REINKE SERVICES FRIDAY
Funeral services for Mrs Sam
uel Reinke. who died Tuesday in
a rest home in Neiigh, will be
held Friday morning at 9:30 from
St. Peter’s Catholic church in Ew
ing
Mrs. Reinke is a pioneer settler
of southeastern Holt county in the
Goose Lake community.
Survivors include the widower
and daughter, Mollie Reinke of
Tikien.
Here From Verdigre
Mr. and Mrs. Adolph Wetzler
of Verdigre are spending a few
davs at the C. E. Worth home.
Eat Mliat" Tomorrow
Catholics may eat meat Friday,
the eve of the Feast of the As
sumption, Mxgr. Daniel E. Shee
han, chancellor of the Archdiocese
of Omaha, announced Tuesday.
The Vatican has waived the rules
of fast and abstinence for that
day, he added.
>Mi\is I \li. -t N It M i
""David Nekolite, 25. is serving a
90 day sentence administered in
justice of the peace court in the
county jail.
He was charged last week w'ith
driving under a suspended license,
reckless driving and assault.
WEATHER ^
hi lo prerip. _ _ __ Tweh/e Page*
mm 1 PONTTFP
t55:. aS.” •"iB s 01 1VV-/11 1 1L/1\
Wed., Aug. 12 ... 99 66
"The Voice of the Beef Empire"
Volume 79-Number 16 _____ O'Neill, Holt County, Nebraska, Thursday, August 13, 1959___Sev>w_Ca?fl
A County Transportation Problem;
A Look at County and State Roads
This is the first of a series of articles on one
of Holt county's most important problems — the
county and state system of roads.
BY JERRY PETSCHE
EDITOR
One drive on a rainy day into the Amelia area,
into the Middle Branch area, into the area north
of Atkinson, would convince even the most eom
plaisent motorist.
The horse and buggy days might be gone, but
you would never know it from the looks of the eight
inch deep ruts we are forced to call farm-to-market
roads in some areas.
Short of the need for the expansion of Holt
county as a location for small industry, and the
need to change over to a cattle feeding district
where possible, our antiquated transportation facil
ities effect our growth the most.
Here we are, nearly the largest county in Ne
braska, 18th in population in a state with 93 coun
ties, with some roads that haven't changed substan
tially since your grandfather was a boy.
And because we are such a big country, both
in the relative numlier of miles the farmer and
rancher travels just to buy the necessities of life,
and because if we are to grow at all it will be nec
essary for something to l>e done about it soon, it
hurts even more.
There is an old "saw" that strikes out at of
ficials and goes something like this: "If you want
to see lousy country roads, go to Nebraska.” There
are some who would suggest that another "saw"
be added: “If you really want to see lousy country
roads, go to Holt county.” This is said in face of
the fact that our county board of supervisors in
the past few years have l>een spending more and
more time and money in arranging for the repair
of the county roads than ever before and that more
county roads are being impoved now than in the
past years.
The supervisors, shackled with ever-increas
ing labor and materials costs, are forced to either
request more money from the taxpayer or spread
the maintenance thinner with the same amount of
money asked for previous years.
Add to that the complaints and suggestions they
get and their own knowledge of unsatisfied needs
in their own districts you get a picture of their
burden.
But the picture is not entirely a bleak one. The
State Department of Roads has made some efforts
—and plan more—to develop the state maintained
roads in our immediate area. And we’ll get to
these efforts and other problems in one of the
future stories in this series.
But to put this in perspective, let’s take a few
examples of what this community is up against in
terms of individuals using and benefiting from
county maintained as well as state primary and
secondary roads.
—Tw'o ranchers in the Amelia area, let’s call
them A and B, have equal distances to travel to
a shopping area. Neither have good roads, but A’s
are better. A uses less gasoline because of the
somewhat “better” roads. B, however, gets triple
trouble. Because he is forced to buy more gasoline
because of the somewhat “poorer roads, he pays
more toward the rejuvination of roads because of
the federal tax in addition to bearing the added
truck and car expense the “poorer” roads cause.
A, on the other hand, has the “better” roads and
pays less to maintain them.
—A farmer and his wife in the Redbird com
munity would like to get to O’Neill (to patronize
businessmen in their own county) to shop. They
tell of several others that feel the same way. They
go into Boyd county or even to South Dakota, be
cause they have no adequate farm-to-market roads.
“Distance means little to us,” the farmer’s wife
said. “But our car can’t take the rough roads into
O'Neill.”
Continued on page 8, column 7
Lutheran Pastors
Will Meet Here
August 18 to 20
Christ Lutheran church of O’
Neill will be the convention host
from Tuesday to Thursday next
week to over 100 pastors of the
Northern Nebraska District ot
The Lutheran Church Missouri
Synod.
The conference will begin at 10
am. Tuesday, Aug. 18, and will
IK* called by the chairman, Rev.
R. F. Jenkins of Omaha.
On Tuesday evening at 7:30 a
s()ecial workshop service of Holy
Communion will be held. Rev A.
S. Gedwillo, local host pastor, will
be the liturgist and administer the
sncrament.
Rev. F. Niedner of West Point,
president of the Northern Nebras
ka district, will speak on district
and svnodical matters. The con
ference will lie highlighted by
doctrinal and practical essays.
The meals for the delegates will
he served by the women of the
congrgation.
The conference will adjourn
Thursday noon.
Morgans Take First
In Flower Show
ATKINSON Mr. and Mrs. G. E.
Morgan have done themselves
••quite proud" in their interest and
love of flowers.
At the eighth annual Atkinson
gladiolus and flower show, Mr.
Morgan won 28 first places in com
petition. Mrs. Morgan wound up
winner of the arrangement and
composition division.
A full story of first places in
classes appears on the inside
pages.
At Methodist Confab
Harvey A. Tompkins represent
ed the Inman area at the Nation
al Methodist Town and Country
Conference in Wichita several
days ago.
lie along with 11 other delegates
from Nebraska listened to speech
es pointing out the importance of
the rural and town church in
America. Over 1200 delegates at
tended.
LEACH E (HA MFIONSH 11*
The O'Neill Little League city
championship will be decided to
morrow night (Thursday) at the
hall park. The Northeastern Card
inals and the Southwestern Braves
will play off 9-3 records.
CITY TOt’KNAMENT
Complete results of the first
round matches in the men's city
golf tournament will appear in the
Frontier next week. Not all
matches had been completed yes
terday (Wednesday).__
Divorce Is Up
Births Down
In Holt County
Two unhealthy signs marr the
vital statistics report for Holt
county as the 1958 records show
divorce has increased and the
number of births have decreased.
Daths too, have increased by
nine in Holt county in comparison
with 1957 although the city of O'
Neill show's a decrease of 15.
One of the highest divorce rates
in the past 10 years with 16 re
corded, is now on the record
books of the State Bureau of Vital
Statistics.
Grounds of cruelty led the list
with nine recorded. Other grounds
recorded were desertion, one case,
drunkenness, three cases, and non
support, 3 cases.
Compared with 1957’s 351 babies
born in the county, only 315 were
liorn in 1958, or a drop of nine pel -
cent. Here is a record of the past
three years for Holt county and
O'Neill:
Area 1956 1957 19»8
All Holt county - 329 351 315
O'Neill . 86 97 68
Of the 149 deaths in Holt county
(35 in O'Neill i, 65 individuals died
as a direct or indirect result of
heart disease, 19 of cancer and 13
of cerebral hemorrhage.
There were nine accidental
deaths in the county, three from
traffic accidents, three from falls,
one from a farm accident and one
other unspecified by the Bureau
of Vital Statistics Here is the
record of deaths in the county and
in O'Neill for the past three years:
Area 1956 1957 1958
Ail Holt county .149 141 149
O'Neill . 40 50 35
Marriages increased in 1958 to
99, 5 more than in 1957. Here is
the records of divorce and mar
of Holt coonty:
Year Marriages Divorces
1949 . 123 44
1950 . 119 |4
{953 . 110 14
m* . 408 10
1955 . 147 11
1956 . 79 16
1958 i... 99 _ 16
Western All Stars
Win Elkhorn Classic
In Atkinson Sunday
The western all stars of the
Elkhorn Little League were the
winners of small fry classic in
Atkinson Sunday.
Wayne Sindelar, of O Neill, was
the winning pitcher for the west
and his team-mates brought in 15
runs to the east's 12 to win the 9
inning contest.
Western O'Neill boys, who play
ed with the west all-stars were
Jack Kelly, Jim Booth, Wayne
Sindelar, Jim Troshynski. Jim
Gokie and Dick Larson. The team
was coached by Jerry Schmidt.
Eastern O'Neill boys playing
with the east were Danny Wolf,
Bruce Appleby, Gary Godel Gene
Lowery, Ivan Hurley and Kent
Peterson. Doug Manske of orch
ard was the losing pitcher The
eastern team is coached by Kred
Appleby of O’Neill.
Talented Chamberite
Writes Child's Prayer
Thousands of children will be
reading a prayer written by one
of Chamber’s most talented wom
en, Mrs. Louis Neilson.
The prayer appears in the Sep
tember issue of TOGETHER, a
midmonth Methodist magazine for
families with a circulation of one
million.
This is the prayer:
"Dear God:
Bless all the boys and girls
In all the world today;
Help them to be kind to everyone
At home, at school, at play.
Amen.”
FIRE WEDNESDAY
O’Neill firemen rushed to a
West O'Neill building owned by
John Donohoe Wednesday morn
ing to put out an electrical fire.
Atkinson Suffers School Tax Leap;
Page's School Levy Drops 12 Mills
» - * • ■ %
O'Neill Citizens
Will Experience
Lower City Taxes
City taxes in all communities in
the county with the exception of
Chambers will lie lower this year
or will at least remain the same.
Ttie biggest drop will lie ex
perienced in O'Neill where two
mills less will lie asked for. O'Neill
mills less will tie asked for.
Chambers will suffer the highest
increase from seven to 12 mills.
The levies in Emmet, Page and
Inman have remained the same as
last year. Stuart's levy decreased
! by .10 of a mill.
Here is a tahle showing the as
sessed valuation and the levies
for 1958 as well as 1959:
Community Year Assessed Mills
O'Neill .... 1958 $3,938,850 17.00
O'Neill .... 1959 1,088,395 15.00
Atkinson .. 1958 1,383,788 22.64
Atkinson .. 1959 1,425,695 22.60
Stuart . 1958 641,314 11.90
• Stuart . 1959 654,727 11.00
Ewing . 1958 420,093 28.00
i Ewing . 1959 441,035 26.50
Chambers . 1958 337,397 7.00
1 Chambers . 1959 342.386 12.00
Inman . 1958 102,009 7.00
Inman . 1959 101,079 7.00
Page . 1958 157,974 14.22
Page . 1959 157,974 11.00
Emmet .... 1958 35,007 11.00
Emmet .... 1959 39,074 11.00
No Action At
Ericson Bank
ERISCON No further action has
been taken by State Banking De
partment officials after they clos
ed the Ericson Co-operative Cred
it Association last week.
The action last week resulted in
closing the last banking facility in
Wheeler county. Several weeks
ago the Bartlett State Bank was
closed.
The department officials closed
the bank following a meeting of
State Banking Director E. N. Van
Horne and Assistant Director Har
old Johnson with the association’s
lioard of directors.
Officials could give no estimate
of shortages until the examination
is completed.
The members of the Ericson
Co-operative's board of directors
include Keith Poland president; C.
F. Foster, secretary-treasurer,
Pete Dahlsteen.
$' INKER
Yes, today, (Thursday) is
Stinker Day in O’Neill and Ihere
will be bargains galore. Shop
the advertisements on the in
side pages — it will pay you.
Shop In O'Neill Today
School Mills 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
O'Neill
Atkinson
Stuart
Ewing
Chambers
Inman
Page
Emmet
This chart will give you a comparison of the number of mills
school levy that will be paid by residents of school-towns in tin
county. The mills represent the number of dollars per $1,000 of
assessed valuation of property tliat must be paid.
Golf Ball Hail Nails Butte Farms;
8,000-12,c:0 Acres of Corn is Down
BUTTE Farmers and insurance
men here are still scratching their
heads and wondering at the feroc
ity of a 10-minute hail storm last
Sunday—one of the worst ever ex
perienced here.
An estimatd 8 to 12 thousand
bushels of corn is believed to l>e
destroyed in an area three miles
wide extending from north of
Butte to the Niobrara river.
Observers believe at least 20
farmers suffered heavy damage
some crops were completely wip
ed out.
The hail began at 4 p.m. and in
10 minutes, it was all over, but
not before it broke and cracked
over 100 windows in Butte (see
photo of school), tore down large
tree branches and covered the
streets with large hailstones.
The path of the violent storm
began six miles north of Butte at
the George Sieler farm then trav
eled south of Butte and went to
ward Spencer, struck off to the
south where the dumage was the
heaviest, then toward the Niobra
ra river through the Don Angel
and Pat langan farms.
Very high winds accompanied
the storm and one insurance ad
juster said damages will run to
over $300,000.
-St
Two to three inches of hail covered this highway between
Butte and Fairfax although the hail fell for only 10 minutes.
POLICEMAN RESIGNS
The resignation of Orville [
"Stub" Miller, an O'Neill police-!
man, has been turned over to the
city council.
Police Chief Chris McGinn said
several applications for the job
have been turned in and that ap
plications would still lx? accepted.
TWO C’AR CRASH
Considerable damage to two cars
was reported by O’Neill ix>licc
when an intersection collision oc
curred Sunday. No one was in
jured.
The drivers of the cars were
Jerald J. Schaaf, 19, of Emmet
and Vernon L. Strong jr., 18, of
MTKinson acntna
Levy Up Most
Of All Towns
Over 50 |>ercent of the taxpayra*
in Holt county will lx1 paying moo
school taxes this year includwt
those in O'Neill, Atkinson, Stiwr
and Chambers.
Ewing, Inman, Page and Em
met’s levy was drop|>ed m-a/ty
40 percent or 12 mills in Page
Stuart taxpayer*! again wtt
pay the must in school taxr*
with a mill levy of over «5 mill*
and Emmet the least with 12J*
mills..
O’Neillites will pay .66 mrtb
more than last year for school*
hut still pay the next lowest jw
$1000 of assessed value of propo
ty of all taxpayers in towns in ff»
county at 22.78 mills.
School District 21 (Atkinson) i»
creased the most, from 38.92 raiQ*
last year to 43.66 mills this year
The assessed valuation of Atkin
son's district increased $74,00#,
from $1,657,816 to $1,731,880.
Page’s decrease, the result of
the redistricting of several duV
ricts, paralleled an increase in a*
sessed valuation from $294,462 (a
$323,560.
Here, in tabular form, is the mill
levy and assessed valuation
(based on 35 percent of actual
and set by state law) for city
schools in 1959 (to he used in
computing taxes this year) in con
trast with that of 1958:
City School 1959 195X
O’Neill . $4,662,349 $4,451,571
22.78 mis 22.12 mb
Atkinson .... 1,731,880 1,657,8®
43.66 mis 38.92 nib
Stuart . 867,399 8232SK
65.54 mis 63228 mb
Ewing . 809,499 718,'TE
47.50 mis 50.30 ml*
Chambers ... 509,539 499.qBD
39.48 mis 38.62 mb
Inman . 670,946 640,SB)
37.64 mis 39.04 mk
Page . 960,914 344.0W
40.78 mis 52.72 mb
Emmet . 323,560 294.4*
12.56 mis 16.30 mb
All taxpayers In the count*
will pay .14 mills more in state
levies which Include instltiitlo*
ill and county levies (inc)iiit**
bridges, soldiers and salient
fair, medteal and county mien*
ployment).
While state levies increase!!
from 7.97 to 8.45 mills, the county
levies dropped from 4.35 to 42®
mills from last year.
ONE CAR ACCIDENT
Lloyd G. Gillespie, 84, was rttp.
hurt in a one car accident in Q~
Neill Saturday night. Mr. Gillespie
was alone in the car at the lime.
'|-|,|s spirit.<1 young group ol n’Ncillitcs aren't about to play a football game, but they will hr
fighting television flic evening of their first play. (See story.) They ore, from left, Jim Johnson <0
Kansas Slate University, Sharlene Shoemaker of Mount Scholastica college, Joan Wilson, an O’Neil
high school senior, Kathleen Spltzenberger of Mount Marty college, Nina Burvlal, a teacher, C.arj
Beckwith of 1 loanc college and Ivan Kaiser of Wayne State Teachers College. Not shown Is Brtt
Sanders, a farmer.
Dear Mom, We're Standing In Line Again.
August 13, 1959
Camp Ripley, Minn.
Dear Mom,
Well, we re standing in line again and we just got here two days
ago. Army life in the Guard hasn’t changed much.
I’m sending along a picture. Maybe you can make me out in it.
That’s us standing in line to get paid here in Camp Ripley. Gee,
would you believe it. there are over 4,000 men in this camp and I
know only about 45 of them—the ones in the outfit from O’Neill.
The sun is shining here today and we’ve been busy for the past
few hours putting up tents and getting our gear in shape. Our officers,
Major Baack and Lieut. Bunkers say wee’ll be going out on the range
in a few days. When we do, I'll send pictures if I can.
Our other officers here are Capt. Joe McCarville and Lieut.
Robert Stevens.
It’s just like I say. Army life in the Guard hasn’t changed much.
The sergeants haven’t changed at all—especially mine.
We’ve got a lot of work to do in the next few days with a full
schedule of training exercises. I'll tell you more about them in my
next letter.
I hope you and Dad and the kids are alright. I’ll be back in just
two weeks but, gee, how I miss you all already.
I must close for this time now.
As Always,
YOUR SON
Here we are standing in line for our pay. Lieut. Bunkers took You can see my buddies Gordon Fox, Marvin Young, and quite a
tills picture and I hope you can make me out alright- We do this few others. I hope you’ll send these pictures around so their folks
for chow, for mail, and just about everything else you can think of. can see them too.
Set Date For
'Tender Trap'
A group of young people hew
are about to see a climax to ther
plans in resurrecting a 40-jear
old tradition.
“The Tender Trap,” a three »e
comedy, is the first production iM
the O’Neill Players, a communili
playhouse presentation.
It was about 40 years ago since
the last community play was pre
sented here according to old file*
of The Frontier. At that time, the
community theater was one of O'
Neill’s most well-known attrac
tions.
The idea for the reformation rf
the group and much hard worik
and preparation came when twt
college students decided their
summer could benefit their com
munity as much as themselves
Soon they interested a young teach
er, a farmer and a high schodj
student, several other college stu
dents and the play was on its way.
Their first and last production
for the summer will be 8 pm.,
August 15 and 16, at the high
school auditorium.
To give you an idea of how
tastes and interests have change^,
the Max Shulman script the young
people are beginning with, is the
first play since ShaJtespeare pro
ductions many years ago.
