Prairielartd Talk
"A Visit To Holt County"
By ROMAINE SAUNDERS, 4110 South bun St, Lincoln 6, Nebr
The steering wheel in the capable hands of a
native son of the Nebraska prairies. Lew Nissen.
we pulled out early on a calm October morning for
Holt county. Rolled along the highways for more
than 200 miles of the green
robed and golden rod tinted
prairies, two former Holt county
gents away for a few days from
the crowded human haunts of
our Capital City. At about 11:30
that day we came to the charm
ing and hospitable ranch home
of Lew’s sister and her hua
band, Mr. and Mrs. Frank
Pierce in that beautiful land of
flowing wells and endless miles _
R n m ilnn
of open prairie that makes up
the Amelia neighborhood. Mrs Saunders
Pierce gave us the glad hand,’ Frank having gone
down to the Amelia post office for their mail. But
brother and sister visited and chatted away as she
prepared dinner. Frank was soon home and we
gathered about the festal board where two guys
from the city had a part once more in a good
country dinner. Frank and Prairieland Talker vi
sited while sister and brother “did up" the dinner
dishes. Then we four got into Lew's car and pulled
up at the Amelia center of trade in the efficient
hands of Mrs. Lindsay and her daughter, Miss
Florence. A brief visit with them and a handshake
with another pioneer of that community, Mr. Saga
ier, they rolled away to stop again at the old Riley
Brothers Shorthorn ranch for a visit with Tom and
Ruth Baker, Mrs. Baker being a daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. William Riley. And that is my former
neighborhood. The land of silken green, prairie roses
and tall cottonwood trees. Home again for a mo
ment, then we head for O’Neill via of Chambers. I
remain in O’Neill with friends a few days, again in
my old home community, where I landed as a kid
more than 75 years ago. Are there any left now of
the long ago? Yes, a few. Friend Lew returns with
tis sister and Frank for a few days and comes to
pick me up and we head for Lincoln.
* * *
At the Commercial Hotel in a village called O’
Neill in the days of John O’Neill with Rosco at the
receiving desk a bed for the night was 25 cents and
a meal 25 cents. That village of O’Neill is now the
city of O'Neill, where a bed for the night is $1.50 to
$3.50, roast beef dinner $1.05. And we see no one
today parked on a wagon seat in the alley eating
his dinner of crackers and cheese that cost him a
dime.
• * •
A bushel and a half of walnuts, three bushels of
apples, a bushel of grapes, baskets of red ripe to
matoes, and still room for the clothes lines on which
to hang the family washing. Where is all of that—
just out there in the back yard of the lot as I look
out of my window by which the typewriter that does
Prairieland Talk is parked. Apple pie for dinner to
day and bunches of grapes.
The Nebraska State Historical Society put on its
innual meeting this year October 22 at the Com
husker Hotel in Lincoln, some interested in the his
torical talks, all delighted to gather at the banquet
table and have a square meal for a buck and a
half. History we are making it day by day. Doc
Middleton. Kid Wade. Dutcher Brothers, Belle Shields
and a few others made record of evil deeds in Holt
county. Hugh O'Neill, Neil Brennan, John McCaf
ferty and many others did their part contributing
to the interesting history of Holt county.
• * *
I have stood again on hallowed ground, the
{round where my boyish feet had stood and tramped
about in the long ago. It is only five miles out from
O'Neill to where I spent my youthful days on the
prairie that was the homestead of Father Saunders.
It is still a long stretch of open prairie, the homes
af pioneer homesteaders no more; now the grazing
ranges of countless herds. But memories still linger,
memories of the struggles and privations of pioneer
men and women. And as I stood there a day recently
I saw again my father come in who had walked out
the five miles from town carrying a 50-pound bag
af flour on his back. We had bread again. And I
saw again my mother seated on the wagon seat a
cold winter day going to town to get a few things
for the home. She had got a little money from some
where. And memories of happy care free days out
there where the sunshine bathed the vast open
prairie in golden glory.
During my recent visit in O'Neil] I had the thril
ling pleasure of grasping the hand of Walter O'Mal
ley, that sturdy rancher of the charming north
country where the silver waters of the Eagle and
other streams flow. Mr. O'Malley is looking well.
He told me he had recently gone to the city for a
specialist to give him a medical examination. The
specialist pronounced h i m sound and healthy
throughout. Walt was glad to hear that and so are his
many friends. He may go to California for the win
ter.
* * *
The ball games have ended, soon we elect a
president and governor as well os other officials to
carry on the affairs of state and nation. I learned
from a visit with Printer-Editor Cal Stewart that
he is in politics promoting the candidacy of Dave
Martin for congress in the Fourth district. For the
next county election Holt county voters are asked
hereby to consider these patriots as candidates:
Sheriff, Walter O’ Malley; clerk of the district court,
Leo Adams of Atkinson; assessor, Ray Bly of Swan
township; county treasurer, Jim Rooney; county
clerk, Pat Donohoe; county judge, Frank Nelsen;
county superintendent, Mrs. Quig; county attorney,
Attorney J. R. Gallagher; County Agent, Editor Kel
ly of the Atkinson Graphic.
Editorial
A Credit To All Nebraska
Singular honors were bestowed recently on a
bright young Frontier-land farmer.
The title of Star Farmer of America, awarded
each October at the National Fbture Farmers of
America convention in Kansas Uity, Mo., is per
haps the most coveted award that can be received
by a young farmer.
The 1960 award went to a Knox countyan, 20
year-old Arden W. Uhlir of Verdigre.
Mr. Uhlir has brought great credit to Frontier
land and to himself with his remarkable record.
Starting his farm career with a registered Here
ford cow 10 years ago, he now farms a section of
Knox county soil. He has a registered herd of 78
beef cattle, 20 sows, and three Holstein cows. He
has a full line of farm machinery.
Mr. Uhlir didn't accomplish all this without a
lot of work, a lot of imagination and a lot of skill.
When Arden was elected president of the Ne
braska FFA following his final high school year, he
was interviewed by the Frontier. He said from his
childhood on he had one ambition: He wanted to be
a farmer.
Arden never entertained the idea of leaving the
farm in favor of city living, which has been a popu
lar trend in the past generation. He told the Frontier
several years ago he wanted to stay on the farm
and make good. He has done just that.
Nebraska has had two other Star Farmers. Like
wise they were from the northeast sector. Norman
Kruse of Loretto won the honor in 1939 and Duane
Munter of Randolph won the award in 1941.
Kruse is still a farmer, still enthusiastic and
still happy. Munter applied his well-grounded agri
cultural sense to the financial world and now is
president of an Iowa bank.
Speaking of all-Americans, Verdigre is the home
of another from a different realm. Dr. L. F. Lovely,
longtime dentist there, won all-American basketball
honors at Creighton University back in the twenties,
and his press clippings, like Arden’s, are volu
minous.
Every Vote is Essential
Many a moon has waxed and waned since there
was a truly close Presidential election in this
country. The last was that of 1916, when almost
complete returns gave Charles Evans Hughes every
reason to believe he had won. But the next day it
was learned that Woodrow Wilson had carried Cali
fornia, an almost totally unexpected event, and that
was enough to put him in the White House.
Subsequent elections have been won by wide
and often overwhelming margins. But, many people
think, something like the 1916 pattern may appear
in 1960. The standard polls, as of now, certainly in
dicate that. They have the two tickets running ab
solutely neck and neck with only a percentage point
or two separating them. These polls also indicate
that a comparativey small number of voters_five
or six per cent or so—are undecided in their choice.
Yet, there are dissenters, who doubt the ac
curacy of polls this early in the game, and who also
doubt if the undecided portion of the electorate is
so small For instance, a leading columnist writes,
"one of the most astute strategists in the Kennedy
camp scoring the current polls, estimated that as
of today the strength of the two tickets is roughly
Nixon 34 per cent, Kennedy 30 per cent, with a
whopping 35 per cent undecided. That is a wholly
subjective judgment, but it may come closer to
the fact than the pollsters.”
He also says, "With a total of 77 electoral votes,
New York and California, the two giant states on
opposite coasts, can mean the difference between
defeat and victory.” Both teams and their organiza
tions are, therefore, pulling out maximum effort in
those states. Special emphasis is laid on the political
grass-roots—that is, the precincts. Everything short
of kidnapping has been done in some places to get
people registered and to strengthen organization.
It’s no secret that there is worry in the Ken
nedy-Johnson ranks. After the Senator’s enormously
successful experience in the primaries, many be
lieved his campaign would go along on a jet-pro
P-llcd basis. But it hasn’t. The post-convention Con
gressional session was a bitter disappointment.
Senator Johnson, for all his parliamentary skill and
his position as majority leader, just couldn’t wield
the expected influence. The two measures which
Senator Kennedy pushed most urgently—an expand
ed minimum wage bill, and a bill providing medical
payments to elderly people through the Social
Security system, both failed of enactment. Con
servative Democratic leaders, such as Senator Byrd,
have shown a definite lack of enthusiasm for the
ticket, even though they haven’t bolted.
In this area, Mr. Nixon has had better luck. His
party, with few exceptions, is about as united as
anyone could ask. The conservative wing, of which
Senator Goldwater is now the leader, certainly
doesn’t follow Mr. Nixon all the way, but its mem
bers are working hard to elect the ticket. That is
also true on the liberal side, where Governor Rocke
feller is a prime force. The Nixon team has high
hopes that the Governor, who is sparing no effort
on the party’s behalf, will prove a decisive influence
in the all-important state of New York.
In any event, Mr. Nixon has said that this elec
tion may be the closest of the century. Mr. Kennedy
is reported to hold a similar view. Both, it’s safe to
say, will continue to campaign on the principal thaj
every last obtainable vote is vital.
BILL RICHARDSON, Publisher
BRUCE J. REHBERG, Editor
Terms of Subscription: In Nebraska, J2-50 per
year; elsewhere in the United States, $3 per year,
rate 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.
NATIONAL EDITORIAL
‘AS^)C0iTI0N
I " ~|
F rontiers
Ago
53 YEARS AGO
The “Rogues," a local organ
ization of auck hunters, left upui
their annual duck hunt last &in
day morning and expect to brini
back enough mallards, greei
heads, spoon bills and canvas
backs to treat each of thei
friends to a good meal. . .J. D
Lee of Lynch, candidate for atati
senator from this district, wa
in the city last Monday and Tues
day looking after his politics
fences. . One of the prettiest wed
dings of the season was that sol
emntzed at the Catholic churcl
last Wednesday morning whei
Rev. M. F. Cassidy performei
the ceremony that united Misi
Anna L. Matthews of this city t<
Matthias H Crilley of Bonesteel
S. D. . .Former deputy sherif:
and old time resident of H0I1
county, Charles “Buck" O'Neill
died Monday at Columbus. . A
snow storm is raging in the west
ern part of the state today, ex
tending east as far as Long Pine
25 YEARS AGO
Committees of the local post oi
the American Legion are making
elaborate plans for the observance
of Armistice Day, Monday, No
vember 11. There will be a par
ade, program at the K. of C. hall,
noon luncheon, football game in
the afternoon and a grand Armis
tice ball in the evening. . .Prof
Jordan and a young lady teach
er, both of the Valentine schools,
while returning to their homes
from the Teachers’ Association
meeting at Lincoln last Sunday
night ran into a h >rse on the
highway about eight miles south
of town about 8:30. . .Anotiitr
bubbling well has just been
brought in at Amelia, a town
without a pump. It is fur the use
of patrons at the Floyd Adams
filling station and others who wish
to partake of its refreshing tlow
. .Mrs. Elizabeth Gatz died at
her home in this city Wednesday
afternoon.
10 YEARS AGO
John Warner, DN2, who was a
crewmember of the navy's mine
sweeper Pledge, which went down
in Korean waters on October 12,
survived the disaster. . .Kenneth
Fleek, 16, son of Mr. and Mrs.
Charles Fleek of Loretto, was tak
en to a Norfolk hospital Friday
afternoon after toeing sprayed toy
gunsh t while hunting ducks near
Chambers. . .Miss Nancy Cather
ine Froelich, daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. William J. Froelich, was
a countess in a mythical Realm
of Quivera coronation in Omaha
Friday night. . .The O'Neill mu
nicipal band took part in band
day activities at Lincoln Satur
day. . .Deaths: Mrs. R. E. Gal
lagner, 64, of O'Neill died Satur
day; Mrs. Peter E. Nissen, 60 of
Page, died Sunday; James W
McDermott, 66, a longtime resi
dent of O’Neill, died Saturday. . .
Extension club women from all
corners of the country will ga
ther in O’Neill today for the an
nual achievement day program
5 YEARS AGO
The O’Neill High school stu
dent body staged its first annual
homecoming Friday evening at
the American Legion auditorium
following the O'Neill-Neligh game
Miss Shirley Schultz, senior, was
crowned queen and Kenneth Back
haus, senior, was crowned king
of the 1955 homecoming dance. .
Four young persons, including a
23 year-old former O’Neill youth.
Lowell A. Callaway, perished
Saturday night when a car in
which they were riding skidded
into a Norfolk gravel company pit
at the southeast edge of Norfolk
. .Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Ellis, 8?
and 81 years old, respectively,
celebrated their 60th wedding an
niversary <® Sunday. Oct 16. . .
A total of 3,451 Aberdeen-Angus
calves and yearlings were sold
at Atkinson and O'Neill on suces
sive "black Fridays" under the
auspices of the Holt County Ab
erdet n Angus association.
The Long Ago
At Chambers
50 YEARS AGO
The townships of McClure and
s Shamrock are having new 15
horsepower engines put cm their
graders and will now be equipped
• to do a rushing business in road
i grading. . .F. H. Charles killed
live ducks with one shot yester
I day. . Clint Elkins is in Sioux
City taking a course at the bar
ber college. . .What a fine time
, it would be' to put that grade
i north of J. D. Grimes house. Thu
I pond in the section line has dried
i up and the grade could be made
, on the line instead of going around
as it now does. . Bessie Frary is
teaching school in the Gleed dis
trict. . Edward Adams is pre
paring to put in cement walks at
his residence on Main street.
25 YEARS AGO
Mr. and Mrs. Scott Hunt, aunt
and uncle of Mrs. Edward Ad
ams, celebrated their 70th wed
ding anniversary Sept. 29, 1935 at
their home in Hastings, la. . .Two
brothers die within two days of
each other. Phil Robertson of
Chambers died on October 21 and
Walter Robertson of Mt. Liberty
Ohio died on October 23. . .Dr.
and Mrs. E. J. Oxford left Sun
day via Lincoln for Omaha where
the doctor will attend the Midwest
Medical and Clinical society in
that city from Oct. 28 to Nov.
2nd . . . Mrs. Richard Jarman
and children accompanied Mr.
and Mrs. Everett Jarman as far
as Fullerton, Saturday morning
where they will visit Dick’s par
ents, Mr. and Mrs. Wood Jar
man ... A number from here
went to Meadow Grove Wednes
day to attend the funeral of Mrs.
David Scott.
Smoke from
"Brandin'
Iron" Crick
By J. C. Fudd
Well, things have quieted down
considerable along the Crick this
w'eek with the prairie chicken
and grouse hunting season being
over and all. Everyone was
tickled to see it happen but Old
Mann Chinn. Outside of the game
wardens and the license sellers
he was the only guy that took in
any money on the deal. Says he
didn't have to pinch anyone to
get the job done either. '
Where that old buzzard gets his
ideas, can’t anyone tell but he
sure came up with a lulu this
time. Two years ago when the
Sportsman’s Inn, up in the County
Seat went flunk and they had to
sell off all the belongings at
public sale, Old Man Chinn was
there. Folks just about died
laughing when he bought all them
stuffed birds and fish and animal
heads. Whole jeep load of the '
dusty, moth chewed things.
Never fazed the old guy a mite,
just jiggled his loose lower plate
and said it might be a hard win
ter and he might be forced to
eat ’em before spring!
Come hunting season this year
he had a scheme, a real money
maker, all worked out. First off
he posted every acre of his land,
specially that along the roads,
then the night before season
opened he was busier’n a beaver.
Just a little too far for shootin’
distance from the road m some
short grass or along trees he d
throw out some short sticks of
stove wood or lumps of coal or old
shoes anything to show up a lit
tle, then out m the open he'd put
one of them suffed game birds in
plain sight. When he got done
By Grab, it would have fooled
an expert, let alone one of them
city shooters.
Then the old coot filled the
jeep with gasoline for a quick
take off and caught himself a
little shut eye so as to be ready
and rested when the shootin'
started Gome daylight the bom
bardment began.
Didn't take him more'n two
minutes (seems like) to come
steamin’ up madder'n a spooked
bull, with his hand out. Didn’t
take the trespassers half that long
to take a quick gander at the
"NO HUNTING” signs and dig
down in their pockets for some
long green.
"Never had no set price,” he
said, "just took whatever they
had a mind to dish out." From
the way he licked his lips we
gathered it paid off pretty good
Pretty nearly wore the old guy
out collecting on Saturday anil
Sunday, after that business was
slow but steady.
Novy the excitement is over he’s
busy patchin’ them stuffed crit
ters back together again (some
of ’em got blasted pretty bad)
so’s to be ready for next year.
He's got a few mallard decoys on
his pond over by Goreys hill.
Might pick up a stray neckel
now that duck season's open.” he
says.
See you next week.
"The
EDITOR"
Last week we made a grevious
oversight in The Frontier. In
the page dedicated to the Fron
tier staff and oar correspondents
we failed to list one of our main
contributors to The Frontier. The
person to whom we refer is of
course J. C. Fudd, who each week
sends us a report from Brandin
Iron Crick.
People along the Crick were
quick to let us know of our over
sight and so we would like to
hike this opportunity to apoll
gize to Mr. Fudd for the error.
We are sorry that we do not
have a picture of J. C. to print
right now (the only picture we
have in our files is of Fudd’s Dad
dy and although some people
have a hard time telling Fudd
from his Daddy we will endeavor
t > a secure a recent picture of
Mr. Fudd for our n«xt issue.)
—BJR—
Colors can raise our spirits,
import serenity or kindle excite
ment. Automobile drivers feel a
greater challenge to pass a rod,
maroon or yellow car than a
blue or green one. The report
doesn’t mention It, but we’ve no
ticed that a black car with a
white door seems to have quite
a negative effort on most dri
ver’s desire to pass.
—BJK—
And speaking of color, have
you noticed that it is nearly im
possible to buy anything that is
simply brown, blue, green or any
of the other old standby colors
we learned in our early years at
school?
Unless you are an export on the
color of fruits and vegetables in
| ■ i ■ t & V A1 1 HH
#
THIS ADVERTISEMENT PAID FOR BY NEBRASKA SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT ASS N
STATE
BOARD OF
! EDUCATION
! DISTRICTS
Who is your representative on the State Board of Educaton ?
Do you know your representative’s position and stand
on major controversial educational issues ?
. A local school board is close to the people
they serve and are known by them, being elected
by all the voters.
The njembers of the state board of education
are far removed from those they represent, un
known by 90% of the voters, and elected by
j districts for six year terms on a staggered basis.
The chief school official is appointed and
t accountable only to the six-man board—not the
general public he serves.
There is no direct parallel in the two systems.
Wherein, then, lies your true representation and
the assurance of consideration.
It is a dangerous buck-passing system without
a means of pin-pointing responsibility with tho
disillusioned and frustrated public chained to a
merry go-around.
The proposed Constitutional Amendment does
not in any way affect the present statutes which
establish the requirements and qualifications for I
Commissioner of Education.
A vote 300 for will insure you a real and
meaningful voice in education not the imaginary
and inaudible one you have today.
Your vote is urgently needed to correct this
condition.
varying stage's of ripeness it is
nearly impossible to go into a
store and order the color you
want Avocados, olives, plums
limes, the list of colors sounds
like a grocery list, or perhaps a
winning combination on a slot ma
chine.
We have a little tremble orelor
mg the color we want, because
we sometimes get the color of
the evoked vegetable confused
with the color id the raw variety.
We've found it is easier hi clip
a sample id the color we want
from the seed catalogue and take
it with us.
A baby sardine saw a sub-mar
ine for the first time and was very
frightened. "Don't worry,” said
the mama sardine. “It's only a
can id people.
Capitol News -
Financial Support for Colleges
To Increase During Next Decade
By Melvin Paul
SliUchousc Correspondent
The Nebraska Press Association
LINCOLN—Nebraska will have
to house in the next 10 years
15,600 more students in institu
tions of higher learning. And that,
says Dr. uyman Glenny who is
surveying tne priblem for the
Legislature, is t qual to two com
plete Universities of Nebraska.
An 80 per cent increase in stu
dents predicted by Glenny is bas
ed on the assumption mat there
■will be a boost ot eight per cent
in the number of nigo school
graduates wanting to go to col
lege.
Glenny made a report to a
special committee of the Legis
lature wh.ch in turn will present
information to the 1961 Unicamer
al which meets in January. Glen
ny says the fastest growing educa
tional institutions in the state are
the University i f Omaha and the
four junu.r colleges at McCook,
Fairbury, Norfolk and Scottsbluff.
Of those in colleges in Nebras
ka 50.5 per cent are in state
financed institutions—30.7 per cent
at the University of Nebraska and
19.8 per ctnt at the teachers
colleges in Wayne, Cliadron, Peru
ami Kearney.
There are 1,243 full time faculty
members in Nebraska colleges
which had an undergraduate stu
dent population of some 20,000
last year, Glenny said. The pic
ture painted by Glenny rais s the
problem of state financial support
in the next decade for institutions
which are already big users of
property tax dollars.
Health Department
The State Health Department
has hired a public relations firm
to tell why the department needs
44 iper cent more in state pro
perty tax money. At a State
Board of Health meeting, Leo
nard L. Larson of Lincoln said
the firm, John B. Quinn and As
sociates, was engaged by the
board July 6 for $500 per month.
Larson will contact legislators
and doctors in connection with a
proposed reorganization of the
department as recommended in
a report by the U. S. Public Health
Service.
By law the board can carry on
a health education program and
make plans on organization of the
department. Several state agen
cies, notably the highway depart
ment, game commission, and Un
iversity of (Nebraska, have their
own public relation staffs.
Aeronautics
Repercussions were expected to
continue this week over the fir
ing of State Aeronautics Director
Jack Obbink by Gov. Dwight Bur.
ney. Burney claims Obb.tvk was
on a trip made by the state plane
in the early morning hours of
Sept. 24 to Kansas City which
carried Robert Kennedy ns a
passenger.
Kennedy is campaign manager
for his brother. Sen. John Ken
nedy, Democratic presidential
nominee. Barney says Obbink is
unable to prove that the plane
was on state business. Obbink
says he can't without violating
the confidence of someone he hail
business with in Kansas City.
Burney is a Republican, Obbink
a Democrat. Political charges
and counter-charges flew all
last week from both parties ov
er the incident.
Obbink declined to recognize
Burney's firing and said he had
a valid appointment until Jan
5. The State Supreme Court or
dered Obbink, h iwever, not to in
terfere with department opera
tion.
Motor Vehicles
llhe State Motor Vehicle Depart
ment has taken in more than $1
million in new revenue, its dir
ector, Alvin Scissors, says. Scis
sors says $774,000 i f the money
came from interstate registration
of commercial vehicles required
by a law pass 'd by the 1959 Leg
islature and the remainder, or
$299,419, from permit fees requir
ed by the same ibill.
In addition, the director report
ed, he collected $46,325 in fees
for rc-instute-ment on drivers li
censes as provided under the new
financial responsibility law pas
sed by the 19.9 Legislature.
Also collected by the depart
ment, Scissors said, was $44,171 in
fees for getting driver informa
tion for credit bureaus and in
surance companies.
Disabled
During September, 55 disabled
persons completed rehabilitation
activities and 12 were employed
as teachers. That’s the report of
Fred Novak, director of the di
vision or rehabilitation services
for the State Department of Ed
ucation.
Novak said that is an “excep
tionally high” percentage of dis
abled persons going into the teach
ing field. Total monthly expendi
ture for the 55 persons in Sep
tember was $23,552, Novak re
ported, f^r an average cost of
$428 each.
At the end of September 1,654
persons were in active rehabili
tation program in Nebraska. No
vak said the division will need
more money the next biennium to
handle its cases and make use of
available federal funds.
A telephone is fir
getting cheered up
when you feel lonesome...
... and it's for ordering the
groceries and arranging parties
and calling the plumber and
doing a thousand other things.
NORTHWESTERN BELL
Service First