Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 25, 1954)
Cr r TEN North-Central Nebraska’s BIGGEST Newspaper Volueme 74.—Number 30. O’Neill, Nebr., Thursday, Nov. 25, 1954. Seven Cents Sydney A. McNeely . . . “driving” C&NW train 13. — The Frontier Photo. Jobs for 48 Train Crewmen in Balance Eugene Krier, 74, Expires in Hospital Rites Wednesday for Retired Farmer Eugene Krier, jr., 74, retired O’Neill farmer, died at 11:10 p.m., Sunday, November 21, in St. Anthony’s hospital here. He had been in failing health about a year and had been seriously ill about a week. He was admitted tc the hospital two days before his death. Funeral services were to be conducted at 2 p.m., Wednesday, November 24, at Biglin’s funeral chapel with Rev. W. B. Smith, church pastor, officiating. Burial was to be in Pleasant Valley cemetery. Pallbearers chosen were John Grutsch, Ardell Curran, Vern Hard ng, Maurice Grutsch, Loyal Hull and Hugh Benson. The late Mr. Krier was born November 26. 1879, at Farra gut, Ia., in Fremont county. His parents were the late Eu gene Krier, sr., and Katherine Hamann Krier. His father was a native of France; his mother a native of Germany. Mr. Krier moved from Iowa ( to Fremont, in Dodge county, in 1894, and to Holt county in 1905. He made his home with his brother, Henry, and sister, Miss I Eugenie, for many years north west of O’Neill, residing on sev eral different ranches. In the fall of 1950 the trio, two broth ers and their sister, moved into O’Neill. Survivors include: Brother — Henry of O’Neill; sisters— Miss Eugene of O’Neill and Mrs. Julia Hintz of Inman. Pleads Innocent to Shooting Charge LAKE ANDES—Mrs. Blanche Conzemius, 36, mother of 10, Monday pleaded innocent of murder in the shooting death of her husband last September 9. Date for the trial was not set. Mrs. Conzemius’ husband, Ber nard, 39, was shot and killed with a single shot from a .22 cablibre rifle as he sat in the family farm home 10 miles northeast of Lake Andes. The couple’s eldest daughter, Eileen, 12, testified at the in quest that the shooting occurred after her father made improper advances. Weichman Gets Navy Separation— STUART—BT3/c Milton Weich man, son of Mr. and Mrs. Karl Weichman, arrived home Saturday night, November 10, from Boston, Mass., where he received his dis charge from the navy November 16. He was attached to the USS Power, DD839, a destroyer, at the time of his discharge. Bowen at Ft. Bliss Army Pvt. John R. Bowen (above), son of Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Bowen of O’Neill, is now at Ft. Bliss, Tex., where he has begun basic training with the ground forces. He volunteered for duty October 20 through the selective service office. Bowen’s address: Pvt. John R. Bowen US 3548068, Btrv. A-10 Tng. Bn., AAA-Rtc., Ft. Bliss, Tex. By CAL STEWART Editor, The Frontier I had a ride in the comfy cab of the diesel locomotive last Thursday—enroute to the public rail hearing at Valen tine. Tnere is merit to the crit icism that some of the Chicago & North Western’s passenger mail-express rolling stock is not of the latest type. The com pany officials have answered this, agreeing to place modern, lightweight coaches in service on an eight-month trial basis beginning in January. But there’s nothing back w. oodsy about the locomotive. This iron job I was aboard has been in continuous service more than a year, grinding out the miles from Omaha - to - Chadron and return each 30 hours. The engineer, Sydney A. Mc Neely, 69, told me the Chadron line has been completely die selized for more than two years and the efficiency of the 1,500 hp. General Electric locos is “amazing.” The locomotive we were riding hadn’t been in a shop for a year. “No time-out for water, steady pull and quick pickup of speed are the main fea tures,” McNeely explained as we buzzed along between Bas sett and Long Pine. “On our schedule (58-mph top speed) our power doesn’t ’ have to labor at all.” Each notch of the throttle steps up the generators 75 rpm. There are eight notches and, of course, the locomotive will deliver more speed than is needed on this line. The diesel makes more noise than a steamer—and you must raise your voice to be heard in the cab above the din of the powerful diesel engine. Mr. McNeely explained driv ers on the steamers “pound” the roadbed. The diesel deliv ers “uniform power” to many wheels, distributing the pull. He pointed out there is 90 pound steel from O’Neill west to Chadron. Originally, when the tracks stretched across the endless prairie, the steel was 60-pound. Besides riding in the cab, I rode in the day coach and also in the vice-president’s business car. I can honestly sdy the roadbed is good—compared to lots of others I’ve ridden. Mc Neely told me the roadbed has ballast all the way. Thus, con trary to public conception, lots of money has been turned back into the road. Withdrawal of trains 13 and 14 “would be a pitty,” Mr. Mc Neely says. This is understand able. He has devoted a big chunk of his lifetime to those two trains. Mr. McNeely could retire tomorrow if he wished. On January 12, 1955, he will round out 50 years of service. He holds engineer (and me chanical) seniority in the west ern (Omaha) district. His fa ther was an engineer before him. The engineer ana nremen aboard the diesels have lots of vision. They have comforts, too, including soft seats, lava tory, and an indoor toilet. Perched way up in the air above the ribbons of steel, they have a rare vantage point. Pulling into Long Pine there are picturesque curves, bridges and streams. I wouldn’t tire of that run if I were in the driv er’s seat. Mr. McNeely lives in Norfolk with his wife, Hattie. They have two adopted children — Mrs. John (Frances) Urban of Washington, D.C., and Robert, who is a veteran in the air force. In addition, they reared one of Mrs. McNeeley’s nieces, Jean Powell. The veteran Engineer Mc Neely would view loss of trains 13 and 14 with heartbreak. The 47 other crewmen on the Om aha-to-Chadron run might be obliged to look elsewhere for work if the experiment doesn’t work. The unions could elimi nate the unnecesary flagman’s job alone and save the C&NW nearly one-third of the present operational losses. As an outsider looking in, I’d think the union chiefs would suggest some other econ omies. We didn’t get into such a discussion with Syd. But the engineer and the camera-bear ing newspaperman were agreed there should be no death, now or ever, for numbers 13 and 14. Try The Frontier want advs.! North-Holt Pioneer Dies at 78 Wm. F. Kaczor Rites to Be Held Friday; 111 Three Weeks A north-Holt county pioneer, who came here from Canada at the age of 8, died at 2:40 p.m., Tuesday, Novmeber 23, in St. Anthony’s hospital. Dead is Wil lima (“Bill”) Kaczor, 78, O’Neill farmer, who had been ill three weeks. The late Mr. Kaczor had been in failing health for several years, and had been seriously ill three weeks. Funeral services will be con ducted from the Paddock Union church at 2 p.m., Friday, No vember 26, with Rev. A. L. Nab holz of O’Neill officiating. Rev erend Nabholz is a former pastor of the Paddock church. Burial will be in the Pleasant Valley cemetery under the direction of Biglin’s. Pallbearers will be State Sen. Frank Nelson, Fred Lind berg, Axel Borg, Walter De vall, Garold Risor and Law rence Rouse The late William Frederick Kaczor was born January 20, 1876, at Wellesley, Ont., Can., a son of Frederick and Ernestine Ehlert Kaczor. He came to Holt county in 1884 with members of his family. He was only a lad when the Kaczors made the trip from Canada and settled in a community 15 miles north of O’ Neill. In 1900, Mr. Kaczor moved onto the present farm located two miles east of Midway where he continued to make his home. On May 1, 1912, he married Ethel Mae Hall. They became the parents of one son. The late Mr. Kaczor for 45 years was secretary of the Plea sant Valley Cemetery association. He was a member of district 27 board of education for many years and also was a veteran member of the Paddock town ship board. Survivors include: Widow — Ethel; son—Edward; one grand child; brother—John of Spencer; sisters — Tina Kaczor of O’Neill and Mrs. Minnie Bay, also of O’ Neill. Sight 5-Point Deer Frolicking in Yards Mrs. Dave Widtfeldt and Frank Fritton, residing in the northeast section of the city, early Friday reported sighting a five-point deer. Mrs. Widtfeldt said she spot ted the frisky animal leaving the yard at the Grenier res idence. It was moving into an alley. Mr. Fritton said he saw the deer in the yard at the John C. Watson residence. No other sightings were re ported to The Frontier. But it can be said the unusual visitor was rather bold. 60 Participate in Winkler Husking Bee About 60 people participated in the cornhusking bee held on Monday at the Ed Winkler home north of Emmet. There were 13 pickers in the fields and over 100 acres of corn was picked. Wom en served dinner to the men at the Winkler home. Mrs. Winkler, 29, died Novem ber 13 from complications fol lowing a Caesarian section birth. The Frontier for printing. Eight-Month Trial for Two Trains J. E. Goodwin (seated in center) entertained delegates bound for the public rail hearing at Valentine aboard his special business car. Left-to-right: Robert Hornby, George Hammond, Mr. Goodwin, T. Joseph Biglin and James W. Rooney. Goodwin is vice-president in charge of opera tions for the Chicago & North Western.—The Frontier Photo. Will Zimmerman, Ewing, Succumbs Rites Wednesday at Orchard EWING—Will Zimmerman, 64, longtime farmer and insurance man, died Monday, November 22, in St. Anthony’s hospital at O’Neill. He had been ill several years and had been hospitalized four weeks. Funeral services were to be held at 2 p.m., Wednesday, No vember 24, from St. Peter’s Luth eran church in Orchard. Pall bearers were to be nephews of the deceased. Rev. Martin J. Schmidt, church pastor, was to officiate and burial was to be i l the Lutheran cemetery at Or chard. The late Frederick William Zimmerman was born Novem he 2, 1890, at Battle Creek, a son of Peter F. and Minnie Dinkel Zimmerman. He was reared ni Battle Creek, attend ed the Lutheran parochial grade school and the public high school. Mr. Zimmerman came to Holt county in 1915 and farmed for many years northeast of Ewing. He never married. Survivors: Brothers — Charles of Battle Creek; Joe of Ewing; George of Hudson, Wyo.; sisters—Miss Es ther of Ewing; Mrs. M. G. (Bar bara) Helmricks of Orchard; Miss Laura of Ogden, Utah, and Miss Dorothy of Stalt Lake City, Utah; four nephews; six nieces. 2 Sentenced for Breaking, Entering Two Holt countyans appeared before District Judge D. R. Mounts last Thursday and re ceived sentences. They were charged with breaking and enter ing. Gian (“Jack”) Montgomery, 27, of Stuart had waived prelim inary hearing and admitted four burglaries at Stuart. He was sentenced to two years in the state penitentiary. Raymond Whaley, 29, of O’ Neill drew a one-year sentence in the men’s reformatory at Lincoln on a charge of breaking and en tering at the O’Neill Grain com pany on November 1. Holt County Sheriff Leo Tom jack said he would take the prisoners to Lincoln the day af Vice-President J. E. Goodwin of the Chicago & North West ern Railway system (center) is flanked by Carroll (“Cal”) Stew art (left), publisher of The Frontier, and Lloyd Pipher of Craw ford, president of the Western Nebraska United Chambers of Commerce. All three spoke at last Thursday’s rail hearing at Val entine.—Omaha World-Herald Photo. Mrs. Axtell at 103d Milestone Thursday < Rural Teacher Is Hurt in Accident Miss Karen Donohoe, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Donohoe, was injured in an accident ap proximately 16 miles north of O’Neill Tuesday morning be tween 7:30 and 8 o’clock on the Opportunity highway. She was cnroute alone to school in dis trict 48, where she teaches. The car she was driving struck loose gravel and the strong wind aided in sending her car into the ditch. The machine rolled over one time, Miss Donohoe remem bers, while she was still in the car. When she regained con sciousness, she was lying on the ground a distance from the car. Sylvester Zakrzewski of O’ Neill found her when he was driving from O’Neill to his farm. He took her to the home of his son, Paul, and the latter brought her to St. Anthony’s hospital in his car. Miss Donohoe suffered a broken vertebra and bruises. The car she was driving was a 1953 DeSoto. > - STUART — Thanksg i v i n g day, November 25, will be an other milestone for Mrs. Alice Axtell, Stuart’s oldest resident, who will be marking her 103d anniversary. It was 74 years ago, Alice Butterfield carr.e to Holt coun ty with her parents in a cov ered wagon. As a young lady, she had come west for her health. Married in 1887 to Joseph Ax tell, she shared the lot of the pioneer homemakers. She is the mother of one daughter, Pearl, with whom she makes her home in Stuart. Mrs. Axtell always has been able to keep busy about the house. But last winter she was injured in a fall and now is compelled to spend much of her time in a wheel chair. But the woman with the dis tinction of being the oldest per son in Holt and adjoining counties continues to keep busy with her hands, doing small tasks. Civic Chorus Is Preparing ‘Messiah’ The O’Neiil Civic chorus will present Handel’s “Messiah” on Sunday, December 5, at 3 o’clock in the auditorium of the O’Neill public school. There will be no admission charge. People participating represent C Neill, Neligh, Atkinson, Spen cer, Ainsworth and Ewing. The “Messiah” is under the direction of Charles B. Houser. Mrs. Char les Houser accompanies on the piano. Soloists this year are Mrs. Donald Loy, alto; Mrs. Grant Peacock, soprano; Robert Mar tel, tenor, and Richard Smithson, bass. Arrive for Visit— Mrs. Robert Parks and two child ren, Dennis and Linda, both of Scottsbluff, arrived Saturday to spend a week with Mrs. Parks’ parents, Mr. and Mrs. Leon Sar gent. Flash! Pappa Acts as Midwife Time was on these prairies when the man of the house oc casionally functioned as a mid wife. Frequently he assisted with the births in his own dom icile. ’Taint been so much since the advent of hospitals, auto mobiles, hospitalization plans and such. But Ben Vidricksen, youthful manager of the Harding Cream company plant here, about 4 p.m., Monday was summoned home by the missus. “Darling,” she said, “we’re going to have a baby—now.” A guest in the home dashed for a doctor. When the doctor arrived a few minutes later, Mr. Vidricksen was holding the bouncing new-born baby bey, a 7 1/4-pounder. Both mother and babe are doing fine. “If anybody ever told me I’d have that job to do I’d have told them they were crazy,” ex plained Ben after some coffee and cigarettes had settled his nerves. “My brother-in-law from Iowa was visiting us. He’d been in the thick of war and has seen a lot of life. He said to me, ‘You carry on, Ben, I’ll fetch a doc!’ “After it was all over I asked my wife if she wanted to be removed to the hospital She said: ‘No, we’re doing all right here!’ ” The Vidricksens have four other children—Nancy, 4; Jan ice. 3, and twins, Benny and Penney, who soon will be 2. The family resides in the home formerly owned by Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Davis, who now live in Arizona. TIGHT SQUEEZE CHAMBERS—Eugene Adams was involved in an accident on Monday evening about dark near Orchard. He was driving Ed Smith’s truck. A car from the opposite direction tried to go around a tractor, squeezing into the lane of traffic in which Eu gene was driving. The two cars collided but no one was injured. The car was badly damaged. The truck was slightly damaged. Mr. and Mrs. F. W. Hargarten and Rev. Joseph Hargarten vis ited witn Mother Agnesine on Monday. Road Vice-President Agrees to Trial of Modern Coaches (See editorial and “News, Views, Gossip,” page 2; pic tures on page 9.) A Chicago & North Western railroad vice-president promised the road will continue its passen ger service between Omaha and Chadron on an eight months tri al. The trial period represents a compromise. It was reached at a meeting last Thursday in Valentine after the railroad official, J. E. Good win of Chicago, 111., suggested six months and representatives of western Nebraska communi ties had asked for a year. Good win is the C&NW’s vice-presi dent in charge of operations. Goodwin said the eight months will begin after new passenger cars are put into service on the Omaha-Chadron line. Two lightweight coaches of latest design will be placed in service on the line “sometime in January.” Ironically, they presently are in use on a line elsewhere about to lose trains. If the people along the route deliver “one-third of the things they’ve promised at this meet ing,” said Goodwin, there is rea sonable assurance the service will be continued after eight months. The trial period will make it clear whether operation of the service is feasible, he said. Goodwin spoke to a crowd esti mated at 450-to-500 which jam med the Valentine auditorium af ter the meeting was arranged by the Western Nebraska United Chambers of Commerce. The railroad disclosed some time ago it wanted to drop pas senger service between Omaha and Chadron because it said it was losing $60,000 a year oper ating trains 13 and 14 on the 447 mile line. A storm of protest followed and interested parties asked the railway to abandon its plan, in sisting the two trains are “indis pensable to the economic welfare of northern Nebraska and south ern South Dakota.” Twenty-eight towns were rep resented at the hearing. They are O’Neill, Clearwater, Inman, Atkinson, Stuart, Bassett, Long Pine, Ainsworth, Wood Lake, Valentine, Crookston, Kil gore, Merriman, Gordon, Rush vlile, Norfolk, Meadow Grove, Neligh, Hay Springs, Chadron, Crawford, Springview, Alliance, Omaha, all on the C&NW main lien. Towns not on the road but represented were Springview, Spencer, Martin, S.D., Rosebud, S.D. Organizations, besides civic groups, included the Brotherhood of Railway Conductors, Broth erhood of Locomotive Engineers, Brotherhood of Railway Train men, Antelope County Farm Bureau, Sandhills Cattle associ ation of Valentine. Food processing firms exten sively using the trains also were represented, including Ben Vid ricksen, manager, Harding Creamery, O’Neill; James Con nor, manager, Lakeville Cream ery, Lakeville, Minn.; Ocoma Foods, Omaha. Arrangements for the meet ing were made by Lloyd Pi pher of Crawford, president of the Western Nebraska United Chambers of Commerce, after the C&NW indicated in press releases it was considering tak ing necessary steps to with draw the twro mainline trains— the last passenger-mail-ex press service in the area. The meeting was called to or der by Valentine Mayor Emmett Curry of Valentine. He intro duced Pipher, who, in turn, in troduced Goodwin. Pipher opened the meeting by saying personalities would not be permitted to be drawn into the meeting and that Mr. Good win was a guest and was to be accorded that sort of treatment. Pipher then called upon Car roll (“Cal”) Stewart, publisher of The Frontier, who had been designated as spokesman for the socalled eastern group, repre senting cities and towns from Battle Creek to Ainsworth. James W. Rooney of O’Neill read the resolutions which had been adopted at a “preparation al meeting” at O’Neill on No vember 15. The resolutions pledged “every reasonable ef fort” to help make the two trains operate on a profitable basis and proposed a plan of “coordinated effort.” The resolutions, which were entered in the minutes of the Valentine hearing, declared the eastern delegates “realize that efficient and profitable opera tion of the railroad is hampered by unwieldy governmental regu lations, subsidized competition and many unreasonable union practices.” (Continued on page 8) Veteran Statistics Keeper Is Honored Miss O’Malley Notes 18,656 Holt Births Miss Elizabeth O’Malley, mem ber of a pioneer O’Neill family, Tuesday was presented a scroll signed by Nebraska Gov, Robert Crosby and Clair L. Chism, di rector of the bureau of vital sta tistics, Nebraska department of health. Mr. Chism made the pre sentation at Miss O’Malley’s home. Mr. Chism said Miss O’Malley ranked among the top 10 re corders of vitai statistics in the nation, in point of service, and was undisputed holder of the ti tle in Nebraska. Miss O’Malley began record ing births and deaths for the state records in 1910. Since that time she has reported 18,656 births and 4,048 deaths. In the latest census count, Holt county numbered 14,859 persons. Relocation of 281 Is Not Discussed o The Nebraska state highway advisory commission, in session Monday at the statehouse in Lin coln, was pressed for a decision on state highway 35 relocation between Wayne and Wakefield, spent considerable time discuss ing the Omaha outerbelt line, and heard a delegation from Danne borg. The packed agenda prevented coming around to the U.S. high way 281 subject—choosing be tween three or four proposed routes linking the junction with state highway 12 and the Ft. Randall dam. The 281-12 junc toin is in Boyd county. A spokesman for the commis sion said the 281 matter would be tabled until the December 20 hearing. In the highway 35 contention, c the commission reversed the recommendation of State High way Engineer L. N. Ress. Gov Robert Crosby might issue a statement on the matter “with in a few days.” O’Neill Student* at Mu*ic Clinic Ten students from the O'Neill high school and St. Mary’s acad emy attended the state music clinic held at Beatrice from last Thursday t h ro u g h Saturday. They were: Band: Marilyn Lindberg iflute), Regina Hynes (French horn). Choir: Patricia Grenier, so prano; Mildred Crabb, aWo; Ar riyce Alton, alto, and David An derson, bass. Twirler: Mardelle GasfciH, Ma ry Elizabeth Gatz, Mardy John son and Margaret McElvain. The group was accompanied' by Richard Smithson, O^Neill high vocal instructor, and Charles B. Houser, O’Neill high and St. Mary’s band instructor There were 16 guest lectur ers and clinicians and four guest conductors. Highlighting the three-day clin ic was a concert by the Univer sity of Nebraska orchestra with saxophonist, Sigurd Rischar, as guest soloist; a student mixer end a concert in the Beatrice auditoruim Saturday with a 175 piece orchestra; 203-piece band and a 500-voice chorus group. A new addition to the clinic this year was a baton twirling demonstration with 125 students participating. David, Burge Sales Next on Calendar There are two auctions on The Frontier’s sale calendar: Monday, December 6: W. H. David, residing 21 miles south off O’Neill, will offer 75 head off cattle, machinery, some house hold goods. (Advertisement on page 7.) Cols. Roy David and Edl T h o r i n, O’Neill, auctioneers; Chambers State bank, clerk. Friday, December 10: den Burge, residing 1 mile west of Inman, will offer 45 head of cat tle, three IHC tractors, machin ery, household goods; CoL Ed Thorin, O’Neill, auctioneer; O’ Neill National bank, clerk. Union Thanksviving Rite Planned— A union Thanksgiving worship service was to be held Wednes day evening, November 24, at 8 o’clock at the First Presbyteri an church in O’Neill. Miss Eleanor Nickelson and Sam Stearns, both of Winner, S.D., spent Sunday with Charles and Mrs. M. Jensen.
