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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 29, 1960)
Prairieland Talk "Greetings from Friends" By ROMAINE SAUNDLrtS, 4UU South fust S?.. Lincoln 6. Nebr Birthday and Christmas greetings and kindly words come from friends in and around O’Neil] as well as those from far distant places. And again my young friend Trudy out in the charming Eagle creek country wrote to me her warm childish greetings and told of her activities witii tier school mates preparing for the Christ mas celebration in their com munity. Yes, Christmas is a joyous occasion for children and it was so nice that Trudy and the other children could do as tiiey did. Their parents, too were no doubt happy in seeing their children having a lot of fun. The One for whom Christ- ma ne mas is a memorial took up Saunders children in Ilis arms some two thousand years ago. “Suffer,” He said, “The children to come unto me and forbid them not.” Thank you Trudy for your kindly childish greetings. * » * One more Christmas season has come and gone, with its joy and pleasures as time moves on. Another year ends its onward march and the New Year now blows its joyous harps. A year older, many with the stooped shoulder. And what has 61 in store for you and I just about what we had in the years gone by. But we may do our duty along life’s lengthening way, aware that we c<m not here forever stay! « * * A lovely letter comes to me from Mrs. William O. Wilson of Sparks, Nev. Some twenty years ago we knew the lady as Miss Dierking, who taught our district school in the Berry district in Swan precinct some twenty miles south of Atkinson. Mrs. Wilson has treasured memories of life in Nebraska that seem to beckon her to return to Prairieland. She reads The Frontier and expresses her pleasure in so getting all the news from “back home,” with a iHHjquet handed to Prairieland Talker when she says that is the first thing she turns to when her paper from O’Neill arrives. The papers in her part of that western state are poor, she writes, little of interest in them. Besides her lovely letter the gifted lady gives me the story she had written of a camp k ing trip beyond their home community that took \ them to Death Valley in California. So hot there | they did not tarry long hut took off for the cooler fe regions of their home community . . . Death Valley f and there was a Death Valley Scotty, a notable gent of other days out there who came to O’Neill to get in on the Rosebud land drawing and look us over. He returned to Death Valley where he ended his days. Nice to get your letter and story, esteemed lady. Come and see us again, Prairieland homes up in Holt county are ever open to you. * * * We knew our retiring president as Ike. Are we to know the incoming chief executive as Jack and have the White House painted green. For more than 2,000 years they had enjoyed life peaceably in far away Ethiopia, but now the rumble of unrest that seems to be shaking all of Africa strikes in peaceful Ethiopia. One section of this troubled world lies yet undisturbed—Australia. I can understand it. Sixty years ago a gent from that peaceful land and Prairieland Talker were printers in a great institution in a California city. Bert was a good printer, always at work, friendly but think ing of the day he would take off for his native land, as I dreamed of my return to beloved prairieland. Bert had never seen snow, but at one time snow fell on the distant hills and Bert with other Cali forians went to a window and stretched his neck and fixed his gaze on the distant mountain side robed in a blanket of snow, old stuff to a gent from Nebraska. * * * So O’Neill will no longer be the home of the district judge, the recently elected judge being a citizen of Brown county. The first of the district judges I recall was M. P. Kinkaid, later congress man. When Kinkaid first became judge there was no Brown county. * * * It is said that highway patrolmen and O’Neill cops are kept on the alert to catch him driving a car without a driver’s permit. And who is it the guards of the peace and dignity of the community arc after? Not one of the lawless tribe forever on the side of deviltry. No not such a one, but rather a patriot of north Holt county, a substantial and law abiding citizen who has spent a long life of useful ness among us. And what did he do so terrible—just a little mishap while traveling the 1 ighway in which no one was badly hurt. But he has the money and can pay the fine those highway and city cops are ever so eager to see turned in. * * * A cold morning in late December. Off of the ice bergs in Artie regions the wind moans across the land, little or no snow and streets and land in the Capitol City dry and iceless. Just ahead January of ’61. Will it bring a day like January 12, 1888? Well, what has been could be again. That terrible winter 73 years ago my mother, brother, sister and I lived in the house just across the street to the north that had been the home of the General O’Neill family, that house now cast aside and the memory of the great patriot who started things here about forgotten. My father had died the summer before so we moved in from off the prairie to return there no more. I took our horses from the shed they were in to the George Jones livery and feed barn a block south and some west. The two church bells, one at St. Patrick’s Catholic church and the other at the Metho dist church, were kept ringing to help any who had to get out to find their way around. You could not see in that storm but could hear. And that terrible storm inspired an O’Neill printer, Old Bates we cal led him, to coin the word, Blizzard. Editorial A Shining Example Christmas is a time to restore our faith in fellow men, ourselves and our future ... a time to ponder the past and plan for the future. Therefore, it was little short of inspiring Sunday morning to read in the World Herald that students of Dana college at Blair had determined to finance the building of a $100,000 swimming pool with pri vate money. THEY DIDN’T ASK FOR FEDERAL AID. , » - They used vision and guts too often lacking in the modem American. It is a tribute to the students and college staff and faculty members that they decided to get the money “the hard way” by raising it themselves instead of running with outstretched hand to the Federal Government. The modem American seeks help from the U. S. Government ... an institution rapidly becoming a welfare agency for all who do not want to solve their own problems. Little knowing or caring what the consequences of his solicitations may be, the seeker of Federal Aid keeps asking for checks written on an already overdrawn bank account. Too often the critics—lambaste the elected re presentatives for Federal Aid. This is not wholly justified. The lambasting should begin on the local level, for here is where the request originates. Our representatives (if they plan to seek re-election) must do as most of their constituents desire. When aid is requested efforts are made to get it. In the recent school bond issue arguments in O'Neill statements were made that we should “get federal aid” or wait until January after the Pre sidential inauguration and let the new president give us the funds. The point that federal aid monies must come from federal taxes (yours and mine) is intentionally overlooked. It would seem that most of our people have come to look to Uncle Sam for anything expensive or difficult to obtain. But, thank God, not all are like that. Look at the shining example of the Dana college students. Higher Tax—Less Revenue The median age of the American people is about 45. This means, among many other things, that a great majority' of today’s motorists have never bought a gallon of gasoline without paying a sales tax on it. To most of us, the gas tax is, and always has been, an established and substantial element in our overall cost of living. But the fact is that the first gasoline tax was passed in Oregon in 1919—and it was a mere cent a gallon. Loyal M. Graham, the legislator who in troduced the bill, is still living. On reaching his 1001 h birthday, he was interviewed by James Lattie of the Portland Oregonian. And, writes Mr. Lattie, hP is wondering if such a tax “was such a good idea.” The reason for this is that to Mr. Graham, "The last straw was the Federal gasoline tax.” In his words, “It is a tendency of a Yankee tc ride a free horse to death.” Well, the gasoline tax horse is certainly being ridden to death. It has reached the point where, on the average, it amounts to some 50 per cent of the retail price of gas before tax. No other necessity, or even any luxury, bears a tax within shooting dis tance of this figure. Worst of all, there is a con certed movement underway to make permanent the last one-cent increase in the federal tax, which was supposed to be a temporary boost that would expire next June. And some, in addition, would add on another half-cent of federal tax. The upshot of all this is that the gas tax is be ginning to demonstrate the workings ot the law of diminishing returns. People are buying the economy cars, or are driving less. So, unless the trend is checked, we will see a ridiculous anomaly—a tax that, as it goes higher and higher, brings in less and less revenue. Like Weeds in the Spring There are certain hardy political perennials which appear as surely and as regularly as the weeds in the spring. The proposal to extend the coverage of the federal wage-hour law, as well as the proposal to increase the legal minimum wage, is one of these. It is brought forward in every Congressional session, and the next will be no exception. The exempt workers—and they have been exempt ever since the law came into being—are in certain local service industries, of which retailing is the most important. It is significant that a highly organized effort was made to extend coverage to them during the last Congressional session—and that, after extensive deliberation, the plan was shelved. And one reason for that, according to ob servers, was a strong tide of grassroots opposition. This opposition, to say the obvious, didn’t arise because people are opposed to higher wages for anyone. It did arise for a number of sound reasons. One is that the proposal would set off a whole new wave of wage increases—which means a whole new wave of inflation. Another is that if we need legisla tion affecting local businesses, which must compete at the local level even if they are part of national chains, it should be applied by state and local action. A third is that retailing, like other service trades, offers unusual employment opportunities for un skilled, marginal, teen-age, part-time and other workers whose value to the employer is severely limited. An arbitrarily high wage would cause wide unemployment among these groups. And a fourth is that no more federal fingers are wanted in local affairs. The last Congress, like its predecessors, set a sound precedent in this. Frontiers LI 50 YEARS AGO William Pinkerman of Scottville and Miss Edna Higgins of Lynch were united in marriage by county Judge Malone at the County Court room on December 22 . . . Mrs. E. D. Henry and children of Disney, went down to Ewing Tuesday morning to spend a couple of weeks visiting at the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. B. P. Smith . . . The peculiar properties of Chamber lain’s Cough Remedy have been thoroughly tested during epide mics of influenza, and when it was taken in time we have not heard of a single case of pneumonia. Sold by all dealers . . . Frank Clark, who has been holding down a claim near Buf falo, S. D., the past year, ar rived in the city last Saturday to ' spend Christmas with home folks . . . Miss Nellie Ryan came home from her South Dakota home stead to spend Christmas with the folks at home. 25 YEARS AGO Oar Indian summer took cold last Tuesday afternoon and Christmas morning the ther mometer registered 8 below. With a north wind blowing about thirty miles an hour the average citi zen imagined it to be around forty or more below. The wind moderated somewhat Christmas day and the mercury did not get as low as it did the night be fore, registering 6 below this a. m. . . . J. D. Cronin left Wednesday night for Lincoln, where the Nebraska Bar Associa tion is holding their annual con vention the last three days of this week . . . Clothes may make the man, but make-up makes the woman. Make the eyes as dra matic as possible. Keep eye brows faint and unobtrusive. Use rouge lightly to leave the em phasis on the eyes . . . Word was received here by friends of the death of Mrs. Jason Smith, of Lincoln, Saturday. Mrs. Smith was an early resident of Inman and was well remembered by the older people of this community. 10 YEARS AGO Leona M. Kramer became the bride of Charles Kubart in a recent rite at St. Joseph’s Catho lic church in Atkinson. Rev. A. A. Lehman officiated . . . Miss Mary Lou Duffy, of Casper, Wyo., is visiting relatives in O’ Neill for the holidays.. .War has taught us a good deal more about geography than the average per son knew. But did we have to learn it the hard way? . . . Mr. and Mrs. Harden Anspach de parted Wednesday for Missouri where they will spend several days . . . Arthur Allen and son Ted, returned Tuesday, Decem ber 19, from a 12 days’ trip to Texas . . . Paul Forsythe, for mer Celia resident now living in Dixon, Wyo., came Tuesday, December 19, for a visit with his uncle Alex Forsythe. He left Thursday, December 21, to spend the holidays with his parents in Iowa. 5 YEARS AGO Mrs. Hazel Coulter of O’Neill was declared the winner in the mink stole contest sponsored by the New Outlaw in West O’Neill it was announced by manager Phil Cohn. The presentation was made Wednesday afternoon . . . Herbert Nielsen retumsd from Omaha Tuesday morning, Dec ember 20, where he spent a week in the Methodist hospital recover ing from surgery . . . Mrs. Carrie Holloway observed her 93rd birth day anniversary at the home of her son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Louis Nelson. Din ner guests were Mrs. John Winter mote, Miss Eula Wintermote, and Mr. and Mrs. Herman Cook. Af ternoon callers were Mr. and Mrs. G. H. Grimes . . . Mr. and Mrs Edward O’Donnell of Wichi ta, Kans., are to leave today (Thursday) after spending the holidays with relatives, including Miss Anna O’Donnell, Mrs. Sue Deaver and Frank O’Donnell. The Long Ago At Chambers 50 YEARS AGO Mr. Van Deevender, and his granddaughter Miss Stevens of Valisca, la., who have been visit ing his sister and niece, Mrs. Wm. Lell and Mrs. Robert Starr, left for his home Thursday. Miss Stevens will remain with Mrs. Lell until spring ... We will pay the highest market price for your produce and receive :t the same as cash. We are here to be a help to the town and community as well as ourselves and are will ing to co-operate with the people in every legitimate manner for the good of the community. Ray mond Atwood ... Ed Porter and Fern Smith went to O'Neill Mon day to order material for the new opera house . . . The Odd Fellows have the new addition to Smith Brothers store nearly com pleted . . . Walter and Herman Holcomb are husking com for Oscar Dorothy. 25 YEARS AGO We can’t imagine how those pioneer farmers of a hundred years ago cleared the forest, drained the swamps and laid out those lovely farms without the aid and advice of the Depart ment of Agriculture . . . Bern ard Cavanaugh who has been in the CCC camp at Gering, arrived Saturday night to spend the holi days with home folks . . . R. J. Graves and Mrs. Katie Potter, both of Chambers were united in marriage by Rev. Doc. Aitkcns of the St. Paul church at Lincoln, while enroute home from Mis souri . . . The County Board of Supervisors accepted a bid of $200 for the Holt county jail, at their meeting last Tuesday. The purchasers were Jake Harley and Ed Pavel. "The EDITOR" At the risk of being branded an enemy of the people and a hater of little children, we’ll have to admit that we enjoyed the inter ruption in TV viewing during the last storm. In fact, we view with anticipation the prospect of addi tional storms throughout the win ter as possible means of stopping this monster from invading our home. Although it is a difficult thing to admit, our family is ad dicted to TV, and only an act of nature which is beyond our con trol can help us “kick the habit.” For years we have watched as the “Wagon train” has inched its way across the tube in one corner of our living room. “Raw hide” has driven the same herd of starving, tick infested, stam peding cattle past our chairs, and at least 1,460 outlaws have drop ped in front of Marshall Dillon’s six gun. How many times have we heard these lines on TV? (Small boy with tears in his eyes looking at his pa) “You’re not going to let Bad Bart call you a nester are you pa? Sure he’s killed 26 men, but you’re not afraid of him are you?” Pore ole “Pa” usually looks like he would rather turn tail and run but he has to face up to “Bad Bart” at least twice every evening. Just once we’d like to see him admit to the little smart-alec kid that he is scared and get in his buggy and go home. Or how many times has this famous line been repeated by the hero? “I’ll admit it looks bad but you’ll just have to trust me for the time being.” Usually these lines are uttered just as the her oine has discovered the good gay standing over the body of her old pa with a smoking six-shooter in his hand. Dear “Ole Pa” seems to be the one who suffers most in the epi sodes we’ve watched. “Ole Pa” is the one who is always getting Even after opening . . . stays sweet at least 10 days! MEADOW GOLD STERILIZED CREAM » • • . is a must on your holiday season grocery list. It’s made of rich cow’s cream, flash sterilized by an exclusive process that keeps it dairy-sweet until you need it. Use just like ordinary whipping cream—it always wNps quickly and stays whipped. Perfect for all heavy cream uses. Not condensed—not evaporated. < Available at Your Door or Food Store Meadow Gold Dairy O'Neill, Nebr. Phone 464-W 34-36 shot, swindled, soused or framed and whose demise would leave a beautiful young daughter with no one to protect her from a num ber of fates worse then death. However the helpless daughter is usually equal to killing at least one bad guy to protect the hero from being shot in the back. But while the casting depart ment seems to be in a rut in fill ing the parts for “Ole Pa” and his daughter, the hero now comes in several styles, ranging from an illiterate, red-eye drinking sad dle tramp, to a ruffles on his shirt type. Both extremes, how ever, must be able to recite at least several verses of poetry. And a prime pre-requisite is the ability to make a graceful ex it when the prospect of matri mony enters the picture. After seeing what marriage has done to “Ole Pa” it is no wcnder the hero takes such a dim view of family life. We have watched as “Bachelor Father” struggled through many an episode during which neither he nor his niece apparently learn ed anything by their experience because the following week they were wallowing through a similar episode. Laurence Walk has used our living room for his dancing party so many Saturday evenings that I feel that perhaps I should have asked his permission before planning a New Year’s eve party this Saturday. Perhaps with the help of sev eral more blizzards we’ll be able to “kick the TV watching habit”. In fact, we’ve cut down a little on our viewing. I’ve been kicking the lead-in wire a little each morning when I leave for work and I noticed the picture is fad ing a little already. How long has it been since you read a good book? Venus News By Mrs. Ralph Bronkhou wr Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Waring went to Grand Island Sunday where they met their son, Arlie, who arrived there that day from Fort Ord, Calif. Mrs. George Jeffrey and Paul Lee drove to Niobrara last Sun day where they visited relatives. Mr. and Mrs. Irvin Held visit ed at the Robert Woods home Sunday. Mrs. Woods is under a doctor’s care. Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Brookhou ser attended the Christmas pro gram at the Verdigre Methodist church Sunday evening. They vis ited at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Sokol later that evening. Vicky Kinnison, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Kinnison, was admitted to the Creighton hos pital Sunday. Richard Cook underwent major surgery on his back December 10 at the Clarkson hospital at Om aha. Mrs. Cook is with her hus band. Last Sunday dinner guests at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Gene Wein rick were Mr. and Mrs. William Wellman of Orchard, Mr. and Do You Know Your Neighbor? "Know Your Neighbor” is not a contest. There are no prizes given for correctly identifying the person pictured. The only reward is the satisfaction of knowing your neighbor. Last week’s Guess Who was Winnie Barger of the Apparel Shop. Here’s an O’Neill businessman you’ve met. Mrs. Keith Kennedy and son of Page and Mr. and Mrs. Vernie Walters of Creighton. Mr. and Mrs. Larry Brookhou ser of Grand Island were Satur day night and Sunday visitors at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Brookhouser. Mr. and Mrs. Francis Boelter and Loren were Wednesday eve ning visitors at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Brookhouser. Mrs. William Wellman visited at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Brookhouser Monday after noon. Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Porter were Friday, Dec 16 visitors at the Ora Caskev home. Mrs. George Jeffrey called at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Brookhouser Friday morning. WATCH [FOR IT! Some will call it a "Clearance Sale", some will call it a "White Sale", regardless of the name, now is your opportunity to take advantage of the tremendous values on Electric Appliances. BIGGER BARGAINS, BIGGER SAVINGS, BIGGER VALUES. 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