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North-Central Nebraska’s BIGGEST Newspaper
Volume 74.—Number 51. O’Neill, Nebraska, Thursday, April 21, 1955. Seven Cents
state hist soc
Light Shower, Dust
Make Weather News
Colonel Evans . . . conducted
million dollar livestock sale.
Col. Ed Evans, 70,
Burial at Randolph
Veteran Auction e e r
Dies of Stroke
Funeral services were conduct
ed at 2 p.m., Sunday at Randolph
for Col. Edward G. (“Ed”) Ev
ans, 70, well-known north-Ne
braska livestock auctioneer. He
died about midnight Wednesday
night, April 13, in a Sioux City
hospital where he had submitted
to surgery April 5. He had been
a hospital patient 2% weeks.
Death was attributed to a
stroke. In mid-December he suf
fered the first stroke and he nev
er fully recovered although he
did make about three visits to
O’Neill.
The funeral rites were con
ducted from the Presbyterian
church, Rev. H. J. Timmer of
ficiating. Burial was in the
Randolph cemetrey.
Colonel Evans maintained
headquarters here although he
regarded Randolph as his home
town. At the height of his 25
year auctioning career he sold a
million-dollar Denver, Colo., na
tional sale. He was well-known
at most major livestock marts
in Nebraska, Wyoming and South
Dakota.
Edward G. Evans was bom
March 6, 1885, at Columbus Junc
tion, la. He came as a child with
his parents to the Welsh settle
ment near Carroll. In 1907, he
was married to Miss Edna Long- i
necker. They lived at Ashton and J
Boise, Ida., „ and farmed near
Carroll until 1921, when they
moved to Randolph.
Following Mrs. Evans’ death
in 1951, he moved to O’Neill.
During his illness he was cared
for at the home of his daugh
ter, Mrs. John F. (Claire) At
wood, at Randolph.
Survivors include: Daughter—
Mrs. John F. Atwood of Ran
dolph; sister—Mrs. Laura Connor
of Oxford Junction, la.; brothers
—Elwyn of Waterloo, la.; Erv of
Fremont; Wayne of Booneviljfc.
Mo.; grandchildren—Edward C.
Atwood, student at Iowa State
college, Ames, and Sara Jo At
wood of Randolph.
Sandhills Group in
Pre-Sale Meeting
The Sandhills Cattle associa
tion will conduct a pre-sale meet
ing at 8 o’clock Friday evening at
the O’Neill Livestock Market.
Purpose of the session, to which
all cattlemen are invited, is to
select a date to make preparations
for the annual fall Sandhills sale
to be held here. The association
will sponsor either four or six
sales at strategic sandhills points
in the fall.
A lunch will be served at Fri
day’s meeting. Any proposed
changes in sale rules will be dis
cussed and general information
will be presented.
Vernon Berry Gets
Army Separation
AMELIA—Vernon Berry, who
has served the past two years in
the army, has received his honor
able discharge and is home with
his parents, Mr. and Mrs, Howard
Berry.
Mr. and Mrs. Claude Lierman
received word that their son, j
Gene, reached the States Mon
day, April 18. Gene had been in
the Far East the past 18 months.
Pvt. Calvin Coolid'ge is spend
ing a two-week furlough with his
parents, Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Coo
lidge, before going overseas. He
expects to go to Germany.
Parkers Return—
Mr. and Mrs. R. H. Parker re
turned Friday from a four
months’ trip through seven
Southern states. They spent most
of the winter in Miami and Key
West, Fla., but alsd stopped off in
Texas and Louisiana. Mr. Parker
said Texans were rejoicing over
recent rainfall.
Koenig Completes
4-Year Enlistment—
EWING—S/Sgt. Jerry Koenig,
son of Mr. and Mrs. Adolph Koe
nig, arrived home Wednesday,
April 13. He received his dis
charge from the air force at
Westover AFB, Mass., having
completed a four-year enlist
ment.
•J
— 1.11-11-11 I.
A light shower and a wicked
dust storm featured this week’s
weather.
The rainfall set in at 1:15 a.m..
Monday, accompanied by some
hail, considerable lightning and
wind. The precipitation measured
.32 of an inch, giving a badly
needed lift to thirsty pastures,
fields, lawns and shrubs.
All points between Inman
and Stuart reported about a
quarter of an inch or more.
Winds up to 50-miles-per-hour
raced across much of Nebraska
Tuesday. A cold front pushing
across the state kicked up enough
dust to rival dust storms of the
“dark thirties”. The sun was
partially obscured and visibilty
restricted. Where the soil sam
ples came from nobody seems
to know. Winds diminished at
nightfall.
There was more wind on
Wednesday but much less dust
aloft.
Burwell, Grand Island and Va
lentine, Norfolk, Lincoln, also re
porterd dust on Tuesday.
Week’s weather summary:
Hi Lo Prec.
April 14 .72 28
April 15 .78 48
April 16 .69 35
April 17 .77 46
April 18 .79 46 .32
April 19 .85 56
April 20 .70 42
Butterfield Leases
Ewing Station—
Elden Butterfield, formerly of
the Orchard community and for
the past five years an employee
of Wilson’s Texaco station here,
has leased the Texaco station at
Ewing and will take over opera
tion on Monday. The station is lo
cated on the town’s main square.
James Rotherham formerly op
erated the station. Mrs. Butter
field and the two daughters,
Merna and Verna, will join Mr.
Butterfield at Ewing upon com
pletion of the school term.
Mrs. Richard Farrier and fam
ily of Rapid City, S.D., visited
last week at the home of her par
ents, Mr. and Mrs. D. D. DeBolt.
They returned to their home in
Rapid City Sunday.
Young Mother Walks
into Plane’s Prop
*
Dead Upon Arrival
at Hospital
BASSETT — A 25 - year - old
mother of two small children was
killed instantly when she walk
ed into the spinning propettor of
an airplane at the airport here.
Mrs. Howard Carr had just re
turned from a ride in the plane,
which her husband piloted. It
was believed she became ill or
dizzy from the ride and wander
ed into the propellor. rj
The Carrs live on a ranch 35
miles northwest of Newport, near
the small community of Mills.
Mrs. Carr is survived by her
husband, a son of school age, a
daughter of pre-school age, her
parents, Mr. and Mrs. Milbert
Bothwell, and a sister, Mrs. Mar
tin Peterson, also of Mills.
The body was taken to Aans
worth. Funeral services were
conducted at 2 p.m., Tuesday in
Springview. o
Train-savers from 25 cities and towns along the C&NW’S Om
aha-to-Chadron line poured into Bassett’s Main street Monday af
ternoon, arriving in special trains originating at both ends of the
line. The trains arrived simultaneously. The Frontier’s photogra
pher, John H. McCarville, snapped a portion of the crowd.
Kindergarten Pupil
Hit by Moving Auto
John Richter, 5, Has
Broken Leg
John Robert Richter, 5, son of
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Richter, jr.,
of O’Neill, was struck by a mov
ing car on Benton street in front
of St. Mary’s academy about
11:35 a.m., Wednesday. The boy
had gone into the street to meet
his parents, who were seated in
a waiting car.
A vehicle driven by Miss Fran
ces Reimer of O’Neill struck the
boy and dragged the lad a num
ber of yards.
When the boy didn’t report to
his parents, Mrs. Richter exclaim
ed to her husband, “Johnny must
have been run over.” They got
out of their car to investigate and
found him with a broken leg,
abrasions about the head and a
bad flesh cut on the leg. The fa
ther immediately took the boy to
the hospital.
Mr. Richter told The Frontier
he driver of the car didn’t realize
she had struck the boy. He said
she saw the lad’s hat fly in the
air and immediately stopped.
Late Wednesday the boy was
resting well at St. Anthony’s hos
pital, but his physician said it
could not yet be determined
whether or not a brain concus
sion had been suffered.
Mr. Richter said the doctor in
j dicated the boy would recover.
o
District 33 Pupils
Stage Pony Show
ROCK FALLS—Friday after
noon all the mothers, one grand
mother, the pre-schoolers and
the teacher made up the audience
as the pupils of district 33 pre
sented a pony show.
The acts were all planned,
practiced and performed by the
pupils with the permission and
encouragement of, but no assist
ance from, the teacher. All en
oyed the added treat of cookies
baked by Rita Vequist. Rita is
also an active 4-H member.
Tankers Ready for
‘Minute-Man Alert
O’Neill’s new national guard
unit — company D of the 195th
tank battalion — participated in
the nationwide practice surprise
alert designated as “Operation
Minute-Man” on Wednesday eve
ning.
Capt. J. L. McCarville, jr.,
company commander, reported
word was received in O’Neill at
5 p.m.; by 7 p.m. 41 percent of
company D had assembled; by 8
p.m. 77% percent of the men had
reported; by 9 p.m., 81% percent
of the men were on hand for duty
against a mythical enemy.
National guard men reporting
to O’Neill on this alert came from
Creighton, Clearwater, Lynch,
Elgin, Ewing, Inman, Page, Ve
nus, O’Neill, Chambers, Spencer,
Atkinson, Stuart, Emmet and
Ainsworth.
7th Grade Competition Tough
By a Staff Writer
So you think you can spell?
Most of us have trouble in pro
nunciation let alone filling in all
the vowels and consonants in
their proper order.
Holt county's 1955 grade school
spelling champions were deter
mined Saturday afternoon at the
O’Neill public school where six
syllable words were a dime a
dozen. c
Master John Wabs, who single
handedly upheld the honor of the
boys in a nest of gal champions,
successfully spelled button to win
third grade laurels. He is the son
of Mr. and Mrs. Leo Wabs.
Bonnie Clifford triumphed on
the word /‘neighbor’s” — even
though she tossed in the a postra
phe for good measure. She is the
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert
Clifford and won top fourth
grade laurels
. Other champions:
A
Fifth grade—Danelia Whitaker,
district 107, daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Vernon Whitaker.
Sixth grade—Bonnie Crumly,
district 23, daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. L. C. Crumly.
Seventh grade— Janet Krug
man, district 60, daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Harvey Krugman.
Eighth grade—Marlene Beck,
district 36, daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Ralph Beck.
But the keen competition was
in the seventh grade. Fourteen
contestants began the spelling bee
in that group at 1:15 o’clock with
Mrs. Ruby Holcomb as the judge.
By 2:30 all contestants had been
eliminated except Janet Krug
man, district 60, and G 1 e n d a !
Wolfe, district 233.
It was 3:05 — and humpteen
words later—before Miss Krug
man was declared the winner, i
The two handily chewed up such j
easy ones as “carbohydrates”.
“circumstance”, “efficient”, “as
sociate”, “citizenship”, “ c r i t i -
cism”, “gorgeous”, “crystal”, “ab
solutely”, cucumber”, “civiliza
tion”.
They both faltered on “curio
sity”, they both muffed “em
barassed”, and likewise the two
missed “accidentally”. The clock
ticked on and the pronouncers by
now were well down the list of
eighth grade words.
It was “colonel”—the army of
ficer—that ousted Glenda. She
missed two tries and Janet miss
ed once, spelling it correctly the
second time.
Complete list of awards pre
sented and officials:
° Grade Eight c
First (blue ribbon)—Marlene
Beck, district 36; Mrs. Thaine
Humphrey, teacher.
Second (red) — June Carson,
district 32; Mrs. Schollmeyer,
(Continued ori page 6)
Champion Holt county rural school spellers: Front row—Danelia Whitaker, = fifth graae; John
Wabs, third; Bonnie Clifford, fourth; back row—Bonnie Crumly, sixth; Janet Krugman, seventh;
Marlene Beck, eighth.—The Frontier Photo.
o
Delay in
Arrival of
Salk Serum
First Inoculations for
635 Holt Pupils on
April 28th and 29th
First Salk vaccine inoculation
shots for 635 Holt county first
nd second grade school children
>will be delayed one week.
Originally the first shots vcre
to be administered today (Thurs
day) and Friday at O’Neill and
Atkinson.
According to Miss Alice French
vf O’Neill, Holt county super
intendent of public instruction,
the new dates for administration
’f the first polio shots are Thurs
day and Friday, April 28 and ?9,
at O’Neill. A new schedule has
been fixed for the first and sec
ond graders in the Atkinson
area.
The initial shots will be given
Thursday afternoon, April 28, at
the Atkinson school auditorium
for. the first and second graders
in that area. Rural pupils looking
to Atkinson for administration of
shots will be received at 3 p.m.
Miss French, who is coordi
nator for Salk vaccine inocula
tions among the first and sec
ond graders, explained Wed
nesday the vaccine is being de
layed in arrival about one
week.
The delay is widespread in the
nation, chiefly because serum has
had to be diverted to Southern,
states where a polio epidemic
ages.
O’Neill schedule:
Thursday, April 28: St. An
thony’s hospital (north door);
8:30 a.m.—first and second grad
ers of St. Mary’s academy and
O’Neill public school; 9 a.m.—
first and second graders of Page,
Inman and" Chambers public
schools.
Friday, April 29: St. Anthony s
(north door); 9 a.m.—first and
second graders of Ewing and rur
al districts which have elected
0:Neill as site for Salk inocula
tions.
Second shots at O’Neill will be
administered within four weeks
on dates to be announced. A to
tal of 404 pupils will be treated
here.
The Atkinson schedule has been
revamped, compared to the in
itial schedule which was publish
ed last week.
The inoculations will be ad
ministered for all first and sec
ond graders in that area—num
bering 231—on Thursday after
noon, April 28, at the public
school auditorium.
Second shots at Atkinson will
be administered on a date to be
Announced.
In field trials the Salk vaccine
was found to be 80 to 90o percent
effective in preventing paralytic
polio. o
-—
Alcernate Choice
Turns
I o
ROCK FALLS — It’s not alto
I gether a disappointment—when,
, after hurrying to get all the farm
chores finished early and the
young fry all tidied up for the
second or third time in the day
and loaded into the family car,
you drive to a neighbor’s only to
find that that neighbor has done
the same thing. After turning re
luctantly toward home again,
you decide to call on another
family and spend a very ypleasant
evening after all — as was the
case on Sunday when Mr. and
Mrs. John Schultz and girls vis
ited at the Albert Widtfeldt home.
Fremont Firm Low
Bidder on Streets
Widening Scheduled
to Begm May 16
The Francis R. Orshek, Inc.,
construction firm of Fremont
was low bidder Wednesday at
the opening of sealed bids in con
nection with the proposed street
widening project. The figure:
'9,699.10.
Other bidders and amounts
were: Booth & Olson, Sioux City,
'50,333.15; Dobson Brothers, Lin
coln, $51,394.78; Missouri Valley
Construction Co., Omaha, $51,
• 85.30; Diamond Engineering Co.,
Grand Island, $54,312.01.
Acceptance of one of three
lowest bids pends ratification
bv the U.S. bureau of roads.
The contract specifies start of
construction about May 16.
The street - widening, which
“was the subject of a hot munici
pal election and litigation, affects
certain portions of Douglas street
and South Fourth street in order
to retain two U.S. federal high
ways on location through the
business district.
Meanwhile, at Lincoln today
(Thursday) bids will be opened
for the new West O’Neill corner
and 1.5 miles of bituminous mat
horth to the drive-in theater cor
ner.
At a special meeting of the city
council Monday, the board stud
ied revisions of old ordinances
and adopted a resolution making
“IT turns unlawful anywhere on
'•Douglas street and on Fourth
street between Benton (school
corner) and the city limits on
the south edge of the city.
The “U” restrictions will not
become effective until 30 days
after publication of the amend
ed ordinance and until appro
priate signs and markings are
erected.
° r,
The council has' been confront
ed with more municipal? water
problems. It’s the same old story
—a diminishing water supply due
tos and filling in the wells. Deep
er wells, down to blue shale, may
be the answer. The city’s best
/ell now produces about 650-gal
to sand filling in the wells/ Deep
mand for water makes it almost
imperative Jhe city have a well
capable of delivering 1,200 gal
i.ons. o
Mayor-Elect Alva Marcellus sat
in at Monday’s session.
Rural Pupils Take
Part in Rehearsals
Holt county rural school pupils
spent Wednesday in O’Neill at
various activities.
At 10 o’clock the harmony
band, consisting of 128 members,
met for practice under the lead
ership of Mrs. Etha Walters of
Chambers. Accompaniment on
the piano was furnished by two
of her pupils.
At 1:30 o’clock, 800 children,
and about 150 parents and teach
ers, attended rural school chorus
practice.
The upper grades were con- j
ducted by Merton B. Welch of
the Norfolk public school accom
panied on the piano by Mrs.
Howard Manson. The lower
grades were directed by Mrs. |
Walters.
The city was brimming with j
children and parents. Six groups
toured The Frontier plant, “Voice j
of The Frontier” radio studios!
ando other points of interest.
(Photographs of Frontier visitors
will appear in the next issue).
GOING OVERSEAS
Lt. Donna Shelhase, an army
nurse, departed Sunday for an
overseas assignment. Her first
stop will be Yokahama, Japan.
She has been visiting her parents,
Mr. and Mrs. C. G. Shelhase, for
the past 30 days. ° o
O
308 Aboard Specials;
Savers Make Headway
By a Staff Writer
BASSETT—This is a thriving
cow town (pop. 1,000) in Nebras
ka’s sandhills and is situated 250
miles northwest of Omaha. Bas
sett is the capital of Rock county,
which counts cattle in a 100-to-l
ratio in comparison to human be
ngs. It’s in the center of the
ducing area.
world’s largest native hay pro
The most important single
event in Bassett’s frontier history
was the day a band of vigilantes
hung Kid Wade, a pink-cheeked
outlaw, to a railroad whistlepost.
That was February 6, 1884.
v On Monday Bassett was the lo
cale for a blustery two - hour
conference between a zealous
yet sincere band of train-savers
and a top - drawer postoffice
department official.
The PO people hold the single
most important key to retaining
bnd firming up the two trains.
Out on this windswept prairie
where distances are vast, baby
calves are “dropping” by thou
sands and every farmer or ranch
er owns a truck or two, there was
on this bright April day a friend
ly though sometimes heated clash
between a policy representative
of the trucK-minded postoffice
department and western individ
ualism—the latter determined to
cling to the last two remaining
passenger - mail - express trains
serving directly and indirectly 40
counties in northeastern, north
central and northwestern Nebras
ka as well as vast areas in south
ern South Dakota.
' The meeting had been sched
uled for several weeks—the fifth
since the Chicago & North West
ern vice-president in charge of
operations, J. E. Goodwin, had
announced last fall from the line’s
offices in Chicago, 111., that ap
propriate steps were being con
sidered for curtailing the two
'trains.
Goodwin pointed to a 60
thousand-dollars’ per year an
nual loss and declining reve
nue from mail being diverted,
mostly to trucks.
Goodwin came to the sandhills
in November, 1954, agreed to an
eight-months’ experiment with
streamlined equipment; the
quickly - formed Save-the-Trains
association pledged increased
passenger and express support
and promised inquiry into the
postal transportation reroutings
jand diversions.
Passenger business bounced
"back, some bigger stations re
porting monthly gains up to 300
i percent over corresponding peri
ods a year ago. Declines in ex
press revenues were arrested, but
the train-savers had confidence
express could be built up. But the
mail haul continued to drop. In
October, 1952, the average daily
sack dispatch on westbound train
13, from the Omaha terminal
(one of the nation’s largest) was
1,700; in October, 1954, the figure
was 1,100; in January, 1955, 866.
The nifty Rock county high
school band whooped up “There
Is No Place Like Nebraska” as
two special trains inched into
town, bulging .with 308 train-sav
ers. The specials were hurriedly
contrived when it was learned
that Lawrence E. Ernst, chief of
the postoffice department’s rail
way transportation service, would
be present. 0
He was dispatched to the field
by Postmaster General Summer
field and Assistant Postmaster
General E. George Seidle, who is
in charge of all postal transpor
tation in the nation. Nebraska’s
Sens. Roman Hruska (R) and
Carl T. Curtis (R) were assured
by Summerfield that Ernst would
be authorized to make decisions.
Ernst and V. A. Klein, head of
the Fourteenth division of the
postal transportation service at
'imaha, and J. J. Bomhoeft, head
of the Tenth division at St. Paul,
Jinn., plus their aides, faced up
.to their problems early by board
ing the westbound special origi
nating at Omaha. The second
train originated at the western
terminus, Chadron. Bassett is a
midway point.
When the train-savers were
-——-,
dumped onto Bassett’s Main
street, all traffic halted and the
modern vigilantes entertained
no whistlepost ideas; all they
wanted to do was firm up two>
trains which for years had been
giving dependable all-weather
service. Now the equipment Is
modern and an accelerated
schedule is planned.
Fresh in everybody’s mind is
the winter of 1948-’49, when the
region was i, now locked for
months and when highway travel
was tied up or fouled up for
weeks but the trains invariably
got through.
The battle lines had been
drawn elsewhere. These people
simply aren’t frightened by na
tional trends, ie: (1) declining
mail revenues for rails, yielding
to planes and trucks; (2) declin
ing passenger revenues brought
about by private automobiles,
planes and busses.
They make no bones about it.
They want their last two trains,
even if it means bucking the
trends.
Some business firms financed
trips for a handful of high school
pupils in the belief the outing and
meeting would be a useful lesson
in civics; possibly historic, too,
’he trains’ days might be num
bered. High schoolers boarded
the special at Inman, O’Neill and
Atkinson, representing Inman
high, O’Neill high, St. Mary’s
academy, Atkinson high and St.
Joseph’s hall. They were accom
panied by chaperones.
The Chadron crowd wore dis
tinctive red hats and red jackets.
Their civic groups already had
gone on record wanting all mail
brought into Chadron via train
13, if necessary, even at the ex
pense of delaying by a number
of hours some of the mail. Chad
ron is a college town with a pop
'ulation of 4,200.
Wayne Marcellus. auto dealer
and president of the Bassett
Chamber of Commerce, met
postal and Save-the-Trains of
ficials and escorted them to a
buffet dinner in a private din
ing room at the new hotel.
A fleet of decorated automo
biles was at the disposal of the
town’s temporary guests, trans
porting the rail boosters to cafes.
But as the trains rolled through
the luscious sandhills with stops
at each station to pickup die
hards, Mr. Marcellus hovered
over the telegrapher’s shoulder
at the station. The word was
passed the hosts would have
(more guests on hand than origi
nally bargained for. Immediate
ly plans were made to transfer
(Continued on page 6)
Boy, 14, Suffers
.from Blood Loss
There was a collision of two
automobiles about 4:30 p.m., Sun
day at the intersection of Second
and Clay streets. Cars driven by
Keith Anderson, 17, son of Mr.
and Mrs. Merrill Anderson of
Redbird, and Paul Shelhamer,
19, son of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Shel
hamer of O’Neill, figured in the
accident.
Authorities said the Anderson
machine overturned twice and
came to rest against a tree. In
overturning, the Anderson ma
chine also hit a parked car be
longing to Herman Janzing.
Deputy Sheriff James Mullen,
who investigated, said two pas
sengers in the Anderson machine
were hospitalized: Victor Picker
ing, 14, son of Mr. and Mrs.
Claude Pickering of Redbird, and
'Victor’s younger brother, De
Lynn, 13. Victor suffered a deep
leg gash, and lost considerable
blood. DeLynn suffered only
bruises and was released. Neith
er driver was hurt.
In a mishap at the comer of
Second and Douglas streets Sat
urday about 8:30 p.m., cars driven
by R. H. Linehart of O’Neill and
Charles Fox, jr., of O’Neill, fig
ured in a collision. The westbound
Linehart machine was attempting
n “U” turn. Damage was not
great, Mullen said.
>
Two cars driven by teenagers collided at intersection of Clay
and Benton streets about 4:30 p.m>. Sunday. The Shelhamer car
(in background) remained upright; the Anderson machine (at
right) overturned twice. (Story below.)—The Frontier Photo.
O
