Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 1957)
Prairieland Talk A Bit of Ancient History By ROMAINE SAUNDERS. Retired, Former Editor The Frontier LINCOLN—A few months ago I walked down the north side of Douglas street from Fifth to Third I had passed that way in the long ago when a forgotten generation tread the highway of frontier life . Where now is John McCafferty, the hard ware merchant and maker of hay burners; the Mitchell hotel is gone, so is John Mail's harness shop; Crus Hanlon’s few boards he called a lumber yard and Pat Hagerty’s trading post where a modern hotel now stands’’ Acruas the street on west a misfit in frontier life, John McDonough, editing a newspaper, Palmanteer and Ed Kelly the frontier fi nancial wizards in the bank; J. P, Mann, the mercantile Saunders prince of a village called Romaine O'Neill; the Thomas drug store, M. M. Sullivan, Neil Brennan, the Arcade hotel where tragedy struck when cowboys flashed six shooters over who was the favorite of a charming maiden of the hotel dining room. I go across to the south side of the street. Where now is Jim Campbell and his shanty-like structure where for twobits you got a meal such as is never seen today? And Fred Gatz at the meat block with carving knife to cut you a round steak an inch thick for a thin dime, and the guy named Grant with a few sticks of candy in his show case, Billy Ryan’s thirst quenching empor ium; on across Fourth street to the Holt County Bank where Dave Derr cashed your check until they ran out of funds; above the bank a strange character from old Virginia, precise in dress and ahoes polished. What did such as he find at tractive in pioneer days? But he stayed, father ed the section Kinkaid homestead law, lies under the sod up on the hill. Barnet and Freese lumber yard, Charley Shram and Billy Slocum with a stock of cowboy boots and hats and ladies’ shoes and where Billy got a rap over the head with a shoe in the hand o fa young miss whom he was fitting with new shoes Frank Toohill was next in apron and cleaver at the town’s other meat market. A bit of ancient history. • • • The annual spring meeting of the Nebras ka State Historical society will be held in Fre mont, May 19. The Dodge County Historical society will be in on the gathering in full force and furnish much of the Interesting features of the gathering history-minded patriots • • • Ft. Atkinson of the long ago up north of Omaha before there was an Omaha on the map will be a national shrine if Nebraska’s two Unit ed States senators succeed in securing federal funds for that purpose. It is the long dead and forgotten men in military uniform and the head quarters where they caroused 150 years ago that our “history makers” build monuments for. Many would like to see somewhere out on the prairie land a monument where stands a figure of a wo man in calico gown and sunbonnet and by her .side the figure of a booted man dressed in shirt and jeans, a homestead couple symbolic of pio neers from whose toil-worn hands prairieland dwellers of today have their heritage. The question for the consideration of the ex pert in such things was something like this: How can husbands be made to understand the extreme importance to women of tenderness and loving words? I don’t know what the expert thought of It, but wives understand that it was "tenderness and loving words” they fell for in the romantic court ship days And it is of ancient days, as it has been said that until Hyman brought the love-de lighted hour “there was no joy in Eden’s holy realm.” Out of far away China, centuries before the bias-eyed Orientals turned red, came “lov ing words” timeless in spirit in these lines: The morning glory climbs above my head, Pale flowers of white and purple, blue and red. I am disquieted. Down in the withered grasses something stirred; I thought it was his footfall that I heard Then a grasshopper chirred. I climbed the hill just as the new moon showed. I saw him coming on the southern road. My heart lays down its load. And this found written bn the wall of Pom peii that was buried when Mount Vesuvius blew up: If any man should seek my girl from me to turn, on far off mountain bleak, may Love the scoundrel bum! • * • California now has a population close to 13 million. Increasing annually in population more than all other states. New York still stands at the top with a population of over 16 million. Pennsylvania comes next with a population of a few thousand less than 11 million, and Illi nois has 9‘/2 million. We still have elbow room and breathing space in Nebraska. • • • • As is the habit of the “tightwad” I was re luctant about reaching to the rear for the bill fold, but was short two pennies in the pocket purse to pay for the purchase at the grocery counter. “Take it along—I believe in feeding the hungry”, said the white-aproned proprietor of the small store. But I reached for the billfold. Then he told me he had just supplied a hungry fam ily—father, mother and six children—with some thing to eat, remarking “I’ll never be rich.” He gives to the needy he learns about. By late January there were 1,400 workers in Lincoln out of jobs. Community chest supervis ors, Salvation Army, other charitable organiza tions and individuals know it continues today as it was nearly 2,000 years ago when the Lord said: "The poor ye have always with you. Maybe—no, not maybe, but definitely sup ply the needs at home out of those billion-dollar “foreign aid” funds before any is sent abroad. * * * Two Nebraska “corn country” farms, 160 acres each, sold at public sale—the improved quarter with habitable buildings selling for $32,000 and the other with no buildings selling for $26,000. A dry season or two has not reduced land values in Nebraska’s farming districts. • • • Two men walking the desert trail. One sees the cactus gorgeous bloom; the other sees the thorn. » * • Guns that “were not loaded” are said to take an annual toll in the U. S. of over 2,200 lives, mostly those of teenage boys. Editorial Gallant Fight for Life The heart surgeons offered only an outside chance of success last week when Herschel H Miles, prominent Dorsey farmer, entered an Omaha hospital for surgery. The operation involved the delicate heart valve. Mr. Miles was aware of the gravity of the situation because, he told his family, he had been seriously ill since Christmas. He was aware, loo, that the ailment dated back a number of years. In spite of all that medical science could do, Mr. Miles dic'd at the age of 50 while under sur gery. Here was a man who was a fine father, an esteemed neighbor, a successful businessman and a lover of the soil. He tended his land as though it were a sacred trust; he found those practices profitable and he induced others to follow. Here also was a man whose neighborly deeds transcended ordinary bounds . . . aiding the wo min who livmt alnnc down the road . . mercy missions for friends in need. Here was a man who had known bitter tragedy and harShip in his own family . . . stead fastly carried on . . . shared . . . worked con stantly for finer things . • . only to succumb, gal lantly and dramatically, in what turned out to be a hopeless fight for life. His death came on the eve of the start of the annual heart fund drive. The bereaved widow and members of the family requested after his death that any forthcoming memorials or tributes be made in the form of contributions to the heart fund. Lengthening Days Already the days begin to lengthen. And a few minutes more of daylight, plus the promise of added hours of it to come, brighten our out look disproportionately, be we ever so “realistic” about the matter. To be sure, grim uncertainties cast as lengthy shadows as before. Half an hour more of sun light or a longer twilight at the end of day won’t end the cold war, restore free-world unity, or beat inflation /vnu yei, uae uie reverse oi some aarn thought that troubles a happy day while remain ing only half formed, so the consciousness that days are getting longer steels into our forebodings, making us doubt them without quite knowing whyj Farmers everywhere take a practical view of the longer day, but the view from the front porch also becomes more important. Longer days mean more or less to us accord ing to our occupations and habitations. Ttuo' tell the. New Yorker that there is something more than an end of the day at the end of his subway ride. The Londoner looks forward to twilights that last till 10 or 11 o’clock. Parisians will soon be strolling again through the varied vistas of their city in that familiar coppery glow of a warm day’s sunset. It is not essential to know why we somehow feel better about everything as the longer days come. And it is a mistake to discount our feel ings the moment we can trace them simply to a few added moments or hours of light in a day’s span. Feelings like this mark men as kin not enly with their neighbors near and far but with men of all time, too. So let's just feel good about it—this lengthen ing or tne days—as our kind have done for un recorded ages The Coaching Business (Wahoo Newspaper) A rash of coaching changes has broken out in the major colleges of the country. We are speaking primarily of football coaches. The thought has occurred to us—in watching the manoeuvering now in progress—that the coaching profession is a highly precarious one, not just as far as the coaches ate concerned but also highly precarious as far as schools are con cerned. Most people know the coaching profession is a tough one as far as the coaches are concerned, i But consider the question from the other side. A college gives a coach a contract for three or five years and that is supposed to solve the coaching problem of the college for this period of time. But the contract does not always accomplish this * end. r_a._i 1 m a* _ _ _ i < . . . a XUJIV.UU, li Hit tVKatll LVI1VCI 1U.U gcii Ct UtUVI offer, he will go and talk with the officials of the other school, get the best he can out of them, and then possibly leave after staying maybe a year, two years, or six months. The college, meanwhile, cannot do anything about the coach’s breaking his contract since there is no way in which is can successfully enforce the contract. No Alternative After discussing the relative merits of a sales tax, an income tax and a combination tax, the Fairbury Journal makes the following editor ial comment: The whole trouble is we just don't like taxes, ' but taxes will always be with us, so the only thing to do is to adopt the system that will raise 1 a comparaively large amount of revenue as pain lessly as possible. In times of crop failure and depression the property tax is too frequently a ! tax on capital which is unjust. The income tax is a tax on income and is regulated by the amount of the income and the tax rate. If there is no net income there is no tax. The sales tax is a tax on purchases, and this too is regulated to some extent by income. What’s in a name? Two street names that we’ve noted in our reading are Pumpkin Delight Lane, in Milford, Conn., and Roast Meat Road, in Killingsworth, Conn. I ■ 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 When You ind 1 Were Young . . . Evans Gets Patent on Rai! Door Lock Mr s. G. C. Hazelet Off for Alaska 50 Y'ears Ago Ralph Evans, son of Mr and Mrs. W. T. Evans, proprietors <,f the Evans hotel, has paVnied a grain door lock for railroad cars . Mrs. G. C. Hazelet left for New York to join her husband They will leave for their home in [ Alaska. . . Miss Addie Wrc-dc and Clyde Miuman were married Wednesday, February 6 . The ! infant child of the George Godel | of Pheonix has been very sick ...LA. Simonson is doing a cood business at horse shoeing lately as the roads are rough and icy. . William H. Biddle comb and Pearl Swain, both of Ewing, were granted a marriage license. John Twyford aid Colmer Ross called at Henry Twyford’s recently. . . Za^h Wood of New York, L. C. Wood ol Page and John H. Wood ol Ewing held a reunion in Ewmg 20 Y'ears Ago Deaths: C D. Keyes of Inman. Mrs. R. H. Murray. . . Fred Juhr ing and Charles Ross told how they got to town despite the huge drifts. “It was easy," they said. They drove u,p the Eagle until they came to a bridge. They took the bank until they passed the bridge and then took to the Eagle again . . Roy William Carroll* received his master’s de gree from th» University of Ne braska. . . Coldest temperature this week: 15 degrees below zero . The O’Neill Recreation club consists of the Dramatic club. Art club, Boxing club and Handi craft club. 10 Y’ears Ago Betty Marie Storjohann and Helen Marie Hagensick received bachelor degrees at the Univer sity of Nebraska. . Deaths: Mrs. Clara Ellen Bell of Cham bers; Walter Scott Mordhorst, 65; Mrs. Edward Fees, 82, of Cham bers; Judge Robert R. Mullen, sr., 69. of Alice, Tex.; Mrs. James O’Donnell of Hamburg, la.; Wil liam Gumb, 86, of Chambers. Jean and James Hickey, twins, celebrated their eighth birthday anniversary at a theater oarty for 28 guests One Year Ago Deaths: Levi Yantzie, 66; Mrs. Ray Kurtz, 74. “Jim” F. Regal. 81; Leo M. Hanna, 57, of Cham Echoes from the Valley ‘Mom, a Tumbleweed!’ By -MRS. MERRILL ANDERSON The following incident happen ed in the pioneer days. This ac count was taken from an old scrap book belonging to the late r'ioyd Crawford of Lynch. In the early seventies, C. P. Berry and wife moved to Niobra ra from Iowa. They came by covered wagon and brought their milk cow. Mr. Berry died a short time la ter, leaving Mrs. Berry with sev eral small children. She kept the cow picketed on a rope on a nearby hillside. It was the duty of the seven-year-old to watch that the cow didn’t be come tangled in the rope. One day' she called to her mother from the yard where she was playing, telling of a big tum bleweed near the cow. The moth er, thinking nothing of the ex clamation, replied: ’’Run on and play. A tumblew’eed is nothing to ne afraid of." Sometime later, Mrs. Berry no ticiwi th** cnvir w9c onnp thp turn bleweed was found over the hill and tracks showed an Indian hac moved the tumbleweed slowij along, hiding behind it. The sly visitor had pulled the picket pin arul gradually led the cow' over the hill. Cow and captor were ‘.racket some distance but were nevei found Mr. Crawford related many in teresting facts concerning brushe; with Indians when he was s youngster, living with his pioneei parents in northern Holt county. He recalled the Indians invad ing their home three diffren times, taking all the furniture each time. A favorite tactic was to threat en cutting off the little girl’s braids with a butcher knife, or similar threats to frighten them. Children in those days didn’1 need TV or mystery stories for excitement, but coped with i‘ about every day. City’s Founder Colorful Leader By OR. JAMES C. OLSON Supt.. State Historical Soc. One of the most colorful lead ers in early development of Ne braska was Gen. John O’Neill, founder of O’Neill. Born in Ireland March 9, 1834, he was only about six weeks-old when his father died of the plague. His mother soon went to America, but John re mained in Ireland •with his grandfather until 1848. During his youth in Ireland he became imbued with the ideas of the Irish Independence movement. In the United States, O’Neill started a military career, join ing a cavalry' regiment and vol unteering for duty with Gen. Albert Sydney Johnston in the campaign against the Mormons in 1857. He was disappointed by the lack of action on this cam bers; Mrs. Paul C. Young, 53, of Doniphan; Charles Montgomery, 59. of Venus. . . Mr. and Mrs. Anton Nissen of Page celebrat id their golden wedding anni . versary. . An explosion occur j ri d at the Atkinson paint fat j tory, causing damages of about $1000. paign, but he was in the army stationed at San Francisco. Calif. in the spring of 1861 when the Civil war broke out. O'Neill went East and parti cipated actively in the war un til 1864, compiling an out standing military record. When he retired from the army he received a government ap pointment and lived in Nash ville, Tenn., until he became involved as a leader in the Fen ian movement His Fenian act vity’ was a manifestation of his feelings for his Irish fellow countrymen which was perhaps the most outstanding aspect of his life. In 1866 and again in 1870 and 1871 he led Fenian at tacks on Canada. These failed and he lost his place as a leader in the Fenian movement; he be came interested in the idea of colonizing immigrants and Irish from tho eastern mines and cities on western farms. It is this as pect of his career that brought him into the orbit of Nebraska history. After extensive travel through the midwest, he decided that Ne braska was the ideal location for such colonies and he started pro moting Irish colonies in Nebras ka. In many ways, General O’Neill was a typical land pro moter and colonizer. He spent a considerable amount of time and , energy' lecturing in Eastern cities to attract settlers. He also wrote and published descriptions of the area that he was promoting to present it in very glowing terms, sueh as his “Northern Nebraska as a Home for Immigrants.'* He was a better and more suc cessful promoter than most, however. He was sincerely in terested in the welfare of his colony and colonists and unstint ingly put his own resources in to the projects he sponsored He also expressed his Interest by living in the colony that he founded In general histones of the United States, O'Neil! is alto gether ignored or his name is made a synonym for foolish fu t.tity in relation to the ill-fated Fenian movement In Nebraska history, however, he has a much more secure place as a colonmr and promoter. He had the ma jor hand in the settlement ot JIM Driving a STORM brand-new Bulk beauty ? Deliveries 1 Phone 365 O'NEILL Your high-compression | beauty deserves . y WILLIS ROCKEY AGENT Ewing, Nebraska Get millr full-time protection IKIVt ... CONOCO I ALL-SEASON ”'■ Super Motor 03 EBY’S CONOCO"SERVICE Phone 365 Second & Douglas know your 57’s ? Check your new-model “know-how” below I widi this Conoco Quiz... Clues: (a) It's sweet, smooth and sassy! Only car in the low-price field with beautiful Body by Fisher. 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