Prairieland Talk—
O'Neill City Was Original Name
ROMAINE SAUNDERS, 4110 South 31m St„ Lincoln 8, Nebr.
IJNOOLN—A small community reared its
dwelling places on the open prairie by the crystal
waters of the Elkhom
Until incorporated as a city with mayor and
souncilmen the community had been known as O'- j
Neill City. It may have been our first mayor,
loltn McBride, who proposed dropping the “city”
md retaining the O’Neill. So
d is today an enlarged com
munity bearing the name, but
memory no more of a noted
Irish patriot, General John O’
Neill.
Others of that name have
* walked the streets and dodged
die flying bullets of festive
eowboys out for fun or stroll
ed down to the river to look
m on a Sioux Indian camp.
About the first hotel,
known as the Commercial, was
startl'd and operated by a John
O'Neill. The building still stands at Fourth and
Everett streets. The parents of a fancied sweet
heart of Prairieland Talker in the long ago managed
mat hotel.
O’Neill—do you remember that "wild Irish
man” by that name out there In the Niobrara riv
er gulches, a scholar, a leader of men, a patriot
and citizen with few his equals? O’Neill and to
day a William O’Neill is governor of the great
atate of Ohio.
And in the August issue of True magazine
there is a breezy story about General O’Neill’s ex
ploits with the Fenian movement and unsuccess
ful tries to take over Canada in behalf of glorious
Ireland.
Someday some good writer will undertake a
look on General O’Neill.
A native of Columbia, South America, dark
altin, Spanish tongue and friendly attitude when
Bilking with a fuOblood Yankee of Prairieland. "I
Hive Lincoln,” he told me. He is in school work
at present in old Mexico and is in Iincoln taking
some studies at a college summer school. He has
a son, too, in college here. His wife is a Mexican,
professionally a nurse. The day I talked with him
within one month he said he would take oft for his
home in Mexico. Asked about conditions in Colum
bia he said there was much unrest in that country,
as elsewhere. Iincoln 3s an educational center in
voCas students from many lands, and those I have
Been privileged to meet think prairieland meets the
mman heart’s desire.
* • «
H three or four billion dollars spell wealth,
then Nebraskans are rich, their property holdings
now valued by the tax collecors at four billion,
with the promise that these tax collectors will save
you a whole dime on each thousand dollars of
your share In the trillions. Or Is It only a beauti
M bit of flcttoa a city newspaper reporter
bands usT
A Lincoln concern, Cushman Motor Works, has
been awarded a contract by the federal postal de
partment of a little less than a million and a half
dollars to furnish the department with motor trucks
for carrying mail. Railroads dropping train ser
vice all over the country the mails will be carried
by tnicks. Maybe this large layout of postal funds
is the reason for increases in letter postage. R. H.
Ammon, manager of Cushmans, I believe, is the
son of a Mr. Ammon who came to Lincoln some
years ago from an out state town where he had op
erated a small printing plant, started a factory in
Lincoln to make a little garden machine, later ac
quiring the Cushman Motor Works which was hand
ed down to his son. This concern recently acquired
a large tract of land just outside the city, so may
be this take of more than a million from the postal
receipts will go into new factory buildings in the
new location.
• • •
Nebraska for the first time lias now a woman
serving as state treasurer, Governor Anderson
filling the vacancy In that state department caus
ed by the death of Mr. Hill by appointing Mrs.
Hill, the dead man’s widow, to the office. And the
office of treasurer of these United States is also
presided over by a woman.
• • •
Nearly 60 years ago he visited us in our home
in O'Neill. He had met Mrs. Saunders wrhen both
she and he were college students in our Capital
City. Yesterday I stood up by the open grave as
clergymen performed the last rites over the life
less form of Charley Miller. Had a word with his
widow who now sits alone in a desolated home in a
little village a few minutes drive from Lincoln.
Her husband had spent a life time as a teacher
and preacher, at the age of 84 straightened for
the grave to await the call to come forh to life im
mortal. And so goodbye, Charley. Now today, just
another step in the march of time, one more fellow
traveler along the path of life for four score years
is taken to the abode of the dead, life’s struggles
over.
* * •
The Middle East—the cradle of the race where
mankind enacted the first pages of human history,
a lone couple walking away from their Eden home
to people a section of earth destined through suc
ceeding centuries to be soaked in human blood, yet
a section of earth from which our heritage comes
of all that is best in human thought and conduct.
Today in the Middle East is heard the bugle call
and tread of marching armies. I talked today with
a mother whose face wore a worried look; her two
sons called to the colors to fly to where the Jordon
river flows and back of that mother’s fears is the
memory of the word picture in Holy Writ of "a
place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.”
• • •
Former President Truman invites and will
have the approval and esteem of Americans in
advising our citizens to stand by President Ike as
he deals with the Middle East situation. Mr. Tru
man has been critical of the Eisenhower adminis
tration all along, and it is refreshing to leant of his
‘‘change of heart.”
Editorial—
We Make Insurance Rates
It Is astounding how large a proportion of
ttnpital and medical bills are now covered by in
surance. It is astounding also how large a propor
tion of the money paid in for such insurance prem
iams goes out again to pay for medical services.
Recently we received from a group insurance
company, with which we hold a policy, a notice
Quit the next bill would be at higher rate. It ap
pears that during the past year the company paid
aut in claims 98.1 per cent of all the money that It
received from Its policy holders in premiums. That
4ft only 1.9 cents out of each dollar which the com
pany would have, to pay its overhead, its salaries
and all other expenses. That was, of course, not
possible, and the result is that rate must go up.
It takes 4.9 cents out of each dollar to run the as
sociation, so the increase is mandatory.
It is wonderful what a large proportion of our
people are now covered with health or hospital in
surance. But we must take care lest the rates be
come so high that It will be impossible for people
sf ordinary means to carry it. How high the rates
shall be is entirely in the hands of the people who
told policies.
If you have been reading a series of articles
m the Saturday Evening Post you will understand
this. It is undoubtedly true that many people in
sist on hospital or medical care, if they hold insur
ance. where they would not dream of it if this
were not the case. It is also true that in some
communities unscrupulous doctors have made a
practice of giving unnecessary services or charg
ing higher rates, where there is insurance. That
could in time price medical insurance out of ex
igence.
It’s just like our auto insurance rates. We
have seen it go up and up year after year. And it's
partly due to the fact that car owners turn in claims
for damages that they would never have fixed if
they had to pay for them. Here too unscrupulous
Tfpairmen sometimes charge more for work where
there is insurance to pay for it, and juries award
fantastically high damages sometimes where they
know that "the insurance company pays for it."
Let’s remember that in every instance it is the
policy holder who pays any kind of insurance
alaims. Our rates will be just what we make them,
g the insurance company operates an 4.9 cents out
of each dollar it is easily seen that even high ex
ecutive salaries will not seriously increase rates.
It’s we policy holders who make insurance high.
Canned Laughter Irritates
We are bored stiff with the "canned" laughter
which is the greatest insult of so many television
Ann these days. It amounts to guidance for the
anon, and since we do not include ourselves in
the moronic category (rightly or wrongly) we are
fcft somewhat chilled by an experience of viewing
a typical canned TV show.
One can denote a typically-canned television
Am by listening closely to the laughter. Every
time the so-called comedian should have said some
thing funny, one gets the volume of automatic
laughter -recorded and turned on just at the right
moment, which is supposed to induce and catalyze
laughter from the viewing audience all over the
country—in their respective television dens.
It would be good for the comedians, and for
viewing public, to get honest laughter, or none at
all. We would prefer a comedian to take his
chances with audience laughter, even pausing to
allow for what he thinks would have brought laugh
ter, rather than having the canned laughter ram
med down our throats.
Where Are The People?
(From the Blair Enterprise)
An editorial appearing in a Nebraska news
paper several weeks ago w'as entitled: "Where is
Everybody”. It commented on the fact that there
appears to be a change in the recreational habits
of people. "Baseball attendance is ’way down,
theatre attendance is down. TV and radio stations
complain they do not appear to have the atten
tion of their listeners as formerly and people just
aren’t attending community activities as they once
did.”
The writer, who set forth the facts of that ob
servation, is probably right in his conclusions. But
he could answer his own question if he would but
leave his city office and get out into the country.
Where is everybody? Well, just take your car
on any day and you'll find them. The roadside pic
nic tables are busier than ever before. Folks are
spending time in our parks—not the sophisticated
city parks, but the less cluttered, less regulated
parks where one can run and yell and roll on the
grass to his heart's content.
A look at the Blair park, any day of the week,
will reveal a new and rapidly growing trend in en
tertainment. Groups and families are eating out
together They are getting out of doors, way from
the crowds and back to nature.
The Nebraska state parks are jammed with
people.
Mother nature pleases many with the abund
ance of rain—the almost unprecedented volume of
rainfall for July. But, oddly enough, too much mois
ture in this aastem-most portion of the Great
Plains area can work a hardship. We refer to own
ers and operators of low hay land. Some livestock
people might find themselves short of feed (on their
own premises! if they don’t get an opportunity to
up their hay. Such are the workings of nature.
O'Neill’s shortage of physicians and surgeons
appears to be on the verge of being corrected.
There is little doubt in anyone’s mind our fine hos
pital, our city and its surrounding territory can sup
port two or three talented medical doctors—per
haps a specialist or two. Modem doctors require
a good hospital and this O’Neill offers.
CARROLL W. STEWART, Editor and PubUahn
Entered at the postoffice In O’Neill, Holt coun
ty, Nebraska, as second-class mall matter under
the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879. nils 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, ODD
per year; elsewhere in the United States, 53 per
year; rates abroad provided upon request. All sub
scriptions payable in advance.
WfcMi Yam ft I Wee* Teftf . .
Severe Hail Storm
Strikes Near Here
Gallaghers, Ernsts,
Jilgs Suffer
50 Years Ago
Among those hit hardest by hail
which fell northwest of O'Nei’l
and northeast of Atkinson were:
J. S. Galagher, William Meyers,
J. K Ernst, William Jilg, Herman
Gusse, Fred Koekle. Jap Ritts,
Frank Kubicheck, Bert I^awrence,
J. P. Mullen, Ed Mullen and
Peter Clausen. . . Deaths: Mrs.
John M. Alderson; M. C Coffey,
son of Mr. and Mrs. John Goffey:
Abraham F. Rouse, 75. a pioneer
and highly respected resident of
Meek; John Leese of Alpina. N.D.,
a former resident of the Mineola
neighborhood.
20 Years Ago
A meeting is to be held for all
persons interested in the erection
of a new high school building. An
architect from Lincoln will pre
sent plans . . The highest temper
ature was 98 during the past
week. The lowest mark was 80.
. . . Lt. Thomas James Gaughen,
a nephew of the Earley family,
flew an army plane out of Kansas
and put on a flying exhibition for
the home folks. Thomas operates
a passenger-mail plane l>etween
New York and Kansas City, Mo.
| . . . The survey and work of a
state highway from the Waldo cor
ner into Chambers is to com
mence at once. Whether this will
connect with highway 11 straight
across the hill two miles west or
detour either south or north
through Amelia or stop at the
eight mile point is not known yet.
10 Years Ago
J. Francis ("Fritz ") Kelly, 32, a
pilot and F. E. ("Kelly") Saindon
were killed in an airplane accident
at the O’Neill Country Club near
the fifth hole. Kelly was an O’
Neill businessman and Saindon
was high school principal and
athletic coach at O'Neill high
school. . . Other deaths: C. F.
McKenna, 68, a former real
estate and insurance agent; Mrs.
Catherine Miller, 68. . . Miss La
Quita Parsons, 17, of Atkinson was
selected "Miss Holt County
Legioneer".
One Year Ago
A seven inch deluge fell at the
Ed Weber farm, north of Stuart.
Others, including persons at the
George Shald and Meusch places,
north and west of the Webers, re
ported five and-six inch downpours.
. . . Deaths: Mrs. Laura Mulford,
79, of Stuart; John D. Forsyth,
68, of Niobrara. . . Twenty-two
births were reported in the Future
Subscribers’ column of The Fron
tier. . . Miss Judith Lee of Atkin
son won an essay contest sponsor
ed by Save-the-Trains-association.
O’Neill Locals
Dr. and Mrs. R. V. Bunkers
and family of Canton, S. D., were
Wednesday, July 23, until Fri
day guests of his brother and
family, Mr. and Mrs. Don Bunk
Idr. and Mrs. George Peterson
of Grand Island were Sunday
guests of her parents, Mr. and
Mrs. Francis Clark and also vis
ited his sister, Mrs. Bob Rumm
in the Atkinson hospital.
Mrs. Arthur Berg returned to
her home i: Long FTairie, Minn.,
after visiting her mother, 'bin.
Anton Tomaek, and sister. Miss
Claire, for three weeks. She is
the former Cecelia Tom jack.
Mr. and Mrs. Willard Solfermo
ser spent the weekend in West
Point and Lincoln.
Spending the weekend in Ne
ligh with his parents Mr. and
Mrs. Pete Velder, were Mr. and
Mrs. Jerome Velder and family.
Miss Donna Lou Turner of
Omaha was home with her par
mts Mr and Mrs John Turner,
for the weekend.
Mrs. John Underwood returned
Sunday from Osmond where she
had visited her son-in-law and
dauphter, Mr. and Mrs. Gene Me
Dermott and family since last
Thursday She also visited her
brother, Martin VanErt in Hrune
wlck. The McDermott's brought
her home.
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FRANCIS TIGHE
Manager
BOB HAYTER
Asst. Manager
Harmon Bldg. O’Neill, Nebr.
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