Prairieland Talk
"The Years Come And Go"
I»y ROMAINL SAUNDERS, 4110 South 51st St., Lincoln 6, Nebr.
two notable citi/.ons oi u mm irom some lime
in the 1880's until more recent times, the remains
of lK»th now under the sn<| up on the hill. One a life
long Republican; the other a Democrat to end up a
Teddy Roosevelt Republican.
Both professional men of abili
ly the one witli an office in the
upiwr room over the drug store
on Douglas street; the other an
office up that flighl of stairs in
the First National Bank build
ing none other than the late
M. F. Harrington, an outstand
ing lawyer who was the inspiri
ing agency that induced other
young men of the community
to hike to legal affairs. Mr.
Harrington was active in poli
ces but never sought office himself. The last I had
known of it his home was at Fifth and Everett
streets, one of O’Neill's first residences of import
ance that had been the home of Mr. and Mrs. Adams
and their son. That other lawyer was the Honorable
R. R. Dickson, who played second base at the bail
games over there between First and Second streets
just north of Douglas, now a residence district. The
years come and go, Attorney Dickson became Judge
Dickson of our district court. The well appointed
courthouse up Fourth street stands as a monument
to Judge Dickson who was the principal prompter of
a new courthouse for Holt county.
* t *
1 learn that Mrs. Rose Rohlyer recently died in
a nursing home at Elgin where she had been for
nearly three years. She was buried beside her hus
band in Neligh. When I holed up down in Swan
precinct the Roblyers were near neighbors, later
going to Atkinson and then to Neligh.
* * *
The headline reads, “Shotgun Evangelism.” Do
the preachers now go out and bring them in at the
point of a gun?
* * *
Our state law makers are still at it here in the
Capital City. Among the cargo of proposed laws
is a bill to replae ■ that electric chair at the state
prison with a soft cushioned rocker for the killer
to loll away the years in. Any convicted of murder
to live on, maybe after a term in prison turned out
to kill again. I do not know how Senator Nelson
will vote when that measure comes up, but Senator
Fern Hubbard Ormo tells me she is for it. But
Senator Orme says she will vote against the sale
of the state school lands which some of the senators
are trying to bring about. Many visitors are coming
to the legislative halls this session, recently three
Ihis loads of ladies from out in the state took in
the scene at the State House.
Our president has it that a few more billion is
to he added to the national debt, but he proposes
to reach a hand into the cash box and deal out the
dough to the jobless throughout the country. Some
are out of jobs because they can not hold a job, in
competent and lazy. Others out of jobs because of
industry at a low ebb. Have you a job, a business
dig a little deeper to pay your growing tax burden.
O yes, we American patriots will make out some
way. So three cheers for the red, white and blue!
* * *
For twenty-four years he had served on the
police force of the great city of New York, first as
a patrolman but today a high ranking officer. On
a recent Sunday this police officer appeared on the
TV. We do not usually look to the police for
spiritual help but this one can give just that. He
dealt with the matter of juvenile delinquency. Much
of it in the great city, not alone in the slums but
from the better sections of the city. This police of
ficer is a man of religious and spiritual experiences
and tells us the lawless kids are such because of
no religious and spiritual bringing up in their homes.
Ho advises parents everywhere to train up their
children “in the fear of the Lord.” Come, dad and
mom, take your Janey and Jimmy to church.
* * *
After spending the weekend at the home of his
sister near Omaha Senator Frank Nelson returned
to Lincoln and came to visit me. It is a pleasure to
grasp Frank’s capable hand, to look into friendly
eyes and talk things over. Mr. Nelson is busy at
tho ofo Il/wien L..4 _ 1_i _ __1 , i
--- ^Ui. piuno Id opcuu Ulc
Easter adjournment period at his Holt county ranch
home. One bill before the state legislature Senator
Nelson is decidedly against is the measure to do
away with capital punishment in our state, the
senator feeling ihat one convicted of murder should
be killed. The Senator favors the proposal to sell the
state school lands, section 16 and 36 in each town
ship out in the state, and much has already been
sold in the eastern part of the state.
* * *
Some fifty years ago Charley Hall was serving
as sheriff in Holt county, after which the Hall family
came to Lincoln and Mr. Hall was killed on the
highway when in pursuit of a criminal, Hall being
in the service of the city police department. The
Halls came to O’Neill many years ago from the
abandoned village of Mineola some 20 miles north
east of O Neill and Mrs. Hall was one of the most
popular ladies of her day in O’Neill.
* * *
Springtime and it rained all night. We will
pluck again the rose and see the apple bloosoms
white. Days and seasons come and go; sunshine and
shower, winter winds and snow. And so we go from
day to day out along the lengthening way to come at
last to the end of life’s way.
Editorial
Keep Us Informed
Once in a while it is a good idea to remind the
readers that this is their newspaper.
Anytime you think of a suggestion don't hesitate
to inform us. We may not act on your suggestion
immediately, but be assured that it will lie carefully
considered and an attempt will be made to follow out
die idea.
The greatest criticism a weekly paper receives,
is the scarcity of personal news. After all, most
everyone enjoys reading about their friends and the
interesting parties and events that take place. How
ever, only a very few people will take a minute to
pick up the phone and call their paper to give in
formation.
Take our good friend Marvin Miller. We talked
to him two times this week concerning school affairs
but he neglected to tell us how worried he and his
wife had been when their youngster. Tommy, fell
while playing and received a broken arm.
Now young Tommy has a lot of friends and had
they read about it in the paper, they would no doubt
have sent cards to the young lad which would have
helped the time pass until his arm had mended.
Of course, it speaks well for Marv that he does
n't mix personal affairs with business. We hope he
won't be offended by being used as an example. The
main tiling is that the Millers are popular and their
news makes interesting reading. This goes for the
rest of our readers.
Take time to keep your paper informed and your
newspaper will keep you informed.
A department of the Investment Bankers Asso
ciation of America reports that state and local gov
ernment bond authorizations approved by American
voters last year reached an all-time high of $6.1
billion. That is 30 per cent more than the previous
peak, which was approved in 1956.
(
President Arthur H. Motley of the Chamber of
Commerce of the United States, says: Today tens of _J
millions of dollars are grabbed in lump sums out of —
the U. S. treasury —out of everybody’s pocket—to
build a waterways project benefiting only a small
area; to build sewers or sidewalks or clear up a
blighted downtown area in some community which
has found a new way to shirk local responsibility. ”
Can you visualize a string of loaded railroad
tank cars 5,083 miles long—nearly twice the distance
from New York to San Francisco? If you can, you ! ~
have an idea of the amount of aviation fuel used by
the U. S. Air Force last year. It came to a record
5. 9 billion gallons. In addition to fuel, some 600 se
parate classes and specifications of petroleum pro
ducts are used by this arm of our defense system.
Frontiers
Ago
50 YEARS AGO
Z. M. Sesler of Holt county
and Mrs. Minnie Alden of Ni
obrara are married at the Meth
odist parsonage in Neligh. . .Gus
Spindler has commenced the er
ection of a flour mill just west
of the creamery. . .George Gaug
henbaugh becomes the owner of
the Henry Zimmerman flour and
feed store. . .Dora Reifers, 19,
dies of typbod pneumonia at
home of parents, Mr. and Mrs.
Peter Reifers.
25 YEARS AGO
Bids are requested for the con
struction of the new courthouse.
. .Application for emergency crop
loans for 1936 are now being re
ceived at the County Agents of
fice. . .Mrs. Marie Storjohann
dies March 26 at her home at age
of 76 years. . .The O’Neill Dra
matic club will present three-act
comedy under the direction of
Mrs. F. J. Kubitcbek, and pro
ceeds will go to recondition ten
nis court.
10 YEARS AGO
Frontier wins recognition for
“Pioneering Radio” in weekly
field, given by University of Ne- '
braska. . .Luelong Holt county
woman, Mrs. Margaret Dobrovol
ny dies March 28 at Atkinson. . .
Liquor by drink to be tested in
Ewing election. . .Butchers hit
$21.25 at O’Neill Market.
5 YEARS AGO
Navy pilot from Page, Lt.
Harold D. Tegeler, is killed when
plane crashes in Pennsylvania
river. . .Mr. and Mrs. Deemer
E. Connor celebrate 60th wedding
anniversary at family dinner in
Orchard. . .Funeral services con
ducted for Mrs. Christian Henkel,
76, long time Phoenix communi
ty resident. . .Two killed in air
plane crash near O’Neill—dead
are Donald E. Rohde of Lynch
and Bryce Whitla, formerly of
Butte.
The Long Ago
At Chambers
25 YEARS AGO
Only private airport in Holt
county is located at Chambers
owned by Tom Newhouse and
Chet Fees. . .Public library doors
opened after lenghty time of dif
ficulties. . .Basketball team hon
ored by Commercial club for suc
cessful season. . .Cream sold for
27 cents, eggs at 14 cents and
heavy hens for 15 cents on the lo
cal market
50 YEARS AGO
Albert Dawe and sister and
N. Rowse visited here on way to
O’Neill where Miss Dawe and
Mr. Rowse will make final proof
on their homesteads. . .We learn
that Miss Blance Reifers of O’
Neill has a severe attack of ty
phoid fever. . .H. L. Smith, local
long distance running champion
of the South Fork county gave
proof of his running powers yes
terday when he ran down and
caught a wild goose.
Electric Motors
Rewinding — Rebuilding
Call 243 W — 24-hr. Service
Northwest Electric
O’Neill
- — 1 —■ ■
THE MUSIC OF
YESTERDAY AND TODAY
SUfied luj
BLUE
BARRON
HIS ORCHESTRA
Ainsworth Grade
School Gym
Ainsworth, Nebraska
WED., APRIL 12
Pre-Sale Tickets—$24)0
At Green Arrow
Adm. at Dance—$2-50
Sponsored by
Ainsworth Vol.
Fire Department
1*1 PILS OF PLEASANT \ 1EW school ilistri ;-t 1, Keya Palia county, and their teacher, Mrs.
Eulah Zahl, Friday toured the Frontier newspaper plant. They were accompanied by Mrs. Andrew Ro
wan jr. 1 resent tor the tour were Bradley Rowan, L'nda Weaver, Faye Rowan, Sharon l,aiiz, Rhonda
McCumber, Sandra Kibby, Karl Connell, Elaine McCumber, Cherrie Doyle, Wanda Johnson, Raleigh
Connell, Randy Rowan and Mike Rowan.
Capitol News -
School Land Lease Probe Asked;
Aftermath of Unsuccessful Bill
Nebraska lawmakers are back
at their desks following a much
needed five-day Easter recess.
The recess didn’t come any too
soon, either. All of the pressures
and problems building up the
first three months of the session
began to show. Tempers were
short, committees began killing
bills right and left and other
threats were levelled against at
tempts to kill other bills such as
LB 208, the bill to increase the
state park levy to .30 mill.
The park bill was supposed to
be up for final reading last
Thursday, the day of adjourn
ment for the Easter recess. But
its main introducer, Sen. George
Syas of Omaha, spotted the dark
mood of the lawmakers and suc
cessfully maneuvered to hold it
over until the recess. By then,
he reasoned, most would be re
freshed and moods would be
brighter.
This atmosphere is not new to
veteran newsmen covering the
Legislature. It happens every ses
sion—at least twice. The next
time it will crop up—as sure as
the sun rises in the east—is near
adjournment time. This is the
time of year when the weather
outside is pleasant. Inside the sun
never fails to heat the chambers
to 'uncomfortable temperatures.
Tempers rise along with temper
atures and the anxiety of the
members to hurry up and wind
up business and adjourn is very
noticeable.
Aeronautics Director
Nebraska is about to receive a
new aeronautics director in a
week or so. At least, that is what
Gov. Frank Morrison has indicat
ed. He says he wants a replace
ment for Jack Obbink by the mid
dle of April.
Obbink, a controversial figure
since he was fired last year by
Gov. Dwight Burney, has resign
ed. He has accepted a federal ap
pointment as U. S. Marshal in
Nebraska.
The new director will be the
last appointment of the governor’s
upon which confirmation action
will be taken by the Legislature.
Only two other appointments
have not yet been confirmed, but
both are set for next week. They
are State Engineer John Hossack
and Game Commissioner Ldais
Findies.
Redistricting
A move is underway to delay
the problem of redistricting the
state from four Congressional dis
tricts into three until late in the
sesion.
The Government and Military
Affairs Committee has submitted
its plan calling for a general east
west division. This has met with
stiff opposition from a handful of
western senators who prefer a
north-south division.
A diagonal has been suggested
as a possible compromise but pre
dictions among several of the :
leading senators are that the op
ponents to the east-west commit- '
tee plan are not strong enough to
swing it. ]
Quite a bit of behind-the-scenes ]
work has been going on by both ,
sides to gain support for their i
own plans. ,
Color Photos
A sweeping change in drivers >
licenses is in progress in iNe- ‘
braska. The Legislature already 1
has given initial aproval to the {
new method and the concensus is *
that final approval is certain. t
Under LB 349, each license
would contain a colored photo- .
graph of the holder. Instead of re
newing every other September 1, {
the renewal date would be the {
birthday of the holder every two [
years. f
Another new approach is hav
ing the state issue the actual
license. Counties, which now is
sue them, would take the photo
at the time of application and
issue a temporary permit. After
checking driving records of ap
plicants, the state would either
issue or refuse to issue the two
year license. Incidentally, the
cost is up—from $2 to $2.50.
The main argument for the pic
ture on the license is that it will
provide positive identifcation of
the driver, and eliminate the pos
sibility of forgeries or counter
feit licenses.
School Lands
A Legislative Council interim
study on the method of leasing
the 1.6 million acres of school
lands in the state is almost a»
sured.
Twenty-five of the 43 senators
have signed a resolution asking
for the probe into the present
manner of leasing the lands. The
resolution is the aftermath of an
unsuccessful attempt to authorise
the sale of the school lands.
Any recommendations of the
study committee would be pre
sented to the 1963 Legislature.
Budget Committee
The Legislature’s Budget Com
mittee has scheduled April 17 and
13 as the time the University of
Nebraska will present its 1961-63
budget request at public hearing.
Gov. Frank Morrison has re
commended that the University
be allowed $30.1 million in tax
money compared to the current
allocation of $25 million.
Those same two days will also
be busy ones for the Public
Works Committee. This commit
tee has scheduled six highly con
troversial public power bills to
be heard then including a pro
posal to create a State Public
Power Commission.
Bus Schedule
Leave Sioux Citv 11.30 a.m.
Vrrive O'NeilJ 3:30 p.m.
-eave O’Neil] 3:45 p.m
Vrrive Sioux City 7:15 pm
Leave Winner 6:0(1 a.m
Vrrive O'Neill 9:00 a.m
-eave O’Neill 9:30 a.m.
Vrrive Omaha 3:50 nm
Return
-eave Omaha 8:30 a.m.
-eave Norfolk 12:30 p.m.
Vrrive O'N'eili 3:00 p.m.
-**ave O'Neil: 4:00 p.m.
Vrrive Winner 7:15 p.m.
-eavt Valentine 9:10 a.m
Vrrive ON«iIl 12:15 p.m.
-eave O'Neill 12:25 p.m.
Vrrive Grand Island 4:05 p.m.
leave Grand Island 4:05 p.m.
Vrrive Omaha 7:45 p.m.
Return
-eave Omaha 7:45a.m.
arrive Grand Island 11:20 a.m.
*eave Grand Island 12:30 p.m.
irrive O’Neill 4:00 p.m.
-eave O’Neill 4:15 p.m.
arrive Valentine 7:15 p.m.
WHO SAID
“the good old days”?
A yearning for the “good old days” is occasionally felt, but would you
ready want to turn backward in time? Would you, for example, want to
return to even such a comparatively recent year as 1941?
(That was the year in which Consumers Public Power District—a new
kind of publicly owned, but privately financed electric utility_began
serving Nebraskans in all sections of the state.)
Since 1941, Nebraskans have made great progress. They enjoy better
living at every income level . . . they enjoy a stronger economy in
general. For much of this progress, the avadability of a dependable
supply of low-cost electricity, has been directly or indirectly responsible.
Number of electrical conveniences
commonly in use in average home
Electricity used by average
residential customer
Cost of electricity per KWH to
average residential customer
Electricity supplied by Consumers
to all types of customers
Paid by Consumers “in lieu of
taxes” to state, county and local
governments including
school districts
1941
14
805 KWH
4.24 cents
228,000,000 KWH
$342,082.00
1960
40
3,425 KWH
2.48 cents
1.015,128,000 KWH
$828,326.00*
Plus ♦273,604 in special rate discounts—making more
than one million dollars in support of public institutions.
In order to render this type of service, Consumers has carried on a
continuous program of improving its physical facilities. It employs a
staff of skilled, experienced personnel—a staff which included 930 per
manent full-time employees and 170 permanent part-time employees
at the end of 1960.
Meanwhile, the type of long-range planning that brought into existed
the new nuclear power and conventional steam power at
Consumers Sheldon Station goes forward . . . thus assuring Consumsta*
more than 122,000 owner-customers of still greater benefits throughout
the years to come.
CONSUMERSM,
Nebraska’s Publicly Owned, Privately Financed Utility
