Prairieland Talk ... !
Prairie Talker Explores Indiana
By RO MAINE SAUNDERS, Retired, Former Editor The Frontier
MARION. INB^—Indiana's 36,291 square miles .
support a population of a little less than four mil
lion citizens. There are great cities, quiet villages,
factory towns and rolling farm lands. The popula
tion for the most part is composed of native Hoo
I met a farmer yesterday who has lived all
his life in this community, but learn he has bis
farm up for sale, so maybe he
feels it*s time to pull up the roots
of a life time and go places. The
time zone is being agitated and
the state contemplates moving
out of the central time zone and
adopting Eastern time.
What brings a prairielander
into an Eastern state? I have a
son and daughter-in-law who
have within the year established
themselves in a beautiful new
home in this Indiana city. And pomain*
when dads have fallen into the gaundars
ranks of the homeless, they like
to get around to see those of their family group.
The young man living here was a pupil at the
Berry school in Swan precinct in his kid days,
also at Atkinson high, and he won his co e ge
degree at the University of Colorado in Boulder,
as did also his capable young wife.
I am hemmed in by the gadgets of modern
living and there comes a wishful thought of the
simple life that we have known out In prairie
IBut here, too, are bright autumn days, tin
ed beauty on tree and shrub, friendly people and
loyal children.
And so Prairieland Talker explores another
country and discovers the way of life of «»P^
ole Son and I were out in the country yesterday.
Lw four fat horses and more firewood at one farm
than there is in all Nebraska. Fanners use it for
fuel the city dwellers depending on gas. A gas
I am told, started the city of Marion. Now
^ large corporations farther east have moved
into the community with branch houses.
• • •
I was met in Chicago. 111., by my tribal coupie,
who were accompanied by some friends. We had
lunch and drove about the city until time for the
football game between the San Francisco Fo y
Niners and the Chicago Bears when this praineland
innocent accompanied his group to the gladiators
arena and saw his first professional football game.
Humanity in the mass crowded every available
space. As I know nothing about football and care
less, my attention was taken up by and interest
centered on the reaction of that vast throng of
men, women and kids to what went on out in the
arena. And how the spectators did shout and cheer
and jump to their feet at critical moments in the
game' I was told the Forty-Niners won.
Don’t know that I shall get in on another foot
ball game. What I ran onto in Chicago illustrates
that folks like action, want to see a guy do some
thing—sort of hero worship. The victor hailed with
delight, while the vanquished walks away with
bowed head.
Will it come to this, that after more than 70
years north Nebraska is to have no passenger
trains rolling across its fertile plains? O’Neill at
one time had six daily trains coming in and going
out—four on the FE&MV (now the North Western)
and two on the Short Line (now the Burlington).
The reason assigned for the threatened move on
the part of the North Western is lack of patronage.
The railroad is to some extent responsible for this,
though other means of transportation enter into
the picture. The railroad’s passenger train service
has been getting less inviting of recent years and
the depots along the road if open at all at train
time have been anything but inviting places to wait
for a train. Bus depots are made inviting to the
public. Maybe north Nebraska towns can do some
thing to retain the needed trains.
• * *
Indiana was the home of the Hoosier poet
who wrote about the frost on the pumpkin and
the fodder in the shock. From the piles of large
ones at food centers this must be the pumpkin
state.
* * *
The Chicago Bar association is reported to
have taken up the study of “artificial insemination”
with the thought of having another fad legalized.
If any of Chicago’s array of legal talent desire to
become dads and don’t know how to achieve the
status of parenthood they might get in touch with
any father of 10 and receive some valuable tips.
Jack Frost visited the community lasx mgm
and laid a diamond-studded blanket over green
lawns. The sun came forth from the shadows of a
cloudbank hanging on the eastern horizon and
within the hour the celestial furnace had melted
away the frost and bathed the land in light and
warmth. Homes on quiet streets in the city of Mar
tion tell the story of generations of long ago. But
in the recently developed outlying districts new
dwellings are being built to meet the demand of a
freshly blossomed generation for low, one-story
dwellings equipped with all the gadgets of the
times for which they pay enough to have built an
old-fashioned house, or maybe pay for an 80-acre
farm. The new dwellings are painted all colors of
the rainbow, and here as elsewhere there is the
worry of high living costs and taxes. Factories and
mills afford employment for a population of 30,000.
• » *
Fifteen were reported last night as the Hoosier
state’s traffic deaths for the weekend. The total
for the past 10 months is placed at something over
800. . . Southern California has the smog plague.
Indiana begins each new day with dense fog, which
disappears as the sun rides its flaming chariot
across the heavens. . . Two dames, former em
ployees of the Indiana state welfare department,
were arrested in Louisville, Ky., and are being
held in custody charged with subversive activities
and connection with the communist group. . . Mar
ion has both a weekly and daily newspaper, sep
arate institutions dealing in human activities. The
daily _ five days a week — was established as a
weekly publication in 1865. . . A sister up in New
York arises in feminine wrath and in a copyrighted
explosion demands that the hurricanes should be
known as Hazel and not as Henry. Hazel Hurri
cane' It is all yours, sisters.
* * *
Even here I find a flavor of prairieland. There
is a Center, a Royal, a Knox and a Rushville and
Marion has a Nebraska street. Moreover, a thrill
of delight was experienced yesterday when the
Lincoln paper arrived and I read that A. Neil
Dawes, agriculture agent of Holt county, was one
of two Nebraskans who were given awards for
outstanding achievement by the national associa
tion of county agents in session at Salt Lake City,
Utah. I have been out of touch with the work of
Mr. Dawes in recent years but have known him in
the past to be especially helpful to 4-H club boys
and girls. W. R. Peterson of Harlan county is the
other Nebraska county agent to be given an award.
* * *
Interesting to note that our good friend, Ralph
Leidy, has been up from Arkansas to see how
things were going in O’Neill and set the editor
straight on the Joe McCarthy issue. Out of the
confusion and rumble and grumble and roar of
these troublesome times, Ralph has caught the fe
ver, now dying out, that the Wisconsin should be
shot at sunrise. Subversive characters are being
rounded up and seditious activities brought to an
end, the inspiration for such action springing from
the initial steps of Senator McCarthy. The Leidy
family roots were deep anchored in prairieland
and can it be that transplanting these in strange
soil at this late day has temporarily befuddled
Ralph’s usually sound-thinking?
• * *
Chicago is known as the “windy city.” It was
just that the day we were there. Farm lands in
central and eastern Illinois are under water. “Com
picking” will be delayed at many farms until the
water disappears or is frozen solid enough to bear
up the wagons and pickers. Heavy autumn rains
have fallen throughout this section and on into the
Ohio river valley where flood conditions are re
ported. And a gent in an Ohio city has front page
space in the newspapers, he being in court charged
with beating the life out of his young wife. The
defending attorney in a plea for change of trial
court said his client was convicted before he was
indicted. Probably so. Neighbors get at the facts
without the aid of courts and juries.
♦ * *
Political talk in some quarters has had it that
unemployment and “recession” have become prom
inent features of the times. The Indiana university
business bureau reports a substantial increase in
business and employment as the industrial picture
for the state the past month.
• * *
The name of William P. Dailey, Emmet, ap
pears among those on a list of Nebraskans as an
heir to a “forgotten fortune.”
Editorial . . .
The Right to Work
Many states are pasisng legislation concerning
the labor unions.
We, as an individual, have no flight with the
unions. They have in many instances done a very
good job for the laboring man and woman, but
we also, as an individual, have and do believe
that one should be allowed to work at a chosen
job or trade without joining a union if said indi
vidual wishes. Union strong-arm methods and the
racketeering that is rampant in the union heir
archies might lead to the eventual undoing of or
ganixed labor.
We belong to our editorial association because
we think it is a worthwhile organization, not be
cause we have to belong and we believe the unions
should be on the same basis. There will probably
be some questions as to the duties and privileges
of the labor unions come up in forthcoming sessions
of some state legislatures—and right now we’re
thinking, in particular, about the Minnesota law
making body.
The right to work should be the privilege of
every man. To tell him he must join an organiza
tion to get or hold a job is infringing on his per
sonal liberty.
This writer will agree that unions have im
proved the lot of labor—and they needed improv
ing—but some of the leaders seem to think they
should go farther, that the rights of minorities, so
carefully guarded by the framers of our constitu
tion, should be disregarded; that the majority
should ride rough shod over all opposition.
Demanding that a man or woman join a union
to get or hold a job just because a majority joins,
is just as ridiculous as demanding that every citi
zen join and pay dues to the republican party be
cause a majority voted that way last election.
Attention to Detail
The following is from the Wall Street Journal
. and is offered to the Frontier readers with no com
ment.
Newspaper editors of half a century ago never
neglected the minutest detail of local activities,
but, above all, they always remembered on which
side their bread was buttered.
Witness this account of a wedding: “Miss Jen
nie Jones and Bob Henry were married at the
Jones mansion last night. The bride is the daugh
ter of Constable Jones, who has made a good of
ficer and will doubtless be reelected in the spring.
He offers a fine horse for sale in another column
of this issue. The groom runs a grocery on Main
street and is a steady patron of our advertising
columns. All summer he paid two cents more for
butter than any other store in town. They were
married by Rev. Josiah Butterworth, who last
week called at this office and gave a nice order for
printing. He is also going in business and will
write fire insurance. So say the business cards we
printed for him. Jennie and Bob left on the 10 o’
clock Milwaukee to visit with the bride’s uncle,
who, we understand, has lots of money and can
cer.”
Frontier
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 coun
ty, Nebraska, as second-class mail matter under
the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879. This news
paper is a member of the Nebraska Press Associa
tion, 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 subscriptions
are paid-in-advance.
Audited (ABC) Circulation—2,335 (Mar. 31, 1954)
Miscellany:
A fortnight ago when Mr. and
Mrs. H. E. Coyne returned from
a 10-weeks’ sojourn in Europe,
including a visit to Rome, our
printer’s devil mused: “Two
Coynes in a Fountain.” . . Among
the Sunday afternoon trick-or
treaters were two gals young at
heart—one 78 and the other 72.
The bewitchers, whose wrinkles
were completely covered by ap
propriate masks, made several
stops, including a visit at the
home of Dr. and Mrs. J. L. Sher
bahn. However, Doc and his wife
didn’t recognize the voices of two
of their neighbors. . . A delega
tion from Ainsworth called at
The Frontier Monday, gathering
details from our experiences in
presenting automobile shows. If J
Ainsworth follows, it will be the
second smaller Nebraska city to
| pattern a show after The Fron
| tier’s. Incidentally, the auto show
idea has been used successfully
| in several other states in cities of
comparable size.
Our rather conservative news
letter made reference in its final
pre-election issue to Ives, repub
lican, and Harriman, demo,
bucking for the governorship of
New York state. Ives, the letter
said, is “Tweedledee” and Harri
man is “Tweedledum". . . Three
breathless teenagers pulled up
amongst a group of adults on the
eve of Hallowe’en. Asked by the
cldsters where they had been,
they explained they had been out
“spotting cans.” We weren’t hep
to the phraseology until one of the
parents translated: The mission
had been a recormaisance of
outdoor privies to be upended the
following night.
----
When You and I Were Young. .
Hallowe’en Pranks
Unlike Yesteryear
Devilment Idea Is
on Wane
50 Years Ago
Addie Wrede of Agee is going
to school in O’Neill. . . Hallowe’en
passed without any very destruc
tive demonstrations on the part of
O’Neill kids. The Hallowe’en idea
is gradually growing out of date.
The occasion is a very tame affair
at the present day compared with
a quarter of a century ago. . .
Swain’s big city show is the only
first-class attraction which is now
traveling in this part of the coun
try. The opera house manager is
trying to secure it for his patrons.
The attraction will probably be
here about the middle of Uje
month. . . O’Neillites were dis-*
appointed by Col. W. J. Bryan,
the silver-toned orator. He fail
ed to be definite on his change
of platform on why he, a silver
democrat, was in favor of the
election of a gold democrat to the
presidency. It seemed we went in
circles. We found nothing to
weigh in his speech. . The street
commissioner is putting some oi
the public highways about town
in better shape by grading down
the high places and by filling in
the low ones. This with the recent
improvements in the way of ce
ment sidewalks, makes much bet
ter the state of affairs on the
streets.
zo rears Ago
H. W. Tomlinson, republican
congressional chairman for this
county, met in Norfolk with the
congressional chairmen of the
district. He says that all members
of the committee were very opti
mistic as to the result of the com
ing election. . . Miss Maxine O’
Donnell and Stuart Meech were
united in marriage at Chicago,
111. She is the daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. James O’Donnell of this
city. Mr. Meech is a professor at
the University of Chicago. . .
Work began last week on the new
paving in the city. . . Lloyd A.
Collins of Monowi and Miss
Yvonne Long of Lynch were
granted a marriage license in
county court last Saturday.
10 Years Ago
William P. McKenna funeral
services were held from St. Pat
rick’s Catholic church. Mr. Mc
Kenna died in the Stuart hospital.
He had been a resident of Holt
county since 1901. . . There were
800 head of cattle at the sale Mon
day. The market was fully steady
with a week ago. . . Mrs. Guy Cole
of Emmet took enough pheasanis
from these sand hills to Lincoln
to serve the entire Sigma Nu
chapter at the University of Ne
braska. Three of her sons are
members. . . Word has been re
ceived by relatives that Norman
Nissen has been missing in action
in France since the first part of
October.
One Year Ago
About 5,500 personal property
tax notices were mailed out by
the county treasurer this week. . .
Biglin Brothers, a pioneer O’Neill
firm, this week passed into new
hands. But the firm name will
be retained. Mrs. William J. Big
lin and Mrs. Frank J. Biglin,
whose husbands died in Febru
ary, 1950, and July, 1953, respec
tively, this week announced the
sale of the funeral directing and
furniture establishment to R. E.
Clinkscales and George Ham
mond. . . A Dutch lunch, starting
at 5:30 p.m., has been planned
for armistice day by Simonson
post 93 of the American Legion. . .
Navy Chief Duane Thorin, a heli
copter pilot who had been held
prisoner 18 months by the North
Korean reds, preferred chasing
pheasants to granting interviews
after arriving in O’Neill this
week. He is the only known re
patriated American serviceman
from this area.
Frontier for printing!
o
OSBORNE’S — OSBORNE’S — OSBORNE’S — OSBORNE’S — OSBORNE’S —
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