Prairieland Talk .. .
Spuds to Rescue 40 Years Ago
Kx K()M XIN'E SAUNDERS Retired. Former Editor The Frontier
LINCOLN— Even women's tears do not al
ways avail. A group of farm women, 150 of them
from Atlantic coast states, barged in on the U S.
ignculture secretary, the much harassed Ezra
I Jenson, to plead for government aid to boost po- .
la to prices
Fresh from the potato fields of Long Island,
Khode Island, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the
lady spud growers said they
must have a dollar a hundred .<>
pounds for their products or go -
broke. Official “sweet talk”
from heartless swivel chair
farmers was the best the wom
en got. They left in tears.
Those Dry Creek home
steaders of the long ago who
raised carloads of spuds, hauled
them to town and got 11 cents
a bushel for them at Mike Sulli
van's and John Mann’s trading
posts didn’t get enough currency
at the First National bank for Saunders
a load of potatoes to finance sending a delegation
of prairieland dames to Washington.
Some 40 odd years ago this humble pilgrim
was facing bankruptcy, or at least loss of credit,
If he did not meet certain payments coming due
at an O’Neill bank He knew little about roping
and branding a steer, but next to nothing about
farming. A friend suggested I raise potato crops
that summer. The friend went further than “sug
gest”—he helped me plant and gather in. Two
four-horse loads of as handsome potatoes as were
ever grown, hauled off and sold that fall at 50
cents a bushel, squared me at the bank and a lit
tle more.
Ezra T Benson had not been discovered at
that time
* • *
In 1900 Adlai Stevenson was the demo
cratic c-andidate for vice-president. And, 56
years later, another Adlai Stevenson is the
democratic candidate for president for the
second time. In 1900 the Adlai Stevenson of
that day was William Jennings Bryan’s run
ning mate in the “boy orator’s” second time
op. Both went down to defeat. And the sec
ond time up for the present Adlai may mean
tie is heading for the same fate.
• * *
It is night I look out of the unshaded win
dow and see nothing but the stalwart treetops
against a dim background of starless night sky.
The day has brought a full measure of lovely
things—a walk down a familiar street where a
little child plays about a flower garden on a hunt
Kir butterflies; the first gay adventurous thing
to hold within my heart when the day is done. I
moved on and came upon it unaware, the beauty
of a smiling face and a gentle voice that respond
ed, "Thank you!” for a favor done, cordial greetings
*nd gracious contacts along the way. The day is
done Tonight I pause, remembering the lovely
things, contact with friendly pilgrims, the name
less beauty, the song of the birds, the floral bloom,
the crimson glow of setting sun—the sizeable
check that came through the mails today.
There may be a survivor or two in O’Neill and
also down by Amelia who remembers the F. B
Cole family. Mr. Cole was an early day watch
and clock repair man in O'Neill who filed on a
homestead some 30 miles southwest of town. To
maintain a business in town and be on the home
stead to spend the night with the family was a
problem. It was about a day’s job for a pair of
broncos to make the roundtrip Cole was some
thing of a mechanical genius. He made a prairie
sailing rig that could negotiate those 30 miles
to the h mestead in about two hours. This outfit
consisted of a platform on the running gear of
a buggy, a seat, a steering handle and a sail.
The open prairie in the 1880’s w'as swept daily
by winds and a landlubber who knew something
of the lhanipulation of a sail managed to get
there by a zig-zag course. The Lincoln Sunday
Journal-Star of August 19 last had the story of
this sailing rig together with an illustration drawn
by my 13-year-old grandson, Gerald Saunders, a
seventh grader who would rather draw than
study from books.
* • *
Prejudice is the result of ignorance. The
ether bu.v has the same right to his way of
life as you have to yours.
* * *
Pink glow of early dawn, then sunlight
marches in flaming majesty above the horizon
this calm October morning. We sense something of
celestial grandeur and wronder not at the ancients
bowing in adoration as the sun rose over Oriental
hills. Colorful autumn days dawm, glow and pass
into night on prairieland. We are a year older,
another mark of passing years on face and brow.
The green of summer tinted with autumn gold,
ripened fruits and the calm, restful season of the
year, symbolic of life’s time of rest, struggles
for a crust of bread are in the past and a check
from Uncle Sam coming in every month to add
to your bank account. It is life’s October and
out of the realm of treasured memories there
comes visions of the past and we walk again down
the path of long ago where dead leaves of Oc
tober lay along the way. Walking abroad this
bright morning in early fall, the blue heavens
above, concrete underfoot that leads to the marts
of trade where the girl at the cash register
smilingly takes my two-bits for a bite of banana.
* • *
Billy McNichols writes me from Hollywood
that he is shaping his business affairs so as to
go to Rochester, Minn., when the doctors give the
word. He mentions a visit he and Mrs. McNichols
enjoyed at the home of Mrs. James F. O’Donnell,
another former O’Neill citizen, who now makes
her home in the Hollywood neighborhood. Billy
says they found her “well and happy.” Mr. Mc
Nichols cherishes memories of O’Neill, his boy
hood home, the home of his parents and grand
parents.
* * * ™
A friend just back from a visit to the Illinois
cornfields tell us prairieland patriots about seeing
cornfields that are yielding 70 or more bushels
to the acre. Clodhoppers back there should come
to Nebraska and learn something about growing
corn from that son of the soil down by Aurora
who says his cornfield yielded 132 bushels to the
acre.
Editorial
Buffett Indicts Both Parties
Former Congressman Howard Buffett, an |
Omaha investment banker who served four terms
in congress during the forties and retired volun
tarily, chose national newspaper week and a gath
ering of more than two hundred editors and pub
lishers from four states to express little faith in
either major political party’s “lip service to the
constitution and individual freedom.”
Speaking before the Interstate Editorial asso
ciation’s 35th annual convention in Sioux City’s
Mayfair hotel, Mr Buffett charged newspaper ed
itors from Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota and
Nebraska with a major responsibility in restoring
to the people of the nation the strength to govern
themselves again.
Ironically, the association had invited GOP
President Dwight Eisenhower and Democratic
Presidential Candidate Adlai Stevenson to appear;
neither could arrange the date. Buffett complete
ly omitted personalities from his address, entitled
“The Ramparts We Watch,” and roundly scolded
both parties for tendencies “toward socialism and
totalitarianism.”
The speaker first reminded that the nation
is spending 43 times as much on military defense
• as it was 20 years ago; then pointed out that “both
ancient and modern history record that majer
nations have gone down because the moral and
spiritual defenses have been neglected while the
military still was strong.”
With an eye to what he termed “the rotting
from within” which has destroyed major nations
in the past, Mr. Buffett painted a not-too-opti- j
mislie word picture of the “rotting” in the na- |
tion’s current civilian area of defense.
“This area of defense,” he said, divides nat
urally into four sectors, as follows:
“A well informed people.
"A sound financial structure.
“An electoral system that enables the people j
to chart the course of government.
“Fidelity to the spiritual truths on which Am- i
erica was built."
In regard to the first bulwark of American
independence—a well informed people—Mr. Buf- !
iett said that in 1951 “the then president of the
United States issued an executive order establish
ing censorship in the various executive agencies
end departments of the federal government.”
He quoted the noted editor, David Lawrence,
who said the order had “phraseology as sweeping
as ever used in a dictatorship . . . and was unpre- |
cedented in American history.
“Many hoped that when a new administration i
took office in 1953, the situation would be chang
ed for the better,” Mr. Buffett said.
"It was not. A presidential letter dated May
IT, 1954, seems to have intensified the conditions
of censorship and suppression of news.”
Quoting Kent Cooper, a chief executive of the
Associated Press for a quarter of a century, the
speaker said, “American news propaganda (that
is to say. government-sponsored propaganda) . . .
being planned for peacetime operation . . . perhaps
is doing its part to push the world on to the cata
elysm which could end civilization . . .
“At every level of American government there
is an apparent reluctance to allow the people to
feave the facts,” the speaker said. . . Govern
mental executives seem increasingly to mistrust
the discrefion and wisdom of citizens.
“Secrecy in government,” he added, "cannot
survive prolonged publicity properly administer
ed.
“This task, it would seem, is a major respon
sibility of your profession,” the speaker asserted.
Regarding the soundness—or unsoundness—of
the nation’s financial structure, Mr. Buffett re
.fterrod to Lenin’s statement that the surest way to
• * • * * • .* * ’ • .
• • . • .
overturn the existing social order is to debauch
the currency. He cited the many cases in which
inflation has been the weapon used to force other
lands from capitalism and freedom into socialism
and despotism.
“Will America follow this same road?
“I don’t know. But I do know this—for years
the paramount financial fact in America has been
the relentless dilution of the purchasing value of
the American dollar . . It may be the decisive
political influence of our time.”
Discussing the problem of restoring self-gov
ernment to the electorate, the speaker asserted
that while both parties’ platforms paid lip-service
to the constitution and individual freedom, neith
er party endeavors to support the former or pre
serve the latter.
“The American people,” he said, “are not giv
en the clear-cut issue between conservatism and
socialism to vote on, because in actual practice,
neither party works to effect conservative poli
cies.”
He charged both parties with passing legisla
tion which “. . . . shrinks the area of personal in
dependence. . . Moreover, today the policies espous
ed by both lead inevitably to a socialistic govern
ment.
“As they (members of both parties) reject
Herbert Hoover’s plea for less government mas
tery of our lives, their campaigns are mostly noisy
quibble over detail, name-calling, and bi-partisan
promises of pie-in-the-sky, made on the insulting
premise that we have become a nation of belly
lovers."
Mr. Buffett asserted that both in 1932 and
1952, the voters of the nation elected candidates
pledged to conservative platforms. Both times the
pre-election promises were shamefully broken, he
said.
In regard to fidelity to the spiritual truths on
which America was built, the speaker said, “In the
political sector, those holding power flout moral
and spiritual truth as though God and His justice
were only a mirage.”
In treating this bulwark, he discussed the
nation’s behavior in “twice in one generation
crossing the ocean to engage in vain and futile
global war” . . . the current “policy of global in
tervention” . . . and “the shiny ideals discarded
after each of the major wars.
“A nation that drops atomic bombs on a
civilian population of a beaten enemy seeking
peace has strayed far from the paths of love and
brotherhood. That is on record,” he said.
Mr. Buffett, who heads an investment firm,
does considerable writing and carries on corre
spondence with such prominent Americans as
Herbert Hoover and Gen. Douglas MacArthur.
CARROLL W. STEWART. Editor and Publisher
ARTHUR J. NOECKER and ESTHER M. ASHER,
Associate Publishers *
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—2,559 (Mar. 31, 1856)
. • ’ * • t
When You and I Were Young. . .
Davidson Boy
Hurt by Bullet
Gun Discharges i n
John's Foot
50 Years Ago
Johnnie, eldest son of Mr. and
Mrs James Davidison, punctured
>';s left foot vuth a bullet from a
nfie. He was hunting along the
;\\er w'hen the gun was acci
icntly discharged. . . J, W Van
u.k, living two miles northeast
of town, is reputed of having the
Lest corn anywhere in this sec
t on. Even though it was dry, he
timated he’d have 60 bushels
to the acre. _JrIiss W. McEniry
f P. Gallagher, attended by
Miss Mamie Cullen and Dr J. F.
Gallagher of St. Louis, Mo., were
married.
20 Years Ago
Mrs. Rose Ryan is a grand
mother. She received wrord that
son had been born to her
laughter, Mrs. Charles Graham,
of California. Mr. Graham is the
n of Mrs. Edward Graham of
O’Neill and Mrs. Graham is the
former Margaret Ryan. . . Mar
gie and Lois Lindberg, who at
tended school in O’Neill, spent
the weekend with the homefolks
at Meek. . . Mrs. Goldie Liddy
returned from Columbus and
Omaha where she had visited re
latives for a month.
10 Years Ago
September and October in Holt
county might be considered as
“the wettest year in history. To
date this year 27.30 inches of
I recipitation has fallen. . Albert
Petersen, 58, assistant poliire
chief for the past seven years,
died suddenly. . . Those released
recently by the selective service
were Joseph G. Liable, Willis C.
Peterson and Glenn Lawrence of
Atkinson, Ivan C. French of O’
Neill and John J. Dougherty of
Inman.
One Year Ago
Robert E. Strong, 65, of Nor
folk, formerly of O’Neill and
Emmet, died in a car accident. . .
Mrs. Clara Tucker. 87, of Ewing
was hurried at Ewing. . . Mr.
and Mrs. Thomas A. Drayton of
Orchard celebrated their 50th
wedding anniversary. . Miss
Delores Doolittle of Amelia was
married to Charles Ray Gartner
of Lincoln.
Miss Mary Elizabeth Gatz, a
freshman at St. Mary’s college in
Omaha returned home with her
parents, Mr. and Mrs. C. J. Gatz,
for the weekend. Mr. Gatz had
attended a meeting in Omaha.
2 Coyotes Killed
During Sunday Hunt
CELIA—Ray and Bob Pease,
Eldon Breiner and sons, Lonnie
and Russell, and their six dogs
and Bernard Rossman and son
with six dogs, •'Butch” Goeke and
"Tuff" Henning engaged in a
coyote hunt, between Atkinson
and Emmet Sunday, October 7.
Two coyotes were killed and six
were sighted.
Other Celia News
Mr. and Mrs. Omer Poynts and
.»Ir and Mrs. Leonard Chaffin
and family surprised Mrs. Mark
Hendricks on her birthday anni
versary Thursday. Thev came for
supper.
Darrel McKathnie, son of Mr
aid Mrs. Milton McKathnie, was
S-ycars-old Friday His mother
n id Venita Sehwindt and LeRoy
Lauridsen also her sister. Mrs.
Gerald Risor and family there
for supper in honor of the event.
Elmer Saltz of Page spent Fri
day night with Glen Sorensen at
the William Maloun hc;m .
Mr. and Mrs. Ivan Cone of O’
Neill were Thursday visitors at
the \\ illiam Maloun home.
Sunday dinner guests at the
LeRoy Hoffman home were his
rand arents, Mr. and Mrs. W.
W. Butolph of Minneapolis, Minn.,
who are spending the weekend at
the Amelia Hoffman home in At
kinson; also Mrs. Amelia Hoff
man and sister, Mrs. Mary John-I
son, Harold, Gerold and David
Frickel. Victor Frickel and chil
dren were afternoon visitors.
The teahers of the various
schools in the community attend
ed the workshop in O’Neill Mon
day. Youngsters enjoyed a vaca- i
tion that day.
Albert Johnson of Lyons spent
several days the past week at the
the John Sieheneder home.
Leonard Chaffin helped Mark
Hendricks Friday sort and load
his Angus cattle he sold to Ed
Brondyke of Fulton, 111. Joe
Hendricks sold several truckloads
of cattle to the same buyer and
they were shipped Friday. They
have sold cattle to this buyer the
past 10 years.
Mr. and Mrs. Mark Hendricks
and family were Saturday dinner
guests at the Omer Poynts home.
Leroy and Keith Hlpke and
Charles Chaffin visited Roger
and Rodney Dobias Sunday af
ternoon. Charles Chaffin spent
Friday overnight with Rodney
Dobias. ,
Henry Heiser was a Friday
morning guest at the Mark Hen
dricks home.
Mr. and Mrs. William Maloun
and Billy were Thursday evening
visitors at the Barbara Mlinar
home visiting Billy’s grandmoth
er, Mrs. William Milner of Chest
er, Pa., and aunt, Mrs. Gilbert
Planning a
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We’d be pleased to make
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JSI
O’Neill Construction & Cabinet Works
PHONE 205 GERALD MONK, Prop. O’NEILL
_ _
AL. FORSYTHE’S
COMPLETE CLOSING-OUT
. SALE!
I am quitting farming and will sell all my p'rsonal prop- i
erty and livestock at my farm located 10 miles straight
north of Atkinson, Nebr., just off Highway No. 11.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19
8 — Head of Milk Cows — 8
All sound, and good milkers, ages from 2 to 9 years old.
Cross-bred Shorthorns, Red Polls, Holsteins and Angus.
Most of them are in production now, others to freshen soon. !
44—High Grade Aberdeen-Angus—44
31 Head of Angus Breeding Cows—9 three-year-olds, bal
ance 4 and 7 years old. All had calves this year and are
bred back to choice Angus bull. 11 summer calves; 1 baby
calf; one 2-year-old Angus bull.
Machinery and Equipment
1942 “A” John Deere tractor; tractor winch; heavy cable;
electric DeLaval cream separator; good stock saddle;
heavy duty underslung; 3-rake hitch; tractor chains; some
old machinery.
Auction Starts at 1 P.M.
Lunch will be served by Celia Homemakers
ALEX FORSYTHE, Owner
WELLER & FLEMING, Auctioneers
FIRST NATIONAL BANK, Atkinson, Clerk
. • ; V' • ’
*a
Kelley of New Jersey, who ar
rived Thursday for a visit with
relatives. They are enroute to
Washington to visit other rela
tives before going back East.
Mrs. Milner and Mrs. Gilbert
Kelley were Saturday afternoon
visitors at the Milner home and
Billy spent the weekend with
them in Atkinson at the Fred
Mlinar, home.
The Miss Eva Addison, teacher
of the Lauridsen school, and her
pupils were Friday dinner guests
at the Hans Lauridsen home,
Bobby Knudson and LeRoy
Lauridsen were dinner and sup
per guests Sunday at the George
Mintle home.
Elmer and Albert Spann and
James Lauridsen were Monday
dinner guests at the Hans Laur
idsen home.
Mr. and Mrs. Neal Hipke and
family and Mr. and Mrs. Russell
H pke and family were Sunday.
October 7, dinner guests, cclebr.it
i.. t ic birthday anniversaries of
Francis Chaffin and Lloyd Hipke
. e Leonard Craffin home. Mr.
and Mrs. J. B. Mellor were also
Sunday afternoon visitors there.
Mrs, Joe Hendricks spent Mon
day afternoon with Mrs Mark
Hendricks.
Mr. and Mrs. Louis Lauridsen
and children were Thursday din
ner guests at the Hans Lauridsen
home. Duane ;.nd Linda visited
at the Lauridsen school.
Mr. and Mrs. William Maloun
were Sunday dinner guests at the
Dorothy Scott home.
Mr. and Mrs. Ray Pease and
Bob were Saturday evening sup
per gests at the William Spann
home.
Mr. and Mrs. Duane Beck and
daughter were Saturday supper
guests at the George Beck home
in Atkinson.
Buddy Focken and Patty Allyn
were Sunday dinner guests at
the Clarence Focken home.
Mr. and Mrs. P. W. Kilmurry
spent Sunday at the Frank Kil
murray home.
O NEIIX LOCALS
Keith Abart attended a state
cit'd it meeting in Fremont Sun
day and Monday.
Sunday guests of Mr. and Mrs.
Norbert Clark were Mr. and Mrs
Charles Luben of Inman and
S irley Luben of Norfolk
Mr and Mrs Russell Nutter
and family and Mrs. Cathrine
Nutter of Thedford arrived Mon
day, October 1, to visit at the
Charles F. Nutter home.
Miss Barbara McCarthy and
Miss La Donna McNulty were
h o m e for the September 30
weekend from St. Catherine’s
School of Nursing. They are the
daughters of the George M Mc
Carthy’s and the Jim McNulty's
Larry Fox returned Monday,
October 1, from Harvard where
he had taken his cousin. Larry
Joe Hoppens. Larry stayed a
week with Larry Joe and on the
way home stopped in at Grand
Island to visit the Joe Luth home
until Monday.
Capt. and Mrs. J. T Butcher
and Susan of Smyrna, Tenn , left
last week for California where
Captain Butcher will study at
UCIJV for two months They
plan to visit her parents, Mr. and
Mrs. M. J, Golden, on their way
back from California in Decern
ber.
It Happened In NEBRASKA
I_ - —'.—.
‘Though the Overland Mail was slow by today's standards, its coaches made re
markahlv good time aver the prairie. On a trip to southern Nebraska, a four-horn*
team pulled almost half a ton of mail and 14 people a distance of 14 miles in 52
minutes. Only 16 miles per hour—but pretty good for real, live "horsepower."
Speaking of “mileage,” have you noticed how much
further your entertainment budget goes when you
serve guests a sparkling, refreshing glass of beer? For
beer goes so well—with food, with conversation, with
a game of cards. Be a congenial host. Serve beer, a
beverage that belongs!
NIMASKA DIVISION U. S. IREWttS FOUNDATION, /10 first Nat l Bank Bldg , Lincoln. Nobr
TIRED’TIL IT HURTS?
Just 6$ a Day Can Help Build Rich, Red Blood... Save You from Being
Dragged Out... Easy Prey to Minor Ills I
Nutritional experts reveal vitamin losses in cooked foods plus faulty diet may
i be seriously undermining your energy, strength, and resistance, making you
gi|| feel on edge—affecting your appetite—spoiling your sleep—because your body
f|l| is vitamin and iron ilarv.d.
•Those tymotomi If due to a vitamin deficiency
Occur only vrnen dally Intake of vitamins HI. B2,
and niacin is loss than minimum dally require,
monts over a prolonged period. In themselves,
they do not prove a dietary deficiency as they
may have other causes or bo duo to functional
conditions.
How You Can Stop Chronic
Vitamin & Iron Starvation Today
... Feel Like a New Person!
Supplement your diet every day with
High-Potency Bexcl Capsules. Just one
of these wonderfully strengthening
capsules give you the full vitamin and
iron content nature provided in the
groups of the following foods before
cooking: . ——1
1 quart of pastouriiod milk
4 ox. of frosh orango juico
V] lb. of loan bacon
1 lb. of loan pork
Vi lb. of groon string boons
V] lb. of voal chops j
Vj lb. of ham
1/4 lb. of buttor
1 lb. of boots
Feel Better. .Look Better...Work Better
or YOUR MONEY BACK!
Penny for Penny... You Get
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SPECIAL FORMULA VITAMIN CAPSULES a
Giliigan rfexall Drug
Phone 87 — O’Neill
Ben Giliigan Robert T. Devoy
HE HANDLES “HOT STUFF"
... with “kid gloves”
Because of these heavily-protected gloved-hand*
of an emergency crewman, the lifeline of one of
our communities will soon course once again
with surging electric power. When disaster
strikes, as it sometimes doe* in communities we
serve, it is significant that every human effort
is made by your Consumers crews to restore
electric service with the least possible delay.
Day or night in the worst weather, Consumer*
Public Power District line crews and equipment
are poised and ready to aid stricken areas. When
an emergency call comes, an integrated state
wide network of manpower is alerted by the
District’s two-way radio system. Emergency
crews rush in from the nearest unaffected com
munities to reestablish vital electric service as
quickly as humanly possible.
These service crews are an important part of
the smooth-working Consumers team which
performs countless tasks to help you live better
... electrically. They also are a vital link in
Consumers plan of operations to bring you low
cost electricity geared to your needs of today
and tomorrow.
The Consumers 4,120 mile network of electric power reaches
the four comers of the state end serves 356 communities
its all part of your
CONSUMERS electric service
i • * , • •
• • • , ' ’ . ^
