Prairieland Talk
"Hole Up Now"
By ROMAINE SAUNDfcRS, 4110 South 5ist St., Lincoln 6. Nebr.
A midw inter morning in prairu land» Capitol
City. After a few days of drizzling ram and clouded
gloom, yesterday it came direct from the North
Pole This morning the sun glows in golden glory
out of heaven's blue upon a
landscape white and beautiful,
a landsccape taint'd under snow.
And where snow is Jack Frost
lays a cold hand upon us. Calm
and cold today. Have you a
warm place to holeup in? Be
thankful for it- I have left a tear
on summer sands ami the snows
of winter have known my fears
hut smiles of joy drive these
away as 1 sit today bathed in __
Remalne
sunlight shining through the
window and the roaring gas Saunders
furnace has put Jack Frost to flight and brings to
us the comforts of home as prairieland lies under
the snow.
* * *
Judge Crites of Chadron is a candidate for re
election as district judge in the 16th judicial dist
rict. Who wall take on the race for district judge in
the O'Neill community this election. Reaching back
into the 1880's starting wath M. P. Kinkald, an O'
Neill lawyer has been elected district judge up
until the present incumbent took over. Judge Mounts
I believe came from Atkinson to the judicial seat
at the county court house. There b a native of
O'Neill, a capable lawyer and patriotic citizen on
the second floor of a bank on south Fourth street
in O’Neill who Prairieland Talker would favor for
the judgeship this time, and thus return to the long
established custom of electing O'Neill citizens to
that important office, understanding Judge Mounts
is no longer available for re-election.
* * *
The story of American railroads is given in a
recently published book. My grandsire did not "draw
a good bow at the battle of Hastings,” but he told
me once he rode the first train that puffed into
Pennsylvania, in which state he was bom in 1804.
His bones lie in the cemetery up on the hill here at
O'Neill his memory lingers with an aged grandson.
• * *
A critical note in a state paper calling atten
tion to the lamentable, or commendable, just ns
you like it, fact that our state's center of higher
learning, the University of Nebraska, wins no honors
at sports. Such ns football, basketball and other kid
stuff. Very well. The university is maintained and
supported by Nebraskans to promulgate, not sports,
but to educate in the fundamentals of all that goes
to equip men and women to become worthwhile
citizens. Our university graduates may not know
much about tossing footballs around but they come
out of our great temple of learning to fill important
positions in the state and nation or to become one
of us in the common walks of life in communities
of patriotic citizens that make our state the pride
of the whole country.
So The Frontier is no more at the old stand ]
where it started HO years ago to tell the story' of
the wonders of God's Country. And before the vision
now rises the memory of those connected with its
publication and stood at the cases by the window in
that old building and set the type by hand. My
two brothers, Ezra and Grant, Red Brainard, Lish
Graham, Homer Campbell, John Welton, George
Riggs, Denny Cronin, Clyde King, Ernest Henry,
Billy Lowrie, George Clark. Mary McLauklin and
two other young women whose names are not re
membered and Mrs. Sam Eves. And besides these
there were in the days of hand set type the guys
we knew as tramp printers who traveled the coun
try over and worked a day or two when they came
to town to get a dollar to buy food and drink, dnnk
at the Critic saloon across the street. The third
building now stands where The Frontier was started :
in a small building in 18S0 Is it now to remain
empty, other than the memories that forever linger
there? Since the linotype did away with the typo
cases other printers have come and gone, Temple-;
ton, my son Glenn, Welton and Captain Cal who
may some day hang up a sign at the front of the
Old Frontier building reading, ‘ Prairieland Print- j
ers, publishers of The Golden Age".
* • »
Two weeks left in January. Blowed in, snowed
in; no schools today in the Capitol City and through
out much of southeast Nebraska, a day the boys
and girls pour over no books as they frolic out in
the snow. No winter day of the long ago blowed
or snowed us up from being at school for John
Til. 1 A . n (innnw o ♦ i nnrl (TH'ii
x jutim xv# xxix ••••s- * *— •> — - «>
you a look that made you shiver . . . Five cent
postage and double gas tax is the latest word out
of Washington . . . Having reached the age of 80
years General MacArthur will no more appear on
a battle field to direct our soldiers . . . Among a
considerable group of new members of the Nebraska
State Historical Society are citizens of New York,
New Jersey, Washington, D. C., and Washington
state, Colorado, California, Kansas and Illinois.
* * *
In former years assessors went from door to
door in the green robed springtime, listed your be
longings for taxation. Now in the winter month
of January you are invited to see the assessor in
person or by mail and tell him what your worldly
goods consist of, then a few months later the col
lector of taxes wants you to come and see him.
In the event you see neither assessor nor collector
then what. But the decree has gone forth that all
Nebraskans shall be taxed. Prairieland patriots,
come on with a list of your belongings, and then
be ready later to dig up.
♦ * *
A Thought for Today.—"Let us hear the con
clusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep his
commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”
- Eclesiastes 12:13.
Editorial
More On Drug Prices
Senator Pistes Kefauver, of Tennessee, continues
to kick up a ruckus in his investigation of drug
prices and drug firm jxdicies.
We are glad that this hearing is being held,
even though denials and counter-charges are coming
thick and fast. And, certain things are obvious, even
at this stage even though the final picture is not
all in place.
For example, one of the things which has been
proven is that a large drug firm offered one mili
tary service a certain drug for arthritis at less
than 565 a thousand tablets. This was only alxiut
30-plus percent of the price druggists were being
charged.
But, the eye-opening thing is the fact that
a small drug firm was selling the same drug for
520 per thousand tablets or one-third of the price
the big drug firm was quoting to the military serv
ice—which, in turn, was one-third of the price this
drug firm was charging druggists.
It all gets around to me same picture, rwcenuy
it was revealed that a popular tranquilizer was sell
ing for about 49c a bottle in South America, while
it sold for anywhere from $9.50 to $5.00 a bottle in
the United States. Something is obviously wrong,
somewhere, when U. S. citizens must pay a price
which is so much out of line with prices elsewhere.
Of course, die Kefauver group has charged that
some drug firms made a profit of as much as 1000
percent, or more, on certain drugs. In short, a good
airing of this situation is in order, and cannot do
any harm as far as the American people are con
cerned, and might accomplish much good.
Unless there is confidence among the American
people- that drug firms are doing a good job and
pricing their products as cheaply as is reasonable
in the free enterprise system, consistent with norm
al profits—then eventually the people will demand
some sort of supervision in this field.
Those who enjoy the free enterprise system,
who believe in it, and who are for private rather
than public control in such matters, should put their
houses in order, and the only way this can be made
evident is for drug firms to reduce prices of some
of their unjustifiably high-priced products. The drug
companies can do it now, or the people, through
government intervention, will do it for them at a
later date.
Farm Subsidy Is Secret
Ord Quiz
For the best part of a year now we have been
sitting in our little ivory tower at the Quiz reading
countless articles in slick paper magazines about
how the farmer is getting sleek and fat on govern
ment subsidy.
Well, we know a few farmers, maybe quite a
few, and to the best of our know-ledge none is sleek,
few even well rounded. In fact we might go a
little further and say that some are less than fat
and in cases are dow-nright gaunt.
We stand this barrage of bull for a mighty long
while, then w-hen the load becomes a little too much
we have to sound off.
Perhaps much the same has happened in Lin
coin where surfeited editorialist on the Journal
Star labored under these words:
"Even the most casual newspaper reader must I
have noticed the lead of a wire service story from
Washington: "Living costs have crept upward to
another all-time high in November.”
"But far fewer probably caught the inference
of the 5th paragraph: “A continued downtrend in
food prices helped check the Novevmber rise in the
index.”
"And who do you supixjse was responsible for
this continued downtrend in food prices which was
the only bulwark against far greater increases in
living costs?
"Obviously it was not the processors and dis
tributors of food whose stockholders' profits and
employes’ wages were as high or higher than ever.
It was, of course, the farmer—solely and entirely—
who gave the consumers of the nation this year
round Christmas present.
“And how many people in the cities do you sup
pose are aware of this windfall they get from the
farmers? Pitifully few, we imagine. Because all
they hear from the metropolitan press and admin
istration spokesmen is how the farmers are living
off fat subsidies from the taxpayers.
“In reality, as shown by the news of living
costs, farmers have lx?en subsidizing the consumers
of the nation.
If farm prices had gone up at the same rate as
other cost-of-living items between 1952 and 1957,
U S. consumers would have paid some 52% more
for food and clothing. They would, during that per
iod, have paid some more than $15 billion a year
more for these necessities than was actually the
case, it has been estimated by competent econo
mists.
"Yet this is the great untold story of the farm
problem. Until the farm organizations, Farm Belt
business interests and governmental representa
tives of the agricultural area make a determined
effort to get this point across, it will remain one
of the nation’s best kept secrets.”
JAMES CHAMPION, Editor and Co-Publisher
Terms of Subscription: In Nebraska, 52.50 per
year; elsewhere in the United States, 53 per year;
rates abroad provided upon request. All subscrip
tions payable in advance.
Entered at the postoffice in O'Neill, Holt coun
ty, Nebraska, as second-class mail matter under
the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879. This news
paper is a member of the Nebraska Press Asso
ciation, National Editorial Association and the Audit
Bureau of Circulations.
NATION A L EDITORIAL
|As^>c0m0N
Frontiers
Ago
so 5 EARS AIM)
The Green Valley coasting cluti
has thoroughly organized with the
exception of the election of officers.
That part was postponed until it
could tie ascertained who could
slide downhill the most without
being thrown from their snow
shoes. Honors are pretty even now.
but when the winner is known he
will lie elected president; so far
none of the boy's have lieen able
to stay on their snow shoes. The
memtiers are F. Hatch. Loren.
Gilmer, Clarence and Irving Sim
onson anil Dave Widtfeldt . .
Frank Vandersnickt and Miss Rose
Weckrley of Ewing were granted
a marriage license by County
Judge Malone last Tuesday . . .
The Sisters of St. Francis have
received plans and specifications
for the addition to St. Mary's Acad
emv which will lie built this year.
The addition will lie built on the
west side of the present building
and. we understand will lie nearly
as big as the present building.
15 YEARS AGO
I «ast Thursday afternoon W. G
Bcha received word from Washing
ton that the government had ac
cepted his offer, and that of the
Episcopal church, for the ground
on which to erect the new post
office building in this city. These
lots are located on the northwest
____ u t 1,.. inf nnrAotion Ilf
and Fourth streets . . . Frank L
Bain, one of the oldtime settlers
of this county, celebrated his 76th
birthday last Monday, and Frank
says that it was a very happy one
. . . Dr. W. F. Finley left last Mon
day night for Omaha, where he
planned on spending a few days
with his daughter, who is a stu
dent in Duchesne college . . Sat
urday evening atxnit 7 o’clock the
house on the Harry Spindler farm,
occupied by the Roy Spindler fam
ily, was found to be on fire in the
attic. A call for help came over
the phone and soon a large crowd
of men were there. The house and
contents were saved but quite a
bit of damage was done.
10 YEARS AGO
Mr. and Mrs. William J. Meusch
and their daughter, Evelyn, 19.
and Carmon. 8, and their son,
Donald, 16, were named as Ne
braska winners in radio station
WNAX’s farmstead improvement
contest here Monday night. With
the honor goes one-thousand-dollars
in merchandise awards provided
by the Yankton-Sioux City radio
station . . . Friday Mr. and Mrs.
Glenn Tomlinson were hosts at a
party celebrating their 25th wed
ding anniversary . . . The Lyle
Abneys eelehrated their silver wed
ding anniversary Monday. Jan. 23
. . . A large group of relatives and
friends gathered at the home of
Mr. and Mrs. Chris Reimers
Saturday evening to charivari Mr.
and Mrs. Earl Stevens . . . C.
Vincent Jones. 35, son of Mr. and
Mrs. C. E. Jones of O’Neill, has
been named outstanding young
man of 1949 at Columbus. Jones,
an official of the Behlen Manu
facturing company at Columbus,
aas been active in civic organiza
tions and projects and state organ
izations.
5 YEARS AGO
Maj.-Gen. Guy N. Henninger, Ne
braska adjutant-general, head of
the state's air and army national
guards and also chief of Nebras
Sen. Hruska Leads Dimes Driv*?
Sen. Roman l. Hruska, of Nebraska, leads off the 1960 New March
of Dimes with his contribution to Mary Park, 3'i, in Washington, D. C.
Mary was born with an open spine, one of the birth defects which
March of Dimes funds are fighting os well as arthritis and polio.
ka's selective service system, spent
last Thursday in O'Neill. He look
ed over several buildings avail
able for temporary armory quar
ters and he studied several pro
posed sites for a new armory in
the event O'Neill is picked for a
national guard tank company . . .
The oldest place of business in
Page has been closed, and the pro
prietor, C. A. Townsend, has round
ed out a long and colorful career.
The Townsend Hardware closed
when Mr. anti Mrs. Townsend de
cided to go to Norfolk to spend
the remainder of the winter with
their daughter, Mrs. Frank Chrne
ler . . . Mr. and Mrs. Frank Rees
will visit his mother, Mrs. Alice
Rees. Sunday at the Amos Nin
ham home east of Chambers. Mrs.
Rees celebrated her 93rd birthday
anniversary Saturday, Jan. 22.
CAPITOL NEWS
Management
Battle May Break
Out In Lincoln
By Melvin Paid
Statelioiise Correspondent
The Nebraska Press Association
LINCOLN There is every indi
cation that a battle between man
agement and lalior which broke out
in the 1959 legislature will con
tinue in the 1961 meeting.
Hearings have begun by a com
mittee of the Legislative Council,
which is studying labor relations.
The committee is an outgrowth
of scrapping in the last Unicameral
over a State Lalxir Relations law.
Headed by Sen. John Munnelly ol
Omaha, the committee already has
taken testimony from lalxir and
management on the need for a
state law on the subject of lalxir
relations.
Management opposed such a law
in no uncertain terms, Labor fa
vored the proposal.
Those representing management
I argued that a state labor act would
attract outside organizers to come
into Nebraska and give lalx>r a
tool to force unionization of busi
ness.
Labor said the secondary boycott
bill, bitterly fought in the last ses
sion, actually established as a
public policy that industrial peace
is dependent upon good employ
ment relations and the availabil
ity of machinery for peaceful ad
justment of controversy.
The committee hearings were or
derly hut there was no mistake in
the intensity of feeling on both
sides of the lalxw-management
question.
Labor said there is not now a re
medy available in state courts in
disputes over unfair practices.
Management claimed there is.
Interstate Highways
Acting State Engineer John Hos
sack has outlined his version of
the purpose of the Interstate High
way.
This was done in his first major
y>olicy pronouncement since tem
porarily assuming duties of the
state engineer.
Hossack says the Interstate
I needs to go into metropolitan areas
j because it must take traffic where
it wants to go. He did not make
s any pronouncements on the con
i troversial matter of determining
priorities for the Interstate.
I The general purpose of the In
terstate is to connect major met
j ropolitan areas of the country,
Hossack said. He said the back
bone of the Interstate will be the
i segments within cities.
There has been considerable con
troversy over which segments of
the Interstate should be construct
ed first.
G>ntroversy on this point and
other phases of the Interstate is
PERCENT
INCREASE IN
COST OF LIVING
SINCE 1940
I PERCENT DECREASE I
I IN AVERAGE COST OF I
«CZ^ ELECTRICITY PER KWHj>*
ELECTRICITY ...
the one cost of living item
that hasn't increased in price!
\
i
Everyone knows that the cost of living has
sky rocketed in the last two decades But
did you realize that during this period the
cost of electricity has actually gone down?
It's true that the power bill you pay today
may be larger than it was 20 years ago, but
that's because you are enjoying so many
more electrical conveniences. Nebraska fam
ilies are using three times as much elec
tricity as they did 10 years ago . . . five
times as much as they did 20 years ago.
Meanwhile, the average cost of a kilowatt
hour of electricity to residential customers
of Consumers Public Power District has
dropped from 4 5 cents in 1940 to 2.56
cents in 1959.
So, the dollar you spend for electricity to
day buys almost twice as much as it did
20 years ago, enabling everyone to
LIVE BETTER . . .
ELECTRICALLY.
CONSUMERSffi,
not expected to diminish appreci
ably in coming months and there
are indications some candidates
for office may campaign on the
matter
Nursing Homes
The State Fire Marshal's office
has again teen confronted with the
controversial problem of a fire reg
ulation concerning nursing homes.
This is the regulation that there
lv an automatic fire detection sys
tem in the homes, connected to a
fire station.
After hearing from a delegation
of operators. State First Marshal
Joe Dims delayed for 6 months
effective date of this regulation
pending a study.
Prime objection to the proposed
rule by operators is the cost of
getting such a system established
and to keep it in operation.
Ovtl Defense
Tin' question of new laws pro
| viding emergency government
] pnvers in time of a civil defense
disaster has been highly contro
versial.
A proposed Constitutional amend
ment will la* on the November
ballot which, if passed. would ac
tivate a set of laws dealing with
emergency gov ernment procedures
Deputy Attorney General Clar
ence Meyer has been an outspoken
critic of the proposals.
Deputy State Civil 1 Vfonso Di
rector Austin Bacon has been the
main proponent of the legislation
Meyer claims powers granted by
the proposals would lie too broad
and it is not clear how they could
; lie terminated. For instance, he,
said, it would give the Legisln-!
i ture authority to disregard the
state’s Constitution and take leg
islative action without 22 mem
bers being present.
Meyer sailed into Bacon charg
ing the latter implied he was Hy
ing to use the Women’s Civil IV
fense organization to fight against
Meyer’s candidacy for attorney
general on the Republican ticket.
Meyer said civil defense organiz
ations are prohibited by law from
engaging in [xilitical activity.
Bacon has publicly opposed
Meyer’s stand on the Constitutional
amendment.
School Districts
The number of school districts
in Nebraska, which once had the
largest total in the nation, con
tinues to decline.
The State Department of Edu
cation says there now are about
2,800 as compared with some 7,200
in about 1920. By the end of this
year, the department expects the
total to drop to alxxit 3.500.
Consolidation of school districts
and operation of one school in
stead of several still is a th't issue
in many areas of the state.
Generally, department officials
say, people have responded to re
orgam/at ion proposa 1 s,
Deloit News
H> Mr*. Henry Keinier
1 Hie to the blocked roads and
frigid weather news is scarce.
Part of the mail route road is open
We get *xir mail at tin* county
line Our county road was opened
Friday afternoon, Jan. 22 The
road from the county line to Ewing
was opened Wednesday
Merle Sehi, teacher at Deloit.
and a friend from Page spent sev
eral days at the E L. Sisson home
last week. Pupils were able to get
to school only 2 or 3 days last
week
Mrs Maynard Stearns and Mrs
Fred Stearns were O'Neill visitors
Friday.
Mr and Mrs. Ixniis Vandorsniek
of Ewing, Mr and Mrs E\o Van
dersniek of Montana and Mr and
Mrs Sylvester Hauer and family
were Sunday dinner guests Jan.
17 at the home of Mrs. G. A
Bauer.
Many people were able to get
nit Sunday for the first time since
Ihe storm.
MILLER THEATER
ATKINSON
One Show Nightly 8 o'clock
Frl.-Sat. Jon. 29-30
COiOfl
AUDIf MURPHY
$ \ tOANNt PRU
Stin.-Mon.-Tue*t.-Wed.
nsuVBiw
UCNNICQIOI
AIFRCD HITCHCOCK S
‘NORTH BY
ERN-FRAN Farms & Ranches
Complete Dispersion at
2 BIG AUCTIONS
AT THE I
ATKINSON LIVESTOCK MARKET
ATKINSON, NEBRASKA
Selling 2,050 Cattle on
Saturday, Feb. 6th
STARTING AT 12:30 p.m.
MACHINERY AND EQEIPMENT FROM 3 FARMS AND
2 RANCHES SELLS ON SAT., FEB. 27, starting at 11:00 a.m.
THE FEB. 6 OFFERING WILL INCLUDE—
850 BREEDING COWS
ALL BRED TO REGISTERED BELLS
300 VERY CHOICE 3. I AND 5 YEAR-OLD ANGES COWS, all
brcil to Jennings Bros, and Archie McGregor registered
Angus hulls. 40% of the Angus cows are registered.
| 300 YELLOW, MFLI.OW, FANCY HEREFORD COWS, straight
4-year olds, all bred to registered Angus hulls.
250 BDi, ROOMY, YELLOW HEREFORD COWS, straight 4
year-olds, all bred to registered Hereford hulls from till'
Wilbur Drybread herd.
All of the cows are bred to calve from late February thru
l April. They are T.B. and Bangs tested. No need telling you we
think “They are the Biggest of the Best” because if you play
cards, you know “a peek” is better than a finesse. So attend the
sale and take “a peek” at them — We think you’ll like what you
see. They will be uniformly sorted for ages and calving dates,
and sold in any number you desire.
1,1Q0 CHOICE CALVES
OUR 1959 CAIJ* CROP
MANY OF THEM FROM THE COWS SEIJJNG IN THIS SALE
ton FANCY ANGUS CALVES
non ANGUS HEREFORD CROSS
too CHOICE HEREFORD CALVES
Closely sorted for sex and quality. Weights from 350 to 550
lbs. average. About 55% steers and 45% heifers. All triple vac
clnated. They will sell by the pound.
100 BULLS
25 PUREBRED AM.I S Bl 1X8 — AM coming 3 years old. We
bought these from Jennings Bros, of Highmore, 8. D. Many
of the cows selling are bred to them.
75 ANGUS HERD BUIX PROSPECTS. This is a guest consign
ment bred by Redmond Sears of Merriman, Nebr. To|»s of
his J950 calf crop. Will be sold in pens of 3 head at a time.
You Angas breeders, here is an opportunity to select your
next year’s herd headers and assure yourselves of uniformity,
quality, gainability and production performance, the saun
as Sears-bred Angus have demonstrated year after year at
America’s leading Angus shows.
NOTE: AIJ. MACHINERY AND EQITPMENT from 3 farms and
2 ranches will be sold in a Special Auction on SATURDAY, FEB.
27, starting at 11:00 am., at the Atkinson Livestock Market. In
cluded are 20 tractors, 2 complete hav ing outfits and a world of
late model 4-row farming equipment Write for list If interested.
ERNIE & FRANCES WELLER
OWNERS
Clarence Brenneman, Foreman
McClurg, Fleming and Ruhr, Auctioneers
(Clip and Save Ad If Interested)
i