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
