Prairieland Talk "Help at Cornpicking Time" By ROMAINE SAUNDERS. 4110 South 51*t St.. Lincoln 6. Nebr. A mid Noveml»cr morning as I park at my type writer to do a little Prairieland Talking. Winter come* early in the Capital City, six inches of snow this morning an/1 cold. Hut the sun comes up in a cloudless sky and may warm us up by noon time. It was clear bright day in early No vember seventy-four years ago. Four prairieland patriots hold ing down homesteads four to six miles northeast of O'Neill came to our homestead farm home to help my mother and sister who were trying to gather in the com crop. M.' father had died that summer and I, a 16-year-old became the nwta® "man of the house.” At com Hauuders gathering time a crippled hand attached to my right arm and I could not husk com. Mike Carrol, Jim McTaggert, Dan Hams and George Lathrup that November day came and did the job for mother and sister. A good crop of good com, not the hy brid stuff they have today but the beautiful large whit*- ears that s/jd com growers raised in those days. We were moving into O’Neill that fall and so one room of our homestead house was taken over in which to store the com. I hauled some of it into town and got 22 cents a bushel for it at the Too hdl flour, feed and grain market at what is now 5th and Douglas street where today stands that great building the Safeway store. A brother of one of those helpful gents that gathered in our corn stole a wagon load of our housed up corn, killed our dog that remained home when the family moved to town. * • * Referring to State Senator Orme l>eing a candi date for re-election herein recently it was indicated that the election was this fall. The senatorial elec tion comes up again next May. * * ♦ A Rockefeller in divorce court. The rich, the great, have their family rows. The humbler citizens live in peace, happy with family ties unbroken. • • • McClure, Elwood, Potter, Blahen and the Spade and H. T. outfits in the cattle ranching game at one time now no more. But one survives down in the Amelia country that got going in the days of those mentioned, the Riley Bros. Shorthorn cattle ranch now carried on by Mr. and Mrs. Thomas T. Baker, the lady of the ranch being a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Will Riley, and her husband, Mr. Baker, a native of England who knows the cattle ranching game and how to manage it on the prairies of Holt county. Editorial The hotel building at 4th and Everett streets, the old brick building at 4th and Douglas streets just across the street south of Hotel Golden and the building at the northeast comer of that same block, the Bently store building, are the three buildings in O'Neill that have survived fire and floods the longest of any on our streets. The Bently building was in the long ago the property of two whose an cestors came from the Bible land, ancient Pales tine, those two the only Jews to ever live here and they left in the mid 1880 s. The old brick building there on the comer was the town’s first bank, the rooms above being the office and home of M. P. Kinkaid, lawyer, judge and congressman. The first I knew to have the hotel on south 4th street was a John O’Neill and Rosco Conklon Gatz meat mar ket between 3rd and 4th streets and Neil Brennan’s hardware just across the street from the Gatz meat market are next in point of years. Matthews who started The Frontier in 1880 had the first brick house in town, which still stands on “Kid Hill.” I took Doc's share of the crop of com we raised on his homestead land one year. • * • Thanksgiving comes once more and we may re joice over the good things of life, grasp more firm ly the Guiding Hand of that One who desires to lead us all the way. * * * Mr. Seaton of Hastings who served as director of a government department in Washington under President Eisenhower announces he will seek the Republication nomination for governor primary election day next May. Says he is definitely opposed to a sales tax. So am I and so are citizens in the states where they have the sales tax. Mr Seaton has it, the itch for public office. Lets scratch him. * • * Four army officers died by a single blow, not on the field of battle in a distant land but here near our Capital City in the way many come to the end of life's trail these times, an airplane crashing to earth. * • * Winter has come at autumn time. Looking out of the window where I am seated there it is a blanket of white snow across the outdoor scene. I turn away, stretch out upon my bed, close eyes and vision again the summer sunshine, the flowers, the singing birds, the landscape robed in velvet green, and prairieland patriots hard at work. O, forget it! Go out and make snow balls with which to pelt passers by. It happened one time. A hated neighbor going by. Brother threw a snow ball that hit that passing gent’s hat and as the hat flew from his head he spit a mouthful of tobacco stained spit right into his hat. O'Neill's Christmas Decorations The next time you are driving through the business section of O'Neill, we would like to have you hike a second look at the Christmas decora tions hanging overhead. No doubt you have glanced at them but this time park your car, get out and really look. We think they are beautiful, especially with the sun sparkling on the foil or at night when the colored lights give a fairyland look to them. Few persons realize the expense of Christmas decorations. The Chamber of Commerce spent $600 this year, as in the past, to add to the decorations already accumulated. All that amount purchsed were the new aluminum foil strings used across the stop light intersection. Each year the Chamber members contribute a generous amount but, as you can see, it is a slow process considering the cost of the material. The city furnishes the labor, assisted by Con sumers Public Power crewmen, and also pays the current charges for the colored light bulbs. There are still quite a few of the older decora tions to be put up and when that is finished, in ad dition to the business establishments Christmas trim, the City of O'Neill will give a pleasing and festive holiday look to our many visitors. It would add to the beauty if homeowners went to extra trouble this year and really added the spirit of Yuletide to the residential area. Anyone who has visited Minden at Christmas time is well aware of the business and visitors the decorations have brought to that city. It is written up all over the country and folks come hundreds of miles to view the lights. What a pity that an O’Neill or county organiza tion doesn't take over the courthouse building and make a decorating project of that. It is such a perfectly shaped building for the idea and would be a drawing card for miles around. If only one long string could be purchased this year, it could be wound around the top and be a show place even this Christmas. Four strings could go from the center top down each corner edge of the building. Picture it in your mind—colored lights all over the building and in the shapely trees in the yard. Add recorded music to loud speakers and then think of the enjoyment the sight and sound would bring to young and old alike. Even one dollar from each family in this area would get the project off to a good start. How about it? Is there an organization or club that would undertake such a plan? Don't Raise Hogs Secretary of Agriculture Dear Mr. Secretary: My friend Bordeau over in Terrebonne Parish received a $1,000 check from the government this year for not raising hogs. So I am going into the not raising-hogs business next year. What I want to know is, in your opinion, what is the best kind of farm not to raise hogs on and the best kind of hogs not to raise? I would prefer not to raise razorbacks but if that is not a good breed not to raise I will just as gladly not raise Berkshires or Durocs. The hardest work in this business is going to be in keeping an inventory of how many hogs I haven’t raised. My friend Bordeau is very joyful about the future of this business. He has been raising hogs for more than 20 years and the best he ever made was $400 until this year when he got $1,000 for not raising hogs. If I can get $1,000 for not raising 50 hogs, then I will get $2,000 for not raising 100 hogs. I plan to operate on a small scale at first, hold ing myself down to about 4,000 hogs which means I wall have $80,000. Now another thing: These hogs I wall not raise will not eat 100,000 bushels of com. I understand that you also pay farmers for not raising com. So will you pay me anything for not raising 100,000 bushels of com not to feed the hogs I am not raising? I want to get started as soon as possible as this seems to be a good time of the year for not raising hogs. Sincerely, Octave Broussard P. S. Can I raise 10 or 12 hogs on the side while I am in the not-raising hog business—just enough to get a few sides af bacon to eat? Frontiers Ago 50 YEARS AGO Ray Dickerson, Atkinson, has accepted a position in the drug store of Gilligan & Stout to fill the vacancy caused by the re signation of John Sullivan . . . Mrs. E. Krier, 59, of Meek died at her home near Meek last week . . . Judge Dickson will appoint C. B. Scott of this city as his stenographer when he enters upon his official duties as judge of the district court next Janu ary . . . Col. Neil Brennan and son Francis, left for Washington, D. C., Monday where Francis will enter school to prepare to take examination to the military academy at West Point. 25 YEARS A