The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965, September 10, 1959, Image 8

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    THK RRONTTB*. O'Nttii, Netermrt*, TkwwUy, •cpfewfev It, lMt
Prairieland Talk
'Letter From A Friend'
By ROMAINE SAUNDERS. 4110 South 51at St, Lincoln 6, Nebr.
Post marked at Palo Alto, Calif., the following
unsigned communication came to me recently.
Whether the writer purposely conceals his identity
or whether it was merely an oversight I do not
know. A hard and fast rule of the engineer of this
department is to print nothing unless I know the
name of the one who sends it in. We pass over this
rule this once because I know the story to be true,
I being a part of the O’Neill picture the writer
paints of that group of “philosophers” of more than
a half century ago.
Romaine Saunders, Lincoln, Nebr.,
As a long time reader of the Frontier and Prai
rieland Talk, I am sending you the enclosed item
which was sent to me from Chicago a number of
years ago by a friend and former O’Neill resident.
From the Sketch Book of the late H. O. Jackson,
an old time insurance man around O'Neill in the
early days, comes the inclosed gem, perhaps one
of the greatest things ever written or uttered by a
Holt County man. The accompanying note says
that “In the very early days of O’Neill there were
many philosophers who used to meet each month
during the winter for a dinner and chit-chat in the
dining room of the old Evans Hotel. John Harmon
was chairman and used to introduce the speakers.
T. V. Golden, R. R. Dickson, D. A. Doyle, Neil
Brennan. M F. Harrington and many other young
men of the times were among those who never
missed a meeting. One night the short subject on
which each was to speak was entitled ‘My Inher
itance'. Chairman Harmon, about midway in the
meeting said: ‘Our next speaker comes from that
little explored and mysterious land to the north,
lying between the Eagle and the Niobrara. His
golden tongue and philosophical nature have made
him a friend of all the men and animals who have
come to Know mm out mere, including Indians on
the warpath and Doc Middleton. I give you Hugh
O’Neill.’ It was then that a tall sandy fellow arose
and without looking at a note, delivered the follow
ing which was taken down in shorthand by John
G. Maher, court reporter for Judge Kincaid.
I am a part of this beautiful world. I am to re
main a part of it forever. The air, the sky, the
water, the earth, the fire, are my fast friends. I
love to breathe, I love the light, I love the dark,
I love to fall asleep at night. My life has become
intertwined with the lives of others. I live in them,
they live in me. My inspiration comes from the
East and from the West. The remotest antiquity
blends with the passing hour. All heroes are mine,
all genius is mine, all worship is mine. It is my
world that is reflected in history, in literature, in
labor, in song. I become a part of all that I know.
Where my interest goes, there my soul goes, and
identifies itself with all my delights. Saint Francis
is mine. Goethe is mine. For me is the mind of
Christ. My best efforts are inadequate but they
are magnified and rewarded a thousand fold. My
life was cradled in truth, it lies embossed in beauty
and goodness shall be its stay and staff more and
more. Each moment, I mind the writings and
meditations of wise men down the ages and I,
reading, have found the salt of the whispers of
knowledge. Each moment, I mind that I have loved
the great prairies and the flowers of the fields, the
dark canyons and the gray small hills, and the
sounding of the Eagle and the Niobrara. Each
moment, I know that I have savored the hot taste
of life, lifting green cups and gold at the great
feast, just for a small and forgotten time. Each
moment, I know that someday, benevolent Death
will take me by the hand and shine full in my eyes
the whitest pouring of eternal light. This is my
Inheritance.
• • *
One by one we mortals reach the journey's end
when the crimson life-tide ebbs away, the dark
Plutonian shadows gather at our door. Then may
we rejoice for a life well lived.
* * •
Waiting at a street comer to take the next city
bus to roll "down town" where citizens flock to
buy the rags they wear—this is where you learn
something of the “moods of men" and the hopes
and plans of women.. Bowed
under the cares of life of more
than three score years and ten,
grandma told me she was go
ing on the next bus to the marts
of trade down in the city to
purchase gifts for a grandchild
up at Chadron who was soon
to have a birthday. Grand
daughter, grandson, they are
the precious jewels that glow in
grandma's heart. Now you
Bomalne grandchild up at Chadron get
Saunders a note of childish gratitude off
at once to that thoughtful grandma of yours down
here in the Capital City.
• * •
A young man from Omaha came to see me re
cently to get any information I could give him
of early times in O'Neill. He graduates from a
university in our great city by the Missouri river
and his closing university work will be the story
of General John O’Neill who brought in the early
settlers that founded the town that became the
county seat of the empire of Holt. Citizens of that
community did nothing to honor the memory of
General O’Neill. Now a young university student
is doing it. I never saw the general but knew the
family when they lived in a little four room house,
the general’s home, two blocks east of where the
postoffice now stands. The general had a son
John, a polished young gent, who would invite
me to the O’Neill home to catch up his Indian pony
and ride it, Johnie himself being deathly afraid.
• • »
Printed in one of Nebraska’s great daily news
papers, the Omaha World-Herald, the story came
out of O’Neill that Farmer Senator Frank Nelson
this summer finds farm hazards climax anything
he has run up against in the state legislature. An
encounter with a hog resulted in Frank limping
about on a crippled leg, an injured hand came out
of another farm experience, and the elements of
nature frowned upon the picturesque scene where
the Senator lives and a hail storm well nigh ruined
the Senator's com field. But as the story goes
Frank is still "in the ring” and we look for him
to serve at least another term in our law making
body at the State House.
• • •
As this is written furnace heated August draws
to a close, and this last day glows in unclouded
brightness as it steps from our calendar. What will
September lay in our laps? The second day of the
new month comes the new moon. On prairieland
the new moon has always meant rain, snow or
the cooling of hot summer days. And so the mild
September lays a cooling hand upon the weather’s
fevered brow.
• • •
J. Hyde Sweet has put in 50 years at printing
and newspaper work in Nebraska City. The late
D. H. Cronin was connected with The Frontier for
over 57 years, as printer, business manager, pub
lisher and editor. And today Denny is at rest up
on the hill in the abode of the dead.
• • •
The postal department announces it will soon
issue a stamp in memory of the first surgical
operation performed in America 150 years ago by
the pioneer surgeon, Dr. Ephraium McDowell.
The Department announces no cut in postal rates.
Editorial
No Closed! Circuit
There are probably as many ways to promote
a community and its businesses as there are indi
viduals.
It will be conceded by most that some indi
viduals will normally be in a better position to in
fluence outsiders and to make them understand
that O’Neill is not only a good place to live but
also a good place to shop. For years the “burden”
of being a "public relations" man has fallen on
the retailer — that is, until others realized that
their interests (the retailers’) are also economic
and social health indicator for all businesses.
Chambers of Commerce in the United States,
were, at first (at the turn of the century) not much
more than clubs to which retailers usually belonged
for social reasons.
It became increasingly more apparent that these
clubs, or informal gatherings would do well to es
tablish themselves and dedicate themselves to the
betterment of their respective communities rather
than remain a purely social engine.
Soon the good Chambers found themselves with
members of professions and skills, with knowledge
of industry and commerce not usually associated
directly with retailers. It also became apparent to
Chambers of Commerce that those organizations
that became the most active—the most willing to
work—also became leading voices in the drive for
better community relations
The O’Neill Chamber of Commerce annual mem
bership drive is underway. What these men are
saying when they ask each business and profes
sional man to become a member is something
ike this:
"Please help us to make O’Neill a better place
to live, a better retail and business center. Help
us to create conditions among the businesses here
that will strengthen the ties between us. Help us to
create conditions that we might forget our differ
ences long enough to help the community as a
whole.”
If there is a better place to iron out feelings of
hostility, we would like to know where it can be bet
ter done and where these hostile feelings can be bet
ter disposed of than the local chapter of the Cham
ber of Commerce.
The men who sit down to the table each month
have more than a common bond among them
selves and they know it. They are the official spoke
men for their members as well as unotficial spokes
men for all businesses in town.
It is sometimes said that Chambers of Commerce
are nothing but cliques. If this is true in O'Neill, all
we can say is that it is the easiest clique you’ll ever
get into. They want you, Mr. Businessman. They
need you. They need your help, your suggestions,
your opinions.
It isn’t a closed circuit.
Khrushchev Should See
A lot of planning and official maneuvering will be
completed between now and the middle of Septem
ber, involving Nikita Khrushchev’s visit to the United
States. Unfortunately he will probably be shown much
that will not impress him, and will miss the real
America—if custom and tradition prevail.
What Khrushchev should see, in United States,
is how the average American lives, in the average
size town, and on our farms and in the rual commun
ities. Everyone knows about New York City, about
these things.
StiffHE Fonwriffe
JAMES CHAMPION. Ce-Publisher
JERRY PETSCHE, Editor
Terms of Subscription: In Nebraska, $2.50 per
year: elsewhere in the United States, $3 per year:
rates abroad provided upon request. All subscriptions
payable in advance.
Entered at the postofbce in O’Neill, Holt coun
ty, Nebraska, as second-class mail matter under the
Act of Congress of March 3, 1879. This newspaper Is
a member of the Nebraska Press Association, Nation
al Editorial Association and the Audit Bureau of
Circulations.
NATIONAL KDITORIAl
—3— 3
Last of a Series
What Can Be Done
To Better Our Roads;
And Where We Stand
By JERRY PETS*HE—Editor
If it is possible at all to sum up the problems of Holt county where
its county and state maintained roads are concerned in one sentence,
it might go something like this:
"Too little money spread too thin with state legislation making
sure it stays that way.”
Or, perhaps, another statement, equally true and just as important.
"The inherant blindness of a state system of determining what
areas will get the most development, and the inability or complacence
of legislators that don’t care to ‘stir up the fire’.”
It all boils down to a few simple problems:
1. Our county board of supervisors have all they can do to
just maintain the county roads we already have. If hard work and
fairness on their part meant better roads (from Amelia to Red
bird) we would have some beautiful ones. Unfortunately money
comes into the picture.
2. We are highly populated. We have a greater number of county
and state roads. THE SUFFICIENCY SYSTEM OF THE STATE DE
PARTMENT OF ROADS ISN'T ADAPTABLE FOR THAT KIND OF
A COMBINATION.
3. We have many more drivers on the average in our area. We
also pay more gasoline tax than the average, THE SUFFICIENCY
SYSTEM OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ROADS ISN'T ADAPTABLE
FOR THIS COMBINATION EITHER.
4. The old problem of lack of representative force in central and
western Nebraska doesn’t help.
5. The state department of roads is “caught up in the whirl” of
interstate highway problems. The relative good we will receive from
the interstate highways is smaller than it will be for the well popu
lated areas around Omaha and Lincoln.
•. The eaee with which the department of roads can throw
back formerly state maintained roads onto the county, WHEN
WE HAVE ALL WE CAN HANDLE RIGHT NOW!
There are many more minor reasons why our roads art no better
than they are. To list them here would not be possible, but the pre
ceding 6, if solved would make a tremendous difference in the amount
of road repair we would receive.
Now what can the average man do to help.
Here are just a few things to think about:
1. At some future date some may maintain that it is advisable
to change our supervisory districts. BE CAREFUL. Make sure you
discuss this with your respective supervisor before making that kind
of move. The distriets are divided on the basis of polled population.
To change them substantially, might mean to break up a compara
tively well regulated county road repair system. ASK YOUR SUPER
VISOR FOR HIS OPINION.
2. There are those who would throw all the township routes
as well as mall routes on the shoulders of the supervisors. BE
CAREFUL. This could be disasterous unless you are willing to
pay more taxes for road repair and be willing to wait several
years before the county “catches up.”
3. Discuss any individual problem with your respective super
visor. They are reported by every farmer this writer has spoken to, (
as being men who %vant to help and will listen to any reasonable com
4. Discuss the inequality of the state sufficiency system with your
state legislator. Ask him if there is anything he can do and watch
how he votes on highway bills. Make certain you have his reasons
for voting the way he votes.
5. Whenever you have the chance, try to make the officials
of department of roads in Lincoln understand that there are some
areas that are not adaptable to the present "sufficiency system.”
6. In the future, if we are fortunate, another method of deter
mining sufficiency of roads will be adapted by the department of roads.
Before you vote, make certain that our population, the relative num
ber of car registrations, and the amount of gas tax we pay, are all
taken into consideration when certain state roads are to be repaired.
Holt county will never have better roads until some of these things
are done. It is not always a matter of paying more taxes locally, but
rather, the care we take to make certain the persons we place in the
public trust in Lincoln understand why we are different, and why
others, as well as ourselves, are suffering from a system that is not
in the interests of the general welfare of Holt county.
(Editor’s note—We would like to thank both the county board
of supervisors for their cooperation in preparation of these articles
and particularly the department of roads in Lincoln. The re
searchers at the department were more than helpful and In the
face of the criticism their department received In these columns,
they have been fair In answering all questions.)
Frontiers
Ago
SO YEARS AGO
W. L. Shoemaker bought the
Gladue meat market where he
had been working for six months.
• . • T. V. Golden has fifty acres
of fine flax growing on braking two
miles northwest of town.A
meeting of the Holt county agri- j
cultural society was held at the |
office of M. H. McCarthy for the
purpose of reporting financial con-1
ditions of the socety.Walter,
Wyant and the Bazelman boys
have started a brick yard, not the
ordinary kind where brick are
molded from clay and burned in
a kiln, but a yard where they mold
the bricks from sand and cement.
.W. E. Meals, formerly of
the city now of Lompoc, Calif,
stopped in town for a visit with
relatives and friends. . . . The
county board let the contract for
the county jail to Burr and Golden
for $900, their bid being about one
half that of the one other bid. . . .!
Anthony Murray was exhibiting J
samples of apples grown on his
place.Harry Spindler of
Meek had a sale, after which he
planned to leave for the south. . . . |
Frank Griffith was in from the
Eagle creek country recently. . . . j
Supervisors Roberts and Grimes
went to Atkinson at the request
of Chairman Hickman to investi- j
gate the need of bridges in that
neighborhood.Mr. Knapp
has nearly completed a large bam
on his farm south of Inman and
contempla’es building a nice house
there in the near future.
20 YEARS AGO
A great many residents of O’- 1
Neill journeyed to St. John's at
Deloit to attend the Fourth Annu- '
al Tri-Cbunty day.Ben Frank- '
lin store has a new ice cream \
making machine.Ralph Leidy (
has been busy remolding the in
terior of the O’Neill Hatchery. . . .
Plans were made to start rebuild
ing the Spencer dam on the Nio
brara river.Mr. and Mrs.
Joe Sengleman, living northwest
of this city, celebrated their forty
sixth wedding anniversary.
The Inman school opened with a
total enrollment of 130. 10 of who
were tuition pupils.Miss
Nadine Coyne and Jane Parkins
entertained ten guests at a one
o'clock luncheon at the M & M
cafe.Clarence Selah left for
S . Joseph, Mo. where he had ac
cepted a position as radio annoncer
.Miss Mildred Keyes and
Leila Rouse opened terms of school
near Stuart. Miss Lucille Stevens
is teaching at Amelia again. . . . .
Francis Price went to St. Louis,
Mo. where he planned to visit his
brother, Peter who is in the Jesuit
seminary there.Miss Olive
Beckwith went to Star where she
will teach the coming year.
Mr. and Mrs Homer Ernst attended
the poultry fair at Page.
10 YEARS AGO
Lightning struck and distroyed
by fire a frame hay bam and its
contents, 560 tons of stored hay
at Inman belonging to I. L. Watson
.William Aim of Redbird is
moving to a farm vacated by
Ronald Carson near Dorsey.
District rally of the Bethany Free
Methodist church was planned at
the church 4 Ms miles S. W. of
Amelia.Donna Whaley, a
student nurse at Clarkson Memor
ial hospital in Omaha visited her
parents over Labor Day weekend
.Many Holt county 4-H club
members were among the ribbon
winners at the Nebraska State
fair at Lincoln.Approximately
80 O’Neill business firms have
been contracted by the parade
committee of the Diamond Jubilee
Fall Festival and have agreed to
sponsor a float in the parade. . . .
Doach Marvin Miller’s O’Neill
ligh eagles opened their 1949 foot
ball season at Plainview on Sept
’mber 16.Darrell Weingart
ler and Eddie Tomlinson, mem
bers of Boy Scout troop 210 were
bn an 80 mile canoe trip from Win
on, Minn into Canada . . . Mrs.
Jeorge Mellor of Atkinson enter- j
tained fneods at a baby shower
in honor of Mrs. Robert Suramer
er.
FIVE YEARS
Miss Donna Mae Fuhrer, 21 year
old O’Neill farm girl converted her
hobby of painting into a business
. . . An article in this weeks is
sue of the Frontier told of the ill
ness and recovery- of "Smoky" the
female St. Bernard owned by Mrs.
P. B. Harty . . . .The 1954-55 school
term formlly opened at St. Mary's
Academy with a total of 394 pupils
. . . .Married: Juliana Kamphaus,
Amelia and Leonard L. Svatos,
Chambers; Airman Dale L. Strong,
O'Neill and Miss Edith Mae Row
lett, Norfolk. . . .Glen Burge who
lives east of O'Neill reported the
loss of six head of cattle which
were stuck by lightning.
Sister Antonella, who has been
principal and senior class tech
er at St. Mary's for 10 years left
to sponsor the senior class in St.
Agnes Academy, Alliance.
Joan Smith, Kathleen Hotiman and
Laurine Coufal, former St. Mary’s
students were received as postul
ants by the Franciscan Sisters in
Denver, Colo.Wiley Young.
23, of Orchard was injured in a
one-car auto accident which oc
cured three miles east of Inman
when the vehicle struck a bridge.
. . .Death: Mrs. Rose Van Connett.
74, Page.
State Capital News
I
Consider Lakes
Near Highways
By Melvin Paul
Stutehouse ('4>rreM|MaUlent
The Nebraska Press Association
LINCOLN—nip Interstate High
way will be a topic of discussion
for many moons and many reas
ons.
One of the latest angles con
nected with the new super high
way is that produced by Mel Steen,
director of the State Game Com
mission.
Steen and State Engineer Roy
Cochran have agreed to study the
creation of a string of lakes along
the 143 miles of the Interstate be
tween Grand Island and North
Platte.
Steen says his plan is that con
siderable sand and gravel will be
needed for the Interstate highway.
This has to normally be hauled into
the road site. But he thinks it
could be pumped from sandpits a
long the highway, making pits big .
enougn 10 no lanes.
This would not change location
of the Interstate or the river.
Cochran says there is a lot of
merit to the suggestion of Steen
but details will require study. Com
plicating factors would be location
of bridges on county roads, cat
tle underpasses and the feasibil
ity of bringing in the gravel by
pumping.
The amount of material for the
road bed of a mile-long section of
the Interstate would produce a lake
of 15 to 25 acres in size, Coch
ran said.
Nebraska will hear much about
the Interstate in the next decade,
whether it involves wages paid
workers, federal funds or land
scaping.
Kyle Retires
A familiar face in the statehouse
that of friendly Homer Kyle of the
Attorney General's office—will be
missing in the corridors.
Kyle, now 71, has retired from
the post of an assistant attorney
general which he has held 18 years.
He says he wants to read “some
of the books I’ve always wanted
to read.’’
Kyle was appointed to his post
in 1929. Atty. Gen. C. S. Beck said
it was with “profound regret”
that he accepted Kyle’s retirement.
CLEARANCE
DEALS
■ on the 59 FORD
Yss---;-^ ’
I Every 59 FORD in our showrooms... on our lots... and in transit...
\ must be sold... regardless of how low we must go! Tremendous selection
A of all models, most colors, all accessories. Come in with your Jj
II present car and cash in on these once-a-year savings! BUT HURRY!
II !/. /2s . in 1 /“Tv _/
GALAXIES
GALORE
Drive home t'-'s
success car of 19C,?.
MANY
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Every one brand nc.J
and ready to go.
VL WORLD’S FAVORITE V-3
^ MOST MODERN SIX
Your choice plus Fordomatic,
i * 'Cruiae-O-Matic or conventional
drive. Beet prices in 6 years.
WORLD’S WISEST CHOICE
OF WAGONS
Our finest ever!
Yours at tremendous 4
once-a-year savings.
Bring in your registration
—be prepared for
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|
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LOHAUS MOTOR COMPANY
FOURTH & FREMONT, O’NEILL, NEBR.
If your’re Intedeeted in an A-l USED CAR — Be Sure to see Your Local FORD DEALER
Haney Needed
State Education Commissioner
Freeman Decker says he probably
will not have enough funds to oper
ate the schools for the blind at
Nebraska City and the deaf at O
maha.
These institutions, formerly un
der jurisdiction of the Board of
Control, came under mangement
of the State Board of Education
July 1.
Decker says the Legislature ap
proprated $300,000 for the deaf
school and $160,000 for the blind
school in order that the depart
ment may run the institutions for
the second year of the current
biennium.
But the commissioner says the
board of control was able to sup
plement those funds with other
revenues while his department
eannot do this.
Thus, says Decker, he probably
will ask the 1960 Legislature for
a deficiancy appropriation.
Taxes Collected
The state collected $5,248,402 in
taxes from gasoline, oil, natural
gas, cigarets and liquor during
August, monthly reports show.
Bulk of the revenue $4,465,322 -
came from the taxes on gasoline.
Cigaret taxes produced $522,494.
liquor $146,312 and oil and natural
gas severance levies, $114,274.
State Fair
The current edition of the Nebr
aska State Fair is in full swing
in Lincoln. J
But Democrats and capital em-1
ployes cannot be seen "politick
ing" during working hours.
That is. if they are following the
advice of Gov. Ralph G. Brooks.
Robert Conrad, the governor’s
administrative assistant, says
wives of department heads and oth
er Democratic volunteers from
throughout the state will be at the
Democratic party’s booth at the
annual exposition.
However, employes and depart
ment heads who are Democrats
will be at the Democratic booth
in the evenings, Conrad said.
State Chairman Russell Hanson
says the booth will be the ‘"warm
up for the 1960 campaign.”
Equalisation
The latest meeting of the State
Board of Equalization was more
harmonious than previous ones.
Board members got together to
approve assessments on flight eq
uipment of airlines which operat
ed in Nebraska in 1958. These are
set by the State Tax Commission
er.
United Airlines was assessed
525,920, Braniff 55,047 and Western
51,055.
TO PLAN BAZAAR
Ash Grove Auxiliary will meet
at the Ash Grove Hall Tuesday
afternoon, Sept. 15 at 1 p m. It
was postponed as some are at
tending the state fair.
All members are urged to attend
as plans for the annual fall bazaar
will be discussed.
Cub Scout Newa—
Den 5 of the Cub Scouts met at
the home of Mrs. Bob Forwood
Wednesday afternoon, Sept- 2. We
visited Beilins honey house. We
named hobbies for roll call and
played a hobby game.
The meeting was closed by say
ing the promise. Mike McCarville
served treats.
Jim Forwood, scribe
RECEIVES ASSIGNMENT
PAGE Army 1st Lt. Richard
L, Buxton, son of Mr. and Mrs.
William E. Buxton, Page, recent
ly was assigned to the 101 st air
borne division at Fort Campbell,
Ky.
Lieutenant Buxton is an aviator
in the division’s 101st Aviation
Company. He entered the Army in
1953
The lieutenant, whose wife,
Audrey, lives in Clarksville, Tenn.,
is a graduate of Page high school.
A. L. Patton, owner O’Neill
^““GLEANINGS from ou^^
t Heritage of Freedom
r "Those who expect to reap the
f blessings of freedom must,
H like men, undergo the fatigue
| of supporting it.”
S Thomas Paine.
I Good friends like to get together NEBRASKA D1VISIO
i over cool, sparkling glasses of Vniud statu
» beer. Beer is so refreshing and ;^Ty« Brtwtn
I friendly. It is that festive touch Foundation
fi that adds good cheer too pleas- ... .