving down the high
way of life, “the young heart hot
and restless, the old subdued
and slow.”
The young, too, are march
ing step by step toward the in
exorbable end, gathering along
the way treasures of memory,
joy and sorrow, smiles and tears, Romaine
moments of bliss and days of
... Saunders
heartache.
The aged know it will soon be over. The
gathering shadows of life’s twilight permit one
more step—and then the dark. Life’s closing years
for some are crowned with serenity and peaceful
plenty, for others the tragedy of being alone and
unwanted. And so from without the borne of
time and place all strut across the stage and pass
out of the picture. And then how many can say
with the great St. Paul, “There is laid up for me a
crown which the Lord will give me at that day”?
• * •
Senate rules require opening each session
with prayer offered by the chaplain. An ad
journed night session recently caught the sena
tors without their clergyman, who had turned
in for the night. A republican senator from
Utah. Wallace F. Bennett, an elder in the Mor
mon church, rose to the occasion and supplied
the customary prayer.
Senator McCarthy still seems to be the “para
mount issue” in congress, the stage now being set
for “condemnation” proceeding when the senate
convenes in special session early in November.
The Wisconsin senator will take care of himself.
A hundred years ago Sam Houston faced his ac
cusers on the floor of the federal legislative halls
and in one of the greatest flights of oratory ever
known in those historic chambers made his ene
mies regret their move. “I stand before this
house,” said Houston, “as a man of broken for
tune and blasted reputation.” And with bowed
head in the presence of lawmakers and galleries
crowded with spectators, the great Sam Houston
concluded his own defense with these words:
"Though the plowshare of ruin has been driven
over me, I have only to say I seek no sympathy
nor need any. The thorns that I have reaped are
of the tree I planted; they have torn me and I
bleed.” And then he raised his eyes to the flag
and said: ‘“Sirs, so long as that flag shall bear
aloft its glittering stars, so long I trust the rights
of American citizens will be preserved.” Now
soon, a hundred years later, an American citizen
and high public official will stand before his ac
cusers for having performed his duty as a United
States senator as he sees it.
* * •
Secretary Benson observed during his visit to
Nebraska that there is not a tractor rider here
seeking a seat in the U.S. senate. This inspired
one candidate, James F. Green, to announce so
we all may know that he is an Omaha attorney
and doesn’t know much about riding tractors. We
have had a compentent lady senator for a few
months who rides a cow pony. Propably there is
now a surplus of lawyers in the congress and
maybe there should be a delegation of tractor and
cow pony riders making themselves heard on
capitol hill.
We look back today upon the scene in early
autumn of 1903. M. F. Harrington was having a
house built on his land in the vicinity of the Mc
Clure ranch, and Hank Mills went thither to put
down a well. . . Alice Coykendall took off for
Chicago, 111., to attend a national gathering of
dress makers. . . Martin Cronin went to Stuart to
stick type for the Ledger publisher. . . John M.
Stewart and Ida B. Morse, both of O’Neill, were
issued a marriage license by County Judge Mor
gan. . . Father Isadore (Richard Dwyer) arrived
in the city from the East for a visit with relatives
and friends. . . The J. P. Mann store was offering
boys’ knee pants suits for $1.50. . . A son was bom
to Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Kellogg. Mrs. Kellogg was
a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Ziemer. . . Ber
nard McGreevy passed cigars around and remark
ed with a smile, “It’s a daughter!” . . Arthur Gwin
and Emma Stein were married at the home of the
bride’s parents on a farm north of O’Neill.
* * *
A young man back from a week in Dallas,
Tex., during the last week in September, says
that section is very dry and hot. heat register
ing 117 degrees while he was there. Cotton crop
is short, one planter telling him his loss this
year on his crop will amount to $20,000 because
of prolonged drought.
* * *
Officials charged with the job of dealing with
criminals say that crime is at an all time high
mark in America. This in the face of what some
churchmen claim is the greatest religious surge the
country has ever experienced. Maybe the gunmen
have everybody frightened, so they take refuge
in church membership, which in itself means lit
tle or nothing. One of the late apostolic writers
mentions a time of a “form of godliness” but the
real stuff is “to visit the fatherless and widows
in their affliction” and keep himself straight.
There is form aplenty, show and display. Friends
up at O’Neill and out on prairieland have some
thing that transcends all that in their religious
thinking. Most any of them would hand me the
bus fare if I were broke and wanted to get back
to Lincoln.
Talking with a superannuated old patriot to
day, he expressed a esire to visit his home of long
ago in another state but he did not have the mon
ey necessary for the trip. His life had been spent
not in gathering money and property but. in ser
vice to others as a Methodist preacher, 50 years
or more ago in Holt county. Now before life’s
gathering shadows merge into night he would
like to visit again the scenes of his childhood and
youth. The lack of a few dollars bars the way. But
as I watched the patriarch move away with falter
ing step I concluded he could not go alone any
place though he might have a mint to draw on.
* * *
Folks at O’Neill have become concert conscious.
Now the swelling notes of imported song birds
will float out over the calm evening air across
prairieland. The O’Neill of the long ago had its
native concert singers, its Shakespearean actors
and blackface comedians. Has it come to this,
that the old town points a beckoning finger
toward New York City with the plea, “Come ^nd
sing for us or put on a show”? Shades of Denny
Cronin and John Smoot!
* * •
The statehouse custodian says the budget for
his department can be materially reduced for the
next biennium, the old age assistance budget will
be . less by about a million and a group of Ameri
can Legion patriots call for a reduction in costs of
college education.
Editorial . . .
Why Not a Holt County Museum?
It has been mentioned in these columns be
fore and we now take occasion to repeat the fact
that a historical society should be formed in
Holt county. Many attics, basements and barns
are sheltering items that would be of prime in
terest in a historical group. One-by-one these
items are finding their way to the junk yards
whereas some of them could be quite valuable to
a collection.
We noted by the Wayne Herald a museum
recently was opened at the courthouse there.
About three hundred persons found time to ex
amine relics of early life in that area the first
evening the museum was open to the public.
The Wayne museum was a project of the Wayne
Woman’s club. The members collected, cataloged
and displayed more than 275 items.
We think a museum of that sort would be a
fine thing for Holt county, and it is The Frontier’s
hope some individuals or a group will come for
ward and set out to preserve the tools, imple
ments, household goods and clothes of old. No
doubt it is an undertaking for a permanent or
ganization, because people with historical inter
ests will be constantly searching for additional
articles to be displayed.
Following publication of an editorial along
these same lines appearing in this newspaper
about two years ago, Joel Parker was quick
to like the idea. Joel has a first-class collection
of historical items in his possession right now;
items that some less historically-conscious person
might quickly relegate to the junk yard. Charles
Cole of Star has several items set aside. Elmer
Juracek one day brought in for us to examine an
1880 township clerk’s record book—a classic ex
ample of painstaking longhand and dedicated
public service.
In 1949 when The Frontier published its 64
page diamond jubilee issue (the largest single is
sue of a weekly newspaper ever published in Ne
braska), the jubilee editor, Romaine Saunders,
pleaded for someone to bring in a haybumer
heating stove. Several weeks elapsed. A delapidat
ed one finally was brought in from the south
western comer of the county. Recently the Ne
braska State Historical society put on an SOS
for a similar haybumer. What success the Lincoln
appeal met with we do not know.
The project clubs which banded together to
reconstruct a “grandmother’s kitchen’’ at the 1954
Holt county fair at Chambers had the right idea
—an aged cupboard, rocking chair, clock, lamp,
etc.
The original Holt county courthouse, a log
cabin on the Boyle place southeast of town, might
be transplanted to O’Neill and be made into a
museum.
There is no doubt that many Holt county
homes contain certain relics of early day life in
this area. Some of these could become outstand
ing contributions to a museum.
Two net results of such a museum we are quite
certain: (1) Respect for our ancestors and the
hardy settlers in this region would grow after a
visit to the museum; (2) Those who long for the
“good old days” may change their minds after
seeing the primitive tools and the clothing worn
by the pioneers.
Teach ’Em Young . . . Right
(Guest editorial from Pierce County Leader)
A bike to a boy or a girl is as important as
the automobile is to the parents. Just like the
automobile driver, the youngster occasionally be
comes careless and when this happens an accident
can result.
Teach your youngster to stop the bike at
stop signs . . . it’s just as important a bike stop
as an automobile. The car driver having the
right-of-way will look for oncoming cars but
knowing he must halt at a stop sign often will
breeze right through an intersection.
A kid on a bike that “breezes” right through
a stop sign could meet instant death below the
crushing wheels of an auto that had the right-of
way.
Teach your youngster to signal turns when
riding a bike in the street. A car coming from
behind should be warned when a youngster plans
a left hand turn.
A bike can be a youngster’s greatest joy and
thrill ... if handled properly. When youngsters
forget the laws of the road that bike could be a
“way-of-death.”
Dad and mother remember this . . . your
youngster will ride his bike cautiously if you
drive cautiously . . . what kind of an example are
you setting?
Man is a wonder to himself; he can neither
govern nor know himself.—Benjamin Wichcote.
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)
I
When You and I Were Young...
Temperature Skids
50 Degrees Overnite
Blast of August Turns
Arctic
SO Years Ago
The sandhills over south can
produce something besides grass
and blowouts. A load of cabbage
came in from that section the
other day and was unloaded at
Leek and Gatz’ meat market.
There were some enormous
heads. Many of the heads would,
when weighed singly, tip the
scales at 20 pounds. . . Tempera
tures varied 50 degrees this last
week — ’twas something like a
blast of August and then a bit of
the Arctic overnight! . . County
Clerk Gilmore has returned from
his eastern trip and is on duty
again at his office. . . An oyster
supper will be sponsored by the
lames of the Presbyterian church
in the Dayle building. . . O’Neill
citizens several hundred strong
planned to attend the Chambers
fair, but were held at home due
to a downpour of rain all day.
20 Years Ago
The 50th anniversary of the
First Baptist church at Cham
bers was celebrated during the
week. The anniversary picture
was revealed and presented to
the church. The presentation
speech was made by Leo Adams.
. . . The All-Stars of Boyd coun
ty defeated the Holt All-Stars
with a score of 3-2 in 11 innings.
Each team has won a game to
date. . . Candidates for state of
fices will speak here during the
coming week. Richard Johnson,
republican candidate for attor
ney-general, and Dr. T. W. Bass,
republican candidate for state
treasurer, are on a speaking tour
of this section of the state. . . A
reception was held at the Metho
dist church honoring the new
pastor and his wife, Rev. and
Mrs. A. Judson May.
10 Years Ago
O’Neill high has lost its first
two football games this season...
Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Chapman
purchased the Hotel Augusta and
Green Lantern dining room in
Fairmont, Minn. Mrs. Chapman
is the former Pauline McPharlin,
daughter of Mrs. J. H. McPhar
lin. . . The American Legion,
second district, will hold its an
nual meeting at Wausa. . . Jack
Vincent, son of Mr. and Mrs.
Jack Vincent, received his degree
of doctor of medicine at Joslyn
Memorial. . . Petty Oficer 3/c
William O’Connell arrived in
Norfolk, Va., after spending sev
eral months overseas.
One Year Ago
An unsuccessful attempt to
crack the safe in the office of
Shelhamer Foods was made some
time during the early hours of
the mornmg after the store
closed around midnight Satur
day. . . Mother M. Erica, superior
at St. Mary’s academy, died of a
cerebral hemorrhage at St. An
thony’s hospital. . . Pfc. Glen E.
Knight was heard over radio sta
tion WJAG in a transcribed in
terview recently made in Mun
san, Korea, the truce talk area.
. . . Pre-historic bones of a rhi
noceros were unearthed on the
Melvin Colson farm northeast of
Orchard.
Page News
Mr. and Mrs. Harold Asher and
son were Sunday dinner guests at
his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Neil
Asher.
Mrs. Eva Murten came from
Gordon Wednesday evening, Sep
tember 29, to visit relatives and
friends here.
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Hartigan and
family were Sunday dinner guests
of his mother, Mrs. Marye Harti
gan, at Inman. His brother Pvt.
Grayden Hartigan, was home
from Ft. Bliss, Tex. Mr. and Mrs.
Pearl Cary were also guests of
their daughter, Mrs. Hartigan.
Mrs. Laura Walker visited
Wednesday afternoon, September
29, with Mrs. C. A. Townsend. She
had been staying with her daugh
ter, Mrs. Bright, at Orchard and
was going to O’Neill to visit an
other daughter, Mrs. L. A. Bur
gess.
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Fleming
and Mrs. Frank Belmar of Ewing,
and Mrs. Dora Townsend of Page
were Pickstown, S. D., visitors
Saturday and also attended the
Pancake day celebration at Yank
ton, S. D.
Mr. and Mrs. Allen Haynes
were dinner guests Friday at the
home of Mr. and Mrs. John Wells
in O’Neill. They were supper
guests and spent the night at the
home of their son and daughter
in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Laurence
Haynes and family.
The GGG&G club met Friday
afternoon with Mrs. Otto Matsch
ullat. Mrs. Clarence Dobbins, Mrs.
Alta French and Mrs. Elsie Cork
were guests. Mrs. Hester Edmisten
won the high score prize, Mrs.
Clarence Stevens, low, and Mrs.
L O. Wood, traveling. Refresh
ments were served.
'm*
Gets Promotion
Fred R. . Mitchell (above),
son of Mr. and Mrs. Berlin
Mitchell of Stuart, recently
was promoted from private
first-class to corporal. He is as
signed to a field artillery unit
in Korea and recently helped
erect a school for Korean chil
dren. Corporal Mitchell enter
ed the army in March, 1953.
1 Killed, 3 Hurt
in Horse Mishaps
During the past fortnight acci
dents involving saddle horses
killed one Boyd county man and
injured three other persons in
the O’Neill area. All were wide
ly-separated incidents.
The Frontier last issue carried
the complete acount of Marvin
Piklapp’s fall from his horse,
which broke the 36-year-old
Monowi farmer’s neck, killing
him instantly.
Recently William Pratt of Bris
tow suffered a severely wrench
ed shoulder when the horse he
was riding stepped into a badger
hole. The horse fell on Mr. Pratt.
Last week, W. Anson, a farmer
residing four miles east of Bris
tow, suffered a severely skinned
face. The horse he was riding
stepped into a washed-out hole
near a deep gully. The horse fell
and Mr. Anson suffered a bruised
face.
Lynch doctors dressed the
wounds and Mr. Anson loaded
the cattle he had been driving
into a truck. He planned to take
them to the Verdigre sale barn
to be sold at auction. But mis
fortune again plagued Mr. An
son. The truck upset southeast of
Niobrara enroute to the market.
Mrs. Mark Gribble fell from a
saddle horse Monday morning
and fractured two bones in her
leg, about six inches above the
right ankle. A strap that fastens
onto the cinch on the saddle
broke and caused the fall. Her
husband and Vernon Smith, who
was in a field nearby, took her
to St. Anthony’s hospital at O’
Neill. The mishap occurred seven
miles south of the Gribble home.
O’Neill doctors set the fracture
and confined Mrs. Gribble to the
hospital for several days.
Visits Mexico—
Mrs. Anna V. Brown returned
last week from San Antonio, Tex.,
where she had attended the con
vention of Spanish-American war
veterans September 19 through
23. She visited in Mexico while
there and on her return trip visit
ed relatives in Lawarence, Kans.,
and St. Joseph, Mo.
Those attending the NCCW
convention held Tuesday in
Omaha were Mrs. L. A. Becker,
Mrs. Fred O. Heerman, Mrs. Ira
Moss, Mrs. George Head and Mrs.
W. H. Bowker. Mr. Becker drove
the group to Omaha Monday.
They returned Tuesday evening.
Legal Notice
PROCLAMATION OF
GENERAL ELECTION
1954
Notice is hereby given that a
General Election will be held in
the several voting precincts of
the County of Holt, State of Ne
braska, on Tuesday, the second
day of November, 1954, during
the hours designated by law, for
the following purposes, to-wit:
1. For the election of one Unit
ed States Senator (full term).
2. For the election of one Unit
ed States Senator (short term to
fill vacancy expiring January,
1955).
3. For the election of one Unit
ed States Senator (short term—
to fill vacancy expiring Januarv,
1959).
4. For the election of one mem
ber of Congress from the Fourth
Congressional District of the
State.
5. For the election of the fol
lowing State Officers, to-wit;
One Governor
One Lieutenant Governor
One Secretary of State
One Auditor of Public Ac
counts
One State Treasurer
One Attorney General
One Railway Commissioner
6. For the election of one mem
ber of the State Board of Educa
tion for the Sixth District (four
year term).
7. For the election of one
member of the Unicameral Leg
islature for the twenty-eighth
Legislative District of the State.
8. For the election of one mem
ber of the Board of Regents of
the University of Nebr. for Dis
trict Six, (short term to fill va
cancy expiring January, 1957).
9. For the election of any Di
rectors of Public Power Districts
to be elected.
10. To vote upon eight propos
als of the 1953 and 1954 sessions
of the Legislature amending
Article IV, Section 25; Article
VII, Section 1; Article IV, Sec
tion 1; Article VIII, Section 1;
Article IX, section 4; Article
VIII, section 2; Article VIII, by
adding a new section; and Arti
cle IV, section 28, of the Consti
tution of the State of Nebraska.
11. For the election of the fol
lowing County Officers, to-wit;
One County Clerk
One County Treasurer
One Clerk of the District
Court
One County Attorney
One Sheriff
One Assessor
One Surveyor
One County Superintendent
of Public Instruction
One Supervisor from each of
the First, Third, Fifth and
Seventh Supervisor Districts
of the County (Full Term)
One Supervisor from the
Second Supervisor District
of the County (short term to
fill vacancy)
12. For the election of precinct
officers and any other officer
needed in the State, County or
subdivision, as provided by law.
At which General Election the
' polls will open at 8:00 A.M. and
remain open until 8:00 P.M. of
the same dav.
RUTH HOFFMAN BAKER
County Clerk
(SEAL) 23c
...—.- .—.
(First pub. Sept. 30, 1954)
William W. Griffin, Attorney
NOTICE OF HEARING OF
PETITION FOR FINAL
SETTLEMENT OF
ACCOUNT
No. 3933
COUNTY COURT OF HOLT
COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
ESTATE OF DAVID ALFRED
JOHNSON, DECEASED.
THE STATE OF NEBRASKA,
TO ALL CONCERNED:
Notice is hereby given that a
petition has been filed for final
settlement herein, determination
of heirship, inheritance taxes,
fees and commissions, distribu
tion of estate and approval of fi
nal account and discharge, which
will be for hearing in this court
on October 20, 1954, at 10 o’clock,
A.M.
LOUIS W. REIMER
County Judge ,
(COUNTY COURT SEAL) 22-24c
I , -----
Rural & City
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POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT
“Let me fight for the
Parity they promised us...
and then forgot!
my ■«rk«ti»i tard i» H». 494287." ^
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KEITH NEVILLE]
DEMOCRAT
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