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North-Central Nebraska’s BIGGEST Newspaper
Volume 77.—Number 1 I._O’Neill, Holt County. Nebraska. Thursday. July 1 1, 1957. Seven l ents
HBHbBUk Wm if' -
"t.randtna" Btindtn ((•••liter) |x>s*-s with her '•kid" sister and
brother. Mrs. Versau, 83, and Mr. Itirteh, 78.—The Frontier Photo.
Seal on Freight
Car is Broken
police Chief Chris McGinn
aixHit 2 30 a m., Tuesday saw
two men, wearing white 'I shirts,
near a railroad car on the Bur
lington tracks at the Robertson
Beverage Co. warehouse.
The men fled, liut the officer,
who inspected the car, found the
seal broken and one case of beer
missing.
Railroad detectives are investi
gatihg the incident.
Stuart Gets Flag
from U. S. Capitol
STUART The Stuart commu
nity was presented a United States
flag Thursday afternoon by U. S.
Senator Roman Hruska, who was
guest speaker at Stuart's old-fa
shtoned Fourth of July celebration.
The flag, recently flown over
the United States capitol in Wash
ington, was accepted in behalf of
the Stuart community by J. G.
Brewster.
Senator Hruska's talk concern
ed liberties. He spoke of trends
in legislation that are “chipping
away at the constitutional liber
ties of Americans."
He illustrated his point by des
cribing tile status of forces treaty,
by interpreting recent decisions
of die U. S. supreme court, by
explanation of various treaties
and agreements including the in
ternational atomic agreements
in which Uncle Sam is committed .
to contributions far out of pro
jx>rtion to other nations.
"Each treaty, each agreement,
in one manner or another, results
in Americans surrendering some
of their freedom," Senator Hruska
told the audience, assembled un
der the trees in the Stuart park.
Hruska predicted congress this
week would mend the laws un
der which federal bureau of in
vestigation files are made avail
able to the defense of commu
nists in this country. The su
preme court recently ruled that a
defendant was entitled to learn
the nature of evidence held by the
prosecution.
A parade featured Stuart’s cele
bration.
Winners in the doubles' match
in horseshoes at Stuart July 4
were Warren Peterson and John
Krysl of Stuart, first, and Richard
Hovey of O'Neill and Richard
Kay lor of Stuart-, second place.
Ray Krysl of Stuart took first
place in the singles and Richard
Hovey was second.
Grandma’ Bowden
Entertains Guests
City’s Oldest—93—
in Good Spirit
Mrs Della Bowden, 93, O’Neill’s
oldest resident, last week entertain
ed her sister, Mrs. Viola Versau.
83, of Surrey, N. D., and her
"kid" brother, Guy S. Birtch, 78,
of Gladstone, Ore.
Mrs. Bowden, who was mar
ried at 16 in Minnesota and came
to Nebraska the following day.
settled north of O’Neill with her
husband, George, on a homestead.
They crossed the Missouri riv
er at Sioux City on a pontoon
bridge.
The Bowdens became the par
ents of 10 children. Four are liv
ing: Clyde, with whom she makes
her home in the northeast section
nf the city; Mrs. Andy (I.illie)
Wettlaufer of O'Neill, Mrs. Await
Spangler of Dorsey and E. E. of
Lovelock, Nev.
‘Hardly a Tree'
Mrs. Bowden was in a reminis
cent mood during the visit of her |
brother and sister. She told of |
pioneer hardships.
"There was hardly a tree in j
O’Neill in 1882,” she recalls.
"Grandma" Bowden, as she is
best-known, has kept active un
til recently when she has been in
its were high when she was inter
frail health. However, her spir
viewcd by Cal Stewart on Sat
urday’s “Voice of The Frontier”
program.
Until recently Mrs. Bowden j
regularly attended the Royal
theater and is a movie fan.
E. E. Bowden and his son,
Richard, and grandson, Dick
Bowden of Burbank, Calif., de
parted for their homes.
Neligh Man Faces
Larceny Charge
Floyd F. Megrue of Neligh will
face larceny charges in Holt
county court, filed early Wednes
day by County Sheriff Leo Tom
jack
Megrue allegedly stole a weld
1 ing unit Sunday morning from
the Vincent Thiele farm, six miles
south and two miles east of Ew
ing. Mr. Thiele reported the loss
Sunday night.
The property, valued at "sev
eral hundred dollars", according
to the sheriff’s office, was re
covered and restored to Mr.
Thiele. I
Johnson,83,
Early Celia
Settler, Dies
Holt Homestead e r ,
Sweden Native, in
Lingering 1 llness
J. Victor Johnson, 83, 309 West
Fremont st., a longtime Holt
county resident, died at 4 a. m.,
Thursday, July 4, in Atkinson
Memorial hospital. He had been
in failing health about two years.
Funeral services were conducted
at 2 p. m. Saturday. July 6, at the
Seger funeral chapel in Atkinson
with Rev. Eugene Anderson of
Newport officiating.
Burial was in Wood Lawn
cemetery near the grave of his
first wife, Alma, who died March
26, 1944.
Sixteen days before his death
Mr. Johnson was taken by am
bulance from his home to the
hospital.
Pallbearers were Ray Pease,
Alex Frickel and Emil Carlson,
all of Atkinson; Fred Zink and
James Doming, both of Stuart,
and Clarence Ernst of O’Neill.
Singers were Mrs. Dean Flem
ing and Mrs. William Schorn, ac
companied by Mrs. Jay Jungman.
The late Mr. Johnson was born
January 24, 1874, at Ekeby, Vale
berga. Sw'eden, a son of Mr. and
Mrs, Swan Johnson.
To IT. S. as Lad
He came to America with his
parents when he was nine-years
old.
He came to Holt county and
homesteaded in the Celia com
munity, about 18 miles northeast
of Atkinson where he was active
in community affairs for many
years. Mr. Johnson was author of
the nows letter known as Celia
Sidelights, a chatty neighborhood
column which attracted wide
spread interest.
Mr. Johnson and Miss Alma
Johnsen were married in Omaha
October 24, 1900.
They became the parents of i
five children.
Four years following the death
of his wife he married Mrs.
Christine Johnson Walters of O’-J
Neill. Their marriage took place'
October 22, 1948, at Newport at
the residence of Reverend An
derson.
The following year the John
sons retired and moved to O’Neill.
Active in Politics
Mr. Johnson was prominently
identified with republican political
affairs in the county for many
years.
Survivors include: Widow—
Christine; sons Elmer of Oak
land; Paul of Ix>on Dake, Wash.;
Albert of Lyons and Stanley of
Belgrade; daughter Alpha Me
Kathnie of Belgrade; nine grand
children; two great-grandchildren;
stepson Henry Walters of O’
Neill; stepdaughters- Mrs. S. R.
(Louise) Robertson and Mrs.
George (Helen' Nelson of O'Neill;
12 step-grandchildren and eight
strj>- great-grandchildren.
In 1907 Pranksters Busy, but . . .
Telegraph Operator Takes Bride
Mr. ami Mrs. Clarence J. Dobbins . . . they speeded to the
courthouse in tinery.—The Frontier Photo.
’ By MRS N. I). ICKES. SR.
PAGE Eighty-two relatives and
friends called Sunday, July 7,
when Mr. and Mrs. Clarence J.
Dobbins, retired farm couple,
quietly celebrated their 50th wed
ding anniversary.
Prior to the observance Mr.
Dobbins remarked that he hoped
there wouldn’t be as many com
plications as there were on the
wedding day—July 6, 1907.
Thereby lies a tale.
Mr. Dobbins had been keeping
company with Sofia Brunckhorst
for five years.
They talked of marriage but
Mr. Dobbins, a telegraph opera
tor-station agent-relief agent for
the Great Northern railroad, nev
er could arrange enough time off
to make it from his job at Apple
ton, Minn., to Osmond where the
financee lived.
They finally decided Miss
Brunckhorst would go to Apple
ton. The bride-elect hoped the
ceremony could be performed in
the Lutheran church there.
She went to Appleton, took up
residence at a hotel for a week
while Mr. Dobbin busied about
finding someone to work in his ,
place. Relief agents were scarce
and the rail traffic was heavy. I
Fellow workers, in those days,
were capable of playing a joke on 1
a man -even on his wedding day! ,
On the morning of July 6,
1907, Mr. Dobbins and his bride
elect boarded a train for nearby
Benson. Minn.
Call on Judge
Because of the time element,
they speeded to the courthouse at
Benson where they were married
by a judge.
Boarding a return train for Ap
pleton, Mr. Dobbins was paged
and a telegram advised him that
his presence was required im
iContinued on page 6).
•I. V. Johnson ... he home
steaded north of Atkinson with
his father; his son, Alfred, now
operates place.—-The Frontier
Photo.
(Story at left.)
Rodeo Performer
Victim of Ambush
Edwin Boysen Known
at Chambers
CHAMBERS A South Dakota
man and a teenage boy, whose
bodies were found in the Ozark!
hill country near Camdenton. Mo.,
late Saturday, apparently were
victims of ambush reminiscent of
the old west.
The man. Edwin Boysen, 47,
of Sioux Falls, S. D., was known
at Chambers where he competed
in several rodeos at the Holt
county fair. During his stays here
he was a guest at the Whitaker
homes.
The youth is Larry Irwin, 16, of
New Iberia, Mo.
Both were shot repeatedly from
close range with a .32-calibre, |
high-powered rifle.
The gunman, the Missouri sher
iff said, lay in wait for Mr. Boy
sen as the man and the boy walk
ed through a pasture.
“It's tx>und to have been aj
grudge killing,” Sheriff Herman]
Abbett said at Camdenton.
Boysen had been operating a
riding stable. Irwin had been hired j
recently as a hand.
Mercury Hits 100:
Corn Prospering
Heat, Showers Aid
Crop Outlook
A Sunday evening shower
brought relief to the O'Neill re
gion after the season’s high read
ing of 100 degrees at midafter
noon.
The precipitation here amount
ed to .22 of an inch officially, hut
the spotted thundershowers net
ted up to 1.10 inches at Inman
and Chaml>ers.
Some residents in the O’Neill
locality estimated up to an inch
where the clouds happened to
open up.
Clearwater and Neligh were
visited by high winds, also Dor
sey. A belt extending from Sun
shine Bottom, near Lynch, into
Knox county was heavily hailed
and there was a dowTipour of rain.
Clearwater, Orchard ad Roy
al were out of power for 90 mi
utes. The southwest section of
O'Neill was in darkness for
about an hour because of a bur
ned out transformer.
Orchard received an inch of
rain; Brunswick, .25; Neligh, .75
and some hail; Ewing, .35; New
port, trace; Ainsworth, light
shower.
The alfalfa crop is considered
the best of the century.
Hot weather during the past
few days has speeded corn
growing.
Weather summary:
July 3 84 63
July 4 _ 94 51
July 5 96 59
July 6 100 66
July 7 87 61 .22
July 8 88 55
July 9 95 59
McCarthy to Head
Revenue Branch
John McCarthy, 46, of Seotts
bluff. a native of O’Neill, will be
come head of the intelligence di
vision of the Nebraska district of
the internal revenue service.
He is a brother of George Mc
Carthy and Mrs. N. Gonderinger
Mr. McCarthy has served at
Hastings, Grand Island, Omaha
and Minneapolis with the revenue
service.
FIREMEN BUSY
O’Neill firemen answered these
calls: Wednesday, July 3— Rug
fire in trailer owned l)y Fred
Gatz, no damage; Monday, July
8- Rear cushion fire in car on
South Fourth street, car owned
by T. J. McCarthy of Greeley;
Wednesday, July 10—Grass fire
caused by incinerator at Don
Riley residence.
l ather of Eight Is Amputee Victim—
Alva Parks Benefit Launched
By a Staff Writer
DELOIT -A band of good neigh
bors gathered informally Sunday
in the Ilolt - Wheeler - Antelope
county border cftmmunity of De
loit to lay plans to aid a one-arm
ed friend, who is a World War II
veteran and the father of eight
children.
In a solicitation of funds intend
ed to carry into the Ewing, Clear
water. O'Neill, Neligh, Elgin, Or
chard, Bartlett, and Page com
munities, these good neighbors
want to help Alva Parks, 47, who
lost his right arm September 5.
1956, in the rollers of a field chop
per.
He was working alone on the
Huffman ranch, in Wheeler coun
ty, when the accident occured.
Flesh was tom away on the upper
arm, leaving not much of a stub.
Mr. Parks was hospitalized
ja*. ■*•■<**
nearly five weeks at Neligh fol
lowing the ordeal and since has
been equipped with an artifica!
arm.
But farming and ranching with
one good arm is a tough job and
the good neighbors have decided
to provide financial help.
Howard Miller of the Citizens
State Bank at Clearwater and Jo
seph Thramer of Clearwater have
been named trustees of the fund.
Contributions may be mailed to
the Clearwater bank or given to
one of the committeemen, which
includes Joseph VVeibel, Alex
Thramer and Joe Mlnark.
Mr. Parks was born at Foster,
moved with his parents to the
Page community in 1920 and was
reared there.
His wife is the former Teresa
Thiele, daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Carl Thiele, who are moving into
f :'4 n‘Ti" mtni'
I
Neligh this week and providing |
their home for the amputee vict
im and his family, who will at
tempt to farm the 160 acres on
Clearwater creek.
The children are Lee Allen, 11; j
Mary Ellen, 10; Thomas Joe, 9;
Jackie Sue, 8; Billy, 6Vfe; Jane, 4;
Linda, 3, and Kenneth, 15-months.
Mr. Weibel said the funds col
collected will be used exclusively
for Mr. Parks' rehabilitation and
not for day-to-day living.
Mr. Parks is a member of
Sanders post of the American
Legion at Ewing. He spent 3%
years in the army during the
war, most of the time in the
Aleutian islands on a lonely out
post.
All contributions will be ac
knowledged in the columns of the
Frontier.
One-armed Alva Parks, 47, poses with his
Billy, 6; Jane, 4; Linda, 3; Jaclde Sue, 8; and
and Kenneth. 15-months-old; Mrs, Parks and Mary
wife Teresa, and their eight ehildren: Front row
Thomas Joe, 9; baek row—Lee Allan, 11, Mr. Parks
Ellen, 10.—The Frontier Photo.
Walter Smith, jr., (left), newly ap|tointed Holt county super
visor, receives the congratulations of lAwrence Pacha, who was u
contender.—The Frontier Photo.
Batonhorst . . . out.
Backers Vocal in
Tuesday’s Hearing
Smith, Pacha Pledge
Support to Other
The assembly room at the Holt
county courthouse overflowed
Tuesday morning when rival fac- j
tions appeared for the second
time before the Holt supervisors j
to boost their respective candi-!
dates for the Sixth district va
cancy.
Successive speakers lauded the
qualifications and neighborliness1
of Walter Smith, jr., and Law- j
rence Pacha. Only one or two bits j
of rhubarb were injected into the
discussion before Smith won on a i
■1 - 2 v ote among the six mem
bers of the board. Roth Smith
and Pacha are republicans.
Speaking for Pacha:
Kd Rouska: "Mi-. Pacha is well
qualified in every respect; he
knows the district and he knows
how to meet the road problems”
< Rouska was chief spokesman for
Pacha).
Charles Kubart: "I live in Sher
idan township and nobody has
paid rnuoh attention to us. We
want Pacha.”
Mrs. Frank Hanoi: "Mr. Pacha
is a third generation member of
his family to farm in Holt; he Is
fairminded; his honesty and in
tegrity cannot be questioned”.
Others boosting Pacha were
Gene Livingston, who presented
petitions. John Flannery, Loon
Ulrich. Rill Morgan and Harold
Ohde.
(Continued on page 6).
Mrs. Fay Doty, 71,
Dies in Hospital
EWING Funeral services were
conducted Friday afternoon, July
5. at the Free Methodist church
at Riverside, near here, for Mrs
Fay Doty, 71. who died Tuesday!
July 2, in a Yankton. S. I>., hos
pital.
She had suffered a heart ail
ment and had been hospitalized
recently at O’Neill.
Burial was in the Clearwater
cemetery. Rev. Ivan Turner of
ficiated.
Survivors include: Widower
Fay; daughter Mrs. Mardell
Kleckner of Craig; sons Delbert
and I,oren, l>oth of Crofton; Glenn
of Green River, Wyo.; Herbert of
Rawlins, Wyo.; sisters—Mrs. Ef
fie Taylor and Mrs. Nora Lucas,
both of Clearwater; brothers—
Grant and Gail Wolcox, both of j
Clearwater.
Relatives and friends from out
of-town attending the funeral j
were; Mr. and Mrs. James Drin- j
kle, Mr. and Mrs. Cecil Doty, all j
of Green River, Wyo.; Mr. and ;
Mrs. James Drinkle, Mr. and
Mrs. Glen Doty, Larry and Linda
of Green River; Mr and Mrs. II
Doty and Duane of Rawlins, Wyo.;
Mr. and Mrs. L. Doty, Patty and
Larrie. Mr. and Mrs. Don Hassel I
and family, all of Dakota City;
Mr and Mrs. Dick Riser and
Linda Jo, of Wisner; Mr. and I
Mrs. Clem Putman of Bassett;
Mr. and Mrs. Albert Doty find
Lynn of Wayne; and Mr. and
Mrs. Oliver Kleckner of Craig;
Mrs. Effie Taylor, Mrs. Nora
Lucas, Mr. and Mrs. Grant Wil
cox, Mr. and Mrs. Gale Wilcox,
all of Clearwater.
Batenhorst Is Paroled;
Smith Fills Vacancy
Battle for
PostEnded
in 4-2 Vote
Smith, Pacha Backers
Come Twice Before
Holt Supervisors
Walter ("Skip") Smith, jr., ot
stuart is Die new Sixth district
loit county supervisor, suceeed
ng A. M. Batenhorst, also o(
stuart. who resigned last week
mder fire.
Smith was pressed for the pos
tion by Lawrence Pacha of Green
/alley township, who farms 1/
niles soutli of Stuart. Smith
arms three miles northeast of
stuart.
Both Smith and Pacha were
suckl'd by enthusiastic delega
tions which made two simultan
eous appearances before the
ooard.
Petitions bearing 450 names
.vere filed in behalf of Smith on
Wednesday, July 3. The petitions
tiad been circulated a few hours
previously.
Petitions in behalf of Pacha
were filed Tuesday morning.
After listening to spokesmen
for Ixsth delegations at Tuesday’s
session held in the courthouse as
sembly room, Board Chairman
Frank Cronk of Page called for
a show of hands vote among the
five other members of the lioard
to fill the vacancy.
Show of Hands
He prefaced the voting by say
ing: "It is unfortunate wc cannot
appoint Ixith, because we are con
vinced, by the fine testimonies,
that both are well-qualified men
and both would be valuable
board members.”
The voting:
rui i aLim rtitw rni Ki'i mi,
M. V. Landreth (D).
For Smith Clarence Ernst (R),
Kenneth Barthel (Rl, Edward N
Flood (D) and Cronk (R).
Batenhorst, Sixth district sup
ervisor eight years, came under
fire two months ago when State
Auditor Ray C. Johnson of Lin
coln appeared at a special board
meeting and pointed up “improp
er and irregular’’ handling of
county funds totaling $3,187,92.
The irregularities, Johnson said,
involved township orders and
checks relating to road repair,
culverts and snow removal in
Stuart and Francis townships
two of seven townships in the
district. These orders and checks
were made payable to Batenhorst
Subsequently, the Holt board de
manded restitution of $3,663. The
amount was pared to $3,156.72
when Batenhorst made restitution
at the county treasurer’s office,
the hoard having conceded that
the county had derived "some
good’’ out of some of the trans
actions under study.
Embezzlement Count
Batenhorst offered his resigna
tion at last week’s meeting and
the board readily accepted it.
Meanwhile, County Attorney
William W. Griffin filed a crimi
nal charge of embezzling county
funds against Batenhorst, who
was specifically charged on a $50
item. He pleaded guilty and ap
peared Wednesday, July 3_ be
fore Judge D. R. Mounts in Holt
district court.
Mounts suspended sentence and
paroled Batenhorst to the county
sheriff for two years.
Batenhorst was represented by
Julius D. Cronin, O’Neill attorney.
The statute of limitations pre
vented criminal charges against
Batenhorst on other counts, Grif
fin told the court.
Griffin’s complaint alleged that
Batenhorst, an agent and officer
of the county, received and took
into his possession a $50 check
which was the property of Holt
county; that he (Batenhorst)
fraudulently, unlawfuly and will
fully converted it to his own use
and embezzled the money with
out the consent of the county.
Reverend Su Will
Move from Stuart
STUART—Sev. D. D. Su, past
or of the Stuart Community
church and the rural Cleveland
Presbyterian church, submitted
his resignation Sunday to the con
gregations of both churches.
Mr. and Mrs. Su came to the
combined pastorate from a sem
inary in California five years ago.
Mrs. Su has served at choir di
rector of the Stuart church sev
eral years.
Mr. and Mrs. Su have accepted
a pastorate at Minitare and will
leave Stuart the first of Septem
ber following a month’s vacation.