Nebraska Newspapers

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This Issue
North-Central Nebraska’s BIGGEST Newspaper
Volume 75.—Number 30. O’Neill, Holt County, Nebraska, Thursday, November 24, 1955._ Seven Cents
Father, So Killed in Pla: e Crash
STATE HIST SOC m
Ryshna . . . started piano at age of 7.
Young Pianist Opens
New Concert Season
t ■'+
Mrs. Alma Thorell
Rites Wednesday
Boyd Teacher Dies
in Hospital
BRISTOW—Mrs. Alma Thor
ell, 67, of Bristow died Sunday af
ternoon, November 20, at a Lynch
hospital after an illness of several
months.
Funeral services were held at
2 o’clock Wednesday afternoon,
November 23, at Rosedale Luther
an church.
Mrs. Thorell had been cared
for at her home by her daughters
and daughters-in-law until she
became suddenly worse Saturday
afternoon and was taken to the
hospital.'
Sne was the widow of Charles
Thorell. For .several years she
taught school in Boyd county,
and until the past year had been
the primary room teacher at
Lynch. •
Survivors include: Daughters—
Mrs. Grace Ruda of Bristow, Mrs.
Eunice Fuhr of Beatrice, Mrs.
Florence Burnette of Indepen
dence, Kans., Mrs. Bernice Thor
ell of Rockwell City, la., and Mrs.
Helen McDaniel of Redwood,
Calif.; sons — Conrad of Bristow
and Julian, Wayne State Teach
ers college student; 11 grandchil
dren.
I 50 Attend County
Legion, Aux Meeting
STUART — Members of Holt
county American Legion and
auxiliary posts met for a gen
eral business session at Stuart
Monday evening. All units and
posts of Holt county were repre
sented with 150 persons in atten
dance.
Speakers at the joint meeting
were: Stanley Huffman of Ewing,
department commander; R. J.
Patterson of Lincoln, department
adjutant; Charles E. Chace of At
kinson, district commander, and
Jerome Henn of Petersberg, past
Jerome Henn of Petersburg, past
There was also a film on flag
history and etiquette. Entertain
mem was iurmsnea Dy a group
of young Stuart girls who tap
daneed.
At a seperate auxiliary meet
ing, Miss Milnar of Atkinson
spoke on education scolarships;
Mrs. C. C. Becker, district two
president, gave a report on dis
trict memberships.
At the close, the Stuart auxil
iary furnished a lunch for the
group. ...
Next Holt county meeting will
be in O’Neill on January 16 with
the Page unit presenting a pro
gram -on civil defense.
Patton’s Father
Killed by Truck
Percy Patton, 79, father of A.
L. (“Pat”) Patton of O’Neill, was
fatally injured last week when
struck by the rear end of a live
stock truck at a street intersec
tion in Parsons, Kans.
The aged man was dragged
some distance by the vehicle,
which was operated by an ac
quaintance. Mr. Patton had gone
into the street to visit with the
driver.
The son, who' lives at O’Neill
and owns and operates the Patton
Ben Franklin store, departed im
mediately for Kansas to attend
the funeral. Survivors include the
widow, four daughters and one
son.
.. .. •
Plan Open-House
at Spencer—
LYNCH — Mr. and Mrs. John
Cassidy will observe their golden
wedding anniversary Sunday, No
vember 27. They will hold open
house from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., at
the Spencer Community hall.
They are pioneer residents in
the Ft. Randall community.
At Pierson Home—
Mr. and Mrs. W. B. Lamb will
spend Thanksgiving day in the
Merritt Pierson home. Merritt is
a nephew of Mr. Lamb.
Very Rev. Timothy O’Sullivan
left Monday, November 14, for
Chicago, 111. He plans to be gone
three weeks.
> ____________
Blonde and beautiful, Natalie
Ryshna, brilliant young American
pianist, will appear here on Wed
nesday, November 30, at the O’
Neill public school auditorium
under the auspices of the O’Neill
Community Concert association.
This will be the first concert of
the 1955-’56 season—the second
season for the group.
Miss Ryshna embarked on her
current seasons tour with the
praise of the New York critics
still ringing in her ears. Last Ap
ril, at the close of a very busy
season, she gave her second New
York recital. The result was
unanimous applause from the
metropolitan music critics.
“Blonde, personable, poised
and gifted with dramatic projec
tion power, she adds numerous
assets to her obviously excep
tional talents as a musician,’
said the New York Post.
Delighting the New York crit
ics is no new experience to Nata
lie Ryshna. The gifts which her
recent recital confirmed were
immediately recognized at her
Town Hall debut three seasons
ago. This successful introduction
plunged the young artist into a
busy professional life. She has
performed as soloist with many
orchestras among them the Min
neapolis Symphony. She has ap
peared at summer music festi
vals and her winter schedule has
been crowded with recital en
gagements.
Miss Ryshna was born in Phil
adelphia, Pa. Her parents are
American of Polish - Ukranian
heritage Although neither of her
parents had any musical training,
the home environment was con
genial to music, literature and
the arts in general. Natalie began
to study the piano at the age of
seven. When she was 12-years
old, she was heard by Allison R.
Drake, dean of the Philadelphia
Conservatory of Music. He im
mediately recognized her great
natural talents and began to dis
continued on page 2)
Longtime j
Resident
Dies at 87
! .
Mrs. P. j. Biglin Came
in Covered Wagon;
Rites Set Friday
Mrs. P J. Biglin, 87, a former
O’Neill resident, died Monday
evening, November 21, in a Wich
ita, Kans., hospital. She had been
hospitalized several months.
Funeral services will be con
ducted at 9 a.m., Friday, Novem
ber 25, from St. Patrick’s Catho
lic church. Rev. Thomas Hitch
will officiate. Burial will be in
Calvary cemetery near the grave
of her late husb'and.
A rosary will be offered at 8
o’clock tonight (Thursday) at
Biglin’s funeral chapel.
The late Mrs. Biglin, whose
maiden name was Catherine
Dailey, was born November 4,
1868, at Silver Brook, Pa.
She came to Nebraska with
her parents in 1880 when she was
12-years-old. The family traveled
as far as Tilden by railroad. Dur
ing that period Tilden was the
western rail terminus. The family
made the journey to the O’Neill
; communtiy in a covered wagon.
Her parents were John and El
len Dailey, who were Irish immi
grants. They settled on a home
stead nine miles northwest of O’
Neill, spending the early years in
a sodhouse. There were nine chil
| dren in the family, two of whom
! died in infancy.
She married Patrick J. Biglin
in St. Patrick’s church in 1893.
The rite was performed by the
late Father Cassidy.
Her husband was a coal dealer
in O’Neill for many years before
he retired. He died in 1945.
The late Mrs. Biglin made her
home many years with her
daughter, Helen, in O’Neill. In
1950 Mrs. Biglin accompanied her
daughter, Mrs. Edward (Helen)
O’Donnell, and Mr. O’Donnell to
Salina, Kans., where they resided
five years. About a year ago the
family moved from Saiira to
Wichita.
Survivors include: Daughters—
Mrs. Edward L. O’Donnell of
Wichita; Miss Marie Biglin of
Salt Lake City, Utah; brother—
W. P. Dailey of O’Neill.
Spencer Biggest?
‘It Ain’t So!’
BUTTE—A lead story in the
November 17 issue of The
Frontier pertained to the town
of Spencer slowly working it
self out from under bonded in
debtedness, which dates back
34 years.
Butte residents were pleased
to learn their Boyd county
compatriots living in Spencer
are making commendable prog
ress against the ancient debt.
But several of them took high
offense at the reference in the
story that Spencer is the largest
town in Boyd county.
One Butte merchant grabbed
the nearest telephone to point
out the error in the story to
The Frontier edtior.
“It simply isn’t true,” he de
clared. “The biggest town is
Butte.”
Time was when Spencer had
the greatest population. But the
1950 census shows: Butte—614;
Spencer—540.
“Please print those correct
figures in big, bold type,” ask
ed N. C. Anderson, one of
Butte’s leading trumpeters.
Pear! Christensen
Dies at Atkinson
ATKINSON—Pearl May Chris
tensen, 61, died Thursday, No
vember 10, at the Atkinson Me
morial hospital in Atkinson.
Pearl May Vargason was born
February 14, 1894, to Mr. and
Mrs. Melvin H. and Allie A. Var
gason at Kirkwood. On March 11,
1912, she married Hans Peter
Christensen at Bassett. They be
came the parents of seven chil
dren.
They made their home in New
port until 1918, when they moved
to Missouri, where they lived for
12 years. They returned to New
port in 1930 and lived on a farm
until 1944.
From 1944 until 1947 she lived
in O’Neill and Alda, where she
had employment. In 1947 she
moved to Newport and made her
home with her son, Raymond.
She was a member of the Meth
odist church and took active part
in the War Mothers and Ameri
can Legion auxiliary groups.
Survivors included: Sons—Ray
mond, Elmer and John of New
port, Ervin of Aurora; daughters
—Esther Bartlett of Riverview
and Emigene Bartlett of Aurora;
16 grandchildren; two brothers;13
nieces and nephews.
The Frontier for commercial
printing.
The Jiraks . . . married here in 1905.—The Frontier Photo.
Accordian Aids Celebration
By a Staff Writer
More than 146 guests called on
Mr. and Mrs. Anton Jirak cn
Sunday, November 20, at their
farm home seven miles northwest
of here. 'J’he Jiraks were celebrat
ing their 50th wedding anniver
sary.
Their golden wedding day in
cluded a dinner at noon served to
members of the immediate fam
ily and Rev. Karl Kucera. The
dinner was prepared by Mrs
Charles Kalina, jr., and Mrs. Ru
dolph Brockman.
A silk tablecloth, brought from
Okinawa by their grandson,
Frank Soukup, highlighted the
guest table for the reception
which was held between 2 and 5
p.m. Large bowls of chrysanthe
mums served as decorations. The
wedding cake was baked and dec
orated by Mr. Jirak’s only sister,
Mrs. Agnes Brockman, and her
daughter-in-law, Mrs. Rudolph
Erockman.
Mrs. Fred McCart, Mrs. Donald
Mar cell us and Miss Joann Sou
kup, all granddaughters, served.
The following grandsons acted as
ushers: Frank Soukup, Francis,
Leonard and Donald Havranek.
Mrs. Frank Soukup was in
charge of the gifts, assisted by
I Miss Joann Soukup.
Others assisting with the recep
tion were Mrs. Joseph Kalina,
Mary Fiala. Mrs. Stanley Peters,
Mary Brockman and Lillian Ka
lina.
Only relatives from a distance
attending were Mrs. Vince Prnke
pec and family of Clarkson.
Mr. Jirak. 71, was born in
Bohemia. At the age of 16V2
years he immigrated alone to
the United States. He came di
1 rectly to Nebraska.
Mrs. Jirak, 68, whose maiden
name was Mary Musil, was bora
eight miles south of O’Neill.
The couple was married in St.
Patrick’s Catholic church at O’
Neill (in the original church
building) by Father Dolan, the
assistant pastor, on November 2o,
1905.
They became the parents of two
daughters, Frances and Mary.
The Jiraks lived for a time
south of O’Neill. They have ros;ti
ed on their present 160-acre farm
more than a score of years. Ear
ner they lived on several differ
ent farms.
The Jiraks entertain no plans
for retiring. Mr. Jirak had been
doing all his own farm work un
til last year when ne took on an
additional 160 acres and hired a
man.
(Continued on page 10)
This is a view of the plane wreckage in wh ch the two Garuoods were fatally injured. The
43-year-old father died instantly; the 20-yeac-old son died a few minutes, after being removed from
the wreckage.—The Frontier Photo by Bruce Rehberg.
---1
A strange set of campus circumstances featu red the St. Mary’s senior class play. Left-to-right:
Max Bohn, Barbara McCarthy, Ray Donohoe, Jo in Lansworth aud James Hoffman.
•-»
10 Die in State’s
Worst Accident
At least two O’Neillites viewed
the scene of Nebraska’s worst
highway accident a short time
after it happened Sunday after
noon near Waterbury. Ten per
sons lost their lives when an
eastbound car containing six
young boys collided with a west
bound machine carrying four
members of an orchestra. The
musicians’ machine caught afire
and the bodies were burned be
yond recoginition.
The flames had not died out
when Lorance Edmisten, a clerk
in Gilligan’s Rexall drug, came tb
the wreckage. John Wallen of O’
Neill, who had been in Sioux
City, was at the scene a short
m” pfter the accident.
He described it as the “most
gruesome site imagineable.
Unauthorized Cage
Practice Banned
City School Supt. Milton J.
Baack said this week a number
of school students have entered
the public school gymnasium and
conducted unauthorized basket
ball sessions.
In some instances, he said, it
was a matter of breaking and en
tering.
“The unauthorized entry must
stop,” he declared, “or disciplin
ary action will be taken.”
The infractions do not pertain
to organized groups which prac
tice and play basketball on a fix
ed schedule. The organized groups
using the court are the O’Neill
high school and grade school
teams, St. Mary’s academy high
school and grade school teams,
national guard team and town
team.
The auditorium schedule is so
crowded that Saturdays are the
only open dates.
O’Neill public school will be
dismissed Wednesday at 3 p.m.,
for the Thanksgiving holidays.
St. Mary’s academy will begin its
Thanksgiving vacation Wednes
day at 3:45 p.m. Both schools will
1 resume on Monday.
Substitutes Enable
Show to Carry On
“Good Night, Ladies,” a three
act farce, presented Friday, No
vember 18, and Sunday, Novem
ber 20, by the St. Mary’s seniors,
was acclaimed a “gerat success.”
Both nights found the SMA audi
torium packed to overflowing
with appreciative audiences.
Due to the sudden illness of
Thomas Head, roles were chang
ed. Max Bohn and Ray Donohoe
were applauded for learning new
parts overnight. The show went
on as scheduled.
The play was an explosive mix
ture of a dormitory full of college
youngsters, two male “spinster
aunts,” a fearsome dean of wom
en, and a professor who was an
expert on frogs. Planning to save
his sisters’ home from mortgage
disaster by converting it into a
dormitory, Sam and his friend.
“Jug” Brown, arrive as the girls’
“aunts” to take oyer as chap
erones. The dean eventually
stumbles onto the masquerade,
only after everyone else has dis
covered the hoax. Only the inter
ference of Professor Dexter, re
cently appointed as college presi
dent, saves the culprits.
The play was under the direc
tion of Sister M. Emilia and Mrs.
F. F. Kubitschek.
Janice Turner sang “Nursery
Rhymes” and Karen Mahoney sang
“The Hand of You” during the
first interlude. “Put on Your Old
Gray Bonnet” was sung by the
senior ensemble after act two.
GRANDFATHER DIES
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Loflin and
daughter, Jolee, Thursday at
tended the funeral for Mrs. Lof
lin’s grandfather, Grant DeHart,
92, who died Monday, November
14, in Lincoln. Survivors include
four sons, one daughter, a num
ber of nieces and nephews.
Harvest Ball—
Tuesday evening the junior
class at St. Mary’s sponsored the
annual harvest ball. The king,
Matt Hynes, and the queen, Kar
en Mahoney, were crowned by
their attendants, Larry Johnson
and Mary Jo Donlin, on a stage
decorated with autumn leaves.
♦ ■ —
Dean Lambert
to Speak Here
The annual meeting of the Holt
county extension service and the
Holt Soil Conservation district
will feature Dean W. V. Lambert
from the University of Nebraska
college of agriculture at Lincoln.
He was in charge of the delega
tion that visited Russia during
the past summer.
The meeting will be held in
O’Neill during the afternoon.
‘•This promises to be a-verv in
teresting m6eting with informa
tion on family life and agriculture
in Russia,” according to Holt
County Agent A. Neil Dawes.
Start Construction of
Recreational Building
EWING—The Hoesing Brothers
contractors of Hartington arrived
in Ewing on Friday to begin con
struction on the recreation build
i n g for St. Peter's Catholic
church. The building will be
elected on the land north of the
church.
Mrs. R. J. McGinnis
Dies in California
Mrs. R. J. McGinnis of Los An
geles, Calif., died Friday, Novem
ber 18.
Mrs. McGinnis was the former
Mary Hurley of O’Neill.
Mrs. Thomas H. Hopkins of
Los Angeles is now the sole sur
vivor of the Hurley family.
Rural Teachers
Hear Book Review—
The Holt county rural teachers
and their guests met Wednesday
evening, November 16. After the
dinner a short business meeting
was held.
Following the business session
Mrs. Henry Connenberg of Bas
sett presented a book review en
titled “Good Morning, Miss
Dove.”
March 21 has been set as the
tentative date for the next meet
1 ing.
Double Rite
Held for
Garwoods
Low - Flying Aircraft
Strikes Hill During
Hunt for Coyotes
AMELIA—A prominent Amelia
rancher and his son were kill
ed about 2:15 p.m., on Sunday
when their low - flying plane
crashed into a hill in Garfield
county, near the Holt - Garfield
county line.
Dead are:
RAYMOND GARWOOD, 43.
DALE R. GARWOOD, 20.
Witnesses said their late-model
Super Cup 135, flying northward »
upwind during a coyote hunt, ap
peared to stall at an altitude of
about 350 to 400 feet. The plane
made a half-spin about the time
it struck the ground.
Mr. Garwood was believed to
have died instantly. Dale lived . „
several minutes after being re
moved from the wreckage. First
person to reach the wreckage
was Gerald DeGroff, who, with
a half-dozen others, was par
ticipating in the coyote hunt on
the ground.
rr»1__i. .
wtuirea aDoui inree
miles northwest of the Kelley
store, which is situated in Gar
field county. 0 *
James Boettcher, 18, son of Mr.
and Mrs. Fred Boettcher of ‘At
kinson, was flying in another
plane about a quarter of a mile "
ahead and to one side of the Gar
wood plane, which wgs being pi
loted by the. father. The Garwood
plane had been aloft more than a .
half-hour, Boettcher said.
Boettcher, who was accompan
ied by Roy Harrington, said he „
was making a banking turn .and
he saw the Garwood plane stall
and go down. Boettcher said his
aircraft was about one hundred
feet lower than the ill - fated
plane.
The ground party hurried to
the wreckage, which was about a
mile from the road. In the surface
party were Mr. DeGroff and son.
Kenneth Mitchell, Ira LLerman
and several others. The ground
party drove pickup trucks and
employed four hounds. One coy
ote had already been bagged. The
hunt began about 1:30.
Boettoher said the terrain
was rolling, visibility was “very
good” and weather “fine.” The
accident occurred in the Donald
Benton pasture, which is locat
ed about 20 miles north of Bur
well.
Garfield Sheriff Ross Aber
nathy of Burwell investigated He
said both Garwoods held private
pilot’s licenses and had done -con
siderable flying. The two were
Holt county residents.
The Garwoods, whose ranch is
located about 35 miles north of
Burwell, had had the plane about
a year. • * •
The younger Garwood and his
bride of five months resided on
the same ranch with his parents.
The son was associated with his
father.
Double funeral services for the » »
victims were held at 2 p.m., Wed
nesday, November 23, from the
Methodist church in Atkinson.
Burial was in Woodlawn ceme
tery at Atkinson.
The late Raymond Garwood
was born February 24, 1912, at
Atkinson, the son of Mrs. Bert
Garwood and the late Mr. Gar- *
wood. His father died as the.
result of a fall from a hay
stack.
He was married to Miss Doro
thy Smith of Atkinson October J9,
1934. The couple resided on a
ranch in the Swan lake vicinity
most of their married life.
Mr. Garwood was known as a
raiser of Aberdeen-Angus cattle.
He was a member of the Atkin
son Methodist church. »
Mr. Garwood’s survivors in
clude; Widow—Dorothy; son —
Charles, 2; daughters— Faye, 11;
Marlene, 9, and Janice, 7; mother
—Mrs. Bert (Cecelia) -Garwood
of Atkinson; sister— Mrs. Dean
Rowse; brothers — Glenn, Ford,
Blaine, Ralph and Evan, all of
Atkinson.
The late Dale Raymond Oar
wood was bom September 21,
1935. He was graduated from
Atkinson high school in 1954,
and was active a number of years
in 4-H club activities in south
west Holt county.
He was married to Miss Marve
lene Cuatt on June 3, 1955.
Dale’s survivors include: Widow
—Marvelene; his mother, sisters,
brother; grandmothers — Mrs. °
Garwood and Mrs. Charles Smith,
both of Atkinson.
Mrs. Alice Axtell of Stuart on
Friday, November 24, will quiet
ly observe her 104th birthday.