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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (April 9, 1959)
Black Prairies Tell Tale of Sweeping Fires... 300 Volunteers Fight Blaze Near Chambers... The black aftermath of an epidemic of prairie fires has spotted the Beef Empire. Cautious ranch hands have been watching the horizon closely for telltale whtsps of smoke that could mean one of the black patches has started up again One of the oldest menaces of the plains, the prairie fire, was no fun tor hundreds of volunteers in Holt and surrounding counties. Dozens of small fires and two large ones broke out Monday and smoldered into Tuesday. Approximately 600 acres or more of prairie burned on and near the Wolf brothers ranch about 30 miles south of O'Neill. Bulletins from the west ranch site late Monday morning called for volunteers and about 300 men and eight fire trucks arrived on the scene. By noon the blaze was believed to be under control but not before long tongues of flame whipped by strong winds swept the fire into Holt county. Men fought the blaze with wet blankets, gunny sacks and in some cases, even the shirts off their backs. Fire departments from as far south as Burwell and north as far as O’Neill were on the scene. Before most of the trucks arrived, including the O’Neill and Atkinson trucks, the fire was fairly well under control. Gmups from Elgin, Bartlett, Chambers, Atkinson, Bur-Well and O’Neill fought with just about everything they could lay their hands Eyes On A Winner Just a few seconds after this picture was taken, Larry Tomlin son won first place for his St. Mary’s team in the shot put in Bur weil. See sports page. The Frontier Photo. Tomlinson Sets Shot Record at Ord Yesterday Larry Tomlinson pitched the shot 52 ft. 6 in. yesterday at the Ord Invitation track meet setting a meet record. Despite this hercu lean effort, plus a win in the dis cus, the O’Neill cinder men had to lie content with a second place Election Results In O'Neill Aren CHAMBERS J. W. Walter and Glen Adams defeated Vernon Harley and Dwaine K. Miller for the village board. The police magistrate will be George Porter, who defeated Bill Rick. Elected to the school board were Ed Coday and Dwaine K. Miller. William Crawford and Tom Lam bert were defeated according to city clerk W. D. Reninger. EWING Willis Rockey and Frank Noffke were elected to the village council. They defeated Lloyd West and Les ter Bergstrum. Elected for a three year term to the board of education were finish behind Mullen. St. Mary's lost by only 1 and 5/6 points. Besides Tomlinson’s two first place wins, he placed second in the 60 yd. high hurdle event and second in the 100 yd. low hurdles. Lambert Belina took first in the 440 dash and second in the 220. St. Mary's also placed first in the 880 relay and compiled 45 points in the second place finish. ricks and M. G. French jr. Three new members of the town board were elected. They included Arnold Tikalsky, Ralph D. Ste vens and George Clasey. Anton Nessen and Gerold Lamason were defeated according to city clerk Eva Lamason. SPENCER Elected to the village board were LeRoy Nyquist, incumbent, Rus sell Angus and Louis Klasna. Har old Haun, Robert Hickey and P. O. Friedrich were defeated. George Thompson was re-elected to the police magistrate post. Blair Drickey and Robert Krot ter defeated Ralph Friedrich and Herbert Sieler for the school board race according to George Sedla cek, city clerk. STI ART N. W. Coats and Lawrence Ham ik and J. B. McGrew were elected to the town hoard Robert Ramm and Cecil Taylor were elected to the school board. Delbert Addison and John Newman were defeated according to T. E. McGuire, city clerk. Cancer Fund Meeting Is Held at Claussens Charirman of the O’Neill cancer fund drive, Mrs. William Claussen, held a meeting of city captains in her home Monday afternoon. City captains, who will direct volunteer solicitors in the drive to end April 25, include: Mrs. A. Marcellus, Mrs. Floyd Wilson, Mrs. Ivan Pruss and Mrs. Clay Johnson, Jr. Any person interested in work ing with the cancer fund drive should call one of the above cap tains. Solicitations will be made door to door by volunteers during the ext two weeks. rioyu juuuemeiu uriu auicu rva pier. They defeated Wilbur Spang ler and Lionel Gunter. Richard S. Brion was elected to fill a va cancy for a two year term on the board of education. He defeated Richard H. Sham. Wayne Shrader was elected to fill a one year va cancy. He defeated J. L. Pruden. ATKINSON City clerk R. S. Griffin said the $10,000 fire truck bond issue car ried "by a good margin.” Dr. James Ramsey and Wayne Galyan were elected to the school board. Orlan Anson and Mike Coday are the new couneilmea. PAGE Ivan Heiss and A. G. Braddock are the new school board mem- I bers They defeated Willard Fre-r A total of 210 voters came out to the O’Neill polls in the city elec tion Tuesday to seat five unopposed councilmen and two members of the board of education. In the first ward, William McIn tosh, a jewler, received 50 votes of the 53 votes cast. In the second ward, George Jan ousek, a grocer, received 70 votes of 73 cast. Mild surprise greeted observers in this ward since a small number of ballots were ex pected. This ward held the record for the greatest number of cast ballots. In the third ward, Fred Heer mann, a motel operator, received 42 of the 43 votes cast. In the fourth ward, Dr. E. M. Gleeson,. a dentist, received 36 votes of the 41 votes cast for a two-year term. William Mattern with the O'Neill Production Credit, Sale Dates Claimed April 15—Mr. and Mrs. George Wright machinery, livestock, clean up sale. Ranch located 4 miles northwest of Ewing on Highway 275 (Golden Valley Ranch.) Col. Wally O’Connell, auctioneer. April 18—To settle the estate of the late Charles Sobotka, all real and personal property will be of fered at auction at the west edge of Inman by heirs of the estate. Col. Ed Thorin of O’Neill, licensed real estate broker and auctioneer and George Cblman of Inman auc tioneer. April 18 — Over 20,000 feet of material consisting of lumber, posts, wire etc., at public auction at the O'Neill speedway. Wally O’Connell, auctioneer and Ed Mur phy, clerk. (Details in next issue.) On April 17, the estate sale of Henry Cook, selling 160 Acre im proved farm and all personal pro perty, located 1 Mile West of O’ Meill Drive In Theatre and approx imately 2xk Miles North. Watch next weeks issue for large sale bill. Ed. T. Campbell, Admin stratom; Col. Wallace O'Connell, \uctioneer. Seat Five Unopposed Councilmen received 37 of the 41 votes cast for a one-year term. Dr. Rex Wilson and Henry Lo haus were both elected to the school board. The voting for Lo haus was as follows: First ward, 46; second ward, 62; third ward, 43; fourth ward, 35. The voting for Dr. Wilson was as follows: First ward, 42; second ward 51; third ward, 36; fourth ward, 34. Both men will serve three years The Wolf ranch fire ... It blacked the earth for mile*. The Frontier Photo. on to stop the blaze. The fire, which started on the Darnell ranch, spread to the Thunderbolt and Wolf ranches, and according to press reports, burned 680 acres. Chambers firemen also put down a blaze on the Hendrickson the granary at the Darnell ranch A brooder house, granary and , bottle gas tank were destroyed. Chmbers firemen also put down a blaze on the Hendrickson ranch six miles southeast of Chambers on the same day. In addition to these fires, two small ones were reported to have burned several acres north of Atkinson on Monday morning Local ranch hands and volunteers had these blazes out in short order. Some of the latest fires in this general area were reported in O'Neill's Guard To Be Infantry The O'Neill company “D" of the 195th National Guard tank batall ion will be changed over from a tank to an infantry company May 1 according to First Sergeant ‘ Bill” Kramer. Kramer said this was the second time an anticipated change has been made. It was believed that the company would become an ar tilliary group a few weeks ago. Kramer said O'Neill would lose it’s tank in the process and that the change would affect over 60 men in the outfit. Kramer said headquarters has made it possible for the company to enlist 12 more men in the Guard. “We have been authorized to look for six men to leave for six months active duty on April 26, five men on May 10 and one man on May 3,” he said. He said anyone interested in meeting their military obligation in the Guard should contact him at the office. Auto and Equipment Fair Date Set Here The O’Neill Chamber of Commer ece has set April 16 as the day for the Auto and Equipment Fair. Automobile and equipment dea lers in O'Neill will display their new products at a place to be blocked off on north Fourth Street. In conjunction with the Auto and Equipment Fair, local merchants who will not be displaying mer chandise will offer shoppers in the area same good buys. Coupons, which will be found in next week’s | issue of The Frontier, may be, used to get big discounts on hun dreds of items. Coupons will be in use for the entire weekend. Music Contest - Is Scheduled O’Neill schools will be hosts next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday toclasses B, C and D of the Dis trict 3 high school music contest. The first events will be Wednes day with piano and miscellaneous entries at St. Mary’s Acadamy. Class C and D entries will partici pate Thursday at St. Mary’s and at the O’Neill High Auditorium with class A events on Friday. Band entries will be Thursday and Friday nights at the O’Neill High Auditorium. Tickets will be sold in the O’Neill High Auditorium for the morning, after noon and evening events. Schools participating are as fol lows: Wheeler Co., (Bartlett); Page; Royal; St. John the Baptist School, (Petersburg); Rock Co., (Bassett); Inman; Plainview; Valentine; Oakdale; Elgin; Verdi gree; Creighton; Meadow Grove; Clearwater; Niobrara. Tiden; Ew ing; Neligh; Ainsworth; St. Jose ph; Keya Paha Co., (Springview); Atkinson; Butte; Spencer; Lynch; Stuart; St. Mary’s Academy and O’Neill High School. Rites Held/tuesday For Tracto* Victim ORCHARD—The funeral of Craig, the six-y&ar old son of Mr. and Mrs. Waynfe Walmer was held Tuesday at the Evangelical church here. * The boy was killed in a tractor accident at the^farm home between Orchard and ROyal. The toy is survived by his par ents and a 10-year old sister, Cecilia. Relatives attending the funeral from O’Neill included Mr. and Mrs. D. N. toy and Hurley Jones. Wilson Rites Held In Ewing Wednesday The funeral of Frank Wilson, 76, a long-time resident of the Ewing community, was held Wednesday at the United Presbyterian church with Dr. W. H. Ross officiating. Survivors include his wife, three sisters, Mrs. Addie Hartford of Bonesteel, S. D., Mrs. Rose Zollers of Kearney and Mrs. Lillie Harris of Rising City; one brother, James of Bonesteel; four step-daughters, Mrs. Michael Haynes of Vermill ion, Kans., Mrs. J. Frank Taylor of Crosser, Wash., Mrs. Iola Hill of Beatrice and Mrs. Boyd Dochow of Concordia, Kan. Retreat Sunday For Presbyterian Elders The Ruling Elders of the First Presbyterian church of O'Neill held a planning retreat Sunday after noon and evening at the Bethany Presbyterian church near Cham bers. Tlie program of the church was evaluated and plans for the com ing year were made. Commit tees were formed to carry out the plans. Committets and their members are as follows: stewardship, Wes ton Whitwer; Christian education, Mrs. Harry Ressell and Mrs. Har ry Peterson; Evangelism, Mr. Ray Shelhamer, Mr. Harry Clauson, and Mr. William Artus. Nine new members were taken into the O’Neill Presbyterian Church Sunday morning. O'Neill PTA Elect State Delegates to Norfolk on April 30 Miembers of the O’Neill PTA elected two delegates and an alter nate to attend the Nebraska Con gress of Parents and Teachers to be held in Norfolk April 30 and May 1. Representing O'Neill at the Nor folk meeting will be Mrs. Dale Perry and Mrs. Stanley Longeneck er, delegates, and Mrs. Melvin Marcellus, alternate. Stanley Lon genecker, newly elected PTA presi dent, will also attend. New officers elected at the Mon 4 Council Members Present The O'Neill city council said "no” to an additional liquor li cense in the city Wednesday night. After deliberation for nearly an hour, the four present members of the council cast their votes un animously. Present to vote were William McIntosh, Dr. E. W. Gleeson, Leigh Reynoldson and A. W. Car roll. R. E. (Bob) Moore and Fred Heermann were not present at the council meeting. Earlier 500 names had been placed on petitions circulated in liquor stores and taverns objec ting to the granting of more li censes in O’Neill. The petitions grew out of the formal application of the Town House for a license to sell mixed drinks. The council room was crowded with observers as well as those men who would be directly effect ed by the granting or refusing of the license. Dick Tomlinson spoke for the present holders of liquor licenses in O’Neill before the council de liberated. "We believe that the granting of another license would work a hard ship on the present holders,” he said. "The liquor business is not now considered to be the best business because of increased operating expenses.” Sorensen Rites Held The funeral of Mrs. Anna Soren sen, 72, of Page who died Saturday was held at the Methodist church in Page Wednesday. She is survived by sons, John of Page and James of Lincoln; sisters, Irene Neken of Creighton and brothers, Pete Sonder of Ver digre and John of Omaha. She was preceded in death by her husband in 1952 and a son and daughter. -— | Husband of Former Chambers Girl Dead CHAMBERS—Friends here have just learned that Captian Charles A. Walker, a navigator on a B-47, was killed Thrusday, when his plane crashed near Boise, Idaho. Captain Walker s wife was Ba vone Hansen, a former resident of Chambers and a graduate of the Chambes high school class 1942. Two sons, Jerry and Dale also survive. Captain Walker was or iginally form Newton, Kan. At the present time Mrs. Walker lives at 110 dmeige Drive, Tus con, Ariz. Red Heads Will Play Guard Men in O'Neill The All-American Red Heads, a women's basketball team will play an exhibition basketball game with the local National Guard un it April 27. The game will be played at the high school gym and the proceeds will be used to defray the expen ces of the dance held a few months ago. The basketball "sharpshooters" 1 have played all over the United States and have apppeared on the Ed Sullivan show. i Sorry, Some News Left Out Due to alast minute flood of ad vertising in this week’s issue of ] The Frontier a number of items | concerning the people in the area < had to be left out. If you do not find a particlular item in the pa- s per this week, watch for it in next ( week issue of The Frontier. Jefferies Funeral The funeral of Everett Jefferies, 67, of Ewing was held Tuesday at the Church of Christ in Clearwater. Burial was in the Clearwater cem etery. He is survived by his son, Dwight Jefferies of Cozad and one borther, George of Ewing. Tompkins Celebrate 50th Wedding Date Mr. and Mrs. Leon Tompkins of Inman celebrated their 50th wea ling on March 17. No formal cele bration was held. The couple were married on March 17, 1909 in Norfolk at the lome of the bride’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. C. E. Doughty. Mrs. rompkins was the former Ethel doughty. She moved to Norfolk at he age of three. Mr. Tompkins has lived all his ife near Inman. After their mar* 'iage the couple moved to a ranch lear Inman where tney lived fbr 32 fears. They moved to town 17 fears ago. The couple became the parents >f two children, Harvey of Inman md Dr. C. A. of Tuceson, Arlz. ['hey have eight grandchildren. Plans are being made to hold in open house in June, election Results 3-36-2 Election judges and city clerks n most of the towns surrounding j'Neill reported very light ballot ng as new village board members, nagistrates and school board nembers, were seated. Although most of the communi ies reported several contested eats, very few close election uns were reported.. Our Thindads Win The O'Neill Eagles came home | Wednesday with first place in the linsworth Invitational track meet. Those events in which they laced first were the 120 yards igh hurdles, the shot put, the dis us and the 180 yard low hurdles. Valentine placed second; Bas et, third; Ainsworth, fourth, and Iregory, fifth. day evening meeung were: siamty Longenecker; president, Mrs. Dale Perry, vice president; Mrs. Wayne Smith, secretary; and Mrs. John Kersenbrock, treasurer. The offi cers were installed by a past pre sident, Bill Brewster. Out going officers included pre sident, Allen Van Vleck; vice pre sident, Mrs. Dwight Worcester; secretary, Mrs. Ruby Holcomb; and treasurer, Mrs. Dale Perry. Mrs. James Newman, Stuart, dis trict PTA president, made her of ficial yearly visit to the local or ganization Monday at the final meeting of the term. Mrs. Winnie Mullen, a retiring teacher, was gi ven a lifetime membership. Entertainment prior to the bus iness meeting was provided by the dance students of Mrs. W. D. Me lena. O'Neill lions Plan Local Talont Night The O’Neill Lions Club has made plpne for a local talent night con test of which there will be three divisions: 1. Junior Division, under 10 years of age. 2. Intermediate Division, 11 to j 15 years inclusive. 3. Senior Division, 16 to 19 in- | elusive. The number of Contestants in each act is a maxium of eight, and the time limit of ect is a maxi mum of six minutes. This will include all schools and clubs in Holt county who wish to participate. Winners from each division will attend a district contest at Fuller ton April 24th and winners at Ful- | lerton will be sent to a state con est at a later date. Prizes will be given for the first three places in each division. Entries must be forwarded to j Duane Miller, band instructor of the O’Neill public school by April 13th. Robert Clinkscales, speaking for the Town House, asked that his application be accepted because of a survey he had conducted at the business establishment for the past two months. “The survey shows that 77 per- i cent of the guests in the Town House are tourists and this goes to show that we are serving peo ple out of town. We believe that our selling mixed drinks would not hurt the present holders of li censes," he added. The vote by the four present members of the council brought to a close the controversy. In other council action, the board admitted the building per mits of four persons for the con struction of new homes. One new warehouse permit was granted and the Standard Oil station building permit was granted. The council also discussed the possibility of licensing all sellers of fireworks. In the past it has not been necessary for retailers to obtain permits. Action on this is sue was tabled. Catholic Women Meet A meeting of the officers and board members of the O'Neill dea nery of the National Council of Catholic Women was held Friday. Members from, Spencer, Em- ;; met, Amelia, Ewing and O’Neill I were present. Plans were made and the date i set for the deanery meeting which i will be held here on Wednesday, 1 May 27. vi Grant county. An unconfirmed report said eight head of cattle wore killet. in the Henderson and Phipps ranch fire 15 miles north west of Hyannis. Smaller fires were also reported around Alliance > I By far the most serious fire of the day broke out in Sot life Dakota near Vivian. ITie fire at Vivian blackened a strip over seven miles wide an# 20 miles long as Governor Ralph llorseth called out the National Guard. High winds and extremely' dry conditions sent fires roaring over several hundred! of acres in Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota Some of these areas included Lower Brule, Aberdeen an# Mission and lesser ones at Leola, Westport, Onida, Carpenter. Salem, Kodoka and Chamberlain in North and South Dakota. One of the biggest problems in fighting a prairie fire is the gun# chance that it can start up hours after it’s believed to lie oak according to local firemen. Several of the fires, including the one on the Wolf ranch an# the smaller blazes north of Atkinson started up several times alia they were believed to lie under control. Men fighting the fires used sprayers, bulldozers, road gradrr* tractors and disk harrows to stop the blazes. One method used quite successfully on the Darnell ranch Tnr south of O'Neill wus the use of a grader pulled by a IhiIHVw** Deep slices of earth were overturned a few feet from the ouh* edge of the blaze to keep the fire from jumping. "The Voice of the Beef Empire" Volume 78—Number 50 O'Neill, Holt County, Nebraska, Thursday, April 9, 1959 Seven Cent* Diane Cork wan elected **Efrnr— of Sports” at the annual Pac*~ athletic banquet. James WkW> gave a speech at the fcnnqoa and awards were presented Mr basketball and volleyball. The five senior girt members of On pep-club received a necklace Clair Parks was rniwnM “King of Sports” at the Pag* athletic banquet. The attendant* were James Nlssen and Donna Crumly. The welcome was giunt by Vivian Ragland and thr rt> sponse by Clair Parks. The toast mistress was Donna Crumly. O'Neill Legion Post Plans Talent Show On Friday, April 24 The O’Neill American Legior post has planned a talent sin* patterned after a late televisux show on Friday, April 24. The cast will include Jamet Ear ley as Bat Masterson, Hugh Bar son as Roy Rogers, Joe MeEliigoC as Chelt Huntly, Virgil Laursex. Verne Reynoldson, Marlin Wich man and Chuck Fox as the iitn>> sisters, George Janousek as Char lie Weaver, Jack Everitt as John ny Cash and Bud Cold as the lunefe tramp. Other players will include WiB iam Cousins as Jack Parr, Eafj Hunt as Kate Smith, Archie llimx as Houshay, Wayne Fox at Inst McGinn, D. Worcester and Efi Win kler as the Mills brothers, AJ Car roll as a balloon salesman. Boh Cole as Genevieve and Franch Belzer and Bob White as Trigg® Dean Streeter will play the mas with the fiddle, Don Becker wil be the commericial man. Dale Curran and Sam Fuhrer will pixy the brats, George Bosn will lx Tennessee Ernie Ford, RjusseB Moler and William Kelly will lx Charile Weaver’s parents. Fred Appleby and A1 Hamik will i>lay the brats’ mother and bah> ind Bill Jansen will be Red Foley Tickets will be on sale at most business pusiness places. Tlx show is under the direction of BiP lansen. First Annual Party Approximately 250 persons at ended the American Legion’s first innual public party at the Legion lall Tuesday evening. The stage show was well acc<5» ed and a dance was held after he show. The members of the legion pro ded lunch.