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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (June 2, 1955)
Prairieland Talk ... jGeneral O’Neill’s Memory Violated By ROMAINE SAUNDERS, Retired, Former Editor The Frontier LINCOLN—Is there no one left in the com munity who felt a throb of regret over the viola tion of the memory of the promoter of the O’Neill colony by the removal of General John O’Neill’s once humble abode? The town retains the name, only that and nothing more as a tribute to the Irish patriot who laid the foundation of a settlement destined to become the most important center of commerce and culture in the upper Elkhom valley. What is to stand now where the four-room abode of the general, his widow and son, John, and daughter, Kittie, stood from the beginning of things in 3 the community until the present? The fathers planted and built. This generation plucks up and pulls down. After the O’Neill , family was dispersed and gone the property passed into the hands of Mrs. Triggs, who lived with her husband and sons, Romalna George and Jim, just east of the Saunders lumber yard on Everett street, though at that time there was no lumber yard at that point. My widowed mother made her home in the General O’Neill house the winter of 1888, the winter that brought the great blizzard of Jan nary 12. Others have since owned the property. The ground whereon it stood remains, but the house with its memories is gone. A building at Fourth and Everett streets, or iginally O’Neill’s Commercial hotel, was the pop ular hangout in frontier days for the many coming and going. That was another John O’Neill, not re lated to the general. Others of the same name have been and still are in the vicinity of O’Neill. The brick house in the northeast section of the city, built for W. D. Mathews, founder of The Frontier, *nd family, is one of the oldest of the old build ings. Wood, brick, stone survive; generations of men fade away and are forgotten; another generation struts upon the scene. It, too, shall pass away. « » ^ A capital city church group of some two thousand members is raising a fund of $75,000 to build a church school but is not asking for a bond issue. Young boys have gone from door-to door and collected a few truckloads of old papers for which they have found a market, the money thus earned being turned over to the custodian of the building fund. * * * The statehouse fallows thought there is no need at present to add a half-cent to the gasoline tax. They also thought, and have provided for it, that they need 215 million dollars to maintain the dignity of our statehood the next two years. . . Mrs. America, upon whom also had been bestowed the honor of Mrs. Nebraska and honorary county commissioner, a Lincoln citizen, was given a queen’s reception upon her return home from the scene of her homemaking conquest. . . One hundred miles of country roads in Lancaster county are being rock graveled at a cost of $26,000. . . Polio continues to develop, ignoring the vaccine. . . When the 82d air division down at Ft. Bragg, N.C., needed a parachute jumper, a Sioux Indian from Pine Ridge, S.D., volunteered. Pvt. Broken Leg got the job. . . Turning a leaf on the calendar, Governor Anderson concluded that June will be the Nebraska dairy month. Drink your milk. Ruthless hands would despoil our world re nowned state capital buildings, but met with re buff before a majority of state senators when a measure was proposed involving a remodeling program. The architectural beauty of the state house is a joy forever to Nebraskans and admired by strangers who visit Lincoln. After 25 years since the 20-million-dollar statehouse was complet ed a proposal to remodel is announced. How about remodeling the Egyptian pyramids? . . Lincoln city officials are to inspect the older downtown buildings regarded as fire hazards. The building is not the hazard—it’s the people in it. . . Account ing for the highway crackup, it is said the car took a notion to “go out of control.” The driver at the steering wheel first went out of control. . . A group of American women brought the Arabs to time over there in the Near East. The hooded subjects of Ibn Saud think women should be neither seen nor heard, especially on the highways, and made it unlawful for women to drive about in automobiles. Some 2,000 wives of Americans in the country protested and the law was revoked. * * * Until Hymen brought his love delighted hour there dwelt no joy in Eden’s holy bower. It was said of the woman of Samaria: "Thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband.” A daughter of Eve out on the West coast was lured by a fatuous light 13 times as it glimmered and glowed in the twi light only to die in the black of the night. Now having divorced her 13th she takes on her 14th. After having been messed over by 13 guys that 14th takes a pretty badly soiled dame. A book recently circulated as another “best seller” touches with a scholarly hand the problem of being able to read. Writing and reading are fundamental to human culture. They are as ancient as time. The ancients carved their messages on stone and wrote on tablets of clay. The Devine hand inscribed on tablets of stone a code of laws for the guidance of mankind. Children learn early in life in the schools to read by whatever method the individual teacher thinks best. Few come from grade, high school or universities who can place punctuation marks in writing where such should be or understand the use of capital letters. When Jim Riggs turned me loose at a case of type to become a compositor I knew next to nothing as to the use of commas, periods and other marks in dicating breaks in sentences, questions or excla mations. In the days of hand-made newspapers, printers edited the stories as they put them into type, corrected bad spelling and bad grammar and other literary defects. Kids learn to read in school but our educational institutions are lacking in imparting the niceties of correct composition. * * * When the leaves have withered and fallen, When the things you neglected to do are forgotten, When your last message has been written And time for you comes to an end, Leaving behind foe and friend And the worries of life to other men— What then? • * * There are some advantages to poor health, if it is not too poor. • * * People with no brains usually compensate with an oversized mouth. Editorial . ,« , Building Boom Continues The federal reserve board recently reported more families plan to acquire new homes or make improvements this year than in any past year. This report comes in a year when many experts had thought the end of the building boom might be seen. However, as the result of the continuing boom in construction, and in plans of so many Americans to build, it is now estimated that a n*w peak of $56,000,000,000 in consturction might be reached this year. In addition to home-building, outlays for plants, office buildings, schools and highways have been heavy and this construction is contin uing to boom along with home construction. Thus, it appears highly doubtful that 1955 will see the end of the building boom. It is possible 1955 will be a record construction year, exceeding the boom years of 1953 and 1954. O’Neill has been enjoying its share of the national boom. A score or more new dwellings go up every year. The immediate post-World War II years witnessed extensive retail and other com mercial expansion and the trend continues. This continuing construction boom is one of the reasons for optimism in the economy. Coming at the same time of the automobile sales boom, it gives the economy a boost which will probaoly be felt throughout 1955. The general feeling in eco nomic circles now is that, although the present business boom may taper off somewhat in the lat ter half of this year, business will be good throughout 1955, and well into 1956. Our idea of optimism is that remark of the gardener, when he saw his plants fail, he said, “This is tough on my neighbor’s chickens.” Welcome to O’Neill, officers and directors of the soil conservation districts in the northern great plains six-state area. We hope you’ll enjoy your stay and plan to return again. The next holiday: Fourth of July. With it comes another long (three-day) weekend. 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) When Yon and I Were Young . . . Refunds for Buyers of Fishing Licenses WCTU Unit Formed in O’Neill 50 Years Ago Parnell Golden is home from his studies at Golden Colo. . . All residents of Holt county who procured a license for fishing and hunting for the year 1905 can have their money refunded by calling at the clerk’s office and surrendering the licenses, as they were issued under misinterpreta tion of the law. . . All the musi cians of the city have gotten to gether and will present a concert to the public at the opera house this week. . . Bishop Keane of Cheyenne, W!yo., is conducting a mission at the Catholic church in this city. . . E. H. Whelan deliv ered the memorial day address at the opera house. . . The Women’s Christian Temperance Union in the city was organized at a meet ing held at the home of Mrs. C. L. Bright. 20 Years Ago This section has been visited with more moisture this week. A, slow drizzle has been falling most of the time since Sunday. There has now been over 12 inches of rain this year. . . The gravel pumping project that has been in progress here the past six weeks terminated this week. Twelve miles of highway between O’Neill and Page were regraveled. . . The Golden hotel diniing rooms are being renovated and in about 10 days they will open the dining room to the public. It will be op erated by McMillan and Markey. . . . Fifty-three car license plates were issued at the courthouse for new cars during the month of May. . . Four men from Valentine were brought here on liquor con spiracy charges to appear before United State Commissioner F. J. Dishner. The indictment under which these men will be tried charges that a number of illicit stills are operated in that area. One of the defendants says over 20 persons were indicted in this case, some being residents of South Dakota and others of Iowa. 10 Years Ago An explosion in the ordinance plant at Grand Island resulted in the death of seven workers and seriously injured several others. . . . 2/Lt. Robert B. Ryan, son of James B. Ryan, has been awarded a second oak leaf cluster to his air medal, it was recently an nounced by the commanding gen eral, Eighth air force. . . Ray mond Calkins, Richard Morgan and Lester Strong left last week for Omaha, where they will work on the railroad this summer. . . Lt. (jg) Margaret Bosn arrived from the Dutch East Indies, where she has been for the past 18 months, to spend a 30-day leave visiting at the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Simon Bosn. * One Year Ago A fire of undetermined origin completely destroyed the building and contents of Mac’s IGA gro cery story in Orchard. The store is owned and operated by M. E. Simonson of O’Neill. . . The O’ Neill Saddle club has scheduled a two-day world's championship RCA-approved rodeo. . . Rev. Ba sil Price, S.J., son of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest G. Price of O’Neill, will be ordained into the priesthood of the Roman Catholic church on Wednesday, June 16, at St. Mary’s college, St. Mary’s, Kans. . . Architects are at work drafting complete plans for the new 80 thousand-dollar O’Neill element ary grade school building which will be erected on the southeast comer of the O’Neill campus. . . The fourth annual Page high school alumni banquet was held Saturday evening, May 29, at tended by 238 persons. Choice of Material Is Discussed— The Kitty Clover 4-H club met at the home of Sharilyn Grenier last Thursday. Patty Grenier was elected to serve as secretary to fill the va cancy caused by the resignation of Lorna Marcellus. The club members learned to use a tracing wheel. Paul Reed discussed choosing material for various types of clothing. Lunch was served by the hostess. —By Donna Asher, reporter. Mr. and Mrs. John Shoemaker recently visited for several days in Omaha at the home of their son and daughter-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. John Shoemaker, jr., and family. | At your fingertips... yL ffie most unique service in town Nfe. It’s a dependable, personal service — ready right at your fingertips 24 hours a day. ) >1L brings you good news, starts you off to good ^Hr rimes. Saves you minutes, miles, money. Takes a \ If you wherever you want to go. flL Ycru can’t afford not to use it—it’s that in> j 1, \ portant, that vital. UK i % Yet it actually costs less than one cent an hour Ip \ J —for telephone service in your homel North* t jf M WC5tera Telephone Company. Rebuilds Engines Army Pvt. James D. Stewart of Page (above) is now at the ordnance automotive school, Atlanta (Ga.) general depot. His tasks include reboring cyl inders in an automotive engine as part of his training in the engine rebuilding course. Pri vate Stewart enlisted through the army recruiting station at O’Neill last January. — U.S. Army Photo. rr. — . News, Views and Gossip By THE EDITOR ^ * Contempt for Rain? While most sections of the mid alewest were parched due to strong winds and lack of mois ture, New York City residents were subjected to unwelcomed rain. In a lead ediotrial, the New York Herald-Tribune mentioned “soggy newspapers, taxicabs hard to find, frightened babies and dogs, crackles on the radio, flick ers on the television screens, etc.” C. C. Golden, O’Neill hotelman, is in a Waterbury, Conn., hospital and we’re indebted to him for the Herald-Tribune article reproduc ed below. Mr. Golden was cheered by the fact that rains subsequent ly blessed prairieland even though New Yorkers largely re gard moisture as a nuisance. The Herald-Tribune editorial: “Rain is a commodity more cherished in the country than in town. City dwellers accept it as part of the price of existence, but they rarely welcome it. They know, of course, that the crops depend upon the ram, and that without crops, nobody eats. But rain also gets people wet and drives them indoors on a sum mery evening; it makes newspa pers soggy and taxicabs hard to find; it necessitates the carrying of umbrellas and the wearing of rubbers. “All these inconveniences were accepted more-or-less philosoph ically Monday night when the city experienced a thunder shower, its first substantial rainfall in weeks. The thunder, it is true, frightened babies, dogs and other harmless beings; the lightning produced crackles on the radio and flickers on the television screens; the wind blew things around in a disturbing manner. Still, we told one another, it was good for the crops. The greenery was salvaged, the reservoirs were filling. Some good was coming of it all. “But what has happened? The weather experts have brought forth their measuring rods and announced that only half an inch of rain actually fell — hardly enough to produce any durably beneficial results. Apparently more rain—lots of it—must fall before humanity can really bene fit. It’s a disturbing thought, soft ened only by the eternal knowl edge that whatever rain storms come will continue to fall alike on the just and the unjust—in cluding weather experts.” * • * Miscellany ike Watson of Inman and Jim Rooney of O’Neill were having a cup of coffee and hashing over the subject of cloud-seeding. Wat son seriously questioned how man-made weather, if it were possible, could please everybody. Royal Theater — O'NEILL, NEBR. — Thurs. June 2 CONQUEST OF SPACE Color by technicolor. Man’s greatest adventure. See how it will happen . . . within your life time! Is he ready to take on his target for tomorrow? Family admitted for 2 adult tick ets; children under 12 admitted with parent 50c; adults 50c; children 12c Fri.-Sat. June 3-4 RUN FOR COVER Motion picture Vista Vision, high fidelity, color by technicol or. Starring James Cagney, Viveca Lindfors, John Derek with Jean Hersholt, Grant Withers. Cagney, rugged, two-fisted man of the West, trying to hide a reputation he doesn’t deserve. A man run ning from his past ... a youth fleeing his future. Adults 50c; children 12c; matinee Sat. 2:30. All children under 12 free when accompanied by parent Sun.-Mon.-Tues.-Wed. June 5-6-7-S The Loves of BATTLE CRY Stirringly presented by Warner Bros, in cinemascope, Warner color, stereophonic sound. Star ring Van Heflin, Aldo Ray, Mona Freeman, Nancy Olson, Tab Hunter, James Whitmore, Ray mond Massey, Dorothy Malone, Anne Francis. The scorchingly personal best-seller the nation couldn’t put down. Adults 50c; children 12c; matinee Sun. 2:30. All children unless in arms most have tickets « He illustrated by saying the hay man might have enough water wnile the corn raiser was crying for an inch of rain. Rooney chirp ed in with theory that valve tenders could compromise and give the neighbors a half-inch each. A third party said he un derstood cloud-seeding has been dismissed as “hog wash” by the Canadian government after a two-year rigid experimental peri od. .. Bill Bowker and Russ Foree, pair of O’Neill pilots, looked down on the Ak-SartBen race track one day recently and re track Friday afternoon and re ported “a riot of color”. They were referring to the acres of multicolored automobiles in the spacious parking lots. They were attracted by the color show and didn’t even take a look at the starting gate.—CAL STEWART Farmers Rush Corn Planting Inch of Rain Falls Last Week DELOIT—Most important news is the rain. The Deloit community received a total of about one inch Tuesday evening, May 24, and Thursday, May 26. The farmers are rushing to plant corn and al falfa. Some are putting up alfalfa but many were forced to pasture it. Correction: Last week it was stated the moisture here for May, 1953, was 11.40 inches; May, 1954, 3.48 inches; May, 1955, 1.99 inches up till May 24. These figures in cluded all moisture received from January through May. Lambert Bartak keeps the fig ures and he says there has been a decided decline in moisture the past three years. Other Deloit News Mrs. Ronald Demaray called at the Henry Reimer home on Mon day. Sammy J. Stearns of Norfolk and Joan Mlnarik were married at the St. John’s church on Tues day morning, May 24. Sammy is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Homer Stearns, formerly of this com munity. Louis Sojka, M.D., was graduat ed from the Creighton college of medicine, Omaha, this spring. Mr. and Mrs. John Manson of Omaha visited relatives here over the weekend. Grover Shaw is helping with farm work at the Ralph Tom jack home. Mrs. Anna Sehi of Elgin vis ited at the Leo Funk home part of last week. Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Larsor. attended the graduation exercises on Wednesday, May 25, at Wayne State college. Their son, Donald, was graduated with the class of 1955. Mrs. Otto Reimer spent the past week at the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. E. L. Sis son. Otto came from Lincoln on Saturday to spend the holiday with relatives. Mr. and Mrs. L. Larson and Don visited Sunday at the Harold Mlinar home near Atkinson. It was Judy Mlinar’s birthday an niversary. Those who donated their time to help shingle the school were Don Werkmeister, Philip Thiele, John Hupp, Henry Reinier, Aug ust Thiele, Leonard Larson, Dar — cld Werkmeister and Jerry Thiele. Joe Funk has been remod ding the rear of Knievels’ store and has put in a modem kitchen and inn ing area. There will be a school meeting Monday, June 13. Robert Miller’s address is Ew ing, Nebr., c/o Frank Miller. He is confined to his bed three weeks with rheumatic fever. Mr. and Mrs. Don Larson and family were Friday night supper guests at the Henry Reimer home. Sunday dinner guests at the Larson home in Ewing were Mr. and Mrs. Carl Christon and Tom and Mr. and Mrs. Henry Reimer and Elayne. Don Beckenhauer of Albion will be in charge of services at the Church of Christ in Ewing this summer. Farm bureau will meet at the Adolph Bartak home Tuesday, June 9. Movies taken in Korea by Roland Schrunk will be shown. Pie and coffee will be served. Mr. and Mrs. Mel Lodge and family and Mrs. Alice Lodge of Norfolk were May 22 visitors at the Lambert Bartak home. Guards Schedule Benefit Dance Here Company D, O’Neill’s newly formed national guard tank com pany, will sponsor a benefit dance Saturday night, June 4, at the American Legion ballroom here. Nosmo King and his orches tra have been signed to provide the music. Proceeds from the dance will go toward purchasing athletic and recreational equipment for the guard armory here, according to 2/Lt. Ben Vidrickson, the com pany executive officer. Try The Frontier want advs.l Rural & City PHILLIPS “66” PRODUCTS New & Used Tires Greasing & Washing Borg’s ‘66’ Service PROMPT TANKWAGON SERVICE Phillips "66" Station Phone 862 Backhaus Named FFA President A regular meeting of the O’ Neill FFA was held recently in agriculture room. The main pur pose of the meeting was to elect new oficers for the coming year, Those elected are: Kenneth Backhaus, president; Robert Young, vice - president; Ben Devall, secretary; Robert Burival, treasurer; Marvin Young, news reporter; Charles Pierson, sentinel. On Saturday, May 21, a group from the O’Neill FFA left for a camping trip near Ericson. They were accompanied by their in structor, Pat Gallup. The trip was made in a truck furnished by Robert Burival. The following boys went on the trip: Robert Burival, Elmore Blain, Edward Krugman, Merle Krugman, Har old Peterson, Jim Tomlinson, Ben Devall, Robert Yeung, Char les Pieison, Leroy Lyons, Gary Eppenbach, Larry Gifford and Marvin Young. The group return ed home Sunday evening. —By Marvin Young, reporter. 0 Frontier for printing. Prompt deliveries! MILLER THEATER — Atkinson — Frl.-Sat. Jane 3-4 Sun.-Mon.-Tues. June 5-6-7 JAMES STEWART X. . ... .. , O CERTIFIED HYBRID SEED CORN Go to SCOVIE’S for HARTZ Seed Com — the Best Flats IOWA 306_$9.00 Per Bu. IOWA 4249, IOWA 4297, HARTZ 22, HARTZ 44. $9.50 Per Bu. 50c Dis. per bu., all varieties, for 5-bu. lots RAIN GAUGE FREE with purchase of 2 Bus. or more! WE HAVE A REPLANTING AGREEMENT All Early Hybrids WESTERN AUTO STORE ... O’Neill — “SCOVIE’S” — i * - -Ny, 3 EASY WAYS ■t?'y to eliminate this hazard to the children in your community are to:, • REMOVE THE ENURE DOOR AND DOOR LATCH! " ''l : • REMOVE DOOR GASKET,1 DOOR LATCH AND LATCH-] .STOP! " *•' < . - I • DRILL HOLES IN CABINET AND REMOVE DOOR GAS JKET TO PERMIT CIBCULA ; TION OF AIR IF CABINET IS I TO BE USED FOB STORAGE! S58S*®#* I Report all discarded refrigerators, ice boxes and freezers you notice to the owner, or civil authorities, and recommend that one of the above safety measures be followed! i , _■... ■ -j-ggg -- ____■ ^ For the past several years the number of children Who have met a horrible death through suffocation in old, dis-' carded ice boxes, refrigerators and freezers has been in Casiug ■“ alarming rate, j Manufacturers, distributors,* dealers and public utilities are deeply concerned over this fact. In an all-out effort to eliminate this hazard to children the industry has organized The Discarded Refrigerator*-— Freezer Safety. Drive./"~ yWe are taking this means of soliciting the support of all civic organizations this community in helping The Dis carded Refrigerator—Freezer Safety Drive to accomplish its ■ purpose—To dispose of, or render completely harmless, all discarded refrigerators, ice boxes and freezers in such a' manner that they^ cannot possibly present any hazard to children.* '_r.___ J make .Your community a' safe place for T ‘ fpia | iTbisA Jvertisement PublubeJZirA Public Service 'By O ' * O